New Year, New Planner

Like many papercrafters I love planners, journals, books and all things made with paper.  Each fall and early winter I begin the search for the next year's planner.  Back in September I purchased an Erin Condren planner like this one below http://www.heidiswapp.com/capture-30-and-memory-planner/and love it!

It's working well for me for both work and my life.  I'm enjoying decorating it and being "creative" in a small way.  However, because my work schedule and task lists are so heavy, there isn't any room for memory keeping, journaling or a gratitude list.  So, when Heidi Swapp and Big Picture Classes announced Capture 30 and I saw this planner that was available as an additional purchase as part of the class I knew this is what I was looking for! 

Check out Heidi's announcement on her blog here:   http://www.heidiswapp.com/capture-30-and-memory-planner/

   To sign up for Capture 30 at Big Picture Classes, click on this link:         http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/classes/details/capture-30

 As soon as I get a chance to photograph the inside of my album I'll post some    photos.  Heidi calls this album the 2015 Memory Planner and that is how I am going to use it.  I've always wanted a dedicated place that I could jot down what I did with my day and things I want to add to my scrapbook/Project Life albums.  I'm excited to find out what Heidi has in store for us during the month of January as she helps us set up our planners and get 2015 underway.  In the meantime if you want to see more of the 2015 Memory Planner check out my Pinterest board of the same name.  

Since I last posted....

I've been looking into other options for the future.  While I love scrapbooking, creating traditional layouts as well as doing Project Life albums, I have realized that I miss journaling.  Last fall I did a Gratitude Journal and found that it really helped to keep me focused on what was important as well as appreciating the small things in life!  I also know that I want to downsize my album size in the future.  I've done 12 x 12 albums since the very beginning (1998) and as I prepare to move (more on that in a minute) I realize that all these albums take up a lot of space as well as weighing a ton!

 So I'm looking at some of the new products available both in format and size and thinking about how I want to proceed in the future.As you may remember from my previous post I am incorporating a variety of things into this year's Project Life album and I have found it difficult to keep it all straight within one album. I'll be taking that into consideration as well when I make my plan for 2015. I'll share an update on this year's PL album in a future post.

 Among other activities we're trying our hand at Community Gardening - this is what we started with in June.
We've gotten to a few summer-type activities.  The photo at the right was taken at Lake Erie Speedway; also in June.
With my work responsibilities and my husband's work schedule we haven't gotten to as many events or activities as usual.  We've also had two yard sales this summer (one just for my crafts) and those have taken up a fair amount of time as well.

In working towards our goal of downsizing we put our house on the market in mid-July.  Folks came to look at it the day after we signed the paperwork to list it and the day after that they made an offer which we accepted.  Originally they wanted to be in our house by August 29th which caused a great deal of panic on our end as that would have given us about 5 1/2 weeks to pack and move.  We also had a week's vacation planned in that time period to visit our son's family in the Seattle area!  It's all worked out as the people buying our buyer's house have just received their mortgage

commitment so it's still going to be awhile.  I'll just be happy to have a moving date as this point.
Photo on the left is a of our grandson taking us for a walk in the woods behind his house.

I hope you're having a great summer with time for creativity and reaching for your goals.

My 2014 Life Album

This year I can't call my album, my Project Life album, as it's a mix of Project Life, Project Real Life, One Little Word and traditional scrapbooking. I've chosen the Honey edition of Project Life to start with. 

Title Page

I chose this Honey album - there are two that coordinate with the
Honey edition Project Life cards

In the past I've done very little journaling in my
Project Life albums so this year I'm hoping to
change it

Rather than using a separate album for One Little Word as I
have done for the last 4 years, this year it's part of my
2014Life  album

Journaling on this and the next page goes along with One Little Word

This page and the next are part of the Project Real Life class I took
2-3 years ago

It's just my husband, our pets and me at home so I don't
have as many photos as younger families do

A page in progress - I use post-it notes
to remind myself what I need for a space or
what I want to put there

The beginning of another Project Real Life page

In progress

I'm trying to be very flexible in my 2014 Life album this year.  So far there's not as much focus on photos as there is on my journaling.  There's more about what I'm thinking and feeling.  A lot about my intentions and what I would like to accomplish this year.  I'm trying to use what I'm putting in my album to drive those intentions and accomplishments. (I hope that makes sense)
I purchased the Midnight edition of Project Life today and will be mixing some of those cards in with the Honey set.  I also have Close To My Heart's Picture My Life Balloon Ride set that I'll be using - I'm still figuring out how I want to use that set.  
And thanks to my Big Picture Classes' friend, Melissa, I'm trying to have more FUN with my album - and my life!
What changes have you made in your scrapbooking, crafting or art this year?

