Sylvanian Families: 2 Memories

I'm very excited to announce that I'm working with Sylvanian Families to do some blog posts in connection with their 30th anniversary! I'm not being paid for it, but they have kindly sent over a lovely package of stuff which was absolutely delightful to receive. The package includes two sets of toys (Striped Cat Twins and Chocolate Rabbit Family), a notebook and stickers, their fan club magazine, and some other bits and pieces (like a rabbit ear headband).

One of the things I'm most impressed by here is the little notebook. It's so cute. It has pink motifs on each page and it's almost too beautiful to draw in, but I can't wait to draw in it. The stickers are super great too, some of those will likely be going in my diary.

Since Sylvanian Families are thirty years old this year, I should probably tell you about the two memories I have attached to them.

Memory #1:

When I was eight years old my friend from school, Natsuki (shout out to Hollymount Primary School 1999!), had a birthday party. It was amazing because her mum had put together Japanese food for us and when I got to their house I was given a sparkler. I ate seaweed for the first time and discovered it was the most delicious thing ever. And at some point during the party, Natsuki showed us her substantial Sylvanian Families collection. She had a big dollhouse for them. I was really impressed and totally jealous. It's still one of the best parties I've ever been to. Here's a picture.

Memory #2:

This is a much shorter story, but it means a lot to me. One of my best friends in high school, Joanna, gave me a quite worn out Sylvanian Families hedgehog. We lost touch, but I still have the hedgehog - my memento of her.

Watch out for some more Sylvanian Families posts in the near future, most probably including whatever I end up drawing in the notebook. Right now I have to go and do some of these colouring pages and bounce around with bunny ears.

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Freddie & The Dreamers

Here's a post about one of my favourite bands of all time - Freddie & The Dreamers. They are one of those Beatle-y bands who enjoyed some success in the mid 1960s. They're known for their silliness, presented through lead singer Freddie Garrity and his weird dance move/manic laugh combo. They have a cute and silly comedic value and I think it's a very earnest sort of comedic value.

I literally feel a great big fuzzy warmth in my chest when I watch videos of them. I'm very in love with this band. I suppose they have something in common with quite a few other acts I love who employ some sort of aloofness or fun oddness, like for example: Split Enz, Devo, Masakosan, The Damned, Menu, Captain Sensible, Yellow Magic Orchestra, and Frank Zappa. I feel very connected to the silly (which is probably why one of my favourite Bauhaus songs is that wonderful exquisite corpse track where Peter Murphy explains how to make fishcakes).

As far as their sound, it echoes the playfulness of their attitude and performance, but they are still competent and sweet with their songs. They are happy and fun but they don't feel saccharine or dull or novelty. I find it interesting to compare them to the sort of similar but much more soft and muted and serious Chad & Jeremy. Everything about them is just perfect for me - the ideal combination of feelings and style that makes them super uplifting and joyful with just a pinch of appropriate gravitas.

Here's a weird picture I drew of them:

All screenshots taken from the 1964 Blue Peter performance of "You Were Made For Me".

How I Plan Blog Posts

I like to tweak my processes often when it comes to any sort of creative organising. Little improvements here and there let me keep getting a little bit better at doing things. At the moment I'm using this set of Emily the Strange sticky notes as a neat little grid of lists (and cute drawings, because... that's necessary). So here are the main facets of my blog post planning, I guess:

Keep a thousand lists.

As you can see above, I am a practised list-maker. I try to get ideas out of my head and onto paper as soon as possible and I find this not only saves ideas I would have otherwise forgotten, but also promotes the conception of new ideas. The more things I write down, the more things I think of. I also use listography for keeping lists online.

Alternate between taking photos/drawing and writing first.

Sometimes if I start to feel a little stale about blogging, it helps restart my brain a bit to build a post around the writing instead of the pictures (or vice versa). Swapping that format around can really help because it can feel exciting and invigorating to start off with the element of a post that I usually finish with. I would say generally that I always start with the pictures, but I try to switch it around with some frequency (whatever's comfortable).

Make space for a certain amount of spontaneity (#spon - oh hang on, that's not what #spon means).

I usually have a rough idea for a post before I make it, but sometimes it's really nice to open a blank post and start writing with no preconceived notion of what that post is going to be. I want my blog to have a level of spontaneity both in posts I've thought out and posts that are completely off the cuff.

Keep a "mega draft".

This is essentially a concentrated list plus bits and pieces of writing that I keep in a draft at the top of my blog post list so it's easy to add to right from my Blogger dashboard. That way I can also pluck things straight out to paste into a new post.

Make compilation posts with leftover photos or random things.

You don't need to be restrictive or stick to a particular subject with each post. Every so often I like to make a post around a bunch of pictures that have been sitting in a folder for a while, or a selection of different things that have recently inspired me. This is another way of creating a spontaneous atmosphere and it feels nice to scoop up some accumulated bits and pieces and make them into a blog post. I would say these are some of my favourite posts, but really every type of post is my favourite.

