Author: blogmanager

What’s On My Desk Wednesday – Multi Tasking With paints

Two projects, two different styles and two very different finishes are on my table today. I’m flitting about between the two here, while one dries I add something to the other one. It’s a bit mad to be honest but while the ideas are in my head I have to do it otherwise it’s gone.

This top one is in the Traveling Art Journal for Canvas Corp Brands and I’m truly happy with how it’s progressing. Some acrylic paints, some watercolour and a bit of collage is all I’ve done so far. I’m finding at the moment that my journal pages aren’t as dark as they used to be and I’m leaving alot more white space. Maybe it’s a phase.

On the other table and in complete contrast I’ve got my sketchbook open to finish off a sketch I started yesterday in the garden. If you were to look at the sketch and the garden side by side you’d see I’ve enhanced the flowers big style. The border isn’t looking quite as blooming as that! After a cold and wet couple of weeks it’s gone into Autumn mode with several of my plants going totally to seed.

It’s my sketchbook and I can do what I want in it, right?

We’re getting ready to go off to Ireland at the end of this week but I’ll be back with a quick post on Friday.

Happy Wednesday

Jaine xx

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blogmanager

webadmin@basementstudio.lu

The Word Of The Week – FOCUS

Focus, it’s a good word. One I use often but totally ignore. I’m one of the worlds worst procrastinators so my to do list just gets longer and longer. I’ve been trying to get through the list this week before I go away at the end of the month but I think I’m finally there.

I’ve been so good that today I actually had some time to do a bit of art journaling. Oh I have missed it. I can’t remember the last time I got the paints out and just created something. The starting point was the feather picked up on a walk this week. I used the Dylusions paints from the shop for my background and glued in the feather. A bit of collage and journaling finished it off and I think I’m a happy bunny again.

Here’s a closer look at it.

We’ve had some pretty sad weather this week, for August anyway. Not as bad as some folk in the UK but still cooler and at times wet, so an afternoon of lovely warm sunshine was very welcome and provided the perfect opportunity to get outside to do some sketching.

I made a start on this weeks planner pages laying down some watercolour and marking out my grids and days.

This is how it looks today, friday and almost finished. I’m loving this sort of layout and for the moment I don’t see myself changing it at all.

After the success of last weekends felt TN launch in the Etsy shop, I added to that family some pen holders also in felt. I’m very proud of them all and I’m hoping they’ll be as popular as my notebook covers. To find yours you can follow the link here.

Well that’s it for today. Have a good one where ever you are and stay creative.

Jaine x

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blogmanager

webadmin@basementstudio.lu

Why I’ve decided to ditch the planners – shock horror!!

Actually that’s not fair to my planners, I’ve not totally ditched them, just sort of amalgamated them……sort of.

The problem has been this, my stack of planners and notebooks. I love each and every one of them for different reasons. From the bottom up an A4 desk planner for every day note taking, planning blog posts, workshops, articles and with weekly planning pages. Next comes my Simple Stories Carpe Diem which I love for it’s size, I can decorate its insert pages and I use for the shop, Etsy, again workshops and articles and general worky stuff. The pretty one with pink flowers is my Prima Jet setter which if I’m honest I had to buy because I just love the colour and pattern. It’s a travelers notebook style which is my all time favourite planner style to use and I decided to use it for my personal gains. Health tracker, money tracker etc. I think I kept about two pages but it’s still sitting hopeful on my desk.  Next up is my Websters pages Travelers notebook which I adore. I holds my sketchbook, journal and bullet journal planner in one. I love it and on top of that is my felt A6 version which is always in my bag with pretty much the same inserts, agenda, journal and sketchbook.

While I love each and everyone of these planners for different reasons and I use them regularly….well…semi regularly, I’m just getting a bit dizzy and confused. I forget which book holds what and it seems when I need to check what’s going on I have to look in three different places and that’s not ideal.

I came to the conclusion I could try blending everything into one planner and the one I like to use most often is my Websters.

Since using my Travelers notebook for everything I’ve become alot more productive and focused. I get to plan, journal and sketch all in the same place. One side is my weekly planner and the other I use as a journal for the week making notes of things I’ve done and collaging in anything note worthy.

I get to use my watercolours and it’s great.  Note the little Planner Penelope badge there too from Paper Pen and Plan

I think I’ve shown you my smaller version before. It’s always in my bag and I keep my notes and agenda in it along with an on the go sketchbook/journal.

I’m so pleased with my small version I’ve made lots of others and offered them for sale in my Etsy shop here .

I’m busy making the pen holders to match them and some dangly charms.

Have a good weekend everyone

Jaine xx

 

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blogmanager

webadmin@basementstudio.lu

Bikes, Mushrooms And Christmas In July

I missed blogging for a couple of weeks and I feel really bad about it. I’ve no idea where the time went except to say I wasn’t slacking off at all. Far from it, this week has been a little bit bonkers in the basement as at one time I’d actually got projects for Halloween, Christmas and New Year on the go all at the same time.  I suppose that’s a result of doing what I do in the industry I do and having to work ahead most of the time.  I also go away on holiday at the end of August so I needed to catch up quite a bit.

Well since I last wrote, the Summer holidays have kicked in and all those annual activities which make living here in Luxembourg a joy began, such as the day the main road through our village was closed to traffic except for bicycles. All 15km of it I think it is. As we live directly on this road we always invite friends over to join us and share our BBQ later on. It’s always a wonderful day and we love it. I do confess to have felt a bit sad though as I couldn’t take part with the others and had to watch them go off on their bikes. Instead Cooper and I took the opportunity to walk down the road and see the valley from a different angle.

The weather changed a bit too and after the intensly hot weather of June and early July the cloud and rain which arrived was very welcome. Strangly enough though it brought with it an abundance of mushrooms in the fields and forests which I do think is a bit early, for here anyway. My morning walks with Cooper have been combined with mushroom foraging and one walk turned up this beauty.

This morning my friend Kate who’s a brilliant forager went with me on a walk and we came back with this lot. Some of it I’m not too sure about but she tells me they’re delicious and if she’s still here to tell me that then it must be true.

This week I received  several packages of happy mail each one exciting for different reasons.

As it’s time for Christmas In July, I received a Special Edition Sweet Treat Box from Paper Pen and Plan with their Christmas goodies in it. It’s packed full of stuff and my Christmas Planner is all ready to go.

I’m going to be using this gorgeous rose gold notebook my sister in law gave me for my birthday. It’s perfect and I have to thank her and my nephew lots and lots for buying it.

My first page is decorated with my Christmas Elf.  I’ll show you how I use it in a later post.

Meanwhile also in the post I received a sketchbook which I’m particularly excited about. It’s from The Brooklyn Art Library as part of The Sketchbook Project.

The idea is you fill a notebook with anything you like, send it back and it’s archived in the huge sketchbook library in Brooklyn and taken on tour around the States. I’ve also taken out the option to have it digitized so my book will be scanned and each page can be viewed online. How cool is that? I’ll post here what I do with it so look out for sketchbook tours.

Well that’s it for this Friday catch up. Have a good weekend and I’ll speak to you soon.

Jaine x

About Post Author

blogmanager

webadmin@basementstudio.lu