Haul Post...

Hey Dorky!

Sooo, I was planning on writing about something completely different, but things didn't go as planned. Had a bit of an off day and after babbling with you I decided to write about "recent" stuff I got. I looked in my room and grabbed some of the things I could see... While I was taking photos things popped in to my head... So you won't see the paperpads, inks, stickers, washi and the AliExpress stuff I got... I mean you saw them anyway!

Oh and of course I get most of my stuff from cheap shops like: Action, Wibra, SoLow, Big Bazaar and Zeeman and the shops in between cheap and expensive (the normals?) like Hema, Xenos, Sostrene Grene, Kruidvat and uumm... Boekenvoordeel. Then there are the hobbyshops: Hobbyvoordelig (local hobbyshop in Delft), Pippoos (Pricey, they do have a lot...) and occasionally Waltman's Fine Art (art shop in Delft). And lastly there are the online hobbyshops and AliExpress. (Last month I did order new StazOn inks and Gorjuss stamps).

Anyhow, on to a part of my latest craft haul. Of the past few weeks...  Months?

Here is the stuff I found lying around in my room:

Now to start, today I got the book Mythos by Stephen Fry. Now I know it is 19,95, but when I went to pay for it, it ended up being 9,95. Which I am not going to correct... Later I realized that they put the wrong barcode sticker on it! The barcode is for Nighthawk by Cussler.  (A book I would not read..). I love Greek Mythology and I love Stephen Fry and I love human mistakes! 

10 points for  you if you can name this mythological creature. I love that a vase is used! (hint: there was a mistake in the translation!)

 

I loved reading the foreword, basically because it is exactly the reason why I love Greek Mythology (Or any Mythology).  "There is absolutely nothing academic or intellectual about Greek Mythology; it is addictive, entertaining, approachable and astonishingly human."

The need for explanation and human imagination! Who doesn't love stories!  I Can't wait to finish reading this book :D

The other things I got today are: A bulletjournal from Natasha Krannenburg (Published by Luitingh-Sijthoff B.V Amsterdam). The plan was get a Mus one (that is what I have been using for the past months), but I saw this one! I am going to try to write a review  about it further down, keep reading! 

Also a paper distresser from Joy! and a fan die from Amy Design! 

Of course I had to try it out! I did not realise it would emboss the lines in it! But I love how it turned out to be! You can make a small drawing on paper, or stamp it, then die cut it and you have an adorable fan to use! For this I just used a paint sample from Flexa! This collection also has this GORGEOUS circle with a fish in it, but I left it behind. (costs...)  

The distresser is loooove! Now I have wanted this for a while, I usually rip paper, but this is a completely different look!  I guess you can do this with a knive too, but this is much safer! 

Now the review about the bulletjournal... So I got this at Boekenvoordeel, which is where I get my Mus journals too.  This one was 7,99 euros. (Mus ones are 10 euros... or you know 9,99) and I thought let me try it! 

At first look you see that it has a hard cover, an elastic on the back and a book with instructions. I could not look inside it at the store... Oh, it also is in Dutch! 

*A bulletjournal from Natasha Krannenburg (Published by Luitingh-Sijthoff B.V Amsterdam). Of course I ended up going to the website and I am impressed! It's in English so you can have a look too!  

I opened it, while having tea with a friend. I started with the instruction book. I tend to skip it, so I can do stuff an learn things! This one has a loooooot in it, plus it doesn't look like a leaflet, it is like a small book! 36 pages! 

Of course I didn't take a photo of the content... Silly me. The content chapters are: about me, used terms, about bulletjournalling, what you need, the basics, future log, monthly spread, weekly spread, daily spread, mistakes are allowed, time tracket, habit tracker and bullet journal business. 

 It has a lot of examples and ideas you can use! Plus a lot of photos too. The chapters explain every subject! So if you are new to bulletjournalling this is a great start! I am not going to take a photo of each page... Here you have one with the header/ date ideas! 

Now on to the actual bulletjournal! 

I picked the green one with leaves on it, because I love nature. I can't remember the other designs (there was 1 other in the store actually...), I remember yellow and I am not a big fan of that colour! Green leaves calm me down too. So it is a hardcover (15 x 21 cm), with an elastic you can put around it. The pages are white and numbered (208). I don't know the thickness or any other information since it is not written anywhere! (Or I completely missed it!) From page 1 to 15 you have an index, examples and tips on how to use it. (A repeat of  what is in the instructions). In the back pages 174 till 208 have examples of ideas. These are things like: a birthday tracker, habit tracker, cleaning schedule, movies and books, goals, quotes and many more! Oh and a pen test page! 

