My best October 2018 purchases

When I stopped by Michael's at the beginning of October I finally decided to splurge on some Tombow paintbrush markers I'd been eyeing for a while. Since I already had several bold colored markers, I decided to go for pastels. The colors are beautiful and don't bleed through my bujo pages unless I go over them repeatedly. Since buying these I've searched online for YouTube tutorials on hand lettering simply because I love the modern cursive look and could not for the life of me figure out how to do it. Expensive markers were clearly not enough...
I believe the most helpful video I found was the one informing viewers that all hand lettering tutorials are sped up and that drawing each letter should be approached with the same degree of slowness you might apply when giving yourself a French manicure. Also, it helps to pick the tip of the brush pen off the page in between strokes. After following these tips, my writing improved dramatically and creating beautiful headings for my bujo became a cinch.

After popping the Tombows into my shopping basket, I spotted some Artist's Loft journals on sale and picked up two. They're not the same quality as my Minimalist Art journal (the faux leather looks cheaper up close), nor do they have a pocket at the back for clippings, but they do have an Index AND they were only $5.00 compared with the $10.95 I spent on my Minimalist Art journal and the steep $19.95 of a  Leuchtturm 1917. So I picked up a couple, figuring it was a good deal. 

Then, a couple of weeks later, I walked into Walmart and found these awesome Exceed Notebooks for only $6.00. The color selection was incredibly tempting and the quality the same as my Minimalist Art journal, though the pages did seem to be a bit thinner a rougher. In any case, I think these will be my next bujo journals, while the Artist Loft Journals will be delegated to something else like plotting my next novel :)

Here's a bit more information for comparison:

Artist's Loft
Dimensions: 6 x 8 inches (15.2 x 20.3 cm)
Pages: 249 - so overall the better deal

Exceed notebook
Dimensions: 5 x 8.25 inches (13 x 21 cm)
Pages: 120

Last but not least, I just have to mention Woman's World magazine, because it's awesome! I usually buy a copy once a week and at only $1.99, it's a really affordable treat. 

Packed with book recommendations, health articles and remedies, fashion suggestions, dieting tips, recipes, a romance novella, crossword puzzle and more, this is now the only magazine I'll consider buying. And the recipes are not only simple but delicious. I've made several already and even tweaked a few. My family is also very pleased with the results so it's a win win with zero complaints so far :) 

My best August purchases

Because it was summer vacation and I got to travel with my family, I picked up a lot of great things this month. My favorite items are probably the ceramics from Spain. Going back there to visit after moving away twenty three years ago, I really wanted something with sentimental value. The pieces I found were bought in the closest village to my childhood home, so I couldn't be happier and have since used both while entertaining guests at my home in the U.S.

Another purchase I'm happy with, and one which has changed my life somewhat, is my bujo journal. After a bit of research I decided to go for a red Minimalism Art journal. 

It was quite a bit cheaper than the Moleskin and Leuchtturm and the quality is really good with an option for either ruled or dotted paper. To go with it, I bought some Tanmit dual tip brush pens and Cra-z-art colored pencils which were on sale at my local grocery store in the 'back to school' section. 

I know everyone recommends Tombow and Prismacolors (LOVE Prismacolors after using them at my design job years ago), but they're also a lot pricier, so since I wasn't sure if this whole bujo thing would be a passing hobby or something I'd stick with, I chose to go cheap to begin with. 

What are your best August buys? Let me know in the comments below.