Tumblr Drafts: An Archive

I've kept some old drafts on my Tumblr for ages with nowhere to go as I didn't want to publish them there, but I'm going to share some of them here because there's all sorts of odd little snippets I've kept. I hope you find some of these saved things interesting!

A series of unpublished text posts:

"To be honest sir I fail to see how you riding a small dog constitutes a Miley Cyrus cover but I’m going to put you through to the next round anyway because I love your sequin jodhpurs" said Simon Cowell in a rare moment of jodhpur joy.

My love for you is like a long cucumber. Healthy, and suitable for many salads.

sometimes I like things on a website and sometimes I like things in my mind but it’s not very different either way

Sometimes in East London you just have to touch a willow tree. They call me the top Walthamstow willow tree toucher.

I am a moth do not touch me I can fly away very easily
I fear no human disappointment
I’m alive and hurrying

Spacelab  →  Anxious Heart

boydeath
bone baby
baby bones

A bubbling sugar nymph tiptoes  across the floss of a child’s newborn hair and flittering, crumpling light pushes through gaps in the blond. Jolted kisses are blown by a slightly bedraggled man just slightly jittering on the train platform, his breath visibly curling in the cold. 

ghost notes

remember when I downloaded a ghost?
That’s a torrent I’ll regret
the ghost hasn’t left yet
it’s 2 years later and every meal there he is
just looking at me
and eyeing up my pasta
and making spooky noises

uploads
12
blood
gallons
little wiggly line
drawing the cool s

I have so many blogs I’ve lost count
I’ve got one listing my bruises by size, colour, and suspected cause
one detailing how many strands of hair I leave on public transport
I have configured them electronicallt 2 re
one filled with grainy pictures of my bed at 4am
Blog liSt
footprints
from walthamstow to normandy
through puddles and mud and friday night vomit
every hair of his that’s touched my fingertips
colour coded by time of day and numbered by finger
reddened skin
through alcohol intake or injury
time recorded
intensity recorded
pain recorded (if applicable)
a blog listing all my blogs and when they were made
measurements of exactly how much hot chocolate i’ve ingested

Little Things

I thought I'd scan some of the things nearby. These badges are from my jewellery box. We have the beautiful Bash Street Kid, Plug (an inspiration to us all), tanuki Mario, Frank Sidebottom, a heart, and a Noah Lyon badge I picked up at the Whitney Museum in New York (it says "satisfied with life"). Also, my very important hair bands and some cute heart-shaped clips in pastel colours.

Here are 2 very important things - a small Sylvanian Families bunny and some pearl earrings. Extremely necessary.

And here is my Totoro purse, one of my business cards, and a note with a cute lil' kid drawn on it. Precious items, all of them.

Journal Progress

Here's some progress I've been making with my journal. I keep scraps of old things that I've made or journalled. So some of these things are old (sometimes I go through old journals and rip out the best bits and these often get reused or put somewhere new). Old drawings, old photos, old cutouts I still like a lot, and even old Oyster cards (the day my zip card expired was the worst - I miss those free buses).

This collage includes one of my favourite pages ever from Company magazine. A teapot is a perfect style icon.

These are also some old pages, with old drawings and collages. It reminds me how much I like cutting up fashion magazines. They are very fun to collage with. I went through a little phase of drawing myself wearing space costumes. And I always used to draw myself with a huge grin, too. It looks a bit menacing, actually.

This is probably my favourite set of pages, featuring old Oyster cards, test drawings (I was trying to figure out how sleepyberry draws things), and Blixa Bargeld. It's a good mix of things.

Most of all I just like to rearrange and reuse old things every so often because I suppose it's a bit like moving your stuff to a new home. It's a good opportunity to cut things out that you don't need or like so much and reorganise your old stuff. I find that really fun to do with journals too, and it feels useful, like re-sorting my memories, The cow picture is actually the card my grandad sent me for my 18th birthday. It has some limericks inside and I've kept it since then (I love cows!).

Sticking things in also kick starts pages really well, so it's a good way to get started. It throws me into journalling pretty effectively. That's one of the many reasons I keep a little treasure trove of scraps and drawings and various paper things. It also endears me to the journal itself quicker to have old things in there. It makes the journal an important continuation.

Chalkbook

I've dedicated a whole sketchbook to chalk drawings and it's more fun than I expected! It's quite cathartic really. I have always had this wariness of messy materials that never really set (like pastels and charcoal) because they just get everywhere and are hard to control. I find them kinda frustrating, but I like to retry things every so often and see if I can find a new approach to something that I don't like, especially also because if I have something like this I feel bad neglecting it. So I feel like I have to use these chalks up! Not only because they are here and I happen to have them, but because they were a birthday present and I know I can put them to good use!

Like I said in yesterday's scanner post, they are actually hair chalks, but there's no way I'll end up finishing them by using them on my hair. It's a fun thing to do very occasionally, colouring my hair with chalk, but I'm not interested in doing it often. Usually when I go out I forget about this sort of thing, so I'm glad they have another use. Making myself do arty things I sort of don't like or am apprehensive about is sometimes great because it expands my abilities I guess! You have to find the best way of working with each medium and sometimes I can hate one for a long time before I learn to love it.

This is definitely the most fun I've had so far using chalk or pastels, and I think I'm learning to let go and stop trying to control the mess. Work within the limits of a medium and you can learn how to enjoy and utilise it! I feel like a kid now (or like the adults who draw children's drawings for TV shows).

I started off making pretty landscapes because the chalks have so many pretty colours that reminded me of sunsets and dusky skies. I seem to have a strong like of drawing pink hills. Stick figures are the easiest thing to etch into my landscapes afterwards. I feel like stick figures sometimes really complement a very full, rich, colourful landscape. Not that the landscape is very complex, but there's something of a nice simplicity in using a stick figure here. Besides I just like stick figures a lot. I relate to them. I'm stick-like in many ways.

This spread is a continuation of the sky theme. I just wanted to do a nice fade from pink to yellow instead of a proper drawing. I really want to watch a hundred sunsets in succession now. They are the coolest things. One of the best things about being alive on Earth, I think.

After that, I deviated from pretty landscapes and drew the first thing I cold thing of. This is often an eye for some reason. I draw a lot of simple eyes. I guess they are a very interesting face thing. A thing that feels like it connects you to the brain. I mean, when you look at someone's eyes you can see something of their thoughts or feelings, just a little bit. Just a slice.

And this continued to sillier things. Simple things. All the colours lend themselves well to very simplistic drawings. Colours can be so emotive. That was what I was thinking here. Also a big stylistic thank you to Animal Crossing for making me want to draw lower eyelashes.

This is the first picture I drew in the book. A hopeful little drawing. Sunsets, a well as being beautiful, are this interesting symbol for hope and happiness. Why do films end with characters walking into the sunset? Why is that such a romantic image? I LIKE IT (A LOT)

Also, here is a little ginger-haired kid I drew to test out the chalk before starting in the sketchbook. Looking kinda grumpy and like she's wearing sleepwear.

Chalk Kid

When I was in middle school I used to eat chalk. Don't ask me why, I guess I just loved that tasty rock. I also liked to eat grass at that time, so maybe I was just fond of the natural environment. Tasty, tasty environment. Has Heston Blumenthal done anything with chalk? Anyway, I don't eat chalk or grass any more, but I do have a set of colourful chalk which I have decided to draw more things with. It's actually hair chalk, but I find colouring my hair with chalk kinda weird, so I am considering it regular chalk instead. I might use it to colour my hair again, but I figure I might as well draw with it, since the sticks would take a long time to get used up just on my hair.

I was trying it out and I drew this blue-haired kid and I thought I'd use her as a prop for scanning with. It's nice to have something bright and colourful to scan with to contrast with the muted natural tones of my face and hair. The chalk sticks themselves are also really great props because they're such a great range of colours. Chalk is not an art material I'd usually use, but I'm embracing the oddness of them.

Diary: Books & Elephants

I think I'm gonna try to stick more things into my diary - labels and wrappers and leaves from the day - just because it adds some extra personality and another visual element to my entries. It's nice to remember little things and have them right there on the page too.