So examples and tips on the first 15 pages... 

The back has ideas on how to use pages! This one is movies and books! 

I do love this page! You can actually put a circle, heart, star (you get the idea) on where you have been. Of course you might have to look it up. And me looking at it made me go: Oh, I think I've visited somewhere in every province! In my life, not the past year! Haha! 

 Now, I started writing in before I actually took photos! The first 2 pens were in my bag! To make it easier I've written the names of each pen I used. I didn't expect the erasable to do anything, but I wanted to see how the paper reacts when you erase is! (There are papers that start to peel...). I wrote down every pencil I used! 

The only one that didn't pass the test is the Sakura Identi Pen, which is more of a marker than anything else.. 

Then I realized I should try an Ecoline brush pen and a Faber-Castell Artist Pitt Pen to see how they react! Well they both passed the test!  

What I did not use is water, but I am pretty sure the paper will react badly! It's not thick and it's not watercolouring paper! 

OH PHEWWWWW! Well that was a lot of information! Oh a few more things! I am annoyed it doesn't have a ribbon I can use, I probably will put one or two in it! (Mus journal has 3!). I am worried about how the hard cover will react, since I tend to decorate with other papers, stickers, stick random things in it. (The mus has a soft cover, so it just bends with whatever I do).

I am slightly anxious and wonder if I should just go get a mus... But let me use it before I decide... 

Oh I still have the Action bulletjournals I got a few months back. I plan on making one my stamps book.... Do you think that is a good idea? Since it will take sooooo freaking much time to do this... 

Okay, let me go on about the other things I got! First of all the washi sheets from Action! 15 x 15 cm, 6 designs, 3 with gold foil (in this case) and 2 of each design! I love using them! It's so simple to decorate with them! Plus if you need a quick background for a card or something... Here it is! This one is black and white and gold foil. (They had 3 others... There is a chance I might end up getting them...)  

Then these stickers... I couldn't leave them behind! I have a sticker issue... It's not normal! But I love some of the ones with words on them! and paper plane in one! And the price is painfully cheap when you get it from action!  

Then DecoTime butterfly decoration set. They're die cuts of butterflies! In 4 different colours: blue, orange, pink and white! There is about 27 in each bag and they are gorgeous! And you almost killed me when I told you the price, but don't worry I'll get them for you as well... I think I need 20 more of each bag! They are gorgeous! Oh did I say that each of the butterflies has gold foiled details on them? The biggest one is bigger than my palm, the smallest one is about 1,5/ 2 cms!  

So you can see the difference! I loooove loooove this brand! They come up with great ideas! 

I know I send you photos of the blue one when I was in the tram, but here are the orange ones! They look so real!  

We are carrying on with the DecoTime brand: Luxe Paper Block! So these have 8 pages with die-cut sheets, 2 pages of vellum with black and gold foiled quotes, 8 pages of one-sided patterned paper (240 gsm) and 1 page with stickets!
There were 4 choices and I got them all. My favourite is the one with the Woodland creatures! Second fave with succulents! The other two are okay.. With the dies, I do love the papers and vellum quotes! 

8 pages of different die-cutting sheets! Look at how gorgeous the bike is and the Woodland one... Just gorgeous! 

Vellum Quote pages! 

Two examples of the patterned papers! 

Lastly the stickers, they're a bit embossed! Just stunning! 

Now Stamps! As you know I get a lot of my stamps from Action too! And so do you! I have a whole new stack for your next package to sent! Now Craft Sensations is an amazing company that comes up with very lovely clear stamps almost every 3 or 6 months! They have just the clear stamps, clear stamps with dies and now they have clear stamps with an acrylic block! (Of which I have a whole new stack again... But thankfully I can give it to others or just use them for other things, like mixing watercolours!)...

The sets you see under here is actually 6, I have removed the acrylic block and put another one in the same package! I yet have to try these... But I am sure they'll be amazing. Oh wait, I actually ised the sunflower in the middle one for a page! 

I took photos of these, but for some reason I can not find it between my photos... So I borrowed the photo from the Craft Sensations blog! (The place I look at for the new things they come up with! They have these gorgeous stamp and die sets, which I yet have to find here...) Oh and I already got these for you... 

Okay, so these are from Sostrene Grene (Danish store)  I got these about 3 weeks ago (I remember cause I had an appointment and I had time to hang around after work!) 

A letter writing set! Now I have been silly and didn't take a photo of  the 4 different pastel/ flower pages! I haven't bought anything like this for a long time, so when I saw it I had to get them! 

The other one is a package of cat die-cuts! 

I mean most of my penpals are crazy cat ladies... So I had to get these! 

