Antiquaria Journal Club | Week One!

Are you READY!? WE SURE ARE!

It's WEEK ONE (yay!) and this week our prompt focuses on recording the BEST part of your day. Days seem to fly by SO fast (ahem, where has 2019 gone?) that we wanted to start by recognizing the good in the every day however large or small.

This could be your first cup of coffee in the morning, the way the sunrise looked or a job promotion. It could be written or drawn or painted. It could be expressed with poetry or jotted down in a planner. It's up to you!

Don't worry if you're short on time this week (or every week for that matter), these prompts really do lend themselves to simple answers by design. But if you have the time or desire, they can easily be expanded upon as well.

It's week one and we know that starting is definitely the hardest part...making that first mark, word or plan can seem overwhelming. We're all here to support one another and enjoy the process!

We're looking forward to creating with you all! We will be back later this week sharing our team's journal plans with you and an update on how it's going for us so far this week. It will be so fun to see everyone's different ideas and interpretations in their journals! 

Happy Journaling!

xo
Emma, Bailey and the Antiquaria Team

Antiquaria Journal Club | Before We Dive In...

We don't know about you, but we've had a pretty darn fun week planning and dreaming about our new journal! Maybe you're all set for Monday and raring to go - or - maybe you're still getting your ducks in a row. In either case, we're SO EXCITED that you've decided to join us!

Before Monday rolls around and we kick everything off officially, we wanted to pop in with one last little post about the intentions of the club and some advice about beginning this project...

The Antiquaria Journal Club is meant to help facilitate your journaling journey. There is no right or wrong here. It's all about the PROCESS, not the product. It is not a competition.

We hope to help make journaling a part of your everyday in order to reap the many benefits that it provides. And in the process we hope that you find inspiration and friends near and far.

Our plan is to post a short prompt each Monday morning. This prompt will usually be very simple so that if you only have 5 minutes per day/week to meditate on it, you can still achieve the practice (we know how life goes). The prompts can also be expanded upon and each week we will give you some additional points to tackle if you so choose.

The prompts are just a jumping off point. If you feel inspired to write or record any additional information in the process - that's WONDERFUL! Maybe one week's prompt will speak to you so much that you'll decide to incorporate it into your daily journaling in an ongoing way. That would be VERY COOL.

We plan to share our own journals as well as our thoughts, trials and tribulations with you along the way. And we would LOVE it if you'd share yours with us too so that we can all learn from each other. You just never know when your exact dilemma will help another person push through theirs.

That being said, it is not a requirement to share anything and we hope to inspire you however you decide to follow along. 😀

We're also hoping to have Journal Club meet up's locally in our downtown Littleton, CO shop. So if you're local - please keep an eye out for that!

A FEW LAST TIPS/ADVICE

➤There are no mistakes.

We know that this is a REALLY HARD one to overcome. Fear of making a mark we don't like inside something as permanent as a notebook can deter many people from ever starting.

What's the solution? Easy! Collage something over it! Or - if you are truly paralyzed by the blankness, start writing your thoughts on loose paper. This can very easily be pasted into a notebook and arranged just how you like it after the fact! Just add a little Washi or stickers and you've got yourself a journal spread!

➤You don't think your handwriting is up to snuff.

This is a super common thought - but we're here to tell you that IT DOESN'T MATTER!

What's the solution? There are a few things that can help you overcome this.
1. Practice your handwriting (if this is something that you'd really like to improve). Hey - the prompts could easily become your penmanship practice! Win-WIN!
2. Type out your thoughts and paste them into your journal. As above, doing some of your writing on other paper (typed, written on loose paper) can be a great option for those who are unsure or lack confidence in their penmanship.
3. Don't sweat it! This is the easiest...Just don't worry about it. Your handwriting is uniquely YOURS and is your own personal mark. Don't be ashamed of this. Roll with it!

➤Be flexible.

Sometimes we have an idea in our mind of what we want to achieve but the result isn't exactly what we expected.

What's the solution?  Be generous with yourself and find the areas where you'd like to grow or change. Maybe you find that what you've chosen is too much of a commitment for your current season of life. That's OKAY! Realize this, regroup and make a new plan instead of simply giving up.

Maybe you find that the notebook you selected isn't ultimately compatible with your tools. Despite that this feels like a huge bummer right out of the gate, try using papers that DO work and pasting into your notebook. Or - get one that works better and use the other for a different purpose.

➤Focus on the process

A final product can be very motivating but the process is what this journey is about. If we only worry about how things are looking or how many pages are "done" then we're missing the point.

What's the solution? Use this journaling project as a way to connect with yourself and your own unique interests and perspective. What's happening in your day to day life. Journaling has a way of grounding us and helping us to process our experience. Lean into THAT. It truly doesn't matter if you get one page done a month or 12. What does matter is that you're enjoying the process and most of all, having fun.

What other journaling hang-ups have stopped you from doing it in the past? We'd love to know!

Well folks...That's it! We're ready to go and STOKED for next week!! Are you?

Til Monday,
xo
Emma, Bailey and the Antiquaria Team

Antiquaria Journal Club | Choosing the PERFECT Notebook

Why give so much thought to the tools and style of journal that you'd like to incorporate first? Well...because PAPER IS FICKLE and OPTIONS ARE VAST. 

In our years of being in the paper industry, we know that some papers are great for writing with ball points and some are great for fountain pens but not watercolors. Some are good for watercolor but not for nibs. Some you can see through and some are totally opaque.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg - there are also a ton of sizes to choose from. Tiny ones that fit in a pocket...all the way up to large format journals larger than your head!

Plus, depending on the style of journal you'd like to make, it can definitely matter what type of notebook you select. Picking a graph paper notebook can make bullet journaling SO MUCH easier. And picking a watercolor paper notebook can really help make using mixed media WAY LESS of a headache.

Does this mean that you can't use that notebook you have laying around. HECK NO! Use what you've got and make it work (more tips on this tomorrow) but if you're able or have the desire to purchase a new one, it's worth considering your tools and journaling style before you decide. Make sure that the tools that you use will work with the paper and that they general way that you want to set it up is supported by what's printed on the paper (ie, blank vs. graph vs. lined).

OUR FAVORITE NOTEBOOKS

➤For Bullet Journaling
Leuchtturm1917 Bullet Journal

➤For Ballpoint Pens & Collage
Antiquaria Jotter Supreme

➤For Calligraphy (Dip Pen & Ink)
Calligraphy Practice Journal (seriously the BEST paper)

➤For Fountain Pen Lovers
Tomoe River Notebooks

➤For Collage and Mixed Media
Strathmore Visual Art Journals
(It's nice to have a spiral bound book if you plan to do a lot of "pasting in" the notebook. That way, it expands and doesn't warp as much)

➤For Reflective Journaling
Rhodia Webnotebook

➤For Large Format Journaling
(ie you prefer writing or working large and need lots of space on the page)
Life Noblenotes A4

➤For Journal Diversity (incorporating many different paper styles)
Travelers Notebook and Inserts

The notebook (or planner for that matter) that you choose to use is as individual as you are. The ones above are just a FEW suggestions in the endless variety to choose from. We can't wait to see what you choose to use for your upcoming journaling journey!

Well folks, that's it! All of the magic ingredients needed in order to set off on the right foot. We're SUPER excited about starting off next week with our first prompt and getting to share the experience with all of you. Tomorrow we will be back with a few more thoughts before the real fun begins. But until then, we're dying to know...

Exactly what notebook will YOU be using??

xo
Emma, Bailey and the Antiquaria team

Antiquaria Journal Club | What's Your Journal Personality?

Journaling is SO personal, it's no wonder it comes in so many "shapes & sizes". It's meant to be personal and meaningful, so it's important to pick the style of journaling that appeals to you. Picking what appeals to you and feels right for your lifestyle is an important step to maintaining the habit!

While the list of options is essentially endless, we've narrowed it down to 3 main categories:

➺Bullet Journaling
➺Art Journaling
➺Writing (Reflective) Journaling

One may TOTALLY speak to you, or your perfect journal may include a little bit of each. Read on to find out what they are so that you can make an informed decision...

BULLET JOURNALING

From the creator of the method and book:

"Bullet Journal® (or BuJo® for short) was created by Ryder Carroll, a digital product designer and author living in Brooklyn, NY. Diagnosed with learning disabilities early in life, he was forced to figure out alternate ways to be focused and productive. Through years of trial and error, he developed a methodology that went far beyond simple organization. Now he focuses on helping others learn what the Bullet Journal method is truly about: the art of intentional living". 

"Bullet Journal® is a methodology. It's best described as a mindfulness practice disguised as a productivity system. It's designed to help you organize your what while you remain midnful of your why. The goal of the Bullet Journal is to help its practitioners (Bullet Journalists) live intentional lives, ones that are both productive and meaningful".

Source

This system of productivity has become WILDLY popular and an inspiring community on Instagram. It may be for you if you're looking for more organization, record keeping and goal tracking. There are TONS of amazing resources on getting started and layouts to optimize success. You can find a few of them here, here, and here.

Source

ART JOURNALING

Art journaling is a much looser category, incorporating SO MANY different styles and variations.

Some include a lot (or all) painting and some a lot of writing with illustrations to go along with them. We tend to think of this category as a bit of a catch-all for incorporating your interests on the page.

Source

This method is very therapeutic and there is no right/wrong way to art journal - which is an AMAZING fact! Because of this, this category can feel a little more overwhelming because of the limitlessness. Don't worry about that if it speaks to you! The tools that you chose yesterday will help to make it more cohesive and less overwhelming to start.

Source

Interested in learning more? Try starting here, here and here.

REFLECTIVE JOURNALING

This is what most of us think of as "traditional journaling" and for those of us that aren't wordsmiths may seem intimidating. It definitely doesn't have to be! And you know what, you NEVER have to show your journal if you don't want to.

Reflective journaling can really help you work through your thoughts or a situation that arises in your life - so don't rule it out - even if you think it isn't right for you.

This style lends itself wonderfully to on-the-go lifestyles because it can be truly minimal and impulsive. The trick is ALWAYS having your journal handy for when a thought pops into your mind.

Interested in learning more? Check out here, here, here and here.

EXCITED to get started? Us too.

Those three main categories should give your something to "chew" on in order to decide what may feel right to you. More than anything, we're trying to help you find your own journaling voice so that you can truly succeed in the journey.

Like we mentioned in the beginning, a combo of these would be totally AMAZING so definitely don't rule that out if they all or a couple really speak to you. It could be SUPER INTERESTING to have an art journal spread with a reflective piece on the next page that delves deeper into a topic in the art or a bullet journal that incorporates a collage style element to decorate it's pages. OR maybe you paint your pages and then you write your reflective thoughts over top. See? SO MANY cool options.

Again, don't let that overwhelm you. Think about the tools you chose as well as the style that fits your lifestyle and don't overthink it.

Source

So, which style speaks to you? Just one or a combo?

We will be back tomorrow with the last piece of "set up" for journal club, selecting the perfect journal. Until then, happy researching and discovery!

xo,
Emma, Bailey and the Antiquaria Team

Antiquaria Journal Club | The Best Tools For You

Choosing your tools wisely is the #1 KEY to success! Believe it or not, giving yourself parameters can help ignite more creativity than if the sky is the limit. So...let's figure out our supplies!

Before anything else, let's decide what your favorite tools are. With these, we will begin to put our journal plan together!

Think about the things that you like to do first:
-Pen & Ink? Calligraphy?
-Graphite?
-Watercolor? Gouache?
-Fountain Pens?
-Colored Pencils?
-Felt Tipped Pens? Brush Pens?
-Rubber Stamps?
-Stickers?
-Bits of Ephemera?
-Other cool stuff?

Give a good hard think about the things that you really use often already. Your journal will be unique to YOU, so combining the things that you already LOVE is important. Having these as parameters will help keep your journal cohesive throughout it's pages.

Disclaimer: It's super duper easy to go overboard with ideas and inspiration when you look around at what other people are doing. Believe us, it happens all the time and is a key reason that we've not gotten to this project yet. Being frozen from TOO MUCH INSPIRATION is totally a thing. 

To make it easy to start, pick 2-5 things to incorporate. Maybe it's (1) pencil and (2) watercolor and (3) rubber stamps, maybe it's (1) pen + ink and (2) bits of ephemera or maybe it's (1) fountain pens and (2) stickers and (3) brush pens and (4) rubber stamps. THERE IS NO WRONG COMBO!

Build your toolbox:

Take the items that you figured out above and put them aside so they're easy for you to access. (Or if you're like us, put them in a cute pencil pouch). You can definitely limit yourself to just this selection-totally fine. But here are a few additional general tools that are helpful to add to your kit as well to assist in your journal journey:

-a small ruler
-washi tape
-a pencil and eraser (even if you don't plan to use a pencil as your tool of choice, it's good to include       for making layouts or guidelines
-a binder clip (to hold your current page open)
-double sided tape or stick glue (in case you want to paste something into your journal)
-shape templates (i.e. circles, squares, ovals)
-folder for storing mementos
-anything else you may find helpful!

Once you've compiled your toolkit, you're ready to move onto finding your journaling personality! We'll tell you how tomorrow!! In the meantime, we want to know...what's in your toolkit?

xoxo
Emma, Bailey and the Antiquaria Team

Calligraphy in Action | Brush it Out

Hi Folks!

We're so happy to be back with more calligraphy videos for you. It's been QUITE a while and there are a lot of reasons for our absence. First and foremost, our resident calligrapher, Bailey, has been moving across the country, from Los Angeles to her new home in Denver, CO. 

It's so nice to be back with you and sharing our love of calligraphy, design and stationery. We hope you enjoy the demo and please let us know if you have any questions!

This demo was written with a Pentel Sign Pen (http://www.jetpens.com/Pentel-Fude-Touch-Sign-Pen-Black/pd/9199) a new find for us but becoming a fast favorite!

Peace, Love and Letters,

Emma & Bailey

Calligraphy by Bailey Amon Rivera

Music by Chris James 

DIY Tutorial | Autumn Floral Save the Date and Invitation Suite

This week we shared this gorgeous DIY tutorial over on Oh So Beautiful Paper...our fav paper blog ever! Pop over to check out the project and for step by step instructions on making this gorgeous design for yourself!

DIY Rubber Stamp Tutorial | Nautical Tri-Fold Invitation Suite

As summer is slowly turning into fall (it's still definitely feels like summer), we created a nautical "last hurrah" for the season with this awesome tri-fold invitation suite. We've been loving this style of invitation lately, and we especially love that this one includes these fun, hand-drawn nautical illustrations. 

Pop over to Oh So Beautiful Paper for step-by-step how to instructions for this design. The steps are easy and the result is something custom and fun!

To make this tutuorial even sweeter,

we are offering the watercolor ocean-scape as a free download (for your personal use only).

Click HERE to download the file. 

all designs © antiquaria 2013

DIY Rubber Stamp Tutorial | Patterned Thank You Notes

Last week, we shared our Butterfly Handkerchief Invitation Suite tutorial over on Oh So Beautiful Paper. Today, we're following up and sharing a super simple coordinating piece, patterned Thank You notes.

Step One: Using a self healing mat, craft knife and metal ruler, cut your card-stock (we used our Chloe Yellow Floral Patterned Paper) into 4.5"x7" pieces. You should get 2 folded notes per 8.5"x11" sheet.

Step Two: Score in the center of the card along the 7" side (so at 3.5") using a scoreboard. Fold the card at the score mark.

Step Three: If you choose, stamp your monogram or thank you right on top of the pattern. We used our Seal Thank You stamp for this card. 

*Note: From our experience, it is best to use a stamp that has lots of bold lettering or "black areas" when stamping on top of a pattern. If the stamp doesn't stand out, it can get lost in the colorful pattern!

Materials:

Chloe Yellow Floral Patterned Paper
Self  Healing Mat/ Craft Knife/ Ruler
Scoreboard
Monogram or Thank You Stamp
Stamp Pad-in Black
4 Bar Envelopes

DIY Tutorial | Rubber Stamped Butterfly Handkerchief Invitation Suite

Our latest DIY tutorial project over on Oh So Beautiful Paper is a gorgeous invitation suite that includes vintage handkerchiefs and butterfly imagery. We are in love with the color and the softness the handkerchiefs bring to the design.

We'll be sharing the details of how to make that adorable thank you card (at the top of the image above), next Thursday...right here on our blog!

Gorgeous calligraphy in black on kraft really helps tie the suite together. How much do you love that we found butterfly postage to coordinate? Swooning.

There isn't anything lovelier than a pile of vintage handkerchiefs. We've collected these over the years on our vintage shopping adventures.

DIY Tutorial | Animal Kids Party Stationery

Our latest, super fun, DIY stamp tutorial is up on Oh So Beautiful Paper! This week, we're creating easy and adorable kids party stationery (think gift tags and thank you notes). Pop over to get the step-by-step how to!

1) "Animal Train" Gift Tag Stamp 2) Animal Stamps, set of 3 3) "Animal Train" Monogram Stamp

DIY Tutorial | Modern Banner Tri-Fold Save the Date

We are thrilled to share our latest DIY tutorial for this awesome & modern tri-fold Save the Date design over on Oh So Beautiful Paper today! 

We love how much information you can incorporate into one piece...and it still look gorgeous!

Pop over to the post to check it out and for step by step instructions!

DIY Tutorial | Patterned Paper Place Card Fans

In our latest tutorial over on Oh So Beautiful Paper, we've shared a fun and easy way to use our new line of patterned paper to create these awesome fan place cards. We chose the Lucy watercolor floral pattern for it's gorgeous colors and summery feel.

Pop over to view the step-by-step details of the project!

Stamping Basics | How to Emboss

In this episode of stamping basics, we cover our favorite technique....embossing! Using this method yields gorgeous, high end results with a small price tag.

Here are a few of our favorite DIY tutorials that use this awesome technique:

Neon & Kraft Paper Save the Dates

Gold Embossed Save the Dates

Fig & Gold Calligraphy Save the Date