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Embodiment: 02/10/12
Oct. 3rd, 2012 02:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lishiewishes
So I'm back at uni now. Dissertations and projects ahoy! But this big ol' chubby journal sits there in the corner all red and bright and "write in me, draw in me, you know you want to" - so I did. I hope I can keep it going throughout the next few months, it might be one of the only things that keeps me sane.
( Here we go! )
Oh, also, my Moleskine goody-bag giveaway is still going on and will be 'til the 22nd. Free stuff! \o/
Hope you enjoyed looking :)
Friending Meme 2012
Sep. 27th, 2012 12:43 amlishiewishes
Welcome to the second Embodiment_DW friending meme! This is a great way to get to meet people, introduce yourself, and hopefully make some friends :)
I've promoted us at
![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_community_promo - if you've found us, welcome welcome welcome! Always good to see new faces!( Under here )
A really interesting site -
Sep. 11th, 2012 07:18 pmlishiewishesDaisy Yellow. This is one I've not come across before, but I can already tell by her pictures that I'm going to like her site. A lot.
Updated Photo Post
Sep. 1st, 2012 09:38 pmlishiewishes
Hello! The last picture-posting I did here was during my last journal. I've decided to give Moleskines a go for both my sketchbook and Embodiment project this time - I really love them, but the paper in my Embodiment one (a notebook, I think?) is a little too thin for me so I may go for the sketchbook next time. I cake my journal full of arty stuff no matter what type of journal I have - I really love the feel of a worked-in page.
( 13 images, unlucky for some )
If you're interested in seeing my past stuff, my Flickr gallery is here, with over 170 photos of journal prawn.
lishiewishesHey up!
Don't worry, I've not hijacked the comm - I used to be underthesynchronomes with a few other people, now I've moved to another account. I've been pretty bad at the journalling thing recently ... funnily enough it's because I've just been so busy. To kick myself back into gear again and get the ol' creative juices flowing, I've thought maybe I'll post up some of my favourite places on the 'net to draw inspiration from soon. :)
Also, what say you to a new friending meme? The last one is about 18 months old. O.O
Hope you're all well!
Lishie
Don't worry, I've not hijacked the comm - I used to be under
thesynchronomes with a few other people, now I've moved to another account. I've been pretty bad at the journalling thing recently ... funnily enough it's because I've just been so busy. To kick myself back into gear again and get the ol' creative juices flowing, I've thought maybe I'll post up some of my favourite places on the 'net to draw inspiration from soon. :)Also, what say you to a new friending meme? The last one is about 18 months old. O.O
Hope you're all well!
Lishie
Books on journal writing
Aug. 8th, 2012 02:43 pmsyntaxofthingstarnished's posts recently and gift of a lovely orange pen have gotten me to open up my neglected journal again and see what I can do with it. After one very frustrated, disjointed entry on Sunday evening, I decided yesterday before picking up my journal again to skim through Note to Self: On Keeping a Journal and Other Dangerous Pursuits again to see if there was any wisdom I could take back to my journal.
When I picked it up from my bookshelf, I found many post-its of very helpful passages, then proceeded to re-read most of it. That night, I spent an hour with my journal and wrote about six pages, the most I've written in at least a month. I'm ready to write again this afternoon and try and finish some of the soul-searching I started. It surprised me how helpful reading a book on writing in a journal was, and I was curious if anyone else here had any recommendations for things to read on the subject. When you are stuck in a rut with your journal, do you turn to a specific book to help? Do you have any book recommendations on journalling, or perhaps writing in general? Or do you never have the problem of being dissatisfied with your journalling practices? :P
Tackling the blank page
Aug. 3rd, 2012 08:32 amtarnishedYou just bought the cutest journal - it even has a picture of a bunny snuggling a kitten snuggling a puppy on the front. It's the perfect size, shape, binding, and soft or hardness of cover. You open it up, and ... BAM, you're overwhelmed with The Blank Page. You don't want to mess up your journal - you want the first page to set the precedent for all the upcoming pages! You have no idea what pen to use, no idea what pictures to paste in, no idea what color paint to splash on the page. WHAT DO YOU DO?
Here are some ideas!
- Do a title page - write out some fancy letters, outline them, put some subtle shadowing on the letters (shadows make everything look better). Write "This is the best journal EVER" then sign your name in your most fanciest way and write the date.
- Draw a flower in the middle of the page. Put a border on it. Write the name of the flower and jot your thoughts about how it makes you feel.
