365 update!

week 4

week 5

week 6

the days i forgot to take pictures i printed out pictures that inspired me instead. and because i had to do a lot of catch-up, i didn't have time for much embellies, was just mostly photos and journalling. (:

on impulse, i made these banana walnut muffins last tuesday. i found the recipe, checked if i had the ingredients and made them straightaway! they made for great breakfast with tea on wednesday morning. (crf earlier post)

and then yesterday, i made this grab bag on impulse too! i've been  in a rather creative slump. thats why squiggletown hasn't had much updates and i haven't really been scrapbooking. i'm really pleased with the result because usually i shy away from sewing patterns - too many words and instructions and prep work. but i really liked how the bag looked from the picture, so i decided to try it. after some trial and error - taadah! andrew liked it. i loved it! its even got little pockets on both sides for keys and random cash, lipbalm and all.

i added this little detail - crochet flower with wooden button. 

well, need to get back to work (:

ttfn!

*sheryl

p/s:

found this on my sister's blog who said she got it from zech's facebook. super funny. its "Christian pick-up lines"

1. Nice Bible.
2. I would like to pray with you.
3. You know Jesus? Hey, me too!
4. God told me to come talk to you.
5. I know a church where we could go and talk.
6. How about a hug, sister/brother?
7. Do you need help carrying your bible? It looks heavy.
8. Christians don't shake hands; Christians gotta hug!
9. Oh you are cold, Ecclesiastes 4:11.
10. Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?
11. What are your plans for tonight? Feel like a bible study?
12. I am here for you.
13. The word says "Give drink to those who are thirsty, and feed the hungry"; how about dinner?
14. You don't have an accountability partner? Me neither.
15. You want to come over and watch the 10 commandments tonight?
16. Is it a sin that you stole my heart?
17. How many times around you would I have to walk before you'll fall for me
18. If we lived in Noah's time,you and me would enter the ark together.
19. I wrote your name and mine in the love calculator and the results showed "divine providence"
20. Have you ever tried praying at a drive in movie before?
21. Excuse me, I believe one of your ribs belongs to me.
22. My friend told me to come and meet you, he said that you are a really nice person. I think you know him. Jesus, yeah, that's His name.
23. You know they say that you have never really dated, until you have dated a christian.
24. Yeah, I predicted David over Goliath.
25. I know why Solomon had 700 wives, it was cos he never met you.
26. Before tonight, I never believed in predestination...
27. Nice bracelet. What Would Jesus Date? Oh, I mean "Do."
28. What's your name and number so I can add you to my "prayer" list?
29. Hey baby, you wanna take the church van for a spin?
30. Has anyone ever told you, your eyes are like doves and your neck like the tower of David (read Song of Solomon)?
31. Excuse me, is this pew taken?
32. [check the person's shirt tag] "just as i thought... made in heaven."
33. Hey, need a ride to church?
34. I'd pick you over Satan any day.
35. God was just showing off when He made you.
36. I'm pretty flexible. I don't think a woman should be submissive on the first date.
37. No, i'm not coveting, I intend to make you mine.
38. What do you think Paul meant when he said, "Greet one another with a holy kiss."? (1 Cor 16:20b)
39. Do you think "ask, and it shall be given you" is to be taken literally?
40. I practice our mission to "love one another" to the fullest extent!
41. I didn't know angels flew this low.
42. If Eve was tempted by an apple than you must be my fruit.
43. That halo matches perfectly with your eyes.
44. I must be dead and looking at the angel that is going to take me to heaven.
45. I just don't feel called to celibacy.

best banana walnut muffins that i've ever made!

okay this was so impulsive, i found this banana walnut muffin recipe and decided to make it there and then (thank God i had all the ingredients i needed). the recipe had more than enough batter for 1 dozen, so i used my silicon mini muffin trays and cups. turned out pretty good i must say. its comparable to those i've eaten outside. unfortunately, i kinda forgot about the 2nd batch, and they got too brown (just a shade short of being burnt. haha. ahwells.) the crispy outside its not too bad, i guess. but i'm glad its airy and the walnuts add a nice bite. (: time to buy more flour and walnuts! think i might make this for v'day as presents... 

ttfn!

