my BALANCE layout

So this week I got inspired by the word put out my the "one word" bloggers which is BALANCE. I enjoyed reflecting on that word and what it means to my life right at this moment, so here's the page I came up with.

I made a see saw (don't know if that's the right term) or otherwise called a teeter totter of how my life SHOULD be. Although I want it to be balanced it, can never be. But if you notice the family side has more weight than the scrapbook goals. I sometimes forget this but I'm glad I'm refocused now.
I painted the edges of my 11 x 8 1/2 page with white so I can write up my journaling which reads: Today I needed to be reminded of a new year's resolution I've made for myself in the beginning of this year. In my journal entry on Dec. 31 '06, I wrote "I want to have more balance in my life. I can get pretty concentrated with things at hand that I sometimes neglect everything else. This year I don't want to obsess too much with scrapbooking (although that will totally be hard), play more with my kids and spend some alone time with hubby." I need to view my see saw once in a while.

Have a great day,
Grace

dream.hope.believe

.... this is my new mantra. My personal inspirational phrase to continue on. This past couple of days I've been feeling icky, sucky and downright sad. I've just been going through some self doubt. You see, one of my major goals for this year is to be a published scrapbook designer. I soooooo want to see my page or project in a magazine page. I've been working hard at this, joining major competitions and making pretty much all the pages I make for the purpose of getting notice. But then Monday, after another rejection, I started doubting my ability to produce that something that will get me in the door with the publishers and editors. I felt stumped, not knowing what I'm doing wrong. Before that day, I felt I had what it takes to be a part of that special and elite group of people that are known in the industry.
I was so sad that I called my mom and being "my mother" she quickly got to the root of my sadness. She said that I, being the impatient person that I am, is just wanting to get ahead of what is planned for me. She also added that maybe this is not your time yet. And it's true but still I felt I have put together a portfolio that's "good" enough.
And then last night I was talking to my sis Gem and she too had wise words for me. I've been wearing a chip off my shoulder thinking I AM good. But then she reminded me that what if in my head I think I AM good but for everyone else I'm not there yet. Kinda tough to swallow but true, so true!
So today, I decided to continue doing what I do bec., first and foremost, it is for my family and nobody else and second because there is still so many things to learn from the artform and the industry. I'm going to stop acting like a "teacher" and start thinking like a "student"! I'm getting off my high horse and will act like a sponge learning everything I can to improve.
So again, my mantra is dream, hope, believe. Cause at the end of the day, that's all I really have to hold on to.

I'm not always this dramatic,
Grace

ready for school

hey two posts in one day, I must be totally bored today. NOT! just thought there's more to today that just posting my scrap space.

Ok well lookie here who's so eager to go to school. I edited the color of the picture a little cause the background has too much clutter. (little embarrased here).




Most of the pictures are blurry cause I couldn't keep the kids from moving around, sorry about that. Marcus picked his shoes and backpack all by himself. He officially likes Optimus Prime of Transformers. Funny kid. Maddie liked her princess bag and butterfly shoes. Man I swear my kids' feet are gonna be monstrous in a few years from now. They just grow so fast.










So we went to Walmart this morning and bought some stuff to get ready for school. Gotta hand it to walmart, when they have sale items, it's really cheap. Packs of pencils for 50 cents or paper for 30 cents. How cool is that!




When we got home the kids tried out their new art supplies. Made more mess than art but they had fun.


Marcus was so funny when we got back from the store. He couldn't wait for me to take out all the tags from his backpack and shoes. I saw him hugging his "transformer" stuff and said "I'm so happy! Mama". Oh the things that can make a 4 year old boy happy


Have a great day,
Grace

another long post

Well have been in an organized mode this past couple of days. Went through my computer files yesterday and chucked about half the stuff in my document file. Felt good about that. After I was done on the computer I turned my chair and noticed that my scrap space was needing some reorganization. So after printing off some needed labels I moved my stuff around. Didn't look that different from when I started but felt good that most of them have labels now. I also went through some supplies and placed some more stuff in my "to be given away" bin. (Gem if you're reading this, most of that stuff will go to you. *wink*)

I felt so proud of it that I decided to take pics of my space. Why? well why not!

