Greetings to All

May we accept Christ in our homes & our hearts. A blessed Christmas to everyone!!

I Love Black

.......Chipboards, that is.

I've just added Cosmo Cricket's Blackboard to my all-time favorite scrap items. I just discovered this at my favorite LSS, Lasting Impression, and I must say that for P250 per pack, it's a real deal! The pack contains 4 (yes, 4!) sheets of beautifully designed patterns & figures to suit your layout. The instruction says that you can distress, paint, spray, color as you wish, add stickers or do whatever else your "craft-y" heart desires. Me? I'm busy with the mad Xmas rush (or just plain lazy - lol!) so I just used it as is. Boy, I'm mighty pleased with the results.

Here are 2 layouts I made, including my latest for Lasting Impression, using the Fleuriste Blackboard. Guess I'll have to make a lot more!

All materials available at Lasting Impression. Please check out their store for details. Happy (Mad) Xmas Rush to all!

I've Been So Busy Lately

.... that I've neglected this blog. It's an annual mad dash for me to the finish line every December. Party season officially started and I cringe at the thought of gaining unnecessary pounds from all the eating I'll be doing. Arrgghh!!!

Just would like to show you what I made as gifts for Christmas. I got this super neat idea from the very talented and super nice April Lim. The only thing I bought are the 3x5 unlined index cards that I used as pages & the wires for binding. Good thing that I was able to go through my existing stash, scraps and all to complete the assembly. Best of all, I used my favorite Bind-it-All! I thoroughly enjoyed making all of it!

Have to go now.... Need to make at least 10 more.

Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy

Here's my latest DT work for Lasting Impression. My DS wanted to ride a white horse with a pink mane in Baguio so we went to Camp John Hay to check out the riding trail. No pink horse there so we just settled for a less flamboyant but sturdy & handsome brown one. It was a big horse with beautiful shiny dark brown mane. DH & DS got on it and off they went for a 30 minute ride.

When they were done, DS couldn't hide his excitement and chattered happily about the ride. He amused us as he tried imitating the snorting & neighing sound of the horse. We all broke into laughter when he started complaining about how bad the horse smelled and how his butt hurt. Despite all these, he said he'd love to ride again.

All materials are available at Lasting Impression. Please check out their site for further information regarding the layout.

"Tis the Season

.... for all sorts of viruses, that is.

Youngest DS was hospitalized last week due to a viral infection. DS suddenly suffered diarrhea and when it didn't get get better after a day I quickly hauled him for a check-up. At the hospital, he was given medicine which he promptly threw up. Better safe than sorry so we agreed to have him confined. The diagnosis? Severe gastroenteritis which the doctors (and nurses) claim to be specially common during the months of October to December. We stayed 3 nights & 4 days and I must say that DS was absolutely bored. He was actually feeling better on the Day 2 but we wanted to be on the safe side. On the Day 3, DS was already shouting, singing and playing with his dextrose stand just to occupy himself. Thank God he was cleared for release on Day 4!

Good thing too because I was able to catch Lasting Impression's 2nd aniversary celebration last November 15. The very nice & talented April Lim taught a class on how to make a calendar. I do appreciate all the many great (and practical) techniques shared by April. My favorite was how to use double-sided tape! You can use it to put glitter on chipboard, tie down a ruffled lace without sewing for that so in look, make a flower, etc. I can't wait to try it all out. Aside from that, I was able to snag a few of Lasting Impression's new stuff. Yummy, yummy!.

Here's DS celebrating his favorite holiday of all.... Halloween. Every year, he eagerly awaits it. He looks forward to it even more than Christmas. I used Teresa Collins' Spooktacular line and Scrapworks Shimmer Shapes which I got for a huge discount at the store. Wink!

Tagged by Nina

One of the best scrappers whose works I truly, truly, truly admire tagged me! Nina makes absolutely gorgeous ATC cards, minis and layouts that knocks my scrapper's socks (if ever there are) off!

The Rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. List 6 random things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up!

Random Things:
1. I get regular monthly debilitating migraines which starts off with a tiny speck of white aura in my eye then explodes into a light show in my brain. Eeeewww!
2. I've been driving since I was 18.
3. I've never seen a ghost but am deathly afraid of one.
4. I love the smell of basil!
5. I had a 22 inch waistline when I was in college.
6. I love taking long, quiet walks.

Consider yourself tagged too!

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

..... to Lasting Impression! May you continue to bring scrapbooking cheers to all scrappers! Check out the store and activities lined up to celebrate this anniversary! See you all there!

