Hello loves!
I have featured a few of my drawings a few times before. The visual arts have played a significant role in my life and I grew up creating drawings and paintings in different mediums. Art is a big passion of mine, a hell of a lot more than makeup or blogging to be honest. Now that I am writing this post, I'm surprised that I have not tried blogging my thoughts on art exhibits that I've visited, not even my experiences on different art materials.
But one day, a fellow blogger, Jirbie of Couch Wasabi, messaged me if I was willing to try a certain notebook where I can draw some of my sketches and paintings. We follow each other on Instagram so she might have seen some of my works. I felt touched that she was willing to refer me to this certain brand. It really boosted my confidence when it comes to my creativity.
A few days later, I received another message from Mitzi, the person behind this unique brand called Mori Notes. She asked if I was interested to use their product and then asked for my shipping details. She was so nice throughout the exchange and I was just so excited to know what item I was gonna get. I was too shy to ask her which exactly of their products will I be receiving. I just knew that I will be able to apply my skills on them so it's gotta be a paper product.
To learn more about Mori Notes, I visited their website and social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) to get an idea of what this brand is all about. They offer various products such as notebooks, pouches, bags, decors, and what seems to be their bestselling item—the "pursebooks." It's a hybrid of a notebook and a purse, which is like a GENIUS idea because as someone who brings a small sketchpad wherever I go, it would have made my life easier if it already came with a purse where I can store my art materials.
And how lucky was I when I opened my package from the brand and saw this pretty thing:
It's just so cute! It's not something I would personally pick but the combination of the bright colors looks so energetic and can really uplift your spirit. A good way to start 2018, right? It would be a great companion as you tackle your adventures this new year.
Along with the pursebook came the company profile. In here I was able to learn more about the brand. Mori Notes (Mori: a variant name of Moriel meaning "God is my teacher") is "a social enterprise that designs and creates innovative multifunctional purses and notebooks." Their products are handcrafted by a group of women from Baranggay Apolonio, Quezon City. The group is currently comprised of eight mothers and they are given the opportunity to earn while in the comforts of their homes or at a community-sewing center.
It makes me feel good to know that by enjoying products such as this pursebook, we get to support our very own local brands as well as help stay-at-home moms earn extra income. I personally feel like it's so hard to earn and I don't even have children to take care of, so I couldn't imagine how it feels to be in their shoes. So when I learned that Mori Notes can give them this opportunity, I can't help but feel better about the whole enterprise.
Now let's talk about the PURSEBOOKS! The brand describes this product as:
"Mori Notes pursebook is dedicated to reinvent
the way you journal. These pursebooks blend
the functions of a journal notebook and a
purse together into one innovative product."
A pursebook costs PhP 490.00 and it comes in different designs like florals, polka dots, denims, and even aztec prints. You can even get a leather one for PhP 590.00.
The surface of these journals are made of sturdy textile fabrics with designs by artists from different backgrounds.
It has a built in purse that can store your art materials. It can hold even a dozen of your pens and pencils although I try to keep the number smaller so that it isn't too bulky... still, it depends on what I want to create.
Each pursebook is equipped with four notebooks. These notebooks can be removed when you've used all the pages and refill it with new ones! YES, you read that right! They are refillable! You buy a set of 2 notebook refills for the price of only PhP 75.00.
These notebooks with blank pages might look like it is not thick enough if you're looking for something you can draw or paint on, but believe me, they are! I like to draw so I've tried a number of sketch pads already and I've used several good ones and some not-so-good ones.
To be honest, when I saw these notebooks, I really thought that it's not opaque enough. You can still see through the page if you wrote something with dark ink on the next page. I already thought that it will not withstand watercolor, inks, or colored markers. But I still tested the pages just to be sure!
See the photo below?
I use writing and drawing materials I have lying around my room to see how the materials would react when applied on the paper. As you can see, the inks didn't bleed through the paper. I was totally impressed! Even the Sharpie marker wrote nicely on the blank sheet.
Now I tested it with watercolor and how many layers can one sheet withstand.
I did five swatches using my Koi Watercolor. On each swatch I added one coat so the left one has one layer and the rightmost one has five coats of paint with water. None of the paper's tissue rubbed off (which happens when you apply multiple layer and heavy amount of moisture then rub the paper too much with your brush) but there's still a bit if crumpling that happened.
When you flip to the next page, the succeeding one is still clean! No ink or paint seeped through to the next blank sheet. On the back of the page it did, but I rarely use that part when I draw anyway.
Once I've tested the page, I began using one of the notebooks as my sketch pad. I bring it with me wherever I go. I always bring one just in case I get inspired to draw and I just find this pursebook so handy because I can use each notebook for different purposes. The first one I use as a sketchpad and the last one I use as a monthly planner which you can view at the latter part of this post.
Below you'll see what I've drawn on the pages so far...
Here I made a watercolor portrait! I rarely do wet-on-wet technique unless I have a huge background space to fill. On this particular one, I also used a black pen for details.
I encountered some wrinkling on the paper because I layered a lot of colors. I fixed it by stretching the paper flat and then placed another flat surface on top of it then add a heavy object on top and leave it there for a while. It won't completely flatten the paper though.
I encountered some wrinkling on the paper because I layered a lot of colors. I fixed it by stretching the paper flat and then placed another flat surface on top of it then add a heavy object on top and leave it there for a while. It won't completely flatten the paper though.
My concept here are the zodiac signs turned into well... sort of human-like or an anthropomorphic versions of the zodiacs. Here's Capricorn which is usually depicted as a sea-goat so I added horns. The color of the sign is usually purple so that's the color of the makeup and hair that I used for this portrait.
On this drawing, I made another portrait using my Uni Pin pens. I actually used a selfie photo but changed a bit of my features (I made me thinner). Haha!
I added small ornaments around to frame the face which made everything look so detailed. This was so relaxing to do because I let my hand go freely. I didn't even use an initial sketch on most of this drawing.
Overall, I'm having fun using the Mori Notes Pursebook as my sketchpad buddy. But I also use it as a monthly journal!
I used some cutouts from magazines and former planners with clean pages to design these. I usually memorize the things I need to do and I rarely forget my responsibilities so I don't normally write a day-by-day activity. Therefore, a monthly planner works better for me. I can write the important things to do and deadlines to be made.
What I like about this is you can personalize this however you like. It will require a lot more creativity on your part, but that's why I like it! Haha! I would probably add more elements because I like a burst of colors and elements in my works. Haha!
So if it's not obvious enough, I really enjoyed using my pursebook. I can really call it MY PURSEBOOK because I personalized every page to my liking. So if you're also a creative person at heart, you might want to get one as well. I feel like self-expression is an important part of our lives and having a journal and sketchpad where you can put your inspirations and record your milestones and other important memories is a great thing to carry with you wherever you may go.
I'll post more of the things I create on the pages of my pursebook so check out my Instagram (link on the sidebar) if you want to see them and my other artworks. If you're interested to know more about Mori Notes, you can check their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! If you want to visit a physical store to browse their products, click HERE.
Cheers,
DAWN
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