réflexions

Ahem.

I am good at planning and organising parties/surprises/events and all. But sadly these skills do not translate to my paperwork and computer drives. You should see the stacks of documents waiting to be file at my office, and how the sister would nag whenever she saw my MacBook desktop and how I (do not) categorise my files and folders as neatly as she does (her desktop has a maximum of 5 folders/files).

Now that school is over and behind me, and after burning lots of midnight oil the last week just to complete a big bulk of urgent work so that I don't have to bring them home, I figured it's high time to do something. I spent a whole day sifting through files on my MacBook, categorising them and putting them into folders - very painful.

So after many many butt-numbing hours, I managed to pool together about 80% of photos of my craft work. I'm attempting to put the photos up somewhere somehow, like an online portfolio of sorts. I must say the feelings experienced while going through the photos were really complicated. In the last 2 years alone, I've made over 30 customised cards for various occasions on request, over 10 layouts (it's a feat for a non-'hardcore' scrapbooker/crafter ok!), customised gift tags for farewell gifts, and more than a handful of shadowboxes and altered items. Below are just a few:

Altered: Mirror | 8x8 Layouts in Shadowboxes (first one for a female recipient and the other a male expat) | Pole-Dancing Hello Kitty Mini Suitcase

Custom Shape Cards: Coca-Cola-themed Hand-cut Card/Mini Album with DIY Keychain | Mickey-themed Birthday Invite | Golf-themed Card/Mini Album

Handmade Cards: Farewell Card for ex-colleague | Birthday Card (for a recipient who likes bright colours) | Friendship Card

I've also challenged myself to my limits this year accepting to do up the decor for a good friend's wedding at CHIJMES (while 'doubling up' as the bridesmaid), decor plus customised guestbook, wedding contract giant shadowbox and candy buffet table for another friend's wedding, and also did a customised Mickey-themed chipboard album for my nephew. Sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself by over-committing and stretching myself to the point that sometimes I have to go without sleep to get these projects done so that I can go about fulfilling my daytime obligations (note: work) as usual. But then again, when I see the results that I get from all the blood, sweat and tears, it always felt like it's worth all the sleep loss.

Reception Decor for Mel & Ian's Wedding at CHIJMES

Customised Guestbook, Decor, and Childhood-themed Candy Buffet Table for QZ & JG's Wedding at Amara Sanctuary

Mickey-themed Birthday Party Guestbook Chipboard Album
(I'll share the pages inside another time)

They say, DO WHAT YOU LIKE & LIKE WHAT YOU DO.

I do not like my daytime obligations. While I don't hate my day job, I do wish that I'm doing something that is ME. Something that allows me to be creative, to put my experiences in events to good use. People tell me that I am creative and have what it takes to do these crafty stuff full-time. But I don't know how my passion and 'hobby' (as the BF would like to call it) will pay me enough to foot my bills and expenses (note: I don't even dare think of the words 'profits' or 'revenue'!)

That's why, when I looked at all the work I've produced which brought back all the fond memories of achieving them and receiving very positive feedback from the recipients, I felt a mix feelings of satisfaction, frustration, and dejection.

I want to do what I like. I want to pursue my dream of becoming a wedding/events planner and not care about how much I earn.
But I have a wedding and house to save up for. Sigh.

If I could turn back time, I would have taken other paths to get me to where my dreams are.
But I cannot. So looking forward, I hope my window of opportunity would come soon for me to do what I like. Because trying to like what I'm doing now is not working.

How now brown cow?

AT LONG LAST.

CONVO.

Yes, two years on, I miraculously by His grace and mercy graduated. Studying part-time at night while working full time in a very demanding job (which I had naively accepted back then thinking it would be just-another-nine-to-five-clerical job that would allow me study time, but I couldn't be more wrong) - was probably be the craziest thing I've done so far. Not crazy in terms of bravery (although yes, you do need some bravery somehow - oh never mind) but more like, mad-hectic-topsy-turvy-with-schedules-that-clashed-nonstop crazy.

In the last 3 years, I have slipped into my little corner of the world and became the infamous Miss Busy as a Bee with almost no social life. Friends complained that I'm forever engaged with something and don't meet up enough. The family laments at how they feel like they're taking the degree as well as they had to on many occasions wake up in the middle of the night to find me slumped on my laptop and try all means and ways to get sleeping beauty to wake up and continue with her barely-half-written assignments.

And it didn't help that because I'm such a Type-A person who is too meticulous for my own good. I would take much more time than others to vet through documents and to prepare them, going over each paragraph again and again to make improvements and then sometimes undo-ing all of it, only to repeat the process. As such, I often worked late voluntarily. As the work load increased, I began to spend like 70% of my life at work, often working till midnight. Madness.

So yes. I SURVIVED school. And I graduated with a BA Degree in Psychology with Sociology.

Now what?

TSK TSK.

I have been very terribly lazy and procrastinating every single thing I ought to do. I noticed my last and only post was about 6 months ago when I'd to prep for my exams. And then I totally forgot about my promise to get this blog started. And 6 months later, here I am again preparing for my exams and instead of revising, am looking at blogshops, scrapbooking blogs and youtube videos etc *face palm*

Anyhow, I decided I'd better do some updating and something awesome just gave me reason to. I'd been participating in all sorts of giveaways and lucky draws but me being the usual jinx, usually won't even get that close to winning anything (just like how I lucked out of this AC Facebook challenge at the last hour! *sigh*)

But I must say lately I've been pretty lucky or blessed if I may say so :D

3 months back, I won tickets to the full dress rehearsal of our National Day parade (the odds were like 1 out of 20 I think but still!). And then last month, I won a discount voucher to one of my favourite blogshops Momoteapots. AND THEN, about half an hour ago I checked my inbox and saw a new email from Kelly Purkey regarding my purchase for her latest Sketchpad Class and I was like "when did I..?" and started wondering if someone had misused my credit card or something (haha, silly me). And then I recalled the giveaways some of the scrappers were doing and after checking I realised I actually won the giveaway at lovely Cindy Tobey's blog! Honestly, what were the chances?? Okayyy I know it was only 1 out of 27 commenters, but in my world, it'd have been zilch.

So yes, I'm a very happy girl right now because I looove KP's style and I've seen the works of some of her guests and I love their stuff too! I can't wait to be exposed to even more scrappers and their different styles of doing things. It's really just what I needed very much right now - inspiration. In fact, I was just telling my ex-boss and girlfriend that I NEED INSPIRATION! My current administrative job although isn't exactly a horrid job to be in, doesn't give me a lot of room to exercise my creative cells which have been reduced to probably the size of a full-stop now. SO YES! Thank you Kelly and thank you Cindy for putting up the giveaway! Now if only I can get back to my books and hang in there for 3 weeks. November 24 it is. The day of my final paper for this semester shall be the day I allow myself to just sit there and pore through the Sketchpad PDF and break out my mountain loads of neglected scrap supplies! :)

Alrighty. I have to be a good girl now and continue mugging :) Yay!

♥

 

Coming soon...

Exams are near, very near.

10 days to go ohmy. 10 days for 5 papers, I better scram and do some serious revision :( And when I'm done, I'll be back end May to work on this blog!

This will be sort of like my public blog. I will be using this space to publish stuff I did, food I ate and whatever inspires me. I hope I can keep up with it! :)

Till then,

♥