I was so happy when you smiled.

Again, i've left it ages between entries. I'm sorry, i'm a very busy girlie nowadays. =]

I guess the first and biggest news is that my artwork is now for sale on two amazing websites!

The very lovely Minkyshop.com and Keep It Secret are now seeling my artwork in their gallery pages! Check out their sites, they both have really awesome stuff. For example, I recieved my Panda Earmuffs in the post this morning, ready for the snow we're apparently meant to get next week!



So i'm all set with my Panda Hat (which some of you have probably seen me wear recently, lol) and my Earmuffs.

(For those who don't know and Xmas present research; I like Pandas.)

And speaking of Xmas presents, wouldn't a print makea spectacular one?

Haha, I know, I know, shameless plugging.

Anyways, the next order of business is one I wanted to post in my last entry, but due to some annoying hiccups, I wasn't able to.

Moonlet and the Love-monks have a new EP out! It's called The Likes of David Bryant (not a reference to an actual person!) and it's now available on iTunes.


Just search for Moonlet and the Love-monks on iTunes and i'm sure you'll find it.

In other news, I have a new Tumblr account: ukiyobutterfly.tumblr.com

It'll mostly be for personal, everyday stuff that I enjoy; books i'm reading, anime, manga, music, moods, that sort of thing, but every now and then I may post doodles and sketches that I probably won't be posting on here or facebook, so do check it out. I hope I don't bore you too much. I do have another personal blog on another site, but it's private, so this is my public equivalent. It's where i'll put all the things that i'm fine with the whole world knowing. =]

So, things i'm working on right now:

Well, i'm still working on Vinita Hemachandra's site. I've got a rough design down, and it's just changing a few things and getting on to actually building the site now.

I've also got some little favours for friends I need to get on with. They involve a logo and a cake design. Diverse. =3

Apart from that, my days have consisted of getting my prints in stock ready to send, and working. I'm thinking about re-doing Moonlil.com at some point too, so watch this space. =D

Feeling flowery

Well, again, i've left it quite a while since my last update, haven't I? I kind of felt like there wasn't much to update with, but now that i'm actually doing the update, it's not so bad, heh. For a start:



4000 views! It might not seem like a lot to other people, but it means a lot to me, hehe. The writing on the balloon says 'Arigato gosaimasu!' which means 'Thank you very much!' (I'm currently learning Japanese, and i'm up to a Pre-school level, lol.)

Another thing that happened since the last entry:



My 'Lily' picture was used in the August Edition of 247 magazine! Thanks for that! =D

To be honest, I kind of took a little break on the artwork side of things this month; lack of funds and working as much as I can kind of got on top of me. But after going into Hayle on a trip to Mr B's Ice Cream Shop, I noticed a little arcade full of really awesome little shops. There were shabby chic gift shops, little goth shops, camera shops; it was really cool for someone like me. And on the first floor, there's an awesome little gift shop called Maker's Boutique Studio Shop. After talking with the owner, I got a boost of inspiration. Little indie shops like this always catch my interest. =D

So i've started on getting prints together to sell, hopefully i'll take some into Maker's Boutique and see if I have something interesting enough for sale, like this Love Bug print:




And speaking of selling, I'm also currently talking with Minkyshop.com about selling some of my artwork online! Minkyshop is definitely one of my favourite places to shop online; see this awesome Panda Hat I got for my birthday:



I still have a few commissions to be getting on with; I will definitely be starting Vinita Hemachandra's new website this month.

So... I would update with some other stuff too, but I am currently having technical difficulties. Please stand by. =D

Will update sooner next time!

No bodies felt like you, No bodies. Love is suicide.

^^ Bleak lyrics, yes, but I was listening to Bodies by The Smashing Pumpkins when I was doing this drawing:



It's done using the very lovely Miss Malice as a model. Check out her stuff - she's not like all those people on Facebook who pose scantily-clad in front of a camera and call themselves models (there are a LOT of people on Facebook who do that. It's so annoying!!). She is actually really good at what she does. =]

So... other than that, the newest piece of... news... is that i've applied for a teacher training course. I'd been thinking about it for a long while, because I really like being in a college setting, and I kind of think i'd be good at teaching. I was asked on one of my previous courses if I would consider coming back to teach, so I thought maybe i'd give it a go. =]

I know it's going to be a lot of hard work, but I think i'd rather be doing that then sitting around doing nothing. And i'm doing it part-time, so it's not going to be getting in the way of my freelance work. =D

And just before I forget, there's going to be an awesome gig going on at Miss Peapod's in Penryn this Saturday in aid of The Japan Quake. Moonlet and the Love-monks will be playing, as will lots of other good bands, and you may even win a Moonlet T Shirt! It starts at around half 3, I believe. Go take a look at their facebook page.

And lastly, I will leave you with the short little comic I promised you last time. Click to make it bigger!

Like a Salmon swimming upstream...

Hey there, Sports fans!

(I'm not a sports fan...)

Anyway... some exciting news, I guess! Dan says i'm not bragging about this enough, so here I am, telling you about it. =P

A month ago, I emailed NEO magazine, which is the UK's only Anime, Manga and Asian Film magazine. I sent them some of my stuff, and asked them if they'd like to use it, and now i'm going to be featured in their 'Artists Showcase' feature! Look out for it on the 21st of April - you may find it in the Anime section of HMV, just above all the DVDs, and in most newsagents. You'll definitely find it in WHSmiths. Even if you don't buy it, just pick it up and have a shufty, kay?

