Illustrated Life | Amy Cowen | Substack

Containers for Light—Looking Back at Year 3

Thoughts on finishing year three

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13 Reasons to Keep an Illustrated Journal

May 4, 2025 • Amy Cowen

Pen Pals and Letter Writing

Aug 11, 2024 • Amy Cowen

The Good Cookies

Apr 20, 2025 • Amy Cowen

Of Curtains and Orange Sky

Sep 15, 2024 • Amy Cowen

Sunday Letters

Containers for Light—Looking Back at Year 3

Thoughts on finishing year three

Feb 9 • Amy Cowen

Just a short note

This week: Short Note ⭐ Looking Back ⭐ Illustrate Your Week Prompts

Feb 2 • Amy Cowen

Inside the Ferris Wheel

A micro-fiction prompt opens a door through time and leads to the smallest of discoveries in a Limoges box.

Jan 25 • Amy Cowen

The Texture of Quiet

Thoughts on the rhythms of a new year and a subtle reclaiming of quiet.

Jan 18 • Amy Cowen

December’s Morning Light

A grounding morning twilight project

Jan 12 • Amy Cowen

Unexpected Knocking at the Door

The new year started with a cross-country surprise on the doorstep in the dark.

Jan 4 • Amy Cowen

Finishing 52 Weeks of List Comics - Year 2

Year two of the weekly "diary list comics" series

Dec 28, 2025 • Amy Cowen

Solstice in a Snow Globe

Light, memory, and the quiet turn of the solstice

Dec 21, 2025 • Amy Cowen

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The Writer

Containers for Light—Looking Back at Year 3

Thoughts on finishing year three

Feb 9 • Amy Cowen

Just a short note

This week: Short Note ⭐ Looking Back ⭐ Illustrate Your Week Prompts

Feb 2 • Amy Cowen

Inside the Ferris Wheel

A micro-fiction prompt opens a door through time and leads to the smallest of discoveries in a Limoges box.

Jan 25 • Amy Cowen

The Texture of Quiet

Thoughts on the rhythms of a new year and a subtle reclaiming of quiet.

Jan 18 • Amy Cowen

December’s Morning Light

A grounding morning twilight project

Jan 12 • Amy Cowen

Series & Challenges

December’s Morning Light

A grounding morning twilight project

Jan 12 • Amy Cowen

Finishing 52 Weeks of List Comics - Year 2

Year two of the weekly "diary list comics" series

Dec 28, 2025 • Amy Cowen

On Time Present and Time Past

100 days of people contours with rainbow topography

Jun 8, 2025 • Amy Cowen

13 Reasons to Keep an Illustrated Journal

Thoughts on the value of keeping an illustrated journal + a Starter Kit postcard prompt

May 4, 2025 • Amy Cowen

I Am Always Writing a Letter

I Am Always Writing a Letter (05): A Palette of Lavender and Gold

Letters, ravens, the gloaming, and an atmospheric palette in my journal

Nov 16, 2025 • Amy Cowen

I Don’t Have Any Stories to Tell

A litany, the gathering and stringing of details

Aug 31, 2025 • Amy Cowen

I Am Always Writing a Letter 04: Careful Where You Sit

Plus a red boat, purple hair, and the quiet of fog drifting over the lake

Aug 10, 2025 • Amy Cowen

I Am Always Writing a Letter 03: Not a Gardener

Goodnight Moon, a perfect chair, and the memory of roses

Jul 27, 2025 • Amy Cowen

I Am Always Writing a Letter 02: Crow, Dove, Poet

A letter, a chant, and the echo of light from a star

Jul 20, 2025 • Amy Cowen

I Am Always Writing a Letter 01

Somewhere between memory and fiction: a stick of gum, a paper boat, and the shape of trees

Jul 6, 2025 • Amy Cowen

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Illustrated Journal How To

December Illustrated Journal Prompts (2025)

A simple set of journal prompts to mix into your month

Nov 30, 2025 • Amy Cowen

Nine Reasons a Weekly Illustrated Journal Works

The philosophy of weekly over daily when it comes to personal journaling and documentation

Nov 29, 2025 • Amy Cowen

25 Gratitude Quotes for Your Illustrated Journal

Add these quotes to your illustrated journal for an inspiring burst of gratitude-infused wisdom

Nov 1, 2025 • Amy Cowen

40 Banned Books for Your Illustrated Journal

A list of some well-known books that have been banned to make a list of Banned Books Week in your illustrated journal

Oct 5, 2025 • Amy Cowen

30 Fall Quotes for Your Illustrated Journal

Add these quotes to your illustrated journal for a crisp, pile-of-leaves, seasonal vibe

Sep 20, 2025 • Amy Cowen

Numbers in Your Illustrated Journal

Thirty ways to use numbers in your journal

Sep 20, 2025 • Amy Cowen

15 Summer Quotes for Your Illustrated Journal

Add these quotes to your illustrated journal for a blast of summer wisdom

Jun 21, 2025 • Amy Cowen

13 Reasons to Keep an Illustrated Journal

Thoughts on the value of keeping an illustrated journal + a Starter Kit postcard prompt

May 4, 2025 • Amy Cowen

Sketchnotes

Cutting a pile of old shirts

Cutting old shirts and a sketchnote of a Struthless video

Oct 5, 2025 • Amy Cowen

Pianos in the Park + Doodlers Unite Sketchnote

Loose Leaf 02—Notes from the Week + Doodle Sketchnote

Sep 28, 2025 • Amy Cowen

Sketchnote - Debbie Millman on Designing a Life You Love

Loose Leaf 01 and notes from the week, plus a “design a life you love” sketchnote

Sep 21, 2025 • Amy Cowen

Throwing out the decoder ring

A small stack of sketchnote quotes with a rebus vibe. Plus, once upon a time, I thought I thought I would find my way making mazes and puzzles for kids.

Mar 30, 2025 • Amy Cowen

Loss & Grief

Of Otters, Bears, and Becoming Real

From the bears to the paintings on the wall

Nov 9, 2025 • Amy Cowen

Once in a Blue Moon, Halloween Week

"...when the barrier between the worlds is whisper-thin and when magic, old magic, sings its heady and sweet song to anyone who cares to hear it…

Oct 26, 2025 • Amy Cowen

Shell, Sphinx, Cat

A mysterious midnight visitor and a cacophony of birds

Sep 14, 2025 • Amy Cowen

I’m really here for the journey

Jun 1, 2025 • Amy Cowen

The Year the Tree Stayed Up

It turned into multiple years. I’m not sure I can take it down. Plus, a sparkly vintage jewelry tree—enchanting or gaudy, your call.

Dec 22, 2024 • Amy Cowen

All the Holidays

A year of missed holidays

Nov 24, 2024 • Amy Cowen

Perspective & Fitting Gratitude In

Gratitude and perspective, the up-close and far-away of it

Nov 3, 2024 • Amy Cowen

Widowed—Almost Five Months In

A breakdown at the library and a decision to show up, to open the gate and navigate in the open.

Oct 26, 2024 • Amy Cowen

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