Now the ecolines...UUUGHHH!!! ECOLINE! I was so close to having all the 30 colours, till they decided to come up with 30 other ones!  First let me tell about the things you're seeing in this photo! Ecoline Brush Pen sets: Pink Beige and Pastel and 5 loose ones I got the past few months. A new 30 ml bottle Ecoline liqued watercolour, Faber-Castell kneedgum (I am not sure but either it is knead/ mold eraser, eraser that is not solid, that you can play with! They are awesome and I have always loved them, so when I saw it I got one!) and Paper Poetry Succulent stickers. Now to clearify the Brushpen (440) and the stickers were a very nice and unexpected present from my friend and collegue! The others are presents for myself (got them from Pippoos and Walt's Fine Arts). 

Oh and a bit of random information: Ecoline is part of Royal Talens, which is a Dutch company. They have a wide range of mediums you can get. Also they have paint brand with Dutch artist names, such as van Gogh and Rembrandt. The Ecolines are not the first things I have used of Royal Talens, the textile paints are! I still have a few of the first paint bottles I ever bought, they have changed a lot since then! To be fair I haven't bought textile paint in about a decade... I probably should do something with it again... 

Anyhow, back to Ecoline. They had 30 colours  for the brush pens and I was so close to having them all... Then they decided to come up with 30 more colours and amazing 5-pack sets! What I decided on was, get the sets I do not have any colour of... The only ones I could get were the two packs! Now I am slowly getting the others!

Oh they also changed the Ecoline bottles, the one I have is an old version. The new ones have a pipette in the cap. 

Oh, I know you looked how much they cost in Australia... I almost had a heart attack! But I guess we have that with the American brands here in the Netherlands! So save up and when you visit just get them here! :) 

I am babbling! Let me go on... 

The stickers are awesome, 6 pages (3 designs), you can see the first page in the first picture, the next two are under here: 

 Love!

Now... Another thing I got from the Action today: Metallic Acrylic paints and spray paints. Because how can you leave these behind! You have to try them! They had 2 sets for the paints and 2 for the sprays. The metalics are both very soft and pastel in colours, pinks and greens with gold and silver for the metallic paint. 

The sprays are a bit brighter in colour! 

 So I decided to show how they look on paper. This watercolour paper pad was on my desk so I grabbed it. Now this is from the action too! I got it about a month ago? I don't know, but recent! I love the texture of the paper, but I am not very happy about it. The paper eats up the water you put on it and you don't get a chance to do much with it. It's very hard to work the watercolour you put on it! Oh and that gorgeous texture just goes away! 

Same goes for alcohol markers! You don't get a chance to mix or blend colours! 

However, it is nice to work with pencils on it! I still like the texture! 

I still decided to use it to show the colours to you. Mostly cause I was too tired and lazy to get up and look for proper paper... (Walked 8,2 kms today!) 

OH CRAP! Okay, I don't have a close up photo of the calligraphy set of Action! Sorry!  But you can see it on the right side of the photo! There is a pen , with 3 extra different nibs, a converter and 3 black ink cartridges. Now for this price the pen writes very nice, plus you get a converter and you can use any colour ink you want! (I have a nice bottle of Akkerman ink: 19 Rood Haags Plunche) I decided to try out the converter with my own ink.  Okay the pen looks and feels very plasticy, I only tried out the the nib that was already on it, which I though was the same as the B one. 

The ink flows well, it is easy to hold and for that price it works well. It is a great way to practice. Oh and the price is just under the two euros!

I don't have a close up of the writing either... Talk about being slack. I took a photo, but I am having trouble connecting my phone to my laptop. Look at the red writing on the photo! 

The photo under this text is basically everything I tried on one page: the Ecoline Brush pens, Ecoline Liquid watercolour, the Action fountain pen, the metallic acrylic paints and the acrylic sprays!  

 Like I said: The paper eats up the colour. These are the colours I got, first column
is the random ones, the second is the pastels set and the third is the pink beige set.  

Uuummm. Why did this paper mess up my favourite medium? 

The metallic colours! So blue, green and silver. Then salmon, pink and gold! I messed up the gold a bit cause I didn't wash my brush properly... I LOVE these! I think I should go get some extras of the paints... 

Okay the same photo again, because the close up of the sprays are lost... Honestly... The sprays are a little see through and incredibly bright! I can't say much about it for now, cause I only did this! But can't wait to use it with other things. 

Phew, I feel like I babbled enough! To think that there are more things I bought and not used yet... This is why I have a hoarding issue, too many choices! Anyhow, this was it for today! Hope you enjoyed it and did not get a headache! 

Take Care, till the next blog post! 

Mwaaah! STO