A Collection Of Recents

Hello!

Oh my, *checks calendar* it’s been way too long. I’m glad to be writing again! Even though I’ve been “quarantined” I’ve somehow let the days slide quickly. Is that possible? XD

Well, in my absence I’ve done a lot around my house, which I’ve enjoyed. It’s been nice having time to do things I’ve wanted to do, but just didn’t find the time to do. And luckily all of this craziness seems to be slowing down a bit at the start of Summer! I end my school year on the 22nd this year, and I can’t wait to have those long, fun Summer days ahead. Anyone else?

Well, lots of letters have passed through my *sanitized* (🤣) fingers, and I thought I’d share a bit ‘o recent letter art/lettering.

For some reason, I’ve been really into identical envelope art. Each day when I mail out letters, each day has different envelopes. A few days ago I did these black and white envelopes, using a white Signo broad gel pen.  This is a wonderful, affordable pen for dark papers as such. I also use it a lot for highlights when lettering, one of my favorites.

I suppose this was another themed day. XD I love using a slightly different tone of color on envelopes to do the lettering, it creates such a pretty, soft, simple look.

Ah, another! Hehe. I love doing this lemon-looking pattern. It was so Summery I couldn’t stop doing it. XD I used my Tombow Dual brush pens and the Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens for this.

I really enjoy using washi tape as borders for envelopes. If you’re running low on time, but want to make your snail mail fun with color, throwing a bit ‘o washi tape or sticker on there is a great way to spruce it up!

Using drop shadows is one of my favorite ways to do letter art. It just adds a little sumpin’ sumpin’. What are your favorite ways to spruce your envelopes? I’d love to know!

 

I’ve been enjoying lettering bible verses lately. Below is part of one of my favorite verses (and a sneak peak into the June BUJO setup(: ).

 

The walks lately have held many beautiful flowers and beautiful skies. Have you all walked this Spring? Do you have flowers blooming?

 

My cousin and his family came to visit a week or so ago, and so provided some photo opportunities of his little children. It was so fun! Toddlers and babies are interesting subjects. (:

 

Oh yeah, my brother caught a baby mouse in our next-door field. hELp. He will just pick anything up. O.o

Though, it is rather cute. XD

 

A few weeks ago I took a walk through the field while the flowers were in full bloom. I documented some of it, so here we are! (:

Me ^ XD I set my camera down while I picked some flowers and it was on timer, I guess. XD

That is it for now, friends! Truly, how are you doing? Farewell!

What part was your favorite? What would you like my next post to be about? What do you think about lemons? What’s your favorite color?

 

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Warm Memories // some thoughts

Can you picture it?

A night where the moon bursts out beneath magnificent streams of still clouds.

A morning where the fresh cut grass sticks to your feet as you walk to the garden.

A night when you need a light jacket because of a hair-twirling breeze, but you have your bare feet out.

A day when you eat a sandwich up in a tree for no reason.

A morning where the sun’s rays are so majestic you feel you must take a photo with a camera that has held many a memory card in its life.

A night of warm weather sounds like frogs and cicadas calling to one another.

When you come in from being outside, not thinking you were sweaty from the heat, but a fan cooling your house is everything you didn’t know you needed.

I like those moments. They are almost here. Though, it feels vaguely quite. Vaguely still.

There may not be the getting together with neighbors and grilling and playing soccer until the stars are brightly shining, or the amazing, juicy watermelon eating in a family reunion, but maybe the stillness holds something good, too.

This upcoming season will be a lot different. But maybe it will be special in itself.

Though, strangely, it almost seems… okay right now. Is it a rest we needed?

If there’s one thing I’ve felt in this time we’re in, it’s calmness. I feel calm.

I know there’s strange stuff going on, and it’s very sad, but I think it might almost be a blessing we’re able to be in our homes. It gives us time to think. To be with God and strengthen our relationship with him.

Sometimes life can be crazy. Sometime you feel like you could use a break.

