Creative Swap - International

So I finally gave in to this guilty pleasure...ummm...this should be satisfying...ahh! Ok dirty minds, nuthin' dirty here but if you have a creative streak that probably will do!

I have put this off far too long and my creative hunger beckons to explore. What makes it so exciting is that it's International- yeah baby! Ok I'm not Austin Powers with hairy chest (eww) but heck, yeah baby! And it's based in Japan - one of my dream countries to visit- talk about double treat!

The rule is simple as a simple-minded buzzing bee: ONLY 4 items required

1) something you made

2) craft supplies you think your partner will enjoy

3) your favorite snack

4) a note or card just to say Hi!

And here are my creative details for my Swap Partner :

1) What creative things are you into? I'm into handmade Jewelries, Holiday crafts and decor + sewing ( creative details will be announced soon). You can check my creations @ Golden Flower Creations.

2) How would you describe your personal style? I incorporate the classic, elegant look, Ethnic and Vintage designs and definitely the Asian Flair and the Island touch to all my creations! I try to put an attitude to all of them, making it my original creation. But sometimes, they're just all about being trendy and girly!

3) What are your favorite colours? I love Earthen colors! hues of brown, black, green, golden or tan and all pastels.

4) What is one craft you would like to learn? Knitting, Japanese seed beads beading, clay art, metal stamping and all-time grandma favorite : quilting!

5) What other hobbies are you into? stamp and coin collecting, sunflower arts & novelty items, and of course blogging.

6) What items do you really wish you had right now? A kimono! Japanese novelty items and collectibles (hint hint) and 3-holed beads!

If you want to be part of this exciting fun ( I demand that you do!) - Bug Caryn ! (sari-saring kulay) ☺ Thanks girl for inviting me to take part in this creative fun! ✿

hmmm...tricky part is shipping international ? Any thoughts ???

Awards Galore

I'm no Diva (though I have the attitude sometimes and self-proclaimed as one ☺ ) , not a celebrity , not an A-list blogger (yet), but when you have kind and generous people giving you great awards and recognitions, you just can't help feel like a super Divalicious Diva and super-special! ♥♥♥

And that's exactly how I feel right now - even though I've been such a slacker-blogger! I said slacker because I have not been consistent (coupled with internet outage at home for 2 weeks!) with my blogging lately and these awards has been waiting for me for ages! Today I was able to snag all of them - I think!- If I missed any, my apologies - and note that, these postings were actually scheduled! I was able to do this while "stealing" internet connectivity from an unknown neighbor's Wi-Fi broadcast one particular night!- just like Robinhood eh?!

To cut the suspense, here (finally) are the Awards bestowed upon these humble blogger :

I recently got all these from Renee' of Cutie Booty Cakes for being the first commenter on her blog! Awesomeness! - Thank you!

This is my 2nd Kick Ass Blogger award and this was awarded to me by Iceah of Wow Legs- Salamat!!!

Cathy of Me and My world and Jenn of Peacock's Nesting Place awarded this to me - You rock too!

Jamey of Walking by Faith awarded this to me - Muchos Gracias mi Amiga!

These awards makes me special and inspires me to keep on blogging even though I haven't been really good(struggling) at keeping up lately. I cherish your kindness! In retrospect, It is good to note though that my creative life is doing well. Part of its' success is because of you! yes YOU reading this now. Thank you for believing in me in spite of my shortcomings. I am giving everyone the "YOU ROCK!" award to everyone who follows my blog and to those who come here just to read or visit. I really appreciate your presence here. YOU COMPLETE ME!

Promo 1 - Zen Earring Winner

First, let me thank all that joined my 1st Promo giveaway. It was a success considering my inconsistent spurts in updating my blog or lack thereof ! (huh! That's a great idea! I should blog about that! )

Now for the drawing : My daughter wishing to be a mom blogger someday requested (coerced me) that she pick the winner for the giveaway. So here she is :

The Magic Bowl

The Future Mom Blogger
SEE NO (cheating) EVIL

Lucky Number :

Lucky Winner : Meet Loraine Vorster of Pink Tulip from Johannesburg, South Africa

Congratulations Loraine ! I'm happy that my earrings will grace your lovely earlobes and all the way to South Africa! I'm so Jealous of my earrings if I must say! (And not being in your earlobes! but that it gets to travel to places I can't of course) Hope you like them!!!

To the rest of us, Sorry girls...but you can always snag one at my store if you want one! :) But No worries, I have more planned giveaways in the future. Cross your fingers and watch out for it! It's just gonna get better... Think of the Holidays !

Again, Thank you to all who made this a success! Salamat!!!

I'm Seeing Pink!

Now, now, before it creates any confusion, I didn't mean "seeing" (or dating) Pink the singer, like what this Nameless Twitter friend thought (duh!) - not that I don't like - take note- her SONGs - but nah! maybe one day when the world flips over and I turn gay! ( I can hear thunder and lightning rolling by - No Lord, I was just joking). No Armageddon wish here.

Anyway, October has been roaring and screaming with PINK (the color, of course), being it the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. My household is proud to say that we are a supporter of the "Pink Syndicate" via Avon Walk. As a matter of fact, for those who don't know, we are dedicating a walk to my sister-in-law ( hubby's sister) on October 25th here in Charlotte NC. My hubby volunteered as Crew Team Leader while, I ( a divalicious bummer), supposedly walking this year, unfortunately couldn't make it! Yeah you guessed right (I hope!) - lack of Training indeed being (lazy) busy with work and (diva) life! Maybe next year...I have to start kicking off the Corporate heels and putting in the sneakers more often...

