Viking Arty Party

Today starts the National Stationery Week. To celebrate, I was invited to Viking Arty Party, organized by Viking. I was so excited to try new things, as there were planned three very interesting activities on the day. It was a really fab event, I had the chance to chat to lovely bloggers I haven’t seen for a while and everything we tried was fun.

The day was lovely, beautiful and sunny, so it was fab that we could relax, to have a chat and a drink on the terrace of King Street Townhouse in Manchester. Look at the views, it is just stunning.
We were divided into three groups and #VikingArtyParty has started.

The first activity I’ve tried was block printing. I found it so interesting. I saw similar blocks in a tour I went to in Emma Bridgewater’s pottery factory. So I was intrigued by the idea of making our own blocks.

As you can see in the picture, I didn’t listen to the instruction and I made a complicated design. I enjoyed sculpting the block, checking if it’s ok with a test-print, carve a bit more and then trying to print with acrylic with it. It wasn’t as spectacular as I thought it will be, but I should have followed the instruction and start with an easier block.
I enjoyed block printing a lot. I might try it at home too, it’s fun and relaxing. I was surprised to see this picture on twitter, I don’t know when it was taken, I was so concentrated to make my block.

After the first activity, we stopped for lunch. It was delicious, the pastries were yummy. It was also an opportunity to have more coffee, drinks and a chat.

The second activity was Calligraphy. I loved it. I will use my new pen with its three nibs I can choose from. My handwriting is not the best and this is a way I can improve my skills. I found it very relaxing too. Before trying it I had no idea I will enjoy it as much as I did. It was a really lovely surprise.

The last activity was notebook customisation. I have a lots of diaries and notebooks that I use, but I never customised any of them, so that’s something new for me. My design wasn’t as good as it should have been. I was in a bit of hurry because I didn’t had an idea to start with and it took me a while to decide what I’m going to do.
The thing I like the most was my idea of having 3 book marks attached to the notebook. This is something I struggle with, I don’t have enough markers to organise my work. It’s colourful and bright and fun, so I’m sort of pleased with how it turned out. Now I know I should have went for a Mondrian-style approach that it would have been easier to make and not as busy as the one I did. Well, I will do that with the next notebook I’m going to customise.

The goodie bags are so cute, all lined up on the table.

This is what I got in the goodie bag. I will use those cute markers to decorate the mug, but I still have to decide how I’m going to decorate it.