DIY Christmas Cards with the Canon SELPHY CP910

 A mock-up of our DIY Christmas Card this year

It has become family tradition for us to have Christmas cards professionaly printed out each year, chronicling every new addition, while visually sharing how our family has grown, with family and friends.

This year was a bit of an exception. I am due to give birth by mid-December and I was thinking that if we were to give out our family Christmas card this year, it would be nice to have our newborn son to be part of the photo.

But here’s the deal, I don’t really have the luxury of time to go all fancy and go to a photo studio, and have my hair & makeup done after I give birth. More importantly, I am not risking our newborn son’s health just to have his photo taken with us, with all the studio lights, flash photography, and the mad holiday crowds outside. From a practical point of view, we also don’t have the time to wait for proofs and then have them made into cards in time for early gift giving.

So for this year, our best bet is to do it DIY style.

Late one night, while sitting on my work desk at home, I had some time on my hands, and the urge to tinker around with the Canon SELPHY CP910.

The Canon SELPHY C9P10 is a compact, ultra-portable photo printer that’s perfect for printing anywhere because it has Wi-Fi with AirPrint™ support, for easy printing from smartphones and compatible cameras 

I figured, I might as well practice making a few cards, so that when the Baby #3 pops out, we can have a quick photo taken, and I can go on to making Christmas cards to share with loved ones, as they have come to expect! 

And guess what, it’s pretty simple really, using what I already have on hand. 

1) My mobile phone with the photos and A Beautiful Mess app 

2) Canon SELPHY CP910 

3) Canon photo paper 

Using the collage function of the app, A Beautiful Mess, in minutes, I put together existing photos, holiday headers I found online, and added a bit of flair with the text and doodle functions to create some DIY holiday cards, like these.

 



 That’s it! Super simple, it’s a no brainer really!

 Now let me tell you why I love the Canon SELPHY CP910.

1. Wireless printing. 

The great thing with the Canon SELPHY CP910 is that I can wirelessly print from my iPhone (works with the iPad and iPod Touch too) using AirPrint™ over my Wi-Fi connection, without the need to install device drivers. 

I printed a card I made straight from my phone, because of Canon’s Wi-Fi with AirPrint™ support function 

2. Easy to use instructions on a wide LCD screen.

Since I am not a very gadget-savvy person, the SELPHY’s simple, straightforward on-screen guidance makes printing super easy too.

The LCD screen tilts for easy operation and convenient viewing 

3. Works with other devices 

Let me clarify that the SELPHY CP910 works for Android phones as well, and can easily be connected to other devices. For laptop/desktop users, the SELPHY CP910 allows direct printing from memory cards and USB sticks. 

4. Various printing options 

More than just printing cards, the Canon SELPHY CP910 allows us to print various sized stickers too, even ID photos, thanks to a Face Frame Guide, in a wide range of accepted sizes. We can even choose to print photos with a glossy or semi-gloss finish without changing photo paper. 

5. Print quality 

Most importantly. the vibrant, durable lab-quality prints of the photos can last up to a hundred years. 

I’ve used other portable printers before, and I have to say, the SELPHY CP910 is the easiest, most user-friendly portable photo printer I have used ever. And because the photo paper and ink casettes are readily, and easily available, and reasonably priced, you pretty much are on top of your cost per print. 

So I can go on printing even a hundred of our DIY holiday cards this year, without breaking a sweat, on top of taking care of a newborn, and entertaining visiting guests in the middle of the busy holidays!

I can print a hundred of these without worrying about the cost! 

The Canon SELPHY CP910 is available in Black or White for Php 8,998 - making it a perfect holiday gift that benefits the entire family!

A Kahone Art Giveaway! CLOSED

Kahone's Buwan ng Wika August Box

Before the month ends, Kahone and I would like to end it with a giveaway! TWO Winners get to win a Kahone Box of their choice (subject to availability)!

This is because August is a special month at KaHone as they celebrate Kahone Founder Mommy Lani's birthday! 

Not only that, they are also launching their new home online www.kahoneart.com! 

The website lists all the available stock and info for our convenience. Ordering and payment is straighforward and automated. Customers can choose to create an account for easy order tracking, with member benefits coming real soon! Or we can also order as a guest, if preferred. 

As a special treat until SEPTEMBER 15, all orders via the website will get 10% OFF with the coupon NEWSITE. 

To take part in the giveaway, simply join using the Rafflecopter widget below: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 
1. Like Kahone FB page
2. Follow @kahone_art on Instagram

3. Share or repost the new website post (cowracter in a hard hat and his new home) on Facebook, Instagram or both.

Post must be public so we can verify. Open to residents of the Philippines only. Entries are accepted until September 7, 2014.

KaHone: Discover the World in a Box

A couple of months ago, Berry received her first KaHone through her Tita Sara.

Sara's sister, Lani, a homeschooling mom of a 5 year old boy and 4 year old girl, started KaHone because she would think of all sorts of activities, like arts and crafts, that her kids could do to supplement their lessons, and figured, she might as well share her projects with other moms as well.

