Was Gone, Am Back

I apologize for disappearing again.  I wish I could say that it was simply a case of life getting in the way but it was not.

I fell ill a few days after I put up my last post and had to reserve my energy for getting myself to work so I could finish an important project.  And then, my brother gave us a scare via a medical emergency (won't go into details as some of you may be squeamish but let's just say it involved a lot of blood loss) so that set me back another week. I have neglected this space of mine in the world wide web and while I could say I'll make up for it, I'd rather not. Each time I decide to post regularly, something happens and I'm unable to. LOL.

Being away has made me want to tweak this blog a bit so you might see some changes in the next few days.  I'm planning on redoing the lay-out and design (the yellow background is starting to bore me) and will be trying my hand at something new I thought up regarding the pieces I sell on my Artfire shop.  Also, I will be opening the blog to feature more Artfire artisans as well as Filipino artisans so that all of you can get to know  them.
 
By the way, do drop by Artfire when you have the time.  There has been an influx of great new sellers on the site owing to the $5.95 Deal that went up this October so I am sure you will find some great new items to put on your Christmas shopping list.

Here's a little something before I go - it's one of my new pieces in my shop.

See you soon!

Making a Life -- Not Just a Living

Hello everyone! Finally, a blog post after so many days of inactivity.  I could list all the reasons for this but I’m sure you will distill them into one  - life gets in the way.   That is why I envy entrepreneurs who have established themselves and their business enough so as to actually be able to quit their day jobs and focus on doing what they enjoy and are passionate about.

That is why I think this blog post is apt to how I am feeling. 

Today, I am featuring husband-and-wife team Che and Dino Villaflores, the duo behind I-Ra Bamboo Crafts.  I-Ra Bamboo Crafts produces beautiful, handmade lamps, candle holders, room dividers, and other home accessories from a material that is indigenous and hugely abundant in the Philippines – bamboo. 

Che and Dino are both artists.  Che is into film and video production while Dino paints.  It was this common love for the arts and a desire to give back to their community that served as inspiration for them to put up their business.  As a newly married couple living in Angono, Rizal, one of the art centers of the Philippines, they would regularly visit Talim Island and there they would see local craftsmen creating furniture and home decor from stalks of bamboo, a material abundant in the island.  Saddened by how difficult it was for the local craftsmen to earn a decent living selling their pieces, Che and Dino thought of putting up a business that will not only provide a decent means of livelihood for the craftsmen of Talim Island but also allow them to live a life close to their passion which is the arts.    

With not much start-up capital to boast of, the couple nevertheless plunged headlong into the project and in July 2003, I-Ra Bamboo Crafts was born.   Che and Dino believe in the Filipino artisan and one of the main reasons for their having built this business was to be able to show the world what we can do.

A fusion of the old and contemporary, I-Ra Bamboo’s products make use of not just the bamboo stalk but even the little bamboo twigs (or “siit” in Filipino) that are usually thrown away when the larger stalks are cut down so nothing is wasted.   Che explained that their products personify the Filipino of today – forward looking but ever mindful and respectful of the traditions and values that have been passed on to us by our ancestors.   The bamboo itself symbolizes the Filipino spirit – strong and flexible,  able to bend when there is a storm only to rise up straighter and firmer than ever when the winds have passed.   Their products have a unique look and Che and Dino have made it a point to stamp their design style on each and every item that their company produces.  Che said: “We are simple people --- I-Ra is an extension of ourselves and our family.”   Their bamboo lamps for instance,  look like modernized versions of the Filipino “gasera” (gas lamp) that used to light Filipino huts in old days.   Even their bamboo candleholders, with their unique organic shapes, are reminiscent of the makeshift lanterns made out of coconut shell where a wick (often a discarded piece of cloth or rag) is soaked in coconut oil and left to burn. 

  

I-Ra Bamboo’s pieces were sold initially at a shop in Greenhills, Mandaluyong.  Che narrates that  at first, they were not ready for the “technical” things that came with running a business – the permits, accounting, the everyday little tasks that when ignored can add up to monumental problems.  After participating in various trade fairs and attending seminars to enhance their business skills, the couple went full speed and their modest workshop now provides employment and a steady income to several talented and skilled Talim Island residents.  Their pieces are being carried by two of the country’s well-known home decor and accessories stores, Regalong Pambahay (“Gift for the Home” in Filipino) and Kultura (“culture”).    Becoming suppliers for these two large stores was a totally different game, Che says.  There was the matter of advancing funds to produce the items ordered, delivery and then there’s the payment terms of 30 to 60 days.  She says that while having one’s products in these stores can really boost your sales, one should also be ready for the additional overhead costs like rent, utilities, materials cost and other expenses that come with big orders.  

