Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Other Things...

Sorry, I haven't uploaded pics yet. Been busy with a school thing that's been going on for awhile. Well, not really for a long time, but it was one of those I committed to for quite some time now. I taught for awhile (I think I mentioned this before) in this primary school and now we have this Christmas program for 8 December and I've been helping out with the stage and things.

They don't want anything fancy, since the idea of the program is so the kids can perform for their parents. So it would be just a simple thing really. I hope not to forget to take a photo of the stage, at least. I wish I could get a group photo with the kids in it but I don't think that would be proper if I don't ask their parents permission to post it. And I wouldn't do that because I really only met a very few of them.

Oh! And I've seen the costumes. They're sooooo cute!!! Even if the kids could still need practice even after the final performance, their costume and smile would make up for it. hahaha!

I will go back there again to teach Arts and Crafts from February to April 2010, and I'm excited about that! I was offered to teach there full time next school year and the teachers are making a very convincing argument on why I should agree. I would have gone this year but Gerry's got a lot on his plate and I don't really fancy being away from him at this point. It doesn't feel right. But next year, I might make a go at it depending on the amount of paperwork it's going to cost me. That's always a dealbreaker.

Store: Flip Fold Mini-Albums



Thanks to Tricia Morris of Club Scrap for this idea which she also got from her friend, she says. I wish I could link the video to this project but I think I've found every TM video out there except this one. In the meantime, I think you'd appreciate a video of another project from her. :)

These 7 flip-fold mini-albums will be available at the San Pablo Comics Festival on 6 December 2009 at Lion's Club along Dagatan Blvd., San Pablo City. See you there!!


Store: Notepad and Pen Holder Set






Thanks to Donna Salazar for inspiring me with the flowers. :)

Only 5 Notepad and Pen Holder sets will be available at the San Pablo Comics Festival on 6 December 2009 at Lion's Club, Dagatan Blvd., San Pablo City from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. See you there!!

Store: 2010 Calendars




These are a few of the 2010 calendars that will be available at the San Pablo Comics Festival on 6 December 2009 at Lion's Club, Dagatan Blvd., San Pablo City from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. If you're interested in visiting, here's the website of the Festival.
(Books not included.)

Store: Keychain Mini-Album

I will start uploading the goods that would be available for sale one by one this week until next week. Hope to see you all during the San Pablo Comics Festival on the 6th of December, that's a Sunday, from 10am to 6pm at Lion's Club along Dagatan Blvd., San Pablo City. So, here we go.

These keychain albums are 2" x 2" in cover size with 12-panel accordion interiors. Each interior panel is 1.75" x 1.75" and made from Canson Mi-Teintes.


1 - 1 piece, Burgundy interior
2 - 4 pieces, Moss Green interior
3 - 4 pieces, White interior
4 - 2 pieces, White interior
5 - 4 pieces, White interior
6 - 4 pieces, White interior
7 - 5 pieces, 4-Burgundy interior, 1-Old Rose
8 - 4 pieces, White interior
9 - 2 pieces, Azure interior
10 - 1 piece, State Grey interior
11 - 1 piece, light Pink interior
12 - 2 pieces, Old Rose interior
13 - 4 pieces, White interior
14 - 2 pieces, White interior
15 - 1 piece, White interior
16 - 1 piece, White interior

See you later.

Intermission: Just so you know...

Doctor Who is breaking my heart. *sniff*

Now on to the next project and the next and the next....

Business Things

It's the not-so-happy part of this papercrafting business thing. Happy is the creative side, taxes? Not so very much. There are the dates to remember like the 20th of each month; the 15th of April, August and November; on or before Christmas break; and, on or before January 20.

But of course, before all that, there are those books with little numbers you have to add over and over again just to make sure they're right. I'd love to put them to Excel and I tried but it's double the work because the little numbers have to exist on the actual books themselves so I decided to do away with it.

Add to that, I also do my husband's books and paperwork. And I thought I cleverly avoided the business courses back in college.

