After 5 years...

I will finally be uploading my new website this week!

It took me a long time to decide whether to have it done by someone else or not. I've inquired some web designers in the past but I'm afraid I will just give them headache because of my ever-changing concept for my site. Believe me, every year, I come up with a new design for my website, make a few pages but never got to upload it! Its like, I wanted to have this and that feature but I end up with the same website. Then I realized its like scrapbooking - its impossible for me to have my scrapbooks done by someone else! (and hubby agrees! :) )

Finally, I decided I needed to do something about it, right here, right now. So last Friday, July 27, I started working 12 hours straight doing my first few pages. I like the design better - simpler and more manageable.

Take a peek of my home page. I will upload it (finish or not finish, pass your papers!) by Friday, August 3.

So this is what keeps me quiet these days...no scrapping, no Monday mosaic. I am dead serious on finally uploading my website. :)

Monday Mosaic

I'm back with my Monday Mosaic. Been busy for the past week with drafts & designs...busy and tired but I felt productive...just don't ask me about my scrapbooking! Zero, wah, nadah. :(

Have you realized that July is almost over and just one month and it will be the start of "ber" months??? Next thing you know 2007 is over. So far, what have you accomplished or for the past 7 months? :)

(Top-bottom, left-right)

Row #1

(1) Going through some paper samples sent to me by Kichi Inc. who I met at the National Stationery Show. They've got really nice printed Japanese papers :); (2) Tried a contemporary design for a Save-the-Date card for a client. This is not digital though - layers of handmade paper & photo; (3) Our new product offering for give-aways: digitally-designed handmade ref magnets - I combined digital design with handmade materials to come up with a small but useful give-away for any occasion...one that will not gather dust in your home. ;) (4) New sample for a client with additional translucent vellum overlay

Row #2

(5 & 6) Finished invites for a client and now ready for delivery; (7) Invitation design for an 80th Birthday for a new client; (8) Bought myself Bob Ong's 2nd book - "Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ng Libro ang mga Pilipino" - spent my Sunday afternoon laughing out loud till my abs tightened! Such a good book with lots of (common) sense for every Pinoy! :)

Row #3

(9) Got my Dud a copy of (again) Bob Ong's 1st book A B N K K B S N P L Ako! I'm sure he'll have loads of fun reading this hilarious-but-with-sense book. (10-12) Some pictures taken last Saturday at Serendra, Fort Bonifacio. Its our first time to there and we tried Cupcakes by Sonja. For me, it was a bit sweeter than Magnolia Bakery in New York City where Sonja apparently worked and got the idea.

Row #4

(13) Got 2 new magazines to read this week! Haay! Kelan kaya ako makakapag-scrapbook????!!!! (14) I read Pottery Barn's catalog which I got last April for some ideas on our new booth design for Wedding Expo Phils. in September. Eye candy! (15) Made some sketches for our booth at the Wedding Expo. Now I need to find someone who will make this into reality! (16) I bought a shirt & blouse at Just G. & Penshoppe last week and their tags caught my eye. Cute color combos and I like the texture of the Penshoppe tag. Lately I noticed my mug beside my printer is overflowing with tags of shirts, blouses, & pants that I bought for the past months! I'm thinking of making a mini album for these. :)

That's it, pansit! :)

Have a great week ahead of you!

No Monday Mosaic this week...

Been busy for the past days, replying to my email backlogs and designing.

A funny conversation between my 2 kids while playing spiderman game on the internet last Sunday:

coy: "How do you do that???" (tells my 6 y/o son to my 5 y/o daughter)

lui: "You just ipit it! You know, ipit the keyboard!!

Filipino: Ipit (in English = press)

Haha! :)

On Autumn and Aging

While I was taking a picture of a new design for my client, I noticed the beauty of a pressed maple leaf that my Dud sent me from the States. You see, every fall season in the US, I ask my Dud to send me maple leaves (pressed between pages of a magazine) for my invitations! The first time he did that was when he was at Central Park in New York. He told me that he got some stares from the people around, maybe wondering if he's crazy or having Alzheimer's! I was touched by his experience because he did that for me even if people thought he was crazy. :) Behind that maple leaf, is my father's love for me and his support to my sometimes-crazy ideas.

But yesterday, a different thought crossed my mind. As I look at color of the maple leaf, I began to think about aging in people. Our youth is as vibrant as the green leaves of a maple tree in spring. But as we age, the color of our lives become richer just as the maple leaves turn to a shade of yellow to orange to brown and deep red. It may not be full of energy as the green leaf but the changing shades represent the phases in life that we go through.

By autumn, these leaves will eventually fall just like when we reach our old age, our body will deteriorate. But it doesn't end there...by this time, the color of a maple leaf is deeper and that makes autumn, autumn just as our lives are now richer, deeper and as colorful as the autumn leaves.

For May...

This is for you. I hope this helps. Amateur video courtesy of my nanny. :)

Tell me and I'll forget;

Show me and I may remember;

Involve me and I'll understand.

Chinese Proverb

Monday Mosaic

Happy Monday! Just want to share with you another mosaic I made today. I'm loving these mosaics coz it makes it easier for me to share snippets of my life through these pictures.

(Top to bottom, left to right):

(1) A draft of the invitation we are working on this week. Don't be deceived by the looks of this invite... "nakukulot ang buhok ko jan!" or lets just say, it is challenging. :);

(2) Sunday morning (July 8), I let Loui play on my laptop. I was browsing the MOMA site (Museum Of Modern Art) when she saw an interactive tour of the Museum. So I let her browse the site while I try to read. I was surprised when she showed me the "collage" she made! She spelled out her nickname "LOUI". I printed it right away and showed it to her dad. We were both amazed at how such a young age, she is showing signs of great interest in the arts. :)

(3) I managed to read 3 past issues of Creating Keepsakes that I haven't opened since May! Great stuff! Lots of inspiration! I'm having an inspiration overload! Now I really got to work on my scrapbook! So much backlog!

