Earth-Friendly Habits

Today I want to share a list of small changes we can all make in our daily lives to better love this planet that we live on.  I haven’t incorporated all of them into my life yet, but I am working on it and hope to keep finding more ways!  If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them!

REDUCE

Shop at Goodwill, Vintage shops, and yard sales.

Not only can you get the books, toys, clothes, and other items you need more cheaply, you get to be part of the process of diverting items from the landfill.  Plus, if those jeans have already been washed you know they won’t go shrinking on you when you take them home and wash them for the first time! And an added bonus: you could be supporting small businesses depending on where you choose to shop.

Some of my favorite pieces of clothing have been from thrift shops and consignment stores.  Most recently, a sweet leather jacket and a pair of forest green capris. And while I was in Denver, Colorado recently I purchased some awesome pins from Regal Vintage. Plus, we got to chat with the guy who was working there and he told us about how the store is his family’s business and how he’s seen the city of Denver develop over the past decade.

Choose less packaging.

Instead of buying all those individually packaged snacks, why not buy in bulk and then separate them into reusable bags like the ones listed here.  While it will take a little extra time and effort, in the long run it’ll save you money and help stop additional waste being added to landfills.

(Note: I haven’t done this yet… But reusable bags are a Wish List item and I definitely plan to have them by the time I start packing lunches for little ones. Right now, we go through about a box of plastic snack/sandwich bags about once a year.)

And on this same note: USE A REUSEABLE WATER BOTTLE.

Buy Eco-Conscious Products

There are so many things we use on a regular basis that we could easily substitute with more eco-conscious options.  Some of those include:

Bamboo toothbrushes > Plastic toothbrushes

DivaCup > Tampons

Reusable Straws > Disposable Straws

Reusable Sandwich Bags > Disposable Sandwich Bags

Reusable coffee filters/AeroPress > K-cups

I have a friend who swears by the DivaCup, know a family who loves their reusable straws, and my husband and I ADORE our AeroPress.  I am putting in an order right now for bamboo toothbrushes, and as I mentioned earlier, we will hopefully be getting some reusable snack and sandwich bags soon too!

…and is always true of the internet, someone else has made a similar list here!

Remember to bring those reusable grocery bags!

You’ve heard this, you know this… now find a way that works for you to remember to actually do this!  Whether it is keeping a stash of them in your car or writing yourself a reminder note… Doesn’t help having them if you don’t use them!

image source

Honestly, I love using my reusable bags.  Not only does it make carrying my groceries into the house easier, I know that I won’t have to feel as guilty when I see pictures of dying turtles eating plastic… (Not that doing these things is about minimizing our own negative feelings… but it definitely is a perk!)

Go Paperless

Almost all banks and businesses now have a paperless option.  Now, every once in a while I need and appreciate having printed copies of my bills/receipts. But if I am being honest, 95% of the time those things just end up in my recycling bin.  So take a look at your pile of mail and decide what you need in a physical form and what you could stand to get sent to you via email.

Reduce your water consumption

Turn off the sink when you brush your teeth, take shorter showers, don’t run the dishwasher until it is full, fix leaky toilets, change fixtures to the ‘water conserving’ versions.

Reduce your energy consumption

Turn off the lights, unplug electronics when you aren’t using them, turn down/up the temperature of your home (especially when you are going to be out of town for a couple days!), walk/ride a bike/take public transportation/carpool when available, buy a car with good gas mileage.

REUSE

Can you reuse those empty glass jars that your marinara sauce came in?  Could it become a flower vase? A container for leftover stew? Storage for craft supplies?  Be creative!

Donate your gently used clothes and other items to a thrift store instead of tossing them.

Use all those cardboard boxes that you get your Amazon shipments in for fort-building with your kids. Or deconstruct them and save them for the next time you, or a local college kid, needs to move. Or when you need to send packages at Christmas.

Toilet paper rolls are a favorite among the kids that I babysit.  They can be used for so many different crafts, from binoculars to owls.  The lists of activities are endless: here and here and here and…

Use old magazines to collage or scrapbook (by yourself or with kiddos).  Kids often love getting to flip through the pages and cut out the vibrant colors to form their own creations.  (Just make sure they are child-appropriate magazines… You wouldn’t believe some of the images that are used for advertisements these days!)

RECYCLE

Really there is no excuse in this day and age NOT to recycle.  Instead of one bin, simply put it in the bin right next to it!

Know what your local recycling plant accepts and stick to that.  Don’t contaminate an otherwise good batch of recyclable materials with something that can’t be recycled.

Teach your kids to get in habit of recycling.

You can even go one step further and buy things that are specifically packaged in recyclable materials.

