2nd chance

i couldn't believe my lucky stars! here i thought it was the end of the line for me at the Top Designer class/challenge over at BG. Then I got a PM from Tracie telling me this:

You have been selected as the Wild Card Player for Class 6.

I was given a username : **WiLdCaRdEiGhT** so I could play along anonymously. How fun was that!? :D

All I had to do was follow a set of rules, all in the name of anonymity, and of course, to create a LO (no family/identifying photos allowed) for Class 6 for me to be back in the running.

Challenge was to break a few scrapbooking rules here and there with the end in view of making our pages eventually come together by putting in our personal flair.

A final note from Tracie:

Please note that there are no guarantees that you will make it through to the final assignment.....but I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you as I love your style.

I tried to come up with a LO at the last minute as I found it tough just to find photos that couldn't be associated with me. I worked on my page on Sunday morning. 1st attempt looked kinda messy coz of my paint job, but I managed to salvage my orange lace cardstock, paint stains and all, and use it on a fresh sheet of cardstock. This time around, I was hesitant to stamp with paint for fear of messing up yet another paper, but i wanted the page to look grunged up a bit, so I did it anyway. I like the results, even if i do say so myself. lol.

Here's a few rules I broke, I think:
BALANCE: right-heavy page. photos, embellishments and papers were all placed on the right side

COLORS: page colors not coordinated with those in the photos.

VISUAL TRIANGLE: none used

UNITY: photo sizes used were not the same

GALLON QUART PINT: none followed

How I added my style
1. used a short title
2. clustered photos
3. clustered embellishments
4. strip journaling
5. simple embellishments/minimal hand-cutting
6. didn't fill every space on the page :)



i didn't make it to the final round, but I'm glad to have made it this far in the contest, and more importantly, to have been given another opportunity to play again :)

Good luck to the Top 10 (11) girls who are in it for the final round. You are all very talented, can't wait to see who comes out to be the 2nd Top Designer! :D

it ends tonight

i excitedly conceptualized and created my page for this week's class/challenge COLOR PSYCHOLOGY.

Not long after I posted it into the gallery, I found out from a couple of Bad Girls that I wasn't supposed to use a B&W photo. I didn't believe it at first, as there was nothing specific indicated when the class was posted, but apparently, buried somewhere among the member posts, was a follow up instruction that we were only to use colored photos! ACK!! It was too late. I had no other immediate ideas to work with, so I left my LO alone. My only consolation is that I am happy with the way this page turned out - it's almost just as I envisioned it when I was still sketching it out a few days ago.


The honor roll list was posted a few hours ago and just as I predicted, my name was no longer in it :( at least, there's always next year to look forward to. I'm glad I made it to the 5th round this year, 1 round more than how I fared last year =)

moving on

to round 5!! how friggin' awesome is that? never in my wildest dreams did i imagine i'd be moving past class 4 especially because even after 6 days of mulling over the class' design principles (accessorizing + unity, harmony, balance and texture concepts to boot!), i still had no idea what to work on and add to to that the fact that i only managed to find/print out photos well under 2 hours before the submission deadline! talk about pressure! :o whew!

To put these principles into better perspective, Bethany shared these concepts:

UNITY is defined as the visual linking of the elements in the piece. Accessories can unify by providing flow from various areas in a layout.

I tried to achieve it by linking my photos together to show the flow of the action shots better. i also tried to help the movement flow by placing arrows here and there and then i added a small piece of map paper to further reinforce the theme of my LO.

HARMONY is the visually pleasing effect of combining similar elements. This can be achieved through various mediums including color and shape.

For this I used similar photo sizes and colors found in the photos

BALANCE is pleasing proportion. i decided to go for the symmetrical principle.

TEXTURE is the tactile surface of a work of art. In layman’s terms, it is the feel of various elements. It is the smooth wood, or the bumpy lace, the ripple in the ribbon, etc. Some of the easiest ways to add texture are via distressing and sewing.

So I layered, distressed (crumpled, torn, painted, inked) papers, used grunge board, lots of staple wire, distressed chipboard, punchinella, tape label, and metal embellishment.

Treasure Hunters


still can't figure out how i got through this one! haha! but i am glad, of course! ;)

actually, i was even more surprised that i moved on from class 3 (less is more principle) last week - I can still remember how i was booted out of the white space class last year! haha!

What Matters Most


i'm happy about how this one turned out! ;) thanks to the principles shared by Sri Sams.

Achieving BALANCE is the most important principle in creating a simple layout. Balance refers to the weight of a design based on the elements and objects of the design. Balance can either be symmetrical or asymmetrical.

