Thankful

I've been a very bad blogger. I'm so sorry blog for not being able to visit you often. It's been really hectic around here especially now that Christmas is only a few days away. Plus got lots of stuff to take care of. 2 major events are happening this December and I will be sharing the good news one of these days. And I feel so blessed despite the busy schedule because God has been showering us with lots of blessings this year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything will successfully fall into place.

Have been busy with so much things but sadly not too busy with scrapping. I really wish I had more time to scrap. Got lots of new tools and materials but no time to really play with them yet. :(

Well I've been going through my digital photos and found some projects which I haven't shared here yet. I believe I made these months ago and never got to post them yet.

Here's a simple Thanksgiving Card I made using KI Memories paper and chipboard accents (cardstock is American Crafts)

The next one is a Christmas card with a hidden "door" where you can tuck in some cash for your "inaanaks" (godchildren) this Christmas. :)

Untie the white ribbon and it reveals the secret door.

TFL!

Sweet November

Wow November already??? I really need to start working on my Christmas t0-do list now. Had fun yesterday with little Marcie as we went Trick-or-Treating at the mall. She was so happy with the sweets she got but I had to hide some of them or she'll eat them all in a day! lol

This year I decided to dress up Marcie as Pucca. She loves watching the Pucca cartoons and it so happened I found an old red Chinese inspired shirt (yes, it was mine) and I turned it into a dress instead for Marcie. Hehe, that saved me from a couple of bucks from buying her a costume. I used a Styrofoam ball and painted it black (I didn't have any black paint around so I used black shoe shine, haha). I cut the ball in half and inserted them in two separate hair nets. I then tied Marcie's hair in two buns and attached the styrofoam balls on top of them to make them look bigger. I also painted her cheeks with red "dimples" using lipstick to make her look more like Pucca.

Well the 1st day of the month for me is starting out great. I just saw Artz de Scrap blog and found out I won their Altered Tin Challenge! Sweet! It's been so long since I last joined a challenge and I'm glad I was able to submit my entry (though last minute) or I wouldn't have won. Thank you Artz de Scrap! :)

And since November 1 is All Saints Day, we went to the cemetery to visit our departed loved ones (my dad, grandpa, uncle & great grandmother). It was like a family reunion coz most of my relatives were there. Had some good food, a bit of scary stories, and finished the day with a prayer. May all the souls of those who've gone before us rest in peace.

Hope we'll all have a sweet November ahead.

Trick-or-Treat!

Boo! I'm finally back! It's that time of the year again where the kids (and sometimes kids at heart) play dress up and go around malls or their neighborhoods for some trick-or-treat fun. This year, I decided to do some recycling and altering by joining the Artz de Scrap Altered Metal Tin Challenge. I have lots of these rectangular shaped tin cases (they're a packaging of a certain pill which we sell at our store) so I thought of ways to make these tins useful by creating a Halloween inspired mini album case. I haven't started with the mini album yet since I'm still waiting for this year's Halloween pictures. But for now here's what I've done:

I sanded the tin and then painted it with some orange paint. I used a foam brush to dab the paint so it could have that distressed look to it. Decorated it with black patterned paper with the edges torn, and some halloween stickers. The chipboard house was painted brown and then topped with clear crackle glaze.

Will post more pics after tomorrow's Trick-or-Treating. And hopefully, I'll get to finish the mini album soon. :) Happy Halloween everyone!

Octoberfest

I can't believe it's October already! I barely felt September and now it's a new month. Here in the Philippines, we're still trying to recover from the disaster that typoon Ondoy brought us. It was definitely a dark moment for lots of Filipino communities. I didn't actually get to celebrate my birthday last Sunday because it was too sad to even have a celebration. We opted for a simple dinner instead. But still, I am very thankful that my family and friends are all safe. The storm didn't cause us any damage in our area but in most parts of Manila and other nearby provinces, it was really a heart-breaking sight.

(photos copied from ABS-CBN website)

Haven't been very productive Scrapbook-wise coz I had tons of work to do at home and for the business. I'm hoping I'd be more productive this October though. And to get my mojo going, I will be attending the Scrap Jam on Saturday! Wohoo! I really need a break from all the house chores and work. The Scrap Jam is perfect for that!

I did finish a project last month. My neighbor asked me to create a gift packaging for a set of baby boy stuff that she will be giving to her godson's baptism. At first I had a hard time thinking of a creative solution for it. But finally got it done. I altered a simple gift box and turned it to this:

Front view:

Top View:

Right side view:

Left Side View:

Gladly, my customer was satisfied with the results. ;) Happy October!

September Kaya: What's Cookin'?

September is here! (I know I'm like 10 days late posting this entry). And this month, yours truly is sponsoring the Pinoy Scrapbooker's Kayang-Kaya Kaya? Challenge. :)

September has got to be one of my favorite months. It marks the beginning of the "ber" season and it's also a month of birthday celebrations in our family (including mine). And when there's a celebration it means there's food right? Before I fell in love with scrapbooking, my first love was cooking & baking. And lately I've learned to enjoy both and thought of combining the two hobbies. No, I will not ask you to cook your patterned papers and embellishments (lol), but I've cooked up a challenge for every food lover out there.

