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.

it's time

just so i feel like i have a new beginning, i changed my blog's look. whatchatink? is it pretty enough for a new start? some people like starting with a new blog but i like history. i like things that have a past. the quirkier, the better.

however, i have no new scrapbooking projects yet. i have just come out of one WHOLE year of school-- photography school to be exact. i have just completed a Diploma Course in Professional Photography at the College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts. ain't that a mouthful. can't you see i'm trying to impress yah! :-D anyhoo, that's another story for another blog entry, perhaps on my other blog AuWasHere. i shall toot when i get to write that one. but please do visit that blog too.

since i needed a new post just to get my feet wet, i scrounged my HD for something to blab without having to first do a new project. i seem to remember i have a couple of layouts i haven't posted yet. well, i found it. so here:


funny thing, that hairstyle is not my 'do anymore. it's been THAT long. this one i did for that last (and only...hopefully there's one again soon!) trip to Tin's family vacation house at the Tagaytay Highlands. it was supposed to be a scrapbooking marathon, but i came up with only one layout, slow scrapbooker that i am. but i have since changed my hair :-D so maybe i'll scrap about that sometime. this is how i look now...

heheheh... so, like my new look?.... kidding! this was for a conceptual portrait school project where we had to put ourselves on a movie poster. story here. yep, kinda fun.

oh, there's one more unposted layout i found on the HD. this was used as sample LO for the Scrapbuffet event that was hosted by Studio Azul... so long ago... sigh... it's a 10-minuter, really. but i think i took an hour on it. i should do more of this quickie layouts. even with my now old and outdated stash. at least, that would get me to fill more of the waiting scrapbook albums i purchased 'on sale' quite some time ago. and more importantly, i'd be documenting life again. and THAT is what scrapbooking is all about anyway.

getting into the swing of things

being dormant for practically half a year can get one rusty but really... once a scrapbooker, always a scrapbooker... i do have to give credit to attending the Scrapjam and recent mini-meets at Visual Creations to get me going again, plus, of course, the scrapbookers' perennial source of pleasure and inspiration -- retail therapy! If one gets more stash, one has to justify the purchase. So here is a product of the recent get together at Mitch's VC. Thanks to Mitch for thinking up challenges just to get the juice going. She made us do a layout using only dotted paper AND provided the paper and embellies for it. As part of the challenge, we also had to use stamping and make it prominent on the layout. Great excuse for putting my under-utilized (but well-loved) stamps to good use. of course i wasn't able to finish it at Mitch's so i completed it at home.

Journaling:
ME: Reine, give me a pose... I'm testing my new lens.
Reine: [thinks a while then pulls her bangs across her face]
Reine: here, Mama...
ME: what's that?
Reine: EMO, mama...
ME: huh? [clicks anyway]

where do 5-year-olds learn those anyway? in case you're wondering what "emo" means (like me) here's what Wiki says it is.

Materials used: assorted dotted paper, Prima flowers, Autumn Leaves letter stamps, Image Tree letter stamps, velvet rickrack, Quickutz swirly dies, Radiant Rain glimmer mists.

speaking of stamps, i recently acquired one, Hero Arts Kanji Poem, which was put to VERY good use. my first ever paid scrappy work! i've done this for friends before but this is the first time i'm getting money for it. i was commissioned to do 60 pcs. of debut invites in a Japanese-style theme. couldn't be timelier as i am in an oriental mood.



This is my prototype and currently completing 59 more. so... here's hoping these projects help me STAY in the scrapping swing.

scrapjam @ clarkfield

hey! finally a reason to post! been a bit busy with life and photography such that i lost my mojo for a while. i've been itching to get to my glue and cutter for a few weeks now so i decided that going on a scrapbooking slumber party is probably the best way to get the juice flowing. i think i'm more than a bit rusty because it took me a long while to get the engines going but i'm only too happy that i completed a layout. here's what i finished over at the scrapjam.


there were also some projects that we got to do, a couple of mini albums and 3 cards (i failed to complete the other card which is why there's only 2 on my picture. these were totally stress-free activities because all we had to do was follow instructions on how to construct them. just pure fun. i especially love the little project made from a single sheet of 12 by 12 that turns into 7 page minibook with little pockets.


