Itsy Bitsy Artsy

I've been busy...Reflections and stuff

2010-08-04T11:58:00.000+08:00

Hello! I have been in a rut for the past 3 to 4 weeks... This all started before we left for HK on July 15. Since then though, there'd been a lot of stuff I had to do and want to do. This blog is sort of my journal too in that a year from now, I'd want to know what I was doing, thinking and stuff. So in summary, so I don't forget here's what I have been busy with.

July 12 - signed up with Fitness First! Need to go to the gym and lose some weight more especially ass weight! :)
July 15-18 - went to Hong Kong. Bought my first LV. Gio and I both bought ourselves one and we're soooo happy. Hope to scrap those soon. :)
July 24-25 - it's college basketball (UAAP) time again and of course we can't miss any DLSU games so the next weekend after HK, we watched the biggest game ever - DLSU won over Ateneo and we haven't beaten them since 2007! We were there at the Araneta Coliseum jumping up and down the entire game! Happiest and bestest game I've ever watched! And then the next day we were suppose to rest but we decided to go to Greenbelt 5 and watch Inception. But we missed it anyway due to the sumptuous dinner we had. Gio also bought another LV. Yes, now he's addicted and I'm scared for him. haha
July 31-Aug - the next weekend when we thought we could finally rest, we had to attend a baptism on Saturday and then another basketball game on Sunday which got extended to us watching the movie Salt so we went home late again.

On weekdays, of course I work and I don't know what got into me but I have a new found love for sleeping. It started because of my need to sleep first before I head out to the gym. So after work, I'd eat early lunch with Gio (11am) then sleep until 2pm then head to the gym around 3 or 4. And since then, I have been sleeping A LOT! Even on days when I don't think I'd fall asleep coz I wasn't that tired but I do. In the past, after work I'd just go straight into my scrap room and stay there until around 7pm (no wonder my ass has grown this huge!) then head straight to bed to sleep before my work starts at around 1am. So a 4 to 5-hour sleep for me everyday is normal. But now, I add 3-4 more hours to that in between! I've read in a lot of magazines and books that sleep is good for one's health & skin coz that's the only time our body and skin has time to rejuvenate. And I really want to do it but I just feel at times that sleeping is a waste of time. Like I can do so much more if I only sleep enough but I guess 4 to 5 hrs is not enough because now I'm lovin' if and I feel so refreshed and good after my afternoon nap. :)

I'm not sure if this is only a phase but I feel my life is more balanced now. I'm back to reading books & going to the gym and not only scrapping. I felt that I was happy before because of the scrapbook pages I finish and that was enough but I forgot the other facets of my life. Scary that scrapbooking can do this to me huh? But I feel I've grown and have overcome that exciting phase. Because of our HK trip too, I realized I was neglecting my closet, my physical features, my stuff because I spend all my efforts and money into scrapbooking but have now realized that there's a lot more out there than that and I should balance everything out. So I don't have any stretchy scrappy goals now except for my DT assignments. I don't push myself to finish more than I can handle and will scrap for the pleasure of it and when creativity hits me and not to hit some challenge deadlines and stuff. I have also tried controlling the urges to buy the new releases because I still have tons from CHA last year that I have not used and so I subbed to My Scrapbook Nook's kit too (to combat the hunger of buying new stuff) and will start using my stash instead of buying more that I know I won't be able to use because I just don't have enough time.

This gym thing is really serious for me. I really want to lose weight. The hardest part is that Gio is not encouraging me because he says he's fine with how my body looks now but I really am not okay with it. I feel heavy everyday, I have a hard time tying shoe laces sometimes, my pants are getting so tight (I don't want to go one size bigger than I already am). I used to be a size 8 when Gio and I started out, now I'm a size 12 and would really really hate myself if I go to size 14! So it has got to stop in addition to the fact that I couldn't wear what I want. I always need to consider my arms, what my thighs and hips would look like. I never used to think about those because I looked good in anything I want to wear before (I don't mean to brag but I really do at size 8!) :). I don't think I can go back to a size 8 (something you realize when you hit late 30's) coz my metabolism and eating habits just wont be able to catch up even if I work out that hard. I just want to go down to a 10 and I'd be a very happy lady then. :)

So all this and more are going through my head and I just don't have enough time in a day to do all that I want to. But now I think I got it. I found the balance I want and need. So you'll probably see less projects from me but know that when I do them, they are special and I was in a really creative mood. I'm reading books again, I missed them I have hundreds more to read on my bookshelf. I'm consistently going to the gym 3x a week and still get time to scrap some days (but not everyday now).

Before I end this pretty long narrative, I'd like to leave this layout that I did before leaving for Hong Kong. It's all Prima and it's me and one of my flower girls on my wedding day. She was so pretty and just loved to pose for that picture. :)

Wish me luck on losing weight! :)

Cheers!
Cathy

Something for my room

2010-07-08T19:51:00.000+08:00

So excited about this project. I wanted to make a mini-album when I started but ended up with an art display for my room. I was browsing through my photos and trying to find groups of pictures I can use for the mini album but when I couldn't find a good theme and the photos are just not in the right size, this came about. I knew I wanted to pait that's one thing, then it led to another and another and here's what I got.

This is an accordion 3"x3" wooden album from Kaisercraft. I also used Kaisercraft pp's for the covers and the designs. I wanted to hang this at the back of the door of my scrapbook room or maybe in one of the corners of my room - still thinking about it...

Close up of the chipboard letters which I also covered with Kaiser pp. Finally had a chance to use those huge alpabet chipboard I've had since forever. I also inked with paint the sides of both the album and the background pp I used.

I'm so happy with the outcome of this. Now my room will feel more scrappy with the addition of this!

Cheers!

Cathy

The Color Room

2010-07-05T13:48:00.001+08:00

When I saw this photo of mine, I couldn't think of a better challenge than the colors I saw at The Color Room last Friday. I immediately looked for papers and embellishments with the coordinating colors and I am so glad I took the challenge because I actually used my old stash on here.

But I couldn't find a good gray colored paper / embellishment so I painted the KI Memories die cut (originally black) pp using Ranger Paint Dabber in Mud. I also loved that my Fiskars circle cutter was able to cut through the die cut with no problems. I thought I was going to destroy the die cut as I was cutting it. I also misted the painted die cut with GM marshmallow to give it a bit of shine.

Close up of the die cut and the butterflies and flowers I cut out from a patterned paper.

Here's the close up of the title and the butterflies and the trail...

Materials Used:

PP: Heidi Swapp, SEI, Bella Blvd, KI die cut pp

Alpha: Silhouette die cut

Embellishments: Prima Say it in Pearls, Thread

Inks: Disress inks, Stickles, Glimmer Mist

Tools: Martha Stewart border punch, Bazzil n Stitch template

Cheers!

Cathy

Summer Boat Ride

2010-07-04T09:35:00.001+08:00

I really loved the challenge posted I saw yesterday over at the American Crafts Blog. What is it about? Ink pads and that means Stamping! I love incorporating stamps onto my layouts and whenever I see an opportunity to do so, I take it and this one is no exception. I actually used 4 stamps on this layout and also used our sketch this week at Scrapbook Challenges.

These photos are from our first family Boracay trip back in 2007. I remember we had to take a 2-hour bus ride to get to the docking station that will take us to the island. But now, there are already flights that take you directly to the boat station. It was a fun family trip (Gio's side) because the entire family was complete - grandma, parents and grandkids.

Close up of the title work and the embellies I used. The question "Are we there yet?" is a 7Gypsies stamp.

Close up of the gelly buttons and tag from a local store here. And the 2 stamps on the side of the photo's are Tim Holtz Stamps. The big flourish is stamped using 2 colors of distress inks.

One more stamp here...

That's how much I love stamps! Four in an LO and I think this is the most stamps I've used on one LO. We want to go back to the island again sometime soon but it's hard to get everybody's schedule in sync nowadays. That's why these memories are to be treasured...

Materials Used:

PP: AC Letterbox
Alpha: AC Thickers
Embellishments: Jelly buttons, Chipboard and Tags from LSS
Inks: Disress inks, Staz On, Colorbox Chalk Ink
Tools: Martha Stewart round d page punch, 7Gypsies Stamps, Tim Holtz Stamps

Cheers!

Cathy

Websters and Pencil Lines

2010-07-03T09:38:00.002+08:00

I really loved this sketch by Pencil Line. It took me a while to decide what photo and papers to use but I decided to go with my Websters Winter CHA stash. I got sad when I saw that I barely touched that stash because I bought the complete 3 lines when it got released the first time in Two Peas. It cost a lot - because I wanted it to get here sooner so I paid for Johnny Air (3rd party shipping) to get it faster. And because it is new, there were no discounts given at all...

So that's a lesson learned for me especially that Summer CHA is soon coming. I have to remind myself that I can only use as much so do not buy the entire lines! I actually normally don't buy the entire line except that I just find it really hard to do that with Prima and Websters because their goods are sooooooo pretty!

Sorry to babble about that so here is the layout. I used Webster's Pages Life's Portrait collection and some Silhouette die cuts too. I did misting again on the LO which still scares me by the way but I just do it anyway and so far, so good. :)

The title is a Silhouette die cut which I glued onto a websters pp too for a clearer backdrop so it stands out from the page. The die cut is in white originally, I stamped it with the Hero Arts friendship background stamp, heat embossed it using clear powder and then inked it using distress ink.

The trim on here is in color white and I misted it with Glimmer Mist Turquoise Blue. The border masked I used is also a Silhouette die cut I just misted it with GM Red Velvet and added Melissa Frances Blings in lime green to match the color of the title.

The photo mat is a frame from one of the websters paper and I wanted the color to pop more so I heat embossed the white portion outlines using glue pen and then inked the rest with fired brick to match the color of the mist I used.

The corner for the photo is a Prima stamp and then I just added that cutout lantern from a websters pp too.

PP: Webster's Life's Portrait
Alpha: Silhouette die cut
Embellishments: Trims, Melissa Frances Blings
Inks: Disress inks, Glimmer mist Red Velvet, Turquoise Blue), Ranger clear embossing powder
Tools: Martha Stewart border punch, Silhouette die cut used as mask, Hero Arts and Prima Stamps

Thanks for dropping by!

Cheers!

Cathy

Sister Layout

2010-06-30T13:12:00.003+08:00

Found this picture of my sister and I that was taken a little more than a year ago during my nephew's christening. I also wanted to try my new Martha Stewart punch around the edge and I love it! :)

Close of the title and the chipboard.

The chipboard is from my old stash (don't know what brand it is). I painted it yellow and it's also glimmery because I sprayed it with GM Marshmallow. The flower is just a layer of sticker including the leaf.

These are actually scraps from all the MME LO's I've been doing plus a few more irregular shaped chipboards from my old stash again.

Cheers!
Cathy

Quick Share

2010-06-28T12:45:00.001+08:00

Just wanted to quickly share this layout I made for this week's sketch over at Scrapbook Challenges. I used some MME So Sophie Papers on here.

Close up of the upright corner. The white flourish is a Melissa Frances vintage embellishment. One of the goodies from my prize pack.

Close up of the title. The stems and flowers are rubons.

Close up of the flowers (Prima), the bling (Prima) and the frame is also from Melissa Frances.

Cheers!
Cathy

Endless Stairs

2010-06-23T19:15:00.000+08:00

I recently bought a few papers from Little Yellow Bicycle's Clothesline collection and I'm glad to put them to use. Love the yellow on the paper that match the yellow jacket Gio was wearing on the picture. This is also a sketch from Creative Scrappers.

Used a Tim Holtz Mask which I misted with Maya Road mist. Then the chipboard is from Tattered Angels and misted with Glimmer mist.

Added crackle paint on the corder and a rubon too. There is also a shadow stamp underneath the paper that reads tourist. The title is also a Tattered angels alpha which has a resist on it - I misted it with GM chalkboard. It really is more opaque than glimmer mist so the colors really just pops.

On the bottom right corner I pleated the tape measuer which I cut out from one the papers too. Put crakcle and stamp all over it.

Materials Used:

PPS: Little Yellow Bicycle Clothesline

Embellisments: Tattered Angels chipboard, 7 Gypsies Rubon, TA Heidi Swapp Alpha stickers, MM small alpha stickers

Inks: Glimmer Mists, Maya Road mist, Crackle Paint, Colorbox Ink, Staz On

Tools: 7 Gypsies stamps, Fiskars border punch

I remember...

2010-06-21T18:13:00.002+08:00

Just want to quickly share a layout I made for MME's current challenge - I Remember. I found this picture of Gio from our Big Day and it was perfect for the papers I chose so I went for it. This layout designed itself naturally, by that I mean working with these papers just comes naturally. I've always loved nertrals so I guess that was it.

And the close ups...

The butterfly was a Maya Road chipboard, the base was misted with Maya Road too and the top is painted with Shimmerz Blingz.

I loved layering those journaling card.

This title is a Silhouette die cut which I misted with GM Marshmallow. Its just glittery in person and I love it.

Materials Used:

PPS: MME So Sophie

Embellishment: Silhouette die cut, MME Journaling cards and border strip, Buttons, Blings

Inks: Distress inks, Glimmer Mist, MR Mist, Shimmerz Blingz

Tools: Fiskars & EK Success border punches, Silhouette SD, Fiskars circle punches

Cheers!

Cathy

Forbidden City

2010-06-17T18:25:00.000+08:00

Just wanted to share again a layout I finished yesterday. I am still using MME's So Sophie line, still have a lot and I'm enjoying it so you'll see more. :)

I used a chipboard frame here from Technique Tuesday which I covered with pps. The die cut leaves is a Silhouette cutout and it was stamped and inked with distress inks.

