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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Thank you 2013, Welcome 2014!

Before I end this year, let me greet everyone a Happy Happy New Year! :)

Love you all!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas 2013

This is my blog's first Christmas. Before the day ends, I just want to greet you my dear readers a Merry Merry Christmas! Thank you for patronizing and reading The Binondo Mommy's blog.

To be honest, it's quite hard to get some Me Time because my one year old is now an active explorer. She won't stop exploring on things, crawling faster, cruising by herself through leaning or clinging on to walls and furniture. I can't get my eyes off my baby.

Hoping for your understanding if I'm not able to blog that frequent but I do have lots of things to share. Can't wait to share the details of my baby's first birthday, how it went plus many more. Thank you for patiently waiting and for spending your precious time reading my blog posts.

If I may ask a favor if you could leave a short message or greeting for me so that I would know that you have read this post. Thank you and Merry Christmas to you and your family! God bless! :)


Mommy Sally

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Miracle Art Exhibit in Manila

Last Nov. 22, 2013, me and my friend K were supposed to meet up with our Hong Kong based college friend C who went here in Manila for a vacation. We have decided to tour her around Lucky Chinatown Mall in Binondo. And to make it more fun and exciting, I've thought of inviting them to visit the Miracle Art Exhibit inside the mall since it will only be there for a temporary period. I've been wanting to see the exhibit since the time it opened last Aug. 10 but couldn't find someone to accompany me. I love taking pictures, posing in front of the camera and doing creative shots that's why I'm so excited to visit the exhibit.

Me and my Friend K arrived early at Lucky Chinatown Mall on that day. Unfortunately, the meet-up with Friend C was cancelled thus leaving only the two of us to bond. Nevertheless, we've decided to go on with our plan of checking out the Miracle Art.

I am aware that the entrance fee has been discounted until end of the year, from the original price of P300 down to P198. But when we got there, I was surprised to know that the price has adjusted to P210 already. The ticket holders saw me got dismayed with the price changes and discreetly offered if we wanted to avail of their employee complimentary tickets for only P150. Why not? And we both paid for that price.

We were lucky that time because there were not much people inside. And because we were only two, we took turns taking our solo shots. We were each other's director and photographer. We did our poses as creatively as we can and took shots as clearly as possible to make our visit worthwhile.

Miracle Art, as defined, is the multi-dimensioned illusion pictures drawn by special technique where people are expressed as if they are integrated with picture when taking photographs. The exhibit shows incredible works of art that leads you to a world of fantasy. For me, it practices one's ability to interpret the painting and strike a post to create a realistic scene when photographed. There are also museums that are similar to Miracle Art in other countries such as the Trick Art Museum in Japan and Korea. I'm glad that Miracle Art visited in Manila as I haven't had the chance to go out of the country yet.

The Miracle Art Exhibit is showcased in ten different categories namely: Aquarium World, Animal World, Jurassic World, Cinema World, Fly World, Fantasy World, Masterpiece World, Romantic World, Flower World, and lastly the Mission World. Sometimes the images requires you to take a few seconds to understand and think of how to strike the pose to make the photograph meaningful and look realistic. It's good that there were sample poses displayed in each section for us to imitate and to give an idea on what the painting is all about.

We've actually completed snapping and posing with all the 80+ paintings but I would only attach two photos from each section here so that you still have something to look forward to.

Aquarium World


Feeding the dolphins.

Sucked by the hurricane.

Animal World


Feeding the camel.

Pouring Coke to the water bowl of the polar bear.


Jurassic World

Sshhh! I'm hiding from these hungry velociraptors.

Crossing and trying to balance on the piece of log.
Cinema World

I'm not sure from what movie is this. :)

One with UP the movie.

Fly World

Feathery creature from outer space.

Spread your wings and fly away!

Fantasy World

Cheers!

Wahhh!!!

Masterpiece World

Peeping through the telescope.

Blowing the pixels of the painting.

Romantic World

Enjoying the greenery.

Kissing the heartthrob Korean artist named Jo In-Sung from The Classic movie.

This is the actual screen shot from the Korean movie, The Classic. Great painting!
Flower World

Bading goodbye to the seven dwarves of Snow White.

Wishing by the fountain.

Mission World

Jesus' crucifixion.

Animals from the Noah's Ark.

As I browsed these pictures, some of them made me look like an idiot but it is when you strike your best pose that makes your picture comes alive and looks interesting. Thank you Friend K for your great directing skills and keen eye to photography. Looking at the photographs seemed as if they were done easily but not! You didn't know how tiring and exhausting it was to strike different poses for each paintings but we enjoyed it so much!

Have fun, express yourself and think out of the box!

Miracle Art Exhibition in Manila is located at
3/F Bldg. B, Lucky Chinatown Mall, Reina Regente St., Binondo
Contact #: 940-9152
Museum hours: 10am to 10pm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miracleartmanila

Mommy Sally

Canva: Become an Instant Graphic Designer

Only three days left before Christmas Day! At this point in time, people would probably be rushing to complete their Christmas shopping list, sending out gifts to their loved ones and of course their Christmas greetings. When I was young, I used to prepare greeting cards to my parents, siblings and friends. Either I buy from bookstores or design my own. As much as I love writing messages to people, I love receiving letters and greeting cards from my loved ones and close friends until now. However because of this technological age, people would rather send out their messages through emails, SMS, social networking sites since it's more faster and economical. And to make it more special and personal, I have come across this cool site that enables one to design their own Christmas Card by simply choosing from the wide selection of templates and graphics that best suits your personality. This site is called Canva, an Australian company.

