cards, cards....

i'm not much of a card maker but i think i should do more of them. for one thing, it's great to give and receive them in the age of emails. they're truly personal and seems to pack more of a hug or a kiss. i did a few just before the year ended and some early this year as you may check out here.

Nina had a blog party and she had questions one has to answer in order to join. part of it was to send in some projects with examples of the answer. i realized, i didn't have any to show for by way of the techniques. so i thought i would do a quickie project and above is the resulting card. it was inspired by one of the cards i saw made by Ms. Marian using alcohol inks. i didn't have glossy cardstock so i thought i'd UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel) regular cardstock and then use alcohol inks on it for the background.

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this one i made for my nephew, Caspen, last December. i wanted to go to his party but schedules were criss-crossed at the time. i so sent this one to him deliver my birthday wishes.

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those Cuttlebug embossing folders are really so nice. here is another one i did for my inaanak, Lyza, who is visiting from Australia. she graduated from college with a Nursing degree.

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this one was my entry to the Kaya challenge 8 last December. i gave it to Lyza too so she can take it back home to OZ for her parents. i miss my good friends Jojo and Beth!...somehow, this one just seems to be the perfect card for them send with my hugs and kisses.

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these two are part of my Studio Azul projects. they'd be great for giving out next year since i was only able to work on them way past Xmas! now i have a headstart for the next holiday season...

peek-a-boo!

these LOs are now posted at the Studio Azul site so check 'em there as well so you can also take a peek at the cool and edgy January kit that's currently shipping.

this is a photo of my inaanak...cutie-pie 'no!...i asked Nita for a photo since i have few Christmas-sy ones. i really like big edge-to-edge pics because they make such huge impact but i had 2 problems. first was that this one was taken in a dimly lit place so enlarging it was a bit of a stretch. still, i think it was worth it for the cool shot so i went ahead and just did some photoshopping to make it suitable and enlarged it. next problem is that i have a regular A4 printer which means i can only do photos to about 11 inches. since this is a 12 by 12, my work-around was to print it in 2 segments. the splice is hidden by the green and red ribbon...nice tip, eh! btw, i think i was inspired here by one of the Pagemaps sketches though it was pretty subconscious...hahahah...i was surprised when i took a peek recently that it almost matches the first sketch!...talk about a retentive memory that forgets all about it :-D

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found this as a was looking for xmas pics to scrap. forgot to date it but this one was taken in December 2002. i really needed to scrap it because it was one of Reine's milestones. this one is a photo of the day we discovered her very first tooth. most of my kids gets their first teeth late so she is 10 months old here and was taken with a camera phone in all the excitement. it got lost among all the photos i have so i'm glad to finally find it and scrap it.

i used Radiant Rain shimmer spray here on the cardstock. i just love that product! i gives just about anything some glitz and pizzazz be it patterned paper, cardstock or even non-paper items! it really sticks and doesn't come off so you also have to be careful of overspray. some of my walls already glimmer. :-D

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i think this is my favorite LO thus far. it makes me happy just by looking at it. this one will be framed and displayed and perhaps shelved in my scrapbook next year AFTER it gets replaced with a new family photo. i think from on, i am making it a family tradition: December 26 shall be Family-Photo Shoot-at-a-Studio Day.

xmas LO teasers...

whew! finally accomplished 3 LOs for Studio Azul...and these are actually my first 3 for the year. thanks heavens for these kits! if i didn't have it, i doubt i could accomplish these at all this quick. makes me wonder if i really can accomplish my resolution of 2 layouts a week if i was working on non-kit papers. sigh. i really must re-examine my scrapping habits. i take too long deciding to paste things down, i think. but i am really happy and excited to share this nonetheless. watch out for the entire LOs soon at the Studio Azul blogsite along with Mia and Tin's beautiful work!

welcoming 2008

hello and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!!! am just starting to go out of the holiday break. it doesn't feel like a "break" really, there was so much to do! holiday shopping, reunions, xmas parties, things to cook, never ending shopping and wrapping...it was sooo draining! i wasn't able to do ANY scrapping till the 2nd of January, when all finally winded down...for a day! i did get in some scrapping then but to date have only 2 1/2 completed LOs for Studio Azul...will post them soon as they get done.

