Colorful Creations Guest DT

I'm honored to be guest DT for Colorful Creations last August. I wasn't able to share it here because I gave birth last August 7, 2011 via ceasarian section! Anyway, I'll write a separate post for the newest addition to our family, our little princess, Erin Kristen!

Here are the layouts I made for the sketch. I was so inspired that I made two!

title: Believe

materials used: cardstock; patterned papers and stickers - BasicGrey; metal - Making Memories; others - fibers and pen

title: My Sweet Anika

materials used: patterned papers, stickers- BasicGrey; flowers - Prima; others - ribbons and pen

Thank you to the site's admin, Brenshevia for this wonderful opportunity to share my works with the members!

PageMaps Sketch

I was so eager to try this sketch from Becky Fleck because it was a perfect match to the four pictures of Ethan that I had for months already! I gave the sketch a twist though in terms of sizes of the pictures.  

 

I'm so glad I finally scrapped Ethan's first bath! (After almost 7 years hehehe). My mom was a bit puzzled when she saw me scrapping these pics. She was wondering why I never gave Ethan a bath right after he came from the hospital; she thought I never even bother give Ethan a bath for almost a month since birth hehehe. Of course, I had to tell her that I did give Ethan a bath a day after we came home but we never consider that one as a "real" bath because we didn't soak him in the water yet hehehe. We only washed his hair and gave him a sponge bath while waiting for the cord stump to fall as per his pedia's advise. 

Anyway, I love the result of my work. Here's hoping for more layouts soon.

My Pregnancy Photos

We recently celebrated our friend, Arlene's birthday at Sonya's Garden. It was her treat for all of us to have a bday lunch and a photo shoot! She asked her friend, Edrie Alvarez to take our photos. Although we also took turns in taking of our own pictures. It was a really fun day spent with friends!

Thanks Arlene for a fabulous day with the Adobo Girls. Thanks Edrie for your patience in taking our wonderful photos.

I'm 29 weeks in these pictures ...

Thanks April for editing this picture!

This photo was taken by April Lim (that's her hat too!)

Another Photo by April

 

 

 

 I miss the  "Tres Marias"

The Adobo Girls

Finally, here's the first layout I made for my little peanut ...

title: Baby Peanut

materials used: patterned papers - Lily Bee, Nikki Sivils, My Little Shoebox, MYLB; flowers - Queen & Co., American Crafts, Fancy Pants; journaling blocks - Heidi Swapp; brads - Queen & Co; rub ons - Maya Road; stickers - Ki Memories; letters - American Crafts, Nikki Svils

I'll be giving birth soon and I'm glad I haven't bought any maternity dress/clothes hehehe. 

Thanks for those who are always dropping by and leaving nice messages! I really appreciate them.

Working Mom Magazine May 2011

Now I can share this with you ...

... a summer mini album I made for Working Mom Magazine and Lasting Impression. I'm so proud of this project because it was a family bonding activity for us! Jeff contributed in the article and was the also official photographer while Ethan got to be featured because he did most of the journaling notes using his own words in his handwriting!

Pardon the over exposed photos though ...

cover page

 pages 1 and 2

 

  pages 3 and 4

hidden journaling

  pages 5 and 6

pages 7 and 8

pages 9 and 10

pages 11 and 12

Some of the layouts were not included in the issue so I thought of sharing all the pages here. I hope I was able to inspire you to create a simple and easy summer mini album.

Album Size: 6"x6"
Photo Size: 3" x 4" (half of 4R or you can use wallet size prints)
all materials are from Lasting Impression (except for the ribbons, paint, office supplies and ring binders): album chipboard; Cosmo Cricket Snorkel and Joy Ride Collection; Fancy Pants buttons

Thanks to Vivian of Lasting Impression and Ms. Dedet Panabi, EIC of Working Mom for another wonderful opportunity!

28 weeks and other updates

I'm back again! We have been through a lot of things this summer so blogging and scrapping, as always, need to take a backseat. My OB also advised me to rest because I am underweight - it must be because of the stress that keeps on building up each day. 

