photo mosaic

i haven't been much of a scrapbooker lately. photography has overtaken what little extra time i have. you can probably say i'm more than a little obssessed with it these days. hence, i haven't been posting much here on my scrapbooking blog. hopefully, with the new year coming in, there'd be more of a balance of activities between the two hobbies i love most.

anyway, before the year ends, let me just share with you a mosaic of a project i just did a "test run" of. it's actually my Project 365 that got aborted. story on my other blog. i intend to relaunch at the start of the coming year so till then, i hope you enjoy what i have accomplished thus far. Mosaic was generated using one of BigHugeLabs.com's Flickr toys, Mosaic Maker.


1. progenitor - 1/365, 2. softly - 2/365, 3. nose in book - 3/365, 4. kagat - 4/365, 5. basils - 5/365, 6. fab fabrics - 6/365, 7. joyful - 7/365, 8. prickly - 8/365, 9. feelin high - 9/365, 10. smilin thru - 10/365, 11. the mothman: up close and personal - 11/365, 12. plaza sta cruz - 12/365, 13. cable sunset - 13/365, 14. leaves and sky - 14/365, 15. 168 sa divisoria - 15/365, 16. reine's row - 16/365


1. smiling moon - 21/365, 2. vintagey - 22/365, 3. 23-365 blown by a book, 4. 24-365 spectators at the mall, 5. 25-365 to the new sm city skyway, 6. 26-365 dirty dawg, 7. 27-365 friends, 8. 28-365 phan at dusk, 9. 1221 IR view from my balconahe, 10. 1220 first infrared, 11. 1218 paper butterflies on the ceiling, 12. 1218 light trails, 13. 1217 pinktone, 14. 1216 workshy at Trinoma, 15. 1215 fire flowers, 16. 1214 moon bokeh through bougainvilla

looking forward to a wonderful NEW YEAR for ALL of us!

shopping gets wiki-ed!

The first time i heard the term "wiki", it was attached to the word "-pedia". Everytime I google something, the results invariably include a weblink to a wikipedia page and these are the ones i often click on first. The results are comprehensive and often with referenced photos to make it more relevant. I'm not sure if I get how this works exactly but I do understand that a "wiki" is a very useful piece of software some web genius developed to make finding information on the web easier. Wiki software collects information from all over the net via some kind of webcrawler and compiles them for the researcher (or googler) to find in one simple and useful page.

Now imagine this technology working for the shopper. I think this part is the most interesting to readers here since scrapbookers (or almost any person with an XX pair of chromosome, for that matter) are such notorious shoppers. So I am happy to point the way to ShopWiki.com. This is definitely one place on the web you would appreciate having at your furiously typing fingertips. Go ahead and try it. Search for something to shop. Enter a brand, article or item you would like to find anywhere in the world and it turns up results plus matching photos to make your search experience even better. As a concrete example, here's one on a lamp search. Not only does it turn up a variety of lamp classification to help organize your search but clicking each segment educates you as well on the details of lighting fixtures! Talk about informed shopping. :-D

I think this is especially useful at this time when most people are crazy shopping for xmas gifts both for the officemate at the next cubicle or the loved one on another continent. It is great as an idea starter at the very least whether or not directly used for online shopping. Shopwiki.com is a definitive tool for the guerilla shopper's arsenal.

golden

being disorganized can really get me in a fix. i had the photos for this job months ago but had to do it in a rush when Lee reminded me she has to send it to its owner already. this layout was for the benefit auction for the Carmelite nuns held months ago. thanks Lizzie for entrusting this layout to me. i hope you like it.


i had attacks of misty nostalgia as i was doing this layout. we had a golden retriever the family called Mozart just a couple of years ago. he was 10 years old and very geriatric by the time we lost him. in his heyday, he was a very frisky big ole dog who was a friend to all the cats in the house. when Kara was 2 or 3, she would "horsie" ride him and he wouldn't mind. she would pull his hair and he wouldn't even blink. goldens are very patient dogs and the only way they might hurt you is if he inadvertently steps on you! the only setback with goldens is that they shed a lot. for years, we had dustbunnies all over the house in orangey fur. even the inside of my computer had orange fur when it gets an occasional cleaning.

