Blog

My Favourite Colour Is Rainbow

12/1/2016

It's been a while since I posted about the various colour recipes I created for my favourite pens... and I seem to have produced quite a selection of new ones for UniPosca, Akashiya Sai, Papermate Flair, Stabilo Cappi, and my most recent Kuretake Zig Clean Colour.
These last ones for Kuretake Zig I spent a fair amount of time recreating the logo images especially the paint brush and the brush stroke... these are also colour-matched to each individual colour (it's little things like this which I really enjoy!!).
As always, these are available to view on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.
Honestly, sometimes I think I must have too much time on my hands... Enjoy!! :D xxx

JAGT New Products!!

17/11/2015

Once again it's been ages since I've posted anything but oh well you know what I'm like by now... huh?? huh?? Anyhoo I've been quite busy prepping for some Christmas Fairs... yup it's that time of year again; buying packaging and wrapping materials, new labels and new ingredients (you know how I love online shopping!!). I've made a new product 'Moisturising Hair Balm' containing 20% Organic Virgin Argan Oil which is currently being used by my daughter who swears that her hair is noticeably softer (she has been using coconut oil anyway for some time). She also uses it on her skin... brightens her tattoos, softens her skin and leaves it feeling really silky... yeah I know she's family but she definitely wouldn't say so if she really didn't think it had made a difference. I like that my products are tested on family not animals.

I've also got some other new products coming along.... Sugar Scrub, made with Fair Trade Raw Cane Sugar and Bath Fizzers. I have also been making homemade soaps... however there has been a personal issue with these as although I have used an SLS Free Soap Base, I've still not been happy about the other ingredients so although I will still gift these and sell what I have made (not available online), they won't be labelled under "Just All Good Things" and instead will have their own labels.

Instead next time I make some soaps I am going to try making with vegetable oils and lye (NB. no lye is present after the process of saponification).

Homemade Soap Labels

Homemade Soap Labels

October = InkTober

2/10/2015

Gahh!! It's been far too long since I've posted anything but I'd been super busy working during the summer, then since my contract finished in September I have been knuckling down doing work for several clients. Anyway I'm now getting into more of a working routine having set sessions for client work, time for decorating (I'm finally converting the spare room into a studio/office - long story so I'm not even gonna go there!!), and creative time for me.... and you know what?? it's really working for me.
So I'm getting back on track with my monthly desktop calendar (sorry there wasn't one for August or September - my bad) annnd seeing as October = InkTober I figured I'd combine the two.
What's InkTober? it's a month long art project (daily or weekly etc) of ink drawings and sharing them via your social media of choice... dead easy! This year it's being sponsored by my absolute favourite brand of pens and paint 'Kuretake', so of course I had to join and am sharing my drawings on Instagram.

Desktop Calendar October 2015

October 2015

The October 2015 Desktop Calendar has been exported as a .png and will fill a 1920 x 1080 screen (do I need to still tell you all this??). Just click on the image, or the link in the text, to open the image. Right-click your mouse and choose to 'save as' to save the image on your computer. Then all you need to do is find the image in your 'Downloads' folder and again right-click over the image and just select 'set as Desktop background'. Happy Inking!!

Little April Shower

14/4/2015

So even though the weather has actually been quite lovely recently (some days a little blowy and dull) I always think of rain for April... yeah you know it has to be because of Disney's Bambi!! Anyway here it is with lovely colourful raindrops - the April 2015 Desktop Calendar.

April 2015

April 2015

As usual this has been exported as a .png and will fill a 1920 x 1080 screen. Just click on the image, or the link in the text, to open the image. Right-click your mouse and choose to 'save as' to save the image on your computer. Then all you need to do is find the image in your 'Downloads' folder and again right-click over the image and just select 'set as Desktop background'.

Better Late Than Never... Again!!

17/3/2015

FINALLY!! it's here... at long last the March 2015 Desktop Calendar!!
The last 5 - 6 weeks have been quite difficult for me to use a computer too much, I've been having problems with my hands and joints being incredibly stiff and painful (I ended up having to have several blood tests and x-rays and am currently taking very strong anti-inflammatories whilst waiting to see a rheumatologist).

Anyway today being St Patrick's Day, obviously I've gone with a little bit of a Celtic theme - greens, a simple Celtic knot pattern for the border, a Celtic-style font and I've also added an ancient motif of three hares surrounded by oak leaves.

March 2015

March 2015

As usual this has been exported as a .png and will fill a 1920 x 1080 screen. Just click on the image, or the link in the text, to open the image. Right-click your mouse and choose to 'save as' to save the image on your computer. Then all you need to do is find the image in your 'Downloads' folder and again right-click over the image and just select 'set as Desktop background'.

Anyway, whether you're celebrating St Patrick's Day or not (possibly wearing green to avoid being pinched) or even having a liquid lunch of the black stuff. Have a great day!! ...and I'll be keeping my knobbly fingers crossed that my hands will soon be back on form :D xxx

January, February....

