"Got a cozy chair and a nice hot cuppa tea? Mayhap you might need a book? A book is nothing short of a delight, especially when read when one is at her or his most coziest. A compendium of magic folks' stories will not only bring forth adventure, but a nice story or two to tell the children." 

Philippa

~

There is something so wonderful about reading books. When you dive right into the pages, they take you to far off places, introduce you to unique and wonderful characters and most of all, give you an unforgettable adventure, that after reading, you emerge as a different person -- all in the comfort of your cosy nook. I've always been a fan. Ever since I was a young girl, my imagination would always run wild, creating stories and sceneries in my head, maybe about three or five, all before I got myself ready for the morning breakfast. Needless to say, I love storytelling. The pleasure of reading stories and writing them gives me a sense of bliss as strong as my passion for illustrations. Illustration and stories always go together for me. Even if it's just a drawing, for me, it has a story. I may not have had written about it, but if one might wonder and ask me about a particular illustration, I shall do my best to tell you the story behind it. Sometimes it is unfinished, sometimes it's just a sliver of a thought. But there's always something there. 

Last year, after coming up with more than a couple of stories and illustrations that go together, I thought about compiling them in one tiny book. These are the stories of whimsical fellows who are all in love with nature, magic, coffee or tea and of course, books. It pleased me so much to think that these book-loving darlings will be having a book about them! The bookworm in me is giddy, and the illustrator in me is humbled and excited. I have not really thought I'd be able to create a small book  about anything at all last year. It was a far-off dream, really. But when the idea came, it came just naturally. Of course, once the decision has been made, the tedious process of publishing a book began.

I've already illustrated most of the characters and written the stories since 2016, but after much deliberation, I decided to remake six characters' illustrations around October. I had to rewrite or add some more to the stories too. I gave myself a deadline, mind, and there's only barely a month left to recreate them. Not just that, looking for a font that can be used for publication that does not cost a huge sum of money and is free for publication use was so hard to do. Luckily, I got the chance to know of Google fonts, and it helped me so much. Thank you, Igino Marini for the font! 

Now on to the printing. I got it printed at Dexact, a printing studio beside my college that I've always loved working with when it comes to my prints. I decided to self-publish this little book, or zine, to be more precise. I've never printed my own book, not even for a school project. I didn't know anything about it. So for the first few weeks of planning and illustrating on the side, I was so confused. I didn't know if I should send over my files as separate jpeg pages or pdf once I will get the zine printed. The color output was also taken into consideration as well as the page borders. The printed outcome, fortunately, was wonderful. Although, there was a blunder on my part about the page borders as they got cut in the binding process. I forgot that once a book is bound together, regardless of the kind of binding, the pages' edges will have to be cut. I really forgot about that one. In the second reprint, the borders are now redesigned and readjusted. 

Everything came into intense scrutiny -- the printing, the cost, the overall design and not to mention the proofreading. 

To be honest, I knew it was going to be quite difficult for me to be self-publishing my own book. But I couldn't be any happier. I love being involved and hands on with my art and ideas. Knowing how much of a hard work it would require will push me to do it even more. I've come to love the process of creating that requires not just hard work and energy, but also the strong dedication to stick to it no matter what. Taking photos of the zines, I am in bliss. I'm happy for the hard work I've put to it, but most of all, I'm grateful that these whimsical darlings have decided to show themselves to me and tell me their stories. For that, I am grateful. Truly grateful.

The zines have been sold at an Art bazaar last year and much to my happiness, were well-received. The second printing of the zines are now available at my Etsy store, "SunlitCuriosities." For the meantime though, only 8 are available. More shall be printed in the next coming weeks. 

Below is a video I made of the zine showing the contents. I hope you can take a short peek at it. 

Cheers! Happy New Year too! Let's be braver and stronger and kinder this year. :)

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