Just before this month of August ends, I decided to create a toothpick doll wearing a modern  Terno Maria Clara gown.  Every month of August, the Philippines celebrates a month-long celebration of Buwan ng Wika  (Buwan means Month while Wika means Language). It used to be a week-long celebration, until President Ramos declared it should be a month-long starting from the year 1997. It's usually the month where all Philippine schools hold programs and contests about the National Language of the Philippines and our rich culture and history. Along with it, participants also wear our traditional clothes which are the Barong Tagalog (for men) and Baro't Saya (for women). Baro't Saya is an early pre-colonial clothing of the Philippines, and also has different forms. Back in the day when there were castes, the upper class wore Baro't Saya made from silk while the lower class wore Baro made from pounded white bark fiber.   One of the forms of Baro

If you have been hanging out on my blog from when I started, you'll definitely notice I am fond of animation, or anime. I believe it has become pretty obvious on my Elf Mage toothpick doll series, as I have mentioned that I got some inspiration designs from my favorite characters on my favorite animes. And speaking of favorite animes, I do have quite a list. When I was in 5th grade, )back when I was really obsessed with watching Japanese animes) I tried listing all of the animes I have watched, making sure my favorites are on the top of my list. Believe it or not I have filled an A4 sized piece of paper. Until now I still can't quite understand why I did that, but I think it's quite amazing that I managed to watch all those.  My obsession to anime continued on even when I reached high school. Though I might have toned down my addiction a little bit. Actually my freshman years were q little hectic since I needed to adjust to new faces and new schedules, and

I admit I'm in to Youtubers lately. I used to watch Korean drama series before, then when none of the new dramas interested me, I switched on to Korean variety/reality shows. But since these variety shows only get aired on weekends, I had to wait for a week to watch the next episode. So I go to Youtube to watch mostly anything. I watch cooking tutorials, baking, make-up, workouts, basic yoga, even DIY ideas (yes, the usual girl stuff), but I do watch music videos too, and recently, reaction videos and mukbang  videos (mukbang is basically a video of someone eating, which can be very tempting...and I am tempted everytime...and I'm on a diet). After I made a toothpick doll for Terry Song (Terry TV), I got positive reviews from fellow fans. I thought Terry wouldn't even notice since my toothpick doll wasn't even that perfect. But he did! I posted it on Twitter, and he even retweeted.  Since I received positive reviews of my Terry toothpick doll

It's no longer a surprise for me to create toothpick doll fan arts of people I am a fan of. I've made fan arts for Philippine celebrities before, but this is the first time I am making a fan art for someone who is not actually a celebrity you can watch on TV or supermodels you can see on magazine pages and covers.  Today, my friends, will all be about Youtuber Terry Song (@terrysongtv on his social media accounts), who is an online personality and a sensation. He's a half Korean and a half American. He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States but he is currently residing in Seoul, South Korea where he once became an English Teacher. Due to some circumstances, he had a career change and now he is a full time Youtuber. His first videos were mostly reaction videos with his Korean and American friends. Those reaction videos were of varied categories: games, celebrities from different countries, Kpop music videos or Kpop idol groups. Until he decided to up

After making quite a few toothpick dolls that could stand on their own, have wings, have layers of petticoats, and some I made into key chains, I wanted to try out something new. So I consulted everyone's best friend, Pinterest, for some ideas. I found thousands of recommendations as expected, but nothing interested me. I must've spent half a day trying to find something that made me curious, or even something that caught my attention. I mostly found toothpick dolls attached to clothespins, made into key chains, or either simply standing or laying down on a surface.  When I thought I had lost hope, I tapped the home button and I found a fairy mobile idea. The thing was, it was needle felted. The idea was great, and I honestly would like to try needle felting aside from creating toothpick dolls. The problem was, here in the Philippines especially on my side of the country, supplies for crafting materials are scarce. There are a few craft stores downtown, but

All people have their humble beginnings. I always liked listening to stories of how people started, how their roads were rough at the start, how they stumbled but managed to pull their senses together and kept going.  Just like everybody else, I also have humble beginnings on making toothpick dolls. They were never perfect. They had uneven hips, too big heads, too thin limbs, and so on. But despite their imperfection and my obvious mistakes and lack of experience, I'm still as proud of them as I am proud of the toothpick dolls I am creating now--my own style, my fan arts, toothpick elf series, and contest entries. After all, these humble beginnings started it all. They opened the door to me creating toothpick dolls and improving my craft. It all started once upon a night time when my online students were absent and I've got nothing better to do to keep my time productive at the very least. So I went on to streaming dramas online till I got bored sitting sti

Before I joined the fan art contest I previously posted on this blog, I've made quite a few toothpick dolls for Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza way before.  Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza are one of Philippines' most popular celebrity pair. Love teams or pairs are the trend in Philippine entertainment. While most Filipino celebrities get paired by working on the same TV drama or movie, Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza got paired by working on Eat Bulaga! , the longest running noon show in the Philippines. The show is more of a variety where they host talent contests, games, and community reach out through one of their segments called, Bayanihan of the Pipol (which translates to the term used by Filipinos when a community works together). Alden Richards was already a prominent actor in the Philippines when he joined Eat Bulaga. He was a breath of fresh air for the noontime show since he's one of the heartthrob's of Philippine show business. Just a

Presenting the newest addition to my elf mage toothpick doll series is Skybreath, who is by far my favorite. One of the reasons why is because I think and I believe I have outdone myself when making her. Never have I imagined I'll be able to make her style possible. I am always surprised with the outcomes of my dolls. It always felt like first love every time I finish a doll. There's something about making toothpick dolls that makes me happy. Just imagine the feeling you get when you make the things you thought were impossible at first, but in the long run, you made it. That's what I feel when I imagine a challenging design, then after the endless process of doubting myself over and over again, I managed to pull it off just the way I imagined it. But enough with me showing off. Let's talk about Skybreath instead. She came from the Kingdom of High Winds. She would often contradict Rockyfangs into discussions, and she could shush Embertongue&#