Gifties

I feel so blessed as I received a few gifts these past couple of weeks. Not only that, I also heard a very good news but I'm not gonna share it yet as I don't want to get too excited about it and jinx it. I'll just share it when it's already happening. ^^

On with the gifts... I got this really pretty and sparkly anklet from a very good friend who's based in Kuwait.

I LOVE it! It reminded me how much I love anklets and should get back to wearing them. Thank you so much, Amor! Like what I keep on telling you, you're spoiling us too much. *insert green heart here*

Next, I participated in two Redditgifts exchanges, Everyday Carry and J.R.R. Tolkien, and the package from my Everyday Carry secret santa already arrived. Yay! Here are what's in the package

along with this note...

I love everything she sent me but my secret santa did not reveal herself (I'm assuming she's a girl based on the heart on the envelope, the handwriting and the xx on the note). It's like she knows me personally... see, there's this little notebook, pens from Japan (I love anything from Japan!), touchscreen pen, and a GREEN emergency pouch with a mini screwdriver keychain and a small sewing kit inside... perfect for my travels! Thank you so much secret santa! xx

Last but definitely not the least is this package from Sarah Schwartz of The Paper Chronicles.

Here's her sweet note...

She sent me this stationery set in exchange for participating in her letter writing campaign. The lovely set is called The Polaroid Love Notes and is sponsored by Adam Schwartz of Chronicle Books. (No, they're not related. Haha) Thank you so much Sarah and Adam! I really love this set! It really suits me because I love analog photography (and photography in general). The photos are all beautiful and I really like their vintage feel. I'm seriously thinking about using them (I'd rather keeo them. Haha!). I promise to put them to good use.

Brush Calligraphy 101

Here's another super delayed post.

I attended another workshop on the 31st of May, this time it's Brush Calligraphy 101 at the Commune and again by Trade School Manila. The teacher is Paola Esteron of Crafty Kitty. Below is the description of the class

I attempted doing brush calligraphy on my own but it made me feel frustrated. Thanks to Paola, I'm really loving it now. Even though I already know basic calligraphy, I still learned a lot from Paola's workshop like how to hold the brush properly, hand exercises and drills to help loosen up those hand muscles. Paola was a hands-on to teacher and she made sure we were picking up what she's teaching. It also helped that the class was small because she was able to check on each one of us and how we're doing.

Paola made us do some practice drills so we can get used to how to handle the brush. Then we practiced how to paint the letters. We were supposed to practice painting or writing a quote but since we didn't have much time left, we just painted the word ALOHA and had our class picture taken with our works.

Below are photos from the workshop, photos taken by Makee Wilwayco and grabbed from Trade School Manila's Facebook page.

Here are my practice sheets and my "Aloha" and the last photo is our class picture.

Trade School Manila's sites:
http://www.tradeschool.coop/manila/
https://www.facebook.com/TradeSchoolManila

Paola Esteron's sites:
http://instagram.com/paola_koala
http://themightypaocat.carbonmade.com

Old School Friendship Bracelet

My niece saw me making an old school friendship bracelet one day (the one with different colors of threads and a LOT of knotting), she got curious and asked me to teach her. I did and now she's hooked. Imagine this, she promised about 18 of her classmates she'd make them one each this summer. I don't know where she gets her energy, really. My fault, I know. Haha! Now, a trip to Divisoria won't be complete without me buying her threads.Anyway, she asked me to help make her classmates' bracelets and now I'm hooked again, too. Haha!

Here's one that I just finished, take a look.

What do you think? It's a little hard to do because of the not so flexible thick natural thread. (I don't even know what it's called. Haha!) Despite the difficulties, I lurve how it turned out! But I did make a booboo... well, not exactly a booboo but a room for improvement.

Did you notice it? One end has a knot and the other one doesn't? I'd like both ends to be knot-free but I don't know to do the other one, yet. Haha! So, what do you think?

SS501 Week

This week is also SS501 week. Why? First is because it's Kim Hyun Joong's 28tth (29th - Korean age) birthday last Friday, June 6. As a gift (although I won't be giving it to him :P), I made use of what I learned at a workshop a few weeks ago and painted him a watercolor version of U:ZOOSIN, his official character. ^^

He's a charming little alien, isn't he?

Next reason why it's a SS501 kind of week is because my boys (SS501) are celebrating their 9th anniversary today! Yay! Well, they're not together as a group right now but soon. ^^ To show them how much I love them... this...

This was when I was in Lobo a few weeks ago. (Look at those angry veins on my feet. Haha!) I did this and a couple more. (I'll post those with some of my other Lobo photos in the next few days.)

I celebrated by watching SS501 videos and listening to their songs all day. That includes their mushy videos which made me cry again, of course. I miss my boys terribly!!! ㅠㅠ

Happy Mail Week

Last week was a happy mail week for me. Not only did I receive a very nice package but my letter for a letter-writing campaign and my hand-bound books for an online craft swap already arrived their destinations. Wee!

First of all is the letter-writing campaign. I was following a blog about a calligraphy tutorial and I saw this post about a letter-writing campaign. I am into mail swaps, I am trying to learn calligraphy, and I love anything paper, so, I joined.

I used one of the stationery I received from the craft soirée that I joined last year. I didn't take a picture of my letter anymore because my handwriting that time was crappy. Haha! Instead, here's a picture of the stationery that I used which was made by my groupmate or swapmate, Mab.

Pretty, isn't it? And very creative, too! Here's her Instagram post... you an see my messy handwriting here. Haha!


My letter finally reached Sarah of The Paper Chronicles and you can read all about it here. Thanks again, Sarah, for the letter-writing campaign! I really love the idea and I wish there are more like this.

Next is my hand-bound books for the Online Craft Swap 2014, PH version. I mailed the notebooks on Friday and it arrived the next day. Louie posted about them on Instagram and I'm really glad she liked them. You can see photos of the notebooks on my previous post.


Last but definitely not the least is my package from my swap buddy from the same online craft swap. I received it on Friday but haven't got the time to post about it, yet. It's from from someone named Melza and I do hope I get to meet her personally one day.

I love everything that she sent me! Here they are...

The felt craft is so pretty! Like what I said on my IG post, I now have the sea, the moon, and the stars in my room with a bonus cityscape, too! The art knife and mat I already have but I still love them because one can never have too many craft supplies. Agree? Haha! I'm going to put these in my everyday carry. ;) The rubber stamps... I am actually pondering over buying one set like this. Now, I don't have to because I already have one. Yay! Thank you so much Melza! ETA: Just heard from Melza and she said that the felt craft was inspired by the Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong and the craft materials were bought in Shanghai. Thanks again! :D