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MORE

It’s always kind of funny (though never surprising) when I make my own lists and posts and then find someone who has made an equally comprehensive, if not better list than my own.  Check out this awesome article on Greatist.com for more tips and ideas!

Kicking Butt & Taking Names

Hey everyone!!

So after that previous post containing some unfortunate news about not getting the Penland scholarship, now it’s time for a FUN POST filled with exciting news! Remember how one of my 2018 goals was to write, illustrate, and publish a children’s book? Well, that goal has officially been accomplished!  After getting my test print, I ordered 150 books that were delivered to my door this week!  Meggoline is officially in print! (There’s a lot of exclamations points in this post so far, I know.  But I’m just SO EXCITED!)  I unloaded the boxes into this massive stack in my studio and have spent the last couple days signing them, addressing envelopes, packaging them up, and making trips to the post office!  Thankfully the postal workers have been much kinder about having to process all of these packages than I had thought they would be.  Let’s hope that continues because book orders keep rolling in!!  I am so, so grateful to everyone who has supported me on this journey so far!  Whether through backing my Kickstarter, leaving kind comments on my Instagram updates, liking my Meggoline Facebook page, or ordering the book itself, it has all been very encouraging and uplifting.

So what’s next for me?

Right now I still have a couple dolls I need to finish for the Kickstarter rewards. (I have loved sewing them, but MAN they are taking longer than I had anticipated!)  Then I have a couple collabs I hope to work on with some lovely folks on Instagram. PLUS, I am getting my Etsy shop prepped for a re-launch on May 1, 2018 (mark your calendars)!  And meanwhile, don’t you worry, I am definitely still brainstorming ideas for my next book!

Scroll down some photos of the printed book and stay tuned for more fun things to come!

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No Hope, No Disappointment

It’s easier to just share the highlight reel, easier to only show the happy, exciting moments.  Just like it’s easier to be cynical, easier to give up, easier not to hope for anything.  Because it’s hard to deal with disappointment.  It’s hard to fail or feel like I didn’t live up to expectations.  It’s hard for things to not go as planned.  And so I think I have had a tendency during my life toward cynicism.  I have spent a lot of time looking at the potential pitfalls and expecting the worst.  The thing is, you’d think this would make the unexpected goodness more joyful, but instead it tends to just rob the joy from the whole process.  It stunts my ability to authentically care about the things I care about and to get excited about the things for which I am hopeful.

To put this in context, months ago I found out that Jay Ryan of The Bird Machine was going to be one of the artists leading a session at Penland School of Crafts this summer.  I have wanted to learn to screenprint for quite some time now and am in love with Jay Ryan’s work (to prove this love, I can attest to having four of his prints hung in my apartment, in addition to his book on my shelf), so this news definitely caught my attention.  After looking into costs, however, it was clear that I wouldn’t be able to attend without a scholarship.  I spent weeks putting together an application, choosing what to include in my work sample, and getting recommendations.  I was really excited about the possibility of learning a new skill and getting to meet other artists. Even if I didn’t get my first choice of session, I was excited about any possibility of attending Penland.

After waiting months to hear back, I got a response in the mail today.  As you can probably guess, based on what I’ve said so far, I wasn’t awarded a scholarship and thus won’t be attending Penland this summer.  After reading the rejection letter I went outside to sit and think for a while.  I found myself oscillating between emotions, trying to convince myself of apathy yet also feeling definite disappointment.  My thoughts kept returning to, “See, this is why you shouldn’t hope for things.  Getting excited just leads to disappointment.  How did you let yourself fall into that trap?  Haven’t you learned anything?”  I kept trying to tell myself, “It’s better this way anyway.  Now you won’t have to face that social anxiety, won’t have to travel, and you won’t have the chance to make a fool of yourself in front of all those other artists.”  But then something caused me to stop and looked at what was going on in my head.  And as I did this, I noticed a newfound desire within me to fight these thoughts.  I want to give myself the freedom to be upset, to feel disappointed.  I want to use this as a way of helping to gauge what I am actually passionate about, instead of pretending, trying to convince myself that I wasn’t that interested in it.  Now, of course I don’t want to dwell in the disappointment.  I don’t want to let it consume me, but I do think a healthy level of it is okay.  Especially if I can somehow use that emotion to propel me forward try again, to work harder, to keep chasing (and helping to identify) my passions.

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

GOALS: update

WOW it has been a busy couple of weeks!  Who knew that chasing my dreams and accomplishing goals would so all-consuming.  But it has been such a blast so far and honestly really encouraging.

