InCoWriMo Freebies

Happy InCoWriMo!

Two InCoWriMo letters I just sent out

Much like my first experience with NaNoWriMo, I didn't discover this event until the day it began. Still, I'm definitely participating. Why?

Well, firstly because letter  writing is a good thing. It's good for the writer but also for the recipient (even my 8 year old video game loving nephew is thrilled when he  gets mail). Secondly, I'm not very good at letter writing, I freeze at the thought of having to select just the right words and tone. Yes, you read that correctly: I'm participating in International Correspondence Writing Month because I put off writing letters. That is the beauty of this type of event, the combined power of a  deadline and a camaraderie remove the excuses we normally give for not doing things we care about like sending a note or even writing a novel.

For some of the correspondence I'm sending out this month I painted cards just for the recipient, but I also painted a few things to print onto fountain pen friendly paper. In the name of drawing more people into this event & helping out those struggling to keep it up, I've decided to share two of those paintings.

Below are the images I'm sharing: a Noodler's fountain pen & a blue "Ink-a- Rhino" with a bow tie. To print these images on your own paper follow the links below to download the full size image to your computer. When printing select letter-sized paper (I actually set it up to use 8.3x 11.7 Rhodia paper) and either "Print entire image" for a slightly larger image or "Scale to fit page" for a slightly smaller image.

I hope you enjoy these and writing letters!

Click Here to download the Fountain Pen                               Click Here to download the Rhino

Morning Meditations

I've long thought that mornings should start slowly with a warm drink and a book in hand. Over the years I went back and forth between thinking that it had to be a Bible and accepting devotional books as a substitute. But this past year and a half it has been hard to spend time with either type.


Late last Spring I was introduced to the writings of Rowan Williams (currently Lord of Oystermouth). I savored The Lion's World and then Tokens of Trust. Neither  of these books would be considered "devotional" by my old standards, but they were both of great help to me. Lord Williams has many more writings that I hope to read, but of late I've found following arguments and reasons hard. Last week I sat staring at a page that I'd read twice with no memory of its contents and decided that perhaps I should try another approach.

Making marks on paper is one of my favorite things. When I get a new pen or put a new ink in my fountain pen I love to sit and draw, write, and generally doodle. In fact when I was too busy to do so in the fall, I eventually had to make time for it so the ink on the page could soothe the itch in my soul.

Enter my new morning meditations. Each day I sit with a warm beverage, my pen, a scrap of paper, and the order of service from the previous Sunday.  I read until I find a phrase that jumps off at me (or I go straight to one that caught my attention during the service.)  Then I turn the phrase over in my mind to get a sense of what is most striking to me in the phrase.  From there I try to write the phrase in a way that will enrich the phrase. That means bringing attention to specific words over others and also giving shape and gesture.

No, I'm not a brilliant hand lettering artist. No, my penmanship isn't lovely. Yes, my lines wobble and tilt. No, those things don't matter for this. This is about me savoring the beauty of the words in a prayer or song and scratching that itch to push ink across a page.

Huitzi

One great thing about living in the midwest is that there are craft breweries everywhere. Because these are small companies and can't afford huge ad campaigns, they have to work to stand out. I think it's such a treat to walk through the store and see product design for each company.

Many companies have a theme in which all their beers are named. One of my favorites is called Five Rabbit. Their beers are animal themed with a Central American twist.  I found this beauty at the store during the end of Polar Vortex and let's be frank, I'm a sucker hummingbirds. I stopped to examine the label and realized (of course!) that it is a Five Rabbit product.  The side of the bottle says:

Art journal page (where I should have used a thinner Pen)

"Huitzi is a winter beer that doesn´t wallow in the dark cold days of this season. Like it’s namesake, the Aztec hummingbird god Huitzilopoctli who smashed the winter to allow the sun to return, Huitzi looks forward to the brighter promise of spring. We think of it as a winter cooler."

WHAT--Did I just read that correctly: "hummingbird god?" Yes, yes there was an Aztec hummingbird god. Sort of...

Huitzilopochtli was a warrior and sun god.  In art he is depicted as a hummingbird (sometimes an eagle) or a warrior wearing hummingbird feathers. As the son of the earth goddess and a sun god, the legend says that he created the moon and stars from his siblings who tried to kill him and their mother. According to the legend the spirits of fallen warriors would join him in the sun and then be reincarnated as hummingbirds.

The product design for this beer and the stories its name honors caught my imagination. Over Christmas break I found an Art Blanc Modo Arte journal on clearance at Hobby Lobby and bought it as I always do art and office supplies: on impulse.  But like so many journals, the beautiful cover and blank pages keep me from using them. Not this time, Huitzi bounced around in my imagination as the snow fell and became the first entry in my new art journal.