lookie look.....

GCD Studios is showing off the Summer Releases over at the blog all this week. Check em out. You won't wanna miss this one.

Here's some of the ones I'm drooling over....

From the Vintage Boy line





From the Sunny Days line




Don't forget to stop by everyday this week. I'm telling you, they're Y-U-M-M-Y!!!

Till next time,
Grace

I {heart} challenges

I am generally inspired by an outside prompt and that's why I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE challenges. They have been a great foundation for me to start projects. Here's some of my most recent ones.

One little word- JOY
The latest word is JOY. They've actually done the word before but I didn't mind. The word still brought "joy" to me. Get it!? hehehehehehe. Anyways here's my take on it....

The Joys of Motherhood

When I think of the word Joy, my kids always come up first. That's why it's not hard for me to make a page about my feelings about my children using the word.

I wanted to paint my reality as a mother here so I focused on some of the negatives and shown the positive side of these "trials"/hardships.

Journaling:
Being a mom has been hard for me, even from the very beginning. I don't have easy child birth stories to share, but I did have beautiful babies to show off; I can't say that I'm the most patient parent around, but my kids do know that I mean business when I start yelling their full names; and it's harder now to juggle everything since I'm working part time outside of the home , but we still manage to keep the routines going. I'm sure the road won't be straight and easy to trek but I'm always comforted to know that despite the hardships of being a mother, my life with Marcus and Madelyn in it is a very joyful one. May/ 2009

Q&A

this one was for the latest challenge over at American Crafts Studio blog. We were to use red, white and blue in our layouts.

I didn't want my page to be too close to the theme of the most recent holiday so I used the color scheme to make a page about me instead. It just so happens that it works here since what I'm wearing in the picture IS the same color scheme.

I took the q&a questions I had to fill up for my Crazy Daisy kit design team "getting to know" you spot. I think it was a great little reminder of the "me" right now so I saved it as a layout.
Journaling:
1. I can’t imagine my life without …
my family and papercrafting. Life without scrapbooking is just boring and life without family is unimaginable. What will I scrapbook if I didn't have my family. *smile*
2. My least favorite chore is …
cleaning the bathrooms. That's why I'm glad that I don't live in a big house. I have two bathrooms and I already dread everytime I have to clean both.
3. I would love to win a shopping spree to …
Scrapbook store and Target. But then again I pretend I'm in a shopping spree when I go to those stores. I always end up spending way more than I've planned.
4. My must have treat and music when scrapbooking is …
treat- none. I'm kinda clumsy so food and papers don't really go well with me. Music- anything upbeat, lately it's more toward pop and r&b music.
5. When scrapbooking, I love to use …
my fiskars border punches and pop up dots. I love em!!!
6. My favorite creative project is ...
Mini albums. There's a lot more room to add photos, journaling and products.
7. I thought I would never …
Go back to the work force.
8. My worst habit is …
too much computer time. I spend waaayyyy too much time surfing the net.
9. If I were a superhero, my super-power would be …
Stopping time. Imagine the amount of things I can do while my kids are frozen in time. (just kidding)
10. You would never guess it, but I …
thought I didn't have any creative bone in my body when I started scrapbooking, 5 years ago. During my school years, my artworks would always be average. Nothing too fancy with them, that's why I even surprised myself when I've realized that I CAN be creative.

American Crafts products used:
Pattern papers- Travel line
Letter stickers- assorted Thickers line
Ribbon (circles)- Elements
Embellishments (chipboards, flower and felt)- Everyday line
Frame rubons- Accents book two

and finally a card...

Let Freedom Ring

over at the Cuttlebug blog, the latest challenge was to make a card/project that has red, white and blue scheme plus stars and bonus was to use swiss dots. Got them all here and I enjoyed putting them all together.

I went a little bit vintage here, using Jenni Bowlin Studios buttons, journaling block and letter rubons.

I cut out the star die cuts from Cuttlebug and added a white strip in the middle of the card with embossed swiss dots on it.

Thank you for looking. And if you're looking for some creative jumpstart, click on the links I added for each of these challenges and play along. You never know how it will help get those creative juices flow.

Till next time,
Grace

Independence day recap......

Our fourth of July was full of festivities and after 315 photos taken here's some of my faves....

Work gave me that day off so I was very happy. I even got to sleep in. My day was off to a good start.

