Tummy Time

It is 9:32pm on Nov. 30, 2012.  Challenge #10 on the Filipino Scrapbooker's Blog is about to end in a little less than 2-1/2 hours.  As of now, I have nothing done.  I am challenging myself to beat the deadline again.  This is a lot worse than the last time as I only got home at 8:00pm, had dinner first and then did stuff online.  So we will see how this goes.

It's now 10:56pm and I'm almost done with my layout.  All that's left is the title and journaling.  It's a really simple page, but I'm having a bit of writer's block.  Not a bit actually, it feels like a major one... well, at least for now.

And so, here is my finished page.  I had planned to use the same set of pictures and papers for the previous challenge, but since I didn't find the time to do it, I used them here.  So I didn't really start from scratch.  The borders were actually cut from paper scraps and glued together a week ago.  I wanted to use them for a card I was supposed to make, but decided to use them here instead.  The papers are from the Everyday Eclectic Kit I purchased from Ms. April Lim some weeks ago.  I wanted to start working on some pages as soon as I got the kit, but this month was so busy.  And that is why I wasn't able to submit an entry for Challenge #9.  November is usually a busy month for me, both due to work obligations and home/family stuff.  But this month has been incredibly hectic, I can hardly wait for the Christmas break!

Materials:  Patterned paper and letter stickers (Echo Park), cardstock (Me & My Big Ideas), pen (Dong-A), button, brad, ribbon, and fabric flowers (All About Scrapbookling), others - baker's twine.

Fight for your right

Sadly, this is another last minute post.  I just wanted to make an entry for Challenge #8 at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  The past two weeks have been super hectic and I just finished my grades when I started on this layout.  This is actually a remake of a page from my old US scrapbook.  I wish I could've done more with it, but it's nearly midnight and it had to be posted.  Oh well...

Here's the original sketch by Melissa Bonifacio:

Journaling:  "You've gotta FIGHT FOR YOU RIGHT Grad school gets too stressful at times...  TO PARTY!!!"  (lyrics from the Beastie Boys' "Fight For Your Right")

Materials:  Cardstock (Venice by Veco Paper Corporation), patterned paper (All About Scrapbooking), ink - (Dong-A My Gel Pen in Black Blue) others - assorted paper scraps for arrow punch outs.  Tool: EK Success Paper Shapers.

PS. [10 hrs later] After I had uploaded the layout, I wasn't quite satisfied with how it turned out.  It appears that 30-something minutes is just not enough to work on it.  I actually had the pictures ready for some time.  And since the sketch looked like it would be fun to do, I was planning on doing a more elaborate page this time.  But alas, I've had to deal with deadlines and so I was swamped with work for the past two weeks.  So I decided to add a little more to it after I posted it.  I just added a couple more punched out arrows and some bling (All About Scrapbooking).  So technically, this one pictured below is NOT MY ENTRY, since I finished it after the deadline.  But I did have fun putting the bling on where I had to cut the gem stickers individually and stick them down on the page according to a design in my head.  I've been wanting to do that for a long time now, but never got around to doing it 'til now.

Radiant

The fourth and last entry to Challenge #7 of the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  Another layout in which I didn't do much.  The papers from the Magical line from All About Scrapbooking are perhaps my most favorite 8"x8" patterned paper set.  But what I found is that when it was time to work with them, I felt a bit constricted by the design.  The papers are really beautiful, but I guess I couldn't do much with them except add pictures, the title and some journaling.  Which should be good if I wanted to do pages quickly, but I guess that is just not my style.  I usually like to add a little bit more to my pages, do something more creative and involved.  But maybe it was also because I was trying to beat the deadline (again!) that left me with the feeling that I hadn't done enough.  It looks a little bare to me, to be honest.  Oh well, at least I got to scrap some more pictures.  Can't wait to NOT CRAM the next challenge. ;-)

The journaling on the bottom of the page says, "Even when you're frowning, your light still shines through.  Jillian, age 5, 10 December 2011".

Materials:  Patterned paper (All About Scrapbooking), die-cut sentiment (K & Company), glitter glue (Leeho), metallic gel pen (All About Scrapbooking), others - fabric flowers, die-cut oval frame, gem stickers, gold ribbon.

Groom Aglow

You don't often find a groom being described as "glowing".  The bride, yes, but the groom... well, not really.  But that was exactly what my brother, Paul, looked like in these pictures taken as he was getting ready for the wedding.  After the stress of all the wedding preps, here you see him spending some time with family and his close friends, even joking and goofing around. Seeing all the hard work he and Ica put into this day, I'm glad to see that they were able to enjoy it.

Another very simple layout, as the design of the paper can definitely stand on its own.  All I did to add to is was stamp the title and some subtle designs as a background for the pictures.  I have very dreadful stamping skills and I obviously need to practice some more.  I don't know if it's the white ink that's not compatible with the smooth-ish paper.  But I'm really not blaming the equipment, it's all on me.  :P

This is my third entry for Challenge #7 (sketch by Kathleen Hernandez) on the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  Please check out my other entries on my blog and leave a comment.  Thanks!

