Not because I am bored or that I am willing time to go faster (or slower). I can’t stop looking at the clock because I have made ours prettier.

This was the old clock:

it was pretty in a bright non-black (i.e. boring) way

But the recent acquisition of FabriCraft Peel ‘n’ Stick fabrics got me itching to do decor face-lifts around the house. This is the part where I confess about my obsession with beach-themed dining sets and home decor. So imagine my elation when I found a FabriCraft set called Seaside Escape.

The clock was the first “victim.”

used rubberized textile paint for the frame to give the clock that "aged white beach shack" feel

more…

Where do your book shelves end and your closet begin? With book style, I take the colors, textures, and mood of book covers and transform them into outfits. Sometimes, I take elements from the story itself. Sometimes, I will come up with outfits that I will never dare wear (the ones with shoe heels that reach the sky, mostly). And perhaps, one day, we will find a way to make style resonate as loudly as the written word.

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Wicked – The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West -  Gregory Maguire

Great Book Style from an equally-great style blogger. Ladies (and gents), I turn the table to Gizelle of Vanilla Ice Cream. She is, perhaps, one of the biggest style bloggers I know who is also from my city. I am always jealous of her thrift finds. When I grow up, I want to be as great a thrift shopper as she is.

On to her Book Style…

One of my favorite book characters is Elphaba of the book, “Wicked – The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.” The book tells about the life of the deemed wicked witch of the west before Dorothy even landed in Oz and went off to see the Wizard. It tells about Elphaba’s childhood and life as an outcast who is so sarcastically smart and passionate about caring for the people in her life. Elphaba was a rebel, fighting for the rights of the people of Oz against the unjust Wizard. I love how this book created a whole different world that explains and ironically veers away from the image of the wicked witch stamped in our heads as kids. Read the book and the rest of the volumes in the Wicked Years – Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men and you’ll surely be in for a treat!

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I wholeheartedly agree with Gizelle. This book is a must-read. To be perfectly honest, I can recall more scenes from this book than The Wizard of Oz. Of course, that story is pure gem as well.

In an outfit-related note, I think I want the rings Gizelle chose for this Book Style. I’ll sacrifice Homo sapien sapien convenience just to wear that 4-finger skull ring. Very hot.

Thanks Gizelle! This was worth the wait.

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One can come up with impressive work through deliberate procurement of materials and careful ticking off of steps. I often create this way. But there are times when I could craft with only the materials and what result I want clear. Summoning creativity by chance, is what it is. The process is often fuzzy and admittedly, the end result is not always what I envision.

Sometimes, though, chance and thoughts of “I’m sure this will work” can lead to something I can be proud of. This filigree ring is one example:

Of course, for several months, I was under the impression that it was simply a fluke and attempting to make several more will lead to disappointing (and expensive!) results. It took pleading from my cousin to make me make another. A gift for his girlfriend, he said. Seeing that I was going to see said cousin in Manila and it would  have been against my upbringing not to do him a favor, I ordered filigrees online. I had planned to bring only silver accessories to the trip so I included silver filigree to my order.

It turns out that the process was not exactly a fluke.

Making the silver  version resulted to some flakes falling off the filigree but it survived. I daresay that the silver version actually has more impact, especially when my nail polish belongs to the coral family. I made two of the silver filigree rings and sold one on my shop. It was immediately snatched by a friend.

Oh yeah, my cousin’s girlfriend loved the ring so yay!

My cousin and his girlfriend and another high school friend; at the boyfriend's art show in Cubao X.

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