Scrapping time gone by..

I scrapped!!

So yesterday, I talked about discovering new goodies at the LSS of Our Paper Place. I bought their monthly kit and made this l.o. for a contest. All supplies, minus the pen I used for the captions, are from this kit (mostly Cosmo Cricket stuff).

I am super lazy about getting pictures printed. I found this old pic - I look so young and innocent. Perfect for a 'vintage' lay-out, LOL!

While we're on the subject of scrapbooking, I recently found her work. I just love her happy and cutesy style. Her layering and use of unabandoned design for scrapbooking her son's pages are inspirational. I absolutely adore how she's not afraid to use what's commonly thought of as 'girly' colors or embellishments. And her son reminds me of a chubbier, Japanese version of mine..teehee!

Anyway, I am super thrilled about some news. I'll let you know soon!

Luv,

Support your LSS

Over the past year, my fave local scrapbooking stores have closed so I've been doing most of my shopping online. I had also been very good about using the supplies that I already have. But for an upcoming project, I needed specific brands, newer stuff.

So thanks to an FB friend, I discovered a new store in the area -- Our Paper Place. And who did I see when I walked in? Why, Suzy West, of course! For those of you who don't know her, she had owned my most favorite scrapbooking store and is uber talented, now designing for My Little Shoebox and many more! She's helping out at the new store, inspiring and teaching the new owner(s) her old tricks!

Anyway, Our Paper Place has a contest each month. Buy a kit for $10, make a lay-out, turn it in. Customers vote for their favorite one and the winner gets a free crop and a $20 gift certificate. I bought it and played along. I'll show you my l.o. another day, but I also created a card using the supplies.

This card features all of the supplies from the kit (mostly Cosmo Cricket) except for the CS and is stamp-free. I needed to make a 'man' card for one of our inspiring docs who had been going above & beyond, bringing in treats for our nurses. Now y'all know that it's hard for me to make cards suited for boys, much less a man!! LOL!

I like how this sorta has a vintage feel to it! I'm glad I'm doing my part to support local business :).

XO,

Gifts & Weddings

Hello y'all!

I needed a gift card holder for one of my co-workers, and this Maya Road envelope was perfect. I decorated it with old papers from an old set of TGF patterned papers as well as Mama Anya.

And speaking of gifts, I am planning on giving these goodies, along with this to card that I made in March.






A dear friend is having her bachelorette in NYC and I thought she should have this mini-Emergency kit for her vacay. Got it (& the image) from Sephora, & it includes that ultra tiny gold bag, hairspray, Advil, mending kit, etc. Basically, anything you would need when you're looking your absolute best and want to stay that way! Heck, it would even be handy for her big day!

And while we are on the topic of weddings, YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE!



picture source

Bridesmaids is hilarious! If you loved 40-year-old Virgin or The Hangover, you'll like this movie. Hahahahaha!! I was in hysterics during the entire time. If you've ever been a bridesmaid or a bride, had a best friend or have hit rock bottom, you will appreciate it. I absolutely loved the cast!

Did I mention that you should see this movie?? :)

Tata,

Cards & Photography

Good Thursday morning, everybody!

Hope you are all doing well! I've got a busy day ahead of me. I have to drive to the city and get re-certified in CPR and BLS (Basic Life Support). Hoping that won't take more than 2-3 hours.

Then, I'm planning on catching up on my DVR ... Glee, American Idol (although now I 'm really sad that my last favorite, James, is out), America's Next Top Model, etc.

Can't wait for the latter part :).

Today, I've got SOG's Balloon Kaylee wishing a future card recipient a Happy Birthday! The bunting PP is from Lily Bee Designs, the swirly PP is from KI Memories (Love, Elsie). The tag is from American Crafts, and the cool buttons are from Pebbles. I'm sorry, I forgot where the flower brads are from, but I got it from a Studio Calico kit. The washi tape is from MT Deco.

For Tiff Guam's post, she talked about how she takes pics of her cards/ creations. Thought I'd do the same here. I have a Canon 40 D with a stock lens. I usually take my pics in my craft room during daylight, right next to the window. I place my cards on the arm rest of a chair. I use the custom modes (usually C1 or C2) and just go into the AWB for automatic white balance. I'm a big fan of natural light and I go to flickR to edit my photos.

Except for rotating the card and cropping it, I didn't edit this card at all (also added the watermark though). I like the bright light of the 8:20 morning sun today and the shadows it created. I rarely use flash.

I'd love to hear how you take pics of your cards as well!

Luv,

Baby Boys!

A super quick card for my co-worker who is expecting a boy!

I had gotten a 12 x 12 paper pack from K & Company and it's my go-to pack for my baby or preggo cards. Reminding myself now not to do that again. I get bored easily if I use the same paper, or stamps, for that matter...LOL!