Picture My Life Balloon Ride Scrapbooking Program from Close To My Heart

I'm very excited about Close To My Heart's new Picture My Life Scrapbooking Program and wanted to share the first kit I've gotten.  I've been doing Project Life style scrapbooking for 5 years now and was looking for something a little different and found it with this set.

*Disclaimer: I am a Close To My Heart Independent Consultant

Whether you are a traditional scrapbooker or a pocket page scrapbooker the Picture My Life Balloon Ride set will definitely add a beautiful vintage-y look to your pages/layouts.

The highly anticipated package arrives!

3 x 4 card pack

4 x 6 card pack

Two sided Title page

Other side of two-sided Title Page

Fronts and backs of 4 x6 cards
Three cards of each design

More 4 x 6 cards

More 4 x 6 cards

More 4 x 6 cards

3 x 4 cards
Three each of 26 designs

More 3 x 4 cards

More 3 x 4 cards

More 3 x 4 cards

Balloon Ride paper pack
Not a part of the Picture My Life set-
a great way to make your own cards or to add
traditional layouts to your album along with the pocket page scrapbooking

Balloon Ride Complements
Not a par tof the Picture My Life -
cardstock embellishments to add dimension to your cards
or traditional layouts

More Balloon Ride Complements
cardstock embellisments

 For more information, please check out my business website at:
http://craftycreativity.ctmh.com/
Have you tried pocket page scrapbooking (Project Life)?

The Bullet Journal

I have wanted to share this information for a few weeks.  It's not really about crafting or scrapbooking but since I have found it so helpful I thought others might find it useful as well.  
I have used a variety of calendars, planners, to do lists, etc over the years both for my personal life and work life.  I usually return to one of the Franklin Covey daily or weekly style pages for whatever planner I am using.  I've tried different styles and formats and never stuck with one for more than a few years.  Now I think I have found a system that I will stick with - the Bullet Journal.  Here is a link to the information that I found and then implemented:

http://www.bulletjournal.com/

Here are some photos of what my Bullet Journal looks like:

MOLESKINE SQUARED NOTEBOOK LARGE

  

INDEX PAGE

JANUARY EVENTS on left and JANUARY TASKS on right

ONE LITTLE WORD PAGE

ONE WEEK

NEXT WEEK

I think the thing that I like most about this system is that it gives me a place to put all the things I want to remember/have handy in one notebook.  While it obviously has my calendar and a space for daily to do's I can create lists for all the various projects I want to to do or are working on.

 I like the Moleskine Squared Notebook Large.  The size works really well for me.  It fits in my purse easily.  I worried when I started that I would fill up the notebook within a few weeks but I started my notebook in October 2013 and as of today I've not used half of the notebook yet!  I also really like the grid pages.  This is really helpful for some of my creative projects.  I can easily draw page layouts, card ideas, page protector styles and other drawings with the grids.
The other things that concerned me was whether it was going to take a lot of time to set up each month and if it was going to really be as easy as it sounded to find my various lists.  I have found that it takes just minutes to set up each month and the Index at the beginning of the notebook helps me find everything. The Index is really the key to the system for me.  You might find that the symbols are the key to your system.  I use a few of them but there are some I don't use at all.  
If you are looking for a way to keep your planner and all the information you deal with each day in one place check out the link above for more detailed information.  I had to watch it a couple of times to really get the feel for it.
What type of calendar/planner do you use? 

Designed Decor Colonial White Frame

Holidays are over but I didn't have a chance to share photos of this gift before I sent it across the country.  Last fall I shared what I did with Close To My Heart's Designed Decor Black Frame with Halloween photos of my grandson.  This time I did Christmas photos from his first 3 Christmas'.  I love that these are so easy to do and get oohh's and ahh's from everyone who sees them.  All it took here were a couple of photos some colored clips(clothespins-these are popping up everywhere) and some of my scrapbooking stash!
I gave a set of these frames to my other son and daughter-in-law who don't have children and they were just as excited to get them.  They will be using one for pet and vacation photos and using the other for appointment cards, notes, etc.  
Lots of different ways to use them.  
For more information on either frame go to:
craftycreativity.cthm.com

2014 Project Life

 Finally decided to stick with Becky Higgins' Project Life products for my 2014 Project Life Album.  

I chose the Honey Album and Core Kit that you see here.  

I had thought about going smaller and use a Simple Stories 6 x 8 but decided to stay with the Becky Higgins line.  This will be my fourth or fifth year now doing Project Life.
Do you do Project Life, Project 365 or similar scrapbooking project?  What are doing in 2014?