Nov 28, 2011

Not so Happy Rant

A video of a woman spitting out racial hatred with her son sitting on her lap has gone viral.

WARNING - Not for the racially sensitive.

This video has got me thinking about my role in this whole, "Being British" thing. I shall say, Yes. I AM British. Maybe not ethnically but as an identity, yeah. My passport is a proof but it goes beyond that. I am educated, I do what I can to help others and be a good citizen, I abide by the law. I mean, come on! I don't even have an accent! I just happen to be lucky to have two cultures. I grew up in a predominantly white population in the UK, sure I had a few racist insults but nothing too serious. I once recall my mum wanting to help an elderly woman up when she fell but hesitated since she was unsure of the woman's reaction. Just because I don't look British doesn't mean I'm a bad citizen.
This woman obviously does not sound educated and is possibly the most hated woman in "Her Britain" right now.

Now it's been waaay to long

Hm.. My last post was in July after Sonisphere festival. It's now nearly December and coming to the end of first semester in uni. My apologies.
Yep! I'm now a university student and have been for the past 6 weeks or so. How did a happy idiot like me get uni? Luck. I lucked out at the interviews. I'm now a student at the university of Westminster doing illustration (as per usual, procrastinating as well.) As you can tell, I've been flung out of farmer's county (Norfolk) and into the big city (London.) It's a big change, y'know? But we adapt and stuff. I've not been partying a much as I should be doing but it's money. On a lighter note, the money I've not spent on drinking, I've spend on a Didgeridoo. A frikken Didgeridoo! Pics will be up after Christmas. It's been ages since I've played one so I'll be...really crap.
But yeah, made some awesome friends. Who, like me, are a little mad. Hm.. Thinking about the beards? Oh and here's my animation blog for my animation module.
Happy Rantings!

Jul 13, 2011

It's been too long.


Hello again! It's been nearly 2 months since I've last updated this blog. What happened? Well, my frail laptop really died. Before I wrecked it (Had the hockey stick out and all) I decided to leave it until I had time to repair this pile of crap. I finished my foundations art at college with a pass. I actually needed a Merit to get into the uni. Fortunately I was still offered an unconditional. WOO!

Now, my holidays has officially begun!

Now, onto recent news. I've been and came back from Sonisphere festival. It. Was. Amazing. I don't even know where to begin. Metallica headlined, appeared on stage with Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer. Made some friends with some strangers from Norwich, drank plenty of tepid beer, got onto a wrong train, shared tents, got rained on, partied till 3am, got loads of free hugs etc. I really miss it all. It seem like a dream.

Oh yeah! Alestorm was playing Sonisphere, so...


I got my bag signed *Cheshire Cat grin* (Brought the bag at the festival for £5 and the patch.) I asked the piratey gents on their views on the Ninja vs Pirates controversy. They said it's a load of bulls**t and they love Ninjas. That's so good to know.


(Hope they don't mind appearing on my blog.)


Can't wait till next year.

May 14, 2011

When Life gives you lemons, make Lemon Cheesecake.



Good afternoon! On this fine, cloudy, British day I have taken over my mum's laptop while giving my laptop evils. It's sitting the corner very much like an emo. Shame on you, mister laptop for not working.

What have I been up to during this glorious month of May? Hm.. well.. Lemon cheesecake came to mind. My Boyfriend and I have discovered the lemon cheesecake at Caffe Nero and found it rather tasty. (Also discovered my boyfriend's love of cheesecake.) Which puts me in the mood for making the lemony dessert. Previously I've always been put off making cheesecake due to the hassle of adding gelatine to chilled cheesecake and using a double boiler for the baked counterhalf. All in all, I thought cheesecake was a complete bitch to make. The kind of bitch that slaps you in the face then scream at you. That bitch of a cheesecake.

However! I've found a simple and well reviewed cheesecake recipe. It was the kind that skips around and gives out free hugs. It was that nice.



Say "Hello" to Mister Lemon Cheesecake. Not bad, eh? Needed another lemon really as the lemon taste was struggling to be found. It was a hit with Mum and the boyfriend. I'd say it was a success. Thanks to Mister Sco for sharing his recipe.

Oh, and here are the promised photos from my previous post.

