Brand Focus: Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth

Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth is one of the world’s leading manufacturer and distributor of first-rate stationery for schools, offices, and artists.

It was founded by Josef Hardtmuth in Vienna in 1790. However, in 1848 the production of graphite leads was relocated to České Budějovice, a city in Czech Republic. The pencils they have produced over the years have received recognition and awards in many world exhibitions. Since their inception, the brand has expanded their product range from pencils, to charcoal, chalk, crayons, watercolour, inks, and other drawing materials.

I’ve had the chance to visit Prague in Czech Republic recently, and of course I did not pass up the chance to score some products from the brand. I visited their store located in Na Příkopě which is a shopping street in Prague’s first district.

Here are the items i bought: Mondeluz 12 Aquarelle Coloured Pencils, Size 8 Kolinsky Watercolour Brush, 18 Pan Round Watercolours, and a “Gioconda” Aquarelle Pencil in 2B. (left to right)

I didn’t get to note down the prices for each item but I assure you they were definitely affordable. You can get these items too from Amazon where I saw a bunch of online resellers. If you’re in Singapore, you can buy Koh-I-Noor products from Overjoyed’s online store.

I have made a swatch of the items in the picture below.

For a quick review:

• Round Watercolours – The colours from the pans are quite pigmented but a little chalky. It takes time to rewet the pans and pick the colour off to get into the brush. However for the price, the colours produced by the set is okay. I was even surprised when I used it to paint a portrait, the reds and oranges form the set produced a really nice flesh tone. I can easily whip up skin tones from the warm colours in the set. I’m not quite sure about the colours’ lightfastness but I doubt that they are.

• Aquarelle Pencil in 2B – I’ve used this as my pencil for creating the outline before painting with watercolour. It writes easily without much pressure. Moreover, it seamlessly melts into your washes as long as you use a light hand when doing your line work.

• Aquarelle Coloured Pencils – This set of watercolour pencils really impressed me. I think Koh-I-Noor does pencils really well. Anyway, the leads are soft enough that you’re not digging into the paper to get that solid and super saturated colour you want. Once you wet it with your brush the pigment just melts and creates this vibrant wash of colour. One thing though, if you’re the type of person who mixes a lot of colours together, it might be a bit tricky doing it with these coloured pencils. I say try it first and practice with them. Also if you really want more colours, they offer a set with much more pencils in them.

• Kolinsky Watercolour Brush – This has got to be my most favourite purchase out of all of them. I didn’t expect much from this brush since it was really affordable. However, I was blown away. Once I wet it, it became this really soft brush that holds a decent amount of water and still retains its pointed tip once you’ve used it. It made painting washes and small details easier by just using this one brush. I would dare say the quality is pretty comparable to much more expensive brushes like ones form Escoda.

There you have it a quick introduction to the brand Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth. For art supply hoarders like me, I hope this post gave you a few things to add to your wishlists!

Where Art Thou: Common Room x Power Plant Mall

Back in August of 2015, Common Room PH opened its magical doors to arts and crafts enthusiasts, makers, and curious beings alike. We cannot contain our excitement when we heard of its opening and, of course, shared it to you here.

True to its tagline, A place where makers gather, an extension of the store for those who do not have easy access to Katipunan in the North is a wise idea… where else but a south counterpart! The same time this year, a second store, almost twice the size of the Katipunan store, was opened (surprise!) in Power Plant Mall in Makati.

Unfortunately, we can’t get too much of a good thing. Their Rockwell counterpart is a pop-up with a theme #180DaysOfMaking and will last for only 180 days.

If haven’t dropped by this place yet, these photos might encourage you even more to visit the place before it’s too late!

Where Art Thou: Craft Carrot

Art hoarders unite! If you’re a fellow calligrapher, crafter, or art hoarder, you might have seen this online store in the hopes of getting that specific kind of brush or color of ink you can’t find in regular book stores. In case you missed it, one of our favorite online craft stores, the Craft Carrot, recently opened its flagship store last May 2016.

Don’t be fooled by the laundry shop facade when you look for it. You came to the right address. (Check out the address at the bottom part of this post.) The sign is there… you just have to ask the guard or the laundry shop staff how to get to the store and they’ll point you to a hidden staircase at the back end of the laundry shop towards craft heaven!

Craft Carrot sells over a thousand products that are usually hard to find in the Philippines. Last week, I was looking for a brush pen refill which, unfortunately, was out of stock in National Book Store branches and other nearby craft stores. Guess where I found it? *wink wink*

From acrylic paints, calligraphy and drawing inks, markers, drawing pens, brush pens, brushes, DIY crafting and painting tools, watercolor and specialty papers — name it.

A collection of colorful Finecolour twin markers.

Dr. PH Martin’s Hydrus concentrated watercolor bottles.

Krink markers, Koi watercolor pans, Faber Castell and Staedtler watercolor pencil boxes.

An array of watercolor paper packs of different sizes, press types, thickness, and shades.

Watercolor tubes and manga markers.

Sumi ink, silver mica, and other kinds of calligraphy inks.

Silver Brushes of different types and sizes.

Calligraphy supplies, oblique holders, and vintage nibs.

A huge collection of Zig Kuretake markers!

