Finally — a cleaner, fresher, more “grown-up” look¹. And best of all, look at all that space! I got so used to my last layout’s narrow posting area that I can’t get over how roomy this is. 🙂

But what exactly happened, you ask? Weeeell, I neglected this blog for too long that spam comments corrupted my WordPress installation and so I had to do a total overhaul. It gave me an excuse to de-clutter and fix this page though so no worries, it’s all good.

***
Anyway, much went on since my last entry before the unintended hiatus.

1. Three issues of WE have been published (I hope you can check them out, dear brides and grooms to be)

2. WE’s E-I-C Marbee Go and I started blogging at www.weheartweddings.com

3. I designed the album packaging for our dear friends, the Itchyworms. (Yes, there really are “Itchyworms” canned goods and other items in the supermarkets, LOL.)

4. I’ve concentrated on managing and marketing our online shops, Poptastic Tees and The Paper Basket. If you live, or have relatives, in the States, I really would appreciate it if you can point them to the stores. 🙂

5. I also worked on many other stuff like wedding invitations (not really my thing but I would do it for friends… and for my brother of course who’s getting married in December), some more gocco-printing, helping out Arn with his projects, etc.

***

I’d also like to invite you to Superficial ll: Frailty – a group show featuring the works of 33 female artists opening September 13, Saturday 7pm at Pablo Gallery, Cubao Expo.

The participating artists are Carina Almonte / Jessica Antonio / Cynthia Arre / Bru / Mara Bernaldo / Mica Cabildo / Bea Camacho / Denise Castillo / Abi Dacayap / Liza Flores / Lala Gallardo / Marie Gan / Garovs Garrovillo / Abi Goy / Honey Hipe / Wiji Lacsamana / Ene Lagunzad / Hannah Liongoren / Mitch Mauricio / Feanne Mauricio / Jhoan Medrano / Gabie Osorio / Katwo Puertollano / Genie Ranada / Sunshine Reyes / Pepper Roxas / Sharon See / Mia Singson / Joyce Tai / Lette Teodosio / Pauline Vicencio / Shawn Yao / MM Yu

More details here.
***

Taken when I was designing either Pillbox or Fruitcake, 1996

Lastly, it seems that all of Manila is a-buzz about the upcoming Eraserheads reunion concert. Naturally Arn and I are going², given our history with the band so if you’re going, we’ll see you there.

Nest & Budz Loveteam, photo taken in 1997

1. Well I am 36 y.o. after all[ back]
2. AND through the generosity of our dear friends Buddy & Nest who invited us as early as July, before the complicated ticketing details were even announced.[ back]

(We interrupt this blogging silence with a short plug for my hubby‘s latest comic effort)

Meet Iris Able, the smartest kid in MacGuffin Plains. She has an encyclopedic knowledge about science, technology and math that it seems she has the entire internet in her head. But because she keeps to herself a lot, the other kids in school don’t know much about her and have resorted to calling her Private Iris.

Private Iris, masterminded by Jamie Bautista and Arnold Arre¹, is a mystery comic series that challenges kids of all ages to match wits with the brilliant but secretive super sleuth, Private Iris. When Danton, the most popular boy in school, joins forces with Iris, the most intelligent loner in town, you get a crime-solving team that can’t be beat! Get to know more about Iris, Danton, and the rest of the MacGuffin Plains gang by visiting their flashy new headquarters on the world wide web right here.²

The Private Iris team

Hope you can check it out, friends. I can promise that it’s a really cute, very well thought-out book and I am sure that kids will love it³. The launch is slated for next Saturday, April 19 at Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street. Please visit the Private Iris site for details.

***
I’m touched that this blog still gets hits despite my sporadic updating. I’ve actually been up to a lot of things since my last post but I’m still up to my ears with work on our next issue among other projects so I’ll save the stories for later. For now, I’ll see you on Twitter or Tumblr. 🙂

1. the same team behind Cast[ back]
2. You gotta see the site! It’s really cool![ back]
3. Call me biased but I can tell you that Jamie’s tight story and witty dialogue and Arn’s hilarious illustrations always gel so well together. You’ll see for yourself when you read Iris. 🙂[ back]

I was on a roll so I just *had to* make a few more:
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“Summer’s Child”; “Preppy in Pink”
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“Scooter Sister”; “Lazy Daisy”
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“Easy Breezy”; “Pup Princess”
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They’re already at my Cafepress and Printfection stores and it would mean a lot to me if you could help spread the word about them. 🙂
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On Cafepress at The Paper Basket
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On Printfection. PF actually has a wider selection of t-shirt styles and colors so opening a store there as well seemed like a good idea.
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Since I’m already pimping like crazy here, might as well go the whole nine yards and urge you to check out my new merch at Poptastic, including this design based on a quote from a popular late 2007 movie:

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A pile of to-dos for the next issue of our mag has crept up on me so I can’t stay long. Meanwhile, let me leave you with a playlist¹ I made to go with the girly illustrations I just bombarded you with. Cheerio. 🙂

1. Click on the link if the music player takes too long to load.[ back]