lazy summer spag

The basil plants in our garden usually dry out during the summer, but they're flourishing this year - the Hubby discovered that basil plants actually love sunlight, and they simply have to be watered well in the dry-hot season.  So now, summer means more basil. 

Summer also means bigger, brighter mangoes and tomatoes.

And hazy, lazy days when I'd like to spend as less time in cramped kitchen as possible.

I hate the heat and the suffocating humidity and the fact that we can't afford to have 24/7 air-conditioning, but  I'm thinking my happy thawts now.  I do love basil and tomatoes and mangoes (trying to stay positive here ... it's so hot and dizzying).


lazy summer spag for lazy summer days

Ingredients:
Olive oil
Garlic, one half small head or 2-3 large cloves, minced
Onion, one whole, large, chopped
Tomato, 2 large, diced
Fresh basil leaves, a whole lot, chopped
Dried rosemary, 1 tbsp
Olives, sliced, about a fourth to half of a cup
Parmesan cheese, as much as you like
Spaghetti noodles, whole grain is nice, about 2 fistfuls

Optional:
Tuna flakes, 1 can
1 ripe mango, cut into cubes
A dash of black pepper


Procedure:

1. Cook noodles as directed on package.  Drain and set aside.
2. Swirl garlic and onions in a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.  When the onions are slightly transparent, add tomato and rosemary and swirl further until tomatoes soften. 
3. Smile.  
4. Add the tuna flakes.  Or not, if you'd rather go vegetarian. Remove from heat.  
5. Stir in cooked noodles, cheese, pepper, olives and basil (and mango, if you like).  Toss to coat.  

Makes 2-4 servings.
Nothing fancy, but The Hubby and the Sister swear it's good.
Nice with a tall glass of ice-cold cucumber shake.
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painting again

In the last few days of my Vegas visit, I spent some time painting again.  It's been a long while since I put my brushes to a canvas, and it felt nice being reunited with my "old friends".  A perfect opportunity to go on Artist Mode opened up - my Mama needed artworks for her bare walls, and a fantabulous arts & crafts supplies store was within walking distance from her home.  As a pleasant plus, top-quality art materials are much cheaper in the U.S. than back home, so it was fun to go shopping for ready-made canvases and paints.  

My Ma showed me a photo that she wanted me to use as a peg, and after four days, voici:

20x23 acrylics on canvas by me.

This, beside a painting made by my sister, now hangs in Mama's kitchen wall.  It's not quite done, as I would've wanted to add more detail and create more depth, but I needed to do a lot of packing that week.  I thus needed to curb my obsessive horror-vacui impulse and settle for the above finished product.  

Even if it isn't exactly as I intended it to be - and though it was a rather stressful week that week with all the packing and last-minute stuff going on - there's this sense of satisfaction over painting again.  At my core I know I'm an artist, and making visually interesting things feels like home to me.

a clever christmas tree idea

Photos mine.

I put together this "tree" for my Ma at her house.  It's a fun holiday craft idea inspired by something we saw on Pinterest. It's a brilliant space-saving idea if you live in a teeny apartment.  It's also something you can do with all your mismatched ornaments.  

The "branches" are actual branches sawed off a dead tree, held up by the powers of push-pins, thread, and a bit of imagination.  Nylon wire or hemp twine would be ideal, but I used beading floss in this one.

As with most of my craft projects, I chose to challenge myself by not buying anything, but using only what I had available.

You don't even need to hang actual Christmas ornaments.  You can use odds and ends you have around the house, then holiday-ify them with red (or gold, or green) ribbons.  If you  look closely, you'd notice I put a key chain in there  :)  I also used a glass pebble, a pine cone I picked up, a gift tag and a plastic something that I found on a cake.

Clever, huh?

sharpie art

Visiting my Mama in in Las Vegas,  NV - been staying in the lovely lovely guest room in her lovely lovely house (This arrangement is more practical and way better than staying at a hotel, me thinks).

