Happy Holidays!

My Christmas has been both merry and sad. 

My 5 yr old nephew, Dion, was pushed by a 4 yr old boy into the river and drowned a week before Christmas.  It hurt sooo much losing someone close to you in that manner. After him,  my inspiration and greatest teacher ever, Lola Aque, passed away last dec 23.  She was one of my motivations to take up education and it hurts me that i haven't finished the course before she died because I planned to dedicate my diploma to her.  She has also instilled in me my love for the children and for our environment.  The way she shared her life and love for every living thing is truly inspirational and very contagious. Her shoes were too big for me alone to fill in  but i will do my best to keep her teachings and ideals alive by sharing them to others and to my future kids.

On the other hand, the sight of happiness on every child's face as they receive and open their gifts last Christmas was really magical.  Even adults (like my loved ones and me! of course) have little children inside their (our) hearts that just couldn't wait to open the gifts under the Christmas tree.  It's really something that we always look forward to every Christmas. 

As much as i wanted to make this Christmas a handmade one,  I just couldn't finish all my desired projects in time.  So I wasn't able to give everyone a handmade gift this holiday.  But this year has been a very good start on my Handmade pledge.  I can't share pics right now of all the gifts and decors I made but i promise to share when i get back online next week.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I am wishing a prosperous, happier, more blessed, more creative, and more magical new year to all of us!

love, ails

pretty stressed but inspired thursday

I had a wonderful time crocheting with Jas last night.  For our session, i decided to re-introduce to her the "double stitch" (dc) because she asked me about treble in a text message the day before.  So i printed a copy of The Royal Sisters' Grandma Trees DIY because the pattern uses dc or treble stitch and i thought that it's very timely for the holidays. We set a time limit on our craft date until 8pm only because we had to be home early. And in less than one hour of crocheting we were able to accomplish half of the grandma tree. Yay! It was fun and we learned alot from that session. hehe. i also taught her one of my tricks that worked even if it's not in the instructions.  we decided to meet again sometime this month for another crochet session.  I'm excited!  Crochet is one hobby that we can do even without a craft table.  Yes, both of us are in a situation where we do not have our own craft table/space in our apartment.  She used to have one but the typhoon Ondoy last September ruined her house. 

On the other news, I've been a busy bee again in the office today.  We are polishing our workprogram for 2010 plus we are also preparing for the Exporters Forum on Monday, Dec 7, 2009.  We're really busy huh!?! It's actually an extra technical work for me because it's not part of my work as librarian.  But i'm enjoying the challenges and experiences i learn from being in the technical working group of the Product Research and Strategy Group. I'll just share with you some pics of the library where I'm working.

 some shelves and tables in our library

that's me in the User-Assistance counter

my fave nook in our library ^_^

Visit our website here.

Oh and i also got my certificate and some pics on the Basic Barista course last Nov.5. 

this was taken after steaming milk

 

Look, I'm pouring steamed milk and foam on my cappuccino.  Hee hee but i still don't have the skill of pouring milk with art.  It's something that i have yet to learn through practice.

love, ails

P.S. I made 2 cads last night. i'll share pics later. ^_^  xo.

WoW

I can't believe it! I received an email from Blizzard Entertainment last Nov 30 to notify me of my free 7 DAYS of game time in celebration of World of Warcraft's 5th Anniversary.  Here are what's in store fo me within those 7 days:

• Grab your own 5-year anniversary pet, the Onyxia Brood Whelpling, just for logging into World of Warcraft during the celebration.* 
• Find the Night Elf Mohawk to get your Mohawk Grenades... and help make Azeroth look “goooood”. 
• Battle the newly updated level-80 version of the fearsome dragon Onxyia in Dustwallow Marsh. 
• Answer the Call of Crusade in Icecrown, and take on all-new dungeon and raid content.  
• And more to come... including the epic final confrontation with the Lich King himself.

