# The brutal truth about writing your first book with Martina Calvi

An episode of [Charmed](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6811746182), 26 Oct 2026, 50 min.

Audio: https://mgln.ai/e/187/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/fa326977-3de5-4283-9b8b-af3500c58607/0c9069da-16a3-4fab-90d6-b4c500305ea8/0e71d3a5-7aaa-43ac-93ba-b4ef004d2145/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=844922c2-a8ca-4b8e-b6a4-b4c500306343

What happens when our childhood obsessions become the map of who we are? In this episode of Charmed, host Sam Todd is joined by author and the internet's queen of memory collecting Martina Calvi, to chat about a lifelong love affair with junk journaling, ephemera and the tiny treasures that hold a whole story. Martina takes us behind the scenes of her creative life - from starting her first travel journal on an epic three-month European family trip at age eight, to building her stunning trilogy of books, including her latest release, The Art of Snail Mail. They dive deep into the emotional side of collecting: how handwriting and handmade letters act as the ultimate antidote to digital "slop", why perfectionism is the enemy of creativity, and why the scuffed, dirty little things we hold onto mean we are actually living. Plus, in a very special show-and-tell moment, Martina brings in a gorgeous handmade parcel filled with tactile treasures for Sam, and they tackle your listener questions on the brutal realities and unexpected costs of writing and publishing your first book. Charmed, with Sam Todd. Stories worn to tell, with Pandora. THE END BITS Follow Sam Todd on instagram/ TikTok @SamTodd HOSTED BY: Sam Todd PRODUCED BY: Sally Best DOP: Becky Lillyman VIDEO EDITOR: Phoebe Edwards EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Shauna Anderson We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Land on which we have recorded this podcast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Charmed is all about our collections and our memories and
[0:03] Speaker 1: why they matter. Our keepsakes can be a representation of
[0:06] Speaker 1: personal style and quality, a reminder of who we are.
[0:10] Speaker 1: Some stories are worn to tell with Pandora. Keep listening
[0:14] Speaker 1: for more. That is a word that I learned from
[0:16] Speaker 1: reading your books. Ephemera.
[0:18] Speaker 2: We are.
[0:19] Speaker 1: Slop. It's true, we are in the age of slop.
[0:21] Speaker 2: We are in the age of slop.
[0:22] Speaker 1: This has truly made my day. Like, this is the
[0:24] Speaker 1: most beautiful, touching surprise ever. Hi, I'm Sam Todd and
[0:39] Speaker 1: welcome to Charmed. This is a show about the things
[0:42] Speaker 1: we keep. The random little things, the sentimental things, the
[0:46] Speaker 1: stuff that probably looks like nothing to anyone else, but
[0:49] Speaker 1: for some reason you can never throw it away. It
[0:51] Speaker 1: might be jewelry, a pen or a charm, something from
[0:54] Speaker 1: a trip, a book you've read 10 times, a scrapbook
[0:57] Speaker 1: full of receipts, or maybe a handwritten note or a
[0:59] Speaker 1: photo strip. Any tiny little object that somehow to you
[1:03] Speaker 1: holds a whole story. Every episode, I'll be chatting to
[1:06] Speaker 1: someone about the bits and pieces they've held on to
[1:08] Speaker 1: and what those things say about memory, nostalgia, obsession, and
[1:13] Speaker 1: the person they were when they found them. Because yes,
[1:16] Speaker 1: sometimes we collect things. Some of us collect a lot
[1:19] Speaker 1: of things. But most of the time, I think we're
[1:21] Speaker 1: really just trying to hold on to a feeling or
[1:23] Speaker 1: a memory. Today, I'm chatting to Martina Calvi, who is
[1:26] Speaker 1: basically the internet's queen of memory collecting. She has built
[1:30] Speaker 1: this whole beautiful world around scrapbooks, junk journals, tiny keepsakes,
[1:35] Speaker 1: collected scraps, stickers, drawings, handwritten notes, and all of the
[1:39] Speaker 1: little things that most people, perhaps including me, would throw away.
[1:42] Speaker 1: But somehow, in Martina's hands, they become art. Martina herself
[1:47] Speaker 1: is an author with three published books to her name,
[1:50] Speaker 1: her most recent being The Art of Snail Mail, which
[1:53] Speaker 1: just came out this month. Incidentally, I am also an author-to-be,
[1:57] Speaker 1: if you didn't know. with my debut book coming out
[2:00] Speaker 1: early next year. We talk about our experience writing books,
[2:03] Speaker 1: why marked up pages in old journals can feel so personal,
[2:07] Speaker 1: and how a tiny receipt, ticket stub, label, or sticker
[2:11] Speaker 1: can instantly take you back to a very specific moment
[2:13] Speaker 1: in your life. But first, we're going to throw to
[2:21] Speaker 1: the Q & A section. Every week I put a
[2:24] Speaker 1: question box on my Instagram story pertaining to the topic
[2:26] Speaker 1: of the episode where you can submit questions. And obviously
[2:30] Speaker 1: this episode is all about books and I am writing
[2:33] Speaker 1: my first book, but I didn't want to give away
[2:35] Speaker 1: too much about my book just yet because we still
[2:38] Speaker 1: have a little while until it's out in the world.
[2:40] Speaker 1: And this episode is more so about Martina's books, but
[2:42] Speaker 1: I thought I would answer a few of your curious questions.
[2:46] Speaker 1: And our first question is from Cute Kitty. They asked,
[2:50] Speaker 1: how much does it cost roughly to publish one book?
[2:53] Speaker 1: So there is, of course, no one size fits all
[2:56] Speaker 1: answer for this, but I'm going to tell you something
[2:58] Speaker 1: for free. Unless you're a majorly famous author, which I
[3:01] Speaker 1: am not, you do not get in to writing books
[3:04] Speaker 1: to make money. And that is the truth. So when
[3:07] Speaker 1: you embark on writing a published book, generally speaking, and
[3:10] Speaker 1: in my case, you get a book advance. And that
[3:12] Speaker 1: is basically an advance fee that is supposed to cover
[3:15] Speaker 1: all of the time that you spend writing the book,
[3:17] Speaker 1: but it is not for free. Once the book goes
[3:20] Speaker 1: for sale, a percentage of your sales goes towards paying
[3:23] Speaker 1: back the advance and you don't start making any money
[3:25] Speaker 1: until you've paid back the advance. And here's the thing.
[3:29] Speaker 1: It's all good and well to get a book advance,
[3:31] Speaker 1: but I will tell you transparently on the podcast. I
[3:33] Speaker 1: feel like this is a space where I'm a lot
[3:34] Speaker 1: more candid and honest with you. To write the book,
[3:37] Speaker 1: to do all of the research, it's about Japan, to
[3:39] Speaker 1: physically be in Japan doing it, it cost me four
[3:43] Speaker 1: times my book advance.
[3:45] Speaker 2: Four times.
[3:46] Speaker 1: So I will not be making any profit off this
[3:49] Speaker 1: book for a long time. Maybe it'll be a New
[3:52] Speaker 1: York Times bestseller and it'll sell a million copies and
[3:54] Speaker 1: then I might make a profit, but I did not
[3:57] Speaker 1: go into it to make a profit. I went into
[3:58] Speaker 1: it because I wanted to make something tangible that I
[4:00] Speaker 1: could be so proud of and put out into the world.
[4:03] Speaker 1: The content of the book is something that I am
[4:05] Speaker 1: asked for all the time, so I have a really
[4:07] Speaker 1: good feeling that you're going to like it, but I
[4:10] Speaker 1: did not do it to make money. And next question
[4:13] Speaker 1: from Latope is, will it be mostly photos like a
[4:16] Speaker 1: coffee table book? Again, I don't want to spoil too much,
[4:18] Speaker 1: but I can confirm it's not a coffee table book. However,
[4:22] Speaker 1: it would look good on your coffee table and it
[4:24] Speaker 1: does have beautiful photography in it. There's more writing than photography.
[4:28] Speaker 1: But my partner, Harry, who is actually a photographer, was
[4:31] Speaker 1: able to do all of the photography for the book.
[4:33] Speaker 1: It was such a great experience to work on it together.
[4:36] Speaker 1: And so now not only will I be published author,
[4:39] Speaker 1: which is crazy to say, he will be a published
[4:41] Speaker 1: photographer with all of his work in the book. And
[4:44] Speaker 1: it was also very convenient for me because if he
[4:46] Speaker 1: took a picture of me and I hated it, I
[4:48] Speaker 1: could be like, that's ugly, do it again. Whereas if
[4:50] Speaker 1: I had hired a professional photographer, maybe I would have
[4:53] Speaker 1: had to be more professional. So I really liked that
[4:56] Speaker 1: setup for us. Next question comes from Grace and she asks,
[4:59] Speaker 1: what is your favorite book? My favorite book, which I
[5:02] Speaker 1: just so happen to have here with me today, is
[5:05] Speaker 1: The Six of Crows duology, which is now technically a trilogy.
[5:08] Speaker 1: A new novella in the series just came out, which
[5:11] Speaker 1: was such a surprise because this series was finished about
[5:14] Speaker 1: a decade ago. If you're not familiar with The Six
[5:16] Speaker 1: of Crows, it is a fantasy story with a romance subplot,
[5:20] Speaker 1: because I know that romantasy is all the rage at
[5:22] Speaker 1: the moment, and a book can either be fantasy or
[5:26] Speaker 1: with romance subplot or romance with fantasy subplot. As a
[5:29] Speaker 1: really good example of that, everybody's reading the books from
[5:32] Speaker 1: Sarah J Maas right now. Throne of Glass is fantasy
[5:35] Speaker 1: with romance. Akatar is romance with fantasy. And I prefer
[5:39] Speaker 1: the ones that are more about fantasy. I love the
[5:41] Speaker 1: world building. I love the magical powers. And Six of
[5:43] Speaker 1: Crows has that. But I do not claim to be
[5:47] Speaker 1: the pinnacle of taste. There is nothing I love more
[5:49] Speaker 1: than a heist movie. I love a heist. And Six
[5:52] Speaker 1: of Crows is a fantasy book with a heist. It's
[5:56] Speaker 1: all about them doing a heist and it has multiple POVs.
