Creating Daily

During the Christmas break I shared with you what I received for Christmas, well I thought I would give you a bit of an update on how I am using two of the things...

I was very kindly given a Paperchase bound diary from their Dreamscap collection. As you know I do love my ring bound planners for the flexibility of being able to move things around and in/out, Mr B also knows this but he bought it for me he said because he knew that I would like the cover design and thought that I could make use of it somehow. Oh how right he is! How could you not love the design? It is simply beautiful. The paper inside is a cream colour but so beautiful and smooth as well. I do love it.

oh by the way I am showing you photos of my messy artists desk too lol!

I also received a set of Spectrum Noir pencils. I knew they did markers but had no idea that they did pencils too. I have coveted the Prismacolor pencils for a while now but have never taken the plunge to buy them. I don't know why. I see people use them in videos etc all the time but I wonder if I would enjoy using them too. When I think of pencils I always think of the cheap kids ones that you have to really work at to get any colour at all. I know everyone raves about the Prismacolors I am just yet to try them for myself.

So what am I doing with these two things? Well I am putting them together and creating daily. I am working in my Fauxbonichi in the evenings when we finally sit down to watch some telly. After I have done with that I then pick up this book. I love love love my Fauxbonichi don't get me wrong and I do find it relaxing but I do have to think about what I have done that day to record it. Once I have done that I pick up this book and this set of pencils, nothing else and I let my mind wander off and draw whatever it needs or wants to. Whatever comes out of my head goes onto that paper. No carbon pencil and eraser, nope just straight down with coloured pencils. No thinking, no worry about mistakes, just creating and letting the mind go. I love it, not that any journal or creativity is particularly stressful, nor should it be, but there there is something about just letting your mind wander through the extension of your hand and a coloured pencil or two. I have even found a couple of characters that have come out on the page that I would like to develop and take further so that is great.

I am still not sure about the pencils as to whether or not I like them. I don't know if it is just pencils in general that I am comparing to other media but they just don't seem to be as pigmented as I would have liked them to be. Maybe it is just me. Maybe I am expecting too much from a pencil I don't know. Blending wise I haven't yet worked out how to really do that. I know you can buy blending solution but I don't really know what that is and how you use it so I really must look into that. There doesn't seem to be that much information so I will keep digging around.

Anyways for now I am just enjoying my little doodle time at the end of the day!

How to be a talented artist - The secrets of mixed media!

"I can't draw."
"I would love to....but I am not artistic."
"I wish I was as talented as you."

These are all things I hear all the time and I have had enough of it, you hear me enough! I think it is very lovely and I am always very humbled and chuffed to bits when someone likes something that I have created because I struggle all the time with my inner critic, I really do. There are many pieces of art that I have created over the years that I love, many that I hate and many that are just 'meh'. None of us are exempt from the inner critic but you know, ya just gotta get on with it and create.

Now all those comments listed above are rubbish. Total and utter tripe. Yes that is right TRIPE!

You wanna know what the answer is to those statements...I will tell you..

Firstly it is practice. That is the secret. Practice, practice, PRACTICE and when you have practiced do it again. Honestly and truly, the only way to get good at something is to keep doing it. This is why you didn't just hop in a car, drive to the test centre and pass your driving test straight away, you had to practice at it. The same is true for art, keep practising until you get it where you want it and once you are there, keep on improving it. I truly mean it, the only way I can draw what I draw is because I keep on doing it a bit at a time, learning and trying to do new things.

The second trick is to learn and experiment with your materials. You need to take one medium at a time and learn it. Learn how to blend with it, how it reacts with paper, how it reacts with water etc. I see so many people with stacks and stacks of supplies and they become a jack of all trades rather than a master of one. Don't get me wrong I do love mixed media and experimenting but I see so many people who think that buying all the latest products will make them an artist when I am afraid it does not.

OK there you go I am off my soap box now and you have no excuse but to go forth and create art!

What's in my pencil case?

I often see 'what's in my bag' type posts and I really enjoy those as I am nosey and I like to see what everyone else is using so I thought it would be fun to share a 'what's in my pencil case' for all us arty / journal / planner peeps!

