DIY ! matchbooks & journals

Crap! Has it been 2 months?! Where does the time go? Since the last time i've posted, i've printed out more shirts, celebrated both my brothers and my sister's birthdays, and for the first time ever... actually joined a flea market.

A fellow creative friend of mine had asked me to contribute something...anything... alongside her stuff. I won't kid you, I was nervous, hesitant, yet very excited. So, i racked my brains trying to figure out something i could craft up within a week. And by Wednesday, i was ready to give up and just walk away.

I had so many ideas! I wanted to make so many things! I had so little time!

But rather subconsciously, i found myself keeping those ideas for possibly a next flea market attempt... dare i say it.

But for this chapter of my flea adventures, i didn't give up. Instead, i decided to make...

For my first collection, i made simple staple bind notebooks.

For my second one, i made lil matchbooks. 

It was a tiring 2 months... but yet, a very inspiring one. And no doubt, i will definitely do this again. 

Maybe i should just start working on it already and get a head start. 

announcement ! something worth saying

I usually wouldn't touch on sensitive topics but i really thought that this was worth mentioning.

Last Sunday
a girlfriend of an acquaintance of mine was held at knifepoint and was nearly abducted and raped.

On April 27
a 12year old boy was kidnapped while on his way to school and was held for ransom.

On March 6
a 5year old lil girl went missing after she went out to buy instant noodles near her home.

So... what makes me sad is seeing the numerous coverage on the protesters in front of Ambiga's house. The ongoing debate on Bersih. The politicians pointing fingers.

I wish you could see that your people need you.

You break down the walls of our heritage landmarks, erase and rewrite the struggles and achievements of our history and ignore the pleas of your people - only teaching the young that its okay to swipe clean the mistakes. That it's okay to forget where you come from. When in fact, you should've been teaching them to look out for one another, whatever their race, background, and status. Young or old, big or small.

And for everyone else, it is the responsibility of all, not just the authorities. We too have to stop pointing fingers. We get distracted, sidetracked and sometimes... we just forget what it is we fight for. And along the way, somehow, we've allowed these predators to walk among us. Teach any kid you know to walk in groups, find out ways to protect yourself, get a pepper spray, walk your female colleagues to their car.

Our role is just as important as the police.

I'm not saying this from a political, religious or racial standpoint. I'm saying this because i fear for my life. I fear for the life of my lil 8 year old niece who wants so badly to walk to school like the other kids. And i fear for the life of my sister who has to take a bus and walk to work.
 
So, let's look out for one another. Don't walk alone. Don't make them walk alone. Don't lose sight.

To be honest, i was never really close to my mom as a lil girl. i wasn't fond of the dresses she forced me to wear, never listened to her when she told me to sit still, always ran away and hid when she got into her feisty moods.

Nevertheless, and she might not have known this, i always watched her from afar. Sitting at the kitchen table bathed in sunlight while painting dainty lil birds on porcelain. Singing on stage after constantly being pulled up by her friends. Sitting around the dining table with  her close friends, playing gin rummy till the wee hours of the night. Seeing her get ready for a fancy dinner. And my favourite, smiling to herself as she cross-stitches.

I watched her from afar cuz i always saw my mom as this glamorous, outgoing, cultured and poised woman. Someone so utterly opposite of who i thought i was. Someone i wished i could be.

No... that isn't me.

She's the pretty one on the far left.

However, as i grew older and hurdles brought us closer together, little by little, i saw her struggles, i saw her weaknesses and finally, i saw her imperfections.

But even then, she was still that someone i wanted to be. For all the different reasons compared to before, even more than how i felt before.

And for all of you who thinks my laugh is loud... you haven't heard my mother's.

I think i've fallen short of that cuz i will never have the amount of confidence she does, striking up conversations with complete strangers; or how friendly and accommodating she is, switching dialects for whomever she'd be talking to.

I hope i can still learn to be as patient as she is, especially since she's had to deal with 5 unbearable and unmanageable kids; or be as supportive as she is, never missing any of my school events or boasting to people about my awesome omelet (believe me, it wasn't that great).

So, i just wanna say thank you for putting up with me. For giving me just the right amount of space and the amount of push i need.

 
Everything i am today, everything i have to offer... i hope it at least puts a smile on your pretty face.

Yey! She liked it...

camera roll ! random things about me

It's been awhile and believe me... i've been stressing out with the fact that i couldn't post. So, i took a breather from all the projects i was working on, long enough to share with you some random things about me.

 

   

Well, back to work, i guess. I'll definitely be posting something up next week... so keep visiting.

DIY ! more tees

Had another tee project for a friend recently. Again, it's an inside joke between her and her friends... but i still thought it was a cute idea. Hope i did it justice. 

DIY ! a go at t-shirts

I find it odd that out of all the projects i've put up here, designing t-shirts have been the popular order these past few months. Not that it's a bad thing... but i guess, i'm just surprised and honored that my friends think i can do it.

Well, i had a lot of fun working on Maya's t-shirts. She wanted to surprise her nieces for her trip back to Cali and i personally thought the tees were adorable. Can't take all the credit though... Maya and her nieces came up with the witty lines themselves.

Would've loved it if i could've handmade the t-shirts... but i just didn't have the time or the confidence. Oh well.

Anyways, make sure to keep following me at:

Been busy working on more prints and i've been in the midst of a very exciting project. Keeping my fingers cross... hopefully it turns out nice. Catch ya guys next week.

DIY ! Rewrite it

If you're the type that keeps a journal or carry around a lil notebook... then you definitely should start making your doodles a lil more green.

As for me, i usually just snap a paperclip to a stack of used papers and ta-da! my notebook.

But here's another way you can put that pile of used papers to good use.

Make your very own recycled notebook... 
and when i mean your very own....i mean, you can finally have all the sections you need in one notebook.


























Now, there's a lot of different ways to make your own recycled notebook... but... hey, you should know me by now. I try to find the easiest way possible.

I'm a lil picky with my notebooks or journals and such. I usually go for the ones that have separators and most important of all, a pocket. 

For separators, you can use just about anything. Magazine ads of stuff you like, pictures you wanna print or even newspapers. Personally, i like to put in all my past design projects from work since its already printed out and ready to be thrown away.

I'm going to make my pages half of an A4. Not too small, yet not too big.

Step 1) 
Fold your used papers in half. You'll be binding your pages on the opened side. So, there's no need to do any cutting. That means... when you've binded your papers together, the fold will be facing the outside of your notebook.

Step 2) 
Cut up your cardboard to your preferred size. Do you want it exactly the same size as your pages? or maybe you want it a lil bit wider? I was afraid my pages might not align straight... 
so i made mine a lil more wider to make it less obvious. 

Step 3) 
Make the necessary hole punches. On your paper and board.

Now for making the cover and back:
Take your board and follow the steps below.

After you've covered both sides with fabric, use your cutter to punch the holes in the fabric. Now, force the screws through the holes... and add in your pages and separators. And you're done.

Now, that you have the fundamentals, its all about adding the little personal touches to make it your own.

 For mine, i added a little pen strap.

For my separators, i used old drafts that i designed for a past project. 

And i made myself a pocket. Yay!

So, there you have it. Your very own recycled notebook.

Pretty quick and simple. Plus, don't worry if your pages are different sizes or different materials. It just gives it a more 'recycled' look.  I'll definitely be making a lot more variety of these... so stay tuned.


Hope you give it a shot.

camera roll ! december in a can

* all photos taken with the La Sardina.