Collage Wallet #9: "It's the Little Things"

Thanks, Vanessa! 

One of the best things that happened during my short stint at Made With Love, a scrapbook store in Singapore, was I made new friends at work. We were all passionate about scrapbooking and we understand each other when we palpitate on the sight of boxes of New Arrivals every Wednesday afternoon! :) One of 2 fellow Filipino co-workers I've made friends with at work is Vanessa. A very talented scrapper who always wins in online contests especially in the Prima Flowers challenge every month! Apart from her amazing talent is her positive outlook in life. She taught me how to always think that we have $$ even if our wallets don't tell (blame it to the 40% off promos at work!) that because that is how you attract abundance. Last summer, she gave me this stamp for my birthday.

Fast forward to July 3, while I was gathering papers for me next collage paper wallet, I came across the phrase "It's the little things" in one of the paper sheets. Another reminder for me, maybe, not to be overwhelmed by what I thought to be larger-than-life issues but to cherish the little things I have been blessed with. I've always believed that God sends us these gentle reminders when we need them most. We may not always realize them at once but surely they are not just coincidences. I hope that through this design, whoever will own this will be reminded what my friend taught me. :)

Collage Paper Wallet #8 - Pink + Teal and of Possibilities

Aside from vintage travel designs, I find myself drawn to English garden-designed papers lately. I love Webster's Pages papers that I was inspired to make a collage design out of them. During the process, the phrase "Be open to possibilities" struck me. My one little word for 2012 is actually POSSIBILITIES. I guess the Universe is reminding me to believe in the possibilities of my dreams.

Sometimes life's happenings has their way of sucking out the joy in us and we become closed doors to all the possibilities that the Universe can give us. This statement reminds us that every day is a new day, a new beginning and no matter what happened in the past, as long as we stay open, we allow the Universe to work in our lives in the best way possible.

Collage Paper Wallet #6: Missing Loui....

I was on a roll in making the collages...I need to do this to keep me sane. I miss my children very much. Everyday seems to be a lost opportunity for me to spend time with them. But this is just temporary, I know. Though we keep in touch throughout the day, thanks to Facetime, iMessage, Photo Stream and emails, being physically with them doing things together like biking, walking with our Lab, Smirnoff, making assignments, baking or just watching TV together, is a lot different.

While going through my papers, I found myself drawn to these colors and I kept on thinking about my daughter, Loui. I don't know why...maybe I am looking forward to spending time with her, do girly stuff like shopping, watching movies, eat waffles and create art.

So here it is...a design I made with Loui in my thoughts and I'm sharing this with you.

Inside: Holds 4 cards and a paper bills

On Painting Our Canvas

NOTE:  I just found this blog entry in my drafts folder dated 26 May 2012. I thought I would share this anyway for it has been a part of my journey and will continue to serve as a reminder for me that I am the Picasso of my own life.


The past few days were a sort of emotional roller coaster ride for me. Just when things are falling into place and I am "unusually" feeling calm amidst some uncertainties, some people tried to talk me out to follow the "normal" path as to what they believe will lead me to success.

I have always been a different - no, not to the extent I am weird! I just see and do things differently. Not for the sake of being different, no, I am not KSP (kulang sa pansin or lacking attention) but according to some people close to me, I am "ahead of my generation" (which would require another separate post!).

Anyway, at this point in my life, I practically know what I want to do and to become. I am now confident in my own skin unlike a decade ago. I know I have taken a different path as compared to my friends and classmates but I am happy with what I did. But that feeling did not come easy. I went from being insecure to self-pitying to finally appreciating myself and what I do. It took me years and hard work and appreciation from other people and other creatives as well to get me out of the rut and I don't have any plans of going back!

I wrote this on my Starbucks planner to remind me that I am that my life is a masterpiece meant only to be painted by me. My life is full of ups and downs, twists and turns but I have no regrets. Every experience, people I met, decisions I made, mistakes I committed,  all added colors to my living canvas and I am damn proud of it!

Collage 2012

After making my Starbucks Collage series some years back, I fell in love with the process. It was liberating in a sense that there are no rules - just tear, cut, paste, smudge - it doesn't matter. You may not appreciate the beauty yet but after putting the pieces together you can now call it a masterpiece...your own masterpiece.

