48 Slimline Alcohol Marker Swatch Sheet (Taotree Marker Dupe)

I recently bought this set of Slimline Alcohol Markers from Amazon and made a video for youtube swatching them.

In the video I mention that I have made a copy of the swatch sheet available for download and here it is:-

48 Marker Swatch Sheet

Vlogmas Epiphany - 2017 Word of the Year & Goals

Last year (2016) was the first year I did Vlogmas and during the process of filming myself every day, I learnt *a lot*... so much so I had an Epiphany, which I made a video about.

In the video I talk about my word of the year for 2016 and my word last year was "Me".   I wanted to try and focus more on myself; on my health, my enjoyment, my fulfilment, rather than others... which is what I always have done previously.

I specifically chose the word ME, rather than "self-love" or "self-care" as I was formally diagnosed with ME earlier in 2015 and I wanted to claim the word ME back for myself... rather than it just being this label I had been given for the illness I had been struggling with for the last few years.

After re-watching the video this morning, I initially thought, "wow I never really moved onto to looking after me much this year did I?".  Did I let go of anything?  No, not really.  Work is still the same, home life is still the same, parental care is still the same, charity commitments are still the same, and I'm still lacking in hobby time... so, seemingly, everything is still the same.

But then I remembered, in summer, on good weather days, I started to carve out time to sit in the sun on the new decking, I sat in the conservatory every now and then reading a book... not often, not daily... but I did occasionally.  I also watched all the Tennis tournaments.  I love tennis but don't make the time to watch it, this year I did, following Andy Murray entirely through the season.

I also spent the whole year of going to Kings College Hospital for ME Treatment every two weeks and part of that treatment involved having psychotherapy, which has been extremely eye opening for me.  Since becoming ill with ME, I suffer from extreme anxiety which has been very limiting and getting to understand that better has been definitely an revelation for me.

So... as much as I didn't give up work, get a cleaner and just make art every day... I definitely did started focusing more on myself.  So there was actually quite a bit of forward momentum on that front!

But I still have too much stuff on my plate, it seems I just can't be "not busy"! 

So I've been thinking about my job,  do I still want it?  What does it give me?  Yes, obviously I earn money from it, but some months I've earnt more selling stuff on eBay than I have at work. And as I've said previously, we, as a household, don't need the money... however I do like to pay my way and have an independent income.

But there is so much I still want to do and having a job keeps me anchored or committed to something that I'm not necessarily passionate about.  So I went into work on the Wednesday before Christmas and had a chat with my manager about it; they are such a lovely company to work for and I think that's the reason I stay.  He said "but you're like family"... and I agree, we are like a family...so whatever I decide, that factor alone makes the decision hard.

So what do I enjoy?  Well...I enjoy making YouTube videos... because I love the interaction with subscribers, the sharing of knowledge with others on the same journey as myself.  However, I definitely don't to be a big youtuber because some YouTube viewers are just a bit too judgemental.  There are too many keyboard warriors, spreading hate for no reason.  I don't want to worry about being judged by strangers on the internet who have dogs as their profile pictures and have never uploaded a video in their life!

I mean look at me, I is what I is! I don't wear makeup, I have crooked teeth, mad hair, a saggy jaw... I'm not  here to compete with make-up gurus or 30 something housewife's with perfect hair, perfect teeth and perfect homes!  I don't need to be told I have too much stuff (not as much as others buster!) or that I "should get my teeth fixed".  I mean, blimey, I'm 50 this year... if I haven't paid to have perfectly straight fake teeth by now... I doubt I'm going to bother.  Life is too short for me to worry about looking perfect all the time and I don't want to deal with people telling me that I should be worried about those things.

I'm just living my life and sharing it as I go, this is as real as it gets.  I'm not a master of anything, I don't profess to know how to do anything... I'm just sharing my journey.  The reason I started making my decluttering videos because I wanted to be held accountable... and it seems to work.  Knowing I have to make a video about the next phase of decluttering, keeps me motivated to move onto the next phase of decluttering!

