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Inspired by young coconut shells containing coconut jelly sold at the Filipino market, I made some jagged edged bowls and plates. I wanted to have some hot soup from a coconut shell. Soup is the best.

hot-soup-from-a-coconut-shell-while-at-the-beach-on-a-cold-day dream come true

"All i want is a (bubble)room somewhere...far away from the cold night air..."

Sing it, Eliza.

Photo via DesignSoak  || Want a BubbleTree? Here you go.

Check out my friend Ben’s spiffy office :D

ta dah!

This was for an inter-office  “decorate your work space” competition :) How cool is that? Ben did not win – - a guy who turned his office into a huge RAMEN BOWL and gave away free ramen (!) won, haha.

Ben is a super artist. He likes Adventure Time (yeah!), drawing on cardboard boxes and take-and-bake pizza cartons. Here are other pics for your viewing pleasure.

Here are some “before” pictures. The mountains were painted on wood which he cut out using that machine you cut wood with. I will call it a wood-cutting-to-shape machine.

i love the mountains!

: D

When he’s not play– I mean working at the office, he makes comics just for fun. Check out his stuff here: Black Sheep comics.

Usagi Jane (my fave) and her friends present stories of friendship, adventure, and good fun for kids, young teens & adults too.

seekers who are lovers || cocteau twins

i have to admit, i didn’t know who kelly rowland was but a quick search shows she is one of the beautiful, uber talented destiny’s child ladies (seh ma name, seh ma name). here she is looking gorgeous at the most recent NY fashion week wearing my sister’s work on her neck and wrist.

www.Joyce Makitalo.com

ms kelly wearing ms joyce

photo from the jasmine brand .com

my 1st pair of air plants: got a couple. farmers market find, 1st january '12

...tulip love too

the tulips wilted having been left inside a car for a few hours. i accidentally found out a good way to revive them. i placed them in wine bottles with the intention of just propping them up, as having left them overnight in a shorter vase (with sugar water! as the vendor suggested) did not help at all: in the morning i found them limp and even more bowed down. after coming home from watching hugo, i plucked one out of the bottle and oh! the stem was sturdy and full of life once more! i did not think they will come back to life. so, there’s a nifty bendy tulip revival trick for you.

hello baby

Rica has a toy and she is enjoying it quite lots.

finish line in sight!

In progress: final two drawings for my friend’s Filipino language book! He’s having me draw visuals for the language exercises. Congratulations Jied! May you write many more books :)

The drawing on the left is supposed to be a fraction of the majestic Banaue rice terraces of Northern Philippines, and the one on the right, the pretty amazing chocolate hills of Bohol. I think they call them chocolate as they turn brown during the summer. Or something. Maybe I made that up.

I was fortunate to see the hills when I visited the island of Bohol last year, an hour plane ride south of  Manila. There are about 1,300 (!) of these perfectly shaped mounds of  awesomeness, standing side by side. Breath taking under the perfectly blue Philippine sky. Somehow, the sunshine there is different. Yellower.

A couple of pictures I took:

Mmm.

for scale: looks like something from a miyazaki film.

A good remainder of the weekend! Back to drawring…

Bikram bound. At last!

Quiet, Mucha mural-ed cafe discovery: $1 croissant, $2 GIANT cappuccino w/ red lips. Kendal, coffee shop owner, told me he will draw a different face for me each time i come in. Sure!

New addiction: ladies and gents, driven 4.5 hours straight from the Sierras by fruit vendor Paul aka “Luscious” at 1:30 AM, the Emerald Beauty Pluots. After introducing himself as Luscious, he won’t believe my name was Rica (i guess in Spanish, my name would have a similar translation ;) & asked my sister if I was telling the truth :)

… til next weekend!

woven hair mourning pendant, 1860s-1880s

“Sweet, there is nothing left to say
But this, that love is never lost,
Keen winter stabs the breasts of May
Whose crimson roses burst his frost,
Ships tempest-tossed
Will find a harbour in some bay,
And so we may.”

- – Oscare Wilde

Antique pendant available for purchase via this link.