PaperSpices

Body By Design Day #32

2012-02-10T09:44:00.005-05:00

Thursday was another feel-good day. I went for my walk at lunchtime and to celebrate the fact that sharing what I'm doing with everyone I know has made this so much easier than I thought, I told J, my coworker (who introduced me to Body By Design) that I had this blog. She went ahead and read all the posts from the beginning and even told me that she found it so inspiring! So thank you J, for your encouragement and support. And thank you to the readers of this blog for showing interest (I do see how many people visit everyday), because your interest pushes me to stay on track and constantly reminds me that people actually believe that I can do this.

I went to the gym after work and did 15 minutes on the elliptical watching my heart rate to stay in the fat burning zone. Then I had the urge to run a little bit so I jumped on the treadmill and ran for 10 minutes and then walked for 5. When I ran, I definitely went past my fat burning zone and into the conditioning zone. I'm not sure if running actually helps me to loose fat but I'm starting to enjoy it and I do want to work on my endurance for a 5K that we're doing in March. So I'm basically experimenting. Is it better to do interval training (run/walk/run/walk), or just moderately paced cardio in order to loose weight? There are different opinions on this but in the end, every-body is different and I'm trying to find out what works for me.

I wanted something warm for dinner and was so glad to find some vegetable soup my hubby had made so I warmed it up and added 3 egg whites to it. So filling and delicious!

Believe me, it tasted better thank it looks! :-)

Body By Design Day #31

2012-02-09T10:27:00.005-05:00

Wednesday was a good day! The weather was a little discouraging at the time I had to go out for my walk. I considered just not going and reading a magazine instead (surprising how we can come up with excuses in a second!). Instead, I grabbed an umbrella in case it started raining and stepped out the door.

Five minutes later, the sun was out! I walked really fast to raise my heartbeat and then stayed at the same pace for about 30 minutes. I did my workout and I got some sun shining on my face as a reward :-)

When I got home, I made an omelet with 5 egg whites, some tofu sausage (I know I shouldn't eat this so often...) and mushrooms. I added some pepper and hot sauce and yum!

Last week I started watching "24" again on Netflix. Oh boy.... I. Can't. Stop. Watching..... It's been my guilty pleasure lately. I guess it's a better guilty pleasure than cheesecake or donuts right? Please say yes :-)

At 9:30pm we were out the door and going to the gym. We were actually looking forward to the workouts since we've been feeling so good and so strong. We increased the repetitions on most of the exercises and now I even lift the same weight as my husband in at least two!! haha!

Then it came the time to do the bench dips. If you remember from this post, I have been able to increase the reps each week. Week one I could only do one and today, on week 5, I did 12!!! 12!!! 12!!! Can you feel the excitement we're feeling around here? I hope so!

The reason for this blog and the following photo is this:

"Be transparent with your goals -- tell as many supportive people as you can. By putting your reputation on the line and staring in the face of certain embarrassment, you are much more accountable to see your goals through, for life." Chris Gethin - Body By Design

I asked my husband to take a picture of my bench dip #12. Very unflattering picture indeed but what the heck, I've lost all shame and only care that I'm able to do this!

Strong is the new thin!!

Body By Design Day #30

2012-02-08T10:29:00.000-05:00

Day #30!!!
I can't believe it's been 30 days already! I think I'm closer and closer to making exercising and eating well and frequently a habit.

My coworker was so curious to see how much I'd lost so we went to get weighed. I have lost 10 pounds so far! That's 10lbs in 4.5 weeks! This is a good day for me. Not only the numbers are decreasing but I'm also getting stronger and even feel a difference in the way I carry myself. I feel more in control of my movements. I'm feeling so good and confident that this is here to stay in my life, that I even signed up for a 5K! Yes, I'll be doing a 5K in March. It's a walk/run event but I'm going to attempt to run all the way. I feel I can do it.

Had a quinoa salad today for two of my meals. I just cooked the quinoa in the rice cooker, let it cool and added diced cucumber, tomatoes, onions and I made a dressing with vinegar, salt, pepper, olive oil, cumin, a bit of curry powder and a little bit of molasses. Good stuff!!

Body By Design Day #29

2012-02-07T14:02:00.003-05:00

Monday was a tough one. Since we got home so late after the superbowl, we had to get up early to prepare lunches and snacks... We underslept. So when it came the time to go to the gym for the Monday workout at 9:30 pm, we were exhausted.
But....
We made it! Monday's the easiest workout but we felt it lasted forever. We were tired but pushed through it and were even able to increase the weight since last week. We drank a Vega shake before the workout and water with apple cider vinegar afterwards. I've been using apple cider vinegar for about a year and I love it. It has great benefits such as regulating sugar and cholesterol. it is also an antifungal and antibacterial. Since I started working out, I searched for a good sports drink to get some energy, electrolytes and help my muscles to recover. I found that 2 tbsp of the vinegar with some raw honey in a glass of water (you can even add a pinch of sea or Himalayan salt) is the natural and chemical-free version of gatorade!

It was a looong day but again, we went to the gym and did the workout. Feeling really proud!

Body By Design Day #28

2012-02-06T13:40:00.000-05:00

Super Bowl Sunday. I was a little afraid of this day, that's why we went to the UNCC campus for a brisk, 40 minute walk before going to watch the game. The food, snacks, drinks....too much temptation. We were invited to a friend's house to watch the big game. I am so happy to report that we snacked on fruit and yes, some chips (some of the fruit dipped in a bit of chocolate). But we didn't even touch any of the other delicacies. Fruit is not even part of the Body By Design program but if I'm gonna cheat with something, I'd rather it be fruit and not a hot dog. I'd say it was a very successful weekend!

Body By Design Day#27

2012-02-05T13:40:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we went to the gym to do our Body By Design Workout. We are being able to increase either the weight or the repetitions on almost all the exercises! We're getting stronger every day.

After the gym, I knew we had to run some errands, so I packed our VEGA shakes and three hours later I thanked the heavens for being prepared because we were starving! we didn't have to run and eat junk food but had the shake and waited until we got home to have our meal.

I made a stew of tofu cubes with spinach, diced tomatoes, onions and mushrooms. I added oregano, basil, a bit of cumin and Bragg's Liquid Aminos. Boiled some potatoes and we had a simple, yet nutritious and tasty meal!

Body By Design Day #26

2012-02-04T13:39:00.000-05:00

Friday oh Friday! I went to the gym today in the afternoon (aside from my mid-day walk) and I: RAN. Yes, I ran for 15 minutes straight. I know it doesn't sound like much to most people but let me tell you, I couldn't run for more than 5 minutes without taking a break. I felt so empowered, so, so, so good! I did feel a bit of pain at some point but I remember my friend D's words: "just keep going, the pain will go away". And it did. And I ran. And I couldn't do this before.

I went to the supermarket and bought more sardines. These were actually really good! I had them with a salad of different lettuce varieties, tomatoes, a little avocado and onions. I made a dressing with apple cider vinegar, mustard, salt & pepper, minced garlic, molasses and some olive oil and then sprinkled some dried cranberries and feta cheese on top. It was soooo good! Note: Neither cranberries, nor cheese are part of the meal plan (and I hadn't tasted any cheese in weeks!) but, what the heck, it was friday and I was feeling so good I decided to reward myself.