An example is this Jack & The Beanstalk story telling book where kids can cut out drawings and match it to the page where it should belong.

For the kids to fully understand the idea of "growing things" and how a bean could turn into a beanstalk, it came with a "gardening" kit, so kids can see the beans turn into a plant.

Last month, we got the bug themed box.

But instead of creepy crawlies, we learned all about bugs in a cute and fun way.

Each KaHone box usually comes with 3-4 projects, so you can space out the activities, or keep them occupied the entire day.

Each "project" comes with easy to follow instructions, such as this on bugs craft.

Berry made a bee, catterpillar, dragonfly and grasshopper using wooden clothespins! It was so much fun!

She also made a firefly using a plastic bottle and a glow stick.

Need to have the lights out to see, heehee.

Berry has two more projects to work on, and it's April already! Which means, time for the April KaHone box to arrive in the mail. It's Frozen inspired, so I am pretty sure Berry would have a blast with it!

The cool thing about KaHone, which makes it so handy dandy especially if you bring it along to out of town trips, is that the box comes with craft materials you'll need for the projects for that month. No need to dash about the bookstore to get supplies if you've run out, or don't have one on hand.

But if you already have the basic craft materials at home and don't need additional scissors, glue or tape, you can opt for KaHone lite, which only includes the projects, no more materials.

You can get a KaHone for as low as Php 533.34/month even without any additional promo codes, FYI, they do give out surprise promo codes for selected boxes!

About KaHone:

KaHone was created out of passion for hands-on fun that promotes learning and develops creativity and expression in every child. 

It is an innovative service that saves busy parents the trouble of researching and running around different toy and craft shops just to assemble one interactive project. 

Unlike the art boxes available at toy stores, KAHONE is delivered to your doorstep monthly - a convenient way of creating cherished bonding sessions between parent and child by containing all the materials and instructions for 3-4 themed projects all in one box.

KaHone is heaven sent for parents of 3-7 year olds, working moms who wants to monitor how their kids spend their time, stay at home moms who are running out of ideas to keep their kids busy and productive, homeschoolers who want to provide a follow up activity to their workbooks and basically any parent who would want their kids to discover and learn new things in a very fun and creative way.

For more on KaHone email KaHone.art@gmail.com, follow KaHone on Facebook, and follow @kahone_art on  Instagram. The website www.kahoneart.com will be live soon!

Doll Making Workshop with Craft MNL & Dolldalita

This is a super overdue post but since making something by hand will never go out of style, I thought I'd share with you our doll making session with Mommy Jac of Dolldalita back in February, thanks to Craft MNL and Mommy Mundo. 

Yup! We did something similar to these Waldorf-inspired dolls above, which were all handmade by Mommy Jac.

That afternoon, Berry and Gabbie were in for an activity like no other - sewing, stuffing and seeing their handmade dolls come to life:

The girls starting off by posing with the materials laid out in front

The head taking shape. I did all the hand sewing and Berry did the stuffing. Team effort!

Our doll slowly coming to form.

 

Now, about to add her hair!

Our doll. Isn't she adorbs?

I really enjoyed sewing our doll. It was therapeutic. Plus, there's always something fulfilling about seeing an object Berry & I made with our own hands take shape into something as adorable as this. 

My next step is to make a dress. I'll ask Berry to design something, she's got great taste in clothes. I am sure she'll come up with a wonderful outfit idea.

PS - Did you know that Berry is about to start big school next year? She just celebrated her fourth birthday with her pre-school classmates last week, it was a Snow White party. I should share with you some of the highlights of her day. They had Snow White cupcakes, corn dogs, nuggets and ice cream. Oh! They had so much fun!

Meet Elin

When Martina Pangilinan of Catalogue63 invited me to the launch of their new clothing line Elin, she sent along a photo of this dress and I couldn't say no. Well, that and of course because it has been over a year since I last saw her, way back when we were still living in Singapore and I thought it would be nice to see Martina here finally.

Along with Marielle of CraftMNL, Martina and her business partner and friend from grade school, Kathleen King (Pat Pastelero, the third of the Catalogue63 triumvirate was in South Africa) had prepared a fun crafty afternoon for us, where we made bracelets out of scrap fabric...

 

...and badass shredded shirts perfect for moshing in the mosh pit (uso pa ba yan kids?) or worn as a cover-up over a bikini.  

Martina and Kathleen shared with us that just like And Apparel, the current in-house brand of Catalogue 63, Elin also is about comfort and ease, but it has evolved to become more polished and extensive, and includes dressier pieces, basic tees and maternity wear.

“We named our new brand Elin because we wanted a woman’s name that was simple and straightforward,” said Martina. “We also think Elin is a feminine name that’s not too girly, just like our clothes. Our hope is that our customers who love And Apparel will love Elin even more.”

Judging from these pieces seen on their lookbook, Elin is easy to love.

I wore my Elin t-shirt above the other day (excuse the boots, I had just come from the stables. Joke!) and it was just the comfiest thing! The fabric was so soft and cool to the skin, it has uniform potential written all over it.

