M is for Miley {Rose}

It was six months ago when your Papa and Mama first told me about you. They were filled with pride and happiness as I talked to them over the phone. I was ecstatic not only for them, but for the entire family because God has blessed us once more with a precious gift.

Of course, at that time, no one knew what your gender would be yet, but we all wished for a girl most especially your brother, Elijah.

Lo and behold! All our wishes came true a month ago.

From then on, I've racked my brain trying to come up with something I can make that will show how I love you so much already even if you're just a teeny tiny pea in your mama's tummy.

Take a look at what I came up with. Can you guess what it is?

It's your first mini scrapbook. Each of the pages contain pockets where your mom can slip in your photo for each of the months of your first year.

As you can see, there are 12 pages after the front cover, one for each month of the year. It measures 3" x 6" making it very handy for your mom to carry it along in her bag so she can show it off to her friends and brag about you.

I decorated it with colorful stamped animals and assorted buttons. I've even added tabs and provided plenty of journaling spaces where your mom can write anecdotes about your growth and development.

Everything is bound together with a clip ring which I've embellished with pretty ribbons.

I hope one day, as you flip through this album, you will feel my joy and exuberance on your impending birth as I patiently cut, crookedly sewed, and carefully pasted each element in this album. I love you and am so terribly excited to meet you, Miley Rose!

Edit: I cased this project from Pine.

{My} Cup of Tea

A very merry Monday morning everyone! So, how was your weekend? Mine was awesome! I hosted a party last Saturday for my sister Deltans and had a huge turn out. It was great to see sorority sisters whom I haven't seen for a long time and to also meet the younger ones for the first time.

Now, after all the fun it's back to the work grind for me.

Today am featuring my mom-in-law's blue & white porcelain teapot collection. My favorite color is blue in any shade and I find the cobalt blue pigment used on these to be refreshingly vibrant.

Drawing inspiration from these teapots, I came up with a "Get Well Soon" card with tea cups as the main attraction.

I've even included additional details to inform the recipient on how to best enjoy one's tea.

So, what's your cup of tea?

Have a fruitful week ahead!

Enjoy The Ride

The color yellow always lifts my spirits. I noticed that I tend to gravitate to anything yellow in my closet when choosing my outfit for the day whenever I have the "blues". Mind you, it's not my favorite color, but it's my mom's fave color on me. She told me that she would often dress me up in yellow when I was a baby. Could this be why it makes me happy?

Well, last month I attended my friend Jessica's surprise 40th birthday dinner organized by her sweet husband. I know for sure that this thoughtful gesture made Jessica really happy.

Take a look at the card I made for her.

It just complimented the way I put together her gift.

Just making this ensemble put a smile on my face. Hope it did Jessica's as well.

A Whale Of A Card

Hi there! As mentioned previously, I've been really inspired in making cards for the kiddos. Therefore, I decided to work with the whale image of my SU! Animal Stories stamp set.

I then mounted the cut image with foam tape atop a brown die cut cardstock.

Here's the assembly line for my cards.

I've even added a bit of sewing for additional detail.

Any kid getting this card on his birthday will surely have a whale of a time most especially if it's attached to a very nice gift.

{Happy} Father's Day

Hey everyone!

Before I start babbling about my project today, I would like to give a big HAPPY FATHER'S DAY shout out to my loving dad, Luis, and also to the father of my three wonderful children, Tonyboy. Thank you for your love, patience, understanding and time. Your dedication to your respective children is immense. I salute and love you both very much!

I am sure you've noticed that I don't make a lot of masculine cards. Whenever I attempt to make one I get stumped.

However, I've decided to venture out of my comfort zone and hone my skills even if it takes a whole day to come up with one note worthy card for a man. Take not: I used the word man and not boy.

As I sat down to conceptualize my design, the one thing that popped in my head that men in general have a great interest on besides women is cars. With that in mind I went ahead and die cut a car image on foam to be used as the focal point for my card.

Yes, it took me longer than usual to put this card together, but it's all worth it because I made it for the very first special man in my life...and that's you, Dad!

Sentimentally Romantic

I am lovin' Adele!

I adore her sultry and soulful voice which could melt even the sturdiest of souls. And the manner she writes her songs, mostly about hurts and heartaches, makes them so easy to relate to.

Listening to her croon lovesongs all day long yesterday left me feeling sentimental resulting with this card.

The colors I used are very subdued. The combination of kraft and white reminds me of beach houses in the Hamptons (not that I have one). Very shabby chic!

The flower is made from a corrugated carton I saw lying around the house. It's the first time I've experimented on this material and I know it's not going to be the last. I'm bubbling with excitement with the limitless possibilities.

Notice the sewing I've done along the borders. I'm a newbie sewer; the reason for the crooked stitches. Even though, I am highly satisfied with the results. The not-so-perfect stitches add enough charm to complete the romantic look of the card.

HVD

HAPPY HEARTS DAY!

Here's something that will surely keep the hearts of  bibliophiles aflutter.

As you can see, this small packet packs quite a punch.

Money {Gift} Holders

Hello blog peeps! I've been feeling yucky the past days due to my allergic rhinitis & itchy throat. It didn't help much that I also had to care for my youngest who was battling the same things plus a high fever. Uuuggghhh!

So, my share today is actually something I came up weeks prior.

Money holders is what they are.

Perhaps you've seen similar ones out there, but I've added something to my design which I think is quite ingenious.

I added a unique sticker label at the back where the names of the recipient and giver can be written in.

Your gift of money will surely be more appreciated wrapped in one of these.

Happy weekend everyone!

{DIY} Page Saver

Here's a clever idea on how to pretty up boring metal paperclips.

1. Stamp a witty sentiment onto a cardstock.

2. Layer in an assortment of pastel colored cardstocks.

3. Tie a coordinating ribbon.

And voila!

You've got yourself a darling little bookmark.

"No matter how busy you may think you are, 

you must find time for reading, 

or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” 

                                                - Confucius

Neanderthal No More

Men are often depicted as untidy, unorganized and unappreciative of the finer things in life. However, many of you will agree with me that most of the male population nowadays do not subscribe to this kind of living any longer. On the contrary, they have become as vain as the women. Just look at all the ads on the telly on all sorts of skin and body products that are specifically designed for them. Mind boggling indeed!

I figured this change in their self image should transcend in their work life. Hence, I came up with a notepad with stripes and argyle design.


It is very useful and yet attractively masculine enough to be seen atop any man's desk.


A nice and practical gift for the men in your life for any occasion.

Friends: Old & New

I was so excited to see the kids come home from school yesterday. Since last week was spent mostly in orientation they only stayed in school for half a day therefore not giving them a whole lot of time to mingle with their classmates. So, after spending the whole day in school yesterday they had plenty of stories to share mostly about their friends. They were happy that they had a couple of buddies in their homeroom and proud that they made new ones, too.

And as I went to work in my craft area last night I was inspired to make some friendship cards.


Am sure like me you have different sets of friends whom you met along the different stages of your life. There are our childhood friends, high school friends, college friends, work friends, friends from the various organizations we've joined and many more.


However, like all things in life nothing is permanent friendships included. It is a sad reality that friends come and go in our lives. Nevertheless, there are those special ones whom we've remained in touch with for who knows how long. They are the ones who've stuck it out with us in good times and bad and vice versa. They've become a constant mainstay in our lives that even our extended family knows them.


And when life takes over and you don't get to see or talk to each other as much as you used to it's okay because you are both confident enough to know that you can count on your friendship anytime.