Event : Comic Fiesta 2017 + Things I Bought

I thought I prepared myself for my first Comic Fiesta. 

I did, but it was not enough. 

The event was huuuuuuuge, huge as in 2 big halls in KLCC convention center, not including people outside, waiting at the park, super-packed alleys that you need to slowly walk, long queues of people waiting to meet their celebrity cosplayer or take turn to try out games, or even buy things. This was my very first huge event. The biggest one so far, and I've never seen such crowd :F

My booth was located at B-B01, so it was among the first booth at basic art booth, next to the premium ones. We bought extra ticket for Af as my assistant of the weekend, so we could take turn to walk and find nice beautiful things that people made. 

New things I prepared for Comic Fiesta :

• 2nd version of 'Game Nerd' enamel pin (almost sold out before the event)
• 1st version of 'Book Nerd' enamel pin (sold out before the event)
• 'My Doodle Book' zine (not so many people bought)
• Sticker sheets x 4 (so - so, people like the Harry Potter fan-art sticker)

Things that were sold fast :

• The remaining enamel pins sold out in the first few hours
• Japanese sticker pack version 2 + 3
• Laser-cut 'Game Nerd' keychain
• Laser-cut charms 
• and several more MesinWood + Eureka stuffs.

From this event, I can conclude that the audience love movie - series - anime related fan-arts. I didn't make as many fan-art stuffs as other booths, so we didn't get as much hits. If I want to attend more events like this : Comic Fiesta, Comic Art Festival KL, Animangaki, etc - I need to make more fan-arts, it is what sells compared to original illustrations. Some people even came and asked whether : "There are characters that I know of ?" or keep calling the 'Game Nerd' stuffs inspired by the original Game Boy as "Beemo" from Adventuretime. I never felt so old. 

But anyway, the sales was so great - we reached the highest sales for any events I've ever attended so far ! It gives us hope and kinda show me that my hard work almost paid off. I love selling my stuffs and creation to people, even how 'syok-sendiri' it might seems sometimes. But without people keep on buying and supporting, I would never be this far.  

Thank you - for every support, every money spent on buying the things that I made, for every visits, for every 'hello - I'm a fan'. You have no idea how hard I work throughout this year as a full-time independent illustrator and designer just to pay my bills and prove that I never wanted anything so bad. I love every single day I'm working for the past 9 months, creating, planning, and making stuffs. I am so happy guys, thank you. Thank you for the wonderful 2017 journey !

PS - You can also support me on my Patreon : https://www.patreon.com/azreenchan ❤ Where I share more detail stuffs on the projects I'm working on, on current life and thoughts and tips + tricks.

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And here's for the things I bought from illustrators and comic artists at Comic Fiesta !

You know, I took so many short trips to finish both 2 halls :

• because the halls were so big
• and there were too many people, so it was a slow-paced, taking turns kinda thing
• and sometimes so many people came to our booth, I can't just leave Af alone :F

But I told Af, that I've been waiting to join these kind of events and it is just once a year thing - so I need to explore and find great illustrators. It was the only chance to be surrounded by so many inspiring people ! Here I bought a LOT of printed stuffs to be added into my doodle book. This made me so happy ❤ I tagged almost all comic artists and illustrators, please do follow their work on Instagram.

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Like chibi stickers by Foxkunkun and name card from Meyoco (there was nothing that I can buy from her booth that was not out of my budget) :

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Lokamade was everywhere in bookstores, so it wasn't as exciting as meeting Ashionglee from Indonesia in person ! He is an Indonesian National Graphic Illustrator and I asked for his signature. Super inspiring. I also bought the 'Passion Pays' sticker from my partner ; Eurekartstudio.

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A colouring book from the legendary Kidchan/Cyanparade !
Two things that I love from this series :

1. Black/White stroke - no colours, so I can see just the beautiful strokes without getting distracted by colours
2. Symmetry 

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I also bought a 'Thor' sticker and an art-print inspired by Rogue One from Machodoodle/Amelia Lo from Indonesia. She got a lot of cool stuffs, but I had to limit my budget and not get too many things at one place :

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Weiliwonka and Pottetto were 2 local illustrators that I found from the previous CAFKL. I was super excited to see different kind of strokes and styles being used in illustration (because most booths were anime/manga-based style). I didn't buy anything Pottetto because the sticker set from her 'Stranger Things' fan-arts were sold out (too bad) :

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Hope to see you guys again next year !