Now is a perfect time. We’re in for awhile, why not make the best of it?

The warm nights of shining stars, bright moons, dewy grass and dandelions are still coming, but this Summer may be different.. maybe.

I am thankful for technology (email, phone calls, etc.), and the mail (and blogging, of course!) to help us all stay connected.

We can still enjoy the warmth of the nearing season!

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Have a wonderful day, and Happy Early Easter! He is risen!

Are any of those warm memories yours as well? How are you staying connected with your friends and family? Are you enjoying a bit of a rest from things? What are your quarantine days like?

Spring Photography // a collection of photos

Hey all!

I have accumulated many a photo lately, so I though I would share. I am not going to write much, I just thought I’d add all of these photos. (; I hope you enjoy!

Don’t you love golden hour? My favorite time to photograph.

Even weeds are beautiful in the right light.

The beginnings of Summer berries!

I hope you enjoyed! I know this wasn’t my usual post format, but sometimes change is good! I hope you are all well and safe!

Do you light photography posts? Isn’t golden hour great? What’ve you been up to? How is your Spring turning out?

HUH? DID YOU SAY… APRIL? // Bullet Journal Setup

Hello! Greetings! Good day!

I hope you’re all well and happy!

I CANNOT believe April (april!!) is almost here. I can practically touch it! You know what the means?? A quarter of 2020 is already gone. Poof! Like that. Man.

Well, I did do a bullet journal stupor the lovely month of April, and I hope you like it!

This month I went with a diamond/gem theme. I also wanted to do a “monochromatic” look, meaning all the same color, but I did do different shades. I went with purple. I did this theme with a friend, so I believe she did blue. It’s fun to see different styles and tastes when it comes to art and bullet journaling.

For the gems and diamonds I outlined some them with the purple, and others I filled in and did a darker shade on top. This helped create a little dimension and varying tones, not such a blank slate, if you know what I mean.

I spread this month’s calendar across two pages. For the squares I took turns using the different colored purples. I used my Tombow dual brush pens in the shades 603, 623, 553 and 620. 

I used to fonts, a typewriter style and cursive/brush style. I like to switch it up, It helps it not to be too similar.

This page was a bit different than what I normally do, I wanted to break it up and do half side habits and goals, half side Reminders and habits. I just felt like breaking it up. I also did gems on the bottom on one side and on the top on the next page. My habits this month: Water (5+ cups), music practice, bible readings, and exercise (running and walking). Do you have any habits this month?

My first weekly spread is fairly simple, just the rectangles in purple along with the first one proclaiming what week it is and some more diamonds and gems.

I wanted to add a quote page this year, since these help a lot when I want to add something special to a letter or paint it, so I added one in. Not much there, I mail kept with the theme(:

The next page is my April letter tracker (whenct I received and whom I received from and the square in the corner is for when I mail a reply, I’ll check it.) This helps me keep track of if I’ve written letter back and who it’s from, etc. They’re quite helpful. You could turn this into tracking bills, anything like that. It can be customized any way you please!

The left page here is my Money tracker. I normally teach piano and do some other things, but all of that had to be cancelled during this time of the Coronavirus, so this page won’t be used much. (I did most of this before the threat was really real) 

My to do page I wanted to change a bit, so I put it all in on giant gem. XD

I really enjoyed my dutch-door page from last month, so I made another for April. I made it a cut out in the shape of the gems. I made it so it matched on both sides when you flip it. I don’t know why, but dutch door spreads are happy!

I added weekly events on the left and weekly to-do’s on the right.

This weekly log I changed up a bit, doing more of a long style setup. Hehe, I accidentally used a pinky-purple in this by accident. XD Do you like it?

Forgive this photo quality! XD

 

This next page is my mile log for the Spring100. I have been just writing them in the calendar page, but I figured a log like this might be more helpful. The next page is the start of the next weekly log. (the last week of April)

This is the last page of April! I finished the month out, and I made weekly to-do’s on the side, and some gems and a big ‘ole “farewell April” to close out the month.

