Artsy Fartsy Round Up: May and June

I know I've been posting a lot of travel and apartment-related entries lately, and I've forgotten to blog about my arts and crafts projects. I HAVE been practicing, just not writing a lot about it. Thanks to Instagram, I have proof that I have been working on creative projects.

Here's A quick round up of my artsy fartsy pursuits these past couple of months!
(Top to bottom, Left to right)

1. Stenciled my corkboard using white acrylic paint and oslo paper. It's so much easier to stencil than paint the triangles individually. (I am obsessed with them lately).

2. Lyric calligraphy for my friend who wants to use it for her tattoo. Excited to see the final outcome on actual skin! #pressure

3. Watercolored lettering on the planner's June calendar for Independence Day. Super inspired by Gang Badoy Capati's statement during that day:

"Remember: the Philippines is not its government. The Philippines is a billion other things. The ice cream guy and the cop who dances, the banana shake by the beach, and the portable lechon from an airport, the sunsets from any point, and all the mountains & smiles, and the kite surfing air space, the surf, the skateboard's sound against the midnight park, the Philippines is its music, its poets, its dancers, and more and more and more.#independenceday #philippines"

4. Watercolored portrait. Practicing my washes and painting peonies and trying to be deliberate with my techniques in watercolor.

5. Dove rubberstamp at the Bright Minds Studio! Taught my cousin how to carve stamps. She made a bamboo pattern for herself.

6. Mushroom rubberstamp which is a personal project and a new addition to my collection! Next to watercolor, this is really my favorite artsy fartsy activity.

7. Ink and graphite portrait. Trying to go back to basics with making portraits and going minimalist with black and gold details. I may have been influenced by my neutral and safe choices at the apartment, so I am practicing restraint with my illustrations also.

8. Paper flower bouquet which came in handy as decor when I still didn't have plants at the condo. They're pretty and they never wilt!

9. Monogram rubberstamp for a friend's wedding! My college batchmate Cza is getting married this August and asked me to recreate their monogram on a rubberstamp. They want to use it for giveaways for their wedding. Of course, I was totally up for the challenge! So glad they liked it!

What have you been up to lately? :)

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Project Condo: On Interior Design and Home Decor Magazines

Ever since the move to my tiny one bedroom apartment, all I ever really think about these days is how I can improve my small space. Veering away from Pinterest pegs and online searches, I have started purchasing local magazines as a source for inspiration and practical information.

The "in progress" living room interiors at my own small space (32sqm)

I've been going crazy over buying home decoration and interior design magazines these past couple of months. With my current aesthetic, budget and lack of knowledge, I've discovered that the magazines I've hoarded can be divided into 3 categories:

1. Optional - The content is more on company background and brand profiles and topics revolve around luxury and opulence. Think 300+ sqm houses and 100+ sqm condos, big chandeliers, marble floors and expensive antiques. Most brands that are being featured cannot be found in the Philippines or are sourced internationally and therefore, very pricey. While I love me a bit of class and a lot of quality, I feel that these magazines really cater to a different market. I appreciate the furniture designer articles and interviews with the home owners, but it's really more of a nice to know instead of essential info. These magazines go for 200 Php, have little advertisements, but are still of little use to me, my budget and my plans for my home.

Still sleeping futon style. No furniture in here yet! 

2. Inspiring - The featured homes range from classic, rustic/industrial to modern minimalist and are visually delicious.These magazines have a wide range of articles and interviews, from architects to interior designers, business people, socialites and artistas. Of course, their homes provide a standard of which we can look up to, and it is indeed very inspiring. I want to live in those 3 bedroom units and claim them for myself! Oh but I am a mere twenty something with a tight budget but still aims to live better and learn how to improve my own space. What I am missing from these types of magazines is the how-to aspect of achieving the look of these model homes in the most practical and budget friendly way. It's as if what I am buying is simply a source of inspiration, but not a helpful guide to allow me to really take action without the help of an interior designer. The inspirational mags go for around 150-195 Php and I got me a couple of these for constant inspiration.

Obviously, I'm a fan.

3. Very Useful - I've discovered the perfect home design magazine that combines inspiration and practicality. In each page, I learn something new--an interior design term, a furniture designer or a new place for sourcing local furniture. Tips and tricks and DIYs abound in each issue (which I absolutely love, because I am doing this on my own) and their featured homes show real people with real struggles with their space. The magazine details the journey of the renovations and the story behind the decoration and layout. The homes being featured don't look like model units but actually lived in, with photos of pets and people, showing furniture, layout and aesthetic that really say a lot about the owner. The mag provides information about products and indicate the price, or suggest stores where you can find something similar.

Looking at my stack of home improvement and decoration magazines, I found out that Real Living Magazine has the highest pile. I have back issues and recent issues of the magazine and even got myself their of home idea books that go for around 245 Php. I wish I could get my hands on the Real Home Ideas 5 which is their small space issue. This is why I'm super delighted that Real Living now has a website! Similar to what you can see in the magazine, the site has more than 100+ of photos for each room that has a range of different styles from minimalist to industrial to eclectic to asian/tropical to shabby chic or modern. Of course there are featured houses that will never match my style (or budget) but the site packs a ton of useful ideas for storage, maximizing space and simply creating a lovely home.

