So this year I kept my birthday really relaxed. I tried not to pick up my camera much. I did take a few clips of the beautiful day and some pictures of me and Pharaby, my food, and my flowers. The weather was perfect! The sky was beautiful, and we spent most of the day outside with yummy kombucha. Couldn’t ask for better.
I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (box cake mix, so it was easy), and had a tempeh BLT for dinner on a super yummy flatbread that I hadn’t had before! It was amazing.
I also got flowers — a variety of yellow & white ones, which always feel like sunshine to me.
Gift-wise, I got a few puzzles & art-related things (and one wellness thing), and I wanted to share them because a lot of you love cozy art stuff and wellness things like I do:
Two puzzles 🧩 — one from Buffalo Games, and one from Cavallini Paper Company.
Prismacolor Premier colored pencils – I got a 36-pack to try and OMG they are SO smooth.
Kinda made me realize my old ones were not as high-end as I thought. I still think the ones I started with are great and there’s nothing wrong with them. These are just more blendable.
I would say if you know you enjoy this medium already and you're looking for something better, go for the higher-end Prismacolor. But if you’re just dabbling or you're not sure if this is even a medium you like yet, the Grabie set is amazing — it even gives you paper and extras, and the colored pencils are great! That’s what I’ve drawn everything with up until this point, and I’ve been really happy with them.
These just blend in a different way and feel smoother to draw with — I can't explain it, but either way, both are good. These are just better. It hurts me to say that because I don’t like ranking things like that, but I want to be honest with y’all — that’s kind of why you're here.
Detail brushes for acrylic painting from Grabie
A new journal
An electric eraser — which is honestly a total game changer! I had never even heard of anything like this. I was watching a professional artist draw and they had one, and the way they could erase such a tiny, tiny spot on their paper made me envious — so I put it on my wishlist.
It’s also super fun to use for taking away color when you want to make something lighter or add a different color or a highlight. That’s what I did for the wings on my bee art! The way it erases is awesome because it doesn’t ruin your paper. Now, it might if you don’t have good paper, but I have Canson Bristol Smooth paper and it handles the eraser really well!
Facial cupping cups – I’ve only used them once so far, but no adverse reactions and it feels promising! I didn’t really know what I was doing in terms of how many swipes I was supposed to make, so I definitely didn’t do enough. I actually did it in my bathtub, lol.
I printed out a little guide that showed the directions and areas to go in, but I totally forgot to look at how many passes I was supposed to make on each one — and I way underdid it. Which is fine because at least I made sure there wasn’t going to be any bruising or reactions, lol.
I did vlog the days around my birthday & did a gift haul, a little grocery haul, and just shared the chill vibes we had going. If you haven’t seen it yet, watch it here:
