Colorful Days with Pens & Notebooks

Hello Guys!

Hm…So what have I been up to lately?  As I’m writing this, it’s still Ponggo’s birthday.  I’ve been very consistent with putting up a social networking ready birthday greeting but today, hormones just took over my life spending most days nursing the late presence of morning sickness in my life.  I’ve always been proud I didn’t have to deal with them until it said “Ha!? That’s what you think” with a nasty evil grin.  Pregnancy gives me a new funny challenge each week & I’m just so happy to have taken yoga classes before in the sense that I finally learned that there are some things that you just can’t control and that all you have to do is breathe!

By the way, I didn’t know that if you’re pregnant, you always get asked three things:
1. Is it a girl or a boy? – We will find out in 3-7 weeks 🙂
2. How big is your tummy? – I don’t know how much of an impact this really has on people’s lives. It’s a fun & funny thing though.  This is the moment when you will be obliged to show the silhouette of what currently looks like I-just-had-too-much-food-at-the-buffet-and-my-tummy-won’t-deflate.
3. What are you craving for?
Cousins: What are you always craving for?
Me: Chocolates
Cousins: That does NOT count! You always loved chocolates.
Me: Right!

So far, it’s all good & things are more manageable.  I’ve been cleared to exercise again which is just really awesome news for because we’re traveling to Singapore in August.
Speaking of, sign ups for our Singapore workshop is in full swing. 🙂 We will be at The Untitled Space on August 1 & 2 for a couple of Watercolor & Lettering Sessions.  You may sign up for the Singapore workshops here. 🙂

Meanwhile, it was an eventful week–literally & figuratively.  Aside from our birthdays, I went to the Stabilo Arternoon at Bizu and Moleskine Relaunch.  I’m actually thankful for times like these because for some reason, my hormones behave better in public.  It’s either that or I just get too distracted when I’m out and about, I don’t really have to focus on all the telltale signs on my body.

Months approaching my birthday, I was thinking of whether or not I should come up with some crafting event of sorts for my special day.  But with the whole pregnancy & hormones kicking in and my body demanding me to get ZzzZz’s more than I usually get, I wasn’t able to plan a thing.  So, when I got the invite for the Stabilo ARTernoon, I grinned, was this fate’s way of teasing me somehow? :)

The event was all about afternoon tea, desserts and the colorful world of Stabilo products.  It was also held at one of my favorite dessert places nonetheless.  So, how could I have said no?  I was telling my seatmates Abbey & Ava that my inner child was happy.  (Well, just to clarify, when I’m referring to the younger version of myself and not the CHILD growing INSIDE me.)  😉 These were the things that I’ve always dreamed and daydreamed of when I was a kid!

The best discovery that day was getting to acquaint myself with these 3-in-1 Stabilo Woody Pencils.  They call this their multi-talented product and I chuckled & joked that maybe because it can sing, dance & act (because I’m corny like that).  Anyhooz, seriously though, you can use this on glass, as an oil pastel and watercolor!  Actually, that same night, I ended up doodling on our glass wall.  I can’t wait to get myself more colors.  These are available in Rustan’s.  I really wish they had it in more stores.  I know a lot of people who would go crazy doodling & writing on glass!  Don’t worry though, it’s totally erasable!

We were munching on some cutesy sandwiches, cakes & macarons while being introduced to all the Stabilo products.  We all came to know this brand was a highlighter but this brand is so much more than that.  Aside from colored pencils, watercolor pencils (Yes!!), fine liners and markers, did you know that Stabilo also has a writing school in Germany?  They also have products that help kids how to hold their pens properly.

All in all, the day was a visual treat and I was so happy to have been unexpectedly greeted a happy birthday with my favorite Samba cake! ♥  If you love dark chocolate & mousse like me, this is the cake for you 😉

It was also so nice to get to meet the other artists again such as Nelz Yumul of WeWillDoodle whom I’ve been following for so many years now!  He shared with us some behind-the-scenes, his awesome folio and helpful tips such as keeping copies of your work so you can track your progress and being able to let them go at the same time so that you can keep on improving.

