Of Halloween and A Birthday ...

It's that time of the year again. We are so excited about the holiday season because we are celebrating it on our own house for the very first time. As I put down all the Halloween decors, I'm starting to plan our Christmas decorations. Ethan has been telling me to make the countdown calendar as early as the first week of November as soon as I finished the countdown to Halloween! Anyway, I'm still thinking what to do with the Christmas calendar this time. The Halloween calendar was a hit to Ethan not to mention it was also an educational material. Since they are doing addition up to number 20 in school, the calendar was sort of a reminder of the numbers 1-20 (and even beyond that) and it was a way to teach subtraction too which they are taking up right now.

I started to put down the decorations from the wreath and I'm beginning to plan for the colors that I will use this year. I usually have a theme each year. I mean I have specific color combinations to use inside the house. Talk about OCness hehehe!

The other day, we bought our first ever Christmas tree and we are all so excited to put it up this weekend!

But before I start posting my Christmas projects for this year. Here are some photos I didn't get to post last month.

The Halloween wreath I made ...

Big ribbon was made from crepe paper. Purple and orange balls were tied with Daisy Bucket paper ribbons. Skeletons, bats, skull, spiders are plastic toys from SM. The pirates, the zombie and monster are finger puppets ; D

... and the treat bags I made for Ethan's classmates for Trick or Treat:

I filled the pumpkins (I bought them from Divisoria) with lollipops and chocolates. I wrapped Mentos candies, Kitkat bars and Choconut with Halloween themed patterned papers (mostly scraps). I placed all the goodies inside a plastic bag and tied it with Daisy Bucket ribbons. I made the tag shaped like a coffin and stamped Little Monsters (also from Daisy Bucket).

And here's Ethan as racer. As soon as he fitted this costume, he told me, "I want this already"!

(sorry for the blurred photo)

I have a five year old in the house now. Ethan turned 5 last Oct. 22. We had a simple "Out of this World" birthday party at his friend's house.

That's it for now. Christmas layouts and projects will be up ... sooner or later hehehe.

-Pia

Countdown to Halloween

You have no idea how glad I am to be finally back!!! We finally have internet connection after almost 2 months!!! I know that I've missed some deadlines for my DT assignments. I am slowly doing all the missed projects and updating my blogs and online galleries. I hope you'll bear with me as I slowly make my move back.

So many things have happened after the move. Everytime we say we're home, we actually mean, "WE ARE HOME!". Yes, this is home for us now no matter how small. We are enjoying the new house as well as all the adjustments that come with it. Also, it has been two weeks now that my house help have left us. So even though internet connection is back, I''m spending more time in front of the washing machine again instead of the computer hehehe.

The past week has also been sad because of two things: first, the aftermath of the typhoon Ondoy has left our country really devastated. I can't tell how many times I cried infront of the TV screen because of pity. We're lucky that we are safe and none of our family members have been hurt during the typhoon. But I pray for those who were really affected and have lost their homes and loved ones.

Second sad news is that it's time for me to say farewell to Daisy Bucket Designs. It was a wonderful experience to be part of an international manufacturer's design team. I've been with DBD for two years and I'm very honored to be part of this team. I'm thankful for the generosity of James and Cassandra Cooper, owners of DBD. I'm also thankful for the friendships that have bloomed as I work with the rest of the design team.

I'm sharing with you the last layouts I created for Daisy Bucket but failed to post last month:

Pancake Art
matls used: Daisy Bucket - My Little Monsters; Shabby Green Door - twists; Bazzill cs; Pink Paislee letter stickers; American Crafts Thickers; buttons; Zig pen



Julia
(this is for my friend's niece)
matls used: Daisy Bucket - Posh Posies and Little Black Dress; Bazzill cs; American Crafts Thickers; buttons; Tattered Angels Mist; buttons; flowers and Zig pen

Jr. Chef
(this is for my friend's son, Joaqui)
matls used: Shabby Green Door - Farmer's Market (Blue Ribbon Recipe, Sweet Peas & At the Market), Cherry and Lime Twists, Daisy Bucket - Chipboard Text, Bazzill Kraft cs, buttons, We R Memory Keepers metal embellishments, Making Memories black paint, Zig and Uniball pen, Clearsnap ink,

On a happier note, since we've moved, I'm very excited to decorate the house and so I created a halloween wreath and a countdown to Halloween calendar:

For materials and instructions for this project, please visit Lasting Impression. The bat (green on oct. 4) has a magnet at the back which Ethan can move each day. Aside from Halloween, I also included Ethan's 5th birthday which is on the 22nd of this month. Noticed that I put emphasis on two dates: 22 and 31 by embellishing the dates with buttons.

That's it for now, I'll be posting my halloween wreath in awhile. Back to house chores ...

-Pia

Look what I've found ...

