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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Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

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.

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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Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

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.

Decorative Planning...

'I think I've embraced Barbie'...overdoing the decorative sticker kit from Oh Hello

(MAMBI Happy Planner vertical style)

Not so long ago I still used diaries to record things to do, events to attend and didn't even touch goals to achieve. About a year ago after stumbling onto a 'Plan With Me' video on YT I was intrigued. Paper planners didn't have to be small and didn't have to be functional. And there was a whole world of stickers to dive into.

I set down my lovely Paperblank diary and began to research planners. There were tons to choose from but I finally settled on a Personal Planner which I could personalise with my art. And then I went on Etsy with my debit card almost melting it with the amount of stickers, washi and fancy pens I bought. I didn't begin small, I went into decorative overload. I got caught up in the frenzy of Darice sticker books, paying over the odds for international postage. I went a tad crazy...it can happen.

Day of the Dead Darice sticker inspired layout Nov 2015

(Personal Planner horizontal style)

I saw from the YT videos how fellow planners hid very functional parts of their planner pages with washi strips and patterned rectangular stickers. I noticed themed kits were supplied from sticker makers, allowing us to co-ordinate each page. Subscription kits, composed of a selection of sticker styles from a variety of makers, made sure we didn't even have to think about what stickers to purchase, instead putting energy into decoration and having the opportunity to try out stickers from shops we hadn't heard of. And some folk preferred to use mini stamps with ink pads to decorate their planner pages.

Finding that the Personal Planner wasn't what I wanted I invested in a larger planner. More space to decorate. I found a MAMBI Happy Planner and fell in love with its arty design and inserts. Over the months of using it I've honed my layout style to suit me. 

trying out asymmetrical layouts in both Personal Planner & Happy Planner

(Sept 2015)

current layout style - Happy Planner

(Mini Weekly Kit - English Garden from Oh Hello Stationery Co)

current layout style - Happy Planner

(Strawberry Fields Full Set from Boulderbon)

Each HP double page is divided into vertical days. Within each day are three sections for morning, day and night although I don't use this timescale. The top sections are covered either with washi or with rectangular 'full box' stickers. On top I use icon stickers to denote recurring tasks such as recycling, grocery shopping or laundry. I don't write beside the icon stickers as I'm happy with the visual prompts. 

In each centre section I use either full or strip checklist stickers for phone calls, tasks, reminders. Checklist stickers are technically functional but stickers makers design them with hearts, circles or icons on glossy or matte paper, sometimes flat colour, sometimes ombre. I have even used checklists with tiny rows of 'stitching' around the edges.

The lower section can be a mishmash of whatever stickers I have left over. I've used half boxes to tie in with a set, hydrate stickers with tiny water drops to keep a tally on my water intake or event stickers that come with an icon at the side.

Once my basic layout is set I then add larger decorative stickers across the pages. It's advisable to use flat stickers rather than puffy or three dimensional as your planner can become 'fluffy' (plannerspeak), bulging within its covers.

I've bought stickers from the US, Holland and China as well as the UK but in the end I advise buying what you need while spending as little as possible. By all means try out an interesting far-flung sticker maker and enjoy their products but for everyday stickers keep your expenditure in check. And it's true - be selective about what you want to try and set aside a budget for trying new designs. The washi I purchased last year will probably see me through until the end of this year! What I find I need are checklist stickers and half boxes - that's what I use most. And I'm considering designing some stickers myself though I'm not going to make them - they'll be available to download. I had deliberated for a long time about getting a Silhouette sticker machine but I didn't - I'm more into design than production. 

Whatever way you decide to decorate your planner have fun, join a planner group, a forum, swap ideas and try out new layouts. The world's your oyster sticker.

Mochiheart Designs creates drawings of TV series

(a one-off purchase, doesn't sell online)

Boulderbon  US sticker maker

(functional & decorative stickers on repositionable matte paper)

Darice books from US

(can be bought on Amazon or Ebay)

Djoisch stickers Dutch sticker maker

(soft watercolour effect stickers on matte paper)

Links:

bloowabbit Instagram page incl images of stickers hauls

bloowabbit facebook page

PlannableDesigns UK sticker maker on Etsy

PlanWithJade UK sticker maker on Etsy

Kayla, from Oh Hello Stationery Co planner videos

Bonnie, from Boulderbon planner favourites videos

Charmaine, from Charmaine Dulak planner videos

Personal Planner website

MAMBI Happy Planner source in UK - Homemakery (cheaper p+p)

Tomorrow's blog: 'Art Review, Jacqueline Wylie'

Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit
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.