Twilight stuff available online

Start:	Dec 1, '08 5:30p
End:	Dec 28, '08

Please watch out for new Twilight items to be uploaded on December 1, Monday. Only very limited pieces available, so be sure to check them out.

More cupcakes

All cupcakes for Ms. Joanna Gan-Garcia. More pics to be uploaded.

All 4 dozen are one of a kind, no two are alike!

SOLD, please don't ask if they're available.

Mini workshops!

It's the season for bazaars and holiday orders so I don't have time to teach my usual 10-hour extensive workshop. But a lot of you have been waiting for a new sked so I decided to prepare a new lesson plan for a shorter course.

Mini workshop: Miniature dessert charms for beginners (4 hours)

Learn to create yummy polymer clay dessert charms which can be used for jewelry or home accessories. Make basic cupcakes, lollipops, donuts, and a whole lot more. This workshop is all-inclusive and hands-on.

Small class size: only 4 slots available. Clay and meals are included.

2pm to 6pm
Nov 22, Saturday
Pasig

For reservations please use our reservation form.
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I'm just using my phone to browse right now, so replying to your inquiries is a bit complicated.

Updates, please read!

A few updates:

• On invitations to become a contact -  I can't open the invites page, it freezes my laptop everytime I do so.  I hope to solve this problem soon so I can start accepting invites again.  But please do note that I can only do so many clicks a day. I hope you understand.  Please be patient.  I have over 1,000 invites to accept (but I'm sure most of those have probably been revoked already), so please do hang in there. 
  
• On inquiries - I will get to your pm/email as soon as I can.  I was offline for too long, so things have piled up.  Askyummy's on leave.
  
• On gcash payments - Please do send me a confirmation through email if you've sent a payment through gcash, I can't trace your payments without your email.
• On "How the heck do I purchase a piece from you?" - I am out of anything for sale right now, terribly sorry.  I am just about to finish the Holiday Cupcake orders, and I hope to post new stuff within the week.  I make everything by hand, all by myself, so everything's one of a kind, or in limited editions - so it's hard to get hold of my stuff.
  

A simple request:

• Please, please don't just get photos without permission.  If you bought the item from me, and just needed the photo to blog about it, no prob at all.  But I've found a few others using photos of my products without my knowledge, and posting it in their own sites without crediting me.  Your interest in my work is very much appreciated, but I will appreciate it even more if you ask before you save photos from my site, or at least credit me.

          
Thank you!

Meet the Beadlady

Who: Angeli Verzosa Sobrepena

What: Chocoholic, insomniac, bookworm, hermit, Martha Stewart-wannabe (except for the jail stint ha!)

Age: 23

Occupation: Full-time crafter, Part-time freelance writer, Occasional stylist

Favorite material: Polymer Clay, Fabric

Blog: http://www.beadladyangeli.blogspot.com



"She Makes Clay Cool and Chic"

By Pam Pastor
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Last updated 17:35:00 04/29/2008

MANILA, Philippines—Twenty-three-year-old Angeli V. Sobrepena started like many young accessories designers—by stringing together beads bought from stores in Quiapo.

“I was making way more stuff than I could wear. Beading is addicting, so I found myself with too many necklaces, bracelets and, most especially, earrings! I loved making earrings! It’s ironic but my ears aren’t even pierced!”

But after a year, Sobrepena got bored. In the desire to be more creative, she started looking for unusual materials. She found a book that taught her how to make beads using polymer clay. Soon, she was hooked.

“I no longer had to content myself with the boring beads from the local bead shops. After years of research and trial and error, I now make my own beads.”

Polymer clay has given Angeli the creative freedom to make unique beads—including realistic-looking sweets.

“I can create beads inspired by anything under the sun! The material’s versatility has allowed me to create unusual pieces. And that uniqueness is what my brand is all about.”

The BS Development Communication graduate with a major in Development Journalism from UP Los Baños has been selling accessories under her brand Angeli’s Art Beads.

She painstakingly makes each bead by hand and so her customers can be sure that every piece they buy from Sobrepena is a masterpiece created by her.

“Our pieces are for the individual with discriminating taste, someone who has great attention to detail, someone who recognizes high-quality craftsmanship.”

Her all-time bestsellers are her cupcakes.

“People collect them. I can’t stop making them even if I wanted to. People request for them constantly and I don’t have the heart to turn down cupcake requests. Now, I have three different sizes—teeny tiny for kids, regular and giant. They’re so popular probably because my icing looks very realistic and very colorful, so they’re pleasing to the eye.”

She has her own appetite to thank for her creative ideas. “Most of the time, it is my being matakaw that gives me ideas. I love sweets, especially chocolate! Thus, my dessert collection,” says Sobrepena.

She recently launched two collections—Bitten (“It features realistic chocolate-covered truffles with bites”) and a still unnamed collection that features very intricate beads peppered with tiny flowers, vines and leaves.

Her Bitten collection was a big hit at a recent bazaar. “They thought I was giving out chocolate samples! I placed them on a cake stand, so they looked even more realistic. I’m a chocoholic—I need a dose of chocolate everyday! So Bitten is the answer to those days when you just can’t get your daily dose.”

Her customers also love her Poetry collection, which includes necklaces with chunky words written in script. Her Love Letter bracelets are also a big hit. “They have an envelope charm from which you can pull out a ‘secret’ message.”

Inspiring stories

More than the urge to be creative, the desire to help her parents is another strong factor for Sobrepena.

