Blog Archive

For the healing power of rabbits and some other short stories

Four years ago Michel happened to be sick like recently.
Actually, it was more serious then. Few times during the year he fell for more than a week with 40 degrees C temperature.
And nothing could help him, so finally we called for some alternative.
On the stage appeared this sumo hare, dedicated to scare the flu virus and to help Michel get well soon.

The sumo hare

First times it was a success. That made him an honored member of the little hand-made society on my shelf.
Then it seemed like the flu got resistant to hare power, so we’ve changed the tactics and decided to visualize our dream little house.
Made with all our love and wish for good health and many more miles together on our bikes, here it is:

The house from lights and dreams

My man got well finally, just in time for his own wedding. Then… then we made thousands of miles together and it is very possible that we won’t stop.
The house? It still illuminates our evenings.

The Keeper of the pencils and The Happy Pig

As much as I love to draw, I cannot resist making things from clay and from fabric. :-)
I guess that all of the girls in high school today will laugh at the fact that when I was a teenager, still loved to play with dolls and toys I was often making clothes or houses for them. :-)
Of course, it was partly because of the fact that there were many kids around me – and then it seemed to me that I was made to care and entertain relatives’ and friends’ children.
Don’t get me wrong: most of the time I was doing this gladly, and kids are good excuse for these games.
We’ve had many joyful days and I still love to dwell in the world of fantasy and toys.
My parents are also creative people and they influenced me a lot.
There is still somewhere in the attic an old puppet theater. My father once started to make it as a gift to my mother, but it ended not finished.
Sometimes I remember about it and I want to finish it together with Dad, but it seems that every time is not “the right moment”.
Maybe I don’t want to go too far from the childhood, as I enjoy making toys even today.

Let me introduce you to some that I still keep.
Here it is one of the very first I’ve made – it’s almost 13-14 years-old, I believe:

The keeper of the pencils

At that time I was drawing constantly, even applied for a school of Fine Arts. I intended to study Metal & Plastic Arts, but I couldn’t pass the first exam (graphics) and I didn’t go to the second one with the clay modeling, where I was sure I could be way better at.
Anyway, even today this little bear is keeping well the leftovers of my once huge collection of pencils. Some of them are so short now, you cannot even see them. ;-)

Teddy bear from plush

And what about this little piggy that we have here? Well, this guy also has a story to tell. He was made together with another one, and the other went as a present to a friend’s baby.

Piggy

This one stayed at home as I considered it not so successful, but lately I found him and improved it a bit by adding the smile and the pants.

Happy pig

There will be a sequel. :-)

This special cat

tomcat

There is something strange about all these cats in my works.
In fact, if you say that I probably like cats than dogs, it won’t be fair and right.
I was a cat owner for eleven years, but dog owner for much more.
For my long-lived and unforgettable friend Sheila I have written here before, and Lovejoy is still alive and kicking and lives with my parents and my brother.
Let me not even remind myself of Frodo, who was one of a kind and who left both of us with Michel inconsolable (Michel promised to write the whole story one day, when his heart lets him do it).
I love all kind of animals, of course. But this way or another, somehow cats are coming out more often under my fingers – and that’s a fact.

The site's name with cat

Well, this one is really special.
I drew it two days ago, when I was in need of something specific and engaging for the front side of my own business cards.
How could I miss the chance to show it off the the whole Internet?
Do you like it?
At least I know I do!

;-)

Sunday thoughts and pastime under home detention

I remember the times when every free minute meant for us to grab the bikes and go on traveling adventures outside Sofia.
Nice, but didn’t happen for a long time. Michel is still ill, and this is going on for more than ten days.
Even Batman himself couldn’t help in this case, despite sending to us all week his own branded lemons:

Batman lemons

Uncle Batman's lemons

From solidarity I am at home too, saving the people around from the flu virus, so all I can do is looking around and finding old and new things that could show in my blog. Like this greeting, good for Twitter-fans:

Greeting card for Twitter-fans

Greeting card for Twitter-fans

Here is another one, much smaller, made with some help from one little two-years-and-a half-old fairy:

just a greeting

Nia seems to draw far better than me, actually.
Don’t believe me?
Well, judge by yourselves:

Looks like apricot to me

I think she’s very good. Maybe one day she’ll laugh on this picture, but I like it and I wish her to develop a good skill. :-)

The smiling pencil

I am at home right now. Browsing a fat folder with pictures, called “to-blog”. Sigh.
Because all the things I want to show, are not pictured properly.
The lack of sunny light in our little apartment is doing big injustice to them.
Alas, this place looks North, so the photos rarely comes the way they should.
Only in the late summer we have few warm sun rays, touching the edge of the windows.
Despite all, I decide that is better to show bad photos than none at all.

I love things, made so simple, but with original idea and deep thought behind it.
For example, here is this nice little fellow: it was a friendly gift from Nixo and it warms my heart.
Just by staying on the shelf and smiling to me every day:

smiling-pencil

It seems to be saying: “Come on, let’s draw, what are you waiting for?” …

:-)

About .net magazine Bulgaria and its editor-in-chief

Anelia Kostova-BozgounovaI just left my job as an editor-in-chief of the Bulgarian .net magazine (it’s a localized version under the license of the .net magazine, UK). And because I don’t want this text to misinterpreted in any way, let me say that Future Publishing are not involved in this story and all that happened is between me and my Bulgarian publisher.

I started this job (which was a big challenge for me) with eagerness and passion and I know I did my best.

The first issue was a crazy story; it was done in less than four weeks and with the possible minimum of resources. But it was accepted very well by its audience of Bulgarian designers & developers, and so started for me the period of ten months of sleepless nights.

Eleven issues. 5 of them made without the proper help of an assistant-editor and the first three made even without the help of a proof-reader. I constantly worked online with the print designer, who was a freelancer; we also had to work together personally many nights, just before going to print. For months I answered to all e-mails, sent to us by our readers, I took interviews and I was constantly searching (online and offline) for contributors for the magazine. And if you think that “editor-in-chief” is just some kind of a good business card decoration — it is not.

I will always remember many fun situations, like the one when in a frenzy just before going to print we realized that there’s an illustration we don’t have the right to use. Then I made a quick sketch and it went to print. The good side was that nobody complained about this particular illustration. ;-)

.net magazineEvery issue was a product of hard work, and I am very well aware that they are not perfect, but at least they were made with love. Lots of love! :-)

It’s a long and painful story for me to tell, and I will spare you most of the details. The main reason for my sudden leaving could be generalized with these terms (usually associated with divorcing couples): “insurmountable differences of personalities”. In this case — differences between the editor-in-chief and the publisher.

Hundreds of times I tried to sit down and to write about it, but I just couldn’t find the right words.

There were many things that could probably turn out better, but they didn’t. I know it’s partly because of my naiveté.

Like I said once, if you do a job with all of your heart, you take the risk to have it broken, but anyhow, it’s the only way I know how to live and work.

When I give my word that I will do something, I am much too devoted to the achieving of the best possible results.
It’s fair to be said that I always keep my word.
The worst sin of mine is probably that I am over-credulous.

I gave a credit of trust to a person who showed me from the very beginning that it can’t be trusted.

What were the chances that one day it will let me down? Huuuge.

And when it happened, I couldn’t even believe it.

So, I am writing this as a warning to other people like me:

Please, don’t make the same mistake.

Don’t focus all your life on work, no matter how attractive it is and how much it seems to give you satisfaction.

Indeed, working as an editor for .net Bulgaria was in many ways a wonderful job.

It was high lath and I jumped it.

The amount of effort I have invested was not remunerated accordingly, but I took this job because I liked the magazine very much and so I worked hard 28 days every month for it to happen.
I had to read and re-read the magazine at least three times on screen before going to print, and this means reading and editing over 300 thousand characters, and it was more than enough strain for my eyes and for my back (which now troubles me seriously).
Despite this, everything concerning .net also gave me the very satisfying feeling that I can do bigger things than I have previously thought I am able to, and so I still feel it as a big personal success.

