Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale Birthday

Have I ever told you that I am a self-taught graphic artist? 

In the not-so-distant past, I used to cut out my ID photos and that of my cousins, and attach them to the bodies of Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer. I would then run it through the photocopier and voila! I get the body I want without a sweaty workout.

Imagine when I learned about the wonders of Adobe Photoshop and its endless possibilities -- I was ecstatic! I never realized something almost magical like it existed.

I eventually learned editing skills through observation and a whole lot of practice. It's always fun to explore and learn along the way especially if you love what you're doing. This knowledge also opened an avenue for me to earn extra income. It's truly a blessing!

Our beautiful baby princess (my niece) turned 4 years old last year, and she wanted to have a Barbie Fashion Fairytale themed party. (I remember the Little Lady had a Fashion Barbie themed party too, when she turned 6 years old.) Since she was having 2 parties, I made 2 photo cake layouts for her, 2 invites and 1 Barbie Fashion Fairytale tarpaulin backdrop.

 Barbie A Fashion Fairytale school invite 1 and Photo Cake layout

  

 Barbie A Fashion Fairytale tarpaulin 

 Barbie A Fashion Fairytale invite 2 and Photo Cake layout

I just love the sparkle in children's eyes when they see themselves together with their favorite character in a photo or be the star character, no less. It's priceless! And that alone makes all the effort and all the eye bags in the world worth it. (Did I mention I made all these within 24 hours?)

Cramming, cramming me, as usual. =) 

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Chestene is Hannah Montana

Birthday Minnie

I haven’t been around for a while.

Basically, I’m trying to achieve some normalcy in my offline life when I took a little leave online. I’ve been an overflowing bag of mixed emotions lately and I’m trying to sort things out one step at a time. Yeah, some last quarter of the year drama, huh.

But let’s not get into that.

Today has been a tiring day. The Little Lady went to Girl Scout Camp in school, so we both woke up early on a Saturday morning. I left her in the school gym at 8:00 am; took breakfast at Wendy’s while waiting for the malls to open; did a little shopping for Christmas presents and art materials for both the Little Lady and I; picked up something at the printing shop; fetched her at 3:00 pm and grabbed some snacks at McDonald’s before finally heading home.

Around the same time last year, I’m almost finished with my Christmas shopping. But this year, my hoarding skills have been put to rest and I wonder why I seemed to have lost the zest for early shopping.

Hard times? Not really. I can always find an expensive looking present for a quarter of the price. It’s a gift that I believe I’m born with. :) So I guess this still points to the last quarter of the year drama. Oh, well...

Apart from whiling my time away at the mall, I was also there to get my pretty little niece, Gia, a gift for her 2nd birthday. It’s her birthday today, but she’ll be having a party tomorrow at Jollibee.

Yesterday, I made her this rush birthday Minnie Mouse tarpaulin that I'd like to share for Scrapbook Saturday (although this is not technically a scrap page, but I already missed 2 Saturdays! Sorry guys!):

Pretty babies Gia and "Ta-te"

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Once Upon a Halloween

The Little Lady spent her Halloween last year at McDonald's; the very same branch where she spent her two summers as part of the store's kiddie crew program. I couldn't get myself to dress her up in a scary costume, so I opted for the generic princess look that she enjoyed anyways.

The above photo was taken with one of her best buddies and co-kiddie crew member, Marianne.

Sweets and treats, everyone!

Graphic Elements by: FLASHGRAPHICS CREATIONS


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Remember this...

This photo was taken around two years ago. At that time, I was already given a glimpse of what my Little Lady would look like when she grows up to be a full-fledged teenager.

It actually gave me the creeps!

Not the photo, but the thought of her being a teenager! I don't know how I would handle that stage in a few years time. *sighs*

Don't grow up too fast, sweety...

Join us! Click here to be a member of Scrapbook Saturday!

Graphic Elements by: Scrapbookflair.com and Ronna Penner


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My Sweety

Click here to join Scrapbook Saturday!

