Reflection

Three posts in one day... i sure have been busy... :) My husband mowed the yard, did a little laundry, trimmed the bushes... while i scrapbook and do photographs! lol! He's the best husband in the world hehe. Well it was a gloomy day and he decided to be busy... and so did i!

Anyway, the photo below was taken at the Zilker Botanical Garden as well and i just love that reflection on his sunglasses. I did the title in photoshop. This is one of my favorite photos of him. This paper collection (Honeydew Paper Collection: Creative Imaginations) is just giving me so much inspiration, maybe because of its bright colors. And i used ribbon again woohoo! :)

Pink Life

My first attempt at using the RAW capability of my camera... the shot below has been edited in Photoshop Elements to my liking. This flower was blooming beside our dying tree in out front lol! The poor thing is trying to survive.

Love Facts

For the longest time i haven't been using ribbons in my LO's. I sometimes have a hard time placing it on the page. I go to the craft store and see so many nice ribbons but i can't buy them because i still have a whole pack i'm trying to finish lol! I put some on this page by stapling them on the cardstock (colored staples by Making Memories). The pink and white polka dot matched the paper from Chelsea's place collection (Making Memories).



Flowers and buttons are some of my favorite embellishments. I bought a whole bag of buttons and now, again, i am trying to finish them off. These ingredient stickers from EK Success caught my eye. The title was derived from this, it was too cute to pass up. I thought it would match this pic which was taken back in Manila when we were hanging out at the mall waiting for our food to be served lol! My husband doesn't like to cooperate when i'm taking pictures of us hehe.



The whole page can be seen at:
http://www.scrapbook.com/galleries/210874/view/1366939/-1/0/1.html

Butterfly effect

I was playing around in photoshop for my next scrapbook page and i came up with this. :) And so i will upload this here and the scrapbook page can be seen in my SB.com gallery.

I saw that butterfly in our front yard and i ran to get my camera lol! These 3 shots were my favorite. I came across this quote and i thought it would be perfect for these pics: "Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." - Nathaniel Hawthorne

Goof day

Yes we have our goofy moments! :) These pictures were taken at the Zilker Botanical Garden. We spent an afternoon taking pictures of lovely flowers and after 3 hours we sat down on this bench. I decided to test my new tripod... my hubby just wouldn't cooperate lol! Which explains why in most of the pics i am the only one looking into the camera hehe. They turned out to be fun, vibrant pictures i just love it!

I am attracted to bright colors and when i saw this Honey Dew kit from Creative Imaginations, i had to buy it! And i love those scalloped, punched borders. Parts of the layout was scraplifted from the collection. Foam letters are from the Paper Studio.

Smitten!

I asked my husband what would be a catchy title for this picture... and Smitten is what he came up with lol! This picture was taken in my apartment in Manila before he was heading back to the US... another 2 months apart... long distance relationships suck really but if you are both into it, it will last. Now... we are married! Smitten indeed! :)

The red flowers were hand cut from the Chelsea's Place line of Making Memories. I got the idea from J.Devoe. The paper was too nice to cover up so i used the flower as embellishment. Stamp paper was from Chelsea's Place as well. I had striped paper from DCWV All dressed up stack and it perfectly matched my shirt. Red is one of my fave colors!

Wedding Bliss

I finally finished our wedding album. After so many page layouts created in my head, this is what i came up with. Neat, simple, elegant - well at least that was what i was trying to accomplish. And i hope people who see them think the same way. I wanted to put focus on the picture so a few embellishments should do it. The setting was just so romantic it needed to be elegant so i used black cardstock as background. The layouts below are samples of the 13 page, 8x10 album.

December 8, 2007 - who would have thought i would get married on this day. It so happens that this is also my sisters birthday. Very memorable day indeed. Several years ago i thought i would never get married till after 30. So many things happen in one's life that lead to these thoughts. Being heartbroken several times will make you want to give up. If only i could have said one thing to myself during those times it would be "Be strong, you will be alright"... but then again, i think i did that. The best surprises come when you least expect it. You continue on with your daily life, enjoying every single moment of it, and suddenly there it is. You weren't even looking for it. Destiny has its ways of getting you. Simply amazing.





Materials:
Black cardstock - Color Line
Cream cardstock, pearl trim - Hobby Lobby
Ornate frames - the Paper Studio
Wedding stickers - 7gypsies
Gold metallic gel pen - American Crafts

Spaced out!

Two hours have gone by and i am still sitting here with no page done... my mind has totally spaced out on me! lol! I keep trying to motivate myself to start creating my wedding album but i can't seem to get my page design straight. I have an image in my mind but when i start making it look real, it doesn't satisfy me. Hmmm i think i need some retail therapy, i have a dollar to spend haha.

I spent saturday afternoon at the botanical garden. It was so much fun shooting away at all those flowers... should be better in the spring time. That camera is sooo cool! I think i took hundreds of pics but here are a few of my faves:

Super Zoom

I finally purchased my camera woohoo! I've been contemplating on whether to get an SLR (the Canon Rebel Xt) but i just can't imagine myself lugging a humongous bag around... aside from the fact that lens is sooo expensive. After thorough research on the best cameras around, i ended up with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18. It's the best super zoom camera to-date (18x), according to reviews, and so far i think they are right. And the best part is it has capability to save in RAW format. This is the closest i can get to an SLR without the huge bag AND the super expensive lens!

These are some test shots i did today out in our yard. I can't wait for spring when all the flowers bloom so i can have a whole day just shooting away lol!

White Space

I am still on that mission to use up my old supplies and pictures. This layout is an attempt to use negative space or white space. I find it hard really. I guess i am more satisfied with putting more embellishments. However, as simple as this may look, i think it turned out pretty good. It looks very neat actually.


