The last time I did a life update was in the summertime of this year so I figured that, as we’re now well into the autumn season, it’s time to write a new one. Before starting, I’ve made some brief notes on what I’m up to right now and how I’m feeling at the moment.
Currently reading…
About once a week, I check out the Kindle charts to peruse the popular books and select a few to download. I also regularly visit Waterstones to see what’s new. This month, I’ve decided to try a few different authors and I’m currently reading a novel by Simon McCleave called The Snowdonia Killings which is a crime thriller set in North Wales. I found it a little difficult to get into at first but I’m now enjoying it more. The only other book I’m dipping into at the moment is The Happiness Year, where I’m selecting Autumnal exercises to try.
Currently watching…
There’s so many good television series on in the autumn and I made a list of all of the ones I want to check out. At the moment were watching:
Joan – a crime drama inspired by the true story of a woman who becomes a jewellery thief in a bid to provide for her young daughter who is currently under the care of social services
Ludwig – a crime / comedy drama starring reclusive puzzle lover David Mitchell who poses as his twin brother, a police detective, to try to find out why he has disappeared and ends up solving a number of crimes along the way
The Voice Season 13 – the popular British singing competition where individuals (and the occasional group or duet) take to the stage to perform in the hope of get at least one chair turn and the chance to work with the support of a celebrity coach
Currently eating…
Since the beginning of autumn, we’ve been enjoyed cooking together and trying out a range of online recipes for vegetarian soups and stews. Over the next few weeks, I’m hoping to type out the recipes with any modifications we’ve made, to add to our little recipe folder that I keep in the kitchen.
Currently drinking…
As the weather gets colder, I’m starting to crave hot chocolate and I’ve discovered that it tastes much better made with oat milk rather than the soya milk I used last year. However, cartons of oat milk are much more pricey so I’m trying to only have it as an occasional treat.
Currently feeling…
I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself at the moment as I have a painful sprained wrist after falling over on the beach and it’s taking ages to heal. Also, I’ve been unable to hear through my left ear for two months due to impacted wax and I’ve been trying various remedies to no avail. I’ve finally seen a doctor about it and will be getting it syringed at the surgery later in the month. I’m grateful that they’ve started to offer this treatment again though!
Currently crafting…
I’ve bought a couple of mini cross stitch kits from Mouseloft to do this autumn. I’m currently working on a cute little squirrel called Cyril who is holding up a prized acorn. The other kit, which is also from the ‘In The Woods’ collection, features a mouse peering around a tiny toadstool. These kits are super quick to do and intend to custom frames for them so I can add them to my seasonal decor next month and for years to come.
Image credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Currently working on…
I started adding some new products to my Etsy Shop last month and I hope to continue with this during October. Some of the charms are winter and Christmas related, whilst others will be available all year round. It takes me a while to take all of the photos with my DSLR and, as it keeps raining, the lighting isn’t too good!
Currently enjoying…
As the dark nights draw in, there’s plenty of time for indoor hobbies and one which I’m particularly enjoying right now is doing 1000 piece jigsaws. At the moment, I’m doing a Gibson’s one called curious creatures and it has four panels going across – minibeasts, land mammals, birds and aquatic life. After I’ve finished doing my jigsaws, I pass them on to my mum and dad to do. They then donate them to a charity shop for someone else to enjoy. During days out, they scour various charity shops for jigsaws to do. They then save them for me so we’ve always got a good stash to keep us busy.
As well as being fun, doing jigsaws is an excellent way to challenge and exercise the brain.
Final words…
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my mini life update and it’s made you think about all of the things that you have going on at the moment. I’d love to hear about your current favourite hobbies and if you tend to enjoy different activities depending on the particular season.
Next month, I share my birthday with my niece, Lexi. She’s turning 13 and becoming an official teenager, and I’m going to be slightly older than that! So, I decided to go for a birthday theme for August. I seem to recall that I’ve chosen this particular theme before, but I haven’t even checked back to see my BuJo pages from that occasion, so I’m sure they’ll be completely different.