❤

Event : Comic Play + Etsy Made Local 2017

November was a busy month. I joined 2 events in a week, activated the Etsy discount month for Christmas and we had a fully-packed weekends throughout the whole 2 months until the mid of December (because Comic Fiesta also coming real soon). 

Preparation :
The preparation took around 3 weeks, to restock all my sold out items from Jesselton Artisan Market and Machi Mochi Market during the previous month's events. I am still hand-cutting some of the sticker sets (not all anymore), pack all the items and hand-paint laser cut stuffs, so I'm pretty much occupied almost every day. 

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Comic Play, Publika :

I think it was a 5-days event, but I joined for 3-days including the weekends under Animangaki (there were several organizers for the event) - is it fair to say that I never really know about them before this because I'm not fully into the anime/manga fever as I grew older?

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Things that happened at Comic Play :

• On the first day, we lost our parking ticket and we had to pay RM 60 for the fine. It was a lot of money, and I felt really sad thinking that we've been working so hard. Never keep parking tickets in your pant's pocket ever again - lesson learned.  
• I forgot to bring the pencil leads so I can't doodle in my book on the first day. 
• On the second-day, as a present for ourselves for the hard work, we bought lattes. I had the worst stomachache and diarrhoea afterwards because Af bought for me a venti green tea latte at Starbucks - I am now lactose intolerance and I shouldn't drink that much milk on an event day. I rushed to the toilet at least 3 times on that day - lesson learned. 
• I met a lot of old friends - I hardly meet people that I knew at events so it was a bit uncomfortable for me. 
• There weren't many interesting things for me to buy, so I just bought several cute stickers to add in my doodle book.

Thank you for visiting us at Comic Play, Publika last weekend ! • We had a lovely time ❤️ Things that happened at #comicplay2017 : 1 • We lost our parking ticket and had to pay RM 60 😑 2 • I forgot to refill my pencil and bring extra pencil leads, so I can’t doodle. I had to use @ahmadfarikarim ‘s 0.7 pencil ✏️ that day 3 • Bought myself a green tea latte at Starbucks and had the worst stomachache and diarrhoea 💩 (I’m lactose intolerance 🥛👎🏼 4 • Met some old friends, thanks for stopping by guyyys ❤️ 5 • Bought several stickers for my book 😊 Personal thanks to @animangaki ❤️🙏🏼 #doodlediary #illustration

A post shared by azreenchan (@azreenchan) on Nov 21, 2017 at 1:41am PST

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a week later at Etsy Made Local :

I was excited, been waiting for Etsy Made Local since I applied (because it is a yearly event, and I've been using Etsy for almost 7 years now). But the worst thing happened, I had another episode of vertigo (the sensation of whirling and loss of balance, dizzy and nauseous).  This was the third time this month, I'm not sure the exact reason yet (I need to do an ear check-up if this continues). I didn't feel good, because the world was spinning so bad, I get nauseous and I can't walk or function like a normal being. Of all the busiest days of the month, it had to chose to appear on Etsy Made Local day :F 

So I had to prepare the booth with Af's help, all my strength and patience to slowly put out all the items on the table. Every few movements lead to me feeling like I was going to fall down or puke. It was really bad, so I had to ask my sister's help (she took care of the booth, while I went back to rest and sleep for awhile, then came back to pack everything later that evening). I felt better after the sleep.

Here are some photos I managed to snap when I came back later (the place was beautiful !) :

I didn't felt like I joined the event because I wasn't there most of the time. 

But Aja said the crowd was over-whelming, we got a lot of supports and love, and our sales was really great. Thank you so much to Af and Aja for helping me with the event (I never thought I would be sick on my important day, I always thought I was some-what invincible) :F

Kudos Etsy team & volunteers ! ❤

Event : From Pen to Paper 5.0

Preparation :

I joined another event several weekends ago (I applied for 2 events in July). The application was awhile back, so I was almost fully prepared for it. I printed and cut sticker packs as much as I can wherever, whenever I was free. I think I cut thousands and thousands over the year, I became so good in cutting stickers (I'm a pro !). I also printed several artprints and small greeting cards (to replace the ones that had been destroyed by the small flood in my room several months back). And ordered several new stuffs ! This time, I was fully prepared with so many stuffs.

