Hello my loves and welcome to what I think is going to be quite a casual, laid-back,
day-in-the-life vlog.
I was watching some of my old videos recently and just thought it's been a while since I
did more of a real, laid-back, hangout type video so I think that's what we're going to
go for today; just a very casual 'spend the day with me'.
So my morning started today at six o'clock with the most decadent and delicious breakfast
courtesy of hellofresh who have sponsored today's video which is very exciting for me.
For 50% off your first box and 35% off the next 3 you can click the link in the description
or use code MINNIESMALL at checkout.
But after that, I cracked on with working on the latest sticker design for my Patreon
reward bundles.
This month's theme is Rainbow so lots of colourful designs to come up with.
And I'm trying a newish technique for me where I wanted to look at isolating the colours
and the line work, doing those separately and then layering those on top of each other
digitally once I was done.
So that was a really casual start to the morning.
I always work on the dining table first thing in the morning if I'm going to do some art
just because the light in there is just miles better than in my studio but that does mean
that I'm always up and down, going in there to get whatever supplies that I need at the
time.
And now I'm just about done, that's taken us to 10 o'clock in the morning already which
is why I do find it really important to start early, like I can get very wrapped up in any
creative work and it takes a long time to get through.
So now it's time to clear off this dining table, jump in the studio and scan those designs
in, edit them so that they're ready to print as stickers, and then I think it's just gonna
be one of those days where I end up doing random bits and bobs.
I've got quite a few things on the list, don't know what I will get around to or what I'm
gonna prioritise but we'll see how we get on.
Right you can probably see now why I tend to do as much as I can in the other room in
the morning because the light in here is abysmal.
Hopefully you got to see what I was doing there.
I basically scanned in those paintings and adjusted the colours and the lightness and
the darkness, layered the linework over the coloured layer and it all worked out really
nicely.
And then I just go around every item- every sticker- just so it has a white background
on it.
I sometimes have a coloured background on the sticker sheet, sometimes I don't, but
I thought for this rainbow theme that would work really well.
So now I'm going to open up Silhouette Studio- I cut my stickers with a Silhouette Cameo
4 machine, I've got two now as well at the office- I do all of this stuff here, then
I save those files to the cloud and actually cut the stickers at my office/my mum's house
which I'm going to do on a complete other day.
For now, I want to have those files set up so I will show you a bit of my process there.
This is the Silhouette Studio and the first thing I do is create the actual sticker sheet
which is going to be four by six inches and it's like a rounded rectangle, then I drag
in the sticker sheet that I've just made and it fits that shape perfectly.
So essentially what I'm doing is tracing the outline of each of the stickers that I have
designed here and I do each of them in different ways; sometimes I want the sticker to be cut
right up to the edge of the drawing, sometimes I want there to be some border around it.
So I use their auto tools to outline certain items there that are more complicated and
sometimes I will just use the pen tool to draw around things if I can do that quite
loosely.
That's more or less done now, there's still a lot of work I have left to do for this particular
reward bundle but I probably will save that for another day.
And I can also hear Ozzy preparing lunch and I'm starving so I think it's time for a break.
This is usually the time of day that I have the most energy, after a little bit of a lunch
and a quick tidy up, and also this is usually the time of day where Ozzy has left for work-
he's back at work now- so this is the perfect time for me to schedule in stuff like if I've
got a meeting or if I want to do some filming, which I think is what I'm going to do today.
There's a video that I've had in mind for a while that I want to crack on with.
I wanted to talk about all the art that I typically make in a month, I just think is
an interesting topic for people to see, either if they are looking to make art their career
or do something like I do where it's like a social media/art balance, just to maybe
see at least my example of how much I make.
I've been putting this off just because once I figured out how much art I was making I
felt a bit like an imposter, like an artist that doesn't make that much art, but I think
it's good to just be honest and just tell the truth about how much art I actually end
up making throughout the month.
And I'd also like to have a sort of conversation from that and see how much other people are
making.
And it's been helpful just for myself to have a good look at where I'm spending my time
and if I do want to spend more time making art rather than making videos or anything
else.
So I'm going to set up for filming, I'll let you see how I do that.
