Posted in art, bullet journal, Bullet journaling, creativity, Hand lettering, Planning and journaling, watercolour painting

Setting up my Bullet Journal for September 2022: Coffee theme

Next month in my bullet journal, I decided to go for something I absolutely love, which is coffee. During the summer, I always try hard to keep myself well hydrated and as it’s been particularly hot this year, I’ve developed a liking for iced coffee along with all my usual cold drinks. I hope you enjoy looking at my spreads – I’m really pleased with how they turned out and although I did a coffee theme already back in November 2019, the pages are very different to the ones I did then.

My cover page

I wanted to have a go at doing some coffee rings on this page but I experimented with real brewed coffee and it soaked through the pages really badly. In the end, I created the effect using brown paint and although it doesn’t look the same, it worked okay and more importantly, didn’t soak through! I printed a range of small photographs of coffee related images I found on Google and Unsplash. However, despite using glossy photo paper designed for my printer, the darker colours smudged even after being left to dry for ages. So, in the end, I used just one photo in colours to match my theme but with no darker shades. Using just one collage image meant that you could see the rings that I spent lots of time on better than if I’d included more. The little coffee beans are stamps which are from a really cheap set I purchased from The Works. I used StazOn jet black ink which dries really quickly and doesn’t soak through the page.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative blog

Calendar pages

As usual, I drew out a large calendar over two pages so I could fit all of my appointments and coffee meet ups in! I also used some more stamps and added some drawings of my own too. The title is created using one of my new Pentel brush sign pens which I bought with some of my birthday money this month.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative blog

September Finances

Last month, as part of my Monday Matters series on The Wheel Of Wellness, I wrote a post about Financial wellbeing in which I mentioned the benefits of keeping track of your incomings and outgoings so you can learn more about your spending. I thought I’d give it a go and have created a spread for the last three months. I try to fill it in on a weekly basis so that I can keep running totals more easily.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative blog

Final words…

That’s it for my September spreads so far. I’m thinking of creating weekly 2 page spreads when I start working with the university but I will draw those up as and when I get some hours. I’ll probably do some little coffee cup illustrations to decorate but will otherwise keep the layouts pretty basic using a horizontal set up. I might add them at a later date so watch this space!

Posted in lifestyle, Planning and journaling

Currently… life update August 2022

As I haven’t posted yet this month due to being on holiday, I thought I’d do a quick and easy life update. I think this kind of journalling is great to look back on so you can see how things have changed and even if you don’t have a blog, it’s nice to do an analogue record in a journal or notebook.

Currently eating…

lots of fresh and juicy fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, pears, mangoes, grapes and watermelon. I always try to make sure I get at least 5 portions of fruit and veg each day and I also have one as part of my breakfast and something as a snack later in the day.

Also, whilst in Amsterdam, we had an ‘all you can eat’ breakfast at the hotel on a couple of the days. When perusing the offerings, I found some overnight oats which had been made with soya milk. There were two portions left and it was the perfect opportunity to try them. I mixed a little strawberry jam into mine but, to be honest, they were nice enough just plain. Since returning home, we’ve made some for our breakfast quite a few times and we’ve now managed to get the consistency just right. I can totally recommend them as a tasty and filling start to a busy day.

Currently drinking…

iced coffee. I haven’t yet made it myself but I’ve enjoyed it a few times in different cafes. I have a shot of caramel syrup in mine and they’ve been really nice to have as a cooling refreshment during the hot days we’ve been having as an alternate to my usual hot drinks.

Currently watching…

lots of great dramas on TV. I’m particularly enjoying Shetland, Van Der Valk and The Secrets She Keeps (on catch up) as I love police and psychological stuff. It’s nice to settle down to an hour or too of great television each evening before bed.

Currently reading…

C.L. Taylor’s latest book The Guilty Couple which I’m really enjoying so far. Again, psychological thrillers are my favourite kind to read. I’ve just created a huge TBR list in my bullet journal and I have 13 fiction and 5 non-fiction self help style lined up so they should last me the rest of 2022.