I couldn't help but notice that one of the closet doors had a bit of adhesive-and-paper residue surrounded by chipped paint.  Apparently a poster was previously glued on and later peeled off (My kid sister attempted to hide the damage by plastering a Yoda sticker over it but that only made it more obvious, considering that the sticker didn't match the overall aesthetic and that there were no Star Wars fans in that household).  That unsightly scar on the closet door nagged me day and night, egging the obsessive freak in me.  I finally decided to do something about it.

I grabbed the available materials - a bunch of multicolored Sharpies - and with my Ma's permission, drew freehand on the door in an attempt to camouflage the damage.  On the other door were existing letter decals spelling out a love proverb, so I decided to draw something complementary.

Love proverb = heart visual.  A heart is too cliche, I know.  But it works

Yes, Sharpies - a.k.a., felt-tipped pens.  Good thing there happened to be a lot of them lying around; I didn't feel like making a trip to the the nearest art supplies store (which isn't exactly that near) for paints and stuff I'd only be using once.  It pays to be frugal and resourceful.  :p

And voici, the end product.  I'm  not too happy with how some of the parts turned out (I didn't pencil everything in), but I'm generally pleased with it as a whole.

what's so good about being a ghost writer?

Aside from the fact that it brings in a bit of extra pocket money, helps keep my writing skills sharpened, and gives me something productive to do after-hours, there's nothing so great about it really, if you think about it.  Unless I was working on an entire book, which I'm not.  It's unglamorous, incognito and nothing I can boast about; but even if only for the three little benefits I just mentioned, I appreciate and even enjoy ghost-writing.

Okay, wait.  For those of you who aren't quite familiar with the term, it has nothing to do with ghosts, or anything supernatural for that matter.  It simply means writing for someone else, and that Someone Else takes credit for my work.  So the only ghost here really, is me. 

Lately, it's been my preoccupation of choice - researching and writing articles for travel books, tourism magazines, technology blogs, health websites and places in cyberspace to spam.  I don't really mind not being credited, since it's not creative work but just a lot of gathering and organizing data (now, for creative writing like short stories and poetry, that is a whole other story; I will never give up my rights on something I created with creativity).  If I didn't need to do chores, maintain hobbies or make time for ministry, I could make up to fifty US dollars a day - but since I want to have time for all those other things, I don't earn more than ten, but I'm good.  ;)  The reward really is being able to simplify my life, making time for things that matter to me while still being productive.

And oh - another little benefit of writing for other people: I get to learn about stuff I normally wouldn't be interested in.  Like, I just learned a lot about Australia, Diablo III builds and the new Samsung Galaxy.  And that article I recently worked on about "the top 10 regrets people have" made me reflect on my life and contemplate on a major decision.

The other day, I got so tickled when I found a website where several of my articles were put up.  It's a website on air travel called iFly, for which I've written a number of tips for travelers, glossary items and air-travel-for-dummies type material.  I recognized my work immediately (including the typos that were left in!) and wondered whether I should have charged more for them :p but there's some content pleasure in knowing that what I wrote is going to be immensely useful to a lot of people. 

holiday-leftover sandwiches

What I both love and hate the most about post-holiday season are the leftover food.  I hate it because I don't enjoy eating tira-tira.  But I love it because Christmas food is often of the special-sumptuous variety (why, why, why is holiday ham available only in the holidays?) , and as long as I keep things refrigerated, I wouldn't have to cook for a few days.  :p

Leftovers don't have to go to waste, but they don't have to look like leftovers either.  I like to pile some of the holiday ham and holiday cheese onto wheat bread and pretend I'm eating gourmet sandwiches.


pear, cheese and ham

I got the idea from Cameron of  Modern Family.  I was marathon-ing that sitcom yesterday, and in one of the episodes Uncle Cam said his favorite was PB&J - pear, brie and jambon. We don't have any brie around, but we do have a medium-sized queso de bola.

