Artline Monday - Half term ideas

How are you enjoying half term? Are your children bored already? Well I’ve got a few ideas for you today to keep them busy until they go back to school!

Half term ideas - created with Artline pens

Rock painting

My girls love it when we paint rocks together!  Some of them we keep to hide around our garden and some we give to family and friends as little gifts, the rest of the rocks we take out with us to hide for anyone to find and we wonder about where they will end up.  There are quite a few posts on this blog about how to get started and ideas for things you can paint, you can find them all here.  If you want to know if anyone is painting and hiding rocks in your area check on Facebook to see if there is a local group and then you can go on a rock hunting adventure too!

Put up or make a tent

Some of my favourite childhood memories are of being in a tent in the back garden with my brother and our friends, if you have a tent why don't you pop it up outside?  If you don't have a tent it is fun to try and make one out of blankets, sheets and pegs, you just need to be creative with planning it out!

Have a pj day

PJ days are the best, especially if it is raining!  If you have a day where you don't need to leave the house this week then tell everyone to keep on their pjs and spend the day playing board games and watching your favourite films together.  Don't forget the snacks and a fluffy blanket if it's a bit chilly too!

Visit the library

If you are lucky enough to still have a local library, take advantage of it and go and choose some books to borrow!  There might even be some fun sessions on over the holiday so it's worth asking the staff if they have any children's activities taking place.

Do some baking

Even if you're no where near "Bake Off" standard it is still nice to get in the kitchen and make some thing together.  We quite often make fairy cakes and cupcakes using packet mixes and sometimes cookies out of a roll of premade dough, I'm not great in the kitchen but I try!

Arts and crafts

There are nearly two years worth of Artline arts and crafts posts on this blog, take a look through them and see what takes your fancy!  I think my all time favourite craft was the cute cloud bookmark but you can find all the other posts here.

Have I missed out your favourite holiday activity, let me know and maybe we can try it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Artline Monday - World Meditation Day

Tomorrow is World Meditation Day, a time to focus on yourself and your wellbeing.  I have been thinking about ways I can unwind recently so when I discovered this day it felt a little serendipitous!  I am definitely going to give it a go tomorrow and if it helps me it might become part of my daily routine!

World meditation day - created with Artline pens

The best way to celebrate this day is by making an effort to relax and clear your mind, whether that is by finding a quiet spot and sitting there while you try to calm the thoughts whizzing around your brain or by doing some yoga or other physical activity that helps you find peace.

If you can, take some time tomorrow and find a place where you feel at ease and relaxed.  This could be outside in your garden or somewhere with a nice view or you could sit in your lounge or lay on your bed.  Then get into a comfortable position, close your eyes and focus on your breathing, slow your breathing right down, inhale for 7 seconds, hold it for 5 seconds and then exhale for 7 seconds.  Try to let go of all your thoughts and clear your mind.  Even if you don't master the art of mediation straight away you should feel more relaxed and less tense after you have spent some quiet time focusing on yourself and your breathing. 


Do you already meditate or are you thinking about giving it a go?  I'd love to know!

Artline Monday - Birthday tracker for your bullet journal

It feels like it has been a while since we have done any kind of bullet journal spread so I thought I'd show you a nice and easy birthday tracker today.

Birthday tracker

I know you can add birthdays to your monthly log but if you have a place to record all the birthdays together it is easier to plan ahead for buying cards, presents and arranging celebrations too.

I started off by writing "birthdays" across two pages of my bullet journal with a Supreme brush marker, in magenta if you are trying to place the colour, and then drew six boxes with pink and magenta Artline 200 fineliners.  I halved the boxes so I had space for all twelve months and the wrote the first three letters of each month at the top of these sections.

To make things look a little more interesting I added backgrounds to the boxes by drawing a second shape behind them, either a little bit higher than the first box or a little lower and then drew diagonal stripes across them.

I also doodled a little banner on the right hand page and wrote "celebrate" inside it and then added a flora sticker in a small space I had left over.  

Now all that is left to do is for me to fill in the birthdays of all my friends and family!

I have written quite a few bullet journal posts over the last two years, including how to set up your own journal if you wanted to get started.  You can find all my previous post here if you are looking for some more inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by!

Send a letter day with Artline

Today is the last day of National Stationery Week, it's send a letter day and the Sunday before a Bank Holiday, how perfect!  

