Current Favorite PaperChase Items!

KRAFT CREAM A5 EXERCISE NOTEBOOK.

I'll set the scene, I was in town and I had left my sketchbook at home (horror) so I run into paperchase and found this bad boy! It has plain cream paper at the front at back and in the middle it has brown kraft paper. It is made up of 90 sheets of plain paper giving you 180 pages. The binding is really sturdy I have had this in my bang for nearly a month now and as well as tearing pages out, folding it around itself and it has hardly any marks on it at all. The paper it's self is so smooth and is great to sketch on. Even though this is classed as a note book I have been using this as a sketchbook since I bought it and it's doing to job just fine. 

When it's not in my bag it's always kind of with me for when I get a sudden bolt of inspiration.

At £3.00 you can't really go wrong and it's really high quality, will most likely be buying a lot more in the future I love it! Plus the plain cover is great for random doodles!

PAPERCHASE PHOTO ALBUM.

This is the small photo album, I couldn't find it on the website so I don't know what it's actually called. It's a postcard sized photo album which has about 20 sleeves in. I'm currently using it to hold the postcards of my illustrations and it's great, it's strong and the sleeves are easy to put things in which I find with some files like this especially cheap ones that the sleeves are rubbish and you have to spend ages trying to put things in, but I had no trouble with this one. I think this was about £2.

UNI-BALL SIGNO 07.

&

PILOT SUPER GRIP MECHANICAL PENCIL 05

I bought these the same day I bought the Kraft Notebook mentioned above.

I'll start with the Pen - The pen is very smooth when writing and is great for cursive writing as it flows really nicely. As with all pens like this once you have written something you kind of have to wait a while before touching it as the ink dries, but it didn't seem to take as long as some other pens I have had in the past. So far this pen hasn't left blotches or splodges of ink on the page so that's always a bonus. For sketching it's alright, but the ink does seem to just give up at point but if you are going for a sketchy look it works just fine but if you want a clean line this isn't going to do that for you.

Now for the pencil - I first started using mechanical pencils about three years ago and I had one that was about the same size as a regular pencil and I found after a few weeks of using it I just didn't like it. I found this one and was interested to try it out, it's chunky and feels comfortable in my hand. I think was I like about it is it feels very much like I'm holding a pen and not a pencil. It's great so lightly sketching a small details but like with all mechanical pencils and all pencils actually it will snap if you press to hard. This was used to do the Coraline sketch above.

TREAT ME CARDS!

Something else I want to talk about is Paperchase's new 'Treat me Cards'. This is a bonus card and is free to sign up, if you go in paperchase a lot I would highly recommend getting one. You get a free coffee and 10% off food from the cafe with any purchase in store, which lasts for a week after your purchase. £5 to spend when it's your birthday (24 days til mine yay!) and £5 off when you spend £50 and what's good about this you don't have to spend £50 in one go you just buy your stuff and it mounts up and you can check how much you have to go on your online account. Free click and collect. A free upgrade to next day delivery, this basically means if you order something and want it the next day you will only have to pay the standard shipping. They also do other bonus treats! So sign up, its free and some great perks!

SHOPPING LIST!

Kraft Notebook £3.00

Photo album (this isn't the exact one it's bigger) 

Couldn't find the pen online. Sorry.

Mechanical Pencil

Disclaimer:  I bought these products with my own money and paperchase did not ask for this review, all opinions are my own. 

Quick Comic Review - '3 Parts Mad' Issue 1.

3 Parts Mad is written by Josh Moorby and illustrated by Sarah Docker. 

This comic is a collection of flash fiction, stand alone art and poetry that when put together is stunning. I love how when you're reading it you can just feel how much love and attention Josh and Sarah have given to this project. 

This comic does it's job to show comics to be more than just one straight forward mundane story, it can be so much more, like poetry and stories that make you think and ask questions, something that keeps you guessing. Plus not only is the writing amazing but the illustrations by Sarah are stunning and really blend well with the writing. 

This comic is a serious labor of love and I would highly recommend purchasing a copy and support two up and coming creatives! 

Perfect for Fans of... Great writing and great art (duh). The Twilight Zone (I don't know just something that came to mind while I was reading!)

Where to find 3 Parts Mad - 

Facebook.

Twitter.

SUPPORT 3 PARTS MAD BUY HERE!

Disclaimer - I know Sarah personally but this in no way impacted this review, the opinions expressed no matter how small are my own. 

When your job is your passion what happens when nothing is working out?

I think every-one gets in these moods and moments when nothing seems to be going the way you planned or the way you want. 

Some days my illustrations are going amazing and I'm super proud of what I'm producing but some days it's like a physical effort to pick up materials and work because nothing seems to be going right. After ages of thinking I was the only one, but after going to college and university and being surrounded by other Illustrators and creatives in training all day I quickly realized I was not in the slightest bit alone. 