Things I collected from the event.

Event day :

We went to Battery Acid Club before for Etsy Made Local 2016 , so it was a familiar place and familiar faces (I remember the owners and several booths participants). I think there were only 1-2 booths owned by Malay on that day, everyone else were Chinese. It is common view (guys, where are independent businesses own by Malays nowadays? I hardly see you guys in creative events) :F

We opened our booth, outside (because last time we attracted the crowd outside of the cafe) but it was really hot and we had to wait in the sun later for several hours. The worst was around 3-5pm. Challenging day.

The good :

• The event only lasted for 7 hours (11am - 6pm), so it wasn't a super long day.
• I met several familiar faces (so they do remember me ❤ )
• The sales was goooooood. One of the highest sales I ever got in an event.
• I saw several potential local illustrator !
• Journaling station with lotttts of free stuffs to use.

The bad :

• It was so hot later that afternoon (we did really stand under the sun for several hours)
• No 'surau', you need to walk a bit to reach the nearest surau in the area.

Outcome :

Sales : RM 757

• Booth rent : RM 80 (shared with Aja, so it became RM 40 per person)
• Lunches & Dinner : RM 15+ (Tapau Meggi Goreng from the mamak for lunch, free coffee from Battery Acid Club)
• Gas & Toll : RM 10+

The best sales so far ! 

Mostly by selling sticker packs. Thank you random strangers ❤

For letting me create all the things that I love to make and support me all the way. I'll keep making new things and experiment, so you'll have reasons to keep supporting me !

Images from Af's video snippets (I didn't have time to take any photos !) :

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Anyway, the money I spent on making new things (like the patches, enamel pins, lots of printing new stuffs and paying for future events) were around that figure or even more, so you guys actually helped me making new stuffs and restocking. And I really appreciate this support ❤ 

Here is the video that Af compiled & edited for me :

From Pen to Paper 5.0 from Farikarim on Vimeo.

See you guys again soon,
Next event : Comic Art Festival Kuala Lumpur
in Dewan Bunga Raya in Campbell Complex, KL on the 29th & 30th July 2017.

Event : AfG - 50 Shades of Green

Event :

Art for Grabs - The School Jaya One - 25 & 26 Mar 2017 (weekend)

Fifty Shades of Green.

Event application :

I forgot when did I applied for the event, I think it was several weeks before our Japan trip. I saw the vendor application on Facebook and sent my details like always. I even got nothing related to the theme : 50 Shades of Green, I was just trying my luck. The reason I wanted to join them this time is because I think it's already the time for me to open a booth ! I feel very motivated this year.

Result :

During our second week in Japan, I received an email from the organizer saying that I was chosen ! - I've been rejected 2-3 times by event organizers so I know the feeling of wanting to join but not chosen, you see. I can't make the payment to book for the booth so I replied to the organizer rightaway to inform him about having to pay for the booth a bit late. I'm glad he said 'okay-'. 

Preparation :

The time wasn't right. I was trying to catch up with things at the office after the 2 weeks of long holiday - our company received complains and fitna, so the banks called us and tried to shut us down. The whole 2 weeks drama ended with us giving up to the 'powerful' people's decision. 

I also opened my Etsy shop right-away, soon after I received orders and had to prepare for the packages and stuffs. Also to update the Melaka travelogue draft that I promised to the publisher. Plus the blog, and the Patreon page. It was hectic.

So I did just little preparation this time : repacking stickers, cutting more sticker packs and finishing off old stocks. I managed to do it just 2 days before the event date.

Event day :

Like all the events I've been to, I started off the event by being super awkward in front of my booth and had sweaty armpits whenever I see familiar faces. Even when I met an old colleague of mine from Damansara Heights - I asked her to stop by and she did. She is one of my favorite people when I worked at Legion so meeting her back gave me so many awkward nudges (I miscalculated the price of her stuffs and I talked in gibberish mumbles). I also met one of my Patron, also my online friend - that I come to like, because she reminds me so much of me (without the two kids of course). Plus one of the boy from the previous event - he told me about being introvert but wanting to share more to the community, so he asked the organizer if he could read one of his poem on the stage for the open mic session - and he did ! (I'm so proud of him, so inspiring). I met an old senior of mine from school, Af's friend whom just came back from Osaka too (so we exchanged stories) and also saw my ex and exchange awkward smiles (cringe - sweaty armpits all over). 