Close up of the title work. I added a Prima trim on top of the border punched paper. The word "precious memories' is from my old stash - a rubon from Fancy Pants

Big Prima flower here. I added a bling and a few more rubons. I really liked this layout for some reason. I love the colors I worked with I guess.

Materials Used:

PP: MME So Sophie line

Embellisments: Prima flower, MM alpha, Pink Paislee Alpha, Fancy Pants rubons, Prima bling and trim, AC chipboard, MM vintage findings journaling spot

Inks: Distress Inks

Tools: Silhouette, Martha Stewart border punch

I'm a little tired today so no scrapping for me. Just updating my blog and browsing the internet.

Cheers!

Cathy

MME So Sophie Line

2010-06-17T14:40:00.001+08:00

Just wanted to quickly share a layout I made using MME's So Sophie line. Still using the RAK my dearest friend LG gave me. On here I used the sketch over at Sketch Inspiration.

I wanted to share that I also got my Melissa Frances' prize today. It was tons!!!! Literally tons! Will share some soon and do a giveaway because I cannot possibly consume it. And of course I will also share the doubles to my friend LG. I still cannot find the SD card I used to take pics of it so I couldn't share a photo.

Close up of the title and the flowers I layered plus the rubons I used in the corner of the page. I also painted the edge of the cardstock.

The journaling spot and some buttons.

Materials Used:

PP: AC CS, MME So Sophie

Embellishments: MME Journaling spots, border cut outs, Fancy Pants rubons, Prima flowers, Misc trims and buttons, Silhouette die cuts

Inks: Distress Inks, Shimmerz Blingz

Tools: Silhouette SD

Cheers!

Cathy

Long Weekend

2010-06-15T14:36:00.002+08:00

So... we celebrated Gio'g birthday last Thursday. We had lunch at Sofitel - Sprial Restaurant. It was a sumptouous buffet and we got really really full. We chatted there for a long while, the ambience and the view was just perfect. Unfortunatley, I couldn't find the SD card that I used then so I could't post any picture.

The celebration didn't end there though. We were scheduled to go to an overnight stay at Club Balai Isabel in Talisay Batangas (beside the Taal Lake) but the Volcano was acting up and there were warnings for those who live near the lake so we decided not to go. It was a trip that Gio's sister arranged along with her whole family and my mother-in-law. Though it was late though when we cancelled his sister was still able to book another vacation at Subic Forest View Village. So that's where we spent saturday through Sunday.

We drove home Sunday around 12 noon and I drove the new car (Hyundai Tucson). It was my first time and it was a 2.5-hr drive. It was fine but I don't find it as easy to handle as my car (Honda Civic). Anyhow, we were able to totally relax there in Subic. Had lots of sleep and good food. LOL :)

And on the same day (Sunday) was Gio's treat for the whole family (his and mine). All 25 of us had dinner at Kanin Club (UP tech hub), it was our family's way of spending time togther. Eating good food, hehehe... And then we all had coffee and crepe at Cafe Breton. By the time we got home, we were tired but really happy.

So no scrapping projects done for me on that long weekend. So on Monday I finished one and a half page. I used the remaining crate pp I have of the brook colleciton. I really loved the colors and it's style. I also made three doily projects like that of Christine Middlecamps' current project. If you want ot check it out here's her blog: http://retrospection.typepad.com/my_weblog. Her tutorials on this project is really amazing! Makes you wonder how she thinks of those stuff. :) I also used sketch 67 over at The Scrappiest.

Close up of the title and the die cuts from my Silhouette machine. These die cuts were all in white (I cut my designs in advance all in white) and I just cover them with what color I need using different mists. The background was inked with distress inks, the frame with Tsukineko walnut ink and the crown-like with Glimmer mist.

Cut outs from the paper and some cardstock and chipboard stickers from the same collection.

These are the three-doily like projects I made. It took me hours to complete these three but I'm happy with the results. These are layers of chipboards, die cuts, sitckers, etc.

Materials Used:

PP: Create Brook Collection, BG Basics

Embellisments: CS and chipbpard stickers, Silhouette die cuts, blings, trims

Inks: Glimmer Mist, Distress Inks, Tsukineko Walnut Ink

Tools: Silhouette SD, Fiskars border punch

Hope y'all had a good weekend like I did. :)

Cheers!

Cathy

Gio's Special Day

2010-06-10T09:36:00.001+08:00

It's Gio's birthday today. I didn't go to work last night so we could welcome his special day together hugging... So we did, I gave him the card at 12 midnight and he loved it! He actually thought I bought it because he said it looks so beautiful and professionally done! That made me really smile...

We're off to have lunch out today, I hope he poses and smiles for the camera later.

Here he is, the man that captured my heart and soul...

Love him dearly.

New Challenge

2010-06-08T17:30:00.000+08:00

My dearest friend LG has a new design team and it is called Color Combos Galore. I was immediately inspired by the color combo for this week and still into my "shabby" mojo so I decided to use my prima stacks and here is the finished layout and some closeups. I also used the sketch over at Sketch Inspiration.

This is the corner flower which I brushed with Shimmerz Blingz.

Close up of the title work and the cutouts which I misted with Glimmer mist Patina.The border at the bottom is stamped and then topped with a Silhouette die cut.

This is the close up of the flower which I misted with the same patina color and painted the tips with Shimmerz Blingz. THe butterflies were cut outs from another Prima paper.

The background of the photo is another prima paper which I traced and cut out using the colorbox ink case. And the yellow border die cut is cut from Silhouette again.

Materials:

PP: Prima Shabby Chic, Raspberry Tea collection, WRMK CS

Embellisments: Prima Stickers, Silhouette die cuts

Alpha: Prima Stickers

Inks: Glimmer Mist, Shimmerz, Colorbox Inks

Tools: Silhouette, Hampton Art Stamp

Hope you all are having a great week!

Cheers Everyone!

Cathy

Monday Sketch

2010-06-07T08:49:00.000+08:00

Just sharing my take on Scrapbook Challenges' Sketch this week...

Used my Pink Paislee Stash on here from old collections. These are photos from our china tour last year so I was looking for coordinating papers that would match the photo and the pink paislee line is the closest.

I also used TA's Glimmer Glass. Bought the traveller collection and I inked it with Alcohol Inks and brushed shimmerz blingz too.

For the title, I used another Silhouette die cut.

Materials Used:

PP: Pink Paislee: Vintage moon, Twilight, Amber road collections, DCWV CS
Embellishment: Tattered Angels Glimmer Glass
Inks: Disress inks, Alcohol Inks, Shimmerz, Glimmer mist
Tools: Silhouette SD

Happy Monday to you all!

Cheers!
Cathy

Weepy weekend...

2010-06-06T22:00:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, my mom, sister and bro moved out of their apartment (which was just one house away from where Gio and I live). After work (Saturday early AM), I actually drove them to the new apartment which was 17 kms away from us! This made me really sad. I hate to admit it but ever since I found out (last monday) that they are moving out this weekend, I've been sort of lost. I couldn't sleep at all the whole week, I was unstable for some reason. Separation issues I guess...

Since I was a kid, I've been very close to my mom. And we've never really been apart since. When I got married, we lived one house apart so no big deal at all. Nothing seemed to have changed. But now that they are moving far.. i just couldn't bare the thought of really being alone... Of course I have Gio but on weekdays I'm normally all by myself because we have opposite work schedules. I never really felt alone because I know they are just a few steps away from me. And I love my nephew so much. He's my source of joy. Whenever work gets to me, I just tell them to go over our house and my day gets a whole lot better. This makes me really really really want my own kid... but not just yet...

But now they're really gone and I was crying when I got home yesterday from driving them. I never thought it would affect me this much and it just made me realize how important family is to me.... I can have all the riches in the world but if I don't have my family, I'd be really lost... So I wouldn't trade family for anything!

Gio was consoling me of course and we went out for breakfast yesterday and spent most of the day cuddling too. And then today, we also had dinner outside then coffee for me before going home.

I miss 'em... I really do... Wonder what's it gonna be like this coming week...

No Cheers for me this time,

Cathy

Inspired...

2010-06-04T17:15:00.012+08:00

There's a new challenge posted over at Pagemaps and Becky's sponsor is Webster's! I got inspired to use my barely touched Websters pp. I'm starting to hate myself because I like buying stuff as soon as they get released but will use it months after.... Gotta change that bad habit!

I bought all the winter CHA Websters paper collection (except for a few lullaby lane pp that I won't be able to use coz I don't have a baby yet) and I've only used it once on an assignment.... oh well... not to mention the entire Prima CHA collection too.... Somebody stop me from shopping....

This is why I am so happy to look for challenges to motivate me to create. And this was the perfect challenge for my WP papers to be put to good use. WP are really special papers for me and they just deserve the best photos one can find. :) So I dug and found this big photo of me during our wedding last January 2009 and I immediately decided to use it.

Got inspired to cut a lot of images in the morning too so I used a lot of it on this page including that border punch like arch on top of the photo. So pretty right?

This is a quote from one of the patterned papers from Lullaby Lane collection. Cut it out and attached it using foam tape. The border at the back is a 2-piece die cut from Silhouette which I painted with Shimmerz Blingz.

The butterfly is another 2-piece die cut. I stamped the base butterfly with script stamp and then painted the layer with Shimmerz Blingz too. Added some Prima Say it in crystals and some pearl centers on the flowers too.

The Prima flowers below is from the Shabby Shutter collection which I misted with glimmer mist and then added those buds (I found them on my stash!) . Turned out pretty. Added some Shimmerz blingz again on top of it.

More shimmerz on the flowers. That small blue Prima flower was also just added onto the page. I also blotched shimmerz in the center of all the small white flowers on the page and a few on the big ones too.

This page tooks hours, the most I've spent I think on an LO lately. But I'm so happy with how it turned out.

Materials Used:
PP: Webster's Lullaby Lane & Life's Portrait collection
Alpha: Websters Stickers
Embellishment: Prima flowers, Prima Say it in Crystals, Prima flower centers, Die cuts from Silhouette
Inks: Colorbox chalk ink, Shimmerz Blingz, Glimmer Mist
Tools: Silhouette, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, Hampton Arts Script Stamp

Cheers!!!
Cathy

Still into it...

2010-06-03T17:03:00.000+08:00

My mojo was on fire the next day after our scrap day and I finished one more LO. This time I used the Crate Paper I bought from Your Scrapbook Stas h.

For this LO, I used Sketch 106 over at Creative Scrappers. Added paint on the border of the page to coordinate with the yellows on the design. Love all the browns, yellows and greens on this collection.

Loved layering stuff on this one too. I bought 2 sticker sheets and the chipboard set too so I had a lot of fun layering them all up. :)

All materials used are from Crate Paper's Brook Collection except for the AC Thickers.

Cheers!

Cathy

Monday Projects & A Surprise

2010-06-01T16:29:00.001+08:00

My dear friend LG went over to my house yesterday because it's US Memorial day. Since we both work US days, it is a holiday for us so we decided to scrap together. This is only our 2nd time but boy we had fun. That girl is super to the max chaaaaaatty! We started around almost 2 in the afternoon and ended around 8 in the evening and boy did she fill up my scrapbook room with her stories! Oh boy we were loud! :)

But the best part is, we went to the post office to grab her package and my oh my it was her MME prize package. But the surprise is, she got two sets of the collection she chose and she gave the extra set to meeeeeeh! Me! Me! Me! Yipeee! I was shouting with so much scrappy joy. Thanks again LG!

Here's a pic of the goodies! There were 40 double sided 12x12 pps and die cut pps. 70 die cut / journaling blocks, 6 alpha stickers, 3 stickers and 7 trasparencies!!! OMG! What a prize pack! And these are the new MME So Sophie lines!!!! Oh so happy. :)

Ok, now back to the scrapping topic heehee, I made one LO and so did she. I know, 6 hours of scrapping time and we only made one each. Too much talking... :) Oops I made 1.5 LO and finished it later that same night. And here they are...

I've finally used my love struck pps I bought back in Feb.

Some close ups... I went green too and used the packaging of the stickers that says Love Struck.

These are just cut outs from the lovely papers. I just had to find the right size and layered them all together.

For the next layout, I already used the new papers LG gave me! Super excited and might I say I love that So Sophie collection so much. The colors are just my style! This is also based on the new sketch posted over at Pencil Lines. Not sure what it is about their sketches, it always looks so simple but I'm surprised with what I create with it everytime! :)

For this one, I used a few silhouette images and die cuts. The butterfly is a print and cut image from the House of 3 bought through the Silhouette store and the title below is also a die cut which I stamped with script, embossed with clear embossing powder and glimmer misted with patina and coffee shop.

That day could not be any better!!!

Cheers!
Cathy

US Memorial Day

2010-05-31T08:59:00.000+08:00

Happy Memorial Day to you US scrappy gals! And since it is memorial day, I'm on leave today because I work US days so that means more scrappy time for me. And my dearest friend LG is coming over today and we're scrappin! So excited! Yippeeeee!

And since its Monday today too, time for another sketch over at Scrapbook Challenges. Can't believe we're now at Sketch 202. When I started this January the count was only 98 if I'm not mistaken. Time flies so fast! :)

This time I tried the double page version...

Here's what I did. This is still using the Peachy Keen collection from Kaisercraft. The flowers are cut out the same way as the one I showed yesterday. This is only my second attempt at doing a double page - the first one was when I was still starting to scrap (one of the stuff you gotta try when starting out right?). I also used a big corner stamp from Fancy Pants - I really liked the color I chose for it. Perfectly complemented the colors of the paper.

