... that's how quick Ali Edwards' exclusive stamp set from Cocoa Daisy sold out.
ONE SECOND! Or maybe it was sold out even before midnight, yet a big "Coming soon" was plastered all over the website, giving me FALSE HOPE?
Oh well! Since I was so annoyed that I missed it, I pre-ordered her book instead. ;) Either way, I get me some Ali! She's seriously the coolest. There's now a waitlist for the stamps, hope they do order some more.
Every time Ali comes out with something new (a book, a CK Kit, etc), I find myself scrambling to get it! Sigh. Really love her work, and I remember telling my friends that she was so cool because she's a history major who took up graphic design too, which is exactly like me! :D Haha! So I've found my "idol". Now if only I can scrapbook for a living...
I fell in love with scrapbooking somewhere between the end of my grade school and the beginning of my high school years. Whenever any of my friends' birthdays would come up, I'd immediately think of a unique gift, whether it be a mini-album on their quirks or a list of things us other friends love about them. Each time I'd make a gift, I noticed, I'd be up all night cutting, pasting, binding and cropping. Without any sleep at all, I'd work with only one thing as my driving force: the idea of how much they'll love and appreciate this project I was making for them, because I knew they'd see how much work was put into it and seriously, who doesn't love a list of things people love about you?
One of my close friends since grade school is going off to Australia for a couple of years, and our barkada decided to whip up a surprise despedida for her. Included in the list of things to prepare was a scrapbook, and naturally, it was handed over to yours truly. Our friends would submit things they'll miss the most about her and their favorite photos of her, and I'd have to put it all together.
I'm glad I got assigned this project because 1) it brought me back to the beginnings of how I discovered that "scrapbooking" was a real hobby and it reminded me so much of the reason why I love this craft; 2) it forced my mojo to come back and work with me and 3) I got the opportunity to make someone really happy.
It is pretty liberating to use all your newest and nicest materials, when you don't think about the cost but only about how much you're sure your friends are going to love it. That's enough for me. :)
I started with a blank 6x6 mini-album that was all brown. Repainted the cover and decorated it with AC Thickers and some patterned paper. For the inside, I decided to use sheets of double-sided patterned cardstock/paper instead to save paper (instead of cutting and pasting paper onto the scrapbook's original pages). I had to punch them one by one with an cheap old one-hole punch. By the 5th sheet (out of 30, by the way), I was cursing the punch because my hand was aching so much!! I ended up ordering a Crop-A-Dile online for my future projects. Hahahaha. Things you do out of frustration!
Cut up a lot of the new patterned paper from Studio Calico kits. Love all the colors! Also used some of the lovely Jenni Bowlin bingo cards. Since it was a little bigger than 6x6, I trimmed the end and glued it to make it look like a 6x6 bingo card. Very fun!
Here are more pictures from the mini-album:
I didn't care if I didn't get any sleep that night (two days straight of working on this album)... everyone's reaction was enough for me. They all loved it and that's all that mattered! :) Besides it was a joint effort, with two of our barkadas all chipping in their favorite memories of Leah.
We were so many that by the time I was done with the album, i couldn't close it properly anymore!! The ring was too small for all the stuff inside!
I need a Bind-It-All!! But I realized that I can live with a Crop-A-Dile -- do it the long way! :P
I really make the mistake of surfing the internet when I can't sleep.. what's worse actually is that I like looking at scrapbook stuff. Huhuhu. Today I went kit club hopping and oh my goodness. WHY WHY WHY.
Would've been better if I have been scrapping (so at least I'll "deserve" new stuff, but noooo). The scrapbook pages I actually produce is no where near proportional to the amount of stuff I have (and want). Gah.
For some reason, I can't get this out of my head:
Except I'll probably start to really apply only in August, after I come back from Egypt and Paris + after my on-the-job training finishes. (I'm currently taking a magazine design course at CSB on Saturdays. Funny story, they emailed me my grade for the first module. I HAD NO IDEA IT WAS GRADED. LOL.) Need. more. kits. ;)
And speaking of kits, Paper Posies is another favorite (sadly for me, just to look at). I can't believe I let this one pass me by. I would've wanted it:
Those AC Poolside Thickers seem to really be in season, eh? Haha I love them :)
See? Surfing for kits before bedtime (if you can even call 3:40am a bedtime) = BAD IDEA. Hopefully my next entry will NOT be about scrapbooking books or kits and will finally, finally have a page? We'll see. :P
I should really, really update this blog more often. Hahaha! But today I realized the value of keeping this blog! In my previous entry I was raving about how I finally organized all my favorite links into an RSS reader... and somehow, someway, last week, I accidentally deleted the program, deleting all my links along with it! WHAT.
So now I've decided to just go with good 'ol Google Reader (because there's no way I can delete THAT) and I'm organizing my links yet again. I always have a hard time remembering the challenge blogs so it's a good thing I added a screencap to my last entry! Whew!
