Sunday, November 23, 2008

A Pocketful of Dreams

This mini is about my dreams and wishes and hopes since I was a little girl. I will be adding pages to it as a dream comes true. I will also make a page about dreams that never came to be.

I first made this mini just for myself. Then came the PS challenge about making a mini book. It gave me the motivation to finish more pages. When I saw Bookoto's Show Me the Mini, I thought...hmmm... why not. It might not be the same style as Ali Edward's because of the lack of journaling but I thought the pictures and my mini journaling will tell the story.

I am so lucky that most of my childhood dreams have come true. Not all of them yet, but most. I am truly lucky.

This is me, the Dreamer. Always day dreaming. In fact, that was my nickname in HS. Miss Day Dreamer.

This page says it all about my first crush and first love. Behind the journaling tag which opens to the left is a picture of that guy and me. I had this huge crush on the boy next door. But he didn't pay attention to me. He avoided me like the plague! Whenever he's out there on the sidewalk and sees me come out of our front gate, he goes back in their house. If I chance to meet him on the street, he'd either cross the street or turn around just to avoid me.

So here's that guy who's the reason for the teardrops on my school books [bwahahaha! sounds like the song "...you're the reason for the tear drops on my guitar"]. I had a crush on him when I was in the 4th grade. There he was on stage singing "We Three Kings" with two other "kings". I was hiding behind a classmate because he might see me staring at him and decide to not finish his part of the program, turn around, and hide.
I had the biggest crush on him [still] when I was in high school. When all my HS friends were talking about their crushes guys they say are to die for, I was the silent one. In my mind, wishing I could talk about him.

My true love and I never did talk to each other. I thought it would be different when I went away to college. Perhaps he'd miss me and send me letters. Valentine cards? uh.... birthday cards?.... uh, I'll settle for Christmas cards?... no...?

To my surprise, 3 days short of turning 23 he asked my mom if he could take me out for lunch on my birthday. I didn't know this until the day before. My mom asked me where we were both going to celebrate my birthday. Yup! for the first time in 23 years, he talked to me.

You see, we were neighbors since we were born. I know all of his relatives as he knows mine. He says he never talked to me then because he was always teased by his older siblings. Ah! so it's my fault. I am the reason why he never talked to me and why he avoided me.

The first dream
We got married 2 years later on the first of May. It was a simple wedding. My only regret on that day was that in all the excitement, no one thought of hiring a professional photographer. I only have 12 shots of our wedding day [boo-hoo-hooo...]. His hand around my shoulder, he now comforts me and says, "that's OK. We have all the wonderful and happy pictures/memories in the world". Yes, I agree. Better than those who have the most expensive wedding gowns, and biggest diamond rings, several albums full of wedding pictures + videos to show off, then yell and fight most of the time and eventually get separated after a few years, I am indeed lucky!

The second dream
This is Lennart, our first born. There were no ultrasounds yet during the time I was pregnant with him. I didn't know if I was going to have a girl or a boy but we did prepare two names: Lennart Nillson and April Ann. After 2 days of labor pains, I had a C-Section. The last thing I remember, the anesthesiologist asked me if I wanted a boy or a girl. I said, "boy." He turned around and said, "You heard that, Dr. Zamora? You have to deliver a boy!"

I knew it in my heart that I have a boy. It broke my heart when we have to leave for the USA without him. It was a great sacrifice but we were thinking of his future. Sometime I wonder what life would be had we not left the Philippines.


He is Philippine-grown. He takes your hand and kisses it to ask for blessing. He says "po", and "opo". He doesn't talk back much as he wants to defend or express himself. I didn't see my son grow and missed a lot of his milestones. I still wonder, the move we made...was it all worth it?

The third dream
This is Christina, the girl I wished for! My very own baby doll! We waited a long time for her to come along. Papa's princess; my excuse to buy girly stuff and lots [and I mean lots!] of dolls!

And here she is, a senior in HS. Fiesty and sassy. But deep within a good kid who is ready for college life.



The fourth dream
Every wife's big dream is a house she'd call their own. After several years of moving from one apartment building to another, we purchased our first single family home. It was old and who knows how many families have lived there before us. It took years before we were able to have our first home, built from the ground up. I hope for us to grow old and share this same home together with kids and grand kids for a long time!
Thirty-one years of being married to my first crush, my first love! Thirty one years and it gets better every year!

Supplies used: border puncher used is Fiskar's Sunburst; background paper by K Ology; cut-outs from various patterned papers by DCWV [complete list to follow]




Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Pieces of Me - Challenge #19-2

This picture was taken during our trip to Toronto. No wonder the kids were quiet. I turned around and this is what I saw! Thank goodness for Marj's challenge I was able to come up with an idea of how to put this on paper! This challenge is all about the use of negative space. I love how this turned out. I would love to keep this as my own style but that would cost me lots of albums [LOL!] I already have a huge back log of unmounted pictures, and what I'd really want to do right now is cram them all on a few pages just to get done!

But that won't be any fun now, would it?


These are pieces of me, born 12 years apart. Looking at them now, it seems DD has caught up in maturity with her big brother. I am so proud of these kids!

The crocheted doily gave the layout a dreamy look. I have to start making smaller crocheted flowers to use. There was a time I crafted lots of bead bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. I have so many left-over beads that I want to incorporate into my layouts. I like how this turned out. Perhaps there will be more beads used in the future! It will be fun for my kids and their kids to look at my layouts and talk not just about the pictures but also how I crafted the embellishments I used!

Supplies used: Background paper [Basic Grey's Granola]; strips of paper [Basic Grey's 8x8 Boxer pad]; crocheted doily, flower [Prima], journaling tag [Making Memories' Note Worthy], rhinestone stickers, glass beads [Bead Gallery], hemp cord [Jewelry Design], journal tag [My Mind's Eye Laundry Line]; thicker foam dots used under the photo [United Manufacturer's Supplies]; thinner foam squares used on the title [Miss Elizabeth]; permanent orange marker [Bic].



Monday, November 10, 2008

Marj's Challenge #19-1

Marj came up with this idea of challenging PS members to make one traditional layout a week for the month of November. I thought...whoa! that is too much! But I am loving it. It forces me to make more traditional pages.

The first challenge is to use a big bow. I've seen Marj's layouts using big bows. They are beautiful. That's coz Marj artwork is always awesome. I don't know what a big bow would look like on my page. Also I couldn't find any ribbons that are more than 1.3" in width except for this holiday ribbon so I was forced to make a Christmas layout. I found this picture of DD with a big red sash and bow around her waist. The big bow challenge was a perfect fit!

I wasn't too happy about this layout after it was done. I tried too hard to balance everything on the page. I wanted the break [the line of punched borders] lower but I made a mistake cutting the paper and I don't have duplicate copies of the sheets. Oh, well.... Next time will be better.


Supplies used: Lace border punch [Martha Stewart]; papers, swirls, tag, and flower [Me & My Big Ideas Christmas specialty pack]; liquid glue [Scotch]; foam dots [Sticky Doos]; sticky bling [Claire's Boutique]; journaling tag [Blue Awning by K&Co]; Child of Mine mini tag [Sharon Ann/Deja Views]; holiday ribbon [Michael's Arts & Crafts Store]