A Year of Morning Pages
This is the story of how free-writing on a (nearly) daily basis changed my life.
Remember when I told you about how The Happiness Project turned me around for the better? Writing morning pages is the other component of it.
In early 2014, I was in a funk. I could only explain the phenomenon as “blah” and I felt blah-by. Yes, I totally made that word up. I self-diagnosed myself with burnout (after taking a few too many online psychology tests) and looked up resources on how to get out of it.
That’s where the concept of morning pages came in. The idea was developed by artist Julia Cameron and the basic idea is that you free-write whatever is in your stream of consciousness first thing in the morning for three pages. (more info on her website) This process is related to journaling, but also, totally different for me somehow. I had tried journaling on-and-off for years, and I could never keep up. I felt like nothing would live up to the beautiful notebook I tried to use. Or if I had a bad handwriting day, I felt it wasn’t worthy of the pretty notebook.
My approach to morning pages was different. I let myself use the cheapest notebooks in my collection. (Which are the generic notebooks I hoard for ten cents apiece during back-to-school season). I let myself use whatever pens I have lying around (nothing special). And I let myself use the messiest handwriting without any care. Using cheap supplies really helps get over the thought of “wasting” the good stuff.
Letting myself use ugly messy scrawly writing in cheap notebooks helped to clarify so many of the thoughts swirling in my head. I would write about the most mundane things that were on my mind, like if I was hungry, or what I planned to do that day, or what bothered me from the day before. Just the act of writing made me realize that I really am a creative and artistic and crafty person. These pages also are a place where I brainstorm and follow my ideas from one unrelated string to another. So many of my blog posts and project ideas get their start in those morning pages (even this one).
I’ve found that this is a habit that helps to calm me. Some days all I write is inspirational words to myself like: you can do this, keep going, just start, you’re making progress, stick with it. And it helps me to block out the noise of what’s going on out there in the world and really focus on my own motivation and ideas.
Do any of you keep morning pages? Or are you interested in giving it a try? Share in the comments!
Digital Project Life Layouts: June 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: Can you tell we like to go out to eat a lot?
Capture Idea: For eBooks, I take a screenshot of the cover from the Kindle app on my phone. I’m what you’d call the cliche voracious reader, so I like to document the books I read.
Story Idea: The right page is entirely from a trip to Disneyland.
Simplicity Point: I had a filler card of Mickey that I downloaded from Sahlin Studio (available here) and I recolored it to match the journaling card I put on this page.
Capture Idea: Before and after shots. I was working on trimming this plant in my backyard and wanted to show my husband the before and after while he was at work.
Capture Idea: Any digital receipts or invoices of fun stuff? We bought the LEGO Ghostbusters Ecto-1
Capture Idea: Progress shots of your hobbies! Seriously, these are so fun to look back on.
Simplicity Point: The screenshots I take of my book covers end up just slightly smaller than the 3×4 slot. I just fill that background with white and call it a day. You could also use digital scrapbook paper.
Story Idea: San Francisco Trip. Organizing spreads into trips and locations makes so much more sense to me than breaking it up by week, especially since travel dates may overlap different weeks.
Simplicity Point: One journal card on the left for quick recap. And then one filler card to balance.
Capture Idea: While I was in SF, my husband was at home and received his new Lego toy. He sent me progress shots as he was building it. Pretty neat idea though. Can you tell I like to document progress?
Resources:
Photos edited with RadLab. (Affiliate Link)
Templates by Cathy Zielske: 01, 02, 05
Fonts: ABeeZee and Klinic Slab
Kit: Kraft 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.
Pen Collection: Green
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: Green is another fun color I love to write with when I’m at work. The Papermate Inkjoys are very pale, so I don’t enjoy those as much. The Papermate Profile and Bic Cristal Bold provide lovely dark green shades though. And any of the gel, rollerball, or felt tips are solid.
Presents for You: Brush Lettered Peters 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!
Resource Round-Up: Building Habits
photo via Death to Stock Photography
I’m a big fan of personal development. One of the key methods that helps me with improving myself is to build better habits. Habits will help you make healthy behaviors more automatic and cut down on having to make a decision about things.
Here are some awesome resources to help you on your habit journey.
- Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives
by Gretchen Rubin – I just borrowed this book from the library last week. It’s a brand spanking new book (only been out for two weeks at the time of this post). If you’ve been following Rubin’s work at all, you’ll know this is a worthwhile read.
- The Power of Habit
by Charles Duhigg – I’ve written about this book before.
- A printable habit tracker.
- Transform your Habits by James Clear – a blog post with some really good explanations about building habits.
- 30 Days to a New Habit by Caylee Grey – Caylee rounds up a bunch more resources to help you develop habits. She even runs a Facebook accountability group for those of us who really want some support in habit-building.
Book Review: Start With Why
Nearly everywhere you turn, people are encouraging you to determine your deepest motivation for why you do the things you do. The book Start With Why by Simon Sinek is often cited as the key resource for this skill.
How this Book is Organized
The book is organized into 6 parts: a world that doesn’t start with why; an alternative perspective; leaders need a following; how to rally those who believe; the biggest challenge is success; and discover why. I’ve listed the titles here exactly as they appear in the table of contents and it’s not super clear to me how the book is really organized. It generally flows from a state where people behave in manners that aren’t motivated by their inner purpose and then into the benefits of having a purpose.
