Scrapbooking My Faith

I have been raised by a devout Catholic mom.  We go to church every Sunday.  I was educated in Catholic schools from kindergarten until college.  My faith has anchored me through life's most difficult situations.  My faith played a huge part in my decision-making.  My faith gave me hope and encouragement when I need them the most.  

Surprisingly enough, my faith is the one area in my life I least scrapbook about.  Just recently, I took an online class about scrapbooking my faith by Courtney Walsh.  I also bought her book, Scrapbooking Your Faith, in hope of getting faith into our scrapbooks more.  I want my children to read my thoughts, give them encouragement and strength to look up when they feel so down, to say a lot of a little prayers, to be mindful of the God that will provide for them and keep them safe.  I want them to have a personal relationship with God like I did.  

Here are the three layouts I did.  I have another layout that is much too personal that I'd rather keep to myself.  

Template - Scrap Orchard; Papers - Princesa Kit by Jessica Sprague; Journaling Strips - Crystal Wilkerson; Quote Fonts - Georgia and Zapfino; Journaling Font - Pea Marie Christine; Date Font - Myriad Pro

Template - Scrap Orchard; Papers - This Week by Carla Dudley; Title Font - Big Mummy; Journaling Font - my own handwriting

Template - Anna Aspnes; Paper - Nancy Rowe Janitz; Journaling Strips - Crystal Wilkerson; Journaling Font - my own handwriting; Title Font - Carpenter ICG and Big Mummy; Amen font - Zapfino; Date Font - Rockwell Extra Bold


The following photos + words are sized 4x6 that contain passages and quotes that moved me, encouraged me, strengthened me, touched me.  Some of these quotes were taken from Pinterest.  I am printing them as 4x6s, slipping them into an ongoing album which I'll keep adding into.  I have made use of the landscape photos I've taken over the years.  My hope for doing this is that my children will someday find strength, encouragement, hope, and faith in reading these passages and quotes.   

If you haven't done so already, I encourage you to scrapbook about your faith (if you're a scrapbooker like me), or write about it in a journal.  You never know who among your family will one day need a lift, and maybe that's the type of encouragement that will change their lives for the better.  

Landscapes

I first fell in love with photography when I used to take landscape photos of places I've traveled.  I am always amazed at the beautiful scenery before me, and would try to capture them with my camera.  It is overwhelming to know that God's mighty hand created these beautiful landscapes.  Our most recent trip to the beautiful Sedona and Grand Canyon in Arizona, the breathtaking Valley of Fire in Nevada, are proofs that God is an excellent sculptor and artist.  I was in awe of the beautiful rock formations that surrounded us.

We left home and drove for Las Vegas on Christmas Eve, exactly at 12mn.  We arrived in Vegas by 10:30am, rested and laid low on Christmas Day, and had dinner at Rainforest Cafe.  The next day, the 26th of December, we were up early to drive to Sedona.  Along the way, this beautiful sight inspired us to get going:
   

   
We got to Sedona around 1pm (2pm in Arizona because it was on Central time).  We dropped by Sliding Rock State Park and stretched out to this amazing scenario:

 
We stayed for the night.  Thank God that we found affordable lodging even without prior reservation.  We had dinner and retired to bed early, to be able to rise up early and explore more of Sedona before heading to the Grand Canyon.

After a couple of hours or so, we reached the Grand Canyon and explored these breath-taking sceneries:

We left the Grand Canyon with a heavy heart, but with a promise that we'll be back to explore more someday, when the kids are a little more grown and wouldn't complain from walking too much.  After all, it was a bit chilly when we were there.

We returned to our hotel in Las Vegas and made plans to visit the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada the very next day.  We were in shock that even with the Valley's unmistakable charm, it was only a State Park.  It would've passed as a National Park in our standards, except it was a bit small.

These are even similar rock formations to those of The Arches National Park in Utah:

So, in a span of 5 days, we've managed to go through 3 states - California, Nevada, Arizona; one National Park - The Grand Canyon; two State Parks - Falling Rock in Sedona, AZ and Valley of Fire in NV.  You'd think we were done for this leg of the trip.  Uhm, not really.  On our way home, we decided to visit another National Park in California - Death Valley.  There really wasn't much to see, though we have only visited for a day.  We spent the night a couple of hours outside the park before heading home the next day.  If I've shown you proofs that God is truly a marvelous sculptor, you will be even more amazed at the paintings He created with the sky as his canvas and the setting sun as his pallette with the following images:

I am not truly an outdoor type of person, but these sceneries converted me.  When we were planning this vacation, it was a toss between theme parks and national parks and we were grateful we decided to go with the latter.  It gave us a sense of peace, tranquility, and appreciation of the beauty that surrounded us.  It humbled me, centered me, and made me realize the power that made all these possible.  We wanted our children to share this deep appreciation of nature, to instill in them the importance of taking care of their environment so their offsprings will be able to enjoy the same sceneries.

