It’s been a while since I played on Illustrator and as I look at other people’s work I wonder how I can create art that is completely my own. What I mean is not to use the standard or downloaded brushes, symbols, etc.

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday season I decided to make Christmas themed brushes and symbols. I’ve tested the brushes and they work quite well. The brushes connect almost flawlessly if the settings are adjusted correctly by the user. You can learn how to create new brushes and adjust the settings in the article “How to Create a New Brush in Adobe Illustrator.”

I made some symbols too, these are fun to do because I get to save drawings I want to use in the future. Aside from the Christmas symbol set you see here I made a symbol set of flowers a while ago. you can learn how to create and redesign symbols in the article “How to Create a New Symbol in Adobe Illustrator.”

If you are interested in downloading my brushes and symbols leave a comment with your email address. These libraries are created in Adobe Illustrator CS3.

I was watching videos on YouTube this morning and recently I’ve been watching Sungha Jung, a young Korean boy who plays the guitar like a pro, all his videos are amazing and Charice Pempengco, a teenage Filipino girl who has the most powerful voice I’ve ever heard. My favorite one is Sungha’s rendition of the Mission Impossible theme.

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I was browsing the web last week trying to figure out how to do certain things and I came across instructions from eHow.com. I’ve been to the site before but I never really browsed it too much, at first I thought it was just a glorified Yahoo! Answers site. It kind of is but the great part is that you can pretty much find instructions on how to do anything. If you don’t you can write the instructions yourself and get paid for it through the Writers Compensation Program (WCP). It’s free to register as a writer and your articles are instantly published to earn some money.

I figured there are some things I do that could be helpful or interesting to others. Anyone can do this, as long as you have decent spelling and grammar skills you can earn some cash by publishing articles on how to do the things you do best.

Check out my articles on the side bar. I will post links to all my articles under eHow Articles.

Since I’m all the way over here I decided to post my Christmas List early. I figured why buy these things myself when the gift giving season is near. So here’s my list on Kaboodle, I’m going to update it frequently because when I’m bored I window shop. Thank you in advance to those who buy me stuff. A lot of TV shows since we don’t get cable here, a bunch of stuff from Sephora, some stuff for my iPhone 3G, and other stuff I like.

I invite you guys to post your lists on Kaboodle too, its a great way to send your wish list to everyone and adding items is easier and way cheaper than adding items to a cart. Once you sign up you can get your family and friends to do the same and be your Kaboodle buddies that way whenever someone updates their list you get a notification. Another cool thing is that people can mark off the stuff they get you so that you don’t get duplicates… get exactly what you want… not that ugly sweater nobody ever wants but always get. Just download the buttons or plugins for your Internet browser and you’re on your way to building your own shopping and wish list.

Christmas List by ememfrick

Although my trip to the Philippines was to see Tay in the hospital and help Nay at home I was excited to have a break from my normal life. I needed a change of pace and my trip to the Philippines was just what I needed to refresh. It was tough being back in Baguio, the sight of Tay helpless was very upsetting and it felt surreal because he is one of the strongest men I know. He is Nay’s rock and lifeline, to see him lay in a hospital bed was a nightmare none of us ever seen coming true. Of course with this kind of situation everyone is tense, stressed, afraid, and lost… it consumed me. I had a really difficult time coping and there was more drama than expected. Drama with Nay, drama with Yen… just drama all around. Toward the end of the trip I couldn’t help but believe that the reason our entire family is spread throughout the world is because at close proximity of each other we would explode.

Yen and I left Baguio a day early because there was a typhoon in the area. It turned out quite nicely because the hotel we stayed at, Dusit Thani Manila, was a great place to end a very stressful trip. We arrived just in time to have a late lunch and relax a bit before we met with our cousin Phoebe for dinner. At dinner we talked about our stay in Baguio and family matters+drama. The funny thing is that the three of us came to the conclusion that everyone in the family is separated by oceans because there is too much drama when we’re together for long periods of time. We’re like a prime time soap in real life. The great thing about all the drama is that after the all the insanity we have stories to tell and laugh about.

Needless to say I was missing my life. I missed being home with Steve and the babies (yes of course my dogs included, they are my babies after all). The long “break” I had from them was long enough and I’m so glad to be back home. No matter where I lived in the world home was always Baguio, but now I realize that home is where the heart is, and my heart is here with Steve.