Sketchabilities #14

Here's my 1st LO for Sketchabilities following Sketch #14 by Allison Richardson. I love my title...makes me feel so witty..LOL! Check out the amazing takes that my co-DTs created for the same sketch here.

Will He B the 1?

Let me introduce you to one of my favorite new lines from Nikki Sivils...Will He Be The 1?

It's supposed to be the Valentine line but I've found it to be very versatile because of its mix of bright and pastel colors -- you can use it for any season.

Look for them at a store near you or ask your LSS to carry it.

Good Job, Nadya!

I knew it... the moment I decided not to go back in the house to get my camera, that something picture-worthy would come up!
We went to the club for a swim yesterday afternoon and for the 1st time, Nadya came up to me and said that she really wanted to go on the diving board...but she was scared.
After some encouraging words from mommy, she finally lined up at the diving board as I watched her from the opposite end of the pool...which was a good thing because she checked a few times to make sure I was watching.

When her turn came, it was just like I read in books or saw in the movies...she walked down the board with much trepidation, she kept looking back half-hoping she won't have to do it, and walked oh, so slowly, I was worried the other kids in line would scream at her to hurry up...but they didn't.

She stood at the edge of the board for almost a minute before she finally jumped in...legs splayed and all...not much different from a frog...but SHE JUMPED!

As she surfaced, I could imagine the huge grin on her face (it's an olympic size pool so I couldn't really see), and saw her get out of the pool and fall in line again at the diving board.

I almost cried....almost, but I stopped myself. Give me a break, it's a miracle that I didn't line up with her to hold her hand as she walked down the plank...I mean board. I'm so proud of you, princess!

So, since I don't have a photo of that moment, here's another LO featuring Nadya..and you do know, we're going to have to do a re-enactment for my camera, don't you?

I'm a SNOB!

Yup you got it right! I'm so happy to have been accepted as one of the DT members for Snobby Walrus!!! The DT announcement may be viewed on the Snobby Walrus blog.

It's a brand new kit club with really yummy and inspiring kits...exactly what I need to keep me thinking out of the box. Check out our 1st kit here. Pre-orders will be accepted starting April 15 for the May kit!!!

What a great Easter present this has been for me. Happy Easter everyone!

Getting the Easter Vibe...

It's only a few days 'til Easter Sunday. My kids are excited to head out of town to my mom's vacation home where we hold our annual Easter Egg Hunt. We got them new kites last week and Bianca has been asking everyday if it's windy enough to fly her kite...not in Manila it isn't!

Here are some cards I made for this Easter season.

Using Kiki Art products:

Using Nikki Sivils products:

I guess you can tell how much I'm loving my Slice machine...I used the Spring design card for these cards.

I also have an Easter LO for the March Sketch Challenge at Nikki's, sketch made by Anna Bowkis of Pencil Lines.

These are the eggs we decorated last year. My kids want to do it again and are already planning what critters they will make this year.

Hope you all have a great Easter week-end!

Signs of Summer

The summer of 2009 was a very hectic time. The kids had back-to-back-to-back activities that had us running around the metro from 7:30am to 5pm almost every day. I have learned my lesson and am now carefully choosing what activities to enroll my kids in...so everyone is happy and not too busy.

Luckily, my driver showed for work up most days and one of those days I just took pics of the signs we passed along the roads going to La Salle, Repertory and back. This is my LO of last summer 2009.

A Blue Mess

Title: A Blue Mess

Materials: Cardstock - DCWV Patterned Papers - Prima, Bella Gypsy, Sassafras Lass Transparency - Making Memories Foam Alphabets - American Crafts Paint - Making Memories Stickers - 7 Gypsies Font - MS Calibri

Quote: Children, like animals, use all their senses to discover the world. Then artists come along and discover it the same way all over again. -- Eudora Welty

Sugar & Spice

Title: Sugar & Spice

Journaling: Nadya is such a contradiction. One moment she's as sweet as honey, and the next she's a stinging bee. But at least she's never boring, 'cos that won't be any fun at all. 7-20-2009

Materials: Cardstock - DCWV; Patterned papers - Sassafras Lass, My Little Yellow Bicycle, My Mind's Eye; Die-cut - Imagination Project; Journaling Sticker - Collage Press; Pens - Zig, Uniball Signo; Judikins Diamond Glaze; MM Slice Machine

And the Winner is...

Congratulations Amber! Please send me your full name and mailing details and I'll have your prize out by Friday!

Thanks everyone for participating. I expected a few more people to drop in but didn't expect so many!!!

I hope you all had fun during our blog crawl and picked up some inspiration along the way!

Cheers!
Ria

The biggest blog crawl yet...

This is probably one of the biggest blog crawls yet, with the most give-aways to boot!

All you have to do is to visit the 3 blogs and leave a comment to be eligible to win a prize from each manufacturer, worth at least $35!

• To win Nikki Sivils’ giveaway, readers must leave a comment at Jillibean’s Blog.