Mozart's old Dogster page is here in case you want to take a peek. it's what i do when i miss him.

juju's back...

for now, at least... and i hope it doesn't leave soon. nothing like good ole pressure for the juju to come back to life. i was already getting worried because the scrapping juice has been dry for so long it was getting ridiculous! but with the Scrapfest coming up, i knew Tin needed some more layouts for the Studio Azul booth display. good thing also that the midweek holiday came up at an opportune time. below are couple of layouts i finally got around to complete with the kit Thisaway.

the idea to do this layout just hit me when Raj came up for his saturday morning snuggle. there are no early morning weekday snuggles since he started schooling and morning have since been filled with crying for more sleep or coaxing a sleepy boy to finish breakfast. anyway, the camera was right there sitting on the desk that morning. so i paused for a while from my furious typing on the computer to take out the camera's remote. i approximated our position and voila! and oh yeah, big thanks to Nita too for lending me her Embellish mag to get me going. the inspiration for this one came from a layout there. i'll check tomorrow for the appropriate credits.

Materials used: Studio Azul Thisaway kit, white cardstock, stamp from the kit with Colorbox ink and copper embossing powder, MM acrylic paints to color chipboard letters, buttons, eyelets, Cropadile II, MM dater

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i just love the vibrant colors of this particular Studio Azul kit. just perfect for my 2 young and perky boys: Raj and Tashi. you can click on the photos to enlarge and read the journaling.

Materials used: Studio Azul Thisaway kit, MM acrylic paint to color chipboard letters from the kit, MM metal tag ring, computer and Eras font for journaling.

been bad

in a sense, that is. for one thing, i'm still bad on the scrapbooking corner. still no layouts for the looooongest time. the scrapbooking juju just dried up! Nita says the best cure for it daw is for me to set down the camera first...hehehe... i think she could be right on that, too.

also, i just got me some bad-ass new tats. story here if you likey. warning to the delicate, though. it's not really gory, but it ain't pretty either. but hey, that does not even hold a candle to the truly bad-ass (and ultra COOL!) people i got shots of at this year's Dutdutan '08, the annual Philippine Tattoo Expo. check them out here.

and just because we're at it and this is a scrapbooking blog anyways, let me share with you a scrapbooking link to Inked Scrapbookers. Nina showed me this a few months ago and Cabbie reminded me of it when she heard of me getting new tats. glad to know i'm not so alone in being a tad... uhhhh... different. :-D

if you've extra time, please also visit my photo-a-day blog: http://aulim.vox.com

thanks and have a cool, scrappin' day!

sistah!

you have to forgive me my scrapbooking sisters... i've been soooo bad on the scrapbooking front. practically no output for weeks! my cutter and glue mojo went out the window but came in through the door. only, it went straight for my Nikon. i think it was because of my anticipation building up as the Photo Summit '08 approached. i was registered in this event maybe around 2 months before so you can imagine my excitement as the date neared. it was really every bit as fun and enlightening as i expected, too. my story on that here.

anyhoo, below is the last project i did scrapwise. i have to get back pronto on the scrapbooking scheme of things because the photos and the papers are piling up. perhaps the upcoming EB this weekend at Visual Creations is just what i need to get me in the scrapping mood.






when i saw the Studio Azul May kit, i immediately thought of this sisters mini album project because it was so girly! i have always wanted to do one just to remind my girls that sisterhood is one of the strongest bonds despite the fact that you want to strangle your female sibling occasionally. hehehe... even if i don't have a sister, it kinda reminds me of my relationship with bestfriend Nita. i'm sure she will agree :-D

Materials used: Studio Azul May kit, regular heavy chipboard as base for pages then coated with Mod Podge acidfree for acidity protection, Making Memories round tagmaker rims, assorted ribbons, Zutter Bind-it -All, varicolored thread and sewing machine for the small tag, Marvy gigapunch, Catslife press stamp, computer and various fonts, UTEE, QK letter dies.