Here are some close ups. I created three ATC-like cards to complete the 6-photo area because I only want the 3 photos. I used some masking and stamping on it. And those leaves and flowers are so lovely I couldn't resist them so they were all cut and scored and folded for that raised look.

These are separate flower cut outs too that I just layered together.

This is just like the one I showed yesterday on the card. I also used some Prima stamps behind this background paper so it's not so empty.

Materials Used:

Papers: WRMK CS, Kaisercraft Peachy Keen Collection

Embellisments: Peachy Keen and Devonshire cutouts (flower, tags, journaling spot), Kaiser Pearls

Inks: Distress Inks, Colorbox Chalk ink

Tools: Prima stamps, 7 Gypsies Stamp, Fancy Pants Stamp, Fiskars border punch, Martha Stewart butterfly punches

That is it folks! Thanks for looking and have a great week ahead!

Cheers!
Cathy

Paper flower cutouts with a little twist

2010-05-29T23:56:00.003+08:00

Hello scrappy ladies! I am glad it's finally the weekend, we just got home from watching a college basketball game, yes Gio is a die hard fan. We just saw the pre-season games and come July, we're off to watch the season so my weekends in July will most probably be occupied with it. I have learned to love the game don't get me wrong. Ever since I met him in 2004 we've been regularly watching the season every year. After the game, we had dinner at Kopi Tiam and then off to drop his nephew near our area. We chatted with his brother and SIL and little did we know that when we said goodnight it was already 10 in the evening, we arrived there around 8:30! Yeah, we're a chatty bunch. :) So now, I'm dead tired because I got off work this morning and didn't really get a decent sleep.

Let me quickly share a card I recently made using the lovely Peachy Keen papers from Kaisercraft. You can totally do a lot of stuff from the papers in the collection. I especially love those big flowers and birds so when I saw them I had to quickly grab my scissors! They had to be cut out and used as embellishments don’t you think?
Here’s a simple birthday card I did for DH’s upcoming birthday. He doesn't really visit my blog so its okay to post it here heehee...

I used 3 patterned papers on this card which are actually scraps / leftovers. I had an inclination to do pleated papers so this card actually started with that drive. Pleating is so easy and fun too!

Then off to the flowers which I love love love! After cutting the flowers, I wanted to make it 3D-like so I scored the leaves in the middle and folded it to give it that raised look. I wasn’t satisfied with it because the flowers still look flat so I ran my X-acto knife on the smaller flower but cutting only half of the petal. I then rolled it up, added a button and thread and Bingo! I was happy with it.

I have a 2-page layout coming soon that features this same technique because I really really loved it!

Goodnight for now!

Cheers!

Cathy

Sharing Nikki Sivils

2010-05-25T20:20:00.000+08:00

It's monday once again and that means new sketch over at Scrapbook Challenges. Want to quickly share a new LO I did using Nikki Sivil's paper - Elle's day out & Will he b the 1. I also used my Silhouette for the title on this page. It is made of whilte CS and I misted it with Glimmer Mist Olive Vine and Chocolate. Love that title so much. :)

Materials Used: PP - Will he b the 1, Elle's Day Out

Embellishment: Scrapworks sticker, Scenic Route chipboard

Inks: Distress Inks, Glimmer mists, Shimmerz Blingz

Tools: Fiskars border punch

I thought I was going to be able to scrap a lot this weekend but Gio and I met up with his friends on Sat night and got home really late. Then come Sunday we saw his dad and went out for lunch with the family and we ended up getting home around 5pm and by that time, we were dead tired. So I didn't really get to finish this until Monday. My work starts 2am on Tuesday so I had free time yesterday.

I also had planned the layouts of a mini-album I was working on last week and so I had to complete it this week. These were all from the DT package that Pamela (SC Ning Creator) sent over last January. The album is basically about big events for every month of last year. So in essense a year in review for our 1st year of marriage. :) So here are the finished pages.

Front and Back cover on top. I used some Heidi Swapp pps for this project and some MM die cuts too.

I also made the round journals using my Fiskars circle punch, Fiskars edge scissor and Autum Leaves montly calendar stamp.

This is the last four months.

Materials Used: Scallop Chipboard Album: Nikki Sivils

PP: Nikki Sivils 6x6 U R My Favorite pad, Heidi Swapp

Embellisment: MM die cust, Heidi Swapp cut outs, MM alpha and Pink Paislee Alpha, 7 Gypsies rubon

Inks: Distress Inks, MM Pink paint, Staz On

Tools: Fiskars border punch, Martha Stewart border punch, Fiskars edge scissor

It was totally heart warming to reminisce about the significant events we went through last year and I am planning to create something like this each year. I loved the fact too that we had a lot of photos for each and every month which surprised me too.

Happy Monday everyone!

Cheers!

Cathy

Good morning breakfast with Gio

2010-05-21T13:04:00.000+08:00

It's finally friday here and that means it's Gio's free day already. :) Yes, his friday is normally just spent with client meetings but it's rare that he goes out. Friday is officially the start of our weekend although I still need to work the next day. We're pretty much just cuddling, sleeping on a friday.

So when I got home, I wasn't expecting him to be up real early but he was and asked me if I wanted to have breakfast outside. I was already hungry and can't wait 'til lunch so we went out and had breakfast at Pancake House. It's just a block away from the house but we ate at the ouside tables, it wasn't hot this am so I am glad for the fresh air I had. We had a really good breakfast and a really good conversation. I really long for times like these. It's what I miss the most when we're both working on weekdays. We love to talk and that's what we do best. I missed him actually and I'm glad we went out. If only I can only pause time... hmnn... sweet day. :)

Before I go to sleep, I decided to blog about it before this warm and fuzzy feeling go away so pardon me for the cheesy opening. I also want to share a layout I made a few days ago. I used my BG Origins pack for the 2nd time, I tried using it once (January) but found it hard. But this time I think I loved it and will surely use it again soon.

This is a print and cut design from House of 3 made using my Silhouette again. And the flower is a Marth Stewart punch.

Handmade flowers I made using circle punches. I got this from the Scrap That forum. Loved it because finally found a lot of use for my circle punches. :) The chipboard is a Tattered traveler chipboard which I misted with Patina. Bought a lot of TA recently. :)

Lastly, here's the title which was also cut out from the Silhouette machine. I just added 3D Pebeo paint on the flourish.

Materials:

PP: Basic Grey Origins, GCD, WRMK CS

Alpha: Silhouette cutout

Embelishment: BG Origins sticker, TA chipboard, MM pearl

Inks: Distress Inks, Pebeo paint, Glimmer mist Patina, Stickles

Tools: Silhouette SD machine, Fiskars circle punch, Fiskars border punch

Good night everyone!

Cheers,

Cathy

Shoes & Personalities

2010-05-18T06:00:00.072+08:00

I can't believe it's already the second half of May. This month started really well for me, been really productive and completed a lot of project to date. And since it's the middle of the month, it is time for another layout for my Guest DT spot over at All About Me.

This time the idea is all about our favorite shoes and how it actually "shoes" our personality - just love that! My ultimate fave now are flats! Whether it's open toed, sandals, just as long as they're flat, I love 'em. So then came the problem, what shoes to take picture of? I couldn't decide so I decided to rely on my Silhouette SD. Unfortunately I couldn't find any flat shoes to print and cut but high heels oh my there were a lot.

And this actually reminded how attracted I was to high heels - specifically stilleto 7-8 years back. I still like 'em now but would I prefer it over flats? I don't think so. So this stirred up something in my head and I decided to actually use the high heels image and break it. :) So I did exactly that. And lucky me, I went to my LSS last Saturday and got me some new Kaiser papers and the Gypsy Sister is just perfect for this layout! So here it is, the broken heels and a pic of me right there coming out of the shoe happy to have a broken high heels because I'm all for flats. :)

And reflecting on it, it really pretty much is like my personality. I've never been into make ups, I don't wear 'em although I can't live without cheek tints (that's my only staple). I only wear moisturizer 'coz my skin's really dry, if it weren't for that I'd be happy to let that go. I've never been into fancy stuff too like nail polish, wild hair colors, contact lenses... there was a time I got hooked into it but when I see past pictures of myself, I get goose bumps. I guess it was just a phase and now I know me and this is me, just flat old me. :)

And character wise, I'm really more of an introvert. Not very social, I'd be happy to just stay home and scrap or read or watch. I know, I sound boring but it is me. I'm not a party gal, never been, never will be... As I aged, I've learned to accept that and I am really happy with who and where I am right now.

Here is the layout. I just love how bright those Kaiser pps are, don't you? And I might as well also calls this a Silhouette SD layout because I sure did cut a lot here and it makes me really think I actually don't need anything else other than paper! Blaaah! But I still buy stuff haha!

I cut out the scrolls on one of the paper and used that as a top for the shoe and added some bling.

These are all cut out using Silhouette, the font I used is just downloaded online and I just added some Kaiser gems.

Here's a close up of the top left corner. The looped border is also a silhouette cut out. The paper is originally white and I stamped it with clear embossing powder and used distress inks on to of it. Loved it. Those diamonds are just scraps from the cutouts from the machine and I just topped it with liquid pearls.

Here's the journaling these are the same papers as the one I used for the font. And below this is the close up of the shoe. I've attached the cutout on a chipboard so it has dimension.

PP: Kaisercraft Gypsy Sister
Embellishment: Kaiser pearls and gems, Kaiser rub-on
Alpha: Kaiser paper cut with Silhouette SD
Inks: disress inks, Clear embossing powder Liquid Pearls, Colorbox , Judikins Glaze
Tools: Stampin' place background stamp

I really had fun with the prompts this month and I am so happy to guest design for All About Me. So I hope you try it too and join them this month here.

Thanks for looking and have a great week ahead!

Cheers!

Cathy

Sharing some LOs & a mini-Album

2010-05-17T05:00:00.002+08:00

Just want to share a few LO's I've completed recently and also a mini-album.

Here's an LO I finished last week for Scrapbook Challenges sketch. I tried something new here and finally used one of my many embossing folders. The bottom cardstock was embossed and inked. The top photos were stamped with several BG mini stamp.

This one is for a sketch over at Creative Scrappers. I really loved the sketch so I decided to do it. I used some more of my G45 Domestic Goddess paper.

This one is based on another sketch challenge over at the Scrappiest. Used my stash again and this is from the Feb Nook kit which is now 90% consumed. I only have one pp left with lots of scraps. So happy it's almost depleted. :) I stamped a Hero Arts script text on the sides of the pp and on the chipboard ticket where the title is located.

Lastly, here's the mini-album I completed around two weeks ago. This is from the DT RAK I got from Pamela and yes I only used it recently and it's almost consumed already. This is an album of our back to back two-year trip to Boracay with Gio's family. The album is also just cut out from bare chipboards I have on hand.

Yes, I have been busy and productive and really happy! Have a great week ahead everyone! Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

Cathy

Ribbon Flower Tutorial

2010-05-15T19:00:00.003+08:00

This month, it is my turn to do a tutorial over at Scrapbook Challenges. As I was searching for an idea, I looked through my stash and just tried different stuf f out and I ended with this ribbon flower that I loved so I decided to do that one.

Here's the layout and some close ups. I used the DT RAK that came from Pamela and these are My Little Shoebox papers.

Here's the flower I made using ribbons and some sequined trim.

I tied each alpha too with thin ribbons of coordinating colros.

And for the journaling, I added a trim too.

I guess you can call this a ribbon layout coz of all the ribbons I have incorporated. :) I loved it and I hope you're going to check out the tutorial here.

Materials used:

PP: My Little Shoebox

Alpha: AC Thickers, MLS chipboard alpha

Embellishments: MLS die cuts, borders, Misc. Trims, Misc. buttons, MM vintage findings tag, BG brads

Inks: Distress Inks, Stickles, Liquid Pearls

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

Cathy

Blogging... lots of projects

2010-05-13T17:40:00.000+08:00

Okay so I have been ignoring my blog lately and that's because of our bad internet connection but I have been really productive and have been scrapping a lot! I've been tracking my progress scrapping and I was surprised when I checked how many I made in April - 14! That's a new record I think the max I've made is just about 10.

And then NSD happened! :) I was actually able to join different challenges and on that same weekend, I think I made about 7 or so. For the first time in my life I was able to make 4 layouts in one sitting!!! Yeah baby! And so for the month of May, I have already made 10 layouts! I'm so proud of me! :) The bad thing is, I couldn't share the details of how I've made the pages anymore, I just can't keep up and I think I was too excited creating! :)

Anyway, the pages I've been doing are pretty simple. I've been trying clean and simple LO's and am really lovin' it especially when I realized how much time I'm saving. So I've been trying different stuff lately. I am also trying to use a lot of my stash because I can't really buy much scrappy stuff anymore since I'm saving for our out of the country trips coming soon. So gotta save! save! save! That sounds really foreign to me...heehee

I was also in a coffee shop the other day waiting for Gio and I chose to grab the Women's Health magazine amongst all the fashion magazines on there. And so it got me into thinking as I was reading it and realized I've been taking my health for granted. I spend hours everyday scrapping, blog hopping and working but I don't really take the time to exercise which I badly badly need because we (Gio and I) love to eat a lot. So I really need to compensate for that since I know there is no chance we'll ever stop appreciating good food (nice way to call it isn't?).

