My Paper Empire

You can leave me at the entrance of the bookstore and you'll find me at the paper and notebook sections at the end of the day. You can lock me up inside the bookstore overnight and I'll present to you my art projects the following morning. I love paper. I know the world calls for less cutting of trees, less garbage, less carbon, and to recycle. But I'm sorry, tree, I'm such a big fan of your bark.

I'm a fan of Peter Pauper Press, Moleskine, Schutzen, and anything fancy-looking notebooks and planners. I love Post Its and stick-on notes, even the "colored yellow pads". Back when I was in grade school, I collected all sorts of stationery sets, from Walt Disney to Sanrio, Lisa Frank to what have you. Exchanging stationery sets was probably my first lesson in trading and exchange deals. To give up something to make room for a new one... These days, I wonder if kids still carry with them a thick folder of stationery sets and exchange with their sisters and friends. I hardly see kids do the usual stuff we did back then, not even playing tumba patis.

I guess this paper empire I've been trying to imagine myself doing in the next quarter of my life relates to my childhood memories which I wish to share with kids these days, or to the kids within us.

My first serious attempt in building my paper empire is designing notepads.The first batch of my notepads were sold out to the biggest fans of my designs, my best friends. Hehe! They, like me, love to write--whether about the story of their lives, or their dreams, or how they are now living their dreams, or letters, or even just the daily list of things to do at work. Thanks, my dear friends! And don't forget to recycle! :p

Notepads by Tepsilog

Mini (4x5) at P150

Medium (5.25x7) at P200

Big (6x8) at P250

More designs are coming, so do watch out! You can also have yours custom-made for unique and exclusive use.

Pop!

In this era of emails, chats, and blogs, paper becomes inconvenient, primitive, and most of all, environment unfriendly. Writing love letters, sending greeting or post cards, visiting the post office, collecting and exchanging candy-colored stationeries with friends and sisters seem to have lost its value now that communication and hobbies mostly revolve around the computer and mobile technology these days.

My best friends and I use our e-group to catch up with out distant lives. I agree that exchanging emails bring us together more often than our meet ups and bonding moments. Living in different cities and different parts of the world, our e-group has become our meeting place at our own convenient time. It saves us from travelling--all the way to the post office and back. I haven't even been to a post office for a very loooong time.

Home for the holidays. Catching up with my best friends Jessica, Giella, Franny and Jaira.

Emails, chats, and unli-calls are by far the most convenient ways to communicate with distant friends or relatives. But I believe that the reaction and the rush of emotions when you actually receive something from the mail is a thrilling experience. I remember receiving a musical greeting card from a friend in Houston. I was amazed because he took time to write, not to mention the effort in picking out a pretty card that plays "Walking on Sunshine" when you open it. Then there's also one time I decided to surprise my boyfriend with a gift. Everyday I would write in my small notebook--thoughts, letters, notes, prayers--while he was away. I filled the first few pages and left the rest of the notebook empty for him to fill in and hopefully send back to me. I mailed it through a courier company, and so the next day he got it. He totally appreciated the gift and the effort which made me feel the value of going an extra mile to send special somethings as compared to simply emailing them.

Which gave me another idea of sending something delightful to friends and loved ones just to break the routines and add some element of surprise: Pop-up!

Summer Blooms pop-up card

My Garden, My Stage pop-up card

The Magic Ride pop-up card

Stop and Smell the Flowers pop-up card

Free Whaley pop-up card

I Come in Fish pop-up card

Party Animals pop-up card

Flower Power pop-up card

Spongebob and Patrick in Disguise pop-up card

Baby's Day Out pop-up card

Blooms pop-up card

Just a thought. I wonder how Hallmark still survives the electronic age...coz I wanna build my paper empire too, hahahaha!

God bless, Niña!

Niña's christening fell on a Sunday, a wonderful day to finally welcome her to the Christian world. I was one of her godparents, whose role would be to guide and mentor her as she grows in faith. 

The invitation I designed for Niña's baptism.

Mommy Tina, Daddy James, and Baby Niña after the Baptism Ceremony.

Mommy Tina was my high school classmate. We got much closer during our LiaComm days back in College. We would watch her swimming practice in the afternoon (an excuse to check out and study her male teammates' anatomy..hehehe.) We loved her mom's fettuccine and will, certainly, always do. She pursued Law right after graduation, and will soon be taking her Bar exams. Meanwhile, she devotes her time to her new work and, yes, her new family.

Tope, Vanessa, Tiffany, and Ellen... all smiles for the sumptuous lunch at Tina's place.

Oops! Sorry, I missed the food photos. I was too excited to eat that I forgot all about food documentation. Two words: Yum, Yum!

The pretty ninangs, me, ellen, tiffany, vanessa, enjoying a short photo opp. Cupcakes were made by Frances Jingco. Souvenirs by Tepsilog. 

White and pink motif for Niña's baptism.

Souvenirs all boxed up! Personalized candles for the godparents, and rosary bracelets (which my mom made) for all the guests.

 I am happy to have been part of Niña's christening, more so to be a part of her life.  May God bless her with abundance of joy, love and peace.

Personalized Candles

Personalized candles add a touch of style and inspiration whether you want to brighten up your friend's day with a gift, or warm up an intimate get-together, or lighten up your heart with a little prayer. Make ordinary days warm and special with something from the heart. ♥


I made these candles for my friend who asked me to do something personalized for her baby's christening souvenirs. After a while of brainstorming, we came up with personalized candles. So I bought some vigil and votive candles, stamped a design on it, added decorative flowers, and pinned the beads and pearls.

The Niña Collection

The Tepsilog Series

Tepsilog is derived from Tapsilog which is a popular  Filipino combo-meal of tapa (dried or cured beef), sinangag (garlic-fried rice), and itlog (fried egg) primarily served during breakfast. But I usually enjoy eating it after I've had several drinks--before heading home to sleep, and waking up with a hang over (which by the way is very occassional, hahaha). 

There are other -silog combos, like hotsilog (hotdog), cornsilog (corned beef), tosilog (tocino), longsilog (longganisa). chosilog (chorizo), spamsilog (Spam), etc... Oh, speaking of other combos, here's one thing I learned today, Pakaplog--a combination of pandesal, kape (coffee), itlog--which sounds a bit funny because kaplog in our dialect means prostitute.  "Hey, try the pakaplog in the plaza!" hahahaha, kidding.

Anyway, Tepsilog is not about food however (or perhaps not so much about it as I love to eat too). This is not about breakfasts either because I, being a nocturnal, miss a lot of breakfasts in my life and will probably miss some more in the future. Just like I did today.

But like this combo-meal, I love crazy combinations and accidental perfection. I like to play around with words, ideas, things, paper, colors, mess, this and that and whatever... When I do my art and crafts, I am like a child at play. I love things in random. Staring at patterns. Counting lines. Skip-counting lines. Invent colors. Etcetera.

I'm sharing with you the Tepsilog Series. When I was learning the photoshop and digital illustrations, I was able to come up with these.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

Breakfast in Bed

Easter Egghunt

Eggxhausted

Egg Relay

Eggplant

Had enough of eggs? Haha, there's more to come.