Graphic Elements by: Shabby Princess


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Sbarro Baby

My Sbarro Baby

Sbarro is Chestene's favorite pizza restaurant. I remember getting frustrated when I was pregnant with her, because the store runs out of White Pizza I so crave for every single time I'm there.

During the whole pregnancy I didn't get to eat even a single slice of that! No wonder she's making up for it now, BIG TIME. :)

Click here to join Scrapbook Saturday!

Graphic Elements by: Ronna Penner


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Art on My Mind

Art on My Mind

My theme for this week's Scrapbook Saturday is still about art. But this time, it's Chestene's art. I can't fit them all here, so I just chose four of them for this scrap.

If you'd like to see more of her work, head on over to her blog and tell her what you think. She'll be thrilled to hear from you! :)

Graphic Elements by: Pimp Your Scrapbook, Sooze and bengigirl of Scrapbookflair.com


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My Art, Revisited

I did some digging through my old stuff and dusty books and look what I found for this week's Scrapbook Saturday.

These two freehand drawings were done in the early 90's. The portrait of Miriam Defensor-Santiago, a political figure in the Philippines, was my first charcoal painting (July 1990); I made the Hallmark baby four years after, on March 1994. I call it such, because I copied the photo from a black and white greeting card.

I can't remember where I stashed my other artworks. Guess it's high time to do a little organizing. :-)

If you wish to take part in this weekly activity, click here to join Scrapbook Saturday!


Graphic Elements by: Sooze, Adeyeo and Rainbow7203 of Scrapbookflair.com

P.S. This is a super late post because Blogger had problems uploading earlier. I just posted it anyways. :)

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Framed

Sometime in July, I sketched this lady. I think it was around the same time my DSL was having connection problems. Well, that's the only time you could get me away from my computer and do other regular stuff - when there is no internet connection. Lol. :-P

Graphic elements by: Pimp Your Scrapbook


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Chestene at 6 months old

Both photos were taken when the little lady was just 6 months old. The one where she wore a red hat, earned her the Smartparenting Baby finalist title in 2002.

She has always been a smiling and happy baby. And now, at 7 years old, she's back where it all began - toothless at the front, yet still smiling! :D

Graphic elements by: Pimp Your Scrapbook


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Good Girl

Welcome to another Scrapbook Saturday!

I'm not feeling quite well this past few days, so I kinda rushed on this one. I used the little lady's 'good girl' photo here, and yes, that's actually my thigh she's resting her chin on. :-P I've always loved glitters and other sparkling stuff, they make anything flashy in an instant.

I need to get a little more rest now, I'll just save the chit chat for later. :) Have a splendid weekend, everyone!

Graphic elements by: Pimp Your Scrapbook



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Whew! Just finished this scrap page while dropping Entrecards. Well, what's a girl to do in times like this, except to multitask. ;-P I still have a lot of pending work to do and stuff to fix, but I don't want to miss posting for Scrapbook Saturday. :)

These two babies are cousins, yet they treat each other like sisters. The little one is my one year old niece, Sofia Giulia or Gia, as we fondly call her. She calls the little lady "ta-te", instead of "ate" (in Filipino) or big sister.

The little lady adores Gia so much that she keeps on asking me to "make" a baby sister or brother for her. Our usual conversation:

Her: Please make a baby sister or brother for me, mom. Pleassseeeeee!
Me: Sure, baby.
Her: I want now, now, now!
Me: You're silly. I can't make a baby now. Besides, it's too expensive to have a baby nowadays.
Her: Oh, come on. When are you going to make me one?
Me: Mommy will have a new baby when the right time comes.
Her: Oh, mannnnnnn! (sounding like 'Swiper the fox' in Dora, the Explorer)

End of conversation. *mommy pretends to be busy* ^^,

If you wish to take part in this weekly activity, click here to join Scrapbook Saturday!

Graphic elements by: Snowflake Beach Designs (Chanin Mettey) and Shabby Princess Designs



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