It's Christmas!

Christmas has started in our home a week before the month of December.  After the Halloween, I spent two weekends cleaning and decorating the house with old and hand-me-down Christmas items from my mother-in-law. 

Since our Christmas tree had the same decors for 5 years already, I bought some new cherries and twigs to add a little glamour plus some personal touch with diecuts which I converted into Christmas tree decors.

Sharing them with you...

So from our family to yours... 

Merry Christmas!!!

Everyday Days

The Pinoyscrapbookers Facebook mods organized a grab-a-swap activity sometime in July.  Participants must create a mini album with the following requirements:

1.  at least 6x6 inches in size

2.  any shape is welcome

3.  outside cover

     > front - must be decorated and bear the title EVERYDAY DAYS

     > back - must contain the name of the creator and date created

4.  inside

     > at least 4 pages

     > must contain a minimum of 2 tags and 2 pockets

     > add photo mats or at least space for the photos

     > add journalling spots

Sharing with you my very own 6x6 EVERYDAY DAYS mini album:

Front Cover

First Spread

Second Spread

Third Spread

Fourth Spread

Fifth Spread

There's a little envelope between the pages for some special notes.

Sixth Spread

Back Cover

 

Now here's the exciting part --- the revelation!!!

At reveal time, all albums were posted in the private FB page.  The first to comment laying claim to the album gets first choice to the mini album.

Jona Panesa claimed the ownership to the album I made.  Instead of shipping the album, we met personally to get to know each other.  Chit chat while having a yummy dinner ended our day.

Hoping for another swap activity and meet-ups soon.

Thanks for dropping by!

Love the EARTH!

Hello!!!  I'm back!!!

I was able to create a poster before the Halloween.  It was actually a school project of my little girl.  Thanks to her teacher!  Because of this school requirement, I was able to use my skills and materials that have been sleeping for a long time.  LOL...

The theme of the poster was "Save Mother Earth" and here's what we've got!

I promised myself to do at least one layout or any project in a month.  That means I'll be busy this weekend.  Yahoo!

Have a nice day!

Life is too short...

The last two months were the saddest and most difficult time for our family. 

My father was in critical condition the last time I made a blog post.  We said we were ready to lose the head of our family who has been ill and in and out of the hospital for two years because of Heart Disease and Kidney Failure, both of which are Diabetes Mellitus complications.  Yet, his demise broke our hearts, most especially my mother's.

The following days have been so heavy.  We were still mourning on my father's death when our nanny who took care of my family (my daughter in particular) for six and a half years got ill and was diagnosed with Pulmonary Tuberculosis.  We had no choice but to give in to her request to send her home despite the treatment and support we offerred.  Since her disease was communicable and we were exposed, all our household members had to undergo extensive medical examination to check if we were infected. 

I was scared... 

I prayed a lot and God answered my plea because the results of the tests were all negative.

However, while we were celebrating about the good news, we received a call that our dearest nanny has given up her life to our Creator.  How could that be?  Her illness was treatable and she was quite healthy and strong when she left.  We sent financial support but it seemed that she was not properly taken care of by her own family.  Poor nanny... 

Were there any shortcomings?  Who do I blame?

***Sigh***

Despite the sadness, the prayers and support we received from the people around us helped ease the pain.  And I feel so blessed to be surrounded by great people, whether friends or not.  If you're one of them, many many thanks for being with us during our time of bereavement.

Life is too short indeed.  So I must spend it on the things and thoughts that will make me happy.  Now at this point, I can say I'm ready to touch my scrapbook stuff again --- my most favorite things that I've taken for granted for such a long time.  Maybe doing art will lessen the emptiness that I feel.  Bright colors will again fly around me.

Thanks for reading!  May God bless you all...

Mountain of Prima Products from Ingvild Bolme

Ingvild Bolme is celebrating a new blog design and wishes to give away a "mountain" of Prima products!

What to do?

1. Post the picture above in your blog.  Where, how, how large and so on is up to you!
2. Link back to her blog - www.ingvildbolme.com
3. Write some words about this giveaway.  All she asks for is that you mention in your text that the giveaway is related to the celebration of the new blog design.
4. Post a comment with a link (directly to where your post is!)
This is open to all even in internationals like me!  The giveaway ends 31st of August 2012, 12.00 p.m. GMT-time and the lucky winner will be picked and announced within September 5th.

So what are you waiting for?  Grab this chance and keep your fingers crossed!!!

Have a great week!

My First ATCs - It's more fun in the Philippines!

There was an ATC swap initiated by the Pinoyscrapbookers mods in June.  I was so excited and nervous because it was my first time to join in a swap activity and create an ATC.

The required size of the card was 2.5" x 3.5" and the theme was "It's more fun in the Philippines!".  No limit to creativity.  One just made sure that there's an element that fits the theme.

So here are my ATCs...

The fishes and women are from keychains.  While the slippers are cellphone chains.  Other materials are beads, buttons, stamps and flowers. 
Well, I enjoyed preparing my cards and it seems that my groupmates liked them.

