100 FOLLOWERS BLOG GIVEAWAY!

the giveaway is now closed! a big, heartwarming thank you to the participators,and congratulations to the winners!
Yup, you read that right! 100 followers blog giveaway...no, scratch that: 105 followers blog giveaway!! I'm so happy, I just can't think or say the right things. This is definitely a BIG achievement for me, considering the fact that I only started blogging a few months ago.

SO this is my very first blog giveaway!! I know it's going to be a lot of fun :) Now here are the prizes:

When I first saw the pink ruffle ring, I was like: "AAAHH!! THIS IS ADORABLE!!" It's backed up with these two, kiddy-but-cute pink hair clips, so you get 3 prizes instead of 1! 

Some other cute hair accessories, now in the shade of green (:

Another Ruffle Ring: Except this one is BLACK. It's backed up with thee really cute Jetoy cat bookmarks that I couldn't help but buy from a stationary store! 

                               

Some other hair accessories + cat bookmark 

2 Ugly Doll™ Postcards + Really cute cupcake bag tag!

3 Ugly Doll™postcards + 2 rigns

Pocket Posh Word Search 3 + Green Muji Pen

And one of my favorites...

A Vintage Necklace!!! :)

{The photo effect changes from now, sorry but it was at night when I took the following photos.}

Some cute (orange) earrings!

Another version of the orange hoops, except now in pink! 

Goodies Pack: -Cake Magnet, 2 MUJI pens (shade of blue), Hamburger & Fries Eraser, Bracelet, Vintage blue notebook, Red Dragon book mark, Mickey Mouse Post its and a soda flavored lollipop!

Not-so vintage, but really cute! A robot necklace. 

OMG, are you willing to win?!? Just follow the steps below!! 

To enter the giveaway:

MANDATORY:  

( ) You must be following my blog via Google Friend Connect. 

Anonymous contestants are not allowed!

( ) You must comment below stating your Email, and possibly a link back to your blog. 

Also state which of the items is your favorite. 

If you want a higher chance of winning, here are some other ways you can get MORE entries!

FOR EXTRA ENTRIES:

- Like this Facebook page for my school project! ( 1 extra entry )

-Add the giveaway button on your blog ( 2 extra entries )

- Add my blog button in your blot ( 3 extra entries )

- Blog about the giveaway and a specific prize you want to get ( 4 extra entries )

Special thanks to BOWS & BANDS {a.k.a mom} for supplying me with most of my prizes! 

I shall choose 12 winners for each prize on February 13, 2012: The day before Valentine's. 

I'm shipping the prizes myself, & this giveaway is available to anyone in the world!

Love you all, now go and enter for the giveaway! 

Old Pictures

This was during my 6 months of summer. My room was as busy as a bee, and as cluttered as a dumpster. I miss those days. I wasted those days. I can't believe how unproductive I was.

Another day within my 6 months of summer. I like exploring new places. It was nice to have a different work and play space, instead of my room.

Haha, this was when I was so bored, I practically had nothing to do. I decided to make a macaroon list. My favorite one is Charming Cherry. Gullible Green Mint looks like the most awkward one. 

Once again: within those 6 months of summer. I was busy playing with paper and stickers. 

This was when I was home alone one summer day with nothing to do. I miss my Azkals ballerband. I wonder where it is right now.

Yes! Over those 6 months of summer, I had some productive days, like when I reused my old socks and made them sock puppets. 

I love the composition of this photo. Everything seems so quiet, refreshed, simple and clean. Summer 2011. 

And yes, this is me right now.

My nose in a GREAT book.

Me, blogging.

And a whole bunch of homemade cinnamon cookies all to myself.

Word Of the Year

For our English class, we had to choose one word for the year. The word we chose is supposed to be our own words that we would live on for the year.

My friend Ciara chose the word Extreme, because according to her, this 2012 is going to be one exciting (and intense) year for her! My friend Ana chose to word Confidence, because this year, she wants to be able to be confident with herself, her ideas and her voice.

So I guess it's kinda obvious what my word is, assuming you can see the big typography above this text! Yes, this year I chose the word Brave.The main reason why I chose the word brave was because 2012 is the year I turn 13! It's a new step for me, I'm entering a new stage in life and a lot of new things are coming into my life! 

What is your word of the year?

Finally Thirteen! ♥

It's nice to celebrate a birthday on a blog!  (*Hands out slices of some lava chocolate cake*) I can't believe I've made it this far, I'm finally thirteen! I've gotten a lot of cool stuff from my parents, including that vintage bike up on the photo there. ^ Notice that I'm using my Docs! 

So when someone gives something to you, you thank them. Here are some thank you's I'd like to give to all of you:

• Thank you so much for all the support you've been giving to TYT, that is clearly one of the best(set) gifts ever! 
• Thank you to Rocio, who gave me an Action Sampler!
• Thank you to Gabby who gave me a Kate Spade mug. *squeal!!!*
• Thank you to all the people who sent me birthday greetings on my newly opened Facebook, and on my twitter,
• and a big warm thank you to God for giving the prime-time, ultimate gift: Happiness! ( and attention, hahahaha)

I'd also like to send out a big apology to you all for not blogging in the past week! This month is (reassuringly) hell month. I've got some stressing days ahead of me. Time to pack my gear so that I'll be able to slash those stressing days! 