29/1/2015

Well we've FINALLY got the first proper snow of this winter!! So as it's my day off I've been making an early start on the free downloadable desktop calendar for February 2015. As usual this has been exported as a .png and will fill a 1920 x 1080 screen.

Just click on the image, or the link in the text, to open the image. Right-click your mouse and choose to 'save as' to save the image on your computer. Then all you need to do is find the image in your 'Downloads' folder and again right-click over the image and just select 'set as Desktop background'.

Anyway, while I was working on it I had the lovely Barbara Dickson singing in my head. My mum was a bit of a Barbara fan when I was growing up so of course I had to have a quick search on on YouTube... honestly, isn't she just FABULOUS!!! And yes I did have to have a bit of a sing-a-long (so I've included the lyrics below)... Enjoy!!

Oh yeah one last thing... is it wrong of me that the colour opacity of the small hearts is 69% on purpose?... what can I say? feel the love people :D xxx

February 2015

February 2015

JANUARY, FEBRUARY...

You just say the things you want to hear
And like a fool I believed everything was clear
But now I feel so distant
I don't know what to say
The things I thought important are just another day
And you and I are miles and miles apart
You got me on the road
To one more broken heart

[Chorus]
January February
I don't understand
Why it is you say you're leaving
Then you turn around
You won't settle down
You've got both feet off the ground
January February
Don't you come around

Wake up I tell myself but I don't even hear
One more night, another day, another year
It doesn't seem to matter
'Cos you don't seem to care
If only there were some way out
A way to anywhere
'Cos you and I are miles and miles apart
You got me on the road
To one more broken heart

[Chorus]

It doesn't seem to matter
'Cos you don't seem to care
If only there were some way out
A way to anywhere
'Cos you and I are miles and miles apart
You got me on the road
To one more broken heart

[Chorus]

January February
Don't you come around (repeat)

"Just All Good Things"

21/1/2015

Which brings me up to today....
This morning I whipped up a batch of lip balm and amazingly it filled exactly 40 tubes. Then I figured I really ought to look into producing some label samples, at least as a starter. Y'know what? they're nothing fancy, just simple chalk writing on black ala chalkboard-style (the font is called Eraser Dust), but I actually really like them... maybe because they look a little similar to Lush, although please note that I am not trying to replicate them, and these might not be the final design anyway!

76mm round label for Bath Salts

76mm round label for Bath Salts

76mm round label for Bath Salts

76mm round label for Body Butter

38mm round label for Lip Balm

38mm round label for Lip Balm

After the success of the homemade bath salts which I made for family members for Christmas 2013 and the homemade treats I made for Christmas 2014, I figured with all the leftover ingredients I could make some more batches for selling.

I had a busy day yesterday working out exactly what the products cost me to make and how much the individual packaging costs and the cost of printing labels etc etc and whether it would actually be worth doing. Basically the answer is a big fat YES!!

So why "Just All Good Things"?? because that is exactly all they contain. You can see on the labels... no chemicals that you can't pronounce, no parabens, no artificial flavours, perfumes or colourants... simply, just all good things.

Pick A Colour, Any Colour!!

7/1/2015

Pantone 319 C

My 'Happy' Colour

I'm always drawn to bright and fabulous colours and have a slight addiction to all things Pantone. As part of creating various images and patterns etc which I share on Instagram I have often picked a relevant 'Colour of the Day' and created a Pantone colour swatch - which up to now included just RGB and HTML colour recipes.

I have now edited these images to also include a CMYK recipe and are all available on Pinterest on my board 'Pantone Colour Recipes' and also via my Facebook page.

I've included a few recipes below. Just click on an image to view the gallery. My favourite colour is Pantone 319 C... and it never fails to make me happy. Leave a comment here or on any of my social networks with your favourite Pantone colour and I'll upload new swatches.

A New Year... A New Calendar!!

6/1/2015

Better late than never... here's the new downloadable calendar for January 2015.
Created as usual with my own icons (I LOVE playing Scrabble!!), using Serif DrawPlus X5. This has been exported as a .png and will fill a 1920 x 1080 screen.

January 2015

January 2015

Just click on the image above, or the link in the text, to open the image. Right-click your mouse and choose to 'save as' to save the image on your computer. Then all you need to do is find the image in your 'Downloads' folder and again right-click over the image and just select 'set as Desktop background'. Happy New Year :D xxx

National Christmas Jumper Day

12/12/2014

Well of course today isn't all about me.... 12th December is also National Christmas Jumper Day. Unfortunately I don't actually have a cheesy Christmassy jumper so will be wearing my stripy sweater instead - it's got a big roomy pocket. Anyway I was inspired to 'knit' a new Facebook Cover Image using my ever trusty Serif DrawPlus X5. Cosy huh? Have a great day... stay warm folks, it's chilly out today :D xxx