This is the Chocolate chipped cake with cinnamon topping for my sister's picnic.


And this is the Marshmallow Chocolate bar.


This isn't just a cheesecake. It's a Lemon cheesecake that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.



PS. I still bind books. Just not any significant ones yet.





Apr 30, 2011

Back with chocolate bars and randomness.

Hello again. I am back after some unforeseen circumstances. My laptop died and went to heaven. Before I got the shovel out and began digging. I patched it up with a few plasters and am now working in "Safe Mode."

The holidays has ended and what have I done since then? Um.. baked, stubbed my toe and grew weed moulded chocolate.

Since "useless Safe Mode" won't allow me to download photos from my camera, you'll just have to currently take my word for it.

I've baked a chocolate chip cake with cinnamon sugar topping for my little sister's picnic. Had plenty of mixture left over so I've made some muffins with it. It tasted pretty good except it became more and more stodgy the longer it existed.

Made plenty of Disaronno biscuits to keep some friends amused.*cough*Wardy*cough* I reckon it's my most popular recipe yet. Upped the antic and added fresh Disaronno to the baked biscuits. It doesn't actually go soggy *Shock!!* Oh, and brought a new bottle of Disaronno..*hic*

On Easter Sunday, was wandering around town centre with my boyfriend and found most of the shops were closed APART from The Works. I mean come on! Even Subway was closed. Anyway, we went in and I found a book on moulding your own chocolate bars and it came with a mould for three bars. Hallelujah!*Cloud parts, sun shines, Choir sings.* Moulding chocolate isn't difficult but it's pretty damn fun, plus it makes pretty neat gifts for people. I've so far made marshmallow and fudge bar, peanut butter and dark chocolate bar, And Disaronno chocolate lollypops. The results are pretty and they taste good. I've used Tescos plain chocolate since I find milk chocolate too sweet. Pictures are to come soon.

Happy Rantings.

Apr 15, 2011

Getting Baked

It's the Easter Holidays, My best mate is in Hong Kong and the other is in London.
So let's get baked! (No cannabis available.)

I'm only making cakes and biscuits. I reckon this is a good time to dig out pictures of my previous bakes. For some reason, I feel better baking in the warmer times of the year. (Then again my house is cold all year round. Cool in the summer, bloody cold in the winter.)




These are a variation on the ever popular Pinwheel biscuits. Along the chocolate swirl, there are actually chocolate. *Shock! Horror!* I used dark chocolate as the biscuits are already pretty sweet. My boyfriend's a fan of these.

Happy Birthday, Mum! Being a chocoholic, It was only natural to make her a chocolate cake. Followed a recipe from one of my many chocolate cook books from Christmas. (A hint, perhaps?) This cake was dense and having truffle icing didn't help its cause.



You can't be Chinese and not make something that's not Chinese, right? No? Ah well. Anyway, these little biscuits are Peanut Cookies or 花生饼. Crumbly to the point of annoyance. But these were praised and enjoyed my my Granny and Grampa. "Just like the ones in Hong Kong." Felt warm and fuzzy when they said that. These are more like a nutty shortbread.


Happy Birthday to my annoying little sister (Who's taller than me.) This chocolate ice cream cake was a bitch to cut through. (Let alone sticking candles in. (Poor, yet good looking, waiter had to get an ice pick to get through the thick layer of chocolate.)) Used up an entire tub of Carte D'Or ice cream.


An attempt to making the seemingly impossible Chinese egg tarts. The guys in the Chinese bakery trade are way more than reluctant to give tell of the secret to egg tarts. So in comes the good old Trial, Error and Bulls**ting! Not bad, eh?


Cupcakes is the answer to EVERYTHING. Just got a new cookbooks dedicated to cupcakes at that time. So.. much.. sugar! SUGAR!!!


"Did someone say Disaronno?!" Quoted by our marzipan loving Wardy. (Click on his name for his blog.) Yes. Unfortunately he never got to taste these. They were eaten before he could break into my house. Woo! (Few weeks later, the bottle of Disaronno was mysteriously depleted.)


Another added to the Disaronno collection. Having the faint smell of almonds and the icing packs the punch of the liquor, these are a massive hit with my drunken Disaronno loving friends.

