In collaboration with Craft Party PH and Life Documented Manila, I taught my first ever workshop since moving back to Manila. It was a morning filled with lots of pretty paper, stamps, embellishments, family photos, stories, and women eager to tell and keep their Christmas memories creatively.

When Nica and Mia of Craft Party PH invited me to teach the workshop, I said yes in a heartbeat. I had been dreaming and wanting to teach for a while, waiting for the right time and opportunity to come. My love for documenting memories using Project Life and pocket scrapbooking has always given me the drive to share it with others, and I knew teaching the workshop was the perfect time for me to start.

With Craft Party PH organizing and ironing out the details, and Life Documented Manila providing materials and supplies, we held the workshop on the morning of January 16 at The Open Space in Jupiter, Makati. Fresh from all the Christmas and New Year festivities, all the gatherings, the memory making and the photos captured, we preserved our holiday stories by documenting them in mini albums.

For the kit, the participants were provided with a 4″x6″ album by Simple Stories, and a share of Project Life cards from Becky Higgins’ Deck the Halls Value Kit. This included a total of 30 pieces cards and a variety of holiday-themed embellishments. To top it off, Life Documented Manila generously gave each participant a set of their Paskong Pinoy cards, plus some plain white journaling cards, for free! The whole kit screamed Christmas, giving the perfect frame to complete our holiday albums.

Throughout the workshop, everyone was also spoiled with a colorful supplies buffet care of Life Documented Manila. Think one whole table filled with pretty paper, stickers, washi tape, alphas, embellishments, ephemera, Christmas-themed stamps and lots of colorful stamp pads! It was a holiday craft heaven, really! Everyone enjoyed trying out each tool and playing around with all the embellishments that were available.

To a group of eager memory keepers, I talked about Project Life and how it has added fun and creativity to my style of documenting special moments. This scrapbooking system is so easy and simple, anyone, even non-creatives, will find it a thrill to make. I discussed the essentials and the basics, and demonstrated how easy it is to fill up an entire album with photos and stories.

Aside from the basics of pocket scrapbooking, I also shared a few creative ideas to decorate pages and layouts. These included tips on layering elements, embellishing, creating shaker pockets and card pockets, as well as making unique cards using stamps, patterned paper and other ephemera. Bringing in some holiday baubles and mementos, I made suggestions on how to decorate using used wrappers, ribbons, tags and holiday keepsakes. With each idea and technique that I showed, the participants were able to tell their stories creating fun and merry layouts, adding their own touch and character to each memory.

To fuel everyone as they worked on their layouts, Nica and Mia treated us to some trays of yummy cookies and pastries. We paired these with bottles of Bright Vanilla Cold Brew, thanks to Shophouse Coffee Co.

It was great to see the participants engrossed in their creative storytelling. I loved how each one worked on their albums, adding their own style to their layouts. It was even more inspiring to see all the artful ideas everyone came up with themselves. Being surrounded by women, eagerly gathering all their holiday photos, writing down special memories, and creating an entire album filled with Christmas joy and cheer, nourished and cured the festive hangover that I was feeling. What a lovely sight it was to see each participant go home with their very own mini album of holiday memories, ready to be shared and treasured.

A big thank you the girls of Craft Party PH (Mia, Nica, and Fhely) for organizing the workshop, and for inviting me to share my style, tips and techniques in pocket scrapbooking. Thank you for the trust! And an extra special thank you to the girls of Life Documented Manila (Yam and CH) for supplying our materials and for so generously providing the craft supplies buffet. Thank you so much for all the help!

And of course, thank you to all the participants. This workshop has inspired me to keep making and creating, and has sparked my desire to continue sharing my craft.

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Sometimes I pick up pretty paper or clips, other times it’s some random stationery or cute little trinkets. I bring them home and they all just pile up or get forgotten while they hide away in cluttered drawers.

Since moving back to Manila from Singapore a year ago, my new craft room has been screaming for some order and organization. I still have a gazillion things lying on the floor and most of my supplies are still tucked in boxes. Crafting has been a bit of a nightmare, because I always find myself spending more time rummaging through my things to find materials that I need, than working on the actual projects. Making and creating began feeling like a chore, so I wanted to do something about it.

To start bringing order to my space, I brought out some empty glass jars and gave home to some of my tiny trinkets. The jars on their own looked a little bare, so I figured they needed some labels. I used that as an excuse to do a little crafting and to try and use up the air-dry clay that I had purchased last week. I worked on these air-dry clay labels to help spruce up my storage jars. They were pretty easy to make, and turned into an inexpensive little project, too.

Want to make your own air-dry clay labels for your storage jars too? Read on and fret not — they are super easy to make!

Materials Needed:

• Air-dry clay
• Storage jars
• Rolling pin
• Craft knife
• Letter stamps
• Clay modeling tools
• Bowl of water
• Twine

For my jar labels, I worked with Sculpt-it! Air-Hardening Sculpting Material. For those in Manila, this brand is available in National Bookstore for only P25.00 per 19g! I know, pretty awesome, right? Aside from its affordable price, I also love that it comes in this small packaging. It’s perfect for projects that don’t require too much clay. No need to worry about leftover clay drying up, because you can easily use up all the contents in one sitting!