So I started yesterday... I finally used my Timeworks machine again and am planning to do it everyday. As little as 15 mins everyday should help in my opinion rather than nothing at all. I also bought the Abs Diet for Woman which I've borrowed from a friend in the past and found helpful, so i thought investing on it could really help too. It's not really a diet book but more of what foods are good, really good exercises on there and recipes to try too. I really am crossing my fingers and will try my best at this daily exercise thing. I've gained about 20 lbs the last 2-3 years and I'm starting to feel like I'm not myself anymore. I've never been this heavy and fat in my entire life and I've started to feel heavy and I do know that my weight is really tying me down so I gotta change that. Pray for me please! :)

So here are the projects I've made the past two weeks, some for NSD, some for sketch challenges.

Here's one I've made for Scrapbookdeals NSD Challenge... Love that photo of Gio. And this photo was actually edited by my good friend LG. Thanks Girl! Love yah!

These are all October Afternoon pps. Love is so much!

Here's one more using OA pps

And I forgot there's one more! On this last one I actually used some of my stash like the K&Co die cut borders and some AC Thickers chipboard frame.

The next two layouts are made using Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl and Joyride Line. Had these since February I think but didn't really get a chance to use 'em all.

The first one's using the cosmo sketch and the second's a sketch from Pencil Lines.

And these are my first attempt at scrapping 8.5x11 LO's. I used up my old nook kit which features G45 Domestic Goddes papers. Gotta try more of this soon coz I loved it!

Loved that pinwheel!

So you see, I wasn't really kidding when I said a lot on this post. Heehee

Thanks for looking! Hope you're all having a great week!

Cheers!
Cathy

Mom's Day & Winners

2010-05-09T18:31:00.001+08:00

Words are not enough to describe the true value of a Mother, and most of all my Mom. For me, growing up without my father's presence (most of the time - because he works overseas) could have been a disaster. Without a father figure who is suppose to be the stronger one between parents, I could have ended up weak, shy and vulnerable but what happened is the exact opposite. And I will give the credit to none other than my Mom. What I am today, what I have become and what I have achieved is because of her... And she did not achieve this well deserved gratitude because she's a career woman I idolized (she's a stay at home mom), not because she's rich (because we barely had enough for the family), not because she gave everything that we wanted (most of the time, we don't get what we want) but simply because she showed us how much she loved us. She's willing to sacrifice anything for us including her own happiness, she has a big heart for her family and nothing could be warmer, more special than love itself. Because of this and more I love her so.

Of all the things she's influenced on me, if there's one I wish she didn't it would be the crying thing. :) I cry all the time, even when I'm so happy, that still makes me cry. Sometimes I feel it's not good because I'm just oo emotional but sometimes I am glad too because it has become my way of releasing my bad feelings and it keeps me emotionally healthy if you know what I mean. :)

I missed her today because she went home to the province last Thursday so we couldn't celebrate. But she is in my hear no matter where she is. Here's a photo of us with my dearest nephew during her birthday last January.

For the winners of the blog hop, sorry for the delay in announcing. I've been having internet problems since the blog hop. I hope the winners are moms too and this could be a real nice surprise on this special day. :)

For the local winnder - it is Benga

For the International winnder - it is Cindy Gay

I have also posted the winners here at SC.

Please PM me your shipping address at catherinecng@yahoo.com

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! This is your BIG day!

Cheers,

Cathy

All About Me Guest DT

2010-05-06T17:51:00.000+08:00

I'm so happy to be this month's Guest DT over at All About Me. AMM is a challenge blog focused on "me". They have prompts twice a month that will really encourage you to internalize about yourself, your dreams, your state of mind at some point in your life, experiences in the past that molded you to become who you are and more... And isn't that great? How seldom do we scrap about ourselves and focus on stuff like that? Well, I for one am not. I take it for granted but I do know in the future that I would want to look at those and recall how I was feeling. So I am all aboard AMM's goal! :)

For the first prompt this month, it is about our impossible future. List of what we once hoped our future to be but somehow knew it's impossible. As for me, when I started conceptualizing for my layout I realized I'm not really an impossible dreamer hehehe so I couldn't think of one impossible future which made me think that I know where I am right now and I'm pretty happy with it. So then I decided to focus on a "not so" impossible future but something that could or coult not actually happen.

So this is what I came up with. I decided to focus on what I once thought was an impossible future. It is about our trip to Europe that we started planning 2 week ago. It's not until next year so it's still a dream in the future but I never really thought that it could happen alerady and definitely not this soon. So we are both super psyched about it and couldn't stop talking about it. :)

I used MM's passport line and some MM vintage findings paper and the paper actually has an embossed vinyl like texture but the color is tone on tone so I highlighted some areas by applying white chalk inks on the paper to show that. The main photo is my first trip outside the country more than four years ago. I decided to use a huge exclamation point to place my photo. So the exclamation point is from a board I drew and cutout. I covered it with vintage paper and on top when you open the envelope, you can actually see some postage stamps from the paper that shows paris, loved that. :)

This is the close up of the point and this is cut out from a board too. I painted it in white and stamped using two different stamps. I used black distress ink and while it's still wet I sprayed it with water to give it a not so defined image. Then I colored the entire board with distress inks (faded jeans and vintage photo again). Added the metal frame - I inked it with staz on saddle brown - I had to use Staz On so it'll stay on once dry because the texture of the metal is really slick.

Close up of the title - the E is an old big Prima sticker chipboard and I used the sticky portion of it and applied Ranger Perfect Pearls. Then I used a Hero Arts script stamp with versamark watermark ink on top which lifted some of the pearls. The word "impossible" is a Heidi Swapp invisibles alphabet which comes in white and i inked it with distress inks using a combination of vintage photo and faded jeans and the white checkered lines don't get inked and it's amazing.

This is a Tattered Angels stamp which I stamped with clear embossing ink and applied embossing puffs. It is amazing how the puffs came together after applying heat to it. I'm crazy not to have tried this since I got it which was 5-6 months back? Oh well...not too late I guess :)

This one is the kraft envelope which I attached at the back of the exclamation point. I removed the lock of the envelop and added a button to the center. I used a photo turn and brad to use as a seal for the envelope. Inside it is the journaling I wrote about how excited we were about planning the trip, saving for it and actually scheduling the countries to visit inclusing the train schedules. We were so glad everything is available online!

This is an MM Passport tag which I inked too and I added the Kraft envelope seals there and added a wooded flower.

Materials Used:
Paper: MM Passport, MM Vintage Findings, AC Cardstock
Embellishment: MM fabric tag, Maya road Kraft envelope, misc. brad, photo turn, metal frame, button, charm & wooden flower
Alpha: Heidi Swapp Invisibles, Prima chipboard sticker, AC Thickers, Pink Paislee, MM, Jenni Bowlin
Inks: Distress Inks, Staz On, Ranger white embossing puff, white chalk ink, Versamark Ink, Perfect Pearls (rust)
Stamps: Inkadinkado, Hero Arts, Tattered Angels

I hope you try out AMM's challenge and go ahead and head on over to their blog to see what the DT's came up with. Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

Cathy

Come On Over & HOP ON this NSD!

2010-04-30T19:08:00.002+08:00

Good day everyone! Hop is always fun isn't it? Thanks for stopping by my blog today, if you happen to just stopped by my blog, we are doing a blog hop today over at Scrapbook Challenges and you have to start at Pamela's Blog.

So what do we have in store for you this National Scrapbooking Day? Well, huge huge prizes are up for grabs of course, lots of challenges and games over at the forum and fun fun chats with some of us SC girls and our awesome group of members. This hop is especially for National Scrapbooking Day but we'd also like to welcome the new gals joining us and at the same time say thanks to the ladies who have graced SC the last few months.

If you don't know yet, I'm a returning DT at SC and I am just lovin' Pamela's sketches!. I've been scrapping actively for close to a year now and I am from Manila, Philippines. This addiction started when I joined a local contest here we called "Scappin Idol". I didn't win that but I'm thankful I took the plunge though I barely just started scrapping then because it kicked off this need to scrap often. Before that, I only really just shop scrapbook stuff and don't really use 'em. Literally just SHOP PERIOD. But after seeing what I "can" actually do, it flicked this fire in me. What drama huh? LOL.

I've been married for a year and about 4 months now, no kids yet and just enjoying our life together at the moment. We're big on travels and really put a priority on that so most of my pages are really about our adventures. I try to scrap as often as I can despite what my corporate world demands, if you know what I mean. I work full time and also do consultancy work from time to time.

I've always loved vintage style and looks on my layouts but lately I have been really trying out clean and simple layouts and I am really lovin' it. so I guess I'm still on the discovery phase and I love it. I really don't want to stick to just one style too and I always like to try out new things whether it's tools, techniques, etc.

For this hop, Pamela has created a sketch - one pager and a two pager. Why not try your hands on it? What if I tell you, you could win a the latest My Family Fancy Pants Collection? Motivated now? I bet you are! Go grab your stuff now and get started!

Here's my take on the one pager. Materials I used are all from My Minds Eye Quite Contrary collection.

Some close ups....

And here is what's up for grab!!! I especially love the colors of this collection don't you? So HOP ON girls and do your takes on the sketch!

Now for simply leaving comments on all the blogs on this hop you could win this LOVELY April Scarlet Lime Kit! Gorgeous isn't it?

And for a special treat, for simply becoming a member at SC and for inviting your friends over (through the invite tab in the ning site), you could win this PRIMA goodies!!! Yummy enough?

BUT WAIT! Hold your horses becaus THERE's MORE! Now I didn't mean to sound like the TV Shopping network here but for becoming a follower of my blog and leaving a comment here that you've followed, I'm giving away this small treat from my stash. I'm giving away one locally and one more for international followers. Let me know also where you're from so I can easily filter for the drawings. :) Forgive me though because I have not asked our post office yet how much it is to ship international but if the shipping costs more than the actual stash, I will just give out a GC for two peas. I hope that's okay. :)

Here's the local pack. MM Journaling notepads, Maya Road journaling and flower sheers, Tim Holtz tickets, 7 Gypsies ATC transparecy, Chipboards, K&CO tags, local ribbons, Imaginisce stickers, misc. stickers, rob and bob studio small clipboard.

International is this one. But it could also be a GC for Two Peas. MM Journaling notepads, My Little yellow Bicycle Calendar Journal Tablet, Maya Road Jounaling and flower sheers and arrow felts, Tim holtz tickets, Mis stickers, Local trims.

Thanks for hopping on, now head on over to KAREN's BLOG for more inspiration!!!

Cheers!!!

Cathy

She luvs life...

2010-04-24T10:42:00.000+08:00

Yes I do! I am lovin' my life right now, it's like everything is in it's right place and I am so happy. Heard over the radio the other day - if you keep asking yourself if you're happy then you probably aren't happy because if you are, you just feel it no questions asked. And that made me think and I realized how happy I was because I don't really ask and I'm always looking forward to tomorrow with open arms. :)

So I decided to journal about that on this layout and I used the recent photos that I have of myself. This is actually for the Pagemaps sketch challenge. I finally used my new Prima goodies which I haven't touched after 2-3 layouts and I have the whole pp line! I gotta start using them again and consume it all.

Here's the layout.

This title block is cut out from one of the papers, I added a Prima stamp on it (in pink) and then covered the big flower print with a real flower. I also added sparkle on the flower bu adding shimmerz blingz on it.

The pop up flower punch was covered with more flowers and a stem.

The felt is originally white in color - I stamped it with text and then sprayed Patina glimmer mist on it then added flowers and bling.

The photos were partly framed by the stamps scattered on the photos.

This is a Websters' journaling card. I drew lines on it and wrote my journaling notes. I love that it looks stamped and embossed.

PP: Prima Strawberry Kisses, Raspberry Tea, Shabby Chic
Embellishment: Prima flowers, Prima Felt, Prima Bling, Prima chipboard sticker, Websters journaling cards, Trim,
Alpha: Websters Alpha sticker
Inks: Distress Inks, Shimmerz Blingz, Glimmer mist
Tools: Martha border punch and flower punch, Hero arts stamp, Prima stamps

I hope you too are enjoying your life at the moment, love it and live it. Happy weekend!

Cheers!

Cathy

American Craft Letterbox Part 2

2010-04-23T06:00:00.024+08:00

Yes, I'm back for more. I actually finished this along with the LO I posted yesterday. That's what I'm lovin about clean simple layouts too! It's quick and simple yet pretty too. I'm really stickin to this... maybe use all of my old stash and scrap old photos too! And I think I really would. :)

This is also inspired by the sketch over at The Scrappiest (Sketch 60). I always love Liz' sketch! This is a photo of me and my family during my Mom's bday celebration last January 4. I love my mom and she's really special to me and this is for her.

The flower is a newly bought Martha punch and I'm telling you it is amazing and super super cute! I SO like that effect and I hope they create more of these!

I used the frames from the paper and used them all here.

The title at the bottom is actually a Silhouette cut out which is originally in white but I decided to put glitter on it and seal it with Judikins glaze. I loved how it turned out and I'm loving my Silhouette more and more.

The parenthesis border is a Inque chipboard which I covered with AC papers too.

Materials Used:

AC Letterbox, Cardstock

Pink Paislee alpha sticker, Websters alpha sticker

Glitter, distress ink, Inque chipboard

Martha Stewart border punch, Judikins Glaze

Thanks for looking and Happy Friday to all!!!

Cheers!

Cathy

American Crafts Letterbox!

2010-04-22T06:00:00.001+08:00

Everybody was on the Color Room last week and I had to jump in too because the color pallete is just so pretty. And like my OA layout the other day, the colors are totally out of my comfort zone but I really liked how it turned out! And i'm loving pastels more and more!

