An Ounce of Creativity

Three posts in three days - wow, there must be something wrong with me! ;)

As I was on my way to work this morning, I briefly recalled my childhood (I'm not sure why, but I did) and realized that back then, I thought I was adopted if only because I never got an ounce of creativity in my bones. My mom was the artist in the family. She drew very well, she can make anything with her hands - from sewing, to crochet, to any kind of craft you can think of. My brother got the creative genes in our family. Even at an early age, he would be able to whip off a good drawing in the blink of an eye. His notebooks in school do not have lessons on them, but they did have very beautiful drawings! It just shows how much he doodles in class, to his teachers' dismay, LOL. He is both left and right handed. I admired him for that because he had what I craved for - creativity.

During school, I would always ace my Home Education projects (and my projects have always been chosen for exhibits) not because I was good, but because my mom made them herself. I make such rotten artworks that I think my mom couldn't bear to think I was her daughter!

As I left for the US, I realized how sad life away from family can be. I have seen some friends go through bouts of crying and feeling down. To overcome that feeling, I had to be busy - so I read book after book. Then I took classes. Then I got into crafts - from sewing, to cake decorating, to knitting, to scrapbooking and then photography. I found my niche in scrapbooking and photography. I enjoyed the process so much that I spend late nights when the kids are asleep reading on photography and scrapbooking, editing photos, scrapbooking, watching video tutorials on Photoshop Elements and scrapbooking techniques and digital scrapbooking.

I now realize that there are those born with the creative genes in their system, and there are those who develop said genes. I belong to the latter. I don't create over-the-top layout pages nor award winning photos - far from it actually. I scrapbook because I need to tell our story, to make sure memories will not be lost forever, and because I owe my children their life stories. I take photos because it gives a glimpse into our lives - however mundane it is. I take lots of photos because I only have a handful of childhood photos - most were either lost in the move or drowned in the flood. I find that unfortunate because I was a cute kid (ehem - need to feed my ego from time to time).

I take photos and I scrapbook because I am the family's life artist and nobody knows our story better than me.

Here is the niner I created last night for my last project for Frame Ups and Special Effects. The model is C, a friend's daughter. She is currently in college and doing some modeling on the side. She needed to update her portfolio and the mom asked me to take photos of her. She is truly a beautiful girl (inside and out) so I hope that she'll be successful with her modeling.

For more photos of her, please check this out.

Credits: Brushes by House of 3

The Frame Ups and Photo Editing free class wrapped up yesterday at the Spraground. It was a great class! I learned so much about adding interesting visual elements on my photos! Thanks so much Jessica Sprague and team - you guys totally rock!

Here are some of the photos I've enhanced using the techniques from that class (the photos below do not necessarily show the order in which they were presented):

1. Selective coloring technique - I converted the photo to black and white and recolored Kail's shirt with its original color:




2. Clipping Mask, Textures and Type


3. Clipping Mask, Textures, Darken Edges, Word Art, and Type


4. Clipping Mask and Textures

5. Hand tinted look on a photo and I colored Kail's lips with a shade of pink.

6. Photo converted to black and white and enhanced with brushes

7. Here is a photo of me and Calix with a round flourish frame and word art

8. Here is a 3-photo storyboard. Only the photo inside the frame remained in color while the image outside of the frame has that hand tinted look:
9. I burnt the edges of this photo so the background didn't show:

Credits - Brushes by House of 3; Frames House of 3; Textures by Fudge Graphics; Word Art by Jessica Sprague; Clipping Masks by Kimi Kreations and Jessica Sprague

I still owe another project - a niner. Hopefully I'll get to finish that tonight.

There's a ton of information presented in this class! What's great with this site is that the course materials are available forever so I can always go back in case I forget something.

Now that the class is over, I'm having withdrawal symptoms but I'm so happy Jessica is offering two more classes for August. They're no longer free but I'm entitled to a 20% discount. I'm so excited!

I've neglected my blog for far too long now that there are days when I'm seriously considering packing it up and shutting it down. The reason why it's still up and running is because my writer self thinks it's my chance to get my thoughts down. Gone were the days when I used to keep a journal and write my heart out everyday. Besides, this is the only way I'd connect to my writer self (if she's still there). I so badly need a muse right now... ;)

I have been vocal about my lifelong love for photography. My love affair with camera started when I held a film SLR at 12 years old. For a long time though, I have been shooting in program or auto mode. I recently discovered the amazing possibilities of shooting in manual and I've never looked back. Our photos dramatically changed! Now I only have my camera in auto mode whenever I'd hand it over to someone else to shoot. I've also learned to edit our photos more creatively. I am one happy mamarazzi!

To prove my point, here are some photos I'd like to share. All photos were taken in manual mode with natural light (no flash). I enhanced them in Photoshop Elements. You can view more here.

Been out of commission for a while again! :( I've been terribly busy in May with hubz' and my dad's birthdays, then Calix's celebrated his first birthday, then Mother's Day, and then our 6th year anniversary! I've also been busy with baby showers left and right. Life can definitely get in the way of a good time! :)

I will make this a short and sweet post as what I really want to do is advertise this free class. I am going to sign up for the class and have encouraged a number of my friends to join in as well. I hope I'll see you there!

I went to my chiropractor today with a purpose. I was going to tell him I'm cancelling all my appointments. I am going to see another chiropractor whom my insurance will cover at a 100% and my out of pocket payment will only be $10 per visit (as copay). According to my insurance, since this chiropractor is not ASN contracted, I have to shoulder a $400 deductible + 30% of the bill. When we computed, we have to shell out a whooping $760 out of pocket! Had this happened two to three years ago, I would've accepted the charge without batting an eyelash. But because times are tough, I have to be a lot more careful of where we spend our money on. Why pay anything when the insurance can cover the cost - we just have to look for a provider that's accredited.

So I sat in his office and honestly told him that hubz and I talked and we really cannot afford the $760 out of pocket cost - not right now when I'm the only one working and there is no job security anywhere. I came to thank him for his time. I owe him that respect. Out of nowhere, he said that because I had been honest, and I came to talk to him instead of not showing up at all, he would forego all the fees that I have to shell out and I only have to pay the $10 copay every visit. His only condition was that I stick to the program.

And I thought I could rest... 

One thing I realized since becoming a mom is that there is no rest, especially when you do not have the luxury of a nanny.  This three week break gave me a chance to bond with my boys - and bond so much we did!  My boys have been tugging my pants since Day 1.  All day I play with them, clean the mess, take care of the boys.  The husband is helping (bless him!) so that has been keeping me sane throughout.  In the afternoon, we head to the park.  Kail plays in the playground, or rides the bike with his dad, while Calix and I would walk around the park several times.  This serves as our family's exercise (as if we needed one after running after the kids all day!).  

I can only do the things I want to do (like scrapbook) when the kids are asleep - either taking a nap or sleeping through the night.  This leaves me feeling so tired the next day because I get to bed around 12mn or 1am!  

Am I complaining?  Nope - not at all!  It's tough sometimes, yes, but I won't have it any other way.  Our kids bring us tremendous joy - one that's beyond imagining.  They also give us gray hair and wrinkles, but we've long since accepted that it's part of the package.  I'm thankful for this chance to spend three whole weeks as a dotting mom.