Sports Should Always Be Fun

Just finished this LO for Challenge #9 of the Scrapperie Team Challenge. This has been the toughest challenge by far ...

- 5 words for the title

- 4 circles

- 3 pictures

- 2 fonts in the title

- 1 subject in the pictures

Title: Sports Should Always Be Fun

Journaling: Luis takes a break in the middle of a soccer game -- who says you have to be focused all the time? May 20, 2007

Materials Used: Fancy Pants Spiffy pps, Heidi Swapp & Chip Chatter Chipboard letters, Making Memories Acrylic Paint, Karen Foster License Plate, Basic Grey rub-ons, Autumn Leaves stamp, Zig pen, chalk ink, misc eyelets & brads, black cardstock

Let's Play Tag

Christine tagged me.

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts about themselves on their Blog. People who are tagged need to blog 7 facts about themselves and post the rules as well. At the end of their blog list 7 people you are tagging. Let them know that they are tagged by leaving them a comment.

So here it is...7 Random Facts About Me

1. Spanish was my first language. Upto about 4 yrs old, it was all I spoke. Now I speak very little of it but can understand some conversations if they speak slooooooowly.

2. I belong to a family of 6 siblings -- 3 boys, 3 girls. I am the 2nd child, eldest girl. As kids and teens, we did a lot of traveling together with my cousins and our parents (all 14 of us). It was a fun childhood that we still enjoy reminiscing about.

3. I met Bud via a blind-date. Two people who didn't know each other -- Eunice, my SFC HH-mate/Bud's aunt and Vic, my office-mate/Bud's cousin-in-law -- were setting us up. Eunice got to us first. It was a group blind date at The Conservatory in the Penn and ours was the only one that worked out.

4. I have 48 pairs of black footwear in my shoe closet -- sandals, mules, pumps, boots, heels, flats, mocassins, sneakers, etc. How many of them have I worn in the past month? 1.

5. I had a very strict upbringing. I never went to any high school parties, only went to 2 soirees (do they still do this now?) and our car, driver and yaya followed my date (whom I met the week before thru well-meaning classmates) & I to the prom and back. My younger siblings chaperoned me until age 25, I think. Am I sounding repressed now? Haha!

6. I am a shopaholic. Before I discovered scrapbooking, shopping was the only passion I could indulge in -- I love to eat, too, but I only indulge in this when I'm pregnant. When I was single and lived in my mom's house, I would sneak my shopping bags past my mom and hide them under my bed, or I would never hear the end of it!

7. I gained at least 50 lbs during each of my 3 pregnancies, and then lost most of it a few months after giving birth (not without effort). I'm lucky to have had the easiest, by-the-book pregnancies. So, I figured that since I watch what I eat when I'm not pregnant, I might as well eat whatever I want when I'm pregnant, since I'm going to get big anyway!

Who do I tag next? I tag Mia Castrillo, Helga, Quielle, Raissa, Jen B, Roslyn, and Olive.

Soccer Dude Scores!

This one I totally didn't expect, since I've had this LO for a while, and it's the only time I used Karen Foster paper. I saw the Karen Foster contest in A Cherry On Top and just uploaded it for the heck of it.

So imagine my surprise when I saw this message in my inbox:

To: ria_mojica
From: Janet
Subject: Gift Certificate for you ...
Date Sent: 6/22/07 8:04 am

You have received a A Cherry On Top, Scrapbook Shoppe Gift Certificate!
Please don't delete this message, you'll need the code below when you place your order.

Gift Certificate From: A Cherry On Top, Scrapbook Shoppe
Gift Certificate To: Ria
Special Message: Karen Foster Contest
Gift Certificate Amount: 25.00

Yippee!!! Only problem is, since I won this, I can't join another contest until July 18 -- and I made 2 LOs for the Daisy Bucket and Junkitz contests pa naman. Oh well, the next contest I' eligible for is Imagination Project. I wonder which LO I'll upload for this one?

Tooth Fairy

Just finished this super simple and quickie LO for Challenge #8 of Scrapperie's Team Challenge. This time the challenge was to make a LO with an orange-colored title.

The best thing about this team challenge is that I'm forced to let go of my tendency to put a lot of stuff on my pages and go back to my original clean and simple style -- so I'm able to finish a LO faster than ever before!

