Schemaholic

New Blog Home!

2013-04-18T09:44:00.000+08:00

I finally moved the blog and merged it with my shop! Check out the site over it's new address at www.thelistlab.net. See you there!

Streamlined Life: Back to the Drawing Board

2013-01-11T21:36:00.001+08:00

a new "big-girl" toy for me!

Happy New Year! My last leg of 2012 had been incredibly busy and 2013 is bringing so much excitement for me. 2012 had been getting my feet wet on creating passive income and I'm glad to be pretty successful on achieving it. 2013 is opening up a new biz idea and taking it to the next level.

So...back to the drawing board and creating awesome stuff! My arms are filled with business, marketing, art and design books and courses and I am happily engaged on each one of them.

What are you looking forward this 2013?

Awesome Life Practices in "Real Life" Part 4: My Body

2012-12-07T02:42:00.001+08:00

Last week, I attended our high school reunion and had a super awesome time! A batchmate commented on how I didn't look like I had a baby. High five! OK, confession time. Here's a peek at some of my daily routines logged at my ListLab planner on how I take care of my body.

I've got special routines on the list like thyroid meds for my post-therapy maintenance and bone stretching exercises that a physiotherapist taught me to take care of the "very mild" scoliosis I got a few years back. The question I simply want to convey with this post is "What practices can you realistically do daily to take care of your body?"

Lately I was able to squeeze "walking" to my daily routine before and after work. It feels good that little things like this can add up to become a good habit and eventually a healthier lifestyle change. Take it a habit at a time. Make it something easy and fun. Herbal tea break, anyone? :)

Design & Style: DIY Wedding Hairstyles

2012-12-05T19:54:00.000+08:00

Don't you just love it when you recommend a resource to a friend and he/she actually uses it? I asked my sister to take a look at this hairstyle book and a few days later, she sent me a link of these hairstyle pics that she did herself.

Neither my sister nor I is good at styling hair so I was pretty amazed at what she came up with within a few minutes of giving the instructions on the book a try. She told me it was actually easy and the only tools she used are a comb and some bobby pins. The lower left pic (called the Sweeping Twist) is my favorite. I might just use it on her wedding!

Awesome Life Practices Part 4: My Body

2012-11-30T20:25:00.000+08:00

I once told a friend that I would love to give a talk on self-care someday. Not because I'm an expert but because I am genuinely interested on that topic myself. It took me years to fully appreciate the uniqueness of how my body works and I am still continually finding and doing ways to take care of it the best that I can.

I'll talk more about my real life practices on my next post. Have a lovely weekend everyone!

New to this series? Check out the introduction and sources HERE.

Design & Style: My Sister's Wedding Suite (A Sneak Peek!)

2012-11-30T19:28:00.000+08:00

I started designing my sister's wedding suite a few weeks ago. Check out the draft above (dates shown are prior to change).

My secret sauce for my creative process for this project are my husband's inputs and comments. My sister wanted something FUN and I initially thought of a circles and swirls patterns but my husband came up with this brilliant paper plane theme. Nel & Ramil met abroad and the idea's just perfect. I can wait to finalize the details and see all of these designs printed!

Awesome Life Practices in "Real Life" Part 3: My Nutrition

2012-11-10T23:59:00.001+08:00

Prepare and cook your own food...that's my best tip about nutrition for you. It sounds so simple but by doing that, you get to control everything that goes to your table and get to appreciate and enjoy the process of food preparation. Learning about good eating and cooking practices is really the foundation for optimal nutrition.

Above are images of what's cooking at our kitchen recently. From top to bottom: Puttanesca, Pancakes (from scratch!) with Fried Apples, Salmon with Cream and Chicken BBQ with Mixed Veggies. Props to my husband for teaching me how to cook!

If you feel you still need more skills to feel comfortable in the kitchen, check out Jamie Oliver's Home Cooking Skills website. Seriously helpful. Join me as I learn, too!

Design and Style: ListLab's New Collection Sneak Peek!

2012-11-02T03:22:00.000+08:00

I've had many requests for printable binder sets in portrait orientation over my ListLab Etsy shop. Finally, they're in the works! Here's a sneak peak of one of the floral themes I'm working on. I just woke up one morning inspired to go crazy with flowers and plants icons for the headers. I'm crossing my fingers I can release the complete collection before the year ends!

