Akala Mo Nafeature sa Diyaryo

Sorry if this is a vain post, but I checked out the photos from our Crafternoon session last February 10 at the LifeAfterBreakfast blog and I saw this:

Lakas maka candid shot! Thanks Alessa for posting this on your blog! :)

More photos from that crafternoon here

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Doodling Is A Way Of Life

Whenever I travel, it's imperative for me to bring at least one notebook in case I have the sudden urge to draw or write. I've said this before, and it still holds true until now--doodling is really therapeutic for me. Faced with a blank page poses some kind of pressure to an aspiring artist, kind of like how a writer would feel when experiencing writer's block. Doodling is a free form way of creating, which allows me to just go with the flow and not be pressured about what will be the end result of what I'm doing. In the end, I am surprised with myself and how I managed to pass the time and be able to create something interesting and intricate.

An entry on my Moleskine. Musing about how much I enjoy doodling. 

Doodling about my love for Baguio City. I go there every year because of the weather, the food, the culture and the art surrounding the northern cordillera.

Inspiring myself to work hard despite the challenges. This was taken from a manifesto by John Cage and Sister Korita Kent. 

"Rule Number 7: The only rule is work. If you work, it will lead to something. It's the people who do all of the work all time who eventually catch on to things."

This doodle was inspired by this article from thecoolhunter "Do Your Own Thing". It made me accept my path as an I.T. Professional and my calling as an artist. What's my thing? BOTH!

Another inspiring quote from thecoolhunter.com

A colored doodle inspired by a Veruca Salt song. I played with colored markers with this one.

I doodle when I want to pass the time or when I feel like zoning out. I put on some music, take a notebook and a pen with me and let the lines command me like they know exactly where they are going on that sheet of paper. It's therapy for the soul, and I think everyone (artists and non artists alike) should try doodling!

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Cheesy Post

It's been an intense week here in New Jersey. Been talking to clients left and right and my hands are so full coordinating with offshore folks, I have no time to sleep anymore. I'm trying to adjust and I'm definitely learning a lot but at the same time, the pressure is insane. Perhaps this is a lesson on how to be resilient. Bending like a friggin' pretzel at this point.

Don't get me wrong. Work in Manila is also difficult, but I find comfort in the fact that at the end of every work day, I get to see him and spend time with him. Here, it's different. There's no comforting hug waiting for me.

I suppose the hotel bed will do for now. After this, I will hibernate for a week. Kthxbye.

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In Transit on Valentine's Day

Yesteday was my longest February 14 ever. I was set out to fly to Newark at 8:00 AM Manila time, and got to Newark Liberty Airport at 5:45 PM EST which was around 6:45 AM on Feb 15 in Manila. Business trips usually excite me, specially since I get to travel with free lodging and allowance. But come on, Valentine's day?! You see people reunite and say goodbye at airports and it's makes me feel so melancholic I kept on thinking about Jim and yes, cheesy as it may sound, I really miss the bloke.

I flew to Tokyo for a layover then spent a couple of hours in Detroit to get interviewed by US Immigration before finally flying to Newark. I tried to keep busy and take photos now and then so that I can remember some snippets of this journey.

My passport and boarding pass to the Manila - Tokyo leg of my flight

Why wasn't I physically built to become a flight stewardess? That would've been a fun job, right?

Duty Free store at Narita

Airplane food. And no, I didn't enjoy it that much. 

An awesome tunnel at Detroit airport. The walls changed colors while synchronized with ambient music

If not for my wonderful welcoming party in New Jersey, it would've been a depressing day. I'm really thankful that Ate Dawn (Jim's cousin)  and her family were able to pick me up from Newark Liberty Airport and spend time with me even if it's my first time to meet her in person! They were so nice and so accommodating and even treated me to Red Lobster for dinner! I find it so amazing, because we were only friends in Facebook and haven't really had a chance to get to know each other until yesterday. Our dependence on technology can sometimes make things impersonal, but there are times when technology can really bring people together and make them feel more connected. I've never met Ate Dawn, Sal, Saify and Shaad before but it felt like I've known them for ages.

Sal, Shaad and Saify hamming it up at Red Lobster

Group picture yay! :D

Little Shaad sleeping on my hotel bed. SO CUUUUUTE!!

