the royal wedding (gown)

today's the most awaited event of the year in UK, as a new member will join the flanks of the royal family. and i must say, she looks stunning!!! her gown (by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen) reminds me of Grace Kelly's, though this a bit more stylishly revealing. see more of Catherine's wedding dress here.

break from lit fidgeting

i'm reading The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown) as a break from my lit fidgeting. i was reading Meltdown, the copy i got when i was still a book buyer a few years back. it didn't pique my interest much though as it was a suspense thriller in a financial market setting. so not my genre.

anyway, The Lost Symbol was released in 2009 (yes, i'm late again!), it's the sequel to The Da Vinci Code which spurred a lot of debate regarding the divinity of Jesus (in my opinion, he's divine, with an heir or not... but this is off topic). I haven't yet finished The Lost Symbol yet, but i'm already familiar with Dan Brown's style. what interested me most are the facts about the Masons, that it makes me want to become one! not that anyone has ever invited me... of course, i'm female. their influence on the founding of America is astounding.
the connection of architecture and the arts to history is also very appealing for me. i was even researching the artworks in real-time while reading the book. i haven't been to the US, and it really isn't my dream to go there, but while reading about the architecture in the Capitol, i changed my mind.
Noetic Science has also grabbed my interest. in layman's term, it's more or less what you'd find in The Secret.
of course, the suspense is a real chiller, especially if you're reading in a room with only your mobile phone as light. which is what i do at night after my son has fallen asleep.
i've yet to discover the secret within the Masonic pyramid, but i have an inkling it's not as grand as i imagine it to be.

a dash of spice

during the long weekend, i was able to watch a few movies, one of the most notable is Paprika. long before the movie Inception has been incepted, Satoshi Kon (of Perfect Blue, and Tokyo Godfathers fame) has created an animated film which delves on dream sharing as a way to treat psychiatric patients. then the plot thickens, and the film gets fantastically frightening. it becomes a mix between Inception and Ghost in the Shell. people cannot differentiate reality from dreams, and ends up with the dream world literally invading the real world. and it is Paprika's job to stop the mayhem.

Paprika reminds me of Motoko Kusanagi, who plays Ghost in the Shell's stoic heroine, but on a more perky level. the film is an overall treat, with visuals and plot that greatly complement one another. some scenes are a bit suggestive, though, and there is mild nudity (PG/R rating?)which are still tastefully rendered and melded in the storyline.

after watching Paprika, i'm sure you'll be researching more of Satoshi Kon's works. i'd recommend Tokyo Godfathers (which made a cameo in Paprika, by the way!) if you do not want to be disturbed by Perfect Blue.

caterpillar and a chewed-up mushroom

last weekend, i introduced my son to origami. yes, it was long overdue but better late than never(enter reason here). he has a how-to-origami book given to him before but it was only that day when we were able to use it. so first, we did a caterpillar, whose face was a tad to difficult even for me. my son volunteered to do the body which was simple, i just had to do a few editing with the folds. and here you have it! a caterpillar with a too-big head!

up next are the mushrooms which my son has been dying to try. he chose black paper (i don't have the faintest idea why), and folded away with help from mommy of course. i wasn't able to take a photo of the mushroom in its original state, instead i got this

a chewed up mushroom! when i wasn't looking i could hear my son pretending to eat the mushroom. i wasn't aware that he literally chewed it until i found it on the table all soggy! honestly, i was torn on what to react, to be angry or to just laugh because it really was funny. at least he did not ingest the paper.

while my son was chewing his mushroom  i was working on these

Isis

Anpu, royal guard of Isis

Mars Ultor, a bit faint since i used 2H pencil

so that's it for now. i shall be taking thurs and fri of since they are holidays here in the Philippines. Happy Easter everyone!

L is for laugh and letter (press)

O
M
G

these are so hilarious!!! i found this on whorange, though it was originally from etsy.

uh-oh...

this is the best!!!

visit Sapling Press' esty shop here for more laughs

how to brew a royal wedding

the monarchy of England has stirred the world's current events with the wedding of Prince William and Catherine (as palace courtiers prefer to call the princess-to-be) set on April 29. i have to say i am quite excited for this event, as i do not get to see royal weddings as frequent as cartoons. though i would have to settle for re-runs since i have work during that day. here are the details, which i thoroughly liked:

1. the invite. so simply written but demands attention. because the Queen commanded. period.

2. Catherine's dress, which is rumored to come from the late Alexander McQueen's atelier, among other Brit designer choices. i'm really excited about this, since Diana's fairytale princess gown. only a real princess could wear something like that. Will Catherine follow the fashion steps of Diana or something more muted?