I'm excited! it's been months since I suspended my account in WoW and i kinda miss it. Hmmm...


be back later for an update on my date with Jas last night. ^_^


love,
ails

cure needed

this day would have been perfect until my migraine started once again.  anyone knows how to cure it?  i'm desperate. and i also have 3 HUGE ant bites.  all of the scars on my legs and feet are from ant bites. :(

anyway, while my kool and i were printing Men.Real shirts yesterday, a customer saw us and asked my love to make her a shirt design for her tire company.  we were excited!  look at what my love came up with this morning here.

i have a date tomorrow with Jas to learn some crochet techniques with her. I saw some DIY designs on the net this afternoon and i'm preparing myself on creating those projects with Jas tomorrow. I can't wait even with this headache!

i just feel bad for not making anything today.  i feel so disabled...

oh! and Just already got her huggers.  and she even gave me a gift for Christmas! she's so sweet! i plan to open it on Christmas day along with my other presents.  i wonder what gifts will i receive 24 days from now... hmmm... maybe i should start posting my wishlist too. that'll be fun! i'll do that tomorrow when my eyes and head are rested and fresh. sweet dreams lovelies!

xo,ails

long weekend this november

Hello! I'm going to the province for another long weekend so i'll be offline again for 3 days.  but before i part with you, i want to share these huggers that will leave my hands on Dec 1.  These 42 huggers and 40 pie boxes occupied my spare time in the past 2 months and i had sooo much fun making them. ^_^

They will soon find their new home and I'd surely miss them all.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

And have a lovely lovely lovely weekend!

xo,
ails

oh my!

i came across The Purl Bee's blog and found this lovely GIANT granny square! i love the colors! and i wanna make one too! ^_^ sooo lovely!

quick post after a movie date

i'm so way behind my online class because i went to a movie date with my kool.

On our way to the ticket booth, we came across Santa's lovely place!

I found Comet there waiting for the others so he had a few minutes to pose and chat with me.

Then my eyes went super W-I-D-E when i saw Santa's little carts full of treats for good kids like me!

And look what Comet has given me for being extra good this year!

they're adorable! and they made me so happy! i could go home right after having those but i remembered that we are watching New Moon tonight.


i also found these lovelies near Santa's place.  Aren't they gorgeous? I'd love to have those furniture in my house.

Then as we bought our tickets, the lady in the booth gave us 2 booklets of discount coupons for buying 2 tickets of New Moon at one time.  So sweet! too bad though coz i don't really enjoy mall shopping lately.

Anyway, i think the movie was cute.  and i think the shots are artistic so i enjoyed even the corny stuff. i can't really decide which team to choose - team Jacob or team Edward.  which team are you on?

Oh! and i was shocked to find Lucian there as a vampire and not as a werewolf! Ha! I love him more like this..

ok, i'm off to bed. i'll check my online class tomorrow morning and introduce myself to my classmates. 

xo,

ails

cute turtle

i am having a very busy day today in the office when suddenly a gift arrived with this cute little turtle ring!

I'm gonna call it Brave. Brave is not afraid of anything and is always ready to speak her mind.  She loves orange that's why she painted her house that way and she also loves to travel. Look she's looking at the world map to see the places she hasn't been to yet.  Here's her close-up pic.

Isn't Brave gorgeous? ^_^ She's with my Middle finger now.

Thank you so much my friend!

xo,

ails

a lovely little trip in Quiapo

i went to Quiapo after office to buy some yarn and look what i found! i thrifted these 4 cute little dresses for less than $6! Yay!

aren't they lovely? i love the prints! i just hope they fit. otherwise, i'll be challenged to alter them. ^_^

and look, my roommate found this one cute for his Monito! they're told to give "something green" this week. he's just so sweet! ^_^

ok, i'm going back to my craft table to finish some more orders. lovely night, isn't it?

xo.

ails

new School

Yay! I'm soooooooo excited! I just ordered a slot in Ms. Elsie Flannigan and Ms. Leigh-Ann Keffer's ...

If you're interested to join too, just click on the image and you will be directed to their store.  So fun!I can't wait for their email confirming my admission to their lovely school!


Btw, sorry for being so quiet for a long time.  I've been busy at work and with LAI's orders.  But I'm happy to say that i'm halfway done with my orders so I'll have more time for some personal (non-business) creations. ^_^

Update:

• 13 Coffee huggers (WDPL - for Christmas)
  
• 42 Coffee huggers (JL - Dec 1)
• Gift boxes for the 40 Coffee Huggers (JL - Dec 1)
• Handcrafted cards for George's baptism (Nov 13)
  
• T-shirt Printing (SR - December) halfway through Yay!
  