Thankful for So Many Things

I missed so many events! I missed Scrapbukan's anniversary, Scrapfest, a couple of birthday parties (thanks, Anj! for the kit) and countless crops! Despite all these, I have so many things to be grateful for!

Conspiring events over the last 2 months forced me to put scrapbooking to a backseat as I was preoccupied with being a Domestic Goddess. It was not without infinite blessings though. My youngest son & I bonded and I must say that we are now even much closer. We were together all the time! My 2 older children, in their own little way (ok, ok... with a bit of gentle nagging) have learned to appreciate running a household and sporadically helped around the house. I especially appreciate my DD for looking out for her little brother when I was busy with a million & one things. Oh, and DH was an angel! He was my rock and kept me sane amidst the domestice chaos. LOL! Things are finally back to normal and I eagerly look forward to the coming Christmas season.

Last month, 8 scrapbookers were featured at the Daisy Bucket Designs blog and yipeee!!!! I was one of them. Thanks, Pia Lopez & Daisy Bucket Designs for this opportunity!!!

It's a bit late, but you might want to check it out:Daisy Bucket Designs » Guest Designer - Maybs Tan-Ngo

Our family was lucky enough to take another short vacation in Baguio (our 2nd this year) during the semestral break. Yippeee!!! If you're planning to get to Baguio any time soon, I strongly recommend you guys to take the SCTEX then the La Paz/Magilas Trail/Binalonan route!! You get there via NLEX and if you're the adventurous type... check this out!

We left the house about 7:30 & had breakfast along NLEX. We made a mistake in stopping at the first gas station. I suggest that you stop on the 3rd!!! which is called Lakeshore. Why, I'll tell you later. We were done eating at about 8:15 & proceeded with our journey.

I was the designated driver while DH was my map reader. The new highway is just so amazingly beautiful! There's just miles and miles of big wide open space with outstanding view! Looking out, I am just amazed at how big and beautiful our country is with so much natural wealth & beauty. God has truly blessed our country!

Our adventure began as we exited the SCTEX. The alternate route we took (La Paz/Magilas Trail/Binalonan) is a beautifully paved 2 lane highway which allows you to cut through the traffic usually encountered in Tarlac and Urdaneta. No need to worry because the signs are are quite visible. Just use your car odometer and faithfully follow the designated turns and you won't get lost. To be sure, I suggest you make a print out of the directions like we did. The only thing that hampered our travel was all the "palay" stretched out on half of the road and a few "kuligligs". Thankfully, there were no stressful daredevil bus drivers at all! We just encountered a few when we finally exited to the main highway in Binalonan.

Here are some pictures DH took. Pardon if they're a bit blurry as they were taken inside our car while we were travelling at speeds I can not disclose... lol!

I remember we exited the SCTEX at about 9:45 and got to Baguio at about 12 noon. Not bad for a road trip huh!!! Remember I suggested to take the 3rd gas station if you intend to eat? It's because there are no eating establishments let alone bathrooms on this alternate route. The moment we hit the highway, we stopped at Caltex for a pee-stop. That took us a good 20 minutes as our bladders were awfully full. LOL! Oh and do bring lots of snacks!

Let me know if you intend to take this alternate route and I can run you through it. You won't regret it! I leave you this picture of the breakfast I had at Cafe by the Ruins on our last day: camote bread with guave/strawberry jelly & butter, coffee and iced tanglad & pandan tea. Yum!

Looking Forward

Here's my latest layout for Lasting Impression using the recently arrived papers from GCD Designs. Please check out their site for these beautiful papers.

Am looking forward to the sem break. The whole family will go up to Baguio and stay for 3 days max. Yippee!!! We'll take the SCTEX/Tarlac route which others claim can cut your trip from the usual 6 hours to just about 4 hours. Will let you know.

In the meantime.... back to more laundry. (lol!!!)

Hello Beautiful!

I hope my favorite LSS, Lasting Impression , brings in this new collection from Webster's Pages soon! Love the colors! Never thought that orange, teal and maroon would go gorgeously together. Isn't it really beautiful???!!

Want to get this collection for free? Check it out here!!!

I'm Still Alive

In case you're wondering why I've been MIA, I've been working on being a domestic goddess this past month or so. Not that I'm complaining, but it has taken away my time to scrap. I've been too busy doing the laundry (thank God for washing machines!) and ironing, taking care of my 4 year old and my 2 teeners & dear hubby, not to mention my other countless regular duties.

I expect everything to be back to normal (fingers crossed) in 2 weeks. Oh, and I'm excited to catch this in November!

