She dreamed...

She dreamed someday her work be good enough
Collage on watercolor/acrylic paint paper (approximately 13" x 10.75")

When did you start to put yourself last?

I joined Bookoto's Oodles of Doodles! May 2008 challenge. I wasn't too happy with this entry since it seems more like a painting rather than a scrapbook layout. I'm used to putting at least one photo in my layouts. But I realized I didn't have any more time to make another one. Been feeling uninspired lately.

Here's my take on it.
























When did you start to put yourself last?

Journaling:
I read these words on a rubber stamp recently and the question just got stuck in my head. I don't think mothers consciously decide to forget who they are. It's just that it's part and parcel of being a mom to focus on the tiny miracle that we give birth to. I can't help but feel sometimes that I'm a terrible mother for even bothering with such selfish questions. Life, mine anyway, hasn't been that bad. I know I'm luckier than most, with a wonderful husband and a great kid. But, sometimes, whether I like it or not, I do need to ask selfish questions like this just to remember who I am, where I am, and what progress in my life I've made. And, hopefully, remember not to put myself last.

Blue Mind

Blue Mind
Yamashita Kousuke
OST: Hana Yori Dango

Matt's first Tagalog song

I have a rotten confession. My son doesn't know how to speak Tagalog except for a measly handful of words.

Imagine my surprise when this played in the taxi and he sang the entire song!



I'm an avid fan of MTV and MYX 'coz I just adore music videos. Matt picked up the Coke commercial instantly since it was always playing.

KAYA 13

So, I woke up with a text from Lee, asking if I had a never-before-seen layout I could share for the next KAYA challenge. I have several but the last one I texted her about caught her interest. Thus, KAYA 13 was born.



Dada's Home
Journaling reads: I wanted to capture what it's like when Dada's home. A new SONY digital camera, scrapbooking goodies and new Cars toys are new additions to the house. I realize I can never capture what it really feels like - the gamut of emotions runs from anger, loneliness, frustration, anxiety and angst. This li'l fellow has to deal with his mom's crazy emotions and runs excitedly to his dad for some sanity, as if seeking salvation. I'll never get used to AR traveling so much because of his job. I sometimes wonder if I'd have gotten married at 24 knowing what sacrifices I'd have to make as a wife and mother. But I do know I wouldn't have married anyone else. I'm lucky, I know. But, honestly, I'd be a li'l bit happier if packed suitcases weren't as much a part of our life. But, well, faith is the only thing that makes me believe everything will be okay in the end.

P.S. Au was supposed to issue the challenge but is undergoing a personal challenge of her own at the moment. If you're the prayerful kind, please send up a prayer for her and her mom.

P.P.S. The Pinoy Scrapbookers' KAYA Challenge Blog is one year old this May. Happy anniversary!

Just sharing

Project: Collage on kraft paper (11.5" x 6.5")
Journaling: When you feel down and nothing seems to feel okay sit down and make something
Materials: kraft paper, acrylic paint, also used specialty tape from the hardware as a stencil, All About Scrapbooking stickers and Dymo tape



Project: Collage on canvas panel (5" x 7")
Theme: Love
Materials: canvas panel, gesso, acrylic paint, rubber stamp, Staz On, ephemera (postcard, postage stamp, plastic heart from hanging curtain set)

To Matt, age 4, to be read when you turn 13

This is my entry to this month's Pinoy Scrapbookers challenge.



To Matt, age 4, to be read when you turn 13



Hidden letter

Letter reads:
Envelope reads To be opened on April 3, 2017

Dearest Matt,

Happy birthday! By this time, you’re probably tired of your Mom writing you letters and making you mini-books and scrapbook pages. Indulge me now as I write you a letter from the past.

The photos on this scrapbook page are of you on your third birthday. It was a simple affair. We brought you to Mall of Asia at night, ‘coz Dada had to work during the day, and we let you do your favorite pastime, “roll the ball, shoot the ball” you call it or Timezone. Your birthday treat was your favorite 3-cheese pizza at Delifrance and four seasons juice. Your usual chocolate birthday cake from Red Ribbon was at home.

