Today, as I write this blog post, I have the window in my craft room wide open and a large bottled of iced water on my desk to sip from. The weather has finally improved after days of rain, and the sun is peeping out from behind the clouds. I was beginning to think the summer was over but it appears to be back, for a brief time at least judging by the forecast! August is almost here and it is one of my favourite months as my niece and I share our birthdays on the 3rd (which coincides with factory shut down week so my husband can take some well earned time off from his office job), plus we celebrate our wedding anniversary (17 years on the 11th!). As we will be busy making the most of holiday time next week, I started working on my spreads super early, this time, choosing a seasonal theme of ice cream and ice lollies.
Cover page
Once I had decided on the theme, I spent some time searching Google for pictures of bullet journal spreads that others had shared, doodles of ice creams and lollies, plus photos of some of my childhood favourites and different types of cones. I then printed off lots of examples for inspiration for my spreads.
For the cover, I opted for some brush lettering in the centre of the page with just a simple hello August. I wasn’t happy with my first attempt, so I practised on my pad of dot grid paper then cut out the title when I was happy with it. The slim border around the cut out is created using mint green ink on a finger sponge dauber which I lightly pressed all around the edge. One the lettering was sorted, I then penciled in a range of ice creams and ice lollies before using a 0.2 Pigma Micron to outline and a 0.05 to create the cross hatching for the cones. Finally, I used Tombows and Mildliners in pastel colours to complete the doodles.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Calendar page
The calendar pages features my usual 6×6 grid spaces boxes with a pop of colour for the dates. I enjoyed creating the doodles for these pages and I’m pleased with how they turned out. I messed up once so I covered the mistake with a sticker I created using a Google image.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Finances and habits pages
Although the beginning of August is likely to be expensive for our joint finances, I’m hoping to keep my personal spending relatively low so I’ve made my outgoings table even shorter than last month. This left a big space at the bottom of the page, so I filled it with some habit trackers. Recently, I’ve started going to bed really late and by the time I’ve read my Kindle for a bit, it’s gone midnight. Because of this, I’ve been sleeping in and not getting as much done with my day. So as not to put too much pressure on myself, I’ve set myself the target of being up by 8.30am for August which will still be a bit of a challenge but hopefully doable. The rest of the habits I want to instill are related to my goals for 2023.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Final words…
That’s all of the pages I’ve created for August so far and when I draw up my weekly plans, I will probably keep them fairly minimal. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing my designs and I look forward to seeing other creations and theme ideas as they are shared.
Wishing you all a fun-filled August with lots of opportunities to create happy memories,
Journalling is the act of writing down your thoughts, feelings, actions and experiences on paper or in digital form. There are many different types of journalling practices and for today’s Monday Matters post, I’m going to share ten popular ones, most of which I’ve tried and benefitted from myself.
What are the benefits of keeping a journal?
The particular benefits of keeping a journal depend on the style you choose but can include:
a reduction in stress or anxiety
increased productivity
better time management
a place to record daily life
a tool for organising your priorities, your routines or your to-do list
clarification of your thoughts and feelings
a place to think about and solve problems
a way to get to know yourself better (becoming more self aware)
a chance to see negative thought patterns and behaviours
a safe space to explore your emotions
a place to express yourself in writing and improve your writing composition
an opportunity to get creative
somewhere to track your progress or achievements over time
improved sleep by getting your worries down on paper and out of your head
a place to note down important ideas or things you want to remember
Diary / personal journal
A personal journal or diary provides a space to write each day and is usually kept private due to the nature of the content. You can include whatever you like inside such as summaries of events or places visited, how you have felt today and why, lessons learnt, relationships, thoughts or worries. Depending on how much flexibility you want in terms of how much you write, you could choose a between a range of sizes (from pocket to A4 size) with printed diary pages pages, a long term ‘line a day’ style or a completely blank lined or unlined notebook which you can add the date to and fill in with as much or as little detail as you like.
