Little Things 242 : Turning 31

I turned 31 last week! 

31 on 3.1  💛

Let me share some of the stuffs that I did on my birthday : 

1. Af sent me to Mid Valley for a 'Me' time because I know if I stay at home, I'll be doing works as usual. There are hardly any days in my week that I stay home relaxing doing nothing - I don't even understand what that is anymore. Fun is work, work is also work. Basically my life nowadays is consisted of 80% of working on something and 20% of other small stuffs.  

2. Bought the first early bird ticket for RM 11 - The Greatest Showman. 

I love musical and I really like the simple messages it brings. 

There are messages in every songs, here's what I extracted from watching it the first time :

• Dream on something and believe in it. Even though when no one believes in you and you have absolutely nothing. The most important thing is you believe in it | Song : A Million Dream
• Rather than being trapped in a work that you dislike for fame and privileges, might as well do something that you are really passionate in. There is no money or fame that can replace the feel of fulfilment in doing something that you are really passionate about  | Song : The Other Side
• You don't need everyone to love/like you, just the important ones, partner & family especially. Keep them close in your circle, always | Song : Tightrope
• 'A celebration of humanity' - every single people who works in the circus is unique in their own way. Some people might not like it, some people accept them as who they are. The world is consists of those differences and we as human need to be able to see pass all the physical appearance and focus on the inside. Our body is just a vehicle to your mind, your soul | Song : Come Alive
• Accepting yourself, the flaws, the uniqueness. Don't be ashamed, don't hide behind windows. You are you, celebrate your life | Song : This is Me
• It won't ever be enough. You can build an empire from nothing, be recognized for your work, make so much money for a lifetime  and it might still not be enough for you. The fulfilment is not supposed to those physical and material things. It should be from the inside, do it for you, for your family, for God. Goals and achievements are just there for you to put a ✔✔✔ on your list | Song : Never Enough
• Remember your ground, remember why you started in the first place | Song : From Now On

3. Went out for a lunch with my mom.
Right after the movie, I didn't know what to do. So I texted my mom and asked whether she wants to have lunch together (because that morning she called and asked what I was doing that day). So she brought me to Sushi Zanmai for a lunch treat ! ❤

And I guess that's it !
Next thing planned was our birthday party on that Saturday (my little sister turned 26 on the 4th), so we usually celebrate our birthday together.

On Saturday :

• We went out for a 11 km cycling session (all the siblings + Af) 

• During lunch time, they reserved a table at Miyagi Restaurant in Bangi (as requested by us two because I only went there once last year - it was a bit pricy and we had to wait for special occasion ) I think our lunch for the whole family reached around RM 280 :F but it was WORTH IT. I had a special "Mini Udon to Soft Shell Crab Set" - I don't usually order for a set, but this time I did and it was goooood. I'm glad we tried it :

• Afterwards, we went to It's a Grind cafe in Cyberjaya for cake + present opening session :D My brother baked a nice special Strawberry Cheese Cake for us (and even for that I ate a bunch because it was really nice). 

• We actually received wayyy more than we expected this year. Birthday is an event where we actually pass a list of items we wanted among siblings and then each one of us will try to cross the whole list (so there will be discussion on what we are going to buy without the birthday person). So it wouldn't be hard on us to 'try' to find something we won't use/like. 

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Things I received (from my mom + siblings + Af) : 

• Novel graphic (You & A Bike & A Road by Elianor Davis) and Murakami's (Men without Woman) that I listed from Bookdepository 
• Skin Vacuum (or whatever it is called, to suck the living of your oils on your face), Biore Pore Pack & Oil Blotter - because man, my skin is oily 24/7 and I needed those to avoid constant break outs. My sister didn't want to buy these because she said I can buy it myself - but she asked for a list and that's what I wrote down :D
• Pure honey and Vitamin C - because I want to stay healthy !
• New working chair ! - you have no idea how long I waited to have my own proper working chair T^T I love it ❤
• New mini tripod for video taking because the one I bought from Mr Diy is now broken :D 
• Flight ticket to Langkawi in April and also a really nice passport holder ❤

Huge presents for Me, Aja + Af :

• A Silhoutte's Cameo 3 !  It is a huge cutting machine for DIY and my stickers ! :D Now I don't have to cut my own stickers and I can make more sticker sheets T^T 
• Free things inside : 2 x glossy vinyl rolls, Autoblade and Washi Sheets.

Things I gave my little sister :

• Amazin'Graze Super food packs - because she requested for this, she started her clean detox since last year and so she wanted this for her food supply. I think the ones that she eats with yogurt and oats? So I bought the Berry Burst Bundle with 3 packs of healthy foods (Blueberry Goji Coconut Granola, Pink Rasberry Granola, Berry-LiciousTrail Nut Mix and another free pack that I forgot). 

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That's it for our birthday celebration. 

Next one is probably in Feb - March , combining both my brother and Aja's birthday :D 

Little Things 241 : 2017 Compilation

As requested, I'm going to share this 2017 compilation that I drafted since the end of last year. Hahaha, lame joke.

1. Read 30 books in a year goal. (Failed)

I only read 15 books in 2017, guyyyyyys. 

I think the most memorable audio book I listened to was Carried Fisher's - Wishful Thinking, probably because she recently passed away. In loving memory of Princess Leia, one of the most iconic fictitious character. It was a great autobiography and I love that she read it herself T^T I think in 2017 I re-read a lot of books that I know I like : Siddhartha (Hermann Hesse) and a lot of Murakami's.

So there is no favorite book of the year, but as for novel graphics I'm recommending : This One Summer (Mariko + Jillian Tamaki), Nothing is Forgotten (Ryan Andrews) & How to be Happy (Eleanor Davis). 

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2. Run 450 km in a year (Failed)

Are you kidding me? I only ran the total of 135 km in 2017. I stopped running, I started cycling for fun. I did my second half-marathon last September though.

I think I'll run my third half-marathon next year :D 

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3. Travel + Events (Succeed)

We did our 2 weeks family trip to Osaka + Kyoto as planned and we went to Sabah too.

I joined so many memorable events this year : my second Etsy Made Local , Jesselton Artisan Market in Sabah, and my very first CAFKL + Comic Fiesta. Fun times :)

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4. Career (Major changes here)*

I became a full-time designer + illustrator. 

I survived 9 months, the longest time so far ! This is my life-long dream - to be able to work remotely as an independent artist making things and also freelancing as a designer/illustrator at the same time as well. Anything that helps me make money lah. 

My biggest project in 2017 was with Uber Singapore and several books :

I self-published 2 zines : Eskapi + My Doodle Book. I also did a visual travelogue with a local publisher, but they haven't printed it out yet due to their financial difficulties and I finished my Osaka doodle journal (currently being proof-read by my English teacher). 

New stuffs that I make in 2017 : Eid money packets, enamel pins, iron-on patch, self-published zine.

I also have my own Patreon with several loyal people that has been supporting me, thanks guys ❤  I'm trying to have my own Youtube videos and podcast in Patreon page (but with hugeeee difficulties because I'm so uncomfortable with putting myself in the center of attention). I'll try again in 2018.

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5. Ptptn (Succeed)

In 2016, my Ptptn loan balance was around RM 20,000 ! But in 2017 I decided to pay using EPF account 2 and currently the remaining balance is :  RM 6,638. Huge leap, I'm so proud of myself T^T Not so far from RM 0 education loan. Read on how I paid my Ptptn using EPF here.

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Artists + illustrators worth mention :

• Local : Cendawankulat | Weiliwonka |
• International : Eleanor Davis | Azisa Noor | Kathrin Honesta |

Favorite movies I watched in 2017 :

• 2017 : Coco | Split | Thor | Logan | Okja
• 2016 : Lion | Hunt for the Wilderpeople | Captian Fantastic

Favorite song of the year : I Get Overwhelmed by Dark Rooms (I can't even explain these feelings when I listen to this song - Have you watched the movie? - Ghost Story)

Little Things 240 : Things I did before 2018

2018, it marked the 10 year anniversary of me blogging publicly on Blogspot ! I don't think I'll stop writing in near future. I know blogging is not so 'in' nowadays, and people prefer micro-blogging or vlogging instead. But I still love the time I spend drafting random pieces and updates of my life to be added into a permanent realm of the internet - this is how narcissistic I can be. 

We build our legacy piece by piece and maybe the whole world will remember you or maybe just a couple of people, but you do what you can to make sure you're still around after you're gone. - A Ghost Story, 2017

To future and the freedom to express our unspoken feelings to total strangers ! 

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Things that I did to burn my creative coal this end of 2017 :

• Watched Coco. I've been wanting to watch after I watched the trailer several months back. I'm glad I followed my instinct and bought the tickets. It is the most colourful, heart-breaking and beautiful movie I watched this year. I cried a bucket, even among all chatty kids around me. We haven't even watched Star Wars during that time. Last December I watched Moana, and this time around I'm really glad I watched Coco. Recuérdame :  

• I went to Stickerrific to restock my stuffs. I also met the Szetoo siblings and had a long talk and discussion. We had a great talk about the industry and being an independent artist/illustrator/maker. About how she sometimes struggles to find the meaning of the things that is doing, about taking the unpaved path, about not giving up T^T I felt so inspired. We have a lot of things planned for next year ! I can't wait to make new stuffs ❤
• We went to Putrajaya for a walk and found abandoned place called 'Anjung Floria'. Beautiful and eerie at the same time. Af made a video out of our walk that day (a lot of me, none of the place though) :

ESCAPISM ep. 16 from Farik Karim on Vimeo.