And speaking of little boys... we had done a 3 D/ 4 D ultrasound of baby-boy-to-be. Basically, this ultrasound provides three dimensional images of the fetus. I know some people are a little freaked out by this. My mom, being one of them, had refused our invitation to come 'see' what the baby looks like for the second time. She says, "It looks like the baby is melting." Kinda true. But for me, it is magical.

{A little warning though. The babe may look 'deformed' because of the way the image is reflected or because the baby is 'smushed' in my belly}.

















Aww, he is so cute! And I want to pinch and kiss those cheeks! To me, he is looking like his daddy here.

And some news about the bigger tot: his second birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. I was truly inspired by her son's high seas party. Even if Mattie's Christening had sort of a nautical theme, I decided to do one again.

And lo' and behold!! I saw The Greeting Farm's May 2011 newsletter. And am sooooo excited for this to come out:

Too late for invites but maybe thank you cards??? AAAACKKK!! I LOVE!!!

tootaloo!

Getting Into Shape!

Good Monday morning, everybody!

For today, I have a shaped card to show you. I think this is only the second or third shaped card I've made, not including the easel ones I've created. It's also for the "Get into Shape" challenge over at Some Odd Girl.

Now I don't own any nestabilities or Cuttlebug or any other fancy machines. I simply used a CD case holder to trace my circle and proceeded to cut! LOL!

Remember the birthday goodies that I received from Amy? I was talking about them here.



All the supplies I used were from the kit minus the cardstocks and punch.

Besides SOG, I discovered another lovely blog. Here at the Twinery, I learned how to do those blooming twines coming out of the buttons. With the pregnancy, my already-stubby fingers have gotten a bit swollen and so, they didn't quite come out as pictured....teehee. I am starting to love twine!

Anyway, that's it from me for now. Hope you have a stellar day!

A Quick Note

Good Sunday mornin' everybody!

It's my weekend off & so, I am getting some crafting done...hooray!

What motivates me most is when I get new supplies, especially stamps! This cutie is Love Letter Kaylee from Some Odd Girl. I just loooove her off-beat big calves (as I had always been self-conscious about mine, even in my skinny days). She is so much fun to color too!

Supplies are CS and alpha PP from American Crafts, lined PP from Luxe, flower stickers from K & Company, and miscellaneous ribbon.

Sorry to be so quick! Hope you have a great day!

Feeling Thankful

If you look closely in the background of this card, you'll see tater tot. sometimes, i'll leave the room where he's watching t.v. to get a scrapbooking supply or even take pics of a card, but then he'll always come find me.

Thought I'd include him somehow because I might be giving this to the G for Father's Day. And it's kind of fitting since the sentiment is 'Thanks.'

Now my DH isn't blond at all, but I wanted to try a different hair color since I tend to do mostly brunettes or black hair. And I just couldn't throw away that cute 'thank you' tag that Kristy included with my SOG order. It even came with turquoise twine...L O V E! The papers are from Basic Grey, and the stamp is from TGF.

In other news, one of my lovely bloggie friends, Amy sent me this beautiful card. Isn't it gorgeous? I LOVE LOVE LOVE everything about it from the way it was colored to the PP and delicious treats!!



She also sent me a kit that included a SOG stamp and PPs and embellies. To cheer me up as I have been stressed lately. So very sweet!! Thanks, Amy! Can't wait to delve into my goodies! I feel so blessed to have such generous and talented crafty friends here in BlogLand!

XOXO,

Waimaka o ka Lani

It's been somber at work lately.

We lost a dear patient who was well known and well-liked. She had an infectious laughter and a perky charisma. She was very sick but her death was still very shocking to all. For she had passed on the operating room table, while getting a transplant. It was very bittersweet. But in a way, she did not feel any pain. And I wished that she had hope in her heart as she left this world.

I wanted to make a card that reflected her heritage and personality. I researched Hawaiian sympathy cards and found this saying: "Waimaka o ka Lani." It means Heavens cry when a loved one passes.

One of my lovely co-workers also shared this quote:

"Butterfly -
As you danced in the light with joy,
Love lifted you.
As you brushed against the world so gently,
You lifted us."
-- by T.C. Ring

The Hula Anya stamp from TGF was colored with Copics (although now I'm realizing I need more markers for blending darker skin better). My patient liked pinks and purples so I incorporated those colors. I thought it would be nice to have her dance on hibiscus flowers. The butterfly stamp is from Stampin' Up.

I have lost many patients in my decade-long nursing career. But it does not get easier with time.

Thanks for visiting. Hug your loved ones.

Girly Girl

I was disappointed that Some Odd Girl didn't release Momma Mae as one of their clear stamps. I think she is gorgeous, and I was a bit bored with TGF's Mommy Anya. She's cute too but I always end up using her for my pregnant friends :).