So would you like to see what is in my pencil case...

I don't know whether a 'tag' already exists for this but I thought it would be fun to set one up and here are my responses to the questions.

1. What pencil case are you using / do you use?
As my everyday pencil case I am currently using the pretty floral case that you see in the above photo although I do have several pencil cases that I often use for different reasons.

2. Why do you use it?
I am using this one mainly because I adore the pattern, I love the retro flower print, I just think it is so cute and I also love the shape. I also love that it is really roomy and you can fit a lot in it as well as being a nice shape to hold.

3. Where was it from?
I bought this from an Etsy shop: PrettyPaperFilo

4. Do you carry it out and about or does it stay at home?
I don't really have the need to carry a pencil case around that much. Occassionally I do in which case I will take a much slimmer one with me. If I do need to take a few things with me it is usually because we are going away in which case I would then take this away packed with my favourte items.

5. Show us what was inside?
Well... please watch the video as I showed everything in there or for a brief glance you can see the items in the top photo.
 

6. What was in there that you had forgotten about?
In my main pencil case, nothing but in my other pencil cases there were a few forgotten items!

7. What is your most used / favourite item?
I have a few favourite items that I couldn't just pick one! I really like coloured pens and at the moment I am using a sonix gel in teal from Staples, the Soda Fizz pen and also a papermate inkjoy in purple. I am also loving my penguin pencil sharpener, a fox rubber that I got in a recent Linys box and my all time favourite glue: Pritt Stick.

I am also really loving the Pilot disposable fountain pen that came in a recent Linkys box and my all time favourite permanent black pen for doodling etc is the Uniball eye. I also can't live without my Posca paint pens in both black and white.

8. Now you have gone through you case what will you leave out? if anything!
Nope! lol! I am really happy with everything I have in there at the moment but if I had to take something out then it would probably be my blending stumps.
 

9. How often do you go through your case and change things?
I am always changing pencil cases and go in and out of love with products so I change my pencil case around loads!
 

10. What are your future plans for your case? New case? New contents? What is on your wish list?
I have asked Father Christmas for a Lamy Safari fountain pen so I hope I am a good girl to get it!

I would love to know what you have in your pencil case so if you care to share either with a video, blog post or just a comment please do let me know so I can have a nose in your pencil case too - I tag all of you who would like to do it to please do this tag!

Write with Fizz

I recently received the Pilot Soda pen in a Linkys Stationery Box and I was really intrigued.  I hadn't seen this pen before and I hadn't heard or seen any hype or talk about it anywhere. I can see why it was chosen to appear in my Linkys box, it looks very me doesn't it.

Before opening I decided to inspect the packaging, the whole 'write with fizz' thing left me wanting to know more, it really did have me intrigued to say the least. I really thought that this pen was going to be glittery or scented, something a bit different to the usual ball point pen but nothing was glaringly obvious, well to me anyway. So if it wasn't glittery or scented what was all this 'fizz', 'soda' and 'strawberry' about? Why was it so important to be on the packaging if it had nothing to do with the pen?

Whilst I didn't find it strikingly obvious it in fact turns out that this pen has been recycled from an old water bottle thus making it eco friendly and hence all the terms about 'fizz' and 'soda'. I only really fully appreciate the full weight of this concept when I watched this promotional video on YouTube:

Ok so I have established that the pen is eco friendly and has been recycled from waste plastic drinking bottles, which is great news, I think we are all now more conscious of what we are doing to the planet and I am grateful to see more and more products being produced in a more environmentally friendly way. I did my bit with the packaging and made sure to put it into the recycling of course.

But what about it's credentials as an actual pen? Well I am very pleased to say that it is a very nice pen to use indeed. I am not entirely sure what it retails for but from what I can see from looking in various places online it is around the two pound mark, maybe a bit less. kind of middle of the road, everyday pen in terms of price.

The price doesn't quite translate to the quality though. This little pen surprised me no end. It was comfortable to hold and wrote silky smooth like a dream. I had to stop and check that this wasn't a gel pen, no it was the ball point version although they do make a gel one too. I could quite happily see myself writing all day with that pen, it was devine.

