I just came back from an exciting and exhausting 10-day vacation in the Philippines. My husband and I had so much fun bonding with our kids. Not only that because I had a great surprise for my husband Gerry last Valentine's Day. 

Last January 19, 2009, the largest Philippine community website Sulit held a Valentine Love-oratory Postcard Making Contest in connection with Valentine celebration. This was open to all Sulit members. I submitted my entry designs only last February 6, exactly three days before the competition ends.

With the mechanics of the said competition, postcard dimensions should be 5.83in x 7.87in with resolution of 300dpi and can use pictures, drawings, poems, objects, paintings, illustrations or whatever you want to create masterpiece.

What attracted me most about the competition is that the 10 winning postcard entries will be produced and will be delivered to their respective loved ones together with a special Valentine's bouquet courtesy of Island Rose on February 13, 2010.

I had this thought in mind that this could be my great chance for me to surprise my husband Gerry this Valentine’s day with bouquet of flowers if my postcard entry would be chosen. And he did surprise, because out of more than 300 entries for this competition, I feel lucky enough that one of my entries has been chosen as one of the 10 winning entries. Last Saturday Feb 10, Sulit officially announced and posted the 10 winning entries. Here is the captured of actual printed 10 winning postcards by Sulit:



My husband surprised a lot when he received last February 13 through courier delivery the flowers and postcard from me the fact that we have just arrived Philippines that Friday only, February 12. The bouquet is so beautiful and really shows love. I made a capture on him the time he received the flowers and my postcard:



So, how does my winning postcard was made? My postcard design is so simple but I made it with true and deep intention. I designed it from scratch with the use of high resolution paper background and royalty-free clipart in Photoshop CS3.



I love the paper background so much for it shows a true texture of paper craft. You can actually download for free a set of these high resolution paper backgrounds in Photoshoproadmap.

The quotes and phrases I used are 100% from my own thoughts. This is exactly what I feel about my life with my husband Gerry. This 2010 will be our 10th wonderful year of marriage. I treasure every moment we have shared and I expect more wonderful time to share with, of course with our kids.

And by the way, the phrase “Mahal na Mahal Kita!” is a Filipino line which means “I Love You Very Much”.

Here are the other four postcard entries I have submitted:



I really want to thank Sulit for this amazing opportunity you have given to all your members. More of this to come.