for now, i'm sharing our FIRST ever sit-in, studio-shot family pictures. this took a looong time coming--about 20 years late! since we had our first baby, i have always asked hubby that we take some time to take annual "formal" family photos but there were so many excuses to put it off. i have much to thank Val Salmon for giving me a magnificent incentive to go ahead an do it -- the Kaya 8 challenge for December where we needed a family photo to do the greeting card sketch. it was also lucky that i passed by this cozy-looking photo studio called Pic-A-Boo at The Block as i was doing some last minute xmas shopping at Toy Kingdom. their rates are quite reasonable and there are no membership fees. the package for 3 5R shots cost just under PHP1000.00 with unlimited posing. they have a pretty cool studio and i saw lots of costumes that would probably make fun baby (and adult) shots.

i immediately made appointments --yes, now i have to make "appointments" with my damulags just to get them all together on the same day--with the kids and hubby for the 26th (or else!) it was also great family bonding time because we also had a blast posing and picking out the pics for printing. here are the results. too bad they don't sell the high resolution jpgs. we ended up with 2 packages because we liked so many of the shots!

guess which photo made it to a frame to be proudly displayed at the living room? :-D

happily blue

those kits are soooo worth it! twice now, whenever Mia sends me their wonderful kits, i get all excited and kilig. you get papers for different manufacturers and they are all coordinated with matching embellishments (buttons, ribbons, rubons chipboard, even thingamajigs yeyeyey!) and there is also an acrylic stamp monthly...how cool is that! it's definitely not hard to make LOs look yummy because you get most of what you need all matching and if you get the add -on kits...that makes it even better. plus, it may even CURB your scrap spending...you don't need to buy a whole set of papers or embellishments to get to that one that makes the LO in your head complete. here are my takes on the November kit.

i dream of...

you know me, i just very occasionally do intricate cutwork, but this paper was just ASKING to be cut! just look at it, practically NO flower design overlaps! how can i resist...

also, this layout is special to me. i had these 3 photos since SM Idol finals because we were asked to prepare for 3 themes. this was my prepared photos for the My Dream theme. i have been meaning to scrap them but fail to do so for some reason or another. so when my first Studio Azul kit came and it was called Passage to India, i took it as a sign! even the rich oranges and greens of this kit match the photo. Nita even points out, hey, wasn't it the Dalai Lama who literally did to a passage to India!

the Dalai Lama's picture was taken from this book i had: Stages of Meditation: Training the Mind for Wisdom (it's a great read...and would probably be even better if practiced!). i scanned the book and edited with Photoshop CS to remove the letters. that was fussy photoshopping and took me all of a day! then i asked bestfriend Nita to take my picture with a white sheet as a background. again, with some ps manipulation, i took the background of the HHDL's pic, flipped it and made it my background so it would look like we were at the same place. lastly, i added the same color overcast to both pictures so it would look more realistic.

they say creative visualization sometimes works to make wishes come true, i consider this is my effort at it. :-D

of friendships and scrapbooks
these pictures were taken by Jeff Lopez and i just love it! it is the culmination of one of the most grueling challenges i have taken on thus far in my scrapbooking world. i love it because it show the end result: a bonding between people who were otherwise living in separate worlds but who came together just because of a hobby turned passion.

when i first saw the Prima Paintables paper, i thought to myself, THIS would be an interesting challenge. and, my oh my, it was! i have always wanted to learn to use watercolors but except for small card projects, i have really very little experience in it. this is a 12x12. i was so afraid i'd ruin it but once i got warmed up, i couldn't put it down! it was totally freewheelin' but i loved the end result. now, i want more of it!

oh, brother...
our scrapbooking is a way not only to preserve memories but to also leave messages or reminders to our children. this is layout contains my short yet important message for them. the title and the journaling on the arrow are actually lyrics from an old song...


...but the arrow with the hinge flips to reveal the message inside:


-------the--stitch--itch-------

you might have noticed by now that i love stitching my LO's . i even have a Simply Scrappy product called the Deckler and Stitching Guide for some manual stitching. however, i find that stitching via a sewing machine makes this activity faster. it also gives me a good excuse to play with my new toy. so for the above layout, i did some experimenting with the decorative stitches of my Janome and here is the result before i used it on the above LO:

even without fancy stitching, simply using different color threads makes a lot of impact. below is another example of some cool effects done with sewing. this LO is from one of the SMIdol challenges which i did with just regular, straight stitches. it's really easy and very forgiving. no need for perfectly aligned stitches.

try it sometime. it's a cool way to learn a new skill if you're not stitching yet or a fine way to use an old sewing machine for more than just making clothes or curtains.

sneakypeeky

Studio Azul November kit called Passage to India

when i got my first kit for DT duty for Studio Azul, i was so thrilled! it is sooooo lovely! the colors were rich and the content--the buttons, the papers, the Prima Paintables, and the damask clear stamp--oooweee, they were all so yummy i can eat them. good thing i was not hungry!

