Visita Iglesia

This week is what we, the Catholic faithfuls call our Holy Week. It is when we commemorate the sacrifices and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a time to reflect and try to atone for all the sins that we have committed. Likewise, to relive the traditions that have been handed down to us by our family and which we also try to pass to our own children. And mind you, in this part of the world, there are quite a lot pertaining to this occasion. Some are good but some I would just say I wish to vanish from our consciousness.

On the good side, there is the Visita Iglesia which my family chose to do last Maundy Thursday. We visited seven different churches, most of them along the metro area. Because it was a non-working holiday and most people opted to flock to the province, traveling was such a breeze that our driver joked that we could make it twice the number (of churches to visit) if we like to. It was really nice to see families praying solemnly together and at the same time preserving this tradition.

The only thing I didn't approved with this activity was the emerging of a new trend that I noticed everywhere we went. It's what we call the "foto op" time. I know this is the digital age and I am not against anybody taking pictures at every opportunity they get, but please, can we make this one an exception? Or at least do it in a way that won't disturb others who just want to have some peaceful time in those places of worship?

Anyway, of all the churches that we visited, I found Christ the King Parish in Green Meadows, Quezon City as my favorite. Maybe it's the simple architecture so unlike the other traditional churches but it has this aura that has a calming effect and made me felt like it could be my sanctuary whenever I am on the downside. I highly recommend this church if you're looking for a place to pray and reflect.

The altar of Christ the King Parish in Quezon City

Digital scrapbook

If I'm not mistaken, I think I made my first scrapbook when I was in grade six. Back then, I didn't even know what it is called. It was a scrapbook of me and my best friend wherein I put the things I have collected through the years about our friendship, from pictures to the cards she gave me, even the petals of a flower we picked from an angry neighbor which I kept inside the pages of my book. During that time, there was still no craft store like the ones we have now so I only used art papers and cut-out letters from magazines as embellishments. Nevertheless, it came out pretty well (for a 12-year old) and that started my romance with traditional scrapbooking.

A few months ago. I rediscovered my old love for it, this time around its digital version. I was quite surprised to find a a lot of sites offering free downloadable stuff but found www.shabbyprincess.com as one of the best. The beauty of digital scrapbook is that you are assured it will look the same way as it did even after how many years and of course it's mess-free. (I will tell you a lot more of its advantage in my future entries). All you need is a computer and any creative software of your choice (Adobe Photoshop it is for me). Take a look at some of my works.


My future entries will include some Photoshop tutorials that I used in these layout, some tips and tricks that I learned through years of using this software as well as some principles of design that I follow as a graphic designer myself. Now, I'm not claiming to be an expert on these topics but let me just say I'll try my best to share whatever knowledge I have. Fair enough?

Finding my way around

Two days after my first entry, I find myself spending hours changing the look of my blog site (talk about being vain). As a graphic designer, it would seem understandable that it should be one of my major concern, a close second perhaps to its content. I tried looking at different websites offering free templates but I could not find anything suited to how I envisioned this blog would look like. It's not that I did not find them worthy enough, they all are, I guess it's just about being me. This blog is like an extension of myself so it has to have my style and my personality.

In my first entry, I mentioned that this is my first try at blogging so I am still finding my way in. Although I am a heavy user of different creative softwares, this one is really new to me. I'm like a toddler discovering the joy of climbing a chair and being proud of my little achievement knowing that I would be better at it the next time around. (Hey, why do I feel like I should change the name of this blog into "A diary of a virgin blogger"?) I could have ask my sis-in-law's help but maybe I'm too shy or too proud to do it. That's really typical of me. I find more satisfaction in being a self-learner even if it means it will take me longer than it should be. It's because I believe that doing so will make the learning experience more remarkable, one that's not easily forgotten.

Anyway, getting back to my first concern, I finally decided (with a heavy heart) to postpone my "change-of-look" until I got a little use to getting around here. For now, I will be content with the templates this blog site is offering and hope that soon, not later, I can make it look like how I want it to!

This is it!

MJ's famous line sums it up for me. This is it! No turning back. I finally took the plunge in this thing called "blogging". Yeah, it's a first for me and I must admit I only have limited knowledge about it as of now but then, it's never too late to learn, right? After all, life is a continuing process of learning and I don't intend to be left behind in any way. But first, I have to thank my sister-in-law who is also a blogger, for encouraging me to do this and for being supportive all the way.

I am a graphic designer by profession but considers my being a wife and a mother the most challenging yet the most rewarding job I ever had. I like everything and anything about art, be it in digital form or handcrafted. And that's what I wanted to share in this blog. The things that I like to do and those that I would like to do in the future as well as those that I simply took fancy at any given time. Every now and then, I will also talk about my family, my own life lessons, my dreams, and of course, my personal takes about some issues that I deem relevant.

I invite you to join me in this journey and I hope we both learn a thing or two from this ride!!!