Visual Motivation - Filofax Friday - Week 4

It's Friday, yes it's Friday! Wasn't there a song with that in? I seem to think there was but I can't for the life of me remember what that was now. Anyways onto Filofax Friday...

This week's topic is something that I new I wanted to touch on but it is also one of the most requested videos too and that is decorating your filofax. Although this week I wanted to touch more on Visual Motivation i.e. not just decorating your filofax for the sake of it per se but for the purposes as a tool to motivate you to use your planner more. By that I mean that if your planner is all nice to look at, will that encourage you to pick it up and use it more? I will of course do more videos on Filofax decoration as the weeks go on, I just wanted to start us off with this video first.

This week is especially exciting as I have collaborated with another Filofax user and YouTuber, Tipa Childers. Tipa shares with us a spread from her filofax and how she decorates it. Please do check out Tipa's blog and her YouTube channel too for more of her filofax decorations.

 

Homework

Again this week there is home for you to complete if you would like to do so. Remember it is not compulosry, no one will know if you have done it or not. I am just setting prompts / tasks for you to help and motivate you in this series. Pick and choose each week whether you would like to do the homework or not it is entirely up to you! If you ever need to ask or clarify anything with me please do get in touch through any of the social media platforms. Sometimes it takes a while but I do reply to each and every message that is left for me.

1. Start looking around you, and ask yourself what do you enjoy looking at? What motivates you? What is a stimulus for you in general terms? What gives you pleasure? Is it art, reading, horror films? Make a motivation / inspiration board on Pinterest to collate items that inspire you. 

2. Go back to your inspiration board and ask yourself, if I put some of those things in my planner will it motivate me to use my planner more? i.e. if you put a picture of your puppy in there, will that make you want to open your planner to look at the photo thus using the planner? If the answer to that question is yes, then try adding something like that into your planner.

3. Go on Instagram / Pinterest and do some browsing, and look at what other people do in the planners. Look at how other people decorate theirs. Work out if you like them or not, if you would like to try them and if you think they would work for you.

4. Try something new this week. If you don't already decorate your planner pages, give it a try. If you do, then try something different, maybe try some doodling instead of your usual washi tape for example. Just experiment and try something different. If it doesn't work for you then you can always try something different at another time. Try putting quotes in your planner or images or photos. 

5. If you are a journaller, journal about what motivates and inspires you and the effects that it has on you.

Next Week
Next week we will look at more planning and how we can get ahead of ourselves.

Finally...
Thank you for watching / reading folks and enjoy your planning.

Remember your planner will only work for you and help keep you organised and on track if you use it. 

Cuppa Tea Pet? January 2014

I didn't review any of the tea that I had been drinking during December as I was knee deep in Vlogmas but I am back this month to talk about tea! This is a monthly series whereby I talk about the tea that I have drunk in that month and my thoughts on it. Part vlog and part review. If you don't like tea or talk about tea then this video is not for you  ; )

January 2014 craft space envy

Me likey likey! Why, well it is purely and simply for the retro cupboards! I mean seriously they are absolutely scrumptious and that painted brick wall so yummy! Such a perfectly formed space, I can see someone spends many a happy hour in there! I just wish I knew who to credit for this picture.

How to draw a bunny - part 4

I am back with the fourth (can you believe fourth wow!) video in my "How to draw a Bunny" series.

This week we will be taking the cute little faces that we drew last week and we will be giving them bodies with clothes, either dresses or winter coats. Next week will be the final week where we will colour and shade our friends in.

Happy bunny drawing!

Winter Wonderland Book Tag

I normally do a book review on my Ginger Juice You Tube channel on a Monday but I haven't read as much this past week so no review today as I am still reading said book. You can always see which book I am currently reading on the good reads widget in the right column.

So anyway I thought it might be fun to do a tag video still keeping on the book theme. I tag anyone who is watching and would also like to do this tag. Let me know if you have done it and I will come and watch!

 QUESTIONS
1. What book is so happy and sweet that it warms your heart?
2. What is your favorite book with a white cover?
3. You're sitting in a nice comfy chair, wearing a onesie, with a lovely warm hot chocolate but what MONSTER read are you reading?
4. It started snowing so you decided to have a snowball fight! What fictional character would you love to have the snowball fight with?
5. Sadly, your fire is beginning to go out. So what book would you tear the last few chapters out to throw into the fire?
6. What book is so close to your heart that you would gift to someone this Christmas who hasn't read before but wants to get into reading?