i wasn't sure if i was allowed to post it then so i kept quiet till i can clear it with the bosses (hi Tin and Mia!). but since the kit is out, i can sneak a bit of a peek of the LOs i made with them. watch for the whole LOs showing at the Studio Azul blog soon together with the equally scrappy tandem of T and M's LOs...

the DaisyDs paper was just begging to be cut! i don't do cutwork much but i just had to succumb to this one...so i channelled my inner Joanne Y. :-D

this one was my adventure into using the Prima Paintables paper and some watercolor pencils...it was certainly daunting but i love the effect and the challenge
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sew happy

an old love rekindled
when i first named this blog "all my scrap" and even when my little sidebiz was named Simply Scrappy, it was with the view to not only venture into scrapbooking but also into an earlier interest in another sort of scrappy hobby: QUILTING. i have never gotten past the beginner stage and i have tried very few projects in this hobby not because i lack interest but because i also encountered the same problems as i did with scrapbooking-- the lack of tools and materials. No, i don't mean the fabrics because there is an abundance of this in what has also become a scrapbooking destination, Divisoria, but mostly of the cutting tools and of a very important component of any hobby, i think: some friends/support group to bounce ideas off. inspite of this, my desire to quilt refused to die. here are some of my previous attempts at it.

this table runner is my first ever quilted project

picture on top: i am so proud of this full queen-sized quilt despite the fact it is is still unfinished. it is lacks the final touch--the binder (the edging). i started it when i was 7 months pregnant with Reine. i remember being sooo big and heavy while basting this project that i was having a hard time, but i was so excited and determined to finish it! unfortunately, i didn't complete the quilting because i gave birth before i finished.

an opportunity presents
when hubby had to go on a trip to the U.S. last week and since he still owed me my anniversary gift, my first instinct was to ask him to get me a Cricut. however, just before he left, i changed my mind. i wanted a new sewing machine. i am getting a hankering lately to quilt again. i did already have a trusty, old Brother sewing machine where i have sewn my few attempts at piecing quilt tops, and as you may have also noticed, some LOs, but i wanted a machine that can do the actual quilting. For the uninitiated, the creation of quilts have 2 main segments: first is the piecing of the quilt top, and second is the sewing of the quilt "sandwich" (top, batting and bottom). this may be done by hand and the beauty of the handquilted creation may be preferred by some but for someone like me who is perennially time-strapped, doing the quilting with a machine is probably the only way to go.

a few days before hubby left, i suddenly remembered this very nice lady, Johanna, who i met at one of the industrial exhibits my husband and i occasionally attend at the World Trade Center at the CCP complex. Her company sells Janome sewing machines and this is also where i saw the sewing machine i longed and pined for, the Janome 10000 (which later had even better siblings the 10001, and now the 11000). This machine is the sewists' dream! it is a top of the line, computerized embroidery, quilting, sewing mean machine that even comes with a colored touchscreen control! it has over a hundred decorative stitches and embroiders monograms, patches, appliques and even does logos. however, i just couldn't afford it since it costs about P12oK. since we met about 5 years ago, i thought she might have new models already and wanted to ask her if she had the $250 kind i saw on Ebay that i was shooting for hubby to get to me. she didn't but we had a pleasant exchange about all things quilting. it was then that it occurred to me that i did have someone right here who can not only be a quilting buddy but a quilting resource as well. it was then that i encouraged her to set up a quilting yahoogroup for us pinoys. we are hoping other "hidden" enthusiasts will eventually find us.

dreams do come true...sorta...
to make this little story short, i am now the proud owner of my very own sewing, quilting, embroidering mean machine. and i got it for a very, very good price deal. although i am still not able to afford my dream Janome 11000, i was able to acquire (actually more like "extort" from dear hubby) the Janome 9500. i had the brochure of this machine pinned to the side of my computer some years ago because i heard this is good inspiration to achieve your dreams through visualization. heck, i should've pinned up a higher model! i'm not really complaining though because this is also a computerized machine with more features than i can even handle at this time. however, it has less bells and whistles than the 10001 or the 11000. An example is it's touchscreen which is monochrome instead of colored. but, it has all of the features i need to accomplish my quilting goals so i am one happy momma! since it does mean embroidery too, i am inspired to do that now also. you can probably tell by looking at how many thread colors i have suddenly acquired. you can also see here my first attempt at it.