So this week there has been some pigeon romance going on (pigeon couples make the loudest cooing noises), lots of reading (I'm halfway through Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and it has pulled me in deep), and eating some tasty fruit and nut mixes. I also acquired a new little cuddly elephant friend.

Post-It Note Drawings

Because of the nature of post-it notes as quick, disposable memos, I think they lend themselves really well to drawings. It's almost impossible for me to take drawing on a post-it note very seriously (not that I really ever take drawing seriously). It's easy to fool about. Also I enjoy the yellowness of them.

It must seem like I keep very much within my comfort zone with drawing, and well, I guess that's partially true because I don't really bother with things I'm not enjoying for very long, but I do like to set myself little challenges and exercises. It's like playing minigames, it just adds a bit of variety and fun to things. And when I try little challenges they help to keep ideas and general creativity flowing too.

So I set myself a quick challenge to draw on a bunch of post-it notes. I used pencil because I like the look and feel of it on a post-it note. I don't know whether it's to do with the size or colour or texture of the paper, but pencil just looks very right here to me. I drew some silly things and they feel important, in the same way that someone's scribbled shopping lists are important, or how they curl up in their bedsheets, or which pair of socks is their first choice. Important little things.

Blippo Giveaway ♡ (Closed)

Alongside my review of some fun Blippo stuff here, I am excited to announce that you can win some cute goodies for yourself. I've partnered with Blippo to give you the chance to win these puffy panda stickers, some delicious Pocky, and a strawberry charm for all you fruity types.

Please enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway ends on 14th July. Entry is open worldwide. Good luck!

✶✵ The giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winner, Sammi! (●｀･(ｴ)･´●) ノ* ✵✶

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Cute Blippo Goodies

Cutesy Japanese and Korean focused shop Blippo have kindly sent me a few goodies in exchange for a blog review, so buckle your blog seatbelts because we are about to take a cute lil' ride through adorable land for a bit. The items I received are:

1. Rilakkuma Shaped Notepad (in style 3 of 4)
2. Glico Collon Green Tea Biscuit Rolls
3. Squishy Panda Charm
4. Fluffy Pastel Purse

So: a notepad to write down all my evil plans in, a snack for when those evil plans require some more energy, a squishy panda to squeeze when my plans go wrong, and a purse to carry very tiny incriminating documents in. Or hair clips, because those are a necessary part of any sneaky plot. This seems like a very useful selection.

So let's look at each item in a little more detail. First of all, the Korilakkuma notepad. Here is my hand for size reference. This notepad is a nice size for me because I like pretty small ones, but also it's not super tiny. I like the irregular shape of it. However I think my favourite thing about this notepad is that the inside is nice and pink.

Very pretty. I want to stick some flowers in here.

Next up is the fluffy pastel purse. It certainly is fluffy, with a nice soft texture. It's very comforting. I imagine many dogs would want to eat this. Inside it's a nice blue and the pastel fluff colours show through a little. The size of the purse is good too. It's pretty much the same size as the notepad, so it's quite useful as a small but not super small container.

Here's a glimpse of the inside. I like the way the pastel fluff is slightly visible from here.

The third item is the Squishy Panda Charm, which is very simple and cute. Squishy charms are pretty great and again, comforting. I feel like a lot of Blippo's stock is very comforting. I'm comforted by squishy pandas and fluffy things, anyway.

Lastly are these little biscuit sweets. They're matcha/green tea flavoured and come in this neat little box. Matcha flavouring is definitely something I really enjoy about Japanese sweets and desserts. I've tried actual matcha and I don't think I've quite gotten the hang of it (it seems like you have to prepare it quite specifically), but in sweets I really enjoy it.

The crispy biscuit texture and the creamy softness of the matcha filling go together really well and I really liked them. It was hard to stop myself from eating them all in one go. They are really moreish, so watch out for that! Also I was drinking Twinings Salted Caramel green tea as I ate these and I feel like those two tastes are a great combination.

A cool thing I discovered is that the fluffy pastel purse can give Korilakkuma stylish pastel hair, a bit like Haruka Kurebayashi (when her hair isn't at its most extreme brightness, at least). This is a strong look.