It was early morning sometime in March when an idea popped in my head - using my collage paper for the product I helped developed last year. I was so excited with the idea I even made a digital mock-up of how I want it to look like. But making the actual collage paper & the product took a backsear when several family members went home for vacation. Of course, I took a vacay, too! Hehe! ;)

And so, after everyone left last weekend, it was only yesterday that my lazy b*tt got up and WORK! And truly, the hardest part in making something is to get started. But once the mojo is there, wow, there's no stopping until it was time for me to clean up my mess or else, we will sleep side by side with my gel medium, paintbrushes, stamps & inkpads and bits of paper! LOL!

As for doing something again after quite some time, it takes a while for me to gather my thoughts as to how the heck I'm gonna do this???? It takes courage to just tear that piece of paper I've been keeping (coz I don't want to cut it up, just look at it! Haha!) and glue wherever my hand takes me. In between those cutting & pasting, thoughts about life cross my mind. But...I will save that for my next entry. Hehe! ;)

Anyway, going back to my 1st 2 collages for 2012, the 1st one is more on vintage + dark red. I want to see how it looks like AFTER it has been transformed into the "product".

The 2nd one, the process just started with a piece of an "old" Chatterbox paper in orange & brown tones. As I cut it up, pictures of cinnamon, turmeric, cayenne & curry powders started popping in my head. And so I moved into that direction picking up papers in warm shades of orange, brown & deep reds.

I didn't notice that it was dark outside already and I managed not to turn on the AC the whole afternoon amidst the summer heat! (my hubby will be very happy to know this! Hehe!) That's how I got engrossed with the process and slowly, I'm realigning to my center again. :)

Now it can be told.... (a long post!)

First of all, a huge THANK YOU and SORRY to anyone who visited my blog only to find out that I haven't updated it in ages! :(

From my last post, I thought I was ready to come back into scrapping and blogging but I wasn't. I had thoughts running across my mind wanting to tell the universe whatever I wanted to share but when I log on to my blogger, I just can't.

On the scrapping scene, I haven't scrapped in months! I just don't have the mojo to create and I feel like I'm an outcast in the local scrapbooking groups...I'm not sure why I feel this but maybe because I chose not to be in the scene. Why? Its not because of anyone or anything. I just had to trim down my priorities and activities which finally became clear to me after I came back from the states. Those are: my kids' schooling, my business and my own studies. Yes, I went back to school.

Sometime in May when I drove hubby to a job interview, I visited my school which is a few blocks away. At first, I went to the other school (CSB) to inquire about their design courses but thoughts of going back to Main came across since I know I still have an unfinished business there. I am 9 units + thesis away from my Computer Science degree. Its a long story as to why it took me so long in this course (thesis group problems, business and eventually getting married + being a mother to 2) but all I can say is I've never been a bum! I lived a fulfilling life, a so-called career maybe (if putting up 2 businesses count) and being there for my children in the first 7 years of their lives full-time in a way since I work at home. I didn't regret anything... I just couldn't stand leaving my very young children then to the care of the nanny.

I really believe that God has His own plans for us... He is the Master Planner of our lives. Just when I thought I will never pursue my course till the end, an idle time led me to pay a visit to my school and inquire if I can still enroll. "We are just waiting for you to come back....Immortal ka na dito, we cannot deny you enrolment." These words as spoken by the Vice-Dean's Academic Assistant. And as if everything fell into place, they gave me the forms to have them signed that day and asked me to come back since 2 of the 3 remaining subjects would be special classes since they don't offer it anymore.

After hubby's job interview, I told him about it and he was the usual very supportive husband. I love my husband! :) Kids are now older, 6 & 7, one in big school and 1 in prep and spend most of the time in school so Mommy can now also spend some time in school! And a blessing indeed that I only get to go to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the 3 subjects (2 were 1x a week only) so it wouldn't take a lot of my time for the kids' homework & reviews plus a time for me to work on my business.

And so, that is WHY I have been MIA on this blog. I realized I have to trim down my activities and priorities FOR NOW because I need to FOCUS on what matters most at hand. And I guess I have succeeded so far because I finally made it!!!! I finished my 3 subjects for this term with flying colors!!!! Yahooo!!!!! Hahahaha! I cried last week after my project defense that required me to learn and make a courseware in Adobe Flash in 2 weeks time! It was indeed a fast 1st term for me. Time quickly passed by and now I am done with the 9 units! But its not yet finished... I still have to work on my thesis which is a teachware using Adobe Flash that I have to defend by March 2009. So my blogging here is just the time I have for now before I start to work on my thesis. I am positive and more than inspired to work on it though since it will involve my passions: designing, the environment and teaching. So pray for me so I will have the strength to do this. The finished project will (I hope) be a significant contribution to what our world needs today - environmental awareness and teaching our kids about it.

