Ztampfilicious

I have been so caught up with various works I can’t believe I haven’t posted about this Studio Mix 21!

Click the image below for more info and to see layouts done with Grow Green:

Enjoy :)

If you have subscribed for Ztampfever and yet for some reasons you didn’t receive it in your mailbox, please access it from here:

Enjoy it ;)

Yes, I know it’s getting so late – but it’s better late than never!
I have been plagued with some serious computer problems which has really slowed things down a lot for me. Hence the late arrival of the Dragon! But yes, there is still time yet!

Let’s start with the Enter The Dragon HongBao Set first:

There is still time to make some really gorgeous and unique personalized Hong Bao for this Chinese New Year! Get it now!

The Enter The Dragon Kit, QuickPage Album and Ensemble Set will be released A.S.A.P. So watch out!

Enjoy and Happy New Year! May the benevolent year of the Dragon will bring you and your loved ones much joy and success!

Have you visited SBG Blog recently? I am their Featured Designer this week so there is a post about Studio Ztampf! and I with an interview there!

Plus… there is a Special Holiday Gift from me that you can download there as well :)

Enjoy it :)

Christmas is just around the corner and see what I have made for you!

You’ll receive 5 background papers, 1 snowflakes overlay, 2 frames, 2 straight ribbons (1 is with lace edges), 3 flowers with bling, 1 bow, 1 tag, 2 strings for the tag, 2 word arts – each in red and green, 1 label, 1 eyelet, staplers in red, green and copper, and 1 garland – plus 2 QuickPages. I hope you will find them useful for your holiday scrapping! Enjoy and don’t forget to check out the other stops on this fabulous SBG Christmas Blog Train!

[download id=”5″]

See just the 5 background papers:

December is here and so are the Elves! Have you met these adorably mischievous Elfenoel yet?
Perfect to scrap about your Elf on The Shelf and Christmas! Use them on gift tags or holiday greeting cards – they will definitely add some irresistible charm!

Well, find them here:

Already subscribed to Ztampfever Newsletter but couldn’t locate it in your mailbox?

Just click this image below:

Yup! 20%-35% OFF including NEW products and Licenses at Studio Ztampf! from now through Mon, Nov. 28th 2011

Some fun new stuff have just been added to Studio Ztampf! Check them out and remember you can use the ZTAMPFDOTW 25% OFF Coupon on these too!

The new Bookmark Calendar Kits make it so easy to create unique, personalized holiday gifts quickly right at your own home! Each is available in both Letter and A4 Size Paper:

The Letter Size Version is here.

The A4 Size Version is here.

This new inspirational and motivational Inspire ARTiculate WordArt Set is especially perfect for end of the year and start of the new year projects. You can use them on the Calendar Kits too – just resize them to fit your needs!

Visit http://tinyurl.com/StudioZtampf! now!

Yes, Studio Ztampf! is the Designer of the Week at SBG this week.

Use coupon code ‘ztampfdotw‘ (without the quotes) to receive 25% OFF your next purchase at Studio Ztampf!

The coupon is good for anything there through 14 November 2011. Don’t miss the opportunity to stock up your ztampfilicious stash!

About a couple of weeks ago, while watching a DVD on my 5 year-old MacBook Pro, my husband spilled his red wine on it. Pretty badly too. Fortunately the hard drive is not affected. However, the incident rendered the keyboard useless: only about 5% of the keys worked! The battery has stopped charging too – but this doesn’t worry me much since the battery has been quite bad for the past couple of years anyway. Now, a laptop without a working keyboard is useless! We tried to clean and dry my MBP as best we could, but the damage was done. So, what to do?

It would be a shameful waste to throw the MBP away just because of the defunct keyboard. Besides, I don’t have any fund to get a new one. So I decided to try and fix it! And I am so glad to find ifixit.com! There they have a selection of very comprehensive step-by-step how to for electronics DIY. They also sell the spare parts and the tools necessary to perform the DIY electronic repair! Their website is very easy to use too. I quickly found out which model my MBP is (it’s the A1211) and which keyboard replacement I needed, along with the tools required. I made the purchase and my order arrived in just 4 days! What an excellent service!

However, because I got sick the next day, I couldn’t do the operation until yesterday Sat, 22 October. Below is the complete run down:

12:18

This is my operating table (usually it is our dining table). I have printed out the step-by-step instructions from ifixit.com and prepared a container to keep the screws well organized; I numbered the compartments according to the steps requiring screws removal. I also have the tool I got from ifixit.com ready.

12:24

The easiest part is done: removing the battery and the memory cover.

12:59

The gate is open. Removing the top case was quite difficult, especially the front side. Now I have also disconnected the ribbon cable from the logic board.

13:07

Uncovering the keyboard connector cover. The plastic ‘spudger’, a special tool invented by the good guys at ifixit.com is very useful here!

13:20

Disconnected all the cables and unscrewed the keyboard.

13:27

Pushing the keyboard out using the ‘spudger’. Took me a while to figure out how to do this! See traces of the wine spill there? It’s the bottom part of the keyboard!

13:33

The back of the old keyboard (left) and the new one (right). Now I have to reverse the steps to install the new one! (Well, it’s a refurbished one – not 100% new, but it has been tested and it has 6-month guarantee from ifixit.com).

13:45

Being a good housekeeper, I cleaned the case first before installing the new keyboard. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

14:06

Couldn’t get the last screw back in. The opening is the wrong shape, not a circle like the rest. There’s a faint circle-shaped dent there – probably the screw was forced in with electric screw driver which I don’t have. Fortunately it is the one under the black protecting sticker, so I left the screw under there. Hope it won’t affect negatively on the keyboard!

14:28

Reconnected (almost) all cables back on…

14:31

Connected the main cable back to the logic board!

14:39

Now screwing everything back in! I noticed that they had the tip of each screw painted blue – I wonder why?

14:58

The keyboard has been replaced! Plugged the MBP to the power. With trepidation, I am pressing the power button… Will it work? Wish me luck!

15:00

Yay!!! Success!!! The top of the keyboard is a bit wavy (not flat) on the left and right sides, but it doesn’t affect its function so it’s okay laaa… Thanks to ifixit.com – they provide very clear instructions along with the spare parts and tools necessary for this! They rock!!!

15:31

Out of curiosity – after tidying up my ‘operating table’ – I decided to look inside the old, broken keyboard. Peeled off the white cover, and discovered yet another traces of the spilled wine!

15:55

This is how the inner back of your MBP keyboard looks like! (It was quite dirty so I cleaned it first). There are layers of thin plastic with embedded electronic paths sandwiched between the keys and the aluminum base. I decided to leave them be. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this defunct keyboard – but I would like to create something with it for sure!

16:42

Finally… A cup of coffee after the successful operation! Woohooo…!!!

So there! If you have problems with your gadget’s hardware and it’s out of warranty, do visit ifixit.com first before throwing your gadget away just because the cost to fix it is too costly. Their instructions are so clear it is easier to repair things yourself than you might have thought it would be! Seriously! Repairing is good for the environment too :).

These little packets are prepared with love. They are the Surprise Gift for the lucky winners of Ztampf! 6th Challenge. Inside each one of them there is something from Hong Kong and something from Indonesia – my two homes! Right now, they are somewhere between Hong Kong and North America – up in the air to eventually reach their recipients whom I hope will enjoy it!

I hope you will like what you are getting :) Hint: one of the things is adjustable!