Artful Blogging Challenge on www.bookoto.com

how can i not join when it presents a magnificent opportunity to win some of those cool Artful Blogging magazines? great idea for a challenge by the 2 beautiful ladies of www.bookoto.com , Julie and Sheryl! looking forward to more of these challenges and thanks for bringing in those wonderful books too. here's my entry:

1. What is your blog name and what's with the name?
My Simply Scrappy Life

Tagline: All My {S}crap: I'm so full of it!

I came up with the name because I see myself living a relatively simple and uncomplicated life albeit quite busy. Since I like not just scrapbooking but also quilting, I included the word "scrappy" in the title because the hobbies I love deal mostly with scraps of paper and fabric. It also pertains to the fact that showcasing my scrapbook pages here shows sneak peeks into the "scraps" of my life.

2. How was your banner/header created (include all credits)?
Since I am a sentimental person and this banner is the first one I ever created so I never changed it since my blog's original incarnation 2 years ago. I created the header for this blog at the time when headers weren't too common yet and I wasn't very familiar with how to do it. I wanted the blog to be personal so I took a photo of my messy scrapbooking desk, cropped and sized it to be the same as the header size from the Rounders template of blogspot.I used Adobe Photoshop for this and the typography. It features my blog's tagline (or secondary title). I'm actually poking fun at myself with it. Since I blab on my posts regarding my life and scrapbooking, I say I am truly full of (s)crap! :-D

3. What is your blog about? Why did you create it?
This blog was created about 2 years ago when I started to scrapbook seriously. Originally, this blog was created to document and share my progress in scrapbooking AND quilting. However, i rarely have the chance to do quilting these days so it is mostly scrapbooking. Secondly, it also aims to share whatever tips and techniques I pick-up while learning these crafts most especially to the scrapbooking friends I have made along the way.

popping in...

been a while friends!... i have to admit my absence has been mostly due to playing just as much as working these past few weeks. my little free time is now divided between the MM cutter+ UHU glue combo and my well-loved Nikon. yup, i'm still crazy infatuated with photography. as a matter of fact, i have gotten daring lately and tried my mettle at shooting nudes. my experience on that here at my other blog.

since the photos are piling up and scrapbooking was my initial motivation for winging it with photography anyways, i always go back to my scrappin' toys even if i occasionally get distracted with other things. sharing with you here are the few pages i have completed lately (thanks to Studio Azul) that i am so belatedly posting.

Again, this is one of the rare layouts for hubby. i was quite happy to find the chance to document their friendship. just like Nita and I, these guys have been good friends since high school and we saw each other through all those years, from the time we were all single, through marriage, and raising children. long time friendships are indeed good reasons to celebrate and document.

Materials used: Studio Azul April Kit Going Postal, Autumn Leaves stamps, Collage Press stamps, Versacolor inkpads, Quickutz dies.

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yup! Reine had hair so thin she didn't get her first haircut till she was 4!

Materials used: Studio Azul May Kit Spring Shower, Quickutz dies Beauty Queen, computer font Impact, sewing machine, buttons

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Nita's daughter Sam and my Reine romping around with our shih tzu, Tashi.

Materials used: Studio Azul May Kit Spring Shower, kraft cardstock, MM foam stamps, Distress Crackle paint, buttons

a mini for Kara

my elder daughters sometimes feign tampo, whenever i make layouts for their 2 younger siblings. "lagi na lang sila!", they would kid me. "well", i would retort, "mas cute sila e..." however, it was just time to make one for Kara especially since she just graduated from elementary. with great grades too--which totally inspires this proud mama for this project. below is the result:









