I’m hoping to get another blog post in this week (fingers, toes, and eyes crossed). In the meantime, follow my sketch blog on Tumblr: http://wedgienet.tumblr.com

Working sketch for a client

In a nutshell, Charice is a singing sensation from the Philippines. When she was 7 years old, she started joining small singing contests so they can have food on their table. She joined an estimated 80+ singing contests and won most of them. Then when she was fifteen, she was invited to sing on a Korean TV show and the video of that performance generated millions of hits until Ellen Degeneres called (watch the video of that powerful, jawdropping performance here). Charice flew to America for the first time to sing on Ellen and received the first two standing ovations of her life. THEN Oprah Winfrey called. Charice sang on Oprah, blew the roof off of Harpo studios, and Oprah was so impressed with Charice that when Charice was on a plane about to take off for the Philippines, Oprah actually STOPPED the plane to bring her back to her office. Charice, with Oprah’s help, has since sung or performed with Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion, Michael Buble, and Josh Groban, among others. Charice has been on Oprah THREE times and a FOURTH appearance is coming up on Tuesday, MAY 11th (with current hot topic Justin Bieber), to release her self-titled international debut album. Not bad for a little barrio girl from a third-world country who used to sing for her supper!

If I were to show someone who has never heard of Charice just ONE video of her singing, this would be it. Please indulge me and watch. You’re still reading this, anyway. Charice was sixteen years old in this video (she’ll be eighteen by the time you read this– May 10th (tomorrow) is her birthday):

Those who know me in real life are probably as surprised as I was when I became a huge, huge fan of Charice last year. I have never in my life been a “fan” of any celebrity and a singer at that! I don’t even consider myself a music lover. So it was a huge surprise for me when I “discovered” Charice and got so “addicted” that I would spend the whole night and the whole day watching videos of her singing on YouTube. As in literally the entire day, I would be on YouTube watching Charice videos.  The first few months into the “fandom”, I spent more time on YouTube than I have for all the years YouTube has been in existence. It was so unlike me. (Fortunately, I don’t go on YouTube as much anymore. The comments are so idiotic and also, I’ve run out of Charice vids to watch as I’ve watched them all)

How big of a fan am I, exactly? Well, I have all her music. Since July of last year I’ve watched all her new videos that come out on YouTube.  I read all articles and news about her. I go to her concerts and gigs whenever I can. I’ve met her in person. I visit fan sites , chat with other fans, and I help out as moderator on one of her fan forums. My being a fan has actually come to the point where I MAKE FAN ART FOR HER.

See, I told you this was design-related.

Lying awake in bed the first night after I “discovered” her, incredulous from the realization that I, formerly a practical, sane, level-headed person, was turning into a fan(atic), I was thinking I wanted to help her by designing her official or fan-made website. I woke up the next day, went online, and saw she already had an official website manned by her record label (and well-designed at that) and dozens of other fan sites. So scratch that, let’s make fan art instead.

Making fan art is actually a great way for me to merge two of my interests together: Charice and design. It’s a chance to promote Charice, flex my design muscles, and have fun all at the same time.

This is my most recent Charice fan art (see my other fan art here). Charice appreciates it and told me she’s going to use it as her wallpaper. And you can, too.
Download 1440 x 900 | 1600 x 1200

Also watch the sped-up video of how I put this together.

Charice is an amazing artist and an awesome person to boot. You may already be hearing her song PYRAMID feat. Iyaz on the radio. If you haven’t yet (which cave are you living in?), you will soon. Her debut album comes out in stores and online on May 11th– same day as her Oprah guesting. She’ll also be on QVC on May 11th (8 pm), performing LIVE with her mentor, legendary music producer David Foster, so be sure to tune in and call in to order her CD.

For more of Charice, you can visit the following:
YouTube – http://youtube.com/user/charice
Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/charice
Twitter – http://twitter.com/officialcharice
Official website – http://charicemusic.com

Photography by Punchdrunk Panda

My very own pair of skimmers arrived last week.

Yes, I’m a size 7. *hint, hint*

I love them– they’re super comfy! I used them for the first time out today (because I’ve been wearing them around the house) when I went to church and had dinner out afterwards. I’m tickled pink by the fact that I’m wearing one of my own illustrations.

You can order your own pair of skimmers online from Punchdrunk Panda’s Multiply site. Check out their other skimmer designs (I love the blue and orange origami design as well) and products! Make sure to sign up for their mailing list so you get a discount off every purchase. The skimmers are also available at Analog Soul stores (Trinoma and Archeology in Rockwell).

