Weekend Artsy Fartsy Afternoon!

Hello all! Hope you had an awesome weekend! This is long overdue post, but here are a few photos from my artsy fartsy watercolor-rubber stamping-calligraphy afternoon with my cousins and my super artsy niece at Cafe Boheme in B.F. Homes, one of the local cafes in Aguirre Avenue. I absolutely love this place. They play great music, they have amazing desserts, the staff are really nice and it's one of the cafes in B.F. that has good coffee. 

A few weeks ago, I promised my niece that we'd have an artsy afternoon together. My sister was telling me how excited Sofia was about our artsy date,  so I freed up one of my Sundays and spent a cozy afternoon teaching her some watercolor tips and tricks and introducing my cousins Venisse, Via and Bea to calligraphy. 

The artsy fartsy crew!

Sofia trying out the white oil pastel masking tip that I taught her. Basically, you can use a crayon or oil pastel to mask a white space and draw an image, then paint watercolor over it to show the lines. Since crayon/oil pastel is resistant to watercolor, you can make tons of neat stuff using this technique. In this photo, Sofia wrote her name and drew a couple of cute little flowers. :)

Sofia was on a roll that afternoon, filling index cards one after the other with drawings and paintings. I could really see a lot of my younger self in her--she just has more fashion sense that I never really had (or will ever have). She was wearing funky knee high boots that weekend! OOTD worthy, I must say!

 My cousin Venisse, trying her hand at calligraphy, writing her name and a bunch of lyrics. I taught her how to use the oblique holder, and how to use the nib holder at an angle. 

 Bea, using the straight holder and practicing her capital letters.

 Via making a watercolor greeting card!

I never had anyone teach me calligraphy so I only taught my cousins the things that I learned from experience. It wasn't really a methodical step 1, step 2, step 3 session but more of a get-a-feel-of-what-it's-like-and-i'll-teach-you-how-i-do-it session. The most important thing for me is to let them experience what it's like to write with a dip pen and hopefully they get more interested in calligraphy.



I also did a bunch of Christmas cards that I can give out together with my gifts for the holiday season. Ever since I learned calligraphy, I've been doing handmade Christmas cards every year. Anything handmade makes the gift extra special and I've been having a ball with watercolor blending and making wreaths for my holiday card collection.

It was such a super fun afternoon and I especially enjoyed teaching the girls what I knew. We started at 3 pm and adjourned at 6:30 but we didn't notice the time at all! Sofia was actually still very eager to continue well after dinner but called it a day because she has school on the following day.  We agreed to make this a regular bonding session and I can't wait for our next artsy fartsy afternoon session!

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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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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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Stamping Crafternoon and Ten Paces

I'm so excited! I got a slot at Alessa Lanot's Crafternoon Sessions at Fully Booked! I've been wanting to get into rubber stamping ever since I stumbled upon a bunch of crafting blogs that made their customized stationery, I wanted to make some of my own for my handmade card projects.

I received an email confirmation today about my reservation! Hurrah!

image from LifeAfterBreakfast

This is one of the things that I resolve to do this year--immerse myself in crafting workshops and study digital illustration. I'm a bit socially inept so I'm not always comfortable hanging out with a bunch of people that I don't know, but I figured, I'd probably be too busy working on my stamps anyway so I suppose I don't really have to talk to them strangers. (Ayos sa attitude, diba?) But then again, I reminded myself that I have to be (and I want to be) open to my surroundings as much as possible this year and not shut people out so I'm going to make this a deliberate change in myself as well. It's pretty much just like going back to school, I guess.

And just like an eager beaver student, I'm already thinking of a pattern for my stamp already! I was looking for inspirations in this blogosphere and chanced upon this site called Ten Paces and Draw. Basically it's a collaboration site that allows a community of illustrators and designers to swap ideas/sketches then come up with a final illustration/design using their own medium and their own style. I've been looking at the before and after photos all morning and these are my favorites.

Pattern Swap

Final – Meera Lee, Sketch – Mika Nakano

Fashion Swap

Siobhán Gallagher – Necklace

Lettering Swap

Final by Kyle Letendre, Sketch by Ann Shen

Atrology Swap

Final by Roxanne Daner, Sketch by Angela Rizza

Cocktail Swap

Final by Julia Bereciartu, Sketch by Tyler Parker

Amazing transformations, don't you think? What has really struck me in these before and after drawings is how the Final Artists have mixed their own illustration and design style with the original idea. They didn't copy each pose for the characters, nor did they replicate each font from the original sketch. It was so refreshing to look at! It's so inspiring how the sketch artists come up with the original concept/idea for the illustration and how the final artists made it their own. 

You can check more Swaps from Ten Paces and Draw here

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