It's my birthday month

Been busy lately... maybe that is a sign of getting old... you have so wanted to accomplish and do so many things as you are reminded that you are getting old. Am not scared of getting old, am scared of the thought that I have fewer chances of leaving something that is lasting here on earth. And heavenward, my prayers are to be worthy of citizenship in heaven and to receive what every Christian awaits to receive a reward from the Master, having been a good and faithful servant.

Cratfy Friday #12: Bloom

You can hardly tell that she is only 4 years old in this photo. I picked the title Bloom which is just perfect for this little girl who will soon bloom in to a fine woman.

This is one of the few layouts I did quickly because it involves only handcutting and paper mixing and matching. The letter stickers from Prima completes the layout. Although this layout does not involve too much painting and drying, I just could not let it pass at least with the Maya road sew it chippies.

All materials are from Studio Azul's kit except for the Maya Road chipboards. The papers are from Prima, Bo Bunny and 7 Gyspies.

Crafty Friday #11: Falling in love with embossing powders

Ever since I got hold of the Frantage line of Stampendous embossing powders, I fell in love with embossing powders once again. They really give a different texture to chipboards. I may have to find other ways to use them, but right now, I enjoy using them on chipboards.

And another idea I learned is to mixed my old embossing powders with the frantage line to revive those old and outdated embossing powders, give them a new twist and catch up with the new trends in giving my projects new dimension, not to mention I get to use them and enjoy them.

Here are two layouts, mostly from my side of the family, with my father and the three grandsons and with my mother and all the girls in the family, except me.

Chipboards are embossed with Stampendous Shabby Bronze mixed with white and gold embossing powders from my stash.

Wais Wednesday #18 - Saluyot

In our household, there is never a week that green leafy saluyot is not served over lunch or dinner.

Saluyot is one of the vegetables I grew up with as my favorite. As a growing child, I cannot deny that I have gone through the stage of being a picky eater and saluyot is one that satisfies my palate.

Saluyot is just so versatile that you can mix it with any other green and leafy vegetable - dahon ng malunggay, bulaklak ng kalabasa, talbos ampalaya (yes, this is good), talbos ng sitaw. In the same way, you can mix saluyot with puso ng saging, labong (most common), sitaw and sometimes with papaya. With those variations, you can almost have saluyot for your everday meal. Each meal will cost you below PhP50.00 in Metro Manila, and it can come free in the province since saluyot can grow almost anywhere.

Am glad that my husband also eats and loves saluyot because we share the same liking for this food.

Crafty Friday #10: Alice in Wonderland and Steampunk ATC

Below are two more ATCs I made for a swap. 

The Alice in Wonderland image is from one of the Studio Azul kits I still have in my stash. It is actually black and white and I colored using watercolor pencils. I also attached an embossed image and on the side, I sprinkled Stampendous Mica Flakes.

This is my second version of a steampunk ATC. I cannot remember if I have a photo of the first one. I just love gears so when I saw there is another steampunk ATC in swap-bot, I did not have second thoughts of joining. Look at the 5 centavo coin i added to the embossed clock. I am also falling in love again with heat embossing. I have to revive my old embossing powders by mixing them to different Stampendous embossing powders (Shabby white and/or aged copper). It really gives a different texture to chipboards. I have few more projects where I used embossing powders which I will be posting in the coming weeks.

Happy mail day

Today I received 4 mails from my partners in swap-bot. I still have to open them, but I am pretty sure they will make a great addition to my growing collection of ATCs

Wais Wednesday #17 - Oreo Smoothie

I am thankful that the Lord has allowed me to have the opportunity to work from home. There are a lot of challenges and tests of patience from the kids but that is nothing compares with the joy of seeing them everyday, helping them with their homeworks, guiding them and reminding them to do better and correcting their mistakes.

Everyday, between 3:30 - 4:30 pm, I have this sense of excitement knowing my boys are coming home and the more my heart beats with joy as I hear tiny footsteps coming and gets delighted when I hear the sound our front door opening.

I know the kids are tired from the whole day activities in school and so I made them Oreo Smoothie. All you need is a pack of oreo, milk, ice and and dash of sugar. You may opt to add banana for a healthier drink. Put all ingredients in a blender and voila, a refreshing drink for the whole family.