I know that this blog has been silent for a very long time, but what better time to post an entry with images like these?  I am definitely in love with photography, and the love affair with my camera continues.

A blessed new year to all of you from our family to yours!

Lastly, to my beloved first-born, happy, happy birthday 6th birthday K!  The day you were born, you brought with you joy beyond imagination and challenge beyond comprehension.  I cannot believe how fast you're growing.  We love you so, so much!

A beautiful mom-to-be

Tex and I have been friends since 2005 when we met via newlyweds@work (n@w).  We have exchanged countless emails since then, and finally met in person when they migrated to the US.  She is currently pregnant with their second child.  I offered to shoot her maternity portraits because I believe that every woman should have a remembrance of their baby bump.  She looked so beautiful at 7.5 months in her pregnancy.  Here are some of my favorites:

You can see the rest of the photos here.

I am by no means a professional photographer.  I am just a mom who enjoys taking photos, telling stories and documenting our lives through scrapbooking.  I have spent a considerable amount of time getting to know my camera, and learning how to take better photos.  I am a girl who never thought I can do anything creative, until I discovered my love for photography and my passion for scrapbooking.   

Congratulations, Tex, Bong and Kyle!  We can't wait to meet Kirk! 

Project Life 2010

I have been doing Project Life since its introduction to the scrapbooking community in 2009.  Back then, I wasn't able to get a hold of the kit because it was sold out the first day it was offered, so I had to improvise.  Last year, however, there were enough kits produced so I was able to buy one.  It was definitely a time saver.  All that's left for me to do is edit the photos to add in the day and date, have them printed, insert them into their respective slots on the album, and write the journaling.  Voila, I have recorded our everyday lives in 2010!

What I love most about this project is that we can look back at the previous two years (we've been doing this for three years now) and still get amazed at the kids' growth, what we did, where we were, etc.  Even the boys love looking at these albums.

Those who know me well are aware of my passion for photography and scrapbooking.  These two allow me to document our lives, which, I hope would become invaluable in the future.  I am also encouraging those I know to do the same.  If you have no time for scrapbooking, then perhaps Project Life is for you.  The kit has been designed with efficiency and time in mind.  Everything you'll need is in the kit, all you have to do is take photos, print them, and put some journaling.  In our case, I'm also adding ephemeras in our album - teachers' emails, kids' artworks, enlarged photos, tickets, receipts, etc.  You can take a look at how Ali Edwards does it and you'll get the idea.

To give you an idea on the types of photos we include in our Project Life album, here's a video with a few of our photos.  Everywhere we go, I make sure I have a camera on hand, be it my iPhone camera or our handy dandy point and shoot, or our fancy DSLR.  Some photos might be blurry.  Though I care about getting the right exposure, sometimes, it is more important for me to capture the memory than to get it perfectly exposed.

Without further ado, here's a video of our Project Life 2010:

These days, I don't take as many photos as I used to anymore, and my computer and hard drive are thanking me for it. Perhaps it's because I have had better luck with my exposure. The more I think of it though, the more I'm convinced that I only take photos that resonate with me now, photos that speak to me. Take the shot below for instance. Among the dozen of photos I took of our camping trip this weekend, this one is my hands-down favorite. It's an emotional photo - one that speaks a thousand words. It describes the relationship between my husband and my son. The fact that it was taken with the light of the bonfire to illuminate it makes it even more dramatic. I'm also proud to say that this photo was untouched - it's a straight out of the camera shot.




I received this article in my inbox today and this summarizes why I am drawn to emotional photos these days:

"What I really hope you can do is find your true self in your next big image. You don’t have to concentrate on breaking the rules or being gaudy for shock value (Thank you Lady GaGa) – but try to focus on what you really want to say with your camera. Do you want to make images that last? Do you want to make images that really stand the test of time? Then be yourself. Shoot for yourself. Shoot what your heart wants you to shoot. Don’t just try to be cool for being cool’s sake. Be true."

Amen!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Like any parent, we struggle to be good parents every single day. We try to provide our children with a good home, a loving and caring environment. We discipline them. We want our kids to grow up with values and manners.