(If you are interested in following along on the day to day I provide a lot more frequent updates via Instagram (@the.megan.mill) and Facebook. 

Goal: Author/Illustrator

If you want to know more about the book I am writing or get a copy of it, you can see the Kickstarter page here .  There are also other rewards, like vinyl stickers, postcards, prints, or commissioned art.  The campaign goes until the end of February and as of right now I am only $700 away from my goal!  Which means 39 lovely backers out there have helped me to get 72% of the way!

The process itself has consisted of so many different pieces, from sketching, inking the final drawings, painting the illustrations, scanning, digitally editing, page layouts, text editing, marketing, researching publishing methods, connecting with nannies on social media, reaching out to organizations and companies to collaborate (that hasn’t been as successful as I would have hoped… thus far anyway… but if you want to collaborate please let me know!), filtering through unsolicited advice, thanking backers, prepping files for print… Gosh, the list goes on and on!

In reality though, it really has been fun to have a goal to reach for and go after.  And even more encouraging has been the chance to get to connect with so many awesome people!  Lots of nannies have messaged me to say how excited they are for this book… how they have been looking for a resource like this or how they wish there were more children’s books on the market related to the topic of nannies.  I never knew how big the nannying community actually was!  So many others out there who also love kids and crafts, creativity and playgrounds.  But also so many other who have gotten close to a little one, developed a bond, but then had to say goodbye.  It really is a tough balance of holding on and letting go.  And not just for nannies… in life in general.  No matter who we love, nothing is permanent and we will all face changes, transitions, and goodbyes.

Because of the excitement I have seen and how much I have enjoyed this process, I am feeling more and more confident that this will not be my only children’s book.  I have one or two more in mind for now… But am trying to not get too far ahead of myself… Gotta finish one first!

For those of you who don’t know me or really know my history, I have struggled with depression on and off for most of my life.  There have been a lot of days where everything has felt so remarkably meaningless and it was hard to get excited about anything.  So the fact that I have goals right now… and not goals that were part of a pre-determined plan (graduate high school, go to college, get a degree, get a job, etc.), goals that I am excited about and actually want to achieve… this feels big. My life feel full of passion and authenticity and dreams!  (Man, I sound like a sappy commercial or something…)  And to bring it back down to earth, ya, there have been hard days.  Days of anxiety and self-doubt and frustration.  Days where I have said “holy crap holy crap what am I doing, I’m not qualified for this, I’m going to fail, ahhhh”.  But all-in-all it has been a good season.

Though, speaking of seasons, it has been remarkably cold here in Virginia recently.  So one of my other goals to walk all of Blacksburg hasn’t gotten a whole lot of focus.  In fact, I think I have only been on three outdoor walks since the new year. But as things warm up I am excited to get back into that as well.  Today I went out on a trail I never knew existed and found a beautiful field, informational plant signs, and some deer poop…. So, that was a win, right?

Thanks for following along on this journey!  I would love to connect with you, hear your goals and passions (or what you saw on a walk today!) so feel free to leave a comment below! :)

GOAL: author//illustrator

Hey friends,

As it has been miserably cold here in Blacksburg since the new year started I have unfortunately made no progress yet on my goal to walk all the streets. However, I do have some other goals on my list for 2018 that I have yet to share here on the blog.  For example, I would like to complete a Lynda CSS course before the year ends. I would like to attempt to screenprint with the kit my husband gave me for my birthday last year (preferably without making a complete mess of my apartment…).  I would like to knit something following a pattern (that isn’t a scarf, pillow, or standard headband).  But as this post title suggests, the big one for the day is my goal to write, illustrate, and publish a children’s book.  I am really excited about this one and have already been working for a couple months on ideas, sketches, research, layouts, etc.  There will definitely be lots more to come in future posts about the process, the origin of the idea, the inspiration, and my emotions related to it all, but for now I wanted to share a little research project I have been working on in order to learn more about the world of children’s books.

So in college I majored in architecture.  This obviously meant I took lots of design courses and in design courses one learns the importance of diagrams.  There is beauty to the distillation of an idea down to it’s core parts/nodes/interactions/relationships.  In college I also took a children’s literature course (which I LOVED).  The remainder of this post will be a combination of those two areas of my past experience as I explore popular children’s book covers (primarily the ones listed here).

As I have been working on the artwork for this book it has become increasingly obvious that having a good cover is vital. But what constitutes a good cover?  Why are certain ones more successful than others?  And let’s be honest here.  As much as we would all like to say that we try not to judge books by their covers, we know we all do it.  We’re visual creatures with a ton of sensory input to sift through every day and the world is FILLED with books and art and illustrations.  It would be impossible to not function this way.  But knowing that, how can one little book ever hope to stand out admist all the others?

