Bald!

Layout done with the Extra Extra kit from Club Scrap.

Text: Among Hindu Brahmins all boys in their early teens have a thread ceremony. Jishnu had his thread ceremony a bit late - at 18. As part of the ritual he had to have his head shaved bald. He was not too pleased about it, as evidenced from his expression.

Jishnu had to wake up very early in the morning - actually before sunrise. After having a very minimal breakfast he had to fast all day. He was rubbed all over with turmeric paste. Then he had to bathe in very cold river water. He insisted that it was slimy too! Then the barber came brandishing his razor and shaved off all that beautiful hair - traumatic but the boy bore it equanimity. However when he was told to wear a large conical hat and parade around the neighbourhood with an umbrella held over his head, Jishnu refused to cooperate and marched back into the house. All-in-all a very successful thread ceremony indeed!

the Police in Concert

Layout done with Club Scrap 'Weekender' kit. Design copied from the current CK Magazine. I have been seeing a lot of 'inchie' swaps happening and so was inspired to incorporate inchies into my layout too - of course my inchies are no brainers... lol!

I never imagined that I would be able to see the Police in concert! So when I heard that they would be getting together for a last tour, and coming our way, I just had to go see them. They would be playing at the Venetian in Macau, just an hour's ride by jet foil from here. A jet foil, for those who have not seen one, is a ferry boat powered by jet engines. It actually rises above the water surfaces and skims along at amazing speed.

The concert itself was more than I could have hoped for from a trio of aging rockers (lol!) ... much more! Sting was hypnotic as ever. His voice is just incredible! They kept the audience enthralled for almost 2½ hours.

After the concert our group of friends went for dinner to a Brazilian Churrascaria. I love this kind of steakhouse - it is so much more fun. The strange thing about these restaurants under the 'Venetian' sky is that one cannot really tell how late it is. It is a good thing we were staying the night at the hotel. It was 3 a.m. by the time we got to our room! The next day we woke late, had brunch and went shopping. We came home in the early evening tired but happy. All in all a very enjoyable way to spend 2 days.

This is slightly morbid but I just had to share!! In Japan everything has a 'cute' option. Even tombstones! Check out the choices in this video :-)

Bald!

First layout uses Bazzill cardstock and some scraps of Basic Grey paper. Also a pink ribbon, alpha rub-on, decorative staples, Nunn Design brads, Hero Arts & PSX stamps. Also flower punches from Family Treasures ~ one of the first things I bought when I started scrapbooking and never used in all these years! Layout inspired by a digital one in the CK Gallery by purdueliz.

Second layout uses Club Scrap Extra Extra kit. A Basic Grey rub on and a very old paper lace from DOTS complete the layout. Layout inspired by one in the current CK magazine. And if you find the ampersand on the circle a bit strange it is because it is not an ampersand but an 'S'. I could not find '&' so I used the 'S'.

I guess we Bengali's just look for any excuse to shave off all our hair! LOL! At about the age of one we shave off all the hair of a child because of a belief that this makes the hair stronger. I am not sure if this is true or not but a bald head never hurt anyone. It is very liberating. I remember my mum shaved me bald at the age of 8 and I loved it! I had hair that touched my hips before and suddenly I did not have to bother with braids and washing and such tedious stuff. Then at about 11 or 12 years of age all Brahmin boys are shaved bald for the thread ceremony. And finally if there is a death in the family, all the men shave their heads. In this photo Lily was eating so I think that is a potato chip in her mouth :-)

Ellen and Mario Caramella married sometime in the Spring of 1995. He was the chef at our favorite restaurant and also comes from a town near Joe's hometown in Italy. They also support the same Italian football team. This is very important for Italian men ... LOL! I did not note the date but I remember that I was pregnant with Ricky then. Hence the OJ and no champagne. I cannot believe what ugly tights I was wearing!! Yikes!

*******

Installation of a sculpture by Richard Serra at the MOMA:

Mi Amore

First layout done with Basic Grey Romani papers. Design inspired by an Ali Edwards layout. The ribbons are from Making Memories. 'Mi Amore' is by My Minds Eye ~ Bohemia.