[5:59] Speaker 1: Just trust me, if you love fantasy books, you're going
[6:02] Speaker 1: to love this. My only complaint is that it's only
[6:04] Speaker 1: two and a half books. However, this is the newest
[6:07] Speaker 1: one that came out this year. It's called Six of Crows,
[6:10] Speaker 1: A Darker Shore. And I actually really wanted to show
[6:12] Speaker 1: it on this episode because This was a gift given
[6:15] Speaker 1: to me by one of my friends, Rebecca, who lives
[6:17] Speaker 1: in New York. But when this book came out, the
[6:19] Speaker 1: author did a special event in LA. And Rebecca lives
[6:21] Speaker 1: in New York, not LA. But her mom lives in LA.
[6:25] Speaker 1: She sent her mom to the author's event to get
[6:28] Speaker 1: a signed copy of this book series that she has
[6:30] Speaker 1: never read before to give to me when I came
[6:32] Speaker 1: to New York. How crazy is that? That is so
[6:35] Speaker 1: kind and so thoughtful. And this is my beautiful signed
[6:39] Speaker 1: copy of Six of Crows. And I also thought this
[6:42] Speaker 1: book would be good to bring on to this episode
[6:44] Speaker 1: because it has all of these little like scrapbooking things
[6:46] Speaker 1: in it. It has stickers, which I put on my suitcase.
[6:49] Speaker 1: And in the back, there is an author letter. It
[6:52] Speaker 1: says that Leigh Bardugo, who's the author, would like to
[6:55] Speaker 1: write another book in the series. So let us all
[6:57] Speaker 1: manifest together that there will be a Six of Crows 3.
[7:00] Speaker 1: And then our final question for this week comes from
[7:03] Speaker 1: Dreamy Bubbles. I love all your usernames this week, by
[7:06] Speaker 1: the way. And their question is, where can someone buy
[7:09] Speaker 1: your book and will you be autographing them? I'm so
[7:11] Speaker 1: glad that you asked. I will be autographing all of
[7:13] Speaker 1: my books whenever I see it out in the world.
[7:16] Speaker 1: It's going to be available globally. To my understanding, obviously,
[7:20] Speaker 1: things could change because it hasn't printed yet. But to
[7:23] Speaker 1: my understanding, it's going to be printed in Australia, the
[7:26] Speaker 1: United States, and the UK. And it'll be available online
[7:30] Speaker 1: on Amazon and a bunch of different booksellers. So no
[7:32] Speaker 1: matter where you are in the world, you will be
[7:34] Speaker 1: able to get my book, which is so exciting because
[7:36] Speaker 1: I know we have listeners from all over the world.
[7:38] Speaker 1: And I just can't wait for you to be able
[7:40] Speaker 1: to get your hands on it. Today, we're going to
[7:42] Speaker 1: be joined by Martina Calvi, and if anyone was made
[7:45] Speaker 1: for a show about the things we keep, it's her.
[7:52] Speaker 1: So welcome, Martina. To start us off, I want to
[7:55] Speaker 1: take us back to the very start. I know your
[7:57] Speaker 1: journey with junk journaling and reading started when you were
[8:00] Speaker 1: quite young. I believe you got your first journal when
[8:02] Speaker 1: you were eight. Is that correct?
[8:03] Speaker 2: Yes, it's true. Yeah, I've been journaling my whole life.
[8:06] Speaker 2: I've always been, there's even photos of me when I
[8:08] Speaker 2: was like three years old with a pen and paper
[8:11] Speaker 2: and I just have the happiest look on my face.
[8:13] Speaker 2: Like as soon as someone handed me a pen and paper,
[8:16] Speaker 2: I was just happy because I got to create and
[8:19] Speaker 2: I was a massive bookworm as well. I was reading
[8:22] Speaker 2: all the time. I had that, um, limit of my
[8:24] Speaker 2: local library with like, it was like 20 books and
[8:27] Speaker 2: I always reached that. It was like per loan or
[8:29] Speaker 2: whatever it was. So I'd come home with this huge
[8:32] Speaker 2: stack of books, like, and I'd get through them all.
[8:34] Speaker 2: I just, loved reading, was a massive reader, massive daydreamer.
[8:38] Speaker 1: That is so impressive to be so young with a
[8:40] Speaker 1: stack of 20 books. Yeah. But I'm also so happy
[8:44] Speaker 1: to hear that this is something that has carried through
[8:46] Speaker 1: your entire life because I always think who we were
[8:49] Speaker 1: as girls is who we are as women today. Like we,
[8:52] Speaker 1: you know, through our teens, maybe we stray a little
[8:54] Speaker 1: bit from who we were, but now that we're women,
[8:56] Speaker 1: we always come back to the things that we loved
[8:58] Speaker 1: when we were little.
[8:59] Speaker 2: I completely agree. I feel like being an adult is
[9:01] Speaker 2: just rediscovering what you loved as a child and being
[9:06] Speaker 2: proud of it or just having a different relationship with
[9:09] Speaker 2: it like the things that you thought were weird about
[9:10] Speaker 2: you or that you're a bit like cringe about they're
[9:13] Speaker 2: usually the things that make you really unique and special
[9:15] Speaker 2: as an adult.
[9:16] Speaker 1: Exactly like when i became a teenager i sold all
[9:19] Speaker 1: of my bretts dolls in a garage sale i started
[9:22] Speaker 1: to pretend like i wasn't a disney adult and now
[9:24] Speaker 1: that i am an adult I'm actually so proud about
[9:27] Speaker 1: those things and I really regret getting rid of the dolls.
[9:29] Speaker 2: Oh my God. They're back now. Oh, they're back. Yes.
[9:33] Speaker 2: I also threw out a bunch of journals from when
[9:35] Speaker 2: I was like between 15 and 17, like my angsty
[9:39] Speaker 2: teenage journals. I went through like my first big breakup
[9:42] Speaker 2: and I was like, no, I'm going to get rid
[9:44] Speaker 2: of all these journals. And now I'm like, oh, like
[9:47] Speaker 2: I have journals. I have probably like 50 journals now.
[9:51] Speaker 2: And I just have this little chunk of teenhood, which
[9:55] Speaker 2: is just like, Damn.
[9:56] Speaker 1: And those would be so good to read now because
[9:59] Speaker 1: the emotions. when you're a teenager are so big and
[10:01] Speaker 1: pure and unfiltered.
[10:03] Speaker 2: Yes and everything's the end of the world everything feels
[10:06] Speaker 2: like it's never going to be better or it's the
[10:09] Speaker 2: biggest deal in the world and I wish I could
[10:11] Speaker 2: just yeah there's so much like To look back.
[10:16] Speaker 1: And read it now, you would probably laugh at it
[10:18] Speaker 1: and be like, this is so ridiculous. But now there's
[10:21] Speaker 1: just like a chunk of your history that is missing.
[10:24] Speaker 2: It's missing from my timeline.
[10:25] Speaker 1: You know, I'm comforted to know that even you, the
[10:28] Speaker 1: queen of collecting and keeping things. I'm comforted to know
[10:34] Speaker 1: that I'm not the only one. So talking about sentimentality
[10:38] Speaker 1: and books and journaling, can you remember when you started
[10:41] Speaker 1: collecting the ephemera? That is a word that I learned
[10:44] Speaker 1: from reading your books. Ephemera.
[10:46] Speaker 2: Ephemera. Yes. I actually received a letter from a 12-year-old
[10:50] Speaker 2: the other day. I get letters all the time from
[10:52] Speaker 2: my readers. And she said, oh, now I love to
[10:55] Speaker 2: collect ephemera. Ephemera. She's like, I love saying that word now.
[10:59] Speaker 1: It's such a good word. Can you tell the girls
[11:01] Speaker 1: who are listening who had never heard it before, like me,
[11:03] Speaker 1: what does ephemera mean?
[11:04] Speaker 2: Ephemera is... Bits and pieces, basically. Just, I mean, I
[11:10] Speaker 2: understand it as like quite literally like receipts, pieces of paper,
[11:14] Speaker 2: but they're just, yeah, bits and pieces.
[11:17] Speaker 1: All the little treasures that you put in your junk journal.
[11:19] Speaker 2: Yes, exactly.
[11:19] Speaker 1: And so when did you start collecting those kinds of things?
[11:23] Speaker 2: Probably my first journal ever. So when I was eight
[11:25] Speaker 2: years old, my, so my mom's German, my dad's Italian,
[11:29] Speaker 2: and we had this big family trip planned to go
[11:32] Speaker 2: back to Italy, Germany, meet our family, connect with our roots.
[11:36] Speaker 2: And this was a very big deal. We took a
[11:37] Speaker 2: whole term off school to go on this trip. So
[11:39] Speaker 2: we were away for like three months. Wow. Huge deal.
[11:42] Speaker 1: I just want to say I'm so jealous that you
[11:44] Speaker 1: have like culture and this family and there's something to
[11:48] Speaker 1: be a part of and to learn about and to
[11:49] Speaker 1: spend a whole term doing it. Yeah.
[11:52] Speaker 2: And it was such a.
[11:53] Speaker 1: You are rich in life.
[11:54] Speaker 2: It was, yeah, I feel really lucky that we got
[11:56] Speaker 2: to do that. And I think my mom knew that
[11:59] Speaker 2: I was, you know, eight years old. So there was
[12:01] Speaker 2: a good chance I wouldn't remember this trip. And so...
[12:04] Speaker 2: So valid.
[12:04] Speaker 1: Can I remember it? Anything from being eight years old?
[12:07] Speaker 1: I don't think so.
[12:08] Speaker 2: No, that's the thing. But I have these journals, so
[12:11] Speaker 2: I do remember so much from this rich trip of, like,
[12:15] Speaker 2: you know, meeting my family for the first time and
[12:18] Speaker 2: experiencing that culture for the first time. But also, like,
[12:20] Speaker 2: the funny things that you only notice when you're eight. Like,
[12:22] Speaker 2: I collected lolly wrappers. And, like, I thought it was
[12:25] Speaker 2: amazing that, like, beer was such a big deal in Germany. Like, oh,
[12:28] Speaker 2: my God, everyone drinks beer. Like, it was just, like,
[12:30] Speaker 2: silly little things that I noticed later. At eight. So, yeah,
[12:34] Speaker 2: we did one page a day. And then being eight
[12:36] Speaker 2: years old, there's like journal entries where I'm like, oh,
[12:39] Speaker 2: my hand got tired from writing. So I've asked mom
[12:42] Speaker 2: to write for me and she's dictate like I'm dictating
[12:45] Speaker 2: it to her and she's writing it. But other days
[12:47] Speaker 2: I would just paste in a postcard or paste in
[12:49] Speaker 2: stickers and mom would just be like, that's fine. At
[12:52] Speaker 2: least you did a day. And so I still do that.
