Kiehl's Contest: A Tribute to Earth Day

Kiehl's has always committed itself to making the world a better place by making sure the environment is well taken care of. Their products shout organic and at the same time skin-friendly - two reasons why I have always placed by trust in the brand.

Now that it's Earth Day week, Kiehl's Manila has come up with a simple photo contest to doubly encourage the 3-R's message, and when my friend in Kiehl's told me about it, I just couldn't wait to submit my own entry!

But first, what's the contest all about? The official mechanics of the game can be found in their Facebook page. Basically, it goes by these 5 steps:

MECHANICS OF EARTH DAY PHOTO CONTEST:

Step 1: Check out the Environmental Tips from the Earth Day Photo Contest Album.

Step 2: Pick your favorite one and share the photo on your wall.

Step 3: Take a photo of yourself living out that environmental tip. You can be as creative as possible! From simply showing that you make use of scratch papers to posing with your favorite reusable bag will be simply awesome!

Step 4: Send a message to Kiehl’s Manila (Facebook message) with your photo entry attached. Indicate which environmental tip you are showcasing in your picture and which product from the Rare Earth Collection you would want to have.

Step 5: Wait for the announcement of winners on Monday, April 29 and continue living out your own environmental commitments! (Entries will be judged based on creativity and alignment of picture to environmental tip.)

 Pretty easy, right? It took me just 5 minutes to complete everything! :)

What I chose was the 2nd tip that says "Turn Trash Into Treasure." I remembered a little project I did a couple of months ago where I made a photo montage using magazine cut-outs. I was fixing up my room, trying to get rid of all the trash I had piled up in a corner when all of a sudden inspiration hit me! I suddenly just started getting random old magazines and plastered pieces here and there.


And voila! This is what I created:

"Red Eye" - magazine cutouts

This piece is called "Red Eye." It's all about the vanity that we take with us each day; more so, the things that we allow to cover our own identity. I intended it to give out the message that we have to be naturally comfortable in our skin without all the superficiality and artificiality in the world - something I really do think Kiehl's supports. It's all about being able to free oneself from hiding his or her natural beauty.


Let's do hope though that my entry will bag some freebies! Winners of the contest would get Kiehl's Rare Earth products as prizes and let me just say that all of them are so desirable! There's the Rare Earth Pore Minimizing Lotion, the Rare Earth Pore Refining Tonic and so much more!!! They have everything a girl needs everyday!

So what are you waiting for? JOIN JOIN JOIN! Deadline's April 29, 2012, 7PM.

The Cupcake Project

Last April 9, I ventured into the most tooth-achingly, sweetest project so far - the make-my-boyfriend-something-nice-for-our-anniversary project. I dubbed it simply as *cue music* The Cupcake project.

Being one of the least cheesy, lovey-dovey people out there, I never imagined getting into the mood of actually baking for someone. I like baking a lot, but mostly it's just to appease my boredom or whatnot. This time around though, it's for a special someone and that really turned the pressure on! But, thankfully, with the help of some old Yummy magazines under the my desk, I created one of the best cupcakes I've ever made so far! Say hello to my babies, my very own S'mores cupcakes!

I don't want to brag, but don't they just look so pretty? :) I'm glad they turned out as good as they look!

Of course, what's sweet gift without a sweet card right? And a blog post without an artwork post, I guess! To complement these little cupcakes, I bought these cute cupcake boxes from Rockwell's Cooks Exchange and paired it with a watercolor greeting card. Check them out:

Reese's watercolor on Arches' watercolor paper

I'm so proud of myself. I actually conquered being sweet and so glad everyone else found it amusing (or should I be a little annoyed by this? haha)!

I really hope this isn't the last time I'll make something as amazingly yummy as this!

Tell me your cupcake stories!:)

McDonald's Gone Mad

HEADLINE NEWS: My friend finally finished her Ronald McDonald Munny and this is how it looks:

Morbid McDonald

Cue: "Why so serious?"

Now, isn't that a cute (ahem, morbid) new take on the age-old famous fast food chain mascot? I wonder where she gets her inspiration from when it comes to this. I'm putting my bet on those Resident Evil video games she's so into. Makes me wonder how I still love her so! Haha.

What's YOUR favorite gore inspiration? :)

Her Skin White As Snow

I have always thought that my childhood was backwards, or at least kind of whacked. The age when most girls wanted to be a Disney princess, I wanted to be a Power Ranger. But now, thinking how blissful it might have been to live in a fairytale compared to this unfortunate reality, I think I'm beginning to understand the desire to be the classic, sophisticated, oh-so-perfect damsel (not in distress, mind you). Everything just seems squeaky in their world! And let's not forget those magnificent dresses they get to wear! What a feeling, for sure.

With that in mind, the inspiration that came with flipping a magazine page with Lilly Collins (as Snow White) on it was not a big surprise. After all, with her pretty face, pretty gown and pretty colorful background, who can merely spare a quick glance?

So here! My watercolor rendition of Snow White and my very own dream of strutting as a princess for a day. Quite proud of it, really :)

Reese's watercolor in tube on watercolor paper

Peacock Hungover

Second watercolor work for the summer. The Katy Perry peacock song was stuck in my head again so I had this idea of painting peacock feathers! Haha! Too bad I went overboard on her hair, though. She's looking a bit like a feather-ized Medusa now.