The place isn’t too big and you wouldn’t believe it can house such an amount of art supplies one could ask. In case you still can’t find what you’re looking for, you can just ask the very nice store owner by the cashier desk. Supplies can be requested and the store will notify you once stocks arrive. You can either pick them up at the store or have it delivered by your doorstep! 😉

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The Craft Carrot flagship store is located at #19 East Capitol Drive corner San Rafael Street, Kapitolyo, Pasig City. In case you’re looking for some landmarks, it’s just in front of Cab Cafe and Charlie’s Burgers! For a quick view of all their products and available supplies, you can check out their website at craftcarrot.com, or visit their Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Store Hours:
Mondays 1PM-7PM
Tuesdays-Fridays 10AM-7PM
Saturdays, Sundays 9AM-7PM

Where Art Thou: Saigon Handicapped Handicrafts

In my recent trip to Vietnam, I couldn’t help but notice: decades of war influenced this country a lot. Most of the must-see destinations in Ho Chi Minh City, south of Vietnam, are giveaways to this. It’s really obvious, especially for places like the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon and the Saigon Central Post Office showcasing its French and Gothic/Renaissance/Romanesque influences — going back to the days when Vietnam was part of the French Indochina in the late 19th century.

You can also see some cultural and social evidences in present-day Vietnam from the twenty-year war during the 50’s (up to the 70’s) as it left a very serious ecological and human impact. In War Remnants Museum, I learned about Agent Orange, one of the major herbicides used during the war, and how it left the Vietnamese with various diseases and disabilities due to the very harmful chemicals. It was a really depressing time, the war, and I can’t help but *sigh* and just… I don’t even know how I got through all those photographs. Leaving the museum gave me really heavy boots.

Two days after, the heavy boots became a little bit lighter than when I left the museum.  We were taken, as part of our guided tour to Cu Chi Tunnels, to a small lacquer painting shop in the countryside called Handicapped Handicrafts. Products from this shop were all created by handicaps, most of which were war victims who still want to earn a living but are no longer eligible for work in offices and other forms of work. It made me even more inspired when I learned that the ancient art of lacquer painting is not so ancient after all.

Lacquer painting is a famous ancient art in Vietnam said to have been found in ancient Vietnamese tombs dating back to the third and fourth centuries for the purpose of decoration and preservation. It was fused with French techniques later during the 30’s and was then considered as a distinct form of fine art painting in Vietnam known as sơn mài.

The finished products undergo a very long, challenging, and complex process — so complex it qualifies as one of the finest and most impressive forms of art in the country.

Where Art Thou: The New Hey Kessy Store Location

If you’re a fellow crafter or art hoarder, chances are, you’ve found and followed it online searching for that pretty set of washi tape rolls or that mod podge you can’t find in regular bookstores. You might have even visited the physical store more than once! *wink wink* We also mentioned about this quaint little arts and crafts store along Esteban Abada as the starting point for Katipunan Art Festival 2015.

We moved because I felt like it was time to level up, and if we really wanted to promote the handmade movement, we should also tap not just the ‘crafters’ or artists, but regular people—those who don’t see themselves as creative. (Mansy Abesamis, Hey Kessy store owner)

As a Katipunan kid myself, I couldn’t help but visit the place from time to time. How I wish these things existed back in college because going to this place now would mean having to experience a long grueling journey from the south of the metro… special thanks to Metro Manila traffic. For every visit I make, there’s always something new… and it’s like I’ve never been here before even if I have. I’d always say, “Wow, UP Town Center got even bigger!”or “Was this store here when I last came?”

If it weren’t for Hey Kessy’s announcement a few months back that they’re moving to this new wing at the Ayala Mall, I wouldn’t have discovered Urban Turf. Here I go again with… “Wow, UP Town Center got even bigger!” “This place wasn’t here when I last came!”

In case you haven’t been to this area in UP Town Center yet, the new Hey Kessy at Urban Turf is a bigger and brighter new place.

Sundae Scoops Tries Crochet!

On a scale of 1 to crochet-and-knitting, how tita are you?

“Lunch tayo sa labas!” (Let’s eat lunch out!)
“Tinatamad akong lumabas ng bahay eh.” (I’m too lazy to leave the house.)

“Guys, gusto niyo bang i-try mag-crochet?” (Guys, do you want to try crochet?)
“Ooooohh! Sige! Hindi ako marunong… pero sige!” (Ooooohh! Sure! I don’t know how to crochet… but yes let’s do this!)
“Why not?! Huli kong nasubukan ‘yan, sa home economics class noong grade school pa tayo. Hahaha.” (Why not?! The last time I tried crochet was during our home economics class since grade school. Hahaha.)

These were the conversations my friends and I had in the past few weeks. While most people would enjoy hanging out in the mall or watching a movie or at least going somewhere out there for an adventure, we’d rather sleep or stay at home… or try activities that remind us now of a growing familiar phrase, #TitaVibes.

This was our first time to try the craft so our first agenda was to get the basic materials: a yarn and a hook. First thing that pops up when you Google crochet / gantsilyo in Manila would be the store gantsilyo.com. Elaine has initially purchased some hooks online, but as visual persons, we’d never pass the chance of seeing the actual store (with excitement!).

Where Art Thou: Sip & Gogh (Kapitolyo)

What can I say about Sip & Gogh aside from being a magical place? No, it is not a-place-where rainbow-unicorns-freely-prance-around type of magical place. Ever since 2012, Sip & Gogh is a place where anyone can paint their hearts out and discover their inner Vincent van Gogh! The best part, there is no painting skills required! It is a cozy studio where anyone can explore their creative side with fellow art enthusiasts and loved ones while sipping on one of their delightful beverages. You will learn how to paint as there are legit instructors in their paintings sessions, and of course, workshops. We are very thankful for Christopher Cruz and the other co-owners for bringing this unique concept to the Philippines! 😍

Where Art Thou: Common Room

The Common Room, dubbed as the new haven for makers, opened its doors to the arts and crafts enthusiasts (and to curious beings) last August 1. After what seems to be a very long time, Sundae Scoops finally went to Common Room!!! (Yes, a single exclamation mark does not suffice in conveying our excitement. AAAH!!!)