Update

I do not have any layouts to share right now. Life has been so hectic and it will probably remain that way for a few more weeks. Less I hope. We celebrated my 32nd year last July 17 by having lunch with the kiddos and Oliver. When Oliver was about to take my photo with the kids, our dinner was served, so i didn't get any photo with any of them.

Oliver with his girls.. He was on-call that day and luckily, was called a few hours after our lunch..

Francine with her new haircut. NO, she didn't try to find out how sharp my cutterbees are but Oliver convinced me *again* to have her hair short.

Even i didn't have any pic of myself that day, i took a photo of what i ordered, a few shrimps too late. The pasta was very, very, very good. A little on the al dente side but just perfect. I was planning on ordering coffeeand dessert but my tightening waistline wouldn't let me. And it's not good because i am really trying hard to gain weight... I was so full that i got sleepy on our way home! lol!

I received three bottles of perfume from three different people! among other gifts.. I love perfume more than handbags! yes, that's the truth..Here they are:

2nd Layout For July

I've been meaning to scrap this photo of my sister with our nephew taken during his 2nd birthday celebration. My brother and his wife lives in Canada and weren't around during the celebration so it was nanay and Monet who acted as his parents that day.

I finished this last week but went away for the weekend so i wasn't able to post this right away. Journaling to follow.

Guess What? Another Layout!!!

I was surprised with myself for being "productive" last month...I really hope that my mojo will stay longer this time. After my very simple layout, i took it up a few notches and came up with this. Lots of paper tearing and chalking..There is a journaling but it is a little personal.

A Very Simple Layout

Once in a while, i like creating simple pages. After finishing the mini album, i felt that a simple one is the best way to go. I took this photo the other day when Bea was sitting on her high chair facing the window.

journaling:

When I saw you looking out the window, i knew i had to take your photo. The innocence took my breath away. You noticed the world around you. But you are blissfully unaware of the troubles and sufferings. As long as I can, i will shelter you and will continuously protect your INNOCENCE.

(that uneven corner on the right top side is driving me crazy..can u say OC?)

A MINI...

I told myself i want to make a mini after the last layout i did. I didn't know what photos to use though. We received a very sad news the other day and i planned on making a card but decided to do a mini instead. The photos i used were from friendster.. I didn't not want to impose on the family during a very difficult time so i just used the photos i have. Although tito Emi's SIL, Peter helped me with the wedding pic. I did this as if i was doing it for my tatay. Tito Emi was a nurturing father to his children and he will be sorely missed!



























There are hidden journaling tag on a few pages to let the kids express how they feel.

(Tito Emi was the husband of my MIL's sister.)

Another Layout

It is cloudy here today, still, i decided to take a photo of the layout i made the other night...I am planning on making a mini next time.

I Want You To Meet Nicoleen

Her name is NICOLEEN DUCI...We call here Nici (ni-chi), sometimes Chubi...She is my step-daughter..Although i hate the term "step" because i treat her like my own... If only i can think of another term for it. Looking at her is like looking at Oliver, they look exactly the same.

Tagged

by Donna and Cosette

Guidelines:Link back to the person that tagged you.Post these rules in your blog.Share six unimportant things about yourself.Tag six (6) people at the end of your entry.

* i have a diverse taste in music (fergie, rihanna, jlo, eagles, eminem, etc..)
* i love caramel
* i need to eat breakfast right away or else i get cranky
* i do not wear nail polish
* i take naps in the afternoon
* i am TERRIFIED of rats
* i cry when i watch a sad movie

A New Beginning

It is exactly a year since the first time I learned about acid and lignin free stuff..the first time i found out that there is another world that is scrapbooking. When i started, i felt relaxed while cutting up pp or figuring out what colors i want to use. I didn't realize that it was starting to take over my life. Most of my time were spent scrapping and if i wasn't scrapping, i was thinking of ideas for my next page. While giving my kids a bath, my mind was on what photo to use. Stressing about challenges and how to organize my stuff which took over our bedroom wasn't my vision when i started this hobby. I guess it was my fault.. I joined a lot of challenges and it literally burned me out. I had to scrap a few pages a week just to meet deadlines and it was too much for me. It became the center of my days and nights too.

My stuff are now in a closet, out of sight. But it was hard to forget the lovely flowers, chipboards and the smell of a package of pp hiding inside the linen closet. I couldn't resist it, so a few days later, i peeked and felt the familiar tingling whenever i look at them..And i realized that i should scrap again but this time, i will be in control...I made 1 measly layout that night, or rather started on it... it took me 1 whole week to finish the page..ugggh! here it is:

It felt good to do it again. When i found out about the "the gauntlet" contest at scrapperie, i knew i needed it to bring back my mojo. But this time, i am trying to be careful not to stress myself about it..Before, if i join a contest, i wanted to win. Who doesn't right? This time, i joined to have fun and enjoy the process. Win or loose, it's ok baby!