• Another awaited event to end the 2017. We went to Festival Light & Motion Putrajaya on their first night of the event ! You can read the post here !
• More movies! : We watched Lion for a movie night (I cried again, it was really good and beautiful), and Star Wars at the cinema. I feel like the duality between going to the dark side or the good side is a bit overrated lah, maybe because I can't really relate to the self-crisis myself. I've always been the 'pembaris' and I can't see the struggle of wanting to do bad/evil things in life. Or maybe because I don't really like science fiction and I rather watch something related to our simpler life around us - without the superheroes, alien, evil super villain.  
• On new year's eve, I spent my time watching "Our Souls at Night" on Netflix and worked on my next packaging illustration for my latest new enamel pin.  

❤

Mini Escapism : The Forgotten Ones

Before I forget, after we went to Stickerrific to restock my items last weekend, we went to Putrajaya for a walk. We found an abandoned place called "Royal Floria" not so far from the Masjid Besi, from Google Map, it is called "Anjung Floria".

I did some research and found their website - the final update was from last year's event and maybe it was left unmaintained for awhile now. 

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There was something eerie about the place. I didn't take the real condition of the place, so these pictures that I took looked quite decent in this blog. But I did put it up on my IG story when we arrived there. Wild plants, broken facilities, dirty, torn paper castle, and no one was around. It was really bad. Like we suddenly found a hidden forgotten park in such a well-developed city.

I'm sure they use the place on every Floria Putrajaya - BUT there was no Floria this year and the place was a bit abandoned and unmaintained, I'm guessing they didn't have the budget to maintain and organize the event ? 

It was quite sad, really.

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Anyway, if you are curious about the place, you can take a look here :

Interesting finding !

Mini Escapism : Light + Motion Festival

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We knew and awaited for the event. 

So to avoid the crowd, we went on the first day (Thursday) - which was still a work-day and I know through out the weekend there will be more crowd. Like I told Af "I love event2 keramaian yang tak ramai orang", so we can have the place for ourselves. Af was still tired, because we went there right after he arrived home from work. But this was our only chance to go to avoid the crowd.

The crowd was still acceptable (not too big, not too small), you can still get decent photos but you have to wait for your turn. I don't think you can do the same during the weekend. We even parked near the dataran (Parking Lot next to the mamak's junction).

There were food trucks along side of the road, and also huge food center with hundreds of food stalls - so there won't be any issue with food. But you can hardly find anything healthy. Hah. I think there will be fireworks on the final night for the new year celebration (so you can also plan for that). I never went out on any new year's celebration for all my life because I'm not comfortable with crowds and it makes sense now. 

Note : Some places were pretty dark, some places were so light and because I have some issues with my eyes, I found it quite uncomfortable for my eyes. Again a reminder for myself, I need to do my eye check-up. 

Here are the photos that I took, Af took a lot of video snippets to be compiled later :

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More about the event :

Date - 28 - 31 December 2017

Time - 7.30 pm until 12.30 pm

Place - Dataran Putrajaya

Mini Project : Introvert's Favorite Stuff

2 weeks ago I doodled stuffs that introverts like (I referred to what I love) - so perhaps I did a bit of stereotyping here. I'm sure a lot of people love the same things (shoutout to fellow extroverts & ambiverts !) but I think most introverts can relate to this.

As introverts, we love the solitude we can gather in our own house/room. We love being alone, we love the silence, away from all the dramas and distractions. I'm not saying that my lifestyle is healthy, but for the past 9 months I've been so happy and calm. I love working at home, I love the freedom and the silence. I don't expect anyone else to understand, as long as my husband is okay with my choice of living (btw, he is also an introvert so he understands).

So here are the things that I must have :

• Books (as distraction from the hectic world we are living in)
• Hot drinks (I love my hot Neslo in the morning, and green tea throughout the day)
• Favorite pen + pencil , and also doodle book (to write about my thoughts, to doodle, to find previous inspiration and references)  
• Laptop with movies/series (Anything worth streaming - currently I'm watching : The Crown and Riverdale)
• Pets (in my case, my lovely fat cat; Awan)
• Comfort foods (Sometimes sweet, sometimes salty but never healthy)

The doodle I did in my book using my current favorite pencil colour from Pilot Color Eno:

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Images I edited for the shops :

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I also made a simple process video of it and posted it on my Youtube :

Just to share to people the process of turning an illustration into something (in this case a postcard + sticker). I'm planning to make a new mini project every 2 weeks. I'm already working on the next one related to foods ! ❤

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 !