Anyway... I've rambled too much, this post is supposed to be about my goals for 2017 and my word of the year.  I've been choosing a word of the year since 2011, when my word was "Balance" as back then I was struggling with balancing work and homelife.  My word for 2015 was Simplify as I started to strip back on consumerism and also on focus more on less processed, whole foods.

And so what it my word for this year?  In November I really thought my word of the year was going to be "Focus" because I wanted to carry over the self-care part of last years word ...but Focus on it more.  I also wanted to focus on other pursuits, be more mindful, more aware... and focus seemed to encompass everything.  But for some reason the word never stuck, it never felt right.

And then in early December, as I was having my last therapy session of the year, my word hit me like a ton of bricks... I'd been saying it for the last few weeks about various things and I realised it was the word I wanted to take me through 2017.

For the last few years I have been drifting through life; working too hard, consuming to much, eating, sleeping, being distracted by life, going to bed and getting up the next day, rinse and repeat.  Following trends, buying stuff because that's what we are told to do, having a craft room full of stuff because that's what crafters do, buying books I see advertised and leaving the unread, following along like a consumeristic sheep.

I remember when the urge to break the cycle came, it was early in the year, when I was making a "look how many planners I have" video.  I was sickened by my own consumerism.  I had bought into the "it's okay to have 20 planners because you swap them out like handbags" theory... but its not really ok is it? It's unnecessary.  I didn't have that many handbags!

Having 20 planners does not add value to my life.  And remember I'm talking about me here, not you, not your collection of planners... your collection may add value to you life but for me, it was the straw that broke the camel's back, the realisation that I had been buying stuff I didn't really need... probably for the last 8+ years or so... really since I had become ill and my ability to travel had been limited.  I had been keeping myself distracted with stuff... probably to fill a void.

And so I woke up.  And I realised that my house was full of crap from clearing out my in-law's house in 2009, 2010 and again in 2015 and I also had a craft room packed to the gunnels of stuff that I had been collecting for the last 10+ years, because that's what all my crafter friends did too.

And once I was awake... I was awake!  I could see the wood for the trees, I could see what had value and what did not, I could see what I wanted in my life and what I did not.  And I was falling over myself to clear the clutter.

I started with the 30 bags in 30 days and it wasn't enough, more and more stuff needed to go.  My eyes were open I could see the stuff that had been pushed in every corner, piled on shelves and hidden inside cupboards for the last 15 years and I wanted it all gone!  Why on earth had we kept some of these things? 

With 15 years worth of stuff in the house I had to rein myself in, I focused on the craft room because I knew that once that room was done, I'd be able to spend time in there and actually enjoy the things I chose to keep.  And that's where I am today... sitting in my gorgeous craft room and looking forward to using it in 2017 and making this new Epiphany video for 2017.

I am awake and it's an amazing feeling!

So what can you expect from me in 2017? 

More decluttering videos for sure.  I have a garage and a attic full of crap and they need to be cleared out before the end of March.  I am scared of sharing the attic with you as it is an embarrassing hidey-hole of crap... but if I want to continue to use youtube as my accountability partner, then I must swallow the embarrasment and take the camera up there.  No judging!

I will hopefully also get to make more art and share more art videos... but then I said that last year too, so lets see what happens!

One thing you won't see from me is haul videos. I won't be hauling anything, I've deciding to do a no spend for January, February and March and I will continue to sell things both on Facebook and eBay.  On that note, and after requests, I may start a Facebook group where my craft and planner items will be listed for sale.

And that's about it.  My goals for 2017 are to continue to be awake and enjoy the meaningful things in life!  Happy New Year to you all!

 

It's never ending!

...its never ending!

Just like the Neverending Story (ahah ahahah ahahah) my art and craft book declutter goes on and on and on and on!  Today I go through my Children's Drawing Books and Colouring Books.