• T-shirt Printing (AR - December)
• T-shirt Printing (MR - December)
• T-shirt Printing (MTVA - December)
• T-shirt Printing (AF KMAC - Nov 30)

I'm going back to work.  and i still can't get Style School off my mind! i hope they start emailing us of the supply list. ^_^

xoxo,
ails

i heart HANDMADE

eversince i got so obsessed with crafty/creative blogs and etsy shops,  i started losing interest in mall shopping. i only visit the mall when i needed to buy paper and craft supplies in an instant. and sometimes, to meet with friends and watch a movie. 

i am more interested now in buying handmade or making my own instead.  I have some lovely ideas for some handmade projects for myself that i want to start when i'm done with all the orders.  These ideas  are of course inspired by my favorite blogs listed on my left sidebar.  Visit them too and get inspired by their creations. ^_^


i would also like to share this fabulous and HUGE giveaway happening only at Leigh-Ann's blog. Check it out and join in the fun too!




btw, i skipped my class tonight.  i'm not proud of it but i did it out of necessity.  :(  - ok, this is gonna be the last sad statement i'm writing here. 

love, ails

a new friend

i have found a new friend.  Yay! I'm a bit sappy when it comes to friendship but i will restrict myself from showing it here right now because this friend i am talking about is an inspiration.  I love her style, her writing, and her photography skills! You can check out her lovely prints in her store here.


I hope i'll be able to inspire her someday too!

xoxo,
ails

what to watch?

my kool and i might watch a movie tonight.  One of our colleague told us this morning to watch 2010 in cinema because of its visual and emotional effects.  i was excited coz our last movie date was G.I. Joe! can you imagine how busy we have been?  but after giving it much thought, i am becoming less excited about it.  Well i love the idea of the "date" itself.  But i am having second thoughts on the movie.  I am actually becoming MORE excited to watch 500 Days of Summer! yes, i know i should have watched it on its first day but my/our schedule wouldn't permit. 

So which movie do you think is better?  Should i go for the visual effects of 2010 or for my love of Zooey?

love, ails

G's album

Here are the photos taken by G of the mini album i made for her. I'm soo glad she liked it. ^_^ it's my 2nd album so far. I hope i'll get even better on my next one.



And for the coffee hugger box, Justerine liked it too. She just requested for a silver ribbon instead of the festive one i used before.

xo, ails

handmade box

Justerine asked me if i could make her some boxes for the coffee huggers she ordered. I told her yes, i can. Now that she's on her way back to our country, i needed to finish the box design for her approval. Here's what i made just now...


It's a perfect gift box for LAI hugger this Holiday season! ^_^

Without the box, this is the usual packaing of LAI huggers...


Which would you prefer,? ^_^

xoxo,
ails

Saturday Love

there's a new reason for me to love Saturday more. It's my 11:30-2:30 Dr. Dizon class in UP! He's one of my fave educ professors coz his anecdotes and philosophies keep my heart for children with special needs aflame.


i'm gonna write down lovely quotes from my classes and i'll share them with you here. these are so much more interesting than the lessons. hee hee

Lucky for me, my classes this semester are all fun! Both my professors promised us an easy course and i believe them both. Ha! See, in my Saturday class, i got assigned to group 4 or the Creative Drama Therapy group and our final project (60% of our grade) will be a demo class at the last Saturday of the semester. That's gonna be super fun!

Plus, i get to take pictures in UP again! Like last Saturday, i got some wonderful view and luckily, i have my Smena with me. I hope i was able to capture the mood with the right focus and the right framing. I'll share pics when my film is ready.

On the other news, our little puppies are running now. yay! And they already share their momma's food. So cute! Look at Patty here as she tried to get up. Her sister's asleep during this time.




i hope you had a wonderful weekend! And i'm wishing you all a fun-filled week ahead! ^_^

love,
ails

another HUGE update : Part 2

Yay! This is a super blessed and magical day! My dear Kool passed the Board Exam for Librarians! The results are viewable here. I am uber excited for next week coz we are gonna celebrate with my kazinz in Sta. Clara! We might also celebrate this weekend in the province! Yipee!

