Still around.....

Haven't blogged in months as I've been totally swamped with work, both school projects and other creative stuff including a few commissioned altered art projects and costume jewellery.

And of course, my daughter's 5th birthday party in early June kept me busy with all the prep - baked and decorated 60 cupcakes and packed goodie bags for 24 kids! Will post photos when I get round to uploading them from the camera. Maybe I can this week as a bit of my school projects have been suspended or postponed in light of the H1N1 situation.

As I run around so much, my iPhone is now my main tool to e-connect - am writing this on it right now, it's really my lifeline! And lately, I've been tweeting more than blogging 'cos it's so quick.

If you want to look me up on Twitter and follow my tweets, look for Karen L a.k.a. Twittymama (my DH thinks that's so dorky, haha).

Have a fab week ahead!
Karen

Creative Escape 2009

So glad I did this last Saturday - it was great. Imagine an event hall filled with a whole lot of scrappers (I think there was about 60-70 of us), 3 fantastic top-notch designer teachers, lucky draws with lots of goodies given away, buffet meals. A day of solid scrapping, laughter and a wonderful sense of camaraderie among us scrappers!

And with the exception of adding in photos and some minor touches here and there, my projects are pretty much done so it was definitely a productive affair.

Thanks so much to the girls at Laine's for organising this - all of you worked so hard, to Kah Mei Smith, Donna Downey and Tia Bennett for sharing so freely your ideas, tips and techniques (and for being so entertaining to boot!), and to my fellow scrappers, especially the girls at my table, for good company!

Am off now to make a necklace as a gift for my daughter's friend's 5th birthday.

Cheers, happy May day and have a fab weekend!

Karen

Blue striped ball dangly earrings

Finished making this pair of earrings for myself yesterday while keeping my daughter company at the dining table as she took an afternoon snack!

Two good things I like about beading and jewellery making - it can be quick and easily portable. Then a quick snap with my iphone camera and upload here via shozu.... so cool... I like. :)

Have a good week ahead!

Sugarpaste Modelling

Had fun last month at a sugarpaste modelling workshop - made Teddy Bear with a Bouquet and a Love Bunny!



Poor little Bunny's eyes got a little smudged in the humidity when I brought him home.


Sugarpaste modelling's really very enjoyable and also rather therapeutic with all that kneading and shaping - felt like a kid playing with playdoh!

Have a good weekend!
Karen

Bookmarks and Cardholder with crystal floral vine

Hello! Here are photos of some of the trinkets I'd been making.

I hand decorated the cardholder as a gift for a friend and sold the bookmarks and the bracelet.

Black, clear and silver bracelet with a toggle clasp.

Bookmark - Cloisonne butterfly, turquoise and gold beads

Bookmark - Cloisonne butterfly, light purple beads, gold chain

Swarovski crystals glued by hand on Thai Silk business card holder

(This was a birthday gift for my friend A.)

Actually I had made a whole bunch of earrings and bookmarks, some I sold, some I gave away as gifts - but silly me forgot to take photos! Something I really should remember to do as each piece was different so the photos would have served as my design log.

Cheers!
Karen

"Grid" i-Art

Another abstract finger painting by my 4-year-old on the scribble app. This proud mommy thinks she has an artist in the making, hehe.

N's i-Art "Dots"

This is so cool to be able to post so easily from my mobile. Now if I can post more than 1 photo per post, that'll be even better but hey, the app is free so I'm happy. :)

My daughter's i-Art

N's Finger painting on the iPhone using the scribble app.

Flowers for Valentine's day

The gorgeous bouquet of roses my DH got me on feb 14. :)

Am testing an app for posting photos on my blog using my mobile. :)

Blogging on the iPhone

This is so cool! Am sending this post from my latest toy. Am totally loving it. Except for the lousy SMS features - or the lack of good basic features like fowarding messages, copy/paste, sending business cards/contacts - the iPhone is a godsend for me as I'm always on the move.

Anyway, I've downloaded a couple of free apps for blogging on the go and will be testing them out to see which is best for me.

Thanks Minty my friend for your kind comment on my last blogpost.

Cheers!
Karen

It's been a long while.....

.... since I last posted anything on my blog (and flickr album). I hardly went into facebook and barely posted messages on the various craft community forums that I'm a member of.

Why?

Because I got really peeved when someone "stole" the Princess Party Invitation card I made for my daughter's 4th birthday and posted it as her/his own on a card website, complete with instructions on how to make it - the cheek! They should have at least acknowledged me as the designer. Really takes away the "specialness" of my daughter's card!

I tried to contact them but to no avail. Anyone has any suggestions?

The guilty party's page with my card is http://www.coolest-party-ideas.com/princess-party-invitations.html. (The only website I gave permission for using my card is www.make-your-own-invitations.com set up by Eileen who was the one who told me about this.)


Anyway, as a result, I developed a kind of aversion posting stuff on the net hence my big silence and non-activity. Ok, maybe a bit of an over-reaction and silly. But it sure got me thinking of how scary - while being amazing and incredible - the internet can be. And as a mom, it gets to you on another level - am even thinking of removing all photos (including layouts) that have photos of my daughter - or at least those that scream out her name. Your thoughts, anyone?

So why am I posting again? Well, since I can't get in contact with the guilty party, I decided that I will use my blog to tell others about them and let everyone know that that princess castle invitation card is MY DAUGHTER'S and the design is MINE!!!! I'm happy to share ideas - just play fair, ask for permission and give due credit!

Well now that I'm back, first let me apologize to all of you who've been checking in to see if I've posted anything - sorry for keeping you wondering when I'd post something and thanks for bothering. I'll be posting photos of my craft stuff soon. Lately, I've been doing more bead and costume jewellery craft - mainly because I started making little trinkets to give as Christmas gifts and haven't stopped! - so look out for photos of that. :)

Am thinking of doing some giveaways (cos I have too much stuff and need to make space in my craft corner!). Mostly cardmaking and scrapbook magazines, printed papers, ribbons, bits and bobs. Will try to organise quick and post. Look out for it, okay?

Have a good week, everyone, and watch out for those people who don't play fair.

Cheers!
Karen