3. the wedding will be presided by the Archbishop of Canterbury. you only hear Canterbury in English literature.

4. a horse-drawn gilded glass coach which will transport the couple from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace. now how dreamy is that?

so cheers to handsome royal couple! we are hoping to see royal babies soon enough. :)

likey

my very adorable niece wearing One with the Crowd by Popkin! Garb. hope to get another photo of her wearing her hummingbird shirt!

semi handmade party

it was my neice's first birthday party last Sunday, and boy did we have a grand time (especially my son who reached his quota of prizes from the games)! everything was well-planned, and went on smoothly, congrats to my bro and sis-inlaw! the party had an Easter-like theme, very muted pastels and not-over the board decor was used. but what i really liked most about the party are the little details rolled out here:

reusable loot bags filled with goodies, with bird rubber foam detail

most of the parties we've gone to gave away plastic lootbags. yes, they're cheap but that's that.

these cute cupcakes! though the icing was a tad too sweet, and the birdie decor on top was a bit too hard, these yummy cuties are fun to look at

the original had shredded yellow crepe paper inside the nest

the nest centerpiece, which was not too overwhelming and not too simple. it was just right.

and what's special about these details is that these are all handmade! as parents, we are challenged to give the best for our children. but due to limited resources and time among other factors, we often settle for what is readily available, what's affordable. i, for one, have been guilty of this. but i saw through the efforts of my brother and sis-in-law, that we can give the best party for our little ones even with a tight budget. we just have to exhaust all avenues so we can get the best deals and offers. after all, our babies will not be babies forever. 

finally

i have finally finished designing the shirt for my niece! it has a hummingbird+flower print, with crotched collar, all by me!

details, details! thank you, laundry marker

i also made my sis-in-law of The Happy Tummy Kitchen a tote bearing an anime cupcake.

front

backside

hope you enjoyed them! :)

thrifting

i was able to thrift some vintage-y saucers from an outlet store, these cost Php20 a piece!!! that's around $0.50 max. quite a steal!

yes, i'm a Human Nature junkie

i love the lavender illustration!!!

i used one to hold my toiletries, the other one is still sitting pretty in my bathroom. now i'm thinking if i should buy more, but i'm not quite sure what to do with them. tea parties are not that big in the Philippines. perhaps more of decor?

have a great weekend everyone!

looks sooooooooo good

Indonesian thousand layer cake

it's nearing lunch here, and i am starving already despite the fact that i ate rice for breakfast. today i feel like a glutton. as i was, a few minutes earlier, strolling along etsy illustration teams, i found a really lovely etsy shop owned by Tinarosa Tam and her art is brilliant!

sashimi rice bowl

stir-fried pak choy

how could you not enjoy food painted so delicately and artistically? what's more, gone are the usual European food fare (cheese, wine, pasta) which are so much the subject of culinary illustrations. Tinarosa's illustrations feature more of Asian food, with all their bright and rich colors you could almost taste them.

grilled veggie skewers

to satisfy your craving for more of Tinarosa's culinary illustrations, visit her Etsy shop

Imperial Manila at The Vargas Museum

last Thursday, after my son's entrance exam for UPIS (fingers still crossed, until May), we visited the Vargas Museum for a friend working there. the day before, i told my son that we were going to a museum, followed by a question from him if he can see fossils (yes, he's in the dinosaurs stage) there. i answered him after an amused laugh that it was an art museum, so there won't be any fossils. though there might be in the Anthro/Archeo museum, but i didn't mention it to him because i don't have an idea if the museum was open.

moving on, we visited the Vargas Museum in UP where they had an on-going exhibit entitled Imperial Manila. as a fan of architecture, i had a grand time looking at the photos of old Manila, especially the blueprints which are so very true to its name. it was a first time for me to see blueprints which are really blue. and the hand-drawn details are breath-taking

door with wrought-iron grille top, loving the details!

stair detail

perfectly rendered stylized leaf and vines

presidential seal

how clean and orderly the old city was

UP Manila back then

Tondo Market, more popularly known as Divisoria

 visti the Vargas Museum to take a glimpse of what the Philippines capital was once, and how it should still be. the Imperial Manila exhibit is until mid-May

been a while...

... since i put nail polish on my, well, nails. to be honest i felt like my fingernails were walls being painted, and i being the painter did not do a good job. now i have to do it all over again.

i was about 4 years old since i last put nail polish on my nails, and right now that's what my nails look like... like a 4 year old was suddenly given a bottle of nail polish and left alone. i kind of missed it, but i don't think i will be doing this regularly. but then i had a little fun, and did a two-toned opus, like a reversed french tip. i'm not sure how to put this, but it seemed okay.

what do you think?