• To win Jillibean’s giveaway, readers must leave a comment at Bella Blvd’s blog.

• To win Bella Blvd’s giveaway, readers must leave a comment at Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker Blog.

And to make it even more interesting, many of the design team members from each of the brands are having their own handmade give-aways -- that's 45 designers with a total of 50 give-aways for the entire event!

For Nikki Sivils, visit these designers for a chance to win their handmade giveaways:

Andrea Budjack, Anna Louise Bowkis, Claude Campeau, Deana Boston, Delaina Burns, Elizabeth Carney, Janis Medina-Maghinay, Jennifer Matott, Julie Tucker-Wolek, Katrina Hunt, Laura Achilies, Lori Roop, Michelle Lanning, Mimi Leinbach, Nathalie Leonelli, Norma Kennedy, Rae Barthel, Susan Dupre

And of course, here's my little handmade give-away...purse gift bags using Flaming Butterfly papers. I'll also include some surprise items inside for whoever wins this prize. I think these gift bags are adorable...my daughter Nadya has been angling for one of them the past few days...

To win this prize, please leave a comment here with your name and email address by March 8 (it's supposed to be March 7 but I will allow for time differences, etc) and I'll do a random drawing for the winner. This is open to all scrappers, international included.

So come on and join the fun now!

I Choose You!

Made this LO following Kiki Art's first monthly sketch by Linda Lindley.

Title: I Choose You!
Journaling: They say you can't choose your family...but I'm pretty sure if you could, you would still choose to have each other! Easter 2009
Materials: Cardstock - American Crafts (white base), Bazzil (white mat, brown), DCWV (red); Patterned paper and chipboard - Kiki Art; Pearl-Ex; MM Slice Machine; Font - MS Cambria; foam tape - Kaisercraft

New-Old LOs

These are LOs that I started sometime in 2009 and only managed to finish a few weeks ago...for one reason or another, I had to set them aside to do other things...usually because I was stuck in a rut and had to move on...



I'll be the first to say that they're not my best work, but they seemed right at the time and they will have to suffice because I have so many more LOs to do...

New Kiki Art LOs!

Just finished these 3 LOs using Kiki-Art papers and chipboard and am so happy to share them here...

Title: Yes! We Can!
Journaling: Our 1st-ever Fun Run. Mommy left Daddy with Luis & Nadya. Bianca napped at the Finish Line. Nadya whined all the way. So so fun! Nov. 30, 2009
Materials: Cardstock - Bazzil; Patterned paper - Kiki Art; Alpha stickers - Scenic Route; Pen - American Crafts; Journal Tag - My Little Yellow Bicycle

Title: Slow Down
Journaling: You're growing too fast! Luis, April 2009
Materials: Cardstock - Bazzil; Patterned paper, glitter chipboard - Kiki-Art; Vinyl Alpha - American Crafts; Pen - Ranger

Title: French Tea Party
Journaling: Nadya at Iani Sales' 7th Birthday Party. 083009
Materials: Cardstock - Bazzil; Patterned papers - Kiki Art; Slice machine; Embossing Powder - Ranger; misc ribbon; Pen - American Crafts

Here is the big announcement Nikki has been giving teasers about this weekend! Stephanie from Bella Blvd, Jill from Jillibean Soup, and Nikki have all come together for one huge Blog Crawl!

What is a Blog Crawl you might be asking?

Well, on March 5th you'll come to Nikki's blog and you'll see a gift that Jillibean Soup is giving away on Nikki's blog, along with a handmade gift from Nikki and a list of her design team girls (including me) that will be giving handmade gifts away using our products, you'll leave a comment at each blog & then move on through the list.

Then you'll head over to Bella Blvd and see the gift that Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker will be giving away over there, along with a list of Bella Blvd's design team ladies and you'll do the same thing.

Next you'll head over to Jillibean Soup and see the gift that Bella Blvd is giving away, along with all of Jillibean Soups DT gals, leave a comment then go to the next. There are over 50 handmade gifts and product giveaways!!

Don't panic because you'll have the entire weekend of March 5th to visit all the blogs and leave a comment for a gift... it's an entire weekend of blogging and giveaways! We'll announce all the winners Monday morning!! Doesn't that sound like fun?

These 3 ladies have become good friends and thought this would be an awesome way to bring 3 great manufacturers together for one fun event! We are all so excited!!

See you all on March 5!!!

Nikki Sivils Day!

Yesterday was such a fun, fun day! I hosted a crop with the Adobo Girls and got permission from Nikki to let them have a go at last season's papers, so we called it Nikki Sivils Day! It was also a double celebration of the birthdays of Iris (Feb 12) and Dinah (Feb 25) so we had soooooo much food. We were eating, scrapping, laughing and having a great time from 10am to 10pm.

Here are my new LOs using the new lines for Nikki Sivils.

