Hi, thank you for stopping by. My name is Sylvia. I’m a working mom who is trying to find a balance between my family life and my work. Raising my sweet and sassy daughter Kate and my goofy and lovable son DJ can sometimes be draining but with the help of my hubby, Glen and my crafting hobby, I am able to pull it off most of the time.

 

How It All Started..

I first stumbled upon stamping and paper crafting in Milan, Italy in 2002 when I was looking for materials to use for our civil wedding invitation cards and bonboniere (wedding favors). I wanted to try my hand at doing a little DIY.

There was this small craft store that sold rubber stamps, ink pads, and other crafting materials.The lady who owns the store also held a stamping class and to participate in the class one had to buy some materials. So I ended up buying some stamps, ink pads, a heat gun and embossing powder. I was so excited from the lessons I got that day I was able to produce 20 pieces of invitation cards for our wedding and thank you note cards for our bonboniere.

For me, the invitation cards I made were really awful and crude but my friends liked them because of the embossed monogram. It was the first handmade invitation they got and when I told them that I stamped and embossed the monogram myself they were surprised. I was encouraged to learn more techniques, but life happened and I had my daughter Kate. Eventually I found myself juggling my time between motherhood, being a wife and my work as an expat.

After my sojourn in Italy, I went home to the Philippines and had another baby. Donovan, or DJ as we fondly call him, completed our little family. During my pregnancy, I turned to scrapbooking to while away the time and bond with Kate. We would work on our layouts or sometimes just smash the photos, tickets, stickers together and just have a good time.

But it was in 2013 while I was assigned in Tokyo, Japan that I started getting serious about paper crafting. I started buying my tools, inkpads, rubber stamps, punches, practically anything I see that card makers use in their videos. In card making, I have found a creative outlet that balances my very hectic work life and also allows me almost guilt free shopping (lol) because “I’m buying important stuff for my craft”.

My favorite crafters are Amy Rysavy, Jennifer Mcguire, K Werner, Yana Smakula, Sandy Allnock and Sam Hammond (Pootles). Watching the video tutorials of these ladies has made me fall in love with card making, and I guess this will be a lifetime love affair.