Nayu's News #138 An evening of craft.

I use a plain granny square pattern, and know it almost back to front so don't have to glare at it like this girl is!

Tonight as well as anime I'm going to do some crochet! Yay! (Yes this is mega short as I've run out of time to add a review, due to the cover reveal happening tomorrow). Audiobooks are perfect for craft ^o^ Do shout if you enjoy craft too!

Artcards: Fashion by Hennie Haworth (Children's, 9 years +, Activity Book, Sticker Book, 9/10E, semi short 'n' sweet review)

August 2014, Templar, 72 pages, Paperback (sort of!), Review copy

Summary from the press release (details not yet on Templar website)

The fun follow-up to ARTCARDS: Accessorize, Topshop and Urban Outfitters designer Haworth offers readers the chance to become fashion designers themselves.  With over 350 stickers and 16 unique artcards, you can create new styles, share creations with friends, colour in, draw and decorate. 

Nayuleska's thoughts

I was intrigued by the concept of creating outfits for figures on cards. The cards themselves are sturdy, with a brightly coloured backing. They are almost A4 size, so much bigger than postcards, but this makes them more fun! Each artcard has a theme, which you are free to follow or ignore. These include:

 dolls (think of a big brand of doll beginning with B), the seaside, glamping (not entirely sure what that is – think it’s a fashionable way of camping), fashionistas, dog walking, being on stage, having a tea party, feet (footwear is hugely important!), models, skiing, sleepovers.

I think there are more stickers than dolls, so you really should be able to find the perfect outfit, and create some more yourself. See what I did for the sleepover! I didn’t necessarily stick with the same style.

I didn’t 100% adore the style of clothes/models, and, to be honest, I wasn’t that keen on having not only girls but guys in the book too. Maybe it’s because I’m used to sticker books for younger children which pretty much only has girls (possibly a gender stereotyping thing but I’m not getting into that here). 

Find out more on Hennie's website.

Suggested read

For more fashion fun check out Sticker Dolly Dressing Fashion Designer Summer Collection (Children's, 7 years +, Sticker book, 8/10E)

Nayu's News #137 Happy Muse, Happy Writer

"Yay!" Cooperation works wonders.

Today I've made my grumpy-sulky Muse smile. Not that she'd confess to that. After resting most of the morning with anime, as I had a routine hospital appointment this afternoon (went fine), I came back and was determined to write. 

"Let's do this!" aka writer on a mission

Muse didn't disappoint. We had a blast together, I'm at the stage of editing where I'm reading through for convoluted sentences, checking I haven't left anything out. It's fun being at the stage of tweaking it, instead of writing from scratch. Muse remembered something she'd told me a while back, which I hadn't written down at the time. Thankfully her persistant nature got the message through. 

"I'm so wonderful!" Muse is wonderful, but plase don't tell her that. She's big headed enough as it is!

I'm hoping to sneak some writing in after work tomorow, but it is my first full day back after the flu virus so I'll have to see how I'm feeling. Either way, a happy Muse makes a very happy Nayu!

Bye!

 (Yes this post was done in just 10 minutes - whoohoo!)

Nayu's News #136 End of Ramdan, Eid & a catch up!

This is a wonderful take on the slice of life genre (pretty much daily life, these friends are school girls,) comedy anime Azumanga Daioh, with the artist ditching the short skirts & giving them all colourful, modest clothing.

Eid Mubarak! Happy Eid! This is a day late...although technically still true because in Islamic countries Eid can last at least 3 days and is a national holiday. The coming of Eid means the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. I had meant to fit in a 4th Ramadan post, but I was ill all of last week with a minor flu. 

Being ill makes it harder to feel happy most of the time. Reading a lot helped ^o^ As did watching anime.

I had to be off work from Tuesday until Monday. I went out for the first time for a few hours on Sunday, including travel time, and by the time I came back I was seriously exhausted. Because of that recovery weakness I've had today and yesterday afternoon off as leave. Well, I leave at 11.30am, so pretty much afternoon by the time I get home. I felt that I couldn't face a whole day (9am-2pm), and the half day has worked out well. I'm not feeling too shattered, which is a plus. 

I'm getting better at resting now.

 Yes, I am making sure I rest lots! No fears there. I'm watching heaps of all the anime I gave up for Ramadan, where I focused on ones which focused on good character like A Little Princess,

Such a heart-warming anime

 My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, 

All the key characters (except Spike the dragon) are girls!

not much singing (which usually entails short skirts/dresses which isn't exactly modest), no romantic relationships (like Winx which is about character but boys feature sort of strongly)

Group hug! Here are some of the Winx sharing the joys of friendship

  - you get the picture. A month away from most of my favourite anime has made them even shinier than ever, and has me attempting to watch as many of them as I can. 