If you've been here before you might know that I love to decorate the envelopes of any cards or letters I send so they cheer someone up before they have even opened them.  I had an idea about a vintage style letter and envelope the other week so I thought I would give it a go and show you how to make your own.

Writing paper, envelope and Artline pens

You will need:

• Writing paper and an envelope
• A used tea bag
• A little bit of coffee
• Artline Supreme brush markers in brown or dark brown
• Artline fineliners in brown and dark brown

Ageing the envelope

I started by adding some colour to my white envelope with a cooled, used tea bag.  Make sure you squeeze out most of the excess water before you start as you don't want to soak the paper!

You can cover the whole envelope in tea or just sections of it, get started and see how you like it.

Adding teacup stains

The next thing I did was add a splash of hot water to a teaspoon of instant coffee powder and stirred it.  Then I dipped the bottom of my teacup into the super strong coffee mix and added some ring stains to a couple of corners on the envelope.

Distressed with stains and splashes

I also added a few splashes with the coffee and then I dried the whole thing out with my hairdryer.  I could have left it to dry on it's own but I was eager to continue!

Adding some doodles

Once the envelope was dry I doodled a little birdcage in one of the corners with my brown fineliner. 

Drawing a butterfly

Next I added a butterfly in the top left corner.  I used a dark brown fineliner for this as I think pairing two different shades looks more interesting that doing it all in the same colour.  I also drew an old fashion style key on the flap of the envelope.

Addressing my letter

I addressed the envelope with my Supreme brush marker and then use a sticker that looked like a vintage stamp.  I placed it next to the spot where I will add my real postage stamp so I wont need to hand deliver it.

My writing paper has vintage style Alice in Wonderland illustrations on it so I think it already goes well with my newly decorated envelope but if your paper is just plain white then you could repeat the process to make a matching stationery set!

Now I am ready to start writing my letter, I'm going to sit down with a nice cup of coffee and drink it this time instead of using it as part of my craft!

Will you be sending anyone a letter today?

World Stationery Day with Artline

Happy World Stationery Day!  I think today is always my favourite day of National Stationery Week because absolutely anyone, anywhere in the world can join in with the celebrations!  If you are looking for ways to join in with the fun today you can try some of these ideas!

Ways to celebrate World Stationery Day - created with Artline pens

Send a letter

You could send a letter or card to a friend today or write a love note or message for someone special to find!

Write in your journal

Don't have a journal?  Start one today!  Already use a journal?  Great!  Spend some time recording your thoughts and feelings!

Make a wishlist

What shiny new stationery do you need (or want!)?  Make a list of all the things you have been dreaming about!  Also check out all the new Artline products here!

Get creative

Break out your paints and brushes, find your colouring books and pens, grab your sketchbook and pencils, today is the day to do something you love!

Treat yourself

Buy something off your wishlist!  There can't be a better time than World Stationery Day to treat yourself to some lovely new bit and pieces!

Share your favourites online

Get online today and tell people about your favourite pens, pencils & paper etc!  Use the hashtags #worldstationeryday, #natstatweek, #nationalstationeryweek, #stationerylove and #stationeryaddict to find other stationery fans to talk to.  You might discover something new to add to your wishlist and you could inspire someone else to try one of your favourites!

I hope you have a great day and enjoy the rest of National Stationery Week!

National Stationery Week with Artline - Writing matters

Hello!  Today marks the start of National Stationery Week so you can expect lots of stationery related fun and content from me over the next seven days!

#writingmatters

One of the main ideas behind NSW is to promote the use of pen and paper, to highlight the fact that writing still matters and to encourage more people to get writing.  Cards, notes and letters are so much more personal when they are hand written.  It’s not often I get excited by an email or message online but when someone takes the time to send me a letter or card through the post, that makes me feel very special!

I write for lots of different reasons including communication, planning, pleasure and work.  I send letters to my friends, I plan my life and I really enjoy spending some of my spare time lettering and practising calligraphy.  I can do all of these things electronically on my iPad but it just isn't the same as selecting a pen and getting to work in a notebook or on a nice sheet of paper! 

With that in mind I thought I would talk to you about the different types of pens I use regularly and why writing matters to me.

Every day pens

For general notes, reminders, work and planning I want to use a pen that is comfortable to hold and that writes smoothly.  A pen that skips is one of my pet hates!  Artline’s Ergoline range has an ergonomic grip designed for greater comfort and increased control while writing meaning I can scribble away for longer using these pens! 