Sigh.

Good thing though, Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars is soon!! I need my Doctor Who fix at times like these.

Because Life is Full of Scraps

Personally, I really don't like having bits and pieces of paper lying around (even if they're organized by color in a binder) especially if most of them have been around since 2003. I thought I'm going to use them all up before I buy anything new. I think I'm making a headway in terms of clearing my scraps out. Although, this year, it became sort of necessary to buy new papers for new orders as it should be.

Anyway, here are some of the things I did with the scraps.

This is a modified file folder mini-album. Actually, this was inspired a bit by this YouTube video of Marion Smith. I don't have those envelopes from junk mails nor do I want to use new ones but what I had were big scraps that I could cut down using a file folder template I did. Some of the scraps were double-sided patterned cardstock. Some, I glued lining inside. Some of the ribbons were scraps and the tags inside were made from a kraft folder left over by my niece from her project.

This next one is a tag album. The tags themselves are leftovers from my husband's bristol board scraps. He has a lot when he cuts down large boards for use as 11" x 17" drawing pages. I just glued similar-colored patterned papers on both sides of each tag and draw stitching lines to sort of 'unite' each pattern. I have yet to to put pictures on the albums. And I still have two coptic-bound mini-albums to complete. *Sigh*

Some were used for bookmarks and artist trading cards I have no one to swap with as I don't belong to any group. Although, I could swap again with the awesome Chris Palmer.

And I have punched quite a lot of little circles and squares and did a lot of bristol board buttons which I like more than chipboard ones since it has a white core. My nieces had already used some of those scraps. And I still have a lot of them remaining!! What else could I do with them? Serenity squares? Heh. Because honestly, I want to replace my stash already. I don't want to be saddled with stuff anymore than I can use.


October Project Updates



It's been awhile! While I resolved to post things as often as I could, I find myself writing less. Why is that? Anyway, a friend ordered 100 pieces of 2010 calendars for Christmas along with 5 notepads with hard cover that I'm going to start doing by Thursday. I'm telling you now, they're really a lot! But they're so much fun to make and early orders are always, always easy to deal with and very much appreciated.

Yesterday, I delivered a coptic-bound scrapbook album with pre-made pages to another friend. I think I really did well on that one. :) Sadly, I didn't take a picture. :( There's another one for December so I'm going to make an effort to remember to take its photo.

There's a project I've been doing for the past few months. You might think that it's really huge. Not really. It's just a 4" x 8" (plywood size) bulletin board that would go up a clinic wall. It's really a cool project. That board would hold up hundreds of photos of children who are patients of my pediatrician friend. She said, they're her pride and joy aside from her own. Cutting up the photos took a lot of time. Then there's the matter of finding a 1/2" or 3/4" thick cork board (we haven't found any!), but we ended up using the ordinary 1/4" ones. My furniture-maker did not disappoint! They're going to deliver that to the clinic on Thursday where it's going to be painted a deep, deep brown, the same color as the trims in that room. I can't believe it! I've been doing bulletin boards almost my entire life!

And I'm doing some projects to get rid of my scraps I've had since 2003. Geez! Some of those papers I ordered through eBay or some Canadian firm because nothing was available here at that time... or at least, nothing I knew of. I'll post them next time. Yes, before October ends!



My friend Chris, gave me these beautiful, hand-carved unmounted rubber stamps for my birthday! How lucky am I to be the recipient of these. She took the time out of her very, very busy schedule (being both a student and a lecturer), to make me these. Awwwww... how sweet that is. Thanks so much Chris! And DON'T go easy on the kids. :)

So, that's it for now and see you later!

Alternative to White Gel Pen


I should be starting posting projects, shouldn't I? I'm still up to my elbows in 2010 calendars, I can't see straight. In the meantime, let me talk about white inks and gel pens.

