Hello!

Are you there friends, its me Brandon. Welcome to my blog dedicated to all things crafty as well as my everyday rants and much much more. Please subscribe and leave LOTS of love in the comments section. Plus don't forget to share with your friends and loved ones, because we all know sharing is caring! You can also enter your email address below and subscribe to my blog that way!

Monday, September 29, 2014

My September Favorites +New Video!


Are you there friends, its me Brandon. So today I decided since today was the last upload day of the month for me I wanted to share with you guys some of the products that I have been loving this month. If you haven't already, give my video a watch and look below for some additional information on the products!



So now I will just list the places I got these items, and where you can buy them yourself! :D

Iris photo bin: Joanns
http://www.joann.com/iris-photo-keeper/9531211.html#q=iris+photo+&start=1

Pilot Varsity Pens: Staples
http://www.staples.com/Pilot-Varsity-Everyday-Fountain-Pen-Medium-Point-Assorted-Colors-3-Pack/product_393905

Xyron Sticker Maker: Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Xyron-Create---Sticker-Machine-Assorted/dp/B0001DU6RS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412027886&sr=8-1&keywords=xyron+sticker+maker

Multi Pen: Target
http://www.target.com/p/yoobi-8-color-retractable-ballpoint-pen-multicolor/-/A-15103745#prodSlot=medium_1_2&term=yoobi+pen

The Yard by Alex Grecian: Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Yard-Scotland-Yards-Murder-Squad/dp/0425261271/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412027912&sr=8-1&keywords=the+yard+alex+grecian

Fauxdori: Chic Sparrow
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChicSparrow 

Pumpkin Spice Candel: Cost Plus/World Market
http://www.worldmarket.com/product/mexican+pumpkin+candles.do?&refType=&from=Search

Well I hope you enjoyed this video. Make sure to let me know what you thought. I should also mention I am not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned, and that these opinions are mine only. Although any business inquires should go through bvcrafts1@gmail. com ;)

As always it has been a complete pleasure, and until next time. Have an amazing day!

Brandon

Friday, September 26, 2014

Dear melancholy, I would like my creativity back now!

As promised, I am back again for another "insightful" blog post about my various escapades. But for today I decided just to follow up with you guys in a less structured blog post, and set aside my list of prompts. 

I should start out by saying that I have had quite a melancholy week. It could possibly be the change in weather though I doubt it; fall is my favorite season. It could be that the weather is all over the place and the inconsistency is affecting my moods. But as this week has dragged by I have found myself in a funk. As I mentioned before in my last blog post, this odd mood has taken residence in my brain and I can't seem to shake it. Nothing to worry about friends. I just have been caught in a creative and intellectual rift if you will.

I have not opened my art journal in over a week and a half and my Project life scrapbook is a month behind. Although I haven't really done much in recent weeks worthy of scrapping. I find that I lack the necessary inspiration to create. For so long my creativity has been...well...overfilled. But now that I find myself in this rut I can't seem to bring myself to do the things I have been quite enjoying. So what to do?...

In my 10 facts about me video I  mentioned briefly that I am a homebody, and that I get really anxious when things are out of place. And even though nothing is visibly awry I do feel like something weird is in the air inside my skull. It's as if I need a vacation, to dump away all the content of my brain and start fresh. Though this sounds like a fantastic idea I am not really quite sure how to go about clearing up some space in my old thinker. Of course, any idea's would be absolutely appreciated. 

Other than my abnormal funk, nothing is new in my life. Only one more work day this week, and I look forward to the weekend. I have a very exciting video planned for you guys, so stay tuned Monday evening for my next blog post and video. 

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

Brandon 

Monday, September 22, 2014

My Stationery Addiction + New Video

Are you there friends, it's me Brandon.

So today has been a rather strange day. Since I have decided that Monday was going to be my usual upload day I have been getting in the habit of working on my videos early in the morning. But today I wasn't able to stick to my normal routine. I started filming on time but no matter how hard I tried or how scripted I tried to make my video, I kept getting unbearable tongue tied. I had given up trying at around noon and decided I would just not upload this week.

But for some reason this really bummed me out, and I felt that I was letting you guys down. So after a decently long nap I decided to get back to work and do my best to finish this video. So I know it is not the most polished video ever, but I had to throw something together.


Well friends it is bedtime for me now. Please let me know what you thought of my video. And please let me know if there are any video's you might be interested in me filming.

As always it has been a complete pleasure, and I will talk to you guys soon!

Brandon

Friday, September 19, 2014

My Fauxdori Review: Chic Sparrow, Moleskine, Pilot G2

Are you there friend, its me Brandon.

