zondag 15 november 2015

My article on Paperblanks

Here is my article on Paperblanks. I have an incredible amount of Paperblanks journals amassed over the years and I use them not only for writing but also for drawing, painting and sketching. The quality of the paper is astounding. Here is the link to the article which I will paste below in full as well: http://blog.paperblanks.com/2015/11/5-questions-with-rose-blogger-and-recent-endpaper-contributor/



5 Questions with Rose, Blogger and Recent Endpaper Contributor


For our “X Questions With” series, we’re speaking with talented individuals from around the world who have inspired us with their creativity and passion. If you have a story to tell or someone you’d like to see profiled, let us know in the comments or on Facebook or Twitter!
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Today, we’re chatting with Rose Lionesse, a passionate writer/reader/artist. Writing, reading and drawing makes her happy and brings her into a meditative state where she feels she is connected to her inner being and the rest of the universe. She is passionate about everything that has to do with stationery, and you can read more about the notebooks and other stationery she loves on www.enjoyhappystationery.blogspot.nl.
You can also check out the two guest blogging stories she contributed to the Endpaper on the subjects of dream and love journalling.

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1) Please tell us a little about yourself.

Name: Rose Lionesse
City: The Hague
Places Travelled: Paris, London, Istanbul, Brussels, Amsterdam, New York
Website: www.enjoyhappystationery.blogspot.nl
Education/Training: Leiden University, International Relations
Occupation: Projects
Passions: Writing is my biggest passion. I absolutely love writing in journals and notebooks and never have any problems finding something to write about. I love writing by hand and I use different colors in my journals. I have journals in which I write my day-to-day worries, situations, crazy thoughts, ailments and everything else. I also have notebooks for my projects, notebooks for studying (I make summaries of each book I read, sometimes only a quote from the book or a paragraph), notebooks for poetry, notebooks for things to explore, travel journals, a lists journal, an art journal, a love journal and dream journals. I write short stories, poetry, letters and I even wrote a novel – it was actually not literary, I admit, even though I tried to write the next great novel ;-).
I also love books. I have many, many favorite authors and here is a small selection from this moment: Isabel Allende, Plato, Aristotle, Rumi, Hafez, Danny Kock, Henry Miller, Nikolai Gogol, Stephen King, Gregg Braden, Carl Sagan.
My other passion is drawing/creating – sketches, sketchnotes, logos, watercolor painting, oil painting or just doodling with colors.

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2) Could you tell us more about your journal writing?

Writing in my journals is not only my passion, it is also a wonderful way for me to relax. When I write in my journals, I feel I am in a kind of meditative state and view the world from a different perspective. In such a state, I also feel very connected with my inner being and the rest of the universe.
I have hoarded many journals over the years and the brand that I have the most of is Paperblanks®.
I cannot remember when I first saw a Paperblanks® journal but I remember that when I saw it, I was immediately mesmerized. The thick cover with the shiny colors and design did not let me go. My first one was from the Laurel Burch Collection (Mystical Horses) and I could not stop looking at it.
What I like about the paper of Paperblanks® is that it has an elegant color, a kind of cream that gives it a solemn perspective. In addition, the paper is thick enough for watercolors. I used Paperblanks® just for writing but, for some reason, one day I decided to do my sketches in it as well, with felt tip pens, watercolors and aquarel pencils.

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3) What inspires you as a writer and artist?

Despite the fact that I don’t have problems knowing what to write about in my journals, I do need inspiration. I have written since I was really young and have not stopped since. Even if you don’t know what to write, there is something to complain or wonder about – questions or even writing down your boredom.
But inspiration is important to me. I notice that my writing is so much better when inspired. I took a writing class a few years ago and my writing teacher noticed that certain parts were of a good quality. Those were the parts I had written when I was inspired. Yet inspiration is difficult to gather, I believe.
Picasso said: “The muse has to catch you working.” I derive inspiration from certain images – often landscapes and especially nature – but I also derive inspiration from a good conversation, an interesting taste from a new food, art, travelling, a nice dress, colors, stationery and looking at other people’s journals and notebooks. Also, I catch myself looking at websites such as Paperblanks® for inspiration.
I write articles about stationery and that is also something that inspires me. I see stationery as tools for development and creativity. Pens, paper, notebooks and journals are all items that you can hold in your hand and that will serve you for whatever creative purpose. There are so many different people with different professions who all tell me how their creativity and idea generation benefitted from pens and paper. That fascinates me. As long as I can remember, I have been crazy for stationery.
I may not be an established writer or famous artist but that does not keep me from doing what I love most. There is so much joy in watching the creative process unfold under your fingers and surprising yourself. My reward lies in the making of my art and the process of writing. There is nothing else that gives me so much joy. When one of my articles was published on the Paperblanks® blog, I was excited. I could only hope that my article about dream journalling would inspire others.