Om nom nom nom. I'm quite surprised I don't weigh 18 stones right now.

Apr 4, 2011

Taking a break

As you all know, I'm a pretty extremely laid back person. So therefore, I'm on a constant break. Unless it comes to a hobby. I'm goingto take a break from talking about book binding in this post after two consecutive posts on the subject... Maybe I'll just keep true to the title of this blog and rant.

Anyone a fan of Alice in Wonderland?



Yep. I've made the caterpillar human and given it boobs. All the animal characters has been rendered human in my own style. Oh, and I've made Alice a little older to make the whole thing more appropriate.


This is an extract from my sketchbook. The Queen of Hearts seems like the sadistic cheerful character so I'd thought I'd make her more suitable. Off with their heads!!" is a reoccurring phrase in the story. I reckon "Why so serious?" Would be more appropriate.


If you've not noticed, I like drawing. Yay!

Mar 29, 2011

Crouching Binder, Hidden Dragon

Another week spent at college procrastinating. Oh dear. On a lighter note, more books have been created while procrastinating. Take this little book, for example. Japanese stab bound book. It was so damn fiddly. But so damn cute, eh? The Pound coin is placed here to compare sizes. Oh, I also gave the book to my boyfriend. He likes little cute things. haha Bless.

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Now. Regarding the strange title. You may think it's something associated with something Chinese. (Me?) Or perhaps the film. (Well, yes. The title is a bad pun on the film title. But That's not the point.) Check this out:

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And a black one too:
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I created the green one first when I went to the local haberdashery and went through the scrap discount bin. I found a strip of the green nylon silk stuff and brought it for 40 pence. Positioned the dragon so it'd lie on the front cover. Thought it came out well and brought more fabric. Yaaay!

Unfortunately I no longer have either of them but I have made a duplicate of the black one but it's just not the same. I've given my green one to my boyfriend's mum as she's so supportive of my bookbinding and she's just plain awesome. I've also sent the black one off to London for my friend's birthday.

Going back to the title. You now know what the Dragon part is about. and the "Crouching binder?" Mum stole my chair from my bedroom desk so I'm just about kneeling as I type this. Just wonderful.

This is my current collection A7-sized bound books (Minus the dragon book.) It's gotten bigger. Image and video hosting by TinyPic

I feel rather proud. <--- I have now sinned. Pride. haha..

Mar 17, 2011

Books, Glorious Books

Okie dokie! Another post on books... now, where to begin..?
Well, Since my last post, I've tidied my room and set up a book binding studio. In effect, it's just a clean desk with a cutting mat. Not as impressive as it sounds, really.
Here we go! Remember the book I've sent off? Well, I've made it into a kind of a series.

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Yeah, the black on black, stripy motif. The portrait one has a little tag coming from the spine and the landscape one (Made for my boyfriend (Yes, I'm sad enough to make our books match.)) was rather confusing since I am so used to make portrait books.

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Here is the portrait one up close. Note the woven stripes. (They were a bitch to stick down.) I personally think this is my best one yet.

I've also made a replica (If not, then slightly better) version of my very first book.
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I've used the same cover material. The blue paper covered in a mesh netting type of material with red swirls. The mesh was difficult to stick down so I'm glad it's done now. But yeah! This is what my very first book looked a bit like.

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Oh right, and I am sad enough to make mini book stands for the books I've not given away. Weighted down with 4 rooks from my glass chess set. In theory, I could've just used bottles of alcohol as book stands but where's the fun in that?
By the way. the book on the end is bound with fabric. It was the first successful one but it took the longest since I have to cover a piece of paper in glue, press down the fabric, leave it to dry overnight, then bound it and leave it to dry overnight again. Normally I'd only use one "overnight."

Mar 12, 2011

Overdue Spring clean

The sound of bird song, sun rising earlier, bright yellow daffodils and a trashed room. Yup! It's Spring all right!
For as long as I can remember, I've always had a messy room. Plastic bags, water bottles and piles of paper. It looks like a thrift store has vomited into my room.
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Yes, That is a wastepaper basket. And yes, that is my penguin PJs.
Always had to tip toe my way to bed in the dark. Sometimes even diving (and missing.) One day, I thought "I want to bind books at home. But there's no room!" Solution? Tidy mine.
As every young persons will know, tidying room is almost an impossible task. Ask

靜靜. (Click to check out her blog, by the way. It's awesome! (And yes, my font's changed..can't change it back..)