I'm staying at a serviced apartment near the airport which is also strategically located near Jersey Gardens. Waaaaah temptation!! I am so looking forward to go shopping, but I'm also researching on Arts and Crafts stores in this area. Hopefully one weekend I can take a bus to Manhattan and check out all the city action and also meet up with my relatives and friends who are based in NY.

My apartment in New Jersey

Red couch! And I absolutely love that vintage looking car on that overhead shelf.

My bed and my TV.

I feel blessed. I get to travel and meet different sorts of people because of my job as a Systems Analyst. Hopefully tomorrow it won't get too cold, but I heard it's going to snow. I don't mind staying in. I think I could use a good resting day since today has been SO HECTIC, I had to stay online for extended hours and do some important work-related stuff.

It's 2:47 AM here and 3:47 PM in Manila. I hope I can get over this jet lag soon.

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Doodle Caboodle!

Ah, wasting ink is so therapeutic.

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My Very First Crafternoon Session!

This is part 2 of my "going-out-of-the-comfort-zone weekend". After last Saturday's solo gig at Boho Sarapsody Bistro,  I finally attended Mansy and Alessa's Rubber Stamping Crafternoon Session at Fully Booked yesterday!

I've been stalking a fan of Alessa and Mansy's work for quite a while now and I was really looking forward to learn from them in this session. The venue was almost packed when I arrived, and the participants seemed like they knew each other already. It was like going to school for the first time. You enter a room not knowing crap about anyone and then you start going with your intuition in identifying who seems to be the least intimidating set of people in the room and sit next to them. I ended up sitting with Melay, Tatin and Espie. The three girls at my table know each other (Melay and Espie are sisters and Melay and Tatin are friends), but I didn't feel left out coz they were so nice.

When I registered at the venue, they gave me a kit which included carving tools, rubber blocks, a sponge that could substitute as a stamp pad, sheets of paper and a cutter. These are the basic things that you need to start your rubber homicide.

Clockwise from Top Left: (1) Stamped Cards we shared to our new crafting mates! (2) The Rubber Stamp Carving Kit that was included in the workshop (3) Support The Hand Makers by Mansy (4) My new crafting mates Espie, Mela and Tatin

Mansy gave a bit of trivia about rubber sole carving during the second World War. Apparently, prisoners at the concentration camps carved the soles of their shoes to make art. It's amazing to think that even at a time of hopelessness and fear, people still managed to stay creative. 

In the middle of the carving festivities, we were asked to introduce ourselves one by one--what we do for a living and our art background. Ladies from different occupations and industries were there to attend the workshop and it was awesome to find out that there are I.T. Consultants like me who were also eager to pursue a more creative life. I told the class I'm a Systems Analyst, and my art background is that I draw/doodle and that I play music. To be honest, I get sucked into all sorts of  things--running, frisbee, lomography, writing--and my mom describes me as "ang batang maraming gustong gawin". But if you ask me what are my true passions, I can really say with conviction that it's visual arts and singing. 

When Alessa shared her thoughts about stamping, I could tell she's so passionate about it. She's a graphic designer and a restaurateur by profession.  She's been teaching and organizing crafting workshops since she was seventeen (GOOD LORD, ANONG GINAGAWA KO WHEN I WAS SEVENTEEN?!) and I admire her passion and courage to really pursue what she wanted to do. I'm amazed how she can balance creativity with business. Ang galing!

Mansy and Alessa sharing their carving process and techniques

Intricate print made by Mansy. I want to make a large scale print like that! (Ambitious ako, bakit ba? Haha)

More cards prepared by the crafting class

For my pattern, I made a flower stamp inspired by the previous watercolor painting that I did last month. I wanted to make a stamp out of it, but apparently it's more difficult than I had expected so I made it more simple. I think it turned out well. 

My pattern inspiration

My actual stamp!

The next stamp that I carved was less inspired and more spontaneous. Since I realized mahirap pala mag carve with curves, I opted for a pattern with straight lines. I love this one coz I can make it look more seamless than the flower stamp. 

Christmas theme ang peg! 

I'm planning to make tons of these to give to my cousin from NY coz she loves handmade stuff too!

Next in my creativity bucket list is to attend Fozzy's Calligraphy Class. She attended the same stamping crafternoon session last Sunday but I didn't get a chance to say hi and have a chat with her. We were talking about it on instagram the other day, and we both wished we had time to exchange a few hellos. But then again, even if the crafting community is already growing, I'm sure we're bound to attend similar workshops in the future! It's still a small world, after all.

