AROUND HERE, I am enjoying the straightforward way of looking for metal cutting dies. Organizing them this way saves me a lot of time. 

AROUND HERE, I realized that to keep my sanity while playing with a puzzle, I need to have a concrete strategy. I segregate them into two categories: horizontal images & vertical images.  

AROUND HERE, I am almost done with my version of Ali Edwards' Story Play Love Story project. 

AROUND HERE, I finally found a brand of tuna that I prefer to use from now on. 

AROUND HERE, we started using a dehumidifier because of the previous weather disruption last June. A few days later, after putting several of these around the house, I was astonished to discover that, despite the good weather now, there is still excess moisture in the air that might generate a musty odor and mildew growth. 

Ah! It's nice to have my craft corner back. It's been a while since I have had a proper place to do crafting because our rain gutter have pinprick holes that resulted in water leaking into our bedroom walls. 

At first, just a few water leak marks, but after weeks of rain last month, our room got flooded a bit and we needed to remove some of our stuff and place it in our living room. We had a difficult time navigating the area, so we finally decided to hire a professional to make the necessary repairs. 

A few days later, everything looks nice, fresh (with the new paint color), and clean.😍

I'm loving all the art books I was able to buy in some of the secondhand book shops here at an incredible steal price. The best thing is, the books look brand new and have never been used. 

My nephew and I started last April working on a 1000-piece puzzle and we were able to finish the upper half, but life got in the way and we need to stop for a while. Yesterday, I finally had the chance and was able to finish it, but seven pieces were missing and I don't know where they got lost.😕 Anyway, I still love it and I hang it already on our wall.😁

Summer is already here and it heats our days at a higher level. I spend the greater part of my time inside our room where our aircon is located to escape the heat. It drives me crazy sometimes that my skin is drying out even if I drink tons of water. I also crave halo-halo of my favorite food seller here in our neighborhood, but I'm still a little skeptical about going out. Missing our old life, but oh well...

• I purged my craft supplies (again!). I cleaned out two big boxes of assorted supplies that I sent to two of my friends. It's been a while since I last packed a box. Seeing it makes me happy.
• It's my nephew's 6th birthday this week. We love the theme he chose. Plants vs. Zombies. His mom's effort with the cake decoration is on point. We were very hesitant to eat it as it looks so good.

• My color-coded blog topics are up again on my wall. This version of my calendar makes me more productive on writing. I look forward next month to a writing marathon.
• I always start a craft project with a beautiful paper pattern. It sparks ideas in my mind. It made me try new things I only dream of doing. It pulls me out of my comfort zone.
• Ever since I watched this video of Lucy's Antibiotic toast, I no longer used store-bought pasta sauce. I turned the recipe ingredients into a sauce using a small food processor.

One of my favorite month (the other 2 are February & October) because it's my wedding anniversary and it's been 16th years. It's crazy to think that I married him in my early 20's. What did I know about marriage at that time? Nothing. I'm still a baby. It's a leap of faith really. So happy to still be married to the same guy. 

• The July Kit is entirely based on our color scheme. Peach & Light Pink. So delicate and elegant. A classic combination. 
• I've been having a blast creating my own card/mini album/12x12 layout elements using clear stamps+watercolor. I usually do this project in our crafty nights. I'm happy to be saving tons of money by doing this. Also, I'm able to practice water coloring and fussy cutting at the same time. 
• IG Shops keep me sane during this trying time. I'm able to buy frozen fruits without leaving our home. It is really a blessing and a privilege. 
• The longing to see my dear friend Ayien in person makes me sad sometimes. But we are in the middle of the Pandemic and the only way to be connected with her is through video calls. We always end our call with a heart sign. 

Thank you, July. You've been good to me. I hope August too. :) 

...exactly the same with the previous months, but not really. It was a mixed of everything. Good to bad to worse to unbelievable. 

