Now There're Three

Christina and Stephanie always dressed alike.  When Stephanie came to visit, Christina would dig up clothes that were similar with what Steph wore.  Here Stephanie is wearing a set of Christina's clothes.  Nikka, Steph's younger sister wanted to dress just like them, too.  Luckily for her, Christina had another denim dress and purple shirt which she outgrew.

I love the purple butterfli I bought in the Philippines during my visit earlier this year. I wish I bought more! I just got about 8 different colors.

TFL.

Joy

I just love this picture of 33-month old DS.  In all of the the pictures taken of him at this time, he was holding a greeting card.  He must have felt very special to receive a big one from us.  It was like a very important treasure.  It went wherever he went.

When I make a layout, I just keep on going, picking out the pieces from different ziploc bags until I am satisfied with what I have. I didn't have time to jot down the different scrapbooking supplies I used; nor will I have time to do so in the future. Mine is just to cut and glue and be happy I'm done with a page.

TFL.

   

Amazed

These are baby pictures of DD when she was a couple of months old.  DS and I looked for a baby hammock - something that we used to put little children in and swing them to sleep.  We had those when we were kids back home in the Philippines.  They were made of woven rattan.  We couldn't find any within the Chicago area, so DS came up with this idea to tie each side of a baby carrier with a sturdy rope and hung each on the walls across the room.  So there was this baby carrier suspended in the middle of the dining room in our apartment building.

DD loved it!  She would be comfortably asleep a few minutes after we put her in it.

When DD's awake, she talks to her Disney mobile friends and tries to reach out to grab them.  After sometime wriggling and gurgling in her make-shift hammock, not being able to reach the mobile above her, she starts to get impatient.  That's the end of being in the hammock for her! Time to be in Mama's arms!

These are flowers I cut from a patterned DCWV paper.  I applied glitter glue and that made them look fancy.  The leaves were stamped and cut out.  I crocheted the tiny pink flowers which I adhered in the center of the green cutouts.  I then sewed pink pearls in the center of the crocheted flowers.

TFL.

St. Patty's

I was cleaning my Kalat Room, putting things I don't need in boxes, when I found these pictures in one of those photo boxes. These were posted in a magnetic album. I was able to rescue them in time before the fading process began. After scanning the pictures I cut and pasted them on scrapbook layouts.


These pictures were taken years ago in an apartment in Chicago. Christina was 5 months old. It was her first St. Patrick's Day celebration. We're not Irish, but hey, who says we can't celebrate the feast of St. Patrick? We went to the mall, walked around, and had lunch there. That's how we celebrated the day...uneventful!


I made Christina's outfit: her headband and her pretty green & white dress. I gave away most of Christina's clothes that didn't fit her anymore, but this is one I kept. One of her brown teddy bears is now the proud owner of this dress!





This is the first time I used the sewing machine to make stitches. It didn't go very well because the sheet was not flat. Next time I will glue the sheets together before stitching them; or the easiest thing to do perhaps is to just stitch one piece at a time and then glue them in place.

I used one of Becky Fleck's sketches to do this LO. I saw this in the March 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes. Wow! using one of Becky's sketches really saved a lot of time!

Supplies used: white Thickers; background paper & journaling tag, DCWV Nana's Kids; flowers from Prima; bling from Darice; pink Ofray ribbon; Fiskars' sunburst punch; scrap papers from My Mind's Eye, Colorbox fluid chalks (green and brown).

Stitch Me A Song

I get to be the February challenger for the Kaya! All Filipino scrapbookers...wherever on this wonderful planet you are... are invited to join this challenge.

February is love month [I just made that up, just 'cuz Valentine's Day is embedded somewhere in those 28 days]. So the challenge is all about making a loving layout about the thing, or people you love using a love song or two [3 is maximum]. Use any scrapbooking style you have but for this challenge, you have to use stitches! Real ones - hand- or machine- made. Because of this requirement, only traditional scrapbookers can join the challenge. But then, Lee suggested to have the digital scrapbookers join, too. I am also a digital scrapbooker so I don't want to disregard my fellow digi-scrappers. So, OK, digital scrapbookers, you, too can join the challenge!

The stitching technique might be a little intimidating, perhaps because they look so complex and too time consuming. Those were my thoughts when I saw super beautiful layouts using real stitches! So I challenged myself to make one and I love it! The technique I used is very simple. Perhaps using the sewing machine would have been simpler but I was too lazy to pull that out.

