My Filofax and JetPens Goodies!

Are you there friends, its me Brandon!


So I did another youtube video today to share with all of you some of the items I use in my filofax. I had a lot of fun filming this one mostly because I had some new items from JetPens.com to talk about.

Also I thought I would also mention on here my thoughts on JetPens.com since this was my first order through them. I should mention that I usually never purchase anything online because when I get the item it  isn't what I expected or the photo's made it look higher quality. So I was very nervous about ordering products without customer reviews as well as ordering from a website that I had never used before. But my whole purchasing experience was amazing, and I really recommend this website to those of you who share a stationery addiction with me! There are so many choices on their website and the prices are comparable to amazon. Plus if you spend over 25 dollars shipping is free! And who doesn't love free things? The items I got where exactly as pictured and I am really pleased.

In other news it seems there has been a dislike troll milling around my youtube channel and has decided to give me a few thumbs down reviews on a few of my videos. I have absolutely no idea why this upsets me as much as it does....but it kinda hurts my feelers. No matter, I will still continue sharing my thoughts and feelings on my blog and youtube. But what would be amazing would be for you, yes you reading this, to go onto my youtube channel and subscribe and give your favorite video of mine a big thumbs UP! I really appreciate all the love I can get on my channel!

Also as a little side note, as you may or may not have known todays weather was very cool and breezy here in the PNW which is my absolute favorite weather. So to celebrate a cooler day I decided to whip out the kettle and make myself a cup of tea...yum! Going to drink it all up, then go to bed. So until next time, have an amazing day!

Hugs,
Brandon

My cursed Project Life Product review

Are you there friends, its me Brandon.

So today I decided that once I got off work I would come home and film a new video for my youtube channel. I have been wanting to film a product review on all my project life items for some time now and have been putting it off because I wanted to do the video justice. As I have mentioned before, Project Life revived my love of scrapbooking and has become a large part of my crafting world. That being said, not every product I've come across has been a great success. And for those of you new to the pocket page scrapbooking systems I wanted to share with you the ups and downs, hits and misses, or successes and downfalls, of the Project Life system. Sounds like a valiant idea right? So I thought I would give my first product review a try. And heres what happened...

Firstly I waited far too long to get myself presentable to film. So by the time I got everything set up and got myself ready the sun had already started beating down on my apartment. I film in front of my patio since the lighting is decent, but after a certain point in the afternoon the heat becomes unbearable. But I thought I would tough it up and get my video done. Oh how ambitious I was.

I ended up filming around 25 minutes of mostly useable material. Although I kept losing my train of thought and often times got tongue tied, I figured my video would end up being around 10-15 minutes and I was relatively happy with my presentation. Once I uploaded the video to my computer though I realized the material was just unusable, and heres why.

It is currently 90 degrees outside, and I would say it is at least 80 in my filming area. Suffice to say it was very warm. At the start of the video I was cool, calm, and collected. But by the end I was none of those things. My face had turned tomato red, my hair had expanded into an afro, and I was shinier than a freshly minted quarter. I looked laughably bad. Plus I sounded really agitated. Brandon doesn't do well in the heat.

Anyway I've decided to try again tomorrow but this time I will start filming early in the afternoon before it becomes a sauna in my apartment. So until then all I have to show you are the photo's I took to use as a thumbnail for my video. I hope this interests you enough to stop by again soon and watch my Project Life Product review.

Let me know if you would like to see something in particular in my next video, as well as any questions you may have. Check me out on twitter and instagram as well if that suits your fancy @bvcrafts1

Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate all the feedback I've gotten recently on my blog and youtube channel. It makes me very happy. So until next time...

Have an amazing day!

Brandon

UPDATE!

Finally finished the video, so here it is :D

Hum drum day today

Are you there friends, its me Brandon.

Today was a rather hum drum day in my household. Woke up very early as I usually do and sort of putzed around cleaning and tiding up. Spent far too much time doing laundry because I decided to pull out a new set of sheets and comforter which of course needed washing since the storage unit smells funky. I also cleaned the kitchen and whatnot.

I didn't spend my whole day doing absolutely nothing interesting though! I did in fact make a few greeting cards as well as worked on my Project Life scrapbook. I am so behind on my PL at the moment catching up is feeling like a very daunting task, but I will get there eventually. I also decided that because I have a few birthdays coming up as well as other events I thought I would start working on amassing a collection of my handmade cards as well.

