Arts&Crafts will save the world

Yesterday, one of the participants at the calligraphy crafternoon said out loud, "Wow, this really teaches you to be patient." I couldn't agree more. Doing things by hand teaches you to be more tolerant, more forgiving, more focused--a few traits that the world needs more of these days. It instills these values to a child, and reaffirms them to adults. To be able to finish a piece from start to finish makes you feel capable, grateful, blessed.

I had been meaning to put these words on paper for quite some time now. I finally did it, this morning, as I was inspired by the book I'm currently reading. I watercolored an "engraved" typeface and slapped it on wood texture.

While searching for a book on basket-weaving (something that I want to learn this year), I chanced upon this old book "Philippine Creative Handicrafts". The book was first published in 1952, and this is its 6th printing. (Sorry, but I don't know where else you can find it, as I got the last copy in an old bookshop in Manila.)

Here's the list of what's in the book:

Be a maker and save the world! :P