Paper Making: Challenge Accepted

I'm so happy to be back in school after a semester off to study for the architecture board exam. I'm proud to say that I'm an architect now. :)) I exhausted my left brain in the process of getting my second professional license that my right's excited to be back doodling and sketching designs.

I only have a few units this sem but these subjects keep me busy with fun stuff. In our supposedly lecture class, Materials Development, we already tried laser cutting acrylic and wood veneers - and that's just an assignment for a week, not a term project! Who knew school could be this exciting?

For our paper week, we were given the choice of either making something out of paper or actually making paper. After watching the paper-making video our professor prepared, I decided to take the challenge and make my own paper.

If you feel like trying it yourself, here's my process - much more 'homemade' than the video I've seen. This process looks easy because you won't be needing big equipments or special tools. Just look around your house and you'll find the things you'll need. :)

And these are those things:
scrap paper and/or tissue
embellishments (optional) - i used tea leaves for color and scent
water
blender
containers - one must be big enough for the frame
picture frame - as big as you want your paper to be
metal mesh - the one that's in your screen door. this should be at least as big as your frame.
2 pieces of cloth - also at least as big as the frame
absorbent rag
2 non-absorbent boards - for pressing, i just used an illustration board with the plastic
drying board - i used a lap desk and a kickboard
hair dryer
stirrer or any stick - unless you want to use your fingers like I did, and i don't recommend it. haha.

Process:
Making the Pulp
* cut the paper/tissue
* soak them in water
* soak the embellishments in water
* put soaked paper into blender then add water - more water than paper, or you'll say bye-bye to your blender

* blend for a few seconds - you can put the embellishments before or after blending. I put mine after.

Shaping the Paper
* fit the metal mesh into the frame, replacing the glass
* place the framed mesh into the container
* pour pulp evenly to the mesh
* let drain then tilt to the the corner to drain more - don't tilt if it's still super wet, you'll displace the pulp
* transfer paper to the cloth
* sloooowly, carefully 'peel' off mesh - try not to peel off the paper

Pressing the Paper
* put cloth on one board
* cover the paper with another cloth place another board over
* press the now-sandwiched paper - remember you're doing this to drain water, not to flatten the paper
* remove board then pat - pat - the sandwiched paper - do NOT rub, you might displace the pulp
* remove the upper cloth
* transfer paper to the drying board

Drying the Paper
* blow the paper dry
* take the board out to sun dry - mine took a few days to fully dry

Tips:
* The more pulp in the mixture, the thicker your paper will be. You can put the blended mixture in a bigger container and add water before pouring it into the screen, if you want thinner paper.
* The thinner the paper, the more difficult the peeling process.
* Cover your drying board with plastic for easier peeling off.

That's it! I hope you'll enjoy making paper as much as I did. Here's my video, the one I actually submitted to my professor as documentation. It's a one-take video, which makes it funny because you'll see fails like water spilling off my container and how i used my hands to stir the tea mixture. haha. Forgive me. :)

PS. The video started with me showing how I prepared the pressing cloth and boards, and the making of the framed screen.

See how school could be fun? ;)

Quality Over Quantity

It's been a while since my last post and I blame myself for it. I believe I somehow overestimated myself and ended up struggling. :)

I decided to really take a challenge and drown myself with classes. I continued my Interior Design studies, took the second part of the Furniture Design Workshop, joined the Lighting Design Competition Workshop, enrolled the ALE (Architecture Licensure Exam) review course, and reviewed for the Master Plumber Licensure Exam.

My professor said all the stress could cause my death. I was doing so many things that I didn't know which one to focus on. I read review books then stopped to relax and by that I mean, make my design assignments. Reading isn't a tedious thing for me but when I'm so loaded with terms and information, my right brain wants to cope and draw away. I was stressed not because I needed to do a lot of things but because I thought I wasn't doing well in all those things.

I usually take at least a month to come up with a design assignment I'm actually happy with. With three design subjects all at the same time, I couldn't even focus on one. I submit works that I know could still be improved. There is also a constant tug-of-war between review tests and rendering assignments, which results to mediocre scores and plates. Nothing was in a good state, not one plate nor one review exam was to be proud of.

That was when I finally understood 'quality over quantity'. A few weeks before the master plumber exam, I didn't attend classes - both school and ALE review. The last few weeks of school, I skipped review classes and did all my requirements, each with adequate attention. I embraced the idea that in order to succeed in something, I have to wrap myself with it. I have to live in a world of plumbing or be in a universe of conceptual design. I have to let go of other things to be able to 'spend quality time' with the things I want to achieve. True enough because now I'm a registered master plumber and a dean's lister at SoFA. I really can't believe it and I'm so happy.

I'm trying to hold up this discipline towards my new goal. I'm now swimming in a water of architecture, gasping for air every once in a while so I don't become crazy. Writing this blog is actually a breather that I, unfortunately, have to end because the books are starting to call my name.

so proud to be a lady plumber :)

Until next time!

Statement Lips on a Saturday

These are some photos from the September 2014 SoFA Meet and Greet..

I was super excited to share my experiences as a student, but extremely nervous as well. I think it's easier to sing in front of an audience than talk to them. haha. :) I guess I was also really nervous because I was infront with great people like Toby (our very philosophical dean that I really look up to), Denise (our department head who could like talk about history, even answer ambush questions, without notes), Ms. Amina (one of the school's founder and I really wanna be like her because she's so sophisticated and graceful), and Alyssa (a very inspiring and witty lady who seems to be having so much fun in her life, and she has done so much already at 24!!!)