120109-200109

just finished a book by manfredi. its titled Pharaoh and is a culmination of 2 of my very favouritest things - Egyptology and archeology with a dash of mystery. very satisfying read. i took my time with this book; usually i'll just sit down and finish reading the book in practically one sitting, but i had a lot of things to do. i got the book on sunday, but read the bulk of it today. anyhow, the past week has been a swirl of events. 

school started on monday.

gave andrew a little present on tuesday.

went to Ikea on wednesday (and bought 14 kraft boxes, so as you've probably guessed, more packing ensued).

went out shopping with the girls on thursday (bought a dress, shoes and some other stuff!)

had dinner out with andrew on friday at new york new york.

cg day was at my place on sat (we cooked curry and played the new credit card monopoly!)

sunday sherwin and i made a recipe file for him to copy down recipes (i quite like that he's expressing an interest in baking!), mom's colleague dropped by with a huge box of yummy pineapple tarts that she makes every year for cny and i bought the manfredi book (and realised i needed a bookmark so made one rather quickly but i like it! mini doily and woodgrain contact sheet!)

monday (yesterday) i did some major organising for my school notes for this sem (printed out the lot of readings from the ecms, labelled, sorted, filed them)

and today, i finally remembered to take my vits! and for some weird reason i scratched my burn wound while sleeping last night, so i had to put antiseptic. and in an effort to try and remind myself to be crafty and took a picture of my new colour pencils (crayons+watercolour+coloured pencil = 3 in 1) that i got from seoul. i haven't tried them out yet. they're pretty pricey but the colour is so luscious! so yea. will definitely try it soon.

hmm. what else...i wanted to bake cookies and the chocolate cornflakes for cny, but mom said she already bought cny stuff to give. so might just make a small batch of chocolate cornflakes for andrew and grandma instead.

ahwells! 

okay. going to go grocery shopping now. 

ttfn!

*sheryl

its starting to smell like Christmas

i love Christmas, strings of lights, tinkling bells, fresh baked cookies, 

peppermint candies, striped leggings, red & green, 

holly & ivy, candy canes, sugarplum fairies, nutcracker ballet.

eggnog apple cider and pine trees.

gingerbread house with white icing & gumdrops.

presents, holly wreathe and bright red birds.

(from a justjohanna stamp

-i only wrote the parts i liked)

made soba today for the first time. kept craving for soba and jean convinced me it was easy to make! i'll admit i was kinda afraid of the soba when it was boiling, cos it stuck together a little. i wasn't sure if i should treat it like pasta when you boil it? ahwells. turns out, its was simple. and yummy. (:

(andrew i made loads so you can have some tonight if you'd like.)

i improvised, i realised i didn't have spring onions. and the soba would be quite plain without that extra pep, so i added minced raw garlic instead. and i had some mushrooms to go with the noodles.

and yesterday we had kenny rogers - gotta love that corn muffin! (its the highlight of the meal). i do believe i found a corn muffin recipe recently. will have to try it out before Christmas, maybe i could do a bunch for Christmas dinner! haven't been baking. i want to, but the oven has been rather wonky and dad is loathe to get a new one, so we'll see. 

found some gorgeous cupcakes from this lady's flickr. i would like that cupcake stand please!

this is from alicia's blog from her new book. i love the culmination of crafty materials. speaking of which, my craft area (and room) is in a mess. i feel that urge to pack again. i know its crazy, but i do love packing and tidying up. (i'm so domesticated. HAHA. right) anyhow, the family is trying to decide if we should have a holiday this year or do some minor renovations. i'm okay with both. but i wanna do-up my room now. but i know that if i get anymore shelving or boxes, my room is not going to have any walking space. think i shall go pack after this post. (:

found this on the hambly blog. can you believe that bouquet was a wedding bouquet?! ingenious isn't it? but this is definitely not a bouquet i would wanna throw to the crowd. would make a lovely centrepiece. the middles of the flowers are apparently vintage buttons!

i used to keep my seed beads by colour in individual mini zip-locks. but over time, the zip-lock tends to have holes. so i gave up and just poured them by colour into bottles. kinda looks like that coloured sand art thinga-ma-jig, doesn't it?

more beads and super lovely suede leaf garlands. i'm saving them for a special project. :D

this is my favourite craft punch at the moment. 

poster from the poster list.

prints from backbone. 

print from print a day.
print from lab partners.

ceramic tree trunk bowls from domino mag.

this tree is so stunningly red! from donna's blog.

more prints from the poster list.

print from is photo.

tutorial to make a cassette tape wallet here!

tutorial to make lego gummy candy here!

print from wolfie the sneak.

and more prints from the poster list.

have a great day! i'm off to pack! (:
*sheryl

For Josiah

Hello Josiah,

this is Andrew, stop reading our blog in class and focus on your teacher!

anyway, some rants.

