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August: Color & Expression With Alma Thomas

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Last month, the colourful, abstract expressionistic paintings of Alma Woodsey Thomas gave us life! Summer picked her as our featured artist for August and we enjoyed recreating her work. Alma Thomas in her studio, ca. 1968 In fact, if you are looking for projects that can put your mind at ease and cheer you up at the same time, Alma Thomas's work is the perfect inspiration. But before getting into the activities, let's get to know this legendary woman a little bit more. MEET THE ARTIST Alma Thomas has always been a creative child. As a little girl, she enjoyed making puppets, Read More

JULY: Imagine And Play With Joan Miro

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My 7 year old daughter Emma selected Joan Miro for July's Artist In Focus. We studied and took inspiration from his playful art style which has some similarities to Picasso's. They were both known to be the best Cubist and Surrealist artists from the early years after all and were also good friends. Joan Miro was not only a painter, he was also a sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona, Spain. It's understandable why his work appeals to children like mine. There is a very child-like and carefree quality about them that was, historically, revolutionary during the 1930s. He re-defined Read More

Garden Walk DIY Activity Zine

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These days, unable to explore and go on trips as much as we usually did pre-Covid, the backyard garden is a piece of heaven. There is an almost-too-small- swing which my kids always gravitate to. They sometimes set up a table and some chairs then pretend to have a tea party or they lay out a blanket where they relax and enjoy their snacks. I try to join when I can. When I do, my favorite thing to do is watch the birds flutter about the trees or spot the many different flying insects that circle the lawn. It's quite surprising to discover the variety of wildlife that thrive in and frequent this Read More

JUNE: Freedom Figures With Jacob Lawrence

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In June, when the Black Lives Matter protests just began to escalate again in America, and we, ourselves, in the Philippines started rallying, both online and offline, for the eradication of the Anti-Terrorism Bill, many of our conversations at home involved issues regarding social injustice, race, equality and freedom of speech. Naturally, our children had many questions but we saw it as the perfect opportunity to learn about these topics together with them. MEET THE ARTIST It was their first time to learn about race, so for our June artist in focus, we decided to learn about another Read More

Online Creative Classes With Skill Skout

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There has been a huge upsurge of online classes all over the world in the last few months. As people hunker down in their houses and children end up having to do school from home, we all find ourselves scouring the world wide web for sites and services that will help us make our time at home worthwhile and keep our children occupied and educated. Full class making Painted Paper Collages last May 27th As someone who makes a living holding art events and physical craft workshops, the quarantine has definitely forced me to rethink how I do things, adjust and adapt to the times. I have more Read More

C+V AnniverZine

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Last May 22nd, Kayo and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary. It's a pretty huge milestone for us and we are amazed by all that we experienced in the last decade together as a couple and as a family. There is definitely a lot to be grateful for and we could not have imagined or predicted all the wonderful things life brought us in our marriage so far. I really wanted to give Kayo something special but my shopping options are limited at this time so I decided to make something for him instead. I turned one of my handmade notebooks from my previous posts into an AnniverZine Read More

Collected and Sewn : DIY Notebooks

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I love paper. There's just something very soothing about working with it. And it's precisely why many of the craft projects I do involve cutting, pasting, folding, decorating and printing on paper. But even with this great big love for paper products, I do acknowledge the fact that I really ought to be conserving and recycling them more instead of hoarding and tossing them right away. This led me to upcycling projects such as collaging, making my own paper and junk journaling -- just simple, fun ways to keep me from wasting paper so easily. Lately, I've been really enjoying Read More

MAY: Objects and Stories with Betye Saar PART 1

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We are back exploring influential contemporary artists this month of May. We decided to skip April to give my girls some time off from structured art making and have more time for free play, which they spent with utmost enthusiasm. Now that we're back, I decided to introduce the girls to a more non-traditional artist who is known for making mixed media pieces. I wanted someone whose work does not primarily revolve around the painted canvas. Luckily, I came across Betye Saar in one of MOMA's At The Museum episodes. I read up on her life and work and was very much drawn to her eclectic art Read More

FIVE THINGS THIS WEEK: Take Care, Stay Safe

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Jumping right into it, here are five (more or less!) things/activities that kept me going the last seven days… 1. Online Craft Class I partnered with SkillSkout to teach a series of online craft classes for kids this month. To kick it off, we did a free FB Live craft session last Saturday making Tic Tac Toe sets out of household recyclables. I'm happy to be teaching again and even happier to see some of the finished projects by some of those who participated. The video is still on my Facebook Page if you'd like your kids to make their own (CLICK HERE). You can also sign up Read More

Five Things This Week: What Day Is it?

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I'm losing track of the days, to be honest. While writing this I checked my planner and, apparently, it's Day 56 of Metro Manila lockdown. It's quite amazing to think that we have not been outdoors for this long. Apart from the time we moved to my in laws house a couple of weeks ago, my kids and I have not gone anywhere else. I was browsing through my Insta Story Highlights last night and what I found equally amazing was how often we were out and about pre-quarantine. Our weeks were packed with places to go, people to see and activities to do -- museums, art shows, playdates, studio visits, Read More