Most Pinoys have a habit of buying at least a dozen kinds of fruits for New Year (the superstitious believe it's for good luck, but I think most people just want something to snack on), so you will probably have a pear or two around the house.  Apple would be good too.

You will need a few slices of:

• Pear (or apple)
• Queso de bola
• Christmas ham

Optional:
Lettuce
Mayo or jam

chicken salad samwich

Lechon manok is a Pinoy go-to ulam. Chances are, someone brought a variation of roast chicken to one of the gatherings you attended, and then put some of it aside in a Tupperware for you to take home.  If  you've gotten sick of chicken, chicken and more chicken, turn it into a sandwich.

You will need:

• Shredded chicken
• Celery, finely chopped
• Mayo
• Salt and Pepper

Combine ingredients and spread on bread.


tomato, cheese and basil

You will need:

• Cheese (I personally prefer cream cheese or cottage, or kesong puti on pandesal, but since we're consuming the leftover cheese in our crisper, I'd have to go with queso de bola again).
• Fresh basil leaves
• Tomatoes (not the tart, native variety; sweet fat salad tomatoes are best)

(improvised) tomato-pesto soup

I'm a fan of tomato - tomato soup, tomato juice, sun-dried tomatoes.  <3<3<3  There's a tomato-pesto soup I enjoyed at this Mediterranean restaurant, and I told myself I could figure out how to make something like it.   Now I'm not at all a great cook and most of my recipes are formed by improvisation an estimation, so you might not want to trust me completely with this one. ;)   I just know I like how it turned out.

 Not an amazing photo, but it brightens up the entry, more or less.  :p 

 

Ingredients

• Chicken stock (or chicken cubes)
• Tomato paste
• Various vegetables, diced
• Carrot
• Potato
• Celery
• Zucchini
• Onion
• Red beans or lentils
• Tomato
• Pesto sauce - you can find my recipe for pesto here
• Chicken flakes - you can use the leftover chicken from last night's dinner.

Procedure

1. Boil the veggies and beans until soft - not mushy, but just sufficiently soft as to be edible.  Of course it shouldn't take a genius to know that harder ingredients like beans and carrots take much longer.  Set aside.
2. Combine water and chicken stock / chicken cubes, stir in the tomato paste and bring to a boil.  You would like to put enough tomato paste to make it slightly opaque (not transparent).
3. Throw in the veggies and chicken flakes.  Cover and simmer.
4. Serve in bowls.  Swirl each bowlful with a teaspoon or two of pesto.
5. Top with black pepper, additional olive oil or cream if desired.  You can float a few pieces of penne (like I did), potato chips or a sprig of parsley or basil.

freebies: blog backgrounds

For today's happy thawt, I want to share some of the blog backgrounds I've made in the past.  This is only the first installment.  :)  Feel free to download and use them. 

Right Click the image to view it, and then zoom in to download the full size.

White Stargazers

 

 Remembrance

 

Butterflight

 

Swirly Lilies

Right-click and Copy Image Location; insert URL into the HTML code.  OR - install it the easier way:

Easy Installment:

1. Save the full-sized image to your computer.
2. From your Blogger dashboard, go to Template (or Template Designer, if you are using the old interface).  Click Customize to go tho the Template Designer.
3. Click Background.  You will see a box that says Background Image and shows a thumbnail of the background you are currently using.  Click the tiny downward arrow at the right of the thumbnail.
4. In the window that appears, select Upload Image.  Click Browse to upload from your computer.  Don't forget to Save.

I would really appreciate it if you could also pin my button to your sidebar:

<a border="0" href="http://miratemplen.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/9801/thinkhappythawtsround.png" style="border: 0px none" /></a>

More buttons here

Keep thinking happy thawts! :)
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constructing cruciverbs

It may not seem like fun to many, but I enjoy solving crosswords. The past few days were huge, satisfying servings of left-brain candy as I kept myself busy composing my own puzzles.

My screen shot of Puzzle #1.