Second layout by Club Scrap Retreat 2002 kit. Again I used the Basic Grey notch tool because I needed to take photographs on how to get a nice scalloped edge. Alpha foam stickers and lots of brown brads. Layout copied from a digital one in the CK Top Ten Issue.

Just one of those photographs that I really like but is not related to anything in particular. I had no journaling i could think of. So I decided to scrap it with a nice poem I found on the internet. It is not the full poem. I just wanted enough to fill the circles ... LOL!

There is a very special place within my heart
reserved only for you.
It's a place where I store precious memories
of your childhood,
the little things you said or did
that endeared you to me.
The sound of your laughter, the sight of your tears.
All of this I have saved,
In my heart!

The annual company dinner, held during Chinese New Year (end Jan ~ mid Feb). This is the table of the company honchos ... LOL! And some guests. There is a lucky draw at the end and the gifts are really cool. Everyone gets a gift and also cash. The fun part is after the lucky draw. Joe usually decides he does not like what he won. So he tries to go around talking to the staff to try and exchange prizes. He is never successful but just the whole process provides a lot of entertainment for everyone.

*******

Some of you asked me what the secret behind using the Basic Grey tool was. Really ~ there is no secret. Just perseverance and patience (lots of it ;-). Anyway, I decided to use the tool again in today's layout and take some photos as I was working so you can see what I do. Please excuse the bad focusing. I was in a hurry!

Draw a guide line for the edge. Here mine is circular. Start with straight if you wish. It may seem easier though I think it is all the same. I use a very light pencil and prefer to draw to the correct side of the paper. You may prefer to draw your guideline on the reverse. I would recommend this if you were using light weight paper so you do not have to erase after cutting. On light weight paper the direction of the cut does not show much. On card stock I do not like to cut from the reverse because it produces a ragged edge on the right side.

This perhaps is the most important part. Align carefully the two edges of the blade to the guideline that you have drawn.

Press down hard with both hands. If you are using card stock you can actually feel the punch when the blade goes through. If, after lifting the tool you find that you do not have a clean cut, carefully place the tool again on the partial cut and compress. You can use a rocking motion but be careful not to overdo it or the tool will 'rock' out of place!

Once you have the first cut, place the tool again on the guide line, with the first edge exactly on the previous cut. Repeat pressure to cut paper. Erase guidelines when finished. Once you get the feel of the pressure and technique, the whole process really speeds up. Have patience. The Basic Grey Notch tool has its uses. I will not say that it is a 'must have' but if you have it already do not give up on it!

*******

Some magic for you!!

And I love this clip from 'Whose Line is it anyway?'! It was one of the shows I had to watch! Amazing talent!!

Rock Climbing

First layout done with Club Scrap Moody Blues kit from March 2002. There is something magical about this kit. I love every single layout I have seen with it ~ and not just mine! I used word stickers form Creative Imaginations which are almost of similar colour tones. A long sticker with the word 'courage' written on it and a green ribbon. The layout design is copied from this months' CK.

Second layout is done with base paper from Basic Grey Scarlet's Letter. Swirls are hand cut from 7 Gypsies Clermont & Saratoga papers (now I know that I do need the Bo Bunny 'whatsitcalled' tool to draw curves). Stickers from Art Warehouse and Nostalgique. Chipboard corner element painted with iridescent acrylic bronze paint.

Lily spent a week on the outlying islands of Hong Kong doing all kinds of crazy stuff. She enjoyed every minute of this week, organized by her school. Here she is at a place called Tung Lung. She is wearing bright green pants so in real life you can actually identify her in this photograph. She right on the rock face!!

Mel is a very good friend of mine. She got married in 1998 and does she not look radiant? And now I am scrapping the photograph, the marriage is already ended. She is the sweetest, kindest and funniest person I know. And that's not just because we share a birthday ... ;-) I knew from the beginning that the guy she married did not deserve to even know her, let alone have her love him. Which is why I chose to scrap the photo of her only.

