5 Gadgets I (sort of) can't live without (plus a bonus!)

Hey! How has your day been so far? Mine? The usual - full of procrastination and really bad time management. Hahaha, just kidding.

I've been seeing lists everywhere on the web lately, and most of them are about gadgets they're addicted to or those which they use often. So today, I've made my own.

In no order:

1. Samsung Tab - This was given as a gift to be used for university, and I'm glad to say I've been using this for more than just reading PDF's, and making notes. The great thing about this is that it's 3G capable, so I use this both as a phone and as a tablet. :) It's been really handy, and though receiving a call from this baby prompts stares while I hold it up (I don't bother using headphones), all's fine.

2, Headphones - Ah, the purple, almost-never-bought headphones. Why, you ask? This awesome purchase wasn't planned at all, but when I saw this sitting by itself on the shelves inside a department store i Naga City, I felt the urge to buy it. It felt like if I didn't buy it, someone else would. Now, I'm not a shopaholic, but I DO know when I can or cannot let an object pass. So, with nagging my mom a little while she went shopping, I got to buy it. :) THE MUSIC IS MADE FROM HEAVEN. I LOVE listening to music with these. The bass just kills it (in a good way).

3. Philips GoGear Raga Player - My personal favorite and the longest gadget I've ever possessed. My dad bought this in Oman for me when he came home for vacation, a few (maybe 2) years back. I've never had issues with this, and the battery life is amazing. The songs are easy to locate and it can create a "smart" playlist which automatically plays songs of the same genre. When on shuffle, it plays your most commonly played music, so you won't have to keep skipping a song. I don't think I'm ever going to let go of this one.

4. Blackberry Phone - Another gift from a dear relative of ours, when she came home last year (or early 2013). It's been previously loved, and with it now in my possession, I plan to do the same. I've been taking good care of this phone, and it's been really great so far. I use a different sim for this of course. Lovely, lovely gift.

5. Nikon D5100 (the bonus - and the most obvious) - I don't have a photo of it (though you'll find millions on the internet if you Google it), but I think you have a clue about how much I adore this gadget. Dad bought the DSLR in Oman and sent it over for me to use in one subject at school that tackled basic photography. I've been having fun with this since last year, but I have yet to discover more of its features. The next thing on my to-buy list is a macro lens and a wide-angle lens. :) Just a few more months.

How about you guys? What are the Top 5 Gadgets that you use often (or simply can't live without)?
Leave a comment!
I'd love to hear from you!

Spring Cleaning in May

With all the time I have on my hands, one would only think how many sketches and other things I could do with it, right? Or how many songs and stories I could write before school resumes on the 4th of June.

Well, I'm pleased to tell you that I've (finally!) found the time (and discipline) to "pimp my station" (a.k.a. The Creation Station)! After a few hours of looking through Google and realizing how many DIY's I could do with the materials I have stored, I started fixing my area, starting with "uncluttering" my shelves and drawers and choosing which nick-knacks to keep or throw away.

I wasn't able to take a "before" photo before I began (drats!) but I DID take a few shots afterwards. :)

Welcome to... The Creation Station!
(click for larger images)

It's not much, but with us just renting an apartment at the moment, I couldn't really drill into the walls and plaster other things on it. (I forgot to make the piano and the guitar more visible on the photo. Haha.)

Here's a little tour:

1. The Jewels

These pretty babies are mostly presents from relatives and my parents, and only a few were bought by me. :) I think the one with the Eiffel pendant is from Oman, when we lived there for a few years. It's been one of my favorite accessories since the year we bought it, 2009. The image on the left ( the fish-like necklace) was my mom's, but then she decided to give it to me after realizing it's not really "her type". I'm guessing that if I placed my whole collection up here, the hooks would fall off. Tsk.

2. The Little Terrace

Aaaaanndd... the thread I used to hook this up is obvious, and fortunately, I could explain that it was "designed" to act like a separator. Hahaha! There's nothing better than getting away with an almost-fail DIY craft. I had to sew through that box (which I also made myself) a couple of times before I got pricked. I guess I have no more blood left in me since no blood came out. Har-har. I even got my little brother to hold the box while I stitched it up, but after a few minutes, he gave up 'cause his "hands were dying". Seemed perfectly fine to me! ;)

Take a look inside:

There's a story behind that ring. A pretty long one, too. Those USB's also have 16GB of space ('cept for the one on the left), but they can't hold even a quarter of all my files. O___O Any one else with a similar problem?

3. Other areas

I've also changed my table and made it more personal, adding a few of my drawings, and photos of my parents and little brother. I then covered it with a huge plastic book cover to avoid messing them up and/or spilling liquid on them. BTW, that drawing underneath the markers is made of charcoal on normal printing paper, so that added to the fragility of the whole design. I might post a solo photo of that artwork some time.

The photo on the right is just of the small bulletin board I created using used boxes just lying around and a few scrapbook elements. Can anyone guess what's behind the green flap at the far end? :)

Of course, I have my second favorite (easy) DIY for the day.

4. The Organizer

Heck yeah! Forgive my over-the-top reaction just there. Haha. I rarely do DIY's to organize my cords (or bits of stomach as I like to call them), but I've reached my limit and am tired of seeing those things laying about! Using a ribbon I bought from Oman and paperclips from the local store, that problem was instantly solved.

What sort of DIY's do you like to do?
Any suggestions to make my work area better?

Strawberry-Chocolate Cake!

Hello again! :)

It was raining sooo hard here in Naga this afternoon, so I thought I'd finish my illustration from the other day.

I'm not a naturally good illustrator with kid-type characters, but maybe my little blonde can pass?