Awesome Life Practices Part 3: My Nutrition

2012-10-31T01:54:00.002+08:00

One of my "health heroes" is Andrea Beaman. She was able to heal herself from her thyroidism not through medication or surgery, but through healthy eating. I had undergone radioactive iodine therapy before I learned about her story. I am amazed to discover that I could have healed myself using the power of food alone.

These days, I am more in tune with what my body craves and what it wants to feel nourished. Since I learned that one of obese people's issues is losing their sense of "fullness", I now I constantly check in with my own fullness.

This poster is my current gameplan. I am constantly learning about food choices and learning more about how my body responds to what I eat as I go. I guess I'm going to tweak and add more things on this list soon.

New to this series? Check out the introduction and sources HERE.

Design & Style: Curly Girl Must-Haves

2012-10-23T21:02:00.000+08:00

I am one happy, curly girl. I wasn't always glad like this about my curls before (you know it comes with free frizz) when I was still clueless on how to manage it properly. I came across with the THE book for us curly girls and my love affair with my curls got SO much better. Tell you what, the secret is simply to give those curls lotsa moisture and lotsa TLC. Absolutely no fine-tooth comb and hard towel rubbing allowed!

I have rounded up my 10 favorite curly hair products that worked for me:

1. Microfiber hair dryer cloth. I got this from a Japanese store and it's just perfect! It's so soft, absorbent and has just the right amount of fabric to cover my head. It's not heavy so I don't worry if my hair is pulled down what an ordinary bath towel does.

2. Lavender essential oil. This is the secret for hair that's always fresh. Place a few drops in purified/distilled water and spray away any time of the day.

3 & 4. Non-sulfate shampoo and conditioner. Check your shampoo ingredient and make sure it doesn't have SLS (sodium laureth sulfate). SLS is a big no-no for curly girls if you really want to fight the frizz. It's the same ingredient that manufacturers put in detergents and dishwashing liquids. You wouldn't want that in your head, right? I currently can't get enough of Leyende's hair products.

5. Gel. Celebrate those curls by applying gel after you shower. It holds and defines them so much better. I personally looove aloe vera gel.

6. Wide tooth comb. Gentleness is the key, remember? If you can manage combing your curly hair using only your fingers, it's the ultimate TLC! I remember a certain Korean Ms. Universe contestant saying she never used a comb on her hair, just her fingers to manage it and I swear her hair looks great!

7. Blow dryer with diffuser. I made a mistake thinking the cold dry option on a blow dryer is enough. The scary looking (lol!) diffuser is the best tool to dry curly hair quick without destroying it's body.

8. The Curly Girl Handbook. This should have been the #1 on this list. Seriously, every curly girl should own this book. Every tip and trick you need to learn is here. Enough said.

9. 30 Hairstyles in 30 Days. Tired of your same boring style? Try a new hairstyle! This ebook is great not just for curly girls. Try something new today. Twist and pin, how hard can it be? :)

Awesome Life Practices in "Real Life" Part 2: My Money

2012-10-16T14:19:00.001+08:00

My Toshl log dated exactly a year ago. Whoa, on Jam's formula milk bubble!

A preview of Money from the Mac App Store

I have come to know that the only way to make me regularly practice finance management is to make sure that platform is fun, intuitive and easy to use. Here are my fave money apps and software that I personally use or have used in the past.

Web apps:

Toshl. This is a real fun way to tracking expenses and income. Its colorful bubble chart can easily point out where most of your expenses are.

Outright. I only had to plug-in my Etsy account and Paypal details once and this seamlessly automatize tracking for my online business.

Paypal. I use this on everything from business to shopping to donations giving.

Citiseconline. Yes to online stock management! I'm learning more and more about this and I have found Truly Rich Club real helpful as I navigate this site and the world of stocks.

Desktop App:

Money (Mac). For a comprehensive (but not boring!) money tracking including investment tracking, this app is worth the investment. (The truth is, I love anything by Jumsoft. :) My future blog freebies might feature cliparts by them.)
Numbers (for Mac)/ Excel (Windows). These 2 good old softwares could be your simplest but most effective solution for finance management. I use Numbers for almost every table and list I could think of. I especially love their Personal Budget template and I highly recommend it if you wish to put your yearly finances in perspective. Recently I modified their Checking Account template with their "Fun" chart color palette and had been using it regularly since. Numbers' charts makes it very easy for me to discuss finances with my husband. I like pretending I'm in a boardroom discussing company numbers with him, haha.

