For a Worthy Cause

unsure that i will be able to attend the march 8 fundraiser for the carmelite nuns in tarlac, i made sure that i will be able to contribute some cards as part of the fund drive.

i'm not much of a card person, but making all 15 of these was a breeze.

in hindsight, i think the universe conspires when a purpose is for a noble cause.

to my delight, the universe conspired yet again, because i was able to attend the fundraiser!

i was happy to see both familiar and new faces (for the latter, it meant a thriving pinoy srapping community), watch cabbie & nita's demo, and witness the lee-led auction of scrappy goodies at low, low prices. i couldn't imagine 'til now, that the cricut went to the luckiest bidder at 3.5k. my, oh my, almost 1 yr ago, i got mine at 15k *sigh*.

among the activities of the day was a charity themed-challenge which i joined, using pre-selected kits by the organizers.

this was my entry -------->

which was chosen 2nd place and earned me this cosmo cricket kit
that i so, so love.

<------------------

my luck didn't end there
because i also won a dozen of raffled patterned papers, these ----------->

and shopped these yummies on a discount.
<---------------

all things said, let me congratulate the organizers behind the event. it was really so worth it (especially that i had to traverse the long route from makati to loyola heights - - - whew!).

and oh, thanks a bunch lindy for these ------------>

{Note}worthy Challenge

whole day of feb 10 was left to me & myself while dh watched basketball & did some 'for the boys thing'. it gave me an opportune time to do my mini album entry for scrapbukan's {note}worthy challenge. i tell you i dreaded tearing apart the oh-so-cutie pie making memories journal, but i just needed the pages w/ the red brackets for my mini album (and i still can use the other pages for some layouts or minis maybe). so from this:
i achieved this:

8 days later, i learned that my mini placed first in the challenge. i'm so happy *blush*.

Urban Lilly Album - A Gift

i made a 12x12 album for my mother of the '06 del rosario feast in our town where she was the hermana. i tried finishing this in time for christmas, but failed. fast forward to january, i was finally able to dish it out.

i was content with the fact that i was able to manage with white cardstock and the colorful urban lilly papers. oh, i'm so lovin' urban lilly a lot now.

technique-wise, i didn't do much except for cutting, cutting, & some more cutting *LOL*.

the closest english translation i can think of for the visayan word

'padul-ong' is 'to accompany'. the holy rosary image stayed

in our house for the whole year of '06.

the 'padul-ong' in january '06 sort of kicked-off the event.

a breakfast buffet at our garden awaited the participants

9 months later, or 1 day before the last sunday of october '06,
the holy rosary image was transferred from our house to the church,
and again, food was abundant *LOL*

(left LO) still part of vesper day; (right LO) the feast day!

the procession passed by our house

(left LO) procession; (right LO) the con-celebrated mass

still at the church

after the mass, it's dinner/party time!

this LO speaks much of our feelings - - - indeed grateful.

materials used:

cs - white bazzill & dcwv;

pp - UL everyday lilly collection (sushi dot, sushi & blush dot),

happy everything collection (beautiful & forever),

may ella collection (bliss);

chipboard alpha - heidi swapp lemonade & scrapworks;

paint - deco art metallic gold & li'l davis brownie mettalic shades

ink - colorbox chestnut roan;

rubs - mm simply stated;

flowers - prima;

others - mm snaps, colorbok brads, the happy hammer eyelets,

canson tracing paper, rikrak

Pleasant Surprise

that is how i felt when i checked what was in our mailbox yesterday - - - a card from ms. marian king.

i just couldn't describe the card she handmade in one word; rather, 2 words best suits it: equisitely elegant.
thank you ms. marian & happy holidays to you & your family, too.