Title: Tooth Fairy

Journaling: Luis got his 1st visit from the Tooth Fairy and was thrilled to discover that she is much like Santa Claus, who knows what each child wants, because instead of a coin, he found a car under his pillow! Oct 3, 2006

Materials Used: Bazzill cs, MME Tres Jolie pps, Heidi Swapp for Advantus chipboard alpha, Making Memories rub-ons, Fontwerks Notes stamp, Zig pen, Ancient Page ink, misc buttons

Take My Heart

Just finished this LO for Challenge #7 of the Scrapperie Team Challenge. The challenge this time was to use a greeting card in the LO. This card was made by Luis and given to me last Mother's Day. Isn't he the sweetest boy?

These Urban Lily papers have saved me so many times during a challenge. They're already so beautiful as they are that you only need to find the right picture and you're practically done!

Title: Take My Heart

Journaling: Luis made this card for me for Mother's Day. May 07

Materials Used: Urban Lily paper and die-cut heart, Basic Grey rub-ons, Doodlebug ribbon, Sharpie white pen, chalk ink, misc buttons

Published!

...well, kinda...

This article came out in the Philippine Star yesterday about Scrapfest 2007 and Filstar's Ready, Set, Scrap. I guess they used my LO, because yesterday was Father's Day.

Joanne sent me a text yesterday that Scrappin' Moms was in the Phil Star but I didn't have time to check it out.

Today while I was picking up Luis in school, a co-parent asked me if it was Bianca and Buddy in the newspaper yesterday. So, as soon as I got home, I looked for yesterday's paper and here it is!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all Dads!

Did a quickie mini album gift for Bud yesterday -- finished in 2 hours! I used a 6x6 accordion kit from All My Memories that I got as an exchange gift last Christmas (thanks Joanne!). It has a beautiful light blue leather-like cover, but the baby pink and baby blue papers that came with it were too sweet for my taste -- and obviously inappropriate for a Father's Day gift.

Still having an Elsie hang-over from the day before, I decided to doodle on everything to make it more fun and "now".

Now I realize even more why she's so popular. Doodling is a quick, easy and inexpensive way to make "old" paper designs look "current" again. After I doodled on them, the new Love Elsie embellies seemed to fit right in with the kit papers. Of course, my right hand now has additional calluses, but this is fun to do once in a while.

Except for the family pics, all photos were taken last Mother's Day at Heaven N Eggs, Eastwood (2nd flr). The family pics were taken outside at the Bedroom, right besdie Heaven N Eggs. The pictures turned out so great that I insisted on having breakfast there again today so we can get more pics!

Read Books Time!

Did this LO the other day using Fancy Pants Kewl pps. I didn't have a ready-made clock so I spent 3 hours searching the net for a free clock brush to download (didn't want to pay $4.00 for a digi kit) so I can make my own clock.

I printed the clock in brown ink on a transparency. Cut out a circle frame on chipboard and embossed the frame in gold. I used photo anchors for the clock hands.

Title: Read Books Time

Quote:
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be,

I had a mother who read to me.
~ from “The Reading Mother” by Strickland Gillilan

Journaling:
On most nights, after dinner, we sit down with the kids to read books until bedtime.

If there’s one thing that I want my kids to learn from me, it is to love to READ. It doesn’t really matter if, in the future, all they read are comic books, as long as they don’t stop reading, and therefore, don’t stop learning.

Even as a grade school student, I remember…
... dreaming of the day I had enough money to buy all the books I wanted to read
... devouring all the Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew books in the school library
... that summer when I spent my allowance buying books on sale to read that week, and coming back every week for more.

As I grew older, my choice of reading material changed, too. As a driven career woman, I subscribed to all the business magazines in town. After marrying my Prince Charming, I had no more use for romance novels. Now as a SAHM, I am rediscovering my love for reading, in biographies and autobiographies.

On hindsight, I realize that major events in my life were accompanied by books that helped me cope with the changes.