I attended my first class this semester on Values and Education. I zzz-ed a bit at the start of my prof's lecture mainly because my body was dead tired. yes, i can do that sitting down. ^_^ but after that, the discussion became more interesting. i like my prof's sense of humor. and i like his philosophy too. He even has a blog! Check him out. i think he's pretty amazing! ^_^

That's all for now. i have some cuddling up to do. I'm just super happy tonight!

sweet dreams everyone!

love,ails

a pretty HUGE update : part 1

Ok. I have been pretty quiet in the past couple of weeks. That's because I've been busy creating a set of baptismal invites of pretty little Georgine. I made 5 samples for Steph to choose from. And she asked me to merge two of my designs which is a bit challenging 'coz i first thought that it would look cluttered. So technically, i ended up designing another card that would include the elements she wanted. My client wanted the pink bib, the ribbon and flowers, and the dots background. And these are the results...

The base card was Pastelle Natural cardstock. I used Fiskars Dots embossing template on a pink Flamingo cardstock (well i actually requested it from my friend Janice coz she has the Dots template. Thank you dear!). The pink bib, gems, and the purple flower patch were from National Bookstore. The pink flowers i bought in Quiapo (i got this idea from my friend Jerosha. Thank you dear!). The ribbons are from SM Department Store with Janice's help again in sourcing supplies. The circle cardstock was also Pastelle Natural and the punched & petal-ed pink cardstock was Moods. I used my Coluzzle to make the petals on this round pink cardstock - this part is the hardest coz i had to cut each petal one by one! Plus, i had to punch each petal again one by one with my Crop-a-Dile (from my friend Claire. Thank you dear!). Isn't it nice to have creative friends that inspire you everyday of your life? ^_^

The samples i made are as follows...(Guess what are the cards she chose to merge? *wink*)


Another thing, I made an altered CD album for G. She's a great digital designer and has given me an altered CD case frame. So i thought, why don't i try to alter somethign too for her? Unfotunately i wasn't able to take snapshots of it. Maybe later when we have time in the office, i'll ask her to bring it so i can share the album with you. ^_^

One more thing, my sweet cousin Tom, asked me to make him a card for his 1st monthsery with his lovely Milleth. This is what i made for him. I really really love this card too. I stamped the white hearts with the CTMH stamps Claire gave me. The sentiment "LOVE" was from my Hero Arts Christmas stamp. Inside this card is a precious moment image that i colored with Faber Castell color pencils.


And the card below I made for my sweet boss coz it's her birthday today! ^_^ I wish to give her a handmade gift too but it's gonna be later next week coz i right now i need a little rest. I've been up til 3am ( I wake up at 5:45 coz i have to go to work) for 3 consecutive days to finish the baptismal invites. Plus i have to finish the handmade box that for Just together with her 42 Coffee Hugger orders. I'm actually excited to do this even when my body is dead tired.^_^


That's all for now. I wish everyone a magical weekend! coz for sure, I'll have one too. See, i'm going to the province to be with this little cutie. My sister told me that Tweeny and Patty are walking now! Yay! I can not wait to play with them!



xoxo,
ails

learning css

Even with a very hectic schedule, i managed to tweak the css format of my blog yesterday. Thanks to my basic html course 10 years ago, i can understand a teeny weeny bit of programming. ^_^ i enjoyed playing with the format yesterday - expanding the width, playing with colors, etc. Now that i have the layout that i like, i need to move on to designing and embellishing it. I also would like to make my own widget. ohh so exciting!
























this day's gonna be a very busy day again just like yesterday. So before i put my head on my tasks for the day, i'll share this lovely lady's photostream in flickr. I like her style. The picture above, entitled "studying tips: best study habit is cramming," reminds me of the night before my board exam. ;-P

lovelove, ails

Happiness

Happy Wednesday!
























I found a new artist to love! Yay! I so love her style and I just realized that she's one of my fave stamp designers for the longest time too. Lovely!

xoxo,
ails