Ria Nirwana's Home

I missed two times challenges from Illustration Friday...due to what happened last couples weeks. Felt fresh this weekend and the theme is 'balloon'...

How can anyone not feel fresh when think about balloon?

So...here it is.

With some details :

Posted by Ria at 9:23 PM | Permalink | Comments

At this time of year.
When everything seem have to be done at once.
Christmas decoration. For home and the store.
Christmas tree. Just stick to the home this year. Phew.
Booking holiday tickect and planning.
Last couple weeks at school for kids. Still.
Choosing giftsssss.....making giftsss....
Christmas school drama.
Another store opening for me, on Dec 20th.
Still teaching for scrapbooking classes and projects.
Have I mentioned making gifts?

Oh.
How on earth could you possibly squeeze the making of some layout (and another projects) into daily madness at this time of year?
Breathe....
OK.
Let's do this.
I set aside an hour each night after my kids go to bed to do this. Of course I got backup from my lattes from Starbuck to have some spare energy before I drop myself so happily into my cozy bed at night.(And yes, also to collect the stamp for 2009 Starbuck Journal...wink..)

So, just do it piece by piece, ladies, and you will be there painlessly.

Day 1

I fall in love with this Websters Pages paper. So many possibilities for layout here.... On day 1, I only do the cutting. Simply cut them all. Don't think of anything else!

Day 2

The day that you will find a perfect match for the papers that you already had and the ones that you plan to make will never come. So be gentle with yourself. On day 2, I gather some scrap. And pull out some papers. When I feel it matches for the first time, I glue them together. Don't even try to look for other 5 possibilities matching papers. So I have these by the end of the night.

Day 3

Looking for the pictures.. Ahhh. This one is one of my favorite's part. Some pictures will speak for itself without the need of overdoing it, so, in time of no time like this, choose these kind of pictures indeed. Could you tell that all these flowers are from one single paper that I cut? Na aa.. unless if you are a scrapbooking goodies queen who can memorize all the papers from all the brands! And to make it harder to recognize, just spread these layout into different album. Job done.

Day 4

In a week, there is always an off day....when you think of nothing except the needing of some rest of doing nothing. Even the Starbuck barely help anymore. So I strenghten my heart and just open my brown acrylic paint, and splash some to all the layouts. Leave it to dry overnight. It only takes 15 minutes. (include the brush cleaning, ladies)

Day 5

Choosing the title is a sweet task. It will decide whether your layout will be just ordinary layout, or become an extraordinary one. Of course many aspects will effect too, but I personally think (based on being a 'word' person), a title is as important as a person name. It's about first impression. it's all in the words, baby.

Day 6

Putting all the detail are soooo much fuuun...Ok, Ok.. I cheated..on day 6 I spent 3 hours doing all of these. Even the wee hours didn't matter. I just love the details on every pages...

Day 7

My pages are almost complete. But nothing can add a personal touch to any layout better than journaling with your own hand...so here I am, putting the words into form to finish the pages.

And at the end of the week, with all the madness still going on like it should be, I have 4 beatiful pages to keep ! Voila!

Yes.

You could do it too.

I reeeeally truuuly need some sleep now.

Sweet dreams, everyone.

Posted by Ria at 7:44 PM | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Ria at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments

Losing my grandma was like losing a root.

Imagine you are a plant and suddenly being pulled from the ground and the root left behind the soil.

That pretty much described how I felt these last week.

Went through all the procession from the day she passed away until the funeral five days later, I felt so rich in culture and tradition. I am Chinese. And proud being one. Because without all of these, after you fly away from home, you will easily forget who you are and where you came from. My grandma reminds me to be humble always. And not forget where I came from.

The worst part is, partly sad because she gone away so sudden, I feel terribly sad to imagine how hard it will be for my whole big family to gather again after my grandma was gone. Maybe almost impossible.

But then, when remember the good times we shared these past couples years we been able to gather together, as I put here in the memorable table for her before the funeral, the pain ease. We glad we had these, and we glad my grandma had found her peace.

Love you, grandma, you forever be in our heart.

Posted by Ria at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Ria at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments

She may not be wise, relying her happiness on him.

But when she knows he loves her, it's worth it not to be wise once in a while.

Posted by Ria at 6:20 PM | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Ria at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments

No rooms in my home are vacant.

They are all full.

Full with memories, good times, laughter and love.

Here are some of the details :

Posted by Ria at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments