Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Acorny Thank You

I am very fortunate to have been raised by four amazing grandparents and two great-grandmothers. As I get older and as I look back at my childhood I am reminded of all the things they taught me. It's not surprising that at the most unexpected moments, I'd remember and suddenly be transported to that particular time when I was learning a lesson from them. The other day as I was cooking fried rice, I could have sworn I smelled my paternal grandma next to me. I heard her telling me "saute the garlic well, but don't burn". I felt her hands touch mine as she was showing me how to hold the wok (kawali) firmly as I stir the rice with a metal cooking spoon (sandok). She showed me how to crack an egg on the side of the wok and spread it around on top of the rice. And that was just one thing. She showed me life. So much of myself is made of what I learned from her. 

I lost three grandparents in September. I always get into a real funk around this month, but this year I want to remember their lives instead of their deaths. It's been five years today since my paternal grandma died. I want to remember my Inang for helping me become the kind of person that I am today. I lived with my paternal grandparents almost all of my life growing up. I heard it from my Inang a thousand times before, "I brought you home from the hospital after you were born, yada, yada." So, it's evident that many things about me came from them. I know I got my sass from my paternal grandmother. People said she was mean. Perhaps because she was this tiny person with a huge personality who was not scared of anyone. She spoke her mind and she did not care what others thought or would say about her. She was fierce. She walked fast and she moved swiftly. She loved to shop and she was always well-dressed in her tailored pant suit or dresses, hair immaculately coiffed, manicured and pedicured nails and she was always fragrant compliments of expensive perfumes my aunt from Canada sent her. She wore jewelry, but not too much. Just enough to show-off she had class, but never to appear arrogant. She sure loved her diamantes. She was always "dressed to kill", she would tell me. She went to church twice a week and was quite forceful that we did, too. I'm so thankful for her and I just miss her so.

Well, that's all for today, folks. Thank you for stopping by. The list of products used to create this card is below. 

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Basket of Wishes

Happy Fall, y'all! In honor of the first day of autumn which almost always fall on my mom's birthday I would like to stop by and share this card I made especially for her. I just love coloring. Happy birthday, mom and I am truly so thankful for the blessing of you every single day.

This Basket of Wishes stamp set is so versatile and in the Holiday Catalog. It's a definite must have set to add to your stamps collection.

Well, that's all for today, folks. Thank you so much for stopping by. Below is the list of products used to create this card. 

Monday, September 19, 2016

September 2016 Paper Pumpkin

Wow! What an amazing Paper Pumpkin kit for September. Perfect for Halloween treats for the kids and not so kids. Super easy to put together. Everything is provided for you except the candies. 
Well, I hope you are already a Paper Pumpkin subscriber. If not, it's not too late to join the fun an creativity in a box. If you're a paper crafter like me, please give it a chance. You can cancel it anytime if you're not completely satisfied. 

Please sign-up by October 10th in order to receive next month's kit by going to mypaperpumpkin.com and please remember to choose me as your Stampin' Up! demonstrator: Melinda Pascual. Also, until October 10th, it's BOGO buy one, get one free for new subscribers. So hurry and sign-up now!

Thank you for stopping by!

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Wild About Flowers

A few months ago, I've had to terminate a co-worker who over the years had become a very dear friend. We both started in the company around the same time. Although, she has more of a laissez-faire attitude and I'm a grab the bull by the horns kind of gal and that we didn't have a lot in common-we still clicked perhaps by balancing each other. We have shared many lunches and exchanged gifts around the holidays and special occasions. We've shared and confided in each other troubles with families, our health and our work. We've been to each other's homes and met each other's families. In a nutshell, I truly considered her my friend. So, you can just imagine that terminating her was so painful on several levels. I knew that once I told her she was being fired and handed her the paperwork that a friendship of a dozen years was also coming to an abrupt end. I kept telling myself not to take it personally, that it was purely business. However, I've done this deed so many times in my career and was well aware that although I was only the messenger and doing my job, it was very personal to her and no one can fault her for that. I knew our friendship will not be able to withstand this kind of beating. In as much as I claimed she was my friend, I also knew that it just wasn't that strong of a friendship and that made me all the more sad. The other day, I was craving Thai food and I almost texted her to ask if she'd want to go to our favorite restaurant when I remembered that we're not on speaking terms. It just hit me how much I missed her. Oh well, life goes on. I hope that someday we can both find closure and put everything behind us. Even not as friends but as two individuals who were once a part of each other's lives.

As I get older, I am forced to accept the sad reality that the very few friendships I have are built and held by either work or hobby. So, when the work or the hobby goes, so does the friendship. I was just commenting to my husband a few weeks ago that we need friends, perhaps another couple as boring and unadventurous as we are to hang out with. He simply rolled his eyes at me. 

I just love creating blank cards so that I have the liberty to decide what to do with them as need arises. This one was so very simple and easy to put together and not many products required. 
Cased from a swap I received last year at Convention
Well, that's all I have for today. Thank you for stopping by. Below is the list of products used to create this card.

Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas, everyone! We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner at my mom's last night. Lots of great food: lechon (Filipino ham), pa...