the making of an “idol”

 

WARNING: text and photo heavy post

 

 

SCRAPFEST 7, 29 AUGUST 2009. so it happened. the much-awaited scrapbooking event in the philippines. and this time I am not just an attendee but a finalist as well. GEEZ. what was I really thinking when I joined last july 26?

I love beyonce. I watched her concert dito sa atin. I even made a layout about it. then a few days before the event, we, the 10 finalists received an email from the scrappinmoms organizers enumerating the initial instructions on the theme to be used for this year’s competition. I was a fan of beyonce until that very day I received the email. I hated the fact that the song, where our layout inspiration should take off from made me hit a solid, blank wall… “if I were a boy”. NAMAN! 

took me days to arrive at an initial layout concept, and some more humid nights thinking of a possible picture to use. I told myself, it definitely has to be a new one, in either full color or B&W. reason being is that, I wouldn’t know what materials will be given to us as challenge kits. it can be really chaka, too colorful or heaven forbid, just plain bland. I had to play and replay layout designs on my mind. there came a point when I had a headache just thinking about it. I knew I had to be smart in the delivery of my interpretation. what is it about wanting to be a boy? bukod sa dati napapagkamalan akong tomboy? hindi ba ito adding insult to injury? I don’t want to talk about my frustration of not being able to project enough “femininity”. personally speaking, that’ll be too lame a topic (doing the “L” sign on my forehead).

 

 

what is it about a boy and a girl and what makes them uniquely diffrent at the same time? why do boys have it easy? why are girls so mabusisi? crispin, basilio, nasaan kayo?! hehehehe. then like a bolt of lightning, I thought: I am going to do a layout about menstruation. haaa… pero tanong: can I pull it off?

okay. so that settled, I asked my bff for a last minute photoshoot (thursday night) at a cheapipay photolab at, would you believe, the ayala MRT station. I needed her indomitable kulit factor to help execute my concept and “direct” the photographer, who turned out to be the branch manager as well! poor guy, he had to sit on the floor just so he can take the shot that I specifically want. but before all that chaos went about, I did show him some pegs for reference. aba, ginanahan ata. ayaw na namin pa-picture, sige pa daw. suuuuure

I didn’t see the actual photo until saturday at noon, when ems handed them over to me. talk about taking risks. I told ems, malimutan na niya lahat, wag lang ang pictures ko.

earlier at the fest grounds, I checked out the participating LSS. bought some new thickers and a couple of possible patterned papers I can use for the idol challenge. we were told to buy materials from at least two LSS, a pre-requisite for all idol finalists. it was a blindsighted purchase, but I was happy with my loot.  then it began. we were prompted with the instructions and were given a full four hours to finish each of our entries. saw the challenge kit (ugh.), made peace with its contents and went to work. I said in my last related post that I will just enjoy the process no matter what. I cannot afford to be overtly competitive since I am already three seasons too late anyway. besides, what have I got to lose?   

image: april lim

halfway through the competition, I felt a throbbing pain in my cranium. my cheeks are flushed and I was gulping a liter of bottled water every five minutes. this is not good. I ricocheted to the bathroom like a pelota ball would. I was getting hungry and already dry at the mouth. Panginoon, tama ba itong nangyayari sa akin? just let me be in the finishing top 5 and I’m good to go. at least I’d die in the battle fighting to the last string of my gut. 

image: diane miraballes

I made a booboo. since my layout base has been 8.5×11 all throughout the competition, I was sooo ready to submit 10 minutes early into the deadline. then BAM! it was supposed to be a 12×12 entry pala! big thanks to my co-finalists who made me realize this. I wanted to give up because I was so tired already. but at the back of my mind, I was knocking myself on the head. andito na ako eh, ngayon pa ba ako susuko? so I used the patterned paper I bought earlier, eyeballed my original layout, pressed some rub-ons and prayed hard I make it to the deadline. tick-tock… last two minutes. photofinish! 

image: diane miraballes

the scrappinmoms started introducing the 10 finalists one by one. and using the world-renowned urong-sulong process of elimination, suddenly there were just 5 of us.