I'm on my 28th week of pregnancy right now. It has been quite difficult because of the unbearable heat (it must be my worst summer). My two boys are both helping me out with the chores at home. Ethan would fix his bed, throw the garbage, set up the table, sometimes wash the dishes etc. while Jeff would do the laundry. We are making ourselves ready for the coming of our baby with or without a househelp.

Ethan finished 3 of his summer lessons - thank God for all of these despite having financial difficulties. We wanted a fruitful and enjoyable summer for Ethan so I really planned for his activities. I enrolled him in swimming lessons which only cost me P2,000 for 15 sessions (not bad at all); he swims in our community pool which is a walk from our unit and has saved us from gas. My little boy learned to swim fast only after a few sessions, in fact even faster than Jeff!

Ethan (the one in black rashguard)

We also enrolled him at the McDonald's Kiddie Crew which was only P500 for 5 days! 

 

First day: Drive Thru

Second Day: Counter/Kitchen

Third Day: McCafe

We thought that was it when God has sent us an angel through Tita Arlene. She enrolled Ethan in Friday's Kids on Stripes! Ethan truly enjoyed this one, in fact, he was even awarded "Most Active" because he would always participate in all of the activities of their class.

Kids On Stripes -ATC Branch, Batch 2 during their Recognition Day. Each kid received a certificate, an award and a cute Snowman!

Summer has been busy for Ethan. Our young entrepreneur also sold ice candies to our neighbors! And one of his greatest feat would be sleeping on his own in his own bedroom! We are really proud of our little "Kuya"!

On my 26th week, I had my ultrasound. But I told my OB not to tell us the gender yet instead she must write it down in a card. I told her that we want to reveal the gender together with my family and friends. She loved the idea and she kept telling the other doctors and staff about our plan! I then sealed the envelope (nope, I didn't peek!) and even tied it with a pink and blue ribbon just to make sure nobody from us will dare open it hehehe.

We asked our friends to come in pink and blue shirts - depending on their guess (pink for a girl and blue for a boy).

 

I was surprised to see Jeff wore a blue shirt! Ethan was consistent - he said it'll be a baby girl!

My mom and our very kind neighbors.

My mom and our neighbors threw this simple get together for us. We feel blessed!

I can't even look at the result!

We are very thankful for our family and our new friends who were there with us to share the exciting news! 

 

We feel happy that we are going to be blessed with a baby girl!

Here are some layouts I managed to make the past weeks.

title: Home Sweet Holidays

materials are from Lasting Impression: patterned papers - Crate Snow Day Collection; cardstock - DCWV; chipboard - Cosmo Cricket; pompoms - Fancy Pants (thanks Iris!); others - buttons (thanks April!) and pens

title: 31

materials: Thanks April for the papers and embellishments! patterned papers - Prima, Fancy Pants, Teresa Collins; felt flowers - Queen and Co.; sticker - MYLB (thanks Iris!) ; brads - Nikki Sivils (thanks Ria!) others - pen 

Thanks for dropping by!

Rain Delight

I know we all feel the scorching heat of the sun. Since I am pregnant, sometimes I feel like having a heat stroke! Sigh! Anyway, to freshen up things, I thought of sharing with you some "Rain Delight". 

It's a 'quickie' layout I made in less than an hour! These photos were taken, surprisingly just last March which is supposed to be the start of the summer season. I'm glad that Ethan got to play in the rain again. It took a year for him to do so since we used to live near a busy road where playing isn't a good idea! Now, Ethan is free to play at the clubhouse and at the playground!


By the way, since Ria and I received requests for a  follow up from our previous class,  we thought of coming up with another one by June : D  Details would be posted here soon! So, do come back from time to time. Thanks!


materials used: patterned papers and rub ons - Lily Bee; buttons - Fancy Pants; letters - American Crafts; pen

Scrap More in 2011 with Ria and Pia

Finally the day has arrived for our class! It has been moved several times because of some shipping issues that were beyond our control. We almost thought we could no longer push through! The box arrived  first week of April (it took days before it was released from the Customs) and so last April 30, Ria and I conducted our first ever class at Lasting Impression using Nikki Sivils' We Are Family.

