My Scrap Attack ( and I'm stuck)

After a month of frenetic scrapping and coming up with 8 LOs and 1 altered project (and 1 unfinished mini-wedding album), I seemed to have gotten tired or uninspired. My last project was finished last weekend, and for the life of me, I can't seem to work on the Studio Azul Challenge, nor make another Webster's Page entry, nor finish the mini-wedding album. It's like I'm just waiting for the month to end. And end it will today.

I'm posting my Love Elsie Zoe Collection LO on my Scrapbook Plan entry for Visual Creations here.Although this isn't my typical style, I did have fun painting on the white background of the Zoe paper, but that took a while to do. I wanted to experiment with simple and visually-arresting LOs. I was happy with it at first, but now, I'm not too sure.

Mia, a scrapping friend, pointed out that my style is vintage. When she said that, I actually said "yes" inside, agreeing with her wholeheartedly. I suppose, I am an old soul, looking for a creative outlet in things that look, appear or feel old. No wonder.

Mock Birthday Scowl

Galo turned 4, so of course, we had to take pictures in his birthday celebration in school. But instead of a happy face, we caught a scowl. The photo just screamed to be made into a LO. I used BG Mellow papers for this, and painted over the corner of the picture to cover my sleeve which was accidentally caught on the photo.

Hidden Journal: During his 4th birthday in school, Galo ate his cake like everyone else, while his dad took pictures of him and his classmates. When Galo noticed his dad focusing on him, he suddenly made a "mock scowl" to show displeasure for being photographed. It was a "mock" scowl because in the next second, he was smiling. It seemed like he just wanted to have that look for the photograph. I suppose, for him, "SMILE" is not something he likes to do in front of the camera. he'd rather SCOWL on his birthday.

KAYA Challenge- W3 ( 3 Wishes)

For the PinoyScrapbooker's January KAYA Challenge, we were asked to make 3 doable wishes of ours for the year. I decided to make my LO simple but bold using only the colors black, white and red. At first, I didn't want to make this LO because it had to have a current solo picture. With the help of Photoshop Elements, I was able to make it look better, I think.
Hidden Journal: I wish: 1) to get back to pre-pregnancy size so I can wear clothes I like; 2) to get rid of my flabl and to physically take care of my body; 3) to submit more LOs and projects locally and internationally.

Productive Start of the Year

I don't know what came over me but apparently, this January 2008 has so far produced a number of LOs and projects I never thought I'd be able to accomplish. My only goal, since I never had one before for scrapbooking, was to come up with 4 LOs at least. As of my last count, I now have 7 LOs done, 1 altered project done, and still working on the 2nd altered project. I also foresee doing 1 more for Lasting Impression, and possible 1 more other challenge or just for fun. Just this weekend, I finished 3 LOs. This is quite surprising for me. Obviously, I'm starting the year well. The question is, can I sustain this pace? Most likely not. When March rolls in, I'll be so busy with end-of-the-year school activities, scrapbooking will have to take a backseat.

Will post all of these LOs and projects when I'm able to later.

Mini-Tin Can Time Line 2

Here are the individual LOs for each year of Galo's life in his Mini-tin can Time Line (see previous post for overall appearance of the project), from birth to age 4. Journal:
Age 0 - Name: Gonzalo Agustin Bonoan Lagazon
Date of Birth: January 8, 2004
Important Facts: Born prematurely at 3 lbs.
Arrived after 8 years of waiting.

Age 1 - Galo is a happy child.
He enjoys exploring and loves listening to his favorite books and to music.

Age 2 - Very much a "BOY," he loves cars, likes audio speakers and tries to work on the computer when he thinks no one is watching.

Age 3 - He started going to school before he was 2 1/2 years old. His teacher says he's very playful and creative. he seems to like pretend play, often using materials "to set up speakers" like his daddy.

Age 4 - Very sociable, funny, cute, creative, curious, intelligent.
"Oh, the places you'll go...." - Dr. Seuss

Mini-tin can Time Line: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

My little boy is growing up, fast. Today, he turned 4. To celebrate, we had a party last Sunday with just the immediate family on both sides. On our way to the venue, Galo insisted on having games. Since there were only 5 kids with an average age of 3, I didn't think of preparing any. I suppose I felt quite guilty because I suddenly had to make a detour to Dom's Balloons in Kamuning, just to get "games" stuff. Hence, we ended up with a modified hunt-easter-egg style, the palabunutan and the pabitin. Since the kids couldn't read nos. and it was such a hassle opening each no. ticket, we just let them line up, pick a prize, then line up again. For the pabitin, each kid got to get 1 hanging toy each time the "balag" went down. My brother-in-law said that this was the first time that he attended a party where the guest went home with a big bag of goodies!

Since today is his birthday, Galo is also celebrating the day with his classmates. He chose his choco mouse cake which we'll serve together with BTIC choco walnut frozen yogurt. As if that wasn't enough, I modified some store-bought invitations, then made 37 lootbags, and to top it all, made Galo's Time Line.

His school requires parents to prepare pictures of the celebrant for every year since birth on a long strip of paper. This helps children visually see the passage of time. I made a time line last year on kraft paper, which of course eventually got misplaced and destroyed. This year, I decided to make a mini-tin can time line, one where I can just add a yearly mini-LO to until he reaches 12.

Arn had this LEVI's wallet packaging made of tin can which I saw would work beautifully for the project. I used alcohol inks on the outside, embellished it with All About Scrapbooking Chipboard, Bella Journee scroll, American Crafts ribbon, Karen Foster Metal Alpha Slides and UBL Crystal Dome Stickers (from Japan Homes). Inside, I used Old World Stack of various mottled prints to make the pages and embellished it with scrolls, hidden journals, various scrap papers from Rusty Pickle, Scenic Route, Creative Imaginations, Bazzill cardstock and Crateboard alpha chipboard.

Truth is, this was finished as of Saturday evening. On Sunday however, I felt that using the foam stickers and ready-made embellishments just wasn't what I had in mind. Sure, it was pretty, but it just didn't seem right. So, despite all the work previously done, I reworked each page last night. What resulted was better, I think. This time, I was able to plan each page so that it always had some handwritten journal, most of the time either hidden or partially-hidden. This, I feel, would keep for the next 8 years. Hopefully, for life.

How do I love thee, Galo? A thousand and one ways... and counting.

Scrapbukan GDT LOs are done!

I'm finally finished with the LOs Sahrie of Scrapbukan asked me to do as Guest Design Team Member for January. She only asked me for 3 LOs or 2 LOs and 1 altered project. When I saw the kit with wedding rubons, I was so inspired, I ended up making 4 wedding LOs plus a 6 x 6 standing calendar kraft book that I am making into a mini-wedding album during the Christmas Break. I'm still not finished with the album, but I'm happy with the 4 LOs. Will post my LOs here a week after Scrapbukan features my work.

Now, if I could just finish my mini-wedding album by next week, then perhaps I can finally finish My Little Child's Ancestry Book.