I hope y’all liked that! How are you doing? I sure hope everything’s dandy with you and your’s!

Oh yes, before I forget, I have a few miscellaneous letter art photos to share(:

I’ve been really into theming my letters. This one I did kind of a blue/galaxy theme with watercolor and such.

We went on a trip in September and I wanted to write back to some of my favorite spots on that trip. I did some envelope art of the areas I was in(:

An adorable motel we stayed at in Red Lodge, MT. They had adorable stickers that looked like this envelope.

Well, that’s it. I hope you all enjoyed, and happy Sunday!

Did you do a April bullet journal setup? Do you like purple? How’s quarantine life for you? Do you like cheese (say yes. XD)?

 

 

Spring is still here.

Isn’t it chaotic? The world, I mean.

It seems like everywhere you look, or listen, there is some new news. Some new discovery or new report of this illness.

I was in the midst. I have been caught up in checking where it was, how it’s spreading, and we partly joined in the worry. (Boy, I’ve never gone to the grocery store so much! XD)

Just because there’s something scary going on in the word, doesn’t mean the world stops.

The flowers bloom, the birds, in their tumultuous songs, are everywhere.

I took a drive in our old golf cart around the property the other day and realized,

Nature goes on. God doesn’t stop Spring and turn it grey to suit the mood. It’s as beautiful as it always is.

I don’t know what to make of this pandemic. It is scary. But we can’t let our fear or worry let us forget that there is still beauty. And behind it a God who loves and cares deeply, more deeply than we can fathom, for US.

I know this is happening to people who you may know, maybe your close family, maybe you. I hope and pray everything will be well, I truly do.

God loves you. It’s a wonderful thing to remember in a time like this. He can turn ugly into beautiful, awful into wonderful.

I just wanted to share some thoughts I have during this time. I hope you are doing well and are safe at home. I am praying for you. Be well!

How is the pandemic where you are? Are you at home for awhile? What are you doing during this time? 

Recent photography // Moon, stars, birds, etc!

Howdy thar!

Well, I believe that’s enough of my southern accent for one post. XD

Hello! I hope you’re all doing well!

Recently my camera has been in full use, almost daily. The weather has provided some lovely shots, from rain, to snow, to heat, to MORE rain, to more heat, and things finally starting to bloom, it’s been fun to experiment!

I’ve enjoyed using Canva to edit and adjust my photos, it’s such a great site!

One thing I’ve been wanting to really work on this year is nighttime photography. I understand my settings, but for some reason night photos were always reeeeaaally dark. I’ve just started to figure it out, so here are some shots from that!

You can juuuussstt make out Orion’s belt there. Don’t you love stars?

Haha, I sneezed while I was taking a picture of this star. XD

With so much rain, the birds have enjoyed getting out and eating. They, for some reason, love to sit on my window.

It looks as if he’s falling! I love watching the birds outside.

The animals, especially during the snow we got a week or two ago, really enjoyed being out.

The evening sky was especially majestic one night. Ah, those colors! True art.

Hehe, these are some strange violin-playing pictures for ya.😂

I bet we’ve had over two feet of rain this year. It’s been crazy!

Heh, we weren’t supposed to have pond here.

aannnddd… then there’s me. 😆 My good friend Savannah took some pictures of me when I went to her house one day.

This was me back in June when I still had bangs. XD I just found this.

I have been painting and drawing deer a lot lately, so I decided to put a little fawn on a letter. I really like how this one turned out. Have y’all ever seen baby deer? In the Spring/Summer they cross through the field next to us a lot. They’re so cute!

I hope you enjoyed a few recent photos I’ve been taking! Let me know, which was your favorite?

I hope you’re all doing wonderfully!

What’s your weather like? Do you have snow? Do you like sunsets? How about fawns? What’s your favorite season? What are your thoughts on Mac ‘n cheese; the real deal, or from a box? 