The video I got this from Bookswithdylan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4g4W_jzkgM

Finding your track & Keeping on it! - Filofax Friday - Week 3

You know what this time of the week means don't you lol! Of course you do, that is why you are here after all. It's Filofax Friday!! whoop whooop!

So after the crazy, long, indepth video, topic and homework of last week on Time Management, this week is going to be a little easier. This week I am talking about one of the most requested topics and that is staying on track with your planner and organisation. Now I also wanted to cover why you would not be staying on track and that is probably because you haven't made it part of your routine or daily life yet. You just haven't habitualised using your planner. That or it just isn't working for you, because if it was working you would be using it. Wouldn't you? Watch the video and be realistic and ask yourself that.

Again this week I really do encourage you to complete the homework set below. It is just as important to re-evaluate ourselves and what we are doing as much as it is important to actually do it because otherwise how do we know that we are on the right track?

Homework
Again this week there is home for you to complete if you would like to do so. Remember it is not compulosry, no one will know if you have done it or not. I am just setting prompts / tasks for you to help and motivate you in this series. Pick and choose each week whether you would like to do the homework or not it is entirely up to you! If you ever need to ask or clarify anything with me please do get in touch through any of the social media platforms. Sometimes it takes a while but I do reply to each and every message that is left for me.

1. Re-evaluate your planner and see how and if it is in fact working for you. Do you like the way you are using your planner? Does it fit in with your life? Are you able to record and track everything you want to? If it is not working for you then change it. Research inserts and planner set ups and find ones for you (I will do a video on these topics later on in the series!)
Be honest with yourself!

2. Try and write stuff down and tick stuff off. What have you done this month? What have you accomplished? If you are a journaller then journal about this and the feeling.

3. Look at your goals, chunk stuff up and make them smaller if they are overwhelming you.

Download
This week's download contains motivation quotes that you can put into your filofaxes in both A5 and pesonal sizes. Instructions on how to print etc are included in the download. You will need software that can 'unzip' the folder to release the files as both pdf and jpeg. To download the files for this week please click here. Please note that the inserts that I am offering as freebies as part of this series are different to the ones that I sell, so if you have already purchased a set of my inserts these are in addition for you. If you haven't purchased any of my inserts and would like to or just have a nose at them you can view them in my Etsy shop here. 

Congraulations!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway for the filofax and associated goodies. If you missed the drawing and results here it is...

Next Week
Next week we will look at Visual Motivation!

Finally...
Thank you for watching / reading folks and enjoy your planning.

Remember your planner will only work for you and help keep you organised and on track if you use it. 

As a side note, I also vlogged this week and that vlog contains info / I talk about the making of Filofax Friday. So if you are interested you can check that out here...

How to Draw a Bunny - Parth Three

I am back with the third video in my "How to draw a Bunny" series.

This week we will be taking the cute little faces that we drew last week and we will be adding ears, either sticky up ears or floppy ones. We will also wrapping them up nice and warm with hats and scarves and also sun hats ready for the warmer weather. I love getting this stage and really seeing the characters come to life and pop out of the page. I love just leaving them like this as cute floating heads. For those of you that want to give your bunnies a body and clothes, we will cover this in part four next week.

I hope you are all practising! I can't wait to see the little cuties that you have come up with. I haven't seen any yet and I am bursting to see, so if you would like to share please please please do, I would love it!

Happy bunny drawing!

Time Management & Prioritising Tasks - Filofax Friday - Week 2

Hello friends! It is Friday again which must mean that it is Filofax Friday.  The trouble is I am almost forever in Friday mode with this series. Why? Well I start thinking about it at the weekend, then Monday I usually plan what I want to say (I never script it though as I like to keep it more fluid that way), I then make the inserts for the freebie download. If I can squeeze it in I will record on Monday too but usually I record on Tuesday and either edit Tuesday or Wednesday and then I upload overnight either on Wednesday or Thursday. So you can see for me, it pretty much feels like Filofax Friday every day of the week. I am not complaining though because I do enjoy doing it. It is a little time consuming I have to admit but with being quite a dab hand now and prioritising and scheduling my tasks in, it becomes an enjoying process rather than a chore. I really hope that you are enjoying this series and will get something from it. I do it because I enjoy doing it and I hope that along the way I am inspiring you to use your day planners and get more organised as a result,

So let's move on to this weeks video. Now the video this week is rather a long one weighing in at around 50 minutes long. Pretty ironic I know for a video that is about time management. Do bear with me on this though! I thought about splitting it down into several videos but then when I was editing it, I just thought that it flows so much better as one. I figured that some people would watch it all in one go, maybe whilst cooking dinner or eating lunch or something and for others maybe they could watch it in chunks so I left it as one long video for you to decide to watch it in whatever way best suits you and your life commitments. Just think of how long it took me to put it all together!! Just stop and start and pause and revisit whenever best suits you.

