Join this Journal Tambay in Pampanga

Illustrators Ella Lama, Marie Lama, Louise Ramos and small business owner Micah Sulit, who runs Eden Street, are four friends who have a lot of things in common.

They joined the same art conventions, consigned their stationery and handmade goods at the same stores and they share a love for stationery, coffee, travel, cute things and journaling.

It is their love for these things that led them to create Journal Tambay, “a journaling event organized by memory keepers for memory keepers.”

Meeting up at cafes to share stories, stickers, and supplies is something they’ve always done.

Ella said, “Whenever we hang out, we share our latest stationery hauls and collect ephemera to put in our journals. Since journaling is a messy hobby, we also share tips on how to make our tools more portable, but there have been times when I went to one of our hangouts with all of my sticker binders in tow.”

Marie said, “You would catch us carrying bags full of supplies, ready to be shared to each other. We used to do art tambays before, then eventually these eventually turned into journal tambays.”

More people

With Journal Tambay, they get to share the same joy with more people. Marie said, “There’s a communal area where attendees can access journaling supplies and hang out, there are workshops and demos to help beginners discover a new hobby and to help the more experienced ones discover new techniques, and there’s an artist pop-up where you can find products made by paper lovers for fellow paper lovers.”

The original plan was for Journal Tambay to be a one-time event. Ella said, “It started out as an idea for a pop-up. We share the sentiment that art fairs have become more stressful than fun for us, and that we wanted to try putting up smaller events with a more casual vibe, where we can catch up while meeting people who support our work.”

They had their first one in January at Wabi Sabi Cafe in Kapitolyo. “The night before the event, we joked that we would be happy if 30 people showed up. The next day, the cafe was overflowing with people, to the point that we could no longer hear one another and we ran out of seats,” said Ella.

There were requests for another event, both from those who enjoyed it and those who missed out on the first one. And so they did another. And another.

“We kept getting requests to hold more sessions, so we took up the challenge. One of the things that keeps us going is when people tell us that our events are a ‘safe space.’ That’s something we don’t take lightly, because that’s what journaling means to us. We want to keep making the experience better for our artists as well as our attendees,” said Ella.

Field trip

After events in Kapitolyo, Makati and Alabang, they’re trying something new—a field trip.

Ella said, “We just wanted to have a change of scenery and see if there’s a potential to hold out-of-town events.”

On Aug. 24, Journal Tambay will happen at Jungle Base Grounds in San Fernando, Pampanga. “Jungle Base is a cafe I go to the most,” said Louise who is from Pampanga. “The place is relaxing, the people are friendly, and the food and drinks are great. Its ambiance is perfect for hanging out and I often bring my friends there.”

The Pampanga event will have all the elements of a Journal Tambay event— the artist pop-up, communal journaling area, and demos.

The pop-up will feature the creations of Art of Our Life, Chichilittle, Cozy Journal Studio, Dolly Kaye, Eden Street, Ella Lama, Everyday Explorers Co., Louise Ramos, Marie Lama, Nica Cosio, Paper Diet, Prinsomnia, Signetura, Sunny Stoic Studio, and The Paper House.

There will be event-exclusive stamps for use at the communal area. There will be a Daily Journaling demo from 1 to 2 p.m. and a session on Travel Journaling from 3 to 4 p.m. There’s a participation fee of P600 for each demo and that comes with a small kit and a drink. (Register via bit.ly/jt-fieldtrip-demo.)

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Close drive

Louise said, “We don’t really have a lot of art events here so I’m excited to meet fellow Kapampangans who love art and enjoy journaling. Also, Pampanga is a close drive from Manila so our Journal Tambay patrons could easily join us. It’ll be a good excuse to have a weekend away from the city!”

Ella added, “There are lots of things to do in Pampanga also, from adventure activities to food trips, which are all journal-worthy.”

The event is also a great chance to make new friends. Marie said, “Journal Tambay welcomes both introverts and extroverts, you can come alone or bring along a friend. What we can guarantee is that you’ll definitely have a good time and you’ll be going home with newfound friends who also love to journal like you!”

Ella added, “Knowing that some attendees go to our event alone and then end up making new friends also warms our hearts. We try to make the atmosphere as welcoming and non-intimidating as we can.”

Marie enjoys being surrounded by people who share the same hobby. “It’s always nice to see our attendees happy whenever they hang out, and hear them say that they really enjoyed their time with us. This means we’re doing something good, right? It makes all the pagod worth it!”

Louise said, “It’s such a pleasure to see familiar faces in every Journal Tambay stop. Some have attended all events despite living in a different city. We’re glad that Journal Tambay is something they’d go out of their way for and we’re very grateful for this.”

Pampanga is just the next stop for Journal Tambay. Ella said, “We are taking it one event at a time, but we already have a few concepts we want to test after this field trip.”