Materials:  Patterned paper (All About Scrapbooking), ink (Tsukineko), stamps (Crafty Secrets, Creative Imaginations, and Pink Paislee).

The Ring Bearer's Speech

A really simple layout about my nephew, Jonas, who was the ring bearer at my brother's wedding.  As most people in our family (the older ones especially) are bit shy about public speaking, the task fell on this little boy's shoulders.  Well, not-so-little anymore, as he proved to be very capable and quite the charmer as he certainly engaged his audience with his heartfelt speech. 

There really was no need to do much as the patterned paper was great by itself.  I only added the pictures, some journaling and the title.  The journaling consists of snippets from Jonas' speech handwritten on the swirls in the dark blue sky, around the sun's rays and right along the blades of grass.

This is my second entry to Challenge #7 on the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  I had four pages planned, but have so far been able to fully finish two.  With about 2-1/2 hrs to go 'til midnight, we'll just have to see how this goes.  It's getting harder and harder to sneak in my scrappy time when we're already well into the school year.   Sigh!

Materials:  Patterned paper, die-cut shape (label) and metallic gel pens (All About Scrapbooking - Magical), others - square brads, metallic paper for matting.

Enchanting

This time around, when I looked at the sketch for Challenge #7 at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog when October began, I had some ideas on what I wanted to do.  It was such a versatile sketch by Kathleen Hernandez, that I thought there was so much room to be creative.

But as I was going through my stash for stuff I could use, I came across this set of 8"x8" papers called Magical from All About Scrapbooking and most of the designs included celestial bodies nestled in one corner.  The designs simply lent themselves to the sketch, that it seemed the sketch was made with these papers in mind!  I already took out some pictures that would fit right in with the theme.  And since I still have a bunch of pictures from my brother's wedding last year, I used those again.  But this time, these are pictures of some of the cutest people in the entourage - my nieces and nephew.

This layout is all about my niece, Jasmine, looking all calm and peaceful right before the wedding, in the midst of everyone rushing around her.  Since the paper already had a beautiful design to it, I didn't want to add too much.  I did add die-cut and punched out flowers to hide some things that didn't go with the overall design/color scheme.  I actually rotated the paper 90 degrees clockwise to get the sphere (I think it's the moon) where I want it, so I can position the picture at the lower left corner.  As a result, there were awkwardly positioned birds near the bottom of the page that had to be covered up.  Same goes with the bright green stars that came with the paper.  And since the left side of the picture was adorned with artificial poinsettias that were part of the church's Christmas decor (it was a December wedding), I had to cover those as well.

Journaling:  "In the hustle and bustle that comes with getting ready for a much anticipated wedding, here you are - all CALM and SERENE.  How I wish that we could all take a moment to stand back and happily watch as life unfolds, like you do."

Materials:  Patterned paper (All About Scrapbooking, K&Company, Corona), die-cut glitter flowers, gem brads, gem stickers, metallic gel pen (All About Scrapbooking), others - pearl stickers; tools - flower and leaf punches (Carl & HBW).

Celebrating World Card Making Day

Sunday afternoon marked the first time we'll be celebrating World Card Making Day.We had been anticipating this day for quite some time and the preps I did took me well into the wee hours of Sunday morning.  I had planned on each kid making three cards in all - a Halloween card, a Christmas card, and an anything-goes card, where the kids can use it for any occasion they want.  I made a sample for each and prepared six kits per card (expecting four kids and one adult, plus one for me to demo).  It probably took me much longer to look up ideas and inspiration than to work on the kits, but it was all worth getting only about three hours of sleep.

 The sample cards.  It took a while to decide what cards we would make, 

but in the end, the prime consideration was that they should be something the kids

 would enjoy doing - nothing too complicated, but something that we'd all be proud of.

Took a pic of all the kits I prepared the night (up until the early morning) before.  

There seems to be a lot (18 kits in all), but compared to the first ever project we did, 

this actually look less time and effort to prep.

The Halloween card sample up close.  I admit, the color isn't all that Halloween-y, 

but I really like how this turned out.  The patterned paper is pretty but a little bit eerie.  

 

A really simple Christmas card (sample).  I cut all the patterned paper strips, 

which were all double sided, so the kids can choose which design they would like to use.

The sample I prepared for the anything-goes card, which is basically an all-occasion card 

that the kids can turn into any kind of card they want.  I made this one 

with a stamped sentiment that says "thinking of you".

 

The fruits of our labor.  I like to keep the design simple enough so the kids can easily follow, 

but I also love it when they put their own twist to it (like the one on top).

Our anything-goes cards:  there's a birthday card, a "thinking of you" card, 

a "Happy New Year" card, and one that says "happy everything!"

Jessica with all the cards that she made.  

In the end, the afternoon went very quickly.  Both the kids and the adults had a great time.  It's a great way to spend an afternoon seeing the kids smile, along with the awesome feeling that they've accomplished something.  Hope you had a fun and fruitful World Card Making Day!