Life Lay-out

This was an entry in Scrapbytes' Challenge. This lay-out is inspired by the lives of those who have gone before us, teaching us about how they lived their lives and how we aspire to be like them.

Journal: Human history is all about life. When man learns to ride through his failure and sail through his successes, man has lived a full life.

My grandmother lived a full life. She was born at the turn of the 20th century at a time when revolutions in industry and science are breaking through. She was also bron at a time when the world was at the brink of war. Throughout her life, she saw many things unfold right before her eyes: the onslaught of fighter plane, the Bombing of Manila, the attack of the Japanese, the Death March, the invention of the atom bomb. She also saw the growth of the automobile industry, man's historic trip to the moon, the rise of women power, the invention of the personal computer, the start of the information age, and the rise and fall of many presidents. All these things made her complicated, just like any change brings major upheavals in one's life. Yet, these changes made her stronger. It made the fabric of her life tighter, leaner, tauter, and the embroidery of her soul, intricate. When I study her life, I see the past unfold as her story, man's history. I see her past as my past. But just as sure as I am making my own history, I also see in her my future. When human nature unfolds, even in the direst of circumstances, true beauty cannot help but bloom. In all her triumphs and adversities, she came out to be who she became: a wife, a mother and a grandmother, well-respected, well-thought-of, and well-loved. Hers was a life fully-lived. I can only aspire to live such a life.

KAYA Challege Christmas Cards

I was not going to join the KAYA Challenge this time to make Christmas Cards using Valerie Salmon's sketch. I thought I'd be too busy to do them. And the truth is, I was never excited about making Christmas Cards in the first place. But when my friend, Lee, reminded us yesterday during our scrapmeet, I thought, why not? Kahit isa. Yet, I ended up making 3 of them. Now, I wish I did make these before so I could have sent them out. Maybe it's still not too late? It will still be perfect for my 3 sisters in the US.

Scrapbukan Guest DesignTeam for January

This is the first time I've ever been asked to be a Guest Design Team member. And I really like it! I received the Scrapbukan Package today of papers and embellishments and I can hardly wait to start working on it! I hope I do justice to the materials. Thanks, Sahrie, for trusting me.

Cloth Parols

I've done parols in the past which I've given away for Christmas. My parols are inspired by the parols made by Tita Hannah Trinidad, wife of Corky Trinidad, the famous political cartoonist of Honolulu Advertiser. She makes parols using cloth, instead of japanese paper in Hawaii. No one parol is alike.

I was planning to make 1 new parol for our house every year since Galo was born. He's now almost 4 and I only had 2 parols, so I decided to make one more. This time, I used my old blue silk Victoria's Secret pajama top for the cloth. Very blue it turned out, just to my liking. I added ribbons, sewed glass beads and seed pearls, and of course, included the requisite electric light which I made from scratch.

I also included my two other parols in the display. Parol 2004 was made from my old white cotton chinese embroidered blouse, while Parol 2005 was made from a frayed banig bag. Galo likes them lighted at night.

I hope I get to make a new one next year.

Christmas 2007 Card Challenge

For the Christmas Card Challenge, I wanted to concentrate on Advent instead. The Christmas Season is mostly advent, the preparation for Christ's coming. So, I made a card that also doubles as an advent wreath, complete with 4 candles: 3 purple and 1 pink.
On the front of the card, I used Karen Foster's Alphabet Slide to form the words ADVENT. On the inside flap, I made a slot for keeping unused candles. Then I made slots also to explain the significance of the advent wreath. I took me a while to iron out how to make the whole thing stick, stand and work, but it was all worth it. I was one of the lucky winners. Thank you, Marian King, for sponsoring this challenge.

Christmas Party 2007 CD Wall Art Challenge

As was mentioned in my post under Busy Christmas, I wasn't looking forward to making this challenge. I just couldn't see myself making something out of 3 cds and just covering them up.