... a bug at the garden! : )

I did this a couple of months ago when I was so bored and couldn't do a layout. I saw Ethan's baby book (it's where his pedia appointments are logged, as well as check ups, immunizations record and schedule, growth chart etc.) and thought that I could alter it a bit. I saw this photo of Ethan taken for his school ID. I then dug through my stash to look for papers that would match Ethan's shirt on the photo and found these old papers from Imagination Project. Little did I know when I was surfing these papers again in the net that the company manufacturing these cute boy papers have already closed! : (

Anyway, this was pretty simple to make and I was finished in less than an hour. I used a bookplate too (perhaps a long forgotten scrapbook embellishment nowadays) and Lil Davis letter rub ons. I added Making Memories button brads to embellish the quote. All of the materials used for this layout except for the brads are from Scrapbukan. Which reminds me how much I missed designing for Scrapbukan ... and how I missed chatting with Sahrie, my co-DTs, Ria and Iris. Sigh!

-Pia

A Mini From Me?

Yup, yup you read it right! I finally conquered my fear on making mini albums! This must be the first time that I made a mini album not because I was forced to, hahaha (remember my She 6x6 album? hehehe)

Actually, I made this for Scrappinkids' Altered Challenge. The challenge was to make a a brag book on this theme: "10 Things I Love About You". Atleast 10 playing cards must be used on book and must be visible on the layouts. For this requirement, I had to be a little creative in coming up with a solution coz I didn't want to take our playing cards. How in the world will I use it after I have taken the kings, queens and the jacks? Hahaha! I was thinking of buying when I took notice of my son's chocolate boxes ... at the back of the boxes were cute playing cards that I could cut!!!

I used the 6x6 mini album that Joanne and April gave me two years ago!!! O, atleast di nasayang. Hahaha!

cover page: ribbons, ricrac, BamPop (clouds), Prima (red), Chatterbox Eclectique (journaling block and wings), Making Memories letter stickers, buttons, 7 Gypsies (number sticker)

cover page: ribbons, ricrac, BamPop (clouds), Prima (red), Chatterbox Eclectique (journaling block and wings), Making Memories letter stickers, buttons, 7 Gypsies (number sticker)

page 1, Charmer: BamPop (clouds and thought balloon), Prima (red), Love Elsie (stripes), Making Memories letter stickers, buttons, 7 Gypsies (word sticker); Photography by Jeff Lopez

page 2, Mana kay Mom: BamPop (clouds and thought balloon), American Crafts (yellow), Love Elsie (stripes), Making Memories letter stickers, buttons, Chatterbox Eclectique (chipboard), Photography by Jeff Lopez

page 3, Mana kay Dad: BamPop (clouds and thought balloon), Cosmo Cricket (blue), Love Elsie (stripes), Making Memories letter stickers, buttons, Photography by Pia Lopez

page 4, Funny: BamPop (clouds), Love Elsie (stripes and camera), Making Memories letter stickers, Chatterbox letter stickers and chipboard, buttons, Photography by Pia Lopez



page 5, Sweet: BamPop (clouds and journaling frame), Making Memories letter stickers, Chatterbox letter stickers, buttons, Photography by Jeff Lopez



page 6, Brave: BamPop (clouds), Prima (red), Love Elsie (stripes), Making Memories letter stickers, Chatterbox photo corner sticker and button chipboard, buttons, 7 Gypsies word sticker, Photography by Pia Lopez



page 7, Smart: BamPop (clouds), American Crafts (yellow), Love Elsie (stripes), Making Memories letter stickers, Chatterbox photo corner sticker and button chipboard, buttons, 7 Gypsies word sticker, Photography by Pia Lopez



page 8, Independent: BamPop (clouds), Love Elsie (stripes and camera), Scenic Route chipboard, Chatterbox photo corner sticker, buttons, Photography by Jeff Lopez



page 9, The Way He Laughs: BamPop (clouds and journaling frame), Making Memories letter stickers, Chatterbox letter stickers, Photography by Jeff Lopez



page 10, Full of Life: BamPop (clouds), Prima (red), Love Elsie (stripes), Scenic Route chipboard, Making Memories letter stickers, buttons, Photography by Jeff Lopez

I doodled the frame on each page ... I must have been high on something while I was making this. Hahaha! I get to use my overly used Bam Pop papers, I still have robots and birds in parachutes though ... care for some? Hehehe. I'm too happy I get to finish this one even if I didn't get the chance to send this entry. I got this done at 2am of May 1 plus we didn't have internet connection!

Now that I did this ... I feel I can make more mini albums now. In fact, my second mini is almost done : )

-Pia

Sweet Chocolate Treats

... made by me for Ethan’s teachers and classmates. Oh ok, I didn't make the chocolates, just the wrappers : ) When I showed these to Jeff, the first thing he said was, "Sisirain din yan ng mga bata." I know ... I know ... I know. I'm doing this for the need to craft something hehehe. Besides, it's the thought that counts, right?