Here are the boys enjoying their Oreo Smoothie topped with whipped cream.

Wais Wednesday #16 - DVD Collection

The husband's growing DVD collection is beginning to eat up space at home. Soon it's gonna clash with my scrap space. Good thing I found a site where we can register to download real and legal movies!. Just the right timing because the husband recently bought an external 1TB hard disk  Since we also have issues on DVDs scratches as soon as the kids get their hands on them, it would be easy for me to convince husband to join in and register.

Crafty Friday #9 - Vintage Tag

Here is the photo of a tag I worked on for swap. Perhaps I should also have a happy mail day post to highlight what I receive from the post.

It was created using patterned paper, washi tape and book pages adhered to a cardboard. Distress ink is applied over the paper and after drying, different vintage images are randomly stamped in the tag. To finish off, I randomly applied embossing ink on the edges and pour embossing powder randomly.

Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Sketch #5

My goal is to complete the sketch challenge in FSC, never mind if most of the time though, I get to work on the sketches after the challenge deadline. So here is my late take on sketch #6.

The background is a Prima paper way back 2 or 4 years ago. Yes, it is so gorgeous I almost did not want to use it. The flowers are handcut from BoBunny paper, while the cages are from Basic Grey paper.

I also used Maya Road bird chipboard painted with Ranger crackle paint and coated with white Tattered Angels glimmer glam. I love the one in white bacause you can use it to coat for any surface. The Basic Grey chipboard letter set is becoming a favorite. One pack contains so many letters I have used them already for several layouts and mini ablums yet there are still enough letters for several more layouts.

Apologies for the resolution because I am only taking pictures from my cellphone. This allows me to take a picture of the layout and post right away. I find it too cumbersome to detach the SD card from the camera, connect it to USB and attach it to PC.

Crafty Friday #8: Someone stop me

I always keep telling myself to stop signing up for any new swaps. Well I did, for a week. But after I got all my from my partners and amazed by their works of art, I am hooked and kept on signing up.

Here are few more ATCs and handmade postcard for my previous swaps.

Wais Wednesday #15: Coffee Love

I am a coffee drinker, brewed, black, with sugar and cream, 3-in-1, in whatever form. There are just days that feel so incomplete without a cup of coffee.

Recently, I came across people who bring with them as a "baon" wherever they go, which is so smart since 3-in-1 pack makes it all the more convenient. All you need is a cup and hot water.

Hmm, I told myself, why not? So this time around, one of the staples in my bag is a pack of 3-in-1 coffee, ready to go, just add hot water.

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow

Today we celebrate the third year anniversary of our business - Camaso Rice Dealer. Thank you to our partners, rice mill partners and clients who constantly believe in us and the quality of our products. Above all, our appreciation to our God, who provides for our needs for the business, who works in His miraculous ways to meet our needs for our capital and who continually strengthens us to move ahead and forward since He told us three years ago to take that step of faith. To Him be the glory.

Find out more about our business and products at www.camasorice.sulit.com.ph

Crafty Friday #7: It's raining ATCs

Yay! Crafty Friday is running on two months and it keeps on coming. I am thankful that I discovered the world of ATCs which gives me a break from creative rut. I made these ATCs for the swap in Swap-bot, but soon I hope I can make ATCs just for fun and for the sake of art.

MMM Online Crop and Scrap Date with Mel

Last Friday, August 31, a group of Filipino scrappers had an online crop in FB from 9pm - 12mn. Sketches and challenges were posted during the crop period for the participants to work in until Sunday. It was a very productive crop event for many and tons and tons of inspiration from various scrappers were flowing in for three days. Since I have work until 12 mn of August 31, I only managed to complete one layout that night, after my shift.

The following day, a fellow scrapper friend Mel invited me over for a crop session at her place. I was able to do three layouts, one using a sketch from the previous night's online crop. I was able to complete them (with title and journalling) just recently.

