Product Review: Tombow’s 12 New Colors!

November 18, 2018 3 Comments

Product Review: Tombow’s 12 New Colors!

Tombow's 12 New Colors - Color Reveal, Product Review + Video | ChocolateMusings.com #tombow #lettering #handlettering

I’m so excited – I picked up Tombow’s 12 new colors. They haven’t added new colors to their dual brush pen line up in a long time.

Tombow added new colors to their brush marker repertoire! 12 to be exact. Confession: I haven’t picked up a brush pen in a good long time (hides face in hands). I think it’s because I frayed the tips SO badly from when I first learned to letter that it’s frustrating! But now with 12 beautiful new colors, the excitement overwhelms me handletter again.

My husband expressed his dismay when I told him I ordered the new markers. Christmas is just a few weeks away. But I knew that these beauties couldn’t wait – and I’m glad I didn’t – they sold out!

Do you want to begin your journey of handlettering? Start here!

New colors in the pack:

#131 Lemon Lime
#291 Alice Blue
#379 Jade Green
#401 Aqua
#403 Bright Blue
#407 Tiki Teal
#569 Jet Blue
#803 Pink Punch
#817 Mauve
#910 Opal
#N49 Warm Gray 8
#N52 Cool Gray 8

Some colors are hard to capture by themselves! Aqua, Alice Blue, Opal, & Lemon Lime are very light and hard to see the contrast against a white background. But blended with other colors, they create beautiful shades.

Unboxing Video

Watch the Video Below for the Unboxing and color sampling. For those who like real-time lettering, you’re in for a treat. Follow me on YouTube if you haven’t already!

I Couldn’t Wait

The blues/greens completely sold me on the box. As you can tell from the colors of my website, I love me some teal and some aqua. Tombow didn’t disappoint. I haven’t used my markers in a long time, and I think it’s because I frayed the tips early on while learning to letter so lettering frustrated me because I couldn’t get those nice, clean, thin upstrokes.

To avoid fraying, use nice, smooth paper with little ‘tooth’ with your precious markers (I use HP 32lb paper). Don’t use them on sketch or watercolor paper as I did when I started. Admittedly, I struggle with the colorless blender. The picture below shows a couple of attempts. I’m sure like anything else, it takes a lot of practice. It took me nearly 6 months of constantly using a brush pen before I got the hang of it.

Tombow's 12 New Colors - Color Revea + Video Product Review | ChocolateMusings.com #tombow #lettering #handlettering

Beyond Tombow’s 12 New Colors: Extras in the Box

Snatch one of these VIP boxes if you can – sold at TombowUsa.com. The colors are beautiful, and the extras are fun. They included laminated sheets to practice lettering (both upper case and lower case). Tricky letter combinations (at first glance anything connected to an H or an R is tricky!). They included a blending palette with updated colors (now 108 instead of 96!). If the box isn’t available, I heard they’ll be selling the colors individually later.

What do you think of the new colors? Which one is your favorite? Do you already use Tombow Dual-Brush Markers?

Now, I’ve got to get creating.

~Tricia

The paper I used

HP 32 LB Smooth Paper 1 Ream
HP 32 LB Smooth Paper Half Case
Tombow 96 Count Markers + Stand (not including new colors)

*I use affiliate links to support my website, any purchases provide a small commission to me at no additional cost to you.

And like that…It’s November – 1st Week of November – Minimal for Function

November 1, 2017 9 Comments

And like that…It’s November.

What in the world? It’s November! I just got used to writing 2017 as the year. We are in the thick of holiday season (or very near to the thick – is that a thing?) and I am definitely relying on my minimalistic weekly designs to guide me through this busy time of year. I decided this month to start at the beginning of the month instead of half the week’s spread from October and the other half as November. So I ended up with a couple of half-week layouts.

I had big plans for the start of this month

My big plans were to start this month off beautifully. I even went grocery shopping this morning to get ahead on…well.. life without having to drag my three kids along. All those good intentions were met at every turn with something just trying to bring me to my knees.

You ever have one of those days you know, the day that just won’t quit? That was today for me. I have worked very hard to simplify this next month and show more gratitude. I firmly believe that if I wouldn’t have tried so hard to include these two things in my life today could have quite possibly knocked me down for a good part of the month. It was that bad. I didn’t realize I would gain strength from simplifying my life and having an enhanced attitude of gratitude.

This week has just five boxes on this page plus a ‘to do’ section – it’s strange how a minimalistic design can bring such peace and tranquillity amidst chaos.

What do you do for tranquility?

So I would like to know what you do that helps bring tranquility to your life when your whole day goes awry.

Do you meditate?
Do you exercise?
Yoga?
Eat Chocolate?
Binge-watch your favorite show?

After I post this, I am going to go mindlessly doodle. Maybe it will be amazing. Maybe not. Today it doesn’t matter because I need it to mentally recharge. Regardless of the outcome of my doodles, I feel like because I planned – not just my day but planned my month to live beautifully I am able to overcome and bounce back ready for a new day with renewed resolve.

Dimensions of the Spread:

Here are the dimensions of the single page plan – this could be used for a work week with just 5 days and fit two weeks to a two-page spread.

Tomorrow is a new day hand lettered quote

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully.

