That Day in November

Hello everyone!

I hope it's great where you are.

First of all, we, here in the Philippines, experienced the worst typhoon in recorded history ever, as I'm sure you all know by now, and our countrymen from the south experienced the worst. There are relief stations set up in places but you can also donate through Red Cross below. Just click the image to direct you to the site:

In other news, I survived my first semester in my chosen MA. I'm finding Curriculum Studies really fascinating, and I'm realizing Education as a course is really hard. I had a hard time adjusting to academia, I don't even know if I've adjusted yet, but it's very exciting to have my brain exercised that only academics can. I'm enrolled for this semester and, hopefully, I won't have any reason to stop until I'm finished with my thesis. One of my professors suggested a very, very good topic that I'd really like to explore. It has something to do with heritage conservation, K-12 curriculum and nationalism.

Less than month ago, I took a trip with the husband! However, I'd write about it some other time. I don't think it's the right time to talk about with what happened yesterday. As a sneak peek, though, this is where we went:

For the next few days, I'll be busy with some bookbinding, slipcases and boxes that would go together for a special project. Here goes something all black. I'll talk about it when it's finished. I have yet to find some red boards for the lining which I haven't found after visiting some supplies store.

So yes. Papercrafting is still a go. It's not going to be as often as I would like it to be. Sometimes, I'm just exhausted thinking about curriculum-related things whether I'm on either side of a lesson plan. I hope it changes soon enough.

Till later.

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.