Sketch | Made With Love

I love this day. The boys are home because it's school holidays here in Singapore and while they were napping, I had time to craft in a really great (and by great I mean, rainy and cold) weather.  

I'm starting another round of Design Team Inspirations for Made With Love and this time, we will be sharing with you  sketches we find from around the net and interpret it in our own style. This sketch I'm working with is from pinterest. I like it because it is so me and it suits so well with the supplies I have on hand. 

Upon seeing the sketch I already knew that I'd use just a single photo and embellish it with these cute journaling cards from October Afternoon in a collage form, mix it with the cork slide mount I made using my Sizzix Bigshot, some washi tapes and puffy stickers from Amy Tangerine.

And here are more close-ups... 

I made a little secret card for my journaling that you need to open to be able to know the story which I am not going to tell because it's a secret! hahahah! 

I hope you like the sketch and my interpretation... and it inspires you to create a layout or two. And if you do, please leave a link of your page at the comment section below so I can visit and take a look!

Love, 

Gen

Supplies: 

paper - October Afternoon

dies/tools - Sizzix Bigshot, Slide Mount die

washi tape - MT

clip - Lawn Fawn

stickers - American Crafts/Amy Tangerine

wood veneers - Studio Calico

sequins  - Teresa Collins

a layout... just because :)

Love that I made this layout just for myself. It's not a design team assignment. I'm not submitting it to any challenge. I just made it for me... 

Disclaimer: I'm not that "white" in person LOL! It's just my husband's camera's flash haha! And when I took a photo of my layout using my iphone, my skintone became even whiter! Oh my! :D

... these chipboards where leftover pieces when I cut some chipboard frames. Since triangles are trendy these days, I kept it with this idea in mind :) funny thing is when I should this to my (Engr.) husband, instead of just saying "nice" or "pretty" he asked me: "What are those triangles for?" LOL! 

... the prettiest of all the dewdrops are the clear ones.... don't you think? 

... and can you see my back stitching? :) 

... yeah. I'm happy where I am right now, I hope you are too! :)

Scrapbooking Class: Back to Basics

• Do you like scrapbooking but you don't know how or where to start?
• Do you love papers + scissors + glue and all the other  pretty things that you can create with it?
• Are you a scrapper for quite some time already but somehow, sometimes gets stuck somewhere and would very much want to go back to basics? 

If you said YES to any of my questions then this class is for you! 

In this class, I will guide you on how to create your very own scrapbook page from scratch. Get familiar with scrapbook terms, tools and supplies. Learn the very basic but essential techniques of choosing photos + papers*+embellishments for your layout.  *papers may vary, depending of availability.

Workshop dates*: Since this class is being offered every month, see this month's schedule on our Thoughtful Crafts NEWSLETTER. (dates will be confirmed if participants have paid workshop fee)
Things to bring: 1-3 photos of the same theme and colors
Duration: 3 hours
Workshop venue: Here in my happy place!
Fee: $40

How to sign up:  Comment on this post or PM me HERE, or email me at: gen8880@yahooDOTcom.

Xoxo,
Gen :)

altered notebook | American Crafts

A custom-made altered notebook for a lovely lady, Chrissy. I love how easy it was for me to put the collage together using Dear Lizzy's Neapolitan papers from American Crafts. 

I added the polka dots and stripes MT tapes, Sizzix slide mount diecuts, trims and twine and some sequins for a trendy touch. 

A loser look of the stitching and stamping using acrylic paint. It gives the notebook an interesting texture. 

I've got more altered notebooks here. Check it out! :) 

Adventure Cove Sentosa

The thrilling pipeline plunge, tidal twister, the bluewater waves, the lazy river... what more could you ask for in a water park? (I know, that all of my nephews and nieces were there too!) 

My favorite moments?

• Kuya not wanting to leave the big waves! I'm the happiest when Kuya does something he really likes, much more when he's the one initiating it.
• Daddy and Miguel spending time alone at the giant slide. Because he wanted the both of them to be partners that day.
• Me riding the floater. Alone. Enjoying like a kid. 
• Hubby and I at the Pipeline plunge. 
• Mae and I at the Pipeline plunge. 
• Corndogs! 

Made this layout with NEONS in my mind and Amy Tangerine Sketchbook papers were perfect for my idea. I like that these papers are so fun and cute but not too girly. 

The title is made with a mix of Sizzix Eclips and thickers. I also experimented with masking, painting and embossing with neon embossing powders but I didn't like how it turned out so I tried to cover it up with  washi and paper strips, and finished the layers with machine stitching. Talk about real SCRAP-booking haha!

Inspired by Corrie Jones' see-thru challenge at Two Peas, I covered up the "unwanted' photo (because I printed it with the wrong setting, making it dark, but I didn't want to throw it away) with vellum, sealed it with stitching and splattered with white paint. 

