trashion virus

as a sequel to my account on my daily YBR ritual in Monterey, i have to share this, too.  visits to thrift shops are really full of surprises.  imagine how astonished and enchanted i was upon seeing these?

 

no, you can’t.  

i think i am alone in this.  

Bwahahaha.

while i was asking the kind and nice store manager on the price for each book, 
i couldn’t keep my mind from
entertaining creative thoughts,

and playing with different potentials these fabrics promise.  and another marvel was in line, the stash is so pricey!  nah!  joke!

i could hardly wait to get back home and work on my new-found materials.  and to make my consternation worse, the cargo co that shipped my stash got involved in some contraband issue, so it took forever, almost forever, for these bargains to reach me,

but now they are safe and sound, right here, where my creative juices flow.  bwahahaha! 

 

 my sister T also got her hands on another stash! she was fast to catch this trashion virus in me. 

 

so, now, i have the biggest stash of beautiful fabrics to work on and work on it is what i am definitely doing.

 

 care to be infected?

art is a VERB (emphasis supplied)

i love vintage

have you ever gone to the same thrift store two days in a row? 

that's me, that week when i was in Monterey. i can never seem to get enough of that YBR place.  and i don’t really wonder, i know why. 

i brought home a collection of green depression glass which i bought from YBR in  my numerous visits, one that will make my friend Tootsie green with envy!  bwahahaha, and make her take a second look at her own.  i have also found nice amber glass pieces that will compliment the collection i have started before my trip to the US.  just unfortunate, tho, that a piece broke in transit. 

some of my vintage fabrics/materials for my upcoming line – F.A.R.M. Threads, were also from YBR,  i rummaged through their boxes and bins and found fabric remnants of silk and satin, some are now florettes for my hair accessories.  YBR is my treasure chest  when i am in the americas and i keep it not a secret.

 

my sister, T and i really love to go treasure hunting at thrift stores. 

in fact, in the 45-day holiday last Christmas, that i spent with her,  i can only count the days when am not in one.  now, was that a luxe holiday or a thrift holiday?  bwahahaha.

i have a café back here in the Philippines, and the motif is vintage, the reason why i am overly drawn to anything vintage.  i am positive, i will be running my own vintage shop cum café soon enough, if the thrift gods don’t stop looking down my way.  i am just so lucky to find treasures in what others call trash.  that doesn’t make me trashy, tho.  my place is full of class, and ilovette!

vintage shops are my shops of choice, anywhere i go, be it in Europe, the Americas, Asia, or even just here in Manila and to be more localized, even here in my town, Baao, shops that promise anything vintage are my most fave place to go.  

i am sure by now, if you have been reading through, you are wondering, what kind of place i live in? 

well, no surprise at all,

i live in a vintage house, antique, is more appropriate, with all my vintage furniture, handed down from one generation to the next,

and i am the fourth down the line.  this place i live in, which is now known as Villa Esperanza (i named it, btw) has always been dwelled upon by matriarchs and matriarch i shall be.  i wouldn’t want to disappoint my forebears.  bwahahaha.

flowers and floral things

flowers are one of the greatest 

and most satisfying indulgences of  my life. 

 

i love those growing in my farm, 

and i love the foliage, too. 

i enjoy setting them on my bottles and propping them up in the most unusual nooks and crannies of my place. 

my farm, too, is an explosion of texture and color, perfectly suited to the grounds.

flowers are not only one of the great pleasures of my life, but their inspiration is a central part of my designs.  their influences can be seen in everything i make.

when i get the time to make my routine rounds in the nearby flea markets, my eyes are automatically drawn to flower-inspired fabrics. 

and with these fabrics, guess what i make out of them?  fabric flowers, of course.

so, to be launched in november is my new line of products – the F.A.R.M. Threads.  hair accessories, purses, totes, cushion covers, etc.  all these are from used and discarded fabrics.

scarves away!

i have been playing with my idea years ago, 

and somehow, in the onslaught of the demands for my time, 

with the myriad concerns that i attend to, my idea got stashed and lost, too. 

until i had the time to empty one room, the one next to mine, 

to make it ready for Dorothy who was coming home for a vacay after almost a decade of being away, in the US.

when i saw my stash of vintage scarves, again, i was more resolute and gave in to its charm and promise of a new look for my living room upstairs.  

so i had marlyn, my seamstress, to do my project for me.

today i installed my new curtains of what once was a stash of old, worn, vintage scarves. 

and voila! 

a personality 

and an interesting character 

to my living room.

F.A.R.M. wins!

the ceremony was @ the SM City Naga activity center

competing at the highest level is not about winning. 

It's about preparation, courage, understanding and nurturing your people, and heart.

winning is the result.

my trophy

i knew about the first bishop gainza trade fair way back in feb, when jay showed me the plans he’s been working on.  such enthusiasm and idealism, i see in jay, no wonder, i always get caught joining his projects, and without an iota of regret, all the time.

my quest then became apparent:  i have to join the first bishop gainza trade fair (being an historical event, and as a show of support to the diocese for the 300 years of devotion to Ina) and take on everything that it calls for.  i planned for months of preparation, but, oh, these plans, they are but those.  bwahahaha.  i had the longest time to make the stocks ready, and just like everybody else, i cram!  so it was barely a month before the fair that i seriously worked on it, but working is not the right term for what i do, so i rephrase my previous statement:  i seriously played on it. now, doesn’t that sound fun?  certainly!  and i had the most fun.  