Let me tell you a little of this past year when you were 3. It was a crazy year for you and for all of us.

You went to toddler school at a school near our place in Parañaque. You loved going to school and after 4 short months could sing the alphabet and count 1 to 10 (most of the time, although you still think 9 comes after 4).

You cried like crazy the first few days of toddler school but soon grew attached to your teacher, the teaching assistant and your classmates.

But I also saw a wild side of your that I didn’t know how to deal with. You picked up a friendship with the rowdiest boys in class and I could see that you loved being rowdy just as much as learning.

Of course I felt bad and felt it was my and your Dada’s faults for being too strict on you. You were such a well-behaved toddler and always followed us without question.

Within 4 short months, school was having a bad effect on you. It didn’t help that your first teacher resigned and there was then a never ending change of teachers who couldn’t handle your class of 10.

We pulled you out of school and, thankfully, you were okay with the decision.

Why am I telling all of these details to you now?

Because I wanted to let you know that at 3, you are a very smart boy but you can also choose the wrong kind of people as your friends. Because at 3, you have learned to stand up and refuse to follow Dada and I simply because you feel like it. At 3, although you love learning new things and being read to, you can also get distracted easily and even start making trouble because you’re bored.

Ever since you were a baby, you were your own person. You let the world know if you didn’t like something and absolutely refused to do anything you didn’t want to.

That’s the fierce, independent, strong spirit that you are.

But then, Dada would leave for his business trips abroad and you’d cling to me like a safety blanket and refuse to let me out of your sight.

Sometimes it’s too much for me and I scold you or take out my anger on you and I’m really, really sorry for that.

But I do hope that the closeness we have now will always remind you that I’m here for you no matter what and I love you very much.

As you enter your teenage years, I have the sneaking suspicion I’ll see a lot of who you were when you were 3. And I know there’ll be times we won’t see eye-to-eye or that you’ll feel that your Dada and I are too strict on you.

I hope you forgive us for the times you’ll feel alone and that we can’t understand you. But I hope you’ll also give us the chance to try by talking to us and telling us how you are or any other concerns on your mind.

As early as now, I know that you will have to fight your own battles and make hard decisions for yourself. But that’s what being a teenager is all about.

You are a very smart, kind and sweet person. I know that you’ll make smart decisions.

If you stumble some of the time, there will be times you’ll have to pick yourself up and dust yourself off.

Always, your Dada and I are here for you.

And if you can’t talk to us, God is always there for you, watching and taking care of you.

We love you, Matt. May God always be with you.

Love, Mom

Marmalade Boy

Finally, a GP anime I can share: Marmalade Boy.

Kraft cards and envelopes

Birthday Card and Envelope featuring Queen Kat Designs Birthday Cake Stamp Set, Notebook Paper Stamp and Greetings # 3 Stamp Set



Inside the Birthday Card



Chandelier Card featuring QKD Chandelier Stamp and Lucky You Stamp Set



Altered Envelope featuring QKD Wings, Tag and Aged Text Background Stamps

Who knew?

I wonder how accurate these things are. But it's always interesting to see myself from a different perspective and to fit into a "type".

Take the Quiz here!

You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a bit too brutally honest. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.

You Are 4: The Individualist

You are sensitive and intuitive, with others and yourself. You are creative and dreamy... plus dramatic and unpredictable. You're emotionally honest, real, and easily hurt. Totally expressive, others always know exactly how you feel. At Your Best: You are inspired, artistic, and introspective. You know what you're thinking, and you can communicate it well. At Your Worst: You are melancholy, alienated, and withdrawn. Your Fixation: Envy Your Primary Fear: To have no identity Your Primary Desire: To find yourself Other Number 4's: Alanis Morisette, Johnny Depp, J.D. Salinger, Jim Morrison, and Anne Rice.

What Number Are You?