Nothing much is up with me, still been bumming around at home although the past few days had me working nonstop to help my mom's Fil-Chi organization, Kaisa, layout their fortnightly newspaper, Tulay. Wow. Three days of nonstop InDesign, proofreading, etc. It was fun, kind of enlightening and interesting. Problem nga lang was it was all the way in Intramuros! Stress. But looks like I'm going to be one of their in house artists because the people there have a LOT on their hands!
I should really get scrapping soon. Hay. There was one day I was inspired to, but found out my photo printer wasn't working so I ended up not scrapping! Ha!! Mojo, come back!
Got my July CK yesterday and boy was I psyched to find out that Ali is coming out with a new book. I totally love her stuff. Because of that, I've come up with an ideabook wish list!!
I finally got my hands on the ever-elusive Fiskars Threading Water punch and it's lovely. I think I'm in love. ;)
With the overwhelming number of scrapbookers' blogs and websites out there, it's almost impossible to keep track of all the inspiration without missing a great idea or two.. that's why I'm glad I finally made an effort to find out more about RSS feeds and get all my favorite websites together!
Not sure how to explain it, but RSS feeds collect all the new content of your favorite websites and compile them each day so you're sure to not miss a thing! I got so excited that I downloaded an RSS newsfeed client for my Mac and compiled all my favorite scrapbooking websites and blogs.
I was quite overwhelmed with the number of sites I wanted to keep track of! Whew! These include:
- 19 local scrapbookers' blogs
- 8 scrapbooking store/sketch blogs
- 9 scrapbooking challenge blogs
- 19 international scrapbookers' blogs
For a grand total of 55 websites! Can you imagine if I checked those everyday? Good thing the client does it all for me.
Okay this entry sounds like a sponsored one but I promise it isn't! I just find it so amazing that I've found a way to keep track of all my favorite websites. And the client notifies me when someone posts a new entry. Now I won't miss a thing! ;)
In other news... I really need to get scrapping soon! :) Reveal night (or noon, in my case) at Studio Calico was yesterday, good thing I remembered (I always get confused because of the time difference). I had just picked up my May kit from the post office the day before (swear, my post man gives me the notice ONE WEEK after it arrives! Grr!). Good thing I got my add-on of choice before it sold out (heard it sold out in 30 minutes!). Whew!
I keep forgetting to update this blog! I guess that just means I haven't been scrapbooking lately (the mojo.. is missing). Not to mention the fact that I missed half of the Scrapfest because I went to a party the night before and let's just say, I woke up at noon. Heehee. Bad CH.
But it was great seeing everyone again! And I purposely did not bring any money (save for the money I owed Mia) so as to not squander it all on shopping. But great. I want so many new things (the threading water punch being at the top of my list... yeah, me along with 248265472643 other scrappers around the world!).
Great to finally see Rollyn!!! :P
Last week was great too, what with the Scrapbukan w/ Fontwerks class. Yay!! I love my tablemates (Christine V., Tin Yao and Cabbie!) and Kah-Mei was so cool too. And I'm glad Sahrie's in town!! :) She had great stories last Saturday. :) Now I want to go to CHA (for the products.. not for the hot boys.. really. Haha!)
A few photos of the class --
On to other news... I'm still unemployed and I've decided to squander whatever I earned from my earlier job to go traveling. HAHAHA. Wonderful. The Travel Club is off to Egypt and Paris this time! Sounds big but we're still looking for the cheapest ways to get there. And it's really funny because we're taking budget flights that pass HK, Amsterdam and Moscow. This is going to be QUITE the adventure. ;)
Oh yeah! I got tagged by both Lee and Rollyn. :D
1. Link back to the person that tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
- My life goal is to create a scrapbooking magazine in the Philippines. Don't beat me to it! LOL!
- I'm hungry right now (it's 1:15am). Time for a midnight snack!
- I can't scrap without chipboard letters/thickers/alphabet stickers.
- Our neighbor is singing karaoke really loud, I can hear it from here (... and I repeat, it's 1:15am).
- My dream destination is London. For some reason. And Rome. (History major in the house!)
- My get-happy fix? A new issue of Creating Keepsakes in the mail. LOVE!
Love my CK. :)
Just sharing a layout I did based on a challenge from Alby! I had so much fun doing this. Funny story actually, I was really supposed to fix the scrapbook stuff all over my floor when I sat down, envisioned a page and voila!
This one's about a recent daytrip to the beach with my two best friends, Aimee and Marybeth. I'm glad we all found ONE day to get out of town and catch up. :) This was really fun to make, hope I get to scrap more!
I don't know if it's a Mac/PC thing or a Photoshop/Firefox thing, but colors look so different on my screen when they're in Photoshop and when they're in Firefox. So I never know how to edit my photos because they could look fine in PS but look terrible in Firefox and vice-versa. Argh.
Specially hate it when I print photos from my Mac and they always (no fail!) come out too dark. That's why I had to switch to my PC to print those pics... and was so grateful to my photo printer for printing them properly! LOL!
Lots of scrapbooking events coming up in the next two weeks!! Can't wait!
Not like I went anywhere :) Life kind of just got in the way... but hopefully I have more time now!
