Heartbeat Weekly (65): Dragon making workshop with Julie Kagawa!

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on July 5, 2015 | 4 Comments


hbweekly

 

Books I got this week

Signed books Julie Kagawa

Signed (already owned):

Gifted:

Weekly Recap

Posts on the blog:

What I’ve been up to this week:

I had a hectic but wonderful week! I had Julie’s workshop on Tuesday, I worked during the crazy 4th of July rush (everyone wants to board their dogs last minute!), and spent the holiday with my family. I ended up going to see Jurassic World on Independence Day (for the 3rd time lmao) with my parents. They loved it, too! We caught a glimpse of the local fireworks show after the movie, too. I didn’t go see any fireworks this year. Although some stupid kids set off fireworks at 1 am in the parking lot of the business RIGHT behind my house -___-

Dragon workshop recap

I left work at noon on Tuesday (thankfully my coworker was willing to switch!), came home and got ready, and headed out to LaGrange, KY. I was expecting to get there in 2 hours, but I hit a really bad storm on the way down that had traffic slowed to about 40 mph on the highway. Also, for some reason traffic leaving Cinci was crawling at 25 mph. I never did figure out why! There wasn’t construction or a wreck, and it was too early for rush hour. The storm was kind of stressful (I wrecked in the rain a couple of years ago with bad tires), but I made it. It took nearly 3 hours to get there, though, so thankfully I’d left way early!

I had some time to kill when I got down there, so I drove around for a bit and explored. There was a historical downtown area nearby lined with shops, and I found a cute little indie bookstore called Karen’s Book Barn. The YA section was slim, unfortunately. It would have been a great place to hang out and read, though!

I was SUPER impressed with the library where the workshop was held. It was the biggest, nicest library I’d ever seen! I wanted to take pictures of the gorgeous inside, too, but I didn’t want to be that creep taking pictures in a library, haha.

oldham county library

The workshop was awesome! We all sat around a table with Julie in the center. I was kind of worried that I’d be the only one that wasn’t a teen, but surprisingly there were a few others that were older, too! Julie showed us how to start a dragon from scratch, starting with using a piece of foil for the armature. I was really excited to pick Julie’s brain and see how she did things. Most of it was the same as the way I do it – we learned from the same tutuorial! – but it was interesting to see how our processes differed. (I really wish I’d taken more pictures!!)

I had made a dragon inspired by Cobalt from Talon to give to Julie, she really liked it! (And so did everyone else. My ego may have inflated a little haha)

cobalt talon dragon julie kagawa cobalt dragon

It was fun to see everyone’s different dragons that they made during the workshop! The library staff was nice enough to feed us dinner, too – Chinese, since it seemed appropriate! After all dragons were finished and put in the oven to bake, Julie signed books and we stood around and talked. Julie and I fangirled together over our mentor, Becca @ Dragons and Beasties, and how amazing her work is. (No, seriously, how is it so freaking perfect?!) I met an indie author, Jennifer Laslie, and the lovely Carla (who I’ll introduce here in a minute) bought a copy of Jennifer’s book for me, Untreatable, which she signed and personalized. I ended up giving the dragon I made to one of the boys there that liked it. (He had asked if he could have Cobalt and I was like umm sorry but no, I made it for Julie…)

Something that I love about book events is the fact that it’s easy to make friends because you have a common interest. I ended up clicking with one of the ladies there who wasn’t much older than me, her name is Carla! When I said I was from Ohio, she said she was too; she said she was originally from the Vandalia/Huber Heights area and I was like NO WAY, I’m from Vandalia! (Small world, right?!) We started talking about bookish things and realized we had a lot in common and voilà! Instant friends! :D It was nice to have someone to talk to, since I didn’t know anyone there and had come alone. I suggested we go see Jurassic World (shut uuup, I’m obsessed okay), and we exchanged numbers to make plans. She ended up being too tired after driving back, and had to get up in the morning to drive back to West Virginia. (Next time Carla, next time!!)

I was too wired to go home, so I ended up going by myself again! The theater was basically on my way home, and I made it perfectly in time to go to the 10:55 showing (see, I was MEANT to go I tell you). It was just as amazing as the first time, of course.

Overall, I had SUCH a great time! It was so fun to meet new bookish people, and to get a chance to see Julie again (this makes the third time!), and also to take a little road trip and get the heck out of Ohio for a little while :D

julie kagawaPlease excuse how terrifying I look in this picture.

What’s in your mailbox, loverlies? Link me up!

Jessi (Geo)

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4 responses to “Heartbeat Weekly (65): Dragon making workshop with Julie Kagawa!

  1. So cool that you were able to go to her dragon crafting event! I’m in Boston and it was much too far away unfortunately. Which tutorial did you both watch? I’ve been molding other things, but I really want to start making dragons.

    P.S. You do not look “terrifying”, you and Julie both look incredible! I’m jealous of how many times you’ve met her! Seriously, publishers seem to forget that New England exists, so we don’t get many signings this way.

  2. OMG! A dragon-making workshop! Sounds like it’s right up your alley :D And your dragons are all so adorable *O* It’s so cool that you got to meet Julie Kagawa as well! You both look like best pals now :P The perks of living in America is that you’re close to a lot of authors!
    I’m so glad you had a better week this week :) And YES to Jurassic World! I’ve not seen it yet but I have HAVE to soon! :)
    Have a wonderful week ahead Jessi!

  3. Carla

    Dude. I’m famous. it was so wonderful meeting you and fangirling over Julie, dragons, and all things bookish! Can’t wait till next time! P.S. Which book con/fest are you going to next? I wanna go!!

  4. I’m pretty jealous of you for this! I love her dragons and have even bought the supplies to try to make one of my own, but I totally wussed out. I have watched that tutorial you and Julie learned from several times, but I just can’t bring myself to do it!

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