Calligraphy pens

I love how calligraphy writing looks, all the fancy swirls and little flourishes make even the most mundane words look amazing on the page!  I have been practising calligraphy, on and off, for years now, it is something I always come back to and enjoy doing.  

Artline's calligraphy pens are great for learning with because you don't have to keep stopping to dip your nib in or worry about knocking over a bottle of ink.  You can just take them out of your pencil case and get started!  The pens come in a range of colours and nib sizes too so you can create all kinds of different looks without having to flush your nibs out or buy a huge collection of inks in different colours.

Brush pens and fineliners

Hand lettering is something else I like to do in my spare time,  I do a lot of it in my bullet journal and like combining different styles and fonts together.  Pairing Supreme brush markers with Artline 200 fineliners always looks fun because of the difference in thickness between them.  The fineliners lend themselves towards little details and patterns whereas the brush markers are great for swirling and swooping around the page.

Writing is a pretty big part of my life, I know I type my blog posts up on a laptop but they nearly always begin in a notebook or inside my planner!  I have written love letters and received them, I have kept cards from special birthdays and occasions over the years and now I can look back at them whenever I feel the need too.  Snail mail and pen pals brighten my days and I hope my letters are received in the same spirit.  Writing connects us all and gives us something physical to hold onto, it becomes a part of our own history and help us plan our futures too.     

Have a great National Stationery Week! 

Artline Tuesday - English Language Day

Today is English Language Day, a day to reflect on the all the things we love about our language and celebrate the written and spoken word.  I thought the best way I could do this would be to select some of my favourite quotes written by British authors and create a spread in my journal to mark the occasion!

Celebrating English Language Day

It feels like it has been ages since I have done any lettering so I dug out my Supreme brush markers and Artline 200 fineliners and started creating my pages.  For the title and date I used a blue fineliner to write the letters and numbers first.  Then I went back over the down strokes with my brush marker in the same colour blue ink to make them look thicker.  Doing the lettering this way was a good way to easy myself back into it as I haven't done any calligraphy practice for a while now and I'm definitely a bit rusty!

If you are just getting started with hand lettering this technique will give your writing the look of calligraphy while you are still learning all the strokes and what pressure to use for them.

Some of my favourite quotes by British authors

My second page is dominated with a quote from JRR Tolkien, I used the same trick to create this with my brush marker and matching fineliner and I'm really happy with how it turned out!

I decided to add a few doodles to the pages before I filled in the remaining space with lots and lots of quotes.  Some of them are from my favourite books and some I found while researching British authors.  I used lots of my fineliners to write the quotes and add some extra colour, I also wrote some of them in different directions to make the whole thing look a little more interesting.

My full spread celebrating the English Language

Have you heard of English Language Day before?  Will you be doing anything to celebrate today?

Thanks for stopping by!

Artline Monday - Easter holiday activity

The Easter break has started and any day now you will probably hear the dreaded words "I'm bored!" so today I have a fun and easy activity you can do with your children to keep them occupied for an hour or two.... potato printing Easter eggs!

Now, I thought every young child had done some potato printing in the early years of school but my daughter is nearly eight and she had no idea what I was on about when I mentioned this to her!  Maybe teachers don't have time to carve potatoes for a class of 30 children anymore?  Who knows!  But it is still a great activity to do at home.

Potato printing supplies

You will need:

• Lots of paper
• A potato or two
• Artline poster markers (the chalk markers work well too)
• A knife for carving
• Kitchen roll for blotting and cleaning

When you are selecting your potatoes try to find oval/egg shaped ones, you can cut and trim them into shape but it's easier to start with a basic egg shape.

Carve patterns

Hold your potato upright as if it was an egg in an egg cup and then slice it in half top to bottom.  You can either carve some Easter egg style patters into the potato flesh yourself or give them to your children and let them design their own with a child friendly knife.  We went with stripes and tried to make some flower shapes on our second potato but they ended up looking more like splodges!

Adding the colour

Once you have your carved potatoes, blot them with kitchen roll to pull out some of the moisture before adding the paint.

Then it is time for your children to get creative, pass them the poster markers and let them paint their designs onto the potatoes.  

Ready to print

When the potato is coloured in they can turn it over and print the image onto their paper. 

