PROJECT RUNWAY…

This last couple of weeks, I’ve been watching previous episodes of Project Runway. Unless you are one of the last remaining cavemen, I am sure you have seen or at least heard of this show. The show is pretty engaging as it has the elements of a real life drama--- tensions, conflicts and of course, flair and fashion. One talks of urban jungle and I must tell you, this show has some of the fine specimens of what the word means. Survival is the name of the game and contestants in the guise of respectable “designers and style makers” battle it out for a chance of a lifetime to have their collections sashayed in the runway.

As predictable as it can be, there are losers, winners, judges and the whole circus team. Oh don’t get me wrong, I do like the show very much, I really wouldn’t mind being cooped up in bed, espresso on one hand, whiling my time away watching it. If I have to define what my afternoon doing nothing means…this is it what it is…

To me, at the end of each show, Heidi Klum is the one that ends up as the sure winner. I am simply enamored by her. If you’d look as great as her after 4 kids, it undoubtedly would tantamount to winning the lottery 4 times over. Seeing her do the catwalk in vertiginous killer heels to deliver the line “Are you in or out?” is quite mesmerizing. How she actually gracefully manage such height with or without her bump, her pregnancy apparently hasn’t hindered her from hosting the show, is beyond me. I’ve been pregnant twice and 5 months into it and flat soft shoes where my shoe du jour!

One thing I cannot quite help but notice about the show though is just how vaguely familiar each of the designs were. Sure there may be some new elements, the designers’ personal take on how a certain dress is cut, nipped and tucked but there are familiar elements in it too. Pleating for instance can be done in various ways, big, small, asymmetric, diagonal, you name it, but at the end of it all, the pleating looks, well, just like what its suppose to look like---a pleat!

Certain form that flatters in 1960’s continues to be relevant in our present time if combined with the right styling, attitude and accessories. Even hippie pants, baggy trousers and shoulder pads had been coming in and out of the fashion scene. No matter which way fashion forecasters put it, there is some cyclical sense in the way the designs and cuts are churned out.

Didn’t people used to call short mid calf pants as pedals (short for pedal pushers) way back in the 50’s? And then fast forward to the present time, it now got a sassier name—Capri pants. Then I also just learned recently that these also go by the name Calypso or Pirates pants. Perhaps to avoid confusion, some fashion authorities did try to give a definitive distinction for these terminologies, but well, it does prove the point I am trying to drive at here, right? … No matter how much hawking and peddling and how very much abused the line “ This season’s all new must haves” is used, you can be sure that one design still is a bit of a reincarnation from the past albeit, tweaked and freshly styled.

Having said that, the one other thing I like of the show, aside from just totally wasting an uneventful afternoon in front of the TV or laptop whichever is convenient for me at the time, is the sense that if I don’t get the latest season’s must have, I really didn’t actually miss much.

That, and the feeling that I can actually still recycle past years’ apparels that now inhabit my closet, the ones I used to call “full of nothing to wear” and being able to wear it over and over again without looking like a total alien. On one note though, I still consider it alien if I see anyone still wearing full bell-bottom pants. You know, the ones people used to joke that wearing bell-bottom pants and crossing a river is a big no-no as the pants would surely dry out the river. Fortunately, this particular design had gone through a bit of make over, over the years too. In fact, this is now reborn to a new name –bootleg pants. One of the most flattering pant cut I have.

It does feel good and liberating having this realization specially that I don’t really have that much budget for this season’s must haves. Well for those who do have the budget to splurge then, that’s really good for you! And for those who don’t have, well, we can all just point a finger to Project Runway just like I did; we all cope in some ways hahaha! Have fun, fashion is not suppose to be taken seriously!

Reminiscing…

Recently, I received several friends’ requests at the social network I am currently active. Most of the friends’ requests I received were from friends, classmates and acquaintances from way back during the time I spent 4 years of my high school in my grandma’s place in Mindanao.

While my high-school years were definitely interesting and colorful, I cannot quite help but feel melancholic about this sudden reminder of my dearly loved yet often forgotten past. Work, career, family and other personal commitments caught up with me and had kept me from visiting my grandma’s place as often as I would have wanted. In fact, I have to admit that since my grandma’s passing more than 20 years ago, I don’t really have any strong motivation to make time and re-visit the place. And so today, I would like to take some time to pause and do as I do now, reminiscing old memories….

I spent a large part of my childhood with my grandmother. Growing up in a quiet, sleepy town in Mindanao, my favorite past time as a young girl was to day dream. Guilty as charged, I did have a Cinderella complex, that is, I would actually imagine having a fairy godmother that would grant me my every whim and desire.

