The Water Baby

I long to be near water.  Sand squishing through my toes, the sun on my face.  Wild wind turning my hair into an unruly tangle of black.

Summer came and went and I didn’t even go near the ocean.  I had plans – oh boy,  did I have plans.  But daily concerns kept me from turning these plans into reality. And I am all dried up – I need to be near water.

The monsoons have started so that pushes my plans back a few more weeks, or even months.  But I will get to the ocean somehow.  And when I do, I will dive headlong into the white water that splashes along the shore, and walk on the sand each day I am there searching for treasures that the deep has left for me.  I will feel the sun on my face and let it leave its warm glow so that I can still feel it on my skin when the evenings grow cold.  And I will sit still, so still, close to the water’s edge and listen to the secrets the waves spill out.  They are secrets for me and me alone – little truths that will carry me far, tiny whispers containing clues to where I should walk to next, what I should say, what I should create. 

In the meantime I will have this

Three strands of the ocean’s tears around my wrist to remind me that my good friend misses me and calls to me and wonders if I forgot.  I didn’t forget.  It’s taking me a while to get there – but I'll see you soon.

Christmas in July - Happening Now!

I have a co-worker who, each time December rolls round, wishes that Christmas happened everyday. I like Christmas but having it everyday? Well, I don't think my waistline would like that. Not to mention my wallet.

But having an early Christmas is quite a treat don't you think? And that's exactly what Artfire had in mind when it launched it's annual Christmas in July event.  Where else can you find well-made, beautiful and unique handmade pieces like these

Stunning Necklace from Austin Leigh Designs

Rhinestone Cufflinks from YourTime

Aventurine Earrings from Artistikat

And it's not just jewelry.  We've got journals and bookmarks

As a journal junkie, these pieces from Modern Marbling are waking my want monster

Yummy soaps and bath products

Yummy Patchouli Honey Handmade Soap from Forget Me Not Soap Shop

Luscious Goat's Milk Blackberry Sage Shampoo Bar from Mr. Guru's Soapery

And of course, not only do we have handmade, we've got vintage!

Large roomy vintage purse from Born Too Late Vintage

Smokey Amethyst Vintage Vase with White Florals from  Refined Vintage

Just looking at all these is already quite a treat for me! And I'm sure you'll find something you like among the hundreds of items on sale now at Artfire.  Artfire members are really going crazy giving away gifts with your purchase, discounts, coupons and other deals that it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Check back often - I'll be posting more awesome Artfire deals all month long! Can't wait to see them? Then drop by Artfire today and see all the great items being offered.

With shopping this easy and fun, I don't think my wallet would have any problem with having Christmas everyday.   Now, to find a way to solve the problem with the waistline. 

Gossip I Like

No one I know wants to be talked about - especially if the talking is going on behind their back.

But being mentioned in this article on Entrepreneur Philippines Online is the kind of gossip I like.

Look, they even put up a photo of one of my rings

Did I scream? Of course I did -- the neighbors can testify to that.  And I think my sons think I'm cool for turning all those cartwheels out of sheer joy. LOL

And here I was thinking I was invisible. :-)

The Ship Captain's Wife

I met her many years ago - a young woman grieving over the loss of her husband.  A large wave had caused the cargo ship he was in to flip over and bodies of his shipmates had been recovered already.  We were called to help her find out if he had passed on or if he was lost somewhere, adrift at sea, stranded, waiting for rescue.

I remember the little crib that sat in her living room, her 3-month old son sleeping quietly in it, unaware that his mother was slowly shattering to pieces as each day without news went by.  Her daughter played with her dolls under the stairs, directing a make-believe play where the prince returns to his princess after having been given up for dead.

She had looked at us with such hope, and we had searched our souls for words to tell her that it was going to be alright.  The others who were with me said things that made her smile. I merely sipped my coffee and watched the baby sleep.

I could not feel him. Well, I did actually but only because he seemed to want to say something but I knew he was no longer here. I sipped my coffee slowly, I tried to find the words. They did not come.

Years later I received a text message from her. That she was still waiting, that she had not lost hope.  She told me about her daughter and her son and how they were growing up without their father.  She told me she still cries now and then but the moments between the crying fits have become longer and she feared that she was beginning to forget.  She said she could not stand seeing the ocean, but that she had taken many trips to its shores, listening to the waves for news.

That was many years ago.

She was who I had in mind when I finally finished this piece.

I had been working on it for some months now and for some strange reason I could never quite finish it.  I would start, then stop and start and stop and stash it away someplace and forget.  Then I would come across it and start working on it again.  But each time I would tear it up and put it away -- somehow it felt that it wasn't saying what I wanted to say.

