Roses and Orchids – a commission

January 24, 2023October 1, 2023

One of the perks of participating in Stickercon MNL is getting commissions. One person wanted me to create a painting of roses and orchids, and to layout this into a prescription pad. Yes, she’s a doctor! I created two artworks and gave her layout options for the pad:

Its a good thing that one of my former officemates have started a printing business. So most of my products are produced by her, even if she lives in Lucena, Quezon Province. The fact that I can trust her is wayyyy more important than the cost of having my artwork stolen.

After the prescription pad, she loved it and asked if we can produce this as stickers and calendars. Why not?! It was initially around 50pcs but changed it to 200pcs a few days later. Thankfully Ate Sheila accommodated my order!

Overall, it was a wonderful experience. I got to produce my artworks in different products. The client is wonderful and is supportive of my creative endeavors. Here’s to hoping for more projects in the future!

StickerCon MNL 2022

January 10, 2023October 1, 20231 Comment

Our 4th StickerCon MNL experience as January Makers PH. It feels familiar and new at the same time. StickerCon MNL 2022 had a new venue – White Space Manila. We had a member shuffle – Monique opt out this time. Aira (@airadenisee) was invited to our group. There were restrictions in how many people were allowed behind the table due to covid protocols of the venue. There’s no custom pin for artist ids this year.

This is our first time to table with StickerCon MNL on October. It is the organizer’s favorite event of the year, and we were encouraged to come in costume. I bought bunny and cat ears for our group! Sadly, Hannah and Jean weren’t able to attend that day, so it was just 4 of us. We had a random draw on who were our designated sellers that day – Aira and Shine (@tingeofshine) were our hardworking sellers! Clair (@claircolors) was our seller in front who was assisting interested customers.

Thankful to my officemates and friends who came by – Abie, DJ, Jerome, Ate Jen, etc. They bought some of our group’s stickers! As for me, even if I had no cash in hand that day, I managed to buy stickers. In the surprise of no one, every store had QR code payment options (Gcash, Paymaya, Paypal, even BDO pay). This was pretty useful since some people people cashless payments nowadays. It was a good thing that we offered this as well!

My humble set-up. I bought acrylic trays from Daiso for my individual stickers. I also re-used my acrylic display stand for my other stuff. I should also mention that we loved that there’s a food and drink concessionaire outside. The ones they selected had really good food!

Monique also stopped by StickerCon! I would like to congratulate her as she had her first pottery exhibit last November. We weren’t able to visit sadly due to conflicting schedules.

Thankful for the chance to do this once more. ♥

Sticker Catalogue 2022

January 6, 2023October 1, 2023

Flexing my hard work here! I’m pretty proud of my new stickers!

Above: My circle stickers. Hand cut around 400+ pieces. There used to be 7 designs, I removed 1 because I wasn’t happy with it anymore. But I’m really happy with the newer ones!

Below: My rectangle stickers. They weren’t as popular as the other ones. But I’m pretty satisfied with them as well. Thinking that these would go well with paper frames for journaling?

Above: The solo stickers that are hand cut. 5 of them are in glossy laminate while the rest are in pearl laminate. I’m pretty happy with this collection as well! Its a mix of early works and newer ones.

Below: My sticker sheets! One of my best sellers during StickerCon. I want to make more in the future.

And finally, my washi tapes! I wanted an orchid one and a seafood one. One design is what I’m known for, and one design is “because I want to”. You gotta have a balance of both in order to be happy. ♥

And that’s it! Next up is my StickerCon 2022 post.

Road to Stickercon MNL 2022

January 5, 2023October 1, 2023

July-September 2022

For the fourth time, our group January Makers PH was accepted into Stickercon MNL. I had plenty of time to prepare – around 2 to 3 months, to design, print, and cut my stickers. With almost 3 years worth of art, I had plenty of existing artworks that I could choose from. But I also wanted new sticker sheets. The plan – select the artworks that I want as a sticker, layout, send to printers. I made individual, sticker sheets, and finally, washi tapes for this event. I also got some old stock of my old stickers.

I had the individual stickers printed at Dexact, my usual supplier. I received the package early September, and after that I had to hand cut most of it. I was also required to work in the office for 1 week straight due to training, so I brought my stickers with me so whenever we had a break time, I would cut my stickers.

I also took photos in our office for the sticker sheets. It was a LOT so please check our my instagram page instead HAHA. Pretty proud of the layout I did below! My resin rose ring fits perfectly:

I then had my sticker sheets printed by my former officemate. She now has her own printing business named DC Designs & Prints. All of my sticker sheets are in glitter laminate. You could see some of the artworks I did on my previous blog entries.