I know how most everyone in the scrapbooking and card making world loves our white gel pens. It gives an extra 'oomph' to our projects. But if you're like me and having all kinds of frustration about accessibility to it (read: I need it now! No time to order!), this is a perfect solution.

Any town with a technical school/college/university is most likely to have a school supplies store that sells technical pens and drawing ink. For me, I've always been a Rotring user so this is what I have. Other brands are also available such as Staedtler and Faber-Castell. The best part of it is, Rotring also have white drawing ink (and other colors like black, brown, yellow, blue, red) which you can buy for only Php100 and will go a long, long, long way. A few drops into the ink cartridge of the technical pen and it's good to go for awhile. Gel pens sell for about Php160 each. So, even if technical pens cost much more (about Php450 each, depending on point size), it's still cost-effective in the end because you only have to buy the ink when you're finished with a bottle. And you'll get different thicknesses if you're up to buying those college sets (includes three technical pens, ink, pencil and white rubber eraser in a set).

So, how long does a bottle of Rotring ink last? Look at it this way. A comic book's original size is 11" x 17". Now for a 22-page comic book that uses a lot of black ink, it only consumes about half a bottle of the same size.

Warning, though. Never use white ink on technical pens with sizes .10, .20 or .30. I would suggest that you start with .50 like the one I used above or thicker. White ink has the tendency to clog smaller sized pens and you'll have difficulty cleaning it. I lost a couple of .10 in my lifetime to white ink gunk.

That's my first tip in October and I hope it helps.

I really should start posting projects. All I post are tips.

How To Help

In the devastating wake of Ondoy typhoon, I'm reposting these information for all of us who'd like to help:

Rescue and Relief Numbers Sep 27, ‘09 9:00 AMfor Oliver’s contacts(Reposting Katrina’s entry.)

Hi all,
Posting for anyone and everyone who wants to help, feel free to repost.

Rescue Operations
National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) (+632-9125668, +632-9111406, +632-9115061, +632-9122665) Help hotlines: (+65 734-2118, 734-2120)

Philippine Coast Guard (+632-5276136)
Air Force (+63908-1126976, +632-8535023)
Metro Manila Development Authority (136)
Marikina City Rescue (+632-6462436, +632-6462423, +632920-9072902)
Pasig Rescue Emergency Number (+632-6310099)
Quezon City Rescue (161)
San Juan City Hall Command Post (+632-4681697)
Bureau of Fire Protection Region III (Central Luzon) Hotline: (+63245-9634376)
Senator Dick Gordon (+639178997898, +63938-444BOYS, +632-9342118, +632-4338528)Senator Manny Villar (+639174226800. +639172414864, +639276751981)

Civil Society/ Media
Philippine National Red Cross (143, +632-5270000)

Philippine National Red Cross Rizal Chapter operations center hotline: (+632-6350922, +632-6347824)
Go to GMA Facebook page & post complete addresses and names of people in need of immediate help.
ABS-CBN Typhoon Ondoy Hotline: (+632-4163641)
Jam 88.3: (+632- 6318803) or SMS at JAM (space) 883 (space) your message to 2968

——————————————————————

Rubber Boat Requests, 4×4 Trucks
NCRPO (+632-8383203, +632-8383354)

Private citizens who would like to lend their motor boats for rescueplease call emergency nos: +632-9125668, +632-9111406, +632-9122665, +632-9115061)
You can also text (+632917-4226800 or +632927-6751981) for rescue dump trucks.
For those who are able to lend 4×4 trucks for rescue: Please send truck to Greenhills Shoppng Center Unimart Grocery to await deployment, Tel No. (+632920-9072902).

Power Supply
Meralco (+63917-5592824, 16211, +63920-9292824) If you want service cut off to your area to prevent fires and electrocution.


Relief Aid and Donations
Victory Fort is opening its doors to those affected by the typhoon. Call 813-FORT.


NoyMar relief Operations: Clare Amador (+639285205508) or Jana Vicente at +639285205499). Drop off for relief donations is at Balay Expo Center across Farmers Market Cubao.

