Glow by Lady E

  Some things from the atelier are useful. Some are beautiful. And some exist because I wanted tiny cats, ribbons, sequins, stars, hearts and miniature smiling emojis to bounce around inside a bookmark. 😆 Meet my Shaker Kitties . Each one started with patterned paper, then slowly acquired its own tiny world. There are cats having snacks, cats traveling, cats surrounded by stationery, cats doing absolutely nothing productive at home. Basically, they have lives. I layered the designs with stickers and little bits of ephemera, added shaker pieces, sealed everything inside clear pockets, and finished them with ribbons at the top. And because I make these one at a time, none of them really turns out exactly like another. Even when I begin with the same idea, the pieces fall differently. A star lands somewhere unexpected. A tiny heart decides it belongs beside a cat. The shaker mix gathers in its own peculiar way. I think that’s part of why I enjoy making them. There is a point in creat...

  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...

  I’ve learned something about myself: organization and productivity are deeply connected. When my things are scattered, my thoughts tend to scatter with them. Before I can begin doing something, I have to find the right notebook. Then the right pen. Then the notes I wrote somewhere. Then perhaps the stickers I wanted to use. By the time I’ve assembled everything, the little spark that made me want to begin in the first place may already be wandering off somewhere else. So I started creating organizers for different parts of my life . I have a small one for my Glow and Eats notes. Another is for journaling. Another holds what I need for business and strategizing. Each one has its own notebooks and carefully chosen supplies. And something rather lovely happens when I take one out. I open it, and I begin. Everything I Need Is Already Here There’s very little negotiation required. If I’m working on Glow, I take out that organizer. If I want to journal, I reach for another. If it’s tim...