Let’s Get Started

Start by kneading and conditioning the clay. Work your hands through the clay for about a minute to get it warm and soft. If you are using the same clay as me, you will only need a little kneading. Out of the packet, the Sculpt-it! clay is already pretty soft, smooth and elastic, but do make sure that you get rid of any air bubbles.

On a clean and dry surface, carefully roll out the clay using a rolling pin. Roll it lengthwise, down to about an even 2mm thickness.

Using letter stamps, stamp your label directly on the clay. Press down hard enough to allow the letters to make clear impressions, but not too deep that they’ll go all the way through the clay.

Then, using a pointed modelling tool (or skewers), make holes on both sides of the label. Make sure that it goes all the way through the clay, and the holes are big enough for twine to go through.

With a craft knife, carefully cut around the label to make a rectangle. Smoothen out the edges using modelling tools (or your fingers if you don’t have any), moistening it with some water if it starts getting hard.

Position your label on your glass jar, curving it, so that it follows the shape of the jar. Leave it there to dry for an hour or two.

At this point, you can start making more labels.

Once the top part of the labels have started hardening, check that they aren’t sticking to the glass. Carefully pull them off, and clean away any clay residue if they are.

To make sure that the labels don’t curl while they dry, place them back on the jars and tape them down with washi tape. This will ensure that they retain their shape. Allow the clay to dry completely for a day or two. My labels were completely dry after about a day and a half.

When the clay is completely dry, thread twine through the holes and knot them at the ends of the labels. Finish off by tying them around your storage jars.

Fill the jars with your trinkets, and you’re done!

I have to say that the labels added a nice touch to my boring old jars. They were so easy to make, and the whole project didn’t cost much either. I was able to make these 3 labels using one 19g Sculpt-it! pack, and I even had some leftovers.

Go on, try making your own clay labels. Use them to customize and spruce up anything from storage jars, spice jars and bottles, to even your plant pots. Have fun!

Additional Tips:

• The clay is air-hardening, so you won’t need to bake it afterwards, but since it starts drying once it’s exposed to air, you really have to work fast. Moisten the clay with a dab of water if it starts getting tough to work with.
• Make sure to keep clay that you aren’t using in cling wrap, until they are needed.
• If your clay is sticking to your work surface, you may roll your clay on a baking sheet or parchment paper.

When the girls of Life Documented Manila��launched their Kain Na Stamp Set, I was in love. I knew I had found my favorite food stamps. Designed by  Christine Herrin and Kitty Jardenil, the Kain Na Stamp Set is one that every Pinoy foodie can definitely relate to!

With Pinoy phrases like Kain Na, Masarap, Merienda Time, Extra Rice, and my favorite Kain Tulog Repeat, there are many different ways to use them. Here are some examples of how I’ve played with them:

Pocket Scrapbooking

I documented my Christmas 2015 in a 4×6 mini album early this year, and the Kain Na Stamp Set was perfect to highlight the overflowing food that happened during the holidays.

Using both the On The Menu and the Masarap stamps, I added them to my Paskong Pinoy cards and made a little flip-up card to jot down the simple spread that we feasted on for Noche Buena.

The Treat Yourself stamp was a great addition to this spread full of my food photos. I stamped it on white paper, trimmed around it and glued it on a grid card to make a unique 2×2 filler card.

Making Filler Cards

When I don’t find cards to match my current pocket scrapbooking spread, I always resort to making my own. The first thing I usually reach out for? Clear stamps. They are quick and inexpensive tools to designing unique cards.

For the card on the left, I used the Merienda Time, Gutom Pa, and Kain Pa stamps to make a simple text pattern on white cardstock. For the card on the right, I stamped the Kain Tulog Repeat stamp on plain white paper, trimmed around the circle, then simply glued the new embellishment on another Paskong Pinoy filler card.  These were so fast and easy to do, each card only taking about five minutes to make.

Making Lists 

I’m an avid list maker. I write several lists on the daily, from grocery lists and to-do lists, to random ones just for the sake of making lists. The other week, I jotted down my current favorite restaurants in the metro. The Masarap stamp made for a perfect heading.

Planner/Journal

My planner is mostly a mini-journal where I write quick notes and doodles of what I did that day, and less of a to-do-list kind of planner. It just helps my mommy brain remember the little details, perfect for when I need to document them in my scrapbook.

I used the Kain Na Stamp Set to fill up an entire page in my weekly planner last January. I love how each stamp added character and brought life to the page. Stamping also made the whole process of documenting my week more fun.

I love how versatile the Kain Na Stamp Set is. There are so many possibilities and ways to use it, it has already become a staple in my scrapbooking and planner arsenal.

Start stamping away and get your own Kain Na Stamp Set over at Life Documented Manila.