Athena Dreams Design

The Notebook : Pinterest-ing Pins

I am a notebook girl. I love a good notebook, and I carry one with me everywhere. One notebook (or journal) gets everything. I write. I sketch. I jot down ideas. I write down reminders and messages. I write notes to myself and notes in general. I make lists and I make little illustrations. And when the notebook is full, I put it on a shelf in my studio and move on to the next one.

Some of my specific wants in a notebook: lines but lines that are not printed too dark, they have to be subtle, they have to be optional use. Pockets are also good, a pocket in the front or back to stuff things in. And paper. The paper needs to be heavy enought to handle a Pitt Artist Pen without bleeding through, and also soft and creamy and smooth enough to handle a .04 Sarasa Gel Pen.

I've pulled together some of my all time favourite notebooks, since you too might be a notebook girl {or boy} and want new notebook finds. What do you love in a good notebook? Please share!

Handstitched Journals by Paperblanks
The Leuchterm by Kikkerland
The Ubiquitous by Moleskin
The Decontructed Journal by Studio Oh and Orange Circle Studio
Markings journals from C.R. Gibson heavy paper, nice
A Cup of Latte from Bold Ideas {in Thailand}
and the Smash from K & Company

For more paper, more journals, more notebooks, visit my Paper • Stationery • Notebooks board

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Each week a different topic illustrated with some of my favourite images from Pinterest.

If you are a Pinterest user, pinning on pinterest please remember to "Link with Love" and credit the maker, the creator, the ideator, or the originator.

If you'd like to share on Pinterest you can find me here!

aquarius : pinterest-ing pins

We are nearing the end of the sign of Aquarius, and I just wanted to do a little visual tribute to all my Aquarian friends. 

Aquarian Symbols: The Water Bearer. Element: Air. Favourable colours: Turquoise. Ruling Planet: Uranus. Lucky Gem: Turquoise. Gemstone: Amethyst. Flower: Orchid. Kewyword: Truth.

Aquarians are thought to be fiercely independent, unique, even eccentric, deep thinkers and deeper humanitarians.

(clockwise from top left):

Summer Beach by Cuba Gallery
Turquoise and the Sea on Black by Knitalette
Owls from Clayliscious
Amethyst Crystals from Design Seeds
Orchids from Joélisa
Aquarius by Cursive Arts

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Each week a different topic illustrated with some of my favourite images from Pinterest.

If you are a Pinterest user, pinning on pinterest please remember to "Link with Love" and credit the maker, the creator, the ideator, or the originator.

If you'd like to share on Pinterest you can find me here!

turquoise : pinterest-ing pins

Turquoise has always had a way with my heart... so shimmery, ethereal, and somehow, mysteriously it remains so grounded and deep. Turquoise is the colour of one of my favourite stones, the mediterranean sea with the sun shining on it, a perfect spring sky, or a beautiful shining pool.

In the last paragraph of Victoria Finlay's book Color: A Natural History of the Palette, she says:

When I was two days from finishing the first draft of this book, a friend called from New York in great excitement. "There's a text message on CNN. They say someone's found the color of the universe."... I grabbed my pen and wrote down that scientists at Johns Hopkins University had discovered the color of the light in the universe. And that it was pale turquoise*. I had no idea what it meant, but it suggested that my journey was not over. And that there was a whole world - no, a whole universe - of color stories still to find. -Victoria Finlay

*Johns Hopkins later changed their findings and made a second and slightly embarrassed announcement that the "colour of the universe" was not actually turquoise but beige, due to a computer bug.

Beige? Really? Personally, I am sticking with the first finding, that it is indeed Turquoise and not Beige that reflects the colour of the universe.

Enjoy some turquoise!

(clockwise from top left):

Painting by Alessandro Twombly
Turquoise Piano from Addicted 2 Decorating {via Classy Clutter}
Turquoise cupboards by Heinrich Ingenson
Turquoise Accents from SAS Interiors
Twinkle a photograph from Irene Suchocki
Glass Jar Tutorial from Martha Stewart {pinned by Mercedes A Averbuch}
Marrakech curtains from Anthropologie

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Each week a different topic illustrated with some of my favourite images from Pinterest.

