Cora Mijares, is the ribbon that bound everyone together when the Los Banos Scrapaholics (LBS) was just starting out! Cors, as she is fondly called by fellow LBS, is the proud owner of the best and longest-operating gift shop in the UP Los Baños area – 101 Boutique. The gift shop is a favorite stop-over not only UPLB students for their gift purchases but of the entire community as well. Various scrapbooking stuff are also available right at the store and I actually bought several wonderful finds! (Typical of Lala. She never goes out of any scrapbook store without buying a single thing! –M) I just couldn’t resist the different colored blings! They were a steal!

The rest of the LBS were initially Cor's customers at 101 Boutique who then eventually became her friends and her scrapping buddies.

Cors has been scrapbooking since the 80s. Like the rest of the LBS she didn’t even realize that what she was doing was called “scrapbooking.” Cors used to scrap her pages on her the family’s dining table - which started out as very convenient for her - right in the middle of everything. However, cleaning up and removing her stuff every meal became more and more difficult because of her growing number stocks. Last Valentines Day, her husband surprised her with her very own scrapbooking corner in the living room complete with shelves and cabinets! Cora intimates that she considered it a very romantic gesture on the part of her husband to even research about the “gift” by asking fellow LBS what she would like to have and how big her storage requirements are.

Modular Work Space
Cors work space has modular shelves fitted from ceiling to floor. Tools, books and other items that are seldom used can be found on the upper shelves. Frequently used items and embellishments are placed in pull-out drawers underneath the table. A rectangular wire mesh was attached to the wall to utilize the vertical space in front of her table.

Various projects and to-do items are hung from these wires, serving as inspirations and reminders as she goes about finishing her layouts.

Embellishments
Cors is fondly called as the Queen of Embellishments by the LBS. She can source just about anything at a fraction of the cost the items are normally sold. Since she has lots of fancy and unique embellishments (sourced locally), she also has lots of transparent sealed containers to store them in! Tall to round, flat and even oddly shaped stackables can all be found in Cor’s corner. Some of them are even available for sale in her gift shop! (Plug! - Lala) Of course I had to grab some of them too when I visited her shop! Stackables and blings!

Cors’ tips:
Don’t panic buy. You can give in to the urge to splurge once a while, but don’t make a habit out of it. Save your scrapping space for more useful stuff – ones that you could actually use frequently. Own your space, no matter how small. It is yours. Ensure that you will always be able to work with ease within your space.