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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DON’T FORGET TO JOIN MY GIVEAWAY!

I have a tiny apartment, you have no idea. So when I go around looking at interior design websites and watching films with great set design, I will immediately feel the onset of space envy. The latest film to have me drooling over a bigger space is The Bounty Hunter. It’s a blah bordering on “this is wasting my time” movie but the decor is truly great. It made me wish so very hard that CSN delivers to my country. After all, CSN has great lines of products that can make a home (no matter how tiny) beautiful. From lights to furniture to cookware, CSN’s online stores (there are over 200, by the way) got you covered.

If you have not seen The Bounty Hunter, here are some screen captures:

*sigh*

And double *sigh* because I have teamed up with CSN to give one of you a $65 gift certificate (or £65 or €65) to be used in one of their online stores. That’s more than enough to get a pretty lamp or cushion or any home decor straight out of the movie. Something in turquoise or yellow would be total LOVE!

This giveaway is open only to US, Canada, UK, and Germany residents. If the winner is from the US or Canada, a 65-dollar certificate will be given away. If you’re from the UK, you will receive a 65-pound certificate while a winner from Germany will enjoy a certificate amounting to €65.

How to join:

1. Leave a comment with your name and where you’re from. Again, only those from the US, the UK, Canada, or Germany can join.

2. Tell me a beautiful interior design color combo that you love. Mine is white, yellow, and turquoise, as you already know.

Winner will be picked on September 15. That’s 2 weeks from now so spread the news, loves!

Okay, here is something I learned from the trip: a good dose of cute can help you deal with plans that have been flushed down the toilet.

Background story: the gray Oxford shoes that the boyfriend bought for me many months ago are starting to fall apart. I wear them any chance  I get because they are just too pretty. They go with everything, too.

Before the trip, I learned that Ichigo Shoes has a stall in Greenhills until September. Greenhills is one of the shopping havens of Manila. Ichigo has the most beautiful Oxford shoes and the plan was to buy a pair that will eventually replace the gray ones I have. Armed with 3G connectivity and determination, the boyfriend and I found their stall in Greenhills. It took us almost an hour because the place is too confusing for tourists. They did not have any Oxford design in my size. (Insert curse + scowl here).

Another plan was to meet up Krissy and Mai for thrift shopping but I already told you how that plan went. Yes, down the toilet.

Fortunately, a good dose of cute (and pink) can make me feel much, much better. Here are the things that generally made the weekend Manila trip worth the expensive cab rides, equally-expensive meals, and plans flushing sadly down the toilet:

bought at cute store #1

bought at cute store #2 (they were on sale, too!)

more…

So the big plan was to meet Mai and Krissy in Manila to go thrift shopping. Everything was laid out perfectly since our hotel was very near where lots of thrifting places in Cubao are located. The boyfriend’s show was at Cubao X.

But of course, I did not consider the fact that us being Cebu residents, we will obviously underestimate the traffic of Manila. We have traffic here in Cebu but 45 minutes is the longest you’ll probably be stuck on the road. Cebu is not very big. It’s still growing, really. But lo and behold, we were stuck for more than 2 hours cabbing from one place to another in Manila. And cab drivers never gave us our change, too! You give them the fare and they will answer with “Thank you very much!” Ugh! And to think that one of our drivers was actually from the same town in Samar as I. Shame on him.

But back to the need for shopping buddies…and how my little city mind foiled a plan to finally enjoy thrift shopping with girl friends. Of course, Mai and Krissy did met up and they are now blogging about the wonderful time they had. I am the picture of jealousy, yes I am. (Read Mai’s account here and Krissy’s here.)

Proof that I was not happy about missing the thrift shopping date:

Annoyed at the Mall of Asia, where we waited for the traffic situation to get better. It didn't, by the way.

I did get to check out one of the thrifting places in Cubao with my default shopping buddy (a.k.a. the boyfriend) the next day but I think it would have been more fun with Mai and Krissy.

And I did get to meet Mai right before the show (she is adorable!) but it was only for a brief moment. Aaack! I need to be a better trip-planner.