Miriam Quiambao drop off points: One Orchard Road Building in Eastwood, or message http://www.twitter.com/miriamq for more details.

Philippine Army Gym inside Fort Bonifacio or GHQ Gym in Camp Aguinaldo are now distributing donations for Ondoy Victims.

Team Manila stores in Trinoma, Mall of Asia, Jupiter Bel-Air and Rockwell shall be accepting relief goods (Canned Goods, Ready-to-drink Milk, Bottled Water and Clothes) for distribution by Veritas.

Caritas Manila Office at Jesus St., Pandacan Manila near Nagtahan Bridge (+632-5639298, +632-5639308)

Radio Veritas at Veritas Tower West Ave. Cor EDSA (+632-9257931-40)
Aranaz Stores in Rockwell & Greenbelt is accepting donations of any kind for Payatas communities affected by Ondoy

Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan Task Force Noah, a disaster response arm of the Jesuits, is accepting donations. Please drop it off sa Ateneo Cervini Dorm.

Philippine National Red Cross‘ different ways to Donate.
Red Cross Load Donations: Right now the easiest way to make donations from the seat of your chair is via mobile phone load. The Red Cross Rescue and Relief Operations. Text: REDAMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4483 (Smart)

Ateneo de Manila University is now accepting donations for the victims of Ondoy. Donations can be dropped at MVP Lobby. For those stranded/those who need help: To all students who need help or know of people who need help. Please text the name, location, and contact number to (+6329088877166). ATENEO, which is now an open shelter, accepts refugees. Call (+632917-8952792)

Papemelroti stores in 91 Roces Ave. / Ali Mall Cubao / SM City North EDSA / SM Fairview / SM Megamall / Glorietta 3 in Makati / SM Centerpoint / SM Southmall are accepting relief goods (canned goods / milk / bottled water / clothes – NO CASH pls.)

TXTPower now accepts donations via SmartMoney 5577514418667103, GCash 09179751092 and Paypal http://is.gd/3GvuN

Our Lady of Pentecost Parish (+632-4342397, +632-9290665) per Gabe Mercado, donations are very much welcome. The Parish is located at 12 F. Dela Rosa corner C. Salvador Sts., Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

Hillsborough Village Chapel – Water, blankets, shoes, and clothes may be sent to Hillsborough Village Chapel in Muntinlupa City. These will go to families whose houses were washed out in the nearby sitios.

Greenhills/Mandaluyong/San Juan Area, if you want to help out with the rescue and relief operations, you can drop off your donations (clothes, food, etc..) at La Salle Greenhills Gate 2 tomorrow or volunteer from 9am to receive, sort, repack the donations.Petron: You may bring your relief goods to all Petron branches.

LUCA stores (Rockwell, Shang-rila, Eastwood, or GA towers): Send your old clothes & donations (no cash pls).

“LUZON RELIEF: Volunteer / Donate / Pray”: Donations can be brought to RENAISSANCE FITNESS CENTER, 2nd Floor, Bramante Building, Renaissance Towers Ortigas, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City starting MONDAY (Sept.28) / 9am – 7pm Contact Person: Warren Habaluyas (+632929-8713488) or email at luzonrelief@gmail.com

MOONSHINE boutique in Rockwell also accepting relief good to help Ondoy victims in Marikina and Cainta.

Katipunan Avenue. Contact Erica Paredes at (+632917-4741930) — they need bread, packed juice, sandwich filling (tuna, chicken, anything) You can help her make them, deliver the sandwiches to her house, or help her distribute! Call for more details.Manor Superclub, Eastwood City will accept goods and other emergency items starting Sunday at 10 am.

Citizens Disaster Response Center (CDRC): Relief goods for typhoon victims being accepted at 72-A Times St., West Triangle, QC. Tel (+632-9299820/22)
MINISTOP IBARRA (Espana cor. Blumentritt, Sampaloc Manila) is also accepting relief goods, Food (non-perishable goods only) Clothing, Medicines, Beds, Pillows, Blankets, Emergency Supplies to help Typhoon Ondoy victims.