This card is for one of my co-workers, who is expecting her second child (a girl!) around the same time as me. She says she's not really a 'pink' person so I tried to tone down the girly colors by mixing lots of colors.

In other news, I received this lovely creation from Sheena. It was so nice to be the recipient of a handmade card :).



I just love all the feminine touches - the colors, the flowers, the bling. I, on the other hand, am quite girly. So this is the perfect card. I adore it, Sheena! Thanks so much!!

XOXO,

Puppies and Mommyhood

*sighs*

it is 1:08 a.m. pacific standard time, and I can't sleep. not due to insomnia this time. but i took a two hour nap (late) with the tot, even after he "allowed" me to sleep till 9 am yesterday morning (you moms know that's a luxury!).

so i thought i'd catch up on my blog as i've made a few cards here and there...

this stamp is Tobie and his puppy from Some Odd Girl. they have recently released clear stamps, and i couldn't help but buy a few! i first saw SOG at Yvonne's blog and then Amy inspired me with her awesome creations as Guest DT.

i've colored Tobie up with black hair because he reminds me a lot of my Mattie. MK just loves dogs right now.



here he is walking his toy puppy in our backyard...LOL! pretty soon, we're gonna have to get a real dog because a toy just won't cut it any longer.

anyway, i hope you all had a nice Mother's Day. i sure did. i was supposed to work but got called off as there weren't a lot of patients in the hospital. i'm not really supposed to take those unexpected days off as i'm trying to accrue paid time off for my upcoming maternity leave, but i just couldn't help it. i wanted to spend a nice holiday with my boys and my fam.

i woke up to some nice yellow tulips, a sentimental card, cuddles from my guys, and even breakfast-in-bed.



motherhood has been the best thing that has happened to me (aside my hubby, that is). i feel so blessed that i am expecting another angel in less than two months. i'm a bit nervous about having two but i know that if other people could do it, then i can as well. getting excited about having a soft, little chubby one in my arms again....even if it would be 3:00 am, then 6 am, then....etc, etc. :)

sometimes, i wonder how it's possible to share my love between kids when i love my matthew so much already. but i always knew i'd have more than one child. it's actually always been a dream to have four but i don't know about that now, haha.

being a mom has had its very challenging times, don't get me wrong. it is difficult to put yourself first, much less take a shower in those first few days/ weeks. you sacrifice a lot of things in order to spend quality time with them. but it is always worth it, to know that your child/ children know how much they're loved.

i'm gonna cut it off here as i'm feeling rather sleepy now. till next time, thanks so much for tuning in!

love,

Asian Fashion

Sometimes, I find myself making cards that reflect what is going on in my life. And these cards aren't necessarily appropriate to be given to someone else.

For example, take this card.

It depicts my hope and sadness for Japan. It also conveys my love for fashion and design.

I wanted to add that little spiraled notebook from Jolee's. And the tiny pic of the Asian ladies is from a famous restaurant matchbook in Las Vegas. Who knows? I may add this card as an embellishment to a future scrapbook lay-out.

Anyway, this Magnolia stamp was from my friend R's bday gift to me. And hurrah for using old products. All of these are at least two years old! :)

Have a fantastic day! Peace!

Give love to a nurse...

Happy Nurses' Week, everybody!!!

For my fellow nurses, I was assigned to help make cards for all the staff in three units. This card was not my design but my assistant manager's, but I did suggest stamping Nursing images from The Greeting Farm. Because of the massive amount of cards three people had to make, I also pointed out that leaving them uncolored would be fine.

My ANM picked the papers and punched out an oval. Another nurse, Luzelle, hand-wrote the sentiment. I was in charge of stamping half of the images including those of the male nurses (here, I picked Oh Boy! Ian, who looks the closest to wearing scrubs :)).

I got to about three cards with Cheeky Nurse when I realized that she may not be suitable for a professional environment. She is cute but those stockings are not ideal for my job and I do not want to get into trouble. I will probably ask for those to be given to me and a couple of close friends who will not be offended.

I think that the simplicity of the cards are very attractive, and I love the clean lines.

Can I just tell you that I am very happy at my job? The last couple of weeks, I have felt fulfilled. Challenged. We are almost two years into being the solid organ transplant unit, and I am finally feeling comfortable about taking care of the patients and families. There are days when it is just so busy that I feel horrible at the end of the day because I knew that I couldn't give my 100% attention and care to a certain little patient. But now, I feel that I did my best and am given thanks by families who felt the same.

And there is a boost of morale from the big guns as well. It's always nice to feel appreciated by management.

There are some days when I wish that all I do is stamp and take photos and make lay-outs all day. But I feel very blessed to have a job that helps people and allows me to take on many hobbies as well.

Anyway, enough with the corny stuff already! Did I tell you that one of my nicknames in high school was Corny Corinne??