Gratitude journalling
Gratitude journalling is the practice of writing down what you’re thankful for each day and can take just five minutes first thing in the morning or last thing in the evening before bed. I used to create a double page, two lines a day spread in my bullet journal which I filled in at the end of each day, but now, I use the gratitude space in The Five Minute Journal morning section. A lined notebook would work just as well and if you choose one which is really pretty and has nice, smooth paper you’re much more likely to reach for it. It’s up to you what you write but here’s a few ideas:
something good that happened today / yesterday
a person in your life which you’re particularly grateful for
a challenge you’re facing which is helping you learn
a helpful resource – a magazine article, a podcast, a non-fiction book, a YouTube video etc
a positive change in your life
something that brightened your day
hobbies and interests which you’re glad to have
personal strengths, abilities and skills you’re grateful for
something in your life that you tend to take for granted
something new that you’ve treated yourself to
Bullet journalling
The bullet journal system (or BuJo for short) was created by Ryder Carroll and is a way of organising your life in a single notebook (either an analogue or digital version). There are so many benefits to using a bullet journal including increased productivity, better time management, tracking personal progress and growth, helping you work towards your goals, stress reduction, keeping lists which you can refer back to and use again, better self awareness, a place to get creative if you so wish, great for instilling and monitoring habits, a space to record your ideas, helps you see exactly how much you’ve achieved each day / week / month and so on. A comprehensive guide to The Bullet Journal Method is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle and is well worth a read if the idea of becoming more organised appeals.
Morning pages
Writing morning pages is a journalling exercise which involves putting pen to paper first thing every morning and writing whatever pops into your head without editing or censoring. The idea is that, each day, as soon as you wake up, you sit down and fill exactly three A4 sheets with whatever comes into your mind. The writing doesn’t have to make sense, be correctly spelt or punctuated. It isn’t read afterwards either. and is for your eyes only. Done regularly, this type of journalling promises a cathartic and ritualistic practice which is designed to increase confidence, clear the mind and pave the way for greater creativity.
Prompted journals
If you need help with what to write in your journal, prompted journals are a great place to start. There are lots of different versions available at a range of price points. Some offer daily practices and include sections such as gratitude, self care, top priorities for your day, feelings check ins, nightly reflections and so on. Others, such as the Five Minute Self Care series, can be dipped into as and when and you can flick through and choose a prompt for your writing.
Memory keeping journal
This is one of my favourite types of journalling as you can create pages about literally anything that’s happened in your life. Looking back through one of my traveller’s notebook inserts from last year, I have journalling and photos from when we went away for my dad’s 80th and my mum’s 70th, a few pages about a National Trust property we visited, some journalling about our fancy new microwave and how smart it looked in our kitchen, an introduction to Millie the hamster and photos from when she was a little baby, photographs of my new haircut and the curls my hairdresser created, a day trip to York where we walked along the wall and had some tasty vegan and veggie foods (complete with our menu choices), and finally a trip to Brimham Rocks. I’ve been keeping this type of journal for about 6 years now and they’re so lovely to look back on and re-read. I even hand make the notebooks using my own choice of pretty paper for the covers.
Travel journal
This is another type of memory keeping journal which is used to document holidays and trips. I’ve been keeping these for a few years now and even create my own handstitched notebooks for the purpose. Whilst I’m away, I collect bits and pieces to stick in such as maps showing walks we’ve taken, business cards from restaurants, tickets from places we’ve visited, postcards to remind me of scenery, art exhibitions we’ve been to or particular historic buildings, packaging and brochures. I also spend a few minutes each evening briefly recording what we did that day, how I felt and anything amusing that happened.
What you record in your travel journal is entirely up to you but I like to start with our travel information such as dates of the holiday, modes of transport, flight numbers, journey times, hotel bookings etc. I then include photographs, memorabilia and bits of journalling for each day of the trip and then finish with a summary of the holiday on the final pages of the notebook.
Art journal
If you’re not too keen on expressing yourself in written form, another great way of articulating your thoughts and feelings or getting creative is to keep an art journal. Any size and type of notebook will work but thicker paper is best to avoid bleed through (where your work seeps through to the other side) or ghosting (where you can see your work through to the next), You can also choose any type of material to practise with such as pencil, crayon, markers, ink, paint or paper for collage style layering, or you can combine a few of the above to create a mixed media piece. There’s no right or wrong way to do it – the key is to experiment and enjoy the process.
