The first page

Er... I know that I haven't blogged lately. Just two posts in a month?! Lazy, lazy, lazy.

And as if I wasn't lazy enough, I decided to make an art journal. It's not that hard to do, but it's not exactly easy. 

I'm jealous of people who mix all these things to make something beautiful and kitschy. I've always wanted to try this style because I'm one of those people who somehow manages to collect so much junk - I mean, stuff - and have nothing to put them in on my 47 sqm condo. And though it hurts me to tear up my beautiful Japanese fashion magazines (sniff!), I'm satisfied that I'm going to make use of them instead of them collecting dust on the floor.

Gotta have materials first, right? I've already got an X-acto knife, doilies, assorted decorative tapes, paper... I had to buy a cutting mat which changed my life! Haha... I don't know how I ever cut something without it. 

Also, after weeks of searching and deliberating, I settled on a Muji notebook to serve as my journal. I like it that it's plain and unassuming. Ah, imagine if ever I have volumes of this stuff on the shelf! So pretty! They also lay very flat so it's perfect for scanning.

So, here's my first page. I'm not really satisfied with it, but that's okay because it means that there's room for improvement. I might start to venture into paints again and wouldn't that be fun? (and messy!)

The First Page

Materials: doily bought at Landmark supermarket, plaid wrapping paper, cutout from Japanese magazine, piece of cloth from an ukay 3 for 100 find, decorative tape bought at 168

There are a lot of people doing this, I think, but I was inspired by the blog Awkward & Beautiful. Check it out, you might be tempted to try it too.

I'll try to update more often both with my art journal and blog. October is off to a great start? Yay!

The Pieta between Guadalupe and Cubao

Michelangelo's Pietà

I was riding the MRT today when I happened to notice the person sitting opposite me.

He was a thin man. Not quite young, but not old either. Maybe in his late twenties to early thirties. He was wearing faded blue jeans and a bright yellow shirt with Spongebob Squarepants on it - the one you can buy on one of the stalls in Divisoria. On his back was a tattered blue backpack and on his feet were a pair of black sandals or slippers that showed his unevenly cut toenails.

He had his eyes closed, though probably not asleep, as he was carrying his sleeping daughter in his arms, in a pose that reminded me so much of Michelangelo's Pieta.

I've seen the real one before, many years ago, and was moved at its presence. Today's scene moved me in almost the same way. I felt the love from the father to his little daughter who felt safe enough to sleep in his arms in a public place. I wondered about this family's life - where did they live and what job did he have? Are they living well?

It's always on my mind whenever such things are discussed that people shouldn't have children when they can't afford to raise them, when they aren't ready for the responsibility. I still maintain in that thinking, for there are too many reasons, like the children starving even now, to think otherwise. But what I saw today made me think that, ah! at least this one is loved.

And so, in the midst of the hustle of the train and the bustle of the people on it, I said a little prayer that good things happen to this family. May the parents raise their children with wisdom and their children grow to be good citizens of this country... and may they always have love and happiness in their lives.

A grown-up wish list

I turned 28 today. 28. Wait, let me check... Yup. Still 28. I can hardly believe it. Where have the years gone?

I know I shouldn't be complaining. Pssh. There are a lot of older people than I am. But still, every time it's your birthday there's a feeling like "whoa there, are you sure about what you're doing?" I guess that's the use of birthdays. It reminds you to think about your existence on this earth.

So, sans egg pie, I will now reflect on what I really want for my birthday this year.

1. I wish I'd talk less. I don't look like it, but I think I'm quite the chatterbox. I have the tendency to over share and talk and talk and talk. I wish that now that I am older, I would learn how to talk less and listen more. Besides the fact that it will give me the air of mystery (yeah, right), it will hopefully make me more understanding too.

2. I wish I'd finally get serious. Maybe it's the company I keep, but we really don't feel that old. Or is it that we haven't reached that stage yet? But, yeah... We still feel like we're teenagers sometimes. We like to watch movies, anime, play online games, and wear sneakers. I keep telling myself that it's okay, but there are also times I wish I'd start getting to those plans and dreams I had when I was still a teenager. I said then, "when I'm older"... now I guess I am.

from dear musketeer

3. I wish for more courage. I don't mean not to be scared of flying cockroaches or rats (because I don't think I can get over that), but to be more courageous about doing and experiencing new things. I've always been cautious and that may have limited me in a lot of ways. I'm still going to be cautious, but I have to start stepping out of my comfort zone.

There are still a lot of things I wish for. A good night's sleep for the rest of my life, more good friends, good health to all my loved ones... More than physical things, I want those more. Heh. Maybe I am growing up.

So here's to hoping Somebody up there is reading this and grant me my wishes.

***

All images taken from Pinterest. Credits to original owners.

September Wish List

It's too early for a Christmas Wish List, but it's my birth month so I figured I'm due for a birthday wish list. I'm not one to ask for presents. In fact, I don't receive that many gifts now that I think about it. I tamp down my bitterness by thinking that it's always better to give than to receive. Yeah, keep thinking that Self.

But I do have my eye on the following goodies. I figured I'm due for some retail therapy and pampering, as a birthday gift for myself. I'll worry about where to get my cousins' tuition and allowance next month. Haha... (Oh shit)

Of course, my wish list has got to have this. I've been waiting for this book ever since I read about it and I'm stalking the reviews every.single.day. Unfortunately, I am not kidding. The book comes out on September 13th, which means it's 14th here on my part of the world and, as fate would have it, also my birthday. If that isn't meant to be, then I don't know what is. Eve and Roarke(!) for my birthday. Oh yeah.