For more updates, follow Stabilo Philippines on these social media sites:
Stabilo Philippines on Facebook
@StabiloPH on Instagram
@StabiloPH on Twitter

Thanks again to Blaise & the Stabilo team for this fun, cozy & insightful burp day afternoon!  🙂

P.S. I’m proud to have finished the illustrations for I Wish They Taught Me Money in High School Book using some of the Stabilo pens & markers 🙂

I personally own some Moleskine Notebooks and they’ve been very instrumental with some of my favorite projects: from sketching some ideas, doodles which will be the basis for digitizing, painting some backgrounds, doing some watercolor exercises or backgrounds for invites.  You will easily find out that someone is using a Moleskine because of the rounded edges of the notebook, ivory insides & the ribbon bookmark.

I backtracked on my Instagram posts and didn’t really realize how much Moleskine notebooks have been part of my visual journey!

From Upper Left to Lower Right:
1. Doodling in my hotel Hong Kong,
2. Doodling at a Park in Central, HK (which is also the place where the Moleskine Asia-Pacific Headquarters is)
3. Waterski Doodles–my least favorite yet most effective position in my Plana Forma classes
4. The route for our Haiyan Relief Efforts in Iloilo
5. Watercolored Birds as a part of my submission to the Ilustrador ng Kabataan Thinkie Tank
6. Pencil Doodles as the basis for my Heim Interiors Digitized Illustrations
7. Wedding Invite Elements to be Digitized
8. Doodling in Tai San Pa in Macau
9. Washes on Moleskine Watercolor Notebook -used as a background for a wedding invite
10. Brush Lettering Work which became the basis for this post for our trip to Italy last year
11. Watercolored Orchids
12 & 13. Sketches & Final Versions of the Wedding Invite Booklet with initial sketches made on Moleskine notebook (with easy-to-tear sheets)
14 & 15.  Sketches & Digitizing Elements for a First Birthday Party Invite. *Whew!*

Moleskine notebooks are legendary in the sense that they have been used by the likes of Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso & Ernest Hemingway.  I also like the fact that they come in so many colors.  However, ironically, I just realized though that all the Moleskine notebooks are black! Hahaha.  I even caught myself buying a couple of them during my trips to Venice & Paris last year. 

Above: This photo pretty much sums up my Big Blog Exchange Trip last year: train rides, maps, snacking on the go & doing some brush lettering later to be digitized for my Instagram posts with the help of a Moleskine Notebook.

Yesterday’s Moleskine Relaunch was spot on as they celebrated the values of culture, imagination, travel, memory & personal identity. Above is a gigantic moleskine journey version of Abbey Sy’s notebook.  (Just check out the size of the telephone in relation to the iconic notebook!).  Hehehe.  When they were introducing the products, I was totally geeking out when they were talking about g/m2’s or the paper’s thickness.  The quality & property of paper is always crucial to my work because thin papers let me trace my previous sketches and are light to bring around while thick watercolor papers have different ways of showing colors once the pigment is dry. 🙂

Above are stamps carved by Dom Ochotorena.  Guests were also free to decorate their own notebook with stamps while treated to some yummy cocktails. *I’m officially missing the mini savory crepe with layers of cheese!*

Clockwise: Volant journals, another page from Abbey’s journal and the Peanuts Moleskine edition & the versatile Moleskine logo, .  Moleskine has actually collaborated with so many brands already such as Batman, Star Wars, Hello Kitty, Lego and very soon, Coca-Cola and Doraemon.

My favorite Moleskine collab of all is the Le Petit Prince because it has this page at the back that says, “All grown-ups were children first.  (But few of them remember it). 🙂 *Sigh*

The guests all took home something they can add to their growing Moleskine collection–a Moleskine Kraft Brown Cahier & a customized Moleskine Professional notebook which has numbered pages, detachable to-do lists and adhesive tabs for the cover. *Yep, that’s the purpose of those stickers that you always find at the expandable back pocket!*

Can you guess which color I got & what I wrote on it? 🙂 I loved it when Kerwin of Lifestyle Brands told the audience that this is a book that’s waiting to be written.  Now I’m excited to write & draw on mine!

Check out Moleskine here:
@MoleskinePH on Instagram
MoleskinFansPH on Facebook

To more colorful days ahead! 🙂

XOXO,
Tipsy 🙂

Related Posts:
Excuses to Buy Art Materials at Fully Booked GB5
Sennelier Art Supply Store in Paris
Happy Discoveries in Hong Kong
How to Make Your Colors Vibrant
A Colorful Havaianas Filipinas Launch
Seven Colorful Instagram Accounts to Follow