Body By Design Day #25

2012-02-03T13:40:00.000-05:00

Thursday was one of those "I could totally do this" days. I had cooked the night before, had my meals ready, went for my mid-day walk and went for a walk to the University of North Carolina campus when I got home.
I love living so close to this school. Being around an institution of learning brings lots of energy and a sense of progress to the neighborhood. I love watching the students walk to class in the mornings and evenings and we walk around the campus regularly.

I felt so energized during my walk that even started thinking about what I wanted to study when I go back to school which is on my list for sure. It's interesting how when you start taking care of yourself, everything else just falls into place. Plans are made and executed and opportunities and ideas arise. I'm getting used to this.

Body By Design Day #24

2012-02-02T11:33:00.003-05:00

Today I wasn't feeling the motivation at all. I felt tired, a bit sleep deprived and just not in a good mood. Thank God I had a date with some of my girlfriends to go pottery painting. We had been to Dish it Out here in Charlotte and wanted to try a new place closer to my house. We went to Our Paintin' Place in the Northlake Area. Although they had less items to choose from, I loved that the use of their studio space (which is very nice and comfortable) is included in the price of the item! I started painting a 6x6 tile and since I couldn't finish it, I can go back as many times I want until I'm happy with it and it can be fired.

I was not prepared at all food-wise to go to pottery painting right after work so by the time I got there I was STARVING! Not. good. at. all.
I ended up @ Panera having a panini....not that bad but definitely not nutritious...

By the time I got home I did not want to go to the gym but sit on my sofa and watch "How I Met Your Mother". My husband wasn't feeling up for it either but I'm so proud we still went. It wasn't our best day but I am proud to say that I did 10 Bench Dips. I don't remember if I've mentioned this but this is a summary of my experience with Bench Dips:

Week 1: Able to do ONE only
Week 2: Able to do FOUR
Week 3: Able to do SIX
Week 4: Able to do TEN!!!!

Ten very well done dips my friends. Moral of the story: No matter how "bad" your day is going, there's still room for good things to come your way. You just gotta push through it!

Body By Design Day #23

2012-02-01T13:53:00.000-05:00

I went out on my mid-day walk and found this:

How pretty right? Maybe a sign that the weather will stay beautiful? I hope! I saw it as a reward for having the discipline to go out everyday for my walk. It's been almost a month since I started and it feels awesome. I've even inspired some of my coworkers to do the same so I have company and great conversations every once in a while. I've been walking through sunshine, through rain, through cold weather and warm weather. I just put on the sneakers and go!

Body By Design Day #22

2012-01-31T15:06:00.000-05:00

Monday... no amount of sleep would've been enough for our muscles to recover from Sunday's hike. Wow. I felt muscles I didn't know I had. What's interesting is that in the midst of this pain, I feel strong, stronger than ever. I was a bit unprepared this morning and just made a smoothie with hemp protein, banana, raspberries and oats (soaked in water overnight). It was very filling but the fruits are definitely not in the program. Didn't do very well on my meals because I was just so busy I didn't realize it was time to eat so I only had my lunch which was Quinoa Salad from yesterday with cubed tofu.

The Monday workout is the easiest one but it was tough for us. We were still very sore from the hike on Sunday but we pushed through it. And so we begin our fourth week in the program. I have not weighed myself, but I do feel better in my clothes and my husband 's seeing very big improvements in his muscle definition. We keep each other motivated and seeing how the body responds so well also helps!

Body By Design Day #21

2012-01-30T13:50:00.000-05:00

Sunday oh Sunday! I knew I wasn't going to do any of the daily workouts because I'd be doing enough exercise hiking on Crowder's Mountain, I just didn't know that's I'd be doing 5 days worth of workout on that day... That was really INTENSE!. We hiked going up the mountain in about an hour and a half. The hike was fun, meaning it was really interactive, a little bit of just walking, a little bit of going up hill, a little bit of climbing on really cool rocks and a lot of wonderful views. See for yourself:

We were supposed to meet our friends at the beginning of the hike but were about 45 minutes late of course... We finally caught up with our friends at the top of the mountain...

You could see the city of Charlotte from there.

According to my hubby, until you climbed up to this rock, you cannot say you got to the top of the mountain. I thought about joining him but then he said "the trick is to jump up here and know when to stop before you keep going... going down the precipice, that is"... Um, "no thanks" I said. I just enjoyed the views, the fresh air and the liberating feeling of being alone with nature all around you.

We then proceeded to hike back down, taking another trail which I'm glad we didn't take going up because it was 25% stairs... This took us about 2 hours! I had never walked for so long in my life, but I did have fun and my body hurt, specially my legs.

We hiked for 7.3 miles in total. Now you understand why I said it was 5 days worth of exercise!

We're definitely going back! The challenge is to keep going until we're in such great shape that nothing hurts when we finish :-)

Body By Design Day #20

2012-01-29T11:03:00.000-05:00

Saturday I volunteered at the Latin American Coalition to help the community with their naturalization documents. It felt so good to to help out and also meet really smart and kind people. I felt like I was doing something also for my own well being. Not necessarily exercise but something that gave me a boost in confidence and it made my day.

One of my friends makes the most delicious cupcakes ever and she made a batch last week. She sent me two and I enjoyed every last bit of them. The were really small so I don't think it made a big difference.

I didn't do any of my workouts but at night we went out on a party bus! We danced all night and I only had about half a drink. We had a delicious vegetable soup that my hubby whipped up and made sure we were really full so that we wouldn't be tempted with any chips. We did really well and I'm sure we burned plenty of calories. I liked the idea of doing something active and fun on the weekends instead of the regular walking/elliptical/bike workouts.

Party Bus painted with the Colombian flag :-)

The party bus experience was AWESOME! We drove around Charlotte, dancing, laughing and waving to strangers looking at our very loud bus!

Body By Design Day #19

2012-01-28T10:54:00.000-05:00

I think my body knows the weekend has come because it craves for things that are not part of the program! On Friday, I did have some coffee and a little creamer and it tasted so good. I decided to give into those cravings with moderation. Half a cup of coffee, maybe a Hershey kiss and wait a bit, drink some water and then see if I'm still craving for it. Couldn't go for any of my workouts on Friday. Not a very successful day overall...

Body By Design Day #18

2012-01-27T10:51:00.000-05:00

Thursday I walked two miles at lunch time! I try to walk to talk to coworkers or make copies as much as I can. In the morning, since I had run out of peanut butter, I had a sweet potato with some spicy bean paste from Trader Joe's. I really liked the potato in the morning, nice to have something sweet and filling. Also, instead of having a little snack at 10 am, I divided my lunch into two and had half at 10 and the other half at lunch time. That way I keep myself satisfied long enough to keep my energy and when I'm hungry, it's already time for the next meal!

I ordered the Vega Mango Smoothie to supplement snacks and tried it today. It only has 11 grams of protein so it doesn't qualify as a meal replacement but it tastes really good and I will use it whenever I feel hungry. It's only 100 calories per serving!

I decided to go to the gym for my evening workout to kind of mix things up. I used the elliptical for 30 mins and it felt really great.

Daily January self-portrait, later in the day at the gym and my workout playlist!

