Art
is such a relaxing activity. It takes away your stress. And it helps you get back
your focus on things. I never thought I would be interested in anything about art. That is until a friend introduced me into adult coloring. Last October 2016, National
Bookstore held their Color and Calligraphy Fair in Cebu. Since then, I got
hooked in calligraphy then into painting loose florals using watercolor.
I
was assigned in Manila for work for a couple of months. If you are an art
enthusiast, Metro Manila has lots of art festivals that you would not want to
miss. National Bookstore was back in Cebu
for NBS Make & Create Arts & Crafts Festival 2017. When NBS announced the
event through their Facebook page, all my art hormones were pumped with
adrenaline. I would not miss the opportunity. What made it more exciting is
that the Wonderful Cebu Blog was invited for a special preview of the different sponsors
of the event. And I got to represent the Wonderful Cebu Blog for it. The Make & Create Arts & Crafts Festival ran two
days from 14-15 October 2017. This kind of art festival only happens once in a
blue moon in Cebu!
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| Make and Create with National Bookstore 2017 |
Mr.
Louie Manalo welcomed me and introduced me to the different brand supervisors. A
special preview for Cebu-based bloggers and media was set for the
first two hours of the event. Let me share my experience.
UNI WRITING INSTRUMENTS
I
was first introduced to Mr. Ricky Malanog, marketing head of Uni Writing
Instruments. Uni Writing Instruments is a brand that has been providing us with quality ballpoint pens. We may only know about Uni’s ballpoint pens. They also
sell a variety of other writing instruments. They have products like Jetstream Pens, Gel Ink Rollerballs,
Liquid Ink Rollerballs, Artistic Drawing Pens, Mechanical Pencils and Leads,
Multi-functional Pens, and Markers.
I
love the Uni Ball Signo White gel ink pen. If you are into brush calligraphy or
lettering, the Uni Ball Signo White can add texture to your lettering designs. You
can also use the Uni Ball Signo White pen when doing a galaxy watercolor
painting. I also plan to buy the Uni Posca White pen for calligraphy on wood.
CRAFT EASY and DISNEY’S ART ATTACK
Are
you into scrap booking? The famous scrap booking brand, Craft Easy, showcased
their artful and unique scrap booking materials in the event. Children were also
welcomed into the NBS Make and Create festival. If you are a Disney baby and you follow TV shows on the Disney Channel, you might be familiar with the brand Disney’s Art Attack. Mommies and their kids were mostly present in
the Disney’s Art Attack booth doing coloring and creating crafts. For your
scrap booking needs you can visit any National Bookstore branch nationwide
and look for the Craft Easy section. Disney’s Art Attack also sells child
friendly coloring materials.
LIMELIGHT and SHARPIE
Bullet
Journaling or BuJo is one of the famous trends among art enthusiasts nowadays.
BuJo is a customized planner where you can
create your own format for your weekly spread. It is where you can jot down your to-do-lists,
sketches, and mindless scribbles. You can also use it as a diary or travel journal. Limelight offers an excellent brand of quality journals. It is
the perfect suit for your bullet journaling needs. Limelight journals' use are not
only limited to bullet journaling. These journals can also be used for sketching, watercolor painting, calligraphy, and almost all kinds of art. This is because its paper
is at 120 Grams per Square Meter. It can
withstand different kinds of media.
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| Limelight booth |
With
BuJo, you also need colorful markers for your designs. Sharpie is a water-based
marker that can address your needs. It is perfect for your bullet journaling, scrap booking, poster making, adult
coloring, and other arts and craft needs.
PRISMACOLOR PREMIER
Adult
coloring started all my art journey since August of 2015. Merchandisers were
selling different colored pencil brands like hot potato back then. But there is only one brand I wanted to own and that
is the Prismacolor Premier pencils. Do I already own
a set of Prismacolors? The answer is no because I couldn’t afford to buy
one. One of the freebies given during the event was a set of 12s Prismacolor Premier pencils.
Can you just imagine how happy I was when I received the tin box? It’s like the
Michelangelo of colored pencils. Prismacolor Premiers are artist-quality
colored pencils with high quality pigments. Its soft and thick core creates a
smooth process in coloring and is perfect for blending and shading. Prismacolor
Premiers were sold on a 40% discount during NBS’ Make & Create event.
People
who were present at the Prismacolor Premier booth were mostly sketching
enthusiasts. Some were into adult coloring. I also spent 2 hours coloring an
artwork. I just don’t want to miss the chance to use these “dream” Prismacolor
Premier pencils.
I
hoped I didn’t babble about how much I love Prismacolor and looked like an art
geek. I really couldn’t remember the words that came out of my mouth
because of my excitement.
PRESTIGE PAPER PRODUCTS
Pretige
Paper Products offers eco-friendly specialty papers. These can be used by graphic designers,
social printers, digital service bureaus, commercial printers and hobbyists. I
started my watercolor painting journey in August of 2015. Since then, I have been searching
for a cheaper Fabriano watercolor paper in 3 branches of National Bookstore in
Cebu. To my dismay, I haven’t found one. The one they are selling was the
biggest size which costs Php 1,000 - Php 2,000. During the special preview for
bloggers and media at the NBS Make & Create event, my heart fluttered with
happiness when I saw the 9x12 size of Fabriano paper on display! Paper brands
that are under Prestige Paper Products are Fedrigoni, Fabriano, Rock Paper,
Mondi, Imari, Maestro and Eska.
SAKURA PHILIPPINES
Sakura
Philippines offers prime watercolor sets, brush pens, drawing pens and gelly
roll pens. Sakura Philippines is promoting their Pigma Macron drawing pens. These are mastered for manga drawing and organic doodling. Sakura’s Koi Watercolor
set is also a great find for watercolor enthusiasts. This nifty watercolor set
is a perfect suit for travelers who are into watercolor painting. It comes
with a portable case, a palette and a water brush.
Ever
since I started doing calligraphy, my go to brush pens were the Zig Brushables.
During the event I decided to try on the Sakura Koi Coloring Brush Pens and
bought one. What I love about the Sakura Koi brush pens is that it is easy to
handle and I get to control the thin and thick pressure strokes well. I also love Sakura’s paint brushes because of
its smooth tip. I hope National Bookstore branches in Cebu would stock up on
Sakura’s paint brushes so I can purchase other sizes of their paint brush.
ELMER’S GLUE PHILIPPINES
When
someone asks us about glues what brand comes into your mind first? Right!
Elmer’s Glue. Aside from their multi-purpose glue, they also introduced their
new product, Elmer’s Classic Glitter Glue. There was also a demonstration during the
event on how to make a slime using Elmer’s Classic Glitter Glue.
MARVY UCHIDA
Marvy
Uchida is a brand exclusively distributed by Valiant Paper Asia-Pacific
Corporation in the Philippines. Their products include a variety of hobby and
craft pens for calligraphy, drawing and fabric coloring. School and office pens
are also present in Marcy Uchida’s line of writing tools.
FABER-CASTELL and DELI
Faber-Castell
is a Germany-based brand and houses one of the best brands of color pencils.
There are two kinds of Faber-Castell brands. The one with the red background
are student grade coloring materials. The one with the dark green background are artist
grade coloring materials. During the event it was the former that was given the
spotlight together with a new brand of coloring materials named Deli. Deli is a
well known brand in China. It is a new player of art and office supplies brand
in the Philippines. Their products include coloring materials, adhesive products,
conference products, office machines and writing instruments.
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| Faber-Castell |
Faber-Castell
also has brush pens that are used for calligraphy and is also one of my
favorites for its flexibility.
Here are a few artworks I created using the materials provided during the NBS' Make and Create Arts and Crafts Festival 2017.
Thank
you National Bookstore for bringing NBS’ Make & Create Arts & Crafts
Festival in Cebu! Thank you for inviting Wonderful Cebu to the event. Here’s to more
art events in Cebu! Cheers!
Guest writer: Jennifer Abrenica of Thoughts by Anonymous
Full disclosure: Jennifer represented the Wonderful Cebu Blog during the media preview for the National Bookstore Make and Create Arts & Crafts Festival. Rest assured, her opinions are her own and not influenced in any way.