This is the big picture. Lovin my skylight that dear husband put in when he did our roof in june. That's why this room is so much brighter compare to a year ago. I love working on the big oval table, more room to make a mess in.

Here's a cube thing I put together all by myself (hence the reason it's leaning). I put all my stamps here and my die cut machine plus my scissors. Note: I moved the scissors somewhere else now cause Maddie discovered it.

Here's my jars of embellishment. Everybody that sees this always ask me where I get it and here's the history behind this. This jar is recycled. It was a delmonte diced tomatoes jar in the previous life. I washed it and added some pattern paper onto it to make it pretty. Cute and didn't cost me anything. Cool huh!

Here's another recycled storage solution. I'm a costco fan and the ribbon storage was a container for cookies and the alphas box was a strawberry container. Both was washed thoroughly before I used them. I prefer clear containers. They're the best!

I'm a sucker for inspiration. Love my "small" collection of scrapbook magazines and books. Oh my dear Tia gave me some really cool craft magazines as well. Lovin that too.

Here's a few small baskets I scored at the dollar tree store. Both cutely labeled and store way up in the shelf so the kiddos don't get a hold of it.

Another close up look in my shelf storage. The scrap essential container is actually one of those buffet utensil server. I got it at a craft boutique for $8. I first used it at a baby shower I hosted but then after it was sitting in my closet for a few months, I decided to bring life to it again by using it in my scrap space. All I do is take it out and put on my table when I work. Easy, fun and effective.

I got this paper storage at costco a long time ago. I still use it. I do want to go vertical with my paper storage but felt that if have this might as well use it, right?!

Some fun altered items to add flair to my space. I altered a $1 corkboard. The big letter G is from making memories. I painted it and covered it with prima flowers. Fun stuff! The top of the cube storage is a little display of some projects I've made.

Ok so if you're a scrapper, I hope I inspired you and if you're my family member reading this, well now you know how addicted I am with this hobby. hehehehe

Have a great day,

Grace

Back to school fun projects

This week I have "back to school" in my head. We've been trying to get our butts in gear for the upcoming school year, doing registrations and making a list of things we need to purchase for the kids.

So I thought what better time to sprinkle some papercrafting into the school season by altering some supplies.

This one is an altered composition notebook. Had a lot of fun with this one. I didn't make it too much of a school themed since maybe I want to use the book for something other than jotting down school notes. I also made a pocket on the front inside cover, just a little added touch that I know I will benefit when I finally use the book.

front of the book

detailed look of the front

back side

inside front with the pocket showing.

This minibook is made out of ID badge holders. They're the clear pockets that you can fit a nametag in and has holes on top for string or something to clip to your clothes. I got a bunch of them for a really cheap price and I thought of making a little minibook out of it. The theme for mine was all about the summer movies that we saw this year. The theater in our mall has a program every summer that they show certain G and PG movies on tuesdays and wednesdays at 10 am for free. We've gone pretty much every week and have seen a few movies that I thought would be fun to make a book out of. I had my son Marcus critic them by putting how many stars they should each have. He was a really though critic. We also watched a couple new movies this summer that I thought to add. I went online to movieposter.com and copied (I know this is bad!) poster pics of the movies, shrunk them and printed off of picture paper. Lovin the results.

Front of the book

detailed look. The sun button was adhered on top of the cover. I didn't want the pages to be bulky.

inside page

another inside page

back cover

Oh and I'm teaching these projects at my local church group and I'd be happy to make extra kits for those interested. If you want me to reserve you a spot at the class or mail you a kit. Please leave a comment with your email address and I'll send you the rest of the info for these.

That's it for right now.

Have a great day,

Grace

Finally a beach trip

With everything going on during the past couple of months, we somehow forgot the most recognizable activity in the summer and that is going to the beach!!! But after this weekend, we can finally say that we have experienced summer at its fullest. We went to San Onofre Beach on saturday. Mitch's high school friend (who he met up with again at his reunion in june) decided to teach Mitch how to surf. So we all tagged along and made it a family affair. We were so lucky that we picked the "perfect" day to be at the beach. The weather was a little warm but the water was very refreshing. There were tons of people surfing so not much swimming done but the kids did enjoy playing in the sand. Ken's (Mitch's friend) wife was so great with the kids. They loved her and how she tirelessly ran back and forth to the water to the shore to fill their buckets of water. By the end of the trip, Maddie was saying her name so clearly (Angie), so cute!