Infographic about the Magic of Christmas Cards



MEDIA RELEASE


Put those postage stamps away: these Christmas cards deliver in style

Sydney, Australia — 2/12/13 — Each year Filipinos spend hours waiting in checkout lines, licking dozens of icky stamps and worrying that snail mail won’t get their holiday messages to friends and family in time. And all in the name of the humble Christmas card.

Perhaps that’s why less cards are being sent now than ever before. And sheeeesh, the decline isn’t slowing down: the number of greeting cards posted has dropped 24 percent in the past decade. But no surprises there — it’s often the last thing on our mind with countless family gatherings, presents to organise and the mad holiday shopping rush.

So what if you could say a heartfelt ‘Happy Holidays’ to the people you care about with a personal design that’s just as sentimental as a handwritten note, but super quick and simple to create? Forget the text message; hold that Facebook post. Heck, why not make this Christmas a bit more special…

Simple online design platform Canva has a cracker of a Christmas surprise this silly season. The folks at Canva believe they can make anyone a designer with their free drag-and-drop design tool. The company has today launched a collection of entirely customizable, beautifully designed Christmas cards. Want to know how to create a spectacular looking card with Canva? 

Here are the 3 easy steps:

1. Choose one of the 20 stunning hand-crafted designs

 

2. Customize the card however you like: add family photos, write a personal message, change the graphics, or create your own from scratch.
 
 

3. Pick who you want to send it to, and… badda bing -- you’re done!
 

 
Canva has been in exclusive closed beta for the past two-and-a-half months, but are now giving you the chance to join the more than 110,000 people who for the first time have been able to create their own designs without spending thousands of dollars on frustrating desktop software that takes years to learn. Hey, don’t take our word, here’s what others have said:

“Canva enables anyone to become a designer” — PSFK
“A graphic design platform anyone can use” — TechCrunch
“Canva could very well become an industry disrupting household name” — Web Appstorm
“The easiest to use design program in the world” — Netted by the Webbys

According to Canva CEO Melanie Perkins the company wants to make it easy for people to create and share their own designs with people they care about, and receiving personalized Christmas cards is something everyone appreciates.

“Together with the world’s best photographers, designers, and illustrators, we’ve set out to introduce beautiful design to everyone," she said. 

"This Christmas we want to give more people the ability to craft something special for family and friends. Designing with Canva is as simple as choosing a layout, searching our library of 1 million images and graphics, or uploading your own, then clicking ‘Publish’.”

Design is all around us. It lets us communicate, express our ideas, connect. Design says who you are. This is Canva. Create beautiful designs without ever leaving the web. All the tools you need in one place. Stunning graphics, professional photography and fonts. Simply search and drag. Easily work with others. Share and edit your designs with family, friends and co-workers. Canva - design reimagined.

Make this Christmas a little more special by heading to www.canva.com/christmas.

Watch this simple video on the Overview of Canva so you can visually understand it better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqYti78riU8

Aren't you excited about this new program? So, what are you waiting for? Create your own personalized and graphically appealing Christmas Card and unleash your creativity now! I'm so excited to try it!

As a special offer to all my blog readers, you are invited to try out their beta release by simply clicking through this link to get your VIP Access: bit.ly/1fuGhQd plus you'll get an instant $10 credit free!

In writing this press release, I'm also able to help the Yolanda victims because Canva has promised to donate $50 to any charitable organization of my choice, on my behalf. Thank you so much Canva for your generosity and thoughtfulness!

Emailed by Ms. Hazel Gascon as of Jan. 17, 2014.


Mommy Sally

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Happy 1st Birthday Baby A!

This is the day my baby officially turns one year old. Just want to greet you, Baby A, a very Happy Happy 1st Birthday! Welcome to the Christian world in three hours.

We'll blog more about the details soon after the event and celebration today. :)


Mommy Sally

Monday, December 2, 2013

It's Officially December + Announcement of Winners

Pardon for the delay in announcing the winners of my recently concluded giveaway. Ever since I became a mom, all my time just revolves around my baby. And see how time flies, it's barely 6 days left before her first birthday and party. And here I am, doing some last minute finalizing of party details! Wish me luck and hope my baby's party turns out to be a smashing success! :)
Getting back to the main motive of this blog post, let me first thank Sisters' Sweetness and Mutterliebe for allowing me to host this giveaway. I wish you a prosperous and fruitful business in the months and years ahead. Secondly, thank you for all the 74 individuals who took time and effort to participate in my giveaway. I was surprised to receive a whopping 3,231 entries for a month-long giveaway. Thank you for persistently sharing my giveaway in your Facebook and Twitter accounts not just once but almost everyday. You know who you are. Don't be sad if your name isn't picked because I'll be hosting more giveaways in the coming weeks! :)
And the two lucky winners are...

 

Here's a sample image of cupcakes from Sisters' Sweetness. Actual product may vary.



Here's a sample image of the Jar of Hope First Aid Gel from Mutterliebe.

Kindly send me your contact details and email address so I can forward them to Mommy Kandie as she'll be the one to instruct you on how to claim your prize. Hope you will like them! Let me know your feedback on your prizes by sharing your photos through The Binondo Mommy's Facebook wall.
It's officially December! Let me greet everyone an advance Merry Christmas! :)
Mommy Sally