Aggie Shoots. Aggie Scraps.

And here is my take:

I’ve been enjoying the dares lately. Love the ideas of the darers! Im actually trying to come up with a clever layout for the next month’s dares

Heehee:)

Layout Process:
Mine is simple and graphic – I did some creative cropping on the photo, saturated it, used Cori’s papers as an overlay (blend mode: hard light) and the rest is pretty self-explanatory.

Credits:
Cori Gammon and Traci Murphy – Pure Energy
Cori Gammon – Wow That’s Graphic (Paper used as Overlay on Photo)
Fee Jardine – Black Jack Alpha
Robin Carlton and Christy Lyle – Elements from Squiggle It (Paintbrush and Crayons)
Natalie Braxton – String a Ling
Katie Pertiet Digital Dates No.11
DJB Tweenybopper
Journaling:
You have been creating as soon as you learned how to hold a pencil. You have inherited our family’s love for the arts and have been creating artworks in your sparetime. You would always request for art supplies as one of your gifts during Christmas so that your supply would not run out. More than creating, however, I love how you give your artworks to us and dedicate them to your family. You have a habit of surprising me with a card you drew and made for yourself, and inside it would read how much you love me. I find it so sweet that you come up with those things on your own. You are inherently sweet and thoughtful, You CREATE art not for yourself but for ME, your DAD, your LIL SISTER, and our extended family.

I love you for that. I hope that sweetness never changes.

I get to host the Color Challenge on the SSD blog today and I chose my all-time favorite color combinations: pink, blue and brown

I finished my layout here at 3AM because I just cant stop making it It’s a little busier than my normal style but I loved the final outcome.

Layout Process: This layout was born out of a memorable day I just want to scrap – the pictures were awful. We were going out on a typhoon (which progressed to Signal No.3 that night) and all pictures were crap But I love how the pictures really show what happened so Im thankful there is such a thing as post-processing. I defogged all of them, converted them to B&W and did some peach overtones after (all Itty Bitty Actions). All pictures were grainy so I had to make them small.

Arranging them in the canvas was hard – I love multi-photo pictures, but I dont do multi-photo pictures well. What I do all the time is come up with a design and plop my pictures in (more like a template). I move things around a lot but it is easier for me.

I’ve been wanting to play with the awesome triple scoop of Dani, Shawna and Traci for too long so this was the perfect time to scrap some pictures I wanted to document. The colors just compliment each other so well.

**Click on the picture to view larger.

Thanks for looking

It’s my turn to host the One Word Challenge for SSD this week and I chose this word:

And here is my layout:

**Click on it to view it larger.

I have had that word stuck in my head for awhile now because most blogger friends would comment that Martha is blooming under my care (iba daw talaga ang alaga ng ina). I have had Zoe’s Bloom and Grow kit specifically for it and when I saw Gina’s layout using Fuchsia’s Give Me Green Grass alpha (it’s on sale at Catscrap right now – 25% off) I knew Id like to incorporate it somehow.

LO process: I did post processing on the photo (had the contrast upped a bit with more saturation) did creative cropping and “extended the photo”. I dont know if you noticed but I had the left side of the picture extended with another grassy picture . Then I wanted somehow to convey I “cut” the alphas from the grass in the picture so:

I put the alpha on the picture, selected the alpha (“shift+click” on CS3) – youd see there will be marching ants around the alpha, went to the layer of the picture and click on “Delete”. The photo will now have a “mark” of the alpha. Then I just positioned the alpha under the cut portion.

I also thought the wings would be a nice touch so I put the wings on top of the picture layer, made the opacity down to 50% so I can see the picture underneath and then just erased the overlaying part of the wings that cover Martha with a lasso tool (that’s how I did it, if you have better ways, please let me know). It can get edgier and unreal so I softened the edges with a blur tool.

That’s it! I hope to share more of my process with you

Another Peppermint Creative layout here, and Im most proud of this one because I experimented with my usual style and it turned out nice

**Click on it to view larger.

The layout uses Miss Mint’s Patchwork Princess Kit. You better get it if you have a cute princess to scrap about – I love the elements (I need to request for more doodles!)

The layout was also “fingerpointed” at the Gallery Standouts. It’s my first time to get featured in the blog and it is really flattering.

LO Process: I picked out a cute picture of the princess and worked around my way around the doodle mat. I also did creative cropping as the original photo was her on the center and I wanted to journal on the photo to make it more “freestyle” I wanted a cluster of flowers onthe bottom working all the way around the photo but found the word tabs work perfectly for ym subject. I found the gingham ribbon to provide a nice touch to my title.

That’s it

(I actually like that I’m able to “share” my layouts in detail on the blog these days. Im working out on a format Id like to carry out but as you know me, Im so messed up sometimes. Let us see how long this lasts). I havent been busy that much so I can afford to blog – and SCRAP! there has been more work on real life – we are tempted to buy a property which is selling for so cheap – it can be classified as commercial real estate already but it is primarily a residential area. It is a property with apartment that we can use. Let us pray for a sign if it’s for us.

