Copic Sketch Markers

I was recently very bored (once holidays start my workload halves) and was browsing YouTube when I saw this:

      How nice do those words look?!! Brush pen calligraphy suddenly became very interesting. Thinking of all the birthday cards and posters I would be able to flawlessly pull off, I visited a local arts supply shop in Mong Kok. It's a hidden sort of place and it takes you about a minute to find the door if you've never been before, because they plaster it with little drawings and glass deco stickers. Anyways, there wasn't much variety in the brands they sold, the only ones I could find were (obviously) the most expensive ones on the market: copic sketch markers.

      A friend at school had used similar comic-drawing markers on her artwork and I had marvelled at the way the colours looked so vibrant with one sweep of an ink pen. However, I was at first cautious because these do not come cheap! Priced at 38 HKD each, this was going to empty my wallet faster than M&Ms, if I did become addicted.
      And I already am. Look!

This is only my first day with these, bear with me :)

I expected to exit the shop with just one plain black marker, but they had around 10 different shades of black, from cool to neutral to warm to "special black". :O I ended up trying some and trying a few colours too, and absolutely fell in love with the hues. I'll say a little bit about the colours:

1. BG57 Jasper – a calming teal shade that's a bit more on the blue side

2. YG05 Salad – a bright yellow-green colour that reminds me of new leaves

3. N1 Neutral Gray No.1 – this one was the second lightest of the many shades of grey (haha) and carries a tiny hint of purple

4. Y17 Golden yellow – a warm glowing orangey yellow that is reminiscent of sunflowers

5. W10 Warm Gray No. 10 – borderline black, a tiny hint of brown to it instead of the usual dark blue

6. E81 Ivory – A very light beige colour

       I'm quite happy with my colour choices, they went quite well together when I used them on a birthday card. I even changed this blog's title to a hand-lettered banner, using Photoshop to invert a scan of my name written with the W10.

Double-ended: felt tip and hard marker nibs

So overall, 

Pros:

1. Very versatile felt tip nib

2. Nice oval shape, feels good in your hand

3. Claims to be refillable (haven't tried that yet, nor do I know where to buy refills)

4. Amazing range of colours (I'm dying to try other ones!)

Cons:

1. Price

2. Price

3. Price ARRRRGH I spent 228HKD on 6 markers!!!

There you have it. If you are willing to use half a month's allowance on these high quality markers, then go for it! Hopefully the ends justify the means and I'll be producing nice hand-lettered greeting cards. Else... *gulp*

Yours truly,

Autumn Days

       Now that assessments (erm exams) are over, it's time to get into the holiday mood! Thanksgiving turkey and festive decorations; getting creative is a great way to relieve stress and just feel happier in general.
       Weekly summary as follows (as usual my week begins with Sunday because it's the day I go back to school):

Reservoir whose name I forgot.

This place is actually in HK. Unbelievable, huh?

Sunday: Went on a sponsored walk near a reservoir; very nice scenery. Walked 22km up and down the steep hills of Hong Kong, took great pictures. The weather forecast had said a storm would be coming at around 4:00, and sure enough once the walk had finished and the after-lunch entertainment had packed up, the rain began to pelt. So as I sat indoors, a sudden idea came to me: Why don't I paint pinecones? Yee-haa! Whoopsie, Eureka! So together with my friend Alex we painted them. Yup. Here they are. Ready?

Monday: Not yet. They haven't dried yet. Tiring day, went to the good ol' swimming pool at 6am to stretch out my tiredy legs; wasn't bad. Ate raisin cereal and yoghurt for breakfast.

Tuesday: Busy.

Wednesday: Busier.

Thursday: Literature Live! A fun night of English times Drama; our English set performed a ghost story called Darkwood Hall and I played the ghost mom who got killed by her husband who is now married again and is going to kill the new mom. Crazy, huh? The best thing is I got to play the recorder version of Symphony No. 8! Yay! Halfway through a performance though, the IT people somehow blew the speakers and we had no backing track at all for the last item, which was alas! a song. I managed to cook up some acapella chords and saved the day. Juyust kidding tee hee; it was pretty fun though.

Pinecones are cute.

Friday: Wheehee! The pinecones have dried and they look fantastic! It's a great way to decorate your room without spending too much effort. Friday means I get to go home (and have piano lesson from 8pm to 10pm, but that's alright) It's been a great week, looking forward to posting again!












Yours truly,

Cloth Hunting

Rolls upon rolls of fabric had me drooling!
Literally.

      A stroll to one of Kowloon's busiest districts on a warm autumn afternoon might not be your idea of a day's outing, but my rapidly-diminishing DIY project ideas had me going for a cloth-hunting round. Everyone knows Jordan and it's streets lined with vibrant rolls of fabric, but a look at the price tag could get an enthusiast (like me) going "hm..."
      The solution? Sham Shui Po.
      One of the oldest districts in Hong Kong, it stocks everything from computer gadgets to shoe-laces to washing detergent. That is, if you know where to look. Lending a hand from my grandmother, we went to Ki Lung Street to buy cloth.

Ki Lung Street

      The stores won't be your best bet for cheap stock; it's the un-airconditioned, swaying-in-the-wind metal huts outside. On roads that are seldom used, tourists and locals alike rummage amongst the piles of cloth available. The patterns are quite nice too. My grandma commented that the quality is even better than that you get in Shenzhen, mainland China. As in most cases, old people are right. So I bought these:

[left to right] $15, $30, $40, $20, $30

      A great bargain! The two on the sides I'm going to make circle skirts, the flowery one a bag, the rock-music detail is for my sister's locker deco, and the plaid is undetermined. Any suggestions?

streets of Sham Shui Po

      Anyway, it was nice walking around Sham Shui Po. Don't you just love the weather when it's breezy and cool but the sun still shines? ;)

Below is a list of popular shopping places in SSP (alphabetical order):

Ap Liu Street --> electrical appliances, electronics, second-hand gadgets

Cheung Sha Wan Road --> fashion wholesale

Fuk Wah Street --> cheap clothes, magazines, SHOELACES <3

Ki Lung Street --> cloth, leather, lace 

Nam Cheong Street --> leather, buttons, cloth wholesale

Yen Chow Street --> Golden Arcade (computer parts & accessories); Dragon Centre (girly accessories & sticker photos, FOOD)

And of course afterwards we went for a big dose of McDonalds McFlurry... 

Yours truly,