middle five, L-R: LG, myself, candy, diane & lee    

image: liza bermudez

around this time I could feel my bladder about to explode. I didn’t mean to let everybody know what I was feeling, but when I muttered that I want to pee already, host liza talked back on the microphone! so sige, wiwi break muna we were back to the cliffhanger after relieving ourselves. and for some reason, the electrolytes I released made me want to just get everything over and done with.

and then we were 3… 

image: liza bermudez

these two ladies you see in the picture above, diane and lee, have been awesome since day one. quite honestly, to get this far into the competition was an honor for me already. but it wasn’t meant to end that simple…

  * * * WARNING: kenkoy pictures ahead * * *     

image: diane miraballes

image: liza bermudez

image: diane miraballes

I bagged the 2009 scrappinmoms idol 3 title!    

image: issa lucido

image: tin yao

image: liza bermudez

after my name was called, what happened next were scenes scooped straight out of a real beauty contest: I cried (yuck. there, now you know mababaw luha ko!)), I waved, I did a wee speech, beso, hugs, struck a pose, and had a locked jaw from too much grinning…   

image: liza bermudez

image: liza bermudez

 my bff ems also won the top prize for the on-the-spot layout challenge! 

note that in my post title, I put an open and closed quotation marks to the word idol. it is undeniably a big word and has put me in a fleeting position since the culmination of the event… but I know that there will always be a better, craftier and spunkier scrapbooker out there. I believe with all my heart, that the philippines is a treasure trove of truly amazing scrapbookers. I’d live and die chanting those same words.

tadaaa…  

 

image: april lim

for now, I will enjoy the tag “idol” . there’s simply a VERY nice ring to it that I could not resist

 

random wednesday 51

 

a couple of days ago, somebody sent a text message to someone and the word spread like a plague… BEYONCE HAD DIED!

huwatt?!

so I told my friend B that it couldn’t be true. “here, I am looking at a US-based gossip site”, I snapped back. “walang balita tungkol diyan.” fast forward to nighttime. I got home and my mum yelped: “anak, patay na daw si bayonci, beyanci, beyonci ba yun? plane crash daw kasama ang ina!” wait, I’ll go home muna and check the internet, I told my mum. nai-stress na ako talagaaaa. kamamatay lang ni MJ, noh!

went online and checked the same US-based gossip site. nada. I called my mum on the phone: “mum, wala talaga. hoax lang yung balita…” mum said, “ay, thank God.”

WOW.  feeling close ang nanay ko kay beyonce

♥ ♥ ♥ 

by ricky lo, via the philippine star 8-26-09 

•  a parlor in San Juan: Cut & Face

•  a wholesaler of balut in Sto. Tomas, Batangas: Starduck

•  a small Internet café: Cafe Pindot

•  a laundry in Manila: Summa Cum Laundry

•  a noodle restaurant in Pampanga: Mekeni Rogers

•  a restaurant in Pasig: Johnny’s Fried Chicken, The “Fried” of Marikina

•  a tombstone maker in Antipolo: Lito Lapida

•  a copy center in Sikatuna Village, Quezon City: Pakopya ni Edgar

•  a kambingan: Sa Goat Kita

•  a salon somewhere: Curl Up And Dye

•  a store selling feeds for chicken along Sucat Road: Robocock

•  a shoe repair in Marikina: Dr. Shoe-Bago

•  a petshop: Petness First

•  a  flower shop: Susan’s Roses

•  a taxicab: Income Taxi

•  a second-hand watch store: 2nd Time Around

•  a squid stall in a wet market: Pusit to the Limit

•  a lawyer’s extension office: Nota Republic

•  a ceiling installer: Kisame Street

•  a car-repair shop: Bangga ka ‘day!

•  an aquatic pet store in Malolos: Fish Be With You

•  a fishball cart along P. Campa St., near UST: Eat My Balls

•  a barber shop in Cagayan de Oro: Pinoy Big Barber

•  a resto in Baclaran: The Last Supper

•  a party-needs business: Balloon-Balloonan

•  a Chinese restaurant in Pasig: Lah-Fang

•  a store selling fresh chicken, apparently owned by a woman named Dina: Dina Fresh Chicken

•  a Hair Salon in Makati: Hair We Go Again

and of course, I have a favorite:

•  a shoe repair shop along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City: SHOEPERMAN (We will HEEL you, save your SOLE, and even DYE for you)

one day, I hope to be able to share with you some funny signs around cavite that I photographed myself

 

enjoy the rest of the week, peeps!