Body By Design Day #17

2012-01-26T14:34:00.002-05:00

I did struggle a bit on this day with the food. I had very strong cravings for something sweet, something crunchy. I think that because I had been eating the same thing for about three days, I was just bored. So when I got home I immediately cooked a really nice meal consisting of grilled tofu with cauliflower and broccoli. I had also cooked some sweet potatoes (which I LOVE). I really enjoyed having a warm, home cooked meal and satisfied my cravings for sweets with the sweet potato. The moral of the story is: Keep your meals interesting by varying ingredients and ways of cooking. I think my body wanted something sweet because I hadn't eaten anything sweet in a while. By keep king our meals varied with different flavors, seasonings and textures, we keep cravings from unleashing the cookie monster in us!

No photo for you today but here I am, going strong. Thanks for visiting!

Body By Design Day #16

2012-01-25T08:44:00.003-05:00

Tuesday was an ok day. I got so busy @ work in the afternoon that I skipped one of the meals. I then went to meet a girlfriend for a walk date. We walked through the Southend neighborhood in Charlotte, a very walkable neighborhood with really nice shops and restaurants. We stopped by Paper Skyscraper an awesome store with all kinds of beautiful and original gifts. Sorry I totally forgot to take some photos of all the goodies they have, but I'll post some next time I visit.

I had my Vega shake on the way home and then just made a veggie omelet for dinner. Not very exciting but: I finally made Kale Chips!! I had been reading about these crunchy-good-for-you snacks and I still had a bunch of kale we got at the farmers market so I went ahead and chopped it, added a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper and then put them in a cookie tray in the oven at 300F.

The result was better than expected!! Since I had so much of it I got to bake three batches modifying the baking time until I got it right.

They are crunchy but light and I guess the heat, oil and pepper & salt, really mix well with the kale's flavors. And Kale is so good for you. It has anti-cancer properties, antioxidants, fiber, it protects your eyes and it's good for your bones. This is a great a fun way to add it to your diet. Just a warning: If you over-bake (which happened the first time), they will come out bitter.

Just delicious!!! Glad I got to try something new!

Body By Design Day #15

2012-01-24T11:30:00.001-05:00

I gained 1/2 a pound last week. Did nothing different than the first week except for giving up coffee everyday and also started taking fish oil supplements. I don't know if it's water weight, or the fish oil or coffee withdrawal but I gained instead of losing. This has happened to me before, I'm recognizing a pattern: I loose a LOT of weigh the first week of a new weight loss program, I assume my body doesn't know what hit it and just sheds a bunch of fat and water and then it realizes what's going on and tries to adjust. By this time in my past attempts at loosing weight, I've already quit. But not this time. I'm not quitting, I feel really great, I have energy ALL DAY. I sleep like a baby. My mood has stabilized and I'm pretty much in a contempt mode that I like to think of as pure, peaceful joy. I feel lighter, more agile. I even signed up to do one of those Mud Runs where you go through a bunch of obstacles for miles and end up with mud up to your ears. I feel I can do it. That's how good I feel. No quitting, we're just beginning.

This is my third week in the Body By Design program and I decided to not weigh myself until I complete 5 weeks which is the first phase. That way I don't get fixated on a number, but in how good I feel, how my endurance and strength has improved and how my pants are fitting. I'll weigh myself and take measurements at the end of this first 5-week phase and share them with you. Wish me luck!

Say Hello!!

2012-01-23T13:32:00.000-05:00

Now, I know that my blog's getting some traffic thanks to Google Analytics. It's really cool to see that people are actually reading my blog and it makes me very happy every day when they tell me how many visitors I had. Next time you visit, write me a line and say hello, I'd love to hear from you!

Gorgeous sunset on 1/19/2012, Charlotte, NC

Body By Design Day #14

2012-01-23T09:05:00.001-05:00

Sunday was a REALLY good day! We went to the Greenway with a group of friends and walked/jogged almost 4 miles!

At the finish line!

I wore my heart rate monitor and according to the reading, I burned 900 calories, whoo hoo! And ladies and gentlemen, it is all about planning. I woke up @8am and had a slice of bread with peanut butter, then at 11 on the way to the greenway, we had a banana/hemp/chia seeds/strawberry shake. When we were done I did have a cup of coffee and then a Vega protein shake on our way home. Did not feel hungry AT ALL. And that makes all the difference. If you have what you need, when you need it, it prevents you from eating whatever's available (which it was donuts and croissants). I felt satisfied and focused on sharing and talking with friends rather than on eating.

In the evening I skipped my afternoon walk and finished a bag of chips...they were so good. All in all an ok weekend. I did stay on track for most of the time and managed to enjoy and even indulge a couple of treats here and there :-)

Today is monday...you know what that means: Weigh-in day! aaaahhh!

Body By Design Day #13

2012-01-22T15:26:00.000-05:00

Weekends are always tricky. We wake up late, meals are not at the right times... But today we did go to the gym and did the whole strength workout. I'm so proud, that's two weeks going three times per week. I'm already feeling stronger and with much more stamina. Can't wait to start increasing the weights!

I made pasta with tofurky sausage (I swear, it's delicious) and lots of veggies. Skipped the afternoon walk because it rained all day and we stayed inside watching "How I met your mother" on Netfilx (I highly recommend it). Not a very successful day to be honest. Aside from going to the gym, I didn't have the six meals, I did eat some tostitos... and I skipped my afternoon workout. I hope to make up for it tomorrow. We go to the greenway with a group of friends every Sunday to jog, walk and ride our bikes. That'll be a good 2 hrs of good exercise!

Body By Design Day #12

2012-01-21T21:15:00.002-05:00

Friday was an "ok" day. I started to have some cravings for ice cream. Ice cream of all things! So I went out with a friend and got myself a yummy cup of chai (totally not in the program but I decided to enjoy it). I know I'm not having coffee every morning but I want to have it once in a while as a treat, only when in good company or when I'm relaxing at home. It definitely satisfied my cravings and let me tell you, I savored that cup of goodness and appreciated it very very much.

It was a little bit cold today. 50 degrees seems to be "freezing" weather for southerners. But I put my gloves on and went out on my daily lunch walk. 25 minutes went by so fast! I use that time to catch up with mom or listen to my favorite songs.

I ate my lunch in the cafeteria with one of my coworkers. he was telling me about his grandmother who is 103 yrs old. I asked him, "what's her secret?". He said " she tells me all the time to listen to the "great spirit". That if I listen to it, I will live to to be even older than her and in good health and in peace". I take the "great spirit" to be God, or the divinity that is in all of us that knows it all. We have that with us, at all times. We just have to Listen just like Charlie's grandma said. I kept that thought with me all day. Listen to yourself and you will live long and healthy.

52 Moments Moment #2

2012-01-21T21:12:00.002-05:00

Wow! yesterday's moment seemed more like a prophesy than an inspiration! When I read it, I immediately thought about my midday walks at lunch time. I want to get my heart pumping, burn some calories and fat and I want to make it a habit. To go out, take a walk and be with myself and my environment. So I did make a change and instead of eating lunch at my desk or sitting at work all day, I got up two weeks ago and started walking.

Photo taken with instagram at the park where I go walking everyday

52 Moments is a new project seeking to inspire, motivate and get you living life. Every week for a year they’ll present you with a new task/goal/moment, to inspire and enrich your life. Become a part of the movement and share your moments and experiences with the world here.