Printed Easter egg

The children can remove any excess paint from the potatoes with the kitchen roll and then paint them again in different colours and repeat the process over and over.

More printing

We made lots of different colour Easter eggs with our potato "stamps" and had a lot of fun!  You could cut out the prints and use them to make Easter cards or decorations or your children could draw in some more details and patterns using fineliners and pens once the paints have dried.  My daughter carried on printing without me and made sheets and sheets of eggs which she has stuck up on her bedroom wall to decorate the room for Easter.  

Our colourful Easter eggs

If you are looking for more arts and crafts to do over the holidays check out these previous Artline posts for more ideas.

Have a very happy Easter and thanks for stopping by!

Artline Monday - Spring home & garden organisation

Spring always gives me the motivation to get cracking on things like tidying up the gardens after winter and tackling my house with a big spring clean, it is the perfect time to get back to basics and concentrate on things around your home.  With this in mind I thought I would share a few Artline products in today's post that are really handy to have around the house.

Handy pen's to have in your home

If you love cooking up a storm in the kitchen then the Artline 770 freezer bag marker is the pen for you!  

Perfect for batch cooking

It is perfect for writing on, well freezer bags (of course!), sandwich bags and all kinds of packaging and boxes so whatever you want to mark up and pop into the deep freeze this pen has got you covered. The 770 also writes clearly on greasy surfaces and can withstand sub-zero storage unlike other pens.

When I get the chance I make up big batches of things like chilli and bolognese and then freeze them in smaller portions for when my kids all want something different to eat.  I use the freezer marker to label the bags with what is inside them and the date they were made and frozen.  It kind of makes me feel like a domestic goddess to look in the freezer and see bags of homemade food, even though I am really not one!

Getting the garden ready

If spring makes you want to get outside and enjoy the sunshine then doing some gardening is a good way to pass the time.  Whether you are planting seeds, bulbs, flowers or vegetables the Artline 780 garden marker is the right tool for the job.  It dries instantly and is waterproof and UV fade resistant so whatever the weather this ink can handle it all.  The pen can be used on lots of different surfaces too like plastic, wood, metal, glass and porcelain.

Keep your private information private

Do you receive a lot of junk mail in the post?  I feel like I am forever finding useless brochures and marketing materials being put through my door.  To make matters worse they all seem to have my full name and address on them so I can't just throw them into the recycling bin.  If you're in the same boat then you need one of these Artline secure markers to hide your personal information!  The black ink obscures anything you want to keep private and it is completely opaque once it has dried.  Scribble over the text you want to redact and then the paper can be recycled, problem solved!

Labelling with the Artline 750 Laundry marker

If you have children in school then this Artline 750 laundry marker is a godsend!  If you labelled all your children's uniform, PE kits, swim kits, bags and coats in September with this pen then they should all still be clear and readable, but if your children are anything like mine then they have probably lost or outgrown at least one or two pieces since the start of the school year.  If you have replaced anything grab this pen and write their names and classes etc on the labels and fingers crossed they will make it the end of the school year!

Which of these pens do you think would be the most useful for you?

Artline Monday - Mother's Day cards

It is Mother's Day this Sunday but don't worry if you're not prepared for it yet!  Last week we made a Mother's Day gift and today I'm going to show you a couple of simple but sweet card ideas I found on Pinterest.

Card making supplies

For the first card I folded a piece of A4 card in half and attached some green twine around the edges of the front of it, this gives the card a little bit of texture and makes it look more interesting.  If you don't have any twine then you could use some ribbon or washi tape instead or just skip this step altogether.

Making a basic card shape

I used a punch and some patterned scrap paper to make 15 heart shapes, then I wrote the letters for HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY onto the hearts using my black Supreme brush marker.

Writing my message

Once I had my message I played around with how I wanted to space the hearts out on the card, when I was happy with how they looked I glued them into place.

Drawing the strings

The last step for this card was to turn the hearts into a bunch of balloons by drawing strings to hold them together using an Artline 200 fineliner. 

The finished card

For the second card I used another piece of A4 card folded in half.

Card and Artline pens

Starting in the bottom left hand corner and working my way up towards the top right hand corner I wrote "happy Mother's Day" in cursive with my Artline pens

Happy Mother's Day

Then I added a large 3D butterfly sticker to the end of my message, as if it was the path the butterfly had just flown.  The card looked a little plain so I decided to use another couple of small butterfly stickers on it for some extra decoration.