Another 'Just for Laughs' video:

And another bit of useless information, but makes for slightly interesting watching:

Aunts

First layout done with Club Scrap Bugs kit. Design inspired from the current CK. Heidi Swapp chipboard alphabets. The ribbon is paper, cut from a printed paper but not sure who makes them. I converted the photographs to sepia but two of them were so old that they did not turn out very well. this layout is one of those that just came to mind when I was looking through photographs that I wanted to discard because I had already made pages for the main events.

Second layout uses paper from Fancy Pants. The Paisley stamp is from a kit from Scrapgoods. The metal tag is from a Club Scrap kit. Letters are QK.

A very important event among Bengali Hindus in India, Mukhebhaat literally means 'Rice in Mouth' and is the celebration of the first time the child is given rice to eat. Also, the child is presented with a choice of articles like a book, a pen, some coins, etc and then everone waits to see what he child will pick up. Lily picked up the book ~ which is good. Actually none of the choices are bad ... LOL! We had 400 guests to lunch! That is a relatively normal celebration by Indian standards.

The design on the floor is hand drawn by my mother. She used a paste of rice powder and something else (not sure what) to draw this design freehand. It is called 'Alpana' and is a dying art in Bengal. I wish I had taken a better photo of the full design.

The following video is a bit dated. It was made with data collected in 1990. So some numbers may be off but not so much that it would alter the idea presented by it.

And a cute Yellow Pages ad:

iL Divo

Paper from the Urban Gypsy collection by Urban Lilly. And some BG rub-ons.

A few months back iL Divo were in Hong Kong. For just one concert. And Lily being quite a fan of operatic pop music, we could not possibly miss it. It had to be a mum & daughter evening because after I made Joe sit through a Julio Iglesias concert, he threatens me with dire consequences whenever I mention certain kinds of artists.

The fact that all the four singers are so easy on the eyes does help their popularity. Not just young girls but a lot of middle aged women were screaming in the stands! These guys really know how to work it! We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly! Simon Cowell obviously knows his job very well.

A few weeks before the concert I was at Tom Lee, queuing up to collect my internet booked tickets. The rotund lady in front of me was in her early fifties, an almost severe bespectacled countenance, with a pronounced Singaporean accent. She reminded me of a reserved school teacher. Till I made the mistake of asking her if she was waiting to collect tickets for the same concert. I had opened the floodgates of fanatic adulation!

Oh the joy, the passion, the ecstasy even, of witnessing iL Divo sing from such proximity! She had paid for a first row seat. And who was my favorite, she wished to know. That would of course determine which side of the stage I booked my seat, would it not? And how could I possibly not know their names? Everyone knew Carlos and David and Urs and Sebastien!! And did I know where they were singing after Hong Kong? No? Why ever not?!

And so it went on for the half hour I had to wait till I reached the counter. And I came away not only with tickets for iL Divo, but significantly more informed about the group - enough to impress even my 13 year old daughter who previously had a dim view of my knowledge about singers and artists and such.

Drum Jam!!

One layout done with Club Scrap Fiesta kit, the other with Sassafrass Lass 'Tickled Pink'. Bazzil chipboard flower, Art Warehouse sticker and Making Memories velvet Alpha stickers.

It is three months that Ricky has been learning to play the African Drum. He has picked up so fast! At the performance the children had the cutest little African vests which set the mood for the three Nigerian songs they played. The children have been practicing so hard these last few weeks and they were all so excited about this first ever public performance. It is an amazing boost to their self confidence!

After Ricky's performance we all sat in a huge circle and with Kumi leading us, had an awesome drumming session! There were at least 200 people, each with a percussion instrument of some sort. And none of us were professional musicians. Just regular people who like drumming. It was fun, educational and we made great music.

The waterfront of Tsim Sha Tsui is a beautiful place. We went for a walk down the promenade and had to get some photographs with the Hong Kong skyline as a backdrop. It was a pleasantly different way to spend an afternoon.