Body By Design Day #11

2012-01-20T16:50:00.003-05:00

I'm starting to get into the rhythm and establish a routine that makes sense. I love going to the gym with my husband because we go through the exercises together, we correct each others form and posture and time just flies by. But he doesn't get home until 9:15-9:20pm. We considered going separately but found a way to make it work. I get home and have time to rest, think about the next day's meals and even read or do a little bit of crafting. I leave everything ready for the next day. This includes: my clothes and 4 meals; that way, when we get home @10:00-10:30, all we have to do is shower and go to bed. it's been working really well! It is time consuming, yes, very time consuming but I made the decision to give this my full attention. Also, I'm seeing the cooking and preparation of meals as a way of showing love to myself and my husband, just like in my manifesto: "Cook as a form of meditation and as a love offering to yourself and others". Think about this a little, if our food is our medicine and our medicine is our food, don't you think we should give it the importance and time it deserves? At least if we want to stay away from doctors and medications.

And since most of my free time is being spent in the kitchen and I don't have much time for crafts, I decided to use that time and play with food a little...

I got these beautiful peppers at the farmer's market and made color palettes with them!

I'd love to do some sketches later and use these wonderful colors

Body By Design Day #10

2012-01-19T08:29:00.004-05:00

Feeling really great today. Went for a walk with a coworker and had a really good, insightful chat with her. These walks at lunch time are becoming my favorite part of the day. I had the Salmon burger I made at lunch and was full until 5pm when I had my protein shake. I feel so convinced, so motivated to do this. I keep watching videos and reading articles on health and wellness that just confirm that we should take control of our health, of our bodies. This is a great way to keep motivated and truly convinced to keep up the good work!

This was dinner last night: Lettuce, tomato & spinach salad with avocado and.... sardines! I' don't usually eat them... I've had that tin of sardines sitting in my pantry for the last two months but after reading how good they are for you, I decided to eat them. They were surprisingly good! As long as I don't keep looking at my plate to see the bones and other body parts :-)

Gratitude #2

2012-01-19T08:29:00.003-05:00

I'm grateful for my husband. He chops all the veggies for me so that my cooking time is cut by more than half. We eat better and spend less time cooking!

Inspiration and Encouragement

2012-01-18T10:59:00.001-05:00

I was reading Kelly Rae's blog this morning and she was mentioning this quote:

"Whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth. And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." - Paulo Coelho

You are not alone in whatever you set up to do for yourself. I'm taking this as a sign that I'm on walking on a path of truth and growth.

Photo taken during my lunch-time walks with the Instagram photo app

Gratitude#1

2012-01-18T09:08:00.000-05:00

Since one of the statements of my manifesto (and the one with the largest font, therefore, most important to me) is GIVE THANKS, I decided to give a little section of this blog to express moment of gratitude. I firmly believe that remembering to give thanks, everyday, is truly one of the secrets of happiness.

Here's my gratitude #1:

I am grateful for the sun that comes through the windows of my home. Its light fills every corner of my home with warmth, and my heart with joy.

Christmas Morning

Body By Design Day #9

2012-01-18T09:07:00.004-05:00

Tuesday was another good day. Went for my lunch time walk, again very invigorating. I had a 6 oz salmon burger for lunch (recipe to come) and I even weighed it to make sure it was exactly what the book said. It was HUGE! I ate it with some simple quinoa and a piece of avocado and was full for the rest of the day. I couldn't eat my 3pm meal because I was still so full. When I got home, I had my Vega shake and danced my butt off for 20 minutes keeping my heart rate consistent at my fat burning zone. I felt great afterwards and cooked up a delicious tofu with string beans and mushrooms for thursday. Our scale at home stopped working (probably from going on it so many times...and the fact that it was only $10) which is better because I won't know how much I weigh until next monday :-)

Body By Design Day #8

2012-01-17T10:44:00.004-05:00

Holy moly Monday!!! This really works! I weighted myself today and I lost 6 lbs last week!! I'm so happy, so proud, I feel great, have more energy, I'm a good mood most of the time and have a better outlook in general. This is good ladies and gentleman. I think it's a breakthrough.

Today at lunchtime I told one of my coworkers how much I had lost and she immediately said "I'll join you in your walk at noon!". She said she felt inspired and we had a really nice walk at the park.

About my walks, I was trying to walk as fast as I could and I was even breaking a sweat. But I went back to the book and read the part on "raising your heart-rate into your fat-burning zone". It turns out that I don't have to walk so fast. It should be fast and consistent enough to get my heart-rate up but not so fast that I can't talk while walking. I used my heart rate monitor to see exactly how that feels so I can do it again.

Last night my hubby (who's been extremely supportive) chopped up all the vegetable we needed for this week.

Look at these beauties. Some are from the farmer's market and some are not, I figure that even if they're not all organic, at least they're better than a cheeseburger right?

Yummy zucchini!

Garlic: My best friend in the kitchen!

Throw them into omelets and stir frys

Pure, colorful goodness

I had never before eaten so healthy before. I had done weight watchers but overdosed on processed foods in order to keep the points down. Don't get me wrong, I still think weight watchers is an excellent program but it defeats the purpose when we just buy the frozen foods and everything low fat and low calorie. Ideally you'd only rely on whole foods but that's usually not the case. With this program, it's so straight forward: 6 meals containing a carb, a protein a vegetable and a condiment. That's it. Whole foods at their best!

Six pounds gone. So excited. Thanks for visiting!

Body By Design Day#7

2012-01-16T18:38:00.000-05:00

Sunday I woke up really late... ughh. So I really only had 4 meals out of the 6. I ate half a bag of shelled peanuts and put condensed milk in my coffee (I gave up coffee during the week). So I "cheated" but with good things so it's not really that bad right? At the beginning of this program we got rid of all the cookies, the cheese, the yummy bread, all the things I would go to if I felt hungry. Now, if I'm hungry, whatever I eat if it's not part of the plan, at least it's healthy.

Again, the workout part was a success. I put my favorite music on my ipod and went out at around 11am for my morning walk. The sun was shining, the breeze was cool and refreshing. Just beautiful. Then at around 6, I went out again with the hubby for the evening walk. Equally enjoyable, equally doable. It's only 20 mins. Go out and give that to yourself, it's really beneficial.

Found these berries during my walk... So nice to find some color in the middle of winter!

We had leftover whole wheat pasta with tuna & veggies for meals #1 & #2. Then I had that coffee with a slice of sprouted cinamon bread (yummy...but not on the plan...) And since I ate half a bag of peanuts, I felt so full for like 4 hrs so I didn't have another meal until 8:30. That's 4 meals only but it's the wkend so I'm not stressing over it. Monday's weigh-in day!!

Body By Design Day #6

2012-01-15T20:29:00.001-05:00

I found out this weekend that it is tougher to follow the plan on the weekend. You'd think that since you're off from work, you have more freedom and it'd be easier but noooo. Saturday I woke up a little later than usual and at the end of the day, I had missed one meal. We went out for the most part of the day and thank God I had prepared the protein shakes to take with us, otherwise we would've had to eat out. My last meal, which was at around 8pm, was pasta with tuna and veggies (recipe to come). I'm not supposed to have any carbs after 3pm but I had to eat it because it was the only real meal of the day. So the nutrition part of the plan was really tough to follow but the exercise, it was a total success!