If you would like to try Canva, here is my link for joining. When you do, you’ll receive a free premium image, illustration, or art! Go check it out!

My Envelopes Have… Hearts On Them? // Valentine’s Envelope Art

GGRRREEEETTTIIINNGGGSSS!!

Valentine’s day is near, and while it’s not a heavily celebrated holiday here, I did want to make a few envelopes that resembled the day.

Most of them were quite simple. This one below I did little hearts all over a brown envelope, but I wanted a bit more color. I’ve been really liking the look of torn edges (well, it depends what it’s on. XD) so I tore a bit of pink scrapbook paper and used double-sided tape to apply it to the middle. I ripped a few pieces of washi tape and added it in various areas of the ripped paper, for a bit more color. I addressed it on the scrapbook paper, too.

I’ve been doing this in different colors and shapes, too, it’s really cute and fun!

I did a similar thing for this envelope. I took a lot of peach/pink colors and went a teensy bit crazy with hearts (heh), and since it was a cream envelope, I tore a piece of sketchbook paper (white) and used double-sided tape to apply. I added some black washi tape for a bit of contrast and also some gold stickers.

I wanted a bit more of a simple approach, so I just used big letters in silver and then used a lot of different heart stickers I had. I think this turned out cute and I like that some of them are the puffy stickers and you can feel the different shapes.

This next envelope is mainly lettering, with the addition of some hanging hearts. My favorite part of this is how easy it was. I just continued some of the lines on her name into hearts. I also put the address in between her first and last name, for fun.

aaaAAAhh.. I went a bit wild. XD

This one I started out with her name and did a bit of a gradient and a drop shadow. I needed to add something to the left so that it would even out everything, so that’s why there’s one massive red heart over there. (:

I thought it would be fun to do “confetti” hearts around the name. What do you think?

Heh, I also used a clear glitter Gelly Roll pen to add shimemr to the big heart.. because… because…

This was a throwback to last year’s Valentine’s day post, (go check it out!) though, instead of a 3D paper look I used some red felt/foam paper to do the heart balloon. I also added some clouds.

I went with a more elegant lettering style; I quite like the outcome!

I went very simple with this one, a heart shaped balloon and brush lettering. I like how simple and cute it became.

I made another “hanging heart” illustration. I made a wreath shape and just went around and around with a black pen and then threw in some hearts. This turned out one of my favorites. (:

On the back of one of the envelopes I did some more hanging hearts from the seal of the letter down. Simple, but fun!

I thought crystals might be fun, not necessarily Valentine’s themed, but pink and purple(:

ALAS! HURRAH! The snow came to GA for a day and a half, so here are a few pictures from that. It snowed four days ago and was gone the next day. Guess what? it’s 64º right now. *flabbergasted*

AHHHHHH ❤

Thank you all so much for reading! Let me know your thoughts! What was your favorite?

Which envelope was your favorite? Did you get any snow? Do you do anything on Valentine’s? 

The Camera Shall Not Be Forgotten! // Recent Photography

Hello There!

Boy, I can’t remember the last time I did a photography post. I felt it was long overdue! I have pictures from November and December here. They’ve been piling up! I hope you enjoy.

Ah, back when there was color in the trees! I miss it, though I look forward to when everything buds and blooms, it’s just as beautiful!

DON’T DO THIS IF YOU DON’T LIVE ON A SLOW COUNTRY ROAD! xD Not the safest… but I liked the yellow with the red. (:

This was one of those weird November days where you’re not sure if it’s cold or warm, it’s cloudy, no wind, etc. A perfect time for a tree photoshoot! XD

See what I have to put up with? Haha, Maisy was enjoying it as much (if not more, it seems) as I was.

♥️

This was a separate day. Isn’t this stretch just gorgeous? 

One of my friends I was with is a gymnast, so she hopped in the picture and did some fancy thingI don’t know the nam of. So cool!