For the past months, I didn't subscribe to the yahoogroups so I am unaware of what's happening in the scrapping arena. I only get to read some blogs of friends, oh how I miss them! But I am contented for now just to read their blogs, see their beautiful creations. Sometimes the feeling of guilt & littleness (if there's a word) creeps in but I keep in mind that each has her own world, I have mine and I have a set of priorities that I need to focus for now. Of course, it wouldn't hurt if I make a layout or 2, but I will only do it if and when I feel like doing it, not because of whatever outside pressure.

On the homefront, kids are doing fine. Vcoy is in CSA and he's now enjoying it though the first 2 weeks were torture for him (waking up early, the long bus ride, writing a lot!) but hubby is right, he just have to go through it to learn. (my heart breaks when I see him still sleepy during breakfast but I learned also). Loui is becoming more and more creative (like mommy!) - doodling, cartooning, anything that will keep her hands busy. They were supportive also of my schooling especially the last 2 weeks when I was working on my Flash project. They were my UATs (User Acceptance Testing). Now, they are happier to see me everyday when they come home from school.

On the business side, I'm officially back to work preparing for our exhibit at the Wedding Expo Philippines this weekend. Its the start of the wedding season in the Philippines so things will be busier around here.

Whew! Thank you for reading this (do I still have readers here???). Hopefully I get to update this regularly. Cheers to more blogposts!!! :) And lastly, I just want to share with you the splash screen content I made in my project:

"Be the change you wish to see in this world." - Gandhi

Tadaah!!! My First Canvass Painting! :)

Growing up as a kid, I've dreamed of one day having my own painting, even just 1! In 1991, I tried painting names of my college friend in watercolor and tracing paper and gave them as gifts. Those were the days when painting was my outlet - you know, teenage life... instead of being a drama queen, painting somehow calmed me.

Years passed by and with a course that demands the maximum use of my left brain pulled me away from my creative pursuits. I used to bake, paint, sew, draw (but not really D-R-A-W ha, I was happy with my stick people!). It was when I put up my desktop publishing shop (1994-2000) that I rediscovered my love for designing. After getting married and becoming pregnant with my 1st baby that I began to work with my hands again, this time not just the mouse but with scissors, glue, punchers, etc. Its another story.... :) Anyway, without further adieu, here is my first canvass. Thanks to Claudine Hellmuth for the inspiration. But this is far from her work! (drum roll please...hahaha!)



Everybody in the household laughed at it! Loui, my girl, likes it but she said "Mommy, it looks funny!" and Vcoy's reaction when he saw it and I asked him if he likes it: "yeaaaaaahhhhh" (parang napilitan lang sya!). I even offered my staff that they will be my next "guinea pigs", hahaha! "Thanks, but no thanks!", they said.


I can almost see you grinning from ear to ear right now. Yeah, it really IS funny! For one, my legs are awful! Looks like I have rheumatoid arthritis! I can't even draw decent feet! Oh well... BUT I am happy with it. I enjoyed the process. The feelings I used to have back in college while I was painting came back. That feeling of being free to do whatever you like, just going with the flow, drawing again (this is my "next" attempt from stick people!)

But I know I still have lots to learn....more canvasses and paints to waste (not really as in waste, since I'd still be keeping them)...more "guinea pigs" to use, haha! Would you like to be one? :)

Busy day

Today is printing day! My printer churned out hundreds of pages for the invitations I am making. Though it is due not 'til next week, I just can't seem to move on to my other TO-DOs without finishing this. Have pending emails to reply to, designs to work on, aaghh! No, I am not complaining...in fact I love the adrenalin rush. But there are times like this when my mind and body don't like to multi-task! :)

On the homefront, I am now working on my newly-painted home-office cum studio. I have my own tv & dvd player to keep me company at times. At least, I can work while I watch my favorite shows (and not Nick Jr. or Disney Channel playing on the background!) But I noticed that my kids also started hanging out more often here than in our bedroom! And what do they do here? Play PSP or watch Disney Channel, Nick Jr., NG & Discovery! Oh well, I guess it comes in the package when you work at home. :)

I tweaked some stuff here on my blog to make it more "presentable". I managed to add a quote. Still have to work on some graphic stuffs & the links but that can wait. Tomorrow will be some more printing then I'm off to work on designs and emails. I'm totally excited to get my hands dirty on a new medium that I'll be trying. Will let you know about it when I have come up with something I can show you.