Iphone Apps:

Expenditure. This was the first mobile finance app that I used. Gotta love its receipt-style clean and intuitive interface.

Weave. If you wish to track your business and personal finances in one app, this is the perfect! They have the most helpful customer service, too. I always get a reply on my inquiries within 24 hours from them.

Toshl & Paypal apps. Sync it good!

As always, I'll update this list as soon as I discover more awesome apps!

Awesome Life Practices Part 2: My Money

2012-10-11T18:28:00.002+08:00

The series' second installment is finally here and it's all about money!

I used to hate managing finances. I'm not good at math and I just feel heavy all over when the topic of finances comes up. Now, I'm slowly learning how to make abundance flow naturally in my life and I'm getting to know its spiritual (yes, I said spiritual) role in the universe. I also found tools to make its management fun like Toshl (real cheap subscription, you'd want to pay more because of the app's fun and intuitive approach) and these pretty finances printables over ListLab Etsy Shop (Don't tell me you're still using boring planners.:)).

Above is the list of my financial gameplan. What does yours look like?

New to this series? Check out the introduction and sources HERE.

P.S. The pattern on the image are arrows going up and down depending on how you look at it. What direction did you first see?

Eco Loca: One Ingredient Beauty

2012-10-04T14:42:00.001+08:00

I realized I left my favorite face cleanser the moment I got to the plane. I doubt it's available here in the UAE and thought of getting a replacement. I brought a big bottle of honey though for my big home spa treat plans for my husband and remembered reading about women who uses honey as their face cleanser. It's been a week now since I gave it a try and I'm glad to report that I do not miss my old cleanser at all. It is probably because I need all the moisture I can get due to the drying effect of the warm tap water here.

I love mixing my own beauty products but I still find that one-ingredient beauty products are awesome. They save time, save money and their pure properties do the job well. Here are my favorite one-ingredient examples that I personally tried:

Face cleanser - honey

Face toner - witch hazel

Makeup remover - sweet almond oil or sunflower oil

Face moisturizer - peach kernel oil or wheatgerm oil

Face mask - honey or egg white

Hair treatment - aloe vera

Body Deodorant - baking soda

Green juice - barley grass powder (Powerful stuff, this literally cleared my sister's goiter bump in the neck in one week! Drop me a message if you're curious where to get this in Manila.)

I'll be adding more to the list as soon as I discover more great natural ingredients. If you have children in the house, don't forget to put label in your cosmetics bottles!

Awesome Life Practices in "Real Life" Part 1: My Environment

2012-10-03T20:40:00.000+08:00

Hi, everyone! I'm blogging starting today from sunny Abu Dhabi! It had been a week since I got here and I really had a fun bonding time with my husband.

Today I'd like to share a picture of how I and my husband applied the first part of my Awesome Life Practices Series in our environment (check it out HERE if you've missed it). I was able to make some final rearranging of the furniture in our studio here this morning and took a snapshot. Shhh, my husband doesn't know the changes I have made yet. I was pretty pleased on how every single thing has a purpose inside the house. We do not permit any useless stuff lying around here because of our very small space and it's a pretty good rule to avoid clutter.

You will be shocked to see my part of the closet now (my husband's side had always been super neat). I had only retained the type of clothing that I feel good in and gave away the rest. I'd like to credit Dressing Your Truth program, by the way, for teaching me the right fashion based on my personality. I say, try it, too. It seriously helped sartorially challenged me!

I feel light because the space breathes and is warmed by glorious sunshine. I also like how the colors blend beautifully together and how the simplicity of our space here opens me up to creative possibilities. If ever I make some more styling and home craft projects (yes!) here, I'll let you know, of course.:)

What's your awesome life practices for your environment?

Awesome Life Practices Part 1: My Environment + An Intro to the Series

2012-09-15T16:48:00.001+08:00

"How you start your day is how you live your day;

and how you life your day is how you live your life."

