Month: April 2011

Saturday Feature: Shopping with Taobao

Published by Sula H.

Unlike the shopping experience in the West, many stores in provincial China don’t have a great variety of products readily available in the stores. Choices usually are rather limited, and shopping like that can be rather frustrating at times. But we have taobao! Everyone here knows what taobao is, and thanks to this huge online market, I’ve been able to purchase quite a range of goods. Rumor has it, that there is nothing taobao doesn’t offer, though – of course – that is a bit of an exaggeration. The truth, however, is that you really can get almost anything you need – from simple groceries, to clothes, office supplies, electronics, … anything! In the past, I’ve ordered things like vanilla extract, as well as printing cartridges, external harddrives, sharpie markers, tennis balls, and countless other goods. This online market basically is a place where lots of sellers offer their products, and usually for a really low price. I couldn’t imagine my life without taobao. After all, I had my last order arrive in the mail …

Freebie Friday: Leap

Published by Sula H.

Sorry, everyone! Being a day late here. But I got stuck on watching the wedding! Anyways, here it finally is, this week’s new template, based on my layout “Big Leap.” Also, it’s time to announce the happy winner of the contest from last week – (drumroll please! though it’s not a big surprise, lol) – due to the lack of other eligible participants the template collection goes to JenM. (I didn’t even have to use random.org for the drawing, since JenM was the only one who actually participated!) Congrats for winning 12 templates, Jen, and I’ll email you shortly with further specifics. Originally, I had planned to launch another contest (since NSD is coming up), getting you scrapping with one of my templates to win the pack. But it looks like a lot of you already have the templates, which is why there’s no need for another contest. But just out of curiosity, I’d like to ask, whether you’d like me to continue creating these freebies – if in general, there is just little interest in …

Fun with Chinglish: Keep off the water!

Published by Sula H.

  Sign reads: “Keep off the water, caution danger.” If you consider getting wet as some kind of danger, then it surely is advisable that you keep your hands “off” the water. Or am I overlooking something that can be found somewhere in the less-than-knee-deep water which might cause harm …? Note: When posting anything in the Fun with Chinglish section, I don’t mean to show disrespect towards anything or anyone in any way. I’m simply sharing the fun we get to have with all those great signs & documents!  

Hybrid Hub: Soar

Published by Sula H.

Spring is still in full swing (although here it has been feeling more like summer, lately), so I’ll continue to show you some of my spring-themed cards. This one was created with Kristin Cronin-Barrow’s “Hippity Hop” Easter scrapbook kit (see “Monday Highlight: Hippity Hop” for more details). The kit comes with such beautifully patterned papers in great springy colors, that they are perfect for card-making. The paper piecing pattern for the butterfly I downloaded from scrapbooks.etc. This card is yet another example of how – with very little effort – you can create a pretty project that will be an enjoyable experience even for those not used to paper crafting!

Around Town: Building Bridges

Published by Sula H.

Earlier this year, they began to construct overhead crossings all over town, to make the traffic a little safer. Only a few weeks ago, they completed construction on an overpass right outside one of our school’s main gates. The bridge is meant to keep pedestrians off the road, but since the railings don’t go very far, there are still a lot of people on the other side of the fence. For me, on the other hand, the bridge means that the distance to the little corner store where I usually buy my school supplies has doubled – there is no more running across the street to quickly make an errand. And even though it doesn’t reduce the honking on the street, I guess the overpass is a good thing, since traffic can go a little smoother now. And for all the vendors who gather around the gates, the overhead crossing has turned into a little paradise – offering a lot of  shelter!

Enable Me: Big Pictures Photoshop Actions

Published by Sula H.

This week, I have another special treat for you: A free photoshop action that can be very fun to apply to your photos and papers. Compared to the commercial version, the free version comes with very limited options. Nevertheless, this action is still fun to use and will give your page a fun twist. You can either put a collage together with 25 different images, or you can use one photo/paper that will be divided into 25 smaller images. You can leave the photos flat and orderly, or you can have the edges bent and individual images angled (as if a wind has swept through the whole) – all with one click. Here are some sample pages I did, using this photoshop action. Another more recent one: The photoshop action says it requires a rectangular/landscape image to work with, but when I used the squared background paper in my second layout, it still worked just as good! Simply click on the image above to go to PanosFX.com, scroll down the page a bit, and you …

Fried Mixed Vegetables

Published by Sula H.

I have yet another very typical dish that I want to introduce to you today: fried mixed vegetables. This dish is comprised of onions, carrots, bamboo sprouts, and mushrooms, which are fried in the wok, together with peppers and other spices. It’s very popular in our area, and quite delicious, too!

Behind the Scenes: Principles of Design – Rule of Odds

Published by Sula H.

I have another principle of design that I’d like to discuss with you today, because it is a concept that will be very useful to keep in mind when you are working on a scrapbook page. It’s the Rule of Odds. Basically, this rule says that it is better to work with odd numbers than with even numbers whenever you work on a composition of any kind. Whether you take photos, create a painting, or – like us – design a scrapbook page – knowing about the Rule of Odds can improve your composition significantly. In other words, to ensure that your page turns out more dynamic, work with groups of three, five, or seven, instead of two, four, or six. Naturally, what happens with the human eye or brain is that they try to pair things up or group them together. This may be, because in nature we often find pairs. Even our body is designed in pairs: two eyes, two ears, two legs, two arms and hands, … you get the point! So, …

Chinese Corner: Happy

Published by Sula H.

  Lesson 2: Happy It’s time for our next lesson, and today, I want to show you what the Chinese think of when they want to express that they are happy. kai = open, bloom xin = heart, mind, center kaixin = open heart = happy To be happy means, to have a heart wide open! (If you can’t see the Chinese characters, because you don’t have any Asian languages installed on your computer, don’t worry about it.)