Please do remember that this is just my opinion. Some of which I have drawn from my academic and corporate days in the HR & Training industry, others of it is from my own personal experiences. This video is intended to motivate and inspire you. It is not the only way of doing things, it is just my way. Please do bear that in mind. Please take on board my suggestions and comments and then make them your own. Do things in a way that best suits you and your current life situations.

Homework
Again this week there is home for you to complete if you would like to do so. Remember it is not compulosry, no one will know if you have done it or not. I am just setting prompts / tasks for you to help and motivate you in this series. Pick and choose each week whether you would like to do the homework or not it is entirely up to you! If you ever need to ask or clarify anything with me please do get in touch through any of the social media platforms. Sometimes it takes a while but I do reply to each and every message that is left for me.

1. Over a few typical days, analyse your time usage - see how much time you actually spend:
Thinking, planning, writing, reading, being interrupted, on the telephone, reading / sending email, at lunch, at coffee breaks, staring into space, complaining you never have enough time to do X etc. Those are just a few suggestions to get you started so use these to come up with your own categories to suit your life. Write as much of it down as you can, perhaps in a grid using a tally or in  your diary section. Don't forget to be honest with yourself!

2. Once you have done number one, go back and look over the time that you spent watching tv, at the bus stop etc. Did it shock you? Could you multi task during any of it? Could any of it be slimmed down? Do you have to spend so long on each task? Did you actually get to do any of the things you wanted to do as well as had to do? Please do think about that. I bet some of the tasks could be jiggled around to fit better. If you are a journaler, journal about your findings and your thoughts on those.

3. Now you know where you spend your time use the prioritising tasks grid to work out what taks have to be done in priority. Once you know that you can now schedule your day in your diary. Put items in your to do list or diarise when you are going to do them. Assign times for different activities and stick to them e.g:  9 - 10 check and respond to emails, 10 am do X, etc. Be realistic with how long tasks take, leave a little wiggle time as it is always good to have for the unknown or to gain time back. Remember to plan in activities you want to do like reading, having a bath, painting etc. Try and stick to your day to see how it goes. Tick off as you go and feel the pleasure of knowing how productive your day has been!!

Download
This week's download contains the prioritising square as seen in the video in both A5 and pesonal sizes. Instructions on how to print etc are included in the download. You will need software that can 'unzip' the folder to release the files as both pdf and jpeg. Also included in A5 and personal for you to either read or print out and put in your filofax is the piece I read at the very end about the mayonnaise jar and also a few motivational quotes. To download the files for week 2 please click here. If you still need to get week 1 please click here. Please note that the inserts that I am offering as freebies as part of this series are different to the ones that I sell, so if you have already purchased a set of my inserts these are in addition for you. If you haven't purchased any of my inserts and would like to or just have a nose at them you can view them in my Etsy shop here. 

Next Week

I am not sure as of yet what next week will entail. This week took me so long to put together that I need to get some other bits done before I think about next week. There will definitely be one for next week though so please don't worry about that. I have my own ideas and I also need to go through all the comments that you have left for me too but there will be a Filofax Friday for sure!

Finally...
Thank you for watching / reading folks and enjoy your planning. I hope you like this blog format with the sections above, this is what I am going to do every week from now on so you know there is a section for homework and for the download etc.

Remember your planner will only work for you and help keep you organised and on track if you use it. 

As a side note, I also vlogged this week and that vlog contains info / I talk about the making of Filofax Friday. So if you are interested you can check that out here...

How to Draw a Bunny - Part Two

I am back with the second video in my "How to draw a Bunny" series.

This week we will be taking the face shapes that we drew in week one and starting to make them look like little bunny rabbits by adding facial features and expressions. You will see that only a few very simple lines or marks can totally change how your bunny looks.

I am really very excited to see all the little bunny rabbits that you have drawn so please if you would like to share with me do tag me in any of the social media platforms so that I can see. I am simply @MrsBrimbles on any of them! Or if you would prefer you can email me privately if you don't want anyone else to see.

Book review Monday - Of Bess and Mist...

Yes it is Monday so it is book review Monday!! Yay!!

This week I have for you.... Of Bess and Mist....

