Sunday, December 25, 2011

To Holidays and Family Bondings!

Christmas is finally here!

I've been busy these past few weeks. Work, ameobiasis, and the holiday fever had bogged me down and I haven't found the time to update this journal or to even do anything artistic. Fortunately, I was able to take a day of rest two days before the 25th. A day of doing nothing but rest really does some wonders to one's physical and mental health. By the time December 24th arrived I was well enough to bake a cake.

And what a wonderful cake it is! (baked by me)

I have always been fascinated with how the Japanese spent their Christmas holidays. Strawberry cream short cakes have always been featured in different Japanese movies, dramas and animations during the December season. The cakes always looked yummy in photos and videos and I would stare at them with drool trailing from my mouth. Oh how I wanted to taste those cakes! Since these baked delights are not readily available here in the Philippines (strawberries are quite expensive here in Manila), I vowed that one day I would venture out to make my own version of the famed Japanese strawberry shortcake.

Strawberries ready to be used.

I found a helpful blog called lafujimama.com. Rachael from lafujimama had posted a detailed step by step recipe. She even posted pictures! I followed most of the instructions although I did a shortcut by using a ready-made cake mix from the grocery. I bought the ingredients early in the morning and made the cake soon after lunch time. I finished baking by five in the afternoon. I froze the cake in the freezer after that so it would be ready when the time for Noche Buena came around.


I layered the cake and put whipped cream and strawberries in between.

Filipinos usually spend the evening of December 24th dining with family members. We call this event as ‘Noche Buena’. I don’t know if we learned it from the Spaniards when they settled here in our lands four hundred years ago. All I know is that it’s a Christmas tradition that had been passed on through the generations.

This is by far the best cake I have ever baked!

Every year I usually bake something special for my family. I did a batch of cream puffs last year and I wanted to make this year's Noche Buena a little bit more special. My strawberry cream cae became the crowning glory of the evening. After a round of great pizza, tacos, chicken, and potato wedges, my family wanted to eat something sweet.

Awesome cake looked yummy and tasted yummy <3

And they enjoyed my cake! My dad said it was really delicious! It really warmed my heart hearing those words. It makes all my hard work worth it! The sponge cake tasted just right and complimented the sweetness of the cream and the tartness of the strawberries. This definitely one of my favorites. Its quite hard to do though so I'll probably make these cakes only on special occasions.

So here's to having a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday! I hope everyone would have a fun time this December 25th!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Amigurumi and Inspirational Music

My late grandmother taught me how to crochet when I was six or seven years old. My fondest memory would be running to her room after school. I would sit beside her, my eyes observing her with delight as she crochets a jacket or a table runner. I still have one of the clothes she had crocheted for me. The yarn had already shrunk and it doesn’t fit me at all but I still keep it in my closet, a fond reminder of my grandma.

About a year ago, I’ve stumbled upon the concept of AMIGURUMI. It is a Japanese art of crocheting or knitting small stuffed animals. I love crochet and cute things that make me think of happy memories so it’s no wonder that I tried my hand in making some Amigurumi last year.

A Family of Chicks, made by me.

I stopped creating these cute crochet animals because of the lack of time. I was busy with work and a lot of things but I always wanted to create more Amigurumi. So when Luie, a friend of mine, pointed out to me that there was a store in Glorietta 5 that sells materials for crochet and knitting I bought some new yarns and craft stuff.

Amigurumi Bears, Made by me

I love the colors! I have always been fond of candy colors and pastels. I already have some projects in mind where I’ll be able to use these cute yarns. In the meantime I also started crocheting again using the yarn I already have back at home.

My yarn loot!

I’m planning to create a bear again. It’s a Christmas gift for a friend. I hope she’ll appreciate it.

My Work In Progress (WIP)

I’ll post the finished product once I’m done but for now enjoy some beautiful music from James Iha. I stumbled upon this song by accident and I absolutely love it! Who would have thought that James Iha, the guitarist for Smashing Pumpkins, would create a really cool solo album. His songs are about love, dreams and melancholy. The music makes me think of lazy summer days. Check it out.

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Friday, December 9, 2011

Three Cheers to Art Delightful!

Two weeks ago I was able to paint again. I used prang water colors and used a beautiful photo of clovers for inspiration. It took me about three days to finish it and I’m really quite happy with the result.


I’m really relieved that I can still paint. Two years had passed since the last time I held a paintbrush. I actually experienced a really extensive artist block so I’m really quite happy that I was able to create something wonderful and so pretty to look at.

This painting is titled as ”Clovers". Yup, not that unique a name but I just think it’s perfect.

This artwork of mine inspired me to create this blog. I wanted to a place to showcase my work, to document my journey as an artist and what is happening in my life. I want to share my inspirations, my memories of my travels, and my undying love for Japanese fashion. So don’t be surprised if you see fashion posts or photos about where I’ve gone to during the weekend. Even if the blog’s title is about art it doesn’t mean that it is just about ‘art’.

Art Delightful will always be a blog about my life.

As an effort to make my blog uniquely ‘me’, I opted to create my own layout. I designed and painted the header image with prang watercolors. After that I scanned it and added the additional typography elements with Photoshop.

The design included all the things that make me happy: Flowers, my camera, my paintbrushes, ribbons, my sewing machine (although it’s represented by two spools of thread), and a cup of tea. I used pink as the main font color and side background theme. Anyone who knows me personally would not be surprised. I love that color with a passion. Pink has always given me a sense of loveliness. It’s cute isn’t it? I’m pretty happy with the result of the over all design.

Please stay tuned for more art projects. I’ve got a lot planned for the next few weeks. Till next time!

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