Freebies

Welcome to my Freebies page!

For years I sold these courses and zines on Etsy, but now I’m making them available here for free, so anyone can dive in for a burst of creative inspiration, feminism or self-help. If you enjoy these, I’d love it if you can leave a comment or review below.

On this page you’ll find:

Pour Your HeART Out – Art Therapy Course

This is an online art therapy course, Pour Your HeART Out, created by me, Asphyxia. The course is filled with videos in which I demonstrate the activities, and photos of my artworks to inspire you with yours.

Why do art therapy?

Art therapy is for you if you enjoy creative crafty activities, and are open to exploring your feelings in writing. It’s especially valuable if you are currently going through a hard time. It is a tool to ease creativity into your daily routine. If you loved the artwork in my book, Future Girl/The Words in My Hands, and are inspired to create your own art journal, this course is for you.

Perhaps you are dealing with mental health issues such as depression or anxiety, or a chronic illness, grief or loss, or something else that is challenging you. Art therapy can help you in two ways. First, the process of gentle art and craft activities can be meditative while not being too challenging, and can help lift your mood. It simply feels therapeutic. Second, it can help you to process your issues in a healthy way, feel cathartic, and release emotions that have built up in your body.

You don’t need to have any art experience and you don’t need to be able to write well to do this course. If you are an experienced artist or writer, this course will guide you to use those skills in a relaxing therapeutic format. When struggling with our mental health, making decisions can become overwhelming. This course tackles that by providing simple, bite-sized guided activities.

I have gone through several periods of hard times in my life, and each time I have wanted some kind of gentle art therapy to engage in, but at those times, I have felt too stressed or overwhelmed to adequately guide myself with my own art therapy. I also had barriers to accessing art therapy classes and groups in my community.

Eventually, by accident, I struck on an art therapy process that worked for me, was engaging enough that I was able to do it for months at a stretch, was easy enough that I could do it when tired and overwhelmed, and was encouraging enough that it consistently boosted my mood. That’s the process I share with you in this course.

This course covers:

How to create a daily fifteen minute creative therapeutic practice. Of course, once you’ve done your fifteen minutes you might feel like doing more. In that case, go for it.
Easy, relaxing, intuitive activities such as scribbling and playing loosely with paint and collage.
How to mix beautiful colour palettes on the fly while painting.
Videos demonstrating my techniques at every step of the way, including making lovely abstract textured paintings in only 15 minutes.
Writing prompts and examples to help you write freely to express your story and what you are struggling with.
A proven method of resolving trauma using eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing – EMDR.
A method of processing repressed rage so that it doesn’t play out in your body as physical pain.
A method of shifting entrenched negative patterns such as depression and anxiety, to retrain your brain to engage in more positive pathways.
How to turn the results of these activities into a stunning art journal book that expresses what you are going through.

At every step of the way I provide videos and photos which demonstrate each of the activities, and show you insights into my own process as I worked to create my art journal. The demonstrations will inspire you in your creative play as well as providing specific helpful tips that guide you in each of the activities. The entire process can be done in simple bite-sized activities of only 15 minutes.

To do this course you need:

To be willing to commit to fifteen minutes a day, every day that you are well enough.
Basic painting supplies – large sheets of paper, paint brushes, acrylic paint in red, blue, yellow, black and white, and charcoal.
Basic stationery supplies – writing pens, pencils, sticky tape, scissors and glue sticks.
A blank book that will become your art journal.
Another notebook or a computer or your phone for free writing.
Access to a printer is ideal if using a computer.
A space to work – a table or a wall or an easel with a board on it.
Somewhere to put your supplies – a box or dedicated shelf or table.
A dropsheet to protect your space and furniture.
A computer internet browser to access the course content and videos.

All course material is Deaf-friendly, presented visually, with no reliance on sound.

How long does the course take?

The process offered is iterative, in that once you begin, you can continue using this process indefinitely, until you feel satisfied that you have completed what you needed to process.

Work at your own pace. I recommend 15 minutes a day, with longer sessions if you get on a roll.

Book of your Dreams eCourse

Want to create an art journal that’s your best friend, life coach and a visual extravaganza? Learn how with this downloadable e-course.

What this method of journaling will offer you:
Following my design, you will make a super-strong book where the pages lie flat, the spine can be folded back on itself without damage, and there’s space to store collage supplies inside.

It will be a dynamic, complex, layered book that is a work of art as a whole, right from the start.