Reading journal
If you’re a bookworm, keeping a reading journal is the perfect way to record what you read and when, your thoughts and feelings about the book as you read, chapter summaries (particularly with non-fiction), any quotes you’d like to remember, an overall evaluation when you finish and a star rating to show how much you enjoyed the book. If you use an app such as Storygraph, you can even include reading focused graphs and charts too.
Garden journal
As some of my readers will know, I started a gardening journal in the spring of this year. One of my goals for this year, with my husband’s help, is to keep on top of our back garden (weeding, deadheading, pruning, tending, planting etc) and create a bright and colourful space which is a haven for wildlife. Obviously, it’s a work in progress, but my journal has helped me with recording to do lists, planting schedules, week-by-week planning, pest control, seed setting and seedling transplanting and so on. It’s also been a place to keep printed versions of articles I’ve read and tips from the various websites I’ve visited. If you’re a keen gardener or want to become more green-fingered, a garden journal is a great support and place for recording information which reflects all of your hard work. You can find out more about the benefits here.
Final words…
I hope that today’s post has inspired you to give journalling a go and reap some of the associated benefits. I would love to know which type of journal appeals the most and why. I’m also keen to know if anyone has tried Morning Pages and found them beneficial. I like the idea but, as an experienced teacher, I’m not sure I could write something without a care for spelling, grammar and punctuation, let alone three whole pages of A4!
The summer is finally here bringing with it longer and warmer days, sunshine and gentle breezes. Today, I’m sharing fifteen relaxing activities for you to try over the next few months. Why not create a bucket list (maybe with little doodles for each item) in your notebook or planner as a visual reminder?
Enjoy a picnic in your local park
One of my favourite things to do in the summer is to fill our cool bag with lots of tasty lunch items to enjoy al fresco in a park or at a local picnic spot. Must haves for me are juicy strawberries and a nice cold bottle of fresh orange but you can tailor make a menu of your favourite cold foods.
Take a hike
There are so many different options for a long summer walk – ambling through shady woodland, following a riverside path, taking a coastal route, heading for the hills or following a trail at a nature reserve are just some ideas that come to mind. If it’s a hot one, pace yourself and take plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated. After I got bitten repeatedly whilst on holiday in Norfolk, I would also recommend a good application of insect repellant too! Often, there’s little or no phone signal out there so you get a tech break too.
Make lemonade
Nothing beats a refreshing lemonade on a hot summer’s day and it’s even better if it’s homemade. Check out this easy recipe to make your own from scratch and then enjoy as part of a picnic or in your back garden.
Watch the sunset
I’ve seen and photographed some spectacular sunsets over the years and each time it’s an amazingly calming and restful way to end my day either alone or with someone special. All you need is a view to the west, a good spot to sit or stand such as a park, a hill or somewhere else high up such as a rooftop bar, the beach or even a window in your house, and maybe a blanket if it’s become a little chilly outside.
Sit outside after dark and stargaze
This one takes a bit of planning as you need to choose a clear night but free apps like Nightshift tell you what the forecast is like and StarTracker or similar identifies the constellations you can see if you point your phone up to the night sky. It also helps if you choose a location which is high up or somewhere that gives you a wide view of the sky with limited light pollution. Hills and beaches are particularly suitable.
Go somewhere quiet and read a summer themed novel
Nothing beats sitting in the sunshine or under the shade of a tree in a quiet spot to read a lighthearted summer novel. Popular authors who have written some great seasonal fiction include Phillipa Ashley, Sue Morecroft, Veronica Henry, Emily Henry, Katie Fforde and Jo Thomas.
Enjoy an iced coffee (or other iced drink if you prefer)
There are so many summer drinks options available in our local cafes at the moment – frappuccinos, refreshers, iced teas and coffees and new bubble teas. My favourite is a Starbucks Iced Brown Sugar which is made with oat milk, espresso and brown sugar syrup. And it’s less calorific than the hot caramel macchiato I choose during the colder months. Whichever drink you go for, make sure you consume it mindfully and savour every sip.