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• I'm able to do a thorough inspection of products and compare the cardstock used in the paper catalog I bought before from a paper company.
• Ordered two kinds of papers by email. I love how fast and efficient the whole process of online shopping is. The papers were delivered the following day. 
• Finally had the chance to organize my collection of beautiful buttons. 
• Tried a new recipe and love it so much. 
• Got a huge discount at KaeraCrafts when I bought from their SALE section.
• Found out on YouTube how far is 10 meters.
• Downloaded the Stay Safe Ph app on my phone.
• Paul Jake (one of my 3 dogs) recovery is so slowwww but we are very much positive that he will get through and be better in the coming months.
• I was surprised by my washi order. The quality was really good. Made me wonder if I should buy a few rolls for my packaging. 
• Ordered sticker labels online instead of printing it at home. It saves me more from buying inks and sticker paper. The best part was 1 roll already have 500 stickers to last me a while. 
• I partially stop reading on Twitter due to toxic tweets. 
• BeirutBlast happened. 
• KFC or Jollibee delivery/takeout is our new version of going out.
• That moment of discovery of Sodium Ascorbate. I can now drink vitamin C without having side effects. 
• Finally had the courage to go over my file of papers and organized it in a way that will be easy for me to pick when I'm doing a kit. 
• Bought my nephew a set of building blocks. His smile was priceless when he received it. 
• Given the chance to finally capture my niece smiling at me. My heart burst because of happiness. 
• Released the May Boxed Kit
• Reconnected with my grade school classmates and become part of a group chat. 
• Tried new Korean noodles and loved it so much.
• I got myself a sticker "egg" tattoo. 
• Discovered Mark and Grace Bakeshop. 
• Stumbled One Day OST and end up watching the movie with hubby. According to the reviews it was heartbreaking, but I honestly didn't shed a tear and I will tell you why in my next blog post. 

It's been a busy two weeks for me putting together the April Mixed Book Kit. I am excited to play with it because the theme is very hard to capture without making anyone feel overwhelmed. Life is never perfect and we have those stories that make us uncomfortable and yet we still need to document it.

This Pasta dish was really, really good. What makes it different from the other pasta I cooked before is, the roasted almonds. It intrigues your palette. Making you guess what it is because it makes the dish oh-so addicting. Going to cook this again and I will add this to our favorite recipes.

My first order of fabrics arrived and I'm happy with how beautiful it is. I can't wait to make paper projects with it.

This is why I never advocate paper hoarding. Buying a lot, then organizing it on a shelf to be forgotten in the end. Never to be used in anything. When you stock paper because it's too beautiful to be used in a project, molds grow in it and the paper will be forever ruined. This was given to me by an old friend after she decluttered her supplies. I feel bad for throwing it in the end because of the mold.

What have I possibly cut that has these beautiful leftover dot papers? Stay tuned next week.

My nephew always surprised us with his ever-changing food pet peeves. He doesn't like nuts or anything in his food floating around, but for this specific recipe of mine of Polvoron, he likes it a lot. The combination of sliced almonds and roasted pistachio was so addicting, that he kept on asking for it and when he was about to make a tantrum, the moment I mentioned the word "polvoron" makes his mood changed like a snap of a finger immediately come over where I am and got the bowl of polvoron.

Hello there! I hope you are at home and safe with your family. We are okay and I'm doing great since I blogged this. I've been reading (Simple Abundance: 365 Days to a Balanced and Joyful Life by Sarah Ban Breathnach) and writing my thoughts and worries. I started playing with my craft supplies again. Working on my One Little Word album is one of my favorite things right now. I'm able to reflect and visit my word, "calm" to remind me that everything will be ok again. We just need to be patient and just follow what our govt. mandated us to do. 

I've been practicing my coloring skills using Prismacolor colored pencils. Looking forward to improving with blending. 

A dear friend of mine (who happens to be a Kdrama fanatic) is doing research and looking for Korean dramas to recommend for me to watch. This month, she picked Goblin, and The World of the Married and I watched it via Viu Premium. I seriously love these two kdrama and trying my best not to binge watch.

Now that I'm back to journaling, my clear stamps are being used. I really love my current way of organizing it. Instead of naming it, I just added a colored paper based on the categories. Pink (every day), Red (occasions such as birthdays, Christmas, etc), Yellow (planner), Green (alphabet & numbers), Orange (words & phrases).  

After more than a month of waiting (not complaining) my spices from restohub arrived today. I'm excited to make my version of golden milk to boost our immune system. 