- Louise Hay

I'm stretching myself in this blog today. For the first time, I'll be posting a string of posters that I made about "best life living" and I call this series, "Awesome Life Practices". At first glance, the posters look like a long list of to dos, but they're actually super doable real life practices that I believe can be incorporated in our modern lifestyle and are the ingredients crucial to form an awesome life, at least for me.

After giving birth to my daughter, I had the chance to do some "soul searching" (a big Thank You to my husband for the time he gave me for this) and I was able to meet a garden of ideas for this series that I had been mind-mapping in my head for so long.

These are not guidelines for everyone to use, I'm sure we're all different, but this can serve as an inspiration for you to create your own list. In fact, I urge you to try writing about your own practices today! Don't think that everything listed in the posters are practiced by me 100%. I'm as imperfect as the girl next door. My desk can get super messy and I still find myself in ugly, ugly situations. I use these posters as a reminder for my "Best Self" to rise to the occasion. Simply put, to answer, "What would my most awesome self do?"

Since my work deals with designing living spaces, I was inspired to kick-off the series with the "My Environment" poster. The poster titles for this series, in no particular order of posting, are as follows:

My Environment
My Mind & Spirit
My Money
My Relationships
My Nutrition
My Body

I guess the stretching part comes in the practice of being gentle to oneself. Maybe there'll never come a day that everything in our awesome life practices list will be ticked off. We might never even have the perfect home or relationship or body... and that's OK. As long as we do what we can today, as long as we make the best choices we know today, as long as we take the step that we can today, life will unfold the "most awesome" way it can. Once we get up, show up... we are actually living our best lives already and cheers to that!

Keep your eyes peeled for Part 2!:)

Click HERE for this series' sources and inspirations!

A P.S. from ListLab Shop: If you've been wanting to get some items from my Etsy Shop, now is a great time. I'm throwing a sweet birthday sale on all items till October 7! Use the code BDAY15 upon checkout to avail your 15% discount. Click HERE to visit ListLab Shop.

Design and Style: DIY Mineral Makeup

2012-09-13T17:24:00.004+08:00

Hi, folks! I made make-up this afternoon, yay! :)

It's been a while since I touched this stuff from my previous biz. I'm meeting my sister in UAE soon and I thought to pack some for her. It's actually pretty easy to make powder foundations, correctors, blushes, bronzers and eyeshadows once you have all the tools and ingredients with you.

When I was pregnant, I got so anal on the ingredients of the products that I put in my body like bismuth oxychloride from commercial mineral makeup. I made sure I only put the ingredients that I feel comfortable with when I started making these for my personal use.

My chemical engineer sister & I spent hours perfecting our formulas. We might make it available to those who are really interested for a fee someday (Hmmm... a formula ebook, maybe?). Today, I'll walk you through the basic tools and steps in making these beauties.

Super Simple Tools:

a digital scale
plastic/metal scoops
tiny plastic cups
coffee grinder, or...
mortar & pestle

How to Make Mineral Makeup In a Nutshell:

Prepare Your Work Area: This DIY project can get very messy. Use a disposable cover for your work surface and sterilize/disinfect all your tools. Use a mask to protect yourself from inhaling the fine powders.

Make The Base: This is done by measuring and grinding with a coffee grinder or a mortar & pestle, ingredients like titanium dioxide, sericite mica, zinc oxide, magnesium stearate, silica, boron nitride, kaolin clay, and rice powder.

Add Color: Add oxides to the mixture if you wish to have a matte finish. Add mica if you want some sparkle. You can mix different colors of oxides and mica together (This is the fun part!). Grind again.

Test the Shade: Streak the grinded mixture to a paper or to your skin. Add color or base (if it's too dark) if necessary.

Transfer to a Container: You can use a folder paper or ketchup bottles for this step. Works like a charm!

That's about it. I hope you enjoyed this "kikay" post. Stay beautiful everyone!

Mica galore enought to make your head spin!:)

Light and Grace: The Jesus Biography

2012-09-10T09:54:00.000+08:00

I almost titled this post, "The Book I Was Almost Scared to Read". Philip Yancey, the author, of The Jesus I Never Knew, said in the book, "No one who ever meets Jesus ever stays the same." and a part of me knew that even before I started to begin reading.