Overall Impression
The book provides some real examples (both successes and failures) of businesses and explains the motivations for their success and reason why. It’s an interesting read for learning the background of popular companies and background of motivation. However, there were not many concrete actionable steps that I found that I could take to help me discover my own reason why. It will take some introspection on the part of the reader to try to determine your own reason. I was hoping that this book would provide some guided prompts to help me think through my own inner purpose.
I feel like I got sufficient information on the importance and necessity of the “why” from Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk. (below)
Useful For
This book is useful for those of you who want to delve deeper into the references behind the Ted Talk or want to read at your own pace.
Amazon links are affiliate.
Presents for You: Brush Lettered Joybell 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!
Ultimate DIY Bundle is Back
I’m a big fan of learning new stuff and I’m usually buying some online class or eBook or another. If you’re also the type of person who loves learning, bundles (which combine lots of resources at a discounted price) might be a good way to save money on the classes you’d buy anyway.
The Ultimate DIY Bundle is a compendium of DIY eBooks and eCourses covering topics like general crafting, holiday crafting, sewing, photography, scrapbooking, art journaling, and home decor. This week’s bundle (which is only available for 48 hours) has 69 resources for $34.95. When you do the math, all it takes is about 5 classes/books that you’re interested in to make the whole thing worth it. Plus, you’ll have a stash of other books on your virtual bookshelf when you’re itching to learn something new.
This bundle was offered once before (in January), and I totally missed out on it. Ugh. I looked at it, tried to see if there were classes in there I wanted, and then I forgot about it. Until the deadline passed and I was out of luck. This time, it’s back for an even shorter amount of time! Geez. The Ultimate DIY Bundle will only be on sale for 2 days – from 9am EST on Monday, March 31 until 9am EST on Wednesday, April 1.
So for me personally, what material am I most interested in learning?
- 21 Inspiring Thrift Store Transformations by Jami @ An Oregon Cottage ($4.99)
- Easy Mod Podge Decor for Your Home by Amy @ Mod Podge Rocks ($10.00)
- How to Choose Paint Colours: It’s All In The Undertones by Maria @ Maria Killam ($37.00)
- Interior Design for Real People by Sarah @ The Yellow Cape Cod ($10.00)
- Printable Photo Checklists by Rebecca @ Simple as That ($5.00)
- Say No to Auto by Kristen @ Kristen Duke Photography ($10.00)
- A Year of Art Journaling: A Beginner Course in Artful Discovery by Christine @ Bare Branch Blooming ($20.00)
- Kimberly Kalil Designs Collection by Kimberly @ Kimberly Kalil ($17.00)
- 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts, Volume 2 by Bryan @ Build Creative Writing Ideas ($2.99)
- 30 Days of Prompts by Elora @ Elora Nicole ($25.00)
- Artful Adventures Art Journaling Basics by Kristie @ Artful Adventures ($20.00)
- How to Scan and Digitize Photos & Memorabilia by Mary @ Be Photo Wise ($30.00)
- Use Your Stash by Elise @ Elise Blaha Cripe ($8.00)
Those are just the books and stuff that appealed the most to me (and the original prices definitely add up to more than the cost of the bundle). There’s tons more books too! So you should check out the full index of included resources here.
Disclosure: I have included affiliate links in this post. Read the fine print about this bundle and read the answers to frequently asked questions about the bundle.
Pinboard: Wall Art I Want to Buy
So I kind of have this love of bright and colorful wall art. It may be due to the two gallery walls I have in my house (one downstairs and one upstairs). I just love the idea of hanging all this good stuff in prominent places that I can see. Too bad I don’t have enough wall space for everything!
Check out all the wall art I’ve been pinning on Pinterest and follow this board for updates on other art I’d love to buy.
Follow Olivia (Random Olive)’s board walls: art i want to buy on Pinterest.
Skillshare Course Review: The First Steps of Hand-Lettering
I’ve talked before about some of the classes I’ve taken on Skillshare. Here’s another one for you: The First Steps of Hand-Lettering by Mary Kate McDevitt. I love taking these types of classes because I enjoy watching the process that lettering artists use so that I can adapt some of the processes into my own lettering and art.
My main takeaways:
Brainstorming for Style:
The main project from this course is to letter out a short phrase or quote. Mary Kate describes her brainstorming process for developing a style that suits the phrase or quote that you plan on using. She shares how to approach the sentiment behind the phrase and the visual influences you could use.
Lettering Tools and Paper:
Mary Kate goes over which tools she prefers to use for each stage of the process as she’s sketching. While it can be helpful to see the tools the pros use, they tend to emphasize that the best tool is the one you have. And many letterers have different preferences.
Lettering Styles:
The most useful part for me was to see different lettering styles and how they’re drawn. There are examples of various styles (script, serif, sans serif, and more) as well as a live demo and step-by-step tips on drawing some of them (block letters, script, flourishes, and serif).
Overall Impressions:
This was one of the first online classes I had taken about lettering. Many of the skills that Mary Kate goes over are useful and applicable to whatever style of lettering that you want to produce. It was nice to see all the steps laid out in a methodical order. For anyone interested in learning to handletter and wants a comprehensive introduction, this is a great resource.
The links provided for this Skillshare course are referral links. If you sign up for a Skillshare membership using these links, I will receive a free month of membership. This will allow me to view and review even more courses on the blog.