To view the complete challenge rules and requirement please click----> HERE.

Here's my sample for the challenge:

Materials:

Cardstock- American Crafts

Patterned Paper- DCWV

Stickers: Thickers- American Crafts

Journaling cards- Fancy Pants Creative Cards

Brad- Making Memories

Flowers- Hero Arts

Tools: Fiskars Lacy Days of Summer border punch, Crop-a-dile

Stamp- EK Success

Lunch box template: My Timeless Templates from Papertrey Ink

Others:buttons, lace, leaves, rick rack

I just finished baking 2 dozens of these yummy cupcakes. Tomorrow I'll be baking another batch for my niece's birthday. :)

TFL!

Oh my Prima!

Have you dropped by Prima's blog lately? I tried to keep my jaw from dropping as I viewed their gorgeous products as well as the projects created by their DT. Just look at this yummy collection:

Love all those pearls and flowers! I would be so happy if I could just get my hands on these yummy goodies. Go check out what their DT created with those faves here.

Trying a new LO size

I've done 12 x12, 8 1/2 x 11, 6x6, 8x8 and so I thought why not 6x12 LOs? I've been seeing a lot of them lately and I was inspired to make some after I saw the sample LOs from American Crafts catalog. It was actually fun making them. Here's the first one I made inspired by our late president Cory Aquino. Of course I used a yellow background cardstock for this one. :)


The second one was inspired from a Page Maps sketch:

Here's my take but using a 12 x6 version instead:
Hope I gave justice to the wonderful sketch. I think I'm going to make more of these soon and I'm planning to get some 12x6 page protectors too. :)

TFL!

Not so happy little girl

Often times we scrap about happy pictures with happy moments but as I was browsing through some of my little girl's photos, I saw this one picture where she was in tears. The photo was beautifully captured by my sister and I love how it turned out in black & white too. And last month, Scrappin' Kids had a challenge about scrapping about not so happy moments and I knew I had to use Marcie's crying photo for that challenge. This was actually a last minute entry as I was pretty busy with the Scrappin' Moms Idol stuff before. And I guess the clouds were in tears too when I took a photo of my LO thus resulting to a not so good photo of it (will try to get a better photo of this when it's not raining anymore).

Title: In Tears

Supply List:
PPs- Pink Paislee
Journaling card- Webster's Pages
Flowers- Prima Marketing
Letter Stickers- Thickers by American Crafts
Misc.- Button, Lace, mini roses

Been MIA but I'm back again! :)

I realized I've been neglecting my blog for over a month now. I didn't even realize (until today) that my blog already turned 1 last July 18. So belated happy blogday to me! hehe. I guess I got too addicted to Facebook that I was too lazy to update here. lol. (Yeah yeah, blame it all on Facebook!) Sorry bout that. But hey, I'm back! :) And got lots of layouts to share. All of these were my entries for the Scrappin' Moms Idol 3. Unfortunately, my last entry got me kicked out of the contest. Hehe. But it's actually okay. I was happy I even made it that far in this year's contest. Last year I was booted off at round 2! lol. At least this time it was the second to the last round. :) It was a fun, exciting, frustrating (at times), journey this year. I'm just so happy I decided to join because I was able to finish a lot of LOs and even a mini album (which I rarely do) and some ATCs. It was my first time to deal with ATCs and it was fun. :) I might end up making more soon. :)

Without further adieu, I present you my finished layouts:

Round 1... (ting!) Pieces of you (Paper Piecing)

Round 2 - Reduce, Re-use, Recycle

Round 3- Space it Out! Celebrate the Everyday! (White Space)

Round 4- Let's Play (Altering pps & embellishments)

last but not the least, my final entry...Round 5- Be a bookworm (mini-album & ATC inspired from a book)

My ATCs:

Inspired from a cookbook! :)

TFL! And I hope I won't get too lazy to update again. lol. :)

Oops I did it again!

It's been a long time since my blog was updated. I have been wanting to post something here but unfortunately, I had no projects to share. I caught a flu and my allergies appeared too a few weeks ago. I still have colds right now and a bit of the eye allergy but I'm feeling better than last week. I've been so caught up with a lot of house work and the business too so I had no time to scrap. Even if i had the time, I was mojoless! Sigh! But alas! I finally got the inspiration to scrap yesterday. Thank you mojo for dropping by. :)

I can't share my work here yet though. ***Just updated: We can now post our entries on our blogs. :)*** Why??? Because yes, I did it again! Uh-oh! I joined the Scrappin' Moms Idol 3 again. Well seriously, I'm not in it to compete. I just found the drive to scrap because of their challenge which inspired me to scrap after a few weeks of scrapping drought. But the good thing is, I was able to scrap again. Plus it required a minimum of 4 photos in the layout so that's minus 4 photos from my now growing photo stash. I think it's about time I put my scrapbook stash to use too. Papers have been piling up as well as other embellies and stuff so I can't just let those sit and wait forever. They had to be used up. I think joining SM Idol will help me with that dillema. I know I told myself after joining last year that I wouldn't join again, but I realized that this will help me. Now all I need to do is relax, have fun and create! No pressure required I hope. :)

You can view my first entry HERE.