Here's how I did my stitches:

I used supplies that are pre-holed - like the journaling tags which I "unscrewed" from the wire that bound them together, and the canary yellow border with the tiny little holes in them.

I arranged my layout on black cardstock and took pictures so that I will know how to put them back together again. I glued just the tips of the first layers in place so that when I make the holes on the black cardstock, they won't be moving out of place. I found a 12" cube styrofoam cooler and used that as my table [I did my work on the floor while watching NCIS]. I punched the holes with a big safety pin, going through each hole of the journaling tags and through the black cardstock. Then I stitched away! It is really so easy and not so time-consuming. I finished this LO in one night. The longest part was planning the layout - it took me days and several headaches!

As for the picture, I placed one of the journaling tags on one edge and punched holes through the picture, through the journaling tag behind it, and through the black cardstock. Of course I glued two corners of the picture first so it won't move out of place.

The hardest one to do was the swirl with the string of pearls along its side. I have previously glued this swirl on 2 layers of white cardstock to give it some dimension. It wasn't my plan, during that time to sew the beads along side it, so boring holes through it was really, really painstakingly-slow. But it's all worth it!

My original title was Cherish by Kool and the Gang. But since I only chose a few lines from the song and I love the lyrics of It’s Easy for Me to Say sang by Clint Black and Linda Hartman Black, I wrote the entire lyrics on another journal tag. I opted to use "I Love You" for the title instead of "Easy for Me To Say". The real title probably would have been a better choice but I ran out of space and didn't have smaller fonts to use. TFS!

Ching's Kaya 21

Kinayanan ko. It was really challenging, the fact that I don't have any of the old things I treasured long before my kids were born. I would have loved to inherit my paternal grandmother's jar of buttons. I wonder what ever happened to those when she passed away. It was unfortunate I was half-way around the world when she did. I would have wanted my paternal grandfather's harmonica. He always played Que Sera, Sera on it, a song he is so fondly remembered for. From my maternal grandmother, I would have loved to keep that beige silky blouse she always used on special occasions. No matter how old and tattered it would have been, I would still keep it; along with the very simple comb she always used to hold her hair bun together. From my maternal grandfather, I would have liked to keep one of his pipes. Every time I smell tobacco burning in a pipe I remember the kisses I tried to avoid when I was a kid. I wouldn't mind it now just to feel the warmth of his hugs and kisses on my cheek!

I debated as to whether to have used a ring my mother gave me when I was still in college. It was one of her earrings. She lost one and had the other one made into a ring. I will treasure this forever.

The one precious item I chose was from both of my parents. It is a box of prayers. It symbol of their love for me. The way I see it, they put all their prayers in one box and gave that to me.
When I take out a card to pray, it is their voices I hear saying the prayer out loud, praising God and asking them to keep and guide me. It reminds me of how they taught me to pray and believe; that I am not really alone - there is always Someone to talk to and Someone who always listens.

Supplies used: Black cardstock, paper scraps from a collection by My Mind's Eye, flower cut-outs from a patterned paper, Prima flowers, Colorbox fluid chalk used to distress the edges of the Prima flowers; adhesive blings from Darice, Fiskars Threading Water punch, foam dots, K&Co Blue Awning journaling tag.

You Never Promised Me a Rose Garden

It was a simple marriage ceremony. We led a simple life. It would have remained simple and sweet had we not had our first child. That was when DH started thinking more of a good and stable future. We were not able to find it back home so we had to go farther out on the other side of the fence.

It was a big change, a big challenge, a completely new life and culture. It was very difficult the first few years. My DH... he never promised me a good life, but he gave me a great one!

Another one of Marj's challenge for November - distressing. It was night time when I took the picture. I used a fluorescent light which showed the depth of my layout.

Close-up of the journaling and one of the flowers I made by cutting a circle, wetting it on the edges and curling the edges inwards. I distressed the edges with Chestnut Roan fluid chalk and inserted a paper flower in the center.

Supplies used: background paper, mat and cut out flowers [the Paper Studio/Della Fantasia collection]; brown patterned cardstock [DCWV/Butterflies and Blooms]; pink & dark pink bling [Rhinestone Stickers]; inks [Color Box/pigment copper and chestnut roan fluid chalk]; silk flowers [Michael's]; foam squares [Miss Elizabeth]; journaling tag [Making Memories /{Note} Worthy

You Called It Home

Home is where the fun is.

