Monthly planning MTN: August 2016 update

So I have been well behind with my monthly updates in my Midori Traveler's notebook, but this past weekend I finally had some time to finish both august and september speads *big sigh of relief*

August has been a bit of a difficult month for me, as I was sick with a Bronchitis infection that lasted about 3 weeks. It seemed to rain like forever, until the last weeks rolled around and brought some much needed sunshine and happiness.

I decided to use some of my favorite Carabelle stamps to decorate the pages for august. I chose the cloud and raindrop stamps designed by Birgit Koopsen and the Pavots Rigolos by Azoline to set the mood for this month's theme. I stamped them with memento dewdrops and colored them in with tombow markers and blended it with a water brush. After the blending I immediately heat dried the page with my heat tool so the colors would not seep through the back page as much.

Sadly it did a little, but it could have been worse! But I have found a perfect solution for this problem with my next spread, which I will share with you on my september update.

August was a slow month and I spent most of my time recovering from the infection. But one thing really stood out and that was the Amsterdam Comic Con! It was fantastic! I got to meet James Masters, Christopher Judge, Lance Hendriksen and met up with good friends in that weekend of whirlwind fun! I was glad to be recovered that weekend to enjoy it fully. Most of the days were left empty as I spent my time on the couch and re-watch episodes of Dawson's Creek. I thought it would be fun to fill those up with the cute owl emoticon stamps from Minipunkt.  To remind myself that difficult times will pass I put in the quote "It can't Rain all the time" (from the Crow) and Flowers will Bloom (but it first needs rain to do so...)

With the addition of the happy owl faces, it turned out to be a fun spread after all. I spent most of my time just being and resting and the spread does reflects that. September is a whole different spread with a lot of activities and I can't wait to share that with you next week. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

namasté

Mini Art Journal: Excess Baggage

Over at Stampotique Challenge blog the theme for this fortnight was "Your fave quote" and wanted to do a spread in my pocket art journal for it. I let this theme sit a bit with me and finally found a quote that resonated with how I was feeling at the time (my husband and I had a little spat, but no worries we always kiss and make up...). I went through my lovely Stampotique stamps this past weekend and found Mothloved to depict that feeling. And the spread shown above was born.

The quote I used is  

"Everyone you meet comes with baggage, 

find someone who loves you enough to help you unpack" 

- now, ain't that the truth? 

And little Mothloved, she carries her baggage with her everywhere she goes, but she is very lovable!

I stated off by grabbing one of my brusho background pages (used ultramarine brusho over a script stencil) and added some more color to it: mustard seed and broken china distress inks with a blending tool. Then I stamped some script and circle stamps with matching Staz-On inks on the page for some interest. Lastly I stamped Mothloved with Memento black on the side where I wanted her to be.

I cut the page to fit and adhered it in the journal. Mothloved is stamped on sticker paper and colored in with promarkers and then cut out. I used the same color scheme as I did with the background page, blue and yellow. On the bottom I adhered some washi tape and some extra near her feet to "ground" her more on the page. These techniques (stamping for placements, adhering a colored image op top and grounding that image with masking tape) are often used in Corrie's work. So Corrie, thank you for the inspiration :)

After I put on more washi tape along the edges to frame the page I went to work and stamped the quote in by using Eline's Handlettering Script rubber stamps. I patiently formed every word with the separate letter stamps out of the 2 fonts, brush and stencil, then stamped the whole quote with Staz On Azure. It was definitely meditative to do.

A close up of the end result. In the end I also outlined and underlined the stamped words with a 0.1 steadtler Micron pen to give it some more depth. I also took out the extra washi tape on the left bottom side of the page as it really didn't add much to it and called this spread done. I have a strong desire to give Mothloved a big hug!

This spread is entered for the Stampotique #258 Fave Quotes challenge and if you feel inspired to join in, you can until next wednesday when the new challenge prompt will be announced! Can't wait to see what the next challenge is. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

namasté

ETA: Just found out that Stampotique team chose my entry Affectionate Seahorses as one of the gift certificate winners for the August 2016 challenge! Woot!! I am so freaking happy! Thanks so much Stampotique team, it really made my day!

