Planner Friday - March

Hello!  It's Planner Friday again over on the Trendy Twine blog and I am talking about how I am going to record my Easter holiday this year.  Please pop over and say hi!

Happy Easter!  I love the Easter holidays for a couple of reasons, one... well, it's chocolate and two getting to spend lots of time together with my family.  I wanted to document the holiday this year in my bullet journal so I raided my Annie's Paper Boutique supplies and created a candy coloured spread.

Products used: Tag its - pink and lemon

Documenting The Everyday stamp set

Documenting The Everyday #2 stamp set

How's The Weather planner stamps

Used but not pictured: 

This Is December #2 stamp set

I started by adding some strips of pretty washi tape to the top and bottom of the spread and then glued a couple of tag its onto the pages.  The tag its are great for adding a splash of colour and highlighting any information you want to stand out.

Recording the Easter holidays

I used the sun stamp from my How's The Weather set because I am wishing for some warm spring days while my children are off school, if the weather is awful though I have left myself space underneath the sun to record what it was actually like.

You can read the rest of my post here.

Enjoy the rest of you holiday!

My week #11

This is just a quick little post today to share with you my week #11 pages.  It was the week of my lovely in laws 50th wedding anniversary so I decided to go with a hearts and flowers theme in my planner.

My week #11

I used a sticker kit from IsabelleTheOwl on Etsy so everything goes together perfectly.  It is one of my favourite sets and I had been saving it for a special occasion for nearly a year before I used it!  

The rose gold day stickers are from Bits Of Stationery and I used them to cover up where I dropped my check box stamp when I was planning my week!  I tried to cover most of the misplaced ink with a strip of glittery pink washi tape but part of it was on the word Tuesday so I hid it with one of these stickers and then used a couple more on the rest of the week so it wouldn't look out of place. 

Close up

Close up

Next time I get my stamps out I must be more careful!

Thanks for stopping by!

Artline Monday - Decorating Easter eggs

One of my favourite Easter activities when I was younger was decorating hard boiled eggs to use as a centrepiece for our dinner table on Easter Sunday.  I wanted to carry on this tradition with my children so I got together some eggs and my Artline pens and we spent a quiet afternoon getting crafty.

Artline Easter eggs

Once the eggs were boiled and cooled I put them on the table with a selection of different pens and markers.

Eggs and Artline supplies

My youngest daughter wanted to have a chick on her egg so I drew the basic shape of one with a yellow paint marker and then added wings and a few feathers on the head.

Drawing a chick shape

My daughter drew the eyes and beak with a couple of Artline 853 OHP markers and then wrote Happy Easter with a metallic gold Artline supreme pen.

Adding the details

Here is the finished egg.

Happy Easter!

My oldest daughter drew patterns on her egg using some more Artline supreme markers.

Drawing flowers with an Artline supreme marker

She also used a green glassboard marker which worked surprisingly well on an egg!

Adding more decoration

Here is her finished design.

Finished egg

I wanted to do something a little different so decided to turn my egg into a cute unicorn.

Painting a base coat

I painted a base coat with my pink poster marker and then had a cup of tea while it dried.

Adding eyes & lashes

The next step was to draw some closed eyes and lashes with my Artline 70 marker.

Unicorn horn

I made the horn by rolling some gold wrapping paper into a cone shape and taping it closed with a thin strip of pink washi tape.  I also cut her two ears out of pink card and then glued everything onto the egg using a little bit of spray adhesive. 

Rosy cheeks

I gave her some sweet rosy cheeks using my pink Artline supreme marker and used lots of pink crystal stickers for an exra bit of decoration.  I think she turned out rather well!

Finished egg

The last egg we decorated was painted blue with a poster marker and left to dry for a little while.

Another base coat

I used my gold Artline 900XF pen to write my youngest daughter's initial on the egg and draw some polka dots around it.

Adding an initial 

It is a simple design but I think the blue and gold colours really stand out together.

Finished egg

Our eggs are very bright and colourful and my girls really enjoyed decorating them.

Our pretty Easter eggs

In fact they have asked me if we can make some more before Easter Sunday so I need to go and buy more eggs!

Eggs, eggs, eggs

If you want to have a go at decorating your own eggs make sure you take a photo of them once you have finished so you can enter our Easter competition!  Keep an eye out on my Facebook page and the Artline Official page for details on how to enter.

Have a fantastic Easter!

Artline Monday - Spring watercolours

I love spring, I love seeing the world bloom with colour again after the wet, grey months of winter and I feel energised and renewed.  I wanted to mark the start of the season in my journal with lots of pretty florals and I had an idea to paint some flowers watercolour style with my Artline paint and chalk markers.

Welcoming spring in my journal

It was a complete experiment but I am happy with how they turned out so I thought I would share with you how I did it step by step in case you wanted to do something similar.  This is a quick and easy way to dip your toe into watercolours without having to buy an expensive palette of paints or a nice craft project for your children over the upcoming Easter holiday! 

The supplies

You will need some watercolour paper or any other kind of paper that can withstand you using water on it, I used my tomoe river notebook because the paper is super strong.  You will also need some poster and/or chalk markers, a paint brush and a waterproof pen like the Artine 853 OHP marker.

Starting the flowers

Use your poster or chalk marker to draw a circle or semicircle for the base of your flower and then go into it with a wet paintbrush to spread the paint out into a flower shape.  You want the paint to be darker at the bottom of the flower and fade as it goes up to the top of the petals.  This doesn't have to be perfect, just spread the paint out until you have a general shape.

Waiting for the paint to dry

Paint as many flowers as you like and then wait for the paint to dry.

Adding details

I used my 853 OHP marker to draw some stems and leaves on my flowers, these details change the paint from looking like blobs of colour and into blooms!  Again these don't have to be perfect, imperfections make the flowers look more interesting anyway.

White highlights

The last step was to add some specks of white paint to the flowers using my Artline 444XF paint marker and then I was finished.

The finished flowers

I think I will try to use my poster and chalk markers for more watercolour art now I know that they work well, the key to it is just adding the water quickly and using the brush before the paint sets on the page.  I am already picturing sunset skies with pink and purple streaks and seascapes, I can't wait to get started!

Please let me know if you give it a go!

My week #10

A couple of weeks ago I brought a "seconds" pack of stickers from FiloFabulouss on Etsy, it was a lucky dip selection so I didn't know what I would receive but I love almost everything in Sarah's shop so I knew I would be pleased with whatever arrived.

Planning my week

When the stickers came I couldn't see anything wrong with them at all and I got some super cute designs!  I used some of them in my planner this week for a summer boho kind of theme.

My week #10

Pink and blue is one of my favourite colour combinations, especially in pastel shades and they go beautifully with the gold washi tape, stickers and paper clip.

Close up

Close up

What is your go to colour combo?

Artline Monday - Ways to spread happiness

Have you heard about the International Day of Happiness?  This year it falls on the 20th March and it is a day dedicated to making the world a happier place, what a great idea!  For today's post I have come up with a few ideas for how you can spread some joy and happiness to mark this special day.

Ways to spread happiness - created with Artline pens

Leave little notes

You could leave some notes for your family and friends to find, pop them in lunch boxes, leave them in the car, hide them in books or in bags.  You can write anything that you think will make someone smile, a silly joke, a compliment or a simple "Hello" or "I'm thinking about you". 

Give your time

Do you know anyone who could do with some help?  Could you offer to babysit for someone who needs a break or ask an elderly neighbour if they would like you to run any errands for them?  You could turn off the TV and your phone and spend time with a friend or family member, focusing your attention on them and making them feel valued or you could volunteer at a local charity or charity shop.

Be kind

Small acts of kindness really make people happy!  There are lots of small and easy ways to be kind and make the world a nicer place, you could give your seat up on a crowded train or bus, let someone go in front of you in a queue, leave a small drawing or doodle for someone to find and make them smile or you could send a friend some happy mail.  It's always lovely to get a letter in the post instead of a bill or junk mail!  

