Read With Your Cuppa' #6

Youtuber to Watch

LittleHotTamale is a crafty YouTube channel full of happy mail inspiration! Meg's channel inspired me to start penpalling because her tutorial videos looked so fun! If you wondered how to make that squashbook that I shared, you can find a tutorial for making squashbooks on her channel! If you're looking for any more happy mail videos, you should also check out my new YouTube channel where I will be sharing lots of mail themed videos along with lots of other crafty bits! 

Fun Activity

Colouring is a relaxing activity that I love to do! It can also help artistic people develop their colour application skills. I have noticed that as I colour more and more, my shading and blending is improving! I recently started my 'Colouring Quest' blog series all about one of my favourite hobbies at the moment:colouring! If you are considering buying yourself a colouring book and a pack of pencils, you should check out my blog series to help you learn!

Snack to Try

Frozen yoghurt or yoghurt bark is a delicious snack that is easy and fun to make. It is simple to personalise with your favourite fruits, nuts and other toppings! To make, line a tray with grease-proof paper, then spread yoghurt on it, next put your toppings on it and finally freeze it for a few hours or overnight. Once the yoghurt is fully frozen, you can snap it into small pieces and enjoy! It is a slightly healthier alternative to sugary desserts so you should try it as a tasty treat!






Recommended Website

TofuCute is an online kawaii shop which sells cute Japanese products such as plushes, sweets, stickers, pens, novelty erasers and more! TofuCute is based in the Uk and ships worldwide so it is easy to make an order. I made a post in the past with my kawaii items and if I buy anything else, I may share them on this blog again!

Recommended Magazine

One of my favourite things to read at the moment is Daphne's Diary. I love that every page is so gorgeous with pretty patterned backgrounds, cute doodles and more! The content of this magazine is very creative! there's craft projects to try ad businesses to inspire you. There's not just crafty articles though, there's some travel spreads that are gorgeous to look at. In every issue there are a few little goodies such as stickers that I love to use in happy mail as well as in other creative projects. I reccommend this magazine to anyone who loves to create because you'll love pouring over every pretty detail in here!






Over to YOU:
What things do you reccommend? Let us all know in the comments!

Colouring Quest Part 1:My collection

Have you started colouring yet? It's been proved that colouring brings logic and creativity together to help develop our motor skills. It also helps with stress so is a great activity after a long day at school or work! I love colourng for many reasons, so I decided to start writing a new blog series called 'Colouring Quest'! In this brand new post I'll show you some of the colouring books from my collection! I have a wide variety of books ranging from nature books to fashion books. I hope you will enjoy exploring my collection in this colouring quest!

Firstly here's my 'Colour Yourself A Whimsical Woodland' illustrated by Heartfelt Illustrations. I find this colouring book interesting because once I have coloured all of the pages, I can display them all together  in a massive picture! This would be great to decorate my room with because it will show my colouring techniques! The paper is of very high quality so is lovely to colour on. Check out Heartfelt Illustrations facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/heartfeltillustrations/ !

Here's my 'Day of the Dead' colouring book. It is created by the artist Thaneeya McArdle. I became fascinated with Thaneeya McArdle's work when I studied her in school a while ago. The bright colours and busy patterns drew me in straight away! I love this book because it is full of culture. The Day of the Dead is a festival celebrated in Mexico where people remember loved ones that they have lost. It is often thought of as another version of Halloween but it is quite different. The festival is not meant to be scary like Halloween but instead a joyous occasion. This book is great for beginners because it has a small guide of how to colour in the first few pages showing how to use colour and even has fully coloured examples to inspire you. This colouring book is different from the rest of my books because I can choose whatever colour I want and it will still look fabulous! You can see Thaneeya McArdle's websire here: http://www.thaneeya.com/ .

The next book in my collection is the 'vogue' colouring book by Iain R Webb. I am excited about this book because I read vogue every month for inspiration for my fashion designs. Each picture in the book is based on a page from Vogue in the 50s. I love the 50s aspect of it because I love the feminine and elegant fashions of that era. There is a little nugget of information about each illustration which is interesting to read since it gives a better understanding of the picture. With this book, you even get to colour in your own front cover (differently to the original). I was pleased to see an introduction from the artist before exploring the pages because it is motivating to see someone successful talk about fashion.There's space on several of the illustrations to draw your own patterns onto the fabrics as well as adding colour so you can personalise the pictures. You can read more about thsi colouring book at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2015/10/02/vogue-colouring-book-illustrations-release !

