and something seems to be wrong with my page, please bear with me, I am currently trying to figure out again how to tweak and rearrange my page layout. It is kind of a headache and I just want to shut down and try tomorrow but I know I won't be able to get any work done if I don't at least give it a try tonight.
Wish me luck and patience! A lot of it, tee hee!
After all the hullabaloo of the Holiday Season, I can finally sit down and get back to business, scrapping business that is, LOL! Hmmm, aside from that there is the business of losing weight and getting fit. You see, I need to lose so much weight, its scary - I look at my pictures and I really don't like what I see. I won't be making any resolutions this year except to just strive to constantly be better, challenge myself, and move to make inroads in dreams I have for my family.
I just know that this year will be one wherein choices have to be made which will engender big changes that I may not be ready to make but will have to do if I want to make those inroads I was talking about. This is very difficult for me because no one is at fault and you just realize that this is not what you want. Two separate and very distinct directions that only one will be happy with, or maybe none. The hardest part is having to remove oneself and relinquish all the associated relations that I have come to be fond of and love. It is never easy and I just pray for the strength and wisdom to know what to do.
Enough of that, how was your holidays? In spite of everything, mine was a good one - I finally am satisfied with the Christmas tree decorations (given there are a few things still missing). I like my tree to be a child's tree, full of ornaments and lights and filled with the colors of Christmas. This is wholly because of the kids, no elegant looking tree for them (oh no, no, no). Ever since I had my own tree I have made it part of my personal tradition to buy at least one new set of ornaments each year. I have this love affair with Christmas ornaments, I think I got that from my Aunt Agnes whose tree is so beautiful and filled with lovely glass balls and ornaments.
Have a a lookie!
This is the yearly family picture of my kids and I, we are in my Uncle and Aunts home in Blue Ridge where everyone gets together. Do you see the mound of gifts behind us? That's nine families worth of gifts!
Of course I have to add a photo of our family baby, our shih-tzu Sasha in her Christmas outfit, isn't she adorable? We love her so much!
We were playing around and put her inside a shopping bag, this made for a really good photo-op, LOL!
Okay, enough photos for now, I'll show you some more next time from our after-Christmas trip to La Union, the place is beautiful!
I was finally able to purchase some kits from Christina Renee Designs (CRD) before they were retired, yay! I wanted to purchase a lot more but had to stick to a budget :(... I want to buy the entire store, hahaha! So sad to see those other designs go but I am excited to see what she comes up with this year - I'm a big fan!
I was also able to purchase the kit "Secret Garden" by SusieM Designs at scrapbookgraphics.com, gosh, it's such a beautiful, ethereal kit and I'm sure to have so much fun making fantasy looking pages. I will have to get the collaborative kit with Lily Designs over at After 5 Designs. I just love transplanting a photo into a make-believe world, it's so much fun to do. Don't you just love scrapbookgraphics.com? I have put so many of their kits on my wish list, my head is spinning and my heart is racing just thinking of all the wonderful stuff out there... have you seen the work of Lori Davidson, when I grow up I want to be just like her :) She has such A-mazing kits, I want them all, now to make some money so I can purchase them...haha!
Here are two layouts I made over the Holidays, both using the Secret Garden kit. The first one blends two photographs (from a recent trip I took with my family to Poro Point in La Union) together with a sheet from CRD's Dream Solids Brights as the background layer and her Abused Film Borders, embellished with elements from Secret Garden.
This second one makes use of only the Secret Garden kit. The photograph itself is already set in a beautiful mossy garden which I blended with one of the scenery background sheets in this kit. I'm printing and framing this photo to gift to someone. 
Now, how would you like to have a little something before you go? I know a lot of you are doing some sort of 365 day project, a bit daunting for me to take photos everyday but I kind of like the idea of documenting monthly. That is something I would like to try to do. I'd like to leave you with some talk bubbles I created for a project I did. I think you may find them very handy when adding captions or actual words or thoughts to your 365 day project. They come in cream and white outlined in black. You may recolor them, just don't forget to give credit on your layouts :)
You may get it HERE. I love to read your thanks, please leave it here or on 4shared, I appreciate it a lot!
Till next time.
...and despite the many trials the past year has brought, I am thankful for:
1. My children, they are the constants of my life, it always amazes me how bright, funny and witty they are (although sometimes they can be a pain-in-the-neck, haha) but I love them none-the-less. I don't claim to be the perfect mother but I believe my children are good children and I am blessed to have them.