It is getting harder and harder to scrap about my little man these days. Everyday we are in a constant battle of wills and even if I do end up winning (he obeys), I still feel like a loser because I raised my voice or lost my temper. I know that he didnt really “obey” but just “followed”.

Hmm, that is a challenge. How to make him obey. AND how to put that situation in a scrap page Heehee.

Though scrapping girl pages are easier for me because of the abundance of nice girly kits out there, I know how to appreciate a very good boy kit when I see one. I really dont lean towards the uber grungy stuff because my little man is not like that – he is more like your preppy geek, boy next door type.

And Miss Mint does the most flexible and awesome kits out there. I always feel Miss Mint needs more recognition than she gets as I can scrap with her kits interchangeably and still get a different look each time (same with Kay Miller). Her designs just speak out classic stuff to me.

Look at her Hey Dude Kit.

I love the circle mat, the nice textured papers (there is a graphic one I think Ill use a lot!).

Here is my layout:

*Click on it to view it larger.

Edil lost brakes last Friday . It was a blessing he was driving slowly and he was very near a gasoline station. We need to buy specific car parts like the hose that connects the brakes to one of the wheels so that it wont happen again. Edil drives a lot – he is into sales of pharmaceutical medicines so he does field work a lot. He also drive to Amadeo on weekends. I pray he stays safe all the time.

Create yours here.

Here are what came up for this blog. I used the black and white versions, I find it so nice.

This would make a nice accent to a personal space, Im thinking a poster on a wall.
Or even a scrap page I think I saw a product like this at OScraps.

That’s another find over the web courtesy of bloggrazing at Google Reader .

Google Reader is such a nice tool for me to read so many blogs. Im a blog stalker. I keep myself entertained, informed, connected through other people’s blogs. Blogs are the next best thing I tell you! I get to know the latest on entertainment, the nice cutesy shopping finds over Etsy, great design ideas for pages and even houses, where to get the nicest lingerie aside from VS *wink*, and those cutesy little shirts you see online.

And no, Im not paid to advertise Google Reader. I just prefer it over Bloglines

Thanks Alpha

You Are Andale Mono

You are a geek, pure and simple. You spend a lot of time online. In fact, you probably love the internet more than anyone you know. You are picky about design, mostly for readability’s sake. You are the type most likely to be irritated by a bad font.

What font are you? Tagging all Bebots

I have been trying to get health insurance plan quotes for us this week. I am so intent to get us all HMO cards – Im not going to risk our health and avoid not going to the doctor because we dont have any money . Martha has cough for two weeks already and Im going to take her to her pulmonologist this Friday when we go to Manila. I hope all will be well (Im sure going to burn a hole in my pocket). There are offers of life insurance no medical exam plans but it is not our priority yet.

If you have potty-training kids or stories to scrap, you NEED Heather’s Big Girl kit!

It has a boy version too, so you can get it separately or in a bundle.

Martha has been very successful in potty-training so I managed to get three layouts done – potty training stories done
You can click on each image to view the credits and read the journalling on a bigger screen.

Thanks so much looking!

If Martha has been successful in the potty training department, I have been trying to be successful in the weight loss department. 3 weeks and 10lbs down. The loss is not that apparent yet (Ive got more to lose) and sometimes I get so impatient, but I have to remind myself lifestyle changes take long. There are people who do surprisingly well with health supplements like Orovo, but it really isnt for me.

Yes, I do have some scrap updates!

I have CT goodies to share, layouts to share, a toot to share, an exciting concept to share and many many more.

But I need to tell you one thing that extremely frustrates me – I cant scrap because my code for my CS3 seems invalid. So I need to wait for Edil to go home tonight and hopefully get a solution done.

Where do I begin?

Well, it’s offically rainy season here and all our swimwear are now tucked in for safekeeping until next year — I still havent scrapped ALL our summer photos (I think Ill never be able to do all of it).

Here are some happenings from my creative teams – I will share layouts later.

SSD has a new designer – none other than Kay Miller! We also have six new babes – you need to check out the staff page!!!

Kay Miller is back with the most awesome kits – Swim Team, Miami Pink (you need to check out the swirls on this one – seriously fantastic and very versatile), and a two scoops with Robin Carlton – Hitched.

Miss Mint (Peppermint Creative) has drowned us with the most awesome stuff – and her freebie should not even be a freebie, in my opinion! I love her templates, her two kits, her alphas – well, everything!!! I have most of the layout ideas drafted by darn CS3 wont work — ugh!! She has everything on sale for 20% until the 16th so better stock up!

And tooot — Im a Darer! I cant wait to be able to share my ideas with you guys – watch out for more ideas and freebies soon