[12:55] Speaker 2: when I travel.
[12:55] Speaker 1: Do you do it every single day when you travel? Yeah. Wow.
[12:58] Speaker 1: And it never feels like a chore. It always feels
[13:00] Speaker 1: like a joy.
[13:01] Speaker 2: That's the thing. It has to feel really low pressure.
[13:04] Speaker 2: Otherwise you're not going to enjoy it. Like it shouldn't
[13:06] Speaker 2: be a chore. It's your journal. It's for you. And
[13:09] Speaker 2: I think that page a day method just makes, makes
[13:12] Speaker 2: you feel like it doesn't have to be perfect. And
[13:15] Speaker 2: I think that's the big roadblock a lot of people
[13:17] Speaker 2: have with journaling.
[13:18] Speaker 1: Yes.
[13:18] Speaker 2: They see beautiful spreads online and they're just like, I
[13:21] Speaker 2: can't do that. I'm not arty. I can't like, it
[13:24] Speaker 2: doesn't have to look like that. It can just look
[13:25] Speaker 2: like you and what you're thinking. It doesn't have to
[13:27] Speaker 2: be perfect.
[13:28] Speaker 1: This is one of the key reasons that I was
[13:30] Speaker 1: so excited to talk to you today about journaling, because
[13:33] Speaker 1: I'm a perfectionist, a mega perfectionist. Really? Yes, I am
[13:37] Speaker 1: a completionist.
[13:38] Speaker 2: I need to have everything.
[13:42] Speaker 1: Maybe say I was making a junk journal spread of
[13:45] Speaker 1: My day that I had in Japan, if I accidentally
[13:47] Speaker 1: threw away one thing that I needed or forgot to
[13:49] Speaker 1: collect it, whole thing is ruined. Can't do it.
[13:52] Speaker 2: It's incomplete.
[13:53] Speaker 1: I can't make it because now I'm missing one thing.
[13:55] Speaker 2: You're missing that bit.
[13:56] Speaker 1: Or maybe I made a mistake and I'm like, whole
[13:58] Speaker 1: journal in the bin.
[13:59] Speaker 2: But what would you think is a mistake? That's what
[14:01] Speaker 2: I'm curious because there is no rules when it comes
[14:04] Speaker 2: to journaling. Like there's nothing wrong. You can't make a
[14:07] Speaker 2: mistake because it's your journal.
[14:09] Speaker 1: When you ask me that question, I am like, what
[14:12] Speaker 1: is the answer?
[14:13] Speaker 2: Exactly.
[14:14] Speaker 1: There is no answer.
[14:15] Speaker 2: Because there's no mistakes.
[14:16] Speaker 1: But I have strict rules in my head.
[14:20] Speaker 2: It's amazing the restrictions we put on ourselves and our
[14:23] Speaker 2: own creativity just naturally. We're like, it has to be
[14:27] Speaker 2: like this. It has to look like this.
[14:29] Speaker 1: And why is that a rule if no one's going
[14:31] Speaker 1: to see it but me? Exactly. I feel like I'm
[14:33] Speaker 1: having an epiphany in this moment.
[14:35] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[14:36] Speaker 1: But I think I was reading... Was it in The
[14:39] Speaker 1: Art of Junk Journaling? And one of the first things
[14:40] Speaker 1: it said is, this book is for perfectionists.
[14:43] Speaker 2: Yes.
[14:43] Speaker 1: And I was like, what do you mean junk journaling
[14:45] Speaker 1: is for perfectionists? How am I going to do this?
[14:48] Speaker 2: Exactly.
[14:48] Speaker 1: And I think you write that it's like a really
[14:50] Speaker 1: good exercise in letting go and not having things be
[14:54] Speaker 1: so perfect all the time. Exactly.
[14:56] Speaker 2: And if you just want to fill a page with stickers,
[14:58] Speaker 2: that's also fine, so long as you're being creative. There's
[15:01] Speaker 2: a lot of discourse around like you can't use a
[15:03] Speaker 2: sticker or like it's not junk. Not me. You decide
[15:06] Speaker 2: what the junk is. You decide what your journal is. Yeah.
[15:09] Speaker 1: I use every sticker immediately because as a child, I
[15:13] Speaker 1: used to save the stickers, right? I was like, they
[15:15] Speaker 1: need to be put on the best thing.
[15:17] Speaker 2: That's it.
[15:17] Speaker 1: And then I would never use them. And then they
[15:19] Speaker 1: would get lost to time.
[15:20] Speaker 2: And that's so sad. Even I was the same. I
[15:23] Speaker 2: think everyone's had that special sticker that they're like, oh,
[15:26] Speaker 2: I can't use it. I'm saving it. But what are
[15:27] Speaker 2: we saving it for? Like, this is our life today.
[15:30] Speaker 1: And my stickers deserve better. In this room, in the corner,
[15:33] Speaker 1: I have my bright pink suitcase, which is covered in
[15:36] Speaker 1: every sticker. The second I get a sticker, it goes
[15:38] Speaker 1: on the suitcase. Love that. But then the suitcase goes
[15:41] Speaker 1: in the cargo hold. And then it goes from the
[15:43] Speaker 1: cargo hold to the carousel. And all of the stickers
[15:45] Speaker 1: get destroyed.
[15:46] Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
[15:46] Speaker 1: And they have, like, big black lines through them. Yeah.
[15:48] Speaker 2: I love things that age and that show life. Like,
[15:51] Speaker 2: when leather gets worn or patinas.
[15:54] Speaker 1: And, like, I love.
[15:56] Speaker 2: A dirty suitcase or sneakers that are worn down. It
[16:00] Speaker 2: means you're living. You're actually out there.
[16:02] Speaker 1: The aforementioned suitcase is filthy. It has these huge black
[16:06] Speaker 1: lines on it. I just came back from America a
[16:08] Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago, and my partner Harry was like,
[16:10] Speaker 1: do you want me to clean the suitcase? It is destroyed.
[16:12] Speaker 1: And I was like, no. Just leave it.
[16:14] Speaker 2: This is its character. It's its story.
[16:16] Speaker 1: I really like that it's scuffed up. And I also
[16:19] Speaker 1: feel that when things are a little bit scuffed, they
[16:21] Speaker 1: have a little bit of character, I don't feel like
[16:23] Speaker 1: I have to be so precious with them. Like most
[16:25] Speaker 1: of my lovely bags I buy secondhand and they already
[16:28] Speaker 1: have floors. So then I'm like, I can just live
[16:30] Speaker 1: with them.
[16:30] Speaker 2: And then you don't have to be too precious. You
[16:32] Speaker 2: can actually use it.
[16:33] Speaker 1: Exactly. I agree.
[16:35] Speaker 2: I always say I don't treat my belongings very well
[16:38] Speaker 2: because I really do just use them if I love them.
[16:41] Speaker 2: I use it all the time. Like, I don't know,
[16:43] Speaker 2: my bags, they always get dirty. They always get scuffed.
[16:47] Speaker 1: The whole point is to love them and use them.
[16:49] Speaker 2: Yeah, and I agree. When you buy something vintage, it's
[16:51] Speaker 2: like less pressure because someone's already broken them in. And
[16:55] Speaker 2: they've already gotten a little bit dirty.
[16:57] Speaker 1: Yes, it's in a different category in my brain. This
[17:00] Speaker 1: comes back to the perfectionism because all of my vintage
[17:02] Speaker 1: bags don't care. They're already flawed. I had this one
[17:06] Speaker 1: beautiful Louis Vuitton pink bag that I bought brand new.
[17:09] Speaker 1: It was like super exclusive and rare. And I had
[17:11] Speaker 1: to buy it. And it was made of the vernice.
[17:14] Speaker 1: I don't know if that's what it's called.
[17:16] Speaker 2: You know, that particular shiny type. Yes, yeah.
[17:18] Speaker 1: And what I didn't know about that material is if
[17:20] Speaker 1: you put it next to something, be that a newspaper,
[17:23] Speaker 1: a magazine, another bag, it actually picks up the texture
[17:27] Speaker 1: or the color on the item and it transfers onto
[17:29] Speaker 1: the bag permanently.
[17:31] Speaker 2: No.
[17:31] Speaker 1: Yeah. Yes. And so I stored it on my shelf,
[17:36] Speaker 1: which is sorted by colors with all of the other
[17:38] Speaker 1: pink bags. It was baby pink next to a hot
[17:40] Speaker 1: pink bag. And the hot pink bag melted onto the
[17:43] Speaker 1: brand new bag that I bought. And it's got all
[17:45] Speaker 1: these hot pink stains on it.
[17:47] Speaker 2: No.
[17:48] Speaker 1: And I would think it was cool if I bought
[17:50] Speaker 1: it in a vintage store and it had hot pink stains.
[17:52] Speaker 1: I'd be like, this is unique.
[17:54] Speaker 2: I mean, lucky it's a cool color. Like, that's got
[17:56] Speaker 2: a good combination.
[17:57] Speaker 1: It could be a lot less.
[17:57] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[17:58] Speaker 1: But because I did it, I'm like, it's ruined. What's
[18:01] Speaker 1: up with that? I don't know. That's so funny.
[18:02] Speaker 2: Yeah, when it's someone else who's done it, we can.
[18:05] Speaker 1: It's part of its story.
[18:05] Speaker 2: Yeah, we forgive it.
[18:07] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[18:07] Speaker 2: It's interesting when it's ourselves sometimes.
[18:10] Speaker 1: I'm like, I destroyed the bag. But yeah, maybe I
[18:12] Speaker 1: just need to reframe it.
[18:13] Speaker 2: Yeah. And, you know, imagine that you bought it secondhand
[18:15] Speaker 2: and it came like that. I just got a beautiful story.