So, apart from that, I'm going to be pretty busy with life this month. We're moving back down to Cornwall by the 29th of April, and in that time, we've got to move all our stuff down, sort out our finances and stuff, as well as a lot of family and friends things which I have to see and do. So I probably won't have time to do any real artwork. Although, saying that, I did do a cute little comic last night while I was home alone - I'll finish it today, and will probably have it up pretty soon.

Also, after all the chaos in Japan, I felt horrible about the whole thing, since I take so much from Japan and Japanese culture in my everyday life, I made a picture:



The point of it was to try to encourage people to donate to a charity, so please, either donate to The British Red Cross Tsunami Appeal or the local charity Shelterbox. They're both good causes. =D

So, to love you and leave you, I thought i'd remind you of a 'happenin' gig that's 'happenin' on Monday night (I am SO cool). Moonlet and the Love-Monks will be playing an hour slot in support of The Marwoods. Go watch! Listen! Do some Dad-Dancing! Yeh?

Get Rhythm, when you get the blues.

^You gotta love a bit o' Johnny Cash. =D Ben Lean posted it on his facebook and I've had it stuck in my head since.

So.. things are looking uppity again in the Moonlily camp - I've had a few more potential job offers since last time, which, fingers crossed, will work out some time in the near future. I did have a part time job offer too - which would have fitted in nicely with my illustration work, but I didn't get it. I'm not too bothered though. I have lots of other good things happening to me at the moment anyway. =D

So... just thought i'd draw your attention to a few blogs on here that catch my eye. =D

Stephanie Demelza B Fashion - I absolutely love Japanese Lolita. I use it in my drawings all the time, and I just love the way it looks, and Steph does it beautifully. The photography she's been posting lately is pretty good too. I think i'll have to do an illustration of one of her fashion designs soon. =3

We Take Control - This blog is like an ever changing source of inspiration. =] Really cool stuff.

And lastly, an unofficial Moonlet and the Love-Monks blog: Diary of a Love Monk, from lead singer Joe (since I can't find the main official blog, lol). They're doing very well lately - their last gig was at a charity event for Shelterbox, which went down very well. We're all very proud of them. =]

And that's about it really. =D

Baby, when you're not around, for some reason, I get pissed.

So... I was going to post the last entry on my facebook fan page when I realised that it was almost a week out of date, and that news is no longer relevant. So here's a brand spankin' new entry for you. You lucky devil. ;)

So... regarding the last entry's news - I've now finished the new website for Tony Haven! Yay! *cheers!*

www.tonyhaven.com

So tell your family, tell your friends, tell that strange man you work with, to go and check out his new site. =3

And while you're at it, you can tell the strange man to go look at the new Moonlet and the Love-Monks website too!

www.moonlet.co.uk

It isn't completely finished yet, still a few tweaks here and there to do, but for the most part, it's done. I've been on a web-designing kick these past two days and completely exhausted myself getting the sites done way before schedule. But I feel better for doing them before deadline. Phew!

So, next I will be asking Marc from MB Media to give me a deadline so I can get on and do that site. I'm also still available for any commissions! Hint hint!

Now i'm off to relax. =3

Let's hold hands until we're not lonely anymore.

Sooo... just thought i'd post a quick one with this:




Yeah, i'm kind of in the paper this week. =P

It's nothing particularly glamourous, but I'm hoping it'll help my exposure a bit. ^_^

I've also got some things going on with Moonlet and the Love-monks this week - I've got their site to re-design, and meetings to go to with them, to maybe think about their next album. Which means i'll be doing some more artwork for them. =3

And i've also started work on Tony Haven's website - that's something i'll be building tomorrow when I finally get a free day - i've had to shoot down to Cornwall for a birthday, and now it looks like i'll be here for the week (¬_¬), so I may as well get some work done while i'm here, ay? lol.

And on Monday i'll be helping Stuart McGhee with his site. He's another very talented illustrator from the group of Plymouth College of Art 2010 graduates. =3

Hey, chase me, chase me!

Well... so... an update! It's been a little while, huh?

Well, it's not like I haven't been busy... but xmas kind of got in the way a little bit, so there wasn't really that much to report. I won't be doing an amazingly insightful entry this time either - mainly because i'm absolutely exhausted. Being ill kills your muse a little.


So, what's happened to me lately?

Oh, yeah.

I've just been talking to a local musician, Tony Haven, who is a brilliant guitar player and very successful, which is good. I'm going to be starting work on his website and some illustrations for T-Shirts, etc. as soon as I get back up to Plymouth. I'm really looking forwards to working on it!

The reason for me not being in Plymouth presently is that I came down to go to a Moonlet and the Love-monks gig, who were pretty bloody awesome. (I'm not just biased because Dan's my boyfriend, lol, they're genuinely awesome.) So if you ever get a chance to listen to their songs or, better yet, go to a gig, take it! I promise you an absolutely brilliant time. I'll be working on updating their site pretty soon, if Dan prods me enough, lol.

Other than that, i've been working on getting myself publicised a bit more. I might (might!) be in the West Briton pretty soon, with a few of my pictures. Nothing special, just to let people know I exist, lol. I've also had a good bit of interest through my lovely mummy, who kindly models her bag and mug I made for her for xmas with a bespoke illustration everywhere she can. I'll be making up some flyers pretty soon to advertise that side of things, probably after i've made some progress with Tony's site.

Apart from that, it's all steadly ticking along. I'm slowly building up my Advocate portfolio, but i'm pretty sure there must be a problem with my email or something, since everytime I send something, I don't seem to get any answer from them... never mind. It'll all be gravy.

Now, I won't leave you with a little spot about another fave illustrator of mine, because i'm about ready to collapse on this keyboard, so instead, i'll leave you with this.

...Bye-bye!