Creativity Goals

 

I usually set and share reading goals for each year.  I did that this year, but this year I also set some crafting/cardmaking goals for the year.

Last year, my cardmaking and card sending deteriorated to almost nothing. Life happens, and I'm certain that is why. I want to reenergize it this year, so here are my goals:

• Make cards every month - and not only make cards (but that is the basic goal) but also find time to play with card making and art.
• Send out cards as scheduled - It's just January, and I've already fallen down on this goal, but I'm working to recover quickly.
• Make 4 Christmas cards a month. Christmas card making also went very downhill last year. Luckily, I had a cushion of cards already made, so I was able to make about 25-30, add to the cushion, and send out 53 handmade cards. But the margin is completely gone, so I need to not wait until the end of the year.
• Send our guys (two adult sons) a card each per month. I did this in 2023 and 2024, but not last year, and I want to get back to it.

No, this is not my desk.  Nice, though, isn't it?
Thanks so Unsplash

.

Blog goals are:

• Post on Sandpiper Creates at least twice a month - so far, so good.
• Post on Sandpiper's Thoughts three times each week - well, working on it.

I do have a couple of journaling goals.  First, I want to bullet journal at least 50% of the days of the month.  I don't skip days - I go back and enter them, but it is hard to catch up.  Secondly, I've started a new reading journal, and I want to use it as planned.  That's the easiest goal of all - I really enjoy and look forward to entering books in the reading journal.

Reading Journal

 Let's talk about my reading journal.  

I started using a reading journal because I most often either read a book on my kindle (to prevent the continual accumulation of books in my home) or listen to audible books.  I find that I miss book covers.  Isn't that strange?  One of the main reasons I use a reading journal is that I include a picture of the cover so that I can flip through the book and remember what I have read - nostalgically. I also like it because it tracks information about my reading for me.

I use an A6 (Pocket) navy Leuchtturm 1917 notebook.  For each book, I include the following:

• picture of the cover
• star rating
• title
• author
• type of book (kindle, printed, audio)
• date completed

That's not a lot of information for a reading journal. It doesn't include any thoughts about the book itself (other than star rating), but that's all I want to record.  This meets my needs.  You should meet your own needs!

For each year, I also include a few pages of reading stats.  (If you want to see my reading stats, they are here.)  I track method of reading, copyright date, first time or repeat read, genre, and star ratings.  

Journals

 This is my stack of notebooks.  Here is what I use them for, from the bottom to the top:

1. The brown leather loose-leaf notebook on the bottom of the stack (that looks like it needs some care) is a Franklin Planner notebook that holds my Franklin planner pages.  In the world of digital planning and bullet journaling, I still find that the Franklin Covey two pages per day set up is the best format for my day to day planning for work.  I use the Leadership Classic refill in my Logan Open binder (the link is to the zipper version - they don't have the open one anymore apparently).
2. All of the other notebooks are Leuchtturm1917 dotted A5 (medium) notebooks (except the top one).  The navy blue one is my bullet journal.  In our house, we call them blue books, and we say that the blue books know all.  This is where I record our daily life (other than work). Each month has a theme - each book holds six months.
3. The Port Red one is my Lay Ministry notebook.  I am the Associate Lay Leader and Director of Lay Ministry in our Annual Conference.  This is the notebook that I use to plan and track it all.
4. The next one - the stone blue one - is my General Conference / Juridictional Conference notebook.  I was a reserve delegate to General Conference and a delegate to Juridictional Conference - this is the notebook where I tracked the planning and the voting.
5. The Forest Green notebook holds the notes from training / educational events.  
6. The Pacific Green notebook is the book I use to record notes from work meetings.
7. The notebook on the top of the stack is a navy A6 (pocket) notebook.  This is my reading journal.  In a future post, I'll explore this book with you. It's very simple - not at all like the more decorated and extensive reading journals that I see on the internet. Those are great, but not what I wanted to do.

Currently

Current View

Current Bullet Journal Palette

Current knitting
Notice how the color is changing? Cool

Bullet Journal Spread: Christmas Gift Log

 

Each year I create a bullet journal spread to track the gifts we plan to buy to do buy for our family members and friends.  Because it's Christmas, and I like to have fun with it, I usually draw something to use.  I've done Christmas gifts a couple of years and for this year and last year, I did ornaments.  I write the name of the person on the ornament, and then list their gifts.  