As the eldest grandchild, well, the only child, in my grandmother’s big two-storey house, playing alone by myself didn’t upset me. My pretend playmates in the form of a rag doll, a well-loved teddy bear and a few other prized possessions—gifts from parents and relatives, along with my very rich imagination, were my constant, pleasant companion. I remembered long hours of fun in the afternoon climbing one tree to another, even tall ones like the coconut trees that surrounded our old ancestral home. One day, I am a princess in a beautiful castle, a merchant selling candies made of clay or perhaps a hunter inside a cave. There was never a time that I felt alone or even lonely despite the lack of obvious playmate.

The few times that I did have a playmate were all in the form of our washer woman’s son and having a boy to share dolls and teddy bears with wasn’t a pleasant alternative. Too much of convincing that my doll is not a canon ball is enough for me to relinquish my right to a play date, I definitely preferred being alone than play with a semi-sadistic, snot running little tyke.

I relish the time when I can happily sing and dance amidst the rain fall, thumping on sludge of mud, with not a single care of this world. Time seemed to slow down in the province back then and yes, we do sleep right after dinner and that would be about 8 o’clock in the evening.

I vaguely remembered the night time ritual just prior to dinner of watching any one of the soap operas offered by the only 2 television stations back then. I think the TV series were entitled Flordeluna and Annaliza. I didn’t understand the show and I would always wonder why grandma and several of our neighbors and house helps would discreetly wipe off a tear punctuated with silent sobs from time to time. The puffy red eyes were always a give away after the show and my uncles who were then the classic, naughty teenagers would tease my grandma on end.

Ahh, yes, back then, it was very common for neighbors to come knocking at one’s door to borrow salt or in this case, watch a soap opera on TV. Back then, I think people were much friendlier, more open, more loving….people simply cared.

My grandma’s town is right at the middle of Davao and Butuan City. To get there, one must take a bus from either side. You will know you reached the place when you could hardly feel your butt being there. Three hours of stiff sitting with very little chance of having unshared seats that allows one to a comfortable recline, is enough to get even the most practiced sentry guard complain. Back then, there were also few air conditioned buses so the usual travels to get to the city was quite an ordeal, a sure test of patience and endurance. Being a child though, I get the exception of being able to take a nap right at my uncle’s or any seat mate’s lap for that matter. I usually doze off the whole 3 hours of travel, which is a good thing. Traveling to the city had been one of the things I look forward to as a child although each trip had been far between. Perhaps, the travel torture was too much for my adult relatives to bear.

Perhaps it has been more than 20 years since I last visited the place, saved of course for that measly 2 hours I sneaked to get to Trento a year ago. I was out on an official reconnaissance trip to Butuan City with a group from Dept. of Science and Technology and a few other fashion accessory manufacturers and exporters. Seeing that we were somehow free for the afternoon, I decided to sneak out for a quick, hurried trip to Trento. The travel going there on a bus is far longer than the actual time I got myself seated in the old sofa still currently used by my uncle’s family who now resides in my grandma’s house. My mom once joked that traveling to Trento, we only need to pay an extra P10 fare to get to heaven. I’m sure she would be amused to hear me say this now; she has indeed gone to heaven almost 3 years ago.

Reaching the place, it was like being in a stranger’s house. There had been some changes to the house yet at the same time; there were several traces of the old. Despite the alterations, I do not resent my uncle and his family for renovating the place. After all, the house was largely made of wood and after sometime, wood materials, no matter how strong, tends to wither and aged from elements. It was just proper and quite expected that some of its parts would not last past 20 years.

Nonetheless, I loved the place. It was there that I first witnessed the reddening of the sky just as the mid afternoon sun sets. It was there that I have counted the stars only to get lost by their number or their glitter or to walk the rice paddies of the sea of greens. It was for me, simply a piece of heaven on earth.

Despite the distance and time that has separated me from the place; I am pleasantly surprised to feel the familiar warmth, the tender yet firm tug the place gave on my memories of years gone by.

Walking down the Aisle...

We are now preparing for a bridal fair. Of all the projects I get commissioned to do, working for a bridal collection is one of my favorites. There is something deeply magical and emotional about weddings and it is such a privilege to be part of one of the most important events in somebody’s life. Unless you are tying the knot under duress of no less than a high caliber shotgun, most marriages, as a lot of people say, is still made in heaven. I believe this because mine is. Ten years of marriage and I still believe I married a prince although there had been times when my prince charming has been a scrawny little frog himself. There is a lot of metamorphic process that a person goes through in marriage. You can turn a frog into a prince or from a frog, well, to a bull. And as for the brides, one starts out as a princess that will eventually turn into a queen or to that of an evil witch. What makes one instead of the other is an entire alchemy subject whose formula I don’t have. Sorry, but I am neither a self help guru nor do I pretend to be one.

While wedding ceremonies seemed celestial in nature, the whole preparation itself is more earth-bound than one starry-eyed bride might think. Often this involves a long, looong process. In fact, I have known of girl friends who dream of their wedding day since 5 years old. Others even keep clippings of wedding pictures to guide them through their final choices. While the entire ceremony in itself takes less than a day, the preparation in a lot of instances, takes more than a decade.

It is no surprise that one would go through all the lengths in order to make this one momentous event as perfect as it can possibly be. The details involved in the preparation starting with the theme, to the flowers, decors, gowns and what have you is just so dizzying. We rejoice with the many options available to the most discerning and even quirky, peculiar couples, yet at the same time, the endless choices can be too confusing.

How one finally decides getting a mint green motif instead of say, sage green is a long well thought of scientific or in large part “just because I want” process which sometimes entails a lot of heartaches, arguments, and disappointments.

And so, with this in mind, you can imagine how extra challenging designing for a wedding collection both for bridal accessories and keepsakes can be. Pleasing the couple as well as the extended families in tow is a major, major task. And that’s just the quest I and the rest of my team are currently engaged in. Talk about self-imposed stress.

A few weeks ago, we’ve met with no less than the force behind Mandarin Oriental’s “Our Wedding Proposals” bridal fair. It was a serendipitous engagement because we initially contacted them for our corporate giveaways and it just so happened that they were cooking up a bridal fair at that same time. After seeing some of our samples and understanding our capabilities, they gave our team the exclusive privilege to showcase the bridal accessories and giveaways.

Our task was to come up with bridal accessories and giveaways grouped into 4 themes. The themes are: Oriental, Filipiniana, Traditional and Modern. If I was asked to define what these were, 20 years ago, I would be dumbfounded. But now, I’m simply glad that my training and designing backgrounds are sufficient to give these themes a decent interpretation and distinction. I have attached here photos of some of our works.

One good feature we offer brides and grooms is our customized design capability. With a vertically integrated full manufacturing company backing us up, I must say that there is very little that we cannot possibly do. One has just to imagine it and we would most likely be able to execute it. One interesting project we did many years back was to replicate the exact same tiara worn by Ms. Victoria Beckham during her wedding. Of course, it was a one piece deal and we had to mobilize our most skilled artisans. Likewise, the cost of in-laid Swarovski crystals alone was astounding. But hey, one gets to marry only once (for most cases) right?

All in all, it was one of our grandest and most interesting projects we’ve ever had, likewise, we definitely had one happy bride walking down the aisle. I am not sure though if I can say the same for the groom who paid for the bill. Hopefully his little tiara investment is a good start to turn his princess into a queen.

If you are in the look out for wedding accessories and giveaways, you might want to check us out during the “Our Wedding Proposal” Bridal Fair at Mandarin Oriental Manila on March 20 to 21, 2010. Or call or email us to set an appointment with our ARTIZANS Bridal team at mobile no. 0922-8699911 or email info@artizans.bz

Little Loves

The holidays are not officially over till the Chinese says “Kung Hei Fat Choi!”. That’s Chinese for Happy New Year!

This year, we are celebrating Chinese New Year on the same day as Valentines Day—February 14, 2010!

With 2 special affairs happening on one single day, I can’t help but wonder what this day holds for us. You see, with 2 very active boys living under the same roof, every day is simply a day for new adventures for us. There is no such thing as a routine or boring moment in our household except, of course, when the boys are in school or if they are sound asleep.

As long as both are present and wide awake, we are all in high gears as if preparing for a siege about to happen anytime soon. I mean this in a good way of course :) I am always reminded of the energizer bunny commercial every time I see my little tikes doing what they do best… jumping, running and kicking around. If you have boys below the age of 10, I think you know exactly what I mean.

Mine are aged 5 and 8, and for me, this is just the perfect age for some top notch raucous! I guarantee you, between my 2 boys; they can start a riot just with their sheer combined energies.

At home, there’s simply no way of telling what might happen on any given hour of the day. It can be as consternating as our adopted feral cats scampering for dear life with my spunky little Karlo hot on its tail OR seemingly docile as mommy’s little trinkets re-born with a twist as our boys take their hands in designing, taking things apart and putting them back on in a totally different way. I must say, each time they’d do this, somehow, there seems to be extra parts that get left behind ready for a new project to be made. I don’t even know where these parts come from. If there is such a thing as multiplication of “bread and fishes” in this time and age, this is our home version.

Innocent, harmless pens get converted to rocket ships; cookie cans becomes valued treasure chests, clothes hangers to swords of knights and kings of York. Karlo would say he is the king and sometimes, the knight or even both and his older brother—Khalil gets to be the jester…Oh boy, and that’s the start of the real fight! And since I have time and time again refused to buy them toy guns, somehow they found a way to make it on their own, using papers and card boards. Origami takes a totally different meaning in our house.

Well, I’d like to think that being raised in a Christian family, Karlo is not really vent on mangling the cats. In fact, when asked why he’d chased them, he’d give you his sweet innocent look and say “I just want to play with them but they won’t have me!” Poor cats, they just can’t see past the danger of getting mobbed and run over by my 5-year old to realize his good intentions. And for my trinkets, well, I can rejoice that somehow my creative genes have wormed its way to my children. What a blessing!

With the 2 boys now able to tinker with their hands and their creative abilities starting to get apparent, no special event pass us by without getting something special from either one of them. Our recent treats were the ones they gave us last December.



Aren’t these just adorable? Whose hearts would not melt when given such symbols of love? The hours of hard work and careful attention is evident by the details they labored into each piece. My husband and I are just overwhelmed and humbled for the care and love shown through these master pieces.

And talking about love, I have included here the list of my 10 little loves which I’d like to remind myself over and over again.

They say, one can count sheep to get to sleep, I’d say, its better to count our blessings. This is in random order as I cannot quite decide which one I love the most.

1.)I love the smell of coffee that my husband brews for me almost all of my mornings.

2.)I love the feel of warm breaths as I wake up to a little jumbled mass of humanity, limbs entwined of our family of 4. The kids have their own rooms but somehow during dawn, they’d find their way into our room and into our bed.

3.)I love to tinker with my hands, creating things big and small. There is a feeling of exhilaration that I cannot quite explain seeing an object transform according to how I envision it to be.

4.)I love spending quiet time with GOD, with myself, with my family, with my closest friends, with my books and with my garden. I find it extremely important to find a place of refuge, my sanctuary when the cares and concerns weigh me down.

5.)I love getting together with friends and family specially those I have not seen for years. It’s nice to recall good old memories and then creating new ones for the future.

6.)I love getting presents specially the ones that clearly shows and represents the giver. I specially love the little gifts that my husband and children prepares for me. My husband is a genius in giving me well thought of surprises.


7.)I love challenging myself to learn new things. I remembered entering the working world not knowing how to type, much more use a computer. But then one month into a typing computer program and guess what? I learned! Sure it was hard as “old dogs are harder to teach new tricks” but this “old dog” is not beyond learning. No grand ceremonies, but I sure felt good inside.

8.)I love anything and everything beautiful and that includes music, art and fashion. I’m not really on the quest of acquiring more but I relish the opportunity to understand how society is transformed through these media. I like the idea that I have something to contribute no matter how seemingly little it may be.

9.)I love anything healthy and worthwhile, may it be in the food I eat, the products I use or the entertainment I indulged myself in. I like feeding my body and my soul with things that gives it life. I am not about to waste the gift of life and salvation that Christ, my Lord and King suffered on the cross for me.

10.)I love supporting a good cause and of standing up for issues and principles that I truly, passionately believe in.

There, I have more to include but these are on top of my list right now. And I am pretty sure that right after the Valentines Day, I have more to add. I am very much looking forward to it right now : )

Kung Hei Fat Choi and Happy Love Day everyone!!!

IMPERFECT HOLIDAY

It's the 3rd week of January and yet I am still reeling from how quickly my holiday break went. I must say, it just passed me by in a blink of an eye and before I knew it, it has left me far behind.

Whew!!! I didn't really have the time to catch my breath or to fill in the Christmas stockings. I have gifts still undelivered 'neath my Christmas tree and worse, my yearly scrapbook project is still unaccomplished. I have to admit that I just had the busiest and considerably the shortest holiday I ever had.

Before the days, weeks, and months add up, let me just greet every one a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Despite the holiday season passing me by in a breeze, I am proud to say that we had quite a remarkable and truly special Christmas and New Year celebration.

First off, my children Khalil and Karlo participated in their school's first ever musical play entitled Psalty's Christmas Calamity. The musical play portrays an endearing story of trusting GOD at all times and not depending on one's own might.

