Beadwork

Lately, I’ve been being drawn (again) into beadwork, which is good, because now, I can allot at least a day a week for this other medium of self-expression.

Beadwork is therapeutic; it relieves me of stress. It also has a lot of potentials for business. Hmmm, why not?

Let me share some of my initial outputs.

Dress designs for me

It was already past 3am, yet sleep was still evasive. I tried to catch it, but it was slippery, so I gave up the attempt. I could have browsed the internet to pass the time, but I had been online for hours before going to bed, looking for and studying some craft ideas and designs.

I don't know what I've been thinking at the time, but soon, an idea came into my mind. I grabbed my notebook and drew the idea (to think I don't even draw).

Yes, the idea is of dresses and blouses I'd love to sew for myself (if I know how) for summer, and suits I'd love to wear if I were still trapped in the corporate world. My creative self is happy I've turned my back to that world, but the part of me that loves dressing up is, well, not too happy whenever I am in the mood to wear suits, which is very seldom. :-)

Ah, whatev! I know I'm blabbering, and I apologize. Just think it's the result of lack of

sleep. Hehe. :-)

Beads and anik-aniks

If I weren't a fulltime employee and student, there is another thing I would be very busy in — and that is, creating accessories and trinkets.

Yup my dears. If only I had a lot of time to spare, I'd be having a love affair with those cute little things I love so much — beads, especially crystals. No, let me correct myself. I'd be going back to the old relationship I had with these anik-aniks which I had to let go when my other lives (work and studies) started to demand for more attention.

There's something about beads that thugs at my sense of style and fashion, so that whenever I see beautiful accessories, I think not of rushing to where the wearer bought them, but of creating one myself, not completely copying what's in the market, but adding tweaks into my creation, so that my accessories will have something different from what buy-only fashion buffs don.

Creating necklaces, earrings, bracelets and cellphone bling-blings is actually one of the things I planned to do this Christmas break. But realizing it may not be possible, I sacrificed one night to create some accessories for myself. And I'm quite happy with the things I was able to create that night, a pair of which I donned for my co-hosting stint in our company's TV program. I wish I'd be able to create some more, and give them as presents to my friends (except Salve and Tayns who, like myself, also make their own accessories) and female cousins. But I guess I may have to rush to the malls instead, and buy them something else.

Ah, Time. Must we always be out of synch? What have I done that made you hate me so?

Me, a fashion model? Nah!

Funny, but after the perfunctory questions during introductions have been asked and answered, there is another question — a rather odd one, I must add — that is often thrown my way: “Are you a fashion model?” to which I often reply: “I wish.”

I find the question somewhat odd because, other than the cheeckbone, the jaw and the at-times-naughty, at-other-times-playful hazel eyes, there is nothing else that’s atypical in my facial features. In fact, I am aware that the word beautiful is seldom used (if ever) to describe me physically. Proofs: (1) I don’t get much of a second glance from the opposite sex (okay, just enough), which means I don’t quite pass most guys’ beauty-meter; and (2) my very own mother WOULD NOT say I am goodlooking even at gun point. Ouch!

So why does the question keep popping? In fact, I’ve been called FM (no, not Ferdie Marcos, silly!) in almost all of the companies I joined.

Cheryl, a former officemate, says it’s the body structure. She says mine is much like those of the girls we often see a-strutting on the catwalk. I would have rejoiced upon hearing her comment, if only a ridiculous word didn’t immediately pop into my mind: A-n-o-r-e-x-i-c; and if I didn’t readily realize the implication of her statement: that I am not well endowed — a harsh predicament for a woman to be in at this time and age. Tsk!

Other friends say it’s the way I dress and move. They say my cadence is rhythmic and somewhat measured; and my facial stance and body movement, elegant. Again, their remarks would have warmed my heart, if only they didn’t soon subject me to mimic-Sherma’s-body-movement-and-walk game, where my walk was depicted as somewhat resembling that of a duck parading downtown.

I suppose my height may also be a factor. At five-four, I am quite tall for a Filipina, but then that’s not tall enough to be a fashion model.

So what could it be?

Oh, what the heck! Why do I care about the reasons I get to be asked that silly question when my standard reply isn’t that difficult naman to utter. And it’s not as if the question irritates me.

But really, why kaya? Hehehe

When I'm through with my writing career...

...I'm gonna be a maniquin! hehe!