DIY | Christmas Gift Tags Part 2

I am extremely sorry about last time. I really needed to go last Wednesday, then wasn't able to get back online until after Christmas. Of course, FB once in a while, but didn't have enough time to write something.

Anyway, am back, and now, on with the show:

DIY | Christmas Gift Tags Part 1

3 days before Christmas, and I am still not yet done wrapping my Christmas presents. Last night, when I brought Kiko's gift home and placed it under our cutesy tree, I realised that I already have a number of presents ready; one thing missing though: Which one's for whom? No tags. Then I remember myself looking for gift tags in SM Department store, but didn't find any. There were lots, but none caught my attention.

You see, ladies and gentlemen, I'm not really fond of writing my name on tags, if not to impose ownership. So unless I want to tag it mine, you can't expect me to put my name on it. Going back, I was looking for some gift tags that have penguins, but didn't find any. I know it is hard to find those, except for those matching tags Hallmark has for their penguin-themed wrappers (good thing they have 2 designs now; last year, they only have one. Penguins will soon be all over the wrappers, bwahahahaha). So, since I started giving out presents in 2008, I always had Kiko draw our tags. This year, he's got a full plate, so I don't think he could squeeze my tags...

I thought, I don't have any choice but to make it myself. Well, am not really new to this. When I was a kid, I used to make my own cards I would give to my Dad, Mom, the rest of the household, and my friends. Well, I didn't have much for an allowance back then, (Dad was a little stingy when it comes to allowance... According to him, little Guina doesn't really need it: got my lunch box full, he brings me to school, and someone would fetch me after school), so didn't really have much to save to buy peeps something on occasions such as birthdays, Valentine's, and Christmas. So, I would raid my Dad's supplies cabinet for paper, magazines under the center table for pictures, bring my "arts envelope" (you know, that plastic envelope where you keep your scissors, pencils, crayons, art papers, paste, etc. in school), and start working as early as Halloween. I'm really bad in drawing things, so I'll just the crafty Guin do the trick. It has always been like that.

It's a good thing I had already submitted my script due this week, and we don't have much to do anymore. I started to look for images online that I can use. Since our printer isn't colored, I needed something that would look good in plain black and white (or at least grayscale). I found three images that I can't let go of... so I used them all :) :

Since I cannot put captions on all of them, and it is a must to give due credit (sorry about the size... tried putting them all together in Photoshop): (1) a coloring page from CraftsandColoringPages.com ; and borrowed a card design from (2) dms-creative.com and (3) Artworks

SW on etsy.com;

I dont have photoshop in my PC in the office, so I just made do with MS Word. I never imagined I can manipulate images in MS Word, but I did. More of that on my next post... Bell is ringing now, and I need to run. Will definitely continue when I get home. c",)

Isang Umaga...

10 days before Christmas. Grabe na ang lamig sa umaga. Sarap tuloy matulog. Buti na lang, bumalik na sa dating siste ang body clock, kundi, yari na naman ako sa boss ko, late na naman ako :p. This morning, ginising ako ng celphone ko (as usual, cellphone ang alarm clock) kasama ng mga lamok na parang nasa drink-all-you-can (eh sa masarap daw uminom ngaun kasi malamig). Antok pa ako nung bumaba ako, tapos punta sa kitchen. Borlogs pa si Mommy sa loob ng kulambo (yes, may kulambo sila ni Ate JV). Nagsalang ako ng tubog for my tea, tapos punta ng CR. Nung kumulo na ang tubig, pinasok ko na, made my tea, at pumwesto na tapat ng tv para manood ng Umagang Kay Ganda. "Sa Ulo ng mga Balita: Hubert Webb, maaaring desisyunan ng SC para makalaya; 50 Shell stations sa kamaynilaan, nagsara na dahil na kawalan ng gasolina; Mga kapamilya, nagwagi sa FAMAS; mga robots, nagtanghal sa isang theater play sa Poland."

December 14 ngaun. Birthday ng dad ko. Too bad, hindi na ako makakadaan sa Mt Carmel kasi gabi na ako makakauwi. Will be meeting a client later after work to get the lace accent for her invitation box. After that, need to go home to start wrapping, since hindi I dont have much time anymore.

Around this time next year, I wonder how I would be in the morning, at sa buong araw, with just a few days before (or after?) the Day.  c",)

In Search of an Ideal Wedsite

It will be almost a year now until the date. We have somehow made inquiries to some suppliers, have attended some bridal fairs, and made some research on what we need. Let's just say that everything is still on the drawing board (and notepad).