Materials used: Studio Azul April Kit Going Postal, Simply Scrappy acrylic mini album (Visual Creations carry them) organza ribbons, Sizzix filmstrip and ticket dies, Stampin Up label and spiral punches, EK Corner punch, Fiskars border punch, ATB labelmaker and Dymo tape, Autumn Leaves stamps, Collage Press stamps, Catslife Press stamps, Ancient Page dye inks, Distress Inks, Pebble Inc. chalks

there's no getting away with it...

i can't believe how some people would think they can just lift something off somebody else's blog, put it up on their public site and think they can get away with it. what's worse in this case is that the photos lifted were used for commercial gain.

sample of some of the many misappropriated layouts posted on their site

yesterday, a good friend Pia posted on our scrapbookers' egroups Pinoyscrapbookers and Scrapbooks Exchange warning us to watermark our photos. this was because they had just discovered that the photos and album layouts her pro photographer husband Jeff took for clients' events coverage were lifted from their blog, shootandscrap.blogspot.com and was displayed without permission, in a Multiply account used for a similar events coverage business: idigitalprod.multiply.com

some comments praising the layouts...plus Jeff's displeased remark

upon confrontation with the issue, all the owner of the account did was block them off multiply and delete their messages. so Jeff phoned them and demanded that the photos be taken down. but it was not before Jeff had confirmed that they claim to their potential clients that the photos and layouts are idigitalprod's work. he found out because he ASKED the person he was talking to before he identified himself...and their answer was a brazen YES: yes, they took the photos and yes, they made the layouts!

the photos were subsquently taken off the idigitalfraud...er...prod multiply site but perhaps a public apology is in order in this case. bitter pill to swallow? yes, but probably the best cure for amnesia on what copyright infringement means.

hooked on minis

i love mini albums. well, at least i loved the thought of making one. i especially like those that my friend Cabbie churns out so effortlessly. i like the fact that they contain compact stories and that they are not just tactile--the act of turning pages makes them interactive too, with each turn of the page unveiling little creative surprises. i totally dig that. so i started buying blank ones, each time with a resolution to start it. however, the only thing i managed to start was accumulating them blank books. i realized--maybe after the 10th one or so--that the reason i haven't done one yet is because i am so daunted by the planning of it. it just seemed to take too long to collect the photos and decide what to put on each page before i could even start to cut a single sheet of paper...or maybe i was over analyzing it, i don't know.

it took a little challenge from friend Mitch of Visual Creations to break me out of my mini album disability. she invited us one night to bring several small photos for a mystery project. i had a feeling it was a mini album. since i didn't want pressure, printed out small photos that weren't too important and that i could just as easily use for a multiphoto, regular 12by12 layout. true enough, when Mitch unveiled the mystery project that Saturday night, it was a mini album. so ok, i thought, at least this would get my feet wet. and also, she had started it already by giving us several sheets of paper that were already cut-up into 6by6's...and then she introduced us to this cute little thing--the Zutter Bind-It-All.

i have heard about it and saw pics on the net but never gave it so much as a second glance. i thought it wasn't much different from the ones at National Bookstore. wrong! other than the fact that it was totally cute in teal, it was also well built even for it's compact size. the ones at NBS can only cut paper and light chipboard at most, but this little baby will punch holes through the heaviest chipboard and even old CD's and light acrylic, too. now that sold it to me!

now, couple that with the fact that i was able to complete my first ever mini album thanks to Mitch, what do you think happened next? yup, just gotta have it! was able to score it from Vi's Lasting Impression almost the moment it was announced to have landed. i think Vi had that baby in stock for a whole couple of days!...haha!

below are photos of my first mini. i think i'm hopelessly hooked now.

Goofy Cousins

[after swimming and dinner, init na ang ulo ng little boy]
Raj: "waaaahhh... antok na ko...wahhhh..."

Raj: "yoko sa yo!!!"
Jas: "may bubulong ako sa yo..."
Jas: "bibiyan kita ng candy..."

Jas: "basta smile ka muna..."

Raj: "candy?"
Jas: "kaya smile na...S M I L E!"

