LEGO LOVE!

One ordinary morning, I was strolling around the office and VOILA, my eyes darted to a big Lego man happily standing on Nathan’s desk. My normal reaction was to squeal, and squeal in delight, did I. With matching hop in place as if I was riding a make-believe pogo-stick. Just imagine my surprise when I found that it wasn’t just a figurine but…

Wait for it…
  

A lamp!

My heart-melted into a mushy marshmallow goo.

I firmly believe that no childhood is complete without legos. If I had my way, I’d pass a law requiring parents and schools to let kids play with legos. These colorful quadrilaterals transform and create countless worlds and figures with just a snap. With every brick, kids and even the kids at heart, become engineers of their own imagination.

"Build it" (Plane)

"Build it" (Train)

"Build it" (Fire Truck)

The Lego company was founded by Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen who made wooden toys as a way to earn extra cash. What I find even more interesting is the meaning behind the actual term, lego. It’s from an amalgamation of the Danish phrase "leg godt," which means "play well."

And that’s exactly what people did with their legos. They played with it. In seemingly endless and imaginative ways that gave this classic toy, a new and refreshing twist.

Here are some not-so-kiddie lego projects that are equally cool and fun.

German artist, Jan Vormann has been creating Lego installations all over the world, finding cracks and gaps in buildings, statues and walls, and filling them with a burst of colourful Lego bricks. Vormann calls his installations “Dispatchwork”.

Next stop, Nathan Sawaya. He is so obsessed with legos that he left his job as a NYC attorney to become a master lego builder ... which is no small feat. Sawaya now has a studio in the big Apple and over 1.5 million Lego bricks.

British television presenter of TopGear, James May and a group of volunteers built a two-storey LEGO house in the middle of the Denbies ine estate, in Dorking, UK. The life-size house uses over 816 million Lego pieces. The two-story Lego palace features a staircase, toilet and even a shower.

Here are more from crafters and designers who add some functional flavor to this classic toy.

And throw us in the bunch as well! Check out Popjunklove’s lego-inspired collections.

Compared to the high-tech and battery-operated toys that fill Toy Kingdom, these bricks don’t light up or run by remote.

 They are plain, uncomplicated, four-sided bricks that use your imagination as it’s main power source and this is the reason why I believe Legos will never ever grow old.

Pencil Paradise

"Ideas are elusive, slippery things. Best to keep a pad of paper and a pencil at your bedside, so you can stab them during the night before they get away."
~ Earl Nightingale

I'm obsessed with pencils. I have loads of colored ones and a bunch of mini ikea pencils on my desk and a lot more at home. Out of all the unfinished pencils I have unconsciously collected over the years, I have to admit, my favorite is still the classic #2 Mongol.

I love the feel of lead as it glides through the surface of an empty sheet with every stroke. I also love the fact that well, you can easily erase them... No added pressure of perfecting a line or permanently destroying a good leaf with a blunder. If you ask me, pencils are integral in any art or craft project. Scribbles and doodles, sketches and drafts provide the springboard for your ideas to grow and become real.

500 COLORED PENCILS

Been surfing the web and look what I found. A collection of colored pens armed with witty names-lemon drop yellow, bubble gum pink, midnight blue, lettuce green just to name a few.

Designed by felissimo for social designer, this complete set of 500 colored pencils consists of 20 units, each pencil telling its own story with a unique name. But you cannot buy the complete set of pencils all at once. You have to slowly build the collection, by ordering the different sets which you'll receive over the course of 20 months.

Pencils that look like art.

Pencil collection.

TOY DAY Adventure

I'll always have a soft spot for production. Even before I cemented my place in the corporate world working as a copywriter, I've been involved in several film projects with my friends. Sure, the hours were long and I barely made enough to last me the week but I have to say, being part of a shoot is rewarding, intoxicating even.

Naturally, my love for creating and crafting was put into good use for building props, sets and costumes for our shoots. It's been a while since I last stood in a live set and I really do miss it. I've been out of the production loop for quite sometime now but I truly believe I'm an art dept. crew by heart and this is a testament to that.

With this not-so-latest project (it's been two years in-the-making), I combined my two loves: craft and production. And came up with a short photo-animation. "Toy Day" chronicles the lives of three Have-Not plushies- Seth, a bumbling hero, Dexter, a certified bookworm and Meemo, the happy loner.

We shot this on a random April weekend. Spent part of the day riding the LRT, posing as college students finishing a school project. We then moved from Gateway to Philam Homes-King's old palace, and back to Cubao again where we shot the final scenes in Sputnik.

I'm pretty sure I didn't have budget to produce this but then again, you'll be surprised with what you can do even with an empty pocket.

Shout outs to Pong, Mackie, King, Kuya Mark, Ate Sel and Ate Roma for making it happen.

After two-years, I'm proud to present, Toy Day.




Photographer: Pong Ignacio
PA/PD: Mackie Galvez, Maan Agsalud
Editor: Maan Agsalud, Roma Agsalud
Chalk Artist: Mark Agsalud, Selia Agsalud
Soundtrack: Lovers Who Uncover by The Little Ones

If you want to check out more of our Have-Not Monsters, visit www.popjunklove.multiply.com

Craft, love and finding Switzerland.

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Day 1 of craft-blogging and this DIY poster is the perfect candidate for our first entry. It sets the right tone for our virtual scrapbook.

Why did we even bother to start a blog? You see, my sister and I share more than just our clothes and our bed, we also have the same love for crafting. We bicker and disagree most of the time about God-knows-what, but craft is our very own neutral ground. In a way, this blog is Switzerland.

From now on, this blog will be our digital repository for anything and everything craft-related. It chronicles our biggest craft adventure-POPJUNKLOVE as well as other projects, blogs, events and people who inspire us to create. This blog also serves as our tribute to crafters everywhere! Hats off to you guys. 

Just a word of caution: I'm not really a good blogger. But I'd like to think that maybe one day, some random person will stumble upon our site and say, 'Hey this craft-thing is cool. Why don't I give it a try.' That's motivation enough to keep me updating. If that happens, then I can die happy and go to craft-heaven.

So here's to hoping you guys will join us with our adventure. Keep reading and just go and create something.