But as an employee, I failed. I admit that I failed mainly to defend my rights, relying very foolishly on false promises and beautiful words.

I wish a wonderful future to .net Bulgaria, because there is no parent who would wish ill to his child. But I also remind myself to be very, very careful next time, when I give my trust to someone.
Even if for a good cause.

The moral of this story is that you cannot be misused, unless you let yourself be.

A door is closed, but many others are waiting to be opened, and I am happy that I can step up on a new path in my life.

P.S. This job gave me the opportunity to meet and work with unique people.
I want to say thanks especially to Dan Oliver — my English counterpart, and to all of the people who helped .net Bulgaria without receiving anything in return.

Don’t want to mention all of you name by name, for I am afraid I can miss somebody. :-)
I am most happy to know all of you and I will be always grateful for the chance to work with you.
I owe many of you more than one beer. ;-)

(Without forgetting my dear husband, who supported me all the time, even when part of the price for this was neglecting our personal life).

Trying to draw tarsier…

A friend of mine asked me lately if I can draw one of those little creatures – tarsiers.
I promised to try and I start looking for a model in Google Images.
That’s how I found Darlene Sanguenza’s blog – she’s a designer and illustrator from Philippines (where some of these little creatures live). :-)
There are plenty of wonderful and inspirational things on the site of Darlene.
You can see her illustration, used by me as a reference.

And here is what came out from me:

tarsier

Sure, it needs a lot more attention, but I like it enough for a first try. :-)

Cleaning the webs

I don’t write lately, but not because I don’t have what to say.
It’s much more like I don’t know how to say it and also that I feel too tired of the computer.
Too many things happened, indeed, but I will post about them separately.
Holidays were absorbing at home during long cozy nights with family and friends.
I hid for to gather my thoughts better and for start making things, long postponed.
Now I am still accumulating energy for a fresh start.
I need some changes, nice changes, starting with this site.
The rest will come one by one.
:-)

“Happy holidays”

Christmas card

That’s the common wish these days.
You can hear people saying it on the streets, in the shops, online… the same old sentence, but for sure the meaning it’s not the same for everybody.
Is it easy to make the people you love happy?
I like very much to make presents.
Always choosing very carefully, concerning the recipient.
But this Christmas for the first time I got one gift rejected (not a good feeling at all).
During the years I’ve received many stupid, not useful things – presents that I didn’t like or want.
But never I refused to take them.
I think that accepting things is as important as to give things. Maybe even more important.
For it is wonderful to give from yourself, but is more valuable to know how to accept from the others.
I am also still learning…

Truth is, for many, many people these days are neither happy or holidays.
For me, “holiday” and “feast” are words that mean to dance, to sing, to play games, to exchange gifts.
But in my country the “tradition” seems to be to spend the holidays at home, around the table and in front of the TV.
After them everybody is groaning and moaning and is feeling bad from too much food and drink, and I am sure that only a few people will do something different.
But there is one more thing – I believe, that the holiday spirit comes from the people, not from the date in the calendar.

So, Internet, that’s my greeting:

Have unforgettable holidays – let them be the way you want to make them!

Оh, and that’s what I did for my brother, wishing him own sweet home:

cookies

:-)

Christmas cookies

Here they are – this year’s cookies. I don’t know what’s the problem with them, but they just don’t want to stay in the tin box untill Christmas.

cookies

So, it’s a good thing that I’ve got them pictured, at least this way i am able to show them to you. :-)
Every year I think about making at least twice more than these. From the other hand, no matter how many cookies I’ve made, they are never enough, because
I love to give almost all of them to friends and loved ones.
Christmas cookies

About the recipe… well, I like to improvise. Finding the right recipe, using the same products, but mix them measuring everything with my eye and instinct, and frankly, I am probably lucky, because I very rarely fail, even with our old and whimsy oven. :-)
For example, I was dying for brownies yesterday evening. Since I am not planning a trip to England in the next few days, I decided to make myself some.
Here is the proof:

Brownies