Now... I was into colouring before it was all the rage, so the colouring books include some children's colouring books and some of the more recent adult colouring books too.

My copy of the Secret Garden Colouring book was purchased from Cass Art in London.  I absolutely love that shop and highly recommend a visit if you are in London... well that's if you love arty painty supplies!  They also now have an online store, which (amazingly) they still sell at the same great prices they do in store! 

Oh... and there's also another giveaway!  This time with two prizes:

Prize 1:  How to Draw 101 Fairies by Dan Green
Prize 2: A Doodle Activity Pad and Colouring Book

Favourite Books Mentioned:-   Drawing for the Artistically Undiscovered
UK:   http://amzn.to/2c7P68j    USA:   http://amzn.to/2bQM6iF   Let's Make Some Great Art
UK:   http://amzn.to/2cx4flz   USA:   http://amzn.to/2c4oYJr   365 Things to Draw and Paint
UK:   http://amzn.to/2c7PFyU   USA:   http://amzn.to/2bQLQQD   Secret Garden Colouring Book
UK:   http://amzn.to/2cx435P   USA:   http://amzn.to/2ckR44Z  

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Official Rules:

• The giveaway is open worldwide
• Entrants must be over 18 to receive the prize
• Entrants must be a subscriber to the ArtJourneyUK YouTube Channel
• Subscriber accounts must comply to YouTube Community Guidelines, entrants that don't comply will be disqualified from the giveaway
• YouTube is not a sponsor of this giveaway and, as such, entrants release YouTube from any and all liability relating to this giveaway
• Any personal data you provide during this giveaway will be used solely to contact you in the event you win the giveaway. 
• All such data is collated by Rafflecopter and will not be used by ArtJourney in any way other than detailed above
• ArtJourney commits to providing the prize (as detailed) but beyond that is released from any and all liability relating to this giveaway.
• Giveaway Starts 9th September and ends 19th September 2016

...and so the book sort continues!

...and so the book sort continues!

Just a short video today, mainly because I forgot about the calligraphy books stashed under the desk, so decided to make this video just about my calligraphy books.

Favourite Books Mentioned:-
Calligraphy : A Comprehensive Course by Maryanne Grebenstein
UK: http://amzn.to/2cw5Pnw USA: http://amzn.to/2cwG7MT
The Calligraphy Bible by David Harris
UK: http://amzn.to/2c7w0PD USA: http://amzn.to/2c9fY8V
The Bible of Illuminated Letters by Margaret Morgan
UK: http://amzn.to/2cw5YHR USA: http://amzn.to/2c0GY8z

Decluttering more books... and a giveaway!

Decluttering more books... and a giveaway!

...and it goes on!  After drowning in a sea of books for a week or so, I move onto to sorting through my Drawing, Watercolour and General Painting Books.... and it gives me the chance to do a giveaway.... finally!

I wanted to do a giveaway when I reached 1000 YouTube subscribers, but that crept up on me and I missed the opportunity...so here's my chance to make up for that!  The prize is the "Watercolour in 10 Steps" Book by Patricia Seligman 

Favourite Books Mentioned:-

Drawing Lab by Carla Sonheim
UK:   http://amzn.to/2ctOCLE   USA:  http://amzn.to/2c2ymxc

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
UK:   http://amzn.to/2c6g0O1   USA:  http://amzn.to/2c0bCNW

Painting Songbirds
UK:  http://amzn.to/2c6iWKa   USA:  http://amzn.to/2ctQW27

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Official Rules:

• The giveaway is open worldwide
• Entrants must be over 18 to receive the prize
• Entrants must be a subscriber to the ArtJourneyUK YouTube Channel
• Subscriber accounts must comply to YouTube Community Guidelines, entrants that don't comply will be disqualified from the giveaway
• YouTube is not a sponsor of this giveaway and, as such, entrants release YouTube from any and all liability relating to this giveaway
• Any personal data you provide during this giveaway will be used solely to contact you in the event you win the giveaway. 
• All such data is collated by Rafflecopter and will not be used by ArtJourney in any way other than detailed above
• ArtJourney commits to providing the prize (as detailed) but beyond that is released from any and all liability relating to this giveaway.
• Giveaway Starts 6th September and ends 16th September 2016

Decluttering Art Journaling, Collage and Mixed Media Books!