this is why i took no time sequestering another nook in our already congested home as my new sewing area. i finally took out my stash of scraps from out of my tampipi and neatly stacked them so i can easily access it for projects soon to come. hopefully, i can take this hobby to the next level. as a matter of fact, with this machine's capability, i can even make a modest sideline out of doing monograms and personalizations or coporate logo patches. that is, IF i can still find the time for that. (do i really need sleep? :-D) and can you guess already how my LOs will look from here on? and hey, i think i have an good excuse to explore mixed media collage! :-D below are more brag pics of my new baby...

my new sewing nook...
i'm betting this wouldn't be as neat once i start some serious sewing!

the top of the machine opens to reveal the bobbin winding and threading area. just look at the many decorative stitches this baby has: it has 98 decorative stitches and 90 built-in embroidery designs plus 3 monogram fonts! however, more embroidery designs and fonts may be added via the computer. my inner geek finds that waaay cool!

the top also hides the additional machine feet--this baby comes with 10 feet in the package already

no knobs! it's touchscreen to pick out decorative stitches or shift to embroidery mode


i love this auto-threading feature. a pull of the lever and voila! no more fiddling and saliva-wetting of thread ends...hehehe...great for bad eyes like mine.

the tool essentials are also incorporated for easy access. yet this detaches so i have a free-arm for sewing and embroidering tight spots like sleeves.

Johanna even threw in some Janome Digest magazines for project inspirations. i'm in sewist's heaven!

Marj's scrap-bukingan RAK

yes friends, buking nga that i am not an organized person! unfortunately, organizing only occurs to me out of necessity--i only find the need for it when i can't find things already. bestfriend Nita on the other hand lives to organize. i even suspect she got into scrapbooking for the many little things one has to find a home for. i'm sure you'll love her organized scrap space when she gets to post it at her blog.

i finally found a few moments to take some pics of my stuff but not to tidy things up before i shot them so you see everything with accompanying dust {wide grin}. neither am i in the mood to get picture pretty shots because hubby took my Nikon with him on his trip. somehow, my borrowed point and shoot doesn't put me in the mood to get good shots. so what you see here are "raw"--it's how my space really looks on a daily basis--one big mess. i had half a mind to give up on taking pics for shame but one more glance at the prizes at stake made me abandon even that. so here it goes, Marj...bahala na...

long time...

i know...it's been a while since i've blogged! i'll be making entries very soon but in the meantime, i just wanna share with you slide.com 's cool new feature...well ok, it may have been there for quite a while but i discovered it just days ago. it now has songs from hot new artists and it even comes with a You Tube link so you can watch a little clip, if you like, as you are bloghopping. i also like the fact that now that it is linked, the song completes (as opposed to segments only) and that it does not loop (which gives me LSS-last song syndrome-you know, like when the song also loops in your head all day).

so i changed old my song to this one by Daughtry (whose songs i really like) and especially this one "Over You" because i am also a Smallville fan. not to mention that Tom Welling who plays Clark Kent is among my list of hot cuties! {insert kilig squeal here}. so i suggest you also click on the video link if you like either. enjoy!

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and speaking of You Tube, i would also like to share this hot, HOT new product by another of my favorites in the scrapbooking world, Tim Holtz...GRUNGEBOARD!

i don't know about you but this one has me drooling. can't wait till it gets to here!

little tip on watching and listening: since you cannot watch the video and listen to the music at the same time, you need to either let the song finish first before playing the Tim Holtz youtube video or you can pause the song first by clicking at the slide's youtube section (bottom right) and hit the little PAUSE button that appears when the song's video enlarges. then you can click the Tim Holtz window to start it.
another tip on watching You Tube videos: if your connection is slow and makes the video irritatingly choppy, click on the PLAY button then as it starts, press the PAUSE button. this will make the video load first. notice the gray progress bar moving along. when that is fully loaded, restart the video. it would then play smoothly.

taking 'clear page' photos

i made this layout as an entry to the Visual Creations Hambly challenge. i thought it would be cool to join it since i've been hooked on making clear pages right after the SMIdol Scrapfest contest made me get over my fear of using them. after making this page though, i found it equally challenging to take pictures of them! i stuck the transparent LO on black fabric which i hung on our room divider. but being all glossy, it was hard to get a good angle that eliminates the glare. i almost always take LO photos near the window because the natural light makes the color come up better and the glitters or bling also show up better. however, where there are lots of light, there are also lots of glare. here was my first shot of it.