Tricia

Starting in the middle of the week with the beginning of a new month? Here is a minimalistic weekly design for your bullet journal, minimalism

New York City Skyline Weekly Layout

September 8, 2017 1 Comment

I Found a New Love: Skylines.

I sometimes play a game called “Cities: Skylines” but that is another story. For an Instagram challenge this month, I’ve done a couple skyline outlines and, well, it carried over to my weekly theme.

My weeklies start on Monday as I was planning the weeks, I noticed that 9/11 was on a Monday this year. The date stuck out to me. September 11 is very emotional to me. I truly consider it “the day the world stopped turning”. I remember watching in horror when the second plane hit the building after the first was billowing plumes of smoke from the earlier crash. The memory of where I was, what I was doing, who I was with, embedded itself deeply into my mind. Somehow, I knew I would not be the same, I would not look at the world through the same eyes. I am a believer in love overcoming differences so the shock of such hatred was heartbreaking to me.

I am still a believer in love no matter what happened.

Years later, the twin towers rose out of the ashes united in one building instead of two. The skyline of New York has changed and so have our hearts. The only way that we can make sure this world is a better place is by filling our hearts with love and hope.

Vivid Colors

The vivid colors on this layout speak happiness to my soul. The imagery of a sunrise says that there are new beginnings with each new day. Here’s to my memories of the day the world stopped turning, and the ability to start it moving again, let’s move in a positive direction.

Colorful New York City building silhouette at sunrise and reflection | Bullet Journal Inspiration | Weekly Log

Reflections

Above the reflections in the water, I wrote the word “reflections” – a place to include a journal entry for the week. (not shown)

Watch the video of how I created the skyline below. I tell you all about the struggles and the wins of creating this page – if you like it, subscribe. I’d love to make more videos!

Have you used skylines in your planner or journal? What was your page about and which skyline did you include?

Random Thoughts and Great Ideas Collection | Bullet Journal Brain Dump

September 5, 2017 3 Comments

If you are like me, there are a lot of thoughts bouncing around inside your head all day long.

Some of them are pretty creative. Few are deep. Some are reflections of the past or regrets. Others are just random, funny thoughts. I wouldn’t mind keeping those around once in a while to distract from the crazy of life.

Most thoughts are fleeting, but others I would like to develop and see if something bigger will come of these individual thought nuggets. I had never organized these golden idea droplets into a common space, they were all haphazardly written in various places or lost in the abyss of the day-to-day.

I felt that this collection of thoughts was not just a ‘brain dump page’. If you are not familiar with the term, brain dump can also be known as a ‘mental download’ or a variety of other terms. I’ve called it a ‘brain dump’ because I imagine my brain’s contents being spilled on a page by a dump truck. No organization, no common themes, just all the thoughts being dumped on the page for sorting later – or not.

A brain dump is great for when there are just too many thoughts to process.

I use a brain dump page for when I can’t sleep at night because the thoughts are running in every direction and won’t slow down. In this case, I record every thought that comes into my head until I cannot find another thought to think and my brain is able to {finally} rest.

Why this collection is not a brain-dump:

To be honest, I rarely revisit a brain dump page because its contents are mostly worries and irrational, unfounded thoughts that I can’t seem to let go usually as I am trying to calm my mind down before I go to sleep or when I am trying to work on a project and I am completely distracted. I want to keep my best ideas here. These ideas are more than fleeting. These ideas are pure inspiration that just need more coaxing to become valuable pearls.

The Random Thoughts & Great Ideas Page is not a brain dump. It’s themed with specifically chosen ideas to enhance future creativity and brainstorming.

I wanted a collective place to store these great ideas so I could expand or explore it further when I had more time or could find a connection between other thoughts.

Instead of all the thoughts jumbled together from one session, I am compiling all my great thoughts on this page. I may pull ideas from my braindumps, but it will be selected ideas jotted in this collection instead of all thoughts thrown together.

Make Pretty Designs & Use Them Too

After creating this page I had the initial fear of writing on it. I liked the artwork! This fear was quickly overcome as I have learned in the past: I value the page far more for the content AND the creative backdrop than I value just the creative background. Reviewing my past journals, I enjoy the drawings, doodles, and painting. But when I couple those with relevant feelings or thoughts, the recollection and overall meaning of the drawing meant more than just the artwork by itself.

Reviewing my past journals, I enjoy the drawings, doodles, and painting. But when I couple those with relevant feelings or thoughts, the page meant more than just the artwork by itself.

I cannot wait to see what comes of this page when I fill it with my Random Thoughts and Great Ideas. I may just find ‘my next big thing’ ascribed to its dotted page.

How do you track your ideas and random thoughts? Leave me a comment below.

Follow me on Pinterest for more great ideas!
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How I created the page

I outlined the light bulb lightly with a pencil. Using Tombow dual brush pens #055 (yellow) I filled in heavily around the outside. The gray area (you could call it gray matter if you like) I used a Papermate flair to create the outline. Using a water brush pen, I blended the colors outward until achieving the desired effect. Water brush pens are (similar to a paintbrush, but it holds water inside the pen instead of dipping in a cup of water – if you don’t have these, you can just as easily use a paintbrush and water).

I found that using the Tombow Markers with the water pens did not make the page wrinkle as much as when I used watercolor paint on the page. A nice perk.

Find other Idea Organization Spreads here!

Want to know what supplies I used? I’ll tell you.