Michi Photostory

So habang naghihintay ako na magbukas ang pharmacy store, I will share some birthday greeting cards that I finished. 

I made this card a few months ago but forgot to share it. I only have this photo as a souvenir because I already gave it to my mom when she needed a card. I love this card but it is so thick. 

This card is easy to cut and assemble. I don’t have enough green cardstock at home so I just used Distress Oxide to color my white cardstock. 

This card is supposed to be a 5x7-inch card but I resized it. Unfortunately, I made a mistake on the size so the design is too small for my card base. 

Same with the Dinosaur greeting card, I made a mistake but still assembled it. 

During my son's Recognition Day, I will never forget his class adviser, kasi sobrang cheer at clap ng hands ng teacher niya when we stepped on the stage. In my mind, wow, kakaiba itong teacher na ito, parang "nanay" sa sobrang support. 

And because of that, I decided to make a thank you easel card. Muntikan ko na nga hindi ibigay itong card na ito kasi hindi ko siya magawa ng maayos and I was not satisfied with the result. I wasted a lot of white cardstock. I tried different brand and texture pero hindi ko macut ng maayos so I just changed the first layer to draw function pero hindi pa rin ako natutuwa. But my husband said, "it is the thought that counts". So my husband gave this card nung kuhaan ng report card. 

A few months ago, Recognition Day ulit and kahit hindi na siya teacher ng anak ko, she was still the same, all out smiling and cheering when we stepped on the stage. We can really sense na happy and proud siya sa achievement ng anak ko. 

So I felt sad because I knew the school lost a passionate, supportive, and caring teacher. 

Today, I made this project again and buti naman walang nasayang na papel. 

Read: 7 Days Trip in Sydney Australia 

As per my research, here is the train schedule from Central Station to Katoomba Station. 

6:23 AM 

6:53AM 

7:23AM 

8:18AM 

The travel time is almost two hours and the expected arrival time at Katoomba Station is 8:21AM. We wanted to ride the first train so we needed to be at the Central Station before 6:23AM so we left as early as 5:30AM. 

We just walked to Museum Train Station from Hyde Park Inn, rode the train, and got off at Central Station. Then we just looked for the train platform for the Katoomba Station. When we arrived at Platform 6, the train was already there. I was a little bit surprised when I saw the train because it looked old compared to the trains that we tried in Sydney. 

After two hours, we arrived at Katoomba Station and went straight to the Blue Mountains Explorer Bus office to claim our tickets. You won’t miss this because it is just outside the train station. I purchased Lyrebird Pass at Klook which includes the Hop On Hop Off Bus and Scenic World Tickets. I just presented my voucher and received my guidebook where my name was written and the number of persons. The guidebook is our bus ticket. 

Blue Mountains Scenic World Ticket or Bus Tour 

When we left Sydney the temperature was 15C degrees while Katoomba was 6C degrees so we wore layered clothes but when we arrived at Katoomba, we still felt cold. Good thing there is CafeXpresso, where we purchased our hot drinks. The price of the drinks ranges from 3.50AUD to 6AUD. 

The first bus trip is at 9AM and the interval is every hour. There are 37 bus stops so just press the button if you want to get off the bus. We alighted at Bus Stop 11 where the Scenic World is. Our ticket includes unlimited rides to Scenic Skyway, Scenic Railway, Scenic Cableway, and Scenic Walkway but unfortunately, during our trip, Scenic Skyway was closed for scheduled maintenance so we were not able to experience it. Aside from that, Honeymoon Bridge, Bus Stop 8, Walk 9, Walk 13, Walk 14, and Walk 18 were also closed. 

We arrived at 9:20AM but the Scenic World opening hours are between 10AM to 4AM so we waited for more than 40 minutes. I am afraid of heights but I had to face my fear at sayang ang bayad. 

Scenic Walkway - longest elevated boardwalk in Australia. 

Aside from these 4 attractions, you can also visit Katoomba Coal Mine and Dinosaur Valley. 

We spent most of our time at the Scenic World and only walked to some tourist spots. But when we got tired we rode the bus again to continue our bus tour. 

We hopped off at Leura Railway Station to eat our late lunch but changed our mind because we wanted to go back to the hotel already. Travel time is 2 hours so we wanted to be back in Sydney before the peak hours. We used the Opal Machine to top up our cards, the minimum top-up is 40AUD for adults and 20AUD for kids. 

Good thing that we brought bread, pastries, chocolates, and drinks during our Blue Mountain trip so we did not feel hungry. We arrived at Museum Station before 5PM and went straight to David’s Kitchen so we could eat heavy meals. Rice is life.

It was my first time using my “MIYA HIMI Gouache Paint Set”, this was my prize last year when I joined the Bee Happy 11th Anniversary. Oh di ba, ang tagal na hindi ko man lang nagagamit. I cannot draw so what I did, was I made a watercolor background for my greeting cards. 

For this project, I used watercolor paper, gouache paint, distress oxides, embossing folders, and die cutting machine. You can watch my short process video here. 

I am happy with my “With Love Watercolor Card”.

The design is from the Main Road Digital Creations website. Instead of using vinyl or HTV for the Happy Birthday and balloons, I changed the function to “Draw” and just colored the Happy Birthday using Ohuhu Glitter Marker. Also, I cut the balloons multiple times so I don’t need to use foam tape for each balloon. You can also use this design on greeting cards. 

Trivia: Sa family namin, ang dami may birthday ng August. There are 31 days in August pero nagsisiksikan kami ipanganak sa 2 araw lang, Tipid sana kung sabay-sabay na lang magcelebrate kaso kahit same birthdays, different personalities kaya iba-iba ng ways para magcelebrate. 

On my birthday alone, 5 kami na magkakabirthday. Kabirthday ko yung brother ko, niece, aunt-in-law and cousin-in-law. Also magkabirthday din ang youngest sister ko, sister-in-law and brother-in-law ko.

Cricut Maker

Mirror Foil Cardstock

Glitter Cardstock

Glue

Yesterday, the school posted the schedule and reminders for next week and I read na may color coding so this year, “Blue”. Wrapping notebooks and books is not my favorite thing, so I watch a movie while wrapping my son’s notebook. No labels yet because I am still waiting for the “Section”. 

Speaking of back to school, last month Cricut Philippines had Back to School Demos and I watched all the replays and made some of the projects. I already shared the Faux Leather Pencil Case and First Day of School Sign Board. 

Here are the other projects that I tried. 

This is a print-then-cut project, I used a sticker and glitter photo top. 

This is a draw-then-cut project, I used stickers and Cricut pens. 

I made magnetic bookmarks before but this time I used my leftover faux leather to make this magnet.

A few years ago, I purchased a Printable Iron On Paper and did not use it right away so last December when Cricut Philippines had a Christmas Challenge, expired na yung Dark Transfer Tape na nabili ko so hindi ko na nagamit. I purchased a new one pero hindi na umabot sa deadline yung order so hindi ko na naman nagamit. It was only last month na ginamit ko. Buti pwede pa but I need to remind myself na gamitin ko na lahat bago pa mag-expire. Mahal din kasi yung materials. 

I am happy with my first Printable Iron On project. The Game Over Back to School Design is from Nancy Better Life Blog and The Alphabet M is from Love Cynthia's website. 

There are still 3 demos that I watched but I did not make the craft projects because I was busy doing something else. I did not do the tracing mat and felt pencil topper because my son is already a teenager. I will do the faux leather bag tag next time. I am just waiting for my order. 

I also made this Back to School Scrapbook Title, I don’t have a scrapbook but I will put this on my son’s school album. You can also use this as a cake topper. This is a layered craft project using Moon and Latte font.