asking for trouble

End of the month update: June

I heart trees!

Oh dear, I have left this a bit late. Onward!

Books I enjoyed

Unsticky by Sarra Manning
I’ve been reading Sarra Manning’s writings since I was a teenager and she wrote for Just Seventeen. Her teen books are all great but this is her first adult novel. For some reason, I was expecting it to be fluffy chick-lit but it does manage to be a grown-up teen book with lots of snark and pop culture amongst the romantic ups and downs. Looking forward to the next one.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Been meaning to read this for a long time and finally got a copy from Bookmooch. As with a lot of best sellers, I enjoyed it but it felt a bit unfulfilling. Mostly because the love story ended up overshadowing the time travel stuff, which I was much more interested in. I wonder if the film will be any good, or indeed anywhere near as good as The Constant episode of LOST which balances the same subjects much better.

The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
Only ten more to go, or something. o_O

Good things I watched

Fringe
As a LOST nerd, obviously I was interested to see this but have had to use nefarious means to see it, since no good US TV seems to ever get shown on normal UK telly any more. To begin with, it’s almost hilarious how many of JJ Abrams’ stock trademarks pop up, particularly the floating 3D place names and all the lens flare, but it turned out to be a pretty fun stupid sci-fi show, owing a lot to the X-Files.  The Pacey/Denethor match-up is definitely the highlight for me, though it’s all pretty great if you turn about half your brain off. Must get hold of the last bunch of episodes.

Projects completed

New card designs
Tokyo Shopping Guide PDF
Handstamped notebooks

Interesting new blogs in my RSS

Japan Discovered (a weekly Twitter Q&A chat about Japan)
Etsy WTF (Cruel but hilarious)
–  Hello Sandwich (sweet blog with a Japanese slant. I love the interviews)
The Red Thread (lovely creative blog with lots of awesome Japan posts)

Exciting things I purchased

– NEW LAPTOP – woo!
– Porcelain pens!
– Some lovely discount fabric from IKEA

Musical Rediscoveries

A new section! Since I got my new laptop, I have been delighted by the fact that my iTunes play counts are now all reset to zero. I used to have an Unheard playlist for, uh, stuff I hadn’t ever listened to and now EVERYTHING is in there. So I am doing a relisten of my entire library, all 4424 tunes. I started alphabetically by song but now I’m doing by song length (short to long). Anyway, I am rediscovering all kinds of awesomeness which I am going to pass on to you. Check this stuff out, stat!

Ellen Allien
Printed Circuit
Aoki Takamasa + Tujiko Noriko
Reynolds
Cat on Form
Quickspace
Smokers Die Younger

Online sales

Items sold on Shopify: 16
Items sold on Etsy: 9
Items sold on Folksy: 7
Items sold on Dawanda: 11

July has already been tons more interesting so next month’s update should be better. It’ll be late too though, as I’m off on my holidays at the end of the month.

Photo is of the cutest babygro you ever did see, which I got from H&M for the brand new baby Merulapie. Congrats to Catherine and Lee!

marceline

Hello! I’m Marceline Smith, the designer and owner of Asking For Trouble. I create illustrated stationery, accessories and gifts using my cute characters inspired by Japanese kawaii. This is my business and personal blog where I write about my creative doings, inspirations, travels, Japan trips and daily life. Read more »


Browse the archives

Buy my stuff

other things I Do

COPYRIGHT

All text, photos and illustrations are © Marceline Smith 2007-2024 unless credited otherwise. You may repost my images with full credit and link. However, do not reproduce full posts without my permission or use my images or writing for commercial purposes. Thank you!

DISCLAIMER

All opinions are my own and I am not compensated or sponsored for writing about any products or services featured unless stated in the post. Links to shops and websites may be affiliate links – I receive a small commission from your orders at no cost to you, which helps me fund this site. I do not accept advertising.