My mojo came just in time to create new stuff for Scrapbukan. Then it left again. LOL! Don't you just love the feeling of being so inspired to create that you sit down with your stuff and four hours later you have two new layouts? That's what happened to me last week! Fun!! :D Do check out the site, daming new stuff, specially all the Jenni Bowlin pretties! :)
Oh and to all those who were concerned, don't worry, I ended up getting my March Studio Calico kit! It was a month late but oh well. Those things are always worth the wait. In fact, two weeks later (today), I got this!
Now if you're wondering why it looks so packed, well that's because I went all out this month and ordered all the add-ons. It's not every month you can give yourself an excuse to splurge because it's your birthday! Hehehe. So happy birthday Ch... from Ch. ;) My bank account is crying but at least I'm happy! :) (Again, someone remind me that I'm unemployed?)
By the way, the Scrapbukan Na! w/ Fontwerks is already next month! Super exciting. I'm so glad my schedule cleared up and I can get to go na. (Thank God! I prayed so hard for it hehe and He is faithful!)
My magazine design class is so much fun. Well we had one session so far and I can already tell that I'm going to be learning oodles from it. We talked about fonts, branding and touched a little on grids in magazine layouts. HOW FUN IS THAT! :)
The new SC kit and all this layout talk is inspiring me to create something :)
Thanks to all those who remembered to greet me on my birthday!! PS-ers, when's the next EB? I miss you guys!
... about the fact that I haven't received my Studio Calico March kit. Is my postman a scrapbooker now? Maybe he took it. Hehehe. But really! Where could it have gone? Everyone else from the Philippines already got theirs. I have a really bad feeling mine got lost.
I wish our post office would shape up. So many things either getting lost or being held at the post office for ridiculous customs fees that don't make sense. I dream of the day I can mail a check and it won't get lost in the mail.. hehe! I hate it when you get letters and you notice that part of the envelope was torn already, like someone peeked in it. BOO!
Work is still super busy but I'm wrapping up my last two weeks. It's a bummer now that I'm leaving work is getting more interesting. I mean I quit for a reason, and since we work in production the schedules are always hectic and unpredictable, but come on!! Now that I'm quitting, they're starting a new show and random celebrities are starting to hang out at our office!!
Not "big" celebrities like Piolo or John Lloyd, but "celebrities" -- like John Joe Joseph the former MTV VJ (he's hoottttt -- just my type!) and just the other day, I bumped into Juddha Paolo (!) playing the guitar, sitting in front of the entrance to our bathroom. I had to make some excuse that I had to go to the bathroom even if I didn't have to, but at least he shook my hand, asked, "So, what's the CH stand for?" as I tried my best to hide my giddiness. HAHAHA. I need a life!
On to scrapbooking related things.. I'm currently coveting (this never endsssss) the CK April Kit of the Month. Because you can never have enough office supply-looking scrapbook stuff ;)
How am I ever going to justify that now, after I just bought myself all the add-on kits at Studio Calico this month? Hahaha! Oh well... it's my birthday (on the 21st) anyway!! ;D Now let's see if I can cough up enough funds for this one... ;)
Hehehe. I loved them before, and for some reason that love is BACK! :) I'm super obsessed with Making Memories Scrapbook colors right now. Can't have enough colors!!! :D
If only I had all the money in the world, I'd buy ALL the colors (and that cool MM shelf that displays them all! LOL!). Craziness.
My mom made me teach a make and take at our Parish fair today. I was panicking last night trying to find enough materials and trying to come up with something impressive enough to show potential students. Alas, it was 3am and I couldn't think anymore (plus the fact that a BIG bottle of glitter glue exploded all over me, imagine that), I came up with this:
I went to the fair so scared that the people would be all, "WHAT IS THIIIISSS" but hahaha, guess what. I ended up holding a make and take for kids. They were like, 5-6 years old and they drove me crazy. Just imagine teaching four kids, and then a whole mob of 10 more kids come running seeing crafts and paper and paint. Huhuhu. I grinned at my mom and said, "Mum, my classes are for moms and teenagers, ha?" Haha!!
And I need to learn how to use ribbon. I'm really a paper and paint girl.
AND AND AND. I just have to say, I dropped by Lasting Impression yesterday to pick up a few stuff and OMG. That place is SERIOUSLY a little piece of heaven. As I told Mia, I was floored because I've never been there and had no idea it would be so huge. (And she has the new Collage Press paper aaaaaahhhh).
Oh, obsession number two: Heidi Swapp masks. Best invention of 2007. LOLLLL.
LOVELY STUFF! :)
Lastly, I want to say a big heartfelt thank you to all those who lent me their Sizzlits alphabets and those also who offered to lend me theirs (kaso I couldn't accept na kasi either double na yung font or too many na! Haha!). I'm really so glad I'm part of great scrapbook communities that support each other. After all, we are a special breed -- people look at us like we're crazy when we talk about this great hobby of ours but we understand each other perfectly ;)
... Spent way TOO MUCH on scrapbook stuff this month. Someone remind me I'm technically unemployed?
