Life is Beautiful

Sue's parents celebrated their 35th Wedding Anniversary on 27 September 2009. It was truly a joyous occasion and we celebrated the event at a lovely beach resort, even as the couple affirmed their love for each other and prayed together with us. Sue created this card to commemorate this special day and the golden colours narrate a story of a glowing love - one that has withstood the test of time.

We are so blessed by you

For Sue's mother's 61st Birthday, she assembled a lovely board book with vibrant colours to express how much she had been blessed. The pages tell the story of the different roles played by Sue's mother, and how she has been a blessing in each one of them.

Scrapbooking with Justin

In June this year, we were approached by a friend of one of our youths, to help him create an album for the "love of his life". Justin came to our home one weekday evening. And he won us over with his love for Elsia and his determination to create a "perfect" birthday album for her.

Over the next few weeks, we assisted Justin with his album, and we were swept away by his attention to details and his enthusiasm for scrapbooking.

Finally, the album was completed, and Justin was able to present it to his sweetheart Elsia, whom we heard, loved the album fondly. Almost a fairytale come true.

2009 - Snapshots of Life

We were inspired by Creating Keepsakes magazine to embark on a special project featuring one photo a day. Although this involves a significant amount of determination, it was something that we wanted to do to capture the day-to-day moments of 2009.

Our "Snapshots of Life" album was thus born.

This layout captures the first day of the New Year - and we celebrated it with a bang in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Nine months have passed since we began the project. And while we have not kept to the schedule of taking one photo every single day, we have still managed to capture many special moments.

This post celebrates some of these special moments. For it is in the ordinary that we sometimes find the extraordinary!

Honeymoon Album Highlights 6 (Germany 2008)

The lakeside German city of Lindau was a brief stop on our German tour. Splashed in sparkling blue, Lake Constance was truly a sight to behold. Our visit there capped an enjoyable afternoon walk through the historic city centre and we were glad for the lovely breezes that the evening wind brought upon us.

Honeymoon Album Highlights 5 (Germany 2008)

The countryside in Southern Germany was truly memorable for us. Carpetted in a cloak of green, our journey to the town of Oberstaufen was splashed with rolling hills and luscious forests.  The first layout captures the serenity of the Bavarian countryside. Many happy moments were spent enjoying the sunset by a nearby lake after each full day of travelling, just before we drove back to our resort for a hot meal.

 

The second layout is iconic as it paints a picture of an idyllic day in the countryside. With contented sheep grazing on the peaceful pastures and quaint wooden houses dotting the land, it was indeed a perfect place to rest our eyes and enjoy the moment.

 

 

The Bavarian woods and flowers form the backdrop for the third layout; and it tells the story of two lovers in honeymoon bliss as they walked without a care in the world.

 

Honeymoon Album Highlights 4 (Germany 2008)

Germany's Schwarzwald (Black Forest) was one of our favourite destinations during the honeymoon. We loved the luscious and mysterious green trees radiant with life; and the Triberg waterfall, Germany's highest, seemed to gush from the heavens in a roaring explosion of sound, mesmerising all around. The first layout, created by Sue, depicts all these elements in a delightful composition which utlises a range of scrapbooking materials to assail the visual and textual senses. 

The Black Forest is also home to some of the most delicious food in Germany. Cooked in a simple country style which allowed an accentuation of the subtleties in the food, the German spatzle and schitznel were indeed a delight to the palate. And to round off the meal, we tucked in to a famous cake which takes its name from the region. Liqueured cherries were in abundance, and the bitter-sweet taste of the chocolate truly made this the best Black Forest cake ever! Mark's layout captures the tastes in this special town Triberg, also the home of the cuckoo clock.

Honeymoon Album Highlights 3 (Germany 2008)

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, located along the Romantic Road in Germany, is one of the most well-preserved medieval towns. Both of us enjoyed our visit immensely; just to soak in the sights and sounds of the town was a treat in itself. The first layout, designed by Sue, tells the story of Rothenburg decked in true blue medieval spendour - from its quaint buildings and streets to its legendary ramparts, which we had the opportunity to scale - almost as if we were travelling knights in days of yore.

The second layout, created by Mark, captures the festive joy of a town in full celebration of Christmas - all 365 days a year. It's no wonder that we left the town with a sense that we had somehow been given a special gift.

History Buff - Our First Published Layout

We were quite excited when Jami Petersen, the Editor-In-Chief of Scrapbooking.com Magazine, contacted us two months ago to ask if we'd like to have one of Sue's layouts published in the July issue of the magazine. The moment has finally arrived and our layout has been included as a Vacation feature.

http://scrapbooking.com/article/73431

We have also reproduced it here. These were the words we used in the article:

"It was August 2008, the place: Berlin, Germany. This photo was taken during our first exploration in the historic district of Berlin during our honeymoon. My husband Mark was in his element, recalling all the history lessons he had learned in college. It was then that I realized how great a blessing it is to be married to a history buff!"

To Ah Ma with Love

Our good friend Royston asked us to create an album to remember his beloved grandmother who passed away last year. According to the eulogies written by her children and grandchildren, Madam Teo Hiong Tuan was truly a special lady who made a difference to her family through the love that she shared with all of them. We are sharing some of the layouts from this special album.

Honeymoon Album Highlights 2 (Germany 2008)

We love our Germany album. Here are two layouts from our favourite city Berlin. The first layout was created by Sue to highlight the Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of victory, division and peace.

The second layout was created by Mark to remember the 6 million Jews who perished in the Hollocaust.

Galvin & Charmaine: A Love Story

Two of our dear friends, Galvin and Charmaine, began the journey of a lifetime together as husband and wife on Saturday 30 May. Mark was honoured to be Galvin's Best Man, while Sue had the privilege to be the Church Service I/C.

It was a special day for us as we witnessed one of the most beautiful and sincere wedding ceremonies ever. Streams of tears flowed from our eyes when we witnessed the love between Charmaine and her father as he tenderly handed her a tissue to dry her tears. And Galvin's heart-wrenching song for Charmaine struck a chord in many of us as he sang of how much God had prepared them for each other.

We celebrate this special couple with a simple scrapbook album that bears testimony to the love that they share.

Honeymoon Album Highlights (Germany 2008)

These are two of our favourite layouts from our honeymoon album. The first layout was designed by Sue and describes why we decided to go to Germany for our honeymoon.

The second layout was designed by Mark and details our itinerary for the trip.

Hong Kong Memories 2009

This is Mark's most recent album - chronicles our trip to Hong Kong in March 2009. The album was completed after we attended a class by renown scrapbooking designer Celine Navarro. We really enjoyed Celine's class and learnt lots of useful scrapbooking techniques including how to create a woody effect on chipboard and how to design a metallic album cover using hardware tape. Thanks Celine! We really enjoyed your fun and warm class! :)

And a photo with the lovely Celine herself!