2. Family, who always will love you, believe in your capacity and encourage your talents, no matter what.
3. Second, 3rd, 4th, 5th and nth chances....and of course, new beginnings.
4. Discovering digital scrapbooking and the wonderful community that surrounds it and being able to use the artistic talent I was born with and been too shy to use for so long.
5. This wonderful Earth we live in that is so beautiful and awe-inspiring!
6. Choices...that God gives us choices. How awful it would be to have no choice in anything.
7. Old friends, new friends.
8. Hope in the future.
My goodness, is it the 23rd already? Time just went by..zoom zoom zoom!! I have been very busy with several projects and a lot of sleepless nights and so have neglected to peek into my blog to say hi and leave you with the alpha to my Christmas kit "MerryMerry". So sorry....
Have you done all your Christmas wrapping, let alone shopping? I'm still wrapping my gifts! Eeeekk! Panic! I promise myself I'll be done wrapping by tonight, tomorrow is a busy day and I won't have time for any of that. I'll be off to the printers to pick up the scrapbook I had printed, it's always exciting to be able to see your work in print :) Then I'm off to my aunt's home for brunch because it's her birthday and every year, she gathers all family and close friends at a breakfast birthday celebration. The reason she celebrates her birthday at breakfast is because we will be celebrating Christmas in the evening (we Filipino's celebrate Christmas on the eve of the 25th, we wait until midnight and as the clock strikes 12AM, we gather together and have our feast and after the feast we gather round the tree for gift giving. This invariably ends at 3-4 A.M, with my aunt the last person opening presents because she not only gets to open her Christmas presents, she also opens her birthday gifts, LOL!
Oh and before I leave you with the Alpha freebie, I have great news! My sister just gave birth to her first and only child, a son she has be wanting and yearning for and I have to tell you, he is going to grow up and be such a cutie, girls will be after him, hahaha, what with half Filipino and half American blood, you always get the best of both worlds. Congratulations Yazzy, i'm so proud of you!! I made her a birth announcement which I scrap lifted from lch photography and design, her layouts are beautiful and simple and the exact sentiment I wanted to say.
I made 2 versions, one with the baby photos in color and one in black and white, which do you prefer?
Credits: Papers from LilyDesigns, Juno Designs-Winter Whites, Kit Stella di Natale by Miss13.
Isn't he the most adorable? These photos were taken in the hospital. My sister said his face is changing and he is even more captivating now (can't wait for her to send me more photos!) I had to make a template so I could scrap this and I'd like to share it with you :)
(Been trying to upload the preview but it seems to be difficult to upload to blogger at this time).....anyway, you may still download it here.
Now for what you've been waiting for, here are the alphas to go with the kit "MerryMerry", they're very versatile and are not just for Christmas themed pages. Hope you like them!
You can get them here.
I may not be able to blog in the next couple of days, so I'd like to wish you all a most blessed Christmas, may the true spirit of the season not be lost and may this time be a reflection of God's love for us. May your families keep safe and warm and joyous in the presence of another.
yesterday...I came home stone ground tired, pooped, and oh so achy all over. Remember I said I'd be gone the whole day? Well I went with my aunt and her sister to this super bargain haunt in my country called "Divisoria" - how do I explain to those not from here what Divisoria is like? Most definitely, you will either love it or hate it, no in betweens, hahaha! This place can elicit squeals of utter joy or I could get scathing looks from you for taking you there.
Going there in December? Even worse. I get looks of horror when I say I braved Divisoria in December. Divisoria is a big big maze of streets filled with all sorts of goods, fruit, vegetables, fish, decor, clothing, shoes, toys, fancy jewelry, all sorts of sewing supplies, beads, lace, paper, cardboard, bottles..the list can go on and on. It's an assortment of stalls, alleys, backstreets and old and new buildings filled with just about anything, mostly goods sourced from China, Bangkok, and locally. For most Filipinos, Divisoria is the ultimate in bargain hunting and not one for the faint-hearted.
But despite the heat, the stench in some areas, the jampacked streets (I tell you, there was a point wherein we could not move from where we were standing for a good 5 minutes!), a trip to Divisoria is always a treat for me. Never mind that I get home so tired and dirty. How can one resist a good bargain? The melange of colors in the streets... I'm dizzy just looking at everything displayed... but I can't help it and try to go, I must! :)
Here are some photos of Divisoria from www.juonbox.multiply.com, don't you love how he captured the colors and the hustle and bustle of the street? 
See what I mean?
