Holidays are around the corner and so was post cyber monday deals. I encouraged a lot of my readers to start different forms of entertainment that do not require staring at a screen this winter. One of those things was journaling. Journaling has proven to release stress and is a great way to express yourself without judgment or approval. Journaling is an art form.
I personally love creating junk journals with random stickers and clippings. My first junk journal was gifted to me by my cousin who hand made one and passed it on to me, and I was really grateful for the sincere gift of writing creativity.
To help kick off your journal or to get a gift for a friend, here are some fun journal items and accessories you can get off of SheIn.
Fun items to Kick Off Yours or Your Friend’s Journal
I am sharing my top visual resources for blogging and social media.
As a blogger, we are always looking for resources to bring our social media content to the next level. Most of us do not have the capacity to take our own photos for EVERY post, and creating a graphic from scratch can be difficult, so finding free resources of graphics and royalty-free photos have been a game changer.
Here are some of the best websites I use to take my posts to the next level.
Unsplash.com
The BEST Photo Resources on the Web
Wondering where bloggers get that cute dog stock photos, a model looking productive on a computer photo or the dreamy beach house photos? These websites are where. If you are not the best photographer or just do not have the time or resources to set up environmental photoshoots (shooting in the subject’s environment), these website will help you. Blog posts that have a compelling photo bring more traffic and increase your SEO score.
Try and stick to a theme when getting photos, and if you want to go the extra mile, edit the feature photos to go with your aesthetic.
The BEST Quick Design Resources on the Web
I am a graphic designer who is fully capable of using Adobe Creative Suite programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign to create graphics, but if I want to create or something quickly (especially for my personal brand) I usually run to apps and websites that give hundreds of already made templates which can be customized for my needs. Also if I need to quickly edit a photo before posting, I use easy to use apps for that. Here are just a few:
Canva – Instant custom graphic design tool and app, probably the most popular https://www.canva.com/
PicMonkey – Advanced but easy to use photo editor. Oldie but goodie. Used to be free but now there is a small monthly fee, but if you want to invest, give the free trial a try. https://www.picmonkey.com/features
Crello – A great website for graphic design templates with fun illustrations. https://crello.com/
Airbrush (iOS and Android app): Great for doing quick yet detailed photo edits to your social media posts. They have a great library of filters as well. https://appairbrush.com/. I will be creating a whole post about apps I use to edit my social media posts next week.
Other Resources That Will Save You Time
Coolors.co
Typography
If you are working on Adobe files like photoshop and want to own those cool fonts you see online for free, this is where you can find and download them (or link them to your code!).
Struggling to find a color palette that works for your brand? These resources are great to see what the colors look like together, and can easily be exported in many ways. All of them provide HEX # codes to be reproduced anywhere online.
I hope that this list helps you with your blogging or social media journey as a visual content creator. More graphic design posts will be coming soon. I have been a graphic designer for several years but I am always learning. Read about my design story and how I chose the visual design field!
Arienne Visuals 