Above: My berries sheet were inspired by the amount of berry desserts I had over the years. The oldest works were the blueberry panna cotta in the middle, and strawberry cakes on the lower left and right side of the sheet. My desserts sheet is a collection of popular stickers (taho, banana con hielo, mango parfait) combined with new ones. I’m pretty proud of this one!

Below: My drinks sheet were mostly 2020 works during the height of ECQ. These were mostly my cravings at the time. I add leaves because why not?!

Above: While creating the sticker sheets, I had this idea that I should make a poppy & anemone sticker sheet as well. I had a big collection of artworks of these flowers. The white anemone is the oldest artwork there which dates back to my first sticker sheet (when cut-it-yourself sticker sheets were popular, so around 2017!).

Below: My 2020 gold orchid sheet. I was supposed to make a colored orchid sticker sheet, but it felt redundant since I already made a washi tape with my orchid artworks. So I chose my gold orchid instead. This was the main reason I had my stickers laminated in glitter. So it would look fabulous lol.

I also sold my stickers at a pre-convention price in my personal account for those who cannot attend Stickercon 2022. The new venue was in Whitespace Manila, somewhere along Magallanes, so most of my friends cannot come. Thankful to my friends who supported my sticker business. I had to re-print my sticker sheets because I almost ran out of stock! ♥ Next post will be my current sticker catalogue, because why not?!

StickerCon 2020 Prep

September 22, 2020October 6, 2020Leave a comment

To be accepted in the most coveted event of year for the third time has a bit of pressure. I knew I needed to create something new for the con. I’ve already created stock for Feb Komiket and had a lot left over. So the only problem was making something new to entice people to attend Stickercon and visit our booth.

My flower sticks look so pretty in a tray. ♥

The delivery box.

I had my stickers and postcards delivered to my office. Pictured above was the box that it came in. My officemates were also excited in helping me cut again this time HAHA. I gave them Coco milk tea as “salary”. Thank you so much!

Also bought some organizers this time. ♥

Sorting time!

I also realized that putting everything in a plastic envelope ruined some of my stickers. So I had to buy some plastic and acrylic organizers so I could sort and pack them safely. I bought these from Japan Home Center.

For the new stickers, I thought of bringing back my old sets but with new art and in kiss cut. The cut-it-yourself sticker pack didn’t last long, haha. I made and compiled artworks for Sunny (Sunflower, Rainy (Hydrangea), and Peony (Previously named Romantic) sets.

Some studies for Rainy set. I didn’t get to use every painting that I did.

More hydrangea studies.

And lots more!

This was a large painting that I definitely had to include.

An attempt at loose lotus painting. Didn’t liked it.

Another painting. Didn’t make the cut.

I made a lot of peonies. But I only chose two from this page.

Final sticker sets. ♥ I printed these sets the night before Stickercon. Whew!

Next up would be the event proper post. I hope I could write about it soon.♥

Tweedlebook Cafe

June 12, 2020August 16, 2020Leave a comment

One of the surprising things that we experienced after Stickercon was getting contacts and commissions. Some guests liked our work that they invited us to their events, ask for commissions, or consign to their stores. One was Tweedlebook Cafe.

Tweedlebook cafe is located in the inner streets of Tomas Morato area. Its a small, cozy, book cafe that offers coffee and delectable food.

My flower sticker packs. ♥

I once had my own alone time art tambay there.

After a year, Tweedlebook announced that they are closing the store and will do a rebrand in the future. Thank you for having us artists sell in your place and good luck to your future endeavors!

Current Postcards

March 31, 2020August 7, 2020Leave a comment

For Papercon, one of the products that I thought would sell would be my postcards. Since, well, they’re paper. So I made a bigger postcard selection for this. I’m forever thankful that I’m beside our office library so I could take product shots.

My postcards and other products are now available in our online store. Please have a look!

The “dark background” series.

English Rose, Quince, Sakura.

Peonies!

Lotus!

Magnolias.

Sunflower Lanterns and an old Hydrangea painting.

Baguio Craft Fair

November 3, 2019September 23, 20213 Comments

2021 Edit: latest wordpress updates botched up the photo sizes. I’ve been trying to fix this but to no avail. Not sure if I would still bother fixing it.

A few weeks after Sticker Con MNL 2019, 3/4 of the January Makers PH team went up north to Baguio for the Baguio Craft Fair 2019. Jean participated in this fair a year ago and said it was a good event. Since Hannah and I wanted a quick vacation, we went with her this year.