It's a FREE(!) class to be given by Ms. Jessica Sprague over at her blog. With this class, we can expect to learn:

-Techniques for capturing memories from our own lives and from others
-Dozens of prompts for stories you might have forgotten
-A cool system for capturing the stories happening in your life right now, AND for listing the stories you have yet to tell
-Printable goodies that will make your “capture” system work, AND keep it cute! (you know we gotta keep it cute - there’s nothing in life that’s not better with a great design)
-“Next steps” video tutorials for turning your stories into pages
-Technologies you can use to help you gather your stories together with photos, video, your blog, or any other media you have that gives a peek into your life

Registration begins at midnight eastern on Monday, October 20. Links will go live, codes will go out, and you can register yourself for FREE!

See you all in class!

Rusty Pickle Challenge

Decided to do another version of my beach pictures using a sketch by Anne Cobiere-Scott for Rusty Pickle. You can see it here. I had these School Daze papers for the longest time and was so glad that these were the required pps for the challenge.

Never for once thought that these pictures and papers would go together so nicely.

All Together

The 'BER months just hit us and here I am scrapping beach photos. Hah!!!

I had loads of fun taking shots of my family doing the JUMP. To make it appear like your subject really jumped high, try crouching really low with the camera. Just make sure you don't hit the sand. Line them up then count out loud... 1,2...JUMP!!! Woohoo!!!!

Materials (except for the rub-ons and ribbon. Thanks, Pia Lopez!) are available at Lasting Impression. Please check out their gallery.

Drumroll Please....

Thanks to Christine Villacarlos, one super scrapper whose work I really admire, for giving me this award.

The rules for this award are:1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.2. Put a link to the person you got the award from.3. Nominate 5 blogs.4. Put links to the blogs.5. Leave a message for your nominees.

Thanks also to Cabbie & Liza for this next award. Awww.... I'm so touched. There are rules to posting this award though.The rules for the award are - (1) The winner can put the logo on their blog. (2) Link the person you received your award from. (3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs. (4) Put links of those on yours. (5) Leave a message on the blogs of the girls or boys you’ve nominated.Sigh!!! I faithfully follow so many wonderful blogs and I wouldn't want to play favorites so I'm passing on the torch to anyone & everyone who visits this blog!

Making Memories

I took this picture of my DS about a year ago. If you want to freeze a moment like this, make sure to set your camera at a high shutter speed. My shutter speed was set at 1/200 per sec! So love the mood of this set. Enjoy!

Another layout with my Mother using 29th Street Market paper. I so enjoyed dabbing the edges with Making Memories acrylic paint, I had to stop myself from overdoing it!

Materials available at Lasting Impression. There's an ongoing store-wide sale right now with up to 40% off on patterned paper.

One Photo Layout Just for my Mom

I've always been partial to multi-photo layouts as I'd like to capture more of the moment which a single picture hardly can. But this layout of my Mom is different. I took this photo just last June during the birthday celebration of my DD. This was about the time when my Mom had just come home after living in the States for more than a year.

You see, my elder sister decided in her middle-age that she wanted to be a nurse and recruited my Mom (nay, forced... he-he..) to watch over the kids so she could pursue her dream. My Mom's heart was torn between staying with her DD & enjoying her twilight years here at home. Being a mother, she readily caved in to my sister's request. In the beginning she enjoyed the novelty of staying in a foreign country. Eventually, her heart pined for the life she had here.

Good thing my Mom came home for a short 3-month vacation. There's really no place like home & my Mom's happy face shows it. The moment I saw this photo, I knew that I had to scrap it solo. Not only do I see the pure happiness in my Mom's face, I can also quickly imagine the yearning & melancholy my Mother must have felt living in a foreign country.

All materials used for this layout are available at Lasting Impression. Post Script: My Mom just left tonight for the States. Can't wait for her to come back.... hopefully next year.

Beach Escape

Spent the weekend with my family at the beach. The rain fell softly last Sunday afternoon but this did not dampen our spirits. It left the water cold though so the kids decided to go up into the house after just a short swim. The rest of the lazy afternoon was spent watching a movie. We had an early dinner and watched another movie. Hah!

Good thing the weather was fantastic the next day. There was no sun but it was just perfect! The kids spend the whole morning on the beach! They frolicked on the beige sand, swam in the warm sea, built sand castles and generally had a grand time.

It was an absolutely great weekend for all of us!

Knock-out Punch

...not the one that Manny Pacquiao delivers but the punches that scrappers like me would love to have.

