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.