Now, here are the rest of our photos. The very few photos we have (WHY??!!) Because when you're dripping wet and enjoying that much, you tend to choose to ignore the camera :P 

I'm also submitting this to Let's Get Trendy Now 3's neon challenge. I can't get enough of neon nowadays haha! 

wordless wednesday

road trip + happy screen shot

One of the things our family love doing is travelling. Car rides. Train rides. Plane ride. Our boys love it when we do all these. That's why we make it a point to go home to the Philippines at least once a year.  Thanks to the budget-friendly air fares! God willing, I'd be able to tick one item in my bucket list before I turn 50. To travel around our beautiful country of 7,107 islands --- The Philippines! 

This week at Made With Love, I'm assigned to create a project with "travel" as a theme.  The mini album I'm currently making which is about our latest travels would have been perfect but since it's only halfway done, I made this layout using Crate Paper's Neighborhood and Portrait collections, this palette, and this Sizzix stamp which is perfect for travel and road trip themed layouts and projects:

... I bet I'll be using this stamp often :)  by the way, so so soooo happy about this screen shot below *can't stop grinning 'til now :D:D:D Thank you American Crafts! 

grateful

Dear Lizzy's latest Neapolitan line spells F-U-N! Creating a page and some cards with it is so easy and stress free... It's water color themed designs are so refreshing! And have you seen the stamps? Love!

See more cards and crafts HERE.

The layout tells of how grateful I am to God for this life I have. Far from perfect. Lots of struggles and difficulties but with no doubt a very meaningful and happy life.... A loving and supportive husband, 2 adorable kids, one quirky and silent the other one so bubbly and talks and does his things nonstop. I also want to make mention my cousin, my helper who's been with us since my oldest son was 4 months old. So thankful for a great and trustworthy help wo loves my kids. Makes me feel at peace when I'm away for work =) 

Work! It's also something I am grateful for. A regular 4 hour/day work is just perfect for me. Doing the things I love while still having an ample time to be with my kids in the morning. I always look forward to my busy mornings preparing them for school, doing my crafts, exercise and I get to dress up everyday. Train rides allow me to think deeper, pray more and tinker with my phone guilt-free haha! 

I believe if I had to tell you all, I may never want to stop. I just feel SO BLESSED and my prayer today is that God will always give me the grace to REMEMBER this feeling, this TRUTH. That I am blessed, that He LOVES me.  Eventhough many times I hurt him with how I easily judge others, how terribly selfish I am in my decisions, priorities and actions... how I miserably fail to be consistent in my prayertime... still He loves me. Where can you find a God as loving as that? 

May we all have a spirit-filled Lenten Season! 

Supplies: 

papers, stamps (American Crafts, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Collection)

dew drops (Robin's Nest)

others: buttons, twine, thread for stitching

mini in a box

This is a gift for myself. A mini album celebrating being mommy to my two adorable boys...

... I got the box from Daiso, altered it with trims, flower die-cuts using Sizzix dies. 

... for the album, I used Sizzix bracket album die and American Crafts confetti papers and thickers. 

Hope you like my simple, precious album in a box! 

By the way, what do you think of my new blog design? :) 

Lastly, I'd like to thank Echo Park for featuring my work in their blog here.  Today, I am a fan winning their contest... someday, I will meet Mr. Madison as one of their designers. DREAM. It's free. hahaha! 

tutorial: altered recipe book

Shortly before our wedding, hubby gave me this notebook. It became not just my recipe book but a record of some of my first goals as new wife, the very few menu I knew then. That time, I would often call my mother for help. This 8 year old notebook is precious. So it is just right that I jazz it up, believing that one day my children and their children will see, hold and cook with it! :)

1. Painted the covers with Studio Claudine Hellmuth semi-gloss paint in traditional tan. 

2. Stamped some fruits, food images by Hero Arts, and colored it with Copic. I also used the same stamp set to stamp spoon and fork on my project. Cutest!

3. Then I took some old papers that I kept for this purpose.  American Crafts Abode papers are just so cute!Distressed it and adhered everything on  my book. Added some flowers, MT tapes, twines and other embellishments. 

4. After arranging and pasting all the embellishments, I added alphas and wrote some sentiments. Then, I painted the whole thing with Mod Podge to seal all the tiny details. I want to make sure this book will really stand the test of time! :)

4.  When the  Mod Podge was dry, I took out my Studio Claudine Helmuth in teal, mixed a bit of water and sprinkled paint randomly over the cover using a paint brush. 

There! My very precious recipe and home-making book. Would you like to see some pages inside? It's nothing fancy. But it is one of my possessions that money can't buy :) 

*click to make it larger

Thank you for looking! And warm greetings to all of you who visit my blog :) Bless the Lord!