Currently listening to…

the Wet Leg album on You Tube to see if I want to buy it as a download for my iPod. I love their first two singles Chaise Longue and Wet Dream a lot and I enjoy listening to them on the radio and singing along.

Currently pinning…

desk organisation ideas. I’m trying to decide what I want available on the desk in my craft room and what I want to put away so that I have plenty of space to work. I’m also trying to establish how to keep things neat and tidy. I always find really good ideas on Pinterest to pin.

Currently enjoying…

Looking at all of the flowering plants which are in full bloom in our garden. We have lots of different colours out there at the moment and it’s a really bright and cheerful space to sit out in. I wish the weeds didn’t grow quite as fast though!

Currently creating…

journal layouts which document our holidays to Scotland and Amsterdam and pages of images of my recent purchases and why I love them. I’ve just started a new TN insert and I think it will probably be full by the time I’ve finished. For the travel stuff, I like to include photographs, receipts, daily itineraries, food menus, leaflet cuttings etc and decorate with coloured and patterned papers, washi tape, stickers and ephemera.

Final words…

So that’s a mini update on my life right now which I hope you enjoyed reading. I would love to hear what you’re up to in the comments. I’m going to schedule in more posts like this one as it’s really interesting to revisit and see how my focus has changed over time. I’ve only done two ‘currently’ posts since I launched my blog over four years ago but I think at least every six months would be good for the future.

Posted in art, bullet journal, Bullet journaling, creativity, goal setting, lifestyle, Planning and journaling, productivity

My new slightly later than mid year BuJo and Setting up for August – birthday balloons theme

I’ve just finished my previous bullet journal and I’m excited to be moving in to a brand new notebook. This one is again from Notebook Therapy but the cover is white vegan leather with a beautiful butterfly on the front and gilded edges to the pages. I’m already wondering how long it will stay mark free for!

As we’re off on holiday shortly I’m going to keep this post picture heavy with minimal explanation. If you want to know anything about the spreads you can always ask in the comments.

Key and index pages

Future log

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative blog

Grid spacing cheat sheet

Vision board

I love how my vision board turned out. Some of the goals are ongoing from earlier in the year, some are new aspirations.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative blog

August front cover

For my theme for August, I went for birthday balloons as my niece and our share our birthdays on the 3rd August. I completed my cover page on return from our holiday to Amsterdam. To make it quicker and easier, I used a tracing paper balloon shape to create the balloons but slightly altered them when I inked them in for a hand-drawn look. I used a 0.3 Pigma micron for each balloon and a 0.1 for the strings.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative blog

August calendar pages

I haven’t managed to get chance to do the front cover page yet but it will feature lots of colourful balloons in the colour palette used for the calendar.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative blog

Reading log

A space for me to record books read in August and September and rate them out of 5 hearts.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative blog

When did I last? spread

I found this really useful in my previous bullet journal, particularly for stuff that doesn’t get done that often so I’ve created a slightly more compact version.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative blog

Packing list

I do one of these every time we go away and refer back to previous ones each time. Obviously things depend on the season where we’re going and how long for but there are some items I take on each holiday. The lists help me feel more organised and mean I don’t forget things.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative blog

Final words…

I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at my new bullet journal and my spreads. I always find it exciting to start a new notebook but at the same time I worry about making mistakes (which I inevitably do!). However, then you have the opportunity to get creative with how you fix the problem(s). Wishing you all a wonderful August.

Posted in art, bullet journal, Bullet journaling, creativity, Planning and journaling

Setting up my Bullet Journal for July 2022: Summer Seaside theme

Today I’m sharing my bullet journal spreads for July a little later than planned. I was all set to finish them before the end of June but, unfortunately, I started feeling really unwell on Wednesday night and on the Friday, I tested positive for COVID-19. I’ve also passed it on to my husband so we’ve both been keeping dosed up with paracetamol and trying to rest.

