Today I am thankful for Pinterest.....

I'm not showing you one of completed 30 Days of Thankful pages today as I wanted to show you how I took a Pinterest pin and created washi tape and journaling card storage and organization.

The pin below is from the blog "A Bowl Full of Lemons".  If you are into organization, planners, office supplies, etc then you need to check out this blog.

I thought this was a really clever idea to use dowels and 3M Command hooks to create washi storage.  I then took it a step further......

 Office supplies you may already have on hand.

 3M Command Center General Purpose Wire Hooks

3 hooks per package

Holds 1/2 pound

(Disclaimer:  I am not a paid spokesperson for 3M/Command products)

 I already had the dowels so it was just a matter of attaching the hooks to the wall so that the dowel fit on the hooks properly.  Super easy.  Totally my style!  My washi tape looks really pitiful.  I have more. Somewhere. I have to track it down.  I had two rolls that were much bigger that did not fit on the dowel.

 Since I knew I would not need the second dowel for washi tape I came up with this idea.  I put the clips on the rings and slid them onto the dowels.

 I've got six on there to start with.

I plan to add more after I use this for awhile.  I 

find it helpful to live with something to see how it

works first and then add to it over time.  As you can

see I have a package of buttons clipped on, several different types of journaling cards and 2 stamp

sets that are an odd size and don't fit with the rest of my stamp storage.  I use them for my Project Life pages.

This dowel is next to the table where I work on my Project Life album and I think this will be a great way to put items out on display and  actually put them into my albums.

I also have to give credit to Big Picture Classes and their Organizing FUNdamentals class that I took earlier this year.  Thanks to that class (and Wendy & Aly, the instructors) I have an organized, albeit messy, craft room that I enjoy being in.  I think about space differently and how to use/repurpose things for organizational purposes.  If I hadn't taken Organizing FUNdamentals I probably would not have paid attention to the Pinterest pin at the top of this post.  

Do you enjoy Pinterest?  Have you made or completed projects that you have pinned?

30 Days of Lists

After a year of Project Life one of the things I identified that needed improvement is my journaling.   I'm pretty much a who, what, when, where kind of journaler.  And now that I'm taking Twelve with Stacy Julian and learning more about storytelling I really want to focus on my journaling and writing.  So I've signed up for 30 Days of Lists.  This sounds pretty easy and is not time intensive so I'm hoping this can be the starting point for developing a daily writing/journaling habit!  Here's more information straight from 30 Days of Lists "About" page....

"30 Days of Lists is our encouragement and challenge to you that you CAN journal just something every day – even something as small as a list.
Every day through the month of March we will be posting a list prompt – anything from weekend goals to celebrity crushes. At the end of the 30 days you’ll have a collection of entries creating a small snapshot of your life right now.
Only 5-10 minutes per day are really needed. While you’re waiting for someone, or when you’re the passenger in the car. Download one of our kits so you have the topics ahead of time and just write.
That’s all.
Just write.
There’s no wrong way to do this and if you don’t like a prompt on a certain day, just change it.
30 Days of Lists is a collaboration between Kam of Campfire Chic and Amy of Lemon and Raspberry."
Here's the link to 30 Days of Lists homepage http://march2012.30daysoflists.com/ for you to learn more and sign-up.

December Daily/Project Life - preparation & plans



Daily Journal Cards

 I wanted to share with you some of my preparation for my December Daily/Project Life pages that I've been working on.  I had saved this free printable file from Cathy Zielske awhile ago and thought this would work well for my daily journaling for December Daily.  To see Cathy's post and download the files go to her blog
http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/12/a-year-of-tags.html

So far I've cut the individual tags out and stamped the date on it. 

I'm not sure what else I'll be doing with these at this point.  Probably will distress the edges and decorate the top part - maybe to match the daily sheets from Ali. 




Close-up - daily journal card



The other item I have put together is my worksheet for the month.  All I've done at this point is print out a blank calendar and fill in the events that we are planning on doing/attending.  As you can see the weekends are pretty much filled but the weekdays are mostly empty (I work full-time days).  So now I have an idea of what days I need to focus on non-event related photographs.  On the back of the sheet I've written some things I definitely want to take photos of such as wrapping gifts, decorating the tree, etc.  I also have planned out two series of photos I want to include in my pages - these may end up being two different collages.  One is "how it all comes together" - this would be a series of photos getting ready for the holiday - decorating the house, shopping, wrapping, baking & those types of things.  The other is "Christmas past" and these are photos of ornaments/decorations/traditions that I've had since I was a child

My worksheet for daily photos

.  These will include a photo of the coffee cake & cookies we have each Christmas, the Advent calendar, and figurine candles that were my grandmother's.  So that's where I am right now.  How are your plans coming along?