Advent, BTS and Cyanotype Printing

Inspired by RM of BTS’ full length album, Indigo, I ventured into learning Cyanotype printing early this year. With the help of Enzo Abalayan showing me how to make prints, I was further motivated to learn this new skill as my ARMY Glow Up 2025 project. Collaborating with the talented Sin So, my Tita ARMY chingu, we were able to design tote bags that were sold at the bazaar during the Pearl ARMY Festa of 2024. It was a special endeavor and personal project since part of the proceeds funded my parents’ medical care. Needless to say, being ARMY and my fangirling has led me to graces I never asked for. Believe if or not, I find God there in all His amazing glory.

Since then, I would make prints as a mental health break. Keeping a few in a portfolio that may lend to a new project in the future. When I received an invitation from friends in Magis Deo to share something for our kids, teens and young adults in the community, I immediately said yes.

I thought about conducting a Cyanotype printing workshop for our Magis Deo Youth. The idea made me happy. I looked forward to the activity during an exhausting but productive week in school. I was going to share a skill that began as an ARMY Glow Up 2025 Goal under AGU Recreation and proud that I learned it from a former student. What’s more, I was excited to connect Cyanotype printing with the message of Advent.

Advent is the season of waiting. Advent is the season of light breaking through the shadows.

Advent is a time when we are called to recognize and accept change.

Advent is an opportunity for transformation.

Cyanotype printing, with its vivid blue tones and shadowy, ethereal imagery, has a poetic resonance with the season of Advent. Cyanotypes capture light in a unique way, creating images through sunlight exposure. This parallels Advent’s theme of light emerging from darkness, as cyanotypes reveal delicate forms and shadows when exposed to light, symbolizing hope and revelation.

Since Advent is a season of waiting and preparing for light to break into the darkness, Cyanotype printing follows a similar process that involves anticipation, patience, change and transformation. Such abstract ideals, beliefs and concepts may be too far off to be fully understood by children — even adults. To enrich our context of Advent as we all prepare for this season of hope in chaotic and confusing times, an art activity such as Cyanotype printing may prove meaninfgul for the child and the child at heart.

Our Magis Deo Youth participants in this morning’s Cyanotype Printing activity brought home their hand made cyanotype greeting cards and “photographs”. Glad and grateful to learn something new as well as making art that restonates with the anticipation and joy of Christ’s birth.

Christmas 2018

12 Days of Christmas Book Review: The Saga of Santa Claus

The Saga of Santa Claus by M.D. Couturier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Saga of Santa Claus is an origin story of Norse background. It narrates the beginning of the Yuletide gift giving tradition; the man behind the happy red suit; the elves who helped him make toys; and other little bits of Christmas traditions we all recognize and practice. Take for example the stockings filled with gifts and the mistletoe that hangs on every homes' door or window. These practices are unique to western culture but, from where I am from, families have adopted the custom despite the absence of snow and mistletoe. Perhaps, people are attracted to the idea and the novelty of it all. Mark Couturier explains why it is so and it amused me that Thor is the reason for this.

There are is of course, the presence of the Norse Gods in the story, like Odin and Frigga. There are fairies and goblins too. A magic ring and a magic sleigh complete the gifts bestowed upon the chosen one. The book starts out as a legend and finishes off into a myth that children of all ages will find delightful.

The best part for me was Valdor's climactic turn into the kind hearted man that he truly is. Spoiled from childhood, this crown prince story arc is a classic, almost canonical change spelled the difference in the entire novella. It is a good read this Christmas as we keep in mind the message of the season despite turbulent times. Kindness and compassion, friendship and humility, will save us from our greedy, selfish selves. Valdor experienced this through friends who stuck with him and strangers who didn't give up on him.

I believe that every man and woman, and child, has that constant companion who will love him or her, no matter what.





View all my reviews

What's Up Our Christmas Book Tree?

The Christmas Tree in the Library

And my dream has come true!

We have book Christmas Tree in the library!

To decorate the tree, I sent word to the school community how they can help. Here are three simple ways:

You can help decorate the tree by:

a. Writing on a cut out Christmas ball your best read for 2014 to put in the tree;

 

b. Making an origami star (I have a paper and pattern) to put in the tree;

 

c. Donating a Christmas tree decoration or trimming which you think is apt for a book Christmas Tree in the library.

 

I will be posting more photos of our book Christmas Tree.

Christmas Reading Passport

Sights and Sounds of Christmas: Fruit Plate

Nibbled on fruits, cheese and wafers while waiting for Noche Buena.

Crafts at Christmas: Origami Star Wreath

The holidays can be stressful.

What with all the rush to buy gifts for him and her and the seemingly endless slew of Christmas parties at the start of December, I needed something to distress me from it all. So, in between the busyness, I managed to do some crafts. Using the Origami pack I got from the PBBY Christmas party, I whipped up a star wreath for Christmas. The pattern for the star was taken from Zoe's old origami book. Bibliography to follow as I'm blogging off site at the moment.