The theme I’ve chosen is a Summer / Beach theme. Again, I’ve been practising my drawing skills on my cover and calendar pages and, although they’re not perfect, I’m pleased with how they turned out. I found some wavy paper in my stash from when I used to buy Papercraft magazine – I’m pretty sure you have to print the papers yourself nowadays which is not good for my expensive ink cartridges! Anyway, here’s my short number of pages…

Front cover

When I’d decided upon my theme for the month, I spent time searching Google for Summer doodles, beach clip art and examples of bullet journal spreads for the Summer months. I found lots of inspiration and created a folder of images on my computer to refer to. I actually did the calendar spread first and then went back to the cover.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative

Monthly calendar / month at a glance

When I first did the title for the page, I wasn’t happy with how it turned out so I stamped the letters on some wave design paper and then mounted it on a small piece of craft paper which reminded me of the colour of sand. I tore the kraft paper against a ruler to create a slightly roughened edge. Again, for the pictures, I was brave and sketched straight into my bullet journal. I then inked them using a Pigma Micron 0.2 and although a few of the lines went a little wonky, I think it adds to the hand-drawn look.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative

Activity tracker

I’ve enjoyed filling in my activity trackers for the last couple of months but decided to change it up for July. This one is very similar to what I used to use to track my yoga sessions, but this time I’m going to write in the different types of workouts I’ve done each day. I may choose a particular colour of fineliner pen for each exercise style, e.g. pink for legs/glutes etc. but I haven’t decided yet. Unlike the previous months, this one won’t record how many active minutes I do each day.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative

Reading Log

I only have enough pages left for July in my current bullet journal so I’ve just included the current month on this spread and filled the rest of the space with a quote. This is my usual set up where I record the book title and give it a heart rating out of 5 hearts when I finish reading.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative

Final words…

That’s it for the pre-prepared spreads for this month. I’m so disappointed that I didn’t get them done and photographed in time to share them before June was out but better late than never! I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at my spreads for July. I would love to know what you think of them.

Posted in art, bullet journal, Bullet journaling, creativity, lifestyle, Planning and journaling

Setting up my Bullet Journal for June 2022: Summer Fruits theme

Hi all, hope you are well. Today I’m going to share my bullet journal spreads for June. I’ve chosen a theme that I did a couple of years previously in 2020, but this time, I’ve hand drawn all of the fruits straight into my notebook, rather than create stickers from my own illustrations. I hope you enjoy looking at my pages for this month.

Front cover

For my front cover I wrote the ‘hello June’ title in the centre of the page and then added a range of fruits in different colours. Lightly sketched pencil drawings were filled with Tombow ATB brush pens and Crayola Supertips, then outlined using a Pigma Micron Fineliner in 01. Detail was added using the same fineliner and a sepia 0.5 UniPin for the decoration on the pineapple.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative blog

Positive message for the month

On the previous page I created a TV series spread but I made a huge mistake with the title, so I covered it over by sticking on a simple message I printed from a website. Unfortunately I can’t credit the person who created it as I’m unable to find it online again and I didn’t save it to my computer!

Monthly Calendar Pages

My calendar pages are my usual six by six dot boxes. I find that there’s just enough space for me to record a couple of events or gym bookings each day. As you can see from the above pages, I made a bit of a mess with the banana so this time I printed one from Google images and traced it! I’m sure you’ll agree, it’s a big improvement.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative Blog

TV series record

This is a page that I started doing from last year. It’s a simple record of all of the different TV series we’ve watched, whether it’s a one off or part of a number of seasons and the particular genre. It’s great for referring back to so we can see all of the great stuff we’ve watched. We can also recommend series to family and friends.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative blog

Activity Tracker

I really enjoyed keeping a record of my walks and workouts last month so I’ve made a similar tracker for June. The only thing I’ve changed are the motivational messages and quote.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative blog

Final thoughts

I’m really pleased with how my pages for this month turned out and they’re certainly nice and colourful. Hopefully in the future, I’ll continue to be brave with drawing things and brush lettering straight into my notebook without practicing on paper first. Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of June.