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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The Weekend In Pictures: New York City

I've been raving about my past weekend, and I haven't had the time to really get into the details about what we did. My cousin Mayel planned our itinerary based on what I wanted to see and experience in the city. I have been to NYC in 2008 and did a lot of touristy stuff already. This time, I wanted to see more bits and pieces of New York that wasn't usually highlighted in the guide books. It was an educational trip coz she gave trivia about the places we went to and I loved listening to her stories. She taught me how to use the subway (a very intimidating transportation system, if you ask me) and gave me a test just to make sure I was familiar and somehow comfortable with navigating through the complex and snakelike train lines.

Warning, this will be a long entry!

Subway mosaic

5 Pointz in Queens

It was snowing that day and I didn't have any gloves. I was just clad in a shirt and a coat and I was so glad I brought my scarf. After taking pictures at the graffiti warehouse,we walked around and went inside a contemporary art gallery. It had beautiful and interesting paintings and multimedia art works, but there were some that were too abstract and strange that I didn't understand them. I may be too superficial or ignorant to consider a blob of paint on a white canvas as "art", but whatever. I didn't know if they allowed to take pictures, so I played it safe and kept my phone in my pocket. We were famished and decided to stop by this diner so we can thaw from the cold and discuss where to go next.

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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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A Weekend In The Life of A Multitasker

What a week. I've been filled with so much inspiration despite my body's lack of response to what my mind wants to do. There's been a lot of creativity going on lately, and I'm really thankful. I hope to keep this momentum for as long as possible since I want to improve on my drawing skills this year.

I've been posting a lot of drawings lately, but haven't had a chance to post some personal stuff here, so I'll just put in a few photos from last weekend:

Saturday Morning: My adventure with Ate Inah in Sta Mesa! Super tiring, but super fun. We got lost, we got rained on, but we managed to get to our destination with the help of locals and google maps.

Saturday Afternoon: Meet up with the siblings for Sugar Lily! We checked out this new cupcakery called Larcy's here in B.F. for some taste testing too (checking out the competition? FEELING competitive lang, wala kaming sinabi sa yaman nung may ari ng Larcy's!!). There were a few hits (bananutella and toblerone cupcakes were the bomb) and misses (reds and chocolate weren't my favorite) with the cupcakes, but all in all, the place is great. It had a great ambiance and the space was well designed. We talked about our future plans for the business and brainstormed for marketing ideas. We listed down all the things we need to grow our little venture. I'm glad I get to bond like this with my siblings. It brings us closer and it feels like we're working on something we can really call our own.

Saturday Night: Meet up with my college buddies from DLSU. Louison came home from NY (he brought cheescake all the way from Junior's!!), Cha just got home from L.A. so we had tons of chocolates, and we hung out at Cafe Boheme in B.F. (one of my favorite local cafes here in the south). I've been friends with these people for 9 years already and I'm so glad I got to see them coz I've been MIA lately. It's nice to catch up with them and the usual kalokohans. They managed to persuade me to go with them to Boracay this March, and so I shall! Can't wait!

Also Saturday Night: Lagari mode to my friend Jonjon's despedida after Boheme with my college friends. Jon will be leaving for a job as a drummer at a cruise ship, and he's been all over the world because of his extraordinary talent. I dropped by their place to say hello to friends and get a few drinks. When I got there, they were playing Monopoly Deal. Too bad, Miwa and Alex weren't there because they went on a trip to Boracay (kainis, di na sila sasama sa March!), but I got to see my bandmate Kei and a few other friends from BF.

Sunday: I ran 10km for TENMoves, went to mass and slept all day afterwards.

Photo by Willie Altarejos

And it was goooooooooood. 

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