First, I cut out a circle from an old paper plate. This functions as the base for the star wreath. Using used ribbons, red and green, from gifts received the past year, I tied the red one around the paper plate. The green one, I used to tie a bow. To keep the red ribbon in place, I glued the edges.Then, I glued on the origami stars around the paper plate.

Now here's a step by step how-to for the origami star.

Step 1- Origami paper: make a triangular crease.

Step 2 - Using the crease as guide, fold the left and right side to the center.  Paper looks like a cone.

Step 3 - Fold the top left and right sides to the center . Again, using the crease made  in step 1 as guide. It looks like a kite now.

Step 4 - Fold the kite in its center. Now it's a triangle. Make three of these.

Step 5  - Glue the two triangles together.

Step 6 - Glue the third triangle on top of the two triangles  to form a star.

Sights and Sounds of Christmas: At the Ayala Triangle

The spectacle of lights at the Ayala Triangle is a brief wonderment of lights dancing along Christmas songs.

Christmas Reading Table

Merry Christmas! And have a happy year of reading in 2013!

Maligayang Pasko!

Picture! Picture!

A PBBY Christmas!

Last night was PBBY's Christmas Party at Nina Lim-Yuson's place. She's been hosting the parties since forever. And though I did not stay on, missing the raffle, gift exchanges, the paella, I got a lot of teasing from friends in the industry.

I think that's what made PBBY last this long. And we're counting!

A Christmas Greeting

A PBBY Christmas

Merry Christmas from the PBBY! 

Standing: L-R Dr. Luis Gatmaitan; Ani Almario-David; Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz; 

Karina Bolasco; Rosette Crelencia

Seated: L-R Nina Lim-Yuson; Zarah Gagatiga; Sally Labanda; Emily Abrera

Not in picture: Rayvi Sunico; Totet de Jesus; Hermie Beltran

Scholastic Christmas Book Sale

I'm dropping by the Scholastic Christmas Book Sale for delightfully discounted books. Books make great gifts this Christmas and this sale is perfect!

I hope to meet Enoy Ferriol at Scholastic Warehouse as well for the Sambat Trust - Scholastic matching book grant initiative we've started at Wawa Elementary School. We're targeting two thousand five hundred books and we've stocked up a thousand and five. A thousand more to go!


The Scholastic Book Sale started last December 1, 2010 and will end on December 10, 2010.

Merry Christmas From Us!

My family and I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thank you to all who helped us see through the peaks and valleys of 2009!

An Early Christmas Party

The Philippine Board On Books For Young People (PBBY) had an early Christmas party at Nina Lim-Yuson's lovely home in Makati. It was my first with the PBBY. In years past, there was always an event or a work related activity coinciding the group's Christmas party.



This year, my schedule was cleared of any event or work that I made it to Nina's. Finally. Nina's house was lovely. I love the wooden furniture. There's a touch of Nina's artistry in every corner, from bookshelf to rug. The company was wonderful. The food was good. There were enough spirits to go around and as often happens when the board gets together, it's the illustrator who earns the most "wows"!



The bookmakers in the board gave out new books. I got a copy of Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz's new book, The Teacher, a Doreen Fernandez bio. Ani Almario proudly distributed copies of Rhandee Garlitos' Ang Higante Sa Loob Ng Aming Bahay. Great gifts and tokens, really. But there is something very personal on the receipt of a hand made work of art. Totet De Jesus' prints were a knockout!

And what did the librarian give out? Bah-hambug!

Here's hoping for a better year ahead. Just one more month and it's already 2010! Merry Christmas, everyone!

The Ghosts of Christmas

Two of my favorite Christmas movies, Nightmare Before Christmas and The Muppets Christmas Carol, involve ghosts. That only goes to show that Christmas conquers all. In this season of hope, may the spirit of love and generosity rule the soul of the frightful and melt the heart of a hardened Scrooge.

Here is a video clip from Tim Burton's classic, Nightmare Before Christmas.



And here is my favorite song from Jim Henson's The Muppet's Christmas Carol. Scrooge is expertly portayed by Michael Cane by the way.

A Christmas Tree Grows In The Library

It's Christmas season and the GS LRC rides with the atmosphere and the mood it brings. One of our GS Librarians, Jane Diaz, whipped up a project that inspires the spirit of Christmas among library users and gauges the boys' reading interests and as well.

Dubbed as "Wish Upon A Tree", students write on paper tree cut-outs their wish list of books for Christmas. I am surprised because many of them wanted the Twilight books. Media indeed has a strong influence on their reading choices. There are other popular titles of books they hope to have that are spawned by TV and the Internet. The Pokemon books are in demand. Anime, manga and graphic novels are some of the kinds and type of books they ask for.

But of course, we're a school library and not a commercial bookstore. It is good to know the "pulse" of the students' reading interest not to give in to what they want but to channel and shape them in making better reading choices. The next time we visit our collection development program, we know what to include for in the acquisition of Fiction and Non-Fiction collection.