My favorite month! Birthday, Halloween & Inktober|| October 2020

Hello there, welcome to another blog! This time I’m sharing My favorites month of the year! || October 2020 Birthday, Inktober, Halloween and more!

I think it’s no secret that this season is a lot of people’s favorite. Especially because of spooky / holiday season and autumn. And it’s no secret (for those who know me personally) that I LOVE Halloween, spooky and dress up in general…

But a part from the evident, I also have an extra incentive to love this month. It’s because it’s my birthday!

My 23rd birthday

23 things I learned at 23

Inktober 2020

As I started mentioning last month, Inktober is here. I did the best I could to prepare myself and get this year’s challenge done.

Last year I was travelling South East Asia while doing this challenge. I let myself do anything as long as I completed the prompts in time. This mean I didn’t worry about getting strict with using Ink only and the quality of the drawings.

This year though, I try to keep it simple but push myself to use only Ink Pens. I actually never really used ink before so it was a big experience for me.

The first drawings totally had me on the edge since Inking is a way more permanent form of art. From the moment you lay a stroke, it’s there to stay… Nerve-wracking!

I managed to pull it off at the end though. Even though there was quite a few pieces I wasn’t fully happy with, I learned a lot and I can say I’m way more confident with it than how I used to be and how I started the challenge.

If you’d like to see the full gallery check out my art Instagram @cecyesparzacrafts. Or my galleries here in my website:

Inktober 2019 | Inktober 2020

Community Classes

This month I found out about some community classes given around my city for a very affordable price.

Sewing

I’ve been meaning to start sewing for a while now but I was terrified to pick up the sewing machine because I feel like it requires a lot of control.

In fact, I was planning to sew a costume for this Halloween and day of the dead but couldn’t wrap my head around it. I got the design, the fabric choices and even bought some of the fabric to start with but I just got too nervous.

In the class, we started by sewing a simple tote bag and a pillow case which I didn’t really wanted to do at first (because I’ve sewn a bag before) but ultimately thought it was a good idea to remind myself the very basics and get used to the specific sewing machines I would be using (the one at the class place and Jono’s mom one).

I already have quite a few projects lined up so hopefully next month I’ll be able to come up and show you at least 3 – 5 small projects or maybe a slightly bigger one (pinafore, simple skirt or cottage core apron)

Oil Painting

I didn’t have any specific interest for Oil Painting but since I was getting really into acrylics and trying out other mediums like watercolor, I thought it would be great to learn.

Ultimately, I hope I am able to do some fun mix media in the future, once I have a good grip of each of them. I feel like having a good acrylic base that is quick to work with with some oil paint touches (that allow for longer maneuver time) or vice versa.

This first classes we started by painting a landscape and next month we’ll be doing some life painting (fruits and such) and finally a portrait.

I must say that even though the different materials react differently and have a lot of specific techniques to learn. Any medium is great to better your painting skills and some of the techniques are transferable.

Halloween

This Halloween I wasn’t sure if I was going to dress up or do anything. Almost didn’t! I got way too afraid of taking the sewing machine and attempt anything.

I feel like sometimes I put too much pressure on myself to do things and do them right! So I end up not doing anything. Late but surely, I ended up dressing up with clothes I already had in my closet. These were actually purchase specifically to be portraying this character.

Costume: Mathilda Lando

Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin Cake

My favorite month of the year! Birthday, Inktober, Halloween || October 2020

Other News

Agency Work

I started doing some casual work with a recruitment agency. I wasn’t quite sure at first but I think this is a great option for people who are transitioning from a regular 9-5 job to a freelance career or starting your own business.

If you find a decent recruitment agency they’re going to be able to provide several jobs a week with decent pay rate but you don’t have to commit to a specific schedule since you accept or decline each job individually.

So far I’ve been able to work at many different places and events such as the Australia vs New Zealand rugby match at Sky Stadium, the golden awards at TSB Arena, a few hotels and even a retirement home. Which I find fascinating and exciting.

It can be a little nerve-wracking to go into a different environment and job each time but specially here in Wellington (New Zealand doesn’t have a huge population) and the agency I’m at you’re able to meet the people you’re working with and see them across different events.

Applying for a Residence Visa!

Yes, as you heard! I’m applying for a Residence Visa to stay in New Zealand. This was not my initial plan when coming to New Zealand but due to the current world situation I decided to stay until it is safe to go out.

I’ll be settling down a little and keep working on my personal, career and business development. I feel like I’ve been putting off doing hard work on my career and business ideas because I didn’t want to move forward if I wasn’t certain I would want to stay.

As you saw with the community classes, this is the first time in the year I’ve been here in New Zealand that I make an effort to go out and get involved in the community. I mainly worked from home and went 100% on my own small projects that I could get done quick (so I didn’t leave any long term project hanging in case we could move on and move to a different country).

My favorite month of the year! Birthday, Inktober, Halloween || October 2020

Entertainment

Movies

Mother

Quite possible, one of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever watched. I think I might’ve seen a meme or a YouTube video recommending or talking about it and the poster + the fact that Jennifer Lawrence was staring caught my attention.

I decided I wanted to watch it but I tried to not watch any trailers or anything about what it’s about to not get spoilers… Big mistake.

Without spoiling anybody out there, I’ll just say I think it is worth watching and a good movie with deep (and dark) meaning but definitively beware of the disturbing aspect of it. It’s quite graphic at times but it’s more of a psychological disturbance.

Outlaw King

My favorite month of the year! Birthday, Inktober, Halloween || October 2020

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Thanks for reading and see you next time! ♡

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