So as some of you may already know, I purchased a Midori style travelers notebook from Jennifer at Chic Sparrow. And if you follow me on instagram, you'll know that I have been obsessed with it. So I thought I would break it down for you guys and do a review on the various products that I have been using in my Fauxdori (Or Jendori as some may say).

But first I would like to review the actual notebook:




I cannot begin to say how much I love this item. Not only was the price fabulous at 29.99 but the actual quality blew me out of the water. The leather is sturdy and crisp. The coloring is rich and vibrant. And the overall elastic build is thorough and has held up really well so far. My first impressions of my notebook was that the leather had an amazing fragrance to it. The vegetan leather is very high quality. As you guys know from my last post I did buy the storyteller leather and the stiffness is exactly what I was looking for. This product seriously won my heart and I plan to buy a larger one sometime soon.

Now for the notebooks (which were not included in the order):


Since this notebook is the smaller size, Jen said it fit notebooks roughly the size of the Moleskine Cahier. And since this style of notebook is widely available at pretty much any store that sells notebooks I decided to buy a few to try out in my notebook. I was quite hesitant to purchase any more moleskine notebooks since I had previously had some bad experiences with them. And I am sad to report that my feelings on moleskine paper has not changed. The reason being the paper quality is just so poor. I can only compare the paper to one found in a bible: wafer thin. I have tested out numerous different pens and inks and everything shows through. So essentially you are only able to write on one side of the paper. That being said, I will stick to the Cahier's for now, just because I now have a few laying around and I hate wasting paper.

But here's a tip for you guys: the perfect Cahier size notebook shouldn't cost you more than a dollar each (whereas the moleskine's are around 7 dollars for a three pack). If you want a few cheaper alternatives check out the dollar store, any office supply store, target, and even Dick Blick. I have seen many different notebooks out there that would fit perfectly in my Fauxdori and that have better paper quality. Just so long as the measurements match up, you'll be golden.


Last but not least I wanted to review the unofficial Moleskine pen: the Pilot G2.

Not much to report on this other than I found the pen to write very smooth and not smear on the paper, which is always a plus. They are also well built and don't feel cheap even though they are very inexpensive. Of all the pens I have tried this one works the best on the moleskine paper but still shadows through to the other side.

Well I hope you have found this review helpful and insightful. I wanted to finish off this post with a picture I uploaded to my instagram (@bvcrafts1) of my new Fauxdori and trusty Filofax coexisting and helping me stay organized.


Also a little update on my life here on the internet. I am finally able to commit to upload days. So check out my youtube channel Monday nights for new videos, and here on my blog I will post every Monday and Friday. I hope this is helpful to you guys so you know when to check up on me :D


As always it has been an absolute pleasure, and I will talk to you all soon!

Brandon


Monday, September 15, 2014

10 Things about Me video!

Are you there fiends, its me Brandon.


For this week's video I decided to share with you some random facts about myself. After having only slightly recovered from the plague it was still quite taxing making a video. But I soldiered on and put a little something together for you guys! Let me know what you think!



I hope you guys enjoy the new video, I did quite enjoy making it. Don't have much else to say for now, other than I hope you had an amazing weekend and I will see you guys next time!

Have an amazing day! 
Brandon

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

I caught the plague!

Are you there friends, is me Brandon.


So as some of you may or may not have noticed, I have been quite silent on my blog and youtube channel over the past few days. And I have a very good reason for this, which I mentioned a little bit in my last post. I started getting pretty sickly whilst filming my last video, and now I have full blown plague....

Actually I am not sure what the plague actually feels like, but I am sure it feels similar to how I am currently feeling. That or being hit by a bus but then somehow miraculously surviving. Thats how I currently feel. Granted I am on the downhill bit now: recovery. But man it has been an unpleasant experience. Spent my two days off work laying in bed moaning and griping about being sick. Nothing was accomplished around my house and at this point I have worn all my clean clothes.

Luckily though, because I am out of clean clothes, I am recovering and this afternoon I feel almost back to normal. So now I get to mountain climb to get to the laundry room and clean the kitchen (not sure if I will clean the kitchen or make Shane do it...). Isn't being a grown up fun?


Anyway I thought I would share that with you, as well as show you my most recent art journaling page. I completed this one before I got poorly and took a picture of it today to share with you guys!



In this page I used some new stuff I got recently at the craft store. I got some fun heidi swapp misters, some new Faber Castell gilato's, Golden modeling paste, and a cute owl stencil. All of these things combined with a few other tricks, and viola! You're a Hoot is complete!


Well that is all I have to share with you guys today. Please let me know if you'd be interested in seeing a current flip through of my art journal. Also my last video is doesn't have more than a few views, so if you missed it check it out at bit.ly/bvcrafts1


Also I am very active on the instagram and twitter ;) so check me out there as well @bvcrafts1

Now time to go mountain climbing. As always thanks for stopping by and have an amazing day!
Brandon


Sunday, September 7, 2014

I'm branching out! + What's in my bag video

Are you there friends, its me Brandon.