You can check out and sign up for more crafternoon sessions with Alessa and Mansy! Check out their blogs here and here!

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Going Solo at Boho

This 2013 I told myself I'm going to be a "yes" girl and grab opportunities when they present themselves. I dub this weekend my "getting-out-of-the-comfort zone weekend" because I got to do a couple of things for the very first time. First is that I played a 1 hour solo acoustic set at Boho Sarapsody Bistro in Cubao and it was an awesome (albeit initially nerve wracking) experience then second is I got to attend my very first crafting session (but that's a different post).

I've been singing for as long as I can remember, but for the longest time, I was plagued with stage fright. Blame it on a disastrous performance of If We Hold On Together when I was in Grade 4 that led me to shy away from solo performances and just content myself with being a choir girl until college. When I met my band mates, everything changed and I eventually gained a bit more confidence in performing onstage. The amazing chemistry we had as a band led us to keep on playing and release an EP called "No Reason" in 2009. We've been together for 8 years already, and although a couple of them have left Manila (temporarily, I hope), the music still plays on and we're working on our full length album hopefully to be released this year.

KAZE at CubaoX, 2012

When I got invited to play at Boho, I was a bit reluctant 'coz I've never done a gig by myself. I knew how to play the guitar but the skill was utilized mostly for writing songs, but not for performing. I'd usually just record the vocal melody and jot down the basic chords, then let my bandmates have the freedom with arranging them. Jim, being the musician that he is, also encouraged me to accept the invitation if only to see how I'd fare doing a solo gig. Sige na nga, yes girl ako! So I notified with Katt and Che about my schedule and started practicing. I felt so unprepared pa rin when the day came, so to my friends, sorry hindi ako nag invite! Sobrang nahiya ako haha.

It was my first time in Boho, so with the aid of google maps and Che's awesome set of directions, we got there from B.F. Homes and had enough time to eat before my set. Che who is one of the bar owners greeted us and recommended stuff from their menu. We got Tokwa't Baboy and Chicken Capers because we were starving and wanted a rice meal. I especially loved the Tokwa't Baboy coz they put cilantro on the soy sauce. Yum! They put extra care in the food, I can tell, because even their rice are served in heart or star shapes. So cute. The place exuded warmth and coziness, but at the same time, it was a very cool place to hang out. Parang feeling ko ang artsy ko talaga! Hahaha.

Chicken Capers (sorry bawas na yan, gutom na talaga kami!)

Tokwa't Baboy

At around 10:30 pm, I got called to start my set and so I went on with playing songs from a few of my favorite artists. Here's my set list from that gig.

Gatekeeper - Feist
Fallen - Sarah McLachlan
Love Is A Losing Game - Amy Winehouse
Cross My Heart - EBTG
Little Wing - The Corrs (original by Jimi Hendrix)
Save Me - Aimee Mann
Melt My Heart To Stone - Adele

(Jim played the guitar for me on these two songs)
Lover, You Should've Come Over - Jeff Buckley
Soon - Moonpools and Caterpillars

I was super nervous, I made quite a few mistakes on my guitar, but the crowd was so forgiving and so appreciative of the set, I eventually warmed up and relaxed. Perhaps the choice of songs helped, because most of them were familiar to the audience. I loved that they really listened. They were clapping and making positive reactions about my voice despite my mistakes. One of them even gave me a hug after my set! It was so heartwarming, coz they turned out to be SUPER DUPER TALENTED musicians as well! The girl who hugged me, Kara, played an AWESOME SET  of bluesy, jazzy soul (this is not an exaggeration, her voice seriously blew my mind) with Gia on the saxophone. Gosh, they were so amazing, but they had a relaxed and steady way about them na parang they were just playing for their own friends.

Gia on Saxophone and Kara on guitar and vocals (GALING!!!)

(L-R) Gia, Kara, Pam and Me (wagas ang ngiti!)

We ended up jamming a few songs after Kara's set, with Gia on guitar and me on vocals, then they also invited Pam (another regular musician at Boho) to belt out a couple of songs while Kara accompanied her. It was a fantastic evening, and I  was so happy about my Boho experience. If it's not for the food, anyone would certainly enjoy it for the music and the crowd.


Boho Sarapsody Bistro is located at 272 Ermin Garcia Street, Cubao, 1102 Quezon City, Philippines
Check them out on Facebook!