I used very old papers I have in my stash. I have a lot of de-stashing to do and so glad I can still use them despite the recent releases of papers, embellies and any other stuff manufacturers can think of.
I just incorporated new techniques and trends just so the papers won't look really outdated. Glad they worked well even with the papers and you couldn't really tell how old the papers are.

These additional four layouts add to my total output to date of 26 layouts.

Wais Wednesday #14: Source of Wisdom

These wais tips are nothing compared with the wisdom that comes from the Lord. When Solomon became king, he did not pray fro riches, he did not pray for long life, but there is only one thing he asked from the Lord - wisdom. Wisdom to rule his people, so that he can address their concerns and resolve conflicts. The Lord was delighted in Solomon's desire that He did not only give him wisdom but He gave him riches and long life.

Our source of wisdom comes from the Lord and He even said in His word in James 1:5 - that if anyone of us lacks wisdom he should ask the Lord who gives generously without reproach. The Bible is our one-stop reference and full of guidance about how we should live our roles, as children, parents, husbads, wives, employees, businessman and so on. There is not any book published similar to the
Bible that is a catch-all guide. After all, all words in the Bible are breathe by God. So next time we have a question in life, let us go to the Bible, let us go to God.

Project Life

The past few weeks I have been thinking if I should do the Project Life or not. I have seen a lot of Filipino scrappers doing Project Life and has inspired me to try it out. After all, the reason I am scrapping is to document every day, the every day miracles and the evey day blessings from the Lord. And the best way to do this is through Project Life. Now is also the best time for me to do this since I am now working from home, I will have the chance to document our everyday stories.

The next question is whether or not to start now or wait until 2013. Memories are created everyday, and I told myself, better to start now and test the waters in preparation for 2013. I have consistently taken pictures since the beginning of September. I redeemed Canon Selphy photo printer from Citibank (I am still waiting for delivery though and there's a long story behind it). Pretty much, I think I am ready and for these reasons, I have decided to start working in my Project Life.

I am adopting the process/system from Tracy Sue Alarcon-Nocon. She uses 9x9 baseball card, just the size for ATCs, which is just perfect since I am into ATC swap as well. It was originally intended for my ATC swap and currently the first page houses the ATCs I received from various swaps. I still have 9 pages which I can use as a starter. She uses A4 binder to bind the pages and sometimes uses clear sheet protectors in various sizes for bigger pictures, ephemeras and what-have-yous. Here is the link for more details in her Project Life process.

Hopefully I can start printing the pictures since I am already two weeks behind.

Here are few more links from Julie Fan Balzer on how she does her Project Life plus few more links from other scrappers.

Crafty Friday #6: Watercolor pencils

I am glad I joined ATC swaps. Pushes my creativity and allows me to bring out those tools from the box and finally put them to use. Yes, I always have this feeling that I should use them sparingly but in the end not using them at all. But now, since I joined swaps, I am taking them out of the box, try them on and explore my creative side.

I used to join only those swaps that are easy for me, but since I have been playing around with watercolors, this time around I picked the ATC watercolor challenge. Several ATC had to go to the trash before I finally got the groove of using watercolor and watercolor pencils and became satisfied with my work. I have seen a Donna Downey video about making poppies and she does it with a breeze. And true enough as I tried it. I never realized I can do this - I can draw and paint!!!

Wais Wednesday #13: Double purpose shrimp

Today the kids' lunch is buttered shrimp. I usually include the entire shrimp, head and not deboned when I cook buttered shrimp but this time around I thought of removing the head and deboning the shrimp.

Later in the stay, I used mortar and pestle to pound the heads and extract shrimp juice which was used to enhance the flavor of our lomi for lunch.

Hmm, looks like I am gonna do this again. I just love the taste of shrimp!!! I might as well try adding the shrimp heads to the famous Ilocano dish - dinengdeng. Am excited to do this.

Mini Album Swap

Here are the pages for my mini album swap. I hope Cecil will appreciate these simple pages.

First Page, three pockets on the side and one at the top.

Second Page, left side space for photo, right side can be space for photo or journalling.

Third Page a photomap on the left side, plus a pocket which can be used for additional photo or journalling.  Right side is a pocket envelope for additional photos or journalling.