I hope that, by reading with and to my children, they learn to enjoy it as much as I do. The fact that they shout “Yehey!” when we turn off the TV and announce “Read books time!” tells us that we’re on the right track. June '07

Materials Used: Fancy Pants pps & rub-ons, clock brush downloaded from the net, Jo-ann metal letters, Prima flowers, 3M transparency, Lil Davis and Paper Salon stamps, Coluzzle Library card pocket & stamp, misc bling, metal anchors, heart charm, spiral clip, metal photo corners, embossing powder and lace

Kid At Work

My 3rd Tinkering Ink LO for Scrapbukan. The Westminster line is clearly for masculine LOs with its blue, brown and green colors.

Journaling: I still get a kick each time I see you so engrossed when you play, even if you're all by yourself. I wish you could just stay a kid forever. Luis, Feb '06.

Materials Used: From Scrapbukan- Tinkering Ink pps, die-cut alphabet & Finery; Others- DCWV cs, 7 Gypsies sticker, chalk ink, Ancient Page ink, Fontwerks stamp, misc alphabet stamp, chipboard & rikrak

You Rock.

Just finished this LO of Bianca for Challenge #6 of the team challenge with Pia. The challenge was to do a LO using white cardstock as base and at least 50% of the white cs must be visible

This was fun and super fast to do. Obviously, not my usual OC style but very "freeing" -- as if there are no boundaries and the possibilities are endless! No wonder so many people love Elsie!

Title: You Rock.

Journaling: You looked so cute in your 1st pair of shades. Never mind that it didn't match your outfit. Bianca, YOU ROCK!

Materials Used: DCWV cs, Love Elsie Roxie pps, American Crafts felt heart, A Million Memories stamp, Ancient Page ink, misc ribbons

Let It Be Summer

Just finished this LO for Challenge #5 of the Scrapperie Team Challenge that Pia and I are doing. I'm not quite happy with this LO, but I think I've spent enough time on it, and I'm ready to move on to another LO.

The challenge requirement was to scrap your favorite season and have an acronym to spell out the season. Maybe I'm just no longer in the summer mood, since classes just started today for my kids -- and I just can't come up with a better LO.

Title: Let It Be Summer

Materials Used: MME Front Porch pps and die-cuts, Making Memories rub-on words and alphas, Autumn Leaves stamp, Heidi Swapp flowers, Zig pen, chalk ink, misc flower, embossing powder, brads

Photo taken in Pearl Farm, Davao, Philippines, July 2006 (note that I actually spelled Philippines wrong -- no wonder it looked funny after I wrote it but decided to leave it as it is -- haha!)

It was good but...

...he liked this picture better for the play of light and shadows, and that it shows more of Luis' room.

But that's OK 'cos I liked this picture, too. I just prefer the one with Luis smiling at the camera.

No homework for Thursday but an open theme photo for next Tuesday -- which makes everything even harder.

Now I have to figure out what to take a photo of because the 1st 3 people to enter the door on Tuesday will have their photo printed on poster-size canvas!!! Maybe I should be there by 12nn, to be sure.

Photography Class Homework #2

I have my 3rd class tonight with Jo Avila. Last Thursday's homework was to do an "environmental portrait" -- not a nature scene, but with one with the subject in his environment, so that you learn about who the person is just by looking at the photo.

This is what I will submit tonight. This pic has not been editted in any way except to save it as a jpeg file, from the original RAW file. I took this pic of Luis this morning in his room. I asked him to sit on his bed with legs crossed and pulled up the blinds. I can only take the pic in the morning because his room is quite dark and the lighting is best at this time.

I love my 50mm lens! I think the composition is ok, except that his left hand got cut-off cos he was moving around too much. The poster in the background also is a bit too blurry for my taste but that was all Luis was going to give me this morning.

But I think it's pretty clear just by looking at the picture that Luis is a boy who is crazy about cars, right??? He's wearing race car pajamas, with a ragged Hotwheels poster on the wall behind him, a race car stuffed toy. His left hand is actually holding a car and even his bedsheets are from Cars-the movie.

Wish me luck!

Awesome Attitude

Finished this LO yesterday using new Junkitz Extreme Boy papers. These papers are so cool and fit Luis to a T!

Title: Awesome Attitude

Journaling: Oh the crazy things and funny faces you come up with for my camera. Your attitude towards life never fails to make me smile. You are just awesome! Luis, Feb '06

Materials Used: Junkitz pps, Bazzill cs, Sharpie and Sailor pens, Autumn Leaves stamp, misc buttons

Hot Stuff

Finished this LO a few weeks ago.

