Continuing Along My (Musings) Adventure

Life is deliciously full, and last week felt especially busy as I was sharing musings adventure inspiration each day here on the blog in celebration of the launch of the Musings Adventure Journal. As I think I shared on one of the posts – although I knew what I wanted to post about each day I did not have any of my posts created in advance. It made for a more hectic, less relaxed, week than I would have liked so I was happy for the long holiday weekend here in the U.S. after I wrapped up.

Does this ever happen to you in any areas of your life – you know how you want things to unfold, but all of the making is on the fly rather than having things prepared in advance?

Whew! Sometimes you just have to go with this flow. And I am pleased with how it all worked out; and the nice feedback I received from a few of the peeps on adventure really warmed my heart.

But next time (and there will be a next time – I promise)…I will hope for a bit more advanced preparation – and ease.

Although the May Mini Musings Adventure is officially over, your own musings adventure need not be.

You can continue, start or start again – any time.

I had fun musing about my adventures over the long weekend. It’s always fun when a Monday includes an image of a view from a fun hike!!

Tuesday includes a lesson from my weekly yoga class.

And Wednesday some doodles about my day’s happenings (adventures:) appeared.

xox

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Now that I have two similar journals – the Daily Musings Journal that moves through the year with dated week spreads, and the Musings Adventure Journal where I have blank week spreads where I can start, stop & start again…

How will my musings adventure unfold?

This is the question I am now asking myself.

I really love the Daily Musings Journal for how it allows me to sense the passage of time and remember being in those moments in time. Even if I don’t get to muse every day I always go back and add something for the day – or move across the pages with something that allows me to remember why the week passed without my musing (this is how last week unfolded, and you can see this in Daily Musings Journal spread image at the top of the post).

Right now my new Musings Adventure Journal seems to have become a vessel to create messages for myself. They don’t need to be on a time frame, just when the messages arrive.

To the right is a musing I created the other night after a conversation with Chris Zydel on Wednesday, one my mentors and the creative mama in the Creative Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training I’m part of this year. This is a message I always need reminding of along my entrepreneurial journey.

I don’t know where this musings adventure will lead…but I am still loving these little squares as part of my creative practice.

And not knowing, the Unknown, that is really at the heart of adventure.

The unknown is a place I’d like to be more relaxed with – lean into and embrace with curiosity and wonder.

For life is always an adventure into the unknown.

When I try to hold on to control too tightly this crazy adventure of life – she rebels.

My compassion message reminds me of this as I am learning to lean into the unknown of body’s evolution…in recent years it has been constantly changing in ways I did not allow myself to believe or understand would happen.

Hmmm…I feel a new message beginning to percolate… maybe it will arrive on the page soon!

I also share my musings on Instagram, too, and I’d love to meet you there. You can find me at @lisa_deyoung, and my doodles are also posted with the hashtag #musingsadventures.

What small steps are you taking into the unknown? How do you feel about this wild unknown?

I always love to hear from you!

xox,

 

 

xox

P.S. To learn more about the Musings Adventure Journal, feel free to hop on over here to check out all the details and get yours today!

And if you feel inspired to share the musings adventure love, I’d so appreciate it: bit.ly/musingsadventurejournal

 

 

Wrappin’ It Up & Winners!

To wrap up the week I wanted to share my first finished spread in my Musings Adventure Journal. As my musings were specifically for the Mini Musings Adventure I collaged the header I made for the adventure’s print out to the top of the pages, along with some other painted paper scraps. The bottom right corner is a drawing from a tarot card I pulled at the beginning of the week for full moon guidance.

The card is from The Wild Unknown deck which is the only tarot deck I own (so far:). I love the black and white illustrations, with bits of color on some cards, and I have made drawings from the cards in my musings journals periodically since I got the deck early in 2015. When I do this it sort of seals the guidance the card has for me, and it has helped my drawing skills, too! I don’t have the Wild Unknown guide book so I love Carrie Mallon’s blog post series of her interpretations on the deck.

One of the things Carrie’s interpretation of the seven of Pentacles mentioned was Get Reorganized.  Ha, I thought – the full moon has me pegged as I moved into the Mini Musings Adventure. Although I spent time thinking about what I wanted to include for my posts I did not feel organized around getting the posts created. It has been a busy week for this little mermaid.

The real point, though, of sharing my musings adventure spread is to share with you some of the ways I like to finish out my spreads. Some weeks it is bare bones, but other weeks I’m super inspired to fill up the whole page/spread. All my doodles help remind me of the time I was creating and I adore looking back on them.

Oh yes and I meant to mention I’ve been adding dates to the outside of my Musings Adventure Journal squares so I’m easily reminded of when I created them. You can see that really well on the top image in Messages for You and Me. I’m loving the flexibility of the undated squares so far! I look forward to trying some different series of doodles – that I can begin, and begin again whenever I want!

