Dare #8

Inspired by Nature

As scrappers, we tend to draw inspiration from what we see and this week, the Dare Gals were challenged to draw inspiration from Nature. Be it flowers, insects, birds, colour of nature etc, we want to see how this become translated onto paper. The Asian Dare challenges you to look into Nature for inspiration.

Do you dare?

Here's what the Dare Gals have come up:

Audrey

Edleen

Joanne

Michelle

Sharon

Dare #7

Inspired by Fashion

This week we kicked off a series of 'Inspired by...' theme. For our first theme, we are going to be inspired by fashion trends. How often do we see a fashion style and wonder how this could be translated onto paper. We have challenge the Dare Gals to be inspired by a fashion item and they have to take a photo to prove it and show us their creation.

We take this opportunity to extend a warm welcome to Michelle Vass, our Guest Designer. Here's what she has to say:

I am Michelle, a Singaporean and have lived in Melbourne, Australia, for 8 years now. I'm married to Peter, a Greek Australian and we have 2 children together, Ellen and Phaedon. I started scrapbooking 1.5 years ago when I noticed that I have too many photos in my hard disc and no one gets to see them. So rather than putting them in an album, I decided to do something nice with them. It soon went from a hobby to an obsession. And when I found out that fellow Singaporeans are also getting into the craft, I was so thrilled. At least I know that whenever I come back to visit, I won't be having withdrawal symptoms!!!

My scrapping style is predominantly linear and geometric (forgot the existence of this word and have just picked it up again from the previous Asian Dare Sponsor, Kristy! LOL), with quite a bit of lumpy bumpy details. I have patience when it comes to this craft, so you'll often see me cutting up flowers or patterns from patterned papers. I have an obsession with inking or outlining almost everything I put on my pages, to make them stand out. I don't have a favourite colour because I can work with anything apart from purple/lilac.

For this layout, I was inspired by a rather trendy-looking scrapbooking apron complimentary from Fiskars. I absolutely love this colour combination of blue and orange. Plus I just can't go pass the swirls.

Here's Michelle's interpretation:

You can find our more about Michelle or see her work on her blog.


Here's what the Dare Gals have come up with:

Audrey: I was inspired by the buttons on the jacket and decided to make use of them in my LO.

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Edleen: I was inspired by my t-shirt's pretty flourishes. As it's only on one side of the t-shirt, it looks like a wing to me so it occured to me to have wings on my LO.

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Karen: I was inspired by the colours and the ornate gothic-ness of the dress.

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Joanne: I was inspired by the print of the shirt. I used only ribbons and lace in my LO. The stitches mimic the trim of the shirt too.


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Michelle: This is a picture of a t-shirt that I'd bought once when I was feeling down. The words "Don't Bother" encouraged me not to let what other people think of me affect how I feel about myself, so long as I am true to what I believe in. The journaling in my layout reflects exactly those sentiments, that I should never forget who I am and to always stay real.

Dare #6

This week Dare is sponsored by Far Flung Craft and Kristy has the honour of choosing the theme for the Dare Gals.

Geometric Designs in Asia

First, a little secret, I hated, despised, and abhorred geometry in school. I only just barely passed high school geometry, my math teacher treated me horribly, I just didn’t get understand it and I struggled with the concepts of angles, circumference and how to determine the area of a triangle. To this day, I still am not quite sure I know who Euclid was and why his theories really matter to me. In fact, my general opposition to all things geometrical still exists today and I cringe at the thought of having to tutor my children someday in the mysteries of math, but here I sit in Singapore surrounded by Geometric patterns, designs and art. I love the look of the Chinese lattice screens, the geometric patterns found on antique floor tiles, and of course the naturalistic patterns of Japanese paper. Living in Asia may just force me to change my mind about all of the geometry lessons I so hated.

The use of patterns as a decorative touch has long seated history in Asia. Examples of geometric patterns can be found on the early bronze works from the Shang Dynasty in China (2000 BC). Geometric patterns have also been traced back to Japan as early as 3000BC in the form of tattoos and let’s not forget all of the geometric patterns found in Indonesian textiles, Polynesian designs and Indian and Tibetan Mandelas.