Off to the Post Office

...to my 'baby' for this year's christmas card exchange among a group of scrapaholics!

i hope to send the message across

What To Do On a Holiday?

create.

i decided to do something productive on a friday, a holiday.

i remember my sister asked me to make christmas cards to be sold at her store. what, me? mass produce? not quite. i managed to make 22 cards using purely stash. the only things i bought were the envelopes & the protective plastics. i will do some more depending on the demand.

my sister wanted the simple ones, to my advantage :->

for sale here....

and here.
materials used: cs: white, green & red bazzill;
pps: pc slab, chatterbox, mem block 3 & 4, punch studio holiday kit;
ink: tsukineko brilliance black, cb chestnut roan, red & green inkadinkado;
stamps: inkadinkado;
misc: deco art twinkle glitter, ribbons, blings, eyelets;

tools: mm instant setter, coluzzle oval template

so basic, so easy!

My First 6x6

part of the make and take in the may 2007 scrapfest was to create 6x6 LOs about oneself to comprise a SHE album.

i never got to try my hand on this until lately, albeit not of me, but of a person so dear to me - - - my super generous aunt.

my initial plan to make 6 LOs which i thought of putting together with a single ring binder, ballooned to 18 LOs in all which i put in a cutie 6x6 pioneer album. i just couldn't get my hands off my stash. yes, i just used a few left-over papers. indeed, in this craft, nothing is scrap.

here are a few:

materials used: cs - bazzill; pp - mem. block 2, mambi, urban lily, american crafts, chatterbox; eyelets - bazzill; brads - colorbok; ink - colorbox; stamps - inkadinkado; rub-ons - lasting impressions scrappy rubs; pen - sakura, ac white ultimate pen; misc - rikrak, vellum, cricut flower

[pardon the glare in the pix; my sister took the photos w/o removing the LOs from the protective sheets :> ]

My Scrappinmoms Idol Ride - In Brief

i'm alive. i missed blogging, and yes, i haven't scrapped.

after the scrapfest over a month ago, time flew so fast 'coz of the many things i had to do. not even close to 1/8 of what i need to accomplish, i'm giving myself a break.

so i thought of posting the layouts i did for the scrapinmoms idol contest. honestly, i can't, even until now, believe i made it through the 8 rounds, all in all.

elimination round: scraplift your idol - this is the very first time i lifted a layout. oh my, it's so very liberating. i think i'll be doing a lot of scraplifting soon.

tiffany tillman's shonuff was my first choice.

this is my first time to use rouge de garance papers.

i hope i did justice to tiffany's layout.

round 1: stuck on cardstock - whwaaaaaat? cardstock only?

i figured this picture would do well against a plain background.

this is my first time to create flowers out of my cricut.

round 2: what's your color? sounds easy, right? but i actually had a hard time going monochromatic.

orange is not my favorite color.

but i just can't get off my eyes on this picture of my cutie pie niece, bea.
this is my first time to use a template, and yes, experiment on doodling.

round 3: alter it! - i thought we'd just be doing layouts. i was wrong. the scrappinmoms wanted to us to do more than that. at one point i thought i'd back out because....

this is my first time to alter an item.

and i parted with my favorite, soiled towel *sigh*.

good thing, i was relieved to have created a hanging magazine holder.

round 4: what's in a photo - when i read the mechanics that we have to use a photo of an inanimate object that is of significance to us, my only choice was my books. no less.

aside from this is my first time to use a picture of a non-living thing,

i also used fabric for the first time, as mandated by the moms.

round 5: no photos allowed - what the _ _ _ k? ephemera. we had to use ephemera. it seems that the moms were pushing us to the limits. but who am i to complain?

aside from this is my first ephemera layout, i actually cried while doing this, *another sigh*.

round 6: words from the heart - since we were to use at least 3 enlarged photos in a spread layout, i thought of using a simple sketch.

i think this is my first time to pour my heart out as if to say: life's happiness doesn't always depend on all fancy and beautiful. family matters most.

final round: done for 3, short hours on october 6, 2007.

this is my first layout on an acrylic sheet. since i forgot to bring my acrylic block for stamping, i did some stamping w/o it. ouch!

going though my layouts, i realized i have done so many firsts in my scrapping life. i learned so many lessons along the way, the most important of which is never to be afraid.

so, what do i look forward to now? to do more layouts and.....to eagerly await for the future scrapfest where i can enjoy, watch and cheer the top 12 of the 2nd scrappinmoms idol do the final round.

in parting (w/ the idol topic), i'd like to salute the scrappinmoms and give my two thumbs up to the first ever idol, cabbie & the runners-up au & tin - - - truly my idols!