And then the memory of her sitting across me from that dining room table, the glow of a small lamp hanging from overhead casting a shadow on her young, pained face, her voice eagerly asking us of news, returned.  I suddenly realized why I was making this piece and who it was for.

I wonder if she still sits and waits and hopes. And if she has found peace with the ocean and its turquoise and blue depths.   I ask myself if she still cries, her tears falling down her cheeks like pearls.  I also wonder if she will, forever, shroud herself in grief or if she has finally, after so long, learned to live again and be happy.

Four Letter Words: Pink

First blush
A baby's lips
A single rose, though silent

By  Sovereign Sea

Speaks
Of hope and life, of birth and beginnings

By Pigtail Creations

The tips of clouds in the early morning

By Sages Cupboard

A little girl's Sunday dress
With matching shoes and bow

By Nature and Zen

Come a few years, those lips will be tinted with a sweet pink glow
And a single rose will be offered

Still silent, but it  speaks
Of love's first blush, and promises to keep

By Entwined Vines

My Kind of X

In an almost forgotten corner of a popular shopping hub in Cubao, Metro Manila, sits a group of shops that seem to exist in a world of their own.   This location used to be a popular place to buy shoes in the 70s back when it was called the Marikina Shoe Expo and it was where the top brand shoes made in Marikina (whose workmanship can rival those made in Italy some say) were sold.  My mom and dad would take my brother and I there at the start of each school year when we were kids to get our school shoes and to pick up a few pairs for themselves as well.   It was THE place to get bespoke footwear and leatherwear at that time. 

I had all but thought that this section of Cubao had been torn down when the spanking new malls around it were built in the mid-80s and 90s.  I would pass it now and then on my way to work  and all I could see that was left of it were a few shops with almost nothing in their windows – the bespoke, handcrafted shoes and bags were gone, their day in the sun usurped by mass produced faux leather shoes imported from China, Taiwan and Korea.   

In recent years though this place has experienced a rebirth, transforming itself from the rickety, seedy-looking place it had become to a vibrant, fun shopping mecca for lovers of handmade and vintage.  Now known as Cubao-eXpo, the former shops now house a quirky assortment of art galleries, restaurants,  vintage and antique shops, shops selling holistic products, shops selling old, rare books, one of a kind handmade wearable art, repurposed furniture, handmade jewelry and clothes by upcoming designers.  This non-descript row of shops is frequented by artists, fashion designers, interior decorators and even movie stars to get first dibs on quality handmade and one of a kind apparel and hard to find vintage items. 

I could spend hours just going from shop to shop.  But of course, the shoe lover that I am I quickly spied this little shop called Beadlady that sold handmade, handpainted shoes!  There was a whole rack of them and you can even ask the artist to customize a pair for you.

This pair with the peacocks on them are my favourite

There was a whole wall of handpainted wooden bangles in this shop as well  –  I’m loving the ones in shades of blue -

And even handpainted canvass totes.  To one corner of the photo below you can see a rack displaying handmade earrings 

And don’t you just love this little shopfront display?

I picked up my first batch of polymer clay from this store.  I honestly don’t know what to do with it yet, but it will certainly be a topic for a blog post soon I’m sure.

Then it was time to go troll the vintage shops. 

I found old glassware

Old books and vinyl records -

Wouldn’t it be cool to get this large, red coin-operated phone rewired so it can function as a phone again?  And do you see that little sewing machine in the background?  The shopowner said it can actually sew small items.  Such a pity I can't sew!

Of course, I would never pass up taking a peek at the latest treasure trove of vintage jewelry –

I am loving that pearl brooch! And that blue enameled daisy pin. And oh – look at that  lovely bouquet with the pink rhinestones, I want that too.  Okay – maybe I should just carry the entire case out the shop door. LOL.

And then my daughter spied this pair of dolls. It was the day after the big Japan quake and seeing them up on the shelf made me think of all the little Japanese children and their families who were affected by this terrible tragedy.  

Definitely not the end of this post.  There’s a part two coming where I will show you the art gallery, the place that still makes bespoke shoes (my son’s school shoes are made there – just following tradition I guess) and the inside of a lovely Italian restaurant owned by a retired Italian paparazzi (for real!).

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this photo of Danica, my daughter’s friend, taken while the two of them were browsing  in one of the shops that sold all sorts of curiosities from all over the world.  I think this photo says it all about the quirky, happy, free spirited vibe of this place.