On display at the store window of Analog Soul, Trinoma

Thanks Jen and Gail! You girls rock!

Punchdrunk Panda
Multiply: http://punchdrunkpanda.multiply.com
Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Punchdrunk-Panda/53197316806?ref=ts
Twitter: http://twitter.com/punchdrunkinc

Last year, I was introduced to Re-ment figures by way of Cla’s Flickr photostream. They’re miniature plastic toys sold by a Japanese company called Re-ment in blind boxes (you won’t know what you’re going to get until you open the box). They’re available mostly in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and a few other Asian countries. I got my first few boxes last year, courtesy of globe-trotting friends (hi Kate, Gail) who brought them back to me from their travels.

This was my first set of minis coming from five blind boxes. Most of those are no bigger than a coin, and those little Oreo cookies inside the box are no bigger than the fingernail on my pinkie! Check out the detail; it’s amazing.

I thought I was content with just those figures above, but my friends kept adding a few more boxes to my collection. Also, when my family and I traveled to Macau last January, I kept my eyes peeled for a couple more boxes of Re-ment miniatures. We were three days into the trip when I finally spotted them:

Here are some of the Re-ment sets I’ve acquired recently:

Re-ment partnered with Disney to produce Disney-themed miniatures. My friend gave me a Stitch set knowing how huge a fan I am of Lilo and Stitch. I went through a phase when I watched the movie on DVD every single day for a few months.

I like this chemistry set– very unique as most miniature sets are often food-related.

I bought this in Macau. I am not a fan of Hello Kitty but I bought it anyway as I didn’t find a wide range of Re-ment boxes to choose from while I was there. Nevertheless, this is one of my favorite sets because of the “animated” syrup suspended in mid-air!

Another Stitch set I got in Macau. I’m not too crazy about this one but the Scrump doll straw is adorable!

The cupcakes from the first Stitch set above. I love these! Don’t they remind you of my Cupcake Bears?

I love Re-ment minis! I get asked what I do with them and my answer is, “Nothing!” I just like taking them out every now and then and looking at/playing with them. Sometimes certain pieces make their way onto my product shots on my shop. But that’s really just an excuse for me to acquire more. In a way, I’m glad they’re not readily available here in the Philippines, or else I’d lose a fortune buying them!

Anyone on Tumblr? I don’t know how long I can keep this up as I have too many online accounts, but I have a sketch blog/dump on Tumblr. Follow me!

I’ve just returned from almost a week-long vacation in Macau (which was wonderful) with my family. I have to ease out of my extended vacation mode fast… as I START A NEW FULLTIME JOB TOMORROW. It’s totally unexpected and this job offer just came out of the blue, when I wasn’t even looking for a job. Remember my article How I Quit My Job to Follow My Dream? Saying yes to a fulltime job seems contradictory after everything I’ve said, but I said yes to the job after finding out it’s not as much of a 15-18 hours/day time-suck like my previous job (where all my free time was spent catching up on sleep) so that means I still have time to maintain my Etsy shop on the side.

Memo pads and to do lists available on Notebooks, Etc.

I may have to let go of my freelance design/illustration projects in the meantime, but nothing’s set in stone yet. For now I’m turning down freelance projects until April 2010 to get a feel of how I can balance a fulltime job and my Etsy shop.

I still have a backlog of new things and recent projects to post– I’m looking to churn out another post in a week or so!

Our booth setup

The bazaar was well-organized with various activities like a dog show, fire dance, an impersonator show, a fun run, and all other things I didn’t get to see/attend– we were busy attending to our booth as we had a good amount of people buying Christmas gifts from us! I didn’t even get to go around much to visit the other booths, all of which selling unique items unlike some bazaars which tend to have just clothes and not much else.

For those coming to this website from one of the cards we handed out, thank you for dropping by and/or buying from us! For Notebooks, Etc. (handmade notebooks, illustrated tumblers, memo pads/to do lists, and button pins), our items are available at our local reseller’s Multiply site, The Fundamentals: http://thefundamentals.multiply.com.

I’ll also be uploading/listing a few new items to the shop (both on Multiply and on Etsy, our online store for international customers) within the next week including a new batch of notepads fresh off the press (literally– we got them from the printing press the day of the bazaar) so watch out for that.

* * *

For those interested in King Beans Coffee (short name: King’s Coffee), our Batangas-sourced Barako/Liberica coffee, check out this Multiply album for details on how to order. We’re accepting local orders and we are looking to have a proper website created for King’s Coffee hopefully in the first quarter of 2010. Stay tuned!