Fourth Page - left side another page for photo and pocket for photo or journalling and right side, tiny album for photos and journalling plus pocket on top.

Last Page, left side, a pocket inside a pocket and right side is a place for photo.

Crafty Friday #5: Layout for Ate Mae

All our 2005 LA Disney pictures have been finally glued down to their respective homes. I actually didn't have much pictures for that trip. The husband accidentally deleted the photos while he was transferring them from the memory card to our PC.

Here is one very special picture that I took that time and really deserves a page in my scrapbook album. This is a picture of my in-laws (father and sister) in our first visit to the US.

The layout was completed just in time for her birthday.

Thanks to the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge blog for the sketch. It is a non-entry layout since I was able to work on it past the deadline.

CD Art Thursday #2: Altered CD - Photo/Memo Holder

Glad I found those tiny frame stands in one of the super malls around here. Fits CDs perfectly.

CDs are just perfect for this since they are sturdy and can hold embellishments.

Christmas is just around the corner so I thought of making prototype of what will be our give aways this year. Next thing I will do is make a list and start the mass production of my altered CD - Photo/Memo Holder.

Wais Wednesday #12: Savings on ATM withdrawals

A trending topic in Facebook recently is about BDO imposing a PhP2.00 fee for every ATM withdrawal, even if withdrawal is made from a BDO ATM. That's too bad for those whose payroll are with BDO. A PhP 2.00 charge may even be more than what the payroll or savings account earns in terms of monthly interest. To make matters worst, most ATM machines dispense up to maximum of PhP 10,000.00 per transaction. So if you go beyond that amount, you will be charged more than PhP 2.00. Banks put up ATMs to discourage depositors from over the counter withdrawals and imposes higher fee in this case.

Thanks to Citibank, withdrawals are free, whichever ATM you make the withdrawal, and that also applies for withdrawals outside of the country of your branch.

Citi offers Citi at Work for payroll accounts, I think companies should now start considering moving their payroll accounts to Citi.

If you are a depositor, might as well move your accounts to Citi.

Crafty Friday #4: Swap-bot - Postage Stamp

This was sent out almost two weeks delayed due to the recent flooding in Manila and over various parts of Luzon. The requirement is use a scenery postage stamp for ATC. Good thing I was able to receive a mail with a postage stamp from a place in Brunei. I used mask and structuring medium and stampendous frantage fragments, distress inks and came up with this ATC. Hope my partner likes this one.

I am now getting addicted to swap for three things: 1) Gets me excited to wait for the mail because I am getting something other than bills; 2) Postage stamps from all over and last but not the least 3) I am receiving something that was created by an artist in other parts of the planet.

Wais Wednesday #11: Going Green

With the recent calamity and disaster brought about by flooding, won't we all consider about going green and seriously caring for our environment. We only have one earth to live in and the more we neglect or set aside our concern for the environment, the more damages we bring into our home.

Organic and natural products are not only safe to the environment but are also free from harmful chemicals that bring damage to our physical health.

We can start change in our own household and take initial step in loving our mother nature. We made the switch initially by using Human Nature body care products. Now, even all our household cleaning materials were replaced with Messy Bessy. These are locally made products so there's no additional carbon emissions just to bring the products in the Philippines.

On a Roll...

Don't you just love it when you never ran out of mojo and those layouts just keep on coming? Bet you do. Thanks to sketches, and another thanks to our local sketch challenge blog. Really makes scrapping a breeze with cool sketches and awesome design team. All you need is to mix and match photos, papers and embellies and you are on your way to having another layout tucked in your album.

Here's my take on Filipino Scrappers Challenge for the second sketch for August. I just did a little twisting on the sketch to match my photo. This is for my eldest son's chef guild in their school. To match the picture, I used a paper with veggie prints, and embellishments that is shaped like a pan and a chef hat.

Crafty Friday #3: More Scrapbook Layouts

Here are some more layouts from the past few weeks after I attending Iris' class. 

I have started the layout last April, but was only able to finish now.



This is a combination of old and new trends. As you notice, the paper is a very old Basic Grey line. Just imagine how happy I was when I saw chevron patterns on the paper. I also made use of American Crafts neon embossing powders, which is making its comeback in terms of scrapbooking trends.