Did you know anime is awesome?

 Whereas I try to just watch a few shows at a time, I'm watching way more than a few which is fun for now and gives me good variety. Sometimes with shows I watch heaps, because I know them so well it's easier to watch an episode a day than several episodes, because that way I don't get fed up with being able to predict what happens. It's all good! 

Uh-oh, Muse is getting annoyed that I'm not paying her attention...

*Ahem* I got a bit distracted. Before I get even more distracted here are my links to this year's Ramadan posts, so they are all in one place (& can be searched using the keyword Ramadan)

  

It's coming in another 11 months or so!

Ramadan preparation post - what I'll be doing during the most Holy month in Islam. Each year I seem to get very ambitious with all the anime I'll watch, forgetting that I spend most of my time listening to the Quran with an English translation after the Arabic. 

Ramadan, a time to concentrate on God, the reward of good deeds being multiplied an unimaginable amount

Ramadan post 1 -  yet again what my Ramadan plans are + inspiration which is vital for each day

Growing things is fun - & possible even if you have a history of killing plants!

Ramadan post 2 - had a nature focus, since nature is God's creation. It includes my plants!!

Melty brain makes me smile!

Ramadan post 3 - I had a melty brain, so I chatted about what I was doing, and included the link for last year's 3rd Ramadan post which was about tying your camel & being like a bird - it's not as crazy as it sounds, promise!!

...for reading these posts!

I hope you've enjoyed my Ramadan posts this year, please do check out last year's posts (links in this year's posts) which are a bit more informative about the month in general. Hopefully I'll be able to write more Ramadan posts next year! 

Tick. Tock.

One thing to come from Ramadan was being aware of how I use my time. Because I was trying to put most of my daily focus on God, I only really ventured on Twitter to post links to my reviews, which in itself saves quite a bit of time. I was having yet another think about my reviewing, purely because I need to focus on my writing at the moment. I'm not quitting reviewing! I refuse to. I am being stricter on which books I say yes to - I've found it really hard to say no to books which I'm interested in, but not super interested in, if that makes sense. I'm no longer giving books which sound ok-ish a go. There will still be plenty of reviews because I always have lots to read, so no fears there. 

Once a book addict, always a book addict!

A way to make sure I'm strict on how much time I spend on blog work is to have do a maximum of 30 minutes blog work each day. Because I like to have Mondays and Friday's free from blog work, I simply add the 30 minutes onto the weekend 30 minutes, so I have 1 hour when I'm not at work. This has made a huge difference, I've found that I'm really focused in my posts. It means I don't spend hours & hours at the weekend blogging - for fellow bloggers, you'll appreciate when I say there's always something to be done, which is how I spent so much time blogging. But blog work is rarely essential so leaving it for another day isn't going to ruin the world. 

Yes, I've taken a bit more than 30 minutes writing this post up, however I was home earlier today and will simply only spend 10mins on blogging tomorrow. Simple! 

Ok, there is a part of me which is freaking out at the time limit and the fact tomorrow will probably not have a post up, but I'm having to get over it. I'm  not compromising much more on blogging!

Now it's time to let my Muse loose - she doesn't need to throw a tantrum any more, as I am having playtime with her. She will still suck though. 

Moody Muse

Never mind, at the end of the day we're best friends! 

I know Muse loves me really, so I'm used to her being a grumpy-grump. She pulls out all the stops when she has to, and is really fun to be around (often more so if she's in a mood as my characters can suffer for it!)

What are YOU reading? #228

What are you reading on Monday? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys where you post books completed last week and plans for upcoming books. Jump over to her blog and see who else is participating.

Read

Little Puppy Lost by Holly Webb

Children's, Picture book

10E/10E

(You wouldn't know this is Holly's first picture book-it's as amazing and cute as all her other books!)

Train by Judi Abbot

Children's, Picture book

10E/10E

(A great tail about how obsessed children can get about certain toys...)

Milly, Molly and Sock Heaven by Gill Pittar and Cris Morrell

Children's, 5 years +

10E/10E

(A charming story focusing on how to be helpful to others...)

Milly, Molly and Heidi Untidy by Gill Pittar and Cris Morrell

Children's, 5 years +

10E/10E

(I suspect many readers will be able to relate to Heidi!)

Milly, Molly and the Bike Ride by Gill Pittar and Cris Morrell

Children's, 5 years +

9/10E

(The friends have a chilled out bike ride while trying to reach their grandmother's on time.)