The colour I have is Red which you can see from the test below, does have a pink-ish tone to it, although looking at the packaging I thought it was going to be more cerise, the outer pen plastic and the strawberry on the front led me to believe this but no definitely more red than pink. Having looked on the Pilot website these pens are available in: Blackcurrant, Ice-mint Blue, Strawberry Red and Lime Green. I have to admit I would love to try all the other colours, especially the blackcurrant. The marketing department did their job well there, I mean who wouldn't be tempted to try a pen with a name like blackcurrant, a coloured pen at that...full of temptation and promise. I hope I can find one somewhere.

Now then, what everone in the planner and journalling community want to know is about the bleed through and how the pen takes to paper. I can tell you that this writes very smoothly and glides over the surface of many paper types so no problem there - I tried it on various types just to make sure. In terms of bleed through, you can see from the image below that even on the thin Filofax paper this is minimal and I did press quite hard.

To add to the eco credentials this pen is also refillable but I have yet to test that because it has lasted really well so far.

So definitely a thumbs up from me and a pen that I defiitely will be using lots of and want to buy more of. However I still can't help but feel disappointed that it wasn't glittery or fizzy. I think they were a bit too happy on the packaging but then how else would they get you to buy what looks like an ordinary pen?

I just thought I would share this with you as it is not everday that you stumble upon a gem like this.

Image from Pilot website.

PLEASE NOTE: Any of the links in this post are not affiliate links. This review is my own personal opionion on the product / company and has not be sponsored or endorsed. The photography unless otherwise stated / credited is also my own.

My Acrylic Muse decided to pay a visit!

It is funny how your muse works, well mine is anyway. She comes and goes and dictates when and what she wants to do and sometimes there is just no stopping her. When she wants to do something she just does it without a care in the World. And when she is here, she is here to stay and all hell breaks loose and we just have to move over and let her get her own way.

So for quite some time now I have not been at all interested in my acrylics. Part of that is due to the mess and that I made a pact with myself that I would only use them in my room where it doesn't matter if I get paint everywhere, but then of late I have been journalling downstairs in the evenings whilst watching TV or if Mr B is reading or such like. My watercolours and a couple of pencils are much more transportable than a whole load of acrylics and pallettes. I know so lazy but then sometimes in the evenings I want easy, I don't want to have to think about all this stuff, I just want to sit there and create or journal about my day and not have to worry or think too hard about it.

Then at the weekend my acrylic muse decided to drop in and she stayed for quite a while, in fact she hasn't left yet, she has her feet well and truly up on the desk! So there I sat on a rainy Saturday afternoon in my room wandering what to do (Mr B had a cold and was watching TV on the sofa) so I reached for some acrylics and popped them on the desk. I opened my journal and I just started dropping and drizzling paint and so this happened...

I was quite startled myself as this is so out of character for me but you know what I thoroughly enjoyed it and I love the colours and well quite frankly I love how it is. Just how it is. I may just leave it like that but at the time I was like 'you silly bean now it is all wet you can't turn the page' so I ripped a page out and smooshed it down into the paint to take some of it off. It just didn't sit right so I took my pallette knife and started mixing it all around the page which looked really unsightly so I went old school. I call it old school because for me this is something that I used to do a lot but now no longer do, and that is I took some gesso and went over the page but just left a heart shape showing...

Again this really surprised me as I ended up loving the process, not so much the finished article but definitely the process and that is what struck the chord with me. So that then opened me up and it just went on and on. So I had a purple pallette, I tore another piece out of my journal and just got playing and that playing resulted in this coming out...

And I truly love him, I think he is a cutie pie. He is now actually available in my Etsy Shop as a day planner dashboard so it is funny how a little bit of play time to free your mind can result in a whole load of art!

There is more that I created and I shared my weather Goddess over on the Journal Gypsies Blog if you would like to check that out you can do that here.

Well I hope she is here to stay for a while longer as I am loving what we are creating together. Do you find that you have a muse who dictates what you should be doing? I would love to know!