Yesterday, I had the great opportunity to try out 2 very hot punches that came out fairly recently in the local market: Fiskar's Threading Water Border Punch & Paper Studio's Elegant Multi-Punch. Oooh!! was I excited to try out these babies.

Please let me say beforehand that my review of these 2 punches is based solely on my initial trial. Others who own these babies may have different ideas or experiences. Just let me share with you what I discovered.

To level the playing field, I decided to use the same paper for both punches:
a. red bazzill cardstock (heavy)
b. fancy pants patterned paper (medium)
c. autumn leaves/daisy ds patterned paper (light)

Findings:
a. Punching Effort: Effortless punching for both the medium & lightweight papers. For the Bazzill cs though, I had a hard time with the Fiskars punch but it was a breeze with the PS Multi-Punch. Oh, and by the way, I had to stand up to get it going.

b. Design Detail: Excellent for both, although I'm very much impressed with the more intricate details on the Multi-Punch. However, I do adore the scalloped effect on paper so I guess tha makes it even.

c. Learning Curve:

Fiskars - Trying to make a continuous border was tricky for me at first. Being a newbie, I over-estimated the guide dots (there are 3) which resulted in a gap between the scallops (a below). When I tried to punch again, I failed to shoot it exactly and ended up with uneven scallops and holes (b below). arrgghh... eventually, I got the hang of it. I'll share the tip on how I did it at the end of this post. So please read on.

Paper Studio Multi-Punch - The multi-colored "bead designs" on its body initially caught my eye. Little did I know that these are guides which you should follow to make a successful punch. A must is to read the lengthy instructions at the back of the packaging. I had to go over it several times before I finally got it. Btw, the upper portion of the punch is just held on to the lower part by a very, very strong magnet. This reduces mistakes because you get to see where the next punch is going... you see the whole thing!

d. Versatility: Fiskars can only punch out a straight line while the Multi-punch can do borders, 4" & 6" circles, squares, ovals and corners!!! Wow, talk about multi-tasking.

Tip:

Fiskars - At any one time, 5 scallops are made with a single punch. To ensure a continuous border, all you have to do is count! Punch, pull out the paper, then using the 3 dot guide, make sure that the last 2 dots slide back inside the covered area. 3 dots forward, 2 dots back. (hmmm, something like Paula Abdul's song??? lol!!!) Try it and let me know it it works for you.

Paper Studio Multi-punch - Two features ensure that you punch a perfect design all the time: the "bead" guides and the strong, removable magnet. I have to admit though that I got frustrated at not getting an impression at all at my first try. If you're having this problem, here's one sure tip: Make sure you hold down the heel of the punch (the one which has a center marker) and punch away.

Which is the better punch? I leave it up to you to decide. Boy, would I love to have both these babies!!!! And I would appreciate tips and ideas from you too! Cheers!

Raindrops of August

Summer days are really over as we meet August with what else but rain, rain, rain!!! It's been raining cats & dogs the whole week and there seems to be no let up.

PAG-ASA expects the country to experience at least 4 typhoons this month alone. Oh, I wonder if we'll ever get to dry our clothes this month!

August, which usually falls on the 7th month of the lunar calendar, is also around the time when Chinese all over the world observe the Hungry Ghost Month. They say that during this time, ghosts & spirits wander the earth and of course, give their relatives a "friendly" visit or two. That being said, many Chinese postpone or slow down on major activities such as getting engaged or married, buying a house, investing on a new business, opening a new shop, among others.

Just sit out this month, supertitious folks would say and just hope & pray for the best!!!! And by the way, don't forget food offerings & prayers for our dearly departed kin.

Take a Bow

Thanks, Mia & Phylline for thinking I deserve this award!!! You are dear to me!

Here are the rules that go along with the awards:

1. Post the award logos on your blog. Done

2. Link back to the person who awarded them to you. Done

3. Nominate at least 7 people whose blogs you admire and add links back to their blogs.

4. Leave a message for the nominees on their blogs.

As to Nos. 3 & 4, please consider yourself an awardee and be my guest!!!

Photo for the Day: A "Cat" & his Side-kicks

I don't know what possessed me but I was crazy enough to agree to sit as Asst. Class Reps in ALL my 3 kids' classes! It's ok with the 2 older ones but activities for my Nursery Boy is taking a big chunk away from my ME time. Been so busy lately that I haven't had the chance to take pictures. I've also put aside regular badminton & haven't even scrapped a single page in 2 weeks!