I decided to go for the asymmetrical balance by putting more weight on the right side, where the photos are

To achieve balance, you have to take control of space. White space is always an active element in a good design. White space is also known as negative space. It doesn't mean it has to be white because it can be any color whether it is black, brown or white. It’s also up to the designer to make it an important element of design because if not used properly it can be misunderstood for wasted space. When used properly, it allows a breathing space and provides the simplest way to unite elements of the layout.

I decided to leave out some space above and below the photos then I grouped the embellishments to the left of the photos

Unity is achieved when elements in a given space have a direct, cohesive relationship to one another. Unify elements by grouping elements that are close together so that they look like they belong together:
- Lining up or grouping photos together.
- Use the same color palette throughout.
- Repeat a color, shape or texture in different areas throughout.
- Choose elements that share a similar color, theme or shape.

So for unity
- I used similar photos
- I lined up photos together
- I also repeated/used the same color palette (papers and embellishment colors taken from the colored photo)
- I likewise repeated several round embellishments (flower, brad, clock)

TFL!

blessed

i look at this, my favorite-turned-useless shoe, and i think: "how unlucky can i get. i make a run for the toilet earlier this evening and i end up with a ruined shoe. yep - the straps in front split into 2! did i mention this is one of my favorite pair of shoes? ah well.

i let it pass. there are certainly plenty of things to be thankful for.
* last night, SA girls got together for the first time to scrap and chill out, and of course, to eat! :)



indulged in yummy pizzas, spicy nachos with sour cream (heaven!) a handful of scrumptious cuppy cakes by Tin and some more from Sonja's (courtesy of Mia!) and some wine to boot!

how can you not be fueled to work after that?? haha! i was able to complete a mini + several pages using the September kit and then Mia, our host for the evening, gave out some scrappy goodies :)

* today, my first-born turned 9!!! ack! can you believe that? i have a 9-year old already! how did that happen? time does fly. i'm glad that she isn't all that much of a fuss - she didn't demand for a party (despite the fact that most of her classmates and friends had one this year), and she certainly didn't demand that I be with her on her special day!

Haha!! Yes - on my daughter's birthday, I went to Rockwell to party with Scrapbukan which turned 4 this year. Bumped into some friends and met a few new ones.

* Got to alter a journal which, under ordinary circumstances, i wouldn't do! (it didn't turn out to be everybody's favorite, but I love it! hehehe!)
can you guess which one mine is? *cough* 11! *cough*

* Got to team up with Geng to work on a team challenge and we won!!!!!!!




* Got a stamp I've always wanted for a steal (half off!)


* Got a stamp which CH raffled off! YAY!!


* Received a cute tool bag as a party favor


*****

so G and I didn't throw a party for our girl, but because my mom had been invited to a kiddie party, she asked me to just bring the kids over to her house so she could take them with her to the Makati Sports Club. 5:45PM - I was done with my scrappy party and I called my mom to tell her I was on my way to pick the kids up. Unfortunately, they weren't done yet so I had to find a parking space. Just my luck, a spot was available a building across from the Makati Sports Club, exactly where G and I parked last time we were there to witness Mela's induction as Zonta President this year - but I digress. I get out of the car and try to lock it for something like 5 minutes but it wouldn't. i called G and then my mom to tell them that the car wouldn't lock and that I've decided to just wait in the car until they were done partying. anyways, somebody else seemed to be doing the same thing in the car just behind me. I got back into the car and turned the ignition only to realize that I had left the aircon on. I switched it off and decided to give my car alarm another try. Of course, I didn't see the relevance in this, but hey, I didn't really relish just waiting and stewing in the car. Wonder of wonders, it worked. I quickly got out of the car and crossed over to Makati Sports.

It was already dark and nearly 7 when we were done with the party. It was drizzling so I asked the kids to just wait for me along the driveway while I went and got the car. I was planning to just make a dash for it, but I noticed that the security guard had an umbrella in hand so I decided to borrow it.

A diplomatic car was parallel parking just in front of my car and I had half the mind to ask the girl behind the wheel if maybe she wanted to wait until after I got out of my space, but I didn't bother. Other than the girl in the car, I noticed that the street was deserted - at least, the guy waiting in the car behind me when I got there earlier was gone but there was an empty car in its stead.