This weeks dare is to think about Asian geometric designs and use them on your layouts. Perhaps you are a whiz at paper cutting and can design a background using Chinese lattice designs, perhaps you feel inspired when looking at the geometrical beauty of the Petronas towers in Kuala Lumpur. Let’s see us all take on Euclid and prove that Geometry is more than a high school math subject!

Here's what Kristy has to say:

Here's what Kristy has to say:

" Hi, my name is Kristy and I have been scrapbooking in some form since high school. When my I moved to Asia I got serious about scrapbooking but it was hard as Taiwan had no scrapbook stores at the time. Moving to Singapore in 2004 was like a dream come true, real scrapbook stores with paper and cardstock! Ok, the stores have grown a bit since those early days, as has my stash!

I love living in Asia and am love gaining inspiration from all of the images and sites that surround me everyday. I think Singapore is really my second home and I love the Asian Dares, thank you for letting me a part of this! "

This is Kristy's interpretation of the theme. She was inspired by the Moorish architecture in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

You can find out more about Kristy on her blog.


Here's what the Dare Gals came up with:

Audrey

Edleen

Joanne

Karen

Michelle

Sharon

Participants of this Dare will have their names put in a box and one lucky winner will win a Sin$25 voucher to be spent at Far Flung Craft. Please leave the link of your creation either at the comment box on this blog or at the Dare section in The Scrapper's Loft forum. Have fun!

Dare #5

Rainbow Connection!

Colours surround us everyday and hold more meaning than what we are aware of sometimes. In nature, bright colours are often used as forms of warning, and animals find safety in the camouflage of monochromatic tones. In society, they are symbolic of feelings, character and occasion, and this is where our dare takes us.

What kind of emotions do colours stir up within you? Does "seeing red" or "being green" mean the same to you and I? Did you know that while white is often associated with purity in western cultures, faces painted white in Chinese opera would suggest the character is sinister?

So, what stories do colours hold for you? Share them with us!

Do you dare?

Here's what the Dare Gals have come up with:

Audrey

Edleen

Joanne

Karen

Michelle

Sharon

Dare #4

Food, Glorious Food!

The saying, "You are what you eat" is probably truer than you can imagine, albeit not just from a nutrition perspective. The taste, texture, colour and smells associated with different foods, often do more than whet appetites and fill empty tummies - they tell stories and hold memories!

Tell us then, what is it that you miss eating most when you're away from home? Or, what do you look forward to having when you're at your hungriest? Perhaps it's something you absolutely will not touch with a 10-foot pole yet mum insists on serving it every holiday! Whatever it may be, share it with us!

Food, glorious food!

Do you dare?


Our Guest Designer is Anne Marie. Here's what she has to say:



Hi, I'm Anne-Marie. I started scrapbooking about 3.5 years ago when I was introduced to it by my sister. I am a part-time working mum to Ethan, 6 and Hannah, 4. They are my most scrapped subjects, of course.

I'm honoured to be this month's Guest Designer and what better topic than 'Food'! I love to eat, especially sweet stuff. I'm thankful we live in Singapore which offers as diverse cuisines as you can possibly imagine. My favourite food? Well, that's too many to list but here's a layout of my current favourite: 'Zi Cha' at Bukit Panjang. :)


You can find out more about Anne Marie from her blog. Here's her take on the theme:

Here's the gorgeous work from the Dare Gals. Here's hoping they have tantalized your tastebuds:

Audrey

Edleen

Joanne

Karen

Michelle

Sharon

Surprise RAK!

We gave a surprise RAK to participants of Dare #2 and the lucky winner is Stefanie.

Congrats and thanks for taking part.

Dare #3

"A civilization is a heritage of beliefs, customs, and knowledge slowly accumulated in the course of centuries." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery (French Pilot, Writer and Author of 'The Little Prince', 1900-1944)

What is the slice of civilisation that is you, which you will leave behind for the next century? What are you an accumulation of? In other words, who are you?

The Asian Dares challenges you to to leave your mark on our heritage trail.

Do you dare?