Painting a Watercolour Blue Tit (Tutorial / How to)

We have been inundated with blue tits in our garden. Well not just blue tits but also great tits and robins. It is lovely. I love to just sit in our back room whilst having my breakfast or my elevenses and watch them feeding on our bird feeder. There is something quite relaxing about watching the little birdies flitting around and I have found it to be really inspiring. In fact I took my art journal and sat and painted a blue tit whilst watching them go about their business.

I rather liked how he turned out but more over I thought you might like to also paint a blue tit so I thought that would give me a great excuse to paint another one and film it as I go! The picture on the left was the original one that I painted and the one on the right was the one I did whilst filming. You can see that they are not identical which I like. No two birds are alike and these little guys each have their own personalities too, you can just see them shining through can't you.

They were painted on entirely different watercolour paper too. The one on the left, in my journal is on really cheap paper and the one on the right is on more expensive paper. You could really tell the difference with how the paint reacted. That being said I still like the paper in my journal so I am not complaining!

As you can see that are not 100% realistic. There are elements of realism to them but I didn't want them to be real life, I wanted them to be in a cute, quirky, stylised way because, well that is just my style.

So here you go, here is my tutorial or how to paint a watercolour Blue Tit. In the video I go through the materials needed as well as how to actually do it. You can either paint along with me or stop and start as you need to. The video will always be there for you to come back to or refer to later so make sure to bookmark it.

If you dopaint a blue tit and you wouldn't mind sharing, I would love to see it. Just tweet me, instagram, email or facebook me :D

Spring Journal Tag {Original}

Spring is here in the UK and flowers are bursting into bloom everywhere. We had been lucky with the weather warming up although it has turned a bit cold again this week. That being said, I am really into the Spring frame of mind and I have found that this has had an impact on my journal and what I am journalling about and I wondered if any of you have found that too?

I thought it might be fun to create a tag so that I can share some Spring journalling with you and also because I want to know if Spring has brought about a change with you too! I tag any of you who would like to do this tag too. Here are the questions if you fancy doing this either in video or blog form but let me know so I can come and see yours!

1. Does the season or weather have an impact on your journaling? How?
2. Do you journal outside in the warmer weather?
3. What do you take with you when you journal outside?
4. Do you draw on any Spring inspiration in your journal?
5. It is Spring cleaning time, what do you do with all those old journals?
6. What journal will you be using this Spring? Do you change with the seasons?
7. Please (if you can / want to) share some recent Spring journaling / Art journal pages / smashbook pages
8. Spring is a good time to try something new, what would you fancy trying?
9. What habits would you like to change / get rid of / introduce now that Spring is here?
10. What music are you journaling to this Spring?

How to Paint a Galaxy Girl - Part 2 of 2

I am back with part two in the two part series on how to paint a girl with galaxy hair...

Following my obsession! - Journal Gypsies

As you know I am now blogging on Journal Gypsies but I also want to share on my blog what I have posted over there too. So I am going to post that post on here too but only a little later that it appear over there. Confused? Yep me too!

I find that when I look through past journals, I have had obsessions, or influences if you will, that follow me pretty much throughout my journal. Sometimes they are a big influence or inspiration and they make it into other journals, sometimes it is a small stage of my life and they just stay in the one. Does that happen to anyone else?

I was looking back through my current journal and it suddenly became rather obvious to me that I was being heavily inspired by stars, the night sky and galaxies. Every other page has some sort of star symbol in it! I need to look into symbology and find out whether my inner self is trying to tell me something. After all I don’t always intentionally set out to create stars, many times I am idly drawing whilst watching the TV and then I look down and a star has emerged and I very much do paint and draw intuitively. Something for me to look into for sure. Why are all these stars popping up?

I have also moved from just stars to whole galaxies and have been totally obsessed with creating girls who have galaxies as their hair. I just love it. It is so therapeutic to create, just watching all the watercolours swirl into each other and at the end you are left with something really mysterious and magical. Well to me they are anyway.

I am a massive dreamer and believer in magick!

I am really enjoying my star gazing journey. I have no idea where it will take me next in this journal or if it will follow me int the next but for now I am enjoying traveling with the stars.

