Prayers for my Country

Last Saturday's rainfall was not an ordinary one. Typhoon Ondoy made a big impact. Many areas were flooded up to the roofs of their houses. Cars washed away by raging water. Lives taken. Typhoon Ondoy made its mark in our lives, one that we will never forget.

Im asking for prayers for my relatives, friends, for those people who lost their lives, for those people who have lost family members, for those people who are going back to their muddy homes-trying to rebuild their lives, for those people who unselfishly offered their self, their time, their savings. Please please pray for them.

Filipinos are resilient. We will recover. We will endure. We will rebuild. We will rejoice once more.

Hug Me Campaign 2009

It had almost been a year since my first Hug me Campaign. What would be in store for us for this year's Hug Me? Who will be the people I will have the chance to talk and mingle with? Will there be more psoriasis patients coming out? I hope so, since this is one perfect venue to be together to celebrate life and its complexities. :D

Here is a video made by co-Psorphil members Mark and Star.

Tree of Life

Since I started researching and learning to do simple wire work, I have been enticed by how people do their own version of the famous tree. When you search the net, you would see countless interpretations in color, size and wire to use. I tried my hands with the materials I have on hand and came up with these results. Below are my translations.

Luckily all of these pendants were sold at our recently concluded bazaar last September 6 at the Tahanan Village. I even had pending orders to make and deliver. I think these made a statement all on its own. The Tree of Life made a debut at our booth and hopefully in every Filipina wardrobe.











My cousin reserved this piece before the bazaar. She got it the day before the show and brought it to Singapore and Bali as part of her wardrobe. Thanks again Meg!

Bazaar Caravan 2009

It had been almost 3 years since I joined a bazaar. My first was at Tahanan Village Bazaar in 2007 with my cousins Lia and Irene as partners of Creative Outlet. Though cousin Irene opted to pursue a different endeavor, Lia and I continued on with the biz, maintaining the fire so to speak. From our first show of 2007 we have been to our first Bazaar Caravan in 2008. And now we our on our way to our second Bazaar Caravan. Who would imagine that we could sustain the fire and the passion with what we do. Though we may not be able to create all the things that our imaginations can dream of, we are happy with what we can do and will be able to do in the future. That said, I would like to invite all of you to join me and Lia to a never ending world of color, shapes, beads, laughter and happines as we look forward yet again for another fun-filled Bazaar Caravan for 2009.

• 1st---was at the recently concluded Tahanan Village Bazaar and Foodfest
  
• 2nd--- will be at Gawad Kalinga CFC Best Buy Bazaar at Cuenca Ayala Alabang Village on October 10-11 from 9am-7pm
• 3rd--- will be at the Bellevue Hotel Bazaar on October 24-25
• 4th--- is on November 21-22 at the Valle Verde 5 Christmas Bazaar from 9am-1030pm
• 5th--- will be on November 28-29 at the Christmas Wish Bazaar, Makati Sports Club from 9am-7pm
• 6th---will be at the Shop Till You Drop at UBFHAI on December 5-6

Our schedule dates are quite hectic but we are all set, projects completed, new items on hand, with a lot of surprises awaiting every modern girl!

Come and see us at these shows and Im sure you will have the best Christmas gifts for that special someone, family and friends.

Tahanan Village Bazaar Pictures

Here are pictures from last Sunday's Tahanan Village Bazaar.


Lia and me with Tita Nini behind our booth set up. Yes we know there are a lot of things we can improve. Dont worry we are working on it ASAP. =)



Our friend Kathy's booth (she's the one in red together with her sister and husband). She sold organic products. Im so proud of you Kathy! You showed me how to be the best sales person I can be. You're a terrific example my dear! Good job! Go Green! Go organics!



Cousins and friends behind the food booth. Keep on believing in yourselves kids. I know you can do good next time. Do your share and believe that you can...blessings will come a hundred fold.

Bazaar Lessons

Everyday we learn something new and improve the things we know. It had been 3 years now that my cousin Lia and I have joined bazaars, still there were so many things that had to be learned. I would like to share with you some of those.

• SMILE! - Though we sometimes feel uncomfortable, say the weather is too hot or its raining, we have to smile for our customers. This gesture never failed me and my cousin. Sometimes a customer is just passing by but a very warm smile can make her/him stop by the booth and most often than not she/he brings home a bag or two.
• An organized set up.- a messy booth will never make an impression. We must be creative not only with what we sell but with our booth set up as well. . We can showcase our items by color scheme or by make.
• Make sure you have a SALE corner. - There are people who are bargain suckers. They dont get tired rummaging around the sale area like there is no tomorrow. I myself is a lover of bargains! Grab them while their there or be sorry!
• Dont get the negativity of other vendors pull you down.- Well, there are really people who find fault in others. Im my opinion these kinds of people should not be permitted to join bazaars or any show for that matter. Sometimes they take my groove out of me. I just remind myself over and over the reasons why Im doing this and that they are not included in those reasons.
• Never look bored or not interested in what's going on even when we are (sometimes or most of the time). - Some customers like to be attended to and some dont. Either way, we should be very approachable and attentive to them. Let us not be a regular sales person, let us be the best sales person we can.
  
• Dress the part of an artist.- Yup, I know I am my best model. I tried my best and I succeeded...me wearing dangling earrings and a statement ring is such a huge success!
• Most of all - have FUN.- I did and I hope my cousins did too.

Many many thanks to my cousin Lia for forever supporting me in this events. We are the team behind Creative Outlet.

To my other cousins who tried their luck selling food. Andy, your homemade sauces are great! Just believe that you can, I know you can do it. One step at a time kiddo! To my Aunt Julia, your banana cakes sold like ice cream! Yey! To James and Pao, I loved your Tacos so much. And Abby, it was the first time I tasted quesadillas and I love it. Let us keep on trying to be our best all the time. Though sometimes we loose and sometimes we win, there are still a lot of winning when we learn from our mistakes.

And of course, our compound family and compound friends - Im so happy to see you there supporting our booth and the food booth too. It is very rare to see family and friends during these kinds of events but you were all there for us...forgetting about the rain, humidity and the wet feeling. Thank you so much!

See you all again at Bellevue Hotel Bazaar on October 24 and 25.