❤

Little Story 227 : My Best Friend Got Married

Yeap, my best friend got married not so long ago ❤
While I draft this post, she was about to get married - she got married - she went on a honeymoon to Osaka - and she got back as well (to show that I usually keep my drafts for long - biar kepam).

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Wedding-card Making :

I helped with their wedding card several months ago. From the designing of the card, choosing the type of paper, sending it to print and later sending it for hot-stamping. Everything manually :F

New things I learned :

• to search for paper factories in town,
• how to choose papers + send it to cut according to my chosen customized size, 
• how to prepare hot-stamping file and send it to the factory, 
• that making customized cards are cheaper (yes, it is way-way cheaper) but time-consuming and a bit fussy (especially the ones when we need to be there to : select papers, pick-up paper/card, send it to other factory, and such). Af said maybe because we are not used to the whole new process, so things were a bit slow (because I took 3 weeks to get everything ready).  

My time is the priciest part of the card-making process, and I did this for free because my best friend was getting married ! 😃 Some of the hard things in this process are : to find suppliers and factories, see their options, request for quotes and decide on things : so I prefer not to share these collected lists to random strangers asking in DM/PM about where I do this and that. You need to go and do the hard work, guys. 

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Laser-cut Wooden Magnet : 

I also helped with her bridesmaid's little gift : the customized lasercut magnets of each bridesmaid with the bride + groom. She sent me images of her bridesmaid and I turned it into a chibi-version :

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Videos :

Af also did several videos for her events, like their engagement, the pre-wedding (collaboration with me) and their nikah + reception video highlight. I worked as Af's loyal assistant as always.

Here is their engagement video :

Tasya + Ashraf - Engagement from Farik Karim on Vimeo.

and here is the pre-wedding video that was supposed to be shown during the reception dinner :

We managed to shoot everything in one day at Putrajaya (we were busy on other weekends for our Nov's events) - the ideation was roughly from our discussion on making the sweetest and informal video of them as who they are. I wanted to capture their personalities, so that after 10 years, they can look back and see a younger version of themselves when they were about to get married. Plus a narration of them talking about each other (because I love narration) :F The shooting, directing and editing were all AF ❤ I wish we had more time.

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The Wedding Day :

We went out as early as 8 am and we had to leave Af's mom and little cousin at home for the whole day (they came the day before for school holiday). We were early, so Af started shooting while I stand awkwardly after I greeted Tasy and left the room. Wedding is my least favorite event/place and I already saw several familiar faces :F

I still wear my favorite kurung that I bought around 5 years ago because it is one of my most comfortable kurung and I like it that much 😀 Thank God, no one cares about what I chose to wear or how I look like (not only that, I chose to let my face bare and make-up free) - I did feel a bit under-dressed and worried that people might think that I didn't make any effort to look nice.

BUT, in my defence, being there for one whole day was a huge thing for me and I did make an effort to stay throughout the whole 2 events + I don't really own any make-ups. Hah hah hah.

The morning event ended beautifully.

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On social anxieties & awkwardness :

Later we went back to take Af's mom and little cousin out for a short lunch because I didn't have time to cook. We had to go back to the next venue soon after lunch time and Friday prayer for the rehearsal. I didn't have any part in the rehearsal, but Af had to be there *he is the official videographer now and I promised to be there with him* and Aja was one of the bridesmaid. So we stayed, we even changed at the bridesmaid room - and I was forever awkward, trapped in a room with beautiful ladies getting ready for the reception. Again, I chose to be make-up free and chose to wear my previous Raya kurung because I usually feel more self-conscious when I can't be myself, so I avoid doing things that I'm not used to just because.

Plus, knowing that I would be facing so many former schoolmates after 13 years.. :F Awkward hellos and handshakes and random babbles about current life.

This was how I looked. Aja helped me with my tudung because yes, I don't even know how to wear scarfs other than tudung bawal :

But I survived !
Tasy put us together with my whole family and several other former schoolmates that I greeted awkwardly. I failed in random chit-chats and updates, I failed at trying to make long conversation throughout the event, I failed at group photos, and I failed at goodbyes. Mostly I talked to my mom and my siblings. I did feel guilty for not mixing around in a social event, but boy the stress was real.

We went back a bit later, after Af wrapped up with his video-taking and I joined in for the official group photo (I know Tasy would be really mad if I chose to not participate in their official stage photo with the bride + groom).  So to avoid having all the drama to make excuses, I just went in for the photo on the stage.

To Tasya :
Thanks for being my one and only best friend (other than Af), for staying - despite my awkward social anxieties phases at times, for keeping up with this blog when no one really read blogs anymore, for letting me be me and still be my friend since we were 16 ❤
Congratulation on your wedding !

Next stuffs :

• Lasercut keychain for the dulang boys
• Reception belah lelaki, next week

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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 ! ❤