I'm so out of practice holding this camera, my upper body strength is non-existent.
So yeah I'm gonna set everything up and I'll show you what I end up with.
Okay so since this video is going to be about all the art I make in a month, I have got
my sketchbook here, all my sketchbooks that I used throughout that month, and any other
art that I plan on showing.
Then I got my camera here up with the backdrop of the window and that just gives a really
good even natural lighting and that's where one of these days where it's really overcast
is actually really good for filming just so you get a really even lighting on your face.
Then over here I've just got my laptop where I have very basic notes, that's just gonna
help me stay on track, especially with something like this where it's like a list of things,
I just need to know all of the things to make sure I don't forget anything.
And then for me, I've got this microphone on here which is attached to this thing; it's
one of the rode microphone things.
This is actually plugged into this camera at the moment but in a second when I'm done
talking to you guys I'll switch over.
- I have been self-employed full-time for over four years now... see you soon for the
next one, bye!-
I think just as I was about to start filming, someone has started using like a leaf blower
or something out there so I'm not sure.
I've filmed the video once, I might go through it again.
It just depends on how soon this person finishes whatever they're up to out there.
I re-film videos quite often as well, I do find that it goes a lot smoothly the second
time especially if I've done it all the way through once.
And I feel like with this one that I was just filming, I was about halfway through when
I clocked the leaf blower sound outside and so after that point, I was just sort of treating
it as a dress rehearsal for the actual video.
Also I feel like the light on there was probably a bit dark, I don't know if that looks too
bright, that looks too dark, but I'd rather it be too dark than too light.
I mean the noise is stopped for now.
I'll do a second take and hopefully, I won't be rushing through it hoping that this noise
won't come back.
- ...all day just to finish- sorry the cat's moving around in the background-
- brainstorming and preliminary and preliminary and preliminary sketches -
- Mr. Boy, that's very distracting, everything you're doing right now-
Okay so now that I have done the main-... okay now that I've done the main bulk of the
filming for that video, now that I've done all the camera stuff, said everything I needed
to say- also good news, that noise didn't start up again, but this guy was very, very
distracting so I had to start again quite a few times, and he's being distracting right
now- now that that part is done, I can start thinking about just filming some b-roll so
that I can cut away to show the details of anything I was talking about.
If I'm allowed to actually get up.
I don't know if you can see this but look at the absolute state of me.
Okay I've tidied up all of my filming stuff now from next door.
I also had my daily, afternoon-in-bed break, like a good half hour.
I usually end up calling my mum, that's a habit that came from lockdown.
I used to ring my mum maybe like a couple of times a week and then I'd also go and see
her a couple of times a week but when I stopped being able to go and see her, it became a
daily phone call and we haven't dropped that.
Just a quick chat, spent a bit of time texting people as well and now I guess the most logical
thing to jump into next is editing that video that I just filmed, especially while it's
fresh in my brain.
I do have some days where things are a bit more themed, I think you can be a lot more
productive if you're not jumping from one task to another to another.
So if I had like batched a load of filming into this day or a load of editing or a load
of sticker making or whatever else ... but it just doesn't always work like that in my
life.
Sometimes I just need to go with whatever I'm ready to do at the time, whatever I'm
in the mood to do, whatever I have the energy to do and whatever needs doing most urgently.
That's generally how I'm working at the moment and the next best thing to be getting on with
off the top of my head is editing this video.
And i feel like I might be able to get that done before the end of the day, but that is
probably going to be the very last thing that I'm going to be getting on with work-wise
today.
Right well that is coming along okay.
I don't know if I said earlier that I thought I'd finish this today but I don't think that's
gonna happen.
The thing about finishing off the day with editing is I know I can get into my zone,
I can just keep my head down and as long as it's flowing, I can carry on with this for
as long as I need to but I don't think I'll finish this today.
We're nearing the end of the day, I'll give it another hour or so.
And I'm getting hungry.
This is usually the time of day where I start thinking 'what am I having for dinner' and,
as I said, Ozzy's back at work now, and as you saw earlier, he does take care of our
food 90% of the time.
But now that he's working in the evenings again, it's back to me to be like using the
last half hour to hour of my day like rifling through our fridge seeing what we've got,
going online to find recipes and seeing if I can measure up what we've got with the recipes
that I can find.