We had brunch with my parents at a local Filipino restaurant. I rarely eat at a Filipino restaurant cause Mom and Dad always makes great filipino food at home but it was a treat to see all these fun snacks and local food in one place. This aisle of "yummies" definitely reminded me of my childhood. Oh the many days I wasted in eating these junk food. They were all good though!

In my quest to scrapbook more relationship type subjects, I asked Mitch to take pics of me with my parents. Here's a sample. You'll definitely see this photo in a page, hopefully sooner than later.

After brunch, we headed to Home Depot to exchange our kitchen sink that we found defective after trying it on the counter top. After Home Depot we stopped by a local fireworks booth and grabbed some stink bombs and sparkles. We decided that we won't waste our money buying those big packs that only have safe and sane fireworks. What's the point in that, right?!

Then after a quick trip back home to drop off the sink, we were headed out again and this time to go to G'ma and G'pa Tolman's house. We were the first ones to arrive and Mitch had the kids do the stink bombs before the rest of the crowd came in.


After that, the kids got changed into their swimsuits and spent the rest of the afternoon and some parts of the night in the pool. Maddie is finally comfortable in the water. She doesn't try to swim and would just walk around the edge of the pool but I think that's a great improvement from the screaming fest we had last year when we tried to put her inside the pool.


When all the family came we had a big feast. Can you imagine, I tried to eat all these food?! It did take me almost an hour to finish it. I was taking my sweet time. hehehehehehe. And the kids wanting/needing me to do some things for them also kept me from consecrating on my food.

Then when the sun came down, we had fireworks. We couldn't use "illegal" fireworks so everybody pitched in some money for a couple of safe and sane packs. The kids still enjoyed the show and after that they all had turns doing the sparkles.




Hope you all had a great holiday.

Till next time,
Grace

Our Summer so far.....

It's July 2nd and our summer this year is proving to be a busy but fun one. It's funny cause I thought it'll be kinda sad since we're staying put and not planning any major trips but I guess because there's so much to see and do already here in SoCal, there's not a day that's boring....

Here's some things that keeps us busy.... (oh I made the pictures into collages so it's easier to upload. I've been taking lots of photos and there's no room or time to put them all in here)

Oh but before that, let me tell you how organized I *try* to be with our schedule. I even have a printed calendar for the summer. (I know that's kinda weird) but I really wanted to make sure I get everything and every place that I wanted the kids to do penciled in. So our normal schedule is...

Monday- Cleaning day. Can't play the rest of the week if our house is not picked up.

Tuesday- Library day and play at the Dolphin Fountain


This library is world class and I'm very grateful that it's easily accessible to us. They have a great big aquarium with two small sharks, a fantastic children area complete with a T-rex fossil, lighthouse and of course books. Hehehehehehe.


after picking books and videos we head over outside and the kids play in the water. I too enjoy this time cause I get to read. I borrowed some good books from my mother in law and they're great so far. I finished Sheri Dew's "If life were easy, it won't be hard" the other day. I really enjoyed it! Now I'm reading "Letters" a compilation of Marjorie Hinkley's letters. Very insightful and she's funny (something I never really knew about her).

Wednesday- we go to the free movies at the mall. So far we've seen "Tales of Despereaux" and "Horton Hears a Who"

Thursday- Field Trip day. Last week we went to the California Science Center. Here's a little peek at the fun we had...

It was a first time visit for me and my kids and I have to say we enjoyed every minute of it. Lots of things to learn. Of course the info they had was too much for my kids to grasp but I think they picked up a few things. Another thing we enjoyed was that there's so many things the kids can touch and feel and learn for themselves.

then today we went to Mother's Beach in Long beach.....

we didn't have friends join us today. It was kind of a last minute plan but I think the kids enjoyed themselves still. The water was still kinda cold but the kids and I made a sand castle, ate watermelon under the sun and they played with some kids at the playground by the beach. All fun stuff. Next time though I plan to find a parking spot by the street so I don't have to worry about the parking meter running over which is inside the parking lot.

Friday- park day. Last week we were at Mayfair park and played at the wading pool. Don't know yet which park to take the kids tomorrow but I'm sure it'll be fun.

and to top all of that we had Mitch's high school buddy visit us yesterday with his family. They're from Vegas but stopped by the house after their San Diego trip. The kids had a blast cause they had kids to play with. Kaylyn (the wife) noticed the Ice cream truck came by and she immediately got excited. Apparently there's no ice cream truck that comes over their neighborhood so it was a great sound for her to hear the truck chime. She even treated all the kids to ice cream. Fun, fun, fun all over the place.