People Tracker (using your phones, get your friends and family to turn on their finderservice for you)

FINDERSERVICE. For Smart, text “wis ” to 386.
FINDERSERVICE. For Globe, text “find to 7000

Removing Adhesive Gunk from Your Scissors

This is one of those things we dread doing: cleaning our scissors from the sticky leftovers of our adhesive tapes. What we commonly do is, get a piece of masking tape and repeatedly use it to peel off the gunk. The thing is, I'm not as patient with this activity as I would have me believe.

Then I remembered that, back in those days when I was still working as scale model maker and we're using quick-dry glue, we use acetone or nail polish remover to clean our hands of the adhesive. So I thought, why not use it to clean my scissors. And it worked! Just take a cotton ball, wet with acetone or nail polish remover, and slide off the blade. It works really, really fast.

Search for Bookbinding Thread


For so long I've been doing my amateurish way of binding books, I used any string available because, as long as they're stitched together, it doesn't matter, right? Then again, I started taking the craft a bit more seriously than I've ever previously done. I learned about linen thread and it's the one being used in binding books traditionally.

I researched about them online and what did I find? A 200g spool of thread costs $100. Oh man! I'm not in the US so I'll convert: that's Php4,800.00!!!! Almost 5K for a spool of thread. That's professional-plan-internet for a month with lots of long-distance calls thrown in. That's a very comfortable, air-conditioned studio for a month. That's rent money. *sigh*

So I looked for alternatives. First, the readily available crochet thread, but it's made of cotton and it stretches, and if you stretch it a bit more than usual, it breaks and frays. Second, nylon thread. I have black and white here. Unfortunately, the three strands that make the thread separate each time it passes a hole. And it knots at the slightest move. Not good. Yesterday, I was on a hunt again to find a more acceptable substitute and there at the topmost corner shelf, behind the spools of ribbons, at Carolina's in Megamall, almost hidden from the casual customer, I saw: "kite thread". I had to look at it and feel it between my fingers. I pulled, tugged and tried to smoosh it up to see if it would fray and it didn't. Today, I tried to pull it into punctured holes on paper and it went smoothly. Yay for the find! And for the girl who assisted me there, thanks so much for your patience. She's genuinely helpful.

I haven't given up on that linen thread. I found another one that's $31 for a 50g spool of raw linen string. I might buy it someday, if I so decided to close my eyes, add it to cart, enter and never look back.

For the Love of Bookbinding

Hello everyone!! It's the beginning of the -ber months and we know what it means: Christmas is just around the corner. The weather, though, isn't helping us setting the mood. No matter. In a few days time, it will be better.

Of all the papercrafting that I dabbled in, bookbinding is my most favorite. I love them all, don't get me wrong, but there's something about making books that hold so much appeal to me.

I've been doing a lot of this for quite awhile but Coptic stitch binding had eluded me for so long that when I got the chance to really sit down and learn it, it was such an accomplishment. So here are my first couple of coptic stitch-bound books. I truly enjoyed and loved the process I went through to get to these two.


I wanted to post this a long time ago but haven't gotten around to do it. It's Gerry's copy of the Elmer boxset and slipcase.

I'm planning on making a few more books for personal mini-albums that I've been planning to do for the last three years that I haven't gotten around to doing because, well, other things take priority. This time, I'm making it a priority. This house is distinctly lacking in albums! The irony of it is very glaring, I know. But I'm planning on rectifying that.

Dividing Your Paper in Equal Parts

This is something my father taught me in Grade 5 and it's such a very useful tip since then!

