Posts Tagged "handmade"

Affordable Filipino Art Gifts for Balikbayans

If you’re looking for unique, non-mass-produced & affordable Filipino gifts for your balikbayan relatives & friends, may I suggest checking out some items from my shop? 🙂 I admit that in my early years as a graphic designer, it was always a struggle for me to create work that was distinctly Pinoy (unlike my husband Arnold who is an expert at it — it was all over his TEDx talk too). When I started drawing though, the Filipino themes in my mostly pop culture themed work came out naturally. Whodathunkit? So here’s a list of the stuff I have that I believe would make nice gifts for relatives & friends based abroad who may be missing the Philippines. 🙂

Philippine Fruits and Flowers Note Card Set

 

The design for this note card set is a pattern composed of Philippine fruits that I remember eating as a kid – atis, macopa, rambutan, chesa, duhat, mabolo, santol, sinigwelas, calamansi, etc. It’s sad that most of these fruits are not commonly found in grocery stores so I felt I had to pay tribute to and raise some awareness for them somehow by way of these drawings. A Pinoy Fruits sticker set (below) is also available at the shop.

The Passenger Series Watercolor Art Postcard Set

As you know the traffic situation in our country is ~ horrible ~ so I tried to find some positive in it and ended up drawing fictitious love stories emerging from random commuting encounters. The paintings are done in watercolor and the cards are available in the shop (Jeepney / Bus / MRT). You may also find them at Hey Kessy UP Town Center and Common Room in Katipunan & Alabang Town Center.

Philippine Food Sticker Sets

filipino food stickers

My Pinoy Food stickers were born out of a love for eating! Hehe. Seriously, I grew up eating good Filipino comfort food everyday as my mom is Kapampangan and, to me, she cooks the best Pinoy meals on the planet. <3  I made these just for fun over a year ago but I’m happy to see that others have enjoyed these sets as well. There are five sets all in all – Almusal, Kakanin, Merienda, Ulam, and Panghimagas. Available in my shop and also at Hey Kessy UP Town Center and Common Room in Katipunan & Alabang Town Center.

The Local Music and Indie Films Art Postcard Series

This print series features illustrations inspired by local films “Ang Nawawala” and “Rakenrol” (by my friends, filmmakers Marie Jamora and Quark Henares, respectively) and music (by my ’90s rocker pals & collaborators the Eraserheads).  You can find the postcards and art prints at the webshop and, again, at Hey Kessy UP Town Center and Common Room in Katipunan & Alabang Town Center. Incidentally, you guys should also pick up DVDs of the films as they will make wonderful gifts!

Hey Kessy Filipino Food Fiesta Washi Tape

And finally, how can I not include this washi tape! I was very excited when Hey Kessy approached me & fellow Filipino artist Megan Dino (you guys should check out her portraits & merch) to collaborate on a special washi design featuring Filipino fiesta food! Meg & I coordinated via Viber and drew Pinoy food commonly eaten at fiestas — lechon, sisig, kare-kare, pancit palabok, sapin-sapin, halo-halo, bar-b-q, etc — and submitted them to Hey Kessy who turned it into a washi tape for us. It turned out really cute, right? I will stock them in the shop soon but for now they are available at Hey Kessy branches at UP Town Center and Alabang Town Center.

Our Coloring Books – Local Color and Flutterby

Local Color is a coloring book with Philippine fantasy-themed drawings (diwatas, engkantos, etc) by my husband Arnold, and Flutterby contains my drawings culled from childhood daydreams. You may order these online from our publisher, Chamber Shell Publishing via their website and FB page. (While you’re at it, please also check out my husband’s graphic novels over there!)

Hope you guys are able to find a Pinoy pasalubong gift idea in this list. I am in the process of brainstorming for more items to design and draw so please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments section. 😀

 

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My Shrink Plastic Workshop, Our Adult Coloring Books, and Holiday Bazaar Schedules

Hi guys! First of all, a quick reminder that my Shrink Plastic Crafting Workshop is happening this Saturday, November 21, from 1-4pm at Hey Kessy in Katipunan .Please head to this link to view the details and/or sign up for a slot. The fee already includes basic materials and snacks but participants can get extra shrink plastic sheets from me at a discount.

Below is an example of what you can learn to make. among so many other fun things, with shrink film. 🙂

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on

And if you’re wondering about the doodles in the background of my shrinkydink “sampayan” collar pin, those are some of the illustrations you will find in my coloring book FLUTTERBY.  😀
arnold arre cynthia bauzon arre coloring books

Thanks to Chamber Shell Publishing, Arnold and I both have our own adult coloring books.