After-thought :

The event was a success - any events with sales over RM 500 in 2 days are a success to me.
I'm definitely going to apply for their future events (now I know the crowd) :

Sales : RM 540

- Booth Rent : RM 200 (strictly no sharing)

- Lunches & Dinners : +- RM50

Events : Art/Craft Booth's Price List 2016

Note : Future team member, please read the note down below.

If you are planning on joining events or opening a booth in the near future, and you are an independent small artists/illustrators with no budget and doing this just for fun. You need to know the price range, so here I compiled the price range for this year's event that I asked around :

• Ilovebazaar , BTS Handmade Market : RM 80 per day ✓
• Market 18, Jaya One : RM 400 for 2 days ✘
• Malaysia Hobby Expo : RM 250 for 2 days ✓ * I got for free, because I sponsored huge doodle
• Public Garden Consumer Trade Show : $200 for 2 days ✓
• STGCC Singapore : $700 for 2 days ✘
• Junk-ed Makers Market : RM 60 - 70 per day ✓
• Etsy Made Local : RM 80 per day ✓
• Indonesia Comic Con : RM 1,200 for 2 days ✘
• Rantai Art Festival : RM 300 for 2 days ✓ - shared booth with my sister

The symbol : ✓ are the events that I decided to join, and the symbols ✘ are for events that I asked/emailed and were too shocked when I heard about the fees, and cancelled it. Ha. 

Personally for me, my budget is maximum RM 100 per day. Usually if the day is good, I receive around RM 250 per day, and the day is not so good, I'd probably only get less than RM 50. Rugi beso. The highest sales I ever received was around RM 600, and the lowest was RM 8. I sell mostly stickers that range from RM 1 - RM 14, so it isn't much lah. 

But why do I joined events tho? If I know the sales are sometimes bad, the crowds are sometimes close to none, the booths are super expensive or the people are just too snobbish ? Why oh why I keep on putting myself in that position that makes me regret the whole idea of being in this society? 

Love and passion. Of course, I can always opt for Etsy sells and focus on international market alone. But no, I believe in sharing what I love to do. Especially with people here in Malaysia, I still want to feel the connection instead on just ignoring the whole crowd and merajuk bawa diri and go find places where I feel belonged. I want to inspire, I want to open your eyes and let you see the future chance of doing something you like as a career. But then, kelakar lah kan if I say that my small independent business blooms and successful - no. I mean that by doing this, by having this small hobby turned into a working skill, you can go to so many places.

Huge chances, new clients, higher salary, better income :F

Other option :

• You can share the art/craft booth with your like-minded friend

• Send an email with portofolio/online shop to me : azreen_31@hotmail.com , I'm searching for future team members for international events collaboration. So under one team, we can go to places to join arts/crafts events. But I need to find people from : illustration or unique crafty product makers lah. And people who want to go faaaaaaar and love to backpack and okay with our introvertness, because we can get super awkward - you have no idea. Mihmihmih.

Team :

Events : Etsy Made Local & Battery Acid Club

Etsy Made Local : 

This event was also a random tryouts for me. I applied and I got a place to open a booth on the Sunday from the 2 days event. I was really excited because I really like Etsy, and I was hoping that the Etsy community will be supportive and like-minded.

I was right! The crowd was the best, this is one of my favorite event so far. 

I sold so many sticker packs and postcards, some greeting cards and bags. People didn’t stop coming, even though by 3pm the weather changed from a hot sweaty afternoon to a heavy thunderstorm. But the thing was, even though it rained heavily people still keep on coming and buying things :D

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The organizer & location :

I also like the big orange banner and the Etsy's free stickers and the posters and the little cafe : Battery Acid Club that uses a lot of my own Pinterest-inspired stuffs that I pinned! Especially the part with small-sized tiles for the kitchen top and their beautiful white and black toilet. A very well-designed place. So inspiring *taken from the IG :

The map :

I took 3 of Etsy stickers from the organizer, because I really want to stick them in my journal - even though they said one person can only take one, ha ! I also received my Etsy namecard and a sticker saying "Ask me About my Etsy Shop". Isn't this amazing? All customized items for all vendors - never had this much fun and appreciation at any events.

Love the detailing. Love the chatty friendly organizers.

Things I put in my journal :

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The vendors :

I bought some stuffs from other illustrator called "Sukka Project". I really like her own unique stroke so I bought a hand-made small pouch bag - I kinda want the postcard as well, but it was hand-made and was quite pricy for me :( All the items were silk-screened onto fabric and paper, some of the items were paper-marched into a unique characters. They told me that they are joining Rantai 2016 as well, and I asked them to produce more art prints. Ha :D

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I also met Diawangan for the first time. She is one of my client - I designed her company's logo. I personally quite like the cute logo of the cloud and smiley face. Kak Zila brought her son and husband along. I greeted her and stopped by at her booth, but I didn't buy any items from her : she sells handmade nursery items :)

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Near to my booth was Eleanor,'s workshop, a designer and a calligraphy artist. There were a bunch of people learning calligraphy all through the day, I wanted to greet and talk to her but she seemed a bit busy teaching. This is her takes on the event day.

Other vendors :

I think I should try to make friendly greets to everyone after this, ask around, get to know people, perhaps interview some of the vendors to write about them. For that, I need a lot of caffeine in the morning and a mental set that the day will be extra exhausting but worth it. I should also prepare for a set of questions. Hm.

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Outcome :

Sales : RM 623
- Booth rent : RM 80
- Lunches & Dinner : RM 100 (Dinner at Rimba&Rusa, coffee at Battery Acid Club, KFC for fast lunch)
- Gas & Tolls : RM 40+

The best sales so far in the past almost 30 booths at various events.

Events : Junk-ed Maker's Market, Wisma Central

The last 2 weekend were spent at different events : 1. Junked Makers’ Market in Wisma Central, Jalan Ampang near KLCC and another one 2. Etsy Made Local, at Battery Acid Club in PJ. Both were a one-day event.

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The day started early in the morning on Saturday - we both drove to KL almost late because the event was supposed to start at 10am and we went out quite late to buy the tiles to make the kitchen top at my apartment. So we used GPS and took MEX highway to avoid the unwanted traffic, I did a double check on the flat-rate parking fees at Avenue K : RM 5 for the whole day which seemed the most affordable and nearest one considering we were staying for the whole day. The items were all packed in 3 big bags that were easy to bring for a short walk across the road.

Little lights all over the event :

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Junked Makers’ Market :

The event was located at Level 2, Wisma Central - the place that we sometimes go to print stuffs in the city. When I arrived at the place, the organizer greeted me. She recognized me immediately - she then ushered me to my booth. A nice booth located by the end of the corridor, next to the bigger space where people give talks and created art installation. There were little LED lights along the corridor : on the floor and on the ceiling, the place was a bit dark and not so good for business as people can't see clearly all the items on the desk - I wish I brought a desk lamp, but it was cozy and comfortable, macam tempat lepak2. Especially when they played a nice playlist of : the XX, Mew, Artic Monkey, etc all through the event. 

Note : This was also why I didn't take any photos for the event, the lighting was quite bad :F 

Here I took snapshots from Af's videos :

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The vendors :

The event was a really small event with not more than 15 vendors, in conjunction with a cafe’s launching and several talks of the day about 3D printing and laser cutting. I met one of the artist that I really like the intenet : Syarifah Nadhirah. She does a really nice soft-coloured watercolour painting that I’ve come to like from her society6 account. So I bought two of her printed postcards : one of it was a picture of lime and lemon collection, and another one was a drawing of artichokes. I already put inside my journal. Oh, I also asked for her signature. I make that a habit - every time I buy postcard or art prints from artists or designers, I make sure I ask for their signature. As a token of a short awkward meetups. I will try better next time !

The organizers :
They also have a really nice friendly organizers. I felt a bit old, seeing this kids managing stuffs and all. But I also felt their strong vibes that I used to feel when I started my early years at events and booths. So it was a nice reminder :)

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The video highlight :

Like always, video highlight was made by AF, 

please contact him for any projects regarding videos :

JunkED Makers' Market 2016 from Farikarim on Vimeo.

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Outcome :

Sales : RM 200
- Booth rent : RM 60
- Parking : RM 5
- Foods of the day : RM 70
- Car : RM 30

My sales was not so great, just enough to pay the rent, eat lunches and dinner at IKEA and some extra more. The event was not too hectic and busy, people were friendly and supportive, just not so many crowds as I wish it would. 

Here is the poster I made for the event :

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Here's a map of Prototype Gallery :