My hubby had a soccer game at a park, so after the game, we went for the 20 minute walk. Very invigorating. Then at around 8pm (there should be at least 5 hrs difference between the two workouts), I went for another walk around my apartment complex. Very easy, done before I knew it! If I were to preach something, I would definitely preach about taking walks during your day. It helps clear the mind, you feel the blood pumping and the sensation of doing something for yourself is just amazing. Another item in my manifesto is: "Love yourself by moving, walking and dancing" DONE!

Pasta with tuna & veggies....yum! I made so much I think we'll be eating this for the next couple of days...

Monday is weigh-in day... a little terrifying but whatever the outcome, I will continue this. It just feels right.

52 Moments - Moment#1

2012-01-14T09:54:00.002-05:00

52 Moments is a new project seeking to inspire, motivate and get you living life. Every week for a year they’ll present you with a new task/goal/moment, to inspire and enrich your life. Become a part of the movement and share your moments and experiences with the world here.

It started yesterday with moment #1 It reads something like this:

Moment#1: "It's time to act, to learn and grow - to figure out where it is you want to go. Regroup, refocus and share with us"

I already signed up and submitted my moment #1: (photo taken during my mid-day walk)

"It's time to take my body into consideration and

I will do everything I can to give it what it deserves:

to be healthy, thriving and young.

This week I started a fitness program that will change my life".

Sounds pretty compromising right? I re-grouped, re-focused and realized that it's time to stop being afraid of compromise. It's time to dive-in, to believe in yourself and that by giving this purpose all of you attention, it will be ok. You will be ok, whatever the outcome.

It's a great opportunity to be inspired, to do something only for yourself, to take a photograph of something meaningful to you every week. Wanna join 52 moments? It just started yesterday! Go here.

Body By Design Day #5

2012-01-14T09:36:00.003-05:00

Friday was another good day, planned my meals the day before. We had an egg omelet with cauliflower, broccoli and mushrooms with mashed sweet potatoes for lunch. It was very filling. For my 3pm meal, I had 3/4 cup of blueberries with a handful of almonds. The mid-day walk was again, AMAZING. I'm thinking of posting a photo each day from my mid-day walk. Little details that make me happy.

When I got home I was feeling really tired. Didn't want to go to the gym but we went anyway. I did a 5 min warm-up on the elliptical and was really dragging through it. Maybe because it was friday and my body was ready for rest....don't know. But we went through the seven strength training exercises and they were tough!! But as we went from one to the next, we felt stronger. It was a very good feeling of being in control, of stimulating your body, making yourself stronger. At the end of the workout we were feeling pretty good, much better than when we started!

Now is the weekend and it will present its challenges. But we're on our way to the farmers market to stock up on veggies and other necessities. I'll get my 20-min walk at noon and in the evening and tomorrow, Sunday; will try to prepare the menu for the week and at least three days worth of meals.

Thank you for reading and accompanying me on this journey. Knowing that someone is reading about this adventure, makes me feel supported and accountable in a really good way. It's like whatever I'm doing will succeed because someone else knows about it and might even get inspired to try it. That's pretty cool.

Have a happy and healthy weekend!

Body By Design Day #4

2012-01-13T08:30:00.002-05:00

Had Hemp and Oat pancakes again. Just a smaller portion with a tablespoon of Trader Joe's Spicy Black Bean Dip. VERY satisfying. I snaked on blueberries (not part of the body by design program but I refuse to part with them...they're my favorite) and a handful of almonds and walnuts. Lunch was the Quinoa-Tilapia stir fry from last night.

The weather was really windy but sunny so I went and had lunch at the park and got my 20 minutes of cardio in! It was really invigorating and I found to be more productive and had a really great mood all afternoon. Mid-day walks should be mandatory at the workplace. Seriously!

Thursday night I had a sewing date with a friend and got home so late. But I was so proud to have prepared myself beforehand. "Plan ahead" is one of the sentences in my manifesto and yes, it does take time and work and a little bit of anxiety at first, but it is SO WORTH IT! At 6pm I had my Vega shake ready to drink and @ 8:30 I had my dinner at her house. I totally skipped the evening workout but hey, it's ok. I'd rather get a really good night's sleep which in fact I did!

Day #4 a total success! I will try to take more photos of my food and little details of my day to accompany my posts I promise! Happy Friday!!

Body By Design Day #3

2012-01-12T11:11:00.002-05:00

Yesterday started feeling a bit sleepy. I still have trouble getting into bed at 10. Need more sleep. For breakfast I had a new pancake recipe: hemp powder, whole meal pancake mix from Trader Joe's, oat milk (make by soaking oats overnight and then blending it. The result is a really yummy and creamy milk), and 1 egg. The pancakes are green but good! Better than eggs everyday, so I'll alternate the two recipes. I had another one for my snack at 10 am. Lunch was the same salad from last night.
Couldn't get that 20 min cardio session in due to torrential southern rain :-( Hubby's been getting out of work late and I really enjoy working out with him so I waited and did 30 mins on the treadmill before our strength training session. IT WAS REALLY TOUGH. But we went through it although I could only do one set of ONE rep on the bench dips. Those bench dips are HARD! Now I know that I am really getting stronger if I can go beyond one rep of those suckers.

Dinner was a "stir fry" of quinoa, mushrooms, onion, peppers, little bit of egg whites and tilapia... It was soo good!

Loooove Quinoa!

My favorite brand. I order it from Amazon

Oh, and I'm super excited that I finally got my VEGA Food Optimizer Whoo Hoo! I am so ready! I confess the berry flavor's not my favorite but after reading all the ingredients, I don't care. I WANT ALL THAT IN MY BODY! So I'll be having one of those at 6pm before my workouts. I had it last night and I really felt energized and even stronger.

I'm not tired of the food, I'm happy with the workouts, I'm sleeping much better, waking up much more energized and eating lots of veggies. I also stopped drinking coffee after reading it promotes cortisol production so I'm testing that to see how well I do without my morning caffeine fix.

Day #3 is done and I'm loving it!

Body By Design Day #2

2012-01-11T08:46:00.001-05:00

I felt really AWESOME yesterday! Really great mood and had very restful night's sleep. Monday night I made dinner and had enough leftover to pack for today's lunch. I sauteed some kale with garlic and a little bit of apple cider vinegar, sauteed some tofu cubes with scallions, ginger and a bit of liquid aminos and it was delish! The hubby was still hungry afterwards so he ate more but I stuck to my portions and called it a night.

I'm discovering that the food part of this program will be much easier for me than the exercise part of it. We already were following a whole foods, mainly plant-based diet, it's just that my portions and abuse of coconut oil (yum) and bread were not helping me shed any weight. We don't buy any pre-made, frozen foods, except for an occasional treat from the Trader Joe's frozen isle. We don't eat meat, chicken or pork. Our diet consisted of grains like quinoa, brown rice, whole wheat bread, legumes...lots of them like beans, lentils and my favorite: chickpeas and all fruits and veggies. I can eat pretty much anything from our previous diet except for fruits and the legumes. It's really more manageable now that I've understood how to organize myself.