Yup, I made my own cruciverbs. I'm not aware of what software to use for this sort of thing, so I drafted them in Excel.

I got my cue from Sandra Bullock's character in All About Steve. I wasn't able to see it at the cinema when it was released last year, but I lately managed to stumble onto it while flipping channels.

Image from here.

Sandy plays the quirky, goofy, hyper-intelligent Mary, who falls obsessively in love with Steve (played by the gorgeous Bradley Cooper). She follows him around and pursues a chain of unfortunate but humorous events that make up a romantic comedy.

Cute storyline aside, Mary is the local paper's cruciverbalist. I watched her manually pen her words into a grid and thought, "Hey, I can do that!" I recalled that I'd previously took a shot at construction using shorter words, and that I had a good, geeky time of it; I then became pretty confident I could make semi-professional / print-worthy puzzles.

Now I don't really need to get a job at the local paper, but I could do it for my own personal fun. ^_^


I've come up with two 15 x 15 themed ones so far; maybe I should get someone to test them. If they turn out to be as good as I think they are, I could perhaps share them with other puzzlers and/or send them to some publication.

girls talk: apparel and accessories shopping

This week on Girls Talk: What I often look for in the apparel and accessories section.

Apparel. Right now I've got a thing for leggings. I'm so glad they made a comeback.

Leggings are like that perfect pair of jeans, but lightweight, more comfortable and much softer. They can go for different degrees of casual - from overly rugged to smart-casual. They can also make your legs look skinnier.

What I look for to go with leggings: A long-ish tunic or babydoll top.

I don't think too-short dresses or skirts are appropriate for someone my age (and size, haha). Since I'm now over 30, I don't want to dress like a teenager. Throwing on a pair of leggings under a short skirt / dress achieves the right look.

Accessories. I don't normally buy accessories, since I can make my own (A good rule to go by: "Don't buy anything you can make"). If I find a piece I like, I'd take a good look at it, and then make my own version at home. It saves me money and provides an outlet for creativity.

These days I go for chunky necklaces, statement necklaces and / or large dangling earrings (NOT to be worn at the same time of course).

So this is this month's last installment of Girls Talk. Check out other ladies' shopaholism at Beauty Queen Gene.

Looking forward to our December topics. ^_^

creative week

I spent the past week putting together more wearables. I decided to exhaust what remains of my current stock of materials, so as to make room for the next time I purchase supplies. Prior to this week of creativity, I'd been whining that I couldn't come up with any new works worth selling because I've been wanting to buy new beads and stuff. Apparently, all I needed to do was to take another look at what I already had, and apply a bit of creativity.

I'm kinda proud of what I was able to come up with out of those "leftover" beads. I made 12 statement necklaces this week.

See the rest of them at

halloween doesn't have to be full of ugly, unpleasant things

I never really liked Halloween as a kid. I mean, I loved the candy and the partying, but I never quite appreciated a celebration that required people to look revolting. And those scary programs that the TV networks churned out for the season - I hated the way they messed with my head when it was time to sleep. I've heard a lot of Christians have written off Halloween altogether, preaching that it's demonic and pagan and so on, and that we shouldn't take part in it at all.

But I believe we can still have fun without celebrating the fear-fodder associated with Halloween. A party is still a party even without the vile beasties. There are a lot of wholesome costume options - for that matter, if you've noticed, dressing up as a something scary for Halloween isn't so hot anymore; the fashionable thing nowadays is wearing a sexy Hollywood-inspired costume, like a movie character or a celebrity.

(And you don't have to be a killjoy just because you want to "stay clean". For instance, you may have children who want to go trick-or-treating, and you feel like telling them to stay home because you want to "protect" them.  Instead of going heavy-handed, you can just host a party in your own home. That way, your kids can have their fun while you're sure everything is safe and wholesome.)

