Showing posts with label 6 photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 6 photos. Show all posts

Sunday, May 23, 2010

It's Not Easy

This particular drama workshop was called Physical Theatre. It was hard work! One of the courses, for example, was the Suzuki Actor Training.  By the time the class was finished the students could only think of sitting down and not doing anything else for the rest of the day!
The Suzuki Method of Actor Training develops the actor's inner physical sensibilities, builds the will, stamina and concentration. The workshop activities include a series of exercises centered around the use of the feet in relation to one's center. These exercises are designed to throw the body off center while maintaining a consistent level of energy and not swaying the upper body. The energy necessary to accomplish this task is considerable and constitutes a primary focus of this work. In the course of doing these exercises the body becomes more centered, and thus changes the manner in which the actor views his/herself within their body. This change is also related to how the actor views their work onstage. Issues such as engrained habits become more apparent as do strengths and weaknesses. By developing the body awareness of the corporal center, and a consistent level of energy, primary elements of the actor's awareness are heightened. The best and most consistent evidence of this work is apparent onstage reflected through an increasingly centered and controlled actor. (Source)

Papers and sticker are from Club Scrap Moody Blues kit. Loopy brads by Karen Foster Design. Small alpha letter stamps are by PSX. Large letter stamps used for the title are by Gelatins.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Copying Laura Lou!

All three layouts are from my 'Imperial Cities' travel album. The following three layouts were done as part of a challenge to copy digital layouts. Putting as many photos as possible on each page is always a priority for these kinds of albums (for me that is ...). And so I chose 3 layouts of Laura Lou (a digital designer from SS Reflections) that had a lot of photos. All papers are from Club Scrap. Heidi Swapp chipboard alphas, Gel.a.tins alpha stamps & a few other doo-dads complete these layouts.







And a message from long ago that is still relevant today ... perhaps even more so!

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

A Night on the African Queen

Embossed cardstock used for the base is from Club Scrap. Animal print paper from HOTP. Also some scraps of handmade paper from my stash. The 'A' is from a Club Scrap stencil. Not sure who makes the brown chipboard alphabets. Alpha stamps are from Art Warehouse & Stampendous. I used a coffee coloured ink to distress the background.

This is the party we went for on New Year's eve. It was African themed called 'A Night on the African Queen', the 'African Queen being a boat used for exploration. I wish I could photograph the way everything was decorated - it was stunning. And then there were so many 'African' props like those hats, animal print scarves, moustaches, false bones through the nose, the list goes on and on! And of course, when one is with friends, one really does have the best of times!





Friday, February 15, 2008

Prague - a Royal Feast (and the end of our Imperial Cities tour)

First layout done with a kit from Scrapologie, a very old paper punch & QK alphabets. Second and third layouts done with Club Scrap Renaissance kit.




On our last evening we went to a Royal Banquet! The food was terrible but that was not the point at all (lol!) The restaurant was in a very old part of Prague and had a fabulously old fashioned interior. And they had done up everything like the banquet halls of old. We had musicians entertaining us, jesters jumping, knights duelling and wenches serving. And then a King (they did tell us his name but I forgot to make a note!) graced us with his Royal presence and knighted all the children. They were even given little crowns to wear and they absolutely loved it. I think the adults loved it just as much. What a great way to end a superb holiday!

And with this I am finished with my layouts for this particular trip to the Imperial cities of Vienna, Salzburg & Prague.

Coming up next: My "Kenya" album.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Durnstein (2)

Again layout done with Club Scrap 'Road Trip' kit and 'Thickers' alphabets. For journaling please see previous post.


Monday, November 19, 2007

Vienna Third Day (1)

Layouts done with a mixture of Club Scrap Travel, Painted Desert and printed papers by Elsie. Chipboard alphabets, coloured brads, stickers & paper lace from my stash.





On the morning of our third day in Vienna, we met up at 8 am with our local guide, Irene, for a 2 hour walk through the city. She showed us some interesting spots including a few of Mozart’s many homes. In the 10 years he spent in Vienna, he changed residences 13 times. He died quite possibly of rheumatic fever at the age of 35.

