What do Ryan Reynolds, a Switch and a Jeweller, all have in common?

...they're all featured on this substack. Hooray!

Hello! Thanks for joining me here. The longer I marinade with the idea of having a Substack, the more I come to realise is that I get to share with you, all the things I don’t get time to post on socials. This is the best way to get to know me, and vice versa (I mean, if you leave comments, lol). Yay! I’ll be sharing every fortnight.

So, let's get on with it then, shall we? Here’s the first category…

What I’m up to

Gosh, so many things. Which I know sounds really annoying and unspecific, which is probably my feeble, diplomatic attempt way to avoid boring you, haha. I hope I don’t. Right now, for the “first” post, all you really need to know if that I’m an illustrator, that’s where I am in my career. I am loving married life, in my 40s and enjoying the rollercoaster of earning a living by drawing, in sunny (!!!) York.

Oh, another thing you should know is, I’m an eternal optimist. Even though it’s not super duper sunny right now, I know it will be soon!

Ok, on with today’s thoughts… here’s a lovely graphic about them…

What’s inspiring me right now

This is where I share something on my mind, that I’m loving right now. Let me tell you about…

WELCOME TO WREXHAM, on Disney+

Something I feel compelled to share first and foremost, I dislike football. I nearly said hate. I don’t hate it. The culture surrounding it, gives me a strange anxiety that feels like loathing. I just don’t click with it. Weirdly, when I left art school, I had a day job working in corporate marketing, and among my clients were football clubs, including QPR, Reading FC and Man City …and even still, I couldn’t call myself a football fan (but I still did an amazing job for them though, natch). However, Welcome to Wrexham is the warmest, most engaging and fascinating documentary I’ve seen in ages. It follows the club’s day to day, after the take over from Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. We learn about the community, the players, as well as the business side of the club. Chris and I have just finished season2, and even I, with my cold football heart, have begun to get feels for this club and hoping they do well! I even found myself daydreaming which players would make it in the exchange window. What the even heck! I’m sure I’ve called that the wrong thing, but hey, I didn’t even give it a nanosecond of thought before watching. There are a mix of one hour and half hour episodes. Definitely give it a watch!

Aside from this, a bit further below, I have also included my thoughts on the new Disney Pixar movie, Inside Out 2. Keep reading…

Brain dump

If I may, let’s talk a bit about the Nintendo switch. Something that bugs me, is the occasional negative stigma I come across, attached to adults who play computer games. I’ve heard comments alluding to grown ups being “adult babies” by playing video games. Well, that opinion can get in the bin as far as I’m concerned. I bought myself a Switch a couple of year ago, and in times of stress and whatever else is going that makes life feel a little bit too much, I start playing a video game, and I feel the knot of tension in my chest disappear. It’s like I can feel the cortisol levels deplete, the longer the game is letting me think of nothing else but which shrine I’m going to take Link to next (that’s a Zelda, Breath of the Wild reference, incase that didn’t make sense to you, haha). It gives me the nothingness that stops my brain going into semi-overwhelm mode and panicking about whatever is going on in my life. Thank you, Nintendo! So, I wonder, what does that for you? Let me know in the comments and maybe we can share each other’s go to stress-eliminators… wouldn’t that be ace!

If you fancy buying a switch for yourself, I have an amazon affiliate link you can use, if you like, which means I get a tip from them for recommending you: https://amzn.to/3z5uKKj (that’s not why I’ve shared my thoughts on it, it just seemed like an obvious way for you access one, haha)

Creatives Shoutout

Depending on how long you’ve been in my circle, you might remember my Friday Follows, on Insta, where I used to share some of my favourite creative businesses. This is the same thing.

Let me tell you about the brilliant human, Tori Foster. She’s an independent jeweller, creating her own jewellery and workshops. Truly unique and beautiful work. We’re both stocked in Fabrication (York) and Art&Soul (Beverley & Hull), and she’s become my travel buddy when we drive over to the Humber for a restock. Her work is textural, delicate and so pretty. Take a look at her makes:

• Shop with Tori here.

• Find Tori on instagram here.

If you scroll on down, I have more behind the scenes from my illustration desk to share as well as my thoughts on the new Disney Pixar movie, Inside Out 2, but let me use this interval to let you know where else you can find me:

Instagram | Facebook | Shop | Get My Shop Offers and Discounts | Blog/Substack | Buy me a new pencil | Buy my cards on Thortful (aff link