Class : Doodle your Day with Azreenchan

Doodle your Day class date with me. 

I would like to spend a day with people who are interested in doodle journaling + illustrating. This is more like an informal class where we could get to know with each other, spend the day doing activities, sharing session and have a guided doodle practice along the way. More like when an introvert wants to share knowledge and skills to people but in a very controlled environment (compared to my previous doodle class with 30 kids for 8 long hours). 

Class Detail 😘 :

• Weekdays in December + January 
• 10 am - 2 pm 
• In KL area, various places based on the selected day 
• There will be activities to help you with your day journal task : eg - a day out in Aquaria / Bird Park , chit-chats at a cafe, etc. 
• Will be conducted in a very small group (1-5 per class) 
• Fees : RM 100 (not including ticket passes) 

Things you will learn : 

• Basic doodling skill 
• How to start doodling 
• Doodle tasks to help you with your doodle diary + journaling 
• 101 - Your personal zine-making 

Things that will be provided : 

• 16-pages of 'Things you can Doodle' zine - that you will use for your doodle tasks 
• Free gift bag + goodies
• Foods at the selected cafes 
• I'll also bring zines + self-published books by international illustrators for reference 
• Washi tapes 😍 

Things you need to bring : 

• Your doodle notebook / diary 
• Favorite stationary 
• Water 

Suitable for : 

• Beginners 
• People who love to draw + doodle 
• People who want a doodle date 
• Fresh from the oven designer/illustrator/doodler 

No experience in doodling necessary, just your interest + passion in learning a new skill or hobby. 
If you are interested, please book your class from my e-store here.

Note : Date & activities will be discussed via email after booked.

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 ! ❤

Mini Escapism : Junk Book Store, KL

I was searching for a second hand bookshop in Kuala Lumpur when I came across Junk Book Store in Google. The first time I went there was on the Malaysia Day several days earlier - I was hoping it opens on public holiday but it was not, and the second attempt was after several hours spending my time at the Art Expo event yesterday. 

The old shop reminded me of so many stories in novels I read about old bookshop. It reminded me of Mo in Inkheart trilogy, spending his time in such bookshop to find old books to mend. It reminded me of Daniel Sampere in the Shadow of the Wind when he found the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. It reminded me of Paris and England, where old bookstores scattered all over the city. 

There's nothing more exciting then finding an old bookshop in the busy city of Kuala Lumpur. 

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I opened the wooden door and greeted the old lady in the shop, being excited gives me a cheerful mood and make me somewhat chatty to strangers, plus I always imagine people who work in bookshop are all friendly and nice. Phew. 

She asked me about the book I was searching for. I got nothing in my list at that time, because I love finding something to buy instead of searching for a specific book. The search itself is exciting enough. I tried 'Haruki Murakami', 'John Green', 'Paulo Coelho' and 'Susan Sontag'. All were 'not available', 'sold out', 'I already read' or 'never heard of the author'. I was a bit disappointed but continued with the searching.

There were thousands of old books, with musty smell and yellowish paper. I found children books I read when I was in my teenage years, I found old books published when I was not even existed, I even found several Moravia's books ! When I was about 16 or 17, I read one of his book called The Woman of Rome, I didn't know it was a book meant for grown-ups, which I preferred to call - soft porn aka romance genre. The book was in my dad's library and it was a long school holiday so I gave the book a shot. Later the book changed me a tiny bit because :

1) I never read any romance book at that age so I was a bit shocked learning about the-grownups world

2) the book was beautifully written, I loved it ! 

I never found any of Moravia's books in any book stores ever, so finding several of it in Junk Book Store was a bit exciting ! 

Excerpt from the Woman of Rome :

If the hurt changes me at all, I do not show it in my conduct and outward appearance but far more deeply in my soul which closes in more down and upon itself like healthy flesh attempting as soon as possible to heal a wound but scars remain and there. These unconscious wounds in the soul are always permanent. 

I gave up the unequal struggle against what appeared to be in my fate, indeed, I welcomed it with more affection. As one embraces a foe one can't defeat and I felt liberated.

- it's not even available if you Google it , I just added the quotes in Goodreads ! 

So do you know the rarity level of such books? 

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I was in the book shop for awhile. By 5 pm , the old lady said the shop was closing soon, I didn't found what I wanted and went out with empty hands.

Maybe someday soon, I'll come again and find something.

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PS : I am famished.