Far from the din of the bustling city, on serene Talim Island, Che and Dino are making art.  It is a unique form though – one that is steeped in tradition, pride of culture and a deeply rooted desire to be instruments for social change.  I guess I would call it the art of living fully.

(To see more of I-Ra Bamboo Crafts, visit their page on Multiply or better yet, be a fan of their Facebook page!)

Bead Trip

I don't think I should be allowed to go to a bead shop by myself.  I need someone to whack me over the head every now and then and remind me that beads and gemstones are not in Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

But how can you resist these?

I swear I could stare at the pattern on this bead for hours

My daughter has told me time and again that she would like to go bead shopping with me.  While her company on such outings is always welcome, I hesitate to introduce her to Steve, one of my trusted gemstone suppliers, for fear that she will track him down and warn him to stop setting aside the best of his new stuff for me.  The faceted amethysts and jaspers are his fault. 

If you want me to agree to everything you ask, ask me while we are shopping for beads.  My son knows this trick already and has been pretty good at squeezing permission from me to go out -- he first hands me a lovely strand, waits for my eyes to glaze over then asks the question.  I think his name will be added to the list of people I should not bead shop with. 

Lost for hours in a wonderland that shines and glimmers -- that was how my Saturday went.  How was your week-end?

Learning Curve

In the five months or so that I have been selling online, these are some of the things that I have learned:

1.  Do not forget why you do what you do.

When I first ventured into making jewelry, all I wanted was to make my own set of Goddess prayer beads.  As I said in my Artfire Bio Page, that little, seemingly harmless "experiment" has turned into a passion for making beautiful things that other people can wear.  I make jewelry because I love jewelry -- and I love them because a favorite piece always brightens my day when I put it on no matter how gloomy it is outside (or inside me).  I realized that I found fullfilment in making something by hand that has the ability to make someone feel good about themselves, to add a bit to their confidence, uplift their mood or simply make them smile. I make jewelry because it is a way for me to reach out to people I will probably never cross paths with and let them know that they are special and that they are beautiful.  This is why I do what I do. To forget this would kill my passion for this creative endeavor and could, in effect, kill my muse.

2.    Do not undervalue yourself.

Agonizing, this one.  Pricing is such a delicate matter when one decides to sell what one makes.  For me, the agony has gone beyond hitting the right formula to get the perfect price -- it has been (and continues to be) an ongoing battle between my inner critic telling me my work is not worth that much and the higher me that insists I am deserving of more.  Happily for me, the one that says I am worth it wins most of the time.  But it is still a struggle.  Does this happen to you?

It is important that we don't undervalue our work as it is a reflection of ourselves.  This has nothing to do at all about humility -- but it has everything to do with pride in your work and loving yourself.

3.  Your competition isn't who you think it is.

Who do you compete with? Who are your major competitors?

With the variety of tastes and styles in the market and the number of talented artisans that cater to each one, competition in the form of other jewelry artisans should not be my problem.  My problem should be creating pieces that I love and getting them out to people who I know will love them as well.  There are plenty of jewelry artisans out there but I no longer see them as competition -- rather, I see them as partners who will help satisfy a market segment that I can't cater to simply because what they want is not what I make.  I will, however, compete against myself -- so that those who like my work will continue to get the best of what I can give them.

4.  There is no shame in saying your name.

Having been raised in a culture where tooting one's own horn is considered bad form, I had a hard time finding my voice and saying my name out loud.  I used to be very shy about promoting my work.  Heck, for some time only my close friends knew that I made jewelry and to this day, only a handful of them know that I paint and collage.  I have just started to unlearn this -- and I am unlearning it fast.  It is not bad form to show the world what you can do -- keeping it to yourself and not allowing anyone to share in it is.

What's your name? What do you do? Tell me so I can tell the next person so they can say your name too.

Pie Story

Some decades back, an American couple were on a teaching program at the University of the Philippines in Los Banos, Laguna.  One of the members of their staff was a Filipina who worked as their secretary.