If you are a Pinterest user, pinning on pinterest please remember to "Link with Love" and credit the maker, the creator, the ideator, or the originator.

If you'd like to share on Pinterest you can find me here!

pattern designers: pinterest-ing pins

pat·tern [pat-ern; Brit. pat-n] 
a noun

1. a decorative design, as for wallpaper, china, or textile fabrics, etc.
2. decoration or ornament having such a design.
3. a natural or chance marking, configuration, or design: patterns of frost on the window.
4. a distinctive style, model, or form: a new pattern of army helmet.
5. a combination of qualities, acts, tendencies, etc., forming a consistent or characteristic arrangement: the behavior patterns of teenagers.
6. an original or model considered for or deserving of imitation: Our constitution has been a pattern for those of many new republics.
7. anything fashioned or designed to serve as a model or guide for something to be made: a paper pattern for a dress.

There are 15 definitions in the Webster's Dictionary for the word pattern so I took the top 7.

I love that Patterns can be a both repeating habit or action, and a visual and decorative motif that forms an "arrangement".

Pattern design is one of my great-est loves, the combination of colour and image and repeat contains a magic that I never grow tired of. Looking at the patterns that others have created, the colour palettes that they choose to work with and the imagery they choose to create and repeat is always a huge inspiration for me and my own work.

So please have a visit with some of these über talented pattern designers represented here: You can go and visit my Pattern Design Board on Pinterest, or just click on the links below.

Enjoy!

(clockwise from top left):

Retro Floral Pattern by Rachel Cole {pinned by me}
Fields of Honey from Harmony Art {pinned by me}
Flowers & Butterflies by Helen Dardik from Lagom Design UK {pinned by me}
Bolts of fabric from Amy Butler {pinned by me}
Victoria Dark Blue a wallpaper pattern from Camilla Meijer {pinned by me}
Valadier Fabric from Tricia Guild {pinned by me}
Blue on White patterns from Vintage Rose Garden {pinned via Vintage Rose Garden}
The Bees Knees designed by Terrie Mangat for Freespirit Fabric {pinned by me}

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Each week a different topic illustrated with some of my favourite images from Pinterest.

If you are a Pinterest user, pinning on pinterest please remember to "Link with Love" and credit the maker, the creator, the ideator, or the originator.

If you'd like to share on Pinterest you can find me here!

At Work on Ideas: pinterest-ing pins

Seeing sketches in mid-creation, or drawing tables filled with the tools of a craft, journals being worked on and creativity in session always gives me a thrill. I love to get glimpses of how others work, aspects of the processes that other people use, a peek into someone else's world.

(clockwise from top left):
journals on Wild Thyme Creative {pinned by Theresa L.}
A Canvas for Creativity by Lucrecer Braxton (found via Liz Lamoreux}
Journaling 101 by Chookooloonks {pinned by Trish W.}
Pen & Ink by Nicola Hensel {found via Pia Jane Bijkerk}
Sketches by Emerson Made (pinned by me}

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Each week a different topic illustrated with some of my favourite images from Pinterest.

If you are a Pinterest user, pinning on pinterest please remember to "Link with Love" and credit the maker, the creator, the ideator, or the originator.

If you'd like to share on Pinterest you can find me here!

Some Frost: pinterest-ing pins

December was not very winter-ly, and up until now, neither was January. But this week it seems, winter has begun in earnest in the bay area (and other places as well).

Frosty beatiful things from Pinterest (clockwise from top left):
Midwinter Daydream by Elle Moss {pinned by Jessica Snyder}
Window Frost by Girl Behind the Red Door {pinned by Kayla Haykin}
First Frost by Jodi Martin {on her POV board}
Frozen Clover Flower by  Scott Heppell {pinned by Sophia Roberts}

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Pinterest has definitely become a part of my regular life on line, and I love all the sharing and inspiration and joy it brings. this post is the start of a new regular post series where I will be sharing some of my favourite images on Pinterest organised by a different topic every week.

If you are a Pinterest user, pinning on pinterest please remember to "Link with Love" and credit the maker, the creator, the ideator, or the originator.

If you'd like to share on Pinterest you can find me here!