Pens and Ink: Swan Green Marble with Diamine Safari

When I saw this gorgeous pen on Sarj's table at the Tilburg Penshow a few weekends ago, I knew this one had to go home with me. Well, basically I wanted all the pens he had to go home with me but alas, due to budgets I had to make some tough choices ... and this one definitely made the cut!

It's a vintage Mabie Todd Swan Green marbled bodied self filler (ca. 1940-1945) with a stellar 14C gold Fine Flexible nib! It writes absolutely amazing! I've chosen to pair it with Diamine Safari It's a beautiful moss green which, I think, highlights the pen body really well.

I have written a page in my loving kindness metta meditation journal with it (it's now the Rhodiarama softcover dot grid A5 notebook I got in the Spotlight Stationery July box) and this is a really amazing match! The ink does make the pen body shine, but the flex nib also makes the ink look really good! Under the right light you can even see a bit of golden sheen. I am very happy this pen got to go home with me, because it also made me appreciate this ink a lot more!

For some awesome reviews on Diamine 150th anniversary Safari ink; see Gourmetpens' review and some beautiful HD inkshots at The Clumsy Penman. 

 What pen and ink combo made you appreciate an ink more?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

namasté

Art Snacks September 2016 Box

I might have mentioned it before, but the ladies at Art Supply Posse sure are high class enablers ;) Their goal is to get you to use your supplies (which you already have...ideally) more and think about art making in different ways. Which is wonderful and all, but due to my inquisitive nature, it also evokes the "Oh, I really must try that!" feeling like it did with the Faber Castell Polychromos.  And thus I have also joined the Art Snacks subscription boxes ("A CURATED BOX OF UNIQUE, HIGH-QUALITY ART SUPPLIES (4-5 items) DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR EVERY MONTH."), because "I must try that!" ... sigh! I wanted to try a one-off box through the Art Snacks shop, but sadly at this point they do not offer international shipping through the shop. So I had to go for a subscription to satisfy my curiosity. Well at least I do support the podcast though my subscription and they also have a coupon code for 10% off your first box. Hard to say no to that right?

So my first Art Snack box arrived in the mail, which is the September box. It was shipped on september first and arrived in 2 weeks, which was not too shabby. Though I was getting a bit impatient because I have seen people do the un-boxing and participate in the artsnacks challenge. And when the wait was finally over, I got to unpack the cute rectangular box filled with the goodies above. A description from the items taken from the art snacks site:

Alvin + ArtSnacks .5mm Draft-Matic Mechanical Pencil

The Alvin .5mm Draft-Matic Mechanical Pencil was engineered for comfort, with a stainless steel finger grip, and comes stocked with HB graphite. Hidden under the steel cap you’ll find a cute little eraser. We collaborated with Alvin to produce this limited edition version in ArtSnacks teal, a color that is exclusive to our customers, and will never be available anywhere else! 

Alumicolor Hollow Triangular Drafting Scale

The Alumicolor Hollow Triangular Drafting Scale is a precision instrument great for artists because it stays in place better than a standard flat ruler. If you don’t want to measure in inches, flip it over and try the five other units of measure! Your shiny new drafting scale is about the length of a pen, so it’s easy to pack up and carry with your other art supplies. 

Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush

The Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush pen features water-based ink, so it’s perfect for blending. Try laying down a layer of ink and then using another brush to add water, creating a wash effect. You can also blend with another marker if it’s not alcohol-based – just touch the tips together. The flexible bristle tip makes it possible to blend a variety of water-based ink colors without staining the tip. 

Kurecolor Twin S Marker

Durable, vibrant, and professional. All strong words to describe the Kurecolor Twin S Marker. For aspiring designers everywhere, these markers will bring your artwork to life, whether you are drawing on glass, acetate, metal, or photo paper.

And you also got a cute little sticker and candy snack! Super excited to have the LE Alvin mechanical pencil which was made esp. for the art snack subscribers! It's in my fave color too! While I have used an alcohol marker and a brush like product before, these other supplies were new to me and could not wait to try them out. I was esp. curious about the Clean Color Brush because I have heard so many people saying good things about them.

