Artline Monday - Organising your finances with a bullet journal

Every April I always feel the need to get on top of my finances, it's probably because it is the start of a new tax year and usually when our wages and bills all go up.  This year I thought I would use my bullet journal to help me organise my money so I hit Pinterest for some ideas and created my own spread.

Bullet journal, calculator and Artline pens

One of the best things about a bullet journal is you only need a notebook and a few pens to get started!  If you haven't already set up one check out my Bullet journal basics posts for details on creating your own and then come back here for more information about managing your money in one! 

Income, outgoings, spent and saved

I have four sections in my spread, these are Income, Outgoings, Spent and Saved.  I used the dots on my pages to help me make the sections and drew them with a couple of Artline fineliners.

Money, money, money

I listed the money we have coming in under Income and used an Artline Supreme highlighter to colour in every other line so it was easier to read.  I then did the same with all the money we have going out under outgoings.  This includes things like rent, council tax, utilities, Netflix etc and I added another couple of rows to this section so I could record if these bills are paid automatically or if I have to make the payments myself.

I haven't filled in every amount in these two sections for privacy reasons but now I have photographed the pages I can add those details in.

There is one box under the Income and Outgoings sections for the totals.  You just need to add all of your incoming money together and pop the total in the first box and then add all of your outgoings together and write that number in the second box.  If you take away your total outgoings from your total income this will leave you with your surplus or spare money for the month. 

Spent and saved

On the second page I am recording what we have spent and what we have saved.  I drew boxes for Bills, Fuel, Food, Entertainment, Clothes, Stationery and the last box is for the money my husband spends during the month. I added numbers under each box and then used a highlighter to colour in how much we have spent.  As the month goes on I can continue to colour in further along the boxes as we spend more money.  This is a great way to see exactly where your money is going!

For the Saved section I drew some smaller boxes an labelled them with amounts like £1, £2, £5 and £10.  When I put some money into our savings I colour in the corresponding box with my highlighter so I can see how much I've managed to squirrel away!

I am going to repeat this spread each month in my journal with the hope that it will help me keep on top of our finances and maybe evaluate where our money is going and what we can cut down on.  

Do you think this system would work for you?

Artline Monday - World Art Day

The 15th of this month is World Art Day and I thought it would be fun to recreate some of my favourite artworks on rocks and hide them for people to find this week!

Rock painting supplies

I started out with six stones and painted a base coat on the grey ones so I had a lighter surface to work on.  Once they were dry I sorted out my Artline pens and started designing my rocks.

Kandinsky Several Circles

My first rock is based on Kandinsky's Several Circles, I have loved this piece since I first learned about it during my A level art course (many years ago!).  I drew and painted the circle shapes using paint, poster, chalk and OHP markers first and then coloured in the background with my Artline 70 pen.  I am pleased with how it turned out and I hope the person who finds it loves it!

Piet Mondrian

The next two rocks are based on the works of Piet Mondrian, I love how simple these were to do but they are still recognisable as pieces of art.  As the stones were already white I just used four pens to draw the squares and rectangles and then coloured some of them in with red, yellow and blue markers.

Van Gogh Starry Night

I tried to copy a section of Van Gogh's Starry Night on this rock but I'm not sure I did a good enough job.  I guess I'm more of an abstract girl than a post-impressionist!  I coloured the rock in with my blue Artline 853 OHP marker and then drew on top of it with a black Artline 70 pen.  The last stage was to add the stars with a yellow paint marker and the swirls in the sky.

Lichtenstein Pop art

After my Van Gogh failure I wanted to do something a little easier on the next stone so I went with a bit of Pop Art.  I drew the word Pop with the Artline 853 OHP markers and a paint marker, I coloured in the red background with a red permanent marker and then added the dots that represent this style.  It is supposed to look like it belongs in a comic so I think this one is more successful than the one before!

World Art Day rock

The last rock I made was to commemorate World Art Day.  I used a lovely bronze Supreme metallic marker to decorate the edges and my favourite gold Artline 900XF pen in the centre.

On the back of each rock I have written the artist and/or piece of artwork the rocks are based on, the date of World Art Day and a message telling the person they can either keep or rehide the stones and asking them to share a photo online with the tag #ArtlineRocks so we can see where they end up.  It is so exciting when I get to hear that my rocks have been found! 

The finished #ArtlineRocks

The stones have all been varnished now to protect them from the rain and I am going to be hiding them with my girls this afternoon.  I hope they spread a little happiness and a bit of art appreciation this week!

Will you be doing anything to celebrate World Art Day?

Artline Monday - Easter holiday activity

Happy Easter!  Have your children finished off all their Easter eggs or uttered the dreaded words "I'm bored" yet?  If you want to keep them entertained over the holiday why not try this fun craft!

Bunnies!

You will need some empty toilet roll tubes, glue, pretty card or paper and a selection of pens.

Supplies

The first step is to paint the toilet roll tubes, I used my Artline poster and paint markers for this step as they dry quickly and are a lot less messy than traditional paints.

Paint the toilet roll tube

The next step is to cut out some bunny ears from your paper or card.  I cut one ear freehand and then used it as a template for all the others.

Bunny ears

Then cut out some smaller ear pieces to glue onto the larger ears.  Again I cut one out first and when I was happy with the size and shape I used it as a template for the other pieces.

Gluing the pieces together

Once you have made the ears put some glue on the bottom of each piece and stick them to the inside of your painted toilet roll tube like this.

Glue the ears into place

Now you have a bunny shape you need to add some details.  I used a white Artline 444XF paint marker to draw some eyes and teeth on each.

Adding eyes and teeth

Then I waited for the paint to dry.

Waiting for the paint to dry

For the noses so I used my pink poster marker on the yellow, blue and purple bunnies....

Painting the noses

.... and my pink Artline 200 fineliner on the pink bunny.

Adding a nose

The last step is to draw the bunnies pupils, whiskers, mouths and teeth, I used my black fineliner for this.

The finished bunnies

These bunnies are perfect to use as some Easter or spring decorations around your home or your children can use them as toys or puppets to play with.  You can also make some larger bunnies using empty kitchen roll tubes and make a whole family of rabbits!  

Enjoy the rest of your holiday and thanks for stopping by!