Holiday Gift Guide: Race Point Publishing's Doodle Books

Looking to get into drawing, but you're not sure where to start? Well, Race Point Publishing has a couple of cute options this holiday season for you, or a budding artist you know. There are two recent releases: The Art of Doodle Words and Kawaii Doodle Cuties.

 From the decriptions, you can probably guess that one focuses more on word art, while another is more about cute pictures. Let's start with the Cuties book. This one takes you step-by-step through drawing animals, places, plants, and more with some of the designs being simple and perfect for beginners. Others in the book are a bit more detailed, offering a great challenge for more advanced artists or those who are looking for a challenge. Here are a couple I did from the book...

The other one is focused on different styles of word art that will surely be a fun way to create signs, or just play around. It, like the other one, offers more simplistic and more advanced choices that are good for people at all levels of ability. It even shows how to do faux caligraphy, for those who don't know how, or don't have the materials for it. Here are a couple of basic ones I did from the book...

Whether you're an advanced artist, or beginner, there's sure to be something for you in these two new releases this year.

SoapStandle

SoapStandle, the NEW handy and eco-friendly tool that is changing the bar soap industry!

For many people, bar soap is a thing of the past. Most of us have switched over to liquid soap to avoid the soap goo that is left behind when you finish using a bar of soap. But if the goo is eliminated, bar soap becomes a viable option for many people – and that’s where SoapStandle steps in!

Made of recyclable acrylic, SoapStandle sinks its “teeth” into bar soap to create a platform on which the soap is elevated. Since air can circulate 360° around the soap when it is not being used, the soap is able to shed water and dry properly so that that pesky soap goo never develops.

Ergonomically designed as an oval to act as a handle so soap doesn’t slip out of your hand, SoapStandle helps extend the life of bar soap by 30%! SoapStandle comes in a pack of 2, for $8.00.

My Thoughts:

Ironically I discovered SoapStandle right after I had purchased a brand new soap dish for the bathroom. One thing that runs out quickly at home is soap. Whether it is melting, oozing, or falling down the drain, we are constantly buying new bars and liquid soap all the time. That can make up a large bill at the end of the month, as well as produce a lot of waste. 

SoapStandle is not only an innovative product, but one that helps us take into consideration our carbon footprint. It allows soap to last longer, requiring us to purchase less soap and plastic. Use it anywhere soap is needed from the bathroom, shower, kitchen, anywhere! 

If you're looking for a creative and inventive new product to make your life and budget easier, get a SoapStandle today! 

Connect with SoapStandle:

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Book Review: Burn This Book- A Creativity Tool

The title of this one grabbed me right off, so I jumped at the opportunity to review it. Fernando Suarezserna takes readers through a series of stories and exercises that are designed to help people become more creative and productive people. 

He encourages the reader to take each exercise and step seriously in order to get the most out of the book, and I have to say that I love his philosophy regarding the exercises and book in general. He believes that once you have taken the time and effort to work through the book, you'll be able to "burn this book", so to speak. For him, that means passing along to book to someone else who might need it. 

He talks about strategies to keep social media from taking away from your creative time, how to keep bad habits from messing with your life and routine, as well as not over doing when you start something new. Action boxes include setting your phone to airplane mode for 45 minutes, identifying bad habits, and defining your creative space. 

Throughout the book, he tells stories from his childhood as well as stories like Wassily Kandinsky's. Each one is designed to teach and inspire one to take the steps in the book and take risks, as the author mentioned doing by deciding at 18 years old that he was going to get into guitar. Most would say that's too late to do so, but he went ahead and started lessons anyway. The of that story and Kandinsky's is that it's never too late to make a change in one's life and start something new. 

I'd definitely recommend this to people just getting started in writing or some other endeavor, as well as those who might need a push to make some changes in their life and routine.