Sometimes, there are sizes of paper or canvas that we want to divide in equal parts but have difficulty doing so because the measurements of the paper are not divisible by the number of parts we want to get. Example, we want to divide a 4" x 4" paper into 3 parts, but 4" is not divisible by 3. Or 6" into 5 equal parts. Normally we would reach for our calculator and end up with an infinite X.33333333333 as the answer. But there is no .333333333 visible on our rulers. So, I present to you a very simple technique which, I think, is loosely based on the Complementary Angle Theorem in Geometry... but whatever. You are most welcome to correct me if I'm wrong about that. :)

Here we have a 5" x 5" cardstock that I'd like to divide into 3 equal parts. The problem is, 5 isn't divisible by 3.


The nearest number to 5 that is divisible by 3 is 6 and so, I twist my metal ruler so that the 0" mark is on the left edge, and the 6" mark is on the right edge like so:

6" divided by 3 parts is equal to 2" and so I mark my first part at 2" with my trusty No. 2 Mongol pencil

... and the second mark at 4"

Well, assuming your paper is a true square, meaning, the corners are 90 degrees to each other, you may easily use your T-square and draw your first line based on the mark you made. If not a true square, your lines will be askew. Here I'm using a tiny T-square I bought from NBS. It's only Php28.

And draw your second line based on your second mark...

And voila! You have a 5" paper divided into 3 equal parts without your calculator.

If for example you have a 6" paper that you'd like to divide into 5 parts, just twist your ruler and find the number that's divisible by 5. In the inches part of your ruler the nearest would be 10" but if you look at the centimeters part, the nearest to 6" would be 20 cm. By all means, go ahead and use that. It's ok.


So, I hope that helps!

"Oh, The Dread That's My Handwriting!"


It is a common affliction: the dread over one's handwriting on a scrapbook page. Many believe their handwriting are just atrocious, that they don't deserve to be recorded for posterity. I'll tell you what: the less you use it, the more uncomfortable you'd be with it in the long run. So, practice is the only answer.

One of the things I love about old documents are the handwriting of the officials who prepared them. The seeming uniformity of the angle by which the letters lean to; the size and shape of each character; the clever use of either a fountain pen or a ballpoint pen; and of course, I love, love the fluorishes for the capital letters and the final letters of a line or sentence. They are simply beautiful! But you know, if you look at them very closely, they are far from perfect. And that fact makes them one. Granted, they had no choice because there's no computer back then and, therefore, they had more practice with it.

This tip is for those who want to improve their handwriting and have that personal touch on their journals or scrapbooks. This is not really for those who want to be a professional calligrapher, because honestly, I don't know how to teach it.

First tip is to work on the slant of your letters. No matter how weird you think your letters look, if you have a seemingly uniform angle for your words, sentences or paragraphs, they'd look smashingly awesome! A cheat suggestion: instead of just lined paper you use as guidelines at the back of your writing surface, try adding diagonal lines (about 45 degrees) that run from end to end. Or lines perpendicular to your guidelines, however you'd like it to be. Follow that angle when you write and when you get the hang of it, try to write faster. The slower you write, the wobblier your lines are. The faster your strokes are, the better they look.

This won't happen overnight, I'm telling you now. So, if you really want it, try to be patient. Part that makes a beautiful handwriting is the confidence by which you do it and that only comes with constant practice. Like all skills, it requires practice, practice, practice. Remember also, that it is HANDwriting. It doesn't have to be 'perfect' like our computer fonts.

Your handwriting is part of the story you're telling in your journal or scrapbook. I certainly believe that it is a story on its own.

Till next time!



There Was A Time...

... when we called it 'letter transfer' or 'transfer tones' in college. We used them for labels and titles and rendering in mixed media. When I got into papercrafting full time and was exposed to scrapbooking and cardmaking products, I learned that they call it rub-ons and they have lots of designs too! And transfer tones now refer to transferring ring tones from computer or mobile to another mobile phone! How things change. :)

I bet, those letter transfers at National Bookstore and SM Stationery are sorely neglected because I can see them stacked and rubber banded and shoved up the corner shelves. I hope some of you notice them when you go visit.