Moving to the Final Round

never in my wild imagination did it ever occur to me that i'd reach the last and final round of scrappinmoms idol contest.

i've never been the adventurous and engaging type, yet i ventured to join on last minute. to have gone through the past seven, gruelling weeks was more than adventure in itself.

the night before deadline day of round 6, i couldn't take a decent picture of my spread layout. hubby had to adjust the droplight above our dining table to provide the correct lighting (as if we know what it is). after several fixing here and there, i submitted my entry.

but lo and behold! while the 14 entries were already uploaded, mine was nowhere. my immediate reaction was that i didn't beat the 1pm deadline (as were the deadlines in the previous rounds). since i'm not good at following instructions, i thought the deadline was moved earlier and i wasn't able to read it. i thought. i thought. i thought.

good thing, april was online and i mustered the courage to ask where my entry could have been. she also didn't notice that my entry wasn't uploaded yet. in a while, she ym'd me that pia was already fixing it (oh, ty dearies!).

that was around past 2pm, thursday, sept. 20.

i got to visit the site again close before midnight. another lo and behold! when i clicked the contestants' gallery, my pathetic ID picture was still there.

my initial reaction? oh, i'm not worthy. my co-contestants from the elimination round of 36 are all amazingly talented, and to have been streamlined to 12 and still keep up, is truly unbelievable. for that, i'm deeply humbled.

in two weeks, i'll be doing LIVE my last hurrah for idol amidst my IDOLS. oh i hope the srappinmoms reserves an ambulance to standby at max's come scrapfest day.

in retrospect, i ask myself: if i can turn back the time, will i join the mom's extra challenge contest? maybe not, considering the self-imposed extreme pressure i went through; or maybe yes, considering the many lessons i learned.....ok, i'm leaning towards the latter because i remembered again TIFFANY TILLMAN's comment on my making it to top 30 after i chose to lift her (blog entry on aug. 21 below). it's truly the best pat on the shoulder an idol can give to a fan. for all these, thank you, thank you srappinmoms!

another retrospect: if i can turn back the time, i'll surely submit a much better ID picture, good enough to last 'til the final round.

~0~

on a lighter note, i've just been to scrapbukan's 3rd anniv. / SE eb at luna gardens - - - in fulfillment of my oath to breath and relax at least before the scrapfest.

true of scrapbukan events, the affair was fun-perfect, what with the shopping goodies, food, games (of which our group didn't win but still worth it), loots & prizes....speaking of which, each one of us get to go home some papers & flower embellies. and i won a raffled brag bag! if she gets to read this: thanks so much for your generosity sahrie!

hmmmm...i'll keep this pretty bag within sight

so that it won't follow the fate of my michael's tote

w/c remained quiet in hiding for 1 year!

One Last Round

in 4 days, the 6th and last of the scrappinmoms idol rounds would have been posted for judging. i can almost hear the clock ticking real fast, and my mind can't figure what my entry will look like.

i didn't even expect that i'll make it to top 15. i guess it pays to follow what my heart dictates. i can't even say i have my style. my output really depends on my mood, the pictures, the papers....oh everything. i can''t even stick to a decent sketch.

of the last 5 rounds (+ elimination round), my ephemera entry hit me hard. writing the journal brought me to tears. it's never easy going back to a sad memory. i'm just overwhelmed now that i moved to the last round.

now, i need all the guts i can muster.

Inventory

if there's one thing that a scrapbooker needs to do other than creating masterpieces, and yes, shopping, it would be to learn the art of inventory.

i am guilty of not doing this myself, i mean regularly. the first time i did, i found that, aside from several papers, i haven't used these yet:

my mm setter. why? my hammer comes in handy.

oh, don't get me wrong. this surely do an excellent job.

it's just that i kept it somewhere & totally forgot about it.

so this toy is now within reach so it can do me some action next time.

this cutie-pie tote. but hey, we have the license to collect shoes & bags, right?

~0~

pray God, husband doesn't read this, or else.....