Title: Hot Stuff

Journaling 1:

Luis' Hot List:

- Race Cars

- Pokemon

- Nintendo DS

- Roller Skates

- Playgrounds

Journaling 2: The 1st word you ever said was "car." At 1 yr old, you preferred to leaf thru Daddy's car magazines instead of your story books. Now, almost 7 yrs later, race cars still top your list of hot stuff!

Materials Used: Daisy D's Chasing Butterflies pps, Bazzill cs, chalk ink, Karen Foster sticker and metal plate, Tim Holtz Distress ink & Embossing Powders, Fontwerks stamp, Ancient Page stamp ink, Making Memories acrylic paint, misc ribbon & metal washer

Okay, so I was wrong...

I thought I was done with all my contest entries but I woke up this morning to find an email message from Creating Pages:

From: Creating Pages linda@creatingpages.biz

To: ria_mojica

Sent: Saturday, June 9, 2007 6:28:33 AM

Subject: New Creating Pages Message: (You won!!)

(Today at 05:28:33pm)

Rosy has sent you the following personal message:

Hi there,

Just wanted to let you know that you won our Motherhood contest! I loved your layout about your Lola--it was absolutely beautiful and so special!

The prize is $10 in store credit at CP--if you could PM me your info, I'll pass it onto Linda (the owner) and get you all the details.

Thanks for participating, and congrats!!

-Rosy

Here's to another great week-end!

Big Brown Eyes

Just finished this LO of Bianca's beautiful brown eyes. It was quite a shock for me when she was born, to find out that her eyes were grey.

As far as I knew, Asian babies eyes' don't change color, like those of Caucasians. I even checked with the doctor to make sure everything was ok.

Then her eyes turned a beautiful shade of brown, which get darker when she's crying and become light and bright when she's happy and excited.

Title: Big Brown Eyes

Journaling: Pure Asian babies are not supposed to be born with grey eyes -- I was worried that something might be wrong. What a pleasant surprise when they turned a beautiful shade of brown!

Materials Used: Daisy Bucket Designs pps, Heidi Swapp Chipboard alphas, Basic Grey rub-ons, Fancy Pants die-cut tag, Sassafras Lass & Technique Tuesday stamps, Ancient Page & chalk ink, Prima flowers, misc bling

Party Animal

I finished this simple LO yesterday for a team challenge that Pia and I are going for. The requirement was to use 1 circle, 1 square, 1 rectangle and 1 star in the LO.

Title: Party Animal

Journaling: You are such a party animal! Even if you're a generally shy boy, when it comes to parties, you just come out of your shell -- anything to win a prize! Luis, Nov '06

Materials Used: Cherry Arte papers, Grafix transparency, Making Memories foam stamps and acrylic paint, Basic Grey & Fancy Pants chipboard, American Crafts pen, 7 Gypsies sticker, Autumn Leaves rub-ons, Stampendous stamp, Ancient Page ink, Sakura Aqualip pen, misc brads

Coke Bottle

I started my Basic Photography Course under Jo Avila last Tuesday, June 5. Our 1st assignment was to take a picture of a Coke bottle used in a "creative way". After several attempts at trying to make an empty bottle taking a shower in my waterfall feature look sexy, I knew there had to be a better way -- but how?

Good thing I mentioned my dilemma to April, who suggested that I convert it to a milk bottle and have Bianca drink from it.

This shot on the left was the one I submitted last night, and the next one is the one he preferred, because, after all, the Coke bottle is supposed to be my hero - not my daughter...haha!

But overall, I didn't do too badly. He only basically said that it would've been better if Bianca was looking at the camera (with an almost 2-yr old you never really know if you'll get that shot). It would also have been better if Bianca had less forehead -- I need to cut her hair to give her bangs! The background was also a bit distracting cos there were plants on one side and a white wall on the other.

But he didn't criticize my lighting and all the other settings, so I think I can live with that.