As I said, we prepare a meal at night which will serve as lunch for the next day. In the morning, we have our breakfast which yesterday was an egg white omelet with onions, peppers and mushrooms. At 10 am we had our improvised protein shake (hemp protein powder, chia seeds, strawberries and 1/2 a banana), then lunch and @ 3pm we had a slice of sprouted grain bread with a tbsp of peanut butter. So far I've felt very satisfied and my energy levels have been pretty stable. I did go out at lunch time and walked for about 45 mins. That was SO REFRESHING! I took some instagram pics during my walk and just breathed the nice winter air and enjoyed the sun. I will try to do that when possible form now on!

At night, I didn't have time to go to the gym so I put my favorite music on and busted some dance moves to get my heart rate up (which should be at 112-132 for fat burning) for 20 minutes. Dinner was a mixed lettuce salad with tomatoes, red onions, 1 can of tuna, 1/4 avocado and my favorite dressing: minced garlic with apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and a little olive oil. Simple. but. delicious.

I also took my "before" photographs today. I will post some of those in a couple of weeks when I have new ones to compare them to. So far, I'm sticking one of those on the fridge as a reminder of my goal.

Day#2 done. I'm ready for more!

Body By Design Day #1

2012-01-10T14:49:00.000-05:00

I did it! I started the Body by Design program yesterday. Two of my coworkers did it last year and they lost a lot of weight and got a six-pack in the process. They started last week so we're doing it at the same time. My dear hubby's doing it as well to build up mass and get stronger.

I was a little unprepared and did feel hungry a couple of times during the day but then we went to the gym together. It was the first time we exercised at the same time and it was quite enjoyable! We left feeling really proud of taking control of our bodies and becoming stronger.

We're ready for tomorrow. Bring it on!

A New Year

2012-01-02T19:43:00.000-05:00

It's been a whole year since I last posted on this blog. I actually created another blog to kind of start fresh... That was back in September and here I am, on the 2nd of January of 2012 wanting to blog and wondering if I should use the new blog or just continue on this one. Well, Paperspices was my first blog. I had a lot of fun posting and showcasing the things I was doing back in 2009 when I started getting crafty :-)
So, I decided to keep it! We will continue to grow together and when the time comes, (or a better name comes to mind) we'll part ways. But for now, here I am. To help me get into the creative zone again, I've signed up for Alisa Burke's "Create Daily" online class. I've admired Alisa's work for so long that I decided it was about time to take a class from her and this class is perfect! It's about finding time to do something inspiring/creative everyday. Be it a couple of minutes to take some photos or 30 minutes of art journaling, It can be done! Check out her webpage for more info on her classes!

Welcome 2012. I'm so ready for you! And to celebrate the new year and the promise of a better me, I created my own manifesto. I had always loved the Aardvark Manifesto and wanted to make my own. Yesterday I woke up bright and early and made it. I used photoshop (which is VERY time consuming for working with type but it's what I have) but InDesign would've been much better. Anyway, here it is. I hope you like it and maybe get inspired to make your own! I already made an order to have it made into a small poster to put in my studio!

Happy New Year and welcome to my blog!

On Creativity

2010-12-03T20:44:00.001-05:00

Elise mentioned some TED talks today on creativity. This one by Elizabeth Gilbert, touched me very deeply. Hope you enjoy it as well and help you to be kinder to yourself when ideas and inspiration are just not flowing...

DIY Salon III: Cut Paper

2009-12-09T10:36:00.001-05:00

If you're in New York and have some free time tomorrow, don't miss the DIY salon at the Museum of Art & Design. They will have artists doing demos of paper projects, drinks and a DJ! And while you're there, you can check out their exhibition on papercutting which is absolutely amazing! More info here: MAD

Score!

2009-12-07T10:18:00.000-05:00

One of my objectives for this journey is to learn to create embellishments and backgrounds that are cheap and easy to make.  i've learned a bit about painting and using inks to create backgrounds that i can also cut up and turn into embellishments like these:

Here i adhered gel medium to a patterned paper i wasn't crazy about.  i then added tissue paper scrunching and folding until the area was covered.  Then i just added some watercolors.  i have to confess this is one of my favorite techniques.  The texture and possibilities are amazing! i then went and cut up butterflies, circles and lots and lots of hearts! Beautiful embellishments created by me to add to my art journal, minibooks and scrapbooks.  Very exciting!

i've always been a fan of the local 99c store.  They always bring new items that can be altered and/or repurposed.  Last time i was there, i found these flowers used (i assume) for weddings and first communions.

i immediately thought i could turn the flower into embellishments.  So i first pulled it apart carefully and then sprayed some Adirondack Color Wash in three different colors.  This was the result:

Aren't they beautiful? Now, not only i got beautiful colored flowers, but i got a lot!!! i could pair some pieces together or use individually by putting a brad, some beads or a button in the center of the flower.  i gotta go abck the the store to get some more! Here you see 3 large flowers, 9 small flowers and 6 leaves all for 99c!!! 

i went to my first crop this weekend...

2009-12-06T22:17:00.002-05:00

... and i liked it! Must confess that i was extremely nervous but equally excited.  When i decided to pack, i didn't know what to bring! Do you bring all your stuff or just a few things and work with that?

Well, since i was taking the subway, i was limited to just 2 medium bags so i packed some pretty papers, glimmer mist, gesso and adhesive and pens.  Then i took a few photos and i figured i would choose what to do with them there.  i arrived at the crop and was received by a wonderful group of women.  They waited for me with warm, homemade soup and a much needed glass of wine! It snowed in NY yesterday so i was freezing!

i sat down and worked for a while on finishing the design of my Christmas cards (which i'm planning to mail this week.  i will post photos once they're done) and i worked on this layout:

i used some photos we took on a hike in Pennsylvania earlier this year.  i wanted to capture a moment in time and how that moment was fun-filled and sweet.  An adventure.  i used a mask to create the gesso background, then sprayed some glimmer mist and added the photos.  i used acrylic paint to paint a frame that would bring together all the photos and make it cohesive.  Then i added some heart embellishments made with TOILET PAPER and watercolors.  Yes! toilet paper! This is a technique i learned in Julie Balzer's class.  It's one of my favorites because it's so cheap, easy to make and the texture is amazing.  i make whole patterned paper sheets covered with the toilet paper and watercolors and then cut out different shapes to use later.  

Hope you had a great weekend!

Coffee cup Friendship Mini Book

2009-12-04T17:36:00.000-05:00

It's Friday!!!  i wanted to share with you a little weekend project which actually can be finished in a few hours!  Found this tutorial on Ali Edward's blog and decided to play along! Wilna Furstenberg provided pdf's of the pages and then i added some color, adhered it to cardstock (she recomends printing on photo paper but i didn't have any) and added my photos and embellishments.

i turned 30 two months ago and when the big day was approaching i kept asking myself what was the best gift from my 20's to my new 30's? The answer was great friendships.  People i love and love me back the way i am.  Relationships, old and new where i've found support, a hug or just someone to listen to.  For the love, laughter, sharing, compassion and kindness i've found in friends, i decided to make the minibook about friendship.

