Idol Round 5

I was out of the game but I promised to follow the challenges. So here's my take on Round 5 - No Photos Allowed.

For this challenge, we should use a flower, a metal embellishment, stitching, doodling, rub-ons. In addition, there should be a pocket or an envelop. We were not supposed to use photos, only ephemera or memorabilia. I used my wedding invite, our wedding program, and thank you card.

Here it is!

Invite inside the envelop

Invite shown

Close up of the silver rubons

Credits: Cardstock - Bazzil; Patterned Paper - Basic Grey Lily Kate; Fabric flower - Prima; Metal flower - Crafting Studio; Paint - Making Memories; Embossing Powder, Rub-ons, etc. - can't remember the brands. :)

After I finished this, one of our helpers took a vacation. So things got a little busy on the homefront. I became a domestic goddess and I had to give up my weekend scrapping for 3 weeks. Ok, ok, I'm making excuses for not being able to do the last few challenges. So, I guess this is the final challenge for me.

Can't wait for the next Scrappin' Moms Idol challenge though. Hopefully, I'll do better next time. :)

End of the road

When I finally finished my Round 4 layout Sunday morning, I looked at it and told myself that “this will have to do”. That pronouncement sealed my fate. So, while I had been hoping to go further in this competition, I was not surprised at all when I didn’t see my picture in the top 18 participants last night. While going through the entries which were posted Thursday afternoon, I knew my layout would be in the bottom three. I already told some of my friends, as well as my hubby, “katapusan ko na ito”. Looking at the other entries, I just knew that this round, others are more deserving to be in the top 18. Sad but not defeated. I’m happy enough to have gone this far. I’m happy to have scrapped 5 weeks in a row without buying new supplies – yes, I just used stuff that I already have.

Seeing the challenge for the week, I immediately knew it will have to be my Mac, and I knew my title will be “Mac My Day”. I actually loved that concept. Unfortunately, I faltered in the execution. For one, I couldn’t get a decent picture. We’ve had an overcast weather the whole Saturday and there wasn’t enough natural light to go by. Using the flash is out of the question as the Mac’s white surface will just reflect the light. It was already late afternoon when I finally got a good shot. So I now have a photo, but how would my layout look like?

By dinnertime, I still didn’t know what to do. For the first time since I joined the competition, I am in a creative rut. I tried to sketch but nothing came out of my head. I knew I’d like to put in some elements like the white Mac logo but I couldn’t put the page together. I’ve wasted lots of papers (I’ve cut, adhered, and threw away at least 3 cardstock and at least 2 patterned papers) as I was not satisfied with the look of my initial attempts. By midnight, I had to “settle” with the look I came up with. I painted the chipboards and went to bed thinking that I just need to emboss them the next day. I did finish my layout by Sunday morning. I liked it but something was missing. I didn’t stop hoping that I might somehow make it but well, you can’t get everything you want every time.

So, how do I feel? Of course I am saddened that I am no longer in the race, though I was actually dreading the showdown at the Scrapfest. It’s one thing to rush my layout at home where I have access to all my tools and materials. It’s a completely different story when I’m in a venue full of talented scrappers with only as much materials as I can carry in a reasonably-sized bag. It’s been a blast nonetheless. I enjoyed the weekly challenge and the anticipation of who stays in the game. I loved the fact that I get to scrap weekly. I am thankful for the new ideas (like using monochromatic schemes, using fabrics, etc.). So thank Scrappin’ Moms for an awesome experience.

I am thankful for my friends who never fail to boost my confidence. To quote one of my colleagues after I told her this morning that I’m out of the game, “to me, you’re still a winner”. How can I ask for more?

Last and certainly not least, I am thankful for my number one fan, Ariel. I thank God for having a loving hubby who supported me all the way. Even as I was texting him yesterday afternoon that it could be my last hurrah, he kept encouraging me and telling me that he believes in me. More than anything, I thank him for selflessly giving me some alone time on weekends, even if that’s the only space in our hectic work-life when we can actually spend some quality time together. Through it all, I never heard a single complaint. Thanks honey!

So, would I still join Idol if Scrappin’ Moms decide to do it again in the future? You bet I would!!! Can’t wait!

Altered What?!!!

It wasn’t an easy challenge. Well, it won’t be called a “challenge” if it wasn’t “challenging”! LOL. What I meant was I never altered before. I’ve beautified (like wrapping shoeboxes in Cartolina so my shoe storage would look nice), but never altered an item to change its reason for being (my shoeboxes are still shoeboxes).

As soon as I read the Round 3 challenge, at the week hours of Friday morning, images flashed through my mind. Tabo to desk organizers. Hanger to memo or photo holder. Trash bin to magazine rack. Empty mayo bottles to ribbon organizers ( I have lots of mayo bottles!). These were my last few thoughts before drifting off to a deep slumber. Fortunately, I had lunch the following day with a colleague who is also a talented artist (one of her paintings hang in my office and one at home), and she threw some ideas at me. One of her suggestions was to create an electric lamp using a cookie jar. The term “electric” got me turned off but I liked the lamp idea and I thought I’ll just make candle lamps from what else…my mayo bottles!!! And so, at around noon of Friday, August 23rd, my round 3 idea was born.

Other than thinking of which item to alter into what, my next big challenge is incorporating 4 non-scrapping materials. Well, I thought this was difficult at first but it turned out to be easier than I thought. Some materials will be inevitably used to complete my concept – like the wire (for hanging) and the metal rods (for the chimes), jump ring (also for the hanging mechanism), aluminum foil, to hold the candle and to add sparkle in the chimes. I also used a smaller mayo bottle cap to hold the candle. Come to think of it the candle is another non-scrapping material. Also, while paint is generally a scrapping material, glass paint isn’t. So that should count too. Plus the relief outliner. (The glass paint and relief outliner was purchased in Singapore 6 years ago!!!) Well, it doesn’t matter. I met the minimum requirement of four non-scrapping materials.