No new video for you all today, but I thought I would share some pictures.

Well I hope you enjoyed my pictures. Please do make sure to check out my youtube channel as well as follow me on instagram and twitter @bvcrafts1 if that suits your fancy. 

youtube.com/user/bvcrafts

As always thanks for stopping by, and have an amazing day!

Brandon

My inspiration filofax with new video!

Are you there friends, its me Brandon.

As I promised this morning, I filmed another filofax video for you all to enjoy! This video was certainly a labor of love because I was having a really difficult time speaking with any coherence. But I finally got it filmed, edited, and uploaded! 

In other news. Another reason this video took such a long time was that I had almost no motivation to do anything today. I stayed in my pajamas until noon! Granted I did wake up at 4:45am on my day off, so its not like I slept until noon (this is my justification).

Once I got myself ready I decided that a bit of shopping was in order. If you have noticed anything about me it is probably that I quite enjoy to shop. So today I indulged a small amount and got a few nice bits and bobs for myself. Nothing wildly exciting. Mostly just things like hairspray and face wash and some cologne. Things that I usually put off buying because they are often times more than I want to spend. But today I decided that I would just go for it!

Well thanks for stopping by and watching my video. Don't forget to check out my channel for all my other videos and follow me on twitter and instagram if that suits your fancy :@bvcrafts1. 

youtube.com/user/bvcrafts

And as always, have an amazing day!

Brandon

My inspiration Filofax

Are you there friends, its me Brandon.

So I have been pretty busy this week with work, and I have been MIA on my blog and youtube channel since the week started. So today, since it is my day off, I plan on filming and posting a new video for you all! I am really hoping I will be able to compile enough interesting content to share with you what I call my Inspiration Filofax. I know I mentioned it in my last video but I did not go into detail as to how I use my filofax, and what it means to me. So before I film my video (I am waiting for the sun to come up so I have better lighting) I thought I would share on here a little about my filofax.

My lovely red saffiano filofax was a gift from Shane, and since then I have been absolutely obsessed with it. I watch hours of youtube videos a week on filofax set-ups and how other people use their planner. But no matter how many videos I watch, I still can't come to use my planner for the traditional daily planning. Instead I use it for things that inspire me to create. Though I do keep a monthly insert, I use it mostly for other things. 

I am most likely going to expand on my filofax sometime soon so I have more places for other things I find interesting like books I want to read or blogs that I frequent. But for now I keep my favorite quotes, future projects, products I would love to try out, and a password keeper for all the websites I have a subscription/account with. For now I just use lined paper in each of the sections to keep track of my thoughts and ideas. For the most part it is almost like a very organized journal where I put certain ideas and thoughts in certain sections. I have really come to love this sort of inspiration binder and I find it really fun to use. 

So keep an eye out on my youtube channel for my next video! I really hope it turns out well and that you all will enjoy it. I will post on here again when it is actually up and share with you anything interesting that I don't mention in the video. 

Don't forget to follow me on all my social media if you would like to keep up to date with what I am doing. My user name is @bvcrafts1 

And check out my last youtube video if you missed it at youtube.com/user/bvcrafts

As always have an amazing day, and I will talk to you very soon!

Brandon

P.S. 

Here is a little spoiler picture on another video that I plan on filming soon: my favorite filofax goodies. Let me know if you would enjoy that video so I can put that on my list of things to film! 

UPDATE! 

Finally filmed my filofax setup video! Let me know what you think! :D

Two Video's in one day! What!?

Are you there friends, its me Brandon. 

I know I have been absent from my blog for the past two days, and I apologize. It has been a quite busy start to the week for me! Went back to work on tuesday after two glorious days off consisting of blogging, you tubing, and shopping. But just because I work doesn't mean I can't do videos during the week either! So yesterday I decided to create an art journaling page and today I did a filofax and journaling themed video. 

The art journaling video was supposed to go up yesterday, the same day I filmed it. But of course something had to go wrong with iMovie, causing my edited footage to get lost and requiring me to update the software. And since I was running '09 iMovie the update was quite vast..and very confusing. It wasn't until 10 o'clock that I had the whole video re-edited. And by that time I couldn't wait for it to format because I should have been asleep three hours earlier. Long story short though I got the video and thumbnails done today, and the video is up for you to enjoy! 