Learn to use your journal as a tool to help you get the most out of your life, through planning and goal setting. It will replace your organiser or diary.

Your journal will make a jaw-dropping first impression on people who open its cover, and they will be intrigued to see more. Build meaningful connections with people through its content.

You’ll be able to scrawl in your journal lazily and still enjoy a book that is a magnificent visual feast, made richer for these raw entries.

Avoid retrospective journaling, which is never as fun as engaging with the here and now.

Use your journal as a place for total, open self-expression, using my techniques to maintain your privacy and create a book you can proudly show your friends and acquaintances.

Create your journal using simple, inexpensive tools and supplies, such as office paper, found papers, scrapbook paper, art paper, gaffer tape and an upcycled children’s book. Stitch it with a sewing machine or by hand with a needle and thread.

Receive downloadable templates, printables and a bonus collage pack – a collection of my own artwork that you can print in full colour to use in your journal.

What will your journal look like?
Your journal will be unique, because it’s made by you and filled with your self-expression, interests, passions and life experiences. The construction of the book capitalises on this and presents a visual smorgasbord that showcases all your journaling techniques in a vibrant, layered fashion.

To explain what I mean, here’s a flip through of one of mine: https://youtu.be/-7trq87UrtY

Who is this e-course for?
If you are an adult or teenager who is interested in art journaling, this course is for you.

If you’re of primary school age, you’ll probably need help from an adult to construct your journal, but then you’ll be set to experiment with self-expression and other journaling techniques taught in this course.

If you are a complete beginner, this course will hold your hand and take you step by step through the process of making your very first journal, guiding you in how to use it effectively for self-expression, life management and creative experimentation.

If you are an experienced art journaler, this course will provide techniques and ideas to bring together all your skills, styles and experiments into a cohesive, dynamic package, enabling you to get more from your journal and creative life. My method of book construction and preparation is unique and will form the perfect basis from which you can apply ideas learnt from other courses and artists. You’ll find it solves many common journaling problems, such as how to avoid journaling retrospectively, how to maintain privacy while still being able to show your journals in pubic, and how to journal in a lazy, raw fashion which adds edginess to your journal, rather than lowering its visual beauty.

If you get intimidated by a blank page but want to make art or express yourself creatively, sign up now. This course has the answers!

You don’t need any special skills for this course beyond simple stitching, cutting and pasting – just a desire to dive in and have a go. Access to a sewing machine and the ability to use it is a bonus but not essential.

Who teaches this e-course?
This course is taught by me, Asphyxia, an artist and writer, author and co-illustrator of seven published books. Through over thirty years of experimentation in my own art journals, I have devised a method of journaling that is completely unique and solved many of the journaling struggles I have faced, such as feeling intimidated by the blank page, not liking retrospective journaling, journaling when I am lazy and tired but not wanting the rough results to lower the wow-factor of my book.

I’ve worked out tips and tricks to make the book look as interesting, complex and layered as possible, while still being simple to work in on a daily basis. I’ve discovered how to make an incredible first impression on others and delight myself every day with a journal that draws people in with its beauty when the cover is opened.

When I visit people for dinner, it’s not uncommon for them to ask me to bring along my art journals!

The technical stuff:
The e-course is formatted as an ebook, complete with colour photographs and videos demonstrating each lesson. There is no speaking in the videos, so it is fully accessible for deaf people.

This e-course comes in a choice of formats:

An ePub which can be used on most e-readers, tablets, and smartphones. On Apple devices, it can be opened in the Apple Books app.
A PDF which can be opened with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader app, available for computers (Mac and PC) and mobile devices.

Feminist Zine Set

This is a digital download of my set of 5 zines, How To Be A Guy Who Respects Women. You can print the zines in black and white onto an A3 sheet of paper that you fold to form a small booklet. Instructions on how to fold it are included.

This zine series is designed to introduce boys to feminism in a non-confronting way that doesn’t undermine who they are as guys. I’ve filled it with my own artwork which is cool, and I have it from the mouths of young guys themselves that it appeals to teen boys! It’s also for girls and anyone who is interested in knowing more about why we still need feminism today. Equality ain’t here yet!

The first issue of the zine describes the ways in which guys in our culture are privileged. My emphasis is for guys to be aware of that and look for opportunities to pass on some of these benefits to the women and girls in their lives.

The second issue focuses on objectification of women, what this means and how not to do it.