Bullet Journal Questions

No, our tree is not up.  This is an image of my bullet journal stack taken in December of 2018.  I know that, because I started bullet journaling in 2017, and I use two books a year.  The upright one is the one that I bought to start using in January of 2019, and I was sitting in our living room, at the end of 2018, setting up the next book.

I had all of my books out yesterday morning, and now the stack has 10 blue books in it.  It's much taller, and it still tilts in one direction - I often decorate a page with a strip of washi tape - usually at the bottom of the page.  So the stack tilts.

One of the potential advantages of bullet journaling is that you design your planner.  It all starts with a blank page.  That's great for what I use it for - for journaling at home.  I tried a bullet journal at work once - it didn't last even a full month.  I need the structure of a pre-printed planner for work.  

 As I think about my journals, I'm still working out the best structure - or more accurately, I'm continually  evaluating what will work for me right now.  These are my current questions:

1. Tracking - I currently track 12 habits.  Is it work it? Is there a better way to do it?  I'm still exploring.
2. Reflections - Each month I write a page of reflections - what happened in the world and in our lives that month.  Is this helpful to me? I procrastinate doing it (currently, I still need to write pages for August and September, and I just wrote July's page yesterday).  Every time I think I'll stop, I don't.
3. Doodling - I doodle sometimes in my journal.  Other times I use stickers to decorate.  I like the doodles, but after doing it a month or so, I fall behind, and have to doodle the whole month at once.  Stickers are definitely easier.  My answer to this conundrum is to do what I want.  ;-)
4. Gratitude - I keep a page for each month where I write a line for each day expressing gratitude.  I like it - I think it is a good practice.  My question - do I invest enough thought in what I write?  Probably not.
5. Tracking church work - I volunteer at my church to handle communications.  I keep - or I have kept - that information in a separate planner.  I wonder if I keep use the bullet journal to track this work.  I may give that a go.

Bullet Journal Palette for September

 

The palette for September includes Tombows 991, 946,  and 899

September Bullet Journal - Monthly pages

The following two images are from my monthly setup for my September bullet journal.  These are the usual monthly pages I use.

On the left - calendar.  One the right - goal setting

On the right - monthly tracking.  One the left - gratitude log.

 

Color Palettes for Bullet Journal

For each month in my bullet journal, I select a color palette.  I pull pens I will do headers with - usually Staedtler triplus fineliners, but sometimes also a fountain pen with appropriately colored ink.  I pull a selection of Tombow dual brush markers, as well.  Those join my Delde pen pouch, along with the pens and equipment I use every month in my journal.  Here are images of January's pens and March's pens.  I think I got so tired of pink and red, that I didn't photograph February's.  

January

January was a deep green with lighter aquas.  The Tombows were 291, 346, and 403.  I used a fountain pen with De Atramentis Petrol along with a couple of green Staedtlers.

February

I stuck with reds and pinks for this month, but leaned heavily on the pinks.  Tombows were 723, 847, and 817.  I stuck with one particular duskier pink Staedtler for writing. 

March

I veered away from my usual kelly green for March and went with a much more sage green along with purple.  The Tombows are 192 (using it a lot), 158, and 620.  I'm using a dark purple and a dark green Staedtler.

PS:  This post has a list of the supplies that I use every month in my bullet journal.

Bullet Journal Cover Pages

 I had some fun in my bullet journal during October and November of 2020 by using doodles throughout the pages.  I usually use washi tape and stickers - and I did go back to that in December, but October and November were all doodles.  

I picked up on that habit in the 2021 bullet journal.  So far, for January, February, and March, it's been doodles all the way.  I have also added a cover page to each month - I've never used a cover page before. These are designed with a large doodle and a quote.  They are inspired by doodles I see on the internet (so know that).  

I can't draw, but I enjoy this.