Next I'll be showing you another fashion themed colouring book called '1960s Fashion' created by the company PEPIN. I'm looking forward to experimenting with different medians for this book because it is created so that you can even use watercolours on it! Most colouring books aren't designed so that you can use paint but these illustrations are one-sided! I like how both of my fashion themed colouring books are from a particular era. It is useful for people interested in fashion design to have fashion colouring books because you can practice shading clothes to show the folds in the fabric! I like how there is a lot of space on each page because I can create backgrounds for the designs if I want or I could add to the illustrtion. There's endless possibilities with this colouring book (and the others) to be unique.

The last group of colouring books are called 'Secret Garden', 'Enchanted Forest' and 'Lost Ocean'. They're all by the Scottish illustrator Johanna Basford. If you know anything about adult colouring books, chances are you know Johanna Basford. She calls herself an ink evangelist because she draws everything by hand with fineliners. I hear that she draws her pictures much bigger than the final size so that it is easier for her to draw the immensely detailed pictures. What I love about her books is that they are a good mix of very detailed and slightly less detailed pictures. The reason I love this variety is because you can try out different techniques for each picture. For example in less detailed ones you can create stunning gradients whereas in the more detailed ones you can use fineliners and a good colour scheme to create an equally brilliant yet different effect. The paper n her books is of good quality but I reccommend still using coloured pencils for the original editions to avoid bleeding through pages. I love the little extras such as the pattern on the dust cover and front cover as well as the fold out pages that are sometimes included!

Well that's it for the first post in my new blogging series Colouring Quest! I hope you've enjoyed having a peek at my colouring book collection. Hopefully if you're looking for a new colouring book I have inspired you to choose one of my recommendations or have a good rummage online and in stationery shops for the perfect fit! In future posts I'll be sharing more colouring content such as my completed pages and my tips.

Tell me in the comments what you's like to see me write about colouring! What books do you have in your collection?

Outgoing Squashbook

Hi everyone! In my last post I showed you a video of some mail I created. You all seemed to enjoy it so I thought I would share another mail themed video from my new-ish YouTube channel! In the video below I show you a squashbook I created for my penpal Rosie from http://rosieauthorwriting.blogspot.co.uk/ ! I hope that it inspires you all to give penpalling a go because it's really fun! I'm really excited to grow my channel in the future! However, I won't just upload videos on this blog (I just thought it would be an interesting change). You can expect a few more traditional posts coming up soon with more written content! I'm looking forward to uploading some colouring book themed posts very soon! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this video! Please go over to my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiYCgnUUFL5DNiKM2mIEO_w and subscribe to see more videos!



Let me know if you enjoy seeing happy mail themed videos from my YouTube channel in the comments! See you soon! :D

Outgoing Ocean Themed Flipbook

Hi everyone! Today I have an exciting post for you! It's been a while since I last posted but for a good reason...I have created my first ever YouTube video and I'm sharing it with you right now! In the video below I show you a flipbook letter that I have created. A flipbook is a creative letter for your penpal that has several pages to flip through and often has a theme. My swap partner and I agreed on the theme 'Ocean' because we both love the wonderful colours and creatures of the sea! It was a lot of fun to decorate my letter with a variety of my favourite stationery including washi tape and stickers! Not only am I sharing with you my first ever YouTube video, I am also showing you my first flipbook! I recently got into creating happy mail so I am trying out lots of different techniques! I hope to make a tea party themed flipbook soon for the same swap partner where I can use my new doilies! By the way, the picture of the beach scene inside the flipbook was drawn by Kenza from http://5starartists.blogspot.co.uk/ .If you haven't already, go check out her blog because it's full of awesome art! Let me know what you think of the video and the flipbook in the comments. Would you like to see more happy mail posts from me? I have lots of outgoing and incoming mail that I would love to share!

Updates

It's been a while since I last posted so I thought I'd update you on what's been going on! I've been quite busy recently, that's why there has been a big gap between my last post and this one! :)

 I am currently planning a few exciting things for my blog including:

. An art collab with 5StarArtists and anyone else who wishes to join (details here)

. Some fashion posts! I have lots of ideas but aren't sure where to start.
. A What's in My Sketchbook no.2 (check out the original for older sketchbook here)
. A colouring post with my tips, completed pages, recommendations and more

What else have I been up to?
.Looking for a penpal (female, about 12-15, creative). If you are interested then please leave a comment with a few facts about you (such as your hobbies and the country you live in). Check out the extra information later on in this post.
(Thank you very much to everyone who has shown interest in being my penpal! I now have quite a few lovely penpals so won't be swapping addresses with anyone else for the meantime. Thanks again everyone. :D)
.Finally starting a fashion portfolio/scrapbook!
.Working on a school art project!

Extra Info for People Interested in being my Penpal:
Country: UK
Hobbies: fashion design, art, reading, crafting, adult colouring, doodling, baking

Sorry that this was just a quick updates post, keep tuned for new posts! If you want to see specific posts I am planning on writing/currently working on then check out my coming soon page!