The moon was something shining in my room one night, so i thought I’d take a photo of it. Isn’t the moon amazing?

Lastly, I did a photoshoot with my piano teacher’s baby. Hehe.

I was there for piano lessons, so my teacher let her sit with me. *melts*

Well, I hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you like these types of posts, and what you’d like me to post more of this year!

thank you for reading,

 

Making Your Letters More Autumnal // + A Mini Photoshoot

HI THERE! 

I was starting to write a letter today after I bought a few things at Hobby Lobby (“the Hob Lob” as we call it) and I wanted to make it very fallish. It seems like Christmas is just around the corner, a few people I know have decorated! So I definitely want to squeeze as much fall in as I can.

Letter writing is a great way to do that!

I though I would share with y’all some of the small things that make your letters pop with the seasons in simple ways.

NO. 1 Toned card + envelopes

Hobby Lobby, one of my favorite places, has a nice selection of packeted cards and envelopes. They have these nice rectangular brown ones there now (50%, too!) that I got earlier. They’re a nice difference from the regular white, and when you do reds and oranges on them, the brown looks so nice and fallish!

NO. 2 Colored pens

these are a great way to make your cards and envelopes pop and immediately remind you of fall. I always go for reds, oranges, browns and greens.

Below: Tombow Dual Brush Pens

I made a quick, simple card using the bullet end of a dual brush pen for the words and the brush end for the leaves.

Sorry this is blurry! My back screen wouldn’t show that well before I put it in the envelope!

I got those two front plaid wash tapes at Hobby Lobby earlier. I thought the would be fun to use through the fall and winter months in my bullet journal and on letters.

NO. 3 Tapes or stickers

These are affordable, long-lasting touches for your letters. The fun patterns and widths are just so fun to see on envelopes in the mailbox, and they’re fun to put on everything.

NO. 4 Tiny tidbits and fun things

Fall themed stickers, papers, poems, Artist Trading Cards (ATC’s), paintings, cutouts, etc. are fun touches to put inside a letter when it doesn’t seem like enough. There is usually always some fun little thing to add a little more joy to the letter when it is opened.

NO. 5 Colorful envelopes

I kept the envelope pretty simple, but the reds and the plaid make it stand out. You can draw a box around the address in bright colors, paint, sketch, anything. It’s so fun to personalize the mail!

The last thing I got from the good ‘ole Hob Lob was a new wax seal stamp. The whole stamp pin came off of my old one, so I figured I should upgrade(: I got the heart stamp, and I really like it!

NO. 6 Wax seals

These are my favorite part. I don’t do it every time, but I really enjoy choosing the colors. (I bought this from Amazon. Great buy!)

I used a gold over the wide plaid washout tape I got. It turned out pretty! A very simple and easy way to make your envelope fancy and pretty.

I hope y’all enjoyed that! It was something I had on my mind to share, it was fun!

Now, I attempted to take some portrait photography for my blog for a new Gravatar image and such, but I ended up having to recruit my brother. It’s really hard to get it to be focused perfectly on a tripod and ten-second timer!

This was one I took by myself. It turned out good, but I kept getting the washed-out background (upper left), so I called good ‘ole Evan.

I think he did pretty good! It was a frigid windy day, so camera shake and all was hard to avoid, BUT THE LIGHT! ♥

This one probably turnout the best out of all of them. My hair was being wiped all ’round!

These leaves were so pretty!

He attempted to catch me mid-hairflip, but alas, no good….

…AH! There we go. XD *applauds brother generously*

Oh, you know, just your every-day stride in the midst a field. (;

Is it a bird? no, a plane! It’s AUDREY KATE! The severely ungraceful land-skater! 😂

Maisy trudged through the woods to join us when we were walking back. She didn’t know she would be in a picture, though! Hehe. (She wasn’t that grateful…)

I hope you all are having a DEEElightful evening!

What was your favorite part about the letter? Do you use wax? What photo was your favorite? Di Evan do a good job?