Anyway, I'm not used to super red lips but we were encouraged because I was taught that statement lips make your audience wanna listen to you, soooo.. Good thing the school has a big tub of lipsticks because I only brought lip gloss. haha. :)

this one's taken after the event.. it was redder. :))

during the presentation briefing

wee! me.. :))

present for the "speakers"

I really am super proud of myself here.. I know I may sound crazy to some but this is just something new to me and I always celebrate new things that come into my life no matter how simple it may seem to others.. We have to be grateful even for the smallest things, right?


Oh, and this is what I wore.. We have to wear black. Good thing I bought this dress months before hoping I'd be able to wear it someday. :)

I felt so demure in school with red lipstick and the cutout dress talking with graceful people but I was back to my normal self when I got home. haha. :)


SheInside dress | Parisian shoes

Big or Small, Design is Design

I know I haven't mention this before but I'm taking up a furniture design workshop this summer and we're already on our third week. I studied architecture for five years plus enrolled in interior design but the more I learn about design, I think the more eager I become to learn even more. It's weird actually. It's as if I can't say no to it.

There's a quote by Albert Einstein that says..

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."

I believe that in design schools, we aren't just taught the design history and the greatest designers and all those things we have to read and familiarize. We are actually taught how to dive into our imagination and come back to reality with something even knowledge doesn't know yet. The process is vital for us to come up with something 'new'.

After all the design classes, I realize that design, no matter how relatively massive or minute, should get the same attention. We should do it step by step regardless if we're designing buildings, interiors or furniture.

This week, in our class, we were asked to make 3 design languages, each with three pieces - bed, chair, table. The process really is similar, at least for the 3 design fields I encountered. Inspiration, Concept, Translation, and lots of cheap paper.. :)

These are the works I pinned up earlier today in class, after a week of sketching. Don't worry, these are starting points. We still have a few more weeks to take these further..

Inspiration: Wicked
Concept: Defying Gravity
Translation: heavy things with thin supports, seemingly impossible

Inspiration: Jack Frost
Concept: whimsical, laziness
Translation: lazy bean bags with unnecessary stuff

Inspiration: Moulin Rouge cancan dancers
Concept: seductive, sensual
Translation: forms based on female human body

What do you think? Should I continue with these or just throw them away and start from scratch? I don't like Jack Frost that much anyway. haha. I already threw a few concepts after a couple of sketches including Iron Man and The Flintstones.

So, what do you think? Should I look for more inspirations? What do you suggest? :)

The Power of Affirmation

Great job! You did well! Looking good! :))

Affirmations. When I joined the Youth Encounter - a 3-day retreat organized by the youth ministry of the Bukas Loob sa Diyos - we were encouraged to give affirmations to others, not the sarcastic bully just-so-I-could-say-something kind. I was taught that if I were to see something great by someone, I have to let him know that he did well or that he looks great or whatever.

Some people are motivated and motivate others through negativity. Some people would tell you that you need to work harder or that what you did is not good enough so you'd be pushed to do better next time. This works for me but not for a long time. I remember our coach - she tells us during practice that we run so slow or that we don't make enough baskets at a given time and all those things. Yes, I'm sort of challenged to do better but after like 20 comments like that, I just settle for the fact that I won't have further improvements. They'd say they're pulling me down so I'd spring back up but after some time, I get tired and just stay down.

What I realize is that affirmation gives me long-lasting motivation. Like in school, my professor told us that he will be displaying the best works at the bulletin board by the end of the semester. I know I'm not that good in drawing but because of that, I'm actually trying so much harder. I want my work posted there primarily because I want to make myself believe that I could actually do it, that I could really be good enough if I just exert so much effort.

Back in college, I remember doing my assignments far from the architecture building. I do it at the accountancy/business building, while waiting for my bestfriend for lunch. One factor is that I like the feeling when students from the business courses would tell me my drawing is nice, compared to the sad comments I get from some of my classmates. Yeah, I rarely get compliments from people who are really into the craft.

My pointillism assignment on the works

That's why I was super happy when my Visual Techniques professor told me my pointillism assignment is actually great. Weee!! Just in time because I was already beginning to give up on his class. I tried hard but I still got low grades. I was reminded that I just needed to try so much harder. Just as I stated in my previous blog - you think you're at you're best, well you're not. Amazing. You think you did good, well wait for someone to give you affirmation. This is because sometimes we become so tired that we appreciate our own works when it is not that good. I needed that simple praise to keep me going.

I think this could be true to most people because if you could remember your classes, there's this pyramid of needs made by Maslow (I forgot his first name). And somewhere near the top, there's self esteem and to have that, he suggests that people needs recognition. And for me, a recognition is a very high type of affirmation. It's when you are told that you really did well, enough to make people see you as someone they could look up to.

That simple affirmation from my professor was like my second line of safety. Like the ziplines, they have this second cable in case the first one breaks. That affirmation saved me from slacking, thinking I won't be better no matter what I do.

Compliments are very short phrases and sometimes even just a word - like great or good or nice - but these could make so much difference. You'll never know your compliment might stop a person from committing suicide. So go and tell people how great they are! :))

Angel <3