Creativity Show and Tell + Life Updates

I've been back in Manila since April 1 and I haven't blogged a thing for the month of April! Oh my goodness, that just brought me in a state of panic. We are halfway through April and did I do anything crafty or artsy yet? Well my silence in cyberspace didn't mean I haven't done anything creative these past few weeks. No no no. In fact, I've been working on a bunch of stuff, but haven't had the time to post anything here. I suppose I needed that break from having a voice over inside my head just thinking of what to write. Getting back into the routine of daily life in Manila took its toll on my personal creative time unlike when I was in the U.S. when I had no errands to make or chores to finish (thank you hotel housekeeping!) and no family or friends to meet or a boyfriend to have dates with *hihi*.

Anyway, here's a few snippets of the past couple of weeks' creative sparks.

Made a new rubber stamp! This is the most detailed one I've done so far. Tulips and lilies are my favorite flowers. There's something very understated yet classy about them. I used my Speedball linocutter for the leaves. I like how it turned out.

Creativity on-the-go! Doodling and practicing my italic calligraphy using my Speedball Panache Italic Pen set. This was inspired by an awesome artist (who I will share in a different blog post), so I started doodling and making foliage drawings of my own which led to:

A watercolor pattern, inspired my doodle prior to this photo. Oh how I love drawing flowers! This was also motivated by the fact cherry blossoms are in season this time of the year. Friends have been posting beautiful photos of cherry blossom trees and flowers on different social media. I was so inggit about those photos that I decided, if I can't see the cherry blossoms in person, I might as well paint them! I think I'll make this into a stationery or have it framed to give out to friends or something. 

Poppy love :) Watercolor practice on Strathmore paper

Things are less busy in the office, which means I get to have more time for my own life. My band just did a gig last Thursday at Tiendesitas with Top Junk and it felt sooooo awesome to be playing again. I missed jamming and performing with KAZE! After 8 years of playing onstage, I still get nervous; but I try to channel that energy into something positive and try my best to give a good performance.

All gig photos below were taken by the uber talented Jerico Placido. Check out his tumblr account! It's filled with all things awesome. 

KAZE at Tiendesitas. We played 10 songs that night!

Sando kung sando! It was frickin' hot onstage! Actually, it's hot everywhere! Haha

The awesome threesome of Coy, Tuesday and Dennis more popularly known as Top Junk

It's nice to be back to the chaos and dirt of my Manila. It's no New York, but it feels good to know that I have the same old people waiting for me and that I can continue doing all the things I love back home. :)

That's it pancit! I hope you had a happy weekend!

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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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