Garden stones

I finally got round to finished putting down the stones in my back garden this summer - it's taken me over two years from when I started!

Fringe shows

I went to see five shows at the fringe this year. I think Rhythm of the Drums, Song of the Cicada was my favourite, closely followed by the Sushi Tap Show.

Princess Pyunggang and General Ondal
Korean performers, lovely costumes, dancing and drumming.



Stationary Excess
A one-woman show performed on an exercise bike - really strange but fun show.

More Light Please
A Polish girl working in a shoe shop in Ireland dreams of being an actress.

100
A group of people who have just died each have to choose one memory to take to the afterlife. Really similar to one of my favourite Japanese movies, After Life.

Sushi Tap Show
Really fun and fast-moving, I just wish I had been in the front row so I could see their feet!

Rhythm of the Drums, Song of the Cicada
A performance of the traditional dances of two Chinese ethnic minorities - spectacular costumes and lively dancing.



Power of Compassion
A really interesting insight into the prayers and dances of Tibetan monks.

Zine workshop

I had a great day on Sunday. I headed through to Glasgow, and first of all had a look around the shops. I was buying an obi belt (wanted one for ages and it was only £3 in the sale) in H&M when I got a text from my friend Aurora to say she was on her way. I met her and her boyfriend Armando at Queen St Station, and then we got the subway out to Kelvinhall.

We had lunch at Ichiban. It was the first time I'd been at this branch of Ichiban as I usually go to the one on Queen St. Then Aurora and I headed to the Zine Workshop at Welcome Home, which was just a few minutes walk away.

The workshop was run by Marceline and Jen. I'd met Marceline at her stall at a craft market before, but I hadn't really spoken to her. I had a couple of her zines already, and bought a few more. This was the first time I'd met Jen. There were about 20 people there, and they were all really interesting to talk to.

First Marceline talked for a bit about zines, and showed us how to make a little zine, then we all got on with making our own. I made two tiny zines about Japan. It was a lot of fun, and I've decided to join the challenge to create and publish a zine by the end of the year.

Afterwards I took Aurora to the huge Millers Art Store. It was the first time she had been there and I enjoyed watching the look on her face as we walked out onto the upper floor, as I remember how amazed I was the first time I went there!

Antiques fair and craft fair

On Saturday I went to the antiques fair in the Grassmarket. It was the first time I had been, as I only found out about it late last summer. It was well worth visiting and I may be back at some point over the next few weekends. I bought a damascene bracelet.

Afterwards I visited the craft fair at St John's Church at the end of Princes Street. This is something that I have been going to for many years. This year my friend Aurora and my summer school tutor Mina are among the stallholders.

Summer School

I've just spent a week at an Illustration summer school at Edinburgh College of Art. Our project for the week was to produce a book with 6 pages of illustrations on the theme of Journeys. We spent a lot of time developing our ideas, and our tutor Mina Braun gave good advice on how we might improve our work. By the end of the week I had produced some illustrations that I was really pleased with, and learned some new techniques like mono-printing and using a dip pen (I loved this so much that I have bought quite a few colours of ink to try out).

The people on the course were really friendly, and it all seemed to be over so quickly! I was really exhausted by the end of the week (especially after doing the mono-printing).

The book that I made was based on a young-adult novel called Little Sister by Kara Dalkey. It is based on various aspects of Japanese mythology, and tells the story of a girl going in search of her sister's lost soul.
More photos

Chanel

When I saw a beautiful advert for Chanel Coco Cocoon handbags, printed in shades of grey, I decided I had to try to recreate it in white paper. I've been wanting to do a picture made of white paper for a while, and this was the perfect subject. I messed up a bit on the model's face, but I'm quite pleased with it other than that.

Mariel's new look

I finally finished Mariel - filled in some of the bald spots on her head, did a bit more lip carving, added some pastel make-up, and styled her hair.

Decorated notebooks

I decided last night to decorate these Moleskine cahiers. I used a white Sharpie marker and coloured pencils. One will be for notes on my favourite TV shows and those I'm thinking about watching, one for my favourite music and concerts I've been to, and one for plays etc that I have been to. I will keep tickets from the performances in the back pocket. I will keep them with the books and movies cahiers I've already decorated. When I get some more cahiers, I will start one on art exhibitions I've been to. I found the black ones were not as easy to draw on successfully, but maybe I just needed a thinner white pen.

Dad's birthday card

It's almost a month since Dad's birthday, and I haven't got round to blogging his card. It's been a busy month! The idea for the card was not my own (I saw the idea on a website for kids) but it's the sort of idea I would probably had by myself eventually!

Comics course

On Friday night my friend Aurora held a course on writing autobiographical comics. We started off by listing characteristics of our personality and appearance, then tried to draw ourselves. It was lots of fun and gave me lots of new ideas, and I feel a lot more confident about drawing people now.