My last IPPT's coming which is good since it means i'm going to ORD soon!
Main problem is running i suppose since the last time i've ran is almost three months ago and the fact that i just bulked up to 82kg! Which is quite a waste since i have lose to some weight now so it doesn't feel like i'm carrying a few BK Quad Stacker while running.




This is BK's new burger, the Quad Stacker (actually the picture shows the triple stacker which is for babies, couldnt find the quad's picture..) And i have eaten two of those, so yes i am literally carrying them while running.

I found another inspiring picture of a potential future pro

Antoine Vaillant, i think thats a picture of him one week out or something. so its pretty inpressive. The old times of bodybuilding is coming back, with the mass monsters replaced by symmetry again.

Anyhow, its time to sleep if i want to remotely fulfil my plan of running early before breakfast tomorrow. Gotta pray that it'd really happen this time!

4 years and 6 months

it was our anniversary today! (:

andrew got me this bouquet of lilies...

it was so gorgeous! (i realise i've been using "gorgeous" alot. haha) there were so many different types of flowers along with the 3 lilies, i don't even know their names! so i decided to just take pictures, so that in the future, when i know the names, i can put the name to the flower. 

anyhow, i've decided to start trying to be healthy! I-NEED-TO-LOSE-WEIGHT! 

so i decided to start a food journal. in the past, when i tried, the "journal" was too big. so this time round, i decided to be eco-friendly and make these teensy journals from my scraps.

yea, i kinda have a thing for mini-pens/pencils....

i started yesterday. (: andrew and i ran too. so that was a good start. we didn't run today, but we didn't binge either. so thats good too. as you can see, yesterday i ate a lot of rubbish. 

so i've decided to start carrying almonds with me again. they help stave off hunger pangs. maybe an apple would be good too. hmm...

ohhHHhh! and speaking of mini stationery, lookie here! mini post-its dispenser. uber cute! and look, its in DUAL colours. i.e. the alternate pages are in 2 different colours. so its pink-turquoise-pink-turquoise (you get the idea)

and i was just thinking about what to make with my stack of felt. saw this while shopping today. shall try making softies, like that felt owl. (: i think i will name her Wrynn.

random note, after the facial today, i realise i need to stop being so lazy and start scrubbing and using my masks and so on. its all about being healthier i guess. skin and body. so we'll see. Christmas is such a challenging time for diets. what with all the candy, cupcakes, pudding, turkey, roast ham, gingerbread men, cakes, biscuits, salads, mash...oh my. i feel hungry just typing it. haha. 

everything in moderation i say!

is it tea time yet?

was just blog surfing and came across kara's blog. she's really inspiring. and honest. i don't know how people do that, be so brutally honest in their blog posts, knowing that the worldwideweb (including parents - and that is my constant worry, that my parents would read my blog. haha. i think they do...) can read it too. and i'd take that any day, compared to convoluted paragraphs that go nowhere. 

anyhow, in case you're wondering, i haven't exactly made a dent in my to-do list yet. but they day is still young. its only 3pm. haha. the weather was so lovely, sunny. then suddenly, thunder and storm clouds gathered. thats the tropical Singapore weather for you. but i won't have it any other way. i love it here. i may complain, and wish for holidays, but they are holidays nonetheless. its always such a great feeling to come back to "home" at the end of it. which is why i choose to be a Singaporean - a Singapore citizen. yea, i get to choose. now why is that? well, i was born in Perth, so i have both a Singaporean and Australian birth certificate. next year when i'm 21, i'm going to have to swear my allegiance to Singapore. i know lots of people are like "why choose to be a Singaporean?!!! are you crazy? go be Australian!!" well, i don't know. i've lived most of my 20 years here on this tiny island. and i must say that familiarity comes at a high priority. so yea. (:

have i ever told you that my favouritest snack is cheese almond rice crackers? i love it to bits. very very yummy. its a japanese snack. almond cheese with green tea makes a perfect tea. but of course cheesecake and a cappuccino would do great too!

i more or less tidied up my room yesterday. so there are neat piles of stuff on my table. i got my school notebook, the gorgeous birds&nests stamps that andrew got for me, my pencil case, ipod, samsung soul, my tea snack, planner and ohhh!! my oakleys. (the picture with the close-up of the snacks has my oakleys on the left) :D :D :D love it! its flawless polished chocolate. that sounds yummy too doesn't it? *grin. (thanks for helping me source for it andrew!)

listening to the wreckers. love that too. think its my favourite at the moment. i needed a new playlist so i passed the ipod to andrew to give me a surprise and he added them in. listening to it now. feeling super inspired. i like this feeling. (:

p/s: i just realised i've been blogging twice a day. i've got a week of holidays. (: and i'm really enjoying it.