For this project, I used 8 TDK cds. When I tried cutting one of the cds into two, I saw that the cd halves actually split into 2 sheets, one with the shiny metallic part, the other with the purple transparent plastic part. It's the latter that I used to cut into small squares to make a mosaic plastic frame for my LO. Then I adhered the pieces with stick glue. It's not as sturdy as I would have wanted, but it worked. For the rest of the LO, I used various rub-ons under the cd mosaic and on top of it, all with the theme "Family," on Daisyd's No.23. I used the same paper for covering the frame. I also used Prima Just for You Enjoying You for decorating the lower left corner, then topped it with a velvet ribbon and a Karen Foster "Treasures" metal nickle plate.

I was surprised when I found out that no one else was cutting cds. I thought that that was what others did. Someone even said jokingly that what I used are not cds, but mother of pearl! And, to top it all, it was one of the winners! (Thanks, Marinella of Creativeme.net, for sponsoring the challenge!)

Now I have a cd wall art I can really proudly display at home. It's a far cry from those Home Economics Projects meant "to beautify the home."

Missed

For the Scrapbooks Hawaii Around the Block Challenge, I made this LO of my dear Tita Annie. It's the first time I poured out my sentiments on her passing last year on the eve of this year.

Journal: Christmas 2006 was bittersweet for us.

We had set up a makeshift hospital room in the house when you asked to brought home for Christmas.
Cancer had spread from your lungs to your head.
You were constantly in pain.
By then, we knew it was a matter of time.
It would be your last Christmas

On New Year's Eve, you left us.
It was something we thought we were prepared for.
Yet, when death came knocking, it was still a shock/
You left us bereft, lonely and missing you.

Another Christmas is coming and we still feel lost without you.
We know that you are now happy and at peace.
Although the pain of our loss grows less each day,
it has never been the same.
We still have to find peace in all of these.

You will always be missed, dear Tita Annie.

Busy Christmas PLUS!

Christmas is a very hectic time of the month for me. As a teacher, we have lessons to finish, a Christmas Program and Party to plan and to execute, school letters to write, recommendation letters and certified true copies of school grades to do for the graduating children. It never ends!

Currently, I'm choreographing my grades 4-7 class' dance from West Side Story called "Cool." Some of the kids can't tell their right from their left, while others literally have poor gross motor skills. --- But when the children do get to realize what I'm driving at, they appreciate it. They even clapped when they got it right. The upside to this is that in the last few days, I've actually lost weight, just because of the dance. Of course, my UE1 (upper elementary class in Montessori) class still has to finish their own modern "showdown" dance which they have problems finishing themselves. Then there's their Filipiniana dance called "Dugso," which requires me to play the clavicles, the maracas and the bells without any music. We also have 3 songs to sing. And all of these have to be ready by Dec.18th!--- And I still have to make my gifts for the children!

Then there's the PinoyScrapbookers-Scrapbook Exchange Christmas Party. I'm really excited for the party, but I also have to squeeze in finishing all the challenges they have. There's the Christmas Card, as well as the cd wall art. The Christmas Card took me a long while to do, from planning, to trial-and-error, to execution, but I'm quite pleased with the result. The cd wall art is another matter. When I learned about it, I actually said, "What?! I don't want that on my wall!" It reminded me of the Home Economics projects in high school wherein I was supposed to make something out of trash which I often thought still looked like trash for the purpose of "beautifying the home."

Anyway, I figured out a way of incorporating the cds, at least 3, into something I'd like to have on my wall. I'll take photos of the two projects by tomorrow and post it on Saturday, the day of the party. I'm proud of what I've actually done... even if I don't win a thing.

Baglace by Desi

Desi was a student of mine for 4 years in Centro Montessori. She is currently in 1st year at PSHS, doing us proud by showing what she can do both in academics and in extra-curriculars. Last year, she started making
and selling her baglaces. These are jewelry made to adorn the bag. These laces are all one-of-a-kind. She never repeats the design.
While shopping,
many people have approached me
to ask where I
got the baglaces.

Last year, I gave many of these for Christmas gifts. This year, because of her school schedule, I can't tell if she'll be able to produce enough of them. I'm hoping that she can make more of them as they make pretty good gifts to even send abroad.

By the way, she is saving money to buy a piano since she also plays the piano quite well. ---Oh, did I mention that she's color-blind? Galing, 'no? Am so proud of her!