[18:18] Speaker 2: That's what I find interesting. It's like once it's done
[18:20] Speaker 2: with intention, it becomes art. But when it's an accident,
[18:23] Speaker 2: we're like, it's ruined.
[18:25] Speaker 1: So circling back to your journals, how would you explain
[18:28] Speaker 1: what you do to someone who has never seen your
[18:29] Speaker 1: journals before and someone who is new to journaling like me? Oh,
[18:34] Speaker 1: my journals.
[18:35] Speaker 2: For me, my journal is a record of my life
[18:38] Speaker 2: in a way that only I could record it. So
[18:41] Speaker 2: it's very intimate. It's got ephemera from my daily life.
[18:45] Speaker 1: Ephemera.
[18:45] Speaker 2: Ephemera. Word of the day. The best word. Photos, scraps.
[18:51] Speaker 1: Do you write, like, diaristic entries? I do, yes.
[18:55] Speaker 2: I think not a lot of people know that because
[18:57] Speaker 2: I don't post those because that's very intimate, I think,
[19:00] Speaker 2: I would come across. They'll be like, well, she's really
[19:03] Speaker 2: sentimental if they read my– but I usually share my
[19:06] Speaker 2: more artistic– junk journal pages yes I'm sure we can
[19:11] Speaker 2: show some examples.
[19:12] Speaker 1: But we definitely will yeah.
[19:13] Speaker 2: So it's kind of a combination of art journaling scrapbooking
[19:17] Speaker 2: junk journaling there's no rules whatever I'm feeling lately I've
[19:21] Speaker 2: been doing a lot more illustrations in there and.
[19:23] Speaker 1: I need to know is is your hand strong. Because
[19:27] Speaker 1: whenever I try to write a diaristic entry, five sentences in,
[19:30] Speaker 1: hand cramps. Does that go away?
[19:32] Speaker 2: Yes, it does. It does.
[19:33] Speaker 1: I mean, I'm losing the art of handwritten.
[19:35] Speaker 2: Do you remember like HSC when we were writing essays
[19:38] Speaker 2: for hours and hours?
[19:39] Speaker 1: Yes.
[19:39] Speaker 2: Like you just have to work that muscle. Yes.
[19:42] Speaker 1: And the muscle has been sleeping.
[19:44] Speaker 2: That's right. And it does hurt. It does hurt because
[19:46] Speaker 2: we don't write much these days. No.
[19:49] Speaker 1: And you've actually got your book, The Art of Snail Mail,
[19:51] Speaker 1: coming out, which is all about handwritten. So I want
[19:54] Speaker 1: to talk to you about your books, but starting with
[19:57] Speaker 1: the very first one. which was The Art of Memory Collecting.
[20:00] Speaker 2: She's here, actually. Ta-da! We can get her out. This
[20:04] Speaker 2: is number one.
[20:04] Speaker 1: She's here, and she's beautiful. Your first child.
[20:07] Speaker 2: Yeah, my first child.
[20:08] Speaker 1: Well, I do know you have a coloring book, right?
[20:12] Speaker 2: I do.
[20:13] Speaker 1: Is that your firstborn? No, no. When did that one
[20:15] Speaker 1: come out?
[20:16] Speaker 2: That came out recently. Oh, my gosh. I like to
[20:18] Speaker 2: think that this one, this one, and The Art of
[20:21] Speaker 2: Snail Mail coming, well, it will be out by the
[20:23] Speaker 2: time this shows. Yes. So I like to think my
[20:26] Speaker 2: first three books are sisters. And then we have the
[20:29] Speaker 2: coloring book, which is like the fun cousin. The fun cousin? Yeah,
[20:32] Speaker 2: the little cousin. The younger one who comes along and
[20:35] Speaker 2: is full of whimsy and joy. But these are beautiful
[20:38] Speaker 2: coffee table books.
[20:40] Speaker 1: So stunning.
[20:41] Speaker 2: I'm very proud of them. I think my publishers, when
[20:44] Speaker 2: they first approached me, We're expecting a traditional craft book,
[20:49] Speaker 2: similar to what was out in the market. And I really.
[20:51] Speaker 1: I thought this was quite unique.
[20:52] Speaker 2: Yeah, I really went far with it. I was... I
[20:55] Speaker 2: think I've been waiting my whole life to write a book, honestly.
[20:57] Speaker 2: I'm such a bookworm.
[20:58] Speaker 1: I was going to ask, did you always envision being
[21:00] Speaker 1: an author?
[21:01] Speaker 2: I mean, in my dreams, yes. But I didn't know
[21:04] Speaker 2: how that would happen. It's absolutely crazy. But I definitely
[21:08] Speaker 2: think with anything, any project, what you... get out is
[21:12] Speaker 2: what you put in. Totally. I put 110% into this book.
[21:16] Speaker 2: I was like, this is, I just, I always value books.
[21:20] Speaker 2: I find them sacred. I think that this is a
[21:23] Speaker 2: tangible evidence. Yes, exactly. I mean, what I've been doing
[21:28] Speaker 2: online for so long has reached so many people and
[21:31] Speaker 2: it's brought me so much community and it's brought so
[21:34] Speaker 2: much meaning to my life, but having something physical that
[21:37] Speaker 2: lasts beyond me and that will live in someone's home
[21:40] Speaker 2: and be part of their daily life. Like that is
[21:42] Speaker 2: not lost on me as such a special and beautiful thing.
[21:45] Speaker 2: So I feel very lucky to bring books into the
[21:48] Speaker 2: world and to see how people interpret this in their
[21:52] Speaker 2: own way. And especially because this is full of lots
[21:54] Speaker 2: of different fun projects. So that's a good example of
[21:56] Speaker 2: like my journals.
[21:57] Speaker 1: Yeah, your followers and readers must share their work with you, right?
[22:00] Speaker 1: That is directly inspired by you.
[22:01] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[22:01] Speaker 1: That must be so nice to receive. that kind of
[22:05] Speaker 1: messaging and feedback probably every day. Yeah.
[22:07] Speaker 2: I love to see my work inspire people. And that's my,
[22:10] Speaker 2: that's like my purpose is to help people be creative
[22:14] Speaker 2: and bring a bit of joy into their lives.
[22:15] Speaker 1: You are 1 million percent fulfilling your purpose. And I
[22:18] Speaker 1: understand there are the three books, The Three Sisters. They
[22:21] Speaker 1: have come out in somewhat quick succession. Have you been
[22:24] Speaker 1: working on them concurrently, like nonstop?
[22:26] Speaker 2: So generally, I think When I was on the book
[22:29] Speaker 2: tour for this book, I was already writing book two,
[22:32] Speaker 2: which was crazy.
[22:33] Speaker 1: That is crazy. It is so full on and all
[22:36] Speaker 1: encompassing to write a book. So you're promoting this book,
[22:39] Speaker 1: physically touring around and writing the other one.
[22:41] Speaker 2: While writing the next one. So you'll see a lot
[22:42] Speaker 2: of the pages in that book were from the book tour,
[22:46] Speaker 2: like my journal from when I was on the book
[22:47] Speaker 2: tour for this one. And so it's quite amazing to
[22:51] Speaker 2: see that.
[22:51] Speaker 1: Did the readers know that you were working on book
[22:54] Speaker 1: two while you were touring book one?
[22:55] Speaker 2: No, I think people knew. I've always said, I mean,
[23:00] Speaker 2: you know, you have to speak your future. And I
[23:02] Speaker 2: was always like, this is my first book of hopefully many.
[23:05] Speaker 1: And so.
[23:06] Speaker 2: I think people knew that the second would be coming.
[23:08] Speaker 1: I would also like to do many, speaking into existence.
[23:11] Speaker 2: Yes, that's it. You have to speak it. Exactly. So, yeah,
[23:15] Speaker 2: book two, book three, we're on to.
[23:18] Speaker 1: What about book four?
[23:20] Speaker 2: We'll have to wait and see. Book five. Many books.
[23:23] Speaker 1: Is it something that you can see yourself doing long term?
[23:26] Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so. It's been pretty intense the past
[23:29] Speaker 2: few years. So that's three books in three years. Yes.
[23:31] Speaker 1: It takes a lot of your time.
[23:34] Speaker 2: Yes. I pour so much of myself into these books.
[23:37] Speaker 2: So I know I'll have to pull back and maybe
[23:40] Speaker 2: focus my artistic endeavors in other ways as well. Like
[23:44] Speaker 2: I'd like to go beyond books, obviously.
[23:46] Speaker 1: So what would you like to do beyond books?
[23:48] Speaker 2: I just think it's more world building. Like all of
[23:50] Speaker 2: this lives in my Martina universe and it's very crafty.
[23:54] Speaker 2: I think that can look like so many different things.
[23:56] Speaker 2: It can be books, it can be film, it can
[23:58] Speaker 2: be photos, it can be products, it can be so
[24:01] Speaker 2: many beautiful things.
[24:02] Speaker 1: You do in-person workshops.
[24:03] Speaker 2: Yeah, we do workshops.
[24:04] Speaker 1: And you're about to embark on a worldwide book tour.
[24:07] Speaker 1: Will you be doing the workshops on the tour?
[24:09] Speaker 2: Yeah. It's a big part of why I just do this.
[24:14] Speaker 2: I mean, every single event I meet the crafty community,
[24:16] Speaker 2: the people, the readers, and I just think the sort
[24:18] Speaker 2: of people that love to craft and love trinkets and
[24:21] Speaker 2: love tiny details. Like that's my people.
[24:24] Speaker 1: They're girls just like you. Yeah.
[24:26] Speaker 2: And so I just got less and less nervous as
[24:28] Speaker 2: time went on because every single time I'd turn up
[24:31] Speaker 2: and it was like, we already have so much in common.
[24:34] Speaker 2: These are good people. They're sweet. And we just have
[24:36] Speaker 2: a good time. So that's so lovely to hear. I
[24:38] Speaker 2: couldn't ask for a more wholesome community.
[24:41] Speaker 1: You've cultivated it, you know?
[24:42] Speaker 2: Thank you. It's really, yeah, it's my joy. And Yeah,
[24:47] Speaker 2: so I'm really looking forward to the next book tour.
[24:48] Speaker 1: Yeah, tell us about it.