So there you have it, updated so far. Oh did you see the trend with our fun trips? They're all FREE or for the most part inexpensive. The only thing I usually spend on is parking (Museum and beach trips) This just shows that you can still show your kids a great time without breaking the bank.

Till next time,
Grace

Crazy Daisy July kit projects...

I can finally share with you the projects I made with the great July kit from Crazy Daisy. With no further adieu here they are....

2007

This layout showcases a lot of small pictures. I picked some random and favorite pictures from the year 2007 and put them all in this page. This will be my first page/ title page for my 2007 family album.

I used the fancy trims that were in the kit and used a lot of the embellishments as well. I inked the letter stickers to make it stand out from my background and added lots of the rubons as well.

Our Dear Dad

I cut out the "dad" in my title from one of the Crate paper pattern papers. I LOVE pattern papers cause they give us so much material and possibilities to work with


The July kit was packed with a lot of stuff that I personally haven't tried or used before so it was a definite treat to get it in the mail. One of those things was the Maya road journaling sheers. They're so much fun. I incorporated them here as an accent and of course to put my words in. One tip though- the surface is slick so make sure you get a slick writer to use or rub a printing pouch (like scrap perfect) on there so it won't smear.

Lucky to be with u

This page was a fun one for me. Not only because I was scrapping a fun photobooth picture of me and my husband but also because I was able to "play" with all the fun Prima rubons in the kit.


I used the rubons mainly to create a frame around my page but I also added them to my cluster of embellishments inside the stitched heart. I turned the heart journaling over and traced the back of it on the other side of the page before machine stitching the shape.

Our Family

This one was inspired by the family rubons. I used it as an equation type of journaling and title onto my page. Father + mother + brother + sister = our family. I'm so lucky I was able to find a picture that had the whole family in it to reinforce the theme.


I used the buttons to create a visual triangle on the page and sewn the lace in the middle for added texture.

Second Grade

This page is going into my "me" album. The distressed and shabby chic feel of the kit made me rummage through my "oldie but goody" pile of pictures and found this one.


I used the bingo stamp to create a number border on the bottom of my page. The numbers really don't mean anything but I thought it incorporated well with the "school" theme. I also used the Jenni Bowlin letter stamp with the handwriting grid on it in my title. For the journaling, I rubbed the scroll image onto one of the pattern paper's background, cut it out and then adhered it onto my page.

America the Beautiful mini album

this one incorporated the Maya Road star minibook and the patriotic line from Cosmo Cricket.
I think sticking to one paper line keeps a project from being too busy and it also makes everything easy and fast. The papers coordinated well and the stickers was a fun addition too. I even used some of the stickers as a key chain type of embellishment outside of the book. I adhered them to some pattern papers first then punched holes onto the edge and run it through the chain.

The inside pages doesn't have much but I intend to fit in some index sized pictures of the Fourth of July festivities coming up.

Kits are available here. Get them while they're HOT!

Till next time,
Grace

GCD Studios Cards

Hi all.

Just came home from the beach today. The kids had a blast but I think the water was still a little too cold to enjoy. I promise some family pics coming very soon but first here's some cards I made recently using GCD Studios products.

BTW we are unveiling the new lines soon and I was able to sneek a peek at it and let me tell you..... they're all G-R-E-A-T!!!

I can't wait to get my hands on them!

Anyways onto the cards share....

Thanks

This one features papers from the Canta, Paris Nights and Chic Bebe line. The glitter stickers are from the Chic Bebe pack while the journaling block is from the Canta line.


a more close up view.

Thank you

this one has papers from the Eye Candy line, rubon (flower) from Carribean blue pack and chipboard from Ravishing red pack. Sentiment rubon and flower are from my own stash.


I love how you can transfer rubons onto cardstock, cut them out and give them a little more lift with pop up dots.

I appreciate you...

This one has papers and journaling blocks from the Canta line plus rubon and epoxy sticker from Shades of Black packs. There's also a ribbon from the Planes and Trains line peeking in a little there.


I added some handwriting for a personal touch.

Friend

this one features paper from the Canta line plus rubons from the Shades of Black pack. The green and white chipboard frame came from the Lustrous lime pack. Ribbon, rain dots and stamp sentiment are from my stash.


this card was inspired by the latest sketch over at CPS blog. I stamped the sentiment and heat embossed it for more texture and depth. I also added rain dots to some of the flower centers of my rubons.

Thank you for looking,
Grace