Ever since we moved to the USA, we made several apartment buildings our home. A year after Christina was born, we rented my SIL's basement. It was an English style basement. It has a sliding door that led to a short stairway and into the backyard. Christina just loved the outdoors. The fenced-in backyard gave her the opportunity to play safely in the open space. During that time I worked at a company which manufactured leisure products such as slumber bags and playhouses [tent-like]. With employee discount, I was able to purchase one Barbie playhouse. Then there was another one that was used in a photo shoot for advertising which was given to me by one of my supervisors. I had those set up in the backyard. Christina and her cousins had fun playing house, pretending to be neighbors, or turning one of the playhouses into a shopping store. Their imagination was endless! And so was Christina's wish for DH to build her a tree house. DH promised her that when have our own house and yard he would. So here it is....

Several years later, one summer DS and DH built this house from scratch (no, this is not a kit). DH made drawings and measurements; he started cutting out the materials for the posts, the roof, the doors, the windows, etc. With the help of DS the house took shape.

Of course, the Christina and her cousins who visited often were very excited to see the house and their imaginations and plans took shape. Christina chose the colors - milky white, pink and her favorite color, purple! She even helped paint it.

The house is 6' high from the center of the room on the top floor. DH built the ground floor by putting up a lattice fence on 3 sides and putting in wooden floors. When we had summer backyard bbqs, the kids would dine underneath the house. Upstairs is a room that would fit 3 adults [my size (^.^)]! There was a bookshelf filled with books, little toys adorned the walls, I put up a wreath above the front door, and there is a "home tweet home" hanger by one of the windows. There are plexi glass walls on both sides of the front door to let in more light. The door was taken out after a little accident with someone's fingers. The spindles used to decorate the front porch were made in the Philippines! Oh yes, I brought those back with me when Christina was only less than a year old, with plans to use them in building book shelves. The roof is made of real roof material to protect everything against the weather.

The house is complete with a little green mailbox! I remember one time, Christina came up to me with a sad face. She expressed concern that the mailman does not see her mailbox that's why she doesn't get any letters. Doh! How could I forget that. There were times that I would sneak in the back and put all the junk mail in her mailbox. She was happy as a lark when she opened her mail!

The house was finished in time for Christina's birthday. We had pre-schoolers crawling all over it, although the plan was not to have the party outside because it was a cold October day. They saw it from the main house, opened the back door and out went the goblins and witches and fairies [it was a halloween b-day party!].

People who visited couldn't resist not having their picture taken by the playhouse. The following summer, DH added a regular stairway so the little kids could go up and down the steps safely. He also added a back porch so there'd be more room.

The last two pictures on the second page is of Christina when she was 13 years old. I took lots of pictures of her in and around this house. That was the year when we moved to another city. It was sad to leave this house she called home. But we know that it will make another kid as happy as Christina was!

Supplies used: Papers and cutouts [the Paper Studio]; birthstone gem stickers blue zircon [Martha Stewart]; flowers [Prima]; heart charm [Blue Moon Beads]; fluid chalk Chestnut Roan [ColorBox]; journaling tag [Making Memories]; foam squares [Miss Elizabeth]; chipboard alpha [ChipChatter/Pressed Petals]

TFL

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]

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].

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]

Halloween

This looks like Egypt is burning [tee-hee]. This is DD at a Halloween Party hosted by a friend. They had a bonfire to keep the bugs away and to keep them warm on this nifty Hallow Evening. I thought she's too old to go trick or treating. I completely forgot that this age group has something called "parties"!

This is my take on a PS challenge issued by Marix - the use of decorative edge on the layout. It can either be digital or traditional. I usually make digital layouts, but I have these cute embellishments for Fall and Halloween and I thought I'd play with them. It wasn't too bad. I like the outcome, not to mention I love the rich warm colors of Fall.

In addition to the layout, we were asked to make a card using the scraps from the page we made. As I was making the card, I thought to myself... I could have many cards made if I made at least one for each layout I complete! Wow! Perhaps I have to make that a habit. So that I don't get a box full of scraps that usually get filed in the "forgotten box". The other good thing is the brand names of supplies used are still fresh in my mind.

In Mama's Shoes

Marian's PS challenge is to create a mini book. I've never done one before although working on small things like tags and cards [and perhaps] a mini book is something I love to do and enjoy doing! My problem with mini books is storage. They would be too tiny to put on the shelves along with the bigger albums. I would have to adjust the shelves to make a special place for them. There would be sooo many little albums lying around for people to pull and view and left cluttered on tables, chairs, or on the floor. If we decide to move [again] they will occupy a lot of boxes to be carried out. There is a possibility of a few getting lost; or a box of them getting tossed out [argh! it has happened before , no, not with photo albums, but other records and unmounted pictures].

