Digital Project Life Layouts: May 2015
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.
Capture Idea: Always with food.
Capture Idea: Taking a picture of fortunes from fortune cookies is the only way I remember to get them in a digital scrapbook.
Capture Idea: I got my car services, so a quick snap of the invoice and buzzer.
Capture Idea: Messy kitchen table.
Capture Idea: Messy desk. These simple things are what I think I’ll enjoy looking back on the most.
Capture Idea: More food.
Capture Idea: My cousin was using my house for temporary storage so I snapped some before-and-after shots of the storage area.
Simplicity Point: The center square is comprised of patterned paper with a scaled-down journaling card layered on top and offset.
Capture Idea: I humorously spilled a bunch of dirt in the trunk of my car. I like to include even the messy bits in my book.
Capture Idea: I had a couple of dressy events for work, so of course selfies were entirely necessary.
Simplicity Point: Same deal as the previous page with the patterned paper and offset journaling card. I definitely like this look!
Capture Idea: Going on a trip. Long Beach Airport lets you get on the plane from outside, so I was able to get an unencumbered shot of the plane.
Capture Idea: NY-specific food.
Simplicity Point: One journaling card and a quick list of highlights from the trip.
Story Idea: Two pages dedicated to a trip out to Yankee Stadium.
Capture Idea: More food.
Capture Idea: An updated shot of the outside garden.
Capture Idea: And food. But at least one is a meal I cooked at home.
Resources:
Photos edited with RadLab. (Affiliate Link)
Templates by Cathy Zielske: 01, 02, 05
Fonts: ABeeZee and Klinic Slab
Kit: Scotty Girl Design, Jade Edition, 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.
Presents for You: Brush Lettered Hepburn 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!
Listers Gotta List: July 2015

One quick and easy way to document your life is list journaling. This has been around the internet for awhile (examples: 30 Days of Lists, 52 Lists from Moorea Seal, and possibly others!) Cori (aka TheResetGirl) started a challenge called ListersGottaList and she provided prompts for people to journal in list format.

I’m going with an all-digital format for documenting my lists. (Since I’m a digital scrapbooker, of course)

My supplies for list journaling:
- Abstract art backgrounds (my own designs – available here)
- Brush lettered prompt headings (my own lettering, digitized and converted into stamps – scroll all the way down to grab these for yourself)
- Assorted journaling cards from digital Project Life kits
- Elements from digital scrapbooking kits (most often by Scotty Girl Design)

What I’m skipping:
- Numbering the prompts
- Because I skip the prompts I don’t enjoy! I realized that it’s supposed to be fun, not a standardized test. It’s ok to skip the questions! It’s so much less pressure to answer the stuff I want to and skip the ones that are annoying to answer.

What I plan to do with all my layouts:
- Four lists per page.
- Right now, I’m thinking I’ll get them printed as a 12×12 book.
Hope you enjoyed seeing my layouts. To see other awesome lists, check out the #ListersGottaList tag on Instagram.
Want to download my brush lettered digital stamps? Get them free!
Click on either of the images below to download (put “0” for the price to download for free or consider leaving a small donation). By entering your email address, you’ll be added to the official RandomOlive email list and receive monthly updates (and notice of future freebies).
Presents for You: Brush Lettered Nightingale 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!
Water Brushes for Brush Lettering

Another tool that I like to use is a water brush plus watercolor paint pans. A water brush comes with an empty barrel that you can fill with water (or ink) and it flows through the bristles of the brush.
I’ve gathered up my small collection of water brushes to show you the different sizes of letters you can achieve with them.




(Pictured: Niji Water Brush, Pentel Aquash)
What else would you like to learn about brush lettering? Comment below!!
Presents for You: Brush Lettered Socrates 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!
Digital Project Life Layouts: October 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.
Story Idea: A long weekend trip to Chicago with some friends.
Simplicity Point: Bulleted lists for trip highlights are my bestest friends.
Capture Idea: I photographed the tickets to the Art Institute. This is my way of incorporating ephemera in a digital format.
Capture Idea: Shadow selfie with the husband. I love collecting these from various places.
Story Idea: Another trip, another isolated spread.
Capture Idea: The trash cans have stars on them! (Read more about my trash can fascination here.)
Simplicity Point: The selfie I took on the bottom right page was from te front-facing camera of my iPhone 5S. The resolution of the photo wasn’t quite wide enough for the square “pocket”, so I found a digital paper that coordinated with the shirt I was wearing to use as a background.
Story Idea: The right page is my process of learning to crochet. I like to document the beginning stages of new skills or hobbies that I’m learning.
Capture Idea: We tried out some new (to us) foods at Disneyland, so I snapped some photos of it.
Simplicity Point: Quick and easy type directly on top of the photos.
Capture Idea: My usual nail polish photo that I had Instagrammed.
Resources:
Photos edited with 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 Keller 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!
Brush Markers for Lettering
If you’re looking to break into brush lettering, using brush markers is a great way to get started.
With the huge variety of tools available, it can be tough to decide which one to buy. I’ve rounded up all of the markers I currently own to show you what you can do.
At the inexpensive end of the spectrum is the good old Crayola marker. With the pointy tip and a broad side, you can achieve some awesome thick and thin lines in your letters.


(The same goes for the generic Target brand markers too).


Crayola SuperTips give you a thinner line than the classic size, but the marker still comes to a fine point.


Sharpie has also jumped in on the brush marker game with the permanent ink brush pen and the fabric markers.




In terms of art supplies for grown-ups, Tombow Dual Brush Markers are the best. Lots of flexibility in the tip and a huge rainbow of colors. There’s even a fine point on one end for regular writing and drawing.



There are tons of other brush markers out there in the world, but these are the ones I’ve tried and that live in my collection.
What brush markers do you love?
Presents for You: Brush Lettered Fitzgerald 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.)





























