What I Discovered Today

While at a photo shoot today, I discovered . . . .

. . . that this lamp frame is not glass.(sorry for my ignorance. hehehe)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s actually a plastic sheet rolled around a wire frame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . that a top ledge in a home is a good place to put a Mario Bros. pillow brick:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there seems to be a little mushroom beside it too :) Cool

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . . that I want this really long extension cord. hahaha:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . . that there is a house in Plano, Illinois called the Farnsworth house. It was built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1951. I can’t believe this was built in 1951!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . and that there is a lego set of it :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . . that they make ceiling fans this big (our driver said it looked like it came from a helicopter):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . .  that I want this cute, little Ikea lamp (it’s as big as a mug) !!! Also learned that an Ikea store might open here in Manila care of SM. . . hope that’s true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . that there is a Spongebob lego set complete with pineapple house. I want!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . that I want these pillows from Bleach Catastrophe. P695 for the case and pillow :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . that I really need a new camera!!! After I accidentally dropped it, most of my photos are really blurry now:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . that since I was out all day today, I’m going to have to work all night tonight! :) hihihi.

Now for some coffee. . .

Monday Inspiration . . .

Just some random beautiful things to inspire me today while working . . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Star Wars cuties!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not into cigarettes but this bird looks really cute :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids will love this bed:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this baby photo. Such a cutie… sigh :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything paper by Zim and Zou

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And everything on the colossal site! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a beautiful Monday!

Mati’s Storybook

Last year, I made Adi a personalized storybook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I planned to make Mati and Noah one too but lately I’ve been a lazy mom :( It’s been 2 months since I made Adi’s book and it had to take constant bugging from Mati (“Mommy, are you making my book already?”) for me to finish hers. Sorry Mati. hihihi

Anyway, yesterday I finally finished her book :) I made Mati a fairy who had to earn her wings by overcoming a difficult challenge.

Here’s the book: (just click to enlarge)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the beginning, I was going to draw the fairies but because I was kind of lazy I had to borrow some of Disney’s fairies instead. But I think it worked out anyway :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Mati saw the printout she got super excited and after I assembled it, she was just so proud to show it to everyone in mom’s house!  hahaha :) Such a cutie pie.

Now to do Noah’s book. . . .

New Zealand Film Festival 2012

I love working on film festival materials. It’s always interesting work. I get first peek at the movies that are going to be shown and I get to see my work blown up at the Shang Plaza Mall :)

So when the New Zealand Embassy asked me up to make their collaterals I got excited :)

First thing  I did was I research everything that represented New Zealand.

Their national flag

 

 

 

 

 

 

The silver fern

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Silver fern on a flag

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kiwi fruit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the Kiwi bird

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I chose to do studies using the animal and fruit combining them with a film reel. For the background color, I used the blue from their flag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also tried using the silver fern. The white space would be for the film details in case they wanted it on the poster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like clean design. And I like white space. But usually when I submit a study with white background, it doesn’t get approved. Since this was a new client, I tried to see what they would think about white space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily, the liked the white poster :)Yay!

Only thing was they said that the film reel looked like the barrel of a gun and the kiwi looked wrong. So I edited it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the films to be shown. (just click on it to enlarge)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s the film schedule

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It won’t be till Feb 23 though. heheh. But yay! Excited to watch! :)

We Bought a Zoo :)

This is for Didi, Berns, Reg and Richard :)

“We Bought a Zoo” is the story of Benjamin Mee and his family buying a zoo following the death of Ben’s wife. The movie basically shows the family trying to cope with their grief, and Ben trying to escape the familiar things and places that remind him of her. Made me cry like a little girl. hahaha. Thanks for the tissue Berns :)

Here’s the movie poster, with Matt Damon playing Benjamin Mee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like this theatrical poster better :) Mixing the family tree with animal paw prints. Brilliant. But I guess they have to sell the movie, so the film stars need to be seen. hehehe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, it’s based on a true story, so after we watched it, I Googled :)

The movie is based on the book by Benjamin Mee with the same title

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the real Benjamin Mee and his kids, Milo and Ella (in the film, their names are Rosie and Dylan)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo from contactmusic.com

The real zoo it was based on is Dartmoor Zooligical Park

 

 

 

 

 

Ben Mee and Matt Damon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo from here

And unlike in the movie, Katherine was still around when they purchased the zoo. She died four months before the re-opening of the zoo from the recurrence of a brain tumor that had been removed earlier :(

The real Katherine Mee and her daughter, Ella.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo from here

The family were originally from the South of France but moved to England where they bought their zoo. Read more about them here.