so i called my trusty assistant to stand on a chair and hold up a white sheet by the window. that did the trick! no more glare because it diffused the light and removed the reflection of the grills from the window. however, i was still not too happy with the result because i thought it just made the LO look like it was made with black graph printed PPS when i wanted to show the transparency as you can see on this photo here.

so i tried again. this time, i propped the flexible Hambly transparency background on a clear 12 by 12 acrylic sheet so it would be stiff enough to stand. i could have used a plate stand to prop the LO up but i didn't have one so i stacked throw pillows up and covered them all up with a white fabric sheet. the pillows weren't high enough so our blue sofa was peeking through but perhaps that added to the effect of showing the transparency better. the slight setback is that colors are a little less saturated because i had to move away from the better window light and had to make do with the florescent lighting. but i guess the overall effect is probably better.

although i have used Hambly Prints but twice yet, i actually like them a lot. i think they are also a natural complement to my clear acrylic sheet products, too. i have several sheets of Hamblys but have hardly used whole sheets of it yet on one layout. so when the challenge rule was to use 2 Hambly products, i found it totally difficult! well, ok... it was probably due to the fact that i did not want to use one all up on a single LO kasi sayang, e. after all, they are quite pricey... at least for kuripots like me. but i keep getting stuck so i finally gave in. i used 2 whole sheets here, one Hambly paper print (Big Vintage Circle) and a transparency print (Mini Graph) as the base. despite it, i kinda liked the way it turned out. it looks different from what i usually do and i got to try something new (this is the first time i tried printing the focal photo on transparency). i probably never would have thought to do it this way so i say hurray for difficult challenges :-D

my kaya 6 back to basic entry: wacky girl

this one was totally difficult. especially for the spoiled-for-choice-of-embellisments-and-tools scrapbookers like me, going back to basics with just cardstock and pens/watercolors scrapbooking was suprisingly, totally NOT easy! but again, being the puzzle-lover that i am, i was torn between kissing Donna for giving me something to boggle my mind with or strangling her for...well... the same reason.

again, after all's been said and done, it was actually cool doing this one. for one thing, it makes me appreciate my accumulation of CS and makes me happy that i used mostly my scraps here.

thanks again Wonder Donna for cooking up that extra challenging Kaya blog call and for making up that funny intro story. will kiss you now when we meet again soon... :-D

naka-TAG-oo...

been remiss answering my tags with all the goings-on so since it's a holiday today, i will get up to speed on them right now.

This tag i got from Cookie, Roxannee and Helga:

Instructions: Each player starts with 7 random habits/facts about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

7 random facts about me:
1. i love gardening but i hardly do any since i went crazy for scrapbooking
2. i am a chocoholic.
3. i keep wishing i have more time to read and do all the crafting i want
4. i would like to be more organized but mess just seems to follow me
5. i aim to go to the gym everyday but i haven't been there for months
6. i dream of a new computerized sewing machine: the Janome 11000 and i want to quilt again
7. did i mention i love chocolate? :-D

A - Age: 41
B - Band Listening To Right Now: Maroon 5
C - Career: entrepreneur
D - Drink or Smoke: i've quit smoking 6 years ago and i now drink coffee, milo, or lemonade
E - Easiest Friends To Talk To: my friends since highschool, Nita and Tess
G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Gummy bears
H - Have a Boyfriend: yes, my hubby of 20 years
I - In love: of course!
J- Junk Food You Like: PIZZA!
K- kids: 5
L - Longest Ride Ever: ride? to Baguio lang yata!
N - Names For Your Future Kids: ayoko na!!!
O - One Wish You Have Now: win the lottery
P - Phobias: roaches
Q - Favorite Quote: dream as if you'll live forever. live as if you'll die today. - james dean
R - Reasons To Smile: my baby Raj's funny antics and new scrap stuff
S - Sleeping Hours: iba-iba but often after 12 am
T - Time You Woke Up: today, 8 am
U - Unknown Fact About You: i'm really shy...(maniwala na kayo pls)
V - Vegetable You Hate: ampalaya
W - Worst Habit: can't save money
X - X-rays You’ve Had: chest
Y - Yummy Foods: sus madami ito: pasta, salads, steak, cake, green tea, sushi...
Z - Zodiac Sign: aries

and i got this fabulous tag from the FaAaaBULOUS Donna:

and this SMiLE tag from Idol Cabbie:

thanks sistah, you make me smile too (and go ooooh and wow, too!) whenever i visit you blog and see you on Fridays...:-D

i hope i have not forgotten any other tags...if i have, please remind me ha... and to YOU reading this, consider yourself tagged with any of the above.