For this year's Halloween, I helped organize a party for a bunch of young twentysomethings.  While we agreed on something wholesome, the average age of our invitees won't exactly be excited about animal costumes and pixie dust. We came up with the idea of a Tim Burton themed party - it can be dark without necessarily being morbid, Halloween-ish with a sufficient dose of cuteness. A Tim Burton Un-Birthday Party.

Tim Burton is the producer / director behind films such as Sweeney Todd, Batman Returns and the recent Alice In Wonderland. Some of his cheerier works include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Big Fish.

Decorating ideas came easy. Spirals, bold black-and-white stripes, large checks, pinstripes and / or black-and-white polka dots.

Hannah's photo.

Since black and white were the apparent base colors, we just had to choose a bright accent color to liven things up. Red would make it look too emo, so we agreed on a happy, bright orange.

Since we were on a a tight budget, we just needed to add a few key elements:

1. Walls and interiors

Hannah's photo.

We wanted to completely paper the walls with pinstripes, but we didn't really have time for that since we only had one day to decorate.  A few fake paintings served well as wall decor. All I used were boards, poster paint and ink  A couple of bold spirals and are enough to create striking visuals. The lines didn't have to be perfect or anything because the crookedness adds a bit more personality.

The owner of the house luckily had vintage/ antique furniture that went nicely with our theme.  They also had a large, rococo-ish mirror, on which one of the guys drew a spiderweb design using a whiteboard marker.  (Sorry, no pics of that ).


2. Ceiling hangings

It would've been nice to hang lanterns, but since we didn't want to spend much on stuff we wouldn't use again, we thought of an alternative.  Pompoms are way more interesting than regular streamers, and they have just about the visual volume of paper lanterns.  Besides, their fluffy appearance softens the harsh blacks.

Hannah's photo.

I used crepe paper and recycled plastic bags, keeping to our black-and-white-and-orange scheme.   Pompoms prolly won't work with other Halloween party ideas, but they're great with our Burtony theme.


3. Instant "chandelier"

Bea's and Hannah's photos.

I threaded strands of plastic beads through the lighting fixture, and tah-dah! An instant chandelier!  I used mostly black beads and plastic "crystals".

This is actually a clever idea for any party - just switch colors to adjust to the theme.



4. Skellington Beanbags

Bea's photos.

They're not exactly "bean" bags since they're only stuffed with newspaper, but they produce the same effect. To make these, I just took cheesecloth sacks and drew Jack Skellington faces on them.  I was supposed to use fabric paint, but I noticed too late that my remaining paint had already dried up, so I used a black permanent marker. The bottom edge of each sack was gathered from the inside and sewn in place (though for some, the gathering was held in place with a rubber band because I ran out of time :p ) . I stuffed them, closed up the tops, and dumped them on the living room floor.


5. Table centerpiece: A Nightmare-Before-Christmas Tree

Bea's photo.

I found some dead branches and covered them with a layer of papier mache. I extended the tips with  lengths of wire which I wrapped with more papier mache, to give the branches curly spiral ends. I painted them black, then I wound strips of white crepe paper around them to give them stripes.  I secured the crepe paper with clear tape, just to make sure nothing unravels. I stuck the branches in a giant glass jar (filled with rocks, so it doesn't topple) and fanned them out to make them look all tree-like.  We then hung candy and more popmpoms, which guests were free to "pick".

I also made small, freaky critters to hang on the tree.  I used of cloth swatches, buttons and bits of lace. They didn't have to look so well-made; they just needed some stuffing and buttons for eyes to suggest that they were animals of some sort. It's really up to the guests' imagination to see what they want to see.

The bottom of the tree was decked with candles and bottles and multicolored teacups (contributed by the party organizers), and surrounded it with treats.


I didn't need to spend much money to make all these decors. I set my mind to a very limited budget and challenged myself to recycle, reuse and repurpose.  Guests asked to take most of the decorations  home; I didn't mind if they did because those things cost me next to nothing (and besides, it's nice not to have to pack the decors away).


