Travel Collections: Coffee Mugs
If I’m traveling to a city where there’s a Starbucks (which is pretty much everywhere in the United States), you can be sure that I’m going to stop in and purchase one of their “You Are Here” collection mugs.
I think they’re fun and colorful. I usually snag them and give them to my mother-in-law (whose cabinets are completely overrun with them now).
Sometimes, I’m able to catch some other mugs of different locations, which make me smile whenever I use them. I think the collection says a bit about my style and preferences.
This collection might get out of hand if you try it. Adjust for your storage space accordingly.
Any mugs hiding in your cabinets that are from a trip you’ve taken?
Presents for You: Brush Lettered Edison 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 Purple 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!
Resource Round-Up: Start Learning Photography
I’ve said before in my photography journey post that I recently started to learn more photography skills using a DLSR
1. Click It Up a Notch
Courtney Slazinik provides a compendia of blog posts to help any beginner learn the art of photography. This website covers all the basic topics like using manual mode on your camera, settings, white balance, composition and more.
2. Jeff Cable Photography
I’ve watched a ton of Jeff Cable’s recorded presentations that he’s given at B+H headquarters. He’s well-spoken and tells you what you need to know without making things too complicated.
Here are my favorite videos:
– Photography 101
– 15 Features of your DSLR
– Shooting Great Portraits
3. Photography Concentrate
Lots of tips for new photographers! Rob and Lauren Lim are relatable folks who put together information and guides to teach you the nuts and bolts of photography.
4. CreativeLive
CreativeLive is my very favorite resource for learning. They provide streaming video courses online for free or for pay. They have an entire channel dedicated to photography, with up to three courses showing simultaneously. If you check the calendar, you can see the courses that are playing live, or you can purchase access to any of the courses that have already played. CreativeLive is also a great resource for those who are aiming to be professional photographers. Tons of experts and business advice too.
5. Improve Photography
Tons of information. This resource would be useful if you have targeted areas that you’re interested in improving.
Check out my Pinterest board about photography for even more resources!
Any resources that you recommend for those of us just starting out?
A Quiet Book Review
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Organization
Cain tells personal stories and the stories of other introverts to illustrate the perspective of the introverted mind. The stories (and research cited) are more narrative than outline format. The book covers topics of the current extroverted ideal in society, the introverted psychology, and recommended actions of how to co-exist.
Overall
As sometime who is quite introverted, I appreciated reading about the background of how we tick. It was mostly useful to read about the common misconceptions and the cited research.
Useful For
Everyone who is an introvert or works/lives with an introvert. This will increase the ability to understand background personality differences and what it means to really re-charge. The book is pretty information-dense; a feature (not a bug) of its comprehensiveness.
Amazon links are affiliate.
Presents for You: Brush Lettered Chris Guillebeau 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 Green 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!
Be Your Self Mugs
I’m super excited to let you know that I’ve expanded the Be Your Self Series to include physical products. Now in the shop are mugs that you can buy to remind yourself to be totally awesome while you’re having your cup of coffee or tea in the morning. Or use them as pen cups in your office to always keep these affirmations in mind.
These would also make awesome holiday gifts.
Click on each picture below to get the link to purchase.
Additional products are planned for this series. Sign up for the mailing list to find out when new products are available.
I’d love to see what you’re doing with these prints and you can share your great ideas with others too! Tag me on instagram @randomolive and use the hashtag #randomoliveletters.
Digital Project Life Layouts: January 2014
Sharing my Project Life Pages is a little bit intimidating. Scrapbooking is such a personal hobby that it’s tough to think of the best way to make these posts useful for you, the reader.
Here’s what I’m going to try to emphasize for you with each layout:
- 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: Anomalies in the weather. Fog is pretty rare here where I live, so I snapped that pic on the left side.
Capture Idea: Christmas decorations back in the box.
Capture Idea: A shadow selfie on the bottom right.
Simplicity Point: Use digital paper to fill in the journaling spots if you don’t have much to say.
Capture Idea: In-store displays that catch your eye.
Simplicity Point: Don’t have a square pocket for your Instagram photos? Mat it onto a 4×6 card, add a border, add a caption, and call it done.
Capture Idea: Trying a new hobby? Take pictures of your early attempts. It will amaze you how far you’ve come when you look back on it.
Capture Idea: Anything unusual in the sky? The upper left was a shot I got on the way to work of the smoke from a local wildfire.
Capture Idea: Any weekly rituals? I paint my nails every week, so I try to remember to snap a picture of my finished manicure.
This entire spread was taken with my DSLR
Capture Idea: Take a stroll through your backyard one day. Document how the plants look. It’ll let you look back later and see how it changes.
Story Idea: Organize all those backyard garden photos into a single spread.
Resources:
Photos edited by RadLab. (Affiliate Link)
Templates by Cathy Zielske: 01, 02, 05
Fonts: ABeeZee and Klinic Slab
Kit: Jade 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.
Presents for You: Brush Lettered Tina Fey 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 Turquoise 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!
Utah State Capitol Photos and Tips
I had some time to be able to walk from my hotel to the State Capitol on my Utah trip. Oh man, they are not kidding when they say Capitol Hill.
The capitol building itself is quite beautiful, but really does look similar to many other state capitol buildings across the nation.
What’s neat here is that there’s a lot of wide open space around the building.
Photo Tip: Get pictures of the same building from multiple angles. I got one straight on and one from the side.
There was also this other statue on the grounds. I neglected to look at the plaque, so I’m not sure what it is.
Photo Tip: Don’t forget the plaques. Your memory isn’t that good.
From the side of that statue, I was able to get both the statue and the building in the same shot.
Photo Tip: Incorporate two subjects in the same photo to provide context.
This time I did manage to get a photo of the plaque explaining the significance behind all the beehives I had seen around town.
The stairs leading up to the capitol building had two giant beehives on the sides. I managed to get a detail shot on one of them.
Photo Tip: Experiment with getting up close.
Photos edited by RadLab. (Affiliate Link)
Show your Script: Handwriting Blog Tag
I pretty much always write everything out by hand before typing it. Depending on my mood, I’ll use a different handwriting style. My rushed and hurried regular writing can get pretty messy, depending on how quickly I’m writing. When I have a bit more time, I’ll print more neatly. I hardly ever use cursive, though it’s fun to see how it looks compared to the print.
I was totally inspired by April at Blackburg Belle because she recently started a blog tag experiment to help bloggers connect to each other. April’s original #20thingsblogtag can be found here.
How to play along:
- Handwrite the same sentence using all three techniques: 1. quickly scrawled, 2. neatly printed, and 3. flowing cursive.
- Upload your photo(s) onto your blog or Instagram and talk about what you like about your handwriting.
- Leave a comment on this post with a link to your blog or Instagram post.
- Use the hashtag #showyourscript
- Tag five of your friends.
(In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m pretty much tagging all of you!)
I can’t wait to see everyone’s handwriting styles!
