Illustration fancy: Caramel pudding

Date acquired: May 2012
Emotional worth: 3 stars

Ever since I've seen this King Pudding video on youtube (watch it, it's funny), I've been wanting to get my hands on my very own giant pudding. Couldn't find any store that sells giant puddings, so bought this instant mix packet as an alternative. It was extremely easy to make and it wobbles like there's no tomorrow. It tasted rather bland, doubt I will be making a second purchase, but the crazy wobble made it all worth it.

You have one more day to enter my birthday giveaway. Go now before it's too late!

Illustration fancy: Mimco ankle booties

Date acquired: winter 2011
Emotional worth: 3 stars

Slowly building a collection of ankle booties. I have always been drawn to shoes that has a bit of old world charm about them. These are no exception. They are not the most comfortable boots, but I'm sure I will get a few wears out of them this season.

On a side note. Not sure whether it is because of the weather, but have been feeling super uninspired at the moment. What do you do to keep the inspirations flowing? I'd love to know.

Illustration fancy: The Marriage Plot

Date acquired: early 2012
Emotional worth: 1 star

Do you sometimes have such high expectations of a book that you feel cheated when it is nothing like you imagined? Well, this book fits this category perfectly. The concept and the way it was written was quite clever, but the characters were so annoying! Half the time I wanted to scream and tell them to grow up! Well, at least the book cover is pretty funky.

Don't forget to enter this competition to win an illustration of your favourite book.

Illustration fancy: Choya Umeshu

Date acquired: May 2012
Emotional worth: 4 stars

I had my first taste of Umeshu (plume wine) at a tiny bar in Shimokitazawa in Tokyo. The bar itself was an accidental find, it fits no more than six people but had one of the biggest collection of liqueurs and spirits I have ever encountered. The wine was served on the rocks, the texture was surprisingly thick and it was like drinking honey with a hint of tartness.

Since then, I have had many not so great to awful Umeshu, but this bottle is definitely one of the best I've had. It has the same honey tartness as the one I tried in Japan and it even has four preserved plums inside for me to devour once it is finished. Drinking this brings back all the happy memories I had in Japan. I think an return trip will need to be organised in the near future.

Illustration fancy: Palmer's Fade Cream

Date acquired: April 2012
Emotional worth: 0

I have been lucky to be blessed with pretty good skin. However recently I have noticed an emergence of a couple of age spots under my eyes and on my forehead. It is nothing major and can be easily covered with makeup, but since then I have been more vigilant with my skincare, i.e. wearing sunscreen and using eye cream. I spotted this at Priceline and thought I'll give it a try. It promises to reduce the appearance of age spots, liver spots, freckles and melasma as well as preventing the spots from darkening and recurring after regular usage. To be honest, I thought this would be too good to be true, there is no such thing as miracle in a bottle. Instead, it was the 80's inspired packaging that won me over.

With little expectation, I started using it every morning and night as instructed. As predicted, nothing really happened, but after a couple of weeks, my face started breaking out. Not one or two little spots, but clutters around my chin and forehead! Since then, I have stopped using it and am about to throw it out the bin this very moment. My face is slowly recovering from the trauma, and I guess my search of a miracle cream continues.

Don't forget to enter my birthday giveaway, you can win your very own custom illustration!

Fancy announcement: Curvy book launch

I have some exciting news. The Curvy book launch is on tomorrow night and I will be showcasing my work alongside lots of talented artists. There will even be a small selection of my tea towels for sale on the night, it would mean so much to me if you can make it. x

Curvy Book Launch and Group Show
Date: Wednesday 9 May 2012
Time: 7:00 - 10:00pm
Where: aMBUSH Gallery - 4a James Street, Waterloo

Sewing fancy: Sweet as pie dress

Finally made a dress on the weekend, it was a super easy pattern from the Burdastyle magazine. I needed an easy win after the many sewing disasters I've had lately. The only alteration I've made was to extend the hem line by 5cm so it sits just above my knees. Slowly feeling a bit more confident with my sewing ability, really tempted to find a sewing class or circle to join to keep the motivation going. Any recommendations would be much appreciated.