Treat yourself to a delicious ice cream
There’s nothing better than ice cream on a hot summer’s day and nowadays there’s so many flavours and styles to choose from. And if you’re dairy free or vegan, there’s often plant based options including the new vegan raspberry swirl Magnum or a nice, refreshing and tangy sorbet. We like to take our foldable chairs in the boot of our car when we go out in the summer time so we can sit and enjoy our tasty treat in comfort and relax for a while in the sunshine afterwards..
Immerse yourself in nature
Spending time outdoors in nature can improve both your physical and mental health. Some of my favourite relaxing summer activities include visiting a botanical garden, wandering through a meadow spotting bees and butterflies, visiting wetland habitats with my binoculars to observe water birds and taking my DSLR camera to photograph flora and fauna.
Make fruit salad
A cocktail of fresh fruits is a great summer dessert and is super healthy too. Seasonal choices which work well include strawberries, mango, watermelon, raspberries, papaya, pineapple, melon, blueberries and cherries (don’t forget to remove the stones). Preparing the fruit salad yourself is a wonderfully calm and mindful activity and it means you can choose your absolute favourites to include. Popping the bowl in the fridge to chill for a while before eating makes it even more refreshing.
Try earthing
Earthing is the practise of being in direct contact with the earth’s surface. This could involve walking outside barefoot, sitting or lying on the grass, paddling in the sea or outdoor swimming. Research shows that this popular summer time activity has a whole host of benefits including releasing tension, improving sleep, boosting our immune system and generally leaving us feeling calm and relaxed.
Get active
There are so many fun ways to get active outdoors such as going for a bike ride, canoeing, sea swimming, beach volleyball, tennis, cricket, rounders or even enjoying a game of frisbee. Whatever sporting activity you choose, requires a great deal of concentration which can help to take your mind off the stresses of modern life. Just remember to dress appropriately and wear sunscreen.
Attend an outdoor event
Most towns and cities offer a range of outdoor events over the summer to suit different ages and tastes. Your local newspaper and council webpages should provide all of the information you need about what’s on. This year in Sunderland there are outdoor music concerts at our football stadium, a food and drink festival, plus a dance party in the city centre featuring local DJ sets and a range of other musical artists. There’s also a pride event which includes a parade and lots of other colourful and fun activities. Slightly further afield, there are a number of open air theatre events which include Jane Austen’s Emma, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and a family friendly adaptation of The Secret Garden. The National Trust Website is a good place to find our about a range of outdoor theatrical events.
Play a lawn game
There are so many fun outdoor games you can play either in your back garden, if you have one, or on the grass at your local park. There’s giant versions of popular indoor favourites such as garden dominoes, giant Jenga and lawn darts, plus other options you might have tried out as a kid like swingball, quoits, bean bag challenges and croquet. You could even have a get together with family or friends and hold a tournament!
Make a summer scrapbook or Traveller’s Notebook journal
Creating a scrapbook or Traveler’s Notebook journal is a wonderful way to document all of the fun things you did over the summer. Each time you do something on your bucket list, take a photo or two to capture it and make a note of how you felt and anything funny or particularly memorable that happened. It’s up to you whether you dedicate a few hours to working on your memory keeping each week or spend a whole day getting creative. You can also add other souvenirs such as tickets, postcards, packaging, maps or leaflets from places you went, pressed flowers, mini printed out book covers of novels you read etc.
Final words…
So there we have it, fifteen relaxing and enjoyable activities to try this summer. Let me know in the comments which ones appeal the most and if you have any further ideas, I would love to hear them.
This month in my bullet journal, I’ve cheated with the décor again and bought a couple of sets of stickers to make things quick, easy and colourful. I was so impressed with the quality of the gardening themed set, that I chose to purchase from the same shop LunarLucie on Etsy. I ordered in plenty of time so that they arrived before we headed off to Norfolk on holiday. I managed to create the cover spread which I shared on Instagram but the calendar and financial pages had to wait until we returned which is why I’m only getting around to sharing them today.
