Blogging Exercise

It's 6:31 in the morning here on my side of the globe. A cloudy Sunday. I set my alarm to 7:30, but alas, my body is so used to waking up early it didn't wait for the alarm anymore. I have washed, brushed, and showered, and am sitting in front of my laptop with a glass of water, on my desk full of things. I'm pretty used to working on a table full of clutter; I won't bother clearing up when I don't feel like it.

This will be my second post since taking Susannah's blogging class. Right now, I'm feeling a bit of the writer's block, really. I'm not actually sure what I'm writing about. I'm just typing words off the top of my head. Which, I believe, is a good start. I'm 2 weeks into the course, and I am enjoying it so far. I've been going ooooh and ahhhh each time I finish reading a lesson. I've been blogging on and off for almost 3 years now, yet, I've never felt like I've connected with my blog. Blogging is supposed to be a happy activity, something to look forward to do doing. It is at times. But there are also many times that it feels more of a chore, because I feel I would have to come up with something clever to say whenever I blog. I don't have many readers. I've only had 1 follower, and 3 comments ever on my blog. And that 1 follower and 3 comments mean the world to me already! I hope to gather more of course, and to be able to connect with other people as well.

It's comforting to see that there are plenty others like me out there. My classmates are also, somehow struggling with their blogs. I haven't had much time to interact with them on Facebook. I've been pretty busy lately, and frankly, I'm still catching up with this week's lessons. I'm currently taking 2 online courses -- Susannah's and another from Nicole's Classes. But it's all good, I like busy. I'm happiest when I'm taking my classes. It makes me feel like I am improving my creativity, which I certainly hope I am. :-)

My May

This is a late post. It's a busy month again for me. Which suits me just fine. I like busy, especially when I'm busy with fun and the stuff I enjoy.

So here's what's up with me this May:

1. Labor day weekend in Boracay

2. Jason Mraz LIVE in Mnaila

3. Design for Web 101 by Nicole's Classes

4. Blogging from the Heart by Susannah Conway

5. My sister's first week in college, which means another longer trip to Manila to keep her company!

6. Plus everything else in between..

So much to do, so little time. :)

Strawberries

Loving this strawberry foldable bag. Saw someone carrying this at the pier on my way back from Bohol. They look good enough to eat! Yum!

Experiment

An experiment I made for my Illustrator class. 

Notes to self: don't rely too heavily on clipping masks when photoshop is available.

                      expand only AFTER all the editing.

Be Still My Heart

I went swimming about 2 weeks ago at our local sports club and found it quite bare and looking a bit lonely. I guess I got so used to seeing the place decked out in cheerful Christmas decor for the past few months, that this sudden change surprised me a little. Gone were the sparkling lights, the bright greens of Christmas wreathes and the reds and golds of bows, glitter, and poinsettias. What the sports club didn't remove though, were a few leafless, fake, white trees, that used to glow with white and blue lights. But where the lights were previously, now hung strings of red, glittery hearts. I thought it odd at first. Valentines isn't 'till February. And then I checked my phone, and realized february is less than 2 weeks away!

Time sure flies, doesn't it. January barely got here! Blogs too, are already celebrating Valentines' -- hearts, I-love-you's, and be-mine's seem to be everywhere!

So, I decided to join in the fun and create my own Valentines art. I had this idea for a while, thanks to the song Be Still My Heart by the Postal Service. :-)

Handmade gift cards

Here's an idea. Create personalized gift cards from scraps of hard paper and cardboard. We always have plenty of those lying around the house -- from 2 year old invitations to white make up boxes to those pieces of cardboard included in the packaging of store-bought clothes. There's so much material it's a shame to not put 'em to use!

All you have yo do is cut out a business card-sized rectangle (or any size you wish) and draw a pretty design on the clean side of the card. The back won't matter. You're gonna tape it on you're present anyway. Write to: and from: and you're all done!

I made these for last Christmas. (This is kind of a late post actually) And they took about 3 minutes each to make!




Not very artistic? No problem. Cut out bits of design from scraps of gift wrappers or old greeting cards and stick them on the card. Quick and simple. With this, you're recycling, saving on money, and clearing out your home, all at once! :-)

posted from Bloggeroid

Milk tea, anyone?

We've got 6 large pitchers of the yummiest milk tea in the fridge -- courtesy of the Brew-Kus team! (Brew-Kus bosses more like) That should make at least 20 cups of absolutely FREE milk tea. Oh yeah. Come and have yourself a some! I've been drinking this stuff since Saturday. Who knows how much weight I'll gain by the end of the week.

And, in honor of the successful tea tasting survey and focus group discussion (FGD for short. *ahem ahem*) held yesterday at our hotel, I made these little lovelies!

Coffee, tea or me? 

I've been playing with this idea in my mind for the longest time. It was about time I got it out! So here it is, a pattern on coffee cups and teacups. :)

Someday, when I do manage (or own even!) a milk tea business, I shall have this printed and hung on my little milk tea shop.

On my Desk

The mess that is called my desk.

DIY Bow Pillow

I'm loving this pretty bow pillow form Ariadne at Home.

Below are the instructions in english. (Thank you Google Translate!) Will def make time to make this. :-)

The feminine form of the bow fits perfectly in the BB-pane. And is very simple to make.

Materials:

0.80 m plaid fabric camellia Elmore 7460/49, 137 cm wide (Romo, 030-605 32 18, romo.com); fiberfill (haberdashery business); rectangular pillow 40 × 60 cm Fjädrar € 3.99 (Ikea Netherlands BV, Ikea. en).

How to make the Bardotstrik:

Cut out the fabric for the cushion cover 1 piece of 42 × 124 cm, for the band 1 piece of 32 × 58 cm and the mesh strip 1 piece of 32 × 72 cm.

Cut out the fiberfill for tie strip 1 piece of 32 × 72 cm.

Fold the cloth for the cushion cover double, so it's 42 × 62 cm. Stitch the short side with 2 inch seam, but leave a piece in the middle, and later open to reverse the pillow. Fold the seam towards the middle and stitch the long side with 1 cm seam. Turn the cover. Put the pillow in it and sew the opening closed.

Fold the band for the double, so he's 16 × 58 cm is. Stitch the long side with 1 cm seam and once the band. Stitch the ends with 1 cm seam together and once the seam on the inside.

Place the fiberfill-rag on the checkered cloth for tie strip and incorporate more layers as 1 layer. Fold the double, so he's 16 × 72 cm is. Stitch the short ends oblique, 45 degree angle, leaving the inclined lines are parallel to each other. Cut the excess fabric to 1 inch from the stitching. Stitch the long side close but leaves it open for a lot of times. Turn the assembly and sew the opening closed.

Fold the ribbon strip in half, so that the oblique lines aligned arrive. Stitch the strap just below the fold through all layers, so the tire can be pushed to the pillow and ribbon strip hangs underneath.

DIY Photobooth :)

Another DIY weekend! Here's an idea, make your own photobooth! All you need is a blank wall, a tripod and a camera. We stuck paper cutouts of flowers and butterflies to our wall to dress it up a little. It was for our YWD Friendship General Meeting. And the props are great fun to make! Huge smileys, little headpieces, mustaches, speech bubbles, and whatnot. Add some text and a white border on photoshop and you'll never tell the pictures were all DIY :-)