Flowbox - January unboxing and my last

As you know I have been having the Flowbox for a couple of months now, this one being the third actually. I first started getting the Flowbox as I wanted to try new and different products that were vegetarian and eco and the Flowbox does just that. This however will be my last Flowbox for I am not sure how long, if at all. My primary objective with getting the Flowbox was for new things as we are very limited where we live with only a very small health food shop in our town. One of the things I would have liked to have seen with the Flowbox is details on how much each item costs and where you can buy it from online which unfortunately they don't tell you on their crib sheet so I couldn't buy the items even if I wanted to without some research!

Don't get me wrong I have really enjoyed receiving the Flowbox and it has had some lovely items inside, all full size. It is just that well, it is £22 a month and I already go food shopping etc and buy what we need so this is on top of that and as you don't know what you will be getting it is a duplication in some items. Of course it is nice to try new things but we don't always NEED those things if you see what I mean.

We are trying to have a 'good' year and save some money as we want to save for a BIG holiday in the next year or two and also we want to buy some furniture for the house. When we were looking at where savings could be made and on what, well unfortunately the Flowbox was one of those things as over the year we could save £264 and when you look at it like that, that's a lot of money for something we don't really need.

So there we go. I am not saying that I will never get another box, just for now it is a luxury that we don't really need. I have enjoyed you Flowbox so maybe I will see you again in the future!

Goal Setting - Filofax Friday - Week 1

It's Friday already, doesn't it come round quickly or is that just me? Anyway as it is Friday that means that it is Filofax Friday! As you know I have decided to only talk about Filofax related things both on my YouTube channel and this blog on a Friday as I know some of my followers don't dig the whole Filofax or planning thing and that is totally cool and I could talk about it alot too so I though lets just do that on Fridays!

So the first "proper" week of the series this week is looking at goal setting and looking at the types of goals you can set, those being, daily, weekly, monthly, quaterly, yearly and bigger picture. This video took me an age to film and then edit as I wanted to say so much but then though that I wasn't articulating it as well as I should be. It is a subject that I am passionate about but I found it really hard to express it in this video. I hope you enjoy it and it helps in anyway to inspire or motivate you. I do it for the love and to help others so I hope it is just that.

I hope you can find the time to invest in yourself as I know you will reap the rewards afterwards. Just spending a little bit of time to set your course can really help. Trust me! Equally I hope you find the time to do your home work but I understand if you are too busy. I have designed this series to be more like a class with interactive parts too so that you get more benefit from it rather than just listening to me talk.

Homework
Remember it is not compulosry, no one will know if you have done it or not. I am just setting prompts / tasks for you to help and motivate you in this series. Pick and choose each week whether you would like to do the homework or not it is entirely up to you! If you ever need to ask or clarify anything with me please do get in touch through any of the social media platforms. Sometimes it takes a while but I do reply to each and every message that is left for me.

1. Think about what types of goals that would like to set for yourself / start working with. Why? How will they help you? If you are a journaler - journal about it. Or why not jot down in your filofax a few inspirational reasons why you want to do this. Writing it down helps to seal it in and give it weight!

2. How will you keep track of your goals and when? Make a promise to invest in some time for yourself to get everything straight and in order. It will be worth it in the end. Diarise some time to go back over and review your goals.

3. Now set yourself some SMART goals. Make a minimum of five as a start. Mix and match from daily, weekly etc or just pick one sort. Your choice. remember they are your goals so they need to be relevant to you and your current situation. You can set more goals if and when your situation changes.

4. Live your life. Go away and live your life and complete your goals. If you have time and want to, why not journal about your accomplishements and how you felt when they were done or not done etc. Knowing how you felt about them will help you for the future and maybe motivate you. Make some time for reflection and evaluation and maybe journal about your goals and achievements.

Download
This week's download contains the diary / to do list pages as show in the video along with some I created with kitty doodles on them for personal size users. The goal setting grid is also in the download as both personal size and A5. You will need software that can 'unzip' the folder to release the files as both pdf and jpeg.  To download the files  week 1 please click here. Please note that the inserts that I am offering as freebies as part of this series are different to the ones that I sell, so if you have already purchased a set of my inserts these are in addition for you. If you haven't purchased any of my inserts and would like to or just have a nose at them you can view them in my Etsy shop here. Please note: These inserts are entirely free and a gift from me and only the inserts provided are free, I say this because I know some people might prefer one of the other designs that I offer but it is only the ones in the freebie set on offer at this time.

Next Week
Next week will be all about Time Management and focusing on being in control of your time as well as scheduling in tasks in priority order and avoiding procrastination!

Finally...
Thank you for watching / reading folks and enjoy your planning. I hope you like this blog format with the sections above, this is what I am going to do every week from now on so you know there is a section for homework and for the download etc.

