Pocket Letters and new supplies

A quick update on some cool new pocket letter/planer goodies I've come across lately as well as a couple of pocket letters I've sent out.  

 My mom found these awesome box kits on sale and while they're actually for Christmas, they make perfect Valentine boxes as well! 

 Found these adorable drink and pastry paper sticky note set at the dollar tree!  They all come in a pack together and while the bigger two are just note pads, the little donut hole is a sticky note pad!

 Found these awesome trio set of notebooks at the dollar tree as well.  They are lined, unlined and graph papers.  I decided to use the zebra one as my new Listers Gotta List booklet. 

These are probably the cutest set of buttons I have ever seen.  I absolutely love them and bought a set for myself as well as to send out in my pocket letters.   

 A sample of awesome goodies to play with that I bought from scrapbook.com.  I love the Lawn Fawn stamp set.  They're very high quality and super adorable!

 Here's a sneak peek at the two pocket letters I've sent out this year for January. 

This is my latest work in progress mixed media / valentines day pocket letter.  Haven't found anyone to send it to so far but hopefully will soon.  ;)  

#mixedmedia #scrapbookcom #scrapbooksupplies #illustratedfaith #jillibeansoup #lawnfawn #ephemera #pocketletter #swap #penpal #dollartree #buttons #kawaiistationary #kawaiisupplies

Latest Stuff

Okay, final post to officially catch you up to what I've been up to.  This one is pretty short and simple. Mostly planner related.  :p  Feel free to scroll past if that's not your thing. 

 Like I said, I've been using the Mambi Create 365 Happy Planner.  The vertical layout is a bit different for me, since I really like horizontal, but it's slowly growing on me.  I do like the sidebar at the beginning of each week to add any notes.  I've pre planned some weeks ahead (Just certain things that I want to put in certain spots on my layouts) and after the first couple of weeks I've situated some notes on the side for future use that I think I will like.  (Check back to see updates on what I'm referring to.)  I've also been forcing myself to use my stickers and ephemera and other art related supplies.  Weirdly, I have this thing where I don't want to use any of them because I may not be able to get them again in the future, if I really like them?  Does that make sense?  I just don't want to fall in love with something and then run out and not be able to get it or find it again.  Most of the items I get are from random places and I have a hard time getting some of them for various reasons.  However, I have to keep reminding myself that these are just stickers and paper.  It's really not the end of the world if I don't get the exact same thing, no matter how much I might love it.  That's also one reason why I really don't like using color coding systems much, since I might run out and the whole thing would be useless later.  The only way I've found around that is to make my own color coded stickers. 

I love browsing the basic/standard planner supplies at places like Walmart or Staples or where ever.  For the most part there are some items available that will pretty much always be there or will never change.  At least not for a really long time.  They also tend to come in more bulk for cheaper prices and are just your basic, plain items.  One of those items I've found are these little white stickers.  I've lost (or thrown away) the original package and have had them for some time, so I'm not sure what they're intention is really for (generic labels or pricing stickers, I assume), but they are perfect to add in my Happy planner.  I have very little daily space to use in this planner and since I tend to write large and the stickers I have take up a lot of space (and are expensive!), I've started coloring these white/blank stickers with my Hobby Colour markers and Copics to create my own.  They have turned out awesomely!  I only have a few things color coded so far but having so many colors to use makes it so much more fun. 

Hopefully as the months and year goes on, I'll get better at figuring out what works best for me in this planner.  I haven't been a huge fan of the arc binding system, but it's not as bad as I expected.  I don't like not being able to add much to the planner though.  But I really don't need to be adding in much.  I'll keep my ring bound system for that sort of stuff. 

 Another goal of mine is to keep a Bible Journal this year.  I want to grow spiritually and try to better myself in as many ways as possible, so I'm hoping this will help with that.  And help me use the supplies I have.  We'll see how I do with all these new goals.  LoL 

#2016goals #biblejournal #planner #mambi #create365 #happyplanner #colorcoding #plannersupplies #happyplannerreview #ephemera #plannerdecorating

Doodles

One thing I did do at the end of 2015 was doodle a bit more.  Here are a few of the doodled pages I shared.  Hope you enjoy!  This year I've also started a daily doodle project in my Year of the Doodle planner/journal.  The pages in this thing are absolutely gorgeous.  If you're not into doodling, it would really make a nice little planner as well.  Or you could use it for both I guess.  I'll post my progress so far in another post.  

#doodle #yearofthedoodle #dailydoodle #doodlechallenge #create365 #drawing #sketches #animals #letters #type #diy #coloringpage #adultcoloringpage

Hello 2016!

 Sorry to be MIA so much the past few months.  Sometimes life really gets crazy.  :p

I guess I'll catch up by going somewhat backwards, with the most fun thing I want to share with the lesser of the fun things.

In October, I got to celebrate my birthday early by getting to go on an amazingly awesome cruise!  It started out in Montreal and ended up in Boston.  It. Was. AMAZING! 

 

I haven't had much time to keep up with my planner and crafty side since I got back.  But now that we're in 2016, my goal is to catch up on everything and actually keep up with it all year.  These are a few of the photos I had at the end of 2015 that I haven't shared here yet.  I will share my latest pictures in a new post. 

I haven't kept up with my Listers Gotta List challenge much since September.  :/  I'm going to try to start over again this January, but I'm already seven days in and haven't started yet.  :/  We'll see if I can get caught up on it this weekend. 

Daily planner pages really haven't been my thing.  I like them and all, but I really don't have enough to plan for day by day.  A weekly spread is more my style.  I've always used it and seem to fall back on it the best.  My current system is the MAMBI Create 365 Happy Planner.  It's a vertical layout, which is what I used some in high school, but that's been years ago and my brain has had a hard time getting on track with it.  It's working better now so maybe I will get used to it as time goes on. 