;  

monday blues

have a good work-week

a

choose the crown

 

click the image to get to the site

the miss universe 2009 pageant is all set and will go live via webcast on august 23, 8:00pm EST.

diamond nexus lab, commissioned to make “the crown” is running an online votation. choose the crown and get a chance to win a trip to nu yok to meet the new miss universe!

eh teka, bakit when I chose na, nag-error?! anubah.

a

random wednesday 50

 

there we were, tffee and myself tending to bailey. I was going to and from the kitchen and have left bailey to tffee’s care. the two love each other so much, that you will hear non-stop shouting of ”hey!, don’t go there, bailey!”, “helloooo, bailey girl!”, “are you being good, bailey?”, “are you tamad, bailey?”, ”naku bailey, poo-poo again?!”, “NOOOOO!”, etcetera. tffee has the makings of a disgruntled spinster at age six and three quarters. haaa…

then she told me nonchalantly, “ninang, nabasa ko sa book ko ang tawag sa female dog, bitch.”.

me: “uhm, yeah.” 

change topic. aack!

♥ ♥ ♥

anyway. 

the other day, my friend B and I were texting and somehow, discussed death and our choice of coffins. even before, we pinky promised that whoever went first, the other will make sure this wish will be carried out. morbid? naaah. it’s reality. you wouldn’t want to be sent away inside a pitiful cream box with stringy hems and gawky-looking internal tuffting. personally, I like mine hot pink with glittered “masking” (a scrapbooking technque). my friend B likes bubblegum pink, I reckon.

I love this basic grey patterned paper

but would you rather have a DIY or super customized coffin like these?

and even if I am lovin’ the color, I don’t think I want this in my living room:

see more special coffins via lifeart

up next: KA-GAGA-HAN! 

 

 

heard some dismal feedbacks from friends who watched lady gaga’s concert here. I knew she was extra-ordinarily weird, and I’m fine with that. what got me was the buzz that she is actually a hermaphrodite! read all about it here

miley, miley, quite contrary…

I hope miley cyrus doesn’t really wish to grow up too fast. she got bad press again when she did some sizzling stripper pole action in the recently concluded teen choice awards. nene pa eh… tsk, tsk.

funny how an unmade face can look uncannily like that of a character that’s fully made up…

wahahaha. johnny depp’s new movie, alice in wonderland is gonna be a good one. if I were to base it on his make-up alone, ha.  see details of the movie here

charles pitts is a techie, homeless guy who has facebook and twitter accounts (among others) to his name. he trives on wi-fi ready environment and loads on free laptop charging wherever possible. here’s another picture of him on a “normal day”. look closely:

so, is the randomness in your life doing you good today?

a

nakuha sa gulat

 

nanood kami ng friends ko ng mocha girls (oh, yesss…) sa island cove resort nung biyernes. at dahil pag-aari ito ng mga remullas, isang kilalang political clan sa aming bayan, natural lamang na nandoon ang dating kongresista ng ikalawang distrito ng cavite na si gilbert remulla. NGUNIT, DATAPWAT, SUBALIT! hindi ko akalain na makikita ko si atty. adel tamano doon!

sa sobra kong katuwaan ay nasigawan ko siya ng: “hi, attorney!”. sumagot naman din ng, “hello, kamusta!”. o-ha, feeling close

this harvard-educated, former kundirana member was so divinely handsome and charming, I had to call dear to deliver the good  news. hindi ko talaga napigilan ang aking sarili at ako’y kinikilig pa habang kausap ko ang aking kabiyak sa cellphone. kerengkeng, noh?

lucky, lucky girl.

