Getting Creative at L'indochine

Every time I go to SM Aura or Mega Fashion Hall, I try to make it a point to drop by L'indochine. By doing so, I not only make two of my friends happy (the VP for Marketing of SM Premium Malls, and the owner of L'indochine are both my co-parents in Reese's school), I make myself super happy too. There's something about this retail space, with its soft and textured walls, the high ceiling and alcove in the center, the gold patterned wall behind the counter which I love, and, of course, the well displayed clothes, home and fashion accessories and trinkets, that touch and feed my eyes and also my spirit. L'indochine is a unique, inspiring space filled pretty things. Curated, handpicked items from all over Asia. Going through its shelves and displays is like going on a treasure hunt for that special something that would draw itself to you, you'd want to just take it home with you.One day, Charlene, my friend and co-owner of L'indochine told me they were doing their very first craft workshop at the store and I was just so happy she thought of inviting me. I was looking forward to the creative afternoon in a place I loved, with fellow women, and I got even more excited when I found out Char had asked Alessandra Llanot of Life After Breakfast to facilitate the Batik printing workshop. Being a calligrapher myself, I've followed Alessandra's work and have always wanted to meet her. So the special day came and I didn't expect anything less than this nice set up from the L'indochine team...Patty Laurel-Filart, L'indochine's ambassador, welcomed everyone with her always warm smile and demeanor.Patty introduces our teacher for the day, no less than Alessandra Llanot, now more popularly known as the "craft queen"I was so charmed by Alessandra's cool and calm demeanor, even while crafting, she makes it look so easy, but we all knew there is more to it than that......which we learned when we started doing our own. We were given two pillowcases each to work on and had these ladies to be with.Shen and Em. Em's showing off her multi-tasking mommy skills as she does a one-handed painting method while carrying her baby Magnus.:)Cai and daughter, YukieMichelle's crafty side came out, and her paisley print won her a prize after!While in my station, I decided to make it a relaxed, freestyle method with a leaf design as my main element. You can see Michelle and Cai's work taking shape too.Reese followed from school and wanted to work on my second pillow case which came out really nice too.Here's Char with her baby. She shares with us that when they designed the store, this area we were in was really designed for workshops so we can look forward to more classes in the future. Awesome!Doing creative work with my hands is something I really enjoy and wished I had more time for. So it was a memorable afternoon, and here we are proudly showing off our work, including my pillowcase which is now on display in my home.The afternoon at L'indochine was not only a time for some creativity and crafts, it was also a time to catch up with other friends(Thanks, Patty Laurel for the photos)Char and Leona, her co-owner and sister-in-law made sure we were treated with lots of goodies and gifts.Char and Leona of L'indochine and AlessandraWe were gifted with these Uniqlo x Ines de la Fressange scarves which I know I'll put to good use......Em's using her own here as a breastfeeding cover.Yummy food from Chelseaand all these wonderful items from L'indochine and other partner brands.We all brought home goodies from Shine Bakery and Cafe, Real Living magazines, Nifty Manila personalized cards, a leather pouch from Fino Leatherware, Celeteque after-sun skin care, Lucas Papaw ointment from Digital Traincase, Gcs from Forever21, gift card from Caren Carlos photography, and scents from Smell Chic. We also gave out copies of our Top Mom Picks guidebook to each guest:)Thanks for having me, L'indochine. Looking forward not only to my next visit but hopefully to more crafternoons with you!