Magpie Monthly: Vol. 5
2024 Magpie Journal
I've been keeping a yearly scrapbook of mostly trash and stickers since 2018. I call them Magpie Journals, because "junk journal" never felt like the right fit. Filling them up is so much fun. Scanning and formatting them afterwards is less so, which is why I'm sharing last year's book six months into this year.
I don't pre-plan the layouts at all, I just start taping/sticking things in. The process becomes more puzzle-like as the page fills and the spaces become smaller and weirder. I typically fill up four pages each month, and I make it a priority to include bits and pieces as they are acquired, so there's a loose chronology of my life that gets captured in these books as a nice bonus to the aesthetic satisfaction.
I've included a few of my favorite pages below, and you can view all 25 spreads (plus journals from past years) right here.
Moonbow Sticker Sheets
I started working with Moonbow Creative Co. in October of last year, designing a sticker sheet or two each month. Since then, our partnership has continued to grow (I even designed their new branding) and my monthly sticker sheet count has grown along with it. It's important to me that I design each one with the same level of care and attention to detail, but I still can't help having favorites, a few of which I have shared below.
If you'd like to snag some of these for yourself, the Moonbow team has conveniently put all of my designs into their own collection 😊
Pizza Hat
This stupid sticker is now available in my Etsy shop. You don't want it, but you need it. That's just how it is sometimes.
What I’m Reading
Here are two of my favorite reads from June. Connect with me on Goodreads to see the rest.
by Charlotte McConaghy
Not a perfect book, but I read it in one sitting and quite enjoyed it, so maybe you would too. This multi-POV mystery-thriller is set on a remote island off the coast of Antarctica, and deals with themes of family dynamics, climate change, isolation, grief, and hidden motives. I liked the vibes and the writing style, which always goes a long way with me to offset any flaws in a story, but YMMV.
WHAT KIND OF PARADISE
by Janelle Brown
"A teenage girl breaks free from her father's world of isolation in this exhilarating novel of family, identity, and the power we have to shape our own destinies." This slow-burn historical fiction thriller was impossible for me to put down. As an elder millennial I also loved that it was set in the 90's :)