But it's a challenge so I made one. This Mini Book about my DD is not the original one I made for this challenge. I saw another challenge about a mini so I decided to save the first mini for the other challenge and quickly whipped this one up.

This is DD when she was over a year-old. She loves to wear our shoes. Of course, since DH's shoes are bigger and heavier, she'd wear mine. There was a picture of her wearing my heels too but at the time I was rushing to complete this mini I couldn't find that one so I used this one instead.


Truly, this proves the saying "Monkey see, Monkey do". So be careful with what you do [and say] when little mini yous are around. My little princess painting her TOES! Yes, toes... how can a 2-year old paint just the toe nails?

The thing I love about this picture are her pig tails. DD was born with thick black hair which fell out every time she got a bath. She ended up with fine brownish hair that took forever to grow! We were both excited [she, especially] when I was able to pull together a handful of strands into 2 tiny pig tails!

Ahhhh...! the fur coat! I remember buying some faux fur remnants at JoAnn's to make into teddy bears. But when we went to the Philippines for a visit when DD was 6 months old, I decided to have a fur coat made for her. It took a few more years before she could wear it. I should have bought white fur!

Driving away in a little red Mercedes convertible, which matched our little red Subaru. It was Spring, a little chilly outside but she couldn't wait to drive away.

How antique is this?!!! This is like the first lap top I've seen! She was so mesmerized to see the letters pop up on the screen. If you are wondering about the title for this page, it says, "IYQ"

Come on, say it fast 3 times in a row. Get it? Awwww..... IYQ2 !!!

Little munchkin found the calculator and highlighter. Couldn't decide which one to use first. She must have seen me do something like this!

DD was so excited about this new toy! So whenever I iron the clothes she plays with this. I believe in toys that make kids mimic grown ups. It is a preparation for when they become adults!

My baby doll nursing her baby doll...how cute is that???

I've always wondered what made her pick up the broom and do this. She seemed so intent on getting the job done!

Ah...! my favorite. Really just like me...

The END! TFL!!

Twinkle In Your Eyes

My sister, Lee bought a stack of DCWV Blooms and Butterflies, which I totally LOVE!!! The colors are pretty and the designs are awesome! I commented that they are so deliciously beautiful I just want to cut out the flowers and butterflies! She said I can have half of the stack [meaning, one of each unique page]. Wow! I didn't give her enough time to change her mind. I tore out one of each duplicate page and started cutting out the flowers, butterflies, and diamond designs. I even brought out my Cricut to cut out some alpha and swirls.

I placed some of the cutouts on top of my work table, it just happened there was a black cardstock there and the bright colors looked to beautiful on the black background!

Here's what I came up with.

Journaling: I love how your eyes twinkle when you smile. They're full of happiness and contentment, of love and admiration. We wish you all the reasons that will keep you smiling like this.

Thanks for sharing, Lee. I did find a stack of DCWV's Blooms and Butterflies at Jo-Ann's and replaced this with your stack. You might want to have 2 sheets of each design after you see how beautiful they are!

Supplies used: Foam dots, assorted bling, Cricut to cut out the swirls and the embellishment on the left; Doodlebug border swirls, Prima flowers, pink pen to add the doodles to the diamond borders.

Thanks for looking.

Rock Star

These are some LOs I made sometime ago using DCWV's Rock Star sheets. The flowers I cut out from various sheets I bought as an open stock at a scrapbook supply store.

I caught Christina playing her guitar and singing in the loft. I've always asked her to pose with her guitar for me but she'd always say she's not in the mood.
She has a great singing voice. Buti na lang di nagmana sa akin [heheheh].

I used some bling in the LO below. The black ribbon-like thing I placed below the pictures is a plastic lace with white bling in each square. I found this at my favorite craft store where it was sold by the yard!

These pictures were taken last Thanksgiving. The delos Reyes girls spent the night at home for a big "after Thanksgiving" shopping the following morning. That night, they had fun taking pictures of themselves with the D80 with the use of the remote control. What a cool gadget. Gotta try that one day when there is no one at home but me and Sgt. Pepper! I could have fun clicking away then hiding all the pictures in a secret file nobody knows about.

Here, both Christina and Jessica were pretending to be fashion models - which they always wanted to try out for. At first I didn't know what to do with that sheet with the big half-a-guitar print on it. So I cut out the guitar and the swirls, added cut out flowers which I've been saving in boxes. I had fun making this LO.