Hope you enjoy it! (more pics here and pics from the albums created by other designers here)

Some detailed shots:

Do you like it? If you do, go over Ali's blog and search for the project. You just have to print the PDFs, add photos, color a little here and there and add embellishments as you wish! Have fun!

Tomorrow i'm attending my first "crop". i'm so excited and nervous at the same time. i had no time to print any photos and hav eno idea what to work on from 10am-10pm but i'm sure i'll figure something out and will have lots of fun. Promise to write about it and post photos from the event! Have a great weekend!

Heleine's Handmade Etsy Shop

2009-12-01T09:31:00.000-05:00

Please check my mom's new Etsy shop!! This is something i've been trying to do with my mom for a long time. She's an extremely talented creative lady and she knows crocheting, embroidery, quilling and of course scrapbooking (she actually gave me my first scrapbook when i got married). People have been telling her for a long time that she should make all of the creations available for sale and we finally did it! Go and see some of her beautiful creations. We only have a few items in the shop right now, but we'll be adding more very soon!

Journaling

2009-11-30T11:16:00.000-05:00

Hope you had a great thanksgiving break and that you always have plenty of things to be thankful for!  Mine was great and since we're in that thanks-giving mood, i wanted to share something special with you.

i had the opportunity of taking the class series Scrapbooking 101 with Julie Balzer at my favorite store Portraitbug. The class is divided into 4 lessons and one of them is about journaling. I have to confess, this was the lesson i was the least interested in and thought "how am I going to learn to write interesting, quirky, honest journaling". i thought this is not something you learn. You either write well or you don't. But i was soooo wrong. Julie gave us some very important facts about journaling and i'll share the ones that i liked the most with you here:

a. Keep it real: If you feel like writing down "this sucks" write it down. Journaling is about documenting your feelings and your life.  if they're real, this should be reflected on your journaling.

b. Tell the story behind the scenes: "sitting on my mother's lap, singing always takes me back to when i was a child and she would sing to me, teaching me to love music" reads better than "i love singing with my mom".  

c. Aside from all the questions we would answer with a journaling piece, the one i liked the most is "what does it mean to you?" You can't go wrong answering that to make your writing reflect who you are.

So i went home and worked on a layout.  i chose a photo i wouldn't normally use for a layout but that i really liked and i thought expressed the feeling of the moment in the best possible way.

The photo was taken the day before my wedding.  My best friend and my mom got a very small group together and we shared a very sweet and joyful night.  At one point, i sat on my mom's lap and we started singing.  i felt just like when i was a little girl and would sing with mom every time we were at home and i learned how to appreciate and love music.  It was a very significant moment because i was about to get married but i was still my mom's little girl singing with her and feeling the music together.

The journaling reads:

"This photo was taken the day before my wedding.  We were all so happy.  This was taken the day before i was about to start a new life as a wife.  But it was so beautiful to see i still had a spot sitting on my mom's lap.  i was still her daughter.  Just like when i was a litle girl and we used to sing together.  She taught me to feel and appreciate music from the inside.  i inherited my passion for music from my mom.  i always saw her dance around the house and sing with all her heart.  Unashamed and so proud.  i was raised to know that there's always a perfect time to sing and dance!

Technique-a-palooza!!!

2009-11-21T23:20:00.006-05:00

Last saturday was the last day of class for Technique-a-palooza with Julie Fei Fan Balzer.  i can't tell you how much i enjoyed this class.  Julie shared her best 30 techniques for paint and ink in 30 days.  Each day we had a new technique to try with it's corresponding video and pdf tutorial.  The class was so well organized with an embedded chat room where all of us interacted and shared our concerns and ideas.  We also have a flickr group where we added all the wonderful things we created (click on the link to take a peek!).  At the beginning of the class, my desk looked like this:

And at the end of the class, it looked like this:

i can honestly say i feel transformed. i never played with paint and ink before and didn't know how to use it. With Julie's guidance, i slowly started to express myself through this medium and now i feel so empowered. Here are some samples from the class with the name of each technique (you can also stop by my flickr page to look at all the goodies i created as a result):

If you have a chance to take the class, i highly recommend it! And don't be afraid to use paint, what's the worst that could happen?

Update!

2009-11-21T20:51:00.002-05:00

So i've been wanting to share with you some of the scrapbook layouts i've worked on since i started scrapbooking about eight months ago (with no plans to stop!).  i uploaded them to my flickr page so you can take a look at them and maybe leave comments/suggestions/ideas?

i'm so eager to keep exploring and finally find my style and the art form i enjoy the most (i'm in love with everything right now).  i do know that i'm not a fan of using only ready-made embellishments on my layouts.  i really enjoy the process of designing, painting, cutting and gluing them up myself.  it gives the layouts a more personal touch and they're even more precious to me because i put all my effort into them.  i have to confess that i've been working on my art journal and learning new painting and inking techniques and i haven't finished a layout in some time but i've accumulated a great amount of embellishments and decorated tags and cards thanks to the class i took with Julie Balzer.  This is what i ended up after 30 days of 30 techniques!

This class just opened so many possibilities for me and now i'm on a roll! i can't wait to get home everyday to either sketch, paint or cut something up!  Just so thankful to have found something that's so personal and i enjoy to the max.  So please keep visiting me, i promise i will be posting more often as soon as i put some projects together.  i leave you with a photo of one of my favorite layouts:

Pumpkin Carving

2009-11-03T10:14:00.005-05:00

I found the idea of carving initials on Young House Love and decided to go for it. It was our first time pumpkin carving and we're so happy with the results! I'll confess that it wasn't easy considering we just had a regular kitchen knife and my xacto knife. I'm definitely getting a carving knife for next year and see what crazy design we can come up with!

Fall in Love

2009-10-26T12:44:00.002-04:00

This fall is not like the others. I've been calling myself a "summer person" my whole life. When the first signs of fall arrived, i used to get very moody, feel "blue" and sad. It's like i had to put my life on hold until the trees turned green again. This fall's been different. For the first time, i feel like it's the beginning of something rather than the end. i feel re-energized, optimistic and i've felt my creative energy getting stronger. i don't know (yet) why this one's different than the others. But it feels peaceful, colorful and good. We went for a walk at a nearby park yesterday and took this photos (pardon my fashion style) which hopefully show they way i feel. Walking through the rows of trees shedding their leaves, following nature's perfect path, we felt we were also following our own path. Not knowing where it would lead us, but confident that we'll be fine.

The Highline

2009-10-23T00:17:00.001-04:00

Hi all. I created these collages and wanted to share them with you. The photos are from my first visit to the HighLine in New York. The High Line is an urban park created on abandoned freight train tracks. I loved this park It's so New York and I love the mix of vegetation and the roughness of the tracks. I invited my girlfriends to come and they loved it. It's truly a great response to what could've been sees as an eyesore or a problem.
Hope you enjoy the photos.
Thanks for visiting!

Views of Chelsea

Art Journal

2009-10-20T17:04:00.000-04:00

Hello!
Please check out the side bar on this page for a link to my art journal photos on flickr. Let me know what you think!
I promise I'll be updating the blog soon with more material.

Thanks for visiting!

