Whirlwind of a Week

It was a whirlwind of a week last week...deadlines and an event over the weekend = No sleep, incommunicado, fatigue and crying spells (yes, I cry when I am so tired I want to rest but cannot, wouldn't you?).  It's far from over mind you, this week is just as filled although not as frantic.  I like to think it is well worth it and my efforts at planting the seeds will bear fruit down the road (and it better be soon, haha).

All this work, but where is the money?? It seems like I am constantly and endlessly being chased by bills to pay, unending home expenses, confronted by new things to invest into marketing and improving my work.  "I will get over that bump soon!" I like to tell myself.  And I believe it.  It is why I cannot stop and constantly push myself to work, work and get things crossed off that long list.  And I know that long list will get even longer the more people I connect with, it's a good problem I'd like to have.   That's my goal, isn't it? Now if only the day could last like 48 hours instead of 24 and I did not have to be plagued by insistent upper back and neck aches.

The highlight of the week was a wedding fair I had the chance to be part of through partnership with Thunderbird Resorts for their booth at the Themes and Motifs Wedding Expo at SMX in Mall of Asia.  I was tasked to create a piece of artwork that would be sent to a silkscreener and that would be used as a backdrop for the booths of their two resorts (Binangonan, Rizal & Poro Point, La Union).

Too bad though, the silkscreen makers here in the Philippines kinda "suck" at silk screening (or maybe there is a good one but we haven't found them yet, suggestions anyone?)  and they could not accommodate the large scale design (to cover the back wall).  So my artwork was not used as backdrop, but it wasn't put to waste though because I had used it to create the table place cards, menu, table seat numbers and label cards.

These are the mood boards I put together (just click to enlarge):

The artwork was all hand-drawn, imported into Illustrator and then colored digitally in Photoshop.

And here are the wonderful photos from the actual event itself (photo credits: Jocelyn Alberto-Henares)

This is the set-up for the Poro Point booth:

 

Beautiful, elegant set-up by Royal Flower Shoppe

 Of course, here are the menu, place cards, table 

cards I designed.  Love seeing them in print!  

 Cake design by Cake Concepts

That's an actual soon-to-be wed talking to 

me about my album artwork, so exciting!

Here is the set up for the Rizal booth:

Menu card, place cards and table cards designed by me :)

Gorgeous flowers by the Royal Flower Shoppe

Cake provided by Cake Concepts, see how they adapted my doodles 

and used it all around the cake, I was pleasantly surprised!

Sample cakes from Cake Concepts, I just love the 

flour-less chocolate cake!!! Super yummy!

All-in-all, it was a good event for me, no on-the-spot bookings but definitely a lot of interest generated + quite a good number of we will definitely get in touch with you to do our wedding album because we love your work! Yay! Of course, these are for weddings happening next year or the year after.  It's a good start for 2011 and 2012, definitely something to look forward to.

How was your week?

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A Perfect Combination

She's a journalist by day and a designer the rest of the time, writing skill + visual skill = CREATIVE AWESOMENESS! Whoa!  Now that is quite a Perfect Combination.  That my dear readers is what my friend Rachelle has.  She is one multi-talented gal who manages to always make me smile with her wit and whose designs I always look forward to seeing.

Some of you know her as Rachness Designs or by her blog name Doodelle.  From now on, her designs will be known as Designs by Doodelle, I guess some people did not seem to associate her design name with her blog name, tee hee.  I love the new name Rach! 

Rachelle is the Featured Designer over at MScraps for the month of September.  Okay, I know this post is a little late and we're halfway into September, but you've still got another 2 weeks to head on over there and grab any of Rachelle's kits at 20% OFF.

For the entire month of September, Rachelle's special offer is a 20% OFF discount for any purchase of her products worth 5$ and above. You just need to use the coupon code you see in the graphic Rachelle made below.
 

And when you sign up for the MScraps Newsletter, you get the free mini-kit Rachelle used to create the graphic above - its called "Bloom"

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We were talking about Perfect Combination's awhile ago and what perfect timing to be able to use this kit for the perfect combination's in our life.

 

 This Element Pack can also be purchased separately.

 

Rachelle loves coffee and dark chocolate (mmmm, I totally agree with her there), curling up in bed with a good horror book and big fluffy pillows.  I happen to think that Rachelle's writing + designing skills are a perfect combination.

My Aunt Agnes and Uncle Dennis are to me, a perfect combination.  Their daughter Joy seems to be following in their footsteps with her perfect combination.  I love the combination of "kesong puti" (white goats cheese) with "pandesal" ( a type of Filipino bread that's slightly sweet and baked as small, oval loaves, from the Spanish pan de sal, meaning 'bread of salt') - mmm....perfect! I'm getting hungry...

Pom's perfect combination is narrated so well in her lovely LO.  (Hint: Something for you over at her blog).

My layout below. This is a photo my sister sent me, I always love Father + Child photos, there is a quality about it that just tugs my heart...maybe its because we grew up without our father in our lives... this is one that is just too precious:

And that layout is my Perfect Combination gift for you to use for those perfect combination's in your life...

Download: Perfect Combination QP Freebie.

Have a happy weekend ahead!

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A Kiddie Wall Mural

Here is a wall mural I'm currently making...it's a FJ Cruiser and a Mini Cooper...it's for a child's room, and he is just crazy about cars..so cute :)

Do you see how big the cars are? Practically the whole wall for the FJ Cruiser.  Not quite done yet, but almost there, I'm quite excited to see the look on his face.

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