It was a rare opportunity for my children to perform alongside the Mandaue Childrens' Choir and be trained by no less than Maestro Dennis Gregory Sugarol. Yup, the very same maestro who has trained several award winning singing groups which includes the Mandaue Childrens' Choir and Cebu Chamber Singers. Mandaue Childrens' Choir won 3 gold medals in the 1st Asian Choir Games for childrens' choir, folklore and music of religious categories held in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2007. Later on, also winning the Grand Prix of International Children's Choral Music in Gyeongnam Province, South Korea.


Khalil was one of the 6 soloists and while he remains to be a reluctant singer post-musical, he did quite a charming rendition of Away in Manger and Silent Night during their school play.
Khalil, who has displayed quite an ear for music at a young age, prefers to tinker on musical instruments rather than work on his vocals. He loves to re-work keys and notes of songs on his piano or xylophone even without having the song books to guide him. Like most mothers who are extremely proud of their children, I am no exception.

My 5 year old, Karlo, on the other hand is quite the actor, putting to heart his role, memorizing even the other performers' lines. He truly is quite a darling to watch on stage. Karlo had a slight fever during the play itself, but it didn't stop him from giving it his best.

Secondly, we have finally found a home for our WE LOVE ORGANICS store. Early in 2009, our family had taken the resolve to live a much healthier lifestyle. This includes the use of organic, natural products in our daily choices. This in turn led us to discover several products that are not only organic and natural but have excellent health benefits as well. In our desire to share our discoveries with family and friends, we have decided to open a new business unit under the organic product line. For months, my friends and I had searched for the perfect place for a store for our new concept.

Finding the right place that fills a good balance of accessibility, safety and our meager budget was quite a feat but GOD whom we cannot out give, had led us to the perfect place---- The Orchard Cebu Hotel and Suites.

Hence, the usual Christmas merry-making was alternated with frequent trips to our new outlet watching over the carpentry work. Not my general idea of a holiday, but I must say, I found satisfaction in seeing my dreams come to reality literally piece by piece.

We finally moved in to our new store last January 4, the first working day of January 2010. If you have not been to our We Love Organics store, I invite to come and visit us. With lots of Philippine made healthy organic goodies to choose from, you sure can be on your way to wellness in no time. And with our products supporting a good cause, you can be at peace that you have done your share in building a better Philippines.

Thirdly, we have participated in a 45-day Christmas bazaar under the Christmas Village concept of Shangri-la Mactan Resort and Spa. We offered quite a nice do-it-yourself concept where one can buy the components from our booth and get the training from our sales girls/designers so that one can assemble the pieces themselves. To some, there's nothing that can quite compare to creating something with one's own hand. I know 'coz I do.

For those who simply enjoy watching how the components transform into master pieces right before their eyes, they may also opt to have their selected components assembled for them. I had a chance to man our booth on a particularly busy evening and while the bazaar was suppose to close at 10PM, we ended up being the only booth opened till midnight. It was hard work and I went home with an achy back and a few sore fingers (from all the looping and twisting) but it was a joy to see how much our design and craftsmanship were appreciated by a group of discerning guests of the hotel.

It was truly a worthy endeavor not just in bringing the Christmas magic to children and adults alike but also, because a portion of the sales of the Christmas bazaar goes to the Batang Opon outreach project of Shangri-la Mactan Resort and Spa. Batang Opon is the foundation that takes care of homeless, indigent group of children in Lapu Lapu City

Aside from the DIY items, we also displayed a few finished fashion accessories and bags. One simple yet charming lady was seen coming back to our booth day after day. Later, she introduced herself and requested to see our factory. We later learned that this lady happened to be the wife of one of the most successful heart surgeons and owner of a medical equipment company in the US. Their family is very well privileged and listed in the Forbes worlds richest. Mrs. Cheney liked our design, and while she had chosen to become a full time mom and wife for years, she got so interested with our product that she found herself taking on a new business, distributing our fashion jewelry in various countries.

What is more impressive is her vision to donate the entire sales to a charitable institution in Philippines. I advised her to consider Gawad Kalinga, the charitable institution which our company supports. As she quite put it: “I don't need the money”. Well, I wish more people would be like her. It is stories like this that truly warms my heart and makes me love my job all the more :)

And last but not least, I still managed to meet up and enjoy several intimate Christmas dinners, a few parties and get-togethers with family and friends that are closest and dearest to my heart. One good friend I happen to meet up now resides in Dubai and it has been years since we last saw each other. I truly enjoyed the evening I visited her for a chat the day prior to her trip back to Dubai.

Sure I didn't quite manage to bake my legendary (ahem!) Apple Walnut Cake or the moisty coco macaroons that my boys simply love, and I still was not able to by myself a potted flowering poinsettia plant that I have been pining for years, but hey a little change from the old routine surely doesn't hurt from time to time.