I also did a video inspired by one of my favorite youtubers Miss Vicky Bee and talked a little about my filofax and my Dear Diary journal. Pretty self explanatory. 

I am pretty tired now from all the editing and back and forth for today. So bedtime is upon us! But please do make sure to let me know what you think of my videos. And if you like them, don't forget to thumbs up, subscribe, and share them on your social media! 

As always, thanks for stopping by and have an amazing day!

Brandon

Welcome to my channel! Plus bloopers!

Thought I would do a fun little intro video for my youtube channel! Please check it out and let me know what you think!

Whoa bad thumbnail...

Anyway subscribe to my blog and my youtube! youtube.com/user/bvcrafts

Also I am now on twitter and instagram @bvcrafts1


As always, have an amazing day!
Brandon

Sunday fun day shopping!

Are you there friends, its me Brandon.

Today was a wonderful day. Spent the morning with Shane relaxing then my mom came over and we did our usual sunday thing. Once we had our coffee and breakfast, and of course looked through the newspaper ads we went shopping! Collectively my mom and my favorite activity.

First we hit target where I was hoping to find a nice camera bag, but unfortunately I didn't have any luck. For the first time in a while we both escaped without spending any money, which is probably a good thing because then we went to joann craft store. And we can never escape the craft store without spending any money. Are you wounding what I purchased? Of course you are, so I filmed a little haul video for you all :D

Please let me know what you think, as well as anything else. Don't forget to subscribe to my youtube channel, give me a thumbs up, and share me on your social media! 

Oh and I also started an instragram account! So check me out there as well: instagram.com/bvcrafts1

As always, thanks for stopping by. And have an amazing evening! 

Brandon

Card-making part 1 with new youtube video!

Are you there friends, its me Brandon.

So today I decided to film my second ever youtube video. Because I was too lazy to style my hair, which if you're wondering takes around 30 minutes, I decided to just do a "process" type video. Its the type where I show you how I do something in particular. And since I wanted to film it before it got massively hot in my apartment I wanted to keep it short. So what I ended up making was a video showing off my card making skills. Hallmark eat your heart out. Just kidding the card actually did not turn out like I wanted, but the video was halfway decent so...you win some, lose some.

I will give myself an excuse as to why my card didn't turn out like I had imagined. And that is because filming with a large tripod right in front of you makes seeing what you are doing very difficult. Trying to stamp and cut paper was clearly very difficult. But now I know to have my paper cut and ready to go before I try filming. Anyhoot! You came here to watch a video didn't you? And you thought I would get straight to it? Think again.....But seriously, heres the video.

Please give my video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it as well as sharing the video on your social media! I sure would appreciate it. Also give my blog some love with some comments and hit that little plus sign!

As always have an amazing evening,
Brandon

My art journal flip through!

Are you there lovelies, its me Brandon. Today I did something rather different and something that I pretty much vowed never to do. I actually created a video on youtube! Quite possibly the most cringeworthy thing I've ever done in my whole life. And heres why....

I am very camera shy, and I really dislike the way my voice sounds. The easiest part was when I was just narrating and the camera wasn't pointed at me. The rest was rather unnerving. This reminds me actually of a childhood memory when I was forced to go to theatre camp, but thats a whole different story that I won't delve into. Let just say narrating was the easy part. 

Anyway lets get to the video itself. Please be kind....

So there you have it. My very first youtube video. Not going to say much else except to encourage you to share, comment, like, thumbs up, the usual blah blah. I would really like to know if people are enjoying my content.

Thats all for today, and as always have an amazing day lovelies!

Brandon

Throwback Thursday

Are you there lovelies, its me Brandon.

Since today is when our Facebook feeds are inundated with #TBT posts, I thought I would save you from reading a small blurb on social media. But rather ask that you read an ENTIRE post on my TBT story. And you thought I was going to entertain you some other way...

My throwback is my very first crafting project. And when I say "very first" I don't mean like when I made a throw pillow in kindergarten (yes we actually did that, let me know if you want pictures of that as well) granted that may be slightly more interesting. Its like my kindergarten teacher knew how I was going to turn out and said to herself, what can I teach this boy that he will use in his every day life? How to accessorize a throw pillow!? Thats perfect!!