Major learnings so far:

• set RGB mode to Adobe RGB which has more colors than SRGB
• shoot in RAW mode, not jpeg
• shoot what you like -- I learned I'm just not interested in shooting inanimate objects -- I need people, particularly my kids, in the picture

Creative Scrap Shack LO of the Week

I received a pleasant surprise when I visited Creative Scrap Shack (while surfing the net at the gym), to see my LO on the homepage. Apparently, it was chosen as LO of the week. Kaso wala naman at prize 'to...hehe.

I think this is it for now...

Got another message today from Scrappin Chicks:

From: ChickPea
To: ria_mojica
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:41 pm
Subject: Your May LO

Hi Ria!!!

You won a $15 Gift Certificate to ScrappinChicks!!

Your LO won for our May Layout Contest!! What a great LO!! - And such a Cutie!!!!

Be sure to come on by the Forum and get to know all the great gals!!

Have a Great Day!!

I hope this is enough encouragement for everyone to join online contests -- and know that the Pinay can!!!

3's Co.

If you were alive in the 70's then you might be familiar with the TV Show starring John Ritter, Joyce De Witt and Suzanne Somers. Here's a LO that uses the title from the show because I thought it was fitting for my 3 kids.

We used to all sleep in my parents room and this would come at Sunday night around 9pm -- basta we were supposed to be asleep for school the next day but I would always stay up for it.

Title: 3's Co.

Journaling: It's funny how this TV show title is so apt for the 3 of you -- your personalities are so like Jack, Janet & Chrissy! Photo Oct'06

Materials Used: Urbang LIly & Chatterbox pps, Bazzill cs, Prima flowers, Heidi Swapp chipboard alpha, Lil Davis stamp, Zig pen, MM crystal brads, Ancient Page and chalk inks, Stickles, misc bling

Spread Your Wings and Fly

Here's the Cherry Arte LO I finished the night before Scrapfest. I only got to take a photo today since I had to leave Scrapfest early and Joanne took my LO home.

Somehow the LO in my head looks better than the actual LO -- haha!

I tried something new and obviously, this style takes getting used to. Now I don't know if I'll stick with it long enough to master it or just try something else.

Materials Used: Cherry Arte pps, Queen & Co. brad & anchor, Technique Tuesday & Fontwerks stamps, chalk ink, Ancient Page ink, Maya Road chipboard, Making Memories acrylic paint, misc embossing powder, charms, lace & bling.

Scrapbytes June 2007 Issue is Up!

Finally, the June 2007 issue of Scrapbytes is up!

It took me 3days to upload and format all the articles -- it's just not the most user-friendly program we're using. It's not that hard, it just takes a while -- and anything that keeps me from scrapping, that's not shopping and eating, is bound to be on my "Not So Hot" List!

The only thing that got me going were all the congratulatory messages I got from my contest winnings!

Thank you to all my contributors for this issue -- Nina, Addie, Au, Lee, Maybs, Helga, Liezl, Yan, Patrice, Liza, Jeff, Pia, Jenn, Joanne, April, Diane, Mia, Tin -- sa uulitin!

This is getting embarassing...but I'm so Happy!

I opened my email this morning and got a message from Blooms Crafts:

From: bloomscrafts
To: ria_mojica
Sent: Tuesday, June 5, 2007 6:34:49 AM
Subject: Bloom's Crafts Mother's Day Lay Out Contest

Hi Ria, Congratulations, your Layout "A Mother's Secret Hope" has been chosen as the winner for our May Contest. We will announce you as the winner on our web site. Please send us your mailing address so that we can mail out your prize. We will also create an account for you to our store so that you can claim you Frequent Shopper points. We are currently having a Paper Sale 50%.

Thank you,
Ruby Carter
www.BloomsCrafts.com

What more can I say??? Thanks to everyone who congratulated me and are happy for me. Just so you know, I didn't win all the contests I entered, I actually lost more than I've won -- so you can just imagine how many contests I actually entered!

God is So Good!

My cup runneth over! I got another message today from Scrapbook Goddess:

From: Princess Pattern Paper
To: ria_mojica
Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:56 pm
Subject: Congrats!