F.A.R.M. play

F.A.R.M.ing is fun!  

who wouldn’t trade their work for what i do?  i play with colors, textures and lovely people.  

my shoppe, for a month became just like Santa’s workshop when christmas is in the air.  one can hear naughty giggles, boisterous laughter (mostly from me, sorry neighbours) and occasional shouts from the mada’am.  bwahahaha!   

Sandy working on my F.A.R.M. boot

and when the day came to set up my booth, 

just like santa, i had my best reindeer in tow: Sandy.  

we didn’t have a sled,

tho, we just took the florencia bus to naga city!  on a hot, humid day.

with my Sisters in the Hood: ritz, lilette, tootsie, anne, too

with nene and arlene of AMAD-DA

with cous perlie and sis and niec

setting up the booth was a breeze, what with all my buttons, my arms and my precious F.A.R.M.er photos.  

SM beauties

i didn’t have to labour for ideas,

they just come and i simply execute, and voila:  

 the most photographed booth in the fair – 

the F.A.R.M. by bidibidi enterprise Booth.

with my cousins

from the first day till the last, the F.A.R.M. booth was the favourite, without a doubt.  when old and new F.A.R.M.ers come, i make sure they leave with a F.A.R.M. trinket and a smile.  everyone left with a happy heart, not only because they bought a piece or two or too many, but because they now know the F.A.R.M. story.  (i even thought of putting the story on tape, so i don’t have to repeat it again and again, but i soon realized that when i tell the story from heart, in person,  i tell it with passion and people get infected, and there is simply no cure.  bwahahaha!  afterall, this is what i am here for.)

my Ornaments from Trash class & Fr. Fidel Bagayawa

at the F.A.R.M. booth

i had the chance to teach the skill to a number of interested crafters, 

and a chance to present F.A.R.M. to the UBC (United Bicol Clergy) during a party at the Naga Parochial School, where all the bishops and the clergy converged in a dinner hosted by the Most Reverend Leonardo Z. Legaspi, O.P., D.D. Archbishop of Caceres.

during the UBC dinner @ Naga Parochial School

sisters/F.A.R.M.ers Mabolo

with Rosalie's uncle Ed and nephew Jay

the best day was sunday and the booth was overflowing with visitors old and new!  some are first time F.A.R.M.ers, 

most are repeaters., 

they just can’t get enough.  i was the best seller, too!  oh my, life is definitely good!

twin F.A.R.M. kids

and, alas, the best is yet to come!  

old and new F.A.R.M.ers

monday  was the last fair day, i didn’t have haste in mind, i lingered at home, and waited till after the rain waned.  took the slowest bus to naga, exhaustion was taking its toll on me, and nostalgia, too.  i had the best time meeting new F.A.R.M.ers!  although i longed for my unhurried time at the shoppe, i also felt i will miss my daily trips to and dealings in naga.

the booth was not as noisy, nor was it as busy.  my neighbor-booths were quiet, too.  there were still a lot of last-minute shoppers and people who are hesitant to travel all the way to my hometown and shoppe address, Baao, for a piece of my F.A.R.M.  they made sure they have the color to match their fave dress, their office uniform, etc.  and as always, i was there, to shake their hands, let them know about the good F.A.R.M. story, and put a smile on their otherwise tired and weary faces. 

students of the Ateneo de Naga University

i asked jay if i need to be at the Best of Bicol Awards Night, he replied, “yes, who knows, you might have an award”. that made me have the shivers.  i was not wearing an appropriate attire, for the occasion, and for a possible award. 

i was so sure, i’d get the Best Dressed Booth Award.  hah!  my booth was certainly 

the best dressed, 

most photographed, 

most interesting, 

with Mm. Sonia Roco

most visited, 

beautiful F.A.R.M.ers: yayet, angelita and melva

Baao beauties

and best-selling (in terms of quantity, and they judge this category not by the quantity but by the amount, so that a piece of furniture would equate to a hundred F.A.R.M. bracelets.  

bwahahaha!).   

cousin Luis and college batchmate Marie

the awarding ceremony started and it was graced by known personalities both in the bicol clergy and the bicol business community.  when the Best Dressed Booth award was called and i didn’t hear my name, i was so in shock and couldn’t speak.  which booth was more beautiful than mine?  and i was almost in tears, but i had to keep my mascara from running and making me look like a disgruntled panda.  i knew there were eight awards, and the emcee called one exhibitor after another, i could hardly hear.  i was so disappointed and sad.  the seventh award was The Most Promising Product Award, and I was thinking to myself, that certainly is not me, i don’t promise anything.  bwahahaha.   

receiving my award and certificate

 a picture of surprise and joy

so when the host said that the last award was The Best Product Award, i was not even paying attention, i was busy criticizing, well, not myself, i was sinning!!!   

when Fr. Wilmer Tria announced the winner and said:  The Best Product Award goes to : F. . .A. . .R. . .M. . . i almost lost it, my sound of surprise was genuine, well, unintelligible cacophony of sounds from moi. 

with Fr. Wilmer Tria

(haaaaah?  Waaaaaah?  Me?) bwahahaha! and the crowd applauded and cheered, and i was walking on air to the platform to receive my trophy, not minding my slippers, nor my ill-fitting pants, nor my old blouse.  that night, i was the BEST and that is all that mattered.

at my F.A.R.M. booth in the 1st Bishop F. Gainza Trade Fair

“i was feeling bad that i was not called for the Best Dressed Booth, little had i known that i had the best in store for me. sometimes, an early let down is but a moment of reflection, a chance for humility.”