Decluttering Art Journaling, Collage and Mixed Media Books!

And the Great Craftroom Declutter continues as I go through my books Konmari style and keep only those I love.  This video covers all my Art Journaling, Collage and Mixed Media Books.

Favourite Books Mentioned:-

Collage Playground
UK:  http://amzn.to/2bLNvIe
USA:  http://amzn.to/2bY1HZE

Scraps
UK:  http://amzn.to/2bLNUdI
USA:  http://amzn.to/2bTwZ3s

Surface Treatment Workshop
UK:  http://amzn.to/2cod9Sm
USA:  http://amzn.to/2bTycHP

Mixed Media Girls by Suzi Blu
UK:  http://amzn.to/2bLOpEG
USA:  http://amzn.to/2bTDjcX

1000 Artist Journal Pages
UK:  http://amzn.to/2bLOQyH
USA:  http://amzn.to/2bY2idD

The Journey is the Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon
UK:   http://amzn.to/2bLPBIc
USA:   http://amzn.to/2bY4bqI

The Kelly Rae Roberts Book I Mentioned (and have just rebought!) was called
"Taking Flight: Inspiration and Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings"
UK:  http://amzn.to/2cofZGR
USA:   http://amzn.to/2c1seIu

Decluttering my Scrapbooking Books... Konmari style!

Decluttering my Scrapbooking Books... Konmari style!

The Great Craftroom Declutter continues as I go through my books Konmari style and keep only those I love.  I also share bag 2 of my 30 Bags in 30 Days Challenge 

 

Favourite Books Mentioned:-

 

Clean and Simple Designs for Scrapbooking

UK:  http://amzn.to/2bQ5463

USA:  http://amzn.to/2bYbgKX

 

Clean and Simple Scrapbooking: The Sequel
UK: http://amzn.to/2bHXWg5
USA: http://amzn.to/2ckMmGa

 

Scrapbooking the Big Picture
UK: http://amzn.to/2bHYVNi
USA: http://amzn.to/2ca5XHh

 

Step Up Your Scrapbooking

UK:  http://amzn.to/2bQ3n8y

USA:  http://amzn.to/2bZ9cnH

The Great Craftroom Declutter Day1 | Clearing The Shelves

The Great Craftroom Declutter Day1 | Clearing The Shelves

The Great Craftroom Declutter continues as I start clearing the shelves in my craft room. 

I have also decided to do the 30 Bags in 30 Days Challenge and show Day 1's bag!

The Great Craftroom Update & Declutter!

The Great Craftroom Update & Declutter!

It's time for a change! Finally! We've lived in this house for 16 years now... 16 YEARS!... where did that time go? I remember how keen we were when we first moved in; ripping up carpets, replacing fireplaces, having double glazing fitted, tiling the kitchen floor, boarding the eaves of the loft, painting the lounge, the hallway, the upper landing, the stairs... all while both working full time (and some!). 

And then we stopped.  Why?  Did we stagnate?  Did our circumstances change? Probably yes to both of those... but in all reality I'm finding it hard to remember why we went from pouring lots of energy into making the house "ours" to settling with where it was. 

Maybe its because the next steps were all "big ones"... you know like removing water tanks, playing with water pipes... big scary things that can go wrong!  Actually I seem to remember the last thing we had done was the double glazing... and my what a nightmare that was!  I think that's when we become scared of having more "big stuff" done!

