The power of LOVE is infinite.

As things have gotten busy again at work with the end of the schoolyear looming, crafting has been the least of my priorities as of late.  I was actually unable to make the deadline for the last challenge at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  But I really liked the sketch (it's by Lady Grace Belarmino) and proceeded to make my own take on it the day after the deadline.  Here's the sketch:

I wanted to make a valentine layout, that wasn't necessarily one about romantic love, but still about love nonetheless.  It's about a picture of Jonas with Mommy and Daddy taken on the morning of New Year's Day back in 2005.  We drove out to Calatagan, Batangas to spend time on the beach when we had a friend from the US staying with us for a couple of weeks.  I love this picture and I'm not really sure why, but it almost always tugs at my heartstrings to see such joy and pure lobe between a sweet little boy and his grandparents.  Jonas actually had a rough night, he cried for most of the night and barely slept probably because the place was unfamiliar (he kept us up, too).  But the next morning, he was back to his sweet adorable self.

When I was starting work on the layout, I chose the base first and found just what I wanted in a kit that I purchased from Dinah Maningat.  I've been wanting to use blue with brown and the Webster's Pages double sided card stock from the Natural Springs line was just perfect.  Apart from the flowers and assorted die-cuts that I used as embellishments, most everything else on this page are scraps from previous projects.  It seems that I can't get away from using scraps, which is not necessarily a bad thing, except that I still keep an eye out for new scrappy stuff even though I don't have the space to store everything.  Maybe I should do a new year's resolution layout next. :))

Materials:  Patterned paper and card stock (Webster's Pages, All About Scrapbooking, Papemelroti, Autumn Leaves), die cuts (K & Company, Making Memories), flowers (Prima), brads (All About Scrapbooking), crocheted lace (Yellow Violet House), glitter glue (Leeho), Liquid Pearls, and Glossy Accents.  Tools:  Zutter Bind-It-All, Making Memories Slice, Sizzix Texture Boutique, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots and Textile embossing folders. 

How cute!

My  very first layout this year, 2013.  I have lots of projects planned, but had deadlines last week that had to be met.  And so I grabbed the chance to do something crafty this weekend.  Well, after I slept most of the day yesterday to get rid of a migraine :(  I finished this really really late last night (or really really early this morning).  This page is about my niece, Jillian, describing how cute and adorable she was when she was two years old.  She's still cute now (at six), but her cheeks and little fingers are chubby no more.

This is my entry for challenge #12 at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog, based on a sketch by Kathleen Hernandez (click here to see her blog).  I hope it doesn't look too much like one of my entries for challenge #3.  It seems I'm not yet over my hexagon fixation and I needed to do some more.  And personally, I think this has a different feel - a bit sweet and girly.

A close up of the photo and the area around it.  All the hexagons were cut out of scraps of patterned paper from the handmade gifts I made over the holidays.  Flower punch outs and photo mat are also made from paper scraps.  It seems that for the past several layouts I've done, I haven't used any brand new paper (except for the card stock base).  And that's a good way to start the year, isn't it? :)

Materials:  Cardstock (Corona, Orange), patterned paper (Paper Reflections), adhesive ribbon (Shallow Grass), ink (Ranger, Bic), alphabet stickers (All About Scrapbooking), pearlescent pain (Liquid Pearls, Pebeo), flower punch (HBW), others - flower brad, gems, glitter glue.

Twelve Crafty Days of Christmas - Day 10: Birthday Reminder Calendar

A long, long time ago, when the calendars that we checked out everyday were hung on walls or standing on our desks (and not saved in our electronic gadgets or online), birthdays were noted down religiously each year so that we'll remember to greet that particular person on his/her special day.  It did seem to require a lot of effort to remember birthdays (making them all the more special), but I've found from several sources that if you have a single calendar where you wrote down all your friends and family members' birthdays, you won't have to go through the tedious task of jotting them down each year.  This calendar would have only dates (no days - MTWThFSS) so that you'll know who will be celebrating their birthday on any given month.  Of course, it's not as convenient as saving birthdays on your phone and just be reminded yearly by an alarm that you set only once.  But it sure is a lot prettier to look at. ;-)

I decorated each month according to the season or the major holiday that falls on that particular month.

For January, a fresh start to a new year, it seems fitting to 

remind oneself that "life is for living".

For February, the sentiment reads, 

"Beauty is found in many things, but most of all in love".

For March, when the school year ends here in the Philippines, 

and summer break starts, it seems an appropriate motto to "seize the day"s.

And then for April, with the lazy days of summer drifting by, 

it quotes William Carlos Williams - "In the summer, the song sings itself."