Here's my take and I also used the sketch over at Pencil Lines (Sketch 182) and their sketches are just perfect for anything!

These frames are too cute! They are also from the same paper line and I just cut them out. The felt flowers are also AC had them for a while now and it's perfect for the color palette so I just stitched 2 hearts together.

Got a chance to use my Inkadinkado lamp post stamp again. I heat embossed it in black too. The prima trim at the bottom of the photo is also cream in color so I sprayed Glimmert Mist Patina on it to match the pallete.

These are flowers from the pp which i cut. The bottons created a center push so i sort of crunched the flower a bit and used pop dots.

This is a new stamp from Hero Arts which i just got. Inked it with Staz On and I painted the flowers and basket with Glimmer Mist too. The center of the wheels were buttons and I just covered the wholes with liquid pearls in matching light blue color.

Materials Used:

American Crafts Letterbox papers, OA journaling cards

Martha and Fiskars border punches

Inkadinkado and HA stamps

AC Thickers, MM buttons, AC felts, Prima Trim,

I think that for now, I will actually switch to pastels! I know how shocking that is and it's surprising me too!This is so not me but I am truly enjoying it. Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

Cathy

MME Challenge

2010-04-21T15:00:00.000+08:00

MME is giving away another huge prize for their current sketch challenge. And while my MME pps are still fresh, I got excited for this challenge and I used all the new MME products I got.

Here's the sketch

And here is my take. I went for a clean look which is common recently I still am not sure why I'm loving all clean and paste LOs. But you gotta do what you love and I'm lovin it now. :)

Close ups...

added those three ribbons which I folded on the side of both photos.

I quilled a few pieces of pp and attached it at the back of the photos too.

Materials Used:

MME Papers, AC Cardstock

MME Stickers, MME Journaling card, Misc ribbons

Distress Ink, Fiskars border punches

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

Cathy

April Big Event with Master Iris Babao Uy

2010-04-17T19:41:00.001+08:00

Yes, that's right! We're lucky to have invited Iris to teach us a few techniques on mediums over at Scrapbook Challenges! Go check it out, do your takes and win some prizes!!!

Here's what Iris created for the tutorial...

And below is my take...visit Scrapbook Challenges to check out the details on what I did for this page.

Close ups below...

I'm also giving away a small prize for those who'd be joining and doing their own takes of the tutorial. Winners will be chosen randomly and you can double your chances by posting a comment here on this post.

Cheers everyone!

Cathy

I cannot believe I'm into Pastels..

2010-04-14T23:50:00.001+08:00

This is my first time to use October Afternoon products. I don't know why but lately I've been into pastel colored pps which I normally wouldn't go for but something changed and i am actually enjoying it. I cannot believe myself when I chose to buy My Little Shoebox and American Crafts Letterbox papers (which were all light colored papers) last week instead of Graphic 45! I guess some things really do change.

Here's a page about our yearly basketball game appointments - we don't miss any game where DLSU (De La Salle University) is playing. It's college basketball I know but Gio used to be the Sports Editor of the official school newsletter so you can kinda understand his fanaticism in addition to the fact that he loves this game so much. And so I decided to do this page because I never want to forget such a special memory.

This is also a layout based on this week's sketch over at Sketch Inspiration.

Here are the close ups...

The yellow strip of paper was stamped with Hampton Arts word strip - one of the new stamps I purchased and I love it!

Thiis the photo mat which I embossed using my cuttlebug. I heat embossed the word "YOU" with clear powder and then inked the entire area with shabby shutters and then painted the center square with Shimmerz Blingz. I'm lovin all my Shimmerz. And underneath the mat is a Tim Holtz ticket stamp.

And the title... So glad I found these brown alpha's that go well with the page.

Materials used:

Papers - OA Farmhouse

Embellishment: OA Farmhouse die cuts

Alpha: AC Thickers, Pink Paislee

Inks: Distress Ink, Blingz, Staz On, Colorbox

Stamps: Tim Holtz, Hampton Arts

Thanks for looking and Have a Great Day!

Cheers!

Cathy

March is a lucky month so it's high time I share the love....

2010-04-14T06:00:00.001+08:00

Yes it is! I won several challenges and random drawings and I am a happy gal.

First, I was a featured member over at Your Scrapbook Stash plus my Friday Sketch take won! For this I got a price pack from Erica and a $10 GC and what's good is I already got the pack!!!! It arrived real fast for some reason.

2nd Prize Pack - my LO was picked as the winner over at Papierhouse's Friendship Challenge.

3rd Prize Pack - I won Challenge #3 at weScrap's next designer call. And this is a bit huge for me because I am applying for a DT post there - crossing my fingers. If you don't know them, weScrap is a Kit Club I recently joined and you can find lots of inspiration from the gals there. So check it out!

4th Prize Pack - I won the random drawing for Iris's class held last February.

I'm so thrilled and happy for all these so I will have a little giveaway this coming weekend along with our BIG event over at Scrapbook Challenges.

Hope to see you back here and on SC this weekend!

Cheers,
Cathy

SPRING Love

2010-04-13T11:32:00.002+08:00

It's my turn this week to post a new DT challenge over at Scrapbook Challenges. This is supposed to be my last DT month but Pamela decided to keep those who want to stay and add more folks to the team and much much more activities in store! Isn't that awesome? Well, I love her sketches so why wouldn't I stay? And I forgot to mention that she's adding a 2-page version of the sketch now and they are just lovely. I'm just not a 2-pager lady but definitely hope to try them out soon.

Now back to my challenge, I called it "Spring Love" and what better way to show Spring than through pastel colored papers and embellies and add to that some flowers and butterflies! :) So yes, that is my challenge this week plus a bit more - create a page containing pastel colored papers, butterlfy, flower and 2 or more rubons. Yes, get those rub-ons out. They are so expensive and yet we tend to always forget them.

This is my layout. It's made of My Little Shoebox papers and embellies that came with my DT pack care of SC Creator - Pamela. Thanks again for these! :)

The flower is made of circles I punched from one of the border designs. Added some leaves from the same paper and Voila! The butterfly is punched using my newly bought Martha Stewart Punch and I misted it using Glimmer Mist Patina and Red Velvet.

This is one of the rubons I used which I hid part of using one of the photo corner die cuts. At the base is also a heart flourish that I used as a mask and misted the area with Shimmerz Spritz.

The title is also an MLS chipboard which I inked and i also overlapped a few letters using fam tapes. The heart and the title background were also die cuts.

Materials Used:
PP, Die cuts and Alpha - My Little Shoebox
Punchers - Martha Stewart, Fiskars
Mists: Shimmerz, Glimmer Mist
Misc - Rubons, Buttons, Heart Flourish Mask
Sketch: Creative Scrappers Sketch 98

Thanks for looking and I hope you join us over at Scrapbook Challenges!

Cheers!

Cathy

The Dress

2010-04-06T19:53:00.001+08:00

So it's the 3rd challenge of their DT call over at weScrap and this week it's called The Dress. I just love how they named the challenges. I am also very happy to share that I won the 2nd Challenge which was called The Makeover and I get a prize too! :)

So for this week, we had to choose 2 dresses from the different runway models and use those as inspiration. The dresses that I chose were the top 2 from this photo.

And this is the finished LO. I used different papers here and I actually had a hard time looking for papers that would fit the color scheme. I used the dress color on the first photo (top left) as the foreground and cut out the papers and used different border punches to mimic the wave-like desing of the dress. And I used the diagonal flower design on the dress as the main design on the LO hence I used 2 chipboards which I placed diagonally.

Here is the close up of the different cuts and border punches used.

Here's a close look on the chipboard which I painted using MM glaze to also mimic the satin like feel of the dress and splattered it with purple paint to mirror the vines on the dress too.

More close up...

Materials used:
PP: MME Quite Contrary, K&Co, DVWC, Sassafrass
Alpha: MME, Scrapworks
Embellies: Inque board, MME journal die cuts
Tools: Martha Butterfly punch, Martha border punch, Fiskars Embossing border punch, Stickles, MM paints (glaze, purple).
I had super fun with this challenge! I initially don't know where to start because it was hard to find the right papers but when I found them the ideas just started flowing. I actually didn't know I'd finish it tonight.

Happy day for me! :)

Cheers!
Cathy

LOTS of updates and SC Layouts

2010-04-05T16:36:00.000+08:00

Happy Easter to all! DH and I spent the holiday over at Club Balai Isabel in Talisay Batangas with his family. It was a 3 days & 2 nights vacation. And it was a well deserved break for both of us. We've been working pretty hard the last month and we barely see each other on weekdays so to spend 3 days of uninterrupted time together with the family was truly worth the wait.

There have also been a lot of big events the past month that I just haven't had time to share and note down because of how pre-occupied I was at work. We finally got our most awaited SUV on the 19th of March! We got the 2010 Hyundai Tucson in silver after waiting for exactly 1 month and 1 week! Yes that's how hot that car is and it is worth the wait too. We call him "Silver Surfer", yes we have names for the cars. The other car is a Honda Civic which we named "Dark Vader" - coz it's really black and DH is a fan of Star Wars. :)

Here they are together... These photos make us happy! :)

We also attended bday parties, christening parties and family celebrations (MIL bday, SIL bday, Niece's bday and Niece's Graduation). Yes, all these in a month! So you can pretty much understand why I had no time for myself and my blog. Not to add the arrival of my big boss from the US for two weeks! PERIOD.

Lastly, Gio finally decided to spend my Anniversary gift to him and he went with a Sony Playstation 3! Yes a big boy toy. hehehe... Kinda excited too because I used to play Final Fantasy and found out there's a new release for PS3 and not to add that it's also a Blue Ray Disc player. We already bought two movies - UP & GI Joe and the picture is awesome! And not to mention our TV is only HD ready so we are now contemplating on getting a new HD TV! Yes, we realized how costly that PS3 box is. Games, Blue Ray Movies and now a brand new TV. Talk about saving! : )

So that was just last week and I've already spent 2 hours yesterday playing with "Devil May Cry 4" coz I couldn't get hold of FF XIII - it's always out of stock. Yes, 2 hours of game time that I could've spent scrapping. I wish there's more than 24 hours in a day, don't you?

So enough of my musings! Here are 2 layouts I did for Scrapbook Challenges last week and this week.

On last week's sketch - I used BG Origins papers and embellies

Used felts too and the MR envelope coz I still have a lot! :)

This is for this week's sketch. I used the new MME Quite Contrary line that I got from YourScrapbookStash for becoming this month's featured member! Big thanks to Erica!

Cheers Everyone and Happy Easter!

Cathy

Super Happy

2010-03-30T17:01:00.000+08:00

Last friday, I dropped by at Lasting Impression (our local LSS) to look at some of the items they have on sale and luckily there were some new lines that just arrived. The store assistand was actually taking them out of the box, am I not early? hehehe... So I grabbed the new Flutter line from Making Memories and a few more Prims stuff (flowers, stamp, alpha) and a few more sale items. So happy! :)

So I immediately put those flutter pp to use. And this is my entry for this week at weScrap. I also used the sketch over at the scrappiest. The challenge this week it called "the makeover" - basically we got to use something that we haven't tried before and so I pulled out my Tim Holtz fragments and alcohol inks and put them into good use. :)

Close up of the fragments and the alcohol ink.

The flowes and leaves were a mix of canvas, felt and paper. The chipboard border was an Inque Boutique board I covered with MM flutter border paper.

And the top left corner is a mix of chipboard sticker and ribbons. I actually replaced the Spring quote on the chibpboard sticker because it was very specific to Spring and we only have two seasons here.

Materials Used:

Paper: MM Flutter, MM Noteworthy

Alpha: Flutter alpha sticker, AC Thickers

Embellisment: Flutter die cuts, Trims, Chipboard sticker, Fragments, Inque Board

Stamp: Stampin up background stamp

Have a great week ahead of you!

Cheers!

Cathy

The Glossy

2010-03-24T19:26:00.000+08:00

So glad I finished this LO before the deadline over at weScrap. There is an ongoing DT call and the challenge for this week is to create a layout with our headshot or what models call "the glossy". Didn't get a chance to take a new headshot so I used this pic from our pre-nup. We also need to write 5 facts about ourself and below is my take. I also decided the recent sketch posted at Pencil Lines - it fits my photo perfectly and the die cut paper too!

Used the new Websters PP here. I just love the color of the paper and the die cut design - decided to put it on top of a kraft paper and outlined the die cut paper with liquid pearls.

Close up of the trims and the cut I made on the paper so I can insert the picture.

Close up of the title which is sort of a collage of the 5 adjectives about me. Centered on the letter O - which is a bare chipboard which I painted green, stamped and embossed with white powder. I used different alphabet stickers, chibpboard to fit all the words in the big letter O.

Materials used:

PP: Websters PP, Bazill Kraft CS, DCWV CS

Alphabets: AAS chipboard, MAMBI, Jillibean, Websters, Pink Paislee, K & Co

Liquid Pearls, MS boarder punch, Prima trim

Go and check out the events over at weScrap to see what the others did for this challenge.

Cheers!

Cathy

Cave... More Prima

2010-03-20T13:21:00.000+08:00

Here's one more layout I completed last week using Pencil Lines' Sketch. And of course I used more Prima papers! They are so pretty and wonderful!!!

The flowers were painted with Shimmerz - the effect and the shine is really pretty in person!

This is a naked chipboard which I painted using MM's manila color and then each letter is stamped using two different stamps on each side. I really love how it turned out. And the scroll chipboard is also bare - covered it with Prima pp and mixed gel medium and pink paint and applied it on the sides for texture.