Anyway, Motivation helps. My motivation? To set up a book binding studio in my room. That'll do!


It only took me 4 hours..


Mar 10, 2011

Handmade Booky Wooks

These days, I tend to spend most of my college days binding little books. "Hmm.. My graphics work needs doing.. but I need a mini sketchbook!" I procrastinate waaay too much.

I guess I started making books two years ago when I was being too cheap to buy sketchbooks so I'd bind them instead. So then began the endless research, Youtube tutorials, taking books apart (Got a little heart broken.) And then my first little book was created; An iddy biddy little A7 doodle book. Made from computer printing paper, stitched with white sewing thread, the spine was PVA'ed with scrap curtain, the boards were scrap plastic and covered with blue paper and some pretty mesh material. I was really proud of it.It looked like a flimsy notebook. Unfortunately I no longer have it. It's probably lost in my room somewhere. *sad face*

When I showed my tutor at college one of my books, he directed me to my graphics teacher. A pro binder! He showed me his handmade collection and they really were lovely! Thus I refined my techniques and here I am now. Still stuck to some of my primitive techniques though. (Pressing fresh books under my pet rock as opposed to keeping them in a clamp. (The graphics teacher would punch me to the ground if he were to find out about my improper techniques.))

A while ago, I've mentioned meeting a guy after my Kingston interview, right? Well, he said he liked my books after seeing them in my portfolio. So he gave me his address and I made a book and sent it to him. He says he likes it. Woo! It was an A6 hard-bound, black covered in darker stripes with inlay paper consisting of old road maps, the stock paper being cartridge paper. May we meet again, little book!

And here it is! Pretty neat, huh?

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Oh, and the thing the book is on is another book. It's my Japanese stab bound sketchbook. A paperback.

Here are some tiny, tiny, little books I've made, based on Alice in Wonderland. Y'know, when she shrinks? The smallest one is just under an inch. I've drawn in it, illustrated Alice in Wonderland with a Pilot G-TEC-C4 pen. (Yeah, Had to get a little technical there. Haha)

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Book binding. A marriage between literature and art form.

"[Your manservant] puts in your hand a tale like this; you mourn the superstition of book sellers, which still inflicts uncut leaves upon humanity, though tailors do not send home coats with the sleeves stitched up..."
~Bob Roberts~

Mar 1, 2011

From interview to pub.

Hello my neglected blog!
Yesterday I went to Kingston for a portfolio interview at the university. Got lost at Euston station since the Northern line splits into 4 branches. Finally got to Waterloo and legged it onto the first available train (Accidentally whacking a few people in the leg with my portfolio on the way.) Luckily it goes to Surbiton.
Met my friend Lewis for lunch at Byron's where the burgers are amazing! Everything is cooked from fresh and they even rear their own beef! How awesome is that!? After lunch, hugged my friend goodbye and went back to work. I decided to head to the uni.

Wondered around Kingston and got lost again. (Not very good at directions, am I?) Finally found the main campus and had to ask the nice-lady-at-the-reception where the foosh the art campus was. She drew me a map and I got on my merry way. Eventually found the place with minutes to spare. Woo!

Was given a tour of the place and it was pretty good. Then came the interview part! Unlike any interviews before, this was a group interview. It was a first for me. They've already looked through our portfolios while we were given the tour. We sat around the table with fellow interviewees and were all asked random questions. "What superpower would you have?" We were all like "Eh?!" They asked me "What makes you angry?" I smiled "Euston underground station."

After the strange interview, we all gathered our stuff and began to leave, went outside and chatted about the interview and stuff. It was odd. In my experiences of interviews, we just take our interviews and leave without another word. It was really nice to chat about our experiences, college and art.

Eventually we moved on to a random pub and discussed thing further, showed each other our portfolios over a pint. I guess this was a bit of a rare opportunity for me to see someone else's work who wasn't a famous artist, yet have the same point of view. Speaking to these people, I realised that my view of the subject has increased. We all agreed we were all in the same boat but in our own separate bubbles. We all had similarities; education, love of art, interviews and UCAS. But most of all, We each always carry a sketchbook and stationary with us. I thought I was the only one! Looking through everyone else's was like peeking into their minds, these sketchbooks are our doodlings, our styles and our thoughts.

