Although I posted some of my food/cooking thoughts in my previous post, I thought I would post some additional updates here.

Blog Updates

I finally found (through the bludit forums) someone who made a fix for the snicker plugin and now I have comments. I admittedly don’t know much about current coding so I’m glad that someone took on that project.

I had archived some of my older posts (can’t remember why… possibly a temporary thing), so I’ve brought them back. Looking at my old posts is a fun reminder that I mostly write these blog posts for myself.

I spent some time this morning choosing a new blog layout and editing the stylesheet to my liking. I’ve noticed some small bugs I need to fix but for now I will live with it.

As for plans for future posts - they will be sporadic but hope to log more of my hobby things.

Life Updates

My last update in 2023 mentioned my new job (at a screenprint shop)! I’ve been here for about 2.5 years now, and still love it. There is a good work/life balance and I have been able to spend more time with myself, my friends and my family.

Momo & Poppy turned 6 last month! They have been living their best life, hanging around at home.

Artist Alleys /Vending

I vended at a few events in 2023 & 2024! It had been years since I thought to apply to artist alleys due to how busy I was. I still don’t think I would pursue this full time, and I have a lot of questions to myself on what my goal is for tabling at cons. There’s been a shift in artist alley culture in the past couple of years where there is more produced/manufactured merch, and less emphasis on print goods.

For me I think my focus is shifting to small prints, stickers & stationery items, and limited screenprinted goods. I have some acrylic keychains that I made too (my popular designs was one for all the sports series I like , haha!). I don’t think I will venture into more complicated merch, though. Mainly I don’t want to create an excess of stock that I would never personally use.

A small list of events I did:

2023

• San Japan 2023 - I applied to this on a whim as it is a lottery con, and I got in! It was the event that jump started making merch again. I met my good friends box and kumabrows through this event (fellow artists that know Tenipuri!)
• Minna Art Market 2023 - Local TX 1 day event run by an artist that I have followed for years. This was a curated show and the audience was very nice.

2024

• May Night Market - Local show that my friend Nopaulito and Weila invited me to apply to. I hope to vend again and have more filipino forward merch to carry.
• Anime NYC 2024 - I was thankfully picked by the jury for this! I do have a convention portfolio I apply with but feel like competition was very tough. I wish I had the time to extend my days in NYC but I had an event the following weekend. I took my sister with me as my helper and we had a nice sister trip to NYC. I met a longtime artist friend of mine (fish) and my sister and I met a long time online friend (mooncandy.net).
• San Japan 2024 - I was lucky to get picked for the lottery on this one. My friends box and kumabrows were at the same convention and we did a small tenipuri rally. So fun! My only challenge was that it was the weekend following Anime NYC and I was very tired.

2025

Upcoming shows:

• Catty Bat June Market - Local 1 day event - I’m glad to try this one out! I have a small 3” section, so I’ll curate my catalog to bring some of my best sellers.
• Otakon 2025 - Applied to this one as it was a lottery application process! I’m excited to travel for this and do some touristy things too.

I apply to shows a bit sporadically - so I’ll see what comes up next!

Journaling

I have not kept up with journaling regularly.

An update from my previous entry about my photo printer (Canon Selphy CP1300) - it is still my workhorse photo printer. I recently purchased a replacement photo paper/ink pack from B&H Video. Although I haven’t been journaling regularly, I did go print out important photos from 2023 and 2024 to log them in my journals.

For 2024 I had tried the MD Hibino A6 journal. I realized I don’t like the size of a small journal and barely ended up using it. I’ve recently gone back to it to add photos but not much else.

For 2025 I’ve returned to the MD Diary 1 day 1 page. It’s undated so I still had to add my own stamped dates and day of the week sticker. But I like the paper feel and size of each page. I ended up stamping the full year so that I could be all set.

Photos I have been logging:

• OOTD (if I take a picture) - I used to keep a spreadsheet log of my outfits/closet to track how many times I wear a garment (cost per wear!)
• Food Pics - both my own cooking and eating out
• Important pics - I’ve been trying to take more pictures during friend/family events just to preserve the memory in some form, though maintaining the balance of being in the moment can be tricky haha.

I’ll continue to let things be low pressure :)

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Every year, when February ends, I always think "Wow, 2 months already!!"

I think the rest of the year will fly by fast. The most exciting change in my life is that I recently started a new position and I'm really liking it!! Hoping that the creative opportunities that are available for me is something that I'll be able to pursue. More on that later if it comes to fruition, lol.

I have been playing more catch up (no more than 1-3 days) with my journal entries. But I definitely think that taking more photos of "daily" life has been helping me to keep track. :)

A few updates:

• Hobonichi Weeks continues to be my media log! My reviews side hasn't been updated since some of the media is still being updated, but I will fill those in later.
• TN Vertical Insert continues to be functional. Surprisingly I have been meeting up with friends I have not caught up with in months so it's nice to log those events.

I feel like I have been really getting in the groove of how I like balancing decorating my pages and then writing out my "entry". Very excited to see how March goes. On a happy note, I finished a roll of washi tape. Amazing :)

February 2023 Pages

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January is over! In Austin, we ended the month with a freeze day, lol!

I thought I would do a little recap on my last month's journaling. Every year I try to keep up with a daily habit and every year I end up stopping for whatever reason. I'm (sort of) determined to make it this year!!

