Christmas in October

2 days ago, my husband lovingly drove me to my favorite craftstore were i found a nice HA Flourish ornament rubber stamp.  I deviated from the usual red and green christmas motif and used yellow and green shades.  I made a background stamp using the block stamping method that i learned from Jennifer McGuire HA/2 Peas Thinking Inking.
I stamped it on a DP and embossed the image using black embossing powder.  I added extra fine glitter and a ribbon.  I stamped the sentiment inside the card.
I had fun making this!

10-10-10: THE DATE TO MOTIVATE - B.A. CHICAGO MARATHON

It's been more than 2 weeks since I witnessed my very first marathon and I just had to write about that awesome experience.  First of all, let me give you a brief definition and history of what is. 

According to the Wikipedia,  "The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres (26 miles and 385 yards), that is usually run as a road race. The event was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon (the namesake of the race) to Athens. The historical accuracy of this legend is in doubt,^[1] contradicted by accounts given by Herodotus, in particular.

The marathon was one of the original modern Olympic events in 1896, though the distance did not become standardized until 1921. More than 500 marathons are contested throughout the world each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes. Larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants.^"

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is one of the most sought after event in this category.  "From a struggling road race of 4,200 runners in 1977 to a world class event with a record 45,000 registered participants, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon has come a long way."   

My husband and I arrived early at Moody Bible (4th and 11th mile marker) with a group of family and friends to support and cheer our good friend, DC.  The weather was nice - cool and breezy, a good day for running.   Preparing for a marathon takes months of long hours in the gym, cardio and strength training, careful diet plus tons of love and patience for the sport.  As the saying goes, "no pain, no gain." 

We stayed at the 4 and 11 mile marker by  Moody Bible Institute.  It was inspiring to see him and the other runners endure the course.  I know for a fact that training for a marathon is not at all easy. Here he is at the 4 mile mark (La Salle Blvd.), all smiles and no sign of  fatigue ☺.  Or maybe, he was just overwhelmed by our presence and support. 

Us spectators had to do our own version of the marathon too.  We had to walk here and there, trample on shrubs, and squeeze our way in the bleachers just to have a good glimpse of the runners on the finish line. 

In contrast to the "fresh" faces of the runners at the beginning of the course, some of them seemed to be panting on their way to the finish line.  Imagine running for 3.5 hours, starting with cool weather and ending with a "HIGH" alert system described as "potentially dangerous conditions."  It was about 1230 noon and it was hot!  We didn't get to see DC at the end of the course because to our surprise, he finished earlier than expected!  Yay for him!

It was a festive reunion for both runners and supporters.  There are those who run for a cause such as World Vision's team; some run in support for a loved one.  Most run for personal and health reasons, to have a sense of achievement.  I truly admire them all!

Our group was just so happy for DC and his great achievement.  I asked if he would run the marathon again, and he answered with a smile and a "NO."  Congratulations! 

Here's something to remind us about the Amazing Race that we are in...

Pressing on Toward the Goal  Philippians 3: 12-14

v. 12  Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 

v. 13  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do; Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.

v.14  I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Raspberry Beret

Hello friends!  I would like to share with you one of my recent crochet project.  It's officially fall in Chicago and it's been really cold lately, hence, my obsession with crocheted hats.  I recently bought the Special issue of Crochet today (http://www.crochettoday.com/) and I fell in love with the Raspberry beret. 

So I bought a Red Heart Soft Yarn, 5oz, 140g skein in #9779 Berry and followed the detailed instructions.  It was a bit challenging for me at first, though the pattern was classified as a Beginner level...ahahaha... After 6 hours of crocheting and "uncrocheting," I finally finished it.  I added a flower brooch that I made using mother of pearl and german crystals.
Tada!  Now, I could keep my head warm while I explore the beauty of nature that autumn brings.

Christmas in October 2010

The best season of all for me is Christmas!  It's the time when people have long breaks from work and school.  Christmas was fun in our home.  We'd often spend it with our brothers' in-laws - we would play games, laugh and have our "white elephant" style of gift giving.  When I was in Pediatric residency training, we had to take turns either for Christmas or New year break.  Even though we had to be on duty, it was fun spending it in the hospital with colleagues and friends.  This year would be my first Christmas away from my family in Manila and my first to hopefully, have a White Christmas.  I anticipate that it would be a time of "confusing emotions" for me, having to miss my family but making happy memories with my husband and the whole of America.
Whew... getting kinda sentimental here.
So folks, here is my first Christmas card for this year.  I recently saw Hero Arts' Jeniffer McGuire's lessons and I decided to give it a try.  I used the "block stamping" technique for the blue background and then I added the pine trees using the "Generation stamping" technique using Versamagic hint of pesto.  I masked the house and stamped the trees; then I stamped the house using Memento rich cocoa and colored it with Derwent watercolor pencils and added glossy accents for the "snow" effect.
The sentiment and all the stamps used were from heroarts CL 464 Sending holiday cheer.

That's it for now.  Hopefully, my Christmas card making bug will keep me going.  Blessings to you!

HA World Cardmaking Day, 10-3-10

I never thought that there was such a thing as World Cardmaking Day.  I found out through the Hero Arts blog and of course, i wanted to participate.  So, with only a few hours left, i grabbed some stamps and made a card.
I have been busy crocheting hats and jewelry for the past weeks so my stamps and stuffs have been on the shelf for quite some time. 
I thought it would be nice to incorporate sewing in my theme - hence, the "You're sew Special" card, embellised with buttons that i find really cute!
Thanks for taking a peek.   Have a great week!

Materials: 
HA C1157 3 spools
HA C1158 Button cluster
Red and cream cardstock
Cream and lime green ribbon
Memento ink in rich cocoa
Versafine ink in Onyx black
round puncher
Marvy markers
Derwent watercolor pencils

Crochet 101 - Crocheted Beret hat

Hello, dear friends!
How are you?  It's officially fall in the US and pretty soon, temperatures will drop and we will start putting our warm clothes on our rack.  It will be my first white winter Christmas and im pretty excited.  Recently, i have found a new love!
I have enjoyed doing crochet when i was in gradeschool.  While some of my classmates asked their househelp or nanny's (Filipino's call them "Yaya") to do their projects, i enjoyed doing mine.  So, after so many years, i decided to give it a try once again. 

Thanks to my favorite craft stores and dear teachers at Youtube, i was able to make my first crocheted beret hat.  It took me a total of 12 hours, spread out in 2 days to finish this project.  I love it! 
I made this with my sister in mind.  I chose the color and the style specifically for her.  I am so excited to mail it to her and to see her use it when winter comes.   
My husband likes what i made and i will be making one for him too - a mans beany hat.  More about that next time.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

It's been exactly a month since my last blog.  Haha... the lazy bug caught me for quite some time.  Things have been fine with me - i decided to try other crafty things like crochet (more on that at a later blog). 
I checked out HA's blog last week and made a couple of not-so-nice thanksgiving cards.  I had a "mental card block" once again and it took some time to get those creative juices out.  Anyway... i'd like to share them.

My MIL and i went to my awesome SIL's house to do some stamping.  I used her "Thanksgiving stamps" and leaf embossed punches.  I loved punching out the maple leaves - i distressed some using Ranger's walnut stain then added glitter on the edges.

In one card, i masked/stamped the pumpkin with a stamp from the same HA clear stamp set.  It was fun to mask but it was quite tedious.  As you can see, the colors are not as pretty as it should be - hmmm...i think i should buy, stock up and try using those wonderful copic markers next time.

This is all for now, friends.  Thanks for looking!