(4) Finally wrote my TO-DO list for the week (and month) on my "new" Starbucks planner. How can I resist buying this collectible for just Php150 even if its half of the year already?! Even my practical hubby also got one! Besides, an idea popped in today on what I can do with this planner that will last for a long time. ;)

(5) I'm soooo loving this site! Makes color combination so much easier!!! Eye candy, too! I'm beginning to think about what paints to use on our walls; the cardstocks that I'm going to use on my layouts. :)

(6) Started out this week with paying the bills. My mom used to remind us when we were young not to pay or shell out money on Mondays for some superstitious belief. But for me, its like making things right at the start of the week, don't you think? :) At least I got a rebate from Digitel. :)

(7) A friend commissioned me to dress up my kraft letters as a gift for her friend's son who will have a birthday party this coming weekend. Will post the finished product after.

(8) Made sketches for 2 new clients so I can finally make the samples for them plus the other one pending by tomorrow. Need to finish these by Tuesday.

(9) I gave Loui a new set of pastel pens for her Spray Art and she played with it this afternoon. I can see that she is becoming a freestyle artist. Way to go, Loui!

We ended that day watching the Transformers (again!) this time with the kids. I love Bumblebee & Optimus Prime! :)

That's it for now. Have to rest...tomorrow's a busy day for me.....

Checked!

This year I saw myself accomplishing a lot of my to-do's on my 101-things-to-do-before-i-die list. Its not that I am being morbid here (although I am!) but somehow the list keeps me focused on what I want to do in my life...how I want to live my life the way God intended me to be. Hindi po ako nagpapakabanal dito pero sa sarili ko, ito ang mga bagay na sa aking palagay ay magiging makabuluhan ang buhay ko. (In English: "I don't intend to be a candidate for sainthood but rather, this is what I think my life would be more meaningful.")

It's been a year since we last sorted our stuff (especially the kids' clothes, toys & some books) and packed them away for charity. I've been wanting to donate our stuff but I wanted to give them to an orphanage since I know the babies and kids will really need them.

When I came back from my trip, I promised myself that I will do it now - not next year, not when I have some spare time. Plus, I wanted my kids to learn at this age that it is OK to give and not always to receive and that they are blessed because they have parents and the orphans don't that is why we need to help them.

I learned somewhere that there is an orphanage in Tagaytay run by nuns. I just didn't know where. So I searched the internet and found an article by Ms. Deedee Sytangco about the Agustinian sisters that take care of abandoned babies. I emailed Ms. Sytangco and she gave me the contact person and number of the orphanage.

So I called up and got to talk with Sr. Carmen & Sr. Yoly and asked them if it is ok for them to accept donations like used clothes and toys. They said that I am very welcome to do so and they really appreciate it. So we scheduled our trip to Tagaytay this afternoon with 2 of my staff and my 2 kids. I briefed them earlier why are we going to the orphanage and asked if it is ok with them to give away their toys. They were excited!

We traveled through heavy rains & thunder! It was burning hot in Laguna when we left though. The sisters texted me to drive slowly and that they are praying for our safe trip. :) With that and my prayer before we left the house didn't leave a room for fear that something might happen to us.

We met Sr. Yoly and the 22 kids with ages ranging from 3 weeks old to 8 years old. They were already having early dinner then and some just arrived from a nearby public school. My eldest son shared his dinosaur book with the older girls while my little girl just kept quiet. I guess she was overwhelmed by the number of kids and she knows that they don't have parents. Maybe a lot of things are going on her mind so I just let her be.

Sr. Yoly shared bits of stories of how the kids end up in their care. One smaller-than-a-normal-2-yr.-old boy caught my attention. He was so small. Sr. told me that he is a son of a 12 year old girl! Whaaatt???? I cannot imagine how someone, not even a teenager, would bear a child. INCEST. I was shocked and I can't help but feel sorry for the girl and the baby boy.

Some of the kids were abandoned after birth in the hospitals, one was found by a streetsweeper along a sidewalk left alone by her parents, there were twins left by the parents who cannot feed them. A 7-month old boy is waiting for his mother to serve her sentence in correctional. These and some stories I only thought I'd only see in TV opened my eyes to reality.

We couldn't stay longer as it was getting foggy outside. My son wanted to play some more with the kids but I only told him we will come back again some other time. It was a short visit but it was meaningful in a lot of ways: I checked my list; my kids and staff were able to meet the kids and spent even just a little time with them; our stuff were put to good use rather than left in storage to rot; and just as we are blessed may we be a blessing to others as well. To whom much is given, much is expected.

Monday Mosaics

I'm starting the 2nd half of the year with Monday Mosaics - random photos that give a peek into my everyday life. I'll make this a weekly thing for me (hopefully!)


First 3 rows: some designs I finished last week for 6 clients. Last photo was taken this morning when we were packing the invites for delivery tomorrow.

Last row: I wanted to show my Dud how his orchids are "still alive" with beautiful flowers. 3rd pic are piles of cut-sized handmade papers ready for printing today. Last photo is my new "baby" - an HP Colored Laser printer - now we can print COLORED on translucent vellum!

Still got tons of work to do, my office is not that messy anymore but I still lack space for my stuff (I'm still working on it....). Zero scrapping activity....I'm soooo inspired with all the layouts of Iris, Pia, Ria, Cabbie and the rest of SE & PS scrapbookers but I just don't have the TIME right now. :(