As a mom, I take pride in seeing my boys try help around the house. Kail's favorite lines these days are "Can I help?", "I want to help", "I'll do it". When he sees me preparing dinner, he would want to help out. He can drag loads of laundry down the stairs and even put them onto the washer. He helps me bring the folded laundry up to the rooms. He cleans up his mess (albeit with resistance at first).

Calix, on the other hand, is showing his type A personality this early. Whenever he sees dirt or food on the floor, he'd pick it up, hand it to me or daddy so we could throw it away. He loves to put things on their proper places. We were at a play area yesterday when he saw balls on the floor. He'd pick them up one by one, hand them to me so I can put them in proper places (and sometimes he does that himself). The moms who saw him cleaning up had smiles on their faces. I was a very proud mom!

I think that raising them up without help is a big plus in teaching them to do their part around the house. My mom taught us a very valuable lesson by not hiring help when we were growing up so we'll learn to do the chores. When I came to the US at 24 years old, I was very independent. I have no problems cooking, cleaning the house, doing the laundry, washing the dishes. I want to impart the same lesson to my children. I want them to be able to do things on their own and not rely on help to do things for them. After all, help is so out of reach for middle class families like us here in the US.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Ali posted a couple of my layouts in her blog here http://www.aliedwards.com/2010/05/week-in-the-life-reader-submissions-part-two.html

New Digital Layouts

Here are my latest layouts for the Beautiful Evidence Album. I only have three more layouts and the cover and back pages to go and I can upload these in Shutterfly to print my photo book!


Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers and Ribbon - Echoes of Asia Kit by Jessica Sprague; Font - VT Portable Remington

Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers and Ribbon - Jessica Sprague and Jan Crowley; Font - VT Portable Remington

Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers and Ribbon - Jan Crowley and Meredith Fenwick; Font - VT Portable Remington

Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers and Ribbon - Jessica Sprague and Katie Pertiet; Font - VT Portable Remington

Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers - Jan Crowley, Jessica Sprague; Michelle Coleman; Font - VT Portable Remington

Another Day... Another Layout

Here is my page 9 layout for the Beautiful Evidence album. Because I have to go to the office tomorrow, I won't be able to create another layout tonight (bummer!) but I'll catch up whenever I can.

Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers - Jan Crowley, Meredith Fenwick; Fonts - VT Portable Remington, Porcelain (for the initial "A")

A couple more...

Here are two more digital layouts from the Beautiful Evidence class:

Journaling: I never thought of myself as creative until I found my niche in photography and scrapbooking and a little baking on the side. I love taking photos, creating paper or digital layouts or momentos. I'm so glad creativity has found me! I sure hope it's here to stay!

Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers - Jan Crowley, Jessica Sprague, Katie Pertiet; Font - VT Portable Remington

Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers - Katie Pertiet, Jan Crowley, Jessica Sprague; Font - VT Portable Remington

New Layouts

The Beautiful Evidence class over at Spraground is currently in full swing. I created these two new layouts for Days 1 and 2.

Here is my title page. These are my treasures in life... the moments that make me smile... the moments that make me thank God each day for a blessed and fulfilled life... the beautiful evidence that I live a charmed life:

Credits: Papers - Jessica Sprague and Jan Crowley; Font - VT Portable Remington

Here is my "Me" page. Since I live with 3 boys, I have to infuse my life with pink from time to time to remind me that I'm truly a girlie girl at heart... :)

Credits: Papers - Jessica Sprague, Meredith Fenwick, Jan Crowley; Font - VT Portable Remington; Signature - my handwriting

Here's a new layout fresh from Photoshop, LOL! The photos were taken from our camping trip at Avila Hot Springs Resort in Avila Beach at San Luis Obispo. It was Calix's first camping trip and Kail's second. It was a fun but exhausting weekend!

Credits: Template - Simply Yin Template 365 Set 9; Papers and Elements - Nature Kit by Jackie Eckels for Memory Makers

It's almost midnight but I was in the mood to create some digital layouts from my backlog of photos. I'm really loving digital scrapbooking because I can just sit in front of my computer (which I do a lot anyway), pull out a template, pick my photos, papers and templates, drag and drop them, and voila - a page ready to be printed and placed in an album! No messy adhesives, no cleanups needed either!

Credits: Template - Liv Esteban Time of the Year Template; Brads - Liv Esteban's Sun Fun; Papers and Elements - Michelle Coleman's Wild Sorbet for Memory Makers

Credits: Template - Simply Yin's Template #77; Papers, Elements, Photo Mats - Gingerscraps Independence Day Collaboration Kit