What do you think?

Reese's watercolor in tube on watercolor paper

Say Hello To Saur-e!

Watercolor has always been my go-to medium when I just want a quick outlet of sudden inspiration. This summer though, I told myself to use it in making my most ground-breaking artworks yet! So in my excitement, I sat down, took up my brush and painted the first thing that popped into my mind after 10 solid minutes of staring down the blank paper... Lo and behold, my stuffed dino! Cue "Har har har."

Reese's watercolor in tube on watercolor paper

Say hello to my stuffed dino, Saur-e! I'm sure you've seen him as my crazy how-to-make-a-party hat model before (No? Check out my sudden urge to do some arts and crafts here.) With his first ever painted portrait, he hopes he makes you smile. Haha!

Here's to a better attempt at making nicer works!

Doodling Relaxes

UniPin fine line water and fade proof pigment ink

McDonald's and an Elephant

My best friend and I had always connected the most through art and design. While I usually pour over 2D material like plain ol' paper, she does crazy stuff like gigantic paper-mache pieces and metal-welding whatchamacallits, and refers to quirky things like How-To-Make-Pop-Up-Books books. Oh, and did I mention that she's studying a crazy-ass course majoring in mechatronics and robotics, and one day she'll build a robot Ernie (from Sesame Street)? Yep, that's her, my best friend!

One of her not-so-recent-crazed-but-just-recently-started-on hobby is painting DIY toys (Click here for my last post on DIY toys). Here's a quick look on what she's working on now:

Her Elephant Baby Qee and Munny

I think she's trying to make an Ernie-inspire Qee and bloody Ronald McDonald Munny. Hmmm... Let's just see how they'll go! Haha!

Late In the Bandwagon: DIY Toys

When something's stark white, blank and staring back at you screaming "paint on me!" it's quite intimidating. But if it's as cute as these little things here, you can't resist but quickly doodle on them!

Lo and behold, the Munny!

Add caption

What's this little thing, you say? Well, not only is it one of the most unique yet most versatile gifts this season, it's also a DIY toy which you can design however way you want! Usually painted on, the Munny is a cute little 3D space to pour your creativity out on. You can draw a face on it (maybe your own face! haha), re-do a familiar cartoon character in its shape, add accessories and clothes, and whatnot. At the end of the day, it's all about making the most creative littly Munny that you'll be proud to display (or play with!) in your room. How I wish I can paint a wall full of them one day!

Here are some quirky little designs of the Munny that I've seen in the net.

Superman-inspired Munny by video game artist Barry Prioste. Photo taken from here.

Iron Man-inspired Munny by Hefnatron. Photo taken from here.

Totem Munny from the Reactor-88 website. Photo taken from here.

Moogle Munny by a guy named Chris. Photo taken from here.

BUT WAIT! The Munny has got some competition.The company Toy2r also has their line of DIY toys called the Qee, the famous white blank bear-shaped toy which has been everywhere in every kind of design! Not sure what I'm talking about? Here it is:

Yes, we've all seen this bear and all the amazing designs people have been coming up here and there. C'mon, who doesn't like painting on cute little teddy bears right? Those who likes painting on other cute animals, that's who! Toy2r has now come up with even cuter shapes for its DIY toys in the form of rhinos, bunnies, and even Bart Simpson! (Yes, I'm serious. See for yourself!)

If there are designs for the Munny, here are designs (from the net again) of the Qees:

Deady Baby Qee. Photo taken from here.

Sahara Qee by Tokidoki. Photo taken from here.

My personal favorite! - Voltron Qee by Rotobox. Photo taken from here.

Aren't they cute?? The influx of the Munny and the Qee sure got people digging from their markets and paint sets, including my best friend (who's got a brother really addicted to these)! I'll post some pictures of her elephant Qee soon! :)

While some may think designing DIY toys is such a geeky hobby (okay, it IS a bit geeky), I find it such a fascinating innovation! Gone are the days when you're stumped with what to give your friends (or yourself)! Now, no matter what figurine you give, there's sure a Munny or a Qee for everyone! So excited to buy some of these little creatures and paint to my heart's desire (when I finally get some cash, that is!).

Do you have any Munnies, Qees or DIY toy designs? Share 'em with me! :)

Open Spaces Part 4 (Final Work)

After how many edits and posts (Click here to check them out! Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), I've finally gotten around finishing up this story book illustration! Woohoo!! With the help of other people's comments, here's what my final output looks like:

Spread 1

Spread 2

So main comments were the difficulty of reading because of the clutter in the background and the darkness of the whole thing. I came up with two resolutions: 1. make the text plain and straight, or 2. clean up the background. Well, as you can see, #2 won! Haha.

I really wanted to make this book fun, even if the story is kind of grim. And although I'd want to make the text simpler, I felt that the animation in the text more so emphasizes the art. Being a proud mama over the tiniest lines, I say YEY!! to seeing more of the details! Woot! Plus, the goal was to make this story fit for a children's book. So, the movements of the text and the shapes formed by the smoke and Lorena's "hair" (Do you see the shapes?) make the spreads pretty more interesting, if I do say so myself.

Finally finished with this project, I can't believe I could actually make something like this despite having used to softer illustrations and watercolor works. Now I can say I can take on cartoon-y illustration and bold sketches! Can't wait to work on more projects like this!

Hope you enjoyed:)