To Didi, thanks for telling us to watch this film ;) I never thought I’d be watching a film with a title like “We Bought a Zoo” but I’m glad I did :)

How to Make Your Child Feel like A Toy Designer :)

This is Wendy and her 4 year old son

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is her son’s drawing and the stuffed toy she made based on her son’s drawing :)

 

 

 

 

Isn’t this just the cutest idea?!!

Anyway, after that, Wendy’s home-based craft business was born. And such a fun job!

She now receives orders from parents around the world to create toys based on their children’s drawings

Here are samples of toys she’s made:

Drawing by Will, 3 yrs old.

 

 

 

 

 

Elephant by Runa, 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

Car by Rhys, 7

 

 

 

 

By Nicholas, 6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birds with cute lips by Naomi, 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Owl by Marina, 7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Lucas, 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Laure, 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Jesse, 6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

frogs by Connor, 12

 

 

 

 

Octopus by Chloe, 9

 

 

 

 

Cute monster by Caleb,11

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pirate ship by Benjamin, 7

 

 

 

 

 

by Aidan, 3

 

 

 

 

 

Check out more samples on Wendy’s flickr page: Child’s Own Studio

Now, what drawing of Mati and Adi to send?

Only thing I’m a bit worried about is the shipping cost, since Wendy lives in Canada!

Or maybe, I can just start sewing again. . . hihihihi

Anyway, Check here to see how to order from Wendy :)

Picnic with the Kids

The other day, Reg told me about this little pocket garden that she discovered while walking around the village. She said that it had a playground and some little huts that we could hang out in. Perfect for a picnic! So finally we planned it for Friday.

While the kids were napping, I prepared the stuff we’d bring :)

Adi’s favorite is peanut butter sandwiches while Mati’s is peanut butter and jelly. So I cut out the sandwiches into triangles for the peanut butter, and tiny squares for the pb&j’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noah’s was just a pandesal sandwich so i didn’t need to shape that one. hehehe.  I placed them in one of their toy baskets and also put in some cookies, grapes and some other stuff they might want to eat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In another toy basket, I placed the plastic cups and napkins and I assigned Adi to carry it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mati also wanted a basket of her own, so I assigned this tiny one that I filled with chocolates :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At their age, they just love being given little responsibilities like this:)

Then we were off! Reg came home early from work  so she could join our little picnic. Thanks Reg!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because the place is in a cul-de-sac, there weren’t too many kids around. (Only 2, but they left when we arrived. hehehe)

This little hut was just right for us :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also brought toy cups and toy plates for the kids to use. They loved drinking their juice from the tiny cups :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’d only been there for a couple of minutes, when Adi said, “This is so very fun!”.  Sigh.  That made it all soooo worth it :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this photo of Mati

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They didn’t stay in the hut for very long because they suddenly remembered that there was a playground to explore! hahaha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I remember standing on the swing like this when I was in grade school. Good times ;) Mati made up some tricks ala Cirque du Soleil.  I stayed close but I didn’t want to look so much cause I was on mommy mode and was really scared that she might fall! hahaha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noah did a lot of walking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And riding on the bouncy thingies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian met some new friends

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a little later, dad showed up. The place isn’t too far from the house so he just walked

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids were having so much fun that it was a bit hard to tell them that we had to go home already.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To more picnics! Thanks for sharing this place with us Reg! Cheers to you!

New Year, New Vector . . .

When I’m bored or sad, I draw vectors just to amuse myself. I posted about the vector portraits I’ve made a while back.

This is a portrait I made of me :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Halloween, I thought that it’d be fun to dress up my vector instead of dressing in costume

So I got a photo online of Sally from Nightmare before Christmas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then made this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hehehe.

For Christmas, I’d always wanted to make a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but was never able to make one. So I thought, why not just make an illustration of it with my portrait. So I made this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It didn’t feel right though. So I thought I’d change the illustration style to match the old Peanuts illustrations.

I chose Marcie from the Peanuts gang as inspiration :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And came up with this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark always teased me that I look like Velma from Scooby Doo, so for this new year, I thought I’d use that as my peg :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And tada! hahaha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And because I didn’t have much to do today, I thought I’d make another one.

Since I was drinking coffee while making my Velma portrait, I thought this would be appropriate:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hahaha. Not really the right font but it’ll do :)

Happy 2012 everyone! :D