Pen Collection: Pink
I have an obsession with office supplies and I’m a bit of a pen hoarder. One thing that I enjoy doing is swatching out my writing utensils to see how the colors compare between brands.
The Test: Each pen is used on white notebook paper and a yellow legal pad. You can click on the image below for a larger view.
The Pens: (links are affiliate) Paper Mate InkJoy 100
The Conclusion: Pinks can be hit or miss sometimes. Sometimes they’re light and sometimes they’re dark. My favorite of the ballpoints are the Papermate Profile Elite and the Bic Cristal Bold (I sure do love a bold line). The Pilot Acroball and the Bic Round Stic were the palest of the pinks. The Pentel Energel, Zebra NR7, and the two Papermate Flairs provided the darkest and boldest color.
Photo Series Idea: Look at your Shadow
Usually in my set of vacation photos, I end up with a picture of my shadow. This can be a neat way to capture yourself when you’re taking photos with a ton of sunlight out.
My collection of shadow photos is sometimes solo, but most of the time, I get my husband to play along too.
Do you ever take any shadow photos? Have you amassed yourself a huge collection?
Presents for You: Brush Lettered Emerson Quote
I love quotes. And I love to letter them out. And I’m happy to be able to share with you!
Use for Project Life, scrapbook, art journals, or just print it out and hang on your walls. Just click the links below to download the version you desire.
Click on photos for JPG
8×10 inch Color PDF
8×10 inch Charcoal PDF
Transparent PNG
I’d love to see what you’re doing with my lettering and you can share your great ideas with others too! Tag me on instagram @randomolive and use the hashtag #randomoliveletters.
Personal use only. (Because these words are neither yours or mine to sell.)
Do you have a favorite quote you’d like to see lettered? Suggest it in the comments!
Valentine’s Day Scrapbooking Kit
Pink is the theme around these parts this month. For a cynical gal like me, I’m actually rather fond of Valentine’s Day. My husband and I actually call it “trifecta weekend”, which includes Valentine’s Day, my birthday, and the anniversary of when we started dating. We celebrate in our own way, which usually means some delayed date (to avoid the crowds, of course).
I designed some brush lettered word art and some digital scrapbooking supplies to get you guys through the process of documenting your undying love of pink.
Make sure to visit the shop for more good stuff.
Here are the products in action with some photos from my totally unfinished 2013 album (one page down!).
Digital Project Life Layouts: April 2014
Project Life is my preferred method of scrapbooking and I’m hoping to provide you with some useful tips for either documenting your own lives or putting together your own pages with minimal fuss.
Here’s what I’m going to emphasize with the layouts I share:
- The random stuff I like to capture and document for myself.
- The simple approach to Project Life that I take. There are a lot of photos and very little embellishment and journaling.
- The way I organize some spreads into themes or stories.
You can click on each image below for a slightly larger view.
Capture Idea: I bought some new pointed pen nibs for my new hobby, so I snapped a picture of them.
Capture Idea: Try to get a picture of some of the books that you’re reading. I absolutely loved reading The Happiness Project
Story Idea: A few awesome ladies on Instagram started this project in April, so these were all my various cups photos for the month. I thought it looked pretty cool put together in a single spread.
Resources:
Photos edited with RadLab. (Affiliate Link)
Templates by Cathy Zielske: 01, 02, 05
Fonts: ABeeZee and Klinic Slab
Kit: Midnight Edition
For more info on my general approach to Project Life, check out this blog post.
Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. She’s awesome. Go visit her website for more information or watch her 3-day course on CreativeLive.
Pinboard: Valentine’s Day Cards
After all the years that my husband and I have been together, sometimes looking through the drugstore for a Valentine’s Day card can be a little problematic. For one, we don’t usually pick the mushy and poetic cards. We generally lean more towards to humorous/fun cards. Secondly, over the years, the selection starts looking the same and it’s hard to find something that the other person hasn’t seen before.
And that’s where independent artists come in. There are a lot of talented folks around the web making and selling awesome cards you don’t typically find at your local drugstore card aisle. I’ve been collecting some pretty awesome cards from online retailers and pinning them on my Pinterest board.
Follow Olivia (Random Olive)’s board greeting cards: valentine’s day on Pinterest.
Click through to see all the cards I’ve been and then follow this board to keep updated when I add more!
Presents for You: Brush Lettered Poehler Quote
I love quotes. And I love to letter them out. And I’m happy to be able to share with you!
Use for Project Life, scrapbook, art journals, or just print it out and hang on your walls. Just click the links below to download the version you desire.
Click on photos for JPG
8×10 inch Pink PDF
8×10 inch Charcoal PDF
Transparent PNG
I’d love to see what you’re doing with my lettering and you can share your great ideas with others too! Tag me on instagram @randomolive and use the hashtag #randomoliveletters.
Personal use only. (Because these words are neither yours or mine to sell.)
Do you have a favorite quote you’d like to see lettered? Suggest it in the comments!
Wheeler Historic Farm Photos and Tips
Wheeler Historic Farm was another excursion from my trip to Utah. The time of day was pretty rough for photos with bright sun in the middle of the sky.
This cute barn was spotted with a heart-shaped wreath over the doorway.
Experimenting with depth of field on this flower.
We walked up to a bridge that crossed a stream and found this sign posted.
Photo Tip: Take a picture of stuff that makes you laugh.
Some old farm equipment in the field. I struggled a fair bit with the lighting on this one
Photo Tip: Keep walking around your subject to try to optimize your lighting.
A pile of logs set aside for firewood. The sun was behind the shed.
Photo Tip: Keep experimenting with that sunlight.
And more flowers. I love them.
Photo Tip: If I were to retake this photo, I’d place the flower on the left side of the frame, since it seems to be facing towards the right.
Photos edited by RadLab. (Affiliate Link)
Scripts: Elegant Lettering from Design’s Golden Age – Book Review
Studying letterforms is one way to improve your lettering game. Scripts: Elegant Lettering from Design’s Golden Age
How this Book is Organized
The book is broken down into five styles: French, British, German, Italian, and American. Each section begins with a written description of the style and history. The description is followed by photos of historical examples with a reference page citing the sources.
Overall Impression
Lots of nice examples of scripts that you can be inspired by with your own lettering. And if you’re not a letterer, you can still enjoy the scripty eye candy.
Amazon links are affiliate.
Pen Collection: Orange
I have an obsession with office supplies and I’m a bit of a pen hoarder. One thing that I enjoy doing is swatching out my writing utensils to see how the colors compare between brands.
The Test: Each pen is used on white notebook paper and a yellow legal pad. You can click on the image below for a larger view.
The Pens: (links are affiliate) Paper Mate InkJoy 100
The Conclusion: Orange is another tough color to find in pens. The Papermate Inkjoys provided a darker ink color than the Papermate Profile on white paper, but all were disappointing on yellow paper. The two Papermate Flairs provided the darkest and boldest color.