System for sending Birthday and Anniversary cards

So, this is a boring bullet journal spread, but it is the key to how I remember and plan to send out birthday and anniversary cards.  This is my process:

• I have a one-page spread in my journal for each month.  On those spreads, I list each person who has a birthday or anniversary in the month in chronological order.  So, if a person was born on the 10th of January, I list 10-person's name.
• I try to work at least a month ahead (sometimes two).  As I plan the cards I will send, I match cards to each person on the list.
• Working in month blocks, I sign the cards, address the envelope, and seal the card in the envelope.  I add a sticky note to the envelope with the birthdate / anniversary date.
• I then grab the stack of cards for the month and a calendar. I add the "mail date" to each sticky note, estimating how much time it will take for the card to arrive at the recipient. I add the stamp to the card.
• I leave this stack of cards on my desk at work.  I mark in my work planner on each day I need to mail a card.
• As I plan my day, I pull the cards that need mailed.  All I have to do is rip off the sticky note and drop the card in the mail.

All that said, I was late sending out my first card of the year. Oh, well. It works most of the time.

Christmas gift spread

This is a spread in my Bullet Journal from 2018 - I did a similar spread this year.  .  It is how I organize gift giving for Christmas. Each box or stocking is dedicated to one person (or a pair of people).  Names are written on the gift tags or on top of the stockings, As gifts are planned or purchased, they are added to that person's gift on the page

I could do exactly the same thing using a list, but I like creating this spread and filling it in.  Plus, I don't really know how many gifts each person will receive when I start, and that would be a drawback to a simple list.

Seattle Scarf

In April of last year, I bought this yarn in Seattle.  It was a hank of two skeins of Raven Frog yarn from Sitka, Alaska.  It is the colors of the Seattle Seahawks, but I don't care - I love the navy blue and lime green together.

I wanted to figure out a way to combine the two colors, letting each one shine, without using any intarsia or fair isle.  I don't like them.  So I settled on stripes.  You can see the beginnig of that journey in this post.  It took several tries to get the scarf going.

Eventually, I planned the pattern in my bullet journal - another nice use for the journal.

I'm using Farrow rib as the stitch pattern. Cast on stitches in a multiple of 3 + 1.  *Row 1 is Knit 2, Purl 1* Repeat until there is one stitch left in the row. Knit the final stitch.  Row 2 is a Purl 1 *Knit 2, Purl 1* to end of row.

The striping pattern is as follows (Color A is blue, Color B is Lime):

1. Color A - four inches
2. Color B - four rows
3. Color A - four rows
4. Repeat 2 and 3 two more times for three sets of stripes
5. Color B - eight inches
6. Three sets of stripes as above (2-4), reversing colors A and B.
7. Color A - eight inches
8. Three sets of stripes as above (2-4)
9. Repeat 5-8.
10. Repeat 5-6
11. End with 4 inches of Color A.

I'm using a US Size 6 needle, and this is the progress so far.  There will be lots of ends to weave in, although I am carrying the yarn up the side of the piece as I knit the stripes.

Bullet Journalling pen case for April

My bullet journalling pen bag changes each month - and some of it stays the same.  I keep them in a Delde pen case.  It zips at the top, but when you open it, you can pull the sides down and it becomes  a pencil cup. Great invention.

Items that don't change each month

• Factis BM2 eraser.  Looks like a pencil.  Push the top and eraser pushes out
• Pilot Precise V5 in blue
• Pentel Energel 0.35 in black
• Staedtler fineliners in light gray, gray, and black
• Pencil
• Wescott 6 inch metal ruler
• Dear Lily Designs ruler that counts grid and dots
• Compact scissors
• Faber-Castell Pitt Artists pen, S

Items that are unique for April

• Tombow dual brush markers in 055, 761, 873, 451
• Tombow Twin tone markers - dark bluen and teal (from the rainbow pack

Gratitude Quotes

As part of my bullet journaling this week, I’ve been finding a gratitide quote each day. These are the ones I including in my journal:

• I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness - it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude (Brene Brown).
• Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings (William Arthur Ward).
• Joy is the simplest form of gratitude (Karl Barth).
• Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend (Melody Beattie).
• Gratitude changes the pangs if memory into tranquil joy (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

Image Notes: Created using iPhone 7. No adjustments made.

Three Things not on a Thursday

Carol at Carol Knits does a weekly post on her blog called Three Things on Thursday. I was thinking about what to write about this week, and that prompt of hers came to mind.