Baguio Craft Fair is on its 4th year. It was held at Mount Cloud bookshop, near Brent International School Baguio. When we arrived on Day 1, it reminded me so much of our Metro Manila version – 10a Alabama Arts & Crafts fair. It was held at the open area of the place, with different crafters selling their wares under the huge makeshift roof, or even under the pine trees.

Picture heavy post ahead!

I met someone famous! Meet Pacha the mountain dog. ♥

What about us? We were located under the pine trees HAHA. No worries though! Since we’re in Baguio, where the weather is cool and the sun is not that hot.

seamountainco’s handmade watercolors, clay palette, and a bit of my stickers.

My flower stickers. ♥ I find it funny that they’re more interested with the bird rather than my stickers lol.

Hannah’s mom also asked us to sell her handmade knitted booties. They were our best seller HAHAHA.

I also brought some of my printed bags! (This was during Day 2)

We took turns manning our booth. Sometimes I’d wander off and get coffee (they encourage everyone to bring their own utensil/tumblers). Or sometimes I’d take photos of the place and just breathe the fresh air.

I was mimicking bemzenit’s post card HAHA.

My lunch. Hannah took this photo. I have no idea why HAHAHA.

We also had an extra task for this trip – which was to take decent photos of our products. Thanks to the huge space, we had lots of areas we could take photos from. It was also in our aesthetic – which was nature. Reasons for these photos to be announced hopefully soon!

It rained in the late afternoon, so we had to pack up and cut our bazaar time earlier than expected. For Day 2, the organizers moved the vendors located in the open area to inside the house.

We had more space to display our products. More space for my postcards! ♥

Anddd that’s it! Thank you for sticking around until the end of this lengthy post. Based from this experience, I would conclude that this event is really similar with 10A Alabama. The crowd prefers more handmade items rather than stickers. My postcards and bags were a hit here, I should have bought more original works for sale lol. Oh well! Here’s to another good experience. ♥

Will we join again next year? Hmm, we’ll see. ♥

Office Photoshoot

May 10, 2019August 7, 2020Leave a comment

A few months ago, I had an impromptu photo shoot in our office for my artworks. It was perfect timing since this was before our office furniture reconfiguration. Some furniture from the swing area were relocated somewhere else (I have no idea where yet lol), while some were put into storage. (Goodbye for now, swings!)

My favorite artwork so far. My peony painting!

Zoomed in goodness. ♥ Also featured here.

Most of my paintings are from my old Canson watercolor pad from college. I decided to finally use them all up before I buy more watercolor paper. I believe my artwork results from this pad are brave and confident. The mindset was that, since the paper is already old, I might as well let loose and experiment. ♥

I need to get that mindset to new watercolor paper. Argh!

One of my earlier paintings from this watercolor pad.

Sunflower.

I really hated this one. Halfway through I lost the motivation to paint this since I thought that I messed up the flowers. So I switched to my basic prang set and painted the greens and background.

I still don’t like it, but I did finish it.

An attempt at landscape painting. Reference photo from a friend. Also featured the painting process here.

I think I just went wild with this one. HAHA.

And that’s it for now. Busy weeks ahead!

Stickercon MNL 2019

April 19, 2019August 7, 20201 Comment

It’s finally time for the main event – Stickercon MNL 2019! It was held at Bayanihan Center last March 16, 2019. We’re so happy that our group was accepted again for the second time! This time, we’re prepared:

Our table ♥

Wire mesh filled with our stickers!

My part of the table: flower stickers, postcards, and my new food stickers! ♥

The popular flower stickers in 2 set varieties and the stamp sticker peel. ♥

Close-up of my food stickers. Everyone LOVED the taho stickers, I almost sold these out!

Circle Stickers ♥ I’m so proud of the quality & results!

Monique’s part of the table. Her best selling 90s candies, Chichirya set, and Biscuit sets are lined up front. She also made new sticker packs.

Close up of her packs. ♥ 10 pcs of glossy stickers per pack.

Her new sticker packs: the Kakanin set and Handaan set. ♥

Hannah’s side with our logo. ♥

She made a bunch of new fashion girls. ♥

And new dog breed sticker packs. ♥

And finally, seamountainco! She brought her new handmade watercolor set to the event and some postcards. But what was surprising is…

Her new sticker packs! And look at the packaging! ♥ I love it!

It was another fun filled day. The place was jam packed! It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get to roam around the venue as much. We only got to buy stickers from our friends huhuhu. But we’re happy with our income HAHAHA. Thank you so much for everyone who visited and bought from our booth!

♥ The whole January Makers PH team

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