In the same grand fashion of celebrating this (boobsy) Pink month, I want to share this article about Nutrition for Breast (boobsy) Health. (Notice the "boobsy" interjection? sorry can't help it! I just have to say! It's all about the boobs afterall!). I hope you pick a thing or two that makes perfect sense to you. Now, it is not to say that doning that pointy Madonna spiky bra will actually add more sense to all these...but hey, you can try.

This article is adapted from Natural Awakening, spiced up with my little quirkiness. I dare you to read on...

1- EAT THE RIGHT FATS ( we have them and still trying to lose it- do we really have to eat more?)

Yes - right ones : Fish Oil (Omega 3 Fatty Acid), Borage Oil or evening Primrose oil (contains Gamma Linoleic Acid), Flax Oil ( rich in alpha-linoleic Acid), Olive Oil and Shark Oil.

2- Get some Sun! - Vitamin D
Don't forget the sun tan lotion too. Vitamin D is produced in the skin when the body is exposed to at least 15 to 30 mins. of sunlight. OR just eat fatty fish like Salmon and Sardines as well as fortified Milk.

3- Eat that Broccoli ! - ( Look at your face grimacing! I love Broccoli ! ) yes- Cruciferous vegetables my dear...

Eating 2 servings a week of cruciferous vegetables helps counteract excessive level of estrogen*. Cabbage, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts and Cauliflower contains ANTI-CANCER, detoxifying substances.

*Excess body weight , particularly abdominal fat leads to increased levels of estrogen which has been linked to Breast Cancer.

4- Balance the Body's PH
Eat more Alkaline plant foods: Fresh fruit and veggies, dairy product: cottage cheese and yogurt, organic chicken, turkey,beef and fish. Dried beans: Garbanzo and Black beans, whole grains: Brown rice and oats, nuts and seeds.

5- Eat Less sugar (There goes my sweet tooth)
Sweets raises high blood glucose levels . Eat fewer sweet fluids and foods including high-glycemic fruits like watemelon and pineapple. Avoid High-fructose corn syrups commonly used in processed foods.

6- Add Micronutrients
Magnesium, Zinc, Selenium and Chromium, along with Probiotics.

7- Use Healthy Seasonings (dump that MSG now!)
Cinnamon, ginger, curry powder, onions, stevia, and garlic which has powerful antifungal and antibiotic properties.

8- Drink Green TEA (I'm drinking that now!)
It is rich with potent phytochemicals which helps prevent and possibly reverse some forms of the BIG C!

9- Exercise! (aw-not this one!- hubby shut up! not a word!!!)
30 minutes of exercise everyday cuts the risk of Boobsy Cancer by 75%. Regular Exercise improves immunity, lymph flow, and functions of the body's natural detoxification systems.

If this makes perfect sense to you- please pass the message. Let's help our Boobsies and our Boobsy and not-so-boobsy friends keep their boobsies so we and our boobsies can all continue enjoying our filthy expensive bras for the rest of our lives!- (and have hubby buying us more too!)

Ok 'nuff Boobsie talk... go spread the word - If we can help kill the disease with helpful informations! - Let's!

Somewhere in Time

Don't you ever sometimes wish like you were somewhere else in time? Where everything else is different and everything else is a whole new experience and life is better?

With the recent chaos in Charlotte NC brought about by the Wachovia buyout by Citigroup Inc., and the still prevailing gas shortage, made worst by the failing economy, being in Charlotte NC right now isn't such a great idea! You can't even draw a pretty picture out of it...such a bummer! - If you are from Charlotte NC, you'll definitely agree with me when I say, I wish I was somewhere else and in a different era...

Fortunately, I had a bit of a taste of that on saturday. For the first time, after we started braving the storm ... My little family was able to enjoy a true to goodness family outing! It was indeed a big treat for us. And nope, we didn't splurge just for the heck of it! We were actually very good with our spending, enough that we enjoyed the entire day without poking a big hole in our pockets. My only splurge was the tattoo on my arm which I finally got after missed tries for 3 years - yikes that sounded like pregnancy, didn't it?! - but yeah I did. It was also an original design not even in their picture gallery. So proud of myself - it brought out the wild (or wench!) side of me!

And where did we go you say? Well, we went to Carolina Renaissance Festival by Huntersville NC. It was about half an hour trip (talk about saving gas!) but it was worth it. It's inexpensive and best of all, we went during opening weekend which meant our tickets were discounted and my 4 year old got in for free! See cheap fun! And the happiness it brought to my daughter seeing all the Princesses and her favorite Belly Dancer performers (and hubby seeing overflowing breasts from tight corsets - except of course for that one occasion where he got disgusted by a woman wearing no "support" and her treasure was hanging all the way to her waist ) was priceless!



Yet back to reality... and while contemplating about where I want to be at this moment...This song came to me..."somewhere in time", which was also a movie by the late Christopher Reeves. For some reason, this song never fails to drive me to tears! Not sure if I'm just plain emotional right now or simply vulnerable to the song. The guy who did this piece did a good job. Take a moment and listen to it...

So tell me, Is there a song that evokes the same emotional effect to you? And where does your family go for affordable (cheap) but worth it fun? Share some tips and tricks!



P.S. There's still plenty of time to join the PROMO if you haven't yet. The drawing will be held on Oct 15th!