Martial Law... Again?

I know I said that this blog is all about papercrafting but I thought this is too important an information not to be disseminated: Ex-envoy to US confirms military rule plan.

We cannot go there. We should not allow ourselves to go there again.

Christmas Craft Party


It's the middle of the year and it's time to prepare papercrafts for my Christmas Craft Party. Last year had been successful and this year, I'm ticking off boxes of products to be made available to sell. I'm not even half-way through but I'm trying to experiment about some projects.

There is no specific date yet but it will be sometime in November 2009. It will be fun! :)

Thank You, President Cory



President Corazon C. Aquino
(25 January 1933 - 1 August 2009)

Woman
Wife
Mother
President
Hero

Seems like not long ago when I met her.

(The video is a Studio23 tribute)

Incomparable Achievement

I may have done a few things in my life that I'm proud of but nothing, NOTHING, could ever compare to being able to teach my two nieces to read and comprehend. Proudest moment of my life was when I heard them read their first word.

Crocheted Flowers


The crocheted flower on this card is glued over a hand-cut butterfly shape I copied from the green one on the first row here. Not an exact shape, but I like how it turned out. :)

Funny how things change, though. I used to read Sweet Dreams pocketbooks during Home Ec class, and my embroidery and crochet projects were done by my mother. Well, I may start them for a bit, then she would finish them. I was that bad about these domestic-y things. I still am in a lot of ways. And what do I do now? I hand-stitch on paper and make crocheted flowers for my cards and scrapbook pages.

A few weeks ago, I was practising my crocheting skills (because there happened to be a crochet hook and a ball of string I both use for completely different reasons) which is just alright as it is, but there's one thing about it that I despise a lot: counting. I started this because I saw a card with crocheted flower and I thought, that looks so nice! At first, I didn't count my chains so I ended up with a variety of .... er... designs, if you can call it that. Shoved them into a drawer and forgot all about it. Then after a couple of months, I'd really wanted some of those on my niece's 7th birthday album that I'm working on so I decided to have a go at it again and... breathe.... count! Yay! I got to kindergarten, at last! So, below are a few of the flowers I did.



Now, don't expect anything more complicated than this. This is as complicated as I could get. :)

If you know me and you know my attitude towards crocheting, you'd think I would just buy ready-made stuff to remedy my want. But the thing is, I'm easily bored about these things, and I've known that since I was a kid. Therefore, I know that if I buy a package of them and wouldn't be able to use them in one go, I know that I won't use the leftovers anymore in other projects. Besides, I really, really don't want lots of unused things in my stash. I have an extremely small space and I don't want to cram it. It's already crammed as it is.

Same thing with alpha stickers or rub-ons. It's either I cut the letters out if I want dimension, or print what I want to say from the computer, or just write it by hand. It's more economical and besides, what do I do with the leftover Zs? If you prefer the stickers or rub-ons or stamps, it's ok because they are alright too. This is just a personal choice. I don't mind those extra time doing them because it's fun. It's creative fun!

June Update: Mulberry Paper

I love mulberry paper. It's thin. It's textured. And can be adhered very, very easily if a bit messy. But that's ok! I make sure that the surface to be adhered to is painted with white acrylic first so the softness of the color shows. These utility and patient card boxes for a dentist/friend are wrapped in light yellow and lavender mulberry paper, which are similar to her clinic's color scheme.

I tried cutting out paper flowers out of them too, and it turned out gorgeous. I love it. I think I'm going to experiment on different shapes and layers of flowers and butterflies in various colors. These are a couple of thank you cards for my friends, Linda and Katja, who are two of the most generous people I know. Love you, ladies! I'll send them out when I could get out. :)



Most Annoying Questions

1. When are you going to have a boyfriend (or girlfriend)? If you're single.
2. When are you getting married? If you're in a relationship.
3. When are you going to have a baby? If you're married and have no kids.
4. Why don't you have kids already? You're not getting any younger. If you're married for a few years and have no kids.