I hope you enjoy looking through my pages and that they inspire you to do something similar for your own birthday month.
The front cover
My cover was inspired by an image I found in Cricut Design Space. My birthday cake turned out quite different, but the basic shape with two tiers and four candles with stripes is the same.
When I’d finished the design, I outlined it using a Pigma Micron in 0.2 and this helped to detract from the bumpy marks where I shaded places that had a piece of ephemera on the page overleaf. I still felt something was missing and decided to add hundreds and thousands onto the iced cake, which I think made it look more special. I’m pleased with how it turned out despite initially being disappointed because of the marks on the right hand side.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping it Creative
The calendar
I found a few pieces of ephemera in my stash to add to these pages, and I then made a few more images to glue in using Cricut Design Space. I created the stars to add to the page to complement the ones on the cover.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative
Finances
This is my usual income and expenses tracker that I use to help monitor my spending with a few pieces of birthday themed ephemera for decoration. In August, I want to try to keep my purchases to only essentials in order to save money whilst I’m not doing university sessions over the Summer.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping it Creative
Record keeping and journalling pages
When Michael and I are taking a short holiday from work, the focus of my bullet journal pages tends to be recording events and places visited, plus a little bit of reflective journalling. I’ve set up a page for the dates around my birthday for the left hand side of the spread and a cute frame for a photograph of the two birthday girls, a number of decorative pieces from my stash and a little room for me to journal about bits and pieces from our celebrations.
Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping it Creative
Final words…
Thank you for visiting my blog today to have a look at my bullet journal set up for August 2024. I hope my pages have provided inspiration and ideas for planning, memory keeping and journalling for your own birthday or the celebrations of family.
Wishing you a healthy and happy August and don’t forget to plan in some ways to enjoy the summer now it has eventually arrived in the UK even if it has waited until the last month of the season!
So, the plan was to do one of these every three to six months but I’ve just checked my published post list and it seems I haven’t done one since June 2023! Anyway, I enjoyed looking back at last year’s post and seeing what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. I’m still reading lots of books at the same time, and it appears that two of them were started this time last year and are still on the go now. I’m also continuing to love seeing the wildlife in our garden but I’m upset that the hedgehogs who used to visit last year are no longer coming – our hog biscuits are being polished off by various other creatures included neighbourhood cats, a fox, a cute little mouse and what appears to be a baby rat (the images and videos on our wildlife camera show a twitchy nosed character who is bigger than the mice we’ve seen featured onscreen!). Here’s some more things which are currently filling my days…
Currently reading…
I now record my reading on Storygraph (rather than using my bullet journal) and at the moment, I have 9 titles listed as current reads. However, a few of them have been shelved for a little while so here’s the ones I’m actually grabbing on a regular basis:
Prickly Company by Kitty Johnson – a lovely romantic fiction book which features the goings on of a street called Hilltop Place and a side story of hedgehogs visiting gardens via a ‘hedgehog highway’. If you’re looking for a light read coupled with facts about hedgehogs (and a possibly unexpected twist), this is the book for you! It’s taken me so long to finish this blog post that I’ve now actually finished reading this one and have moved on to the book directly below.
Salt Slow – this is a book of short stories by Julia Armfield which caught my attention when I was reading a book related blog. Described as a collection of gothic, magical realism, the stories are like nothing I’ve read before. I’ve enjoyed some of them more than others so far but my favourites have stayed with me well after the conclusion.
Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal – I put this down for a bit and picked it up a few days ago when I was chillaxing in front of our tower fan on a very warm day. As I’ve been reading, I’ve been using a highlighter pen to highlight interesting lines and paragraphs. At a later date, I’m going to summarise the highlights in written form.
The Happiness Year: How to Find Joy in Every Season by Tara Ward – full of seasonal tasks to help you find the joy during Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, no matter which is your favourite and which you least prefer.
