Friday, February 29, 2008

To Russia With Love


I've always wanted to visit Russia. Blame it on my childhood obsession on ballet. I've always been intrigued by the mystery behind the iron curtain, the development of the highest standards for dance. When Peek Into Yesterday had a challenge on Fantasy Destinations, it was such an obvious choice.

I was hoping I could use actual Dove of the East Russia papers, but no such luck. I ended up using a Japan paper called Kimono Silk. Nevertheless, I like how the silk cloth design still looked eastern european. With a little cutting here and there, the Kimono Silk became the Red Square. Since it was a fantasy destination, I didn't know what photo would fit when I haven't even been there. In the end, I decided to make a photo passport as the center of the LO.

Journal reads: See the sights. Taste the culture. Love the life. (Inside the passport) To visit the wonders of Russia, the Red Square, the Kremlin, St. Petersberg, the Kirov Ballet... all a life-long dream. My fantasy.

In My Secret Garden (and Webster's Pages)

I am so in love with Webster's Pages! The first time I saw such papers was sometime in Oct.-Nov. when I first saw them on-line in Lasting Impressions. I knew I just had to have those lovely papers so I bought them immediately. Since then, I regularly visited the Webster's Pages site. It's the only site I actually visit all the time!

For Lasting Impressions' Webster's Challenge, I made 2 LOs. This was the first. I was so excited to use the papers, I was the first to even submit a LO! Talk about eager-beaver!

Lately, I have become obsessed with painting. Although I have been painting for years on canvas, I've never done so on an LO. After seeing Studio Azul's "paintables" last Christmas and seeing Luminarte's pots of paint, I knew I just had to start taking up the palette again.

My wedding photo captured a spontaneous look back at my friends and well-wishers while my dad gave me away to hubby at the altar.

Hidden Journal: In my secret garden, I am forever beautiful. I feel the bountiful blessings of life, the sweet serenity of youth, and the tranquility of love. As the years pass, this image will be locked in the secret garden of my mind.

Water Fountain


I had a difficult time making this LO based on Au Lim's sketch for Studio Azul because it needed 4 photos. I loved the photo of the water fountain so much, I decided to make it as part of the foreground papers by printing it on a transparency. Since the background is a water paper pattern, the pattern just showed through the transparency. The photos of Galo playing and having fun with the squirting water in Market!Market! were really worth capturing.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Matriarch



I made Matriarch for the Pillar of Strength Challenge of A Peek into Yesterday. It didn't win, but my friend, Lee, won for I Know Her Heart about her mother. Matriarch is about my Lola Chiching, a favorite subject of mine. She was quite strong for a female with 5 rambunctious sons.

Hidden Journal: She single-handedly raised my dad and his 4 brothers during WW2, while her husband was a soldier, fighting the Japanese. When Japan bombed Manila, she ingeniously tied each boy’s belt loop to one rope. When the bombs started falling, she would pull the rope to bring everyone to safety. When the Japanese were hunting them, she made each child be quiet while hiding in the dark cellar. And when her husband died, she took over her husband’s construction business. She is my grandmother, the pillar of strength of our whole clan. Had it not been for her, none of her children would be here. I would not be here.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

My cd altered album

This is a project I demonstrated for MLA-Scrapbooks Hawaii's EB last Saturday. I used the remaining cut-up cds (the shiny part which I set aside last year because I only used the purplish see-through side for the altered cd challenge last Christmas), cut them into squares, then pasted them with glue on both sides. Then I adhered a 12x12 transparency which I cut into 4 squares. I used two of those to cover the front and the back. For the spine, I glued ribbon. I also trimmed the sides with rick-rack. It was fun and easy to do. Thanks, Nette and Marissa, for trusting me with a demo.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Philippine P5.00 Stamp

This is my entry to Scrapbukan's Noteworthy Challenge. I decided to make my own stamp using the papers. For embellishment, I used a notebook paper to make a date stamp on the stamp (no pun intended). It was quite fun doing this project since it's the first time I used hinges to attach the journal to the LO.
Hidden Journal: If I could design a stamp, it would have my husband and my son in it. It's face value would be P5.00 just like common stamps, but its real value is priceless. it will be rare and a collector's item. This stamp will commemorate the many occasions of fun, laughter, tenderness and love I have with them. This stamp will last forever in my heart.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Me and My Dog

A LO for Scrapbooks Hawaii AL Stamps challenge, Me and My Dog is about my son wanting to have a dog. But because of fear of poss. asthma, he settled for the next best thing, a balloon dog. He got this while we were at Bonifacio High Street. He was so happy that he ran around with his dog right there and then. It was a sight to see him have fun!
Hidden Journal reads: I saw you at the store. It was love at first sight! I knew I had to have you. We ran outside, you almost flew away. You floated, but you obediently went with me wherever I went. I love playing with you. You are my dog, and you make me happy.

Once Upon a Time Beautiful Belles

I really like this photo and Scenic Route LO. The photo of my family when I was about 18 years old is one of those few we have where we're complete. Taken in Disneyland, it was a rare opportunity for us to wear costumes and pose for a B&W photograph southern style. The corn attached to the journal is something I really had fun making. As soon as I saw the patterned paper, I knew it had to be made into a corn. Actually, it was this corn idea that prompted me to use the photograph which I've longed to scrap for the longest time. Hidden Journal reads:
O
nce upon a time, in a land far, far away, a man with his wife and 5 daughters visited this enchanted kingdom called Disneyland. It was their first trip to this wonderful land so they sampled all the rides and all its shops. In one shop, they saw a man making old photographs. This man was a wizard. He dressed them all up in old clothes and instantly transformed them into gentle ladies of the south. Everyone felt beautiful. Although the old clothes were sent back, and everyone returned to their normal selves, he captured that one enchanting moment. The wizard created a picture that would last a lifetime, once upon a time.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

That Man I Married

This LO is my first of my hubby. This past January, I was working so much on wedding LOs for Scrapbukan, that I got inspired to make a mini-wedding album, which is still unfinished, and this LO of Arn.

Em Magpoc's beautiful sketch for Scrapbytes (Feb. 2008) is what I used to make this lay-out. I am so glad because hubby's wedding photo was just perfect for it.

I had a hard time making the journal, but I found a perfect poem to show the sentiments I feel for this man. It reads:


You are my earth and all that earth implies:
The gravity that ballasts me in space,
The air I breathe, the land that stills my cries
For food and shelter against devouring days.
You are the earth whose orbit marks my way
And sets my north and south, my east and west,
You are the final elemental clay
The driven heart must turn to for its rest.


Excerpt from Angela Manalang Gloria’s “To the Man I Married,” an early 20th century Filipino poet.