How to Paint a Galaxy Hair Girl

A few weeks ago now I shared in a couple of videos (I think it was a vlog, I can't remember!) my painting I did in my art journal of a girl whose hair was made to look like a galaxy. A few of you said that you liked her and would like to know how to paint her for yourself and would I do a tutorial for you. Of course I said yes and here it is, part one in my two part series on how to draw and paint a girls with galaxy hair.

How to Draw (Colour) a bunny - Part 5

I am back with the very last video in my "How to draw a Bunny" series.  I can't believe the series is over, I have really enjoyed it and had a blast drawing and sharing my bunnies with you. I have also really enjoyed seeing the bunnies that you have drawn too and some people have even taken then further and developed other characters with them too. It has all been so much fun.

If you liked this series and would like to see other art tutorials or "how to" from me then please let me know, I am very happy to share when and where I can. I really do enjoy it!

So here we are then, the very last one. In this video we look at colouring in our bunnies adding different tones and highlights.

Happy bunny colouring!

Art Journal / Smashbook Flip Through June - December 2013

I have another art journal flip for you!

I have been very quiet  on the journalling front over the past couple of months as life seems to have gotten in the way which is why it has taken me so long to be able to share a journal flip with you.

I have so enjoyed working in this journal. The paper is lovely and silky smooth, just perfect for sketching and for pen and ink. It does take wet mediums as long as you are easy on the water as it doesn't hold if it is really wet. You also can't get your "wet in wet" techniques with your water colours. That being said I did do several watercolour paintings in here which you will see in the flip. For me this was just a lovely size (A5). I have taken a couple of signatures out of the book but I added a lot of ephemera which is why it is trying to bust out of the spine!

The journal itself is Indigo Bloom for Penny Kennedy which I purchased whilst doing my food shopping in Waitrose for £10. I have found them for sale at Bricknells Stationery: http://www.bricknells.net/shop/assorted-notebooks/indigo-bloom-purple-flower-hardback-notebook-a5/  if you were interested in purchasing one (I am not affiliated).

I love so many of the paintings and drawings in here and I would go as far as saying this is one of my favourite all time journals. I guess it helps that I was in a total place of happiness for most of the creations in here so I also look back at it with very fond memories.

This journal is not just an 'art journal', it is also a written journal, a smashbook and a bit of a scrapbook. I just call it my journal though as it is just anything that I want to do, create and record. I don't like labelling things, I just like to journal in whatever way the mood takes me. A lot of the time I find great joy in just cutting, ripping and sticking stuff down!

How & Where I store my art supplies

The most frequently asked question that I receive is about what is in the unit that forms the backdrop to my videos. The second most asked questions is how and where I store my art supplies. The answer to these questions is actually the same so I thought it was about time I did a tour for you.

Now this is a long video, I just warn you now as not everyone likes long videos, it lasts about 40 minutes but then as you know I do talk alot. Alot!

The unit itself is the IKEA Expedit and all the boxes, drawers and cupboard doors are also from the same range. I love it and find it really versatile. I still have some "wiggle" room to so it is not too overloaded or cluttered. My only one very slight downside is the smaller white boxes, if you want the one on the bottom you have to take the one from the top out first. This isn't a major issue really just me being picky. Some of the items are small so I didn't want them in one of the massive boxes where it would become a great big rummagey mess. I wanted to be able to access stuff really easily. And I can. I am a big messy but then you are seeing the true me! I contemplated tidying it all up first but then I thought it wasn't very representative of how I actually do use the unit.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the tour!

My favourite art supplies for using in my art journal

I get emails all the time asking me what products I use and ones that I would reccommend. When it comes to reccommendations, of course I have MY favourites but they might not always be your favourites. People work with different products in different ways and I have found that I haven't enjoyed using what others have, we are all different after all!

My advice is to always experiment until you find what you enjoy using. That being said I know and appreciate it can be costly to buy new materials all the time. And of course companies bring out new products all the time to tempt us! They know that we can't resist after all. Right?

So I thought I would do a video to show you what my favoured products are or at least the products that I am using at the moment. I am sure my tastes will change as I go in and out of love with products, but for now here they are:

Product Review: Cosmic Shimmer Mist

I went to a garden centre the other day and lo and behold they had a craft section. Yippppeeeee I said. I couldn't quite catch what my husband said but it did kind of have a groan mixed in there! Anyhoooooo, they had items in there that I had never seen before. They had a whole range of these little beauties.... Cosmic Shimmer Mist Spray.