S M I L E - pinilit ang smile--asim!

a typical Raj and Jas interaction

going simple

i've always had an appreciation for the clean and crisp style such as that of my scrapbooking idol Cathy Zielski. locally, i also have quite an admiration for Studio Azul "blue lady" Christine V. and i've always wanted to emulate their streamlined scrapbooking style. even my magazine subscription is with Simple Scrapbooks rather than Creating Keepsakes. yet it's funny that even if i start out intending to do clean and simple, i usually end up with cluttered, colorful, highly embellished layouts. so i eventually traded my Zielski books for the collage ones because i have since embraced that i might always be the cluttered person i really am.

however, since life has been reaaaaally busy these past months and yet scrapping has to go on (of course scrapbooking HAS to go on!), it gives me more reason to go simple and graphic. perhaps it is also an expression of my gut reaction to simplify life. and why not, maybe eventually, i would finally win the battle with clutter.

layouts using Studio Azul's April Kit "Going Postal"

na-TAG!

i often miss answering tags so while i still remember, i'm doing this na. both bjay and pam tagged me so here goes.

1. link back to the person who tagged you.

2. post these rules in your blog.

3. share six (6) unimportant things about yourself.

4. tag six (6) people at the end of your entry.

*** i love kilawin! especially talaba (oysters) and tuna

*** i'm a tv junkie

*** i can't swim but would love to learn sometime

*** i like spending some time alone with myself. it helps me rejuvenate.

*** in college, my sport was track and field

*** i tried to be vegetarian and failed...maybe i'll try again sometime.

now tagging dianne, tin, helga, sym, gaye, and dinah

SA scrap a master challenge

big, big congratulations to Lee and Me-Anne for winning the latest challenge by Studio Azul: the Scrap-A-Master challenge! the challenge was to scraplift this layout by Making Memories Master Iris Uy. their layouts are just as wonderful inspirations as the master's layouts herself.


here is my version of the my idol Iris's layout using SA's February kit.

this is a layout for daughter Gabey who just graduated high school and is moving on to bigger and better things in her life.

scrapfest!

i have to confess, i am still crazy infatuated with photography so much that my excitement to go to the Scrapfest stems not from wanting to do some scrapbooking but rather to capture moments with scrapbookers in their natural environment...amidst scrapbook stuff and suppliers galore.

probably it was incidental too that the new lens i was (lovingly) harping on hubby to get for me finally got a go signal from him on that very same morning. didn't waste time that day and i was instantly at Hidalgo in Quiapo to pick me one. but that's another story to be found here naman.

so here are the harvests of that day from my cheap, yet trusty Nikon using those new lenses. i hope you enjoy viewing these because i absolutely had fun shooting them.



if you would like to get a photo from this set, you are welcome to visit my flickr acct here so you can get the hi-res, printable image. you can only access it via this guest pass: http://www.flickr.com/gp/7428945@N06/57M62x . TO GET the hi-res file, click on the little icon on top of the photo that says "ALL SIZES". Then pick Original Size, then Download Original Size.

creeping out from under a rock...

hi all! i haven't been to my blogs in a while and i haven't been active in the scrapbooking yahoogroups, PS and SE either...i've been, well, busy. some of the happenings in my life lately were not so great. for one thing, Nanay was in the hospital for several days due to an accident. this was quite a blow physically, emotionally and financially especially since the next school year and therefore enrollment is coming up. however, not all was dark. there were still some bright patches. i've been growing with my camera and photography and am trying to practice more. i had scrimped up some to finally attend a photography workshop and after that, i chased after one of the Philippines' most colorful festivals, the Aliwan. please check out my stories and photos HERE if you've got some time to kill.

style?!?