But now its time... time to make things how we want them... and I'm starting with my playroom...ahem...I mean art room/craft room/scrapbooking room, whatever you want to call it!

I'm going to share my whole craft room update and decluttering journey on YouTube (obviously!) and to begin... here's the before tour....

I Bought Stuff! {Art Supply and Stationery Haul}

I Bought Stuff!  {Art Supply and Stationery Haul}

It's been a while since I made a video... in fact it's been a while since I bought stuff! 

So join me as I share a Stationery and Art Supply Haul!

 

 

YouTubers Mentioned:-

Sheri - https://www.youtube.com/user/pinkij

Websites Mentioned:-

Typo:- http://typo.com

Crafty Arts:- https://www.craftyarts.co.uk/

Curtis Ward:- https://www.curtisward.com/

 

Products Mentioned: 

Faber Castell Pastels

   UK:- http://amzn.to/2bXW5lU    USA:- http://amzn.to/2bXVIYq

 Lyra 6B Graphite Water-Soluble Crayon

   UK:- http://amzn.to/2bRbToj    USA:- http://amzn.to/2bpQGRV

 Lyra 9B Graphite Water-Soluble Crayon

   UK:- http://amzn.to/2bXXCIq     USA:- http://amzn.to/2bXYblH

 Pebeo Studio Titanium Buff Paint

   UK:- http://amzn.to/2bXYxIT     USA:- http://amzn.to/2bBZV04

 Pebeo Studio Titanium White Paint

   UK:- http://amzn.to/2bXZeSw     USA:- http://amzn.to/2bpRwOh

 Daler Rowney Neon Paint Set

   UK:- http://amzn.to/2bpRwOh     USA:- not available

 Derwent Pastel Wrap

   UK:- http://amzn.to/2bpR9n8     USA:- http://amzn.to/2bIkuKa

 Reeves Junior Paint by Numbers

   UK:- http://amzn.to/2bRdQ42    USA:- http://amzn.to/2bIjh5Q

 Chalkboard Art Colouring Book

  UK:- http://amzn.to/2bXWJje     USA:- http://amzn.to/2bBXrPl

 Chalkola Chalk Pens

   UK:- http://amzn.to/2bR9GcB      USA:- http://amzn.to/2bilftP

 

The Filofax Malden Kingfisher | First Impressions

The Filofax Malden Kingfisher | First Impressions

I was lucky enough to be able to purchase both an A5 and Personal Filofax Malden in Kingfisher Blue over the weekend (I had a gift card!).

This video below is me unboxing the planners, sharing my first impressions and also comparing them to my other Teal/Aqua Planners.

Products Mentioned in the video:

Filofax Malden Planners in Kingfisher Blue available in the UK from

http://bit.ly/Filofax_UK  or http://bit.ly/WHSmithUK

Filofax Finsbury A5 Planner in Aqua - http://bit.ly/FinsburyA5Teal
{Discontinued but one occasionally pops up here}

Carpe Diem Planner in Aqua - http://bit.ly/CarpeDiemAqua
Carpe Diem Planner in Robins Egg - http://bit.ly/CarpeDiemREgg

Websters Color Crush Planner in Teal - http://bit.ly/CCPTeal
Websters Travelers Notebook in Mint - http://bit.ly/CCTNMint

Kikki-K Time Planner Teal - No Longer Available
Kikki-K Personal Planner Large Ocean - No Longer Available

 

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

My Valentines Day presents from hubs... A new kettle (I wanted one, honestly!), a Lola Rose Queensbury Bracelet and a Mini Swiss Army Knife in the pattern "blob"

Filofax Friday | Planner Haul with Filofax, Kikki-K and Dokibook

Filofax Friday | Planner Haul with Filofax, Kikki-K and Dokibook

It's Filofax Friday once again!  Join me as I share a Planner Haul/unboxing, including the Kikki-K Wellness Planner.

