Letraset Comic Marker Pad Review

So I went to Hobbycraft the other day to buy myself a few treats...and whilst there I happened to wander into what can only be described as heaven...that's right it was THE DISCOUNT BIT! 

They now have a PERMANENT discount section...AMAZING HUH!

ANYWAY...

I was looking to buy some new sketchbooks as I was running low and there on the bargain shelf for only £2!! was this Letraset Manga Art Supplies Comic Marker Pad. I had never tried this paper before but at that price what did I have to lose? EXACTLY, nowt! 

So as you can see it's an A4 pad of bright white paper, which according to the information on the front has been developed for use with alcohol based markers. 

I use Letraset Promarkers a lot , typically I use a pretty absorbent Daler Rowney Heavyweight paper which I think mutes the colours in my illustrations quite a bit so I was keen to try something that would retain the brightness of the pens. 

This paper in this pad is pretty thin at 70gsm which means that you can use it for tracing. I was worried that this would mean that the ink would soak through badly but it wasn't actually that bad. 

You can see the transparency of the paper here...

I was pretty impressed with this paper, you can see from my illustration that the colours have not bled that much and I was able to use a couple of greens on the leaves which have stayed put pretty well. I like the fact that the Promarker colours are crisp and sharp and the outlines clear.

I am going to keep going with this paper, I think it's going to work well with my pointillism. I still think that cracking the paper is half the battle with illustration, if only it wasn't so confusing. Anyone who can shed any light on the subject, please do get in touch.

The pens I used in this illustration were:

Letraset Promarker in Caramel   0727

Letraset Promarker in Tulip Yellow Y337

Letraset Promarker in Mint Green G637

Letraset Promarker in Marsh Green 

Letraset Promarker in Forest Green

A couple of vintage pens which my friend Catherine gave me (left over from GCSE days) they were...

Letraset Pantone 406-T

Letraset Pantone 468-T

Laterz

Ax 

Honey, I'm Homely

When I was a teenager I listened to A LOT of Ska Punk...heck I STILL like a lot of Ska Punk...one of my ABSOLUTE FAVE bands is the Dance Hall Crashers. I have not listened to this album for ages BUT I found it again today and I just had to share it with you.

I love the fact that music takes you back in time so instantly, this album reminds me of such a fun uncomplicated time...

Have a listen...let me know what you think, unless you hate it...I ain't interested then... JOKES, KINDA ;)

Have a great sunday! 

Ax 

Hello my name is...

Today I braved the cold and went to the Malt Cross in Nottingham for my first foray into Blogger Meet Ups, having only been blogging for a short while I was a bit nervous, but hey they let me in and I'm so glad they did. 

I HAD A RIGHT GOOD TIME...

The meet up was organised by two AWESOME ladies Emma and Kelly ....

The Malt Cross is one of the nicest venues in Nottingham, it used to be a Music Hall and it retains a lot of that character. Oh and today it also retained GOODY BAGS...not that I'm easily swayed by free stuff...who am I kidding...EVERYONE LOVES A GOODY BAG. 

It contained some dead good samples from Weleda (which to be honest I'd not heard of before but I'm going to give them a try) apparently they are natural skincare experts which can only be a good thing. The goody bag also contained some sweets from Swizzels Matlow...they make Love Hearts...they didn't last the journey home though. 

As someone who has er... ok yeah...an unhealthy obsession with all things beauty, it was dead good to be able to hang time with some of my kindred beauty blogger spirits and between us we have the makings of some very exciting future collaborations...so watch this space. ..WHOOP!

The other thing that I REALLY enjoyed about today was that Sophie and Autumn from The Body Shop on Bridlesmith Gate in Nottingham came along with literally LOADS of products for us to try. Including some brand spanking new products...which meant HAIR CHALKS!!! 

As someone who last year dipped her toe in the dip-dye hair pool, this was something that I was VERY interested in. The pigments were really strong and as they wash out it means I can play around with little commitment...in other words I can wash it out before work tell me off LOLZ!

My purple hair adventures...

We were given a discount voucher for The Body Shop so after the meet the 'Make-up Mafia' as we are now affectionately known, went down there and I'm not going to lie...basically I bought LOADS of amazing products, which I will write about in full in another post.

Oh did I mention we also got cupcakes! Seriously ladies you spoilt us, thank you for organising it!

A x

You couldn't make it up...

For absolutely ages I just wore the same make-up , it wasn't bad or anything but it just wasn't inspiring me...everything else about my appearance had changed but not the olde slap. Well that changed FOR SURE about two months ago...

As I mentioned in my other post (and yes pretty much every day if you have the pleasure of knowing me in person ) I really enjoy a good Youtube make-up tutorial.

It's just that by watching these HIGHLY ADDICTIVE videos, not only are you wasting about 4 hours without realising it...but you're also learning!

I don't know about you, but I get a bit overwhelmed in the make-up bit of Boots or Superdrug, you're standing there looking at everything and have NO CLUE what's worth buying, plus you have to fight your way to the front through the "youngsters"...the good thing about these videos is that you get true reviews about the products and you know straight away what you're looking for.

SO after er a lot of research, I wanted to try some of the products that the Youtube beauty gurus rave about, the 'drugstore' products that are must haves...

