I don't think I posted every single picture here that's shown above,
since I really didn't get to create much for a couple of months, but
here's my 2014 summary of art (based on my Deviantart account) none the less. :)
Happy belated 2015! :D
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Monday, January 12, 2015
Sketching and doodling
Spent part of my weekend doodling faces while
watching Howl's Moving Castle (One of my all time favorite movies that is absolutely brilliant in it's illustration). Great way to spend a weekend, even if I
do suck at drawing faces. ;)
Friday, January 9, 2015
Welcoming 2015
I always want to create my own printables for calendars, or share a free desktop wallpaper each month, but I never get around to really doing it. Thankfully there are some awesome people all over the internet who actually have their stuff together and have some great free printable calendars (and other pages) available for us all to enjoy!
So in today's post, I'm going to share a few of those pages with you guys. I hope you will also check our their web pages for more awesome things as well. ;) Just keep in mind that these are for your personal use only.
Group #1: Mini printable desk/wall calendars
1. Hello, Cuteness!
Facebook Link
This lovely calendar set is just adorable. The scenes are so bright and colorful, the characters are all adorable and there is even an added to do list for each month! The to do list is optional, so if you would prefer the calendar without it, be sure to check for the PDF version available.
Also, be sure to check out the Free Printables pages for more cute pages to download!
2. Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke
If you love lettering and typography, you're sure to enjoy these adorable monthly calendars created by Dawn Warnaar / Nicole. The designs are whimsical and colorful. The edges are also colored so they give a nice pop to where ever they call home on your desk or workspace.
She also has other free printables available, so be sure to check those out as well! Even more are also available at Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke. Both sites have plenty of great DIY projects as well, so be sure to check those out, too!
3. Mein Lila Park
Okay, I got lazy here, as Mein Lila Park isn't actually the one making all of these calendars (I think she does offer two designs of her own), but she's done a ton of legwork and found over 20 free mini printable calendars that all look pretty awesome! Some are more focused on actually keeping up with a monthly plan and some are just basic desktop calendars. Either way, there is a ton of places to visit to see if any of them are something you would enjoy.
4. Mockeri
These are going to be released monthly, so it will take a bit of legwork on your part if you want to keep up with the designs for your use, but if you want something simple and sweet, these might just be what you're looking for. Don't forget to check out the rest of her page for more free printables, too!
5. Design Corral
These simple calendars from Design Corral are for those who prefer simplicity while keeping up with their days. The lettering is gorgeous on these little calendars and they're sure to add a touch of sophistication to any desk they adorn. There are more free printables on their site as well, so be sure to check those out!
6. Nalle's House
These are also simple designed calendars that get a bit of enhancement from some sweet pattern designs. I love the way she mounted them onto a large wooden tag cutout, however they would be just as lovely anywhere they sit. If the patterns are a little too much for you, you could even add some pictures over them to make them a little bit more personal. Overall the designs have a very calming feel and are sure to make your desk or wall look very organized.
Group #2: Printable planner sheets
While I have opted to buy a pre made planner this year (which I will hopefully share more about in some future posts), I thought some people might prefer to print their own, as I am often tempted to do. Most planners do not meet my needs very well these days so finding one that suits me has been a bit of a hassle. And with some being so expensive it makes it hard to decide which one to pick, especially if it's just going to end up by the wayside in a couple of months. So, here are some lovely places where you can find some really cute planner printouts if you're like me and hoping to make 2015 a year of organization.
7. The Handmade Home
I love it when planner pages are colorful and bright and full of places for me to sort out my life. This planner looks to offer all of that and more. I absolutely love the simple design of the pages (which remind me greatly of the beautiful Erin Condren planners I keep seeing everywhere) and the color coordinated color scheme. I could easily see myself using this just to enjoy the colorful pages! ( I know this is also listed on Mein Lilla Park's list above but I couldn't help adding it in here.)
8. Gluesticks
Brandy over at Gluesticks also offers a very colorful planner. While those at the Handmade Home seem somewhat muted and dark, Brandy's are very vibrant and displayed a bit more thickly across the pages. Each layout is boxed in lovely shades of coordinating colors and she even has beautiful additional pages, for various information, all of which are also steeped in beautiful coordinating colors and designs.
9. Botanical Paper Works
If you're looking for just a basic weekly template to keep up with appointments, you might enjoy these lovely horizontal and vertical designs from Botanical Paper Works. They're extremely colorful and there's a good bit of room to write in notes each day to help you stay on task. If you have a pretty simple schedule each week or would like a small visual calendar to go with your phone calendar perhaps, this seems to be the perfect calendar to keep everything synced up.
10. Misstiina
For my last source on this freebie list, is a site full of beautiful free printables. There are blank planner pages, calendar pages, scrapbook page printables, bookmarks, labels, simply all sorts of beautiful, colorful free printable items. You can see the planner printables here or all the printabls available here.
So in today's post, I'm going to share a few of those pages with you guys. I hope you will also check our their web pages for more awesome things as well. ;) Just keep in mind that these are for your personal use only.
Group #1: Mini printable desk/wall calendars
1. Hello, Cuteness!
This lovely calendar set is just adorable. The scenes are so bright and colorful, the characters are all adorable and there is even an added to do list for each month! The to do list is optional, so if you would prefer the calendar without it, be sure to check for the PDF version available.Also, be sure to check out the Free Printables pages for more cute pages to download!
2. Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke
If you love lettering and typography, you're sure to enjoy these adorable monthly calendars created by Dawn Warnaar / Nicole. The designs are whimsical and colorful. The edges are also colored so they give a nice pop to where ever they call home on your desk or workspace.
She also has other free printables available, so be sure to check those out as well! Even more are also available at Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke. Both sites have plenty of great DIY projects as well, so be sure to check those out, too!
3. Mein Lila ParkOkay, I got lazy here, as Mein Lila Park isn't actually the one making all of these calendars (I think she does offer two designs of her own), but she's done a ton of legwork and found over 20 free mini printable calendars that all look pretty awesome! Some are more focused on actually keeping up with a monthly plan and some are just basic desktop calendars. Either way, there is a ton of places to visit to see if any of them are something you would enjoy. 
These are going to be released monthly, so it will take a bit of legwork on your part if you want to keep up with the designs for your use, but if you want something simple and sweet, these might just be what you're looking for. Don't forget to check out the rest of her page for more free printables, too!
These simple calendars from Design Corral are for those who prefer simplicity while keeping up with their days. The lettering is gorgeous on these little calendars and they're sure to add a touch of sophistication to any desk they adorn. There are more free printables on their site as well, so be sure to check those out!
6. Nalle's House
These are also simple designed calendars that get a bit of enhancement from some sweet pattern designs. I love the way she mounted them onto a large wooden tag cutout, however they would be just as lovely anywhere they sit. If the patterns are a little too much for you, you could even add some pictures over them to make them a little bit more personal. Overall the designs have a very calming feel and are sure to make your desk or wall look very organized.
Group #2: Printable planner sheets
While I have opted to buy a pre made planner this year (which I will hopefully share more about in some future posts), I thought some people might prefer to print their own, as I am often tempted to do. Most planners do not meet my needs very well these days so finding one that suits me has been a bit of a hassle. And with some being so expensive it makes it hard to decide which one to pick, especially if it's just going to end up by the wayside in a couple of months. So, here are some lovely places where you can find some really cute planner printouts if you're like me and hoping to make 2015 a year of organization.
7. The Handmade Home
I love it when planner pages are colorful and bright and full of places for me to sort out my life. This planner looks to offer all of that and more. I absolutely love the simple design of the pages (which remind me greatly of the beautiful Erin Condren planners I keep seeing everywhere) and the color coordinated color scheme. I could easily see myself using this just to enjoy the colorful pages! ( I know this is also listed on Mein Lilla Park's list above but I couldn't help adding it in here.)
8. Gluesticks Brandy over at Gluesticks also offers a very colorful planner. While those at the Handmade Home seem somewhat muted and dark, Brandy's are very vibrant and displayed a bit more thickly across the pages. Each layout is boxed in lovely shades of coordinating colors and she even has beautiful additional pages, for various information, all of which are also steeped in beautiful coordinating colors and designs. 9. Botanical Paper Works
If you're looking for just a basic weekly template to keep up with appointments, you might enjoy these lovely horizontal and vertical designs from Botanical Paper Works. They're extremely colorful and there's a good bit of room to write in notes each day to help you stay on task. If you have a pretty simple schedule each week or would like a small visual calendar to go with your phone calendar perhaps, this seems to be the perfect calendar to keep everything synced up.
10. MisstiinaFor my last source on this freebie list, is a site full of beautiful free printables. There are blank planner pages, calendar pages, scrapbook page printables, bookmarks, labels, simply all sorts of beautiful, colorful free printable items. You can see the planner printables here or all the printabls available here. 
I hope you have enjoyed these links and find some of them useful in your 2015 organization and planning. Thanks for stopping by! If you have any of your favorite printables (that you created yourself or someone's you like to use) feel free to leave them in the comments! I would definitely love to add them here, or do a second post with of your all's favorites! :)
These posts have not been sponsored by any of these sites, they are just the ones I liked the most that I came across online. All images and information is copyright to their respective owners.
*I apologize for any typos or grammatical errors. If you spot any, please let me know about them in the comments. Thank you!
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Happy belated New Year!
Happy belated new year! Sorry everything has been so quiet around here the last month or so. I had so much to do over the Christmas / New year holidays that I just basically went offline for the end of November until this past Monday. I have barely even had time to create anything during that time either. :/ I snagged these from one of my other social media feeds so I apologize if anything is a reshare. And some may not make a whole lot of sense, but more then anything it will give you an idea of what I've been up to really and what may be something I'll share more about in the future. ;)
One thing I will talk about is a new project I've decided to start this year. All of last year I kept seeing people post their Project Life or Documented Life pages. You may remember me mentioning them even. If you haven't already heard about these, I'll explain them briefly. Both are mostly just different ways of keeping track of your life and what is going on in it. Project Life is more like a pre-designed scrapbook with slotted pages for adorable scrapbook page inserts/pictures where as the Documented Life Project is about keeping a sort of planner that combines your artistic talents, whatever they may be. I've been wanting to do something similar that's a bit more personal. I started doing a daily post it note project which I still have going on, but it's not quite fulfilling the cravings I have for something to do daily. So I took one of the K&C Co. Smash books I got for Christmas and have transformed it into a sort of art journal smashbook diary. If you've seen these around already, you know that they contain tons of awesome pages that let you smash in whatever you want, however you want. Sadly mine is the older kind with the spiral bound core, although the new ones look to be a 3 ring binder, so that you can easily add, delete, or rearrange pages. You can honestly even make something like this yourself if you wanted, but I like the pages used in the books so I decided to use it instead this round. However, as I am documenting my life every day in this book, this one will only get me to March 1st, so I will be able to decide to do something different by then.
The fun thing about this project is that it is letting me be creative everyday while also looking at my life in review and appreciating it while documenting the parts I want to remember. So far it's been a great daily project. I started altering the pages the week after Christmas and got pretty far, since I wasn't sure how much time I would have once I started back to work and on other projects, but so far I don't think it would take much to create a daily page from scratch. I keep my pages pretty simple, hiding anything I don't care for and putting things where and how I like. Usually I'm just adding space to write on, since some of the pages are filled with large photos or designs, but I have added in some small decorative things where I want to break out the page and just add in some cuteness.
While most of the pages are going to end up as fairly personal, it's probably not likely I will share many of the finished ones. However I do hope to share some of them before I start journaling on them. (I simply hand journal on them so far in my scribbly hand writing, sometimes in one big space or some times I will break it up and write sideaways or something. Either way that's about all I do so far on the pages I have already gotten ready.)
I will try to post some more pictures and tips/tutorials/etc. on this project later for anyone wishing to do something similar.
One thing I will talk about is a new project I've decided to start this year. All of last year I kept seeing people post their Project Life or Documented Life pages. You may remember me mentioning them even. If you haven't already heard about these, I'll explain them briefly. Both are mostly just different ways of keeping track of your life and what is going on in it. Project Life is more like a pre-designed scrapbook with slotted pages for adorable scrapbook page inserts/pictures where as the Documented Life Project is about keeping a sort of planner that combines your artistic talents, whatever they may be. I've been wanting to do something similar that's a bit more personal. I started doing a daily post it note project which I still have going on, but it's not quite fulfilling the cravings I have for something to do daily. So I took one of the K&C Co. Smash books I got for Christmas and have transformed it into a sort of art journal smashbook diary. If you've seen these around already, you know that they contain tons of awesome pages that let you smash in whatever you want, however you want. Sadly mine is the older kind with the spiral bound core, although the new ones look to be a 3 ring binder, so that you can easily add, delete, or rearrange pages. You can honestly even make something like this yourself if you wanted, but I like the pages used in the books so I decided to use it instead this round. However, as I am documenting my life every day in this book, this one will only get me to March 1st, so I will be able to decide to do something different by then.
I will try to post some more pictures and tips/tutorials/etc. on this project later for anyone wishing to do something similar.
I hope you all had a great holiday and enjoy the silly things I've been up to. Hopefully I will have more to share with you all again soon!