The heart of the party: the improvised video wall

We wanted to be able to do a Tim Burton movie marathon until we could no longer stay awake.  The guys  rigged a laptop to a projector and a pair of really good speakers.  The videos were  then projected onto a bare, white wall for everyone to enjoy.



As for the costumes -

Hannah's photo.

Thinking of costume ideas was fun too. We in the "planning team" outlawed zombies, witches, zombies and suchlike. We asked our guests to be a bit more creative.

You don't really need to spend a lot of money to have a good costume; you just need a bit of imagination. As for myself, I picked out a black ballgown I wore to an event years ago, then I made myself a headdress. I took some swatches and ribbons I had lying around, made some rosettes, then sewed sequins to a bit of dark tulle to make a sort of small veil. I attached them to a headband,  stitched on a few beads, and I was good to go.


The food

We didn't have a large budget for this, but we just wanted to have fun.  Assuming rightly that most of our guests had other parties to go to that evening, we served finger food like spring rolls and cheese sticks, and the rest were mostly sweets. We ruled against booze and alcoholic beverages, so our "bartender" concocted mocktails with soda, juice, jelly and food coloring.

A good idea at any party: a lot of treats.  Cupcakes and cookies are always a popular option.

Bea's photo.

We decked the table with mismatched cups and saucers, then filled them with candy and jelly cups. I poured chocolate syrup into a bowl and surrounded it with marshmallows; I put a bunch of toothpicks nearby and guests knew what to do with it.

So there: a cheery, non-scary, low-budget but totally fun party on Halloween.  ^_^

pumped up about a tim burton themed party

It started as a musing what if.

Toward the end of September, I've been noticing how crafter-bloggers and foodie-bloggers have been sharing their Halloween-related projects and recipes. A lot of those are actually brilliant and easy; it made me want to have a reason to make them.

The thing is, I've never really been a fan of Halloween. As a kid, I liked the candy associated with it, but I basically had a problem with the ugly things. I hated - and still hate - how television stations mostly air spooky specials in October through the first week of November; I'd watch them out of curiosity but have trouble sleeping for days.  I also heard a lot of anti-Halloween teachings at church while growing up. If we were to have a "Halloween" party, we'd do it with candy and costumes but nix the ghoulies and ghosties.

A few nights ago my younger sister mused about holding a Halloween party of sorts, just for the sake of having a nice time with friends. We agreed, of course, that we'd have none of the vile stuff. We knew we didn't have the budget or the resources to pull it off - especially since October 30th is just a mere few weeks away - but we just went on imagining what sort of party we'd want to host.

We came up with this really cute idea: a Tim Burton-themed party. We thought it'd be perfect. It would give us enough room to be dark, but cute at the same time. We even conceived of a menu. It got us so excited, but within minutes we were deflated by the realization that we didn't have time to make it happen.

I tweeted my frustration over our creative idea that could have been, and lo and behold, I got the attention of two other friends of ours who want to hold a party too, just for the reason of dressing up in costume. They thought the Tim Burton theme was brilliant, and wanted in. To make the long story short, we got a few more buddies to ride on, we volted-in, and now party planning is ongoing. Whoopeee!

We agreed to call it a Tim Burton Un-Birthday Party. It's not exactly a Halloween party, but we'll be holding it on the 30th at a friend's house. We're thinking of meat pies (in memory of Mrs. Lovett), finger food and Beetle Juice. We'll be laying the treats and sweets on thick; hopefully we'll have enough chocolate to homage Charlie. We'll have a Tim Burton movie marathon and a few games on the side.



What we're mostly excited about is a reason to play dress up. I don't know what it is about costumes, but some people just love it, ourselves not exceptions. This particular theme is just a brilliant one to dress up to. And since we're serious about making Christ visible in our lives even at our parties, it was natural for us to uninvite zombies, vampires, devils and other vile creatures.

