Sonya Cheney

Writer. Witch. Creatrix.

currently | january 2021

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I’m sitting here at my kitchen peninsula (my new writing space for #momlife reasons) as I type, Finn upstairs napping, laundry running in the washing machine, dishes in the dishwasher, and dinner prep going in the oven. I stared at the blank screen of Scrivener to work on a new scene for my novel but after ten minutes have only managed to tear 87 words from my brain. I know exactly what the scene is, but it hasn’t finished percolating, I suppose. I can’t focus.

This morning I was struck by the possibility of resurrecting Whatsername, my personal zine, and since then it’s been one of the only things on my mind. I’ve really stepped back from the zine community, both reading and writing, in the past couple of years, and there’s a hole in my heart that zines used to fill. In considering starting back up, the possibilities feel endless, while at the same time my mind rings with the question: “What’s the point?” A lot of what I’ve been doing lately has been haunted by that thought. What’s the point of learning to watercolor? What’s the point of making all of these scrapbook albums? What’s the point of knitting myself a sweater?

What’s the point of pouring my heart out in print?

And maybe I won’t. I don’t know if I’d even want to go through the hassle of putting it online to sell. My ideal? To find a satisfying way to consolidate what Whatsername was into this blog space. On the one hand, I love writing out book reviews, craft project overviews, and miscellaneous other “blog style” posts. But I also love the heart and the word vomit of personal zines. And while my scrapbooks are becoming a place for that kind of thing, I also recognize my compulsive need to (over)share my personal writing with the greater world–even if that greater world is only, like, two people.

It’s funny; the January prompt for Book of Me from the Awesome Ladies Project is “Currently,” and I didn’t know how I would approach it. I still don’t as far as the scrapbook goes. But there’s something about the fact that currently is how I chose to approach (and title) this impromptu blog post that, if nothing else, makes me chuckle.

Things are hard right now, on the micro and macro levels. There is so much inside me aching to get out: feelings, stories, tears. Venting in “close friends” Instagram stories isn’t enough, and it isn’t productive (even if it sure as hell felt good last night). After setting intentions for the New Moon last night revolving around my writing, my finances, and my health, I think relaunching the spirit of Whatsername–in whatever form that takes–is going to be a major part of that.

december daily 2020 | highlights and reflections.

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And so ends 2020, the year that we thought never would, and with it the major holiday season and by extension, December Daily.

This was my first year with the project, and it was by far my biggest scrapbooking endeavor to date. I still consider myself a newbie scrapbooker, and I was hesitant, overwhelmed, and inspired all at once over the possibilities. I was excited enough that I did a fair bit of planning ahead of time, but even that didn’t prepare me for the actual experience. It was…something. I was more flexible with myself during this project than probably any other I’ve done in a long while, and that was surely to my benefit on the days that I didn’t feel like working on it, either because I didn’t have a story to tell that day, or I just preferred watching a movie with Dan in the evening.

The majority of my stories are most likely not chronological and instead shared at any point in the month just to say, “This is relevant to this month, even if not to this day specifically.” I put ten things I was loving on the tenth because it was a fun and flexible way to make an entry without having to stay on top of it; I didn’t have to do the page all at once (which is great, because it was kind of intense). I have an insert of my current favorite holiday movies–and I didn’t watch a single one of them. But they were still my favorites! So I counted it.

Since this was my first December Daily, I wanted it to be as low pressure as possible, and I think I accomplished that. The fact that I finished before January really began also feels like another marker of success. As I move on to other projects this year (specifically, One Little Word, Book of Me, and whatever my not-quite-Project Life should be called), I won’t have an unfinished December Daily looming over me.

I already have some thoughts as far as my 2021 December Daily goes, and I’m trying to note them down so I don’t forget by the time December comes along again. I know I want to be even broader with my embellishments–less Christmas specific–and I’d love to try out a Life Crafted album for it. Hell–maybe I won’t even do December Daily per se. Maybe it’ll feel like something else entirely by the end of the year. I don’t know. I’m excited to see how it evolves when I start really thinking about it again, though.

Here are a few of my favorite spreads and pages within the project this past December:

finding my footing in hybrid scrapbooking.

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Target dollar spot glitter; an old Ali Edwards journaling card; handmade mini envelopes

I love crafts. It’s a blanket statement because I tend to bounce around from one thing to another: knitting, quilting, cross stitch, and, most recently, watercolor. I love having options when it comes to expressing my creativity and personality, and sometimes I just want the challenge of something new or less frequently tried. But–I also still adore my computer.

I feel like I’ve always been a computer person. When I was in elementary school and they started putting them in classrooms, I was hooked. I had a VTech personal learning computer when I was small. And some of my closest friendships have been made using the internet. Between, oh, 2006 and–um–last September I would be online until all hours of the night, sometimes watching YouTube, sometimes chatting with friends, sometimes just frying my brain. It’s part of why I love blogging so much, and why I love playing around in Photoshop and InDesign. There’s just something about the keys clacking and the cursor moving across the screen that gives me a dopamine kick.