Beautiful Things

Lately we've been having some sudden downpours and super sunny days falling all over each other like a meteorological game of Twister. I was so excited to have the rain back. I'm still so excited to have the rain back! I didn't realise how much I missed the feel and smell of it. I am the number one fan of the rain. For now, at least.

This, and frequent access to a nice garden full of birds and bees, has given me a bit of damp-eyed wonderment in regard to my surroundings. It's one of those emotional nature moments.

There's so much cool stuff around. I give nature a nine out of ten. It would be a ten if it rained Maltesers Bunnies. Honestly though, the sky and all it's clouds, etc? VERY GOOD.

There is an inexplicable level of happiness unlocked through spending lots of time watching animals/talking to animals/looking at a leaf/making a cheese sandwich/thinking about how photons work. Mind you, I'm the sort of person who gets excited about sedimentary layers (geology 4ever).

I basically spend a lot of attention and energy on taking photos of the sky alone. It sounds a bit boring, maybe, but it's a fun hobby. Sky fans are welcome here. I feel like taking a lot of photos for projects/blog stuff has made me look at stuff more. I know sometimes you can spend so much time taking photos that you forget to actually experience and enjoy a thing first-hand, but I don't usually find that happening to me. I think taking photos of things has made me notice and appreciate things more. It takes something away from the context of its surroundings in making an image and I definitely think that process can make you more alert to things.

I mean, I don't take photographs for the sake of it. I don't even really take photographs to record a memory necessarily as a primary reason. I think I take photographs more to examine and consider all the things around me, and all the memories and feelings and places that they record.

Taking photos can be a way of organising my mind. It's definitely a complex and multi-purpose device, because I use photos to document, look, consider, organise, and reflect in various ways and it provokes and shifts and collects so many thoughts and feelings. I love it (and I love fluffy pigeons).

Nominate Me! - Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2015

The nominations are open for Cosmopolitan's 2015 Blog Awards and I would be thrilled if you could spare a little bit of time to nominate me for an award here. I think 'best photography' is probably the most appropriate category, but choose whichever one you like (sadly there wasn't a 'best drawing of a person making friends with the moon' category). If I get nominated I promise to vlog myself drinking a lot of wine in honour of Blossom Hill being one of the sponsors. I will also wear Grayson Perry on my head to the event. Okay, maybe not that. Definitely the wine thing though.

Regardless of whether you nominate me or not, I want to thank you for reading, because whilst my blog is very much for me, it would be a bit weird without someone here having a look and saying hi, so thanks!

Here's a late night picture of me (and Totoro) being both grateful and graceful:

15 YouTube Channel (& Blog) Recommendations

It's been a while since my '5 Favourite Small(ish) YouTubers' post, so I thought I'd dedicate another post to a bunch of YouTubers I've been watching since then. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for a few new blog recommendations too (here's my previous blog recommendations post).

 
1. Kelly Kitagawa - She's conscientious and seems to really care about what she does on YouTube and talking about what, why, etc.

2. TeaMakerJason - He makes tea. He tells you about a thing. It's great.

3. ilikealison -  Fun and nice. #descriptive

4. bill wurtz - I refuse to describe Bill Wurtz.

5. JoshHasTime - He has time (to tell you stuff online). Josh also has a really deep voice. I'm not sure why I felt the need to mention that.

6. Ant (mrheavyhand) - A nice, uplifting man with ears who plays songs sometimes.

7. SuperSamStuff - Good and great. I don't think I can do him justice with a description. Stylistically, he reminds me of TheThirdPew.

8. frigginboom - He is a glorious gem who makes me laugh a lot.

9. TamarSaysHi - Cute and chill with a great sense of humour.

10. bethylein - She talks a lot about the mechanics of being on YouTube and creating. I feel really densely involved when I watch her videos.

As always, you can also keep an eye on the recommendations sidebar on my channel as I try to update it periodically. And now, onto my blog picks:

1. Mushroom Rain Blog by Laura, a really inspiring and cool arty girl from Columbia. We both share a love of mushrooms. We are card carrying mushroom fan club members.

2. Gods and Foolish Grandeur is a blog which features lots of fascinating classical art and old photographs.

3. A little change. - a diary of new experiences, feelings, and life triumphs.

4. Marion Honey writes a super smart and beautiful blog about various little adventures and ideas.

5. Pepper and Twine is a pretty art blog by someone with as much love for journalling as me.

Skies & Cyclopes

Here are some more drawings from my phone. I've been getting into drawing simple little cats lately. I've also been getting into using this thick brush type. I think it just works really well with the mix of colours and the lo-fi image output. It reminds me of a piece of art software I used to use: ArtRage 2.

I think I like drawing moons and suns and skies a lot because I find the thought of those things generally calming and also very fun to personify. Clouds are really wobbly and cool, too. Moons are probably my favourite though because the moon is amazing and all glowy.

The main thing I've been drawing, though, is my little cyclops buddies. I pretty much default to a vaguely humanoid shape. I feel like they're getting cuter every time I draw them. I hope so, at least. My goal is ultimate cuteness.

A lot of them kinda look like they're judging you, which I enjoy.

Check out my previous phone drawings here.

App used: Kids Doodle