- Write in big colorful letters TODAY I... and then finish the sentence in as many bullet points as you can think of!
- Tape in a newspaper article from today!
- Draw the first thing you see in front of you, and then ink it with your favorite pen.
How do you conquer the blank page (or even worse, the first blank page of a blank journal!)?
Here are some ideas!
- Do a title page - write out some fancy letters, outline them, put some subtle shadowing on the letters (shadows make everything look better). Write "This is the best journal EVER" then sign your name in your most fanciest way and write the date.
- Draw a flower in the middle of the page. Put a border on it. Write the name of the flower and jot your thoughts about how it makes you feel.
- Write in big colorful letters TODAY I... and then finish the sentence in as many bullet points as you can think of!
- Tape in a newspaper article from today!
- Draw the first thing you see in front of you, and then ink it with your favorite pen.
How do you conquer the blank page (or even worse, the first blank page of a blank journal!)?
The beauty of the small book
Aug. 2nd, 2012 11:12 amtarnishedI just joined this community and it seems semi-abandoned. Let's get back to posting! I don't have anything to share right now but I thought I'd kick it off with a discussion of what size books you guys use.
I have two journals - one is the ubiquitous 5-year journal that I've written in every day for a year and a half. It's fairly small, but what's particularly tiny about it is that you only have about 5 lines or so to write your daily entry, which means you have to be concise. I also have my drawing journal, which is roughly 5 inches by 9 inches or something.
I bought a 3.5 inches by 5 inches journal the other day because my 5x9 one is too large.
Big is intimidating - small means you can only do one drawing per page, which means you turn pages frequently and feel more accomplished, and you can hide previous drawings easily. Small means cheaper usually, which means you don't feel as bad tearing pages out. Small means small, so you can take it everywhere and you don't have so much whitespace to fill up on each page.
I used to always scoff at pocket-sized books. You can't even fit anything! They were silly! They don't even fit in your pocket! They don't come with as pretty covers! Then I looked at my stack of mostly-empty huge sketchbooks, thick large journals, regular-sized Moleskines, and so on. Half of them were enormous, and almost all of them were mostly empty.
Now I'm a fan of tiny books. They're so much easier to fill up! I can take them anywhere, which means now I have no excuse not to draw. In Japan, little cards that are 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches are popular (artist trading cards) - I'm not the only one downsizing!
What do you guys think? What size do you usually use when you journal?
I have two journals - one is the ubiquitous 5-year journal that I've written in every day for a year and a half. It's fairly small, but what's particularly tiny about it is that you only have about 5 lines or so to write your daily entry, which means you have to be concise. I also have my drawing journal, which is roughly 5 inches by 9 inches or something.
I bought a 3.5 inches by 5 inches journal the other day because my 5x9 one is too large.
Big is intimidating - small means you can only do one drawing per page, which means you turn pages frequently and feel more accomplished, and you can hide previous drawings easily. Small means cheaper usually, which means you don't feel as bad tearing pages out. Small means small, so you can take it everywhere and you don't have so much whitespace to fill up on each page.
I used to always scoff at pocket-sized books. You can't even fit anything! They were silly! They don't even fit in your pocket! They don't come with as pretty covers! Then I looked at my stack of mostly-empty huge sketchbooks, thick large journals, regular-sized Moleskines, and so on. Half of them were enormous, and almost all of them were mostly empty.
Now I'm a fan of tiny books. They're so much easier to fill up! I can take them anywhere, which means now I have no excuse not to draw. In Japan, little cards that are 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches are popular (artist trading cards) - I'm not the only one downsizing!
What do you guys think? What size do you usually use when you journal?
Just a heads up
Sep. 26th, 2011 09:24 pmarlissNot long ago I posted about these journals, which I had used clipped photos and details cut from greeting cards to personalize.
I found more of them on ebay in this auction.
For anyone who likes lined hardcover blank books, these are very nice: recycled paper, bound to lie flat for writing. And if you like the graphic on the cover, you're all set, or you can customize it with a picture or collage you like better.
Me? I'd buy a couple, but I already have four!
I found more of them on ebay in this auction.
For anyone who likes lined hardcover blank books, these are very nice: recycled paper, bound to lie flat for writing. And if you like the graphic on the cover, you're all set, or you can customize it with a picture or collage you like better.
Me? I'd buy a couple, but I already have four!
