Deck the halls

This post was inspired by The Spool Artist. 

I love greeting cards. I love receiving them. I love sending them. Back in the Philippines, I would often go to my favorite bookstore (National Bookstore is a favorite, then Powerbooks later) or stationary shop (Gift Gate or Blue Magic) to browse greeting cards. I’d buy cards that caught my eye even if there was no specific occasion. I’d store them and when the need arises, I’d just select from my stock (which was good) or shop for the card (even better!) that would be appropriate for whoever is receiving it. If i had lots of time, I’d even make my own cards for some really special people.

Since becoming (sort of) tech savvy, I’ve lessened buying these cards and opted to make electronic cards instead. Sometimes I’d browse through on-line greeting card sites but most of the time I’d just whip up something in CorelDraw then email it. My cards were simple then, but very personalized.

When I arrived here in Cambodia in 2004, one of the first things I noticed is that stationary shops do not carry greeting cards. Even the supposed upscale shops have only the littlest selection. I remember buying greeting cards whenever I traveled to make up for this lack (B2S in Bangkok, Kinokuniya in Kuala Lumpur, and Borders in Singapore, among others).

I started making my own electronic Christmas card in 2004. The 2004 Christmas card was very simple and easy to do. No photos, just plain text and the simplest graphics. I think I spent about 15 minutes designing this card. Nevertheless, I injected my own brand of humor in the text. Friends and (a few) relatives loved it.

In 2005, I performed in a drag show for the first time. It wasn’t my first time to be in drag; I did that in an office Christmas party in 1999. In between the shows, my friends and I would practice putting on make-up and dressing up and hamming it up for the cameras. In a pinch for an idea for a card, I decided to use one of these photos as the main image. The colors of the original photo were not very pretty; it was tinged green so I tweaked the photo a bit then designed a card all around it. The design of the whole card sprung from the photo. I christened myself Lil’ Miss Naughty. The design takes off from the ‘wanted: dead or alive’ posters we often see in western/cowboy films. The fonts, the images, and the color scheme all pay homage to the western/cowboy films design and imagery. A lady friend couldn’t get over the 4 layers of false eyelashes I wore on each eye (two up and two down). I was just happy at how it turned out.

In 2006, I did another drag show with my friends. This was the show that I am most proud of. All our numbers featured the music of Dame Shirley Bassey. We called the show, ‘Oh, Shirley!’ and while we were selling tickets to the show, some people actually thought that Ms Bassey was indeed coming to Phnom Penh. Now ain’t that a kick in the head. But I digress. One of the more applauded numbers on the show was a back-to-back number, where I lipsynched to “Climb Every Mountain” while another did “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”. Of course, I was the nun and the other queen was the whore. I decided to use my photo taken in this number. I named myself Sistah Blistah (inspired by Alanis Morisette). Since the photowas taken inside a club, I decided on a disco-esque motif. My aunt, who was living in the States, called my Mother in Manila to tell her how cute I looked in my Christmas card. My mother didn’t know what she was talking about so I showed the card, which was the wallpaper in my iBook. My mother remarked on how we looked alike.

By 2007 I had somewhat retired from the drag show scene. Nevertheless I realized that I had so many photos from my last performance in 2006 that I can still make a drag-themed card for yet another year. I chose my photo from the opening number of the show because in this number I was wearing a fabulous robe with ruffled collar. I was tweaking the photo when an idea struck me. Why not turn this image into a playing card? This led to my monicker for the 2007 holiday season: the Queen of Hearts. I designed a red & white starburst background for the photo, with bubbles, well, bubbling out. It’s like a snowed-on Japanese Samurai flag, so stark in its color scheme of white, red, and green. My boyfriend that time liked this card so much he used it as wallpaper in his PC in his office.

So now, what’s for 2008? The inspiration hasn’t struck me on what kind of card I will make. I’m still retired from the drag scene, in spite of a false start a few weeks back. I am very open to other people’s ideas and suggestions. I am tempted to not dress up like a lady this year, though to be candid, as a fellow, I’m just not visually interesting. A couple of weeks ago, tired and listless from too many hours in front of the computer, I wore my old wig, wrapped a red dupatta round my head and cam-whored by myself. About an hour later of selecting and tweaking the photos, one of the photos turned out like this:

I posted a bunch of similar photos in my facebook. I like to call it the hybrid of two iconic images: Afghan Girl (in National Geographic) and Sadako (Ringu film).

A friend, upon seeing the photos, said she’s looking forward to what my Christmas card will look like this year. Pressure’s mounting!