After some fumbling with my car remote control (it acted up again for a split second), I got into the car, leaned over to the passenger seat to set my bag down and then to put the wet umbrella away from me. From out of the blue, I felt a guy nudging my butt with his butt, and all of a sudden there he was, sitting in the car beside me urgently saying, "tabi ka jan, tabi ka jan" (move over, move over). I felt like it was all a dream and this somebody trying to sit beside me was perhaps somebody I knew, trying to play a trick on me! I looked and realized this somebody wasn't somebody I knew and I remember myself asking him: "sino ka??? " (who are you?) and consequently, I vehemently pushed him away while saying "alis ka jan, alis ka jan!! AAAAGH!" (go away, go away!). As soon as I've let out that loud grunt, I noticed that he was holding onto a gun and wondered what I was supposed to do next, but for some reason, he upped and left! He walked very briskly towards the opposite direction and I instinctively reached for the door and locked myself in. i steeled myself as I was shaking for a few minutes and then breathed a sigh of relief and thanksgiving. YIKES! :o I never really thought somebody could get accosted that way until it happened to me.

In hindsight, I can't bear to think what might've happened had there been two of them sandwiching me into the car!! I can't even fathom where I drew the strength from to push that stranger away when I did. Truly, God's hand was at work earlier this evening.

more than that, as I recounted my experience to the kids I had in tow, I heard Nikki giving her cousins and her brother a very short doctrine class on the last things (heaven and hell, mortal and venial sins, with a bit of the 10 commandments thrown in). hearing her talk about these things just gave me a warm feeling of thanksgiving that as early as now, in her own small way, she knows how to do apostolate work.

Of course, in honor of Nikki's birthday, my small family went shopping for a gift and then had dinner at Brazil! Happy Birthday, baby doll! May you continue to grow in wisdom and in grace.

we love you and always remember how your brother Ian adores you so - he just had to announce to everyone he met today that it was your birthday and that you were 9! :D

DDD #26

Challenge for the week is to lift a page from Top Designer's Class 1 gallery. This is definitely a doable challenge considering there are many awesome pages in there! :)

I picked this page by Amanda Stanford and here's my version:


materials: Bad Girls September kit, Label Tulip stamp, Dymo, Zig pen, Versafine ink pad

class 2

is all about mixing patterns bearing in mind 4 design principles:

principle 1 - drawing the color palette from the photo itself

principle 2 - gallon, quart and pint: may be used in terms of colors or as in the case of this class, large, medium and small patterns. the large being the 'signature' pattern, it has to be the one that grabs attention.

principle 3 - vary patterns. as a rule of thumb, similar patterns, even if they are of different scales, should be avoided as it will look too busy and cluttered.

Principle 4 - Play! As Emilie Ahern says, there's no right or wrong in scrapbooking. Experiement with mixing patterns and see what mix YOU like. Play with whimsical papers and designs that fit your theme. Play with colors in embellishments and trims. Sometimes you can break all of the rules and LOVE the result. Try a few different things until you get the feel for mixing patterns and you'll be hooked in no time!

Here is my take on this fun class:


TFL!

Top Designer

it's that time of the year again, when Bad Girls Kits hosts Top Designer - a 6-week series of awesome classes and challenges. Even though I didn't make it past week 4 last year, I made sure I 'enrolled' again this year :)

1st class/challenge is all about layering perspectives by Cari Fennell - ack! this is my major problem area! lol! despite the fact that Miss Cari's class was very informative, I found myself delaying my homework submission until the very last minute. A "my dog ate my homework" excuse is simply unacceptable (you don't want to get yourself into detention!) so I found myself working on a page earlier today.

Just as Miss Cari advised - enjoy the whole process - I did :) and things just fell into place (or so I hope!)



Truth be told, the major reason for my delay was the fact that I couldn't find just the right photos. Last night, after hastily editing several, I finally decided on some of Nikki's photos from a trip to a beach in Bacolod. Another reason was finding just the right quotation. I fell asleep in front of my computer just searching for one -- I think I may have stumbled on just the one by Judith Wright - can't go wrong with this, huh? :)

You are about to begin the hero’s journey.
Travel well on the quest.
A life of More is your birthright.
Know the vast resource that reside in you
and are provided for you in the world.





Materials: Bad Girls august kit - that which cost me much angst, just getting it picked up from the Pasay City PO! (heaven forbid i get another parcel routed over there!)

Good luck to those who submit their pages!

DDD #25

Latest DDD challenge is for us to use up our Prima stash - so... digging into my fresh pack of Prima papers, I decided to scrap some really old photos - from when I was still pregnant with Ian. More where that came from! yikes!!

the only non-Prima goodies on this page are the Hambly and Lil Davis rub ons + the pen I used to journal with.

Decided to work on this a little early as I am going on a weekend escapade with a friend! yay! can't wait to pack up my suitcase!