4) Has anyone inspired you to write?

I read a book when I was about 8 years old and the book was in a diary form. The main character was an adventurous, young girl who wanted to see something of the world and be more of an adult. The book had such an impact on me that I wanted to be that girl and I started keeping a diary/journal. I remember she called her diary “Renee,” and that is what I called my journal as well.

5) What is your advice for aspiring writers and artists?

Listen to your own voice. There are so many people out there who want to give advice to you and you should distinguish the ones who want to provide genuine advice from the ones who are just criticizing. You have a unique voice and that voice should not be diluted, it should be totally you. Let that voice lead you and you will go to nice places.
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dinsdag 3 november 2015

My article about journalling for the Rhodia website

The following is an article I wrote for the Rhodia website, called Rhodia Drive. Check out their website, it is full of lovely notebooks and stationery: http://www.rhodiadrive.com/2015/11/03/guest-blogger-rose-from-enjoy-happy-stationery/


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Rose reviews happy stationery over at www.enjoyhappystationery.blogspot.nl. You can view more of her work at the link.

I am very excited to be a guest blogger for Rhodia Drive. I have heard so many positive things about Rhodia. As an absolute stationery lover, I love everything that has to do with stationery; notebooks, journals, pens, pencils and art supplies. Browsing through the Rhodia Drive website was highly entertaining and I love every single article and post on it. Writing is an integral part of my life and outside the people in my life the most precious thing. With this guest post I hope to convey some of the enthusiasm to you.
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Writing means many things for different people. One of the things that I love about writing is the fact that it can bring me into different kind of states of mind. Nowadays my favorite kind of state to be in with writing is what I call the meditative state. Even as a young child, when I would write poetry, I felt I would be connected to something outside myself. With writing you can reach to something outside of you and maybe, hopefully, expand your mind or boundaries. Whilst writing, I would feel I was in a different realm. If I would write about the unicorns running on the moon, I would actually see that in real. Or I might feel I was that unicorn and gliding off of rainbows in the universe. You can imagine I would rather want to stay in that state. Stationery and writing by hand is the best way for me to be in that state.
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When I got older, I used my stationery also for my studies. For me, it was the most natural thing in the world to have different kind of notebooks, journals, cahiers and spiral notebooks for my studies. In addition, I would bring fineliners, markers, colored pens and my notetaking pens. For my fellow students I seemed a kind of eccentric. Until they saw me taking my notes and passing my exams only through my notetaking. Then I exchanged my notes with them for borrowing their books that I could not afford. To this day colleagues ask me if they can borrow my notes because I take them extensively but sort them and categorize them. Using different kind of notebooks and paper, you can focus on the main things.
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I cherish my writing moments. As mentioned, it brings me in a different kind of state of mind. If I feel down, it is more difficult to write, everything actually seems more difficult then. I do make attempts to write, and then you can at least be happy that you did, but it is different when you are in an enthusiastic mood. There is also another thing that I cherish in life: self-development and self-improvement. I had a formal university education and it did bring me formal knowledge. Yet, I know there is so much out there that I don’t know and would like to know. To assess that knowledge, I tried to seek that knowledge outside of myself. Then I read a few books about the fact that it is good to attain knowledge by quietly listening, meditating, and focusing. Especially the things about yourself will become clear.
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How does one listen quietly to oneself? With years of journal writing experience I could enter that state of mind through writing. How exactly I cannot explain. This dawned on me in the recent couple of years. Once I was aware of this, I tried to become more conscious of it and act upon it. Writing is never just writing for me. There is always this awareness of myself and the connection with myself. I feel I am not only getting to know myself better with each word and each sentence, it brings me tremendous joy.
People always ask me what to write about. Maybe they assume that I write only about the metaphysical things in life and stellar events. The truth is that I sometimes just complain about the petty things in life and also repeat myself a lot of times. There are subjects that are grateful to be used for weeks in a row, let’s stay the colleague that tried to get your promotion and did or the bus that is always late. Of course, sometimes the deep reflections are also there. Usually, after you started writing about the mundane things. So these have a reason too and I won’t undervalue them because they can lead to some insights. In the first months of 2014 I wrote two journals in three months about something that I needed to recover from. I had no idea why it was so difficult. The two journals and the largest part of the third journal were almost identical in repetitive words and lines and inner conversations. Until in the end, then they led to some insight that was quite revealing. I realized I had to leave my comfort zone and give up some routines. It was hard but without that journal writing and repeating words, I probably would not have ended up with that conclusion.
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Usually, I finish at least four journals a year and I have different journals; dream journals, a love journal, travel journals, short trip journals, project journals and art journals. Starting a new journal is always exciting to me and alone for that reason I would finish one to start another. If you want to read more about my journals or articles about stationery, you can check out my website at www.enjoyhappystationery.blogspot.nl.