i am always stumped when asked with the question: what is your scrapbooking style? i have tried analyzing what mine is but i quickly realized i don't really have one. i often envy people who have clearly defined styles because i think that is the hallmark of a good designer. after all, the divas i adore all have distinct styles. we all know Elsie Flannigan's fun and funky look, Cathy Zielski's clean and crisp style, even Iris Uy's romantic and highly detailed signature. i'd like to emulate them but somehow, i just can't stick to one style. perhaps i like playing with my big girl toys too much. or maybe i am reading too many 'look' books at once such that i get influenced by all of them. then again, maybe doing the work i do just made me too malleable to the design whims of our customers. whatever it maybe, i have to admit i enjoy constantly switching flavors be it with the food i eat or the creative things i do. it's just that it stumps me when i have to answer the question, what is your scrapbooking style? so to this, i just answer "eclectic"... heehee... whatever that means!

among the 'styles' i enjoy are:

vintagey/shabby/collageyMaterials used: Studio Azul kit (Prima Paintables, Prima notepad, Daisy Ds rubons and paper, buttons, American Crafts Thickers), Twinkling H2Os, metallic embossing powders, Versamark ink refill, printed butterfly, MM brad, Around the Block labeller

with lots of sewing or fabrics
Materials used: Studio Azul kit (all patterned papers used here, AC Thickers, buttons), rickracks and ribbons from Divi, Sizzix letter dies, sewing machine and variegated thread.

linear/graphic
Materials used: Studio Azul kit (patterned paper, AC Thickers), Quickutz letter dies, computer and printer for journaling and white letter printing.

fun/funky
Materials used: Studio Azul January kit (patterned papers, AC Thickers, grid clear stamp), Sizzix die (heart), foamies, ATB labeller, Image Tree letter rubberstamps

clean and crisp/graphic

{Pinoyscrapbookers' Kaya blog entry for March}

Materials used: Bazzill cardstock, AC patterned paper(stripes), handcut letters, Quickutz letter dies, computer and printer, blings from Divisoria, glitter glue

among these, i have fun with the messy styles the most but love the crisp look best of all. i think it will be a long time before i can settle on just one style...or maybe it will never happen. one thing is for certain though, scrapbooking will always be a fun, mercurial journey for me.

know no boundaries

this layout was done as a March GDT task for Visual Creations. i so love Mitch for giving me the chance to play with those wildly gorgeous Marah Johnson papers. i have always wanted to do some layouts about my tats and piercings but i have always put it at the backburner. especially on the subject of the tongue piercing--i couldn't figure out a way to present it such that it will not look indecent (haha!)

so when this particular paper came along, i knew i wanted to give the piercing layout a shot. however, the other challenge was that this paper was actually in the Lovestruck line and originally looked like this. it had the word Love written across the top left! but i wanted to retain the feel of the paper so i didn't want to cut it up. so i took out some acrylic paints (3 shades) and a couple of Distress Inks to erase out the word and brighten up the entire paper. then i stamped out the word KNOW and added some aluminum window screen to complete my title: Know No Boundaries"...perfect for showcasing a wild tongue-out picture! haha!

i also wanted to brighten up the word Wild Side so i thought of embossing it with some bright red embossing powder. the trick was using an embossing pen to follow the shape of the letters so i can put the powder on it. i so love my Zig embossing marker now since i discovered this trick to emboss non-stamped spot images.

this is the effect

{click to enlarge}

i put my journaling on a pull-out behind the photo.

and it reads like this:

i say...“Boundaries are for sissies! Well, ok…although I am ACTUALLY a big sissy for pain, I don't let that stop me. Before I get a piercing or a tattoo, I circle the shop for quite a bit, trying to muster the courage to go ahead and do it. Why do I still do it? Mostly because, I love how the look rocks (and shocks!) and but also because I like the self-challenge of going ahead and doing something I am totally scared of doing.

Not pain, not fear, not age, and certainly not other people's opinions are boundaries for me…just as long as I don't hurt anybody else, I like rocking my world a bit. It keeps life interesting for me.”

BTW, i lost the tongue piercing a while back. i had a mouth sore so i took it out for maybe 5 days. the hole closed up on me despite that fact that it was over a year old. i intend to get another one though some time soon because making this layout made me miss it more.

That's it...thanks for viewing :-D