XO,

Treasures

When I saw the new Taylored Expressions Treasure Life stamps, I screamed! Mind you, I am supposed to be on a stamping budget, but I knew that I just had to HAVE those cute jars!

I am a big collector of many things so I thought this stamp set was perfect for me. Especially since we have a new home. And I knew that I wanted to make Sunghee's thank you card using these stamps.

Did you know what this girl sent me for my birthday? (Ok, she claimed she didn't know it was my special day but the fact that she sent me these thoughtful goodies around that time is sweet enough!). Lemme show you....







Aren't those (& she) AMAZING?!!! She originally made them for her blog and mommy group's newsletter. I really loved them and asked if I could buy some off of her. The sweet friend that she is, she sent me a package of them with these and this!!!!

Sunghee, you are wonderful! I am so lucky to have you as my friend! Anyway, I'm sorry that my thank you card is less than par. I see all my mistakes already.

Wanted to keep the card pretty simple to showcase the stamps. I also got the TE shelf stamp. Colored them with Copics and hand-wrote the sentiment.

Now I need to host another tea party for my new accessories!!

XO,

The Happenings of 4/30 - 5/1/2011

This weekend sure had a lot of happenings..

The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton..

The killing of Osama Bin Laden...

I'm not going to get into the ethics of killing a terrorist and the repercussions it may cause. Rather, I'm going to just talk about my experiences and feelings of the whole ordeal.

Having lived in California, I always remembered where I was (home) and what I was doing (cooking dinner for my siblings and I) during the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. I thought I would never forget that day. Being the oldest but not even a teen, I felt responsible and protective over my siblings. But I was also scared and helpless for I have never been in an earthquake before.

Fast forward to 9/11. I was off from work that day, but woke up early and turned on the TV to watch the news. I felt like I was watching a movie as I watched the plane hit the first twin tower. Smoke billowed up top. There was chaos. And then the building collapsed. I couldn't believe it. I worried about my family in New York, and a friend who was their for a trip.

Thankfully, they were ok. But I was heartbroken over the lives and sense of freedom that were lost. I was angry and felt helpless. I was in my early 20's, on the other side of the country. I did not know anyone personally who died on that day. But like most Americans, that day has marked me for life and affected me in a hundred ways.

And so when people ask why Bin Laden's death should be celebrated if it does not guarantee the end of terrorism and if it may cause more retaliation, I say yes. I am a pediatric nurse, consider myself kind, and believe in God. I am supposed to be sweet and non-judgemental and forgiving, but I can't help but say that justice has been served.

66 years earlier, on the same day that Osama was announced dead, Hitler's death was also declared.

I always like to include pictures on my posts. Couldn't find the pics I took of Ground Zero, when I first went to NYC in 2004. But I did discover some lay-outs I made from that trip. These pics are very old... and way before I ever created this crafty blog.

It was a fun trip, very memorable having a mini-family reunion. I am thankful that nothing happened to my family.

It was tear-jerking having gone to Ground Zero and the museum dedicated to 9/11. Someday, I hope to scrap those pics with a news article from yesterday. HELL YEAH!

And despite 9/11, New York will always be beautiful. I fell in love with it right away, just like I knew I would.









Anyway, thanks for reading this long post. I hate just having talked about the negative stuff that happened. I'll save the Royal Wedding on another post. I don't know about you but I was also swooning this whole weekend :).

Favorite Easter Moments

Thought I'd share some of my fave Easter photos.




Here's the tater tot in all of his Easter gear. Yes, that is the pink hat I was talking about. He looks a bit like Jason Mraz. Awwwww....



Here I am with my watermelon baby. Eat it up cuz the bigger I get, the less pictures I'll be posting. LOL!



I planned to hide eggs in our backyard, but it rained that morning and the grass was all wet. Kinda regretted not doing the original Easter egg hunt I planned but we were rushing to go to church and then to family's. We just did it indoors.



It was cute and sweet to see him finally get hunting for and collecting the eggs.



I rarely ever post pics of my DH and son together. Was feeling kind of guilty but G isn't a ham like me. Really liked this picture capturing a tender moment between them.



And even if this was blurry, I loved my boys' expressions!!



Mattie's kisses consist of lip-kissing, sometimes open-mouthed! Here's one of him expressing his love for his daddy. My bro-in-law, who is a pediatrician and did not grow up with an affectionate family, stated "We gotta break him of this habit." Haha!!



In the Filipino culture, it is customary to show respect to your elders by "mano po" or blessing of the hand. You take their hand and put the outside part to your forehead.



Mattie is just starting to do this and was ecstatic when everyone cheered. That's my mom and she taught him this. Speaking of, I must think of a Mother's Day present for her!!

Anyway, I hope you all had a Happy Easter!