Before we left to go back to our respected parts of the country, we've concluded that illustration is an elusive art, we want to bring back penmanship not just concept, and we want to keep art alive.

To keep art alive..

Feb 7, 2011

Caffe Nero

Living in a small town, there are only 2 coffee shops in our town centre. What? Only two?! Yes, only two. One is a Costa and the other is a Caffe Nero. The lack of Starbucks perplexes me a little.
Anyway, I have a preference towards Caffe Nero (Mainly because the squirty cream for the hot chocolate is free.) And thus, spend most of my time in there with a squirty creamed hot coco and a sketch book. Now I know why most writers think of their best stuff in a cafe... well actually I don't. But I do know I come up with better idea in one despite the dim light.

I don't always go for a hot chocolate though. A caramelatte is good. Tried a peppermint tea once but it wasn't very nice.

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Here it is! I had it when I got to town early as I was meeting my boyfriend at 12pm. I was about half an hour early since someone gave a lift as I going to walk. Anyway, I headed for Nero. Since I was going to go swimming, I wanted something light. Peppermint tea? Sounds good. Tasted not so good.

This was my view from my seat. Hello, Random couple who wandered into my photo.

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Feb 5, 2011

Happy Late Chinese New year!

Happy New year. Rather belated but it doesn't matter.
It appears that some people are confused as to why we have another new year. A Chinese one, even? That's because we traditionally follow a lunar calendar as well as the normal one. We don't really follow it anymore but the new year and other festivals stuck. We like to party. We are a party nation.

Some people spend their second new year visiting loved ones, welcoming guests. I was at my house, with a few mates, drinking beer and playing on the Wii. T'was a good New Year.

Feb 2, 2011

Motivation!!

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This A6 sized motivational poster was created after nearly losing the will to live due to graphics. I can't seem to comprehend the amount of typefaces and the minute detail that differentiate each one. And the tasks are rather strict which is a massive contrast to the laid back Fine Art tasks. (Which I'll happily crawl back to.) It is required that we, "illustration course applicants for uni," turn up to graphics once a week. Unfortunately it's with a 2nd year class who has honed their graphic design skills like a Samurai with their sword. I am the rookie standing at the back with a bamboo stick.

Anyway, I thought a Cactuar was appropriate since it always looks like it's running towards freedom! Have thank my friend for this, she mentioned a Cactuar and it stuck.
Hooray for Final Fantasy. FREEEDOOOM!!!

Feb 1, 2011

Smarties

My rant will be about Smarties and other sugarcoated chocolate.
As a sugar addict, I love sweets. Especially fizzy strawberries. I also have a soft spot for plain chocolate or dark chocolate. One could argue that dark chocolate is good for you as it contains less sugar and has antioxidants.
Smarties and Minstrels, however, are overkill. Plain, coloured sugar and chocolate? It's not even nice chocolate. So I condemn them,You bite into one and you hit the chocolate. Chocolate melts and you're left with this weird crunchy shell.

smarties Pictures, Images and Photos
Sugar-coated evil.....

Look-a-like!

Apparently I look like Hiyori Tamura from Lucky Star.
Was I destined to Cosplay her?

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And yes, this is a very badly taken picture of me eating a rice cake.

Jan 30, 2011

The return of the Happy Idiot.

Ah.. the nostalgic feel of blogging after a year of randomness. Not updated this blog since 2009 so I thought I'd dig it up and wheel it about in a trolley. A bit smelly but not too bad.

So.. What has happened in the wonderful year of 2010?
Well.. I've completed 6th form. In College doing foundation art and reapplying to uni.
I've fallen in love, out of love and back in love again.
Made awesome friends and had the best summer yet.
Went to Sonisphere Festival 2010.

There I go. All sentimental and stuff. But some stuff hasn't changed. I'm still a Happy Idiot and will still do the various stuff I did. For example, Stare at a social networking site for the best part of 4 hours. As I did back in 2009.
Once an idiot, always an idiot.