Marcus also loved jumping over the waves that tapers off on the shore. Look at those waves. They were truly fun.

We didn't see Mitch in action bec. they went to a certain spot far away from us but he said he caught some waves and was standing up and surfing.

Pretty cool! fun, fun, fun!

And for those scrapbook lurkers, here's a page I did. Just trying to catch up. Hey I'm doing April now, feeling a little relieved about that.

Oh by the way, if you enjoy what you've read so far can you please leave a comment. I've been posting for a while and still don't get any comments from anybody! Am I just talking to myself? Let me know kei!

thanks

Have a great day!

Grace

What a difference.......

10 years makes.

Just droppin it to say I'm keeping myself busy. I've been enjoying making scrapbook layouts again. Haven't been in this creative mode for a while. If you want to check out my latest creations, click on the link to my gallery to your right.>>>>>>>>>

Before I say goodbye for today here's a couple of fun pics I want to share. These are my siblings and I. The first one was taken in '97 and the other one just last month. We've definitely all grown up.

Glady, Grace, George Jr., Gary and Gem

George Jr., Glady, Gem, Grace, Gary

Have a great day,

Grace

Wedding Pics

Life here is getting back to its normal routine. I say that bec. I can actually come on my computer and update my blog. For me that's a perfect sign that my life is not busy crazy anymore.

Here are some pics of the much stressed out but fantastic wedding of my sister Gem. I wasn't the photographer ( I wish I was) but I did manage to sneak in some noteworthy pics.

My little kiddos in their cute outfits. Marcus refused to wear a pink shirt. He said it was for girls, so we settled in with a necktie with some hints of pink. Maddie's outfit was found at the swapmeet for half the price I would've paid at the mall. Score!!!

My sister Glady being a great big sister for Gem.

The reception hall was really "cute". The decorations wasn't over done. The room was filled with white and pink. Just the perfect combination for a young couple's wedding. The picture shows our centerpieces. I borrowed cake platters from diff. people and placed our party favors on top of them. This way we saved from buying fresh flowers for all 24 tables. I got the idea from Martha Stewart. Cool huh!

There were some teary-eyed moments but all in all it was a blast. Lots of food left over (we knew that would happen) and no major drama unfolded.

The kind of party we all enjoy.

Have a great day,

Grace

A Spa Bacholerette party

I hosted my sister Gem's bacholerette party for two reasons: bec. I've always wanted to host a spa party and second bec. I wanted to see what kind of papercraft decoration/projects I can make with the theme.

With the party itself, I have a friend who is a Mary Kay consultant and she helped me figure out the things we can do. So we had facials and make up courtesy of MK. That was fun but also we had a raffle where the guests didn't bring any gifts to the party, instead we pooled all our monies together so Gem can buy her complete makeup set. And she got it plus some more. The girls which was mostly her friends enjoyed the raffle as well bec. my friend had really cool prizes for them to win.

I made all the food and made this really cute and easy strawberry swirl cake with white frosting. Oh yummy. Everybody liked my dimsum (kinda like potstickers) and the cheese and mango chutney with crackers served as appetizer.

Fun was had by all, but for me the best part was the projects I made for the shower. Gem said I was crazy for doing all that but I WANTED to do it. I used all scraps (I didn't buy any new supplies/products) and made some pretty cute creations.

First one is the paper flowers. My flowers were made out of heart petals and fringed cardstock bulbs. I just used a plain tall glass as my vase. Simple yet cute.

The second one is the party favors. I made little bags (from thick cardstock and pattern papers). Added ribbons for handle, made a little tag and stuck a lip gloss set from MK in there. I made 9. Love it!

And the third is a mini album I wanted to give to my sis. You see I felt like as an 18 yr old bride she still might now know what marriage entails so a few months ago I emailed our friends and family (the email was sent to the woman of the house) and asked them what is the best marriage advice they can give her, whether it be from their own experience or something that was shared to them. I compiled it and put it in a little book and presented it to her that night.

here is the title page

Oh I also made a banner. All scraps but turned out cute.

Hope I was able to inspire.

Have a great day,

Grace

P.S.- I did make the invites as well, I just didn't get a pic of it.