bloowabbit: journal

Showing posts with label journal. Show all posts

Thursday, 20 December 2018

12 days to Christmas - keeping a December Daily

December Daily is a project created by Ali Edwards, a 'designer, blogger, workshop instructor and author' who keenly feels that

''there's no right or wrong way to do all this,

that the real stories are worth telling,

and there's a whole lot of celebrating to do

even in the midst of the challenging pieces of life'

I follow crafters PopFizzPaper, Serena Bee Creative and Sabrina Ann who are a trio of friends who explore, swap, teach, video and share all things paper, card and adhesive. Plus, they're funny. Through their videos I found out about this form of journaling.

It's all about memory keeping the first 25 days of December and finding the best creative way for you to do so. Other paper crafters and memory keepers have developed ways to make a DecD and I chose to make a loose ring bound journal with separate pages on which to visually record days. I originally bought 8cm metal rings but after finding they were just too big I repurposed them to hold my xmas washi tapes.

My book is made from scrapbook paper from 'Traditional Christmas' by Make ^ Create - a value paper pack from The Works. At 3 quid and with 20 double sided sheets it's a great buy. I also picked up embellishments and washi from online shops and the local pound shops on the high street. It's useful to keep flyers with seasonal imagery as they can be used for backgrounds, like the Royal Mail flyer with houses and a postbox in the snow - perfect for days about receiving a letter and writing Christmas cards.

There are interesting ways to create a page - with pockets to conceal private pieces of journaling, card bands to hold separate attachments in place, tags with info or images on the end of baker's twine, envelopes or mini paper bags to hold ephemera. Some pages are smaller than other to create interest, some fold out to enlarge the journaling area and others are plastic trading card pockets sometimes sealed to contain sequin mixes if you like a bit of sparkle.

felt kit in magazine and Xmas party at UoA

section folds out to contain private journaling

new journal plus Qs for the day

and visiting Primark after the Bank Building fire

What you end up with is a creative journal that is as interactive as its creator makes. Already I'm finding that I'm developing a certain style with the washi edged pages. I like how my DecD looks when it sits on end and its pages splayed open. Although it's not yet completed the book itself is a decorative thing, not just what lies inside.

12 days to Christmas - decorating my planner

12 days to Christmas - Trollbeads Share-a-Christmas-Card

12 days to Christmas - making bunting

12 days to Christmas - Jacquie Lawson advent calendar

12 days to Christmas - Christmas/Winter quote book

12 days to Christmas - decorating

12 days to Christmas - sending Happy Mail

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All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

Thursday, 11 October 2018

my creative planner...

I can hardly believe it was June, 4 months ago, since I last posted an entry in this blog. I have been in the throes of a dark phase but have and am still crawling out from under that particular stone. I have a couple of other blogposts that I might now be able to finish. For this one I've taken a few pictures of my creative planner without which I wouldn't be able to function as an artist/crafter.

I use a green Leuchtturm (how is that pronounced?) which I picked up at TK Maxx for half price. I stood there at the stationery shelves with both the green one and a grey one in my hands, trying to decide which to buy. I should have bought both.

The Leuchtturm is favoured by many bullet planners as the 249 pages are each numbered plus it has an index section at the front. This keeps me from losing track of what I'm doing when. The pages are nice quality though some pens are too heavy ink-wise. I like using a Papermate Replay as it's easy to erase mistakes, misspellings etc. My book has blank pages so I can sketch ideas in them.

I draw out a new month's calendar when I need it and prefer drawing boxes to write within. I do use a code to indicate whether a task has been achieved, decided against or pushed ahead to another time. However my writing changes depending upon my mood or emotion. It can be anything between neat and downright chaotic. I doubt if I will ever achieve the perfection of Kara Benz's careful yet artistic consistency, and yet I yearn to be able to do so.

Unlike my personal journal, where I revisit pages I've written again and again and add dated notes in the margins, my Leuchtturm is a working tool. It serves to organise the inspiration and excitement I feel whenever I have an idea and helps me translate that maelstrom into achievable working tasks.

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Monday, 17 October 2016

Creating a Good Mental Health planner/journal

If you've checked out my blog pages you may have noticed I'm into planners big time. Writing lists and keeping track of what I need to do on a daily/weekly/monthly basis helps manage my forgetfulness. Plus I get to use lots of stickers.

One thing that's important to me is good mental health and I began to think how a planner designed specifically for that might help with dark phases. If you've ever done any CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) you'll understand the usefulness of recognising triggers and knowing how to break circles of negative thinking.

I am by no means a qualified therapist or counsellor but as a person who struggles from time to time with anxiety and depression I know what works for me. It's a starting point to create some kind of useful and hopefully supportive planner.

I began by creating emoticons. There are all sorts of them online but I wanted ones that were based on weather - feelings can be associated with 'sunny', 'cloudy' or 'stormy'. It's also important to me that I design my own.

Pages of distraction images might be helpful - I know that getting focussed on a task, creative or not, can steer me clear of an unhelpful spiral. Rather than writing phrases of things to go and do, a simple image could mean many things. The pencil might represent drawing or doodling or colouring in. The television could mean sit down and watch a movie or a documentary or even switch off the telly and go do something else.

I thought of decorative frames in which words could be written or dates and phrases of good moments and experiences. Or they could hold the dark moments, for good mental health isn't about ignoring the bad bits. It's about coming to terms with all of our lives, warts and all.

A series of stars and suns making up a night sky filled with places to record moments, or a road winding its way through the year ahead with achievable goals. When it's done I'll have pages available for free downloading. I had hoped to have this finished by World Mental Health Day but it's taking more thought and work than anticipated. Early days yet...

All constructive comments are welcome

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