• It's hubby's birthday and we had our usual dinner. Pasta and Bread. On special days like this, we always prefer to stay at home. Too lazy to dress up and go outside only to be stuck in traffic for hours. Not a good plan. 
• Pancit Canton for lunch. Totally loving fresh noodles. 
• A friend spent her precious day with me  learning something that will be useful for her in the future. I'm glad she came home with enough knowledge to create her first project. So proud of her. Happy to be crafting again full time. 
• My Sister and nephew are currently staying with us because of my sister's prenatal check-up. Our family is beyond excited about the new addition and can't wait to meet her/him this coming summer. :)
• For lunch that day, We had Pizza and Pasta (delivered) then we go out for a quick walk at Uptown mall (we live 15 minutes away from this chillax place) and had our dinner at Mary Grace Cafe. Eating there feels like eating at home for us. Mom ordered Wild Mushroom Soup. My sister and my nephew shared their favorite Classic Carbonara while I had Vigan Longganisa & Kesong Puti Sandwich. 
• It's nice and comforting to be surrounded by people who mean a lot to me. Their present brings a smile to my face every time.  

I was supposed to be somewhere today, but my stomach had other plans. So, I stayed at home with hubby. While cooking breakfast, I heard someone call my name outside. I peaked in our window and saw the courier that delivered our previous order of photo prints. I was over the moon. I've been waiting for it and I'm really glad it's finally here. 

Is it just me or do any of you also have the need to organize printed photos before scrapping? I really can't start when supplies or photos are disorganized. I always want to save time when I'm doing memory keeping and wasting time looking for something is not part of my process. 

I've been tracking our freezer meals by Google Keep and I so love it. 

Basil Chicken Pasta For lunch. 

It's been a while since I last went out with my mom, sister & nephew. I missed them so much. Our only plans were to do my 2-weeks grocery and eat lunch. In between we can do other things. First, we had lunch at Yoshinoya. We had their Bento boxes. My nephew enjoyed eating the dessert, which was Tiramisu. The set was served with rice and for the first time since we lessened our rice intake,  I felt nothing. I mean, have you ever encountered a portion of food that only feels like passing through your mouth, then to your stomach with no feelings of being satisfied with it, or doesn't bring out some nostalgic memories? If yes, then you understand what I mean. 

After our lunch, we went to the National Bookstore. and discovered that they have a Philippine food dictionary which is a good addition to my small collection of good books. They also have now a ring binder refill in the grid. I immediately took a photo,  so I could send it to my dear friend who is as addicted to paper as I am. Walking further, I saw again their brother's sewing machines and I asked my mom if it was a good idea to upgrade our 25-year-old sewing machine. I'm thinking do I need several stitches to choose from or an auto needle threader. such a hard decision to make right now. 

I am amazed that my nephew knows how Gumball machine works. He's growing so fast. No longer the baby, we used to carry. We bought him a cash register because as early as 3 years old, he loves to play with numbers and one of his favorite toys is calculator. 

Before we went to the grocery, We searched for a new dining chairs and found what we want. I  just need to discuss it to my husband first. 

It's been a while and I miss blogging. This space and everything about it. As I mentioned in my last post, We were sick, and to keep matters worse, I accidentally ruptured my eardrum, and hearing in my left ear is currently affected. My doctor prescribed an antibiotic to treat my ear infection and I was assured that no specific treatment was needed for a ruptured eardrum because the majority of it would heal within three months. :) Ok enough with my ear and let's do a recap of what I've been up to.

I'm stuck with my September reading list. Still reading The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman and I'm far from finishing the book for the simple reason that the mojo is gone again.

I'm currently obsessing over sweetpetalcake Instagram pictures and how beautiful her cakes and cupcakes are. It was beyond amazing.


Bought me a watercolor cake by Simbalion to try my hand at water coloring. I need more practice and a new set of brushes.

My Week In The Life Album is still on my table, left there with dust starting to build up. Seriously, laziness at its finest.

Been busy cooking...

Mongolian Buffet (served during my sister's birthday)


Harvested my first-ever lollo rossa lettuce


and made a simple salad with homemade onion rings


Tried paper cutting and love it


Went to HMR and found the same all-purpose fold-down table by We are memory Keepers for less.

rearrange my scrap space to accommodate more scrapbook supplies. Been hoarding lots of paper lately.

Cook a simple breakfast to celebrate hubby's birthday

and created a honey-bee inspired digital layout as my gift


And lastly, I got lucky when a friend posted several pictures of her journaling cards collection for sale. It was 600+ journaling cards! I was what???

Despite the sickness, I still feel blessed to be able to enjoy spending time with my family and doing the things I love to do. :)