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Sugar Lily Promo Girl

I can't bake for crap. There, I said it. For someone who has a cupcake business, that's a real shame. In the grand scheme of things, I suppose that's alright coz I contribute to Sugar Lily in a different way. My sister Katrina is our head of Production and Operations since she's our baker and the whole reason why this business came about is because of her gift, while my eldest sister Tetet is the head of Finance since she is the one who handles all the revenue and costs. I suppose you can call me the head of Marketing because even though baking  is not exactly one of my strengths, I try to compensate with branding and promoting  our super yummy and moist cupcakes.

My usual recipe for promotional stuff for Sugar Lily: high res cupcake photo + logo + white border. It's easy. 

Red velvet, anyone?

How about assorted cupcakes?

After our brainstorming-slash-business planning session last month, we came up with the idea of introducing a "special cupcake flavor" every month so that our customers won't get bored with the usual flavors (red velvet, chocolate, carrot, vanilla and banana chocolate chip). For this month, my sisters and I decided to include Strawberry Cupcakes in our menu. It's perfectly apt for Valentine Season since strawberries are in season in February and we can make the cupcakes pink or red (cliche, I know, but can you blame us? :p). In coming up with promo material, I decided to have a different approach in promoting the Sugar Lily Cupcake of The Month. I wanted it to be special and more creative so I decided that instead of using colors, I will make illustrations.

A love story made in the kitchen. Landian mode si Mister Strawberry at si Sugar Lily Cupcake!

I used watercolor for this illustration, and utilized watercolor pencil for my underpainting (a really awesome technique, since my old watercolor drawings had traces of pencil on them)! I'm enjoying this process and it gives me a chance to think more creatively since it requires me to come up with a concept and idea for the image. It's a continuous project, so it's like a monthly mandatory creativity exercise. By the end of 2013, I'll be able to come up with 11 promo material for Sugar Lily and 11 illustrations to add to my portfolio! Yay!

Sugar Lily Cupcakes and Pastries does delivery and meetups in B.F. Homes Paranaque and Alabang Town Center on weekends and Taguig on weekdays. Like us on Facebook and check out our menu here

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Call This Rubber Stamping Advanced Studies

Next week, I'll be joining the Rubber Stamping Crafternoon Session at Fully Booked with Alessa Lanot. I signed up last month and got a slot and I've been looking forward to February 10 ever since. It says in Alessa's blog that materials will be provided, but I just couldn't help myself with my excitement and bought my own materials at National Bookstore anyway. I bought a cutting mat, wood carving tools, erasers and stamp pad last week just to get a feel of what it's like to carve erasers for my custom stamps. Call me an eager beaver student, pero excited talaga ako eh! I'm just doing my advanced studies for my rubber stamping class!

Noobie tools for a noobie crafter, but I am giddy with happiness after making these stamps!

My very first DIY stamp was that yellow one. I tried to make a branch with leaves, but I didn't apply a  cutting technique that I learned later on, so the edges were very coarse and less refined. For smoother edges,  it's good to use an exacto knife/cutter and trace the edges of the stamp template for easier carving later on. 

My "kinayod ng manok" first attempt

Second try, a tulip and a chevron pattern

I have yet to learn the stamping technique to make it look seamless and continuous. It takes practice to carve a stamp, but it requires an equal amount of practice for using it too.

Even if I have one foot inside the door of the DIY rubberstamping world, I'm still excited to learn from the experts and my fellow classmates at the workshop. Maybe I can make a star stamp like the one that students get in pre-school for a job well done. I've been doing my homework, after all. :)

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January, Why Do You Hurry?

Just a doodle that I did this past week using the Sky Glory Free Ink Roller that I got from Little Town Store sometime in January. I initially thought they were gel pens but they are actually Ink roller pens which I love coz they have a more "watercolor" effect.

The week has been a blur with work sometimes getting in the way and decisions about my business trip (which is still not very clear at this point) still being discussed, but I think I had a great month last month and it was an awesome way to kickstart 2013. My creative momentum is absolutely spectacular and the more I draw, doodle, paint and make things, the more inspired I get every day. Thank you January for the inspiration!

Here are a few notable drawings for this month:

And since this is a good time to do some shameless plugging, this blog entry's title was taken from a song I wrote way back in 2011 to be included in my band KAZE's  album hopefully this year!!