Well I couldn't leave without making a purchase, that would be rude! So I couldn't decide which colours to get,  I mean they are all so beautiful indeed. I decided to get a purple, orange, green and blue. I couldn't wait to try them.

Now when you use them you need to give them a big old shake first because there are lots of glittery bits that do have a tendency to settle at the bottom. Other than that you can use them in the same way that you would any other spray. A word of warning though, do make sure you wash the spray nozzle after use as I found that it easily gets clogged up.

I loved all the colours and wouldn't certainly buy more. I liked that they gave a pearly irridescant shine to add just that little uplift to your project without being too glittery. What is more they dry as fast as alcohol inks which is great, no heat gunning at all so for impatient people like me that is fab. When you touch them once it is dry no residue comes off on your fingers like you can find with some glitter products.

The only down side to them is that when you use other mediums over the top they do seep through so just bear that in mind when you use them.

All in all a big thumbs up from me. Love it !!

**Please note this is my own personal opinion and I have created this review myself to share with others. I have not been paid, sponsored or endorsed by anyone to create provide this review** 

Pro Markers "skin" set

I am quite frugal when it comes to art supplies and I try and make do with what I have so as not to waste money on loads of gimmicks and gadgetry. I also believe that limiting yourself also pushes your creativity.  All that being said I do like to have a little spend now and then!

I have a smallish selection of Pro Markers that I have picked up every time I see them on sale or at a good price but I have been wanting the "skin" set for ages and last week I just bit the bullet and splurged £13 on the set of six. 

I had a little play with them and created a little whimsical character rather than a more human like face. I love Pro Markers generally but I think it might take a bit of time and a lot of practice with the skin ones. I have to say I wasn't as pleased with the set as I thought I would be. I thought they were all either on the darker or pinker side and I was hoping for a really light colour too. Maybe it is the way I am using them? I ended up adding a "satin" that I already owned into the mix.

I dunno, I am just not quite happy yet. At least it was a nice sunny day so I had the excuse of sitting in the garden with a cold Diet Coke happily colouring in.

I need to keep playing I think and watch some YouTube tutorials until I get the hang of it.

What do you think? Do you use them?

Another finished journal - time to flip out!

Whoooo hooooo! I have finished my art journal so I thought it was flipping time I did a flip lol!

So I have done two flip videos to suit different tastes. I know some people like me enjoy a longer video with commentary on how the page was made, with what mediums and the inspiration behind the page etc and then there are other people who just want to look at the pictures. So no matter which of the two categories you fall into there is a flip for you!

The first one is the long one and the second is the shorter version (much much much shorter). Grab a cuppa and enjoy : )

Crayola Portfolio Oil Pastel Review and Artwork Share

For a long time now I have coveted the portfolio oil pastels from Crayola. When I was at college we were told to buy oil pastels but then we never ended up using them at all. Just as well I bought the mega mega cheap ones! They were so so cheap. I mean total cheapies at £2 for 48. Sufficient to say they were pretty useless too. They were dry and chalky not at all like oil pastels should be, all smooth and creamy.

Anyway I have never been that bothered that my oil pastels were next to useless but then I watched a video on youtube of a lady creating a page and she used oil pastels and I thought that they looked worth a go! (I can't remember what the video was now or the brand she used now).

I asked on the Art Geeks Facebook page if anyone had any recommendations for oil pastels and they all said the Portfolio ones so with that many recommendations I thought I had better get those ones lol!

Here is my review of using them for the first time along with a share of some of my artwork...

Art journal play video: Raindrops and Rainbows

Another little video for you to watch as I create my art journal page "Raindrops and Rainbows". It's a sped up full start to finish page.

A Mixed Media Challenge

I went to my local office supplies shop and they had a load of craft "grab bags" for sale for just £2.50. I decided to get one and set myself a challenge.

The challenge was that I could only use items from the bag plus a canvas, glue, paint, pens and ink for stamping.

See what was in the kit and how I got on in this video...

The items in the video are for sale in my Etsy shop : )