Catalogue 63 is the brainchild of three childhood friends, Martina Pangilinan, Pat Pastelero and Kathleen King who go way back since their grade school days. Their love for clothes and their desire to bring together the best of Filipino labels and provide an online shopping platform for these brands prompted them to put up Catalogue63. And Apparel and Elin are their own brands borne out of their need for stylish basics, made from quality fabrics.

Elin is exclusively available on www.elin.ph and www.catalogue63.com

The Candy Shop + The Art of Gift Wrapping

When I am looking for a dose of creative inspiration, I turn to Pat's blog 101 Grams of Eye Candy for crafty ideas. She has all these cool crafting tools, fancy printing machines and all the necessary materials, enough to create life size Lalaloopsy standees (true! She made those for a party. It was for our common friend Kris aka OC Mom in Manila).  I mean, she's of that level. She can do anything and everything crafty that requires printing, mounting and all that jazz. Then again, that's her business too, does Mundial Marketing ring a bell? Heehee.

I mean seriously, I get that feeling of grade school envy when I read her blog. It's like she's that classmate with the largest stationery collection. The classmate with the fanciest pencil case, and the one with the  pencil sharpening machine that spews out poke-your-eye sharp pencils with a few rotations of that hand crank while you have this teeny tiny manual pencil sharpener with a blade that's as dull as your seat mate who repeated the second grade.

You get my drift?

The cool thing with Pat though, is she's just the nicest person! I've met her and she's just so demure and soft spoken, you can't hate her. Plus, did I mention she has such an eye for color and design that everything she makes, you just automatically like? So when she came out with note cards, gift tags, stickers and such for "The Candy Shop", it took me forever to whittle down my picks. And when I did, she graciously sent everything I wanted, plus more! See?

I was so inspired with everything that she sent me that I knew exactly where to place the cut-out letters in the kids room:

I am set on ordering buntings to place above their names, but haven't decided on the words yet

And I loved how my utilitarian choice of packaging - craft paper and baker's twine, was taken to the next level with her colorful, mix and match sticker labels! It really got me excited to wrap presents for Berry's classmates who are celebrating their birthdays in school:

I realize that thoughtful packaging is just as important as the gift you are giving, but it doesn't have to be expensive or an elaborate effort. All it takes is a nice thick sheet of paper, festive string or ribbons, plus of course, labels or note cards that create anticipation for what's wrapped underneath.

Prices for The Candy Shops products average at about Php150 a set. So these make great, budget-friendly gifts for friends and office mates this holiday season too. Check out more of Pat's designs here, here and here.

Visit her Facebook page, here.

To view her online catalog and to order, email info.thecandyshop@gmail.com

Arts and Crafts

I've always enjoyed sewing. Yeah, even back in grade school when everybody else asked their yayas or lolas to do their sewing projects for them. I also love buying fabrics! I enjoy looking at prints and textures and thinking of the stuff I can make out of it. So I really hated it when my mom would come home with icky looking prints or the wrong fabric for my sewing projects, her excuse being, "It's cheap, you're going to ruin it anyway!". Now how about that for inspiration? Oh which reminds me, one time when I was in first year high school, we were asked to bring fabric for our pajama project, and my mom came home with a cool green and white striped material...in twill! What the? But well, after it was submitted and graded, I cut it off and voila! I had the perfect twill striped shorts for weekends! But girl, they were the stiffest pajamas in history ever!

Anyway, back to my story. I just like working with my hands. I enjoy repairing my dear husband's tattered shirts (he has a tendency to cling on to the rattiest stuff I swear), I even cut and hemmed a pair of slacks he bought that were way too long (saved us at least $20, you know how much people charge here for alterations). So its no wonder I love handmade stuff, be it clothes, bags, shoes or home decor. There's something about the manual labor involved that makes it so alluring. So yeah, machines are efficient, but there's just no soul see?

In this era of commercialization, where everything is mass made and more often than not of flimsy quality, it comes as no surprise that a new movement, let's call them the "handmade posse" or the "crafts cult" if you will, is slowly attracting a community of people who yearn for a time when things were assembled and produced by hand. And if you think that this is just a small community, well you're wrong buster!

Etsy, an "online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade" boasts of a network of 100,000 sellers. And I have to say, I can spend hours just looking at the stuff in there! Therein lies treasures as far as your eyes can see! Sigh! Oh, and everything there just has personality and soul! I loves it! Loves loves loves it!

Reconstructionist's Clover Mini Bloomers


Trixiedelicious's Twisted Breakfast Set


PrincipessaTwinz' Tamago Nigiri and Ebi Nigiri Served with O-Cha Necklace


Redmag's Schrodingers White Cat and...


...The Flying Hilbert Owl


Enna's Matryoshka Wrapping Paper


Charmdesign's Purple Tsubaki - Reversible bag


And we have not yet even skimmed the tip of the iceberg -- I'm warning you!

P.S.
You should check out Jenny Gordy's designs! She has no items on sale in her Etsy shop right now, but just check out her blog to see and appreciate what I'm talking about!