(and before I get discouraged and anxious and fall into an existential crisis, let’s get going…)

Book Cover Analysis

Aberdeen

by Stacey Previn

• mouse the main subject
• eye drawn to the red balloon
• colorful flowers
• eye moves upward to top right
• subtitle: can a little mouse have a big adventure?

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The Bear and the Piano

by David Litchfield

• magical environment with fireflies and vines
• central layout
• curtains suggest a performance and help frame the subject
• why is there a piano in the woods? is it big or is the bear small? what will the bear do with it?

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Book Uncle and Me

by Uma Krishnaswami, Illustrated by Julianna Swaney

• she’s looking off to the left (what’s over there?)
• the birds flying add motion
• sign that says “Vote Samuel” (do we meet samuel?)
• the question we’re all asking…what’s a book uncle?
• colorful stack of books (inviting and fun)
• obviously about reading; she is holding a book, stack of books, sign says “books free give one take one read read read”

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Cat in the Hat

by Dr. Seuss

• A classic book with a well-known cover
• based upon thirds
• blue, black, white, and red

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Cogheart

by Peter Bunzl

• title stands out well amidst so much going on
• dashed line for movement (blimp)
• the fox, people, and blimp are all moving in a counterclockwise direction
• subtitle: a stunning adventure of danger and daring
• windup fox, moon/stars/clouds, clock, 2 people, buildings, key, locket-like photo
• suggestive of travel, especially traveling in time

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Counting Thyme

by Melanie Conklin

• cold blue background with most warmth form the window with the girl in red
• papers thrown/flying
• Thyme spelled like spice…maybe a name?
• bird in a window…why?
• just in general, a question of what is going on? what is this about? I am intrigued.

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Dave’s Cave

by Frann Preston-Gannon

• distressed, masculine font
• warm colored focal point (caveman)
• he’s looking off at… what? his cave?
• simple, but asks a question of what is special about dave’s cave? he’s smiling… is he proud of his cave?

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Full of Beans

by Jennifer L. Holm

• has a stamped/lithograph/letterpress quality
• solid colors
• movement off page
• just the hand of a kid within the visible frame (leaves mystery)
• dog in a wagon filled with cans (of beans?)… where are they going?
• subtitle: Never tell a lie…Unless you have to.
• what might you have to tell a lie about? mischievous. sounds like like adventure/trouble/mishap

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Goodnight Moon

by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd

• classic book
• solid colors
• layout based upon diagonal eye movement between the red-orange of the fire, to the red-orange of the curtains, to the moon in the window

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Henry and the Guardians of the Lost

by Jenny Nimmo

• red focal point (jacket on boy, assumed to be Henry) with cool colored surroundings
• is that a mini person by him?
• markings on the archway suggest historical/ancient/mystical
• wolves hidden in the woods on the sides (danger lurks)
• he’s looking upward, presumably at the markings
• is Lost a group? a place? anyone lost in that forest? does Henry meet the guardians because he gets lost? does he become a guardian?

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Journey

by Aaron Becker

• the red of the boat and crayon match; similar to title
• from focal point of boat in lower left, follow gaze of girl up to the castle where presumably her journey will take her; movement
• upon closer inspection a light purple bird in the sky above the towers that seems out of place compared to the colors of the castle, but more similar to the brightness of the boat

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Leave Me Alone

by Vera Brosgol

• yelled title is the focal point
• secondarily the old lady yelling it
• and then eyes go to the four individuals who look friendly and interested in the lady (and are probably the reason for her exclamation…)

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Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion

by Alex T. Smith

• colorful
• expressive characters: mean looking lion, girl looks disapproving/quizzical
• set of three: lion, girl, goat
• eyes looking up at lion, lion looking at reader
• is the lion going to try and eat the girl? neither her nor the goat look too concerned about that possibility…

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Madeline

by Ludwig Bemelmans

• classic book and cover
• eiffel tower and miss clavel are aligned but slightly off center
• the real focus is not France, nor the eleven girls, but Madeline in particular who is turned around to face the reader and is along the central axis of the page

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The Night Gardener

by Terry Fan and Eric Fan

• assumption that the night gardener of the title made this owl tree
• how is the boy related to the story? is he the gardener? discoverer?
• it is, indeed, nighttime
• stable and centered, cool colored; nonthreatening cover

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One Day in the Eucalyptus Tree, Eucalyptus Tree

by Daniel Bernstrom, Illustrated by Brendan Wenzel

• colorful jungle-like scene
• animals looking down from vines/tree
• boy looking at pinwheel in hand
• he’s in motion, walking and looking happy
• assumed to be aimed at younger readers given the repetition in the title