Remember your planner will only work for you and help keep you organised and on track if you use it.

New Book - Circle in the Sand - Lia Fairchild

Title: Circle in the Sand

Author: Lia Fairchild

Release Date:  January 7, 2014 

Four life-long friends bound by two decades of laughter, love, promises, and secrets. Once inseparable, the four grow into independent adults pursuing very different paths.

Sage, raised by career-driven parents, follows a carefully laid out future of success that leaves her wondering what she’s missed out on.

Emily, the college drop-out, now has three children that have become her whole life. She's slowly lost herself, subconsciously seeking dangerous ways to cope. Can she find herself in time?

Jax always lived on the edge, skating through life with no apparent ambition, yet remained the energy and emotional cement of the group. She longs for her friends to accept her without trying to fix her.

Ned, Emily’s twin brother, yearns to stand up and be counted. But his old loyalties and new feelings for one of the girls has him pulled in different directions.

Will the ties that held them together as kids be strong enough for them as adults? These four friends will discover the true meaning of friendship and unveil truths about themselves they never knew existed.

ADD TO GOODREADS

I’ve been creating stories my whole life, but only for me, in my own head. Then one day I sat down and started to write a book. I completed my first novel, In Search of Lucy, in February of 2011. Seven months later, AmazonEncore contacted me about representing my book. It’s currently in the top 10 for Kindle Drama.

My second full-length novel, Vigil Annie, was released on Amazon in December of 2012! One reviewer called this thriller “suspenseful, well-crafted, and fast paced.”

I recently completed my first romantic comedy, The Tech Guy, now available on Amazon.

My other works include a mystery series (A Hint of Murder) and a short, sweet romance (Special Delivery).

I was born and raised in Southern California and hold a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a multiple subject teaching credential. I’m a wife and mother of two teenagers.

Look for updates on me and my books at the links below.

WEBSITE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

GOODREADS

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How to Draw a Bunny - Part One.

If you follow me across my social media platforms and have seen my art journals and other art work you will know that bunnies for me are a reoccurring theme. Those bunnies be popping up all over the place they really do.

For a while now I have thought about sharing with you how I draw my little bunny characters and then a lovely subscriber asked me if I would share. Of course I am always happy to share so here is the very first part in a little series on How to Draw a Bunny (in my style). In this first video we will look at imagery of bunnies so we really get a feel for what they look like and to inspire us. Bunnies like humans come in all shapes and sizes so we get to look at different types of bunnies and then start to draw different face shapes.

I hope you enjoy this series and have as much fun drawing bunnies as I always do.

Part two will be published in one weeks time (Tuesday 14th January 2013) so you have a week to practise what you learnt in this video before we move on to the next one. Enjoy x

Book Review Monday - Immortal Beloved Series by Cate Tiernan

Now that Vlogmas is over I can get back to my usual posting schedule with book reviews being on a Monday. So to start the year of with a bang I have for you the Immortal Beloved Series by Cate Tiernan which consists of three books.

1. Immortal Beloved
2. Darkness Falls
3. Eternally Yours

I do like my vampire books but I found this to be a refreshing change, still keeping on the immortality line but without the vampire bit obviously. I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable series. It had a couple of downsides, that being that the second and third books kept on wanting to recap on things that had gone before but I didn't let that stop me enjoying the series as a whole.

It wasn't that dark as I thought it was going to be and as the titles suggested it could be, it was quite modern in the way it was written almost like a memoire. A big thumbs up from me but you can watch / listen to the entire review in the below video with, I might add, no spoilers!!

let me know if you have read the books and what you thought too!

Introducing Filofax Friday

Happy New Year Friends.

I hope you had a lovely lovely Christmas and New Year Celebrations. Can you believe we are in a New Year already. Wow. 2014.

If like me you want to really get organised and make your diary or day planner work for you then you might be interested in following my new series over on my Mrs Brimbles YouTube channel (and here on the blog). Every Friday (for as long as I can keep thinking of content) I will be doing a filofax Friday video which will be a mixture of tutorials and "training" / imparting my knowledge from my corporate days in HR on getting organised and making it work for you, setting goals, time management etc. In fact it will be like a little mini online class as I will also include prompts for you to go away and do things with. Well that is the plan anyway. Yes pun intended.

So I hope you will embark on this journey with me. Who knows how it will evolve as time goes on but I am sure it will be a lot of fun. Please do watch the video as at there end there is also a little giveaway for you.

My Art Story

I came across the "My Art Story Tag" by SoCraftastic and I thought it would be fun to do and also you guys get to find out more about me....