At about 10:30 we took the bus from our hotel and drove 45 minutes to Festschloss Hof, the country home of the Hapsburg Dynasty, originally built by Prince Eugene of Savoy. This palace, on the border with Slovenia (we could see the suburbs of Bratislava from the castle) has been recently reopened to the public after many years where it was first ravaged by the military and then by time and neglect. Restoration work is still continuing and the Austrian Government is trying to locate and return many of the missing artwork from the palace.

The palace originally had just two floors. When Empress Maria Teresia came to live there she found it a bit small so she added a third floor. There is however a painting done of the palace as it was originally built by Prince Eugene and I took a photograph of that because it appears so much more elegant and graceful with just the two stories.

The children went off to make pottery while a lovely lady called Maria gave us a tour of the palace, explaining its sad history and the efforts being made now to restore it to its former glory. The gardens are almost complete and they are a sight to behold indeed! We had lunch on the palace grounds after which the children went to the petting zoo while we did went off for a Schnapps tasting. Later we all enjoyed a horse & buggy ride around the extensive palace grounds. We learned of the existence of blue eyed donkeys and European bison. In days gone by children in Austria kept donkeys as pets instead of dogs & cats. The horses pulling our buggy were of a special breed too, really big boned, tough and shaggy.

I got some very nice photos of Lily getting to know one of these horses. They are beautiful gentle creatures!

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Vienna Second Day (3)

All layouts done with Club Scrap Travels kit. Also used chipboard accents, scenic Route rub-on alphabets, 7 Gypsies journalling tags, French Curves and other stickers and rub-ons from my stash. You can read about the Gloriette in last bit of the journalling for Vienna Day 2.








Who let the dogs out?

Monday, September 24, 2007

Vienna Second Day (2)

First layout done with Club Scrap Culinary Kit and some alpha stickers. Second layout uses paper from 7Gypsies and American Crafts. Both from a kit by Scrapologie.

The first layout is of Lily at the Imperial Bakery, helping to make the strudel. The second layout is of Ricky trying out a marionette. I had to journal what he did just after the photographs: He is not fond of puppets. But I really wanted him to see how they worked so I coaxed him into trying it. And just after I had finished taking the photographs, he threw the marionette on the floor and stomped off! Oh, the embarrassment! The lady was so angry! Try explaining to her what his problem was ... He did apologise later but I am only glad that nothing happened to the puppet except some very entangled strings!



Thursday, August 30, 2007

New York 1999

All layouts done with Club Scrap Heritage III kit from June 2001. Other products are alpha stickers, liquid pearls and 7 Gypsies journalling tag. All layout designs inspired by layouts in various CK magazines.





Joe and I were in NYC mid December 1999. It was an amazing experience ~ New York all decked out for Christmas. The lights, the festive air, the shopping, the biting cold ~ we loved it all! We spent three awesome days in this amazing city and came away with really special memories. Unfortunately we did not have a chance to go to see Lady Liberty so we made do with a replica in front of a shop ... LOL!

*******
Coffee Art - it is all the rage these days. Now, I'd rather have my coffee plain and steaming hot, than fancy and cold, but this is still worth a look-see.
Coffee Art

Friday, May 11, 2007

Girls Night Out

First layout done with Fancy Free papers from Fancy Pants. A 7 Gypsies sticker, acrylic flower, 'laughter' sticker & white alpha stickers (which I just felt like digitally plumping up). The second layout is with Club Scrap Steppin' Out kit from Nov 2004. Basic Grey rub-Ons, a couple of stamps and alpha rub-ons from Flair Designs Inc.


Every now and then we have a girls night out, and as I am sure you all know, it is great fun! Here I am with some of my really good friends in Hong Kong from a couple of evenings in 1998 and 1999. Unfortunately all of the people in these photos have left Hong Kong. This place is so transient - it is difficult to make long term friendships. Everyone is here only for the short term. It is sad when people leave. But memories remain :-) And now I have friends all over the world!

31st December 1998: We celebrated in a very posh restaurant in Italy with our cousins. The food was some the most amazing I have ever had, the chef having a couple of stars Michelin under his belt. The wine was perfect and everything planned very well - all in all a great party! Unfortunately I still like letting down my hair on New Year's Eve so I am back to partying hard here in HK! I can do elegant most of the time but not on NYE!!

Here is a reporter trying to file a report about soldiers burning drugs



And just a word of warning to the fishermen out there!