Making these is pretty simple and doesn’t require so much techniques. I just bought chocolate bars in 2 two sizes. I then removed the chocolate wrapper and used it as a pattern. I used mostly scraps in this project. I spent my Thursday morning (meaning madaling araw) making these coz I only thought of this recently! Talk about cramming.

Ethan loved the idea of distributing the chocolates to his classmates and teachers. He got overly excited that he just gave the chocolates away, not knowing if it really belongs to them (he can’t read the names yet ; )!

Here are chocolates for the girls.

I used Loves Me-Loves Me Not papers and stamps for this project. I can’t get enough of the stamps from Daisy Bucket, they’re petite and works well as journaling tags, gift tags or as embellishments. I’ve never been really a stamp person (the cleaning part is what I’m avoiding actually!) but Daisy Bucket has changed the way I look at stamps!

Here are the chocolates for the boys. I used a patterned paper with the blue color. I figured out that the boys might not like the chocolates if they're wrapped with red and pink papers hehehe. Daisy Bucket’s Love You collection is perfect for the job!

I hope you enjoyed your Valentine’s day. Jeff and I decided that we'll celebrate tomorrow instead.
By the way, a huge thank you to all those who sent in their greetings for the Kris Mag stint! We really appreciate it.

-Pia

Chatterbox DT Callback Entries

At long last, I can share with you my Callback entries for Chatterbox!

Before I show my entries, let me give you a little background about the box of goodies Courtney sent me. The box arrived while I was at work so I didn't get to see it at once. Although the morning of that particular day, I received a call from UPS that a box will be delivered that afternoon. They were asking for directions how to go to our far away place hehehe. Past 12 noon, I received a call from the news reporter err I mean from my friend, Ria. She told me her box arrived with Artsylicious papers and embellishments on it. I don't know if it was fear of the unknown that I wasn't excited to go home and see what's inside my box, thinking that everyone will be getting the same things. Don't get me wrong though, Artsylicious are nice papers too but I was expecting some thing else hahaha! Ungrateful ba? : )

By evening, I got home and saw my box. I went upstairs to get my cutter. While descending the stairs, I saw Jeff trying to examine the box - shaking it! Duh, so here's my husband who sometimes gets peeved when I'm indulged in scrapping ... so eager to know what's inside my box! I opened the box ... and yes Jeff's still beside me helping me open the box too with his hands! Hay atat!

I read the letter first which was on top of the box and tried not to see the content yet. Lo and behold, I saw the word, "Eclectique" and that was it, I was as happy as could be hehehe! It was what I really wanted and what prompted me to join this contest anyway! Happily, I unearthed the box. I'm grinning from ear to ear each time I remove an item from the box! My favorites are the acrylic stamps and the chipboard embellishments! I love them all actually! Courtney sent us a lot that I thought even if I will not make it as a DT, I feel like a winner already!

My assignment for the callbacks was to make a layout using the Eclectique line and to make another project/layout using whatever is left. I didn't want to get pressured so I let the days passed without touching any of my stuff. I want "inspiration" to come and tell me what to do rather than me begging "inspiration" to come and tell me what will I do hehehe. So, "inspiration" did arrive only a day before the deadline hahaha!

Here's my layout:

I'm not into paper piecing but I thought I got to try it now. Making the body of the guitar was easy, it was just like drawing the letter B. After that, all the papers and embellishments seemed to fit perfectly! When I look at my layout, it looked simple but I love it!

For my second project, I thought of making a mini album since I got one in my box. But thinking that all of us got the same albums and perhaps most will create the same, I thought of highlighting the acrylic stamps instead. Since I've been reading birthday magazines lately, I was inspired to make these lootbags and flower lollipops.

This is an inexpensive way of decorating lollipops and lootbags by using stamps, left over paper or scraps, pens, and watercolor pencils. For the flower lollipops, I stamped an image then doodled on it. No two flowers are alike! I made sure I made each flower with a unique design! ; ) I filled the glass with rice (thanks BJay for this idea). I also embellished it with small flowers. I find the bird stamp perfect for the lollies!

For the lootbags, I stamped several images - heart, wings, bird and thought balloon. I color the images with color pencil, handcut and attached it at the back of bbq sticks. I also embellished the small cups with flowers, borders and scallops from my scraps. The small plastic cups are from Japan Store, they're so cheap and kids can even reuse them at home!

The fun part about these party food decors is the filling up and mixing of candies! Scrappers would always try to coordinate colors so I made sure the colors of the candies are matched with the color of the cups hahaha!

It was quite an experience to do this! I enjoyed the process a lot! Thanks Courtney of Chatterbox for the opportunity!

-Pia