Being in this mood is difficult and can make you doubt not only your work but also yourself, I'd be lying to you if I hadn't thought at some point when something wasn't working "That's it, I'm never going to be able to draw anything good again. I'm done." 

So here are some of my tips for when this mood strikes. Obviously this won't work for every-one but something might just click.

1. Draw something you know, something you always draw. For me I always draw a portrait of Edgar Allan Poe or Annabel Lee, during college I drew them a lot for a project so I got used to drawing them. 
2. Re-draw an old piece of work. This is great for when you don't feel as if you're not improving. Then once you're done put the new and old piece together. 
3. Put on your favorite album, really loud and just draw. This sounds daft but trust me, even if you just draw random shapes, just draw. The world is made up of random shapes see what come out of it. 
4. Read a book you haven't read. This works super well for me. I love trying to figure out how the characters would look and what clothes they would wear.
5. Go out. Take a sketchbook and go out to the park, go to a coffee shop it doesn't matter and draw what you see.
6. Pinterest. Go on your pinterest homepage and scroll with your eyes closed and open them whatever image you cursor lands on when you stop draw that image.
7. Try a new material that you don't use and don't be afraid to get messy.  

What do you do when your in these moods? Comment down below.

Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award.

I was nominated by the lovely Sarah, thank-you so much. I'm excited to answer your questions! Let's do this. Again thank-you so much you lovely lady you!

Rules of the Award - 
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link them in your post.
2. Answer the ten questions you have been sent.
3. Come up with 10 questions of your own.
4. Spread the love and nominate up to 10 bloggers. 

These are the questions given to me by Sarah...

1. What's your favourite thing about yourself?
My imagination. Since I was little I used to love making up stories for my toys and then as I got older writing stories and creating characters and worlds for them to explore. I love writing but I don't think I'm very good.

2. If you could wake up and speak one other language fluently, what would it be? 
I'd love to be able to speak Latin, even though it's considered a dead language I still think it would be great to know.

3. Are you an introvert or extrovert? 
70% introvert and 30% extrovert. I suffer from anxiety and major confidence issues which sometimes gets in my way. When I'm with new people I can hardly speak and if I do find the confidence to speak it's muttered and mumbled but once I get comfortable around a person or group I am able to talk freely as myself, but it takes a while for me to get comfortable around new people.

4. What would you consider your 'spirit animal' and why? 
Probably a manatee, I got too see some in Florida a few years back and I could happily have watched them float around and eat cabbage all day, I don't know I just felt so content and connected with them at that moment. Also Manatees are what sailors used to think were mermaids, go look um up they are amazing.

6. Do you prefer Summer or Winter and Why?
Winter. No competition. I like layering up clothes and wearing big scarves and getting lovely hot drinks. And warm cuddles with my dogs in a blanket with a cup of tea and a good book! Can't beat it. Suck it Summer!

7. If you could take a trip into space would you?
Probably not, every book, film or tv show revolving around space has gone bad, so no thanks.

8. Are there any books you've read that you wish you had written first?
YES!  So many. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, I devoured this book and I didn't want to come back to reality. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E Schwab PIRATES AND LADIES DRESSED AS MEN AND BLOOD MAGIC OH HOW GLORIOUS! Alas I probably wouldn't have made such masterpieces as these ladies have done.

9. What's your biggest fear?
Massive over crowded spaces with no exits or openness.

10. What did you want to be when you were little and where are you now?
I wanted to be a lot of things when I was little. I wanted to be a hairdresser like my cousin, I just to mess around with my Nanna's hair and putting as many Claire's accessories on her head as humanly possible. Also, a guide dog trainer, a songwriter(Why? You may ask, I blame my Jonas Brothers phase, don't judge me). During high school when I found out people actually made a living doing Art I wanted to be a Tattoo Artist and maybe an Art Teacher. As I got older and started finding artists I liked and were inspired by I noticed most of the things I like were Illustration based. So that brings me to the now, I'm studying Illustration and I have hopes of being a Concept Artist for Film and TV and also designing and illustrating books.

MY QUESTIONS!! 
I don't know why but I felt the need to do an evil manic laugh after typing that! so...
MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!

1. If you could switch lives with a character from any book, who would you be and why?
2. You can only listen to one album for the rest of your life which do you pick?
3. Who would play you in the movie of your life?
4. If your pet could speak, what would be the first thing they would say to you?
5. If you got to choose your last meal on earth and you could have ANYTHING, what would you have?
6. Last Read Book, what did you think?
7. What was the first film you remember seeing at the cinema?
8. What inspires you on a daily basis?
9. Your favorite quote?
10. If you could get any tattoo regardless of pain and cost what would you get and where would you get it?



I nominate ...
Emily, Sarah (if I can re-nominate?) and Ion. Please let me know when your answers are up!