We're all pumped about this. I've been busy thinking up decor and costume concepts. We've come up with cheap, easy ideas that we can accommodate at our tight budget and even tighter schedules; I love how this really brings out the creativity and innovation in us. This just has a lot of potential for fun, and we're already having lots of that just preparing.

girls talk: going green

Whew! It was a bit of a challenge for me to find something for this week's GT - I realize i don't own anything green. Anyway, I finally managed to find something to share. I might be cheating a bit, but it's still all the right color. ^_^

First off, I live in a home with a garden (garden = green, right?). Instead of flowers and ornamental plants, we have herbs:


I love adding herbs to my cooking - they add that richness to the flavor and fragrance. I am absolutely glad that I can pick them fresh from the garden - not only do I get to save money (herbs at the supermarket are usually pricey), but I also have an option not to put unnecessary additives found in instant flavorings.

Among my loves in the garden are basil, oregano, rosemary and mint.

And while we're on the topic of green, let me share about my fascination for vermarine. It's one of my favorite materials when making fashion accessories:


Vermarine is a semiprecious stone, a mint-green colored quartz. Natural vermarine is rare, but the cheaper, lab-enhanced kind is produced by heat-treating amethyst (purple quartz). This here is a photo of a choker I made using unnatural vermarine and amethyst.

Find more green-mindedness at ...

cash out of trash

Yesterday, the Hubby and I held a garage sale. There was so much stuff in our house that we wanted to get rid of; instead of throwing everything away, we decided to sort the ones that were still usable and make some money out of them.

At 9 in the morning, we arranged our makeshift spread of used clothes, bags, home accessories, books, toys, kitchen appliances and trinkets. Customers started coming in even before we were finished setting up. I was so surprised that people actually came though we didn't even advertise. I guess a lot of people really have a nose for these things.

We made P 4k on our first day. Not bad, huh? Considering that we marked most of our items at fifty bucks and below (We chose to price them really low to attract buyers - and it worked. We weren't seeking to get rich anyway; our main objective was to get rid of the stuff we didn't want).

It's also surprising how other people could be interested in things we were ready to throw away. Like for example, we had a few of these glass pot-lids (the pots were long ago worn away) that were pretty much useless. A young-ish couple who came in happened to need a lid for their pot, and we happened to have the exact same size they needed.

We initially thought it would be fruitless, but we're really glad we did it. We were so glad in fact that decided to hold a garage sale every Saturday until we get rid of all our unwanted stuff. We also thought of maybe asking some friends to sell their used items too, just to bulk up the "showroom".

girls talk: something red

I hadn't been able to join Girls Talk last month since the Hubby and I were busy with some stuff; the topic was about movies I think - It would have been so fun to join, too bad I missed it.

Anyway, I think I'll have more time this month, so here I am with my red object for the first week of September:



This is one of my favorite necklaces. The elaborate red pendant is originally from a choker my cousin made for me several years ago; I decided to save it after the choker got worn out. I made a new double-strand short necklace - I was going for an antique-ish look, something stunning and unique but not too "loud", a piece that would fit in the movie Moulin Rouge but not so fancy.

The pendant looks like an intricate wood carving, maybe even coral or red jade. Upon close inspection though, you will notice that it's just dense plastic. The black beads are just cheap glass ones, but if you put them all together they make a nice piece of "jewelry".

I like wearing this with simple black tops - it adds a pop of color and personality, maybe even a bit of a mysterious, artistic look. I've worn it with ragged clothes, I've worn it with formal wear and it works either way.

My favorite colors are white and silver, but I love red. ^_^ Red is so full of vigor and fire.

Hop over to Beauty Queen Gene to see the other ladies' cherished red objects:

last weekend's project: gray-tone statement necklace

I'm quite pleased with this necklace I made. It's a statement necklace requested by one of my regular buyers. ^_^


Chunky jewelry, bib necklaces and statement pieces seem to be the in thing for accessories these days. I personally prefer not to wear HUGE celebrity-style statement pieces, but I enjoy creating them.

Making fashion accessories is a hobby of mine. When friends started admiring stuff I put together, I decided to make a bit of money out of it.

