Whimsical & ecclectic.

When I first saw the Noveau girls from Some Odd Girl, I knew I had to have them. Not only were they beautiful, they were so different from any of the stamps I own. And because they were inspired by a period of art history, they appealed to me even more.

I have always been into art as far back as I can remember. I recall preschool art projects that consisted of pencil sharpening bits glued on paper to make flowers. My mom taught me how to do figure drawings and faces. I always doodled borders and letter art in high school.

While I was envious of my childhood friends who took up dance and sports, I felt lucky enough to take part in art classes and piano lessons. I dreamed of majoring in graphic design but eventually gave in to my parents' insistence to take up something more financially 'stable' and 'practical.'

I love my nursing career and do not regret my decision. Yet there is always going to be a small part of me that long for the arts. I am very grateful for my hobbies of papercrafting, stamping, scrapbooking, and photography. I am blessed to live so close to so many amazing art museums. So even if I don't get to make art for a living, I sure am lucky to be able to include it in my life.

Anyway, I am digressing...

I finally got to work with my Noveau girls. I went all out with this first creation of Grow. To me, she looks part Marie-Antoinette-ish, part fairy tale princess. I pictured her in an exotic and lively forest full of wonderful creatures. Or walking in front of a big window in her fanciful castle.

There are a lot of elements mixed in here, and I love them all! Call it a whimsical & ecclectic card if you will :). To me, it's very artsy. The way all the leaves flourish and grow...lots of flowing lines and dynamic curves. A little bit like a modern art noveau style? Hee hee, not quite sure but I'd like to think so.

The stamped images that make up the inner borders are from Grow as well. I really like them because I used to always doodle something similar to those. The sentiment is from Bliss. The PP are both from Basic Grey. The leaf pins are from an old Taylored Expressions kit. The shiny leaves embellies are from a kit I won from Gauche Alchemy. The images are colored with my beloved Copics.

Thanks so much for visiting and reading my post!

Art Inspiration & a Survey

*** If you're looking for Jo's Birthday Blog Hop and/ or to win MULTIPLE blog candies, please go HERE! ***




Good Tuesday morning, everybody!

It may mean going back to work after the long Labor Day weekend holiday for some of you. For me, it marks the midway point of my maternity leave... BOO!

Sure I miss my job, my co-workers, and my patients. But it also means less craft time, and I'm sure you'll agree that that kinda blows!

Anyway, no card today but I've got some inspiration and some random ramblings for y'all!

Some of you know that we had moved into a new home. It's been a year since then, and I'm sad to say that my craft room hasn't really changed much from this. Except the bins and boxes got moved alongside the walls :).

I told myself I'd get it organized during my leave (or as my friends who do not have kids call it, "vacation"), but that's not realistic really in our household of a toddler and a new baby. And procrastination, lack of funds, and lots of excuses, LOL.

What I am looking forward to going back to my job would be the full paycheck though. That means I'll be closer to affording my dream craft room :). Heck, I'm just grateful to have my own space after so long!

In my future craft haven, I already know that I'll be putting up frames (or at least a bulletin board) of some art inspiration. Shown above are pics that I bought from my favorite artists in the craft world:

1. Elsie Larson (formerly known as Elsie Flannigan), from Red Velvet/ Love, Elsie line from KI Memories.

2. My good bloggy friend, Amy Young from A Thousand Sheets of Paper & Sweet November stamps.

3. Kristy Dalman of Some Odd Girl.

Aren't their art prints and homemade cards just phenomenal?!! They all provide art inspiration for me and that works a lot for my craft mojo! How about you, who or what do you find most inspiring? I'd love to hear!

And totally unrelated, but I came upon this fun A-Z survey from Kristy's blog. I LURRRVVVE filling these out so I hope you get to play along. Make sure you post a self-portrait too and tell me that you've done it so I can come check it out.


(technically taken last month but you don't want to see me now at 3 am)

A - Z Survey.

A. age: Let's just say I'm in my early 30's :P

B. bed size: King. Love how it's so big and comfy!

C. chore you hate: Washing the dishes and cleaning the toilet. I'm so lucky that my hubby loves to clean! :)

D. dogs: I prefer them over cats except for Hello Kitty, haha! My sibs all have doggies so I get my pet fix that way.

E. essential start to your day: Breakfast! Without it, I get so cranky!

F. favourite colour: It changes every season, but my favorite color combo is green, orange, and pink.

G. gold or silver: Silver.

H. height: Short, a l'il over five feet! (shut up, Jo!)

I. instruments you play: I had piano lessons since school age but haven't kept up with it unfortunately.

J. job title: Registered nurse, mommy, wifey...

K. kids: 2, and my dream would be a third one that's a girl!

L. live: Bay Area, California.

M. maiden name: Reyes. I miss that name.

N. nicknames: Dooks, Corn chips, Crunchee, Yen, LadyGirl...

O. overnight hospital stays: 3. Two when I was preggers/ in labor and one as a child.

Q. quote: Love Life and Life Will Love You Back - by Arthur Rubenstein. I also love anything by Kahlil Gibran.

R. righty or lefty: Righty.

S. siblings: 2 sis, 1 bro.

T. time you wake up: With a new baby, I am up every 3-4 hours. *yawn*

U. university attended: college in California. I have a bachelor's degree and dream to have my master's someday.

V. vegetables you dislike: That bitter lettuce, I always forget the name. Brussel sprouts, yuck. You know I won't be making my kids eat those LOL!

W. what makes you run late: Getting the kids ready/ packing the diaper bag. Facebook (buwhahahaha!) and the internet.

X. x-rays: Multiple. From my teeth to my arm.

Y. yummy food: Right now, I'm craving some breakfast (a Filipino dish called Tocilog) but I probably won't eat till 8 or 9 or so, phoooey.

Z. zoo animal favourite: I always love watching the little critters -- frogs, butterflies, lizards.

Toot-a-loo!

Art Journaling

Years ago, I started taking Traci Bautista's classes at my LSS. We made displays for pictures, cards, books, our own decorative papers. I learned so much from her. In her classes, there were no rules and creativity flowed.

So when I read that The Greeting Farm would be hosting a new, different, artistic journaling class, I was intrigued. And a bit scared and apprehensive. Add on to my already full plate? Buy new supplies of paint/ brushes/ other mediums?

But, then, I remembered Traci's classes and how fun it was and how it motivated me to explore my other artistic abilities. Her style is so different from a lot of my mentors/ idols in the stamping/ scrapping world. Yet I feel that her vision and lessons allow you to think so much outside of the box. Maybe, TGF's new class is just what I need.

So, I dug into my boxes (yes, the craft room is still packed up) and found old supplies of paint, embossing powder, gel mediums. I'm happy that the medium is not dried up but the decoart paints are :(. I still haven't found my old watercolor papers, which I need to bind to make the baseline book.

But I did find this journal that I bought from Traci. I remember being in love with this book -- its textures and colors and stitching and papers. I've always wanted to make one of my own!

Here's the beautiful cover of Traci's creation:



Inside the first page:




I wrote down ideas, scrapbook lay-out sketches, even notes from a 2007 photography class here...



And here's the front and back. Gorgeous, isn't it?



At first, I thought I'd use it for the class. But the pages were too thin to hold paint. And if I was going to endeavor in the whole artistic process, then I should start with blank pages. So in the end, the book will be thoroughly about me and my journaling and creativity. :)

Anyway, as soon as I find some papers/ book, I'll be contacting Marie about joining in on the TGF fun! Won't you try it as well?

Love,




P.S. I visited Traci's blog and found out she is having her own art journaling e-course. There's even a chance to win a couple of spaces! BTW, the title of her blog? "Creativity Unleashed." Perfect, isn't it?? Makes me wanna change the title of my blog into something wittier :).

Happy Bday!

Happy birthday to my little sister, Kristine! I call her little but she's about 3 inches taller than me :).

My sister is one of my very best friends and favorite people. She has the biggest heart and has such a wonderful eye for fashion and trends.

This Wild Sprouts Gigi is perfect! She has the same short hair as my sis. And Kristine loves wearing headbands / flowers. I just made her turtleneck into a short sleeve and voila! Looks so much like lil sis!

Anyway, my sis is one of the few fans that I have for this blog. But if anyone should have a blog, it's her. She is very artistic herself and specializes & has a college degree in graphic design. She has always helped me when it comes to both big parties and small events alike. You can see from this post all of the decorations she did for my baby shower (and also her artwork). I joke around with her that she should have a side business to plan parties and I'll go in on it! :)

Used lots of roughened edges for an artistic feel. Goodies are from Studio Calico and kol laj and some American Crafts galore! TGIF!!

XOXO,



P.S. Maligayang Bati, Feliz Compleanos, Joyeaux Anniversaire, Hau'oli lā hānau Tin-tin...Ate loves you!! & Mattie loves his Ninang (Godmother)!

BLISS

BLISS-
Is my favorite word.
It's my ultimate wish. My current feeling as a new mom and wifey.
It's what fills my soul when I create art.
It's the name of my blog, my Etsy account, my SISTV username.
It'll be incorporated in my future tattoo and I've even contemplated naming my future daughter "Bliss."

Anyway, in the two most bliss-ful events of my life, my sister, Kristine, had probably been the most helpful as far as celebrating them. Her artistic ability had bloomed in my bridal shower.





Her genius was behind my baby shower and Mattie's birth announcements.










She had also gone with me to vendors and doctor appointments. Anyway, I wanted to make her a 'just because' card. Which really translates to a 'thank you, I couldn't have done it without you' card.


I wanted it to be partially artsy and abstract. My sis is an artist by trade but her other dream was to become an astronaut. She loves space, and so I used Space Ian from The Greeting Farm. She reminded me about the meteor shower Tuesday night (but I missed it) and I bet she stayed up and watched during the whole four hours through her fancy telescope!

The papers I used are from TreiC Designs, one of my idols. She is big on creating original papers and I know it would balance out the cuteness of the Ian stamp. My sister's style is not cutesy at all (although she praises my creations that are cute). I thought the front paper's design depicts the 'holes' on the surface of the moon.

The brads are from American Craft and the brand of the ribbon is unknown.

On to my inspiration of the day-
My sister, of course! Her artwork could also be bought at Etsy under the seller Robotany. Although, she did recently say she doesn't have anything to sell at the moment.




Don't her art pieces just make you soo happy & full of BLISS??