Front cover page
The style of this month’s cover is very similar to the one from June but I used all of the stickers from the tropical summer holiday sheet and a few from a tropical flowers set which complemented the others beautifully. The designs are so lovely and I’m really pleased with how the page turned out. I wasn’t happy with my lettering so I used some dotted grid paper to practise, then cut it out to stick in the centre.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Calendar page
I had plenty of tropical flower stickers left so use these to decorate and then filled in the spaces with sparkles.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Finances
I want this month to be a low spend one so I made my expenses section shorter. This left me with room to add a few financial affirmations in the space at the bottom.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Final words…
I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at my spreads for this month. I haven’t drawn up any weekly spreads yet but they’ll be pretty minimal in terms of decoration. I might just create a running task list as the only events on my calendar for this week are my usual exercise classes.
The Summer is here bringing sunshine and blue skies plus my three monthly life check in and a short update. I encourage all of my readers to give this a go, either as a blog post or handwritten in a journal. They’re great to look back on over the months and years to see how life changes.
Currently reading…
… 5 books at the same time! This is unusual for me as I usually read a fiction book on my Kindle in bed on a night and a non-fiction self development style book in the morning with my coffee but my Five Minute Journal weekly challenge last week was to revisit a previously loved book and I’ve been dipping in and out of two of Amy Tan and Abbey Sy books over the last couple of months. I’m enjoying all of my current reads:
The Midnight House by Amanda Geard
Walk: The Path to a More Mindful Life by Sholto Radford (re-read)
The Art of the Travel Journal by Abbey Sy
Twelve Moons: A Year Under a Shared Sky by Caro Giles (a beautifully poetic memoir)
Craft a Life You Love by Amy Tangerine
Currently creating…
… helpful BuJo spreads for our trip to Norfolk. So far, I have a map showing our route and estimated journey time (a screenshot from Google), information about our accommodation, a list of places to visit such as National Trust properties, wetland centres and the broads, plus veggie and vegan cafes and restaurants nearby. Next to create is my packing list which I hope to get done this afternoon.
Currently journalling…
… in my handmade TN insert of a recent trip to Raby Castle for a walk around the grounds and deer park, photos of our new hanging basket and cute yellow hanging tin container, plus a bit about the sun and star necklace that I treated myself to with some of my wages from my uni work (I might have purchased it three weeks before I actually got paid!).
Currently enjoying…
… watching the wildlife in our back garden. Yesterday, there was a huge party of about 15 juvenile starlings on our lawn dipping their beaks in the grass searching for tasty morsels. Out new sunflower hearts seed feeder is very popular with the sparrows and the fat balls are a firm favourite with all of the birds. After dark, I love sitting on our bench, watching a pair of bats hoovering up months and occasionally I catch a glimpse of a visiting hedgehog crunching on his nightly saucer of biscuits. If the hog comes late, we can always check our wildlife cam footage the next day too.
Currently learning…
… more about gardening. So far, I’ve read up on plants for shady areas, how to deal with green and black fly without chemicals, how to grow my own rainbow chard and more about our recent plant purchases. There’s always lots more to learn and websites like the Gardeners’ World and RHS ones are full of helpful information. Also, my mum has been a keen gardener for many years now so has a wealth of experience to draw on to help us.
Currently eating…
… lots of salads and vegan poke bowls as it’s too warm to have the oven on. We had our first poke (pronounced poh-kay) bowl in Vienna and they’re amazing. Plus you can add a rainbow of veggies which makes them super healthy as well.
Currently drinking…
… Pimms and lemonade with fresh strawberries and pineapple mint from our garden. Well, when I say currently, I don’t mean I have a glass on the go right now at 2pm but later in the evening sat outside in the garden is perfect. I also love flavoured cider at this time of year and my favourites are Brother’s Toffee Apple and Strawberry & Lime from Aldi.
Final words…
That’s it for my life update. I hope you enjoyed reading what I’m currently up to. Let me know in the comments if you give this kind of journalling a go and where you choose to write your lists.
Keeping it creative 