LOCAL COLOR – A Philippine Fantasy Coloring Book features (as the subtitle says) Arn’s Filipino fantasy themed illustrations that depict both modern and classic facets of our mythology. Think diwatas, aswangs, people from a techno-future and what-have-you.  🙂  It has 30 of his original drawings contained in 64 9″ x 12″ pages, perforated so you can tear out and frame your finished colored work! SRP is PHP 295.00

A few more preview images from Arnold Arre’s LOCAL COLOR —

Local Color Filipino Fantasy Coloring Book by Arnold Arre

FLUTTERBY – A Daydreamy Coloring Book has my doodles of girls in dreamy, breezy scenarios that typically involve flowers, leaves, and, on occasion, birds, butterflies, and cute furry creatures. There are 20 original hand-drawn pen and ink drawings in 44 pages, also perforated. SRP is P150.00.

A few more preview images from FLUTTERBY —

Flutterby Coloring Book by Cynthia Arre

The covers for both books aren’t glossy on purpose so you can color them too if you want! They will be in bookstores soon but you can also order directly from the publisher at orders@nautiluscomics.net for stress-free delivery to your doorstep! Bulk and overseas shipping are available as options. 😀

UPDATE: Limited quantities of Flutterby are now available at my online shop!

I will also be bringing a few of my books to the holiday bazaars which I’ll be participating in soon. So far, here is my schedule.

November 28 (Saturday) – BGC Art Mart
December 6 (Sunday) – BGC Art Mart
(unconfirmed date) – Steady Sunday Bazaaro

It might get even quieter here on the blog as I prepare for the art fairs but you can always check my Instagram for (a bit more) regular updates. 😀

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Palette Palate: The first Maginhawa StrEat Food Park Art Fair

I had the privilege of taking part in Maginhawa StrEat Food Park‘s first ever art fair titled Palette Palate from August 1-2, 2015, thanks to the awesome Ella Lama who organized the event.  The fair consisted of an exhibit + pop-up shops by some of the participating artists, myself included. Here are the three artworks I displayed (on the counter, last three from the right). They might look familiar because I posted work-in-progress videos and/or just-finished shots of these on Instagram. 😉

maginhawa-streat-foodpark-art-fair-1

Setting up in the background are Ella (left) and Cheska of StrEat. On the wall from l-r are works by Megan Dino, June Digan, Mary Grace Vinas, and Andrea dela Cruz. This is actually a photo from day 2 because we got rained in on the first day and had to set up at 6 pm, 2 hours later than planned.

maginhawa streat food park art fair

Our pack-up-and-go pop-up shops on the first day. From l-r: works for sale by yours truly, Ella Lama, and Megan Dino.

Handy outdoor craft fair tip (especially helpful during the rainy season) — if your items will fit, you can use a craft toolbox (or any other box with a lid) as a “portable shop”. It allows you to arrange and label stuff and you can quickly close it — and protect the contents! — whenever necessary. 🙂

Another learning: have faith in your customers. Given the weather conditions, we initially thought that only a few people would come. To our pleasant surprise a lot showed up, talked to us and bought our stuff. <3 <3 <3 (If you were among those I talked to, THANK YOU! I loved meeting you and was happy to finally see the face behind the familiar Instagram handle. :D)

We were so busy that before we knew it, it was already 10 pm and we hadn’t even eaten. 😀 Thankfully, StrEat is open til 2am so there was plenty of time to grab food once the art buying crowd thinned out.

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on

Class picture from day 1 plus a few other snaps of our works in the exhibit. August 2 — Very grateful for much nicer weather on the second day since we were able to set up at 4pm as planned and I also got to take better-lit photos. Some more artworks on display. maginhawa streat art fair Works by Yang Barrios, Alexandra Paredes, Hands Love Papers, Geli Balcruz, and Karen Versoza. More artists were also able to set up shop besides Megan and myself. (Below photo) top left: rubber stamps and cards by Alex Paredes’ Rubber Ducky Stamp Co; bottom left: prints by Karen Versoza and June Digan. earnest and buddy zabala maginhawa streat food park art fair My good friends Earnest and Buddy Zabala dropped by and gamely posed for pics and even helped me sell (woohoo! I love these guys. <3 ) Here they are with my little blue toolbox (looking a bit more organized this time). The evening was a bit more relaxed and I got to bond more with my new friends. These girls are so creative and inspiring! Of course I couldn’t go home without buying some of their beautiful creations: 

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on

You can check out the above photo on IG to see their feeds. Included in my loot from Ella, Megan, Alex, Karen, and June are the “Light” book (which was a gift from Rob Cham!), two art cards featuring Paola Jane Esteron‘s calligraphy & watercolor work (also gifts!), and free brush calligraphy of Arn’s and my names by Sarah Francesca of Creative Curiosities. 😀

Finally, an almost-complete class picture which I nicked from Megan’s Facebook album ;

maginhawa streat foodpark art fair

I’m joining another art fair soon! Please stay tuned for more details. Meanwhile you can always check out my feed to see what I’m currently up to. 😉

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I'm Cynthia Bauzon-Arre, a Filipino watercolor artist & graphic designer. I live in QC with my graphic novelist husband Arnold and our friendly marmalade tabby Abbas. This blog has been chronicling my life, likes, and loves since 2001. [ more ]

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