Friday Fun

2009-10-02T17:31:00.001-04:00

I'm about to go home and really can't wait for the weekend to start! This is going to be a special one because we'll be celebrating my super sweet friend Viviana's bachelorette party! Can't give you too many details because it's a surprise and she actually reads my blog (thanks Vivi!!!). But I'm sure she's going to love it and that I'll be taking lots of pics to scrap (as soon as I start printing them....so much to do, so little time!).
Wanted to wish you all a wonderful weekend and yes, Summer's gone but let's welcome the Fall by being open to new possibilities, new adventures and lovely jackets and scarfs!

Love ya -

Scrapbooking Class

2009-10-01T15:25:00.003-04:00

I'm currently taking the Scrapbook 101 Class at PortraitBug in NYC and I'm learning soooo much. My teacher is none other than the very talented Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. An artist I admire greatly. She wrote a very nice post about her teaching experience and she posted a photo of me and my fellow classmate! I was so excited to see it there. If you have a chance, visit her blog and take a look at her work. I promise it'll be of great inspiration!

Happy Sunday!

2009-09-20T22:41:00.000-04:00

Finally, I got some time to take photos of my latest creations and update my September Daily Journal. Had an awesome week with lots of birthday celebrations, good company, sweet sentiments and delicious cakes (yes, had about 4 cakes...) If I can take one single thing I learned in my twenties onto my thirties it would be friendship. I am so thankful to have people in my life whom I can call my friends. People who care about me, love and accept me for who I am. People who are like a breath of fresh air everytime i spend time with them. Cheering me up or cheering for me. The best gift of my twenties to my thirties is definately friendship.

September Daily updates

2009-09-09T23:07:00.000-04:00

This layout was a lot of fun. Used a doily to mask the page, painted it red (I love red) and a page about summer wouldn't be complete with some yellow thrown into the mix. Summer was instantaneously over. Just like that. Bye bye summer....

On this one I wanted to write down "realistic" health goals. Although I feel now that they may not be very realistic after all. But I will try. I turn 30 in two days and want this new decade to be full of health. Physical, mental and emotional.

I have to confess I'm not that crazy about how it turned out. Something about the journaling on tracing paper and the busy background....Seems to get lost somehow.... I still have to work on my composition and color contrast....
Thanks for stopping by. Please leave any comments or suggestions/advice you may have. I'd really appreciate it!

obamiconme

2009-09-07T21:37:00.001-04:00

Go to obamiconme to turn your photos into an art icon...so much fun and so easy. Have fun!

Art Journal #2

2009-09-07T19:49:00.001-04:00

Hello again! Another update from my art journaling adventure with Elise Blaha's workshop.
She had an awesome tutorial to teach us how to make the covers for this book. I used contact paper for the wood-looking pattern and wallpaper with a cut-out word "art" from a brochure my darling hubby brought me.

Today's prompt was to build a page using layers, colors I don't usually work with and type that stands out in contrast. I used brown colors to build circles that I stapled together to make the page. I then used the words"fall in love" that I found on a Victoria's Secret catalog (-= I thought they would go perfectly now that the fall is officially starting. I also love how the hot pink stands out from the brown background. I'm loving this class!!

September 6 Journal Entry

2009-09-06T14:58:00.001-04:00

This one was done really fast. Just painted some gesso on the cardboard, sprinklered blue glitter and then sprayed black ink mixed with water.

This one was inspired on the movie "why do we fight" Which I watched with my husband today and really liked. I highly recommend it.

Sept 5th Journal Entry

2009-09-06T14:56:00.001-04:00

Doilies from the 99c store, paint, stamps, wax paper envelope and scraps of paper

The little pocket is great for hiding secret messages!

Septermber 2,3 & 4th

2009-09-06T14:55:00.001-04:00

September 2 &3

I love the effect of white letters lined with black. They really jump out of the page

September 4

Here I used butterfly stamps on paper and cardboard and then cut them out and added a little bit of glitter

September 2009 Art Journal

2009-09-06T14:45:00.002-04:00

Hello!

I wanted to give you an update of the art journal I'm working on for the workshop with Elise Blaha I'm having a lot of fun and have found that I absolutely love art journaling. It's so free and relaxing to sit down for half an hour and just create something with scraps of paper, some paint and glitter. Put down some thoughts and be done! Very different from my experience with scrapbooking in which I'd sit down for hours working on a single layout and then keep thinking "should I add something more?"

Front Cover

This is just some gesso, doodling with a sharpie, ribbon and a bracket made with a cup sleeve from starbucks

September 1st entry

TGIF!

2009-09-04T15:30:00.001-04:00

Finally, it's here!! Thank God for Fridays. They always seem like the beginning of an adventure. Like anything can happen after 5pm and you have all the time in the world to sleep in, watch t.v, run errands, clean the house, do laundry, get crafty, watch movies, visit friends....etc. Fridays are a promise that the next 48 hours are entirely yours to use at your leisure. For me, they are the spring after a week of winter...where everything around me comes alive. have a great looong spring-like weekend!

Visual Adventures workshop with Elise Blaha

2009-09-03T23:00:00.004-04:00

Stayed home sick with a cold. Had time to finally work on the first journal for Elise Blaha's Visual Adventures workshop. This is the bare bones of the book. I am using it as my September daily journal.

Here you can see the ribbon binding. It's so easy!

Also learned how to make my own brackets to use as frames or embellishments!

These are envelopes I made using wax paper, ribbon and strips of patterned paper. I'm learning so much in the class! Really enjoying it. I'll show more photos as I add pages to the book. Thanks!

Slow Down!

2009-08-26T11:43:00.003-04:00

I was rushing to catch the train at Grand Central Terminal this morning (story of my life…) And when I approached the escalator, there was this elderly gentleman standing right in the middle of it. My first impulse was to say “excuse me” and continue my rush frenzy. Instead, I stood behind him and thought about grandmothers and grandfathers. How their presence makes us slow down (it’s a good thing folks), put a pause to the anxiety of everyday life and listen, really pay attention to what they have to say. Or just stand behind them on an escalator when we’re rushing to go to work so that they can teach us a lesson. Thanks Grand Central Terminal-Grandpa.

Portraitbug's September Challenge!

2009-08-25T09:51:00.001-04:00

My favorite month of the year and my favorite store. All together in one fabulous challenge with a cool prize! Your mission, if you wish to accept it, is to create an album and document every day in September. Bring the album to Portraitbug within the first week of October and you'll win a $10 credit for the store!! Can't wait to get some of the wonderful stuff Julie & Kim brought back from CHA! Click here for more details!

Update

2009-08-24T16:59:00.000-04:00

Hola!

I've had a really crazy couple of days. We have a friend visiting New York and we're doing all the fun touristy things you only do when someone's visiting! Just wanted to post a little update about what's coming soon:

Lots and lots of photos & collages
My 30 days to 30 mini album
My finished City hall wedding mini album
Photos of the wonderful things my mother's making and selling at her Etsy shop
Photos of my first scrapbook layouts

Please be patient. I promise it'll be worth while.

Thanks for visiting. - C-ya! -

Karolynah

I did it!

2009-08-19T16:46:00.001-04:00

Finally created a blog! I'd been trying to do it for the longest time and finally it's here. I will use this blog to document a bit of my life and my adventures with paper crafts and photography. Hope you enjoy it and please always feel welcomed to leave suggestions/comments. Thanks for visiting!

C-ya! Karolynah