The third issue is about consent – what is good consent, and what is rape. Over a third of rapes experienced by women are committed by her partner or former partner, and in most cases the guy didn’t even realise it was rape – he thought it was a bit of a grey area. This issue clarifies the grey areas into crystal clear black and white.

The fourth issue is about flirting – how to flirt well, respectfully, and not come across as a creep. It seems the key issue for flirting is to know when to stop, and this zine highlights this, along with giving suggestions for dos and don’ts of good flirting.

The fifth issue is about relationships – how to negotiate a respectful relationship in which each of you gets a chance at having the life you want to have.

I created this zine series first for my son, and since then have shared it with many teenage and pre-teen boys who have happily devoured it with great interest. It’s a good way to start the important conversations we need to have with our sons, including how not to objectify women, how not to rape someone by accident, and how to flirt respectfully.

At first I wasn’t sure how to introduce my son to the idea of feminism, and the importance of respecting women in a culture which values men more than women. I didn’t want him to feel shame for being a guy, or feel the brunt of fault for the bad stuff that guys do to women. But I DO want him to understand the messages our culture sends us that trick all of us (male and female both) into treating women disrespectfully, and to know how to behave in the face of that. Most parents have the “don’t get raped” conversation with their daughters, but we parents of boys simply MUST have the “don’t rape anyone” conversation with our sons. This zine is a great way to open the door for these conversations.

I have also been told it’s a great zine series for girls as they need to be aware of these issues too.

How to open an Etsy shop – the kind that really sells stuff

Would you like to make money from your creative endeavours? This digital download is a little 8 page zine to help you launch your Etsy shop. You can print it in full colour or black and white onto an A3 sheet of paper that you fold to form a small booklet. Instructions on how to fold it are included.

Opening an Etsy shop is pretty easy. Etsy leads you through the steps of collecting information that will enable them to pay you, and creating your first listing. I did it on a lazy Sunday morning and it took about ten minutes. I even had a few sales right away, and that was very exciting. However, to be honest, not much happened in my shop until I figured out how to really make it work. And then it took off, and these days my Etsy shop brings in a serious amount of income for my family. It provides me with a steady stream of creative work that makes me incredibly happy. This zine is about how to open the kind of shop that actually sells stuff.

In this zine you’ll find suggestions for how much time you need to devote to it as a minimum, what kind of marketing options there are and how to make the most of them, what percentage of time to spend on making versus administration, and even how to make sure the business side of things is streamlined.

The zine is filled with sweet and whimsical artworks, so it’s a pleasure to hold and look at as well as filled with helpful information for you.

Journal Zine: How to turn your journal into your life coach, your best friend, and a visual extravaganza

This is a digital download of the zine I created to go with the journals I make. It covers my entire process for using a journal in such a way that it becomes a fabulous tool for my life. My journal is my best friend, my life coach, and it looks fabulous. I do most of my journaling in bed at night, when I’m lazy, tired, and don’t want to think about making a gorgeous page. But I still want my book to look wonderful, and this zine will help you achieve that.

I also use my journal to help me make changes in my life, so that I live the way I want to live. It takes 3 months to change a habit, and my journal is my tool to keep me on track during those three months. In this zine you’ll find tips for using your journal to plan your life, set goals, and make changes to your daily habits.

If your journal ends up anything like mine, when you’re out and about with it, people will be very curious about this book. And it’s worth showing it to them, because it springboards opportunities and great conversations. But how do you keep your personal stuff private? Techniques for that are covered in my zine too.

This zine is black and white. Download it and print it yourself onto a sheet of A3 paper. Instructions are provided to show you how to fold it into a little booklet. It’s the perfect size to tuck into a pocket at the front of your journal, to use as a prompt and reference as you go.

I wish I’d had this when I started keeping an art journal.

How to make the most of your own creative life

This is a digital download of a little 8 page zine, which you can print in full colour or black and white onto an A3 sheet of paper that you fold to form a small booklet. Instructions on how to fold it are included.

It’s filled with collage and artwork by me, Asphyxia, and provides tips for how to manage and use your creative inspiration.

Drawing on multiple sources of inspiration is a wonderful thing, but it can be tricky to ensure that a piece draws on diverse enough sources that you can call it YOURS. I am very organised with my collection of inspiration, and I’ve worked out a way to use it that means every piece of artwork I create is uniquely mine, while making the most of what the amazing world out there has to offer in terms of inspiration. In this zine I share the secrets that have helped me shift from being merely “inspired” to launching into new projects I never knew I could do.