No watermark or signature this time, 'cause for some reason, I totally forgot about it! hahaha! Blame the rain!

The brushes I used were textured ones, and the settings for the SAI brushes came from Deviantart.

Note: This was TOTALLY inspired by the strawberry-chocolate flavored cake (or ice cream).
Done in SAI for the most part and added the pattern BG in PS CS5. A little under 30 mins.

Have a great day!

How to Create a Bookmark (Easy)

Hello everyone!

I'm back with another blog post, this time, a quick tutorial on how to create your very own bookmark using Adobe Photoshop (or any other similar software).

The first thing I did before starting was to research for inspiration. A single click on Google image search brought up thousands of inspiring patterns, cuts, and palettes to choose from.

After seeing some samples, I went on to search for the standard size for bookmarks, which is 2 inches (width) and 6 inches (length). One of the bookmarks I have here at home was 7 inches in length, so it really just depends on what size you want.
Aside from inspiration, you must also have elements for your design, which means free vector/png/icon stock from the net. I got my background from Deviantart while the other elements I designed myself. Another useful site to look up is Kevin&Amanda's free font archive. I'm a font-lover, so this place on the web was heaven. Check it out!

With everything under the hood, let's get on with creating!

(click the images for a larger version or simply hit "Ctrl +" on the keyboard)

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

Step 10

Step 11

Step 12

Step 13

Step 14

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Step 16

Step 17

And we're done!

Hooray!

(Whew, it's my very first tutorial so it was exhausting to make! hahaha! It was still fun though.)

Tell me: Should I do more (advanced) tutorials in the future?

Emily The Strange: Piece of Mind

Hurrah!

I have finally accomplished one of the many goals I've set for myself this year, which is to keep reading books (no ebooks or pdf's)!
Last night, before getting a good night's rest, I managed to finish the fourth book of the Emily Strange series, Piece of Mind.

At First Glance
One of the main reasons why I bought this book the other month was its cover. It was SHOUTING at me to take a peek from one of the center tables at the book store! It had such an interesting palette, design, and texture! One sniff of the inside pages of the book and I knew I had to buy it! Here's the cover in all it's glory.

http://emilystrange.com

A Day In
Okay, so it was definitely interesting. The art and the writing style was very nice (I'm more of a diary-style type girl), but there was a problem. I haven't read the previous three novels in the series, and with every book being connected, it was hard for me to grasp certain parts. I didn't know Emily Strange's history, so it felt like I was immediately pulled into a very different world all at once.

Plot in General
"As the 13th Dark Girl, it is up to Emily to uncover the secret to the mysterious Black Rock that is connected to her ancestors' special talents. If she succeeds, she will come into her own as-yet-undefined power. But if she fails, control of the Black Rock will shift to a distant and more sinister branch of the family: the Shady Uncles. For the good of the whole world—not to mention herself!—Emily had better succeed!"

SO just to rephrase that, the book is mostly about the 13th Dark Girl's (Emily) journey to finding her own "black rock" and realizing what her unique talent really is. She goes on a journey prompted by one of her dead aunts to Seaside town and there finally fulfills her mission.

My Rating:


I rarely give five stars to a book, regardless of who the author is. This time though, I really enjoyed every page. It was like reading the life of a stranger but also a very close friend all at the same time. 

Highly recommended for those who also like diary-style novels and awesome hand drawn images. Oh, and the perfect smell of a new book.

DML: An Outing and the Flood

It was during the rainy season when the Ateneo Literary Association (ALA) decided to go on a Team Building Activity (TBA) of July last year. If you've lived in the Philippines long enough, you'd know that rainy season meant flooding everywhere, regardless of whether it's in the city or the provinces. The road to Ateneo wasn't saved from this. At all. On the morning of July 20, I arrived at school with this scenario.

This would've been quite beautiful if it wasn't the school road that was being flooded. Hopefully, the conditions this year would lessen (if not take away entirely). If this happens again (or not) I'll be posting updates on this blog come July of this year.

Anyway, it was on the same day we had our TBA at La Huerta. If it wasn't for the rain, I know I would've enjoyed the place more. It was a pretty little (quiet) restaurant with a garden-like landscape and a big enough function hall. I took quite a lot of photos there, and here I'll be sharing some of the nicer ones (I had only about 40% DSLR management knowledge when I went to this outing, so forgive me if the "nicer" ones don't even embody "nice").

 This little lantern was hung all over the place, which added a really nice feel to the room. Awesome. I wish I could've seen this place n the evening.

 Ahhh, these cute little jars built the interest of this big hut. It's used as the residence of the owner of the restaurant, as well as her huge art gallery-slash/work station.

 Admittedly took a few times to get this picture right, but I'm quite happy with how this turned out, me being a total "noobie" and all. When I get my hands on a Macro Lens, the little critters and other small wonders of nature better watch out.

Before heading home to Naga City, we were invited to the view the extension of the owner's art gallery (a.k.a. her official house). It was AMAZING. So many hand-made crafts everywhere! And the books - WOW. I could TOTALLY dig into those books had we been given a go signal. Hahaha! Warm, cozy, and creative are the perfect words to describe her house.

I don't remember exactly where La Huerta is at, but it took about an hour and a half on the jeepney before we got there. It was worth it. You guys should try the place some time, if you ever go to Camarines Sur in the Philippines.

Down Memory Lane: Dulo Vacation Pt. 2

Here are other photos of our vacation at Dulo, hidden in my laptop. I shall let them speak for themselves this time around.

How could I not take photos of "Footprints in the Sand"? Mehehe. :3

Visit Port Alfred in Dulo, San Jose, Philippines. It's a great place to just relax, enjoy the beach and the fresh air, and feel like you have null problems in the world.