muffins for breakfast

i woke up craving for muffins. its odd i know. i vaguely heard mom telling sandra while i was still in my sleep beleaguered state that there were muffins downstairs. i've been down with a flu the past 2 days, so i got myself a cup of milk (just because its breakfast, its like you got to have milk! haha) then got a cup a green tea and a walnut muffin. the muffins are from swisslink bakery & cafe - and they are gooood! after the walnut muffin i went down and got another banana muffin. :D 

and i love the weather today. i'm pretty sure it was storming through the night. when i woke up, the weather was so gorgeously cool and with a slight drizzle. in fact, its still drizzling! it pretty much feels like Christmas already! i don't really celebrate Halloween, i think its partly because in Singapore it isn't really the culture to celebrate it. and i think there are some religious undertones to Halloween, but ah wells. Christmas takes the icing. now, if only global warming could bring snow to Singapore...

and fyi andrew, i've already drank the herbal tea.

*sheryl

hot cocoa (edited)

sometimes on rainy days like today, when its raining dinos, a cup of hot cocoa is all you need. i followed the recipe that they gave on the hershey's box and edited it just slightly. (:

• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 2 tsp sugar (i used 1 tsp of brown sugar)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla (i just estimated this)
• 1 cup milk (i put the cup in the microwave for 2 mins on high to get it hot)

now i just need some mini marshmallows and a book to snuggle up and read. 

speaking of books, these are 2 that i've read recently: -
1. my best friend's girl (dorothy koomson)

thanks mabel for lending it to me! san's reading it now.

2. thanks for the memories (cecelia ahern) 

as you can see, i'm quite a cecelia ahern fan. haha. i'm looking forward to reading "if you could see me now". i want to buy the version that has the white cover. i love the whimsical artwork on it. i hate to admit it, but i do judge a book by its cover. story books that is. i take comfort that andrew does the same thing!

i know its only october, but its almost november and november means its almost december! so the year is coming to an end soon and my absolute most favourite season is coming - Christmas!!! so i decided to do a Wordle to describe what is me for this year. and i did a little mini book too. along with some design/decor that caught my eye on the web.

you can see the rest of the pages at my flickr. 

okay, i need to get back to work. i've got a professional communication test on saturday, but i keep procrastinating the studying - its terrible. and i've been reflecting. i think its the whole "end-of-the-year" mood. i keep thinking "what do i want to be when i grow up?"or more like "what do i want to do in 1 year's time?" next year i'll be 21. and next year i'll finish my mass com degree with murdoch. therein lies those pertinent questions - like what job should i look for? should i do a masters? 

blah blah BLAH. 

i should just suddenly imbibe myself with an overflow of narrative creativity and start writing novels like cecelia ahern. or become an independent artist! haha. riiiight. i read a very inspiring interview here on elsie's blog about independent artists. quite an interesting read!

oOohh!! and guess what? in lieu of me being in the whole "end of the year" mood, i've even bought my organisers for 2009 already!

hee hee. i looooove the planner esp. the pages inside are full of the woodland whimsy that i like. acorns, owls, birds, trees...and the diary is paperchase. thats like a staple for me. this one has a blank page for each day. so there's space for me to doodle and alter (: might post some pages next year. i get to start using the planner next month. it starts from nov2008 and ends jan2010.

ohh, and here's a pic from mel's birthday. i just edited the photosize, shall be emailing the girls the pictures soon! 

been trying to learn more about photoshop too. i've been trying polaroids and cross processing. love the vintage colour and feel it gives to photographs. now that i have almost the full adobe creative CS3 suite, i'm trying to bring it all together. i'm learning about InDesign in school as well. so its quite cool. maybe i'll start producing newsletters for Squiggletown!

and i've been catching Gossip Girl and Desperate Housewives! i bet you're wondering when i study. haha. shall do so now! (:

ttfn!

*sheryl

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p/s: here are some things i forgot to share. (:

a few weeks ago i posted a post about my desktop. i decided to do a screenshot instead. so here it is.

very pretty mermaid fabric. sometimes i wish i lived in the US, if only for the retail. but then when i weigh it with the conveniences of Singapore, i think i'm staying put, thank you very much. 

ohh, and this is from elsie's post about the interview. i like this idea of using clipboards and notice boards too. so clipboards and cork coasters. maybe i can have a panel of both!

okay, and i seriously can't wait for this to be released. i love the gingerbread man and the narwhal! and what i presume to be bigfoot! haha. can't wait to get my hands on these! :D 
basically, i can't wait for Christmas! (: