HI!

im an avid stationary lover and hoarder. i love all things paper, scrapbook, bullet journal, stamps, tape, stencils.... BUT i have ZERO skills and talent to lettering and drawing.

right now i have a few black papered notebooks and a silver pen im dying to use.... anyone has ideas of what can i do with my limited skills?

and also, suggestions on how to keep track of my trackers... i made some simple ones for work out and eating habits but i always forget about them and later i try to remember and fill like a week and a half

thanks in advance!

[EDIT] Locking this as any additional posting in this topic would be over the 6 month limit and constitute a necro, feel free to make a new thread.[/EDIT]

I use notebooks to brainstorm for projects, mainly. I'm a writer, so whenever I come up with a short story idea, or when I'm trying to get over a block, I'll scribble stuff down in my notebook. If there's an important visual component, I'll draw in it as well (my notebook has lines on one side of the pages, and the other sides are blank, so you can use it for writing and art).

I also use mine to collect meaningful scraps--tickets, little photos, etc. of an event--and write a little about it. Like when I went to KC Ren Fest, I saved the ticket and wrote a page about what I did there and what I enjoyed. I take it to conferences or workshops too, and take notes in it.

I'm a part of a couple organizing groups around town, so any projects that I'm leading for those, I'll write notes in/brainstorm in. Essentially, my notebook is an everyday-carry object that I use to collect any thoughts worth keeping.

My own journaling is pretty bare-bones, but I think a nice, easy way to incorporate different writing supplies (while also making it easier for future-you) is to set up headers/page layouts ahead of time. Highlighters or colored pens are really nice for this, and by setting my pages up in advance it makes it easier to jump into writing whenever I want without having to worry about 'setting up the page' in the moment. I think a cool idea for that silver pen you mentioned having would be to maybe doodle some vine borders on pages, or whatever sounds nice :)

Some things I've used fancy journals for:

• recipes that I don't want to lose
• tarot readings so I can go back and see how accurate they turned out to be
• sketches of bigger drawings I want to make later
• dreams, I write them down when I wake up then decorate the page later

I have a bullet journal as well and sometimes I also have a hard time remembering to fill in my habit and mood trackers every day. I'm not sure how you have yours set up, but I make monthly spreads and then a weekly spread for every week. To help me remember to fill in my trackers, I started putting the trackers in my weekly spreads instead of my monthly spreads. I already look at my weekly spread every day, so this makes it easier to remember to fill in my trackers every day as well.

Hope this helps!

Although I don't have a suggestion for how to use your supplies I do have some for the lettering and art practice.

For a more personal and relaxing approach in your art I strongly suggest doodling or sketch or scribbling something for fun every day or maybe for a longer time every other day. You could keep one of your notebooks just for practice. For me I am always striving so hard for something almost photo realistic that it makes it stressful. When I know my goal is scribble, doodles or something casual it lets me relax and I actually get better at drawing because I'm not worried about perfection. Try searching rough sketch or scribble art images for ideas. The art only needs to suggest what it is, not be a photo.

As for your lettering. Dedicate one of your notebooks to practicing a font you like. I would recommend starting with a more simple like architectural lettering one unless you are REALLY in love with calligraphy. Then choose something you enjoy reading and start copying it. Write slow the goal is to make your letters look the way you want them to not copying as fast as you can. Once you get better at the font you could try getting creative with it by switching from a basic pen or pencil to maybe a wedge tip maker or a paint brush and try to create the same font.

Hope this helps. And as much as I put it off practice truly does make perfect. :)

I used to keep a sticker journal which you would post random things as well as super cute stickers to reflect your mood or what you are doing havn't done that tho in years -w-