“I am inspired by rags-to-riches stories, like John Gokongwei’s. I’m not a rich kid, I have no capital, so stories like that make me believe I can do this. My parents serve as my motivation; I want this business to flourish so I can help with the expenses.”

There are countless young entrepreneurs on Multiply today, but Sobrepena knows she stands out.

“I don’t make what’s uso, instead I try to make something new, something surprising. I get bored easily, so I usually make one-of-a-kind pieces. My collections are one-time releases.”

“I always try to introduce something new to the market, something original. Once you post something on Multiply, the next thing you know, someone else is making a similar thing. So if you want to set your creations apart from everyone else’s, you constantly need to come up with something new. This way, by the time it gets cloned, you’re already on to a different design,” she adds.

Quality is something very important to Sobrepena. She doesn’t mind spending hours on a single creation.

“I also make sure that my pieces are sturdy, and will not crumble or break after some time. For every single cupcake I produce, there are probably two rejects which are actually okay-looking but are not to my standards. I see to it that all the details in my work are close to perfect. If you see my creations, you’ll notice how realistic they are. I’ve been doing this for five years now, so you can expect good quality.”

Candy Fair 2008

On October 4, 2008, we set up shop at the Candy Fair in A. Venue, Makati.

Three letters: OMG.

Nothing could have prepared me for the ambush.



Of customers, that is. :)

Here is a quick rundown of what happened during that oh-so-exciting day aka the story of why I got sick, haha). Sorry, you won't see the usual cam-whoring photos like in my other bazaar albums. Hehe. I was too busy doing demos and attending customers, there simply was no time to ham it up for the camera!

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Setting up
I wasn't familiar with the venue, so I wanted to be there early. But we got lost in Makati, (stupid me forgot the map at home) and I thought we were going to be late. After navigating the maze of one-way streets, we arrived at A.Venue in the nick of time.

When we got to the venue, I couldn't find my space in the selling area. My name wasn't where it was supposed to be. Oops. Good thing Ms. Mirelle helped me sort things out. Turned out I was given an uber cool spot at the DIY Corner! (Thank you so much Ms. Kriztel!)

I shared the DIY corner with the Face Painting company, and the Henna Tattoo artists. It was perfect, because I was going to do on-the-spot demos.



Our new stuff
We launched the much-awaited Twilight Collection at the fair.


Our new Daydream necklaces (whimsical cloud necklaces) were also on display.


We also had super cute friendship rings, yummy cakes and cupcake studs - forgot to take photos. :(

Here come the Candy Girls
I was quite worried because not one of my suki customers were able to come. Huhu. But I found out my worries were unfounded, because within an hour of opening, the Twilight Collection was almost all gone. Turned out lots of Candy girls were Twihards! lol. :)

I was alone during the first part of the fair, so I couldn't take pictures. I was in panic - imagine entertaining a throng of giddy girls all at the same time! I could hardly take a second to sit down. Soon, I was pretty dizzy.

At some point, a camera was in my face, and the cute event host was interviewing me. My fugly face was on the huge screen on stage. Eeeeek. He asked about my stuff, I talked about the new Twilight collection, and the realistic dessert trinkets on display. He asked the camera man to zoom in on the yummy Bitten truffle. After that, people were trooping to my Yummy Cart and asking to see the truffles. To take a bite. haha.

MTV and TV 5 cameras were taking shots of my wares, I forgot to ask what shows those were for.

I probably made lots of new clayaholics. Lol. The Sculpeyman's polymer clay bars were on display at my booth, and I was doing demos on how to make clay roses and lollipops. It was so nice to see lots of teens interested in clay.


The Yummy Cart
I have to say this again, my lolo is a genius! hehe. I love, love, love the Yummy Cart! And so did the Candy girls. :) A few of them whipped out their cameras and took photos of the booth. Some posed in groups in front of the cart and snapped away. It was funny!


The bands
The bands were awesome! But I couldn't pay attention because there were still some customers gathering around the booth even as the bands were playing. They had to scream over the racket to inquire, and I had to scream back the price. "P350 for the necklace!!!", lol.

By the end of it all, I went home very cold, very hoarse, but extremely happy. I got to meet lots of new people, met lots of multiply contacts, and hopefully, inspired a few teens to start a new hobby.

And oh, we sold almost everything we brought! yey! :)



My deepest thanks to Candy Mag, Ms. Denise Congco, Ms. Mia Custodio, Ms. Mirelle Quizon, and most especially to Ms. Kriztel Lorbes, who made the event such a huge success.


More photos of the crazy, crazy Candy Fair below.
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The vampires are coming...

A couple of months ago, my cousin made a sleepless monster: me.

Knowing that I had a love affair with Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles in high school, she suggested I read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

I didn't like the first book all that much, and in fact found it a bit childish (well, it's YA after all), but the second installment kept me engrossed, so I read the third, and the fourth (which I hated - I'm pretending book 3 was the last of the series, lol.).  For fear of turning this into a boring book review, I will only say this: 

I heart Jacob Black.

So a month ago, I made simple sketches of things I'd like to wear to be reminded of the kilig Bella-Jacob moments in the second book.  But my cuz suggested I make an entire collection.

So here's a preview of the Twilight Collection, inspired by Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.

Go Team Jacob!


To be fair (hehe), here's the Team Edward version:


Are you also a Twi-hard?  Or do you know someone who loves the series?  Please visit our Yummy Cart at the Candy Fair tomorrow, these Twilight-inspired clay accessories will be displayed there.  Only limited pieces available.