Bow Tie Bunny

This beautiful bunny was given to me when I was born, and it's kind of amazing that it's still with me. We are both almost a quarter of a century old. There's not much else that has been with me for such a long time, so I want to celebrate this particular object that has grown up with me.

There are other things. I mean, there's a rattle which looks like a worm, a teddy bear named Nessie after my maternal (or... maternal maternal) great grandmother who died not long after I was born. There's a birth card that details my weight at, and time of, birth. You know, baby stuff. It's interesting to see what items have made it from birth (or near birth) and through your entire life.

The bunny has a worn out label that tells you it's a "Bowtie Bunny" from Boots. It is less soft and fluffy than it would have originally been, but it's still just as lovable with all marks of age. It's been through the washing machine a few times even though it's meant to be sponge clean only. Proof that a lot of us are tougher than we might think.

New Messy Journal

Once again I am moving onto a new journal. This one is sort of endearingly ugly (I like the idea of using ugly as a positive term, maybe? Not sure if that's a terrible or great idea!), with wavy lines and a glasses design at the header of each page. I've slapped on some things to the front of it to give it a personal touch. This seems to make it easier to use a journal. After decorating the front, the inside doesn't seem daunting or precious. It's officially just my thing to tape stuff into and scribble inside and systematically destroy.

I like the size of this notebook. It's somewhere in the a5 region, which I find has a really good amount of space. I never feel like I am struggling to fit things in or fill pages up with this sort of size. The spiral binding also makes it so that the pages are easy to turn and the movement of the notebook is nice and smooth. I usually use non-spiral bound notebooks, but it's nice to branch out a bit. The main problem with these types of notebooks is that they can be difficult to scan, but that's fine. I'm trying not to be too picky about journals.

I think I've spent too much time caring about what my journals look like and what the pages will look like scanned and worrying about the pen bleeding through to the next page, instead of just enjoying journalling. This is probably why I end up keeping multiple journals at once, because I end up wanting to do certain things and starting new ones for specific purposes or aesthetics. I want to let go of that a bit. There's a place for taking care with what you make, but I want my journals to be more purely about genuine self-expression.

A good way to start journals, I find, is to just stick a bunch of random things in there. I always keep some bits of loose scrap to use for collaging, as well as leftover little drawings made on paper that have nowhere else to go, and I generally accumulate little bits of various things after a while too, so it's nice to just shove a bunch of those things in a new journal. It really encourages me to just get going and build up some pages. This one is going nicely so far!

Diary: Rose Petals & Blueberry Tea

It's weird what makes you feel better sometimes. Or what doesn't. I focus a lot on filling my life and days and space with nice, uplifting things - cute toys, smells, light, colours, etc. I try to encourage contentedness in every way possible, as best I can. I also let myself feel less pleasant feelings without trying to force them away, because that's important too. 

Sometimes nothing you try to do really does anything and you have to just wait. Sometimes sadness or anger or a dull grump that makes no sense appears and won't go away. Stubborn feelings that you can't distract. It's odd. I've just been thinking about this as I try to keep my immediate environment clean and tidy and pleasant, because I notice it feels very helpful, but also that the little things I use for coping/tackling negative feelings don't work every time. They're pretty erratic sometimes.

On to general diary things, though: I've been drinking quite a few green and fruit teas because now that it's warm a lot of the time I like to have tea that is still okay cold. I kinda, sorta started a new journal. I'd already started it really, but this was an official beginning (because I decorated the cover, and because I said so). I went for a walk in the forest, which was probably the best thing. The forest feels like home, in a way. I think I'm ancestrally linked to mushrooms. That must be it.

Also I've been watching some of the E3 things that have been going on. Nintendo announcements are so fun to watch. I love the look of Happy Home Designer (the new Animal Crossing release), Yo-Kai Watch (a cute monster game), and Yoshi's Woolly World (the knitted style is so appealing). There are some other cool things like The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (where Link gets to wear "lucky loungewear") and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, which combines Mario's world with Paper Mario's world (too many Marios on the dance floor). I love video games.