Share memories with friends

Share happy memories with friends

Do you have any funny memories or photos you could share with your friends?  Pop them online and relive those times or give them a call and reminisce about the good old days!

Compliment people

How great does it feel to receive a genuine compliment?  You have the power to make someone else feel like that!  Tell someone you love their hair or their clothes, that they have pretty eyes or a nice smile, that they are smart or have a talent.  I bet these thoughts pop into your head all the time, don't keep them to yourself say them out loud!  You never know you might receive some nice ones back about yourself too!

Smile

Smiles are contagious, if you smile at someone they will smile back at you and then smile at the next person they see.  The smiles will spread like ripples on water until everyone around you is looking much happier.  

People also believe that if you smile even when you aren't feeling particularly happy it can trick your brain into making you feel cheerful and brighter so it is worth giving it a go!

One of my favourite things to do is spend some time with my Artline Stix brush markers and fineliners so creating the spread for this post made me happy which in turn makes me feel even more inspired to makes others feel good too.  What makes you happy and will you be celebrating on the 20th March?

My week #9

Last week we had a lot of snow, in fact nearly everywhere in the UK had some but inside my planner it was the beginning of spring!

My week #9

I carried on my floral theme from last week with some really pretty washi tape and then matched the colours from it with my Trendy Page Dot reinforcements and inks.  

It was so nice when I was huddled up at home under layers of clothes and a blanket to look at my pages and imagine that the first days of spring were just around the corner even though they felt like a million miles away!

Close up

Close up

The snow is all thawed now and hopefully there wont be anymore until next winter, I am keeping my fingers crossed for warmer days, sunshine and flowers soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Artline Monday - Mother's Day gift

Are you all set for Mother's Day this Sunday or are you still looking for a gift?  I wanted to give my mum something a little different this year so I thought I would personalise one of her presents with some of my Artline pens.

Supplies

I brought her a mug with mum printed on it in gold and a plain white mug for my girls to decorate for me too, then I went through my pen collection to find the best ones to work on ceramic.

When I researched this craft online I read that water based permanent markers don't tend to stand up to being washed repeatedly unless you bake the ceramics in the oven after you have drawn on them, I wasn't too keen on this idea so I decided to test a few different pens myself to see what works best.

My pen test

I left the inks until they were 100% dry and then gave them a scrub in the sink, dried them off and then washed them again a few more times until I was happy that I had found the right pens to use.  The Artline 444XF paint marker and Artline 900XF metallic pens all looked perfect after my repeated testing so I decided to use those to personalise my mug.

Heart shaped post-it-note

The first thing I did was choose the shape I wanted to use on the mug, I picked a heart post-it-note and then stuck that over the word Mum.  I put a bit of folded over washi tape underneath the bottom of the heart to hold the note securely in place and then it was time to start decorating! 

Adding lots and lots of spots

I used my gold pen to dot over the mug and partly over the heart post-it, then I used the silver one and left the spots to dry for 10 minutes .  The last step was to add more dots with my white paint marker and then it was time to let the paint dry!

Waiting for the pens to dry

Once everything was completely dry I slowly peeled the post-it off the mug and this is how it turned out.  I really like it!

After removing the post-it-note

My finished mug

I showed my girls this technique but they decided to do things their own way! 

Drawing around the star

My eldest daughter decided to draw around the star shaped post-it-note and then did a spot of freehand decoration before passing the mug onto her little sister.

Adding some decoration

After a few "creative differences" this is their lovely design!

Made with love

Our Mother's Day mugs

It was nice to do something fun and creative together and the mugs are certainly unique! I will treasure mine and I'm sure my mum will be happy with hers.

I haven't tested the cups in a microwave or dishwasher so if you make your own I think you should consider them to be hand wash only and treat them like fine china instead of a regular mug, just to be on the safe side.

 I would love to know if you do give this a try!