This is the frame cut out from the prima pp and the stamp underneatch is also a prima stamp, I just added pearls on the tips of the flourish. The lace is also cream in color but I just misted it with walnut ink to make it brownish.

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!

Cathy

Lucky line

2010-03-15T12:18:00.000+08:00

Hello Monday! This will be a busy work week for me and I'm prepped for it - had lots of sleep this weekend. And no to mention lots of eating too. :) Last saturday, had lots of time to sleep. DH and I also watched different TV shows I've downloaded over the week.

On Saturdays, the first thing we watch is Survivor. I was sad what's happening to the Heroes coz I really love them but now I think I'm switching sides. The heroes are just all confused, no leadership, etc... next would be Grey's Anatomy - my all time favorite! :) We also watched the first 3 episodes of the Amazing Race. Then more sleeping time and then I was able to scrap something late that night and right around midnight or almost, we decided to go out and grab some dessert and so we headed off to our fave - Cafe Breton - had their signature "La Pinay" crepe. And I thought that was it but then we decided to take home Jollibee Chickenjoy! Yes, we're on a roll. Ate those around two in the morning before going to bed at around 3. Teehee :)

So Sunday we were still craving for food, it's actually Gio who's craving for different kinds of food since Friday night. We went to my SIL's house for lunch for my BIL's bday celebration. Chit chat after lunch and headed off to Trinoma with the gang (ate ten, kim, ate faye, ave, patrick & mama) around 4pm, chanced upon a really nice pink dress from BYSI and I bought it. Then headed off for Dinner at Kopi Tiam - their Angus Beef tapa is the best! We we're so full when he headed home. And that's basically our weekend.

And just this morning, we found out from our car dealer representative that we're finally alloted one unit of the new Hyundai Tucson! This is the looooooooong-awaited news we've been hoping for since early February. So we will finally get the unit within the week! Soooooooooooo happeeeeeeee!!!

So, nuff about my musings, it's another week and that means another sketch from Scrapbook Challenges! Here's our sketch for this week.

Here's my take. I used the new papers from Little Yellow Bicycle called Lucky Me. I just love the color combo - green and blue.

Did a few things here and here. First is with the Technique Tuesday chipboard which I stamped using Hero Arts background stamp. I used embossing ink and then heat embossed it using distress embossing powder in peeled paint. Once dried I misted the whole background with glimmer spritz in Caribbean Sunset. The bird is a Maya Road bare chipboard, i applied crackle to it in varying colors. The circle journaling tablets were joined together with a brad and it hides the journaling underneath.

The titles were all from Heidi Swapp Stickers. The tree branch and flowers were also from Maya Road, painted all of them using MM paints and then I added liquid pearls on the border page.

Here's a close up of the middle page with the journaling hidden.

Happy Monday to all!

Cheers!

Cathy

Happiness is.... Family

2010-03-14T01:33:00.000+08:00

Here's an LO I've made using the current sketch challenge over at Sketch Inspiration. SI is a sketch ning forum I recently discovered. They've got weekly sketches and I love sketches. Can't seem to start anything without it so I signed up and joined early this week.

Here's the sketch:

And here's my take. I've used the new prima lines again and I still have a lot! :) This was a picture taken this New Year's over at Ate Ten's house. I think this was taken after the fireworks have settled. Gio was taking the picture so he wasn't here.

Close up of the several layers of trims and papers I used and the doily which was cut using my Silhouette. The trim on top is prima and was originally creme in color. I misted it with walnut ink because I didn't really want any shine added to it.

Close ups of the flowers and prima stamp. I also spread platinum stickles on the flowers.

And lastly close up of the prima stickers and chipboards. I also used a Heidi Swapp paper which I used for the title - "happiness is..."

If you notice, this layout did not have cutouts so I actually finished this in record time - I don't think I exceeded 2 hours and that's a first for me. And though it did not have my usual cut outs, I loved how it turned out. So maybe I will do more LOs without cutouts soon. But I don't know if I can resist it at all. It took an ounce of strength not to cut today. :)

Anyhow, thanks for looking! Have a great weekend!

Cheers!

Cathy

Got Lucky

2010-03-10T14:42:00.000+08:00

So I had a chance to play with my new Prima pps yesterday and I finished one page and I'm so happy I did. Didn't scrap for more than a week and though I lack sleep, it felt soooooo good. :) I used the sketch over at A2Z - was inspired with the white space on the sketch.

Here it is. I used a mix of the different lines they came out with on this page.

Here's the close up of the design.

Some close up. I used different trims and papers. "Lucky" alpha is from the watercolor line sticker alpha and the chipboard journal frame is from the flights of fancy line.

This is a Fancy Pants scalloped chipboard that I've had on my used stash. I simply covered it with coordinating Prima paper, sanded and inked the sides and added Beadazzles near one corner of the photo.

And of course, it wouldn't be a Prima layout with cutouts right? These are the flowers I cut out from the paper, layered and trailing on the side of the chipboard frame. I also added Judikins glaze on the flower for that added shine and dimension.

Journaling reads: Yes we did! Hence this unexpected trip to Beijing, China. - Tiananmen Square

Materials:
PP: Prima Flights of Fancy(841508, 841478), Strawberry Kisses(841447), Shabby Chic(841119)
Alpha: Prima CS Sticker (536787), Thickers
Embellisment: Prima Chipboard Sticker - Flights of Fancy (536725), Prima Trim, Misc trims, FP Scallop chipboard
Inks: Distress Ink, Judikins Glaze, Beadazzled, Modge Podge

Cheers!
Cathy

??? @1...

2010-03-09T17:57:00.000+08:00

I know I am way behind my blog posts. I blame work, that's all. Been really really busy and when I finally get a chance to blog about something, the internet's down. Yeah... that is what's been happening. Boo boo...

Anyhow, 2 weekends ago I was fortunate enough to attend another class of Iris Uy and I really really loved how the my album turned out. It was our 1st Anniversary celebration album which was our trip to Balai Isabel in Talisay this January 17. I also had an album a year ago about our "big day" and I'm planning to make this a yearly project. An album for every year of our celebration. I'm still thinking of an adjective to describe our first year together hence the title of the blog post ???? @1. I'm thinking... crazy @1? or bliss @1? Well, I'll let you know when I finally decide on it. I'll post it right at the back of the album cover.

I enjoyed the class very much especially the techniques taught. We played with fabric, gel mediums, crackle paints and paints. It was really fun and I finally got the chance to finish this album.

This is the front, side and back view of the album. This is a Maya Road chipboard album with envelopes. The album was covered with canvas that was stamped, painted with a mix of heavy gel medium and acrylic paint.

This is the inside pages plus the envelopes.

And more pages!

Love it! Love it! Love it! Hope to blog some more real soon!
Cheers!
Cathy

Remember this 4ever

2010-03-02T20:27:00.000+08:00

I totally forgot to post this Lily bee layout I did two weeks ago. This was from the same stash of lily bee papers I have.

The small die cut pieces are cut out from my new Silhouette SD machine. Got so excited using it and I cut out lots of the designs!

This is the photo where I placed a rubon phrase on the side. The alpha chipboards are from AAS but I didn't really like it that much so I stamped it with a letter script stamp from hero arts.

Ome of the die cuts. As you can see it didn't cut the small areas that well but I was happy with it because it added a more realistic look to the butterfly. I also applied a small mist from a mix of water, vintage photo reinker and rust perfect pearls and topped it off with distress stickles.

More die cuts (the white border at the bottom of the photo, the flower, the flourish and the leaf). The flower was hand made and I also just dipped the sides of the circle base on crackle paint.

Two more die cuts and I spinkled the cage again with the mix described above. This was originally cut from white cardstock.

Thanks for looking!!!

Cheers!

Cathy

February is over...

2010-03-01T16:51:00.001+08:00

I can't believe it's over. This month flew so fast and I hate to admit it but I only made 8 layouts. This is not because I lost my mojo or anything but I had to rest. Got sick for a few days - vertigo, had a small car accident - car got a scratch, been so busy at work due to integration activities. So yeah, it got the best of me.

On the other hand though, I did win some seriously awesome stuff! I won a $300 worth of Melissa Frances goodies, I'm one of the CEO awardees - which earned me an extra $250 and bought myself a new Philip Stein watch, a Charriol bracelet and we had a very nice Vday celebration! And on the scrapppin side of my world, I was able to attend a scrappin class with Iris Babao Uy, I got in the top 25 finalist of Nook's DT Call (still proud of that though I didn't make it LOL!), One of my layouts posted at Two Peas got someone's attention and it will be pubbed at Scrapbooking.com and lastly I will be the featured member this March over at Your Scrapbook Stash. What's not to like about Feb eh?

Well just to top it off, I was able to finish another layout this weekend. I'm so happy my Prima goodies arrived in time for the Feb BAP. No chance I'm hoping to win but I'm just happy to participate, been wanting to for the longest time. :)

So here is the finished layout. I started this layout last friday, when LG came over and we scrapped. But I didn't get to finish it until yesterday.

I used the Pastiche Collection on here. They are the most beautiful for me among all the new lines. :) The gate like paper is from my old prima stash, I tore it and applied crackle paint on the edges, like the soft look it added to the strong colors of the paper.

These are the chipboard stickers from the same line. The alpha is an old prima stash too but the flowers are new. I also stamped a small piece of the music stamp on the side of the photo.

Here's the bottom right side. It was hard to cut through those beautiful papers but I did it anyway and I'm so happy with how it turned out. I also added glossy accents on the roses just to give it a little of an epoxy look.

The leaf is from a new prima stamp too which I stamped on scraps (using two different shades of green) and hand cut after.

Thanks for looking and have a great week ahead!

Cheers!
Cathy

TOP SECRET

2010-02-27T09:55:00.000+08:00

Curious what this movie drape is all about? Me too!!! Prima is revealing a secret on March 5th and I just am so curious to know what it is!!!!

Check out PRIMA's blog to see what's up for grabs for simply posting this secret sneak!!!

Hurry!!!

Like movie stars...

2010-02-24T14:29:00.001+08:00

As promised, I am posting the close ups of the layout I finished like two weeks ago. It's a G45 LO which I used to submit to their DT call. Brave you say? Yes I am. :) Gotta keep trying - my scrapbooking motto! :) This was also based on the pagemaps sketch currently posted on becky's blog.

Here's the layout. Love how the title turned out - read more on the journaling to find out why it's titled this way.

I've the die cut papers and I just had to try and find a way to use all of them. So I layered them all! Love how it turned out anyway. I remember having a hard time trying different spots to put them on and another hard time glueing them in place. :)

Here's the close up of the layers. Used pop dots here and there. If you notice the tearing on the script paper, those are done through masking tape. I stick it hard on the paper and pull it so the tear loos natural.

Close up of the title. I also applied tarnished brass crackle on the ribbon and then an MM vintage clip to top it off. The photo mat was also punched using EK Success border punch.

Lastly, here's the journaling portion. The background paper was cut on the square marks and I rolled the squares in between to give that effect. The base flower was also pure white, I sprayed it with glimmer mist mixed with water and stamped a Hero Arts script stamp with Staz on. There was also a pin attached between the flowers which I created using my bead stuff.

Journaling: That's what it felt like on our pre-nup shoot. Posing, smiling, acting! It was tiring! :)

Materials used:

PP: Graphic 45 - Domestic Goddess, Renaissance Faire

CS: American Crafts

Alpha: G45 alpha die cuts, MM glitter alpha, Jenni Bowlin

Embellishments: Prima flowers, MM vintage findings, buttons

Inks: Distress inks, crackle paint, liquid pearls, perfect pearls, staz on

Tools: EK Success border punch

Hope you liked it! Thanks for looking!

Cheers,

Cathy

been BUSY... INDULGING...

2010-02-23T19:37:00.001+08:00

So where have I been huh? Been really busy the past two weeks with work and so there was a little indulging done too. Before Vday last week, DH and I went to Trinoma to look for a watch for him. He's been itching to buy one and we ended up buying a His and Hers Philip Stein and one more Kenneth Cole watch for him. His white Nike watch recently got broken so he needed another white watch (excuses huh?). And as we were just roaming around, we saw the Charriol shop and I've been eyeing it for quite sometime now and he convinced me to buy a bracelet! crazy! But he said i deserved it, so I believed him. LOL!

Then right after we bought those, I actually was given a CEO award that same night! So I guess I really did deserve it right? It was a perfect day. :)

Then that weekend, came Vday then back to work and work has been really crazy for me. Been sleeping a lot less because of it. Too stressed! But all my parcels arrived on Friday!. It was literally parcel day because I got my goods from a friend through a balikbayan box. They are my SILHOUETTE SD!!!, Joann goodies and punchers!!!

Next to that, my BG origins order have arrived. Been waiting for it for a month and was finally glad it arrived. And lastly, my Twopeas order have arrived too! This one was shipped through Johnny Air so it only took less than 2 weeks! I got all the new Prima CHA papers! As in all of it! tee hee... A few stamps and flowers too! :)

I was so high and thought nothing could go wrong but I knew it couldn't be that perfect. So there was a problem with my parcel shipped through our post office. The parcel costs $65 only and they wanted me to pay $35 for the shipping cost!!! That's more than 50% of the total freakin' cost!!! I was so mad because this was the first time they actually are billing me for customs duties!!! That's cray because i've been shipping through them so many times already! I gotta tell you, the system is freakin trash!!!