Crooked Paths

Here's a little blog entry for all of you. This is also a way (for me) to be able to make up for all of the useless thinking I've had in the past few days. It's about time I thought of something GOOD.

Image from Milica & Stefan

I worry about the littlest things in life. I panic. I get angry and stressed easily. I am a brat. Life is not going how it's supposed to be. I hate the world. There are times in my life when I feel as if I'm a pale rose, waiting to wither. When I read my Bible, though, I seem as if I have never been so alive. The word of God is so powerful, it's like a beaming light in dark cave. It's a new guided path for the lost. It's eyes for the blind. 

Photo from Michele

A few days ago, as I was browsing through my very old scrapbook, I landed unto this page that talked about the future. There, it said: "Me 20 years from now". Below was a drawing of me with a microphone performing to thousands of people. I laughed at the sight. I like the idea of reviving the old ideas that have already been crumpled and thrown into the bin.

I was just wondering, though. What will I really be 20 years from now? Will I be booming with business? Will I be rich from top to bottom? Will I be hiding? Will I fail? Will I have a family? Will I be unsuccessful? Will I seek for help? The questions started to pile up. 

Image from Marcia Martins

I was getting scared, then I decided to pray. What is my direction, God? Will I become a Journalist? Will I be able to have a happy family and support them? Will I make the right decisions? God gave me bible verses about direction. I thought that maybe I should share it with you today.

Isaiah 41:10 

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." 

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take

Amen! 

God loves me. God is loving. God is faithful. He will straighten all the crooked paths in my life because He is the lamp that lights my feet. He is a leader that will guide me all the way. He is a shield that will protect me beyond 20 years from now. He is God, and I am His. 

2012!

Lights! Fireworks! Food! Music! Family! Oh, the words that make up New Year's Eve are endless. A lot of things make me happy on the last day of the year. The idea that I got to survive the year, the idea that I'm with my family, the idea that God has blessed me so much...it's a twist and turn of ideas all at once! 

Now you know how a lot of people are going around saying that they hated 2011? Weeell.....I guess everyone has their reasons. This year was tiring.  This year had terrible downs but wonderful ups...Stress weighed me down until I was (literally) gritting my teeth, but God's blessings and his everlasting love kept my feet on the ground! 

Moving into a new school wasn't too easy for me. I have had the same school for 7 consecutive years, and it's difficult to say bye to my childhood friends. I was nervous! I realized that I wasn't going to be in the same grade as the grade I sat in with. I was going to be in a higher batch, which meant that I was going to be the youngest...and the shortest. When I first entered my homeroom classroom, I remember thinking: "Oh Lord, they're all so tall and big. What on earth am I going to do?" It wasn't easy to get along with kids older than me, because there is a huge gap between tweens and teens when it comes to maturity. I chose to respond to the situation in a quiet way. I knew that somehow and someday, I would get used to my new school. The memories of my old school haunted me for about a month, but sooner, I understood that I wouldn't go anywhere if I dwelled on the past. I decided to be more participative in school. I was able to make a lot of new friends, I made it into the tennis team, I got good grades, and I was elected to be in the student council. Is it luck or love? God is amazing!

Besides a topsy-turny year of events, this year was {also} a very self-discovering 365 days of my life. It was this year that I realized that I was sort of into photography (especially film photography) and God blessed me with EIGHT film cameras! I realized that vintage things were fascinating, and it was the year I got my Underwood Typewriter! This year I also discovered what a fashion flop I was. This Christmas, my dad decided to but me a pair of Doctor Martems. (*Squeal!* Another blessing and gift from God.) Now I feel like a model, ha ha.

I might sound like a fashion diva or whatever, but these look SO adorable with tights! I went to H&M and dad treated me to a shopping spree (Another gift from God!!) and I bought a pair of pink, blue, brown and black tights.

Last year was also the start of the (according to my dad) attitude test. *Gasp* Hehe, my dad makes it sound really scary. But sometimes it can REALLY get terrifying! I'm maturing, that's what everyone's telling me. They tell me "Be the same old Stella...the one that laughs a lot, the one that doesn't mind doing anything crazy, the one that doesn't care about what other people think..."I guess the comments can get really flattering! But honestly, I think that I've left behind the vain, pop-art loving "princess".  And NO WAY. I absolutely did NOT leave the "loud and proud" Stella behind...well, maybe not yet :)

You know what else happened this year? I opened my blog!!!! (I officially started blogging on August 2011)  I kind of figured out that blogging is the new thing. For me, it's the best way to express myself! I'm sure a lot of you agree with that.  I also got to meet a lot of awesome people like Elisha {hi pen-pal!}. 

Now I think it's pretty obvious that I don't get to blog everyday, so here's the thing :-) I was inspired by Elisha's day challenge to have a "Ask-Stella" sort of thing. Every week, I'll answer 3 interesting, different questions 100% honestly. You guys can ask me any questions you like, but if I don't get any questions in a week, I'll find a way to still be able to answer questions. 

The questions have to be interesting in such a way that I would be able to post photos about it.

But never mind, let's cross the bridge when we get there. Let's talk about it soon, this January.

Love forever and ever,

Stella

9 more days until I become an official teenager!

Reader, you've come a long way! Thanks for being interested in my life!