CALLIGRAPHY LOVE!

When I was around five or six, my mom called me to her room.  She looked upset and accused me of writing on our banister. I denied it, of course, and told her it wasn't me. She walked out of the room and pointed to the writing on the banister.  There it was, written with a black pentel pen: "Bunny".

Sinungaling na bata! Hahaha!

My whole point for telling you that story is this: for as long as I can remember, writing has always been my release.  It can be something as profound as poems, essays or short stories (I tried writing a book once but only got to Chapter 4) to something mundane such as doodling my name or writing a note for a friend.  I'm picky about my pens the same way I'm picky about the heels of my shoes.

I, obviously, haven't been writing as often here, but I still doodle quotes or song lyrics from time to time on the small notebook I carry around with me. It has been a dream of mine to always learn calligraphy so I can take writing to a new level.  Plus, I think I need a new hobby.

My friends and I joined La Bella Scrittura's workshop a few weeks ago and we had so much fun learning together that we decided it would be a good idea to join other craft workshops.


My calligraphy kit during the workshop

I thought I would immediately be good at calligraphy because my penmanship isn't half bad, but I digress. I'm used to writing a certain way and at a certain speed and it's just very different with calligraphy. And as with all things, practice is key and I have been doing drills almost everyday.  I think it is slowly paying off as I can see the improvement and difference in my strokes. 

One of my biggest frustrations in life is that I'm terrible at drawing. If you ever played Draw Something with me, you'd be able to attest to that FACT. So I bought myself a watercolor set and I am also now trying to improve my sketching skills. I also found a tutorial online on how to use watercolor as calligraphy ink (colored ink can be quite pricey).

 Here are some of the stuff I've done.

My output card during the workshop. I still didn't know how to string letters together

This looks more like my handwriting 



Wrote this for Argentina when they lost the World Cup to Germany

Recently discovered the wonderful work of Rumi, a Persian poet

My trademark daisy drawing

Please excuse my shaky fingers.

I'm improving, right?

 

 

I also need to practice more because my friends are getting married and they've asked me to write the names on their save the date cards.

I created an instagram account (@bunnywrites) just for my calligraphy stuff.  Follow me--only if you want to :)

SHE LIKES SHOES, I LOVE SHOES!

Like a lot of little girls, I would raid my mother's shoe closet (much to her chagrin) while she was at work and I would prance around the house in her heels.   I know some women who are obsessed with clothes or luxury bags, but I have always had a special love affair with shoes.

I was in 2nd grade when it all began.  School was about to start and my mom wanted to buy me a boring pair of shoes and I remember crying at the department store and pointing to these beautiful black patent doll shoes with 3 faux pearls bunched together on each side.  I pleaded to her but she could not be dissuaded.

THE BAD NEWS: My mom still bought me the boring pair. 
THE GOOD NEWS: She reminded me that I still had birthday money from my Uncle which I hadn't used. 

And for the first time in my life, I bought my own pair of shoes.  I had self-esteem issues when I was young but wearing those shoes made me feel pretty, confident and proud. I have more self confidence now but my affinity for shoes has never wavered. In fact, I've gone as far as putting up my own online shoe store in the now defunct Multiply a few years ago (My store was called Doll It Up. If you were ever my customer, holla!).  I closed shop because I developed problems with my shoe supplier. 

I keep at least 4 pairs of shoes inside my car (heels and flats), just because I'll never know when I might need to spice up my outfit or downplay it a bit.  My shoe closet is another story-- and my mother complains about it all the time because she says I have way too many pairs and could I please throw out or give away the ones I hardly use? I collect shoes the same way other people collect stamps, so--you know the rest.

I recently discovered this online store with a unique and great concept. And if you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know I very rarely write endorsements because there are millions of other blogs for that. But I felt the need to tell you about She Likes Shoes because I don't just like shoes, I LOVE THEM.

The mechanics are simple: Pay a Php499 a month subscription fee (you can pay via Paypal or PesoPay), sign up for 6 or 12 months and you get to choose a pair of shoes each month from their selection under "STEP 1".  "STEPS" are basically points and there are 2 other STEPS which features more high-end looking shoes.  So if you like a pair from STEP 2, all you need to do is buy another STEP for Php500.

This site works for shoe aficionados like me because as much as I love shoes, I'm a single mother with a budget that needs to be controlled.  For the month of May alone, I bought 3 pairs and I realized that I really should start disciplining myself when it comes to my shoe purchases.

I learned about She Like Shoes from Facebook and I immediately signed up for a 6-month subscription last June and received my first pair a couple of weeks ago. Pick your shoe of the month during the first 2 weeks of the month and you will receive it on the 3rd week.  Delivery is free, of course :)

Here are the pair of shoes I chose for June.  They're called Terpischore (means "delight in dancing" and in Greek mythology, she was one of the 9 muses and the goddess of dance and chorus. There you go, we learned something new today!) and I don't really like orange but this pair has that oomph that would put the fun in a plain outfit.  I wore it for the first time last Friday at work with my maxi skirt and I loooooovveed it!  I had 3 back-to-back meetings that day and these shoes made me forget how crazy my day was! All I had to do was look at them and voila! Instant joy!

My only wish is that they offer a wider selection for each STEP.  But then again, maybe 3 choices per STEP may be enough as I might be tempted to get more than a pair.

Their July selection is up and I still haven't decided if I will get the Cleopatra or the Miranda. Maybe you guys can help me with this one--which one should I choose? Or should I just get both? :)