Featured at Card Sketch A Day

I almost forgot about these two cards until I dropped by the Card Sketch A Day blog:

I saw that they were featured yesterday. :) Do drop by here to check it out.

TFL!

Wanna win a great set of RAK?

Wanna win these???:



This amazing set of RAK will be given away to one lucky blog follower of Melissa. Go on and hop over to her blog for a chance to win these yummy goodies. Check out Melissa's creations too. Simply gorgeous!

2S4Y 1st Annual Ultimate Card Showdown

It's been a while since I last did some card making. I came across the 2 Sketches 4 You Blog and saw their 1st Annual Ultimate Card Showdown. I know it's quite a long shot for me but I did like their sketch for the week so I gave it a go. Here's Laura's Sketch:
And here's my take:

I really had fun making this card and I love how it turned out. Thanks 2S4Y for the inspiration. Check out their blog for more inspiration from their DT. They did amazing jobs with the sketch! :)

Toots on a Rainy Day!

I was about to go to sleep but I decided to take a little peek on my blog. I then saw from my right side bar that Moxie Fab World posted the winners for their rainy day challenge. I was curious to see who won coz I also submitted an entry a few days ago. And wow I was chosen as one of the winners! Yey! I'm all smiles now and I don't think I'm sleepy anymore. lol. Check out the announcement here. And here's my winning entry:

Front:
Inside:

What a fun rainy day. I got to meet up with my high school friends this afternoon too and it was fun. Thanks Moxie Fab World!

Sharing some of my projects

Been a little busy over the past week. After I gave a family friend an altered clock as a gift last week, they liked it so much that they asked me to make two more to give as a gift for their friend who's leaving for London tomorrow. I was flattered that they really appreciated my gift.

Safari Clock:

Rhianna's Clock:

She also asked me to make a small framed keepsake for her niece's friend.
And I also made these small gift tags to match the clocks and the frame.
TFL! Happy Weekend everyone!

Day 2 of our Ilocos Tour

So many pictures... I don't know which ones to share. Day one was mostly spent on the road since it took a very long drive to get to Ilocos Norte. Now moving on to day two. We had breakfast at the hotel first then took a dip at the pool.

Swimming with daddy:
And with mommy:

Now it's all three of us:

Later that day, we went around Ilocos Norte to view some of their famous tourist attractions. Lots of beautiful and historical places here. First stop... Marcos Museum.
Here you'll find some memorabillas and photos of former president Ferdinand Marcos. His remains used to be displayed here too but now they say it's just his wax version and not the real Marcos anymore. We're not allowed to take photos in his musuleum but we were able to take photos of his other stuff:

President Marcos' desk:

It was scorching hot that day so we got ourselves some ice cream to cool down a bit.
Next stop is over at the very beautiful St. Augustine Church or better known as Paoay Church. I must say this is one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen! It's also a part of UNESCO's World Heritage list.
After visiting Paoay, our next destination was at the Malacañang of the North. It was the official residence of President Ferdinand Marcos in Ilocos Norte.

My mom fell in love with the house because she's into antique looks nowadays. Just like this beautiful chandelier:
Look at the beautiful view of Paoay lake taken from the mansion's balcony:
Behind me and my sisters is a huge painting of the Paoay church:
Then off to another church. This time the Laoag Church- St. William's Cathedral is older than Paoay Church,as it was first built in 1590 by the Augustinian friars.
Across the street from the church is the sinking bell tower. It is considered the tallest in the Philippines but it sinks an inch each year because of its weight and sandy foundation.
That little door there is the entrance. And we were lucky enough to find the care taker and he showed us what was inside the tower. It was pretty dark inside, quite scary coz we had to climb a series of steps.
Finally we made it to the bell. But we were told this wasn't the highest part of the tower yet. I wasn't brave enough to climb the highest part anymore because the stairs looked unsafe.Little Marcie fell asleep while we were here. I guess she got tired from all the traveling. And when she woke up she started crying...

Aaahww... you poor little thing.

Also nearby was the Museo Ilocos Norte. It is a lifestyle museum that showcases the cultural heritage of the Ilocanos and the different ethnic tribes of Ilocos Norte.

Fashion then and now.... lol
Can you believe this used to be how a shower room looked like?

Our last destination for day 2 was the Sta. Monica Church or Sarrat Church. Built in 1779, Sta. Monica Church is considered the biggest church in Ilocos region. Sarrat Ilocos Norte is the birth place of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
In 1983, Santa Monica was the site of the grand wedding of Irene Marcos-Araneta, the daughter of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
You can also see the Torture Chamber Ruins here. Ok at first the name sort of gave me the chills considering it used to be a torture chamber, but when we went inside, the scene was actually beautiful!

Me inside a horseless kalesa (horse-drawn carriage):

Love the landscaping:

And after all the crying this girl was in the mood for some picture taking:
Make a wish:

Whew! finally finished this post. Sorry if it's photo heavy. I just had to share these beautiful places. TFL!