Have a great week ahead!

New Layouts!

The southwest monsoon created heavy floods in Metro Manila.  I've been staying at home since Tuesday because the roads going to my office were not passable.  Whew!  Thank God our house was not affected and we were safe during the downpour.

To make myself busy and productive during the rainfall, I created so many diecuts and two mini albums.  But I haven't decorated them yet 'coz I'm saving them for my future projects.  Will share them with you once done.  And since I had a lot of spare time, I was also able to take photos of my new layouts which were done during our class with the Philippines' best, Iris Babao-Uy. 

These are the four layouts I made:

Layout 1:   Every Child Needs a Friend

I love creating the swirls and old handwriting as the background in this first layout.  We used the Derwent Inktense Blocks and I enjoyed using it.  Cool!

Layout 2:  Celebrate Today

In the second layout, we did misting and application of Texture Paint.

Layout 3:  My Little Prep

Layout 4:  3 Sis

In the third and fourth layouts, we used Distress Inks and Distress Stains.  I couldn't remember anymore which of the two was colored with the ink and which one was made with the stain.  Their effects are almost similar.  LOL!

Attending scrapbook classes have so many pros.  First, you don't need to think of any design on a layout.  Second, you will learn new techniques from others.  And lastly, you will earn lots of friends with the same passion as yours.  The only problem is that one must save enough for the materials and mediums if you want to own one.

Well, the rain has stopped and the sun made his appearance already.  Tomorrow will be another busy day and I thank the Lord once again for the guidance during our darkest nights.

Looking forward to a brighter tomorrow!  It's weekend anyway, a time to have fun and bond with the family. 

Thanks for the visit!

My Bestfriend Forever

The July Challenge of Once Upon... A Sketch is about "Friend".  This is the sketch to follow:

My interpretation on the above challenge is this...

I have lots of friends, both from a male and female gender.  But I didn't have any difficulty determining who is the bestest one.

The man in the layout is my husband during our wedding prep.  Eight years before our big day, he was already beside me...

My journalling hidden under the watch/clock on the right side of the layout says this (Sorry I failed to take a snapshot of the journalling.  I'll just update my blog within the week):

" You were there to cry with me and sees me shine even during my darkest hours.  You are a friend who understands my past, believes in my future and accepts me just the way I am. "

So that's it! I hope the DT will like my entry.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

More layouts!!!

Busy days as usual.  Sorry blogger for taking you for granted.  Hope you understand...

Posting the layouts I made on our May 5 class with Iris Uy.

Creating the above layouts was fun!  Aside from Gesso, we were able to use other kinds of gel mediums like Texture Paint, Modeling Paste, Matte Gel and Fiber Paste.

What made the day more anjoyable and stress-free is having to chat with fellow scrapbook addicts.  Looking forward to another class this weekend. 

Thanks for the visit!

*3* What I Love Wednesday!

Oh, it's Wednesday once again and time to post what I love!

A must have...  I can't leave the house without this.

I've been dreaming about you lately...



 

Bad weather and I feel like staying in bed the whole week but I can't, LOL!



So what do you love today?  Share...

Have a great week ahead!  Love lots!

L.O.V.E.Z'

As previously mentioned, I'll be posting my projects that were not published in this blog during my absence early this year.

I was a contributor to Sketches in Thyme and I missed doing a layout for them.  Of course, it wouldn't be fun and organize without the support of the challenge coordinator Tiffany Call.  This lady is very talented and I really love the sketches that she designed for SiT challenges.  She shared the same dilemma in her own family just like what I have experienced in the past months and I appreciate her kind words.

This was the sketch to follow:

Now here's my last contribution for SiT. 

There's a story behind this layout.  During the kick-off of the Model Office (the special group formed in the Operations side of our company which handles the user's testing, procedures documentation, etc.), we were asked to describe ourselves by using the letters of our names.  So what does LOVEZ' mean?

L - loves PINK!

O - obssessive compulsive

V - versatile

E - eldest daughter and ever-loving wifey and mommy

Z' - zealous scrapbooker

That's totally ME!!!

I hope that one day I'll get to work on SiT again.

Happy Tuesday!

*2* What I Love Wednesday!

It's Wednesday, July 4.

62 years ago, a baby boy was born and grew up to be a great man.  Wanna know who he is?  He's my dad who's celebrating his birthday today!

I love you papa!  Happy birthday!

What do you love?  Voice it out!

Love lots!

Webster's Pages, the Royal Christmas

Webster's Pages revealed its new collection, the Royal Christmas.

The best part is that they offer giveaways...  lots of chances to be among the very first to get these lines in your hot little hands. 

HERE'S HOW TO ENTER:

1. Leave a comment on their post telling them what you love most about Royal Christmas.

2. For an extra chance to win, place the Royal Christmas Badge on your Facebook, blog or Pinterest and come back and leave them another comment on their post to let them know you've shared. 

The winner will be among the very first to receive this new line... and it could be ME or YOU! 

Happy Christmas in July!