I like using stone beads, various natural and man-made crystals, and freshwater pearls. I prefer organic-looking designs over geometric lines, subdued hues over brights.

This particular necklace is a one-of-a-kind design based on an existing piece I made, but especially modified and bulked-up as requested by the buyer. In it are various beads such as gray agate, moss agate, snowflake agate, milky quartz, smoky quartz, Murano foil blown crystals, freshwater pearls, hammer shell, moonstone, metal beads and glass seed beads. I love how it turned out and was tempted to just keep it for myself (hee hee hee - I happen to like the color silver, and freshwater pearls are my favorite kind of beads).

A necklace like this would sell for something like P1,000 to 2,500 at the malls, or P800 to 1,000 at those Muslim ladies' jewelry stalls. But I sell pieces like this for P350 to 550 (depending on the materials used) - and yes, I still manage to make money out of that.

Besides, it's not really about making money for me, but about having fun making pretty things.

Visit my Multiply site:

i, night person

Artwork mine.

It's not that I can't function well during the day, and not even that I don't have the discipline (because I'm quite certain that I do) - it's just a matter of preference.

I've been told it's a health hazard to habitually stay up late, but i.m.h.o., it's only bad if you deprive yourself of sleep. In my case, I don't really have to wake up early for anything so I can sleep in a bit (I am totally enjoying that right now, because sleeping in is not likely a privilege that I will have forever, so I might as well take advantage of it).

I appreciate the silence and the cool of the night and find it more conducive for thinking. There isn't much ambient noise to shut out, no one trying to get my attention, no schedule to hurry for, no annoying videoke-ing neighbors. Besides all that, I have the laptop to myself and enjoy a better connection speed.

I've often found myself more creative at night time, particularly after midnight. I still am creative during the day, but after it gets dark and everyone else has quieted down, my thought processes are unobstructed and my mind is thus granted more freedom to explore. Which is why - though most of my activities are done in the day - I sometimes (just sometimes) prefer to write, pray, make accessories, read or do stuff that requires thinking after everyone has gone to bed (Like what I am doing right now).

"blog accessories"

I finally made some buttons (or badges) for this blog. I recently had a burst of creativity that had to go somewhere, so I made three - a good round number - and placed them here.

Design for one of three buttons.

I never thought of them useful before, but now that I've made blogging as my official pasttime, I might as well make myself a few, hopefully to get some traffic.

I was partially inspired to make my own graphics when I saw these sites. As I looked at the buttons and backgrounds and stuff, I thought to myself, I can totally do this myself - why haven't I thought of this before? I mean, make "blog accessories". It's not often that I find a design I like in the colors I prefer, so why not custom-make everything? This morning, for example, I was looking for a twitter button, but couldn't find one that matched the color scheme of my blog, so I decided to make my own:
I mean I'm pretty artistic myself, and I've taken a lot of photos that I could use as stock images, so I can totally make my own graphics.

And then I thought it would be cute if I could share some of the backgrounds and headers I made before and no longer use -- So here goes.

Those designs aren't my most favorite ones of course, those are just the ones "for sharing". I didn't include the too-personalized stuff either, because I was thinking in generic terms of what other people would like. I didn't include the grungy ones either.

Eventually I want to make some grabbable generic buttons too. I'm thinking of setting up an entirely separate site for all these.

I was thinking maybe I could "sell" my designs online, but thought what for? I mean, nobody would download my stuff if they can easily get better designs elsewhere for free, right? (And even if I put watermarks, professional "grabbers" can easily Photoshop them out) As of now I'm content with just sharing the love.

I seemed like a true starving artist just there, hahaha. =D

Maybe someday when I get arrogant a bit more confident, I could set up a site of sorts where I can sell "blog makeover packages" or something. I could team up with a tech-savvy friend or two who can do the codes and stuff really well, while I take care of the design end. Hmmm.. that seems workable. Just a thought. That excites me. Maybe someday.