Things that I've been enjoying:

• I got another photo printer (Canon Selphy CP1300) -- I know, I know, I just got the polaroid one... I'll save it for actual portable needs. The Selphy is great for being the workhorse printer and feels way more cost effective in the long run. Anyways, being able to print photos is a much-needed game changer for me. I even went back through my 2022 photos and printed a bunch that I back-filled in my 2022 Hobonichi Cousin.
• Stickers!! I got a few new sticker sheets and have told myself to use them liberally so that I can justify buying more. I am really enjoying decorating with stickers.

I also ended up getting a 2023 Hobonichi Weeks. Last year I thought that I would use it as a food log (it didn't work), but this year I've decided to use the Weeks as a media log. I'm leaving lots of little comments about how I felt about each work... it's nice to have a place to just write freely. For the cover I chose the Gurunpa's Kindergarden. So cute!! And elephants used to be a favorite animal of mine in the past.

2023 Hobonichi Weeks

January 2023 Pages

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I have been pretty consistently failing at keeping up with a journaling habit every year - so this is what I have for now. I've decided that I just need to make a low-effort system that can work for me.

Something that I've come to realize is that my mind can be a little bit ADHD sometimes... it is easier for me to journal when things are readily in sight/available AND ALSO, simple and minimal to use.

Current Notebooks

2023 Journal - 2023 A5 MD Notebook Diary 1 Day 1 Page

Lives: At Desk

Previous years I would purchase the Hobonichi Cousin A5 inserts, but barely use the pages... I'm actually a fan of the MD Journals (I've used the inserts before). I find that the Hobonichi paper takes a bit longer for ink to dry vs the MD Journals absorb inks right away. This one is undated so I'm thinking of just adding dated entries as I journal, but still want to try to journal as often as possible. I'm trying to keep this as low-stress/effort as possible, so I end up writing lots of blurbs. I also ended up getting a Polaroid Printer (using my xmas gift money from my mom), and hope to log important photos this way.

Side note: I ended up donating a majority of my Washi Tapes and Stamps to Austin Creative Reuse (I managed not to shop after donating, lol). I have more things I would love to rave about for Austin Creative Reuse, like how they encourage being mindful of purchasing for creative projects, and how they're implementing a 4 day work week for their employees!!! but that is for another post. I want to be more discerning about decorative ephemera that I purchase/use in the future - tbh I don't enjoy over-decorating much.

I originally tried to use a different Hobonichi A5 cover for this notebook (it didn't fit and I am using it for a different journal), but realized that my Mina Perhonen A5 zip cover fits! I'm just glad that I could reuse a cover and not buy a new one.

General Note/Sketchbook - A5

Lives: Carried around in bag

When I carry a bag that can fit an A5 notebook, I prefer to bring this one in case I stop at a cafe or restaurant and just need something to write/draw on. I am using my Hobonichi TS Leather Black cover for it (I've used it for my work notebook in the past with various A5 inserts).

I really love this cover because it's so simple and minimal. My current insert is an A5 Notebook from HAY that I was able to get as a floor sample. I have not tested for watercolor/fountain pen inks, but I'm not too concerned with turning this into an actual sketchbook. The only downside is that the pages don't open perfectly flat.

TN Passport Size - Truly Yours Modification

Lives: Carried around in (smaller) bag

Most of the time I usually end up carrying smaller bags/purse and have a much more minimal carry. But I still wanted a small notebook just in case I need this for To-Do/Notes. Luckily the TN Passport is a perfect size.

Ugly Notes (for gaming, jotting things down, etc)

Lives: At Desk

I use my leftover unfinished notebooks to keep track of any game notes. This one is a Zequenz 360 flexible notebook that I originally used as a work notebook, but had since changed to a different notebook. Examples include, crafting/gathering recipes for FFXIV, pokemon catch list, DND maths, etc. It's very ugly but useful.

Writing Tools

I have fountain pens but don't really use them these days.

Right now my main pens are several black St*ples TRU RED retractable gel pens that I acquired from my old work because they would make their way in to my bags, ha ha. The pen body feel and the ink actually feels quite nice. The downside is that the pen itself isn't refillable so it probably creates a lot of plastic waste.

I recently purchased the Stalogy 4-functions pen, and I'll have to see what kind of refills I can use for this and will report later.

Need to use

Hobonichi 5-year Techo (2021-2025)

Two years have already passed and I have been inconsistent with using this. I hope to use this more. I've seen some videos/blogs on how other people use the 5-year notebooks. Maybe I need to use it more sporadically?

(I wrote something for today's date, ha ha).

TN Regular Size - Truly Yours Modification

I do want to bring this one around more since I love all the modifications that were added to this journal, but since I carry around other notebooks, this one is still at home. Maybe I'll figure out how to add this into my rotation in a functional way?

In the back pocket I keep a postcard that was sent to me by one of my friends. I love getting snail mail from friends who are not normally 'stationery' nerds - it makes it feel a little bit more special that they went out of their way to send this to me.

Desk Set-up

(Momo is on the left side)

I'm sharing a bit about my desk area set-up as well.

I got this large Sailor Moon playmat from swan.drawn that I purchased at San Japan last year. I'm using it as an oversized mouse pad, but half the time Momo or Poppy will plop their body in the free area. My computer desktop photo has a similar background theme.

My Keyboard is the Keychron C2 Wired Mechanical Keyboard (hot-swappable) and I switched out the keycaps to a pink color scheme. 

Mouse - Logitech G305 - HM x Logitech = I ended up getting a few things with my employee discount.

There's other things that I could have customized more, but tbh Momo and Poppy are curious cats that like to walk everywhere, so the simpler the better.

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