June Giveaway from Helen Tilbury

June is nearing to its end.  But wait!  This month will not pass without this post!

Helen Tilbury is giving away an awesome kit.  See photo below.

To be included in the raffle, all you have to do is:

1.  become her follower

2.  leave a comment in her blog telling her how approximately long you've been following her blog and where you originally "found" her, as far as you can remember!

3.  post her giveaway image into your sidebar OR into a post on your blog - together with a link to her blog, telling people that she has a giveaway running until the end of June.

4.  come back to THIS POST to leave another comment saying you have posted the giveaway image and paste the link into the comment so she can check on you.

So easy, right?

The RAK is open to everyone (even to international followers like me!).  Just take note that the give away closes on midnight EST of June 30.  Winner will be announced on July 2.

Good luck to us!

*1* What I Love Wednesday!

I got this idea from Krystina or Lollipops in the blog world.  I don't know how I reached her blog but I think it originated from the online site of Creating Keepsakes which I follow, then to a CK contributor, then to another online blogger who follows the CK contributor, and so on...

I think this is fun and would like to do the same --- posting what I love every Wednesday!

So this is my most loved of all my loves and favorites...  MY FAMILY...

(My apology.  There's no permalink in the photo, in case you're looking for one).

I love my husband so much.  Not only every Wednesdays but 24/7, until death do us part...  Oh, so sweet...

And my daughter, she's so adorable!  Sometimes naughty but always nice.

Looking forward to another Wednesday.

Have a great week ahead...

Featured at OUAS!!!

OMG!  I was featured at OUAS!!!

I was not included in the lucky random winners who got the prize but my layout was one of the DTs favorites (out of 100+).  I was at the number 10 spot.  Isn't that amazing?  Now I feel my creative hands have been enhanced, LOL!!!

Anyway, the new badge is sooooo pefect for my blog.  It's PINK!  My favorite!

Check-out the blog announcement here.  Nonetheless, I am again posting my layout for viewing.

This is a happy Monday!

Love lots!

My Girl

I'm not feeling well today.  Been soaked in the rain yesterday while attending the Running Clinic.  So I took this day off from work to rest and to avoid more serious problem in the coming days.

Mr. Mojo's present despite the fever and sinutis.  That's why I took this opportunity to finish the new layout I've been working on these past few days which I will enter at Once Upon... A Sketch.

This is the sketch to follow:

The theme for this month's challenge is about BIRTHDAYS.

Now here's what I've got...

Almost all of the materials I used are from Webster's Pages.

* All papers - Western Romance
* Mini Princess Petal - Everyday Poetry

* Perfect Accents - In Love

* Fabric Flower - Country Estate

* Push Pin - Winter Fairy Tales

* Whimsies

* Sparkler

Others:

* Chipboards - Imaginarium Designs

* Mask - The Crafter's Workshop

* Glimmer Glam - Tattered Angels

* Distress Stains - Tim Holtz

* Mist - Memories Mist

* Metallic Watercolor - Prang

* Liquid Pearls - Ranger

* Crackle Paint - Tim Holtz

* Gel Mediums

Following are the close-up and some more details of the layout:

I have an ongoing love affair with beads!  I so love love love them!  Aside from providing additional texture, beads make my layout more colorful.

Look, I scatterred the beads in the door frame and fence!

Now for the fence, aside from the beads I also put some granular gels.

I alloted this side of the layout for the title and some more decorations.  I used the Cherry Blossoms mask from The Crafter's Workshop.

The flowers.  Oh, they're so lovely!  And the swirls (pearl ribbons), I just bought them from a local fabric store.

My journalling is quite long and might cover the whole page if I spread it in front so I hid it again.  And where do you think it is?  It's hidden under the LOVE, haha!

Just pull the green paper to remove the journal from a hidden envelope under the photo.

My journal says:

"Meet my daughter, Tien.

Time flies so fast...  Six years ago she was just a little creature inside my tummy, kicking and creating bulges in every side of my belly.  I am so amazed to see her grow up beautifully each day.

The photo in the layout was taken on September 22, 2011.  The day when my little girl turned five.  Instead of having a flamboyant party, her simple request was a whole day spree at a nearby playhouse.  I saw genuine, immeasurable happiness in her face as she play with other kids that she just met.  Then I realized...  this is one of the magic moments and simple pleasures parents had forgotten in adulthood..."

By the way, I am also entering this layout on WP's Girly Challenge.  In honor of Girl Land, the challenge is to create a layout on the topic "Why I love being a girl...". 

So, here are the challenge details...

The majority of the project must contain Webester's Pages products.

1.  The project must use Webster's Pages Papers (any collection) and either mini princess petals and/or Perfect Accents.

2.  Post the project in the Inspire Me gallery under the file name "May GIRLY Challenge - (title of te project)" and post a link the comments section on their blog entry.

Well, this is my first try and I hope they will like my entry too.

That's it!

Thanks for dropping by!

P.S.  Since the theme for this month is about birthdays, I'd like to greet myself and my husband an advanced Happy Birthday!!!