[24:50] Speaker 2: So the next one, this is The Art of Snail Mail.
[24:53] Speaker 2: I've obviously been a pen pal snail mail girl my
[24:57] Speaker 2: whole life, so it was really nice to finally do
[24:58] Speaker 2: a book about that. And we're going to go around
[25:02] Speaker 2: the world and do a bunch of snail mail swaps.
[25:04] Speaker 1: Around the world? Yeah. What countries?
[25:08] Speaker 2: So we're starting in Paris, and then we're going to– country–
[25:12] Speaker 2: The country of Paris.
[25:15] Speaker 1: My favourite country.
[25:16] Speaker 2: Yeah. We'll go from Paris to London and do the
[25:19] Speaker 2: UK tour and then we'll do the North America tour.
[25:22] Speaker 2: That is so exciting.
[25:23] Speaker 1: And then back to Australia, of course. It must feel
[25:25] Speaker 1: so amazing to arrive in these other countries and realise
[25:28] Speaker 1: that you can fill a room of your readers, your fans,
[25:31] Speaker 1: who are coming to see you in somewhere on the
[25:33] Speaker 1: other side of the world. That must be so surreal.
[25:35] Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. I think it's more the fact that these
[25:40] Speaker 2: people It doesn't matter what room I'm in or what
[25:42] Speaker 2: country I'm in, that there are people like me or
[25:46] Speaker 2: that I can resonate with. That's what's more surreal. It's
[25:50] Speaker 2: like it still feels like I'm with the same kind
[25:53] Speaker 2: of spirit.
[25:55] Speaker 1: So true, though. Whenever I'm traveling around the world, I'll
[25:58] Speaker 1: often meet some of my audience, some of my followers.
[26:02] Speaker 1: And they are just like me.
[26:03] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[26:03] Speaker 1: And sometimes I can see them walking up to me
[26:05] Speaker 1: and before they even get to me, I'm like, I know.
[26:07] Speaker 1: You just know. I can sense the aura, the style.
[26:11] Speaker 1: And I'm like, oh my God, this is one of
[26:12] Speaker 1: our girls.
[26:13] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[26:13] Speaker 1: And it's so nice, right?
[26:14] Speaker 2: Definitely. And also, I really love that people feel comfortable
[26:18] Speaker 2: to come up because it's like you do have that
[26:20] Speaker 2: sense of resonance with each other where you just feel
[26:23] Speaker 2: comfortable instantly. Exactly.
[26:25] Speaker 1: And that's like all we could hope when we're putting
[26:27] Speaker 1: ourselves on the online and cultivating this community. We want
[26:30] Speaker 1: people to feel comfortable to approach us and, you know,
[26:33] Speaker 1: share their projects with you and share how much you've
[26:36] Speaker 1: inspired them.
[26:37] Speaker 2: I'm so glad you said that. I agree. Sometimes I
[26:39] Speaker 2: get so overwhelmed with being online. And then it's those moments,
[26:43] Speaker 2: I think, where you meet someone in person who says like, oh,
[26:46] Speaker 2: I loved your YouTube video or like I read your
[26:49] Speaker 2: book or I gave this Yeah, I'm sure this happens
[26:51] Speaker 2: to you all the time, but it's just like.
[26:52] Speaker 1: It's such a touching moment.
[26:54] Speaker 2: It's like a human real moment where you're like, oh,
[26:57] Speaker 2: this actually has affected a real person in a positive way.
[27:00] Speaker 2: That's nice.
[27:01] Speaker 1: And that's how I would do it.
[27:02] Speaker 2: That's it.
[27:03] Speaker 1: And you just mentioned things blowing up really quickly and
[27:05] Speaker 1: how crazy everything is. When I was reading your book,
[27:09] Speaker 1: I noticed you writing about journaling is a really good
[27:11] Speaker 1: way to slow it down and freeze the moment and
[27:14] Speaker 1: hold on to it. And when I read that, I
[27:16] Speaker 1: was like, this is why I need to start journaling because...
[27:20] Speaker 1: it's onto the next thing and onto the next thing.
[27:22] Speaker 1: And now I need to do this. And now I
[27:23] Speaker 1: need to do this. When it rains, it pours.
[27:24] Speaker 2: It's, it just.
[27:25] Speaker 1: And then I look back and I'm like, what did
[27:27] Speaker 1: I just do? Like, and it's all a blur. But
[27:29] Speaker 1: if I took the time to, you know, junk down
[27:32] Speaker 1: a little about it, like take the ephemera, you know,
[27:36] Speaker 1: it would really help me to hold onto the moment more.
[27:39] Speaker 2: And provide like physical evidence for your brain even to
[27:43] Speaker 2: just be like, this actually did happen. Because sometimes I
[27:46] Speaker 2: remember things differently. And so it's really good to go
[27:50] Speaker 2: back through a journal just for my own future self,
[27:53] Speaker 2: just to like, to write something down and just be like,
[27:56] Speaker 2: this is how you felt at that moment. So in
[27:59] Speaker 2: the future, when you're remembering it differently, remember this is
[28:02] Speaker 2: physical evidence that it was amazing. You had a great time.
[28:05] Speaker 1: So do you journal pretty immediately while you're still holding
[28:07] Speaker 1: on to the feeling?
[28:08] Speaker 2: I try to journal. Yeah, I'm quite in the moment.
[28:10] Speaker 2: I try not to hoard things for later because it's just.
[28:13] Speaker 1: Time changes perception.
[28:15] Speaker 2: It does.
[28:16] Speaker 1: It does.
[28:16] Speaker 2: I mean, it depends. Like sometimes you can... hold on
[28:19] Speaker 2: to things and journal about them because you want to
[28:22] Speaker 2: relive the memory. And so it can kind of be
[28:25] Speaker 2: in the moment to document it or it can be
[28:27] Speaker 2: later because you want to revisit that memory and re-explore
[28:31] Speaker 2: it in a creative way. So I don't think you
[28:34] Speaker 2: can do it either way.
[28:35] Speaker 1: But I bet you look back on your journals from
[28:37] Speaker 1: maybe like three years ago and you're like, if only
[28:39] Speaker 1: this girl knew what was going to happen this year.
[28:42] Speaker 1: And then, you know, when you look back on that
[28:43] Speaker 1: one in three years time, you'll be like, Whoa. And
[28:45] Speaker 1: it makes you appreciate all the leaps and bounds you've
[28:47] Speaker 1: took so much more.
[28:49] Speaker 2: Definitely. And even like the things that I worried about then,
[28:52] Speaker 2: it gives you so much perspective because you're looking back
[28:55] Speaker 2: and you're like, oh, on that day, you thought that
[28:56] Speaker 2: was everything.
[28:57] Speaker 1: Oh, and now it was a mountain. Now it's a molehill.
[29:00] Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. It's good for people with anxiety.
[29:05] Speaker 1: You know, one of the things I love about this
[29:07] Speaker 1: podcast is how quickly a tiny treasure can open up
[29:10] Speaker 1: a whole story. A charm, a bracelet, a souvenir from
[29:14] Speaker 1: a trip. For me personally, I love to collect Pandora
[29:17] Speaker 1: charms and I've been collecting them for my whole life.
[29:20] Speaker 1: There are many types to collect and they all tell
[29:22] Speaker 1: different stories. Whether it's exclusive charms you can only get
[29:26] Speaker 1: when you visit a certain city or country, charms you
[29:29] Speaker 1: can earn from completing a marathon. That's right. I ran
[29:32] Speaker 1: a marathon for a Pandora charm. Or even rare vintage
[29:35] Speaker 1: charms that I love scouring the internet for, like their treasure.
[29:39] Speaker 1: Each charm tells a different part of my life story
[29:42] Speaker 1: and I love that I can wear and see my
[29:44] Speaker 1: memories every single day. If you're thinking about the stories
[29:47] Speaker 1: you wear or the moments you'd love to hold on to,
[29:49] Speaker 1: you can discover more at pandora.net. What is in your setup?
[29:54] Speaker 2: My setup? Yes. Oh my gosh. It changes but... At
[29:59] Speaker 2: the moment, my setup, I have my junk journal and
[30:03] Speaker 2: I have my little... pouch, which has my Fiskars scissors.
[30:08] Speaker 2: These are titanium non-stick scissors. I'm very picky.
[30:11] Speaker 1: And is this your pouch in collaboration with Katerina Lou?
[30:14] Speaker 2: Not that one at the moment. Actually, I've switched it up. Oh,
[30:16] Speaker 2: with many pouches. Yeah, I have another one. That one
[30:18] Speaker 2: I've transitioned into my makeup bag because I have so
[30:21] Speaker 2: much makeup and that's the biggest one to hold it.
[30:23] Speaker 1: So you have the pouch titanium scissors.
[30:26] Speaker 2: Yes, titanium scissors. I love Beacon zip-dry glue. I'm obsessed
[30:31] Speaker 2: with this glue just because it works on like buttons, ribbon, paper.
[30:35] Speaker 1: For the uninitiated like me, what is a zip dry glue?
[30:38] Speaker 2: Is it a stick?
[30:39] Speaker 1: Is it a tube?
[30:39] Speaker 2: It's a little like squeezy tube, yeah.
[30:41] Speaker 1: Okay, like super glue but not as crazy.
[30:44] Speaker 2: Super glue but without that horrible film that it leaves
[30:46] Speaker 2: on your hands.
[30:47] Speaker 1: This could change my life because there is nothing I
[30:50] Speaker 1: hate more.
[30:50] Speaker 2: It's horrible.
[30:51] Speaker 1: Zip dry glue.
[30:52] Speaker 2: Zip dry glue.
[30:53] Speaker 1: Incredible. And you can glue down everything, anything.
[30:56] Speaker 2: And it's called zip dry because it's really quick drying
[30:59] Speaker 2: so it doesn't make the page soggy. This is just
[31:01] Speaker 2: the stuff that I love.
[31:02] Speaker 1: Wow, this is revolutionary. This is what we want to hear.
[31:05] Speaker 1: We need all of these tips. We've got the scissors,
[31:07] Speaker 1: the glue. What else do we need?
[31:08] Speaker 2: Yep, Kaweco fountain pens. I've just gotten really into fountain
[31:12] Speaker 2: pens over the past year or so. I've always loved pens, obviously.