When it was almost time for their term at the university to end, the couple, thinking that their loyal and efficient secretary would need something to fall back on should she lose her post when they left, thought of paying for her to get classes in cooking and baking.

Well, a few months after she finished the course, the couple's teaching term did end and she lost her secretarial post at the university.  Putting her newfound baking skills to task, this creative woman took an ingredient that was easy to find in her town -- buko or very young coconut meat.  She came up with a recipe to turn the sweet, soft, white coconut meat into a pie.  Emboldened by encouragement she got from family and friends who tasted her sweet concoction, she decided to set up a small shop selling only buko pies.

What she did not realize when she first put those pies up for sale was that she would be spawning a whole industry that has put their little province of Los Banos, Laguna in the consciousness of every Filipino (and even a few foreign) gourmands.  She also did not expect that years after she first opened her little bakery, a hundred or so other bakeries selling buko pies would mushroom all over Los Banos and even invade some of the malls in the city.

As a child, we would take the hour and half drive to Pansol, Laguna to swim in the crystal clear hot springs and our mini-vacations would always be capped with a visit to the little bakery where this province-wide industry started.  It remains simple -- people say it is the same structure that was put up when the business was started many, many years ago.  Yet long lines of cars and people indicate just how popular this place is.  To this day, despite the hundreds of bakeries just like it selling buko pie, D'Original Buko Pie remains the Queen of All Buko Pies.  The original owner's children have managed to maintain the lightness and crispiness of its golden crust and the buko filling is still made out of the sweetest, most tender morsels of young coconut.  It is so good I could eat a whole pie all by myself.  My relatives in the United States always schedule a trip to Los Banos just to get another taste of these pies.

What makes this story remarkable for me are two things: first, the woman who created the recipe for the pie had no idea just how big it would be.  She simply needed to make some money for her family -- and she just put her new skills and creativity to task. To date, hundreds of households earn their income from selling buko pie and it is, as I mentioned earlier, a huge money-maker for the town.    Second, you never know what a random act of kindness and concern for someone in your circle can start.  The American couple's concern for their Filipina secretary was, in a manner of speaking, the flint that lighted that fire.  They just wanted to make sure she would be alright in case she lost her job when they left.  Well, to my estimate, she did more than be "alright".

How about you? How brave are you when it comes to putting your skills and creativity to task? Have you helped someone out just because you felt they needed it, without thinking too far ahead of how they would pay you back or if they would even make use of the help provided?

My Harshest Critic

She turns up her nose when it's not pretty enough for her and stalks right out of the room shaking her head, uttering several loud NO NO NOs.  She picks up beads and stones and insists that I pair this with that -- if I don't she'll pick up my tools and try to do it herself.

Drape a necklace she likes around her and she grins from ear to ear and walks around the house like someone on America's Next Top Model.  I once said she looked pretty and she gave a me a disdainful look -- and pointed out with an emphatic shake of her head that she was NOT pretty, she's "Gohjus".

When I look at her I keep thinking - Be afraid. She'll be two soon.

Four Letter Words: GOOD

(All the images in this blog post are from Blackbird72's shop on Artfire.)

You know you are.  You feel it.  Then it MUST be true.

Then the dream should happen -- soon.

Inside you it lives, despite the many, many, many times it's been knocked out. A little bruised, a little sore, it gets back up and insists on being born.

And yet sometimes you wonder, and many times you are afraid that what you are good at isn't good enough.

It is. Believe me.  You would never be given a talent, a skill, a passion, if you were not meant to live it.  It takes time though.  And many, many, many, buckets of tears.  And although sometimes you feel that you have cried it all out, you surprise yourself  by squeezing out a few buckets more each time disappointment and frustration blindside you.  And blindsiding you seems to be a pastime these little devils enjoy.

Sometimes, it just needs a little tilt of  the head, a slight squint of the eye, to discover how we are supposed to live it.  That's the way the Universe plays with us I guess -- it always answers our questions but never in the most obvious of ways.

But you are good at what you do.  Whatever it is.  And there will be no one like you who can paint that scene, snap this photo, raise your baby, bake that yummy cake, cook the best soup ever (yes, the kind with magickal powers that drives away fevers and colds), create this piece, hold his hand, walk your path.