Check out their site (still in Beta mode): http://www.realliving.com.ph/
Like them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realliving.ph

Disclaimer: This is not a paid post (haha as if)! Content and opinion about Real Living are mine alone. :)

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Mash Up Adventures: March to May Travel and Hiking Round Up

May has come and gone and it's the start of another month! We are almost halfway through the year already! It's mind-blowing how fast time flies. In all that time, I did quite a lot and didn't have the chance to share it, coz well, life is faster than my ability to write.

Anyway, a quick round up of some of the trips that I did since Project Bohol in January and Mt. Pulag in February:

1. March - Mt. Mariveles a.k.a Tarak Ridge in Bataan

My friends from the office organized a hike to Mt. Mariveles in Bataan and I must admit that trail wise, it was much more challenging than Mt. Pulag. In my short track record of mountain climbing, Tarak Ridge is the hardest I've ever done because of the steep assault to the campsite after the Papaya River. The climb to the summit required us to scramble and really hold on to rocks, else fall off the edge. The view from the ridge was spectacular and the wind gave a good kind of chill. It was a different sort of fun too, because despite the difficult trail, the climate was more forgiving and I slept quite soundly in my tent because I didn't have to share it with 7 other people. We had a chance to also swim in the cold river when it was time to go down, so it was super refreshing and it gave us a boost to push further, even if we were dead tired from the descent. (Hello ailing knees!). A sense of achievement was had, because apparently, it's a major climb according to Pinoy mountaineer, Gideon Lasco.

Cue music: Is this the reaaaal liiiiiife? Is this just fantasyyyyyyy? Even my bangs were impressed. Nag standing ovation sa view.

Oh you know, it's just me and Jim hanging out at some rocky edge at the mountain. No biggie.

Leslie and Ronnie and the obstacle course that is the Mt. Mariveles trail

View from our camp site. Is this awesome or what?

My 40 Liter Conquer backpack. Tested if for the first time during this climb. Will give a review soon!

Papaya river! This is where we refilled our water bottles for drinking. Look ma, no tummy aches!

Group rest, coz you know, we've been at it for 3 hours already. 

View from the summit

2. April - Mt. Maculot in Batangas

My mom turned 64 last April and I remembered a conversation with her that she wanted to climb a mountain at least once in her lifetime. She hails from Cuenca, Batangas so the decision to do a day hike at Mt. Maculot made perfect sense. The Rockies were super near our house in Cuenca and my uncle knew people who could give us a tour of the mountain. I initially thought Mt. Maculot was a fairly easy climb similar to Mt. Batulao, but found out the opposite. Apparently, they created a new trail to reach the Rockies and we ended up hiking at a more difficult one. The good thing about it was that there were several buko juice stops throughout the hike, and because it was a day hike, we didn’t have a lot of stuff on our backs. I am exceptionally proud of my mom and titas though! Aged 64 and 51, defying limits and conquering the rockies, y’all! And to top it all off, my nephew Yuan at age 5 was able to do his first hike without so much as a complaint for tiredness. That boy will go places, I know it.

Hugfest with my mommy

My family being weird and mature at the same time. 

Hello Taal Lake, nice to see you!

 Color coordinated. May production number kami sa bundok, hindi lang namin kayo nainform agad.

 Scrambling up the Rockies. Nauntog ako. 

My 5 year old nephew Yuan and his boy bawang. :) This kid!

3. May – Ilocos

An awesome adventure with my best friends that took 6 years to happen. Sleeping at the beach, eating tons of awesome food, sand boarding for the first time, celebrating birthdays with family—so many memories were made in 5 days! Well this requires a different post on its own.

Photo sharing shall commence instead.

Cape Bojeador. It was being renovated at the time so we weren't able to go up.

Photo sesh against the brick wall and the distressed windows

Okay so my friends are also weird. What did you expect?

Paoay sand dunes and the super fun (yet kinda dangerous) 4x4 truck ride

Bangui Windmills! I-avail ang electric fan!

Blue Lagoon beach. It's more commercialized now, but my bandmates and I still had tons of fun here. Photos in another blog post!

It seems that every month of 2014, I have been doing a quick out of town getaway, from week long volunteer work (Bohol) to simple 2 day hikes (Pulag) and a sandwich of the weekend to visit some places I've never been to before. It’s no extraordinary feat compared to seasoned hikers and travelers, but I am thankful for these weekends that break the monotony of corporate life. I will probably always be inlove with nature and I will forever crave the outdoors. Living in the city may have strengthened this craving, because despite the convenience and the ease of daily routine in the city, I tend to appreciate life more when I'm somewhere near the mountain or the sea.

Now I can’t break that once a month streak, can I? Planning for a surf trip this June and a weekend in Mindoro in July! Can't wait!

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