[31:15] Speaker 2: And so now I've started my fountain pen obsession. I
[31:19] Speaker 2: love Kaweco specifically. They're German and they're made in Nuremberg
[31:23] Speaker 2: in Germany and I love them. Blackwing pencils. That's my
[31:26] Speaker 2: favorite pencil.
[31:27] Speaker 1: Pencil.
[31:27] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[31:28] Speaker 1: It's got pen and pencil. Do you draw?
[31:29] Speaker 2: Yes. Yeah, I do draw.
[31:30] Speaker 1: Of course you do.
[31:31] Speaker 2: Of course.
[31:31] Speaker 1: She can do everything.
[31:32] Speaker 2: Yes. Well, you've got to have your pencil and your pen.
[31:34] Speaker 2: That's basic. Yeah. And what else do I have? Washi tape.
[31:39] Speaker 2: There's always washi tape in there.
[31:39] Speaker 1: Oh, I love washi tape.
[31:41] Speaker 2: Any journal page can be improved by a washi tape
[31:44] Speaker 2: border or just even if you're sticking in like an
[31:47] Speaker 2: Instax picture.
[31:49] Speaker 1: Like a little polaroid.
[31:50] Speaker 2: Yeah, a little polaroid picture. If you add the washi tape,
[31:52] Speaker 2: it just makes it prettier.
[31:54] Speaker 1: Yeah, that is such a cute touch.
[31:55] Speaker 2: Yeah. And then any kind of stickers. Always have stickers.
[31:58] Speaker 1: And how do you recommend setting it all up? I
[32:01] Speaker 1: know this was in the books, but for those who
[32:02] Speaker 1: haven't read the books yet, how do we set up
[32:05] Speaker 1: and get into the zone for junk journaling? Because I
[32:07] Speaker 1: will be junk journaling about this moment.
[32:09] Speaker 2: Oh, good.
[32:10] Speaker 1: Yes.
[32:11] Speaker 2: So how am I going to do it? Well, I think, yeah,
[32:14] Speaker 2: making it a ritual for yourself and less like a
[32:16] Speaker 2: task and more like a moment of self-care and creativity.
[32:21] Speaker 1: That is the most important thing because I tend to
[32:23] Speaker 1: make everything a task because I just get so serious
[32:25] Speaker 1: about everything. I'm like, it has to be done this
[32:27] Speaker 1: way at this time. And then it just becomes so overwhelming.
[32:29] Speaker 2: That's it.
[32:30] Speaker 1: I need to be a lot more, you know, relaxed
[32:33] Speaker 1: and carefree about it.
[32:34] Speaker 2: And it could just be something you do while you
[32:36] Speaker 2: watch your show or you listen to a podcast or
[32:38] Speaker 2: I listen to a lot of audible audio books. Like that's,
[32:41] Speaker 2: it's just something I do. Yeah.
[32:43] Speaker 1: I'm hoping it will release my group on perfectionism. Even,
[32:47] Speaker 1: you know, doing this podcast right now. is helping me
[32:51] Speaker 1: be less of a perfectionist because you talk so long
[32:54] Speaker 1: about so much, you can't possibly say everything perfectly.
[32:58] Speaker 2: No, if I script it all, it's going.
[33:00] Speaker 1: To be, yeah. Yes, whereas the social media video is
[33:03] Speaker 1: this like really perfectly curated little bite.
[33:05] Speaker 2: Yes.
[33:06] Speaker 1: This is in itself an act of letting go.
[33:09] Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that.
[33:10] Speaker 1: I have to stomach that it's not always going to
[33:12] Speaker 1: be perfect. I'm not always going to say the right thing.
[33:14] Speaker 1: I'm not always going to remember where I wanted to
[33:16] Speaker 1: go and that's, okay, you know.
[33:18] Speaker 2: It's human. It is human. That's right.
[33:20] Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. And talking all about perfectionism, something that has
[33:24] Speaker 1: also been a really good exercise for me is writing
[33:28] Speaker 1: my own book, which is very exciting, but very hard,
[33:31] Speaker 1: as you know. And I want to understand what was
[33:35] Speaker 1: your process like when you were writing the book? Because
[33:37] Speaker 1: I think that I may have made it not fun
[33:40] Speaker 1: for For myself. Because I get so locked in. I'm
[33:44] Speaker 1: hunched over on the couch, like, must write, cannot do anything,
[33:47] Speaker 1: cannot take lunch, cannot go anywhere. And on the last
[33:51] Speaker 1: day of my last round of edits, I was like,
[33:53] Speaker 1: I'm going to try something crazy, brand new, never thought
[33:56] Speaker 1: of before idea, and work in a cafe. I know,
[33:58] Speaker 1: first person in the world to do it.
[33:59] Speaker 2: Wow.
[34:00] Speaker 1: I know. And I took my laptop to the cafe.
[34:03] Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
[34:04] Speaker 1: Astronomically better experience.
[34:06] Speaker 2: Who would have thought?
[34:07] Speaker 1: Who would have thought? But the entire 1.5 years before,
[34:11] Speaker 1: just hold up on my couch. So how do you
[34:15] Speaker 1: do it? Because I think I could have made it
[34:17] Speaker 1: a lot better experience for myself.
[34:20] Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, I always write in cafes, honestly. I
[34:24] Speaker 2: think it's because the ambience actually helps me concentrate. So
[34:28] Speaker 2: even if I'm at home, I have to have something
[34:31] Speaker 2: Some sort of noise in the background. It's probably an
[34:33] Speaker 2: ADHD thing, to be honest. And I also work a
[34:37] Speaker 2: lot better when I have my husband next to me
[34:38] Speaker 2: doing his work. So just that parallel play, having someone
[34:42] Speaker 2: near you holds you a bit accountable.
[34:44] Speaker 1: And I think also being perceived in public. Yes. Like
[34:47] Speaker 1: if I was at home, I would just, you know,
[34:49] Speaker 1: go on my couch like this. And no one can know.
[34:51] Speaker 1: But if you're in public and you're taking up space
[34:53] Speaker 1: at a cafe, you kind of need.
[34:54] Speaker 2: To look in. Then people are going to be like,
[34:56] Speaker 2: why are you just scrolling on your phone for an
[34:57] Speaker 2: hour with your laptop out? But I also love libraries. Oh,
[35:02] Speaker 2: I haven't thought of that. I mean, you're surrounded by
[35:05] Speaker 2: all these people who are studying, who are doing really
[35:07] Speaker 2: interesting things, learning, writing, other writers. Libraries are just a sanctuary.
[35:12] Speaker 2: They're just, they're a really good spot to, I mean.
[35:15] Speaker 1: Why did this never occur to me? An author should
[35:18] Speaker 1: go to the library to write their book. Like, why
[35:21] Speaker 1: is this a brand new concept to me?
[35:23] Speaker 2: Oh, I mean, libraries have always been a sanctuary for me.
[35:26] Speaker 2: When I was In high school, I used to just
[35:28] Speaker 2: skip school and go sit at the library. Like the
[35:31] Speaker 2: most boring person in the world. But I just love
[35:34] Speaker 2: the library. Not boring for the record.
[35:36] Speaker 1: You're not boring at all. Well, luckily, I have two
[35:39] Speaker 1: more rounds of edits to get through. So I'm going
[35:41] Speaker 1: to try it.
[35:42] Speaker 2: Yeah, try the library. And also, I would choose like
[35:45] Speaker 2: a different cafe every day. And that would make it
[35:47] Speaker 2: so fun. So, you know, going and trying all these
[35:50] Speaker 2: different cafes and what a city I was in. And
[35:53] Speaker 2: it's just something I've always done. I've always gone to
[35:55] Speaker 2: nice cafes with my journal. emulating the authors that I loved,
[36:00] Speaker 2: not knowing I would be an author one day, but
[36:03] Speaker 2: I just loved that act. That is so special. The
[36:05] Speaker 2: romantic idea of it, which is a good reason to
[36:07] Speaker 2: romanticize your life and to do little things that might
[36:10] Speaker 2: feel like, I don't know, kind of performative in the
[36:14] Speaker 2: moment because, like, I wasn't an author. Why was I
[36:16] Speaker 2: going and sitting in a window?
[36:17] Speaker 1: You were manifesting it.
[36:18] Speaker 2: But, yeah, in some way, yeah, you've got to do
[36:22] Speaker 2: it before it happens.
[36:23] Speaker 1: Do you know what I really want to do when
[36:25] Speaker 1: my book is out in the world?
[36:26] Speaker 2: Yes.
[36:26] Speaker 1: Whenever I see it in a bookstore, in a country
[36:28] Speaker 1: or at the airport, I want to sign it. Oh, yeah.
[36:30] Speaker 1: You know, like a famous author.
[36:31] Speaker 2: Yes.
[36:31] Speaker 1: Do you do that?
[36:32] Speaker 2: I do, yes. Yeah. It's best to ask.
[36:36] Speaker 1: Yeah, I was about to say, do you have to ask?
[36:38] Speaker 2: You do have to ask. I mean, because you don't
[36:40] Speaker 2: technically own the book, like that product.
[36:42] Speaker 1: Oh, that's true.
[36:42] Speaker 2: I mean, you can sign it. I'm sure no one
[36:45] Speaker 2: would think it's devalued because you've signed it.
[36:48] Speaker 1: You have immensely upvalued it.
[36:50] Speaker 2: Yes, but I always think it's polite. Has anyone ever
[36:52] Speaker 2: said no? No, no.
[36:53] Speaker 1: Oh, good.
[36:53] Speaker 2: They always say yes. They would be so excited. And... Yeah,
[36:57] Speaker 2: I remember the first time I asked, I was like,
[36:59] Speaker 2: I actually wrote the book. Like so excited. And they're like,
[37:02] Speaker 2: they've seen a million authors.
[37:03] Speaker 1: Like it's not that special.
[37:05] Speaker 2: So yeah, that's humbling.
[37:06] Speaker 1: Well, it would be very special to me to be
[37:08] Speaker 1: out in the wild and to stumble across a signed
[37:10] Speaker 1: Martina Calvi book.
[37:11] Speaker 2: Yes. Oh, a signed Sam book. I just can't wait.
[37:15] Speaker 1: That is my author fantasy to get around signing all
[37:18] Speaker 1: the books.