Whoa tangent.

The first crafting project I am talking about is the one that got me into crafting in the current years. As many of you might remember from my Project life post my first scrapbook was memorializing my senior year of high school, and my graduation celebrations. But actually that wasn't my first craft that year, and it wasn't the one that got me driving to the craft store on a regular basis. The project that I give this credit to was actually a quilt I made for an art history class (Christine if you're reading this, I miss your classes very much). I was tasked with learning something new from a peer and somehow relating that to a particular artist or movement of art.

So what did I choose to learn from a peer you are probably screaming at your computer screen? Well I had my mom teach me how to quilt! Since this particular craft is something that the woman in my family have been doing for many years I thought it would be fitting that the knowledge and wisdom from many generations of quilters be passed down to me (since I was the only interested party in the household). So what I made was a small crib size quilt and used some of the colors and patters that I found in a body of artwork depicting Salome and Judith, who if you are not familiar were considered femme fatals. I could jump into a whole history section here but I'll save you the misery and get back to my TBT story.

So I learned how to quilt! *Gasp!* It was such a revelation. I really enjoyed being taught by my mom and the process of quilting was actually really interesting. I also loved how artistic you could be without having to know how to draw or paint. It was taking textiles and creating something beautiful out of them. So are you finally ready to see some photographs? Let me just warn you that my first quilt was sort of rubbish, but still something fun to share with you.

My lovely mamacita helping me plan the layout! 

Here are the finished layers, before the final binding.

The school project that inspired it all. My quilt next to three lovely family quilts. 

The final project, aint it beautiful? Not very square if Im honest... 

And there you have it folks. The first crafting project in my adult life. The one that kickstarted an obsession and an experience that taught me how much I love making things. Its hard to believe it has been almost three years since I made that quilt. So much has happened and I have grown so much as a crafter. 

Well thats all for today. I hope you enjoyed my #TBT story. Please comment if you want to see that pillow, I am sure its around somewhere. Also don't forget to like, comment, share, and the other usual blah blah.

And until next time, have an amazing evening lovelies.

Brandon

Its workspace wednesday!

Good afternoon lovelies!

Since today is wednesday and I just so happen to have my crafting area cleaned and mostly organized I thought I would share with you my workspace. And of course Workspace Wednesday has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Someone must have thought so because last month I got a stamp in one of my monthly subscriptions. And I've never gotten to use it until today!

Here I am, using my Workspace Wednesday stamp!

So before I get to showing off my little crafting area I would just like to say that I live in a very small apartment. Just a little one bedroom place with not a whole lot of extra space. So in order to create my little crafting area I had to first dissect the living room by using my sofa and a shelf as the divider.  I had wanted to get rid of the dining set since we rarely use it, but Shane poo pooed that idea. So this was the next best thing. 

I was lucky enough to find an amazing little desk at my local thrift shop that I refurbished to become my small writing/crafting desk. Although my scrapbook doesn't fit on the desk very well it works for now. One day I fantasize about having a whole room for my crafting arsenal but until then this is what I have to work with. And I am very pleased that I was able (cough cough *allowed*) to turn this small corner of the living room into creation central. Every day I sit down at my desk and am inspired to create and I am very happy doing so.

And I should also mention I can see the tv from my desk :D

Well it has been a pleasure sharing with you my Workspace on Wednesday. If you have any questions on how I organize or want to know what I use in my crafting area for organization please comment below. Also please like, comment (I know I already said that one), share, and the other usual blah blah. I really enjoy writing these posts, and would love knowing I have an audience. 

If you don't hear from me again today, have an amazing day lovelies! 

Brandon

Project life, and why it works!

As many of you fellow scrappers may have noticed, pocket page scrapbooking systems are all the rage. From We are memory keepers, Snap, Project life, and soon a few other companies there are plenty of choices when it comes to pocket page protectors. So what system did I choose? Well firstly I have to share a little background information first.

Insert Waynes World flashback....

I started scrapbooking back in 2012 right after I graduated high school. I really wanted a way to memorialize the ceremony and my graduation party. So many wonderful friends and family made the trek to Portland to share that week with me. So after doing my research I decided that a traditional photo album just wouldn't cut it. I wanted something a little more artistic, and perhaps fancier looking. So I took a trip to the local craft store and got to shopping (if you know me at all, you'll know shopping is my favorite pastime). Of course starting out I really had no idea what I was doing, so a small 6x8 traditional scrapbook is what I chose. And after I completed that one I tried a 12x12 for everyday life scrapbooking, which sounded like a great idea at the time but just didn't work out for me.  So my scrapbook pages became less and less frequent until I practically stopped scrapbooking at all.