So today since I had no plans I decided to film a video that is a little different from my usual. I decided I would do a "What's in my bag" video. I would really like my youtube channel to be multifaceted just like my life is. And I thought this video would be a good start to sharing with you guys some of my non crafting interests. So please watch and let me know what you think!



As promised here is the link to the particular bag I was talking about:
  http://www.tumi.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4209916&prodFindSrc=paramNav

I really hope you enjoyed this lifestyle video, as I plan on adding more to my channel in the future.

Now I am going to crawl back in bed, because I woke up with a sore throat and filming took all the energy I had. So going to watch some X files and nap ;)

Until next time, have an amazing day!
Brandon

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

My Fauxdori Purchase!

Are you there friends, its me Brandon.


So today I decided to take another step in the direction of my stationery addiction. I decided to purchase a midori travelers style journal. But after hours of review videos I decided that the on brand Midori notebook was just not for me. Mostly because the leather quality seems really low, granted depending on how my fauxdori turns out I might end up with the traditional one. Only time will tell. But as most of you know, there are quite a few Fauxdori brands out there, and I decided to go off a suggestion by Miss Vicky Bee (as I usually do) and purchase from Jennifer Harvey. She has a lovely etsy shop with a few different designs and many color choices....

Now I am usually a pretty precise person, by the time I decide to purchase something I know what color and size I want. But with this purchase I was taken aback by the choices! I figured there would be one or two size options and perhaps three or four color choices. Since the product is leather I thought it would come in probably two shades of brown and black. But no. I was so wrong, thankfully! The color choices was amazing and there were various sizes to choose from. After three hours of deliberation I finally made a choice.

Since I wasn't sure whether or not I will actually like the Midori style notebook I decided to go with the less expensive option which fits notebooks around 3.5 x 5.5 inches. Just like my filofax though I can imagine I will want to add to my collection. But that will come with time. As for color choice I was so torn between blue, black, and a beautiful shade of red. I love my filofax in red but I was afraid that the shade of red from Jennifer wouldn't match perfectly which might bug me. But since I am planning on using my fauxdori as a blog and youtube planner I wanted it to match my theme: red. So I thought sod it. Ill go with the lake red. And I am having it embossed with my youtube channel's name BV Crafts.

I am so excited to receive this, though I can imagine it will take at least two weeks. I have already purchased off amazon some notebooks to go inside my fauxdori and of course those will come much sooner so I will have time to decide whether or not I like the paper quality.

Anyway I will now slow my rant down and encourage you to contact me if you would like to see an unboxing video and setup of my new purchase. I think that would be fun to do if you guys are interested :D

Also I think you should check out Jennifer's etsy store because I think her stuff is just so beautiful.

Here is the one I purchased: http://etsy.me/1A7mQoy
And here is her shop:  http://etsy.me/1nYrkbm

Anyway I hope you enjoyed my rant and  that you will stop by again soon. Don't forget to check out my youtube channel and watch my new video's: youtube.com/user/bvcrafts

As always it has been a complete pleasure, have an amazing day!
Brandon

Monday, September 1, 2014

Sunday fun day + art journaling haul and video!

Are you there friends, its me Brandon.

So as some of you may or may not know, sundays and mondays are my days off. And each sunday I enjoy the various coupons and sales that usually happen during the weekend. So this sunday I was particularly happy when I saw a 20% off your entire purchase coupon for one of my favorite craft stores. Now I just can't resist a sale like that! Especially considering most of the items I shop for go on additional sales throughout the week. So I decided to head on down to the craft store and see what there was to see.

And boy did I go a little overboard...

Before you say anything, overboard for me is spending $50 dollars in one store. I so rarely spend large amounts of money on anything other than bills, so what little I have left is for treating myself. And that is usually done at the craft store. But back to the main story.

I went in looking for some art journaling stuff, because I have been using some of the same material over and over again I was starting to lose inspiration. But once I left the store with a large bag full of new things to play with I was practically radiating with inspiration. I found some great stamps, paints, stencil's and a few other things. I also bought some items I needed for making a birthday present for someone (but thats neither here nor there, after all I don't want to spoil the surprise).

When I got home I immediately got to creating and came out with three pages I am really proud of. The last one I did today, and I actually filmed a video when I was creating it! But first are the two that I made yesterday.

Hello Early Bird


And here is the video I did on the most recent page



Don't forget to comment below my video letting me know what you think! I had a lot of fun making entries in my art journal this weekend, and would love some feedback. Also follow me on instagram and twitter if that suits your fancy: @bvcrafs1

As always, it has been a complete pleasure. Have an amazing night!
Brandon