3D butterfly stickers

I'm happy with how both cards turned out, I think they look cute and I would be happy to receive either of them this weekend!

Two cute and easy to make cards

Of course there is still time for you to pop out and buy your mum a card from the shops but I always think that a handmade card is nicer as it shows you've spent time making something to make them happy.  What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Artline Monday - Mothers Day gift

Here is a quick reminder that it is Mothers Day on the last Sunday of the month and if you are short on ideas for what to get your lovely mum then how about making her a gift?

My youngest daughter and I have been making a present for my mum over the weekend, it is the perfect craft for little hands and there wasn't too much mess afterwards which is always a bonus in my book!

Supplies

For this craft you will need:

• A glass candle jar 
• A clean sponge
• Some Artline poster markers
• A small candle or tealight to go inside the jar

I brought this candle jar and holder as a set from Home Bargains, I thought it was sweet but needed some colour to make it a little more fun.  You can either buy something similar or just use a plain glass jar.

Once you have got your candle jar the first thing you need to do is select which colours you would like to use to decorate it, we chose red, pink, yellow, blue and white.

Adding our colours to the sponge

Use your poster markers to add sections of colour to the sponge, we did stripes but you can fill it in however you like.

Use the sponge to add colour to the jar

Then press the sponge onto the glass adding the colour onto the jar.

Our colourful jar

Cover the whole jar with the paint on the sponge.  Leave it to dry for about 20 minutes and then if you are happy with it put it to one side, if you want to add more colour/s then just put extra paint on the sponge and layer the colours on the jar.

My mum loves pink too

We decided to add some pink to the metal holder too, the poster markers work on lots of different types of surfaces so they are great for all kinds of craft and art projects.

Colour coordinated jar and holder

The candle jar looks more interesting in the daylight now it is not just plain glass but it looks really great in the evening when the candle is lit and it shows off the colours and patterns we created with the sponge.  I think my mum is going to really like it!

With the candle lit

Last year we made personalised mugs for Mothers Day, you can check that post out here and the whole of March is National Craft Month so if you're looking for things to do you can find lots of arts and crafts posts here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Artline Monday - Plant a flower day

Have you heard of Plant a flower day?  It is a great way to celebrate the upcoming spring and encourage people to try their hand at gardening.  It falls on the 12th of March each year and I thought it would be nice to get involved and test out my green thumbs!

Getting ready to plant some flowers

Before I started messing around with potting soil and seeds I wanted to decorate the terracotta pot I was going to use.  I knew it would take a while for my seeds to grow into a plant and flower so I wanted to add some colour to it for me to enjoy while I waited.

I tested out lots of different Artline pens on the bottom of the pot so I could see which ones stood out the best against the terracotta colour and decided to use my metallic poster markers as they went on smoothly and looked great.

Painting the top of the pot

I started out with the metallic blue colour and painted the top part of the pot...

Painting the edge of the pot

...and went around the edge of it too.

Adding more colour

Next I taped off sections of the pot with some skinny washi tape and filled them in with my silver, pink and blue poster markers.

Creating a pattern

The colours I chose kind of remind me of those Easter eggs you can get with pastel foil wrappers on them so they feel very spring like to me!

Finishing the design

The poster markers dried very quickly on the pot so it was easy to paint the whole way around it without worrying about smudges or ruining the sections I had already done.  Once I'd finished painting it I removed the strips of washi tape to reveal nice clean edges and stripes of terracotta to make my pattern.

Preparing my lolly stick

I thought I would colour coordinate my lolly stick with the pot so I painted it metallic blue as well and then wrote the name of the flowers on it with my trusty Garden marker.

Planting the seeds 

Once the pot was finished I filled it up with soil and planted some seeds, I really hope they grow!

My pretty pastel pot

While I'm waiting for Mother Nature to do her thing I've added a little pastel purple cactus garden ornament to the pot and one of my ladybird painted rocks just to make it look a bit more interesting.

A little ladybird is guarding my seeds

Last summer I decorated some outdoor garden pots and planters using Artline poster markers and they still look great now (even after being outside all over winter!) so if I need to move this pot outside once the seeds have sprouted I know it can withstand all kinds of weather!   

Will you be planting any flowers tomorrow?  Fingers crossed for a warm, sunny day!