John You Worry - KAZE

Blackbird Bar, Makati

John you worry, why do you hurry?

John you worry, it's the start of the year

You make me lonely in January

Til you come back, December will hold me near

Fireworks in the sky, you made it all worthwhile

Started singing the blues, said you'll be back in July

Captured by your charms, you held me in your arms

Goodbye is so overused, so I tried so hard not to cry

Oh dear, you worry me, the year ahead is long you see

Our hearts were ablaze, hormones were in a rage

Left me breathless for you, you had me trapped in a maze

The days had passed us by, we had to say goodbye

In winter you kept me warm, but summer came in way too late

The clouds have turned to gray, I would be yours if you could stay

Oh you promised me that you will be back soon

But the memories have faded 'til the month of June

Your guitar is playing softly in my ear

I wish that you had made it so perfectly clear...

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Geekstuff: Programming Isn't So Bad

As I have mentioned in my previous post, this blog is dedicated for documenting my journey as an aspiring creative. My goal is to improve on my illustration and calligraphy skills and pursue a more creative life, while still working full time as a Systems Analyst in a multinational I.T. Company. You will read about my dreams (and baby steps) of pursuing my passion , but I will sometimes write about my current job too. Reason behind this double life, it's a long story, but it might be a little too familiar.

Early in my career as an I.T. Consultant, I requested my manager if I can switch roles from being a tester to a developer. I just graduated then from my company's Bootcamp Training in Siebel 7.5 but was given a tester role in my project at the time. There is a part of me that was interested in solving problems, and while I wasn't a huge math fan, I liked programming enough to make it the foundation of my career. I suppose I found the work involved in testing quite boring, but that's not to say I found programming exciting either. I was somehow interested in it and I was adept enough at it to be able to step onto the next level of the corporate ladder. When I switched companies after 4 and a half years of staying with the first one, I was given a supervisory role and programming took a backseat. I no longer have specific deliverables and tasks pertaining to programming, but my work involved training resources and leading my team. The increase in my responsibility was inversely proportional to my hands on work with programming and after 7 years, I have been involved mostly with Siebel Functional Design and Business Analysis work as well as Project Management. I still use Siebel Tools to investigate on defects and provide solutions, but I was eventually faced with the reality that I am not that technical anymore since I started becoming a lead. It was to be expected since I am now more geared towards Project Management. There is still so much about Siebel that I don't know and I have handled resources who are soooo much better at programming than me. Life of a programmer is sometimes boring, but it's sometimes fulfilling too. 

Siebel Tools. This is where programmers create and configure objects (Tables, Business Components, Screens, Applets etc) to make it perform and behave based on the Functional Design

image from siebeltraining.info

Since one of my teammates took a sick leave today, I had to work on fixing a bug in the system that was originally assigned to him. It took me a while to debug the script because of its complexity, but it also felt familiar. Talking to yourself while debugging, putting breakpoints to check the values of the variables per function/method, validating objects, compiling the code and unit testing, and each time the algorithm fails, a compulsory sigh or cry of frustration is heard somewhere in the vicinity of my cubicle. It takes hard work, research, patience, resourcefulness, creativity, lots of logic and coffee to become a good programmer. First algorithm doesn't work, try another approach. Does it work? If yes, then optimize it. It's such a great feeling to figure out a solution to a problem, even if sometimes you get "duling" because of those brackets and parentheses. Nakakamiss din pala mag dev! Developers usually  talk out loud while tracing the lines of code of someone else's algorithm and today's monologue included:

• Okay, if this.GetFieldValue("Comm Method") = "Call Outbound", then.. *checks value in the watch window* O TAMA NAMAN BAT DI NAGWOWORK?!
• (While compiling the code) Please, gumana ka na!!
• Teka san niya sineset itong Profile Attribute na 'to?
• Hindi natin pwede ilagay yan diyan, magfafalse yung condition!

Siebel User Interface

image from Siebelessentials.blogspot.com

Kanina, I was literally kilig when my code worked and was ready for check in to the server. I was really smiling with my teammate who was peer reviewing it. Today I felt like a programmer again, and while art is my calling, I am reminded that this job isn't so bad. :)

If you are currently in a job that is different from your true passion, you don't need to be miserable. I suggest this article for you to read: 9 Ways To Be Happy With A Job You Don't Like

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