So it's been really refreshing having Hello Fresh to deliver these varied recipes straight
to my door.
The ingredients are really high quality, they're seasonal and they're from local, British suppliers
wherever possible as well which makes it so surprising that it can come to like £3.25
per person per meal.
I genuinely appreciate being able to go about my workday knowing that dinner is taken care
of, it means that I can just sit here, focus in, and know that at the end of the day I've
got everything I need- including an easy to follow recipe card- just to be able to confidently
make something that I normally wouldn't.
And because the ingredients are already portioned out, it means that there is so much less food
waste.
So the pancakes- ugh, those pancakes- I had earlier, they're part of their April seasonal
menu, so it's like sunny Sundays, bank holiday brunch, and they were so good.
Tonight I'm gonna have the pork tacos.
It's genuinely been so convenient and really enjoyable to finish my days with a quality
meal.
And I have 50% off your first box if you're interested plus 35% off the next three which
I think is a great deal, even if you just want to check it out, like if you've ever
thought about trying Hello Fresh before, I think this is a great deal to get started
with.
You can even just check out their website, see the menu that they're offering, I think
they have 36 different recipes every week that you can try, that you can choose from;
different cuisines, different dietary requirements.
It's definitely worth checking out, especially with that deal if you use my link in the description,
or you can use the code MINNIESMALL as well.
So thank you so much to Hellofresh for sponsoring today's video and for filling my belly at
the end of a busy workday.
Okay quick outfit change, I am a lot comfier and cosier now to wind down the evening.
I say a little bit comfier, I am literally wearing pajamas.
It was a lot more acceptable I think when the evenings were getting darker earlier but
now that things are getting lighter... it's coming up to seven, so yeah it might be a
bit early for pjs but I wanted to get cosy and basically, between finishing work and
eating dinner, I usually try to get in a really quick workout- I'm doing HIIT workouts on
my stationary bike so because I only have to do that for like 15 or 20 minutes because
it's because it's high intensity, you don't have to put that much time into it and you
guys know I do not like exercise so being able to do something quick and like really
intense is a lot better for me than doing something really long and boring.
And I usually follow that up with a couple of Youtube workouts.
I like- I think her name's Maddie- the channel MadFit, she does some song workouts which
I really like, I find that's quite fun, and I also went through a phase of doing these
like reggaeton and afrobeats workouts with a friend of mine.We were not doing them at
the same time, we had a playlist that we both chose one from and she likes working out in
the morning, I like working out in the evening so she would choose one, let me know how it
went and if she did it, and then I would do it later on in the evening and let her know.
And that was a really good way of us keeping each other accountable and it was just fun.
Like I've never worked out that hard and been smiling while I was doing it.
So we need to get back into that, it's been a while since we've done that.
But yeah, I had my workout, had a shower, did my skincare so if I'm shining that's probably
why, and yeah this is kind of a typical evening for me now.
This is the time where I settle in and choose something to watch.
I'm in a bit of a dilemma at the moment.
I normally go straight to Snowpiercer the series which I've just started watching, I'm
maybe six episodes in, a friend recommended it to me because she knows that I like dramatic
trash and it is just that.
I mean it's very dramatic, a little bit ridiculous, just lots of action.
It's not unwatchable, it's just a bit over the top you know.
But yeah, I'm really loving that, that's been my go-to for the evenings, but somehow I ended
up just browsing Netflix and I feel like they've got loads of new stuff on there that I haven't
seen before so I think I'm gonna spend a bit more time browsing.
I've got my wine here and it's been a good productive day for sure.
I always feel nervous going into these vlogs that are less planned, less structured, less
of a direction to them, so I'd be curious to know if you guys found it interesting.
I just never know if my day is going to go as well as it did today, like if I'm just
going to end up sitting at my desk all day and it just not make an interesting video.
I'd love to know if you're interested in videos like this and also if you're interested in
seeing just the sort of day-to-day life stuff that I throw in there every once in a while.
Either way, I've really enjoyed bringing you along with me today so I will let you know
what I end up watching and I guess I will see you soon in the next video.
Bye!