(no subject)
Sep. 23rd, 2011 03:33 pmarlissMedieval-bound wrap leather journals—faking the look and feel of hand-pulled paper using wood rasps to "sand" the edges of the pages soft, ragged, and irregular, instead of the straight-cut block. The toothbrush is for clearing away crumbs and fragments.
(no subject)
Sep. 21st, 2011 12:07 pmarlissI am sad to report that Pear Tree Pens, an online purveyor of fine pens, inks, notebooks, papers, and handwriting paraphernalia, is closing its doors. Through October 1, the proprietor is offering 1/3 off when you buy three of anything in its Special Deals section, and almost the entire inventory is being added to that section.
There are undoubtedly some fabulous deals to be had in notebooks, pens, inks, and other articles dear to the writer's heart. I'm especially going to miss the ink sampler, four tiny bottles of your choices of inks, so you could try before you buy. The small bottles are wonderful for mixing your own colors, or for decanting small amounts of ink to fill a pen. Not dipping the pen directly into the bottle reduces contamination and spoilage, and the narrow bottle raises the level of liquid over the nib for easier filling. I have four of the wee bottles already; I need to pick colors for a couple more samplers before October 1.
There are undoubtedly some fabulous deals to be had in notebooks, pens, inks, and other articles dear to the writer's heart. I'm especially going to miss the ink sampler, four tiny bottles of your choices of inks, so you could try before you buy. The small bottles are wonderful for mixing your own colors, or for decanting small amounts of ink to fill a pen. Not dipping the pen directly into the bottle reduces contamination and spoilage, and the narrow bottle raises the level of liquid over the nib for easier filling. I have four of the wee bottles already; I need to pick colors for a couple more samplers before October 1.
(no subject)
Sep. 14th, 2011 06:02 pmarlissOut of my mind. It’s a sickness, really it is. I have more blank journals stacked up waiting to be written in ( than I will ever fill in my lifetime. )
(no subject)
Sep. 3rd, 2011 12:11 pmarlissI often think I left the bookstore because I wound up taking my pay in merchandise, as much as for any other reason. ( image-heavy )
(no subject)
Aug. 30th, 2011 06:51 pmarlissI love everything about these particular blank books: the weight of the paper, the spacing of the lines, that the binding lies flat for ease of writing. I have others from the same company with different covers. Unfortunately, that company went out of business, and the journals are no longer available. I was working at the bookstore when our remaining stock was put on clearance, and with my employee discount, the cost per volume was ridiculously low. Purple has never been my favorite color, and these had really ugly mathy graphics in the front cover cutout. Still, it was hard to pass these last ever ones up, and at the price, I figured I could try to recover or recolor the covers with paint or something, add a picture I liked better, etc.
Two of the pictures were cut from an art catalog—photos of prints for sale. The copper tree was taken from a greeting card, and the collage from a handmade greeting card. The new additions go well enough with the purple I never felt inclined to change the color—each book is distinctive now, with its own evocative cover. ( image heavy )
Two of the pictures were cut from an art catalog—photos of prints for sale. The copper tree was taken from a greeting card, and the collage from a handmade greeting card. The new additions go well enough with the purple I never felt inclined to change the color—each book is distinctive now, with its own evocative cover. ( image heavy )
(no subject)
Aug. 7th, 2011 11:28 amarlissI'm a boring journaler--I rarely sketch or draw in my journals. I write with a fountain pen--one of many, and use colored inks to suit my mood. But the writing itself is pretty straightforward and unimaginative in appearance. ( below the cut )
crossposted to my lj, my DW, embodiment at lj, paper journals, my tumblr. apologies for the spammage
crossposted to my lj, my DW, embodiment at lj, paper journals, my tumblr. apologies for the spammage
Journal entry dating system
Mar. 17th, 2011 01:22 amsidheblessedLately I've been noticing how differently people date the entries in their journals. Some use a very simplistic system, such as my husband who just writes something like 16/03/11. I prefer to write out the full date, for example Wednesday, 16 March 2011. I've noticed some people include the full date, time and location, even the weather. I've definitely noticed the inclusion of the location more often in older published journals I've read.
So, what do you do? I guess I'm really asking what information you begin each journal entry with - just the numerical date, the full date or even more detail?
Thanks for indulging my tedious questioning.
So, what do you do? I guess I'm really asking what information you begin each journal entry with - just the numerical date, the full date or even more detail?
Thanks for indulging my tedious questioning.