I’d like leave you with a list of other ideas you might consider for your musings:

• Write a haiku
• Create a 30 second illustration (inspired by Lynda Barry’s book Syllabus – this book is fascinating!)
• Make a blind contour drawing
• Track how your garden grows
• Doodle across squares
• mother–daughter moments
• track sensations (some call it pain) if you’re on a healing journey
• what did I put in my mouth?
• gratitudes
• quotes
• [fill in your idea]

And the winners are…

Creating a Visual with Your Writing (Sticker Pages) — Dianne
Love Your Letters (Sticker Pages) — Debra
Personal Icons, Shapes & Lines (Sticker Pages) — Mtb Chick (aka Cath:)
Mini Mandala Making & a Tangled Visit (Sticker Pages) – Elaine
Messages for You & Me (Musings Adventure Journal) – Deanna

If you lovelies will email me your mailing address to lisa (at) mountainmermaidstudios (dot) com I’ll mail your prizes out! Thank you so much for your sharing, and your wonderful comments! Keep on playing along your musings adventure!

And I hope all of you have enjoyed the adventure, will keep up the doodle fun and adore looking back on your musings adventure. I have appreciated the wonderful feedback I have received and the musings that have been shared. And I always love to hear from you!

xox,

xox

xox

 

xox

P.S.S. If you haven’t ordered your Musings Adventure Journal yet, feel free to hop on over here to check out all the details and get yours today!

 

 

Personal Icons, Shapes & Lines

Another fun doodling option for the musings adventure squares are lines, shapes & icons. They can be used on their own or intermingled with your words & letters.

Over the years I’ve found there are several icons I return to again & again. If you’ve been hanging around this mermaid community for a little while you probably know that the bicycle is one of my favorites. I ride my bicycle just about everywhere, and I like to record my more memorable bicycle adventures in my journal.

My bicycle drawings are very simple & easy to draw.

I also love my little downward dog stick girl and the squiggly ski run lines I make. Adding the sun & snowflakes reminds me of a day’s weather. I have created a few examples on a page of the Musings Adventure Journal (image below), and I am sure there are many more that may have personal meaning for you.

I started drawing these simple icons several years back when I began my musings practice – when I felt intimidated I might mess something up these simple icons gave visual interest to my musings that were mostly words. They helped me remember what the day might have held without reading the words.

What are some of the activities that you might want to add to your doodles? Try drawing a simple icon for this activity, and begin using it on your doodle squares.

Symbols found on the internet can be good reference to get you started, too.
You do not have to create something that is completely realistic, and I encourage to make your icons something you can doodle easily and make your own.

Lines & Borders & Simple Shapes

In addition to creating icons I like to use curved lines that I add writing to, borders, and simple geometric shapes – circles, triangles, squares – to embellish my musings. Some times I just make a list with fun bullets and borders!

These simple shapes and borders are great for adding interest. They’ve already appeared in the musings I’ve posted earlier this week.

As you may notice from the doodle squares I’m sharing – my doodles do not have design or symmetrical perfection. I start with one thing and have to fit it what I want or add something to make if fun. Although sometimes I’ll use a pencil to create a rough sketch I don’t generally plan out my squares in advance. I just begin – play & have fun…knowing that there is always another square, another moment to be in.

I hope these ideas will inspire you to play around and make up some fun doodle shapes, icons and lines. It’s amazing to me what these simple marks can transform into.

Wow –it’s Wednesday already! So far I’m really enjoying playing in my new Musings Adventure Journal! I have to admit I’m glad I invited you on this musings adventure – it forced me to put marker to paper in my brand new journal! If you’ve already ordered yours it is on its way…or will be shortly (depending on when you ordered).

And I hope you’re having fun with the play sheets I provided for the adventure in the mean time 🙂

What lines, shapes & marks can you doodle to represent something that has meaning for you?

I would love to hear about your musings adventure. Please share in the comments – you’ll be entered to win a set of Musings Adventure Journal stickers if you do!

See you back here tomorrow for some mini mandala making, and the link to visit to a guest blogger who will be sharing another fun doodle idea with you!!

xox,

xox

xox

P.S. More on the giveaways!
Each day between now and Thursday I’m giving away the stickers that come with the Musings Adventure Journal (one sheet of each — see image to the left). To be eligible just leave a comment on the daily post. For today’s entry please share how creating shapes, icons & borders went for you 🙂 You can also enter (or for an extra entry) by sharing your doodling squares on Instagram using the hashtag #musingsadventure – tag me, too, @lisa_deyoung. Be sure to reference musings adventure icons & shapes in your description, too. I’d love to see what you create! [Winners for each day will be chosen on Saturday May 28.]

xox

P.S.S. If you haven’t ordered your Musings Adventure Journal yet, feel free to hop on over here to check out all the details and get yours today!

And if you haven’t signed up for the May Mini Musings Adventure and you want to play along – check out the deets here.

Love Your Letters

Yesterday I talked about using your handwriting to create a visual, and today I’m adding a twist – creating letters with some intention.