During university days, our class were divided to report on Jose Rizal different roles: Rizal as Student, Rizal as a Lover, Rizal as a Child, Rizal as a Traveler, etc. Our group was assigned the big topic on Rizal as God. We hiked Mt. Banahaw to explore more on the topic, went to the Rizalistas churches, interviewed people and researched our brains out. I can just imagine what Philip Yancey went through to finish this important book.

I cried more than 3 times while reading it and had to put it down more than 10 times to take in its contents. The book went through every detail (except the Cavalry's gory details which he intentionally left out) he could gather about Jesus' life as a human being. Just like a riveting novel, it will get you hooked from the story of his birth (it is so fascinating how this was chronicled) and will carry on from one revelation to another. Yancey's attempts to analyze Jesus' human feelings on important stages in his life is a must read. It made me see Jesus in a very different light.

I had posted about C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity before and its forceful lines is worth quoting again because it is tied very much on how one can approach the biography of the God-Man named Jesus:

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on the level the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse."

Eco Loca: Lip Scrub-A-Dub

2012-09-01T11:45:00.000+08:00

Just to humor you a little, after posting about quitting sugar, my DIY post today is made up of 2 kinds of sugar. This is my favorite lip scrub recipe and it is based on the book Green Beauty Recipes by Julie Gabriel. It does a great job of removing flakiness and dryness on the lips and it smells delicious! You only need a few minutes to whip this up and you can store it for 3-6 months.

How to make this Yummy:

Simply mix equal amounts of muscovado sugar, caster sugar and jojoba oil (1 tablespoon each), 10 drops vanilla extract and 1-3 drops peppermint essential oil (This is optional according to the book, but I recommend you really add this to develop a fresh scent. Peppermint EO is very strong. Start with 1 drop then see it you need more.)

Lightly massage the lips in circular motions with this scrub, then rinse off. You can instantly feel the smoothness of your lips after using it. Try it!

Foodie Round-up: Quittin' Sugar (Join Us?)

2012-08-31T21:30:00.002+08:00

"Jen, OK na ko." ("Jen, I'm OK now.), Ma said with a big grin in her face. She just came from the doctor's clinic that day with test results on her hand. After weeks of quitting sugar, she was able to normalize her alarming high sugar level and dismiss problems with her kidney. Weeks before that day, I joined my mother on her "quitting sugar journey" because I simply love wellness experiments and I know it can help me regulate my energy levels and even help me shed some weight.

Ma is a pretty obedient patient. I'm giving huge props to her for that. What took the process of regulating her sugar level longer than it should be was our failing to distinguish back then which foods to crowd out correctly. My sister Nel and I went on a crash research on which food to eat and which ones should be avoided. The doctor's advice isn't enough for us. Besides, he doesn't have all day to enumerate every food to include in our diet. We found ourselves repeatedly asking, "Is this OK to eat?"

I came across with Sarah Wilson's site and her first book, I Quit Sugar, and I instantly loved it because of its easy to understand tone. It explains clearly the benefits and the step by step process of dropping sugar. The last thing I wanted to do that time is to read a bulky medical book. Her book was a quick, very informative read. I learned that there were still a lot of hidden sugar culprits on our diet, stuff that were sneakily causing Ma's sugar level to go up.

Quitting Sugar(Fructose) Tidbits & Takeaways

- Mama's favorite bananas are high in sugar.
- Coco sugar also contains fructose. (That's a no.)
- My favorite 70% dark chocolate contains sugar, too. If you wish to quit cold turkey, drop this, too.
- Stevia is a great alternative for sugar. It's super sweet! I have no idea where to get this in Manila. The image shown is from my last box from Dubai.
- Coconut flesh & water is our savior when craving for sweetness. - I used to believe honey & agave is OK, but apparently, they are also high in fructose.
- Ketchup and tomato sauce contains sugar. Remember that before you eat that menudo, caldereta and spaghetti.:)

Right now, we are slowly introducing sugar back to our diet. We are aiming not to exceed the recommended amount per day. I'm happy that our little experiment was a success as shown on Ma's test results and I plan to stick with making wiser food choices that involves less and less sugar from now on.