Well, it's none of your business. If ever you have any compulsion to ask any of the above questions, stop yourself because they are NEVER welcome.

It may be well-intentioned but still... DON'T. Just don't.

I want this... I mean, really, really want this....

(This photo is obviously not mine, but I hope one day I'll get to take a photo of my own copy.)

It's the Journal of Impossible Things by Prof. John Smith from 1913.

It's a journal full of drawings and thoughts about the Doctor from Prof. Smith's dreams, and it feels nostalgic, quaint, sad and full of memories. And for someone like me who does things with my hands including handmade journals, this is very, very appealing.

I'd love to have this. I mean, really.

Elmer Box Sets


These are the box sets I did for Gerry's comics, and I'm proud of them if only for those corners and how the lid and the bottom part fit the way they should. I forgot to take photos of the interior before we distributed these yesterday. I'll make it a point to take one from the next batch.

For details on these box sets, please see Gerry's blog here: http://gerry.alanguilan.com/archives/1332

And by the way, for those emailing me and asking if I accept orders for boxes of any kind, I don't do bulk orders. I do these things myself and it takes some time to finish each of them. These and the earlier ones are special orders customized to the need of my customers.

Hardbound Elmer

Gerry asked me if I could make hardbound compilations of Elmer to be included in a boxset for him to sell. So, this is how it come about so far.


For details on the boxset, visit Gerry Alanguilan's blog here: http://gerry.alanguilan.com/archives/1282
And now, for the box...

Souvenir and a Gift

Hello again.

This is a souvenir I did for Ed and Anne's wedding last December. I did 9 as giveaways for their principal sponsors. The book was handbound using 4" x 6" spiral notebook. The spine was sewn and the covers were made from a thick chipboard. I don't remember the thickness but it's definitely less than 1/8". The box was made from 4-ply Bristol board but they were wrapped with pink (their motif) Bazzill cardstock for the top part and white for the bottom part. It also has a beaded bookmark. I wrote the monogram in gold pen. Although, if there are two letters, do you still call it 'mono'? I really have no idea. I think I'll look into that.


This, on the other hand, is a gift for my goddaughter, Heaven, who was baptized on March 8, 2009. I hope she'd like it when she grows up. I know Honey, the mother and my friend, loves it. :)

Anyway, it's just a simple accordion album made from chipboard so it could stand if they'd like to display this. The layout is as bare as possible because the patterns are rather too busy as they are. On the other side of the accordion are baby and Christening poems and my message to her. I'd like to write the poems by hand myself but decided to print them out. I'm not scared of my handwriting. My hands are just shaking today... I wonder why.

I wish I had taken better photos. It was rather dark inside the church and I could have used flash but I'm scared of using flash because most of the time, they make the subjects flat and scary. I know, I still have a lot to learn about photography. Lots and lots and lots.


And speaking of handwriting, my friend suggests that I post some calligraphy samples here. I'll try to make some samples first to post.

New Year, New Resolve

Ok... Happy New Year! I know, I know! But the papercrafting business thing went so well last holiday season that I completely forgot I have a blog. I hope to do something about that this 2009... update, update, update and post more photos!

Anyway, last Saturday, I stayed up very late to find out who the next Doctor would be, and I must say I'm willing to wait and see. If Steven Moffat chose him, he must be really good. But yeah, I'm still mourning over the fact that I won't see David Tennant next year anymore as the Doctor. And it breaks my heart. Oh, grief!

Ms. Ilyn is a licensed architect who decided that teaching arts and crafts, or making them, is way more fulfilling than dealing with contract documents, estimates and technical specifications. She taught Architectural Drafting and Painting to High School Students for five years, and Arts for Pre-K to Grade 3 Pupils for three years. Now, she's back to dealing with the nitty gritty of architecture, but the meditative aspect of papercrafting remains unchanged.

Please email us at: info.paperbasket@gmail.com