FIRST WEEK: scrap something about us. Our thoughts, what makes us sad, happy, or complete. Anything about us as long as it is not about being a mother or a spouse. Journaling is a must in all of the entries throughout the competition.

SECOND WEEK: make a card that is not a square, rectangle or circle.

THIRD WEEK: use a photo of a non-living thing in our pages.

And most important of all, I AM SORRY FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART TO ALL OF YOU WHO SENT ME EMAILS, MESSAGES AND I DIDN'T REPLY. THERE WAS NO EXCUSE FOR THAT. I KNOW I LOST A FRIEND OR TWO BECAUSE OF IT. AGAIN, MY APOLOGIES.

SWTS (Scrapping With The Stars)

i already posted my first 2 layouts here...and for the succeeding round, i did 2 layouts based on Elsie Flannigan's and Mimi Schramm's (of the dt member at cc) style.

Mimi's style is classic with minimal embellishment. Her journaling is handwritten usually done on one of the background or layered paper.

Elsie Flannigan: ribbons, stitiching, paint, buttons, doodling, handwritten journaling..i decided to challenge myself further by making my own background paper with elsie's style in mind...with a punched out 1 inch in diameter circle taped to a bottle, i stamped the images using paint. then i made small circles around it using a sharpie pen paint.

ROUND 3:

Tim Holtz and Jen Dubbs

When i found out the stars for that round, i immediately tried looking for tim holtz's layout but couldnt..i only found 3 and i noticed that his pages are simple compared to his projects. i tried to incorporate his projects on my layout so i made a tag..i applied crackle paint then embossed with clear utee to protect the cracks...did a lot of inking and used metal embellishments, vintage image and an embossed key.

Jen Dubbs: like some of the previous stars, her style is also a simple one. she layers pp in a classic and linear way. always with handwritten journaling..i tried to imitate the colors in some of her layouts too..

* there were i think more or less 30 participants at the beginning..not sure though..i made it to top 6, but wasn't able to move on to the final round...

I Am Still Alive (i think)...

After weeks of hibernating away from by blog, it's time to take care of it again.This is winter holds the record on the most number of times we got sick...my youngest daughter, Isabella got sick so bad that she lost weight and is still recovering from it...I was still able to do a few layouts during that time but just couldn't get the energy to post and update.. here are some of the layouts i made...

(These are my parents when they got married..i made this for the february issue of scrapbytes)

Cards with flowers that are not plastic and plastic that is not a flower.the top of the dress looks blue but it is a satiny purple.

no photo layout (again).i will be putting a photo of oliver here.

Won't be listing the materials here..still too much for me...just sharing..tfl!

What Did I Get Myself Into...

Besides taking care of the children the last few days, i was so busy working on layouts and other stuff for a few contests i joined...


I already posted my entry for Coordinates Collections' Scrapping With The Stars...From 20 participants in round 1, they chose 10 ladies to go on to round 2...Still have to work on my layouts for the second round though...2 layouts are due every round.


The Survivor challenge at Making Memories For You also started and for round 1, i made 3 cards using flowers that are not plastic and plastic that are not flowers. We still cannot post our entries anywhere so...We, (cookie, christine and pia) are able to move to round 2...The callenge is to do a layout without photo..Challenges are posted every 3 days with the entries due 2-3 days after challenges were posted...2-3 layouts or projects due every week.


So You Think You Can Scrap? no, it's not a question for you but it is the name of the challenge at Ittybittyscrapshack. They held an audition last week and was supposed to choose 20 participants to move on to round 1..But they decided to let everyone join the first round and do the elimination before round 2...For the first round, the challenge is to use the following on our layouts: 1 piece of cs, 2 pcs of pp, buttons, alphabet letters..no ink, paint, stamps, etc...We were given about 5 days to submit..I asked them if we can post our entries here and they said it's ok.. So here it is:


materials used: american crafts pp (play and the goods collection), bazzill bling cs, buttons, adornit carolee's creations foam alphas, the paper studio alphabet stickers, zig, cuttlebug, sizzix die, fiskars 1 inch squeeze punch, fiskars punch(very small circles), uhu

Lookie Here!

I miss blogging but the last few days was spent taking care of the kids esp when we all got sick (*again*)!!! Sorry i wasn't able to reply to all the messages in my cbox, emails, and ym's...Having to meet a few deadlines doesn't help either...will be posting about it later..

I can't wait for spring so we can go out and play in the park...Anyway, last week my husband came in with the mail and when i saw he was holding a box and a large envelope, i held my breath until he handed them to me! Yup! I've been waiting for these: my prize from winning FesTeE december challenge at scrappinkids..Wati, one of the dt member chose my daughter's photo and made a layout for her and made a 6x6 for Isabella too..Francine couldn't believe that there was something for her too! I didn't tell her about it coz i am sure that she would be bugging me about it.