PS: The penpal doodle was drawn by me using my drawing tablet in Sumo Paint!

Creative Ways to Come up With a Post Idea

Hi guys! Today I will be telling you some ways to come up with a blog post idea! But instead of giving you some simple tips, I'll be showing you some more creative ways to come up with an idea. Hopefully since they're more creative tips, they will help you to write more creative posts too! Keep reading to see what I have to say about blogging ideas!

Start with something BORING
This idea may seem weird but hear me out! Starting with something you find boring when writing a post can make people intrigued and want to read your post. Think of a topic you find boring (perhaps homework or something else) then use your writing style to make it exciting! Giving people tips on how to have fun with a topic you find boring will draw them in and make them want more.

Ask yourself what you would like to read
Think of you! What type of post would keep you hanging on every word? Wanting more? Well start here! Whatever your passion is: cooking, drawing, writing, whatever-make a post about it!  You could probably go on about it in real life for AGES so why not create a post that shows off your hobbies? Your personality should radiate from the reader's screen making it a better post!

Take a look at blog post ideas-then don't use the ideas
This certainly sounds strange since it seems totally illogical, but I do this often. I think to myself 'hey I haven't made a post in a while, better look for some inspiration' so I trawl through some blog post ideas before leaving without doing any of the ideas suggested. However, this time wasn't wasted! Oh no! I really do get inspired by these posts but none of the ideas jump out to me. Why? Because they'e not from me, they're not my style. But, I do 'recycle' the ideas. What I mean by this is that I see an idea and add to it to make it my own! Perhaps I'll see see a generic idea then decide to put my own spin on it to make it unique.

If you still need some ways to come up with blog post ideas after the more creative ideas...here are my extra little tips for you:
.Take a look at this blog post generator for ways to start your blog post titles
.Keep reading blogs (especially ones that write about similar topics) to get inspired
.Take a look at your stats to see your most popular posts then write new posts inspired by them
.Ask your readers for ideas, after all, they're the ones reading(but don't do their idea if you don't want)
.Keep a blogging notebook to write your own ideas for posts and keep any notes that inspire you

So I hope this post has inspired you to get creative when coming up with blog post ideas and has given you a few extra ideas to help you along. Let me know your best tips for blogging down in the comments!

PS: Yes I took the picture at the the top of this post and edited it in picmonkey!
PPS: I just changed the template of my blog for Spring, hope you like it!

Cardmaking- my tips

Hey guys! There are so many great occasions to give a card for: birthdays, anniversaries, Valentines Day, Easter, Christmas and more! So today I'll be showing you my tips on how to make your own cards. When you create your own cards, they're more personal and show that you have put time into sending a special message! If you want some inspiration for your own cards then take a look at the photo of a card I made myself for an anniversary (at the top of this post)!

Here are my card making tips:


Tip #1- Use sparkly gel pens- These sparkly gel pens can make small details glimmer on your card. I used a gold gel pen to draw a heart in between the elephants!





Tip #2- Use embellishments- You can buy card embellishments from any good craft store but I have used something slightly different! I use gold and silver bindis to embellish my card because I love the way they look on the card. I prefer them to the normal sticky gems that I use every now and then.




Tip #3- Use shaped hole punchers- If you want to create different layers on the card then you can punch holes using a shaped hole puncher. I used a heart shaped hole puncher to fit with my theme, but there are plenty of shapes for any occasion out there! After this you can put something on the inside of the card such as a patterned piece of paper that will show up on the front!

Tip #4- Stick with a theme- Like I said earlier, one of the great things about cardmaking is that you can really personalize the card!  Therefore, you can choose a really specific theme that the receiver will love to see! Instead of choosing Easter as a generic theme, for example, you could choose chocolate as a more specific theme. For my card, instead of choosing anniversaries as a generic theme, I chose  the 14th anniversary in particular to be a more specific theme. The two symbols for this particular anniversary were gold and ivory so I tied these into the theme with the colour scheme and the elephants! Have an idea in mind before starting your cardmaking!

Tip #5- Fill the spaces well- To create a professional looking card you should fill spaces well. This doesn't mean that you have to fill every gap, it just means that you should have a balanced looking card where spaces are used well. For example, if your card looks quite bare you could fill a space with zentangle designs like I have done with my elephant. Not every part of the card is filled but this looks tasteful.

I hope my tips have helped you out with your next cardmaking project or have inspired you to get making! I really enjoyed designing and creating this card, what cards have you made in the past or are planning to make? Let me know in the comments! :D

PS: Do you like the photo at the top of this post? I took time to layout the props, take the photo and to edit, I'm proud of the results! Do you think my improved photography is improving the overall blog? I'm aiming to include at least one well finished photo in most of my new posts!