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Anastasia

Seems like déjà vu - wait it is! I have a work dinner to go to this evening and so I am able to complete just one layout. Yesterday we had Japanese Yakitori cuisine. I love this style of Japanese food. It is fun to eat tiny kebab like morsels on sticks slightly bigger than toothpicks! And hot sake ... yum! We had everything - from traditional chicken wings to quails eggs rolled in bacon to grilled shitake mushrooms. I thought we had ordered just right but halfway through we were so full! Little bits and pieces fill you up without you realizing it.

Layout done with K & Co papers, Kambly rub-ons , Magic Scraps sticky rub on alphabets & gold leaf, Heidi Swapp crystal stickers and some digital prints that I cut out.

Halloween of 1998: We were invited for a really nice party. Lily dressed up as Princess Anastasia. That was the year the movie was released and so at the party there was every version of Princess Anastasia! Poor Lily! She wanted to be special. Instead she became part of a large crowd of princesses. LOL! The redeeming factor was a really great party for the kids. Lots of fun & games and treats.

Now, if you are a cat lover you will adore this video ...
ETA: There are a few shots of cats jumping out at kids just in case that bothers you.


And if you love both cats and Jane Austen, like me, this one is for you!

Sunday, April 29, 2007

London in 1998

Layout done with Basic Grey Romani papers, Heidi Swapp alphabets and Making Memories Defined stickers. Not sure who makes either the ribbon or the paper clip. Papers, number stickers and the green label are from a Scrapologie kit.


January 1998: Joe and I found ourselves with some free time and decided to go to London for the weekend. My cousin was there to sit for his MRCP exams. I had not seen him in a while and Joe and I had never been to London together. Even though it was freezing cold we crammed a whole lot of fun into the three days we spent there. From visiting Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and Mme Tussaud's to taking a full city tour on a red bus to taking in a play and visiting the hot nightspots - we did it all! Both of us find London a fascinating vibrant city full of history and charm. And every time we visit we fall in love with this city even more!

The layout below is done using Club Scrap Fossils kit from August 2004. I wish I had the real looking tickets - I know we got some in another kit but could not find them. When I do, I shall replace these two very silly 'Admit One' stickers!


I have no idea why both Joe and I love visiting Madame Tussauds wax museum. Maybe standing so close to the celebrities and studying them minutely, looking into their faces and seeing how we measure up, is the attraction. Or perhaps it is a morbid fascination with all the gory aspects of the Terror which actually started Tussaud in her career. Every time I visit I stand over the figure of Marie Antoinette and watch her gently breathing. I always find myself wondering about this spoilt and arrogant yet beautiful woman who was thrown from one extreme of life to the other.

Below is the layout reworked as per the suggestions from some very artistic and helpful ladies. Click here to see the original. Thank you to everyone who took the time to write!!

The school logo and the red '5' are hand drawn and cut with an Xacto knife. All other accessories are from 7 Gypsies.

And what do you think of this kind of traveling?



The Time Traveller - video powered by Metacafe

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Prank Call

This is so funny I had to share it! I did feel a bit sorry for this poor telemarketer.


And now for the page - Lily at her Activities Camp. I am always amazed at how much more fun school is these days. Nothing like what it was for us - the most we did was go for a class picnic once a year. And I am thrilled that Lily is so adventurous. She loves doing all kinds of outdoor activities. So a whole week spent doing these crazy swingings across the waves and jumping off cliffs was just her thing.

I used a page from the school newsletter in lieu of photos and journaling. Some RS embellishments from my very old stash and some Heidi Swapp rub-ons. This is the first time I used the fuzzy rub ons. I need a little more practice but I think it should not be that difficult to manage to get them placed and rubbed exactly as I want them. Any tips are always appreciated.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Legally Teen!

Scenic Route papers & stickers and Scrapworks alpha rub-ons. Could not find a nice big orange flower so a small yellow one will have to do!


Journaling: This year’s party was one that all the girls were looking forward to. An Aesthetician and a Make-Up artist came to the house. First there was a hands-on course on how to take care of the skin. Cleansing, toning, and all the other important things young girls need to know to keep their skins clean and healthy was demonstrated and the girls got to work on themselves. They had individual consultations on their skin types and which products to use. Then the Make-Up artist did half the face of each girl and helped them do the other half. Everyone loved the whole session, which lasted a full three hours. The goodie bags that they took home contained a full set of cleansing products, a lip gloss and a cool eyeshadow set. From the 'Thank Yous' I received, I think everyone had a ball!

