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You can have all the plans you want, but some things change along the way….

I’m sorry that I’ve been MIA lately. This year started out a little busy, being a teacher during the day, a student during night, and an artist at midnight. Back in 2015, when I finished my Master’s Degree , I thought: “finally, no more classes….after studying more than half my life”….. On January 2017, I came back to college so that I can get my official teacher’s license. I still got a couple of more classes to go, but this isn’t the reason of this blog post. I want to talk to you about what I’ve been up to these past few months.

Those of you that have been following me on this journey since January know that the purpose of this blog is to talk about how life’s obstacles can help you bring out the best in you, always look at the bright side, and my lettering journey. Things have taken a little twist; and if you guys follow me on Instagram, you may notice that it has nothing to do with it.  Something in me came back to life. I used to draw a lot when I was little. My mother said that she loved to see me draw, because I was in my own little world.  Somewhere along the way life hit me and I buried that talent.

Now, thanks to Angely it has come back to life. Like I said: Out of the bad things new good things are born. Now, instead of lettering it’s mostly doodles, drawings, and watercolor paintings based on my Sweet Partner, Angely. Do not get me wrong though, I am still interested in learning lettering, which I will continue later on.

                                                                 

I also started to draw plants and flowers which I love.

I also added to my shop some Puerto Rico embroidery maps, where the people let me know their county and I sew it in. I created this thinking about all of those people that, for different reasons, had to leave our beautiful island. I know they miss it, so this way they can take a little part of it with them.

Last but not least, my dog doodle portraits, which was something that I came up with last month. On March 31, 2018 I had my first pop-up store at West Elm in Plaza Las Américas. I was so excited to have this opportunity, this is when I started to search for something new and fun for the customers. This is when the idea came to mind. I see a lot of artist that do people portraits, I said: “Hey, let’s just do the same but for our four-legged children.”

Plus, I will have a new section called: Inspired by Paws which will debut next week! (Monday- April 23). This will consist of interviews about people whose project or business was inspired by their dogs. I will post the interviews every  Monday. Amazing people that will be featured: @sweetpawgallery @lamasdoglover @holy_doggie @pawsboutiquehotel @yeswecan_ine @megan.creates @petfriendly_pr  and Natalia Angulo de Doggie Cakes! So excited for you guys to learn about these inspiring stories!

If you know someone that has a side project or business inspired by their dog contact me: lettersbyangelie@gmail.com

 

<3

Melissa

 

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My 30 before 30s

Hello guys!

I will hit the big 3 0 in about 30 days so to start celebrating, I decided to do a blog post, in which, I will mention 30 facts about myself so that you can know me better.

Let’s start!

1.My name is Melissa.
2.I am from Carolina, Puerto Rico.
3.Got married at 25.
4.My favorite color is purple.
5.I tend to be shy at first.
6.I laugh at almost anything.
7.My favorite flowers are peonies.
8.I buy a ring every time I travel.
9.I am a dog lover.
10.My boston terrier’s name was Angely.
11.I love coffee.
12.If I had no classes, more time, and money I would do yoga.
13.Starbuck’s chai latte with almond milk is one of my favorite hot drinks.
14.My favorite date involves pizza and ice cream 🍕🍦
15.I traveled to Europe in 2010.


16.I have been a high school English teacher since 2011.
17.I have a bachelor’s degree in translation and a master’s degree in the teaching of English.
18.I am currently studying to get my official teacher’s license.
19.I must eat “mofongo” at least once a month.
20.I am a minimalist fan.
21.I have less than 15 pairs of shoes.
22.I love all things vintage.
23.I love all Mickey Mouse things; specially if its the vintage one.
24.I would like to live in the 1800s.
25.I Love watching Netflix series.
26.I can watch all types of movies: drama, action, sci fi, comedy, romantic, musicals.
27.My favorite actresses are Anne Hathaway and Sandra Bullock.
28.My latest top favorite movie is the Greatest Showman.
29.My other fave movie is Bride Wars (I can see it every month and not get tired of it).
30.I can count my friends with one hand.

How many things do we have in common?!

Let me know!

<3

Melissa

 

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7 secrets to keep our 2018 New Year’s Resolutions!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

2018 is finally here! The time of hopes and dreams, where many of us start meditating and writing down our new year’s resolutions. Many of us know that we start with excitement and ready to go, but the truth is that three weeks later some of us (including me) go back to where we started or tend to miss it one day and then over and over again until…POOF! Your resolution just disappeared. Meaning that once again you’ve failed and you are back to where you started. Has this ever happened to you? Why do you think this happens? The big question is: What are we going to do about it?!

These are some tips to be consistent:

  1. Your resolutions must be realistic!
  2. The resolutions must be about you not about what your friends or family would want for you.
  3. Many of our resolutions are about changing things about our habits or behaviors. We think that when we complete our resolutions our lives will magically change, but the truth is that sometimes it doesn’t, so keep that in mind -if not you may get discouraged and change your behavior again.
  4. Have a new year’s resolution buddy. Someone that has more or less the same goals that you have or maybe your husband or partner that will be there for you to cheer you on.
  5. FOCUS on what is in front of you, the present.
  6. Take small steps. Don’t focus on doing your 10 or 15 resolutions (which was basically what I did). Try to focus on a couple of them. This way you will have realistic goals.
  7. Just have fun while you do them!

Below you have my 2018 New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Be consistent with my blog-Letters by Angelie and my lettering practices.

2. Open my online shop, which will feature art prints, stationery products, and embroidery.

3. Master Adobe Illustrator so that I can keep turning my sketches into vectors. By the way, the                    featured image above is one of my firsts! Hope you like it!