You ARE good enough. Maybe even better than you think you are.  I'm saying this because I know.  I'm saying this because I feel what you feel - too often for my own comfort.  I'm saying this because maybe, by saying it, it will send out a ripple of hope and tiny sliver of strength to get you through those days when the sun just refuses to come up.

Just BELIEVE.

Shopping Sunday

One of the things I like about Sundays is that I get to go to the organic market that sets up shop a few minutes away from where I live.

First stop, the veggie and fruit stall to get our week's supply of greens

A few steps away are the fruit stalls

 where I fill up my market bag with these sweet, golden ripe mangoes










and pick up a few green ones -  tart but yummy made into a salad with fresh tomatoes, onions and a splash of fish sauce and eaten with grilled fish.

 Then it's off to see the nice man who sells the most delicious whole wheat pandesal --  large buns the size of small saucers that we usually eat for breakfast, warm with sweet, fresh butter, a cup of rich, dark brewed barako coffee to wash the sleepiness away.

Today he told me that my favorite white cheese is available so we hurry over the the stall that sells it -- you have to hurry because it only takes a few minutes for shoppers to snap up the available stock.

I guess mangoes are really on my list -- I picked up a few tubs of mango yoghurt too.

A quick browse through the section selling plants refreshes me despite the hot, humid weather.

And I could not resist picking up a few of these darling ground orchids -- I already planted them in the little corner just by our front door, a cheery welcoming committee to all who enter.

There were stalls selling vintage items like this little teacup --







Woven baskets and colorful capiz windchimes  made a pretty picture grouped together

 And sundresses paraded in a burst of bright color

I was delighted to find a stall that sold bags made out of flour sacks -- I had been searching for these for the longest time and I could not resist purchasing a couple

There were rows and rows of native preserves -- not the sweet kind, but rather the savory sort for dipping. 

These bottles contain fermented fish and fillets of milkfish drowned in olive oil.

And these beautifully packaged ones hold vinegar spiced with red, hot chilis, onions, ginger and kernels of whole black pepper.  Don't you just love the woven packaging on that bottle!!!???

A trip to the organic market would never be complete without the purchase of the "contraband" --- pork rinds deep fried to a crisp, a thick layer of fat still clinging to the skin and plump garlic sausages from Vigan (a town in the northern part of the province of Ilocos).   My mother would have a hard time hiding this from my dad.

We pass on the dried fish -- but the display was so pretty I could not resist snapping a photo

A search for my hubby found me in the area where the food stalls are set up, a sheepish grin on his face, a plate of freshly grilled tuna belly and garlic rice set before him.

And that is one thing I like about Sundays.

Beginning

As a child, I had always loved to create with my hands. Scrap paper and colorful magazine pages were turned into collages, bits of cloth were fashioned into trinkets, a couple of stray buttons became a pair of earrings. In time, I taught myself how to make soap from scratch and spent many hours mixing and curing the silky, fragrant bars. Later on, I learned how to draw with soft pastels and filled sketchbooks with all sorts of drawings.

Working with my hands and creating something out of the mundane and otherwise forgotten scraps of life transports me to another world where there is no hurry, no deadline, no evaluation report. A world where breathing becomes easier and more natural, where time stops and there is only me and my hands weaving, sewing, beading, drawing - making manifest the visuals in my head and in my heart, visuals that my world in the daytime could never understand.

Sitting down to make something is my own little room where I can lock the door behind me and just BE. It is, in a way, an escape, but it is also an adventure and a journey of discovery, of diving deep into who I am and what I am becoming.

Rain Dance

This morning I woke up to the sound of rain pattering on the roof. After a long, dry, extremely hot summer, it was a welcome sound.  I got up to find the world celebrating the passing of another season and the start of a new one.

Grey skies could not stop the party.  The little lime tree that grows in front of our house donned it's green robe to celebrate.

 
Little puddles created by the rain in the hollows of stepping stones in the garden came alive with the color from chips of colored pebbles that were deposited there by many a footstep coming to and fro.

And a patch of clover that grows wild in the backyard came to the party wearing all its jewelry.

My mother's large ferns were sleek and shiny with the wet, wet rain.  All of them, like all of us in the house, heaved a sigh of relief.

Through all this there was one who mourned the passing of summer.  The little red scooter,  stood in a far, forgotten corner of the yard. Abandoned hastily as the first few drops fell, she stands waiting for sunshine again and for my niece who was her best friend all summer long.