She's finally gone and done it...I've started a YouTube channel !!! After nearly 10 years of wanting to but not having the confidence to do so; mental health and life malarkey stopped me from attempting what I really wanted to do, I didn't think it was possible for someone like me to achieve for various reasons. Instead I focused on blogging which went well, it took me years to figure out a writing style and the topics i'd chosen were what everyone else was doing at the time (fashion and lifestyle posts) when I had no real clue about either back then, I just wanted to be involved in blogging and I thought that was the only way to do it. I didn't really know myself at that time period, I had no hobbies other than blogging and eventually as I got into my 20s I started to know myself, my interests, explored them and found my passion; Art Therapy. I started to focus on creating content on other platforms which taught me a lot, I shared my journey and it expanded into c

  Introducing Craft Planet's 6 Neon Paint Sticks! I'm not new to craft planet's products, they're a brand i've been loving for some time; the aesthetics scream my kinda vibe and the products themselves are really good quality so  I'm super excited about this one... It's paint in a stick format but not liquid paint which intrigues me. It's more like a jelly consistency which i've not tried in a stick *i've only tried jelly gouache* but I think the paint stick idea is a great concept.   I think the packaging is cute; it's simple it has the brand name, some stars, texture for grip and a clear lid which is giving off spacey vibes.  I bought these from a local discount store, I can't remember how much I paid but they are available online for £6+ depending where you get them from. They make the standard coloured paint sticks too, a pack of 12 but I didn't pick them up as I wanted to see if the neon ones were any good.  I didn't do a swa

Mental Health can make you believe that you'll never feel happy again, that smiling won't be possible ever and laughing is a thing of the past but i'm here to tell you that's not entirely true, you may struggle with those things for a while but life is like a heartbeat it goes up and down; right now you might be on the down *timing can vary from days/weeks even to years unfortunately, ya just gotta ride it out man* but at some point things will change from down to up.  Happiness however is not a permanent emotion state once you reach it...we're not supposed to be happy 24/7 anyways so don't feel bad that you're unhappy most of the time, stop putting pressure on yourself to always feel happy; when you're struggling the pressure will only make you feel worse. When you're struggling you need to focus on a healthy sleep schedule and eating regular meals as both lack of sleep and lack of food can be triggers for low mood. Acknowledge where you are and thi

Painted papers are super easy and fun to create! This technique is beginner friendly as there's no wrong way to paint and it's great for those more experienced as it's also a great creative block unblocking exercise because it's freeing to paint however you wish; the perfectionist approach doesn't apply with this method, you don't need to overthink about colour schemes or worry about being all neat just dive into painting and let the piece surprise you! Any paint type and any paper quality can be used but I recommend getting a cheap paper pad A3 size as they're readily available from most places and you'll feel more able to take risks with colour choices and ways of painting. This technique would work on any size paper but the bigger the better really as you'll be cutting it up.   This technique is great for using up any almost finished paint or paint that's leftover in your palette from doing a project. You can also clean your brush off onto the

Figuring out what you want from life can be really challenging for almost anyone and when you have mental health problems, it can completely put the brakes on having any sort of idea what you could want from life for various reasons, such as beliefs, experiences like losing passion for things you once enjoyed and symptoms like brain fog. So what do you do if you don't know what you want from life? Really knowing what you want from life can be broken down into four steps to make it easier.  Step 1) Don't put pressure on yourself to have it all figured out - take a moment to ask yourself about the current situation you're in. Be real with yourself if things are going shit, what would you like to change that is in your power. It's okay to not know what's in your power to change, write down what you'd like to change in your life and then try think of the most logical solution for changing whatever it is...if you can't come up with a solution then it may not be i

Out here doing absolute BITS, AM SMILING!!!  After a heavy period of stagnation we're finally back n better than before my psychotic episode even, which could've been the end man but am saying the destruction caused cleared a path to greatness..."setting out on a voyage, destination unknown" we got somewhat of a plan now we're living it out. After attending a conference in July for peer support related information, I became a member of the West Yorkshire Peer Support Network, which is mega exciting my foot is through the door; to be part of this network as a service user (inputting and being part of decision making processes about the network and industry) and not as an accredited professional is a madness.  Absolutely buzzin to announce I'm now a volunteer for a school of art (holy shietttt) and a charity that helped me so they're close to my heart, I donated 100 fairy pieces last year to this charity as my way of giving back; They were so excited about t

Every now and then i'll remember a technique i've been using for years, of adding glitter to paints to create your own unique mixture for your projects, it adds a little suttin suttin to your work; it makes me happy creating the mixtures *it's like art magik* and I really enjoy using them within my work.  It's super simple to make your own glitter paint, you just pour different combinations of glitter *can be chunky and fine, even sequins can be added* into your paint bottle or you can try it in a paint palette if you prefer. It works better with thin paints but it can be used with some cheap acrylic paints. For a different aesthetic less ethereal you can make the paint have a sand texture by adding gesso to the mixture before you add the glitter as this thickens it up.  Make sure if you're doing it in a bottle don't forget to shake it up; if you're mixing colours shake it,  then add your glitter then shake it again, this method works a little better for som

This post is for everyone regardless if you have mental health problems or not. Being determined to do something, having the required focus to do that something and feeling as though you have purpose in life are all really important things for anyone but especially those with mental health problems.  How To Live With More Intent, Focus and Purpose: Spend less time on social media, it's really not good for anyone to be on it 24/7 even if it's your job. Hustle culture is dangerous and it can have you thinking you need to be glued to your socials and always creating content for which ultimately leads to burnout - this is not sustainable for your mental health to consistently not get the adequate rest and recovery time from a hard days work.    Instead try make time to be quiet just for a moment, give your brain a break by doing nothing much maybe just colouring in a colouring book or go for a walk paying attention to the world around you, notice the sky, what you can smell and sou

  I needed some new colouring pencils and The Works had a sale on so I managed to get some Crawford&Black colouring pencils for £3 which I didn't think was bad for 36 colours and a sharpener. I've only tried their sketchbooks which I really like the quality of, for the price they're amazing and was interested to try their other products.   I did a swatch for you below, the colours are in the order that they are in the packaging; not in rainbow colour order but an order of cools and warms which I quite liked as it's different. Not all brands have a good cool to warm ratio and I think the colour selection is great. The packaging doesn't have any names on them but I don't really mind since there's a colour order to them.  The consistency is kinda hard at first and the colour pay off is nice on some colours; I didn't press on that hard for the swatches in hind sight I probably should have but I wanted to see what they're like naturally without pressu

It's normal to worry about things but if it's becoming part of your everyday life then you're definitely overthinking and at some point it will cause anxiety disorder. Overthinking can consume you, it can get pretty dark, destroying your hopes and dreams and even stopping you from doing things that are actually of benefit to you because the worrying or anxiety caused by worrying is so strong. Overthinking can be difficult to spot when you're doing it, other people may tell you and you may not totally understand how so because to you you're just thinking things over, processing the possibilities to prepare yourself (this is a trauma response) but this isn't actually helpful for your mental health. The longer you spend focusing on the worrisome possibilities (aka overthinking) and the more frequently you do it, the more chance it has to become ingrained in your brain to do so whereby it's a natural reaction to overthink, in any scenario which eventually can sp