So I took my dot grid Nuuna notebook to sketch something in it using all the tools. Something to note with the Art Snacks box is that the colors of each item may vary from box to box. I got a Kurecolor Twin Marker in pale green (much like the tissue wrapping they used for this box!) and the Kuretaker Clean Color Real Brush in light carmine. Those two color combo screamed "flower" to me more than anything else. With the mechanical pencil and drafting scale I drew the abstract flower and colored it in. What I noticed right away, the notebook I used was not the right paper for either of these products. You can blend the Clean Color brush with a water brush which I tried with a few of the flower petals, but it just didn't blend well enough. I checked my stash for a suitable surface paper and I decided on smooth glossy sticker paper to see how that would work.

And that worked a whole lot better! I took one of my flowers stencils, drew it on the with mechanical pencil and colored them in. I knew the alcohol marker would perform well on the glossy sticker paper as I had tried that before with another brand, but what was surprising to me was how well the clean brush color stuck to the paper and blended! I took a pentel waterbrush to blend the colors between the lines and gave a nice shade of pale pink. When dried it's a nice subtle soft blend. Very pleasantly surprised! Now I need to try out if Tombows react the same way on this paper :)

A note on the drafting scale: though it doesn't fully specifies it on the scale itself, it's in inches and the comment that you can "flip it over and try the five other units of measure" means the five units of measure is a variation on inches (1/2 an inch, 1/4 inch, 3/4 inch etc) At least that is what I have figured out by comparing the measurements to the metric centimeters (which is what in the EU is commonly used). So I can't really rely on the scales to measure out centimeters for me, but then again I won't be making architectural designs in exact scale either! More information on how to read an architectural scale you can find HERE and HERE. In the end I gave the scale to my husband whom makes map designs for Fantasy RPG lands, so I am sure he will find a better use for it then I would!

While these might not have been the colors I would have chosen personally, I am glad I got to try these products out! The alcohol marker performs similarly to a copic or promarker so I know I would not have to buy these as I have similar products I am happy with. The Brush pen does feel like a REAL brush and bounces back pretty quickly! I also did a water test, dipped the tip in water to blend a few petals and after a minute or two the color comes rushing back in. It's very flexible and does feel like it's able to withstand some pressure when you're doing lettering work. It feels different than a tombow marker and I might get a couple of these to see how they blend together.

In conclusion: This was definitely a nice selection of goodies I received in the mail for 30$ including shipping overseas. (The subscription plan changed the month after I joined it is now 34$) I am stoked I got the LE mechanical pencil, since it is something I do use on a regular basis. The scale will find better use with my husband and I finally got to try out the Clean Color brush and dang it now I want more of those! Thanks again for enabling, Ana and Heather, my wallet is a little less happy though ;) 

Hope this review was useful to you if you're planning on subscribing to an international plan at Art Snacks. Remember that you can get 10% off on your first subscription box using a code you can find HERE at Artsupply Posse (while supplies last...) 

I can't wait to see what the October box will bring!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

namasté

Mailart Monday: Halloween Poetry ATC's

This bride of frankenstein stamp from Viva Las Vegastamps is fast becoming a favorite to use.  I combined it with the "when witches ride" text stamp. Last week I showed you the ATC and Notecard I made with these and I also made a few "Fridge magnet poetry" ATC's out of them. I stamped the bride and text stamp on two different gelli printed and stenciled backgrounds. The background from the right is a left over piece from my "The nature of Causality" journal page.  I cut the sentences of the text loose, re-arranged the words and layered them over on the image.

"Witches go riding, black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, Halloween."

"When witches and black cats are seen, the moon whispers, tis near Halloween"

I'm entering the October Challenge at Viva Las VegaStamps with these ATCs. The theme is "demonic" well, the Bride certainly looks demonic on the bloody red ATC. I got inspired by these prompts: Text, dictionary, the list aspect, splashes of color (red and green) and the texture the mood board has (the green ATC's back ground texture). 

With this I am also entering the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #29 - the mood board is all about Halloween, witches, black cats, spooky, etc. as it is the season after all :)

These were really fun to make! How are you all getting into the spooky season?

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

namasté