Milly, Molly and Pennyroyal by Gill Pittar and Cris Morrell

Children's, 5 years +

10E/10E

(The girls help out on the farm and witness how a cow changes her bad attitude!)

Viva Alice! By Judi Curtin

Children's, 9 years +

10E/10E

(The three friends enjoy most of their Lanzarote holiday together, except for one memorable night...)

Dork Diaries TV Star by Rachel Renee Russell

Children's, 9 years +

10E/10E

(Nikki had me worried for most of the story!)

Monstar the Superhero by Steve Cole and Pete Williamson

Children's, 5 years +

10/10E

(A surprisingly sweet superhero tale!)

Rory and the Monster Sitter by Rosie Reeve

Children's, Picture book

10E/10E

(Totally blown away by the surprise ending that I didn't expect!)

Joe and the Race To The Rescue by Victoria Eveleigh

Children's, 9 years +

10E/10E

(Joe may be a boy but I adored the end to this trilogy!)

The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren

Children's, 7 years +

10E/10E

(Heaps of fun is had by these Swedish children!)

Sweet Honey by Cathy Cassidy

Children's, 9 years +

10E/10E

(Getting into rebellious Honey's head is extremely revealing!)

The Liars and Fibbers Academy by Laura Foakes and Emma Taylor

Children's, 9 years +

9/10E

(Rather bizarre but totally compelling read.)

Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery

Children's, 9 years +

8/10E

(Finding and looking after a baby from a soup tureen is the least of Rilla's problems in wartime Canada.)

Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery

Children's, 9 years +

 8/10E

(A crotchety grandmother has a lot to answer for in Jane's life...)

Reread

Bittersweet by Cathy Cassidy

Children's, 9 years +

9/10E

(A novella for World Book Day using Shay's point of view...)

Marshmallow Skye by Cathy Cassidy 

Children's, 11 years +

10E/10E

(Skye's tale about how she felt she was drifting apart from both her twin Summer and her best friend Millie was perfect for when I had a mild headache.)

Summer's Dream by Cathy Cassidy

Children's, 11 years +

10E/10E

(Summer becomes too focused on her ballet passion and endangers her health, much to her twin Skye's horror...)

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Children's, 9 years +

10E/10E

(I enjoyed this childhood classic way more than I had when I was younger!)

Coco Caramel by Cathy Cassidy

Children's, 9 years +

10E/10E

(The infamous horse saving event!)

Rainbow Beauty: Peppermint Kiss by Kelly McKain

Children's, 9 years +

10E/10E

(Abby's story is a younger version of my current favourite theme where the protagonist sets up a shop-this time it's a sisters and mother beauty shop!)

Watched

Holby City

Medical drama, English

9/10E

(Quite an intense episode without being balanced by a secondary plot full of humour...)

A Little Princess

REWATCH! - Anime, French

10E/10E

(I limited to 1 ep a day max as although I adore it, it turns out I need more happy anime to get me through the day.)

Heidi

REWATCH! - Anime, French

10E/10E

(I simply had to restart this sweet mountain based classic childhood story after finishing the audiobook!)

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Season 1

REWATCH! - Anime, English

10E/10E

(I feel even closer to the fillies through playing the game!)

Littlest Pet Shop

Anime, English

10E/10E

(It was ironic watching Blythe being forced to rest due to a cold since I've been ill this week.)

Hive Alive

Documentary, English

10E/10E

(Fascinating nature documentary examining all aspect of honey bees' lives.)

Listened

Heidi

Audiobook, English

10E/10E

(I think it was a little different to the anime, but not by much and I'm so relistening to this again!)

Craft, games and more

Since I've been sick most of the week I've done a little bit of craft - started yet another lap blanket for a friend which is taking priority due to her health issues.  

I've gamed quite a lot on the following:

My Little Pony by Gameloft

10E/10E

(Getting closer with the kindness gems to activating the eleme t of kindness, got a new pony in Canterlot whose name I can't remember but is very cute, plus got the cafe!)

Ice Age Village by Gameloft

10E/10E

(Saving up for a diplodocus!)

Sally's Salon Luxury Edition by Game House

(Now this beauty themed time management game has been on my wishlist a while since I had it on my EvilPod, so you can imagine my delight when it was picked for the free app of the day! Full price is worth it but free is amazing. Having so much fun although wish I could have an extra attendant on the cutting and styling chairs as I seem to get swamped on those.)

Gardens Inc: From Rakes to Riches by Game House

10E/10E

(Adore this but was getting a bit too spooked by the levels with ghosts-seem to have got past those for now!)