You get the idea.  Start your year with something crafty.  Make your own birthday reminder calendar.  :-)

Twelve Crafty Days of Christmas - Day 9: Organizing with My Dymo Label Maker

If you're into crafting, you probably have at least a basket or plastic bin to store your crafting tools and supplies.  If you're anything like me, that is, longing to to crafts most of the time, but not having much time to actually do so, you probably have lots and lots of crafting paraphernalia waiting to be used.  I usually see a lot of things I want to do (in books & magazines, on TV, and of course, online) and when I find that the stuff to do these available here, I tend to hoard them in the meantime.  And so with piles and piles that need organizing, I need to start chipping away at them, and what better time to do this than the beginning of this brand new year? 

So today, I started labeling my distress ink pads with my Dymo Label Maker.  I love the retro feel of it, I have fond memories of my mom using it to label school supplies when I was a kid.  And as an adult I was happy to see that it can be used for scrapbooking.  So when I saw it in a stationery shop in Thailand (nearly two years ago), I just had to buy it.  It came in a set with two other fonts apart from the classic block print that is so distinctly Dymo.  When I got back home in the Philippines, the first thing I did was to look for tape refills and was so pleased to find that there are also label makers available here. 

There's still a ton of work to be done...  Just so you have an idea of what I'm up against, these are types of arts/crafts I've attempted at one point through the years: cross stitching, scrapbooking, card making, paper piercing, paper quilling, paper toile, bead jewelry, watercolor, collage, and ATCs.  And probably some stuff I can't even remember.  But I'm hoping to finish my craft organizing once and for all this year :))

Twelve Crafty Days of Christmas - Day 8: Christmas Leftovers

 

I haven't done many Christmas layouts (so far, I've done only one) but after I was done, I was left with all these small paper scraps - much like food left over from all the feasting :).  Now I could've easily thrown them out, but I just thought they were too pretty to dispose of.  And this is my dilemma with other paper scraps as well, so what I do with the scraps is to punch out shapes that I can use for future projects.  Here I used a cupcake punch that cuts out a separate top and bottom, so it's easy to mix and match patterns.

 

Of course, this solves the problem of storing paper scraps.  I put my punched out shapes in little resealable baggies and I now have a small collection of hearts, butterflies, flowers, etc.  Here, I used the cupcake punch outs to embellish tags and gift cards.  This paper collection (K & Co.'s Peppermint Twist by Brenda Walton) is a Christmas one, but many of the designs are flexible enough that these can be used for birthdays and other types of celebrations.

Materials:  Patterned paper (K & Company), cardstock (Moods), puncher (EK Success Paper Shapers).

Twelve Crafty Days of Christmas - Day 7: Holiday Mixup

My entry to challenge #11 at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  I readily selected the photos as soon as I saw the sketch, but only got to work on the layout today.

It's quite a literal interpretation of the sketch by Melissa Bonifacio, but I used an 8.5" x 11" format instead of a 12"x12" or 8"x8" page.  I also had a title and journaling in mind when I first picked the photos out, which are actually a bit blurry but I thought it would be a fun moment to scrap about.

Journaling:  "HOLIDAY MIXUP - No, your eyes are not deceiving you, the kids are indeed wearing their Halloween costumes with a Christmas tree in the background.  They were not able to go trick-or-treating that year.  And so on this particular weekend in December, the cousins just wanted to dress up.  Jared the pirate, Jonas the ninja, Dyllan the cowboy, Jessica the fairy, and Jillian the lady bug."

Materials:  Cardstock (Moods), patterned paper (K & Co., Me & My Big Ideas), metallic paper (Star Paper Corp.), alphabet stickers (EK Success), gem stickers (All About Scrapbooking), pen (Dong-A, Galaxy), others - glittery shapes/sequins.

Twelve Crafty Days of Christmas - Day 6: Stamped & Embossed Gift Tags

In the Philippines, the Christmas season is long, it starts way before Christmas (if you judge it by the music and decorations in the mall, that would be around Sept./Oct.) and ends well into the next year (about a week after New Year's Day).  It makes for a very festive few weeks, and I don't know about you, but it's the day after Christmas, and I still have gifts to wrap and distribute to friends and family ;)

So I've made these gift tags ahead of time, but were unable to use them for the first batch of gifts that have already been given out.  I used stamps and embossing folders to decorate these, but I still like how simple these are and easy to make.  The stamped ones above are made from cardstock scraps, and I stamped them with a regular office-use stamp pad in green (I have a variety of different colors aside from the red one, for dating paper submissions). 

And for these tags (above) and tiny gift cards (below) I used my Texture Boutique and four different embossing folders that fit in with the Christmas theme.  These are so fun and easy to do that I want to make some more - that I'll probably get to use next Christmas.

Materials:  Cardstock (Moods), stamp pad (HBW Office), one-hole punch, Sizzix Texture Boutique embossing machine, embossing folders (Cuttlebug - Snowflakes & Swiss Dots, Ellison Textured Impressions - Ornate Swirls & Winter Words), clear stamps (Making Memories - Noel).