Time for a change...

Haaayyy!!! The OC in me wanted to change the look of my blog for the longest time but I don't have the luxury of time to work on it. Today, after finishing printing, I told myself that I will finally work on this. After 6 hours of making the new header and tinkering with html, this is what I got - haaayyyy!!!! Well at least I took the first step. I still wanted to add a few graphics, credits for the digital elements (shabbyprinces.com), update the links & post the big question is when??? Well I do hope to update my blog more often. Let's see...

Anyway, lately, I'm into aqua and white. I even painted my home-office with it and even our bedroom but added pink to add some girly touch to our room. I guess the colors reflect the way I feel (and wanted to feel) - calm, peaceful and simple. :)

Hello!!!

How have you been? Its been quite a while since I last posted here. As I've said in my last post, I will be leaving for a while but now... I'M BACK!!!

Thanks to all those who emailed me, left messages on my cbox. Sorry if I was not able to reply to everyone. Give me some time to work on my new blog and postings as I need to catch up with emails and designs.

There is really no place like home....

Check back soon! :)

Leaving for a while....

Maybe you are wondering why I haven't updated my blog....I'm taking time off from scrapping to focus on personal matters & my invitation business (will create a separate blog soon). I hope to be back but maybe not soon.

Thank you to all friends who left a message, visited my site or emailed me. Thanks!

Problem with my HEAD-er

I have migraine for the longest time but this time its not my "head" that is giving me headaches but my header (look up, yup, that's it!). :) I made it in Photoshop 1280x250 but it seems like it has a mind of its own! Its still small. I tried changing the template but it became worse - it was on the left side na while last night it was at the center. Waaahhhhh!!!!! My friend Diane already tweaked it but its still the same.

I know..."don't sweat the small stuff" but the OC in me.....aaagghh! Anyway, I'll leave it as is for now while I continue to work on some creative (hay salamat!) stuff due TODAY! I managed to finish 3 cards last night but I still 4 more to go & layouts. I feel like my scrapping mojo is coming back but with my folks flying in on Friday, I will have to shelve my scrapping chuvaness for a while to spend time with them.

5 more days before Christmas!!!!!

Happy Holidays!!!!

I know, I know. I've been missing in action! Hay! Lots of things happened for the past months. Will update very soon. Still have 2 more projects to finish plus my GDT assignment! waaahhh!!!! I can't find my scrapping mojo :( Can you tell me where to get it????

Be back....my kids are calling me for lunch!

I've been Tagged by Marj!

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 am addicted to Coke - when I'm all stressed out, just a glass of Coke is enough to relax me :) 2. i am chocoholic - i need a dessert to complete my meal
3. i am a jack-of-all-trades kind of girl, i know how to troubleshoot computers, a bit of plumbing, carpentry, gardening, cross-stitch, all sorts, but master of none! hehe
4. i'm a speed-demon when I drive alone ;)
5. i am scared of Darth Vader & almost all mascots especially if they come near me
6. i believe I will see all my dead dogs when I die (that is, if I go to heaven! haha)
7. i rarely wear dress/skirts. i always wear flip-flops!


A - Age: 33
B - Band Listening To Right Now: I'm a 98 degrees fan :)
C - Career: I never got to work for others. My first business was a computer/desktop publishing shop
D - Drink or Smoke: Drink occasionally, smoke - NEVER
E - Easiest Friends To Talk To: next to DH, Tin
G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Gummy bears
H - Have a Boyfriend: i have a husband
I - In love still...
J - Junk Food You Like: Doritos with salsa
K - Kids: 2
L - Longest Ride Ever: Manila to Los Angeles (12 hrs)
N - Names For Your Future Kids: we're done!
O - One Wish You Have Now: win a lotto :)
P - Phobias: I'm claustrophobic...
Q - Favorite Quote: Life is too short, make it meaningful !
R - Reasons To Smile: my kids, my family
S - Sleeping Hours: 12am-8am
T - Time You Woke Up: 10am (I'm not feeling well)
U - Unknown Fact About You: i still eat Cerelac wheat up to this day!
V - Vegetable You Hate: okra
W - Worst Habit: procrastination
X - X-rays You’ve Had: Chest, Cervical Spine, MRI (head)
Y - Yummy Foods: buttered shrimps, crispy chili crabs, chocolates, Noni's biscotti!
Z - Zodiac Sign: Aries

Consider yourself tagged as well if you want to share some facts about you! Thanks Marj!