fabulous PANiZZa

before we even got to Clarkfield, we already planned to eat at C' Italian. friends Nita and Lee highly recommend the place kasi masarap daw talaga... so delicious it haunts you, as Nita puts it. i was curious so as soon as we put down our things when we reached out destination, we headed out again. the actual fine dine restaurant was outside of Clarkfield's premises but there was a C'Italian deli inside. we opted to eat there. and goodness...they were right! their specialty, called a Panizza (i'm guessing it is called such because it is a cross between a panini and a pizza) is absolutely scrumptious!

it is served as a pizza on a plate but sliced in strips instead of the usual triangular shapes. it comes together with a bowl of alfalfa and arugula.

i followed Nita's instructions on how to eat it one takes a strip slice, puts the alfalfa and arugula on top and rolls the whole thing up so it looks like the pic below.

of course, when one wolfs down a lunch like that, one needs to wash it down with something so we had italian fruit sodas. mine is strawberry.

we also had a cheese platter which had 3 kinds of cheese which i could not identify except for the swiss cheese that had holes, some crispy grapes, walnuts and bread. there was also a couple of delectably exotic salads (at least to me). they were so yummy i forgot to take photos of them except for this one.


are you hungry yet? the only thing i don't like about all of the these is the price. the average price of a dish at C' Italian there would be around Php 450.00 but i guess something as good as that definitely has a premium.

scrapjammin' with friends

time inside the villa was spent on scrap shopping, project making and eating. i was so engrossed i forgot to take photos. as a matter of fact, once i was inside the villa after lunch, i didn't even venture outdoors till the next day.



that night too, we were the last people to go up to the rooms to retire-- around 1:30 am. i wasn't even sleepy yet so i took a couple or so beers (kasalanan ng kunsintidor na Yoyin! hehe...) up to the room to help me sleep. i don't usually fall asleep easily in a strange, new place so sakto yun. We chatted a while over the beer and Jack and Jill potato chips then it was beddy bye.

next day, after breakfast, we had a few minutes to spare before we started the mini album projects so we went out to take some photos. that was the first time i emerged from house and out of the scrapbooking mode.

the street fronting the villa we were staying at

lampost at a nearby park

feeble attempt at an HDR photo

i love the treelined walks. uy, may naglalakad!...

...si bespren pala!

after this, we had to turn back to make it to the lessons in time. we finished a couple of minis just before lunch and then it was time to take a group shot before we need to pack up and head home.

the jammers ...

...the jammers in their true from!

except for my bad tummy, the weekend retreat was totally fun. the ride home was pretty uneventful. a last hurrah was eating a Zapata's, a Mexican restaurant that reminded me of Tia Maria in Manila. It's another eating-spot-cum-watering-hole must-visit place this part of Pampanga. don't know if i forgot to take photos there due to the disturbed tummy or the yummy tacos i ate anyway inspite of it.

having seen the Clark villas and these 2 restaurants, i'm now looking forward to the next Hot Air Balloon Festival. i plan to do a sleepover with the family that time around so here's a loud shout-out to Yoyin: i'll be baaack! :-D and to Scrapbooks Hawaii, thanks for the cool scrappin' weekend!

dreams of Provence

what person who have even the slightest dreams of traveling the planet has not included in her list of places to visit the South of France? since i had my first taste of travel outside of this little group islands i call home, i couldn't stop thinking of which places to see next. a European vacation tops the list and if i were to choose where to go first, it would be on a lovely beach holiday in Provence.

so i went on the net to do some searching on this area. even if i cannot just hop on a plane soon does not mean i cannot start my research on my next dream vacation. after all, they say the first step to making dreams come true is to visualize it. since budget is always the first concern in planning trips, i have to find someplace that i could afford the soonest. and this is how i came across self catering holidays in Mallemort en Provence.

hotels are always an expensive alternative especially for family trips. hotel rooms usually have strict limits as to how many it can people it can sleep understandably because of a very limited space. therefore, house rentals are a better and cheaper alternative especially for a big family like mine. not only is there more space for my kids to play in, there's also more privacy because i don't have to worry about who goes into the hotel room to do housekeeping.

looking through the choices available on the net from the smaller 2-bedroom houses to large fairy tale villas in Mallemort, i couldn't help but be awed by the lovely French countryside photos. it's truly looks like one gets a sampling of decadent French living at luxurious Mallemort with proximity to the Pont Royale golf course and the French Riviera (Cote d'Azur) which is famed for being health vacation resorts for the British since the 18th century. it is also a favorite area for artists like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Now that decides it for me! This definitely one spot that goes on my bucket list.

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