"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!