Anyway, I loved the outcome. Why haven’t I thought of altering before?!!! It would have been a great recycling project. Hmm…now I am eyeing all our empty mayo bottles. You can view my mayo bottle lamp/chimes here (other views - body, beaded wire, chimes, lighted)

Check out the rest of the beautiful entries here.

Donna is Pick of the Week, again!!! View her chopping board turned key and bills holder here. That’s two in a row. Not counting the other accolades this girl is bagging here and there. Congratulations Donna!

My best wishes to all the participants. You’re all so talented. It’s such an honor just to have my work on the same page as yours.

IDOLized

When I first heard that Scrappin’ Moms will launch an 8-week scrapping challenge, I thought long and hard about joining. That’s because it’s our Annual Brand Planning at work, and it would be the busiest time of the year. It usually lasts around 4-6 weeks, with the kick-off on the first week of August, and the deadliest schedule happening within the first 2-3 weeks. I was afraid I won’t be able to commit to the weekly layout submissions. And the thing with this Idol challenge, I can’t make a layout in advance because I have to know what the challenge for the week is. To make the long story short, I decided to join anyway. I thought it would be a welcome break for me from the busy work week. It would be my way of relaxing at the end of the week.

I was thrilled to know I made it through the elimination round. I’m happy to say I also made it through rounds 1 (Stuck on Cardstock) and 2 (What's your color?)! Yahoo!

This week, the challenge is called "Alter It" and the task is to alter a household item. Three non-scrapping materials should be used in the altered object and it should be used for a new purpose other than the original use of the item. This is one tough challenge for me since I haven't really altered anything.

I hope I make it to the next round! But it’s really tough since everyone is just amazing. The layouts are unbelievable. I guess that’s what I like about this challenge. Since I’m seeing what I am up against on a week to week basis, I really get pushed to do better and better, to the point that I have to go beyond my comfort zone. In any case, I am so enjoying this process. Despite the fact that it’s a competition and people get eliminated weekly, I can honestly say that I don’t get stressed out by this. I guess that’s because I see this challenge as 1) an opportunity for me to scrap – which already makes me very happy!; 2) a way for me to de-stress – so what’s the point of scrapping if it will add to my already stressful week?; 3) an opportunity for me to learn and grow as a scrapper – that’s the whole point!; and finally, 4) a means for my work to be featured side by side with some of the country’s best scrapping talents - who can ask for more?.

I'm in!!!

I passed the elimination round of ScrappinMom's Idol challenge. I actually made a layout and submitted it to the Scrappin Moms Idol Challenge. Click here to see my entry. As mentioned in my previous post, I am bent on scrapping my wedding photos so I can hit two birds at a time - join a challenge and ease out my wedding photo scrapping backlog. This challenge is no exception. I'm just glad that the first round allowed us to use any photo so I was able to use one of my faves. It's a picture of me and Ariel kissing during our reception.

Anyway, the first challenge was to scraplift a layout made by our "idol" - an international scrapper. I had three in mind and on top of the list is Cathy Zielske. My other options were Ali Edwards and Elsie Flannigan. I love Cathy's clean and simple layouts and her scrapping style in which the photo and journaling are the center stage of her pages. Her layouts always tell a story and it's clear that she doesn't scrap for the sake of scrapping. However, since her layouts are usually very simple, and usually made of cardstock only, I foudn it difficult to find a layout that will take me through the elimination round. I finally settled on a layout I found in Clean and Simple Scrpabooking The Sequel (page 21). This layout has a monochromatic color palette which I love, but there are a lot of patterns. She used foam stamp (which is unusual for her) on her lo and I love the effect. As usual, she used a b/w photo that really stood out against an all-pink background. I scraplifted the monochromatic look and the b/w square photo. For my own layout, I used shades of lavender which was our wedding color.

I used different pps here as well as cardstock which I run through my Big Impressions embossing pads (I am so loving it!!!). I smeared white paint all over the page elements including the photo. I also did a bit of hand-stitching here and there for that shabby chic and romantic look. I enjoyed making the title the most. I painted several layers of lavender and white on chipboard and sanded it so that a bit of both colors would show. I thought of layering it with UTEE but decided against it as I prefer the "distressed" look.

I wrote my journaling at the time I was making my layout and I must say that it came from the heart. The title sort of summarizes the journaling. A day after I finished the lo, I took a look at it again and thought my journaling and title were so CHEESY!!! But who cares?!!! They came from the heart and so be it!

Anyway, I didn't get eliminated on the elimination round, so I guess the cheesy title and journaling weren't so bad after all! Haha! Here are the talented people who made it.

For the 1st round of Idol, we were supposed to use cardstock only, that is, no patterned papers. Read about it here. Suits me well, since I love the clean look of CS. The main challege for me is that 50% of the base CS should be visible. Hmmm... How do I do that?

Anyway, as of this writing, I've finished my layout already and is ready to be emailed to the Scrappin Moms. Yahoo!!! Watch out for it. Will post it as soon as the entries are already in the gallery. All I can say is that I love the photos I used in this layout and I used an analogous color scheme which perfectly complemented the photos. (*wink*)

Good luck to all 30 of us. I know it's not easy considering that we are "competing" against really talented scrappers, some of whom have already won multiple challenges. I wish I can say I'm in it just for the sheer fun. Yes, that is one of my reasons. But I am also hoping to make it to the finals. Who doesn't want to win? In any case, I promised myself I'll make my idol layout week on week even if I get eliminated. Will just post my own los here in my blog. Keeping my fingers crossed!!!