Have a great weekend, everyone! :)

week 3

the last batch of challenges were posted last week and i just had to do them all, lol!

art inspiration- the challenge was for us to draw inspiration from this piece of art

and so I decided to play :)

supplies: Bazzill cardstock, MM acrylic paint, Basic Grey and Fontwerks stamps, Versafine ink pad, AC alphas, Dymo label

up next was a challenge to bring on the bling so i brought it ;)

I applied glimmer mist to the background page and then used other bling-y stuff: Prima say it in crystals and AC alphas
other supplies: Bazzill, Basic Grey stamp, Brilliance ink pad

i had to double my effort for the next challenge as I am truly musically challenged through and through. lol!

first off, i really can't carry a tune - even if you ask all the members of my family! eek! and secondly, i can never think of a song to associate my pages with. a light bulb flickered as i was visiting a blog with a playlist (can't remember whose it is, though, but thanks so much for the inspiration!) i heard a version of Mariah Carey's always be my baby song and ta-da! uhm, it's not so much the lyrics but the title i wanted to use :)


supplies: Bad Girls May kit + Prima flower, Heidi Swapp bling, MM acrylic paint, Lil Davis alpha rub ons

this last challenge was added to the roster as some girls thought it odd that there were only 3 challenges posted for the week and just had to ask for more! (i think i might have been one of those girls, lol!) so, we were thrown the mother lode of all challenges: a 2-page sketch! ack! i almost never do 2-pagers these days for some reason... so this really topped the cake! it's sad... considering i started scrapbooking with the best intentions of doing only 2-page LOs. times change, indeed!



supplies: Bazzill cardstock, Scenic Route and Pink Paislee papers, Pink Paislee die cuts, Catslife Press stamp, Stazon ink, KI Memories alpha stickers

other challenges going on last week:
Rewind - to give a chance to some girls who weren't able to complete previous challenges, or just a chance for the others who have done so, to rack up more points :)

since i've already managed to do all of the previous weeks' challenges, i went for the challenge i love doing best - designer knock off :)
i picked a page by Tina Aszmus
and came up with this

supplies: label tulip january kit (i think) + MM tiny alphas

just for good measure, the last hurrah challenge was posted a day before the last day of the contest - we simply had to pick a page from the gallery. I picked one by Zeldadog and lifted away

supplies: Studio Azul december kit + Scenic Route paper

then over at Bad Girls, the DDD challenge for this week was to scrap something we're looking forward to this September
I had to really think about this one, but in the end, I kept it simple (as usual! ha!)

supplies: Studio Calico (i forget which month) + Fontwerks stamp, Versafine ink pad

round 2

decided to work on a new batch of challenges posted at scrapperie since i had no agenda yesterday morning.

tag, you're it! yeah-huh. we had to make a tag using at least 2 patterned papers, a flower, a button, a ribbon, some stitching, and a monogram. had some fun with this one as i don't usually do tags.


the only thing we had to do for this challenge was for us to use anything but a straight-edged paper. decided to make this a double purpose LO by creating something for the latest DDD challenge as well.


for this challenge, we had to lift a designer and i picked a page by kristi contes:


Challenge was to scrap a photo we took for the 17.08.08 Photography Challenge ack!! we were asked to take a photo of anything and i had to go and take a photo of a bathroom scale! hmm.



had to make a set of 5 coordinating cards and decided to go for an all-occasion set.


thanks for looking and enjoy the rest of the long weekend :D

1st round of challenges

so over at Scrapperie's Scrap-a-lympics, challenges were posted this past week and i buried myself in scrap supplies to complete them all ;)

team spirit (monochromatic team colors)
Bazzill CS, MME & Prima papers, MM paint and staple wires, punchinella, Heidi Swapp alphas, ATB tape, Fancy Pants felt accents, AC pink pen =)

favorite candy
Bazzill CS, MM noteworthy notepad, Sassafrass paper, Pebbles frame brad, Fontwerks stamp, Brilliance and Nick Bantock ink pads, zig pen

scraplift challenge
Bad Girls november kit, MM tiny alphas and paint, Zig pen, LT stamp, Nick Bantock ink pad, vellum paper

(at least) 7 embellishments/techniques challenge
Bad Girls april kit, Teresa Collins card, distress ink, cats eye ink pad

BINGO (i picked the B column limited to the following techniques/materials: stitching, paint, 10 flowers, chipboard, 3 photos). cardstock and patterned paper are free choices

also submitted this page for the latest DDD challenge

Studio Azul Hawaii kit (Rusty Pickle papers, flowers). other materials used: Bazzill cardstock Prima, MM paint, Bazzill chipboard

scrap a challenge photo which reminds you of your childhood
Bad Girls march kit, Teresa Collins card, Zig pen