Stickers and Self-Care in the Crazy Hannah Bubble

I would say I'm a bit of a logophile then again I thought something like etymologist would be more official (not to be confused with entomology which is the study of bugs!). I like reaching for a well-known search engine to look for the dictionary definition of terms (especially big words - the bigger the better sometimes!). But what's this got to do with my planner or journalling? Well certainly this week has been about self-care. For one week in August, it all goes a bit crazy and Mum and I along with 15ish other volunteers run a Holiday Club at a local church. It always seems like a good idea then by the time we get to this week we start to question our sanity! Along with this my amazing Dad and Sister in Law have taken Jaxon for a little across two days which meant I could try and get my head in the right place and clear the decks a bit! I worked through my emails, wrote some tweets and did some work tasks but I didn't make it to this week in my planner (As you can see below). It crossed my mind to do it Friday morning when Sister-in-Law had Jaxon but I woke up with a bad head and decided to snuggle on the sofa instead. (As Mum said, I was burning the candles at both ends and that's why I've had a bad head twice this week!)


 

She's exactly right. I get up with Jaxon around 8ish then I'm on Mum duty until he goes to bed. Because he's been at Holiday Club too his bedtime has been later than usual. I've got home around 9pm and then started to try and fill in what I need to get done. Any parents who survive on minimal sleep because their kids think sleep is for the weak, I applaud you because I'm one spoilt Mummy when it comes to sleep! Ever since Jaxon was born he's been a good sleeper overnight - nap time was a different story but overnight - I'm spoilt! (As I finish typing this out, it’s getting towards 1am and the timer on the lights has switched the lounge lights off - I am really up past my bedtime now!!) But on Thursday when my Dad/Jaxon's Grandpa had Jaxon for nearly the whole day I managed to get September sorted out. With Jaxon starting school, I can see the monthly view coming in handy to make sure we're organised and keeping up with washing uniform and things like that. When I saw the fairytale/woodland stickers, I wasn't 100% sure they were my thing but then I got thinking about how as kids we'd go conker hunting in September and October once the leaves started to change and things like that. So I decided that I'd use them across the September Monthly and actually by the "end" I wanted to try and fit more stickers into the spread so actually decorated the first week of term too!

 

I cleaned down the kitchen table, got the tripod out and decided to go for it. I could edit out the rubbish parts and talk over it later when needed. As I was stood there mid filming, Our Sidekick arrived in the kitchen chatting away followed by Our Sidekick's Social Worker coming for a visit. Part of me was tempted to load it at the end as a blooper reel! The SW got all excited about how my tripod was set up and how I was using my phone and things like that - It was kind of entertaining to listen back to it while editing! But we got there in the end! I think I'll go back and do the August Monthly one as a memory keeping kind of thing because I've done zero journalling.

   

 So when I've actually had time to do self-care, what have I been up to? Well, I've been knitting a jumper designed by a lovely lady called Nicky. It's all knitted in one piece and from the neck down (Rather than back, front and two sleeves like most jumpers I've done in the past). It's knitted in DK on 4mm needles so feels like it's taking ages but it's at a point now where I can do a couple of rows, put it back in my bag and carry on with something else so it's perfect for knitting groups etc. This week I had two knitting groups. I ended up talking Disneyland Paris to one lady as she's off on an adventure with her daughter, son in law and grandkids next year and wanted to know every piece of information I could bestow on her! I also caught up with my lovely friend who's recently opened her own shop in town. The two knitting groups I attend are definitely my self care slots. Even if I'm having bad day and want to miss group, I know that if I can just get out of the house and get to the group after 10-15 minutes I will feel better. I know that once I get through the door someone will watch Jaxon if I just need to go have a little cry in the corner or someone will hug me tightly and tell me it will be okay, maybe not right away but it will be okay. And you know what, right now it's exactly what's needed. There's been various things on top of the holiday club crazy and I've been so grateful for those lovely ladies picking me up and giving me a hug.  

 You can find me here: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Blog. 

Travel Journal and Memory Keeping

I adore keeping a travel journal, what a perfect way to document your holiday and to save memories. My latest journal took advantage of the July and August patreon resources and printables from Anna Brim's patreon goodies. I also sourced ideas from Anna's Adventure Journaling course. It's always a sad occasion coming back from your holiday's and I really loved my latest one in Palmanova, but I also love finishing off my journal and seeing it come together.

I always start my travel journal with a details page of where and when I'm going and staying. I also always set it up before I go. I add printables, ink, stickers and leave a space to write and add in photos. I don't have a portable printer so I always print my photos when I return and then stick them in after it is all filled in. I prepare my page before I go away using Anna's patreon printables, project life cards and a variety of stickers and washi tape. I find the whole process of setting it up before I go away so relaxing and it helps to get me in the holiday mood (not that I need it!). Read about how I set up my journals here - How to Create a Travel Journal 

Completing the journal on holiday

I love the mix of printables this month, some are photos that Anna took and added text to and others are her drawings and journaling cards that she has a space to write on. This month Anna has also included lots of quotes and text too, perfect for my journaling style.