Honestly, I don't know what wedding websites are for, but I have read brides-to-be in most threads in online wedding fora sharing (and sometimes bragging about :p) their websites "under construction" or going live. I also remember browsing Kiko's bro's wedsite, stumbling upon my friend Popsie's "secret" wedsite, and checking my brides' wedsites where they post stuff about their wedding. It was then I realised that wedsites are not really a fad, like getting photobooths, but maybe something that can help guests know more about the wedding.

I went on and asked our best friend Google about these sites. I learned that like regular sites, there are those which are paid and those that are free. Paid wedsites come in different packages, such as 2 months before the wedding, 6 months before, and a year before. If they are deactivated after the wedding, I'm not really sure. If I can get something for free, of course, I wouldn't mind (besides, why would I need to pay, if I can get the same thing for free, am not that choosy anyway :p). I typed in "free wedding websites" on the search bar. When the results came up, these were the most popular ones:

• MyWedding
• MomentVille
• eWedding
• Wedding Announcer
• SharedWeddings
• Project Wedding
• The Knot

Didn't really have time to click on all these link now, so I typed in "top free wedding websites", and these are what I got so far:

From About.com 

Best Free Wedding Website Providers

By Nina Callaway, About.com Guide

• Ewedding.com The 24 page designs on this site are basic but attractive. But what really makes this site better than the other free providers are the many customizable pages such as quizzes, polls, guest list, wish list, and even a way to recommend your favorite vendors.
  
• The Knot
  One of the first to provide free wedding websites, the Knot has recently upgraded their options to include 20+ modern and clean designs, and greater ability to customize. They also offer coordinating save-the-date emails and, since the Knot seems to never miss an opportunity to sell, coordinating favors, napkins, and other products.
  
• Wedding Channel
  The designs here are pretty basic, but easy to use. The best part is that the Wedding Channel will make a donation to your favorite charity whenever guests use a link from their registry page to buy you wedding gifts. Getting a gift is even sweeter when you get to do good at the same time.

I had made an account in mywedding.com a few months ago because my high school friend used it for her wedsite, and it required me to make an account to access her wedsite. I wanted to check all of them, so maybe first review would be mywedding.com on my next post under this tag.
c",)

Penguins + Ice = Antartica = white and blue

Time flies so fast, and now it's already December: 17 days to go before Christmas. The cold breeze from the North is already here, and admit it: it's harder to get up in the morning. The Penguins are now starting prep seriously, with more or less 365 days to go.

I was browsing the net, as usual, last Tuesday when I came across this blog site with really nice ideas. I was looking for some things I would put into our inspiration board, or something that can give me an idea on how the venue would be dressed. Di suggested I check out Preston Bailey (side story: we actually forgot what his name was; then we searched for Grey's Anatomy in Wikipedia, since Di said the name is somehow a combination of two characters in the medical drama. didn't have a clue who they were, but that's a cool reminder. :p ) when I was led by our ever-trusted Google to some images that caught my attention. Then I thought, why not include blue in our color palette? Yeah, that would make sense (by the way, we did find Preston Bailey's work, and those are really fab!)... 

Penguins + Ice = Antarctica = white and blue. 

I looked into the images and followed the links they came from. Then, I saw this really nice cake design. Not really my type of cake, or something that would fit into our theme, but could work with some  adjustments. Winter Wedding Cakes is a collection of cake designs suggested by DessertLover, the author of the article in the blog. The cool thing about the entry is, the author gave the links were the images were from (or probably the designers of the cakes). 

Pics courtesy of HereComesTheBlog.com

Here are what I plan to do with them *putting on the thinking cap* (pictures going from top, beginning from left to right):

1. Very nice winter wedding cake, but no snowflakes on the side. Maybe penguin fondant, just plain with glaciers on the next level, then aurora australis in place of the blue air brush. Mafia penguin topper instead of calla lilies
2. Too whimsical for me... perhaps that would work without the stars around it, then black and yellow accents instead of blue
3. Hmm... this is also nice. simple and earthy. Just a pair of mafia penguin on top would do. 
4. Hmm... cup tower... I think this is okay
5. This looks more like a Christmas winter for me. We can change it into ammo boxes or replace the red box in the base with a black one.
6. Nah... too cornered for my taste. Kiko might like it though. This reminds me of Mayan pyramids. :)
7. Classic black winter, nice, but less on the silver accent... or maybe none of it. 
8. Gift boxes again? Ammo crates with mafia penguins on top or beside them. Definitely no ribbons.
9. Okay, I've had it... no more square tower cakes and ribbons. 

Am surely gonna go back to that site (actually bookmarking it). Who knows, I might get something useful, or better yet, become part of the team. :)

c",)