Fast forward to 2014 after Shane and I moved into our first apartment together. I had been shopping at my local craft store for a sewing project and I decided to take a gander at the scrapbooking area, just to see what was new. I came across a lovely display for something called Project Life by Becky Higgins. I really had not intended on started any new projects so I took a peek and then went home with my sewing haul. Later that night I decided to look up Project Life on youtube and see what people thought of it, and really what was it all about?

And there marks the start of something beautiful!

I ran right back to the craft store first thing the next morning and purchased everything I needed for my project life album.

And really it is as simple as that! I got the album, page protectors, the card set, and some pens! From there all I had to do was dig out some photographs and start scrapping! It was so easy, so seductive. Just write some information down, slide in some pictures and you're done! At first I started from the earliest pictures I had and the design was very minimal. No embellishments, stickers, stamps, nothing. But lets just say that once I caught up to current day in my project life album and I had scrapped all my old photos I decided to get a lot more creative. 

I am now a dedicated pocket page scrapbooker! Although I must admit that the Project life line of products is not my favorite nowadays, they are what inspired me. And with the help of Studio Calico and Gossamer Blue monthly subscriptions I have become so much more creative and enjoy sitting down every week to scrap. 

Well thats all for today. Please comment, like, share, and the usual blah blah. I could really use some lovin on here. Let me know if you want to see more Project life related posts. Product reviews, or anything else. 

As always, have a wonderful day lovelies. 

Brandon

Super moon chat, and Art Journaling Page

So as everyone knows there was a "super moon" and meteor shower last night, and into early morning today. Well if you know me at all, you'll know that I fall asleep very early in the evening so it was impossible to stay up and watch the meteor shower and witness the "super moon" Sunday night. But luckily for me I did not completely miss out! Since I go to bed very early, I also wake up very early. And when I rolled out of bed this morning I got a glimpse of the beautiful moon in its bodacious glory. I had the piece of mind to keep my camera out and ready so I got this halfway decent photo.

I also decided to try my hand at making a journal entry in my mixed media journal just in case the photo I took ended up being a dud. Although my page didn't really turn out exactly like I wanted, I still think it was pretty good. 

Let me know in the comment section what you thought of the super moon! Also let me know if you'd be interested in seeing other journal entries in my mixed media journal.

And as always comment, like, share, and blah blah blah. 

Have a great night lovelies,

Brandon

Filofax Loving!

Just recently discovered the world of Filofax thanks to some wonderful people on youtube. And boy is it thrilling! There were so many wonderful choices of brands and styles that were inspired by the original Filofax (although for all I know filofax could have been based off another inspiration). So what to choose? Well this was a conundrum for me, because lets face it; name brand Filofaxes are quite expensive. What if I didn't like them? Or what if I got the wrong size? All of these questions really frightened me, especially since I would have to lay down a pretty penny.

So what did I do, you might wonder? I did absolutely nothing. I had resigned myself to being Filofax-less for eternity. There were just too many unanswered questions. Though I watched hours of youtubers proclaiming their love for filofax I just couldn't make up my mind. But happily I wasn't the only person watching these videos, because the one being forced to watch endless hours of setup videos and planner hauls was paying attention. And they made some choices for me.

My wonderful partner of almost three years knows how to pick up my subtle hints. Granted often times they are not quite so subtle. This time there was a 500 lb filofax in the room, and I wanted one bad. So after a month of videos and vocalizing my lust over these elegant planners, a package arrived with a present from Shane.

And inside you might ask? Was the most wonderful present I could have asked for! It was a beautiful red saffiano Filofax! 

So now you might ask what I have been using it for, or perhaps what's inside. But for now this is all I have. I am still working on formatting the pages, as well as finding things that I want to reside in my filofax. So keep an eye out for a future post, and I will share with you what I have been using my red saffiano for. 

For now, thanks for reading, please comment and share and blah blah blah. If it's just you mom, reading this post, see you sunday. 

Have a great week lovelies. 

Brandon