Anyhow, that should've given you an idea how mad i was right? Well enough about that, I got over it anyway. I left my parcel there and still have not picked it up. Maybe I'm hoping for a miracle... whatever. By the time I got home on friday, DH wanted to get his haircut done so I tagged along. So by the time we got home I was dead sleepy. The next day, worked like hell and right afte rmy shift we went straight to Duty Free and then to the Travel Expo over at SM MOA. I had a foot spa after the expo because DH had to meet a client for an hour or two. We were home at around 6pm and you can imagine my excitement with my new toy right? So I still managed to set it up and try it despite being awake for almost 24 hours! But no regrets there! That toy was AMAZING! Even DH was amazed and asked me why I only bought it now!!! Haha that made me laugh! :)

Sunday is family day. We went out for lunch with DH's family, off to celebrate my SIL's bday. Then we went to Shang rila where he bought another watch! It was the Issey Miyaki watch we saw at HK 2 years ago and he was so suprised to see it here so he bought it! Watch you say? yes, again. Then we were going to meet with SIL again at around 8pm that same day at Serendra so we've got time to kill. We went to Glorietta and I had my version of indulgence too. :) I've been wanting to go to Clarins Institut for the longest time and I finally decided to go. I had a facial and bought new goodies for my face, It's just about time because my stuff is almost depleted. I'm using Philosophy products and I read in a magazine lately that as we age, our skin needs vary. I need moisturizers that have specific ingredients to help the skin regenerate faster because it's starting to slow down. Bottom line is I spent 12k on those new products. I didn't mind because they really last a long time. And as DH said, I spend as much on scrappy stuff why not on my skin which is more important? Amen to that! :)

That was it for me so you can imagine that my monday was dedicated to my bed. :) But I ended up cleaning my scrapbook room a bit too. I couldn't help it.

So last week, I only managed to create one layout and here it is. Will post details tomorrow when I get a chance.

Goodnight!

Cheers,
Cathy

2nd Vday

2010-02-16T14:21:00.001+08:00

I remember last year we went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival at Clark Pampanga to celebrate Valentines Day and we really did not enjoy it. The balloons were lit for like a few minutes and there were tons of people there and the place was not so convenient at all. It was rocky, sandy, etc. You get the picture?

So this year we just decided to go for a special lunch date. We went to this Japanese Restaurant called "MIYABI" at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Malate. It was just a simple lunch out but the food was so TERRIFIC! Authentic Japanese food at its finest! I can't believe that it would be that sumptuous. We were already having coffee but we're still talking about how good the food is. And if you knew Gio, you would know that good food is VERY important. :)

Here are some pictures of us and the food! This was taken using my iphone so pardon the not so clear photos.

Hope y'all had a wonderful celebration!

Cheers!

Cathy

Destination: Relaxation

2010-02-16T05:00:00.000+08:00

Happy Monday to all! Hope everybody had a fun and happy V-day yesterday. Not so happy to be going back to work after a 3-day weekend but gotta do what you gotta do right? Well, I finished one layout today and I used more of my old Sassafras Lass pps. Gotta consume all of it. :)

This is based on this week's sketch over at Scrapbook Challenges. We're now on Sketch 186 this week and I hope you check out the other fun challenge over there. Here's the finished LO and I loved how the color combo turned out. This was a photo of the two us about 4 years ago. It's just refreshing how younger we looked back then and not to mention thinner! LOL!

All pps are Sassafras, including the embellishments.

On here I just layered flowers cut out from the paper, stickers and gems. The folded flower I did, nothing new there lots of video tutorials on that and it was fun but was also tedious. I liked cutting more than folding. :) Then I added the gems from the MM tray I got from my nook kit.

Here's the close up of the pin which I created from my beads collection. I just realized the other night that I have tons of beads that I can actually use to make pins that are for scrapbooking and so I did. I loved how it turned out. :) And I made more just waiting to be put on LO's. :)

May we all have a great week ahead of us!!!

Cheers!

Cathy

Glimpse...

2010-02-13T14:44:00.001+08:00

There is a great challenge over at AMM about a day in one's life. I kinda did a page about this once before but an idea stuck over me when I remembered I had this small moleskin notebook that I retired last year because it was already full with last year's daily notes and to do's. So I went ahead and tore a page from the notebook (kinda nice to recall what I did on a specific day last year) and used that on the page. So it's a glimpse of a day in my life in 2009.

Here's the layout - I also used Pencil Lines Sketch 172 and my old Sassafrass papers. I didn't know I had so many of them until I grabbed it. I have like about 20 of them and I have never used any Sassafrass papers on any of my LO. I kinda suprised myself there. :)

So this is actually my first Sassafrass layout and I kinda loved how it turned out. And there are actually no other embellishments on here other than the papers (except for the alpha of course). I cut out a lot from on the papers which had the frames and the flowers on it.

Here's the close up of the alpha and the layered cutout pieces. I also added stickles on the Thickers Alpha.

Close up of the cutout flowers and the notebook paper I tore. This was my to do list on August 25, 2009! :)

And lastly the bottom right portion of the LO.

Hope you're all having a great V-day weekend! DH and I are headed to "Miyabi" for our V day celebration tomorrow!

Cheers!

Cathy

Kaisercraft Sketch

2010-02-10T12:16:00.001+08:00

Can you tell I love sketches? Well I do, it jump starts me you know? Here's another one I did using the Kaisercraft sketch. I'm so glad to see the challenge because I have had these Kaiser paper for months and I keep procastinating about using it. So this gave me an excuse and so I did it. :)

This was one of our pre-nup pictures which I printed in 5x7 but haven't really had a chance to use. I also used the kaiser lightweight paper (I have one stack of this - don't use it much because it's only 80gsm) hence I had to stick to another CS. I used 2 PP here - Penny Royale and Loire Valley.

This is the close up of the bird and the flowers I cut ot from the paper. I added Kaiser pearls on top of the layered flowers.

Another close up of the big flowers I layered too. I also added Kaiser rubons - it's the small vine like leaves on the side of the background pp.

And lastly the bird cage I cut out too.

I added a few more pearls on the strip of paper on top of the photo. And a few more rubons (the flowers beside the title and the words written at the bottom left of the page.

Materials used: Kaiser PPs, Pearls, Rubons, Pink Paislee Alpha stickers, Stickles and MS border punch.

Loved using Kaiser!

Cheers!
Cathy

Honeymoon

2010-02-09T06:51:00.000+08:00

Valentine's almost here so over at SC, Pamela designed this sketch that has a heart on it. I had fun with it and tried out new stuff too!

I still have left overs from my January nook kit so I used them here. Fits the theme anyway. These were our pictures from our honeymoon last year. Never really took the time to scrap any of it yet so here it is finally. I drew a heart first on the paper and then cut and distressed it. After that I placed the pink paislee paper underneatch, then placed the photos. But after dong this, I felt something was missing like the heart did not pop as I expect it to be so I looked for a trim that would fit and found one with the ruffles and it was perfect.

I stamped this bird and the embossed it with white poder. I then added the small postage stamp from one of the pink paislee papers.

Close up of the journaling. The scroll is a stamp from Autumn Leaves which was a 2-step stamp so you can actually paint the base color and the outline differently. Love those stamps! I then added some Kaiser pearls on it and liquid pearls around the journaling block.

These are cutouts from the die cut pink paislee papers I've left. I also added Judikins glaze on some of the flowers on the die cuts. Not so visible on this picture but it looks better in person.

The chipboard parenthesis is bare, I painted it brown and then stamped Hero Arts using white Staz On.

Hope you can join us over at SC for more challenges!

Cheers!

Cathy

Cosmo Cricket Sketch Take

2010-02-07T07:58:00.005+08:00

I've had some Cosmo Boyfriend and Earth Love pp since last December but just haven't had the chance to use it since then. Now over at Cosmo, there's an on going challenge to use a sketch and of course some cosmo pp so I immediately grabbed the sketch and create my take on it.

This time I thought of doing a page about DH, I think I haven't done that in a while or not yet? hehehe... can't remember. So here's the sketch.

And here's my take... Used the boyfriend and earth love pp on these. I only bought three papers from Cosmo and I wish bought more cause I loved it! Oh well, now I'm looking out for the new CHA papers they have!

And as I've said the past few posts, I'm obsessed with my stamps lately. Finding ways to use them so I can have an excuse to buy those new hero arts 2010 stamps! LOL! My attempts were good because I used 4 stamps on this page! Not bad eh?:) First is the ticket that says completely taken is from an Autumn Leaves Stamp. I love it because you can actually use 3 colors to make this ticket, one is the background color, the border and then the words inside! Clever idea right? :)

This next photo is the close up of the chipboards I used. I did a bit of a work here coz these are naked chipboards - the frames I mean. They are from Maya road and I painted the base with brown and then mustard and olive green after. Once dry, I sanded some parts of the chipboard for the brown to show through. Then I used 2 HA stamps here, once's the script and then the background scroll. The puzzle pieces is from K & Co I think and then the felt leaves are from MM, I just drew the lines on it for it to pop.

Here's the close up of the trees from the pp that I layered together. I then tied the same string I used for the buttons (see below).

Here's the close up of the buttons and the butterfly stamp from Inkadinkado.

Journaling reads: Love this photo of you hon. Its one of a kind because it captured the true beauty of you. It captured why I love you. October 2008.

Materials used:
PP: Cosmo Cricket Earth Love and The Boyfriend
Embellishments: Maya Road chipboard, K&Co puzzle pieces, MM felt leaves, MM buttons,
Inks: Distress Inks, Staz On, Kaiser Paints
Tools: Inkadinkado, Autumn Leaves & Hero Arts Stamp, Fiskars border punch

Have a great weekend everyone!

Cheers!

Cathy

Adventure over at SC

2010-02-03T00:00:00.002+08:00

Please join us over at Scrapbook Challenges for a month long event full of games, tutorials and inspiration to get your mojo up and running. The new sketch is now posted and there are already two DT challenges you can hop into.

Here's my take on Sketch 184. Used some old pp I have and did a lot of masking.

Close up of the masks on the journaling block. These are Tim Holtzs'. The one on the background of the yellow pp is using Maya Road die cut papers.

And since my sticky back canvas finally arrived, I had to use it. I did two and this one below was stamped with a Hero Arts background stamp and then I added an Inkadinkado lamp post. After stamping I then colored the background a little with distress inks.

Hope you liked it!

Cheers!
Cathy

$300 CHA Winner!!!

2010-02-02T11:52:00.003+08:00

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot believe it what I've found out today! I won the Melissa Frances $300 CHA giveaway!!!! I'm so happeeeeeeeeeeeeee! To the max! I want shout, hug all that I see, do the dance! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

OK, I think I'm ok now! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Oops not yet! LOL!
Ok, now I am... I think. haha

Well, I love they're new release especially the vintage ones. Remember I like shabby! :) This is so cool!!! Check out their site at: http://melissafrances.typepad.com/

Thank you so much!!!!!

Cheers!
Cathy

Weekend LO

2010-02-02T03:08:00.004+08:00

Before my weekend got busy I had a chance to finish one layout for a challenge over at the scrappiest. I used their sketch and I love it! I used a mix of lily bee pp, pink paislee and G45. They kinda work together don't they?

Here it is. Still using pictures from our pre-nuptial shoot. Need to zero out that one! I did an alteration on one of the pp's here. Can you guess? Hehe it's the pink paislee twilight paper (the
polka dot one). The mustard dots are placed in a distressed white background. I was actually looking for something orange but couldn't find one that would fit! So I inked the entire paper with TH Dried Marigold and it turned out the color I wanted. Just perfect! :)

Close up of the flowers and the BG bling.

This was the last addition - the Kaiser rubon. I just couldn't let it go of that space between the Photo and Shoot until I added this. :)

Close up of the trims I used...

I had a super fun weekend this week! More about it tomorrow. Hope you did too!

Cheers!

Cathy

Yipeeeeeeee!!!!

2010-02-01T14:58:00.002+08:00

I cannot believe my eyes when I checked my email this morning!!! I got an email from Leah!!!
She's the lady who gets to decide the DT's for Scrapbook Nook!!!! I still can't believe it!

I know that there's only a few who will be accepted but I don't really care to be in the 25 with over 100 applications is already huge!!!

So happeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

2 Layouts in a day!!!

2010-01-29T17:14:00.005+08:00

It’s Friday!!! Yipee!

I was productive yesterday and I finished two layouts! Ok, 1.5 because I had the other one half done. But either way that’s still the most LO I’ve made in a day. Still a record! This is for the challenge over at scrappiest. I used their sketch 46 and here it is.

I twisted the page to fit the portrait photos that I have and the paper. These are pictures taken from one of our Godfather's wedding last December 28, 2009. This was in Taal Vista Hotel which was also our wedding reception. It was one fine day and so we each took pictures of us with the amazing view.

Here’s the layout and I glad I finally got to use some of my old papers here. I’ve got tons of them! I’m also happy about this layout because I tried a few things I haven’t done before.

Close up of the rubber stamp I purchased from Stampin’ Place a while back. After stamping, I colored it with distress inks mixed with a bit of water. So there’s that watercolor effect. I also applied diamond glaze to the flower.

Here’s another thing I tried – I used tissue paper on here. I cut it in circles and crumpled it and then dipped the sides with crackle paint. I then layered the prima flower (accentuated with stickles) and center on top.

Just to show the detail of the title. I just doodled on the yellow pink paislee alpha for it to show through more.

Lastly, more stamping is done. I think I have like hundreds of stamps but I seldom or totally don’t use them on LO’s! For me, it’s just scary because if you make mistakes then what you’ve worked for just goes to waste. Anyhow, I said I would use most of my stamps these year so I did.

