Learning Screen Printing

last weekend was quite exhausting but enjoyable, as we had a long weekend in celebration of Bonifacio Day. i took advantage of the holiday to do some crafting and learn how to screen print.

i joined Hey Kessy's Merry Mail Swap and i'm excited to make my swap partner Christmasy things! no photos yet so as not to spoil the fun!

oiling the screen

then that afternoon i headed off to Megamall for a short course on screen printing. it was very exciting because we will be doing photographic screen printing.

applying some photo emulsion chemicals

though during the process, i got a little bit turned off because of the amount of chemicals to be used.

fun with squeegee!

i was hoping for simpler methods with at least non-toxic materials to use. nonetheless i proceeded with the class, and eventually enjoyed making my own shirt. here's the finished product:

Early Christmas Treat

the Christmas presents i got for myself finally arrived today. i feel so giddy as i saw the package on my work desk this morning. these were ordered through Avalon.ph. where they have one-of-a-kind book selections, not to mention more affordable Moleskines. great service too! they were kind enough to double-check my mailing address, turns out i forgot to include the floor of my office building (not that we have too many floors).

now on to the goods, i got a large Moleskine sketchbook and The Heart of Faerie Oracle by Brian and Wendy Froud. i think it was about time for me to get a Moleskine sketchbook. i do have a lot of notebooks and sketchbooks, i have tried using Moleskine planners and cahiers but i just had to try Moleskine to see why so many are using it as a sketchbook (they're darn expensive!).

and as i wanted someting exotic, i got myself The Heart of Faerie Oracle. it has a book and tarot-ish cards to "read", with AMAZING artwork. back when i was still a book buyer i encountered Brian Froud in book catalogues. of course i can only marvel at miniature versions of his art. now i can enjoy his art one at a time, in every piece of oracle card. and who knows, i might dabble in the art of the oracle someday.

The Queen of the Golden Bough leads the pack



Down in the Garden

I finally had the courage to let Galoshes out in our garden. though our garden isn't at all that big, I feared that when I let him out he'd scamper, and burrow, and we won't be able to find him. well, so much for my exaggerated brain!

Galoshes is a scaredy-hog (which is innate to all of his species), and when i let him down, at first he didn't move but got all prickly. a few minutes pass, realizing that there's no threat, he goes around snorting and sniffing his way through the grass. then he spots something which i could not recognize (though it was a lump of soil) and started licking it and anointing himself with it! good thing he hasn't taken his bath yet. :p

i think Galoshes had a wonderful time in the garden. i think it's healthy for him too, so he can experience being in the 'wild'even for a few moments.

 

soon on La Mer de Reve

 these are upcoming pieces on La Mer de Reve. all are hand-drawn and colored on watercolor paper, with textured glossy finish.

and i was able to obtain more goodies online. thank goodness there are more and more emerging craft suppliers here, and with shipping too! i'm so excited to get on with my next project!

sneak-a-peek: new project

It's a long weekend here in the Philippines, with All Saints' Day and Dia de los Muertos (yes they are festivities here). That means more time for crafting! Yay! Here are sneak peeks on what I've been up to. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

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rubber stamps



guilty of crafting!

 well i haven't been totally busy during my weekends/holidays, i was able to squeeze in some rubber (eraser) stamps during my breaks.

red fox stamps (Le Renard Rouge)

i got my stamp carving tools at the Deovir online store, thank God they have one and that they are reasonably priced (have to make it a point to visit their real shop soon). the erasers i got from stationery deptartments of different stores, and let me tell you not all erasers are alike. i like the harder ones because they are easier to work with, rather than the elastic ones. i only have one stamp pad, an old school one from National Bookstore. hopefully i can be able to get more brilliantly colored ones (any suggestions?) or try watercolor as ink. 


folksy name stamp; í have to work on my fonts!

at first i found carving to be taxing as the eraser i got was to flexible and didn't always turn out the way i want to. when i got the hang of it (and a change of eraser), i found it very therapeutic, it's as if time stops for me. now i'm addicted (when i have time), and have been hoarding erasers whenever i go to the stationery section of stores. now on to my next project!

all photos taken via Instagram

New Artist Discoveries and more sketches

sorry for the lack of posts, i've been very busy with my day job lately. as promised, here are some of my discoveries on instagram, and i'm totally in love with their works.

 Audrey Kawasaki (@audkawa)

(@oterawat)

 

 (@eatsleepcreaterepeat)

(@ncwintersart)

(@r_hakim)

artworks over at IG

Instagram has been a source of inspiration for me in many ways. From art, fashion to food and travel and super cute animals (let's not forget about that!), i keep on discovering more and more amazing things and people. I have also been posting most of my artworks there since i find it more convenient. Indeed, it has changed the way we share our lives and craft tp the world.

Watch out for my next post on my favorite artists on instagram.

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thrifted!

I dropped by NBS yesterday and lo and behold, they were having a sale! So here are the stuff i thrifted.

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Calligraphy Crafternoon

Tablea Cheesecake and my dipping pen are having a swell time

or should i call it an afternoon of calligraphy and sweets...? well regardless of the title, Vins and i definitely enjoyed Alessandra's session of intro to calligraphy. 

we got to Pino / Pipino just in time to ogle at the calligraphy paraphernalia from Scribe. they were so tempting... but we're on a strict budget. after all, i already got a dipping pen, so that's enough for practice. and on to my first attempt at calligraphy.

a twisted gothic alphabet

i never had a beautiful neat penmanship. mine's more like a scrawl. plus the weight of my alloy dipping pen did make my first try a challenge. 

though i'm happy to say i did manage... somewhat.

our beautiful attendance, penned by Fozzy, we're not worthy!

our finished seatworks

some of my favorites

and another

all in all, the experience was very overwhelming and at the same time immensely enjoyable as we got to learn a new craft, something which i can hopefully pass on to my son (to be honest i quite envy French children, they start training writing with a fountain pen at Kindergarten!).

Finished Poppet and a WIP

Poppet, watercolor painting by Bre

finally, i've finished working on Poppet. it's really hard to work with just b&w, thank goodness Poppet is a redhead! but i guess that's the magic of Le Cirque de Reves. and if it did exist, i want to be a reveur, an ultimate fangirl of the circus.

and now here's a sneak-peek at Tsukiko, Le Cirque de Reves' very own contortionist and a former "game" contender

Dark Knight Fever

The Dark Knight Rises nears its premier, and I'm dying to see it! Batman has been one of my favorite superheroes of all time (love his broodiness!), and Chris Nolan has made the storyline very interesting indeed. the cast of his latest installment is very intriguing also, especially since most of them came from his Inception movie.

i'm on a Dark Knight fever these past few days, and been drawing some of the villainesses from the series

Harley Quinn (sorry for the typo there), Mr. J's pet

of course who'd forget Selina Kyle aka Catwoman, Batman's sexiest archnemesis