Empress Bat's Journal: creative

Showing posts with label creative. Show all posts

Welcome 2015!

Hello Batlings, and welcome to 2015!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(1) This year I am very excited to announce that Empress Bat's Journal has a wonderful guest blogger on board who will be sharing her wit and wisdom with you all as the muse takes her! You may know her from the Madam Monstrous blog, she also blogs on Zentangle Creations; she is a great person and I am really happy that she has accepted my invitation to be a guest blogger for Empress Bat's Journal.

(2) Last year I participated in the Documented Life Project (DLP) 2014; this year I have decided to double the creative projects I am participating in, so I shall be actively involved in creating pages in the Documented Life Project 2015, PLUS the Creative Every Day challenge! My DLP pages will be shared on this page and my Pinterest Board for DLP as usual, and the Creative Every Day challenge will be in a blog post each month or so with the subject line: CREATIVE EVERY DAY: <Month>: <Theme>.

(3) As promised in my December 2014 blog post I will share with you all my resolutions/goals for 2015 and I will monitor and review them through-out the year to see how I am proceeding with them. Feel free to share your resolutions in the comments of this post too! Publicly promising to achieve a goal and reviewing your progress is a handy tool to keep you on track!

MY GOALS FOR 2015

Write
Organise
Create
Positive
Improve

Write:

I will blog on here and/or my Alternative Therapies Blog and/or my Herbalism website at least once a week.
I will actively keep a journal where I write at least a paragraph of either fact or fiction every day!

Organise:

I will organise my time effectively to be able to fit in all my projects and volunteer activities, and my hobby business, and my studies, and my fulltime job without exhausting myself and ensuring I have time to relax and ..just be!
I will organise my stuff: I will stop hoarding and cluttering!

Create:

I will actively participate in creative projects
I will design and create items to sell in my etsy store and via my Facebook Page
I will play music (whichever instrument I feel like playing at the time)
I will draw, just for fun

Positive:

I will keep supporting small home, family run, and hobby business to be a positive force in keeping cottage industry alive!
I will continue Project Funmail to bring some happiness, smiles, and positivity to the days of others.
I will do things for myself and be mindful that I am a worthwhile part of the universe and deserve good things too

Improve:

I will take steps to improve my hobby business
I will complete at least two tertiary qualifications this year
I will exercise more and look after myself
I will be organised
I will stay free of clutter
(clutter is a common theme here.. i have OCD and tend to hoard...)

Having said all that...all that is left for me to say in today's blog post is: may your year be full of wonder, happiness, and imagination!

............................................................................................................... Please visit me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat handcrafted gothic goodies at bargain prices. see me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat ...Please visit me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat handcrafted gothic goodies at bargain prices. see me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat

REVIEW: Dylusions Dyan Reaverley's Creative Journal-LARGE

I recently purchased a new art journal to use in the 2015 Documented life Project; I chose to use the one the admin of this amazing art project suggested which is the Dylusions Dyan Reaverley's Creative Art Journal in Large. I had never used any journals from this range before, so I was curious if it would be worth the $33.50 AUD plus $11.70 AUD postage I paid for it on ebay!

I was so excited when it arrived in my letter box! Who doesn't love a new art journal?

Okay ... I know, I know, not every one is into stationery.. but i am!!

I have not used the art journal yet, but I would like to share with you all what it looks like, so if you are deciding whether or not to buy one for yourself, you get some idea of what an end user thinks of it!

The front cover

The front and back covers are made of very thick cardboard (referred to in the official description of the journal as 'chipboard', to me chipboard is a type of particle board made of wood slivers glued together and forming a type of simulated wood board, this is definitely thick cardboard so I am unsure why it is called 'chip board')

There is an elasticised cord attached to the cover to hold it closed.

The journal has a piece of removable paper over it giving some information of what the pages can be used for.

front cover

back cover

Inside the journal

Inside the front cover, on the left page is a large cardboard envelope with one of those cool retro style loopy closure thingos!

I think this is so handy! a place to stash scrap book type pictures, ideas ripped out form magazines, stickers, all sorts of cool things!

envelope inside front cover of book

The pages are thick and creamy, and have a light texture. I do not know how they will go with watercolour paint or highly pigmented indian ink pens yet, but they are gorgeously creamily thick, and I can't wait to try!!

the creamy pages

There are 64 pages inside this book, they are unlined and just begging for some creative energy!

More Information

The information about the journal from the official website is below:

The journal cover is made from sturdy chipboard and filled with 64 unlined pages for endless paper crafting creativity.• Ideal with Dylusions Ink Sprays, Stencils and Stamps• Sturdy cover, elastic closing and string-tie envelope included• 64 pages of unlined white matte cardstock• Sturdy cover, elastic closing and string-tie envelope included• Cover measures 11 13/16" x 9"; book pages measure 11 3/8" x 8 1/4"

Summation

I really like the sturdy feel of this journal and the good quality card stock pages and cannot wait to use it! I think I may start using this one before the Documented Life Project 2015 starts for my jewellery designs and maybe get myself another one to use in the DLP 2015!

I will post again another time on decorating the cover and what the pages are like to draw and paint in.

Have you used this journal before?

What do you think?

Please let me know in the comments section below!

Pegs as creative storage solutions: Part Four of the 'Organise and Beautify' saga

In my constant struggle to declutter and keep myself and the house organised, I have decided to be creative with storage. It is more a MUST do, rather than a 'oooh isn't this creative lets do it', due to the lack of spare cash in the household!

The house is small, we need to use the walls as much as possible to stash things. Cash is limited so we need to use what we have to create a storage solution.

As I have been decluttering the house I noticed so many paper bits: receipts, bills to attend to, memos... lots of bits of paper that may not need long term storage but need to be in the forefront of my consciousness until they are actioned.

I decided they could be stored on the walls, with clothes pegs. I haven't gone completely insane..yet.. my batlings, stay with me on this.

All i needed was a long piece of picture wire, some nice hooks, and some pegs. I have all those things so no need to buy anything extra here.

The pegs looked a bit hohum, and as you know I do not like drab and dull. I looked at my box of washi tape and knew just how to decorate those wooden clothes pegs!

wooden clothes pegs and washi tape, what a great idea!

Covered in washi tape pegs are useful and decorativet!

In case you are looking for some lovely washi tape designs at very low prices, I buy most of my washi tape from Chiyogami Designs , they have an ebay store and I have always found them to be reliable and honest sellers, with an amazingly diverse range of washi tape as well as Japanese print origami paper.

After covering the pegs with washi tape, I then put some small brass hooks into the wall, (you could also use removable adhesive ones if you are renting) and attached picture wire, the wire is taut so it can handle weight of the paper without sagging.

Finished storage solution: I can even put my spare fountain pen ink there!

You may have noticed I have a lot of washi tape, and as I said before most of my beautiful washi tapes come from Chiyogami Designs. Where do I store these?

On a trouser hanger of course!

Decorative tape stored on a trouser hanger

I would love to hear your creative storage ideas for organising and decluttering, please feel free to let me know them in the comments!

______________________________________________________________________________

About Me: I work full time, I am also studying for a therapist qualification in Naturopathy specialising in Herbalism, I have a small craft 'business', I am co-admin of an auction page on facebook to help other small hobby businesses, i maintain my own 'store' facebook page, I blog at least once a week and I maintain a facebook page created to support small home businesses and hobby sellers

Pages