There really hasn't been much to update since last year.  Mostly just some planner pictures and a few crafty supply buys here and there at most.  I haven't done much mixed media painting or anything.  :/  My goal this year is to get back on board with being creative and actually do something creative every single day.  But more about that in my next post!
#mambi #create365 #happyplanner #planner #plannerstuff #mixedmedia #travel #canada #listersgottalist #quotes #wordstoliveby #craftsupplies #hello2016 #goals 

Catching up...

Sorry I've been MIA for the past couple of months.  My mom had open heart surgery and things have just been crazy all the way around since June.  :P  I think it's all starting to even out a little, so I wanted to try to get caught back up on creating art regularly and posting it to share with you guys.  :) 

This post will probably be very random and a bit image heavy, just to warn you ahead of time. 

I'll start with the newest stuff I've been working on and make my way back.  I've recently gotten into doing videos of various things but I don't know how to upload them here yet so that will have to be another post.  Hopefully I can figure it out soon!  When I'm not doing that, I'm trying to stay organized with my planner.  I have so much I want to share here about planner stuff for other people who might be wandering aimlessly in the planner world.  I feel like I have been searching for the 'perfect' system for me for the past few years and I think I may finally be getting close to having systems that work for me.  I'll probably go more into this in another post, but for now let me share with you what I've been doing lately. 


Daily inserts. 
These things are pretty awesome.  It's basically just your list of daily to do items on one page.  I found this one over at themintgreenpolkadot website.  If you haven't looked at daily inserts and would like to, there are tons of options out there.  Some you can buy, some are free, and if you don't find any you like you can definitely make your own.  I tried making my own awhile back and didn't like how they came out so I plan to keep working on that when I get time, but for now these have worked perfectly for me.  I've only been using them a short time, about a week I guess, but they are really great for keeping up with daily tasks that need more room then what you get on a weekly spread.  And if you like to decorate your pages this gives you so much more room and options for that.  I don't usually have time to decorate very much but these are perfect for letting me be just creative enough every day.  I have always preferred the weekly spread and the month on two pages layouts, but the current weekly spreads I have are just not my style.  They're very generic and just don't suit me the way I like.  I'm thinking that once I run out I might get a years supply from Cocoadaisy.  I really love the look of theirs.  They even have a free download if you want to try it! 

Also, just in case anyone wants to know, I have a basic DayTimer planner.  I got it very cheap at Walmart about two years ago I think?  I really love it but I plan to eventually get a Kikki K.  I've looked at so many brands and love a lot of the designs from Filofax, but I think the Kikki K brand would be perfect for what I want.  I'm waiting for one to come out with a design I love.  (I hate that I missed their mint ones!) 

 I haven't had much time to draw digitally in the last couple of months so I really don't have much to share in that department right now I'm afraid.  :/  Hopefully I will get some time soon to pull out my computer more often.  :)  I do have some random things from around my studio or of things I've bought/come across/started working on, in case anyone is curious to see some behind the scenes sort of things.  ;) 

I feel like I am constantly cleaning or organizing my studio.  Usually both!  These stickers have moved around quite a bit lately.  I organized them from the overstuffed drawer they were in and moved them to this bright neon pink container I picked up at the Dollar General store.  I am able to see them better so that I will actually use them now!  I still have a long way to go as far as getting my stickers into a good organized system but I think this is definitely a step forward.  ;) 

 I found these adorable markers at my local TJ Maxx.  Aren't they cute?  They're basically just (scented!) highlighters, but they were too cute to pass up. 

 I came across these old scrapbook/album books in one of my boxes.  I'm pretty sure I've shared the Halloween one here before but just in case you're wondering if it still exists, it does!  LoL!  I just need to finish it!

I've decided to use these papers for my September Listers Gotta List challenge.  I'm so behind on Augusts' lists, but I plan to try to hop back on the bandwagon this upcoming month.  I love finishing one of these books and knowing that it's done. 

These sticker paper sheets are from the Dollar Tree.  I think I bought about six different types but these three seem to be my favorites. 

I picked these up this weekend.  I just can't seem to resist paint chip samples.  They're so beautiful and full of colorful goodness! 

These two pages are from my Smash books.  The robot page I found in my large red smash book and the Think Happy page is from my daily smash journal (which I have also gotten behind in this past week).  I think for 2016 I am going to do something completely different.  I haven't quite decided yet but it definitely will not be in Smash books next year. LoL  I love them but they are way too big for using them the way I have been. 

And last but not least, my latest mixed media pages! :D  I haven't had time to paint in ages but I plan to do a little painting as soon as possible.  I absolutely love how these pages turned out.  The colors just make me so happy and they make me want to be more creative.  ;) 

I hope you've enjoyed catching up with me today.  Hopefully I will have more time to start posting regularly again, and actually get time to make things to post!  Like I said, I'm hoping to figure out how to share my videos here as well, so that will hopefully be something I'll be able to share with you all soon.  Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoyed your stay!  <3 p="">

#mixedmedia #painting #smashjournal #smashbook #EKSuccess #stencils #nofear #explore #robot #thinkhappybehappy #paintchipsamples #color #bright #bold #colorful #stickerpaper #dollartree #dollarstore #scrapbookpaper #listersgottalist #theresetgirl #lists #listchallenge #halloweenbook #halloween #memorybook #memorykeeping #TJMaxx #cute #kawaii #markers #cutehighlighters #stickers #organization #stickerorganization #dailyinserts #themintgreenpolkadot #cocoadaisy #planner #plannernerd #planning #daytimer #kikkik #filofax