Friday, April 07, 2006

Macau - An Architectural Experience

Layout with the very nice new Crate papers. And some pretty alpha rub-ons from K&Co.



Journaling: Chinese New Year 2006 – We found ourselves in Hong Kong, with nothing planned. And the PB family was going to stay in town too. We realized that neither Lily nor Catherine had ever been to Macau. So we decided to visit this Portuguese enclave, which like Hong Kong, has now reverted back to China. Macau used to be very European but in the few years from the handover it has reverted back to its Chinese-ness with amazing speed! We did find a few of the original old buildings when we went walking the back streets. And of course, the main Government building is still there. Everything else has been torn down and replaced with ultra modern structures. The walk up and around the old fort was very nice, as was walking around the streets with strange shops, looking for that bottle of Old Tawny Port, which Joe insisted on buying. Food is always good and we had a nice dinner at the Pousada de Santiago, which is another old fort, built into a mountain. An interesting walk around Stanley Ho’s amusement park which has miniatures of many famous World Heritage sites like the Eiffel Tower, Coliseum and Pyramids of Giza, ended our day trip.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Winter in the Apennines

The poem frame is adapted from Longfellow & Cougar Wisdom:

Silent, and soft, and slow
Descends the snow
Blanketing the earth.
Engulfing silence as it falls
Quietness and stillness everywhere.
Bringing peace
As the sun shines, the snow glistens.
Like a thousand diamonds that sparkle.
Smell the freshness of this winter wonderland
Trees laden with snow ...
Branches straining Bowing to the earth
The world needs Winter ... to rest.





This year we got to experience real winter! A few days after Christmas we decided to drive up to the mountains. It was snowing lightly when we left the town house. And by the time we reached our destination, everything was covered by a white blanket, thicker than anything we had ever seen before. It continued to snow for a few days and we were stuck! No chains on our car and no salt on the road in the mountains got us wondering if we would miss our flight back home. But in the meantime, the house was warm and snug; we started up all the fireplaces, made hot chocolate and really enjoyed the winter beauty of the Apennines.

With the New Year came sunshine and warm breezes. It was lovely watching the snow melting slowly. We stood under the firs and shook them till the snow fell off the branches. We watched the stalactites at the Fontana, dripping slowly, catching the rays of the sun, making exquisite rainbows. We were glad because while this was a winter wonderland, we were also free now to go back home!

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Florence, Italy

The Singh family was visiting with us. We took the train from Piacenza and our first stop was Florence. We were in a small but very nice hotel just behind the Duomo. Florence is, in my opinion, the most beautiful city in Italy. The first impact of the Duomo and the Baptistery leaves you speechless! The Baptistery, with its incredible bronze doors, is from the 4th century, the oldest building in Florence. Next time we will climb to the top of the famous dome, designed by Brunelleschi.


Florence was the home of the Medici family for many years. Between 1865 and 1871 Florence was the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The Medici family was extremely rich and they patronized the Arts. Today many streets, churches and palaces in Florence are filled with examples of fine Renaissance work of the artists who flocked to Florence, and its wealthy patrons.

We walked into the Piazza della Signoria and immediately bought a famous Florentine ice cream. I winced at the price but this was an indulgence!! The line for the Uffizi was 4 hours long. So we visited the Palazzo Vecchio. We walked around this beautiful building with its amazing paintings, statues and frescos. We loved it! We walked towards the Ponte Vecchio. There were so many street entertainers, painters and other artists selling their wares, we almost could not walk. The Ponte Vecchio is a small covered bridge across the Arno River. It is lined on both sides with jeweler’s shops, famous for their work through the ages. We took a fun bus ride to see the city with microphones that were not working very well. But we managed to understand some things about the history of Florence.

We wanted to see the Palazzo Pitti but because it was Monday, it was closed and we settled for the Boboli gardens instead. A word of advice – avoid Florence on a Monday! I am so sad because I wanted to show you the ‘Madonna of the Chair’ by Raphael, my favorite painting of all time. The original is in this building! This is a beautiful city that needs to be visited many times to discover all its beautiful art and history.
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