[37:18] Speaker 2: And feel like a real author. Have you perfected your signature?
[37:21] Speaker 1: Yes, I perfected it when I was eight years old.
[37:23] Speaker 1: It's been ready my whole life.
[37:24] Speaker 2: You've been ready.
[37:25] Speaker 1: Yes. I was hoping to become a pop star, but
[37:28] Speaker 1: an author will do.
[37:30] Speaker 2: Can you reveal what this is about yet oh.
[37:32] Speaker 1: All I can say is that it's about Japan which
[37:34] Speaker 1: everyone knows that but specifically what about Japan okay you know.
[37:38] Speaker 2: I mean I think I can I can guess yeah
[37:41] Speaker 2: yeah that's so.
[37:42] Speaker 1: Exciting I put all of my best information everything that
[37:46] Speaker 1: I know well obviously.
[37:47] Speaker 2: You're writing from cafes in Japan now right one.
[37:51] Speaker 1: Singular time yes book two Exclusively written from cafes. Yes.
[37:56] Speaker 2: Good, good.
[37:57] Speaker 1: Maybe like a little park and a bit of a
[37:59] Speaker 1: library too.
[37:59] Speaker 2: I have to say the difference between book one and
[38:03] Speaker 2: book two, astronomical. That's what I want to know. In
[38:06] Speaker 2: terms of the process. The first one, I've never written
[38:10] Speaker 2: a book before. So yeah, I had no idea what
[38:12] Speaker 2: I was doing.
[38:12] Speaker 1: Yeah, and you don't know until you get the edits.
[38:15] Speaker 1: Because I was like, I'm going to submit this. But
[38:17] Speaker 1: just remember, I didn't know how to write a book.
[38:18] Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. That's it. And of course your editor
[38:21] Speaker 2: knows that and holds your hand through it. Um, the
[38:24] Speaker 2: writing part was fine for me because I've always written.
[38:27] Speaker 2: So I've always been a writer my whole life. So
[38:29] Speaker 2: that was fine. I always excelled at writing, but it
[38:32] Speaker 2: was more the organization of the book and how to
[38:36] Speaker 2: make this structure into a book that people wanted and
[38:38] Speaker 2: that would sell. So yeah, that's obviously knows best with that.
[38:42] Speaker 2: Whereas like I would have put probably so much more
[38:45] Speaker 2: into the book, but they forced me to whittle it down,
[38:47] Speaker 2: which was great.
[38:48] Speaker 1: That's good that you had an excess of content rather
[38:51] Speaker 1: than not enough ideas.
[38:52] Speaker 2: That's it.
[38:53] Speaker 1: I want to hear a little bit more about your
[38:54] Speaker 1: upcoming book, The Art of Snail Mail.
[38:57] Speaker 2: Yes.
[38:57] Speaker 1: What made you decide that this was the topic for
[39:00] Speaker 1: book three and this is what you wanted to do next?
[39:02] Speaker 2: It was a very natural progression. I mean, the first
[39:05] Speaker 2: book is The Art of Memory Collecting. So it's memory
[39:08] Speaker 2: collecting in all forms. And there's snail mail project in there.
[39:11] Speaker 2: There's junk journaling projects in there. And then I feel
[39:13] Speaker 2: like book two, I was like, okay, let's go all
[39:15] Speaker 2: in on just junk journaling. And then book three, I
[39:18] Speaker 2: was like, I want to go all in on my
[39:19] Speaker 2: other obsession, which is snail mail. And I feel that's.
[39:22] Speaker 1: Kind of an anomaly in this day and age. You know,
[39:25] Speaker 1: the art of writing is being vast to emails, the
[39:28] Speaker 1: digital world. Yeah. What made you feel like now was
[39:32] Speaker 1: the right time to bring that out and confident that
[39:34] Speaker 1: in this world of digital people will still want to
[39:37] Speaker 1: read about writing and snail mail?
[39:39] Speaker 2: I think because we're in such a world of digital,
[39:41] Speaker 2: that's why we need snail mail more than ever. Like,
[39:45] Speaker 2: We're craving handwritten. We're craving handmade. I think in the
[39:48] Speaker 2: age of slop, we are.
[39:50] Speaker 1: Slop.
[39:51] Speaker 2: It's true.
[39:52] Speaker 1: We are in the age of slop.
[39:52] Speaker 2: We are in the age of slop. And so seeing
[39:55] Speaker 2: something handmade, handwritten, it brings me hope. It reminds us
[40:00] Speaker 2: of our own humanity. And I really do believe that
[40:03] Speaker 2: just like one handwritten note is enough to just remind
[40:06] Speaker 2: us like we're human and we're, you know. Yeah.
[40:09] Speaker 1: And what do you hope that the readers will take
[40:11] Speaker 1: from the book?
[40:12] Speaker 2: Well, I really consider this book my. I guess my
[40:16] Speaker 2: legacy for a generation that doesn't even know how to
[40:21] Speaker 2: write a letter or hasn't written a letter. That's true.
[40:23] Speaker 2: There is a whole generation that haven't written a letter
[40:25] Speaker 2: before and they want to.
[40:27] Speaker 1: That's crazy to think about.
[40:28] Speaker 2: I know, I know.
[40:29] Speaker 1: And they mustn't be teaching it in schools because now
[40:31] Speaker 1: they're writing emails. That's it. Using a Canva template.
[40:34] Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. It's just all changed. And, yeah, I
[40:38] Speaker 2: just wanted to bring that joy to the next generation
[40:42] Speaker 2: and then also... nostalgia to our generation and um yeah
[40:47] Speaker 2: that was just like bringing that joy of handmade mail
[40:50] Speaker 2: and I hope people read it and feel inspired to
[40:53] Speaker 2: just send one letter like if you send one if
[40:55] Speaker 2: you do one human crafty thing this year just send
[40:59] Speaker 2: one letter.
[40:59] Speaker 1: That is going to be a spike in letters once
[41:02] Speaker 1: this book comes out as we're recording it's just a
[41:05] Speaker 1: few weeks away from coming out is it October 8th
[41:08] Speaker 1: that it comes out.
[41:08] Speaker 2: I think so, yeah.
[41:09] Speaker 1: My birthday. Oh, no way!
[41:12] Speaker 2: It's meant to be!
[41:13] Speaker 1: Yeah, what a special date.
[41:14] Speaker 2: That's so special.
[41:15] Speaker 1: If anyone who loves me is listening, I hope that
[41:17] Speaker 1: I receive the book for my birthday. Yes. Because it
[41:20] Speaker 1: will be out. Where will people be able to get it?
[41:24] Speaker 2: You'll be able to buy The Art of Snail Mail
[41:26] Speaker 2: at all good bookstores.
[41:28] Speaker 1: So pretty much anywhere you can get it.
[41:29] Speaker 2: Any good bookstore.
[41:30] Speaker 1: And any country too.
[41:32] Speaker 2: I think it's officially available in the UK, the US,
[41:35] Speaker 2: and Australia, but You can buy it in other countries.
[41:38] Speaker 2: It just depends on the bookstore.
[41:39] Speaker 1: With Amazon, something like that.
[41:40] Speaker 2: Yeah, on Amazon, of course. Yeah.
[41:41] Speaker 1: She's a worldwide author.
[41:42] Speaker 2: She's all over the world, which is great because I
[41:45] Speaker 2: think it's something that the world needs. We all need
[41:47] Speaker 2: a little moment to write and use our hands to
[41:50] Speaker 2: create something. Actually, speaking of. Oh, I have a letter
[41:54] Speaker 2: for you.
[41:55] Speaker 1: For me?
[41:56] Speaker 2: Yes, this is for you, Sam. Oh, my God.
[41:58] Speaker 1: Thank you.
[41:59] Speaker 2: There's your handwritten mail.
[42:02] Speaker 1: I'm so surprised. This is a complete surprise. This was, like,
[42:05] Speaker 1: not planned at all.
[42:06] Speaker 2: Thank you. No, you're welcome.
[42:08] Speaker 1: This is so sweet of you.
[42:09] Speaker 2: So I thought I'd show you a little example of
[42:11] Speaker 2: how you can do crafty snail mail.
[42:13] Speaker 1: Oh, my God. And this is from Martina's Tiny Store,
[42:17] Speaker 1: which is your online store. Yeah. So do you have
[42:19] Speaker 1: custom envelopes?
[42:20] Speaker 2: Yes, I design envelopes. Of course you do. Because I
[42:22] Speaker 2: love making things and I wanted pretty envelopes, so I
[42:25] Speaker 2: made them. Oh, my God. So this is a little, like, flip.
[42:28] Speaker 1: Girls, look at this. She put our word of the
[42:30] Speaker 1: day in here.
[42:31] Speaker 2: Ephemera! It says Ephemera! Meant to be.
[42:34] Speaker 1: Oh, my God. And it's so interactive.
[42:36] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[42:36] Speaker 1: So these are all little things that I can engage with.
[42:38] Speaker 2: Little things that you can look at later and just unpack. Yeah.
[42:41] Speaker 1: This is so thoughtful. Thank you so much for taking
[42:44] Speaker 1: the time. to make this and bring it on, there
[42:48] Speaker 1: is a QR code for music. Oh, my God. I'm
[42:50] Speaker 1: intrigued to see what song you.
[42:52] Speaker 2: Could have chosen. Yeah. Oh, she's falling apart. There's a tea.
[42:55] Speaker 2: There's tea.
[42:56] Speaker 1: Oh, my God.
[42:57] Speaker 2: I put a little tea bag. There's a sticker sheet. Oh,
[43:00] Speaker 2: my God.
[43:00] Speaker 1: I want to drink the tea.
[43:01] Speaker 2: Yeah. I love tea. Tea's the best.
[43:05] Speaker 1: What have we got in the ephemera?
[43:08] Speaker 2: That's full of little stars. So maybe actually don't open
[43:11] Speaker 2: it because it'll fall everywhere. Okay.
[43:13] Speaker 1: Girls, there is glitter in here.
[43:15] Speaker 2: Oh, my God.
[43:16] Speaker 1: Well, it's like confetti. This is exactly what I needed
[43:20] Speaker 1: to make my first spread.
[43:22] Speaker 2: Perfect. So you can reuse all of these bits.
