i did it!

i was bloghopping quite a bit this past week hoping to find inspiration from one of my scrapbooking idols. therefore, i had to take a peek into my scrappin' diva/goddess/idol Cathy Zielske's blog. i always pick up something there and even if i don't, she is always a fun read. at that time, she had just started a new blog feature called "make a page Monday". i mulled about it for a while and thought yeah... that can work for me too. it was a Sunday then and i thought that since Sundays are usually a free day for me it would be a great time to scrap something. so i thought i can call it... wait for it...

brilliant eh?... ok, so i am heavily borrowing from the goddess of scrap but she will probably forgive me because she is 'the' CZ :-D however, unlike her, i don't have free templates to give away on Mondays, and unlike her--she intends to do the scrapbooking anyday of the week but post it on Mondays--i will have scrap on Sundays (or Saturdays if that happens to be more convenient). i just thought it was kinda fun to do something on certain days of the week... like... maybe i'll do an ATC Tuesday ... and a Film Friday as a photography activity... there's an existing Bokeh Wednesday on Flickr so maybe i'll do that too. that's the general inspiration idea. hey, it's a plan, right?

thus far, it has borne a modicum of result. yep, a full scrapbook page! to be honest, i really thought i didn't know how to do it anymore. but there's nothing like a sketch to get a girl-who's-lost-her-scrapbook-juju to get started again. i really, really hope it gets easier from here. we'll see.

here's a link to the sketch from the October edition of Pagemaps that gave me a little push. the resulting page is this.



i swiped these photos from the Facebook album of Othello because just wanted to test how big i can print the low res files with still acceptable quality. as you can see, it wasn't too big. but at least that gave me something to put on a scrapbook page.


this was the first time i ever went to Vigan and it was such fun! especially since it was with this motley group of photography classmates we now call Core, plus Art and Erwin. the only one missing here is Rowell. we actually spent just an afternoon there since we were in Ilocos Norte the entire 3 days we were up North of Luzon because we went there to see the Pamulinawen Festival. this trip actually merits an entire album so maybe i'll do that too sometime.

so... here's to more scrapbook pages ahead... i can feel it... it's the rekindling of an old relationship :-D i'm keeping my fingers crossed.

simplicity

i heard it was World Cardmaking Day last Saturday, Oct 2. don't exactly know if that was true but it was a great excuse to make some. i also really needed to use at least some of my newly acquired toys. yes, new. and that, after i swore NOT to buy any more because some of my "old" stuff hasn't even seen action yet. but then again, i needed motivation to start scrapping again. hence i needed to shop. just a teeny bit. i DID promise myself NOT to go overboard... to just pick up maybe one toy... so guess what? i went overboard. now i think i spent the money i was saving up to watch that Adam Lambert concert. arrrrghhh... i hope i can still go watch it. i have a feeling though that i might just have to miss it. maybe it's just as well. can't bring a camera to the venue anyway. maybe i'll just wait for it to come on TV. hey, do yah hear something? probably just my heart breaking... :-(

anyhoo, back to those cards. i was able to make just a couple because i was out with Nita the whole afternoon to evening of Saturday. boy did we have a grand time! too grand i forgot to take photos even with my cellphone. i think we really just enjoyed the moment. of course scrap shopping was first on the agenda, then we went to eat at this place called Ristras (thanks to Vivian for pointing out the place to us!) where we had a big (and i mean BIG!) "wet" burrito. next time, i have to remember to take a photo. we have to go back there anyway :-D then we went for a Swedish massage! yey! we were kinda hungry again after that so we ate at Cantonese Soup Kitchen. totally yummy CTK soup and hot shrimp salad. how's that for a great Saturday!

oh yeah... the cards.


the two cards on top i did a few months back but didn't post and the two below, i made Saturday night to early Sunday since i couldn't sleep yet. these cards are pretty simple. i like them that way because it's easier to fit them in an envelop if i want to send them by mail. i do love the way artsy but bulky cards look but even if i could make one, i might not get myself to give them away! hence, quick and simple is the way to go for me.

here's a closer look at each. i'll also share the key products i used on each in case some reader wants to find 'em.




here the stampin' lovelies i used for the two birthday cards above. i totally love these Design Block stamps from Hero Arts. i'd buy them all if only i can afford them. :-D these are from several seasons back but i really don't have anything much that are 'new'. unless new means 'unused'...


these two are called Birds And Branch and Birthday.

next one is the first card i did on the actual World Cardmaking Day. if you're not a crafter, you're probably laughing at that. but us crafters, we take that seriously. :-D


key products i used here are these: this EK Success Arrow Border edger punch (i love these punches, they're so sharp and crisp) and the winged heart from Autumn Leaves Gypsy Style clear stamp (it's so old, i can't find a link)


next card is this.


i actually made this card just so i can use my newly acquired Martha Stewart Around the Page punches called Woodland Branch edge and Bird & Branch. in case you're uninitiated and curious as to how to use them, here is the instruction sheet from the MS website. you can also search around in YouTube for vids on how to use 'em.

the other 2 products are stamps from a couple of sets. the bird is from Inkadinkado Birds Galore set and the words are from Tim Holtz SA set called Mini Muse.


since these cards are pretty simple with straightforward techniques most crafters are well acquainted with like stamping and embossing, there's only one more "oomph" factor i can share. it's just a simple sewing technique but i think it adds a lot of personality to any craft project.


hopefully you can have access to a sewing machine with special stitches. above is just a simple straight stitch but i change to zigzag midway and then change back again to straight. i repeated it several times as i completed the edges around the card.

above is also a sewing technique but i did 2 rows of stitching, one straight and the other is a feather stitch.

but what's really cool are these variegated threads i used here. this is quilting and sewing thread from YLI i got from Ebay. i can't find them anywhere here in Manila. i initially bought them for quilting but they're seeing more action in papercrafting. well, ain't that a surprise...

so there... hope you liked my little warm-up-to-scrapbooking project. hopefully the next project is a scrapbook page already.