1. I ordered a new fountain pen a couple of weeks ago. It's a TWSBI Eco.  I ordered the one with no color with a fine nib. It's a demonstrator pen - the first one I've owned.  I filled it with Diamine Ancient Copper ink. I anticipate that I'll be using it for the headers in my November bulletin journal.
2. I ordered this traveler's notebook cover through Amazon. It's a really pretty brown leather, and not very expensive. I really want this one, but decided to go with a less expensive one for now to see if it will work for the purpose I'm planning for it. I think this will take the place of my Plum Paper planner. I love the Plum Paper planner, but I only use it to plan my work as communicaton coordinator at my church - it's really more than I need. I created an insert for the traveler's notebook with my weekly spread for my work at church. I ordered an undated monthly insert from Penguin Paper Co. on Etsy. We'll see how it works.
3. I pulled out my crochet hooks this evening to fix a "run" in my mom's prayer shawl. I told her I wouldn't be able to match the pattern. She didn't care: "put a flower on it." So I did.

Weekly Layout

One of the ways I express my creativity is through Bullet Journalling. I've mentioned that before.  

There are so many (so so many) people in the blogging, pinteresting, youtubing world who are "doing" bullet journalling, and sharing their work, that it seems redundant for me to do so here. But... here I go, anyway. Over the next few weeks, among my other posts, I'll share a few of my regular layout styles - what they are, why I use them, etc.

This is a weekly layout. I do one of these pages on Saturday evening, in preparation for the week. On the top half of the page, I list each day of the week with a column for schedule and a column for deadlines. The schedule side are events that I need to remember; the deadline side includes items I need to remember to do by that day.

On the bottom of the page, I list three goals for the week, I track fitness (steps, stairs, a personal rating of my food tracking and weight change for the week), and I list potential meals based on the groceries in the house.

This layout helps me to see the week all on one page. It isn't my To Do list, and it doesn't serve to record what I HAVE done that week - it is only a look at the week before it happens.

This layout developed over time, but at this point, I think it serves me well.

Bullet Journal

Late last year, I started investigating the idea of keeping a bullet journal. If that phrase is new to you, check out the website of the person who coined the phrase and initiated the craze. (Ha, a poem).  His name is Ryder Carroll, and the site is www.bulletjournal.com

For me, a bullet journal serves three purposes: it helps me to record what has happened in the past, remind myself of what needs to be done today, and plan the future. I don't use it for work (I use a Franklin Planner for work), but I do use it for what I do outside of work.

Last December, I decided to give it a try for a month and see if it was something I wanted to devote time to. I grabbed a blank book off my shelf, and started. This is my first hint for you if you want to try it: grab a book that doesn't matter, any pen you have, and try the method. No pressure, no cost - just try it, and see if you like it.

Obviously, I did like it, so I ordered a Leuchtturm 1917 from Amazon. I ordered a lined, navy blue book. Most bullet journalists seem to be using the dotted version, but I thought I would like lines better. One January 1, I started using the book.

I haven't missed a day since then. Each evening, I spend a little time with the book. I write down what happened that day - quickly  - just a few lines, usually. And I plan the next day - what do I need to get done. I filled up that first book, and ordered a second one that I started using in July. This time I went with the dotted notebook, and I do like it better. There are tables and lines I draw in the book, and the dots are helpful.

I have also found that bullet journalling is a creative outlet for me. Mine is not as fancy as some you see, but each month has theme, and a couple of colors I use for headers. I fill empty spots with stickers and washi tape. For example, for this month (August), the colors are water colors - blue and aqua, and the theme is "things that swim."  I have fun.

Over the next few months, I add some posts about some of the spreads I use, and some of the other ways I use the bullet journal.

Oodles of Doodles - June and July

One of the items I do monthly in my bullet journal is a challenge from the.petit.planner on Instagram. It's a doodle a day, based on a theme she chooses. Each day has a promt - they are listed to the side of the images.

Below are my June and July pages from the Oodles of Doodles Challenge.

June 2017

July 2017

Oodles of Doodles - May

I've mentioned before that The Petit Planner on Instagram publishes a monthly doodling challenge.   In  May, the challenge was a list of foods.  It's fun to do - and fun to think of creative ways to interpret the words.

Some of my favorites this month were cookie (I drew the Cookie Monster) and hamburger (Hamburgler).