[43:26] Speaker 1: Oh, my God.
[43:27] Speaker 2: I can't believe you did all of this for me.
[43:29] Speaker 1: This is such a beautiful little sticker sheet. If you're
[43:32] Speaker 1: just listening to the podcast, definitely swipe through to the
[43:35] Speaker 1: video feed right now because you'll want to see this.
[43:37] Speaker 1: This is magnificent. Thank you so much for bringing this.
[43:41] Speaker 1: And this is the thing, you know, before chatting to you,
[43:44] Speaker 1: I then wouldn't know what to do with this. I
[43:45] Speaker 1: would put it in my box probably and be like,
[43:47] Speaker 1: this is my memories box. But that box just lives
[43:50] Speaker 1: under the bed, you know, and the memories get forgotten about.
[43:52] Speaker 1: It needs to go in the journal so I can look,
[43:55] Speaker 1: you know.
[43:56] Speaker 2: You can paste it in your journal, take all the
[43:58] Speaker 2: little bits, put it in your journal. I put little stickers. Yeah,
[44:02] Speaker 2: this will get you on your journaling journey.
[44:03] Speaker 1: This has truly made my day. Like this is the
[44:05] Speaker 1: most beautiful, touching surprise. But we must move on to
[44:09] Speaker 1: our next segment. And this is going to be quick fire.
[44:11] Speaker 1: I know we've been yapping a lot. But we need
[44:15] Speaker 1: short and sharp answers here for our listeners. And the
[44:17] Speaker 1: first question, specifically for our listeners, is what is one
[44:21] Speaker 1: prompt you could give the listeners of Charmed to try
[44:24] Speaker 1: tonight for their scrapbook?
[44:26] Speaker 2: Portrait of you. Include a photo booth strip or a
[44:30] Speaker 2: photo of yourself and just do a beautiful title page
[44:33] Speaker 2: for the first page of your journal.
[44:34] Speaker 1: That sounds lovely. And if you do it, make sure
[44:36] Speaker 1: you tag us because we want to see it.
[44:38] Speaker 2: Yes.
[44:38] Speaker 1: Next one. Most underrated junk journaling scrapbooking supply.
[44:43] Speaker 2: Washi tape. It's a background. It's a border. It's decorative.
[44:48] Speaker 2: Always have one in your bag.
[44:49] Speaker 1: She can do it all. Most random thing you have
[44:52] Speaker 1: ever put in your junk journal?
[44:54] Speaker 2: A used MetroCard from New York that I found on
[44:58] Speaker 2: the ground.
[44:59] Speaker 1: Not even yours?
[45:00] Speaker 2: No. I was like, these are going to be, they're
[45:04] Speaker 2: about to disappear. They're not going to make them anymore.
[45:06] Speaker 2: So I was like, I have to take this for
[45:07] Speaker 2: my journal. And my husband was like, please do not
[45:09] Speaker 2: pick things off the ground.
[45:10] Speaker 1: Can you sanitize that?
[45:11] Speaker 2: Yeah, especially in New York. Oh.
[45:14] Speaker 1: Next, what is one book you think everybody should read?
[45:18] Speaker 2: One book everyone should read.
[45:20] Speaker 1: The Art of Memory Collecting. The Art of Snail Mail.
[45:23] Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
[45:24] Speaker 1: The Art of Memory Collecting.
[45:25] Speaker 2: Let's do that. Yeah.
[45:27] Speaker 1: One thing that you regret throwing away.
[45:30] Speaker 2: My journals from ages 15 to 17.
[45:33] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[45:34] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[45:35] Speaker 1: And lastly, one memory collecting rule that you live by.
[45:40] Speaker 2: It doesn't have to be perfect. That's the biggest rule.
[45:43] Speaker 2: There are no rules.
[45:43] Speaker 1: There are no rules. As a lover of rules, I'm
[45:46] Speaker 1: trying to solve that.
[45:47] Speaker 2: The limit does not exist.
[45:50] Speaker 1: And now it's time for our last segment, which personally
[45:53] Speaker 1: I despise this hypothetical question. As a collector of many treasures,
[45:58] Speaker 1: and I love every single one of my treasures equally,
[46:01] Speaker 1: I will not be answering this question. But before you leave,
[46:03] Speaker 1: you must answer if you could only save one item...
[46:07] Speaker 1: In your entire collection of ephemera, scrapbooking, junk journaling, what
[46:12] Speaker 1: would it be?
[46:14] Speaker 2: As a sentimental girl, this is very, very hard.
[46:17] Speaker 1: I know.
[46:17] Speaker 2: I don't like it at all.
[46:20] Speaker 1: Everything else is in a house fire.
[46:22] Speaker 2: One item. Okay, I'm imagining I'm in a house fire.
[46:24] Speaker 2: What am I grabbing?
[46:25] Speaker 1: Sorry you had to imagine that.
[46:26] Speaker 2: I'm going to be grabbing my journal for sure. I
[46:29] Speaker 2: think what's more precious than your memories?
[46:33] Speaker 1: So this is your current journal?
[46:35] Speaker 2: My current journal, yes. There's a rotation. I do have
[46:38] Speaker 2: many journals at once. This is my current journal.
[46:40] Speaker 1: At the moment. So what journals are in the rotation?
[46:42] Speaker 2: So this is actually just a sample of one of
[46:44] Speaker 2: my new journals that I'm working on. So I'm testing
[46:47] Speaker 2: her out, making sure she's beautiful.
[46:49] Speaker 1: So this is a Martina, actual, not just Martina's journal.
[46:52] Speaker 1: This is a Martina's Tiny Store. Yes, yes.
[46:55] Speaker 2: So if you don't know, I have a store called
[46:57] Speaker 2: Martina's Tiny Store where I sell journals and things that
[47:00] Speaker 2: I make because I love to make things. And yeah,
[47:02] Speaker 2: I'm working on a new generation of journals and this
[47:05] Speaker 2: is a soft cover. It's got a pocket in the
[47:07] Speaker 2: back for collecting ephemera. It's got little pretty pattern papers
[47:11] Speaker 2: that I designed.
[47:12] Speaker 1: They're beautiful. Oh, and so the patterns are already the background. Yeah. Oh,
[47:17] Speaker 1: I love that.
[47:18] Speaker 2: Which just makes it a little bit easier to start
[47:20] Speaker 2: pasting things in. And then we have the blank pages too.
[47:24] Speaker 2: So yeah. And then it's just got my little cyanotype
[47:28] Speaker 2: experiments and creations.
[47:31] Speaker 1: I've never had the word cyanotype before we're about to
[47:34] Speaker 1: learn another new word on this.
[47:35] Speaker 2: Podcast what's a cyanotype a cyanotype is like a sun
[47:37] Speaker 2: print or a solar print so it uses the sun
[47:41] Speaker 2: to create a print but this was my first time
[47:43] Speaker 2: doing it so i'm not an expert but it was really.
[47:46] Speaker 1: I've never heard of the concept enlighten me how did
[47:48] Speaker 1: the sun create that And for those who are listening,
[47:51] Speaker 1: how can we describe what this looks like? It's unreal.
[47:54] Speaker 2: So you're seeing the shadow of objects that I placed
[47:57] Speaker 2: on top of paper. So it's sun-sensitive paper that's been
[48:03] Speaker 2: soaked in some kind of chemical. And I placed a
[48:06] Speaker 2: flower over the top. This case, it was a daisy.
[48:09] Speaker 2: And then the other piece of paper, I placed my
[48:11] Speaker 2: scissors and clips and little stars and And basically wherever
[48:15] Speaker 2: the sun exposes is dark. And if you have an object,
[48:19] Speaker 2: then that stops the sun from exposing.
[48:21] Speaker 1: And you leave this sitting out there in the sun
[48:23] Speaker 1: and it creates that.
[48:24] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[48:24] Speaker 1: That's fascinating.
[48:25] Speaker 2: So this is my journal. You know, I've got my
[48:27] Speaker 2: art experiments. I've got notes. I've got my junk journal pages.
[48:32] Speaker 2: And I've got like sketches for new products, which I
[48:36] Speaker 2: will not show.
[48:37] Speaker 1: We almost got the exclusive.
[48:39] Speaker 2: Yeah. It all goes in here. Yeah. This would probably
[48:43] Speaker 2: be the thing that I grab in a fire because
[48:46] Speaker 2: my ideas and my memories and also my evidence and
[48:50] Speaker 2: my records of my life, everything's in here.
[48:53] Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like an archive of your mind.
[48:55] Speaker 2: Yeah, literally.
[48:56] Speaker 1: Thank you so much for coming on as well. It
[48:58] Speaker 1: has been so interesting and insightful and enlightening to talk
[49:02] Speaker 1: to you. I think this might be the antidote to
[49:04] Speaker 1: my crippling perfectionism.
[49:05] Speaker 2: I hope so.
[49:07] Speaker 1: I've learned so much from you today about junk journaling. writing,
[49:11] Speaker 1: becoming an author. You're so inspiring and so talented and
[49:14] Speaker 1: you're doing so much in this industry. It's been such
[49:17] Speaker 1: a joy to talk to you.
[49:18] Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me. in your space
[49:20] Speaker 2: and your energy. It's really been such a joy. Thank you.
[49:23] Speaker 1: Anytime. You're so welcome. Thank you so much to Martina
[49:26] Speaker 1: for joining us and thank you to all of you
[49:28] Speaker 1: for tuning into this episode. I hope you enjoyed it
[49:30] Speaker 1: and don't forget to try the scrapbooking prompt that Martina
[49:33] Speaker 1: left for us. It was a self-portrait and make sure
[49:35] Speaker 1: you tag me and Martina when you do it because
[49:37] Speaker 1: I would love to see, but I'll see you next
[49:39] Speaker 1: week for another episode of Charmed and don't forget.
[49:42] Speaker 2: To stay charmed.
[49:43] Speaker 1: In this episode of Charmed, we discovered some fascinating keepsakes
[49:47] Speaker 1: and the memories that go with them. We all have
[49:50] Speaker 1: stories that live in the items we choose to keep.
[49:52] Speaker 1: Catch you again on Charmed and keep those collections safe
[49:55] Speaker 1: till next time. Some stories are one to tell with Pandora.

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