Today is BLOG ACTION DAY!

Last August, I stumbled upon a website about the environment - The Blog Action Day. Bloggers are encouraged to post a topic about the environment- whatever they want to discuss, off-topic or not. And since I am into handmade papers, I guess I have to do my part in educating people regarding the effects of using handmade papers to our environment & our people.

{TREE-FREE}

A big part of my passion using handmade paper invitations & other paper products is knowing that the medium I am using does not come from trees. It is actually called a tree-free paper. And we know that here in our country, deforestation is at an alarming rate. And we can see the effect of this when we have floods all over the cities & provinces when it rains (not even typhoon!)

Our Philippine handmade papers come from Abaca fibers, Cogon grasses (which is actually a waste grass) and other plants & fibers locally available. By not using trees to make papers, we help conserve them and this is what I always tell my clients. Somehow, many of them are clueless as to where handmade papers really come from. At least I get to share with them the reason why I am pursuing to promote our handmade papers.

Commercial papers are made from trees, if not 100%, at least some of them have some "post-consumer" components (from recycled papers), but STILL they have TREES as their "ingredient". It is my hope that soon paper manufacturers will only use recycled papers and/or natural fibers (except trees) so we will not bald mountains & flashfloods.

By the way, handmade papers are different from recycled papers. At least our handmade papers come from different fibers but not from used papers. When we say handmade, the process is done by hand, sheet per sheet, with the use of mould and deckle, hand-embedded with flowers, leaves, capiz & other components. Whereas recycled paper comes from used papers and mostly machine-processed.

{ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY PROCESSING}

The process of making our handmade papers are done without sacrificing the environment. No chemicals are used to harm the environment and there is a proper waste disposal. This is what differentiates it from machine-processed papers.

{LIVELIHOOD}

From former fisherfolks, the people who make our wonderful papers are now earning regularly (and fairly) making papers. Even the housewives are able to work as pressed flower designers in the comforts of their home while looking after the children.

We hope to continue operating as a socially responsible and harmonious business group that produces ecologically friendly and globally competitive handmade paper and related handicrafts. It is our vision to continuously pursue efforts for the improvement of the Filipino people within the framework of sustainable development.

Busy...

Wow! This week is really going fast! So fast I could hardly catch up...with designs & drafts for my clients, Bad Girls assigment and Scrapfest! But I wouldn't have it the other way since I love what I am doing even if it means late nights, pain on my (r) wrist, I love creating something new everyday.

No photos to upload yet for this post. They are still on my camera waiting for me to resize it after posting this entry. Just want to drop by my blog and let you know that I will be posting some works very soon...

For now, let me share with you a quote from one of my favorite designers, Rhonna Farrer. She is AMAZING and I get a lot of inspiration from her and her works of art.

Hope you'll be inspired, too! :)

Of cupcakes and Smartbro

I made this birthday invite for a friend on her birthday next month. I'm into cupcakes lately and I love Andrea Victoria's Cupcake Princess digital kit. I love how the browns and pinks look great when combined. Yummy! Makes me want rush to the nearest Go Nuts Donuts for their oh so delicious cupcakes! :)

On a sadder note, Smartbro sent us 2 repairmen to replace our antennae in the hope that our internet connection will go back to normal speed (when I say normal speed, it is by third world country standards!) In the end, the same repairmen told us to just switch to PLDT dsl or any DSL provider since there's nothing they can do with our speed - it is Smart's cellsite that has the problem - OVERLOADING. It can just accommodate up to 40 Smartbro subscribers but at the rate of their new installations is going, this will really be the case. Huuwhaaaatttt??? So it means that if I stick with Smartbro, I'll be paying Php988 for a connection speed of 53kbps???!!!!! Now, that is what I call CHEATING THE CUSTOMERS! Goodness!

Haaay, sorry for venting... but I just have to let this out or else....baka isang araw na lang pasabugin ko cellsite nila! ;)