Light & Grace + Free Stuff: Belief Busting Affirmation Cards

2012-08-25T13:16:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I had the chance to carve time and finish my Digging Deep journey (which I HIGHLY recommend if you wish to overcome a barrier in your life and if you are ready to move on to bigger things) and I had come to realize the power of affirmation and the different ways to declare it. I am aware of affirmation concept before but only yesterday did I got convinced of the truth and science behind its ability to turn around negative beliefs in our system. They are SO many ways to declare affirmations and one of them is the visual way. I'm guessing that it is the most effective way for me so I'm starting with that. I tend to rewrite my affirmations and I come up with different ones regularly so I thought of making an editable template for my wonderful declarations.

Of course, you get to join me, too, if you wish! Download my freshly-made printable 'Post-It' size affirmation cards on the button below. Each card has a typable field that can contain 4 rows of text (please make sure you have Century Gothic font when you use this) and a gold glitter motif. The sparkly look makes me smile by just looking at it! Tack it (I love using old earrings, check out the image above.), tape it, leave it everywhere it can regularly be visible to you. It would be awesome to use your own handwriting for your affirmations, too.

Important Affirmation Writing Tips!

Digging Deep suggests that affirmations should be on the present tense (hence the words "I AM" on the cards), should contain positive words (no "don'ts" or "can'ts"), should feel real and believable and should be specific.

If you wish to dig more in this entire powerful process, join us in the tribe here!

Aha's & Musings: How I Got Rid of Envy

2012-08-15T03:07:00.000+08:00

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have." -Hebrews 13:5

One day, I became aware I that I was feeling that icky emotion of envy again, when suddenly, something occurred to me that paved the way to quiet envy for good in my mind. I allowed myself to imagine I was already the person I was envious of. I visualized it because that is how we had programmed our minds to be -- that if we could be like that person or that person or better than that person, we'll be fine. And so there I was, in my mind, already that person I was envious of, and I came to that conclusion that -- it is not true. I was still envious -- now with that person's friends, with different people from that person's circle.

Envy stays because I allow envy to stay. Its residency on me is not dependent on how good or pretty or smart I am but on my permission to see my lack instead of the God's grace in me.

These things helped me kick envy out of my system:

Recognition of God's providential power & choice that lead to every detail of the "self" that I am and constant gratitude towards Him in faith that all that I am is a creation perfected by Him.

Free Stuff: Messy Desktop Wallpaper

2012-08-07T10:38:00.002+08:00

Click image to enlarge

Do you love saving files on your desktop? I do. Yep, I do it all the time. Looove dumping files on the desktop! I thought that if I find it too hard to file my documents neatly in folders like my husband does, maybe there's a way I could "clean up" my desktop somehow. I quickly made a desktop wallpaper after breakfast today and came up with a partitioned design with sections for home, personal, work & biz, blog & tech, inspirations & play. Ah, my desktop looks so much better now. Here's how it looks like in action:

If you want this for your desktop too, you can click the download button below. This fits a 1280x800 screen and the layout is ideal for a Mac with bottom icons but if your screen has a different resolution, let me know and I'll consider that when I update this post or on my next wallpaper freebie post. Stay safe on this rainy morning, everyone!

Eventful: Superhero Party Props!

2012-08-07T08:00:00.000+08:00

Reposting this oldie but goodie (my most pinned on Pinterest!) post* from my old blog, Posts by Jen, for my craft-loving new friends. Enjoy!

After much research on potential venues for Jam's 1st birthday, my husband told me he can't come home to attend it. We decided to hold a simpler celebration instead at our house in Antipolo. "Simpler" includes cutting a third of our party budget. Picture lots of DIY and penny pinching, haha! But actually, I secretly liked the fact that I'll be the one in charge of the details. I suddenly remember a quote about exercise by Anna Quindlen:

I feel about exercise the same way that I feel about a few other things: that there is nothing wrong with it if it is done in private by consenting adults.

I was laughing when I told a friend, "It's the same with DIY and crafting. You need 2 things: privacy & a consenting family." With all my "extra crazy" hobbies, I'm lucky I have both. My family is not just consenting, they're helpful (thanks, everyone!). Before I proceed, I'd like to thank my sister Nel for sponsoring our One Charming Party material for this party. I'll lovingly call it OCP for this post because I'll be mentioning it a lot. Here are what we had prepared so far:

Superhero Masks: Yikes, I don't know what this material I used for the masks is called. (Update: According to a bookstore label, they're called foam sheets.) It feels like rubber but it's so easy to cut. I got it from a scrapbook store that I frequent a lot (though I never owned a scrapbook). I got the pattern from this site. I used the scraps to make stars and lighting bolts and decorated the plain masks maskipaps style. Am I the only one still using that word?:)

Comic Book Bunting. Idea from OCP. I cut-out back issues of comic books (as low as 20pesos per book) and asked Ma to sew the bias to hold the buntings.