Title: Yum!
Materials: Patterned papers, canvas buttons, stickers and stamp - Nikki Sivils; transparency, paint & rub-ons- Making Memories; round clips - Creative Imaginations; misc ribbons; pen - American Crafts
Journaling: Bianca gets a rare cotton candy treat and devours it as fast as she can. Aug 2009


Title: See Saw Fun
Journaling: My kids never tire of going to the playground...April 2009
Materials: Cardstock - Bazzill; Patterned papers, chipboard tree, stickers - Nikki Sivils; Pearl Ex, Prima stamp, Tsukineko ink, American Crafts pen; Vinyl letters - American Crafts; small letters - Making Memories


Title: The Bee's Knees
Journaling: Every day I wake up and thank God for this wonderful life, especially for giving me a loving and generous husband & three perfect & beautiful kids. On this Easter Sunday, we celebrate Jesus for making our life the bee's knees!
Materials: Patterned papers, buttons & stickers - Nikki Sivils; Transparency - Hambly; Vinyl Letters - American Crafts; small letters - Making Memories; Pen - American Crafts

Check out my blog post here to see what my friends created yesterday!

Feelin Paris

Kiki-Art's blog themes for the month of February are love (of course) and France. Since I haven't been to France, I really lucked out when I went to the mall last Monday and saw a Paris mock up complete with an Eiffel Tower...And even luckier that I had my camera and a willing accomplice in Bianca!

Title: Feelin Paris

Journaling: Bianca chanced upon a Paris mock-up in SM Megamall complete with an Eiffel Tower & immediately posed for pics -- lucky mommy had a camera! 021510

Materials: Cardstock - Bazzil, Patterned Paper - Kiki Art, Rub-Ons & Foil - 7 Gypsies, Ink - Colorbox; Chipboard - Scrap Fx (Bird), American Crafts (letters); Embossing Powder - Clear Tops; Metal Alpha - Joann; Die-cut Tag - Daisy Ds; Pen - American Crafts

Sweetheart

Here's a LO of Bianca eating last year's Valentine cookies.

Title: Sweetheart

Materials: Bazzil cardstock, Kiki Art papers, bling, fun tape and glitter chipboard; Inque Boutique stamps, Tsukineko ink, Zig pen, Ranger Stickles, Slice machine, misc canvas fabric

Valentine Cookie-Making Day

Yesterday was our annual Valentine Cookie-Making Day. With 3 kids, we have to make a whole lot of cookies to give to all their teachers and classmates too!

This year I thought of a cute way to package the teachers' cookie treats -- I cut out a 4-petal flower from the Slice Noteworthy design card, then folded up the bottom 2 petals to make a pocket to hold a cookie in. The Nikki Sivils double-sided cardstock from U R My Favorite was perfect for this project!

This is Ellie's Day Out

Have you seen anything sweeter??? Check out Nikki's new stuff here.

Meet Dan the Record Man

Dan is Nikki Sivils' husband and now he has his own line of papers too! Cool, huh?

Meet Bella Blue & Oscar Too

Isn't this just adorable. Bella Blue is one of the new lines from Nikki Sivils available in Manila soon at Lasting Impression!

Celebrating China

Kiki-Art's blog theme for January was China so I created 2 LOs featuring my favorite thing from China ever --- food! Check out my blog post here.

The 1st LO uses pics from our trip to Macau last year where we just ate whatever took our fancy. Check out the cool puzzle pieces chipboard!

Title: Feasting in Macau

Materials: Bazzil cardstock, Kiki Art papers and puzzle pieces; Zig pens, Making Memories and Autumn Leaves letter stickers, Slice machine

Journaling: One of the best things about traveling is trying out new foods. So when we went to Macau we didn't let the language barrier stop us. I would just point to something in the display and take whatever they handed me or just order whatever they say is their specialty and munch away! Yummy! Macau, May 28, 2009

The 2nd Lo is about one of my "comfort foods" --- Barbecue Pork and Rice. I make it a point to have this each time I got to Hong Kong. Check out how I used the Fun Tape on this LO!

Title: Comfort Food

Materials: Bazzil cardstock, Kiki Art papers and rub-on tape; Ranger pen

Journaling: I am not Chinese but this is one of my comfort foods. Barbecued Pork and Rice. This is a must whenever I'm in Hong Kong even for just a lay-over in the airport. It doesn't even matter which restaurant I get it from because I haven't gotten a bad one in Hong Kong yet. Now if only this was as easy to find in Manila. May 27, 2009, Hong Kong Airport

Advanced Happy Chinese New Year everyone!!!

Belated Happy Birthday Lola Marina!

My grandmother turned 104 years old last Jan 19. Here's a LO of her I made from her birthday last year. I miscalculated her age and bought a "4" instead of "3" candle so I had to improvise with 3 little candles.

Please also check out the Nikki Sivils blog for my posting for this month featuring these projects!

New Nikki Sivils Lines!

Saw these sneaks on Nikki's site...so exciting!

Kiki Art Sneak Peek!

Check out new products from Kiki Art...can't wait to see more!