As a long time letterist this is something that comes fairly easily for me. I’ve studied calligraphy with many renowned calligraphers and over the years I have just enjoyed changing up the style of my writing. And…

Comparison is the thief of joy. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

I get many compliments on my handwriting and lettering, and even get paid to make my letters some times. But I don’t pretend to be a professional and have all too often compared myself with fine calligraphers and thought less of my letters for it. Playing with letters gives me great joy so I try to let go of the comparison and just have fun.

That is what I’d like for you: the opportunity to play with letters with joy and abandon.

We are on this #musingsadventure for ourselves creating tiny ephemeral pieces, so no matter how you feel each square works out – just let go and have some fun!

Block Lettering Play

xox

Here are some ideas to play with:

	Play with scale – making a word or two larger and then pen some details with smaller writing and other doodles
Add thickness to certain words by creating a double line for each letter
	Make block letters for a word or two
Find a logo you like and copy it

xox

Play with the same word intermittently trying out different lettering styles and ideas. I love musing about my time in my studio and below are some examples of playing with this word in a number of different ways.

Hand lettering (along with coloring) is hot right now so lettering references abound. Find some reference resources like lettering books, font sites, online lettering examples, magazines – and then copy the letters.

Below are two books I refer to quite often. The one on the left I bought online a few years ago – it has all sorts of quirky & fun letter ideas (that is where I came up with the idea for the mermaid S in the image above)!! The one on the right I found at a garage sale years ago and it was originally published in 1946!

Please don’t let the references intimidate you. My intention here is fun and simple lettering play. So if you start looking at references, remember – don’t let comparison steal your joy.

Lastly, I want to share two basic exemplars I’ve created (I know some of you may already have them from past musings adventures 🙂
Click here to download the printable two page PDF that you can use for reference while you’re lettering.

Enjoy your lettering play, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

xox,

xox

xox

P.S. Don’t forget about the giveaways! Each day between now and Thursday I’ll be giving away the stickers that come with the Musings Adventure Journal (one sheet of each — see image to the left). To be eligible just leave a comment on the daily post. For today’s entry please share how playing with your letters went for you 🙂 You can also enter (or for an extra entry) by sharing your lettering play square on Instagram using the hashtag#musingsadventure – tag me, too, @lisa_deyoung. Be sure to reference musings adventure lettering play in your description, too. I’d love to see what you create! [Winners for each day will be chosen on Saturday May 28.]

xox

P.S.S. If you haven’t ordered your Musings Adventure Journal yet, feel free to hop on over here to check out all the details and get yours today!

And if you haven’t signed up for the May Mini Musings Adventure and you want to play along – check out the deets here.

Creating a Visual with Your Writing

Handwriting can create unexpected visual surprise.

Whether you like your handwriting or not – it really can create a nice visual if you write in a shape, use different colors, and maybe even add some other doodles.

As part of today’s adventure I’ve created a short video (about 2 1/2 minutes) for you to see how I created a visual piece with my handwriting. I’ve sped up the actual writing, but both squares I created took me about 9 minutes total.

Disclaimer: I’m super new at making videos, so I was a bit nervous as I was writing while recording. I had spent a few minutes gathering my thoughts and what I wanted to write, but I did not spend much more time considering how I would execute this – the squares were not at all planned out. That is how I generally work in my musings journal, and when I was done with these squares I felt a little disappointed with the result. This sometimes happens, too. What I do love about these squares is that I have begun to capture writings I want to remember; And they will also always remind me of starting my Musings Adventure Journal, making the video and this May Mini Musings Adventure! I’m so glad you’re here!

Here are a few more examples, from my Daily Musings Journal earlier this year. The two with the drawings have stream of consciousness journal writing in them.

I hope this will help you get started on your adventure using your own writing – even if you don’t particularly care for it. Our handwriting is part of who we are, and if you use it a little differently than you normally do, you just might find you like the results 🙂 I hope so!

I’ll be back tomorrow with more on writing – creating letters with a bit more intention.

Before I go I want to mention the giveaways that I’ve eluded to. Each day between now and Thursday I’ll be giving away the stickers that come with the Musings Adventure Journal (one sheet of each — see image to the left). To be eligible just leave a comment on the daily post. For today’s entry please share how your creating visuals with your writing went for you 🙂 You can also enter (or for an extra entry) by sharing your visual writing square on Instagram using the hashtag #musings adventure. Be sure to reference creating visuals with writing in your description, too. I’d love to see what you create! [Winners for each day will be chosen on Saturday May 28.]

Thank you again for participating in the May Mini Musings Adventure! Looking forward to meeting you back here tomorrow.

xox,

xox

xox

xox

P.S. If you haven’t ordered your Musings Adventure Journal yet, feel free to hop on over here to check out all the details and get yours today!

And if you haven’t signed up for the May Mini Musings Adventure and you want to play along – check out the deets here.