As part of our regular routine, I have blocked off Saturday mornings for study time with my youngest DS who is in nursery. Exams are coming soon so we have to study double-time. Gee, I remember when my eldest DS was in nursery some ten years back just dancing, singing & playing the whole time. Nursery nowadays is really tough. My youngest has to study so many things!!!

After study time, we are both pretty much proud of ourselves. Me for keeping my patience & my DS for knowing his lessons well. Oh, I'm one proud happy Mama! Oh but we do have to practice our penmanship.....

After study time of course is play time! Here's a photo I took yesterday of my DS trying out one of his school projects & another one of his side-kicks (if you know what I mean)....

Teresa Collins Mini Album

Wanna do a mini with no fuss? Try Teresa Collin's Die-cuts Collection available at Lasting Impression. These are so cool. Just pop out the cards, put in your photos, embellish and voila! An instant mini album for any occasion! I used my Bind-It-All to put everything together and I absolutely love the effect.

I call this mini "Favorite Photos & Memories of 2008". In one go, I can glean over the "best" of the past year. I left out some blank pages so I can sneak in more pictures to complete the remaining 6 months. Once I get the photos, it's just paste & glue for me.

Keep it simple! was my mantra while putting this mini together so I stuck to a simple color plan. Since the die-cuts are mostly black & white/beige, I introduced only one primary color: RED! I then looked for embellishments in the same color family. (Hooray for Making Memories' 5th Avenue Elizabeth line!) The rub-ons and other stickers I used came from my stash. As I say, a mini is one great way of using up your leftover stash.

Meanwhile the mostly wallet sized photos were printed from my EPSON computer at home . You may use excess photos from your backlog too. Talk about keeping it within budget which I definitely like!

Please check out Lasting Impression's gallery for the materials used for this mini.

The More Photos, The Better (For Me, That Is....)

Helps cut through my huge backlog. I have so many pictures in my photo box. And that doesn't even include those in my hard disk! I'm glad though that I'm slowly regaining my scrapping mojo. Here are a few layouts that I've completed this week.

This is a carry over of my "green" layout fix. I love green!

This next layout captures all the activities we did on March 2, 2008. We went to Manila Ocean Park, had lunch and a great dessert. It was a great family day!

Here's another one showing my goofy DS having fun with my DD at the village park. Unfortunately, my DD hardly goes there anymore. She says she's no longer a kid! Sigh! And finally, this is the latest layout I made for Lasting Impression using Daisy Bucket Designs. It's a layout of my DD feeding the lovable & gentle elephants in Bangkok. We even saw an absolutely cute baby elephant which DD wanted to bring home. They were soooo cute....just don't mind the smell.... Please check out Lasting Impression's gallery for materials used in the layout.

The Great Online Paper Sale at Lasting Impression

Hurry! Lasting Impression has a treat for all ye scrappers! The Great Online Paper Sale is on! From July 1-6, 2008, all patterned papers are at 50% off! This is applicable to online purchases only. Plain cardstocks and new arrivals are not included.

Meanwhile, on July 6, 2008, Lasting Impression will be be at "Ready Set Scrap" at the Glorietta Activity Center. You may pick up your "Great Online Paper sale orders there. For pick-up, please indicate during checkout, otherwise orders will be shipped to you.

See you there!

Of Owls and Multi-photo Green Layouts

One of Sassafras' latest lines, Pocketfull of Rosies, just begs to be cut, cut, cut.... I thought that adding embellishments would be over-the-top so I kept it to a bare minimum. I absolutely adore the owls!!! Don't they look wise and kooky at the same time?

Here's another LO using Sassafras papers. The ink on my printer failed to come out when I printed the photo for the first time. I flipped the photo paper & on the second try, it finally came out good. I then decided not to cut out the first prints to put emphasis on the title. Isn't it neat?
Know one way sure way to lessen your backlogs? Try multi-photo layouts. Guaranteed to cut through the pile. And by coincidence, my latest LOs are green. Hey, as in the color. lol! I had no idea that I've been leaning toward green LOs until I took pictures of them this morning.

1) Remember our Baguio trip? My DS was walking around with a P&S camera and I wanted to show him the shots that he took. A lot of his shots are blurry but from where I sit, I'd say that his compositions are not bad for a four-year old. Please indulge the proud Mama. LOL!!2) The pictures of DS feeding fish in Tarlac were practically begging to be scrapped but I just had to have the right paper. Good thing I found it the Scenic Route Grafton line of pp at Lasting Impression. Just love the fish pattern.

3) And finally, a layout of my DS during his first day in Big School! Sniff... How time flies!!!
Please check out Lasting Impression's gallery for the materials used in the above layouts.