I always fill as much in as possible whilst on holiday, it's a lovely way to relax by the pool (hey, who needs an excuse!). I love Anna's hot air balloon printable and the mix of her own photos merging with mine, which this time I had printed through the post.

I also love adding pockets made with cute envelopes, they are perfect for adding larger photographs and Anna's gorgeous journaling card (which I think came from a Brimbles Box last year). Then of course there's Anna's cute pineapple stickers! Tip in's are also a great way to make the most of your pages and are a great way to add in leaflets and tickets.

I honestly have used so many of Anna's collage sheets this month that I do apologise for the amount of photos in this post... but how cute are they? I love the beach girl and the ice cream, again there is space to write inside the scoop. There are also a variety of papers to print. I am in love with the fruity one in the last picture. 

I hope this has inspired you to get started on a travel or an Adventure Journal and don't forget you can get ALL of these goodies every month when you join Anna's patreon, it really is great value (I used printables from just some of the range from the last 2 months). Now the holiday come down really starts, especially as it's back to school where I teach in less than 2 weeks... ssshhh.

You can find me here on my blog and social media

kerrymaymakes.com

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Using poetry to inspire art

I use poetry a lot in my art journal- it inspires a lot of my pages and gives additional meaning to my art.  I usually just store photos of poems I like on my phone but I've recently found this hard to keep track of.  So I've created a travelers notebook to collect these words that inspire me.  I write them poems or quotes in here and use a simple decoration on each page.  For these two poems I've used collage sheets from this month's Patreon and think they set the poems off nicely and look so pretty (making me more likely to continue with this notebook).

I've just started a new journal about the seasons and plan to include some of my favourite poems about change within it.  This is a found journal (basically anything that can be repurposed for art - in this case a children's book but it can be as simple as a mail order catalogue or a pamphlet you find at the doctor's office).

For my introductory page I wanted to journal about my journey as a woman, the seasons in our lives.  So I drew some figures based on some images from Jane Davenport's book and painted them.  I wanted a background that was airy and clean but it was impossible to watercolour on the glossy papers.  I sorted through some of my paper stash and thought this collage paper from last month's patreon was perfect - the exact style I needed in a format that I could add to the glossy pages.

As you can see I kept the original book page on the right and added my poem around the clouds.  I like the daytime-sunset contrast between the two pages and feel it helps further illustrate the idea of the seasons of our life.

 Don't forget to check out Anna's Patreon which includes all of Anna's beautiful collage sheets including these gorgeous pages as well as art tutorials.

You can find more of my art here, on my blog, or on Instagram.

Unicorn Planner Pages

 

 Welcome to Part 2 of my Unicorn Sky sticker kit layouts. I loved this set so much that I made two layouts in the same month to celebrate them because I just couldn't help myself (you may have seen my August layout earlier). Again, I mixed and matched Anna's stickers with papers and washi tape I already had lying around, and for a change I decided to be sparse on my stickers to make them stand out more.

Up until this year I've never been a big fan of vertical planning although now that I've been playing around with it for a few months I can see the appeal and it definitely ticks a lot of my list-making boxes (planner pun intended) because I am such a list person. I've been experimenting with different layout styles and have settled (for now) on a half-page columns for Monday-Thursday - because, honestly, I'm so busy working that there's not a whole lot happening on those days! - and full page columns for Friday-Saturday where I need a lot more space to document what's happening.

   

 It was also really nice to get back and grab some pens and do some doodling on my pages. I haven't done that for ages, either, and it was a lot of fun to just fill in a few little spaces that popped up in the layout.

   

 I'm a huge fan of layering pieces together to create something different and I loved using Anna's unicorns to pull the whole thing together. Look and this precious one - it's like she's waiting for all the amazing things to happen in this week!

   

 All the extra paper, ephemera and washi tapes come from stores locally here in Melbourne (and some of it is quite old now so tracking them down was tough) but I'm a firm believer in using what you have and mixing and matching where you can. It just creates a lot of visual interest.

   

 I'm looking forward to putting down all my plans in this week's layout. I think it's going to be a great week! 

 Stef

https://novelteacorner.com/

Completed Planner / Diary Insert Flip Through (April - June 2018)

Today I am sharing with you a flip through of a completed planner / diary insert from April to June 2018. I mention where all of the stickers etc are from in the chat through but they are mainly from my shop. The insert is a B6 that I made and designed myself.