Dresses from Pumpkins and Ribbons

What's a birthday girl without a pretty dress? Well, we were born naked but... Anyway! Pretty dresses! Sigh.

 

Sasha in nude and grey. Maika in tan.

I love Ichigo shoes. They're so comfortable and they're really affordable too! I'm restraining from buying shoes because my friends tell me I've got too much of them already (*rolls eyes* I know, right?) but I think my shoe rack can make room for these cuties. I already have nude flats, but since an unfortunate decision on my part to bring it to Mr. Quickie, I may have to exchange it for this one by Ichigo. Or I could settle for the grey one. Or maybe both? And the brown sandal's low heel is just perfect when I want the height but not the HEIGHT, if you know what I mean.

For months now I have been searching for the perfect brown bag. Now I think I finally found it. I was never a fan of the Longchamp bag and wondered why everyone was crazy about them, but now I appreciate the simplicity of it. It will probably go with everything I own and wear. I'm severely tempted to buy the fake, but I think I'm going to save up to buy the original. I'm still not comfortable paying thousands of pesos for a single bag so this means I won't be getting this anytime soon. Maybe Christmas? But still, maybe the universe will find a way to give this to me this September. Cross fingers!

I've posted about this before, but I haven't found a local seller... then. What do I do now that I found one? Drool and agonize about it, of course.

Oh the things I can do with this! I'll be mod podging all the way to next year!

Okay, technically not for me... but Ate Nan really wants to watch this. She hasn't said this explicitly, but she's such a fan of this year's winner Scotty that she even texted me when he won. I think she even cried. I really want to give her this, but I already spent a lot on the 2NE1 concert earlier this year and this is more expensive that that! Anyway, we'll see...

And if I don't get anything on this list (except for the J.D. Robb book which I will be getting come hell or high water), I would be perfectly happy with just a box of Goldilocks egg pie. I love my egg pie, after all. :)

Have a great September!

Invitations

I re-read my friend's post the other night and was totally surprised to learn that I am also in charge of all the gowns and invitations. I don't know why I didn't realize that sooner when she typed it clearly. Maybe I was already shocked by the wedding dress that I blocked the other words?

So I went to the mall today and went by a store that specializes in invitations and I was surprised by how much they cost. The lowest that I asked was about Php 50 each! The really beautiful ones cost more than a hundred pesos.

Okay, maybe I am a cheapskate. But It's not my problem anymore because I passed on the responsibility to my other friend who knows a lot of printers/wedding invite makers.

Of course, my stubbornness made me try to create one anyway.

... And I just realized that my monogram looks a little bit like the Etude logo. I couldn't find a floral one that would make a good monogram design. The theme is lavender, but my cousin said it looked a bit too pink. My idea is to have some ribbon with it, maybe lavender or white. For a more rustic appeal, maybe the white paper can be changed into an eco-friendly brown colored-paper and tied up with a raffia ribbon.

I think I'll show this to my friend anyway, just in case.

Everyone's a hero in their own way...

It's August 29 and here in the Philippines, it's National Heroes Day.

Well, no disrespect to Bonifacio, Rizal, and company... but whenever this time of year comes around, I always end up watching this video.

It's a snippet from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog which was created by one of the people I use the "I'm not worthy" bow move to - Joss Whedon. If you haven't watched the whole series, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? DO IT RIGHT NOW! I swear, you won't regret it. It's classic.

Back to the video... it's performed by Nathan Fillion who you usually see in the awesome TV show Castle nowadays. His character's a pretty smarmy guy, but once you get past the insulting words, you'll find there's an honest to goodness message in the song. It's freaking fun. I think I'm going to watch it again now.

Check out the lyrics below and feel free to sing-along.

Everyone's A Hero

It may not feel too classy

Begging just to eat

But you know who does that? Lassie

And she always gets a treat

So you wonder what your part is

Because you’re homeless and depressed

But home is where the heart is

So your real home’s in your chest

Everyone’s a hero in their own way

Everyone’s got villains they must face

They’re not as cool as mine

But folks you know it’s fine to know your place

Everyone’s a hero in their own way

In their own not-that-heroic way

So I thank my girlfriend Penny

Yeah, we totally had sex

She showed me there’s so many

Different muscles I can flex

There’s the deltoids of compassion

There’s the abs of being kind

It’s not enough to bash in heads

You’ve got to bash in minds

Everyone’s a hero in their own way

Everyone’s got something they can do

Get up go out and fly

Especially that guy he smells like poo

Everyone’s a hero in their own way

you and you and mostly me and you

I’m poverty’s new sherrif

And I’m bashing in the slums

A hero doesn’t care if you’re a bunch of scary

alcoholic bums

(everybody!)

Everyone’s a hero in their own way

Everyone can blaze a hero’s trail

Don’t worry if it’s hard,

if you’re not a friggin ‘tard you will prevail

Everyone’s a hero in their own way

Everyone a hero in their –

WD 001

Got around to sketching again. Since I noticed that I kinda sucked on drawing, I studied some sketches of fashion designers to get a feel of it. Successful or not? Well, practice is definitely needed.

This time I used a sketch pad instead of a notebook (so I can scan them better) and remembered to outline them with a black sign pen.

Scanned the sketch and it was a good thing I did because when I tried to color them using my watercolor pens, the paper didn't hold up and it was a mess.

Ah, yes. Photoshop - my savior.

Eh. The gown is obviously supposed to be white not grey! >.<

Going to do more. I haven't shown this to my friend yet because I don't know if she likes this kind of style or not. Also... nervous! Waaah. It's not as if I'm going to make a career of this, right?