4. Keep having quality one-on-one time with my husband and travel with him. This year we celebrate         our  5th  wedding anniversary.

Tell me about your new year’s resolutions?! You can send me an e-mail, inbox or dm me on IG =)

Have a good year!

<3

Melissa

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Why wait till January 2018 to set your goals, do it now!

At the beginning of October, I decided to pursue one of my passions, drawing. Since I was a little kid, I always loved to draw and paint. At the age of 10, my parents enrolled me in a  school of arts; in Spanish called  “Escuela de Bellas Artes”, but after a school year I told my parents that I didn’t want to continue because I was tired of getting out of my regular school and later continue in a second school every afternoon.

Nineteen years later, I’m like: how silly can I be? What a stupid excuse! I regret that moment so much because I wonder; what type of person would I be today if I stayed there? Plus, I was taking photography classes too.  I married a photographer so I could have helped my husband so much now a days! In college, I decided to do a bachelor’s degree in translation and a second one in photography, but I had some trouble enrolling in the second one and I thought that it was a sign. In addition, my dad told me that photography is a hobby not a steady profession. I was only 17 and sadly I believed it.

You may ask yourselves: why didn’t you go back or take classes somewhere else? Well, I decided to focus on things that would help me have a “steady salary”.  This isn’t enough though. You keep working for someone else and try to make other people “happy” specially my parents. PLEASE DON’T DO IT! You’ll feel miserable like me.

But what’s in the past stays in the past. We can’t change anything, but we can change our future. So, one day scrolling through Instagram I got inspired by the blogger Pursuing Pie. I thought to myself: “you know what? It is never too late, if she can have her own shop, be a wife, and a mother of twins, doing what she loves, I can do it too! What am I doing with my life? I don’t want to keep regretting things!

On that same day, I started to do some research about what would help me to do what I love. In Puerto Rico, arts aren’t seen as something that will make you have a decent living. You either try to sell your art or become an art teacher. While I researched with my husband (a graphic designer), who is always by my side and supports all my ideas, talked to me about lettering, which is something not found in Puerto Rico. I fell in love with it! We had the same thought: why wait till January to start? Let’s start now! So I enrolled in a couple of online classes and bought a book called The Ultimate Brush Lettering Guide by Peggy Dean. I am also drawing a lot again and hoping to do many illustrations for 2018!

I can’t wait to continue on this journey!

This is how Letters by Angelie was born.

I encourage you to STOP, THINK, and MEDITATE about your life…Ask yourself: am I doing what I really love to do? Am I doing things that I won’t regret later? Are you doing it for yourself or others?

If you’d like to get started and turn your passion into a career and get to know me better, here’s something cool for you…

<3

Melissa

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What to do when you’re stressed

Nobody in this world is safe from Mr. Stress. Unfortunately, it is part of our lives. All we need to do is learn how to deal with it. I’m not going to lie, some days I can manage it, but other days I tend to freak out.

Fact about myself: At the same time, I believe that it is good to have Mr. Stress around because it helps me when I have to hand in essays. In a way, it gives me the “adrenaline rush” that I need to find inspiration and write about the topic that the professor asks for. This is the only time that I see Mr. Stress like a good person.

My stress is constantly caused by things like homework (I’m currently taking classes to get my official teacher’s license), planning my classes (I’m a high school ESL teacher), what should I cook after I get out of work, house chores, other errands, my husband (wondering how his day is going since his work causes him to be constantly stressed -so I try to cheer him up), and take time for myself, so yeah! Many things going on. When I don’t organize my thoughts, my mind turns into chaos. So, I constantly have a million things going on in my mind and because of this, I can’t focus! Literally, you tell me something and 20 seconds later I forget what was it. Sometimes, the tension starts to physically manifest throughout my body and the result is: some mean headaches in the afternoons.

It is important to manage stress because if not it can affect our health. In 2014, I had to quit my job. I worked at a call center (during that process I found out that this job is not for me). At some point, I had so much stress that I got gastritis and I remember going to a psychologist during that time. She said: “this is the result of too much stress; your body is showing you how stressed it is through your stomach!”  So the secret is to live a balanced life. After you experience different types of stress, you find out what works for you. In the meantime, I will let you know what works for me.

  1. Identify: What’s causing it? What are the true sources? Because sometimes the things that give us stress are just temporary.
  2. Express your feelings. Write or find someone that you can trust, that is a good listener, or someone that can give you advice. Remember that some people just like to watch you fall so be careful with who you talk to.
  3. Don’t try to control everything. Stop and look at the big picture. Manage the things that you can work on.
  4. Organize your tasks! I love this part! Once I do this, I feel that I lose half of the stress baggage already. Sadly, I started doing this in 2016. I bought a small planner that I take with me everywhere!  Have a to-do list: write down everything (schedule, daily tasks, house chores, and appointments). If you see things that aren’t too important eliminate them or (if you can’t drop them) put them at the bottom of the list. Another thing that can help you is to find someone that can help you complete those tasks. For example: Let’s say that you need to go to the grocery store and your husband is near the area, you can ask him if he can help you buy the groceries that you need. btw.  this week I will start to use a bullet journal! (I’ll let you know later, in another post, about this new planning device and how it goes.)
  5. Make time for leisure. Do something that you enjoy and helps you to get away for a while (forget about things). I just love to practice my lettering and doodle, it’s my therapy!
  6. Exercise! It has been proven that exercise is one of the best things to do when you feel stressed. It helps you with your memory, energy, plus your body will thank you for it! I fell in love with Yoga and it gives me the time that I need to meditate.

Lastly, don’t forget that in the end everything will be fine!

How do you guys manage your stress?

 <3

Melissa