Ria_Mojica,
Congrats! You won the Scenic Route contest! Please pm me your name and address so we can mail you your Scenic Route surprise!
I'll be on vacation and won't be back until June 8th (this Friday)....so your gift will be mailed out the following week.
Thanks so much for joining in on the contest and hope to see more of your work in the gallery.
Karen Lopez
Scrapbook Goddess

The winning LO is "Sweet N Sassy" which actually lost at Scenic Route's May Contest (which Iris won), so this is like a 2nd chance for this LO. Yipeee!

Yehey Again!

If you haven't noticed by now, I entered all the contests that I was eligible for last week (at least those I knew of). So here's another email that I just received from A Peek Into Yesterday:

From: apiyadmin
To: ria_mojica
Posted: Sun Jun 03,
2007 7:54 am
Subject: May Flowers contest

Thanks very much for entering the "May Flowers" contest! Your layout, "Sweet Daughter", is the winning entry. Congratulations!

You have won a $25 gift certificate to be used at A Peek into Yesterday. When you place your next order, input the certificate info at checkout (certificate number and dollar value). Our gift certificate system is manual, so we'll deduct the amount before we charge your credit card. If you pay via PayPal, we'll return the amount with your order.

Your layout will be displayed on the home page until next Sunday.

Once again, thanks very much for sharing your work, and congratulations for winning!

Just a reminder -- Peek has a policy that the same person can not win two contests in a row. Therefore, if you entered the contest being judged this week, you will not be eligible to win. But you will be eligible the week after that, and we'd love to see more of your layouts!

Thanks again for sharing your wonderful work with us!

Pat

The winning LO is "Sweet Daughter" which I made way back in March. The contest required at least 3 kinds of flowers in the LO -- in the picture, paper and embellishment and this LO just happened to fit the bill!

This is so much fun, I'm asking myself why I never entered online contests before?

Another one!

I just got another message, this time from Scrapbook Star:

From: Samantha
To: ria_mojica
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 6:18 pm
Subject: Congrats!

Hi there, Congratulations on being the winner of our May contest!!!

Will you be shopping with your gift certificate in-store or online?

I'll get it ready for you!

I don't know how much better today can be??? The winning LO is "A Mother's Secret Hope" which I made for my Lola Lydia. Of course, I told them I'd have to shop for it online since I live in the Philippines and their store is in Canada -- haha!

I guess it's obvious na kina-reer ko ang mga contest the past few days. I figured that if I was going to do a LO anyway, it might as well be for a contest. Woohoo!!!

I love Daisy Ds!!!

I woke up early this morning, went straight to my scrap room to turn my pc on because I have so much work to do -- Scrapbytes, my demo for Ready, Set, Scrap and other scrap-related stuff.

This was the 1st message in my inbox:

From: heather@daisydspaper.com

To: ria_mojica

Sent: Saturday, June 2, 2007 2:44:41 AM

Subject:
Complimentary Gift Certificate

Ria Mojica -
Thank you for participating in our May Motherhood contest.
You have been selected as our Grand Prize winner, congratulations! Please accept this Gift Certificate on behalf of the Daisy D's Paper Retail management. We hope you are able to find some great products to help you make your memories last.

As a convenience, an account has already been created for you to shop with.

Thank you and enjoy shopping!

Daisy D's Paper Retail

I was jumping for joy! Good thing Bud was already awake, I got him out of the bathroom to tell him the great news right away! I even checked out the Daisy Ds site and saw my LO in their gallery, just to make sure it's not a hoax! Haha.

I love this LO, and to think I did this in a rush because I only found out about the "Unexpected Lessons of Motherhood Contest" last May 30 and the deadline was for May 31. Luckily, I already had the required papers for the contest. I knew immediately that I wanted to use flowers for my journaling tidbits and just had to find a way to make everything work -- and, of course, figure out what motherhood has taught me.

I wish I can just go shopping now with my GC but I still have so much work to do, so shopping will have to take a back seat for now.

Title: What Motherhood has Taught Me

Journaling:

- If there's no blood, it's almost always going to be ok

- Turning the TV "on" can fix almost anything

- Barney is my best friend

- Children don't grow smaller

- Your heart does grow bigger with each child

Materials Used: Daisy Ds Chasing Butterflies pps, DCWV cs, EK Success stamps, Ancient Page and Chalk inks, Karen Foster brads, Jo-ann word clip, Making Memories acrylic paint, Zig pen, misc fiber

What a great start to my week-end!