Glow by Lady E

I collaged this mini notebook. This is part of my City Cats Collection. One client bought the full collection. This was my favorite I have a weakness for beautiful notebooks. Give me a lovely cover, good paper, and a design that catches my eye, and I’ll probably stop to admire it. The trouble begins when I bring one home. I like buying notebooks from popular Japanese brands, but lately, I’ve been making a lot of my own, with my own designs for the covers. Sometimes, a notebook is so pretty that I hesitate to write in it. I start wondering what deserves those pages. Should I use it for important plans? Creative ideas? A journal? Something worth keeping? And before I know it, the notebook is sitting on a shelf, waiting for a purpose grand enough to justify opening it. And you know what’s worse than that? Discovering them a few years later and they’re already yellow or moldy. That sucks. But I’ve learned that a notebook doesn’t need an important assignment to be useful. It can hold...

I got the brush roll and the pouch for free! I ’ve used different art materials over the years, but trying Tombow brush pens for the first time was a pleasant surprise. Just a background. I’ve always wanted to use brush pens, but I feel that they are too stiff compared to, say, watercolor brushes..or even acrylic brushes.  I found this particular set at a local crafting event by Googly Gooeys and The Happy Station at Sheraton hotel.  I couldn’t resist the pastel shades. I’m a deep autumn gal, but I really liked these. I told myself that I’d give it another try. I’ve only started painting in late May and my fingers are not that flexible yet, so I was a little afraid to use brush pens.  The first thing I noticed was how much control I had over the strokes. The flexible brush tip allowed me to create both delicate lines and broader shapes simply by changing the pressure. It took a little getting used to, but I enjoyed how naturally the colors flowed onto the paper. I cannot...

  What do I want to flirt with this season? Not necessarily who . What. Maybe you want to flirt with a new version of yourself. A hobby you’ve been curious about. A color you’ve always thought wasn’t “you.” A different way of dressing. A city you’ve never explored. An idea that seems slightly ridiculous. A dream you aren’t ready to commit to yet. That’s the lovely thing about flirting. It doesn’t ask you to make promises. It doesn’t require a five-year plan or a carefully constructed list of goals. You don’t even have to know whether you want something permanently. You can simply move a little closer and see what happens. What catches your eye lately? What keeps appearing in the corner of your thoughts? What makes you think, Hmm. Maybe. Perhaps this season doesn’t need another commitment. Perhaps it needs curiosity. A little experimentation. Permission to try something simply because it delights you. So tonight, open your journal and ask yourself: What do I want to flirt with this ...

  I have a lot of stationery. (Remember that sack that arrived on Black Saturday?) Probably more than I need. Definitely more than I need. But I’ve stopped feeling guilty about it. Because somewhere between buying pretty pens, collecting stickers, and convincing myself that yes, I absolutely needed another tiny pad of paper, I realized something: I actually use them. Not all at once, of course. That would be chaos. Instead, I’ve started letting different pieces find their way into different pages. This Page, These Things This is one of my recent journal pages. For this spread, I used just three pens: a Zebra Sarasa Clip, a soft-colored marking pen from Daiso, and a Chosch Click Dot pen. I also used little grid paper pieces from a set of Daiso memo pads, along with a few stickers I had collected from KKV. Nothing particularly complicated. Nothing carefully coordinated beforehand. I simply chose what I felt like using and started putting things on the page. A little paper here. A sti...