The picture was taken in Boracay Island in the Philippines. The weather was amazing considering that we went during the rainy month - June. We arrived June 10th and spent 3 days there. And weather was i guess playing its role in a good way because the very afternoon we were to fly out it just rained so hard our flight was even delayed. Now who wouldn't say luck was on our side! We were even enjoying the sunshine and clear water in the morning.

That beach just relaxes me. The white powdery sand is awesome - even my husband, who is a foreigner to the country and has gone to amazing beaches in Mexico, agrees. We were like kids crawling our way to shore enjoying every single moment of it.

Materials:
Patterned paper: KI Memories
Page accents: Westrim crafts

Rainy day

What a gloomy day! Yeck! I feel sooo lazy. Lazy enough to not know what to write lol!

Anyway, this is a layout i finished yesterday. I am trying to use up all my old supplies and i find that somehow difficult! I realized how much paper i have. And i can't seem to just use them all up. I am just finding an excuse really so i can buy new ones :)

The title was inspired from the pink bag and the pink shades in the picture. I confess i couldn't think of anything else hehe. But it turned out pretty cute (well at least i though it did). I am starting to love stitching on paper. Well i have to with all that craft thread i bought! lol!

Materials:
Patterned paper: KI Memories
Pastel multi-purpose paper: Printworks
Punchboard embossed shapes: Heidi Grace designs
chipboard alphas: Archivers
gel pen: American crafts
glitter, craft thread

Birthday bash?

A birthday in my new home... that's how i celebrated it this year. Nothing special, no parties... just champagne and chocolates with my husband. I wasn't expecting anything from him - he has already given me my gift prior to this day. He comes home from work and he surprised me with a bouquet of flowers, a very touching card and three Ferrero Rocher chocolates... awww sounds chummy yes but very sweet indeed. :)


The chocolates, however, didn't make it to the photo op! lol!

Last year, when we were halfway around the world from each other, he surprised me with 3 dozen roses at the office. I had to ask a friend to pick me up - there was no way i could have carried that around in the train on my way to my dinner party lol!

I may be far away from my family and friends but this is, by far, the best birthday gift i have ever received!

Mr. Fluff

This layout is for one of my cats - Smiles, also known as Mr. Fluff. The pic was taken last month when he was standing on the couch with his tongue sticking out. He is such a comedian. As fluffy as he is, he can actually make himself fit in a shoe box... and yes that's one of his favorite things to do. How funny when he chases treats down the hallway... or how he loves to pose in front of you so you can pet him.

At 12 years old, Smiles has gotten very ill. I guess it is hereditary among Persians to develop a kidney disease at some point. He's gotten weaker everyday and it hurts to see him suffer and you can't do anything about it. I've never been attached to an animal in my life. But seeing this one gives me the exact same pain. I am proud of my husband for giving him a chance at having a happy, healthy life!

Materials:
Patterned paper (KI Memories, all dressed up stack by DCWV), cardstock (the PaperCompany), silk flowers, adhesive gems (the Paper Studio), glitter stickers (K&Company), cardstock stickers (Daisy D's), craft thread, Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Gloomy Monday

I woke up this morning and it was all rainy outside yeck! Cold and gloomy... perfect weather to stay indoors. I am in the mood to scrapbook a page but for some reason i am stuck on this bar stool and can't seem to drag myself to my scrap room. I spent the morning preparing for my lunch meal - Chicken, mushroom and spinach alfredo (recipe from Emeril, Food Network). It turned out to be soooo yummy i stuffed myself with two servings! lol!



I was in the mood to take pictures so i took a pic of this framed black and whites that i did a couple of months back. These are random shots i took of the UT tower, the Singapore Merlion, Washington Capitol and the Cherry Spoon sculpture in Minneapolis. I hung these on the right corner of our dining area.



One of my friends just got her the new Canon XTi DSLR camera - sooo cool! I will save up for that! It's at the top of my want list lol! I think i'm getting myself more into digital photography. And with the photoshop software that i have... poifect!

Printer Problem

This is sooo funny! Lesson learned: never, ever put a kitty near your printer while it's printing lol!

Patience

This layout was done for the Letter to me Challenge: Use one or more photos of yourself from your teens/early twenties and create a layout that incorporates a letter/words of wisdom that your older self would tell your younger self if you "knew then what you know now."

I think i was about 8 or 9 in this pic but maybe younger i don't remember lol. All my photos of my teenage/early twenties days are halfway across the world so i used this one instead. I was miss goody two shoes when i was growing up, probably because my dad was strict. But if it weren't for him i wouldn't be where i am now. The one thing i have learned throughout the years is that the ability to wait for something without excessive frustration is definitely a valuable character trait. This is why i chose these words of wisdom.

Patterned paper: Making Memories (Chelsea's Place specialty paper), plain green paper by KIMemories, cardstock: thePaperCompany; dimensional stickers, chipboard alpha stickers: Making Memories; die-cut stickers: K&Company; flowers: mini blossoms by making memories, silk flowers by thePaperStudio, Cricut; craft thread; rick rack: JoAnn craft essentials; mini pop dots: allnightmedia; foam by FunkyFoam.

Jounaling says:

You may not understand this now but someday
you will...

* want to be all grown up
* want to rush through schooling
* want to be in LOVE
* want freedom
* want to be a career woman
* want to drive your own car
* want to travel the world
* want to marry the man of your DREAMS
* encounter disappointments and anger

...when these “somedays” come, always remember
that Patience is a Virtue... be patient and you will
be alright.