Crepe Paper Garland. I had my eye on these printed crepe papers a long time ago and I'm thrilled to have an excuse to buy them for this event. This is a cheap, beautiful way to decorate your party venue. It's so easy. You don't even need glue to do this. Check out this lovely tutorial at Oh Happy Day.

Jpeg Banner: We thought of placing the party food just below our TV, so I thought of just making a file that can be shown on the TV itself instead of covering the thing with a tarp. Now, if I can only figure out how to remove the "Sound mute" sign at the bottom of the screen, hmm...

Food Toppers & Labels: From OCP printables. I modified some and clipped images using Photoshop to suit our needs. I guess I'll be changing the foil cake toppers soon. I'm not satisfied with the quality of what I had produced. OC me!

Favors: I shrunk and modified OCP's party certificate using Photoshop for the labels and used a cookie foil from a baking supplies shop for the packaging. I sealed them using a heat sealer. I don't have any idea why we have a heat sealer in our house but I suggest you get one for yourself, it's totally cool and useful! Our favors have sweets and bubble bottles in them. Happiness in a pack!

Puk-pok palayok & Pabitin: This is a Pinoy party and it simply won't be complete without these games. Pa's glad that the pots we got are tiny because the big ones are just not safe for the kids.

Invitations: From OCP printables. I had also modified this one. I deleted the RSVP part and included the details and the guests names. I clipped an OCP image to make the superhero inspired stamps.

Jammy's outfits: These are just adorable, love-at-first-sight pieces.

I guess I ate too much lollipops & chocolates while preparing these but I sure had fun. See you at the party!

*originally posted on April 29, 2012.

BC Bloggers Meme: 30 Things About Me

2012-07-30T13:40:00.001+08:00

I want to start the week with a good dose of self lovin' and acceptance so let's get it on with this awesome meme:

1. I'm a mom to a smart and achingly cute one-year old girl named Jamia.
2.  I married the super-man who was my seatmate on my first day at work in Dubai.
3.  I'm a licensed Architect. I placed 4th on the June '06's architecture board and was the only girl on the top 10 that time. Ad majorem Dei gloriam! You're making a very wise decision if you hire me. *wink*
4.  I'm also a "tubera". I'm a licensed Master Plumber.  I placed 9th on the Feb. '08's board and was the only girl on the top 10 at that time. Seriously, girls rock. Rawwrrr! :)
5.  I'm ornithophobic. I'm scared shit of birds--> of any kind, even it's just a picture or a drawing. I scream & run away when I see one. I had embarrassed myself so many times because of this.
6. I like to sleep when I commute. I have no problems imagining that a vehicle is my bed. I had embarrassed my siblings so many times because of this.
7. I have a severe case of palmar hyperhidrosis a.k.a. sweaty palms. I tried so many things to get rid of it and even resorted to using electric current but I still have it. When I draw, my tracing papers get wet, crinkly, and yucky. I hate handshakes, job interviews, driving and singing "Ama Namin" at church.
8.  I was apparently "asintado". On my archery P.E. class, the coach offered me to join the UP archery varsity. I turned the offer down.
9.  I have scoliosis. My left shoulder is lower than my right shoulder. I need to perform bone stretching exercise every single day because of it.
10. I have hyperthyroidism and underwent radiation therapy for it. I need to take hormone supplement every single day because of it.
11.  I know how to make my own beauty and home products and is pretty OC on it. I'm our family's resident wannabe chemist. I even know how to make my own makeup & I used to have my own makeup business.
12.  I can't swim. I hate the beach and the idea of having sand on my undies.
13.  They used to call me "Amazona" in college because I used to love working out and my body frame looks masculine.
14. I'm a Libran and a great part of me craves balance in all aspects of my life but... when I work or in the process of creating or designing, I'm off-kilter. I'm pretty intense and focused so as not to lose my momentum.
15.  My favorite bookstore section is marketing/business, self-help & wellness. I'm not a big fan of fiction.
16.  I make lists for everything. Hence, the idea for my ListLab shop.
17.  I recently stopped spending too much on stuff. I just don't crave for them now. I now spend more on learning about stuff. I like the idea of arming myself with knowledge enough to make me dangerous(ly effective).
18.  Instead of racking my brain how I can save $10, I'd rather spend time thinking how I can earn $100.
19.  I bought myself a ticket to Italy and Spain but never got there. My company that time didn't let me. Since then, I learned that successfully climbing the corporate ladder will not be my career's ultimate goal.
20.  Because of my high eyebrows (lol!), I look mataray and unapproachable. But if you can really get to know me, you'll learn I'm the warmest person evah!
21.  I don't like watching TV. OK, maybe except for Eat Bulaga. :)
22.  Writing is not one of my greatest strengths. It takes me forever to write a very short article/blog post like this.
23.  I experience lucid dreams & astral projections (pretend you didn't read that if I just freaked you out) since college and up to now I don't know what's the use for those things.
24.  My perfect daily meal includes 1 cup of herbal tea, 3 glasses of green juice and 1 piece of 70% dark chocolate.
25. I have very few friends. Each of them happens to be awesome. Our favorite topic when we meet for coffee/dinner is high school bloopers.
26. I have a cool father and a "one-of-a-kind" mother (More about her on this blog post.).
27. I like clean lines, solid colors & minimalist design. I love well executed graphic design and typography.
28. I'm an introvert. I'm happy and at peace when I'm alone. I can attend & socialize on gatherings but I prefer not to stay too long. Otherwise, I exhaust myself too much. I'm a scanner. I have too many interests and my game plan to merge all of them is in progress.
29. Someday, I'd like to teach women about courage, stillness, forgiveness & strength.
30. I submit myself to God and recognize that all that I am and have is grace from Him.

Free Stuff: Stationery Dreamin' + Free Planners[Promo Closed]!

2012-07-22T14:24:00.000+08:00

I finally launched my Coloured Stationery Theme at my ListLab Etsy Shop last July 1. Weee!

A quick back story: When I was a kid, I collected stationeries. I had boxes of different kinds then. I was fascinated with their graphics, colors and sometimes even with their scent. I thought hard how can I re-create a stationery and I was determined to make one. I took my crayons and bond paper and drew lots of flowers and other lovely things and then... I smudged my drawing with my fingers to achieve pastel colors effect on the sheet (Please remember I was about 7 that time, haha). I smudged all day and I wasn't able to achieve the commercial, divine look of my stationery collection. :(

Fast forward: I grew up, learned a few tricks with making graphics and developed a passion in organizing. I finally was able to make my own stationery in the form of printable planners that I can use in my daily life and I know would be useful to other list-lovers as well. I'm so happy! :)

Get your FREE editable printables! [Promo Closed]

I'd love to share my planners with my blog readers! I opened my Etsy Shop last March but I just focused greatly on it this July when I lauched the Coloured Stationery theme so the shop is relatively new. I would very much appreciate your help to spread the word.

1) Just tweet or post in Facebook (public post only so I can see) or make a blog post promoting my ListLab Etsy shop link: www.listlab.etsy.com. Please promote wherever you think most of your list lovin' friends/followers/readers are.

2) Choose ONE printable collection (Please click the link to see images and description.):

- Home Management ($19 value)

- Business Management ($13 value)

- Blog Management ($18 value)

- Productivity Essentials ($16 value)

- Finances Essentials ($9 value)

- Health Essentials ($9 value)

- Plans & Projects Essentials ($9 value)

- Poster Collection ($9 value)

3) Send your post or tweet link and your choice of printable collection at THIS FORM until July 31, 2012. So easy!

4) I'll then send you the awesome EDITABLE printable collection that you had chosen in Coloured Stationery & Classic Monochromatic theme that lets you edit and save in your computer. There'll be no more raffle because everyone who helps me promote gets their choice of planners!:)

Thanks so much in advance and happy listing, friends!

P.S. If you wish to buy ListLab's printables with instant download links (no more waiting!), please click HERE.