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Pax

by Sara Pennypacker, Illustrated by Jon Klassen

• dog/fox/wold looking out over the land toward the sun; assumption that it’s name is Pax?
• is it longing for an adventure? looking for something? enjoying the sunset? wild? tame? lost?
• this one is pretty vague as to potential plot

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Penguin Problems

by Jory John and Lane Smith

• assumption: the problem has to do with too many penguins
• repetition and pattern (and breaking it)
• simple and effective color scheme
• one different hidden among many of the same
• is he confused? concerned? annoyed?
• could be a counting book…

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Saving Wonder

by Mary Knight

• deer is the focal point, with antlers become trees that two children (silhouettes) are sitting in
• Wonder the deer’s name?
• wonder at nature? (mountains, clouds, branches with leaves)
• perhaps a pun suggesting that both nature and the feelings of wonder toward nature are in need of saving?

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Some Kind of Happiness

by Claire Legrand

• looks like a golden section/rectangle ratio might have been used for the layout
• central axis with multiple points of interest along it including a house, person, and crown
• I first assumed the person was looking up the hill at the house, but perhaps walking down in the woods toward the crown?
• where is the happiness found? multiple kinds of happiness?
• yellow of the crown draws eyes downward; seemingly hidden in the forest

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The Storyteller

by Evan Turk

• off-center
• the stories extend beyond the border, as do the clouds (storytelling of a world beyond the current borders?)
• big and exciting and magical
• illustration reinforcing the title
• what’s in the bag? what does he tell stories about? to whom?

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Tree

by Britta Teckentrup

• subtitle: a peek through picture book
• owl’s hold like a peek through hole into a home/different world; let’s look inside
• colorful, cool background with warm colored trunk and animals
• simple shapes and generally inviting

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We Are Giants

by Amber Lee Dodd

• title in red and giant
• red echoed in the flowers
• shadows/silhouettes are secondary focal point
• shadows bigger than the people/kids really are; perhaps they feel big and powerful? holding hands with friends… the power of friendship? are they playing pretend?

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When Friendship Followed Me Home

by Paul Griffin

• pun on a dog named Friendship or the dog becomes a friend
• title shaped to fit the dog shape and is the primary focus
• mostly shades of blue with yellow accents

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When the Sea Turned to Silver

by Grace Lin

• double symmetry broken by the sea/horse/people
• downward slope and fear of children and anger of horse create an overall scary scene
• disruption of peace and order
• intertwined cool and warm colors, though dominated by the blue of the sea; interrupted by the silver of the horse
• seemingly Asian symbols on top and bottom

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Wolf Hollow

by Lauren Wolk

• writing in a journal (in a place called Wolf Hollow?)
• the title is in a hollow created by the trees/words
• perhaps an actual cozy, secret place, or safety is found in the process of journaling?
• description within the script that acts both as a frame and a conveyor of information

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Wow. Okay. So, I think I am done with that exercise for a while. That took longer than I expected!

In conclusion, I think there are a ton of excellent cover examples that use all sorts of methods for conveying the subjects of their stories and arousing interest in the reader. Overall the basic concepts I seemed to pick up on include:

• Warm and cool colors of the illustrations
• Movement and stability in the layouts
• Symbolism, metaphors, puns
• Typeface, font size, and color
• The direction of the gazes of the characters
• How to create focal points and move the readers gaze
• How to invoke questions and interest

So, any thoughts? Insights?

Stay posted for more information about my 2018 goals, specifically the upcoming children’s book!

 

GOAL: walk all the streets

I am tired of seeing the same route every time I go for a walk.  I am tired of the extra pounds I have put on since being married.  I am tired of not having any goals that I get me excited.  I am tired of not feeling proud of myself… and in fact, feeling kind of like a loser.  So I am working to change that.  Let’s go 2018.

Goal #1: Walk all the streets in Blacksburg.

(Yes.. I recognize that I am going to have to put some constraints and limits on this but I haven’t yet figured out what those are.  One I do know, however, is I will not be walking the highway (460 for you locals).  Two: I will not be trespassing on any private property or restricted areas.  Edge boundaries are TBD.)

Three days so far to test this idea.  It’s actually been a blast, getting to walk streets full of old memories, but also explore new little nooks and crannies of the town I have lived in for now… what would it be… 6.5 years.

I think there will be more maps to come… This project has gotten me thinking about all the knowledge of this place I have accumulated over my time in Blacksburg and how desperate I was for information when I first came here as a freshmen at Virginia Tech.  Stay tuned for more in the future!