Last year was the first time I started a scrapbooking project with Finn’s baby book (which I still have two or three months to finish within, but let’s not focus on that right now), and since then I’ve been inundating myself with options, styles, and inspiration. I’ve joined the Awesome Ladies Project and discovered this whole new world of creativity. And now? I’m doing December Daily for the first time. I started thinking about it in September, if not even earlier, and since then I’ve been hemming and hawing over how I want to do it. Fully digital and printed into a Blurb book? Pocket pages like Finn’s baby book? For a while I was set on the idea of just getting a spiral bound mixed media pad and assembling the whole thing within that. I really thought that was going to be the winner. But then, none of these options quite seemed to fit. I loved it all but it didn’t make me as excited as the final answer seems to be doing.

an Ali Edwards 6×8 album; a watercolor wreath I painted; more mini envelopes

That answer?

Hybrid scrapbooking.

I love kits. I love ordering kits and subscribing to kits, but I also know that I don’t always use all of the elements within them. Over the last few smaller projects I’ve worked on (an Art of Noticing book for the month of September and a Halloween/horror movie book for October), I’ve realized what kit pieces I like to use physically and which I can be happy to use in digital form. I’m not a big journaling card user, for example, but I love chip boards, die cuts, and papers. I love the texture and dimension that can come with adding ephemera to a page. I’m also a huge fan of physical stamping; I enjoy a good messy stamped background. If it’s not crisp and clean, I just think that adds character.

With a digital kit, I can include (and even print, cut, and attach) the elements and ephemera I want in a layout without worrying about wasting other pieces that I just don’t love. And can we talk about the typewriter fonts that you can get when typing journaling on the computer? How did I not think of that sooner when I was doing it for years in my zines?

I know; my lack of awareness is mind blowing.

a wood veneer from Elle’s studio; a set of dollar spot gift tags from Target

To say I’ve been obsessing over my December Daily would be an understatement, but to finally realize the best way to make it work for me feels like a nerdy game changer. I am still entirely new to this craft and creative outlet, but the fact that I can use it to combine so many other things that I love–let’s circle back to that recent watercolor endeavor–is just wonderful.

What kinds of crafts do you love? Do you scrapbook? How do you prefer to do your storytelling and memory keeping?

nanowrimo 2020 | surivival kit + rewards

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November is closing in on us, fellow writers.

Like I mentioned previously, part of my prep for NaNoWriMo is setting myself up with a so-called “survival kit” and planning out some rewards to keep me motivated as I go along–because no matter how exciting it can be to write a whole-ass novel, it can also be a slog, and those rewards will for sure help to keep me going on the days I feel stuck.

Firstly, the survival kit:

  • Wite-Out + Post-Its // I prefer the tape style of Wite-Out, but I’ve also got liquid on hand just in case it becomes necessary.
  • My favorite pens // I am–unsurprisingly–very particular about pens. I’ve changed favorites over the years, but I do believe that the Uniball Signo Micro 207s are my new forever favorite as far as gel goes, and I’m a Pigma Micron 02 fan for a more felt tip style.
  • My Passion Planner // I’ve already blocked out days that I know I won’t be able to write and adjusted my daily word count accordingly. I also plan to write down each day’s word count and total at the end of the day as I go for a nice little physical track record.
  • My “story bible” // I bought this notebook at Michaels for, oh, five dollars or so one day when I first got the idea for this novel back in the spring and I honestly didn’t realize how much it would come in handy. It includes my physical mood board, character bios, various idea dumps. There’s an entire page dedicated to the idea of “New England Gothic” as far as my story ambiance goes. It’s possibly one of the most useful tools in my kit.
  • Scrivener // Now, Scrivener is just as useful and it is so fancy and handy, but I wouldn’t say it’s necessary. Nonetheless, I love it. I’ve had Scrivener for seven years or so. I’ve written two novels on it (writing is as far as they’ve gotten). This novel is the first time I’ve really dived deep into what Scrivener can do, and I’m still learning how to make the best of it. Subtool? YouTube. I have watched–and still watch–so many YouTube tutorials on Scrivener, and I am so glad to have it in my toolkit.
  • Dropbox + a USB drive // Two copies–because better safe than sorry.
  • Earbuds + music // Obviously.
  • Fingerless mitts // The office likes to get coldcoldcold because our house isn’t insulated and the heating ducts only run along the first floor. Layers will be a necessity for November.

It’s still early, so I expect to come up with more things before November comes along. (In fact, I remembered my mitts after I started taking photos of my desk.)

And now, the really exciting bit: rewards! Of course, having a finished novel manuscript can be the reward in itself, but who doesn’t want a little extra motivation along the way?

  • 5,000 words // A cupcake from a local bakery or cafe–because who doesn’t love a little something sweet for motivation.
  • 10,000 words // A new horror DVD because who doesn’t love a little bit of inspiration when working on a horror story?
  • 25,000 words // Everyday Slouchy Beanie kit by Dragon Hoard Yarn Co–I think I think I think in the “Feather Fancy” colorway kit.
  • 40,000 words // A new book. Because obviously.
  • 50,000 words // A whole bunch of yarn for a Bigfoot yoke sweater I recently designed with the Tin Can Knits Strange Brew pattern.

I’m also planning to have a stash of Halloween candy on hand for a piece or two every, oh, thousand words perhaps. I have Clear Correct aligners for my teeth, so it’s a bit of an event to eat nowadays, but I think if I set aside a piece at every thousand and then just eat them at the end of each day, it won’t be such a hassle.