So here's my take on the following products:

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in 001 Transparent

Collection Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer in Light 2

Sleek MakeUp Blush in 926 Rose Gold

Sleek MakeUp i-Divine eye palette in 601 Au Naturel

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

Now this is one product that really gets a lot of hype, which probably explains why it's so bloomin hard to trrack down. It's about £4.50 which I don't think is a bad price, especially as it covers like an ABSOLUTE DREAM. This is a great concealer, it does what it says on the tin...you know, it er LASTS! It's great for covering spots and shadows under your eyes...I think it's a definite addition to any make-up bag. 

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder

I love this powder! It's the best powder I've ever used and at £3.99 you would be absolutely stupid not to buy it. This sets your make-up so well, I can even do a full day at work and then go out for a drink afterwards and my make up is STILL IN PLACE. It's worth keeping one at home and in your bag at this price! if you only ever listen to me about one thing...make it this, well unless my other advice is about living a positive life...cos that's shit you wanna listen to! Anyway...GREAT POWDER. BUY IT! 

Sleek MakeUp blusher in Rose Gold

Right one thing I should tell you if you're going to watch these Youtube ladies...they have their own lingo right and one of their key things is a 'DUPE'...which is basically a cheaper product which is pretty much the same as a high end product. Now this blusher is a DUPE for NARS 'Orgasm' blusher...and you know what it's bloody great. Yeah i know what you're thinking...THAT'S A BIT PINK...it is, but on it looks really natural, you know like you've er...just been out for a brisk walk...

Sleek MakeUp eyeshadow palette in Au Naturel

These palettes are £8.99 for 12 highly pigmented shadows (the colours stay true and on your eye), it's such good value for money and you can get LOADS of looks easily out of it. You get a MASSSSIVE mirror in the palette as well which is always good. The colours range from a pale cream/white which I use as a highlighter under my brow bone to black, which is obvs great for a smoky eye. 

Lately I've been using the following combo: 

Nubuck, Moss, Bark and Mineral Earth on the socket line, finished with Taupe from the inner corner eye to mid eyelid.

I hope you found this useful, consider it me sharing the make-up karma...surely I get a few spot free weeks for that!

Enjoy your weekends! Oh and let me know what you think if you try any of these out...tweet me @amandainateacup or you can find a page for my blog on Facebook here Amanda in a Teacup

Amanda xx

Style Love: Stevie Nicks

I have a habit of being massively obsessed with things, trends, bands, people; you name it....and then completely being disinterested...hey don't judge me, it's nothing personal! BUT one thing that has ALWAYS remained strong and consistent is my absolute obsession with I guess what you would technically call "boho style" (I hate that term by the way)...basically I am referring to a relaxed summer, hippy vibe, the moon, stars, energies etc... I'm going to rename it 'Stevie Awesome'...haha!

I pin these styles often and hope one day to actually embrace it in a real life outfit...but i guess at the moment my addiction to all things 90s is too strong, plus it's winter and if I wore boho I would like totally freeze.

ANYWAY BACK TO MY POINT...

So I finally watched Dave Grohl's Sound City documentary the other evening, I enjoyed it IMMENSELY as expected...given that the studio was the recording home for pretty much all of my favourite albums (Nirvana, Fleetwood Mac, Rage against the Machine, Tom Petty). I really recommend you watch it, it's important to recognise the craftsmanship that goes into recording in analogue and I genuinely learnt a lot....

IT ALSO MADE ME KINDA OBSESSED WITH STEVIE NICKS 

I had also thought "yeah she's a cool chick" BUT watching this documentary made me go WOAH! I so want to dress like her in the summer... that laid back, chilled vibe is something I can completely get on board with. I love her shaggy layered haircut and as I'm growing mine currently it's something to aim for. I am now on the look out for long floral maxi skirts (ideally 90s daisy print, can't lose that vibe totally) and I'm going to dig out my vintage floppy hat which I hope has survived my recent house move! 

See what I mean......

*All pics from Pinterest

TOTAL BABE OR WHAT!

I'd totally love to hear who your style inspirations are...tweet me @amandainateacup

Laterz 
A x

Change your mind...a book review

I know it's a genre that makes people turn their noses up but I've always liked to read 'self help' books, I like reading things that pick you up and encourage you to think and act in a more  positive way.

I think it's important to continually develop and encourage yourself to think in different ways...no wait, it's more than important...it's what gives you the edge...in er LIFE. 

Well, if you follow me on Twitter you'll be aware that I had been experiencing a slight creative block in January, you know the feeling when you just can't seem to get motivated past the sketch phase? So I dug out a book that really really , yeah double really, helps you to unleash your creative side...

Change your mind- 57 Ways to unlock your creative self - Rod Judkins

Hardie Grant Books

ISBN : 9781742705576

£8.99 and also available as an ebook

(Can you tell I used to work at Waterstones ...)

This book is great because not only does it contain some great advice about the creative process but stylistically it's also really cool and inspiring.

Judkins writes in a really honest and direct and encouraging way, it's almost a manual of how to retrain your brain to forget every crippling thought you've ever had during the creative process. 

Some of my favourite chapters are:

Don't Strive to be Original ( personally the desire to be 'original' was crippling me from doing anything, when in fact if you emulate those that inspire you, your natural style will come through anyway...wish I'd read this book 10 years ago!)

Don't compete CREATE and Don't leave ideas in your head

I would highly recommend this book, it's one you need to read from cover to cover and then dip into periodically during your creative lulls. 

Have you read this book? tweet me what you thought @amandainateacup

A x