Currently feeling…
I’ve recently made some changes to my diet which have helped me to feel better about myself. So far, I’ve lost 9lb which I’m really pleased with as two of the medications which I take for my Bipolar disorder have a side effect for me of increased appetite and tiredness which have led to weight gain over the past few years. I’ve tried really hard to modify my eating habits after a doctor recently told me that my cholesterol level was a little on the high side. Changes I’ve made include:
cutting out sweets – bye bye Colin The Caterpillar sweets from M&S and other gummy favourites!
choosing healthier breakfast cereal – supermarket own brand Weetabix every day (no more crunchy nut cornflakes) and Special K to ve reintroduced when my crown has settled)
sticking with our vegan spread on bread for sandwiches and in white sauces rather than using up the butter purchased for a particular recipe (only having butter when we go out for a meal)
watching my portion sizes – having a small handful of crisps from a large packet rather than a full individual bag, reducing the amount/type of table sauces and dressing e.g. mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, less calorie laden salad dressings etc, having one or two biscuits instead of three, checking the portion sizes on boxes, packets and tins, making sure most of my plate is full of fruit and veg etc.
not having so many treats on weekends (less cakes, ice creams, less calorific desserts etc)
Currently working on…
I’m trying really hard to spend time working on our garden each day so that plants thrive (apart from those irritating weeds that seem to pop up everywhere within days), deadheading is done regularly, leaves and stems are checked for disease and little critters such as greenfly, snails and slugs and evaluations of fauna which helps us to see if our spaces are wildlife friendly. At the moment, it feels like I’m not dedicating enough hours each week to keep on top of things, but I’m trying to be happy with the progress we are making in our front and back spaces rather than noticing all of the bits we haven’t got around to!
Currently creating…
I have two creative journals on the go at the moment – my summer 2024 TN insert and another insert for our North Wales holiday last month. I’ve printed lots of photos from my phone, manipulated images taken on my dslr in Photoshop and have made stickers and ephemera for decorating the various pages. I’ve also got postcards, tickets, receipts and other bits and pieces for tipping in too. Now I just need to dedicate some time each week for creating the spreads.
Currently enjoying…
I love summer time as it means I can enjoy a range of fresh and juicy fruits and easily get my 5 a day seven days a week. I love mango, raspberries, nectarines, peaches, watermelon, pineapple and sweet oranges but my absolute favourite are strawberries. Although not as healthy as enjoying them on their own, I’ve bought some cooking chocolate and for dipping them in as a special summer treat. If you seen my bucket list, you’ll also know that I plan on making strawberry lemonade at some point soon.
Final words…
If I’m going to be in with a chance of this being published any time soon, I think I’ll have to leave it there. As before, I encourage my readers who have their own blog to give writing a ‘Currently…’ post a go as it is an interesting way to evaluate your current priorities and, over time, see how they have changed.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about what I’m currently up to in July 2024. I think I might add a date to my bullet journal future log for starting the next update so I don’t leave it too long next time!
Most of us lead very busy lives and it can be incredibly difficult to switch off and relax in the evening in preparation for a good night’s sleep. Today, I’m sharing four excellent ways to wind down after a stressful or busy day. The following activities are great for your mental health and wellbeing and I’m going to be offering lots of different options to choose from depending on your preferences.
Do a journalling activity
After a busy or particularly stressful day, it can often be super difficult to calm our mind. Your head can be full of all kinds of clutter in the form of thoughts (both positive and negative), ideas or feelings. Maybe you’re busy analysing or deconstructing everything that has happened and going through things that were said. Perhaps you’re worrying about your mounting to do list and what didn’t get crossed off today because of x,y and z which took priority. Or, you might be looking towards tomorrow, thinking about the events in your diary or how you can be super productive and get more done whilst making it a calmer, less stress inducing day. If any of the above apply, you might be wondering if you will ever be able to switch off and sleep tonight. This is where getting your thoughts and feelings out of your head and onto paper can be super helpful. Just ten minutes of free flow or structured journal writing can make all the difference.
I learnt the following method for putting the day to rest when I was teaching, when every day was a busy day and I was really struggling to relax and sleep.
Putting the day to rest activity
Set aside 20 minutes in the early evening (I used to do this at 7.30pm)
Sit down somewhere quiet
Think about your day today and how it has gone, what you did and how you feel about it
Write it down in bullet points or free writing if you prefer
Write down anything you didn’t get done off your to-do list
Think about tomorrow – do you have any particular events coming up? what are looking forward to? are there any worries you have about what’s happening?
Write down a loose or structured plan for your day depending on your own needs (you can always modify this as you learn what works best for you.
When it comes to later evening and bedtime, if thoughts about today or tomorrow pop into your head, remind yourself that you’ve already evaluated your day and planned for tomorrow, so you don’t need to think about it any more.
If new thoughts come into your head at bedtime, jot them down on a piece of paper or on a notepad.
Other types of prompt based journalling might also work for you and there are some lovely ones on the market which can be used before bed. I’m a big fan of The Five Minute Journal but there are plenty of much cheaper options if this doesn’t fit with your budget. How much you want to write is up to you but it’s good to develop a consistent practice which becomes a positive habit to end your work time or day with.
Try a Mindful or Meditative Practice
Any type of activity that requires a high level of concentration and uses different senses is great for helping you to forget about the busyness of your day. Here’s some ideas for mindful and meditative activities which you might like to try:
Meditation – this can simply be sitting quietly and focusing on your breathing or using a guided practice. I recently found this account on YouTube that has some lovely ones with different foci that you mind find helpful. When choosing a guided session, it’s important to find someone who’s voice you find soothing and relaxing so you might like to try out a few to establish your preferences.
Crafting – there are so many different crafting options such as papercrafting, watercolour painting, knitting, sewing, crochet, model making and so on – why not give a few beginner projects a go to see which you prefer.
Some kind of puzzle e.g. a jigsaw, wordsearch, crossword etc. – great for keeping your mind active
Games – this could be something on your computer that you play by yourself such as Angry Birds, Candy Crush, Word Cookies or Patience, or one you play with others such as Boggle, Yahtzee, Gin Rummy, Scrabble or Jenga.
Enjoy a scented bubble bath and use your senses to fully appreciate the experience.
Cook a meal from scratch – measure out your ingredients with care, fully engaged with chopping / dicing / peeling etc, smell the different flavours as the dish cooks, taste the mixture to check the seasoning and so on. Mindfully enjoy the results at your dining table. Share your experience with others.
Watch something engaging on TV – comedy, drama, nature, historical interest or reality. Whatever you enjoy, give it your full attention and leave your phone or tablet in another room so you don’t get distracted. If you’re anything like me at this time of year, you’ll want to get your PJs on and snuggle under a warm blanket with your feet up for this one!
Read a book or magazine
Spending time reading a novel, information book, or favourite magazine is a great way to unwind and get yourself all relaxed and ready for bed. I love Psychologies magazine, as it’s full of positive ideas, and I can learn new ways of managing mental health and wellbeing at the same time.
Some people argue that you shouldn’t read in bed, but I find reading a few chapters of my Kindle novel (or for about 30 minutes) helps me to drift off really quickly. Try reading just before bed and reading in bed to see which works best for you.
Spend quality time with a loved one
Arranging an after work activity to do with a co-worker, friend, family member or partner can also help us destress. This could involve going out for an after-work drink, doing an evening class, watching a film at the cinema, seeing a comedy show or visiting a new or favourite restaurant. Alternatively, you might plan something fun to do together at home such as making popcorn to eat whilst watching a film, playing a board game or learning something new such as massage or reflexology.
Spending time with a pet is also great way to destress and calm the mind. This could include something you know they enjoy such as throwing a ball for your dog to catch at your local park (depending on the time of year), stroking your cat as they sit curled up on your knee, or watching your hamster as they zip around the house in their exercise ball.
Final words…
So there you have it, four ways to take yourself out of work/busy mode and into a relaxed state for the evening. I hope today’s post has given you food for thought and you’ll try one or two of the activities listed to see how they help. If you have any other preferences for your wind down routine, let me know in the comments.
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!
Keeping it creative 