color me christmas

IF you drop by the Hobbes and Landes specialty shop in either Greenbelt 5 or Bonifacio High Street, you will most likely see parents and their kids (or, in some cases, single men and women) busy coloring ceramic pieces on a table, just having a great time while whiling the hours away, or simply letting off steam after a busy day at the office.

Most likely, you will also see a tall, well-dressed woman with a svelte figure thanks to regular yoga and exercises, her long cascading black hair complementing her mocha skin, dressed casually (usually in jeans and long-sleeved top) but elegantly, assisting customers or simply giving them tips on what colors to use.

Welcome to the world of Emma Reyes Pante, a former bank economist and strategist, now spending most of her time leisurely helping out parents and their children, as well as single men and women at her specialty lifestyle shop aptly called Color Me Mine.

“The business model is meant to provide a place where people can bond by introducing the concept of `the art of having fun’ and providing a place to relax, unwind while creating a ceramic art,” said Emma, herself an art enthusiast.

The unique store allows customers to select a ceramic piece—a mug, a vase, a decorative plate—and then lets them color it using the shop’s own imported paints. The shop will then process the ceramics to turn them into a glossy decorative work of art worthy of a special place at one’s home or office.

“People find painting the ceramics really relaxing. It’s a great stress-buster,” said Emma, who is not a stranger to stress and the pressures of juggling career and family, having worked for decades at some of the country’s biggest banks while bringing up two kids before she retired several years ago.

“They come here to unwind, bond with their family or with friends.”

PAINT YOUR RESOLUTION

THIS season of good cheer, parties and gift-giving, Color Me Mine has a lot of things in store for their clients including the “Paint Your Resolution in a Mug” contest. The shop will award the most creative resolution and how best it is painted on the mug. Prices at stake include a Christmas Wreath (easily worth P3,000) and gift checks.

It’s a wonderful way to calm the nerves given how stressful Christmas is.

Why on a mug?

“So that every time they drink their coffee, tea, chocolate or water, they will remember their New Year’s resolution,” said Emma, whose resolution for the coming year is not to miss any service at her favorite parish no matter how busy or tired she is. “That’s our Christmas theme.”

The mug is priced at P450, while the store charges a paltry P180 for processing your artwork into a glossy decorative piece. Not bad, huh.

The shop also offers holiday items such as a Christmas tree and children of the world tea light candle holders, miniature Santa Claus that can be hung on Christmas trees and a nativity wreath, among others. Another much-awaited event is the store’s annual Christmas activity for orphans at the Bahay Ni Maria in Makati City. The shop gives away free ceramics to the children at the orphanage that they can color during the party. This way, they have something to do while also getting a gift at the end of the day. 

With the business, Emma is also able to support the country’s slowly fading ceramics industry, which is facing higher costs and tough competition from imports such as those coming from China. More than half of Emma’s items are sourced locally, while the rest comes from the United States, Europe and China. 

But it’s not all rosy for the entrepreneur. Speaking like an economist, Emma lamented that the costs of doing business in the country are rising, a bane for small businesses like Color Me Mine, which started as a standalone shop at the Shangri-La Plaza in 2001 but was closed nine years later because of the high rent.

“It’s very expensive to do business here,” Emma said. Aside from the rent, small businesses are also battling higher taxes and municipal fees. Paying the municipal fees, for example, is tantamount to double taxation because the fees are also based on the store’s income, she added.

Despite the hurdles, Emma remained upbeat. After all, aside from having something to do now that her two children (Camilla and Vincent) are all grown up and are exploring the world on their own, she is also able to exercise her creative side and put to good use her training as an economist.

More important, Color Me Mine helps people relax while uncovering the artists within them.

 • For more information about Color Me Mine, visit their store at Hobbes and Landes in Greenbelt 5 in Makati City or call 757-4241; or at Hobbes’s main store at Quadrant 2, Unit 1 B14, Bonifacio High Street, or call 799-9297. Or simply visit www.hobbesandlandes.com.