Here’s the close up of the butterfly stamps from Hero Arts. I love the butterfly trail from the small tree to the other. It somehow became perfect! I then just added some stickles to it.

Materials used for this layout:
PP: MME Abbey Road, Scrapworks, Cosmo Girl Friday, Around the Block Alpha: Pink Paislee, AC Thickers Embellisment: Prima Flowers and centers, Tissue paper Inks: Distress Inks, Stickles Tools: Hero Arts Butterfly stamp, Stampin Place Bird Stamp

Now, here’s the second layout. This is also from a sketch over at Inspired Blueprints. This is more simpler than the first one. These are pictures taken with my fave nephew and my mom over at UP Techno Park. This was taken on Dec 30, 2009. He had a blast with all the lights he saw there. I used BG Figgy Pudding that I won at a challenge.

I cut out the paper flowers from the pp, then applied bling. I also put liquid pearls on the alpha to give it a bit of highlight and then applied crackle paint and stickles on the corners.

Close up of the cutout flower...

And one of the crackled corner...

Materials used:
PP: BG Figgy Pudding Alpha: BG, Imaginisce Embellisment: Kaiser Bling & rubon Inks: Stickles, Crackle Paint

That ends my week! Enjoy your weekend.

Cheers!
Cathy

Scaling the wall...

2010-01-25T13:43:00.006+08:00

I hope you're not gettin' tired of seeing LO's with the Pink Paislee cupid line but I've almost consumed my Jan kit! Amazing I know. I just love Nook's kit. This is the second kit I got from them c/o my sweet friend LG and I've consumed both of them.

This LO was created accidentally because in the last LO i've made, I needed to cut a circle on this striped paper and so I did. After cutting, I just layed the paper on the table and suddenly it fell on top of the other pp with the flowers and they looked cute together! So right then and there, I decided my next layout will be that and so here it is.

So here's one more LO using pictures from our trip to China last Oct. I loved the title - DH thought of it! :)

A little close up of the flowers and butterflies...

Did a lot of cutwork and I overlapped a lot of the flowers cut out from the paper. That light green flower is a trim I bought from Carolina's - it's so cute!

Some more close up of the cut outs. Some overlapped the round background some didn't.

I was hoping to finish 2 LO's this weekend but managed to finish only one. All because I had to clean up my computer files. I can't seem to find anything on my desktop, downloads folder and documents. It took me about 2-3 hours to clean everything up but it's so worth it. Now I can breathe from looking at my folders. :)

Cheers!!!
Cathy

2 Cards for TSCS

2010-01-23T13:38:00.000+08:00

Here are two cards I've made for The Sassy Craft Studio.

This first card is from my Jan Nook Kit also. This is actually the card I gave to DH last weekend for our 1st wedding anniversary. I used scraps left from the LO's I've made. The center paper is embossed using a cuttlebug folder. I used a brayer to spread distress inks onto the folder before I run the paper through the embossing. I liked the effect so much and will do this again soon. :)

This is just one of the postcards in the PP which I cut in shape then I run it through the cuttlebug too but this time, I applied distress ink after it was embossed. I just lightly brushed it on top. Then I applied liquid pearls on the borders.

This was a scrap canvas I have which I have gesso'd in the past. I just tore the sides and inked it and then stamped the greeting. The ribbon was spread with stickles.

The second card is one I finished around the first week of Jan. I simply stamped a background stamp from hero arts and layered the pp from Scenic Route. The theme was Christmas without you so I used the thinking of you clear stamp from Inkadinkado I then heat embossed it with white powder. Attached the pleated ribbon and button. I also cut out the Merry Christmas greeting from websters paper.

Side view...

Now, off to create some more new LO's today. I hope to make two because I have the whole evening by myself today.

Cheers!
Cathy

More Jan Nook Kit - Pink Paislee Love

2010-01-21T21:22:00.005+08:00

Here's one more layout I finished today using the January Nook Kit. I was looking for some pictures that would fit and I suddenly saw our pre-nuptial photo shoot that has remain unscrapped for 1.5 years now. Whew, glad to at least have a few of them done now. I was so in the mood today so I did extra stuff (see below).

I have a few more Maya Road kraft envelope from the kit and since I've already used it as is in my other layout I decided to do a paint resist. I stamped it with Tim Holtz stamps and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. Once dried I used Red Pepper paint dabber for the bottom portion and Cloudy Blue for the top half. After spreading the paint, I wiped it with a damp cloth and here's how it came out.

Now onto the butterfly, I already painted it and applied perfect pearls the other day so I decided to just cover it up with a patterned paper (also from the same line), sanded and inked. And then I just topped with bling. I also pressed it a bit towards the center for the little lift.

This pillow looking embellishment is just one of the die cuts and I just covered the area with the Prima trim and stuck the heart pin on the side. It turned out real pretty for my liking so I was glad I experimented. :)

I found the space between the butterfly and the title a little awkward so I looked for a rub-on that would fill the gap and I found the perfect fit. It's an old prima rub-on I've had since forever. I liked it that it swirls overlapped a few of the letters.

Thanks for looking! Goodnight!

Cheers!
Cathy

Basic Grey LO

2010-01-20T20:32:00.003+08:00

I've bought the BG Lemonade paper pack 3 months or so ago and guess what this is my first layout using it heehee... Well, now that I've used it I'm happy with the results. I don't do colorful layouts but this one turned out fine. I think I'll use the pack again. I should! right? Well, I thought of using the BG line because I entered this LO in the current pagemaps call.

These are pictures from our New Year celebration. We had fun singing to the tunes of "now that I've found you" - care of the Shadies band (nephews).

Close up of the die cut sticker. I raised it using foam tapes.

Here's a close up of the other sticker die cut...

And the journaling using my little yellow bycicle.

I've been so productive since the beginning of this year and I'm so happy! I will be adding a counter of my projects at the bottom of my blog soon so I don't forget to keep creating!

Cheers!

Cathy

My goodies has arrived!!!

2010-01-20T20:16:00.004+08:00

After six long months they are finally here!!! I know! Not sure what happened but since I only asked a favor from an old schoolmate I really have no choice but to wait for it so now that they're here, I forgot how many they are so I was suprised and so happy when I saw them!!!!

I've been waiting to play with these - Sticky Back Canvass and Glossy paper! Plus the fiskars stamper. For my big background unmounted stamps!

My long awaited Tim Holtz Stamp!!! I know, they're old but what the heck they're still new to me! Yipeee!

Some spellbinders Impressabilities! Can't wait to try this out!
Clear stamps from Autumn Leaves. This went on a sale on a few local stores three months or so ago but I still got them cheaper than the sale price. :)

My new wooden stamps!!! I was drooling over this so much!!!

And finally my the distress inks I'm lacking! I don't have a blue and pink shade for the longest time. I also bought a few more Staz on inks - love to use them on the sticky back canvass and my fabric album.
This is one super happy day!!!!

Cheers!

Cathy

1st Wedding Anniversary

2010-01-19T11:04:00.004+08:00

Yes its been a year and I can't believe how it slipped that fast. For our celebration, we headed to Club Balai Isabel in Talisay Batangas for an overnight stay. But around 830am, there was a knock on the door and I got a dozen red roses from Gio! That was a total surprise! He's not fond of flowers but I am so i was caught off guard. :)

We left for Tagaytay on Sunday (January 17, 2010) at around 10am and arrived at Paseo Sta. Rosa around 1130am which is the fam's meeting place. Gio's sister decided to also celebrate her birthday in Tagaytay so his entire family was also there to celebrate with us! Made our day more special. We had lunch at La Trobada c/o my lovely sis in law - Cathy (yes, same name!). After lunch, we then headed off to Balai Isabel.

The place was peaceful and it stayed true to what you see off of their website. A fairly new place so the facilities are all new too. We were suppose to stay in this other villa but when we saw the view from the Lake Front Suites, Gio immediately changed his mind. The view was breathtaking!

Here is a picture of us - through the veranda of the Suite.

We stayed on the third floor of this building.
So time for my gift - which I've kept until we were fully settled in the room. Can you see how happy he is? This photo is priceless for me... :)And of course, a thank you kiss... :)

It was the perfect day for me. It's truly a peaceful "us" time. We talked and talked for hours reminiscing what we were doing at that exact moment a year ago. There were laughters, tears of joy and contentment. I couldn't ask for a better way to celebrate this day. I guess that's how you know you've found the love of you life, when you could spend an entire day just talking endlessly and laughing.

After dinner, we had wine over chips at the veranda while listening to love songs over his laptop. I never liked wine but this one did not have the usual "pakla" I was expecting so I drank a lot and got tipsy. That's a first for me and I enjoyed it! Loved the giddy feeling haha! And the night ended perfectly, can't share the rest...LOL

I love you very much hon...

Excited!!!

2010-01-15T20:42:00.006+08:00

DH and I just got home. My work ended at 1pm and his seminar (Discovery Suites - Ortigas) was until 6pm so I've got lots of time to kill. I went to Glitz - it's this new spa in our office building. I had a foot spa - didn't enjoy it as much as Gloss (which was just nearby too). Oh well... but I had a quick power nap during the service so it gave me enough strength to last until tonight.

I went to Megamall after and guess where I spent more than an hour? Carolina's (it's this fabric and craft storey with lots and lots of trims and ribbons)! Yes so you can imagine the # of ribbons I bought. Guilty as charged. The thing is, I seldom get a chance to go Megamall so when I get there, I always end up buying a lot of ribbons. Well, I had fun and I can't wait to organize and pack those ribbons. I think I bought around 50 kinds. Yeah I know that's a lot but I couldn't resist.
So I lost track of time so I went to The Podium and ate crepe at Cafe Breton which was right in front of Discovery Suites. I just rested there and waited 'til DH arrived, then we just had dinner at Rack's.

And by the way, this Sunday is our first wedding anniversary so we're going out of town. So happy, couldn't believe it's been a year! We're heading to Talisay Batangas to a place called Club Balai Isabel which is beside or very near the Taal Lake. When we saw the pictures, we just couldn't resist! We're booked for Sunday through Monday. And we're also having lunch at this famous Fire Lake Grill on Monday before we head home. We're both so excited!!!

Goodnight & Cheers!
Cathy

New Traditions

2010-01-14T05:00:00.007+08:00

Like I said, been SO productive this week hence here's another layout I finished the other day. The sketch is from Scrap the Girls. And this is my first ever layout using purple! I have a few purple papers but have never really tried them until now and I think I like it. :) The touch of yello and aqua I think made it look good. This year's lucky color according to my sis in law is yellow so most of them were wearing yellow that night and that complimented the purple perfectly!

I had fun doing this page, kinda went freestyle. Whatever comes to mind kinda thing. After I finished sticking everything, that's when I thought of splattering paint on the page so I had to cover the area that was already done heehee... I also just drew the corners of the biggest rectangle and created a flower from patterned paper. So all in all, I just let go and played with what my hands could get on. Loved the results - wish I could do this all the time and not be afraid of making mistakes. :)

These pictures were taken last new year's eve. We started a new tradition we'd like to keep this year and that's doing exchange gifts and playing Bingo while waiting for the clock to hit midnight! We had an awesome time and these girls are - Camille (Niece) and Catherine (Sis in law).

Close up of the flower and the purple flower bling (Basic Grey)...

Close up of the rub-on and flower...

Close up of the flower I cut out and layered from patterned paper...

Materials:

CS: American Crafts; PP: K&Co embossed paper, Little yellow bycicle, Creative Imagination; Prima flowers and rubon, AC Thickers, BG Bling it, Kaiser and HS gems, Kaiser paint, opaque pen, distress ink, trim.

So Happy!

Cheers!

Cathy

Sick Silly Face

2010-01-13T12:33:00.005+08:00

I've been very productive lately, my mojo's in full swing. So here's a layout I managed to finish the other day. This is based on the sketch created by Pamela over at Scrapbook Challenges. The pictures were taken last January 1 at Tagaytay. DH was really sick that day and the cold weather over there made it worse. That's why he's wearing a scarf over a jacket! I brought the scraf coz I know how cold it can be up there. I say better safe than sorry! I misted the sides of the white CS to give it a a bit of distress look.

It has been one of our family tradition to drive up there evey new year for dinner and since we don't want to miss the tradition, DH insisted we go though he wasn't feeling well already. And despite his sore muscles and bad cough, he managed to pose and be silly. I highlighted it using a round chipboard which I crackled.

This is a bare chipboard which I misted with Maya Road Metallic Cherry and applied stickles around it. The circle at the center is also a chipboard which I crackled and stamped.

CS: American Crafts; PP: Sassafrass, Little Yellow Bycicle, Provocraft border strip, Inque board, Maya road mist, Stickles, Ranger Crackle paint, Fiskars border punch, MM journaling paper, Pink Paislee Alpha

Hope you're having a great day!

Cheers!

Cathy

New Year Luv for TSCS

2010-01-12T13:08:00.002+08:00

A layout for The Sassy Craft Studio which I finished earlier this year. It's based on the blog sketch and the theme is new year. So I used the color red and it matched the red shirt of DH. These were some of our pictures this New Year. We had so much fun over at Ate ten's place. :)

Close up...

I applied stickles on the corner near the photo. Also sticked blings onto the sparkle design of the paper.

On the opt left corner, I layered a few ribbons, added half a flower and some rubons.

Materials used: PP - Fancy Pants, MME; CS - BG; Prima flowers, BG buttons, Prima rubons, Stickles, Miscellaneous ribbons, Jillibean Soup and DCWV alpha, Fiskars border punch

Cheers!

Cathy