handmade with love

I made something new again today: another handmade necklace (which I am most satisfied with out of all the necklaces I've done so far). Still working on better combinations, but the ends and quality of this one are much better than my work before.

daily print: tablecloth/pillows

Some tablecloth and pillow prints around the house. 

the joy of eating

One of the two things I do and enjoy most in my life (aside from sleeping): EATING. I'm pretty sure all my friends are used to (and might probably be annoyed) by the fact that I always take pictures of my food (yeah, i'm one of those people). But I really don't care. I can take photos of every single thing I eat no matter how many copies of the same dish I have. It makes me remember that moment of happiness when I get to try something new or eat my absolute favorites.

Macaron at Le Petit Cheri

Cinnamon at Cinnabon

Opus' Beef Wellington 

Opus' Lamb

Mona Lisa's Caprese Salad 

Mona Lisa's Margherita Pizza 

Salmon Sashimi at Geisha

Conti's Turtle Pie

kape kape sunday

Kape-kape is family time with the mom's side. The gathering is often done at night after dinner, but today it was spent lunching at home, celebrating two birthdays and a despedida, eating nonstop and drinking coffee, Skyping with loved ones abroad, and playing King of Opera. Nothing more comforting than this! I especially love the coziness of it all during this gloomy, rainy, Sunday. 

There really is nothing like family time after nights out with friends. It really balances out the whole weekend, relaxes me and prepares me for a hectic week at school. 

scarf making

As a birthday gift to one of my very good and long-time friends, I decided to make a scarf. 

Scarf-making started with my tita Marisa (my mom's sister who's very, very creative). She is actually the one who provides me with the materials I use. Every time she comes to visit, she brings with her some materials for arts and crafts, which is why a lot of the things that I have are from her. She was even the one who taught me how to use the sewing machine and make handmade notebooks! 

Note: a lot of the art materials my tita brings back to the Philippines are actually scraps from different stores in Canada. She buys the scraps from shops and turns them into an art project of some sort. Some strings used in scarf making are actually scraps from Canadian stores.

EDIT: The strings used in the scarves aren't scraps according to my mom. Some strings are actually imported from Italy! 

Here is the scarf I made for my friend Isa. 

Made two more scarves when I woke up this morning.

The little mess in my working room now.

sewing

After years of regret for not listening during my Woodrose home economics class, I am finally relearning and appreciating the art of sewing. I've been longing to get my hands on the old Singer which was given by my mom's sister, but I had no clue of how to use it. The other day, I finally got to use it. My tita Marisa, who is visiting from Canada, took some time to teach me how to use the machine.

Great photo taken by my sister Chesca while I was being taught. 

My first few stitches. 

My first pouch! Don't be fooled--the fabric is just gorgeous. The stitching is still quite bad. 

Attempted a draw-string pouch and here is the outcome. It actually turned out better than I expected, but still needs more improvement in the workmanship. 

Got frustrated while trying to make a few other things so I went back to the basic for more practice. 

Takes a lot of practice, patience, and getting used to the machine. Hopefully in time I'll be able to learn more and make more! 

jing monis salon

Went through some of my iPhone photos to find the Preview BTS shots and came across more behind the scene shots from my first ever shoot with Midnight Bonkers.

Last May 25, I got the opportunity to do BTS for the Jing Monis Salon project. It was a first for me, so I was really excited and at the same time nervous because I didn't have any apprenticing or out of school shooting experience with videographers. I got even more nervous after finding out the group of people we were going to shoot, because not only were the videographers talented artists, so were the models and photographer.

Here are some behind the scene photos at Bellevue.

The It girls + Mark Nicdao + Midnight Bonkers + Jing Monis = amazing first apprenticing experience ever! It was a tiring one-day shoot but I loved every minute of it. Being around these professionals really was so overwhelming and inspiring. 

I continued joining Midnight Bonkers in some other projects for Preview, Folded and Hung and Unica Hija (Philippine Fashion week) that were all equally enlightening and fun, and really taught me a lot about what my course entails. 

Hoping to be able to shoot alongside Midnight Bonkers again soon! Thank you Dondi Narciso, Ejay Leung and Paolo Pineda for taking me in!