We are priviledged to have Caroline Lau from Maya Road as our first Guest Designer. Here's what she has to say:

Hello, I am Caroline Lau, the Managing Partner at Maya Road. My sister and I started MR about 3.5 years ago after deciding that there was a need for the products we wanted to see in the market. In 2005, I quit my job as a Chemical Engineer to work on MR full time and this truly has been and is my dream job.

I have been married to my DH, David, for almost 6.5 years now and we just had our first baby boy, Noah, last year. In my spare time, I love to run, play soccer, hang out with baby Noah, travel and try to keep up with my DH on learning Chinese (he is taking his first chinese classes now).

I am so honored to be a guest designer for the Asian Dares. I love the concept it presents and the respresentation on the diversity of the Asian heritage near and far.

Peace, Caroline

You can find out more about Caroline from her blog. Here's her take on the theme:

Here's the gorgeous work from the Asian Dare Gals, together with a brief bio of themselves. They haven't properly introduce themselves so here goes:

Audrey

I came across scrapbooking via cardmaking in 2004. I attended my first class and became hooked instantly. I realised that it was something I used to do years ago, as I would keep a vacation journal and collected souvenir bits and later decorate an album with what I’ve written and collected. It was good to rediscover scrapbooking in a new light and with archival materials too. Over the last year, I’ve taken it more seriously and have been published in scrapping magazines and am also on the design teams of several companies. I love scrapbooking for the freedom it gives me to explore and experiment with new trends and ideas. I love the fact that there is no limit or restriction to what you can create. I certainly look forward to many more years of creative expression!

Edleen

I'm a SAHM to 4 wonderful Kids and have been married to a really great guy for 14 years. If scrapbooking with acid free stuff existed when I was a teen, then I'd say I've been scrapping since then. But I began in November 2005 with acid free products after being inspired by many layouts and projects that I've seen. In September 2006 I applied to be on a DT for the first time and I am proud to say I'm their first International Designer from Singapore at about.com:Scrapbooking. I truly enjoy this hobby and am very honoured to be part of the first Asian Dare Design Team in Singapore.

Sharon

Hi, I'm Sharon, and I absolutely love Scrapbooking. Getting into the Asian Dares Team has been great fun and really challenging from Dare No 1. The mad scramble to meet deadlines, mad but fun.
I started this really addictive hobby a couple of years ago and I have found a side of me I have never found before, the creative artistic side, a side which my art teacher in school would have been proud of. Scrapbooking has really widened my perspective on things and I now try to see things in a different perspective either thru my the lens of my camera or trying to tell a story with my layouts. I love trying out different new techniques and is absolutely in love with playing with colors at the moment.
This is going to be a great time for Asian Scrapbooking and the Asian Dares .. come join us on this exciting journey. I dare .. do you ?

Joanne

My name is Joanne. I come across this term "Scrapbooking" from a parenting forum. I'm like any non-scrapper, thinking it is just a nice way of arranging photos and pretty papers, until I really learn what is scrapbooking about in Nov 2005. I love the idea of keeping all my memories in a form of photos and journaling and this will be passed down generation to generation.
Along the way of scrapbooking journey, I find that it is not only memories keepers but it unleashed the creative side of me, which I never know it exist in the first place. I used to curse and swear during my Arts Class in the school day and I would never imagine that I'll be in a "Art" related design teams years down the road.
Asian Dare is the first steps out of my comfort arena and I'm really glad I am part of it.

Karen.
Hi, I'm Karen. Scrapbooking has become a big part of my life: Everything goes through the "I need to take a photo" process and "Can I scrapbook this" checklist. I'm the one behind the camera and writing the stories.That's the way I like it.

Michelle
Hullo! My name is Michelle and I come from the sunny island of Singapore. Artsy-crafty stuff has always been a keen interest of mine, hence it was only natural for me to pick up scrapbooking after chancing upon a LSS in June 2006. Til date, I have been scrapping for about 8 months and so far, loving every single bit of it. I do believe scrapbooking will be something that will remain with me throughout my life as it is such a personal hobby, allowing me to not only express my creativity but more importantly, capture my emotions and memories.