I also compare a Large Kikki-K, Large Dokibook and an A5 Filofax, line up and stroke a plethora of gorgeous teal coloured planners and compare a number of Filofax planners.

If you like watching 35 minutes of planner lushness... grab a cuppa!

Filofax Friday | My Filofax Journey | 20 Years of Planners!

Filofax Friday | My Filofax Journey |  20 Years of Planners!

Join me as I share my Planner History!  After 20 years plus of using Filofaxes and Planners, I thought I'd share the ones that have taken me through the last 20 years (ad that I can still find!)

 It's in two parts due to file size!  Enjoy!

 

 

It's Filofax Friday... or is it?!?

It's Filofax Friday... or is it?!?

It's Filofax Friday! Well kinda.  I'm too poorly sick to edit the video... but as luck would have it my Kikki.K order arrived today as I was about to retire to my bed for the day, so I filmed this quick haul. 

Unedited, direct to camera, apologies for the polythene rattling!  Enjoy!

The Vlogmas Epiphany

The Vlogmas Epiphany

So... here's what I learnt while vlogging throughout the whole of December plus my goals and word for the year.

The Vlogmas Playlist!

The Vlogmas Playlist

Happy New Year!  We made it and...phew...Its over!  Vlogmas that is!

I now have massive kudos for daily vloggers... well those that work, are trying to deal with late running renovations, a poorly family and the large and looming threat of Christmas! 

Finding the time to download the footage, edit the video and upload the video to YouTube after some long days was hard... which is probably why I missed a few days!  ;)

If you want to see the whole lot from beginning to end, here's a link to my Vlogmas Playlist

I learnt *a lot* during this period of video myself... and am about to make a video on what I learnt, my goals for 2016 and my word of the year.  Hopefully I'll have that video up tomorrow!

Enjoy!

Vlogmas?

Vlogmas?

What is Vlogmas I hear you ask?  Well its that special time of year when YouTubers vlog ("video Blog") every day in December in the lead up to Christmas... sort of like a video advent calendar, if you like!

I've enjoyed watching various YouTubers Vlogmases over the last 3 or 4 years and thought it looked like fun......so... I've decided to take part in Vlogmas this year!

I've never made any DITL (Day in the Life) videos before, but...well... I want to see what happens in December. I have just finished editing yesterday's video, and that's just about to be uploaded... its 40min!  Not sure I'll jibber jabber that much in the other videos! I'm still learning remember, I'm a fledgling vlogger lol!

I'm hoping my Vlogmas will be half arty/crafty and half my real life. Just depends which one gets precedence really!  With all that's going on at the moment, I'm not sure there will be time for much Art and Craft!

Vlog | Meeting Some of the US Art Gang in Docklands

Vlog | Meeting Some of the US Art Gang in Docklands

Oooo the excitement when I heard some of the US Art Gang were coming over to the UK!  Although they were only going to be in London for one and half days, I had to make the effort to meet up with them.  However, their one full and free day in London was a day that I had a hospital visit booked!  Dang! 

However, as luck would have it, the hotel the girls were staying in was just 20 minutes up the road in Docklands, so on Sunday I popped into Docklands to meet the lovely Happy Diane and the ScrappyCamper Sisters

Here's the short vlog I made!

Challenged... again!

So it looks like I might have got the challenge bug!  I found a great little challenge on the Artful Times blog hosted by Neet and Von, and just had to join in.

Challenge 21 is all about creating an ATC based on Time... and so here is mine!

I started by using Alcohol Inks on glossy card and then used blending solution through a stencil to create a ghost clock image. I then stamped off the edges of the card using a Tim Holtz clock stamp and Ranger Archival Ink in Coffee and also inked the edges of the card.

 

I finished the ATC with a printed and inked phrase and added Tim Holtz metal clock hands to the ghostly clock image. 

 

Thanks for the challenge Neet and Von look forward to seeing what everyone creates!