THANK YOU SCRAPPINKIDS!

I bought 2 packs of chipboard thickers (giftbox) at my lss a few months ago..I used them first week of december and i was so upset because i had to use glue to make them stick!...i called american crafts and told them about it...they got my add and told me they will send a replacement pack..Not really expecting something, more than a month after i called, i received these! I was surprised coz i was expecting only a pack..thank you American Crafts!

Scrapping With The Stars

Coordinates Collections'version of Dancing With the Stars...Every round, we will be given two stars and do a layout based on their styles...One layout for each star...last week, our stars were Ali Edwards and Mahlin Anderson (DT member of the kit club)...Their style is sooo different from mine that i had to think carefully what to do even while doing household chores ...We need to show our versatility and come up with something original and creative.

(1)I noticed that Ali Edwards' style is a classic and simple one. She does multi-pic layout without matting them and positioning them with the photos touching...She loves handwriting journaling but she also does a lot of computer generated ones on her background paper...Very graphic, using minimal embellishments..She loves using circles and strips of paper too..Her color choices are more on the subdued side...

(materials used: crate paper pp, crate paper die-cut, k@co pp,the paper studio chipboard letters, chalk, metal rim tags (joann), thickers, zig pen, bazzil cs, rub-on(creative imaginations), dmc floss, computer font)

(2)Mahlin's style is the exact opposite of Ali's...She positions the elements on an angle and uses fun and vibrant colors...She also love ric rac ribbons and buttons. She outlines her titles and uses a simple font for them. Most of her layouts are 8x11's so i did one in that size for the first time.


(materials used: the paper studi cs, mme buttons, thickers, narratives, rhonna farrer journaling tag, heidi swapp bling, mme pp, zig, queen@co felt, ric rac ribbon(joann), the paper studio chipboard letters, paint, mm clear overlays)

A Night Of Scrapping

Well, supossedly...Sahrie invited a few ladies for a card-making party at her place... Miss Ivy was our teacher that night and she was so patient with all the giggling going on while she was teaching us (card-challenged ladies) how to do some of her awesome cards! Sahrie, the perfect hostess prepared (well, ordered..hi sahrie!lol!) dinner and provided all the materials for our crop...Thanks to Sahrie, the supplies were over flowing! hehehe...And i am so honored to be able to meet the talented Joy Uzarraga...She is so friendly and down-to-earth! She was making a lyout for Sahrie when i left... I was planning on staying until 12 midnight but mommy duties called...i left before 11pm...*sigh*...We decided to do this a montly thing so our next crop will be on March...

Acot's CT Spotlight

I received an email from Cathy (thanks girl!) congratulating me about the ACOT's monthly spotlight...and i replied very intriqued, curious and excited all at the same time. While waiting for her reply, i browsed ACOT's website and i found out i have a pm from Melissa asking me to keep an eye for it because one of my layouts was chosen. I did this for their focal photo challenge for this month. You can view all the layouts that are chosen for the month of January here.

My daughter Francine when she asked me to put the silk rose behind her ear and asked me to taker a photo of her..I didn't even ask her how to pose, she just tilted her head to one side and smiled...She's just being herself, her love for photo shoots!

materials used:all papers used are from cosmo cricket:background pp (hey sugar), borders (hey sugar), flowers are made from cosmo cricket(gretel), swirl was traced on paper then cut(halfway cafe), the title "BEING" (gretel), photo anchor (jitterbug), journaling tag(wonderland)fabric paint, the paper studio alphabet stickersbuttons

More Projects

The following are my first altered cd's and mini-book...I made the mini-book for my SIL's birthday. Using alcohol ink is sooooo easy...literally, just squirt and dab. then i just cut strip of pp and plain cardstock. inked the edges of the pp then adhered the end together.


(materials used: cd tin, alcohol ink,basicgrey pp, cs, ribbon, belt buckle)

ACCORDION MINI-ALBUM

I've never made a mini-album before although i really like them. I was thinking what to give my SIL and realized she would appreciate this more. The album came with the cd so i decided to use alcohol ink again.

after finishing my "nine months" layout, i felt my scrapping mojo and was able to finish another layout last night...

materials used: mm love story ribbon and noteworthy paper, plain alpha grunge board, ranger crackle paint (fired brick), primas, the paper studio alphabet beads and letters, bazzill cs, rub-ons, inque botique stamp, stasz on

FIRST LAYOUT OF THE YEAR...

I usually make at least one layout a week...Lately, i couldn't find the insipiration to do it...Maybe because of the holidays...I don't know...I was able to finish 1 last night. A very simple page but i really like it. .

materials used: two scoops chipboard shapes, prima, basicgrey wilma chipboard, diamond glaze, chalk, basicgrey journal, ribbon and trim (misc..), mm eyelets and crystal brad