 

g

looking like humans

 

can doxies make faces like this?

and can they rap too?

apparently

via totallylookslike.com

HAPPY MONDAY! NO WORK ON FRIDAY!!!

a

TGIF

 

so you wanna be an idol, ey? 

not that idol, this idol! and I’m gonna be at the finals!

what started as a “wala lang, sali lang ako” sentiment a couple of months ago, turned out to be a week-in, week-out commitment to perform, execute and deliver. a form of medulla oblongata torture that has stricter-than-your-local-librarian criteria and deadlines! I knew this was to be the case, as I have mentioned it here already.  but I guess nothing really prepares you for competitions like this. you only have your sheer determination to pull you through.

ten of us. and from where I am positioned, the other nine creative warm bodies I see collectively screams one thing clear: it’ll be a tough competition. and as with the past scrapfests I have attended, when I was just a mere attendee trying to dip my feet on some on-the-spot challenges… I will try to just enjoy the dizzying ride, make a layout (uhm, er, or something?!) that makes me happy, and ingest the fun in the atmosphere. if tension precipitates during the competition, I will try to tune out. because I WILL have fun. so winning the title, if at all, is just icing on my cake. I already ate the whole shebang, noh. okay na yun!     

on that note, I shall leave you with the line up of layouts/project I did that helped me be one of the last [wo]men standing:

I am one happy scrapper 

see you at the makati parks and gardens, august 29th!

a

random wednesday 49

 

let’’s take this in one at a time. and hope that we won’t choke along the way.

question:

WHY kailangang kumanta pa?

WHY namamaga ang nguso niya?

WHY? why ba talaga massacred ang desisyon?

WHY? abuso na yan, ha.

BUT WHY? kasi nga naabuso na.

WHY?! what the… konting delicadeza naman.

 

 

WHY NOT? ibang klase sila, dabah…

read via the inquirer

UHM, WHAT ABOUT THE TRUCK DRIVER… dabah?

happy midweek, peeps!

a

happy birthday to me!

 

oops, sorry. the birthday girl overslept

you see, I never thought I was going to celebrate my birthday 3 days in a row leading up to my actual birthday. last friday, my officemates surprised me by creating a banner greeting by my cubicle’s wall. then they also prepared a sumptuous lunch for the whole sales and marketing team. last night, after the blessing of a dear friend’s bistro here in kawit (more on that in a separate blog post), my old, old friends gave me an asalto at the island cove videoke bar! so I sang la isla bonita and some other madonna, wilson philips & the corrs songs, naturally. but you know what really made my night? dear sang for the first time! it took him 37 years to sing in front of an audience (eh kami kami lang naman). and the song that broke all rules: the distance between us by fra lippo lippi. whoaaaa!!! GO, DEAR!

today was just pure fun. nothing beats quality time spent with family, lots and lots of hugs and kisses. salamat sa Panginoon.

so, fess up! thank you for all you sweet ladies who joined in my 2nd birthday RAK challenge! I received a total of 29 entries! I enjoyed all your private emails, sweet thoughts and revelations. you guys are the best. I plan to print your emails and keep them. I am also in awe at some of you who even took pains in creating a color grid for me. fabulous. the entires really rocked in terms of color combos! grabe nahilo ako… sa mangha.  ahww, sarap ng feeling talaga. so thank you, thank you, everyone

so who made my birthday layout extra special?

drumroll please…………………………… number 22!

MARIAN!

congrats, marian! her entry suggested that I use yellow and green with pink. I froze for a while because these two colors aren’t always in my color wheel (yeah, I HAVE my own. hehe…). so anyways, I got to work right away as soon as I woke up at 7:00pm tonight, here’s what I came up with:

now here’s the wonderful part. as I was reading all the sweet greetings here, one commenter mentioned “big heart”. so I said, “wow, the best timing, or is it ESP?”. because for my birthday layout with my puppy bailey, my working title for the last 2weeks was ”bigger heart”. I guess you know what I really mean by that. and yes, in this bigger heart of mine, where a stinky puppy newly resides along with the other loves of my life – - – I still have room for more. 

so ate lil, you will receive a small token of appreciation from me! you and marian should PM me right away so I can send you your loots asap!

thanks again, everyone! we’ll do this again next year!

a