The main goal of the day was to shop for material that could be used for a costume my cousin is to wear for her themed Christmas party - they had a draw and her group got Moulin Rouge and she was chosen to play Satine, much to her dismay LOL! Well, one of the numbers she will be performing requires her to wear this head piece:
Recognize that? From store to store, we went looking for something that could give us a semblance of that. We finally located some stores selling bridal gowns and stuff related to weddings. We found this really cute silver headband with rhinestones on it, some accents, beads and a chain of rhinestones. Now all I needed to do was put it all together, which I managed to do this morning. Am I so glad I kept some of my beads and accessory making materials because they surely came in handy.
Wanna take a look at it?
Not the exact replica but I think its pretty, don't you?
That's it for today. Let me leave you with a little gift from my "MerryMerry" Kit. A little Christmas Quick Page and some papers I made from some photos my cousin's boyfriend took. 
and
You may get them here:
MerryMerry QP
MerryMerry Paper Pack Add-On
My dear Barb, Brenda, Jewel, Stacie, Laetitia, Chel, Jodie, Electra, Grannymike, Crane and those who gave their comments and thanks anonymously - my hugs go out to you, I can't get enough of reading the comments you have left, they warm my heart :) I'm happy to give when I receive much thanks. I hope you make use of the kit and do send me your layouts so I can proudly post them here!
Have a glorious day ahead of you!
This will be really short, I will be out the whole day but I wanted to leave you with Part 2 of my Christmas Kit called "MerryMerry", included in this kit are 26 sheets, 29 elements, an alpha and 1 Quick Page. 
You may download the Elements here:
Elements_1
Elements_2
If you missed the Paper Pack, please check my previous post for the link. I noticed that a lot of people just stopped at the Friendship WordArt freebie and did not bother to scroll down. If they did, they would have gotten the "MerryMerry" sheets.
While you're at the previous post, I do hope you take time to read the Christmas Charity letter and find it in your heart to click on the donate button, even $1 would help and will go a long way to purchasing more items to go into the gift bags for these street children.
I'd like to heartily thank those who took the time to give their thanks and to comment. It really is such a blessing to have people like you around. Thank you to those who have taken more time to click on the donate button, may you and your family be truly blessed for your generosity.
Do come back to get the QP and the alpha over the weekend!
Have a most pleasant day!!
Before anything else, I'd like to say thank you to those who have downloaded my freebie and taken the time to give thanks, your comments are sweet words of inspiration! Hugs!!!
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet up with a good friend I had not seen in months, almost a year in fact. She had just given birth to a baby boy on my birthday November 18 and named him Rafael, just like the baby I had lost to placenta abruptia almost four years ago. She even calls him Rafa, just the way I would have called my son, had he been born. What a coincidence huh? She's making me Godmother :) This friend of mine is that type of friend whom I don't see very often, but when we do get together it almost always is like we never left off and always end up having a great time talking and keeping each other updated on the events of our lives. It was fantastic seeing her again!
I have a lot of friends like these, we don't see each other a lot - maybe because of geography, sometimes because we now move in different circles or we are just too busy with our families and lives, but when we do see each other again, it always feels like coming home, like years apart do not matter at all. It is a good feeling to have and I feel grateful to still have them in my life. Each one of them have touched my life in countless different ways, each coming into our lives at a time when our lives call for them to be there. Not always present but altogether around. They are our sheltering trees and we should count ourselves lucky to have one or to be one.
In honor of friendship, here is a little WordArt Freebie for you to use with your friendship pages. I have also included my very own hand-drawn doodle tree so you may use it in your other layouts. PU/S4O/S4H only please. Do send me a copy of your layout, I want to see how you used it :)
You may get it here.
If you are still with me, I hope you would take time to read this flyer I created for our yearly family sponsored charity. The family has already come up with 6,000 bags to give away to the street children this Christmas (packing day was about 2 weeks ago, pictures posted below) My aunt Agnes who spearheads this project has done an awesome awesome job! Kudos to her for continuing to do this all throughout the years. I did not get to attend packing day this year because I had to watch shop but I'm hoping that by putting this out there I will be able to generate a little more something for the cause. There is still more that needs to be done and we are still soliciting funds and items to be given away.
I'll be putting a donate button on my sidebar for the month of December and hope you will be able to spare a dollar or so, all proceeds will go to the cause and will help make countless street children happy this Holiday season.
Here is the Christmas letter: 
I can't seem to figure out why the resolution is so blurry when I have saved it to the highest Jpeg, anyway, you may download the PDF version of the letter here so you can read it: Christmas Charity Letter
Here are the photos from the packing day:
Awesome right? Please don't forget to click on the Donate button below or on the sidebar for whatever little you may want to give to this cause. Just picture those little children's faces receiving something they least expect, isn't that enough to make you smile too?
Just click here to donate for the drive
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