February Bullet Journal Pages

My February and new program bullet journal pages, plus some thoughts on bullet journaling thus far.

I had never heard of bullet journaling until Unity Stamp Co did a FB Live, with a new release of a new line of BuJu stamps. I loved the images and loved what the artist did with them, so I thought I'd like to find something meaningful, to me, to create. I put it on simmer and went about my business. A couple of weeks go by and the hubs told me I REALLY needed to make a workout plan. Having been injured for the entire year and not being able to do what I had been doing left me feeling discouraged, depressed, and defeated. I figured this journal might actually work to help me succeed.

First of all, I really like the hands on approach. I have three ways to check in online, with my workouts, but there's something about seeing it all laid out, on paper that clicks with me. There's no repercussion to not posting, but a blank box will sit there and stare at you...

Secondly, the time and effort I've invested into creating the check system encourages me to complete the tasks. Bits of my heart and dreams are on these pages, so let's get to it! 

Lastly, I've really just enjoyed making the art! I'm learning to letter and do simple line drawings.

I'm enjoying my journal very much. If you wish to start one, do some research and find what's meaningful for you. What do you want to keep track of? Spend your time there. Hope this is helpful for any of you wondering about starting a journal.

Affiliate links for products used:

 

Envelope Mini Album With Crate Paper's Snow and Cocoa

Paige Evans released the cutest little, interactive mini album to the Silhouette Design Store and I thought it would be perfect for photos of my grandson. It folds flat, is small enough to tuck into your purse, yet still holds a lot of photos and hidden surprises. Most of the photos were taken in December and January, so I used the adorable Snow and Cocoa, by Crate Paper. The papers are fun and the characters are adorable. I especially love the little polar bear!

 

 

 

 

 

I finished off the piece with some sentiments from Unity Stamp Co and stitching, to firmly hold the papers together. I also love the feel that the stitching gave the book; a more supple feeling.

Affiliate links to products used (I do get a small commission):

Fine Ol Chap

It's time for another CSI challenge! We have a little Alice in Wonderland to inspire you this time. Of course I went for the Mad Hatter and scrapped these photos of my grandson in his dapper new duds. How cute does he look in that top hat???

I used an oldie but goodie, Swaggar. Also included are some great corners by Unity Stamp Co and a fun bit of flair from A Flair For Buttons

I did use the evidence list at the bottom of the page and included:
dots, stripes, crown (well, yeah...), hearts, clocks, and a tag.

My testimony is short, but sweet, "This dapper lil dude in his new dapper duds."

Be sure to stop by and play along with us, here






Affiliate links for Scrapbook.com products used. I get a small commission if you use my links, thanks.

Hello Card With Crate Paper's Snow And Cocoa Collection

Happy Tuesday to you! I picked up Crate Paper's Snow and Cocoa collection and I just love it! It's perfect for all your Winter crafting needs. The art is so cute and has many adorable characters.

I put together a simple card using the paper, from the paper pad, and a handful