We would like to thank Vivian of Lasting Impression for the venue and the class materials. The kits/papers we have used during the class are still available at the store. Thanks too to Nikki Sivils for sending some freebie stuff; we gave them as prizes for the winners. 

Here are some of the photos that Jeff and I were able to capture during the class.

The objective of the class was to be able to scrap more this year thus we made 4 simple layouts (maximizing the papers of the kit) in five hours. Ria and I made 2 layouts each using 6 patterned papers and 4 cardstock (for the base). We also made use of whatever embellishments we already have at home such as ribbons (we all have tons of them!) and thread/embroidery floss (which Ria turned to a DIY baker's twine - very clever indeed!). After the class, we still have plenty of scraps and papers to use for another layout or two!

The banners are made from the "Kites" paper. I wanted to make use of the paper other than cutting the kites so I turned them to 'banners' instead.

  Ria and I are thankful for this wonderful opportunity to teach and share. Thank you to all those who participated in the class. We had fun and we are hoping for more classes this year!

Hot Air Balloon Festival

Here's my first 2 pager for this year. I used a sketch from Creating Keepsakes.

 
 
left page

right page 

title: Hot Air Balloon Festival

materials used: cardstock - Bazzill; patterned papers - Fancy Pants, Echo Park, Cosmo Cricket, Sassafras Lass, Creative Imaginations, Scenic Route, Prima; baker's twine and sticker - Shabby Green Door; letters - American Crafts; buttons; pen

Hello Sunshine!

Here's a summer layout I made a couple of days ago. Glad to use some old stuff that I have like the transparency and the felt shapes. 

title: Hello Sunshine

materials used: patterned papers and rub ons - Lily Bee; cardstock - Bazzill; buttons and felt - Fancy Pants; baker's twine - Shabby Green Door; transparency - Hambly Screen Prints; paint - Making Memories; pen

"Let's Celebrate" at Imaginisce Blog

I must admit it at times I just want to relax and 'search' for my name in the web : ) I accidentally came across a few surprises. Here's one of those:

http://www.imaginisceblog.com/2011/03/i-spy-and-weekly-winners_25.html

Thanks Aphra and Imaginisce for this! You put a smile on my face!

My Little Shoebox March Sketch Challenge

I have not been trying some sketches lately so I thought of giving the MLS March Sketch Challenge a try. Here's my layout:

The papers are a mix from different MLS lines. I must say I love those "snails" from the "Walk in the Park" paper.

title: Splash

materials used: patterned papers - My Little Shoebox; cardstock - Bazzill; letters - Jillibean Soup; chalk ink - Clearsnap; others - pen and buttons

Hope everyone is having a grand time this summer vacation (I'm saying this for those who are in the Philippines). Even though the PAGASA tells us that it's not yet summer,  let's just enjoy the crazy weather we have at the moment : )

I Love You

I was supposed to submit this for a manufacturer design team call but my right hand has been suffering from a strain that I wasn't able to make another layout. I just remember waking up one day feeling 'pain' in my right hand; it was still tolerable so I ignored it. The next days were difficult, I had to put a bandage around my right hand and use my left hand instead! I couldn't carry even a small notebook and a bidet! It took more than 2 weeks before I was feeling a little better. I couldn't possibly rest my working hand though since I had to cook and do some chores so now I'm back to square one! Sigh!

Anyway, I was still able to pull this layout through and for that I'm still happy. I just love how the colors matched!

title: I Love You

materials used: patterned papers - Jillibean Soup; flowers - American Crafts; felt shapes - Fancy Pants; rub ons - Daisy Bucket; brads - Queen & Co.; chipboard - BasicGrey