This is a total shift from the clean lines above. It started as a simple layout. I added the layers by using stencils and distress inks. 

Wais Wednesday #10: History Repeats Itself

It was only three years ago when Typhoon Ondoy (International name Ketsana) tragedy befell upon us in the Philippines. And now, history repeats itself when continous rain for the past two weeks. As of Tuesday, the accumulated rainfall is 472 mm surpassing the 455mm recorded during the Typhoon Ondoy. While sources said the Ondoy rain is considered to be more intense, having delivered 300mm of rainfall for 6 hours, the rainfall last Tuesday was spread out to 24 hours, the question is our preparedness.

For the past few days, alert levels were constantly announced and Metro Manila was put under a red warning signal due to heavy to intense rains. This could be the reason why reported number of fatalities is lower compared with Ondoy. But I believe we can do better. If there are fire and earthquake drills, there should also be flash flood rescue simulations.

I saw several posts in FB which are all about getting prepared in an emergency, however, we are now in a rescue and recovery mode and the rescue team are doing a great job and we even have more means today for rescue operations.  To my mind, any emergency tips could have been helpful prior to the actual calamity to minimize the effect on us.

So as the recent disaster becomes just another page in our history, let us keep ourselves on guard for any  incidents in the future. Having a background from a company who gives high importance to  business continuity, I believe it is about time I should be applying the same security and safety procedures to my family, such that as whenever an emergency, calamity or disaster strikes, our family is well prepared and our safety and security is not compromised.  Now it is time to come up with our family's version of a disaster preparedness and recovery program.

Crafty Friday #2: Scrapbook Layouts

Attending Iris' class never fails to pumped up my mojo. Two Saturdays ago, we've learned about watercolor effects using Derwent Inktense blocks. We also used a new texture paste medium from Plaid. I so love this new mediums but shopping takes a backseat while I am in a transition to a new job.

Here are the layouts I finished from the class. I can't wait for the next classes.

This is the first and only picture most recent photo I have with my mom. This was taken last year during our family trip to Singapore. I wish to have move photos to scrap and preserve our memories.

The baby in this layout is Joie who is already 6 years old. I admit I still have plenty of backlog photos to scrap. I love the splatter effect using distress stains. Perfectly matches the vitamin splatters in his bib. 

Wais Wednesday #9: Homemade Bonchon Fried Chicken

The first time I ate at BonChon, I thought it was a US fried chicken franchise. Not until recently when out family ate at BonChon Eastwood did I learn that it was originally from Korea.

So what I did is to research about Korean fried chicken in the internet. There are recipes though that would require me to go to a Korean store, so it went down to the bottom of my recipes to try list.

Not until recently that I saw in PureGold Taguig, McCormick Korean Fried Chicken mix complete with sauce. It comes in different flavors, soy garlic, kimchi and bulgogi. I have not seen other variant though. I bought the soy garlic and bulgogi. I cooked the Soy Garlic flavor in one of our Sunday night specials.

I did not follow the direction that comes in the pack. I followed the Korean style I saw in the internet. First is to rub the chicken with salt and pepper. Then, instead of mixing the batter with water, I used egg.  I also added several spoonfuls of cornstarch for the batter to make it thicker. Then instead of frying the chicken only once, I tried double frying. I do not know why, but it just makes a lot of difference on the crispyness of the chicken. You will be needing plenty of oil for frying. First you have to make sure that the oil is hot enough, heat it for around 7-8 minutes. Then fry the chicken for 10 minutes. Let it stand for around 2 minutes. Since I did my frying in batches, I had to complete the all the batches for first frying before I did the second round. For the second round of frying, you will see the transformation from being soggy to really crispy. After the second round of frying, using the sauce provided in the pack, I just tossed the chicken in a container and shook it with the sause.

So last Sunday, our family enjoyed a feast of simple yet very delicious fried chicken.

Crafty Friday #1: Swap-bot: ATC swap

I will be starting another series in my blog for the crafters out there. My Wais Wednesday series has been ongoing for the past 8 weeks and so here is another one (though I hope I can still revive my CD Art Thursday series in the coming weeks).

I recently joined a swap group called swap-bot. This is a fun group who does a swap of almost anything - from postcards, ATCs, smash/junk journal items to teas, pens and what-have-you.

I usually sign up for ATCs, postcards and smash/jubk journal. Although shipping is a little heavy on the pocket, it is a way to connect with others and at the same time keep the postal system alive. Thanks to technology, gone are the days of snailmails and penpals. These were replaced with the internet and other electronic media.

Here are two of ATCs mailed for the butterfly theme. Both are butterfly themed except that the second one is a glittery butterfly per swap requirement.

The ATCs are very simple, I just run through a patterned paper in an embossing folder, distressed with distress inks, punch a butterfly. To customize for the glittery requirement, I just applied embossing ink, glue powder and glitter and voila, two projects completed.

Wais Wednesday #8: Color Coding

This is not about the UVVRP (The Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program), but our self imposed color coding scheme for the two boys to distinguish their things in school. We bought their items using their respective favorite colors. This way, we can tell who left what just by simply looking at the color without the need to inspect the items inside. 


This has worked for us and one of the factors that help us get by even in the absence of helper at home. 

Wais Wednesday #7: Manuka Honey

I first learned about Manuka Honey from a friend who takes it for acid reflux. I had to take it then, instead of Nexium which was prescribed by my doctor for acid reflux. I always opt for home remedies than prescription or over the counter drugs.

I had this cough for the past two weeks. After first week of increased liquid intake, I decided to see our doctor at the office clinic. Cough has gone bad and so inconvenient at night, even my whole family is awake when I would cough so hard. As usual, doctor prescribed cough medicine and zithromax antibiotic. I had never taken zithromax before, but I heard it was very potent that you only have to take it for three days and happy days are back again.

I am having second thoughts if I would take the prescription or not, so days had passed before I really decided to buy meds. But before that, I first check what are the home remedies for cough and among the long list came honey. Instead of buying ordinary honey from the grocery, what came to mind is Manuka Honey because I remembered its antibacterial properties. And so finally, last Sunday, husband brought home a bottle of Manuka Honey from Healthy Options. It was pricey, but I guess, I would have spent the same amount buying antibiotics.

It was the first time in two weeks that I was able to sleep straight without any cough interruption. During the day, I also noticed reduced frequency of coughing and it was not as difficult compared to the past few days. I know I am on my way to recovery, at the same time, tummy won't be suffering from antibiotics which kills not only the bad bacteria but also the good bacteria. So the next time someone from family is going to have cough, a spoonful of honey will surely replace prescription drugs. Safe and effective.

Wais Wednesday #6: Kalakal

In our household, we practice waste segregation. We have at least three waste bins, one is for food scraps and anything biodegradable, second for the recyclables and lastly anything in between.

The food scraps are collected by the property management maintenance team two times a day, in the morning and in the afternoon, a little after lunch.

The recyclables or often referred to as "kalakal" by the maintenance team are collected and sold to a nearby junk shop or material recovery facility, and so the name "kalakal" which means trading. The money collected are pooled to fund their quarterly rice subsidy, of which they source from
Camaso Rice Dealer.

I just wish that every household will do waste segregation. Not only that we care about the environment but at the same time we help those who make our hallways, common areas, pool and other areas clean, just a way of thanking them for a job well done.

CD Art Thursdays #1: Painting CD

I will be starting another series in my blog which is all about CD art. I fell in love with altered CD art the first time I tried my hands on them. I had to put this aside though due to a busy schedule. With this series, I am hopeful that I can revive my passion for altered CDs which is another great way of upcycling CDs and reducing our wastes. So stay tuned and and together we will explore various mixed media techniques applied in CDs to recreate our unique work of art.

As a starter, let us learn the basics of painting CDs. Gesso is an all around medium that you can use to prime any surface. It prepares the surface so that you can apply paint or any medium into it. For comparison, I used two types of gesso, a liquid, thin gesso and a thick, paste-like consistency gesso.

Photos below will show the difference between using liquid, thin gesso and thick and paste-like consistency gesso.

Thick Gesso

Liquid gesso

I am not sure if the first coating is thin because of the watery brush that I used. But notice that after several coating, you will achieve the same effect on the CD. 

Based on experience, liquid gesso is better to use on papers and canvass and thick gesso can be used on non-porous surfaces like plastic or even metal. 

There are even other types of gesso out there but you are free to experiment which one suits your preference. 

Wais Wednesday #5: School Reminders

I have two boys in grade school now so imagine how difficult it is to keep track of the homeworks, quizzes, schedules and things to bring.

I see to it that I check their assignmet notebooks as soon as I get home, and at the same time look at their respective notebooks, workbooks and books to ensure that they have done what is due for the following day.

However, there are just homeworks and notices that are given way ahead of time. This brings the challenge of tracking and monitoring. To avoid surprises, I have converted our big calendar, the give away calendars from rice mill, to a big bulletin board. Using post its, the kids will write down what is due on a particular day, be it homework, quiz or what have you, and stick it on the day it is due. Everyday, we can look at the calendar and have a snapshot of the two boys' class schedule.

Websters Pages: Park Drive Collection

It is CHA Summer sneak peak time and here is one of the newest Websters Pages collection.

Head on to Webster's Pages for a chance to win the Park Drive collection.

Wais Wednesday #4: Class Schedule

I am now on the fourth week of Wais Wednesday. This is the first time I became consistent in posting a series here in my blog.

This week let me share you what I did on my kids subject plastic envelopes. In their school, they are required to have 6 plastic envelope. Each envelope will contain all the materials (notebook, book, workbook, folder and what have you) for a single subject. This way, the kids will just take out the envelope for a particular subject and all things are supposed to be inside this envelope.

Last year, everyday, for my older son, we have to look at his schedule to check if all his subject envelopes for the day are inside his bag. There are days that he forgets his subject envelope since the schedules are different everyday.

This year, since we have two kids in school, with no help to prepare breakfast and lunch in the morning, we cannot squeeze in the time to do the checking everymorning for the two boys. So what I did is I put a masking tape on the envelope and wrote down the schedule days for the particular subject. This way, a day before, they will be responsible in removing today's subject from their bags and put tomorrow's subject inside their bags. This also makes it easier for them to identify easily which subjects they need to focus on the following day.

Wais Wednesday #3: Adobo

Adobo is my ever reliable go-to "re-heat in case of emergency" food. Aside from the fact that adobo is known to be a food that does not spoil easily, just like wine, adobo tastes better with age.

Juggling between house and home, there are times that I have to drop some balls to take care of the more important ones. This does not mean that family is not important, but what I am saying is that there are household chores, for example cooking - with the convenience of canned foods, is one of those that can be easily dropped from the list.

Instead of opting for canned goods, it is a better choice to have a precooked adobo which you can just thaw or reheat come meal time. During weekends, I would prepare a kilo of CPA as we call it, which stands for Chicken Pork Adobo. I kept these in serving sized container which husband could just easily reheat if I will be late from work and no meal was prepared for them beforehand. My precooked adobo also comes handy when the entire family comes home on weekends during meal time and too late to prepare for meal.

Grungy Tags

These tags are going to be mailed this Friday for our local swap group. We have been swapping tags, ATCs, mini album pages, junk journal for the past months.

For June, our theme is Alice in Wonderland. I made a heart and crown tags based on the Queen of Hearts character. And of course a She Art version of Alice.

I love enjoyed working on these tags, trying out new mediums and incorporating new techniques. I like the way it progresses from conceptualization to execution. Putting medium on top of another to create layers. It is all messy but full of fun.

I used watercolor, acrylic paint, viva inka gold, liquitex modelling paste, craypas, tim holtz stamps, stampendous mica fragments.

Wais Wednesday #2: Hook and Eye

Most students are now back to school. Whereas some schools started only this week, my kids are now on their third week in school this week.

This year, I will try ready to wear uniforms for the boys. Pricewise, they are cheaper and I have the boys try on them to compare the quality. Of course nothing beats custom made in terms of fitting the boys' frame and figure.

Few things I considered in choosing the kids' uniform which I want to share:

Compare prices and quality. Consider the cloth and the quality of the stitches and take note of the price. Days before I made the trip to Divisoria, I scouted the malls for uniforms taking note of the price and the quality.

I found some really good deals in Divi however, the cloth won't last wear and tear since the boys usually would kneel and crawl at school, so I have to settle for a more expensive but with better quality. But then, mall prices still cannot beat Divi prices. I got the brand St. Marks both for polo and pants. I came across a really expensive brand, but there's a customer mom at the store who swears by the brand - Nelson. And truly, best quality I have seen in terms of cloth and stitching, which would probably last at least three years. I only got two pants and one polo to try out since budget will not allow me to buy all I need for this school year.

One thing I failed to consider is the pants closure which I only realized when my elder son complained on the first day of school when he cannot easily close his button. It was like a DING moment because for little boys like him who dress on his on, it is a very big deal aside from the fact the challenge of opening up when he urgently needs to pee.

So next time, when I have to buy something for my kids, I should put myself in their shoes so that I can consider all areas that matter to them.

Wais Wednesday #1: Supermarket vs. Palengke

Wais is a Filipino colloquial word from the word wise itself. Starting today and hopefully, every Wednesday will be series of blog posts of lessons learned in life particularly those that I personally encounter in my daily life. Snippets of wisdom that can also be helpful to others. Let me start by sharing my realization last Wednesday.

I pass by SM supermarket before going home to get some sili leaves for tinolang manok. The ones I bought during our weekend palengke has dried out and I have been wanting to eat tinola with sili leaves. I got the sili leaves at SM for PhP18.00 compared to PhP10.00 from palengke for the same quantity. I also bought a bundle of wansoy for PhP23.00, while I used to get it for PhP15.00 at Pasig Palengke in a bigger bundle. Before, I never really paid attention to the price difference because I thought it was not that big. Now, awareness is important since every peso saved matters.

In SM you are paying for the convenience and the service (though the lady at the counter that time was a little bit grumpy). It does not mean that I will have to stop buying from groceries or supermarket, since I can buy emergency supplies as late as they close.

But for regular or weekly marketing, your best bet is still in palengke since in case you are buying your food supply for the entire week, you'll get more value for your money.

Just like in my SM experience, Total savings is already at PhP15.00 for 2 kinds of veggies alone. And we are not only talking about vegetables here. Never mind the palengke smell that sticks with you. You can rinse it off when you bathe.

Aside from savings, we are also supporting the livelihood of our fellow brothers who have their stalls and businesses in palengke.

What would Iris do?

Mojo is back. Thanks to a weekend class with Iris Uy. She is really one talented lady and has been so generous sharing her knowledge and techniques here and around the world. Though I would always end up scraplifting her layouts in the class, I still try to do the techniques on my own applying it with my style.
I always learn something new everytime I attend her class and I always feel bad if I have to skip or miss a class due to prior commitments. I will share my layouts from the class. I still have to take pictures of my layouts.

What I will share this time is still a scraplift from Iris. I picked up a pack of Studio Azul kit accummulating dust for two years, going on three. I looked at the papers and notices that they were released 2009. I tried to search for inspiration but could not find any. I tried to look at Iris' 2009 archives and voila. There are papers which are exactly the same. So I lifted her layout and made slight revisions with the stuff I have.

I used modelling paste, colored with Prang Metallic Watercolors to give extra dimension to the borders. I fell in love with Prang Metallic colors the first time I tried on them the last class. Good thing hubby able to grab one for me. I also used the water color for the flowers of the stamped image. The colors are pastel and more vibrant than others.

Sometimes when I cannot think of a title for the layout, since the picture itself tells the story, Ali Edwards stamps from Technique Tuesday comes handy for title and journalling.

Supplies used:

Prang Metallic Watercolor

 

Liquitex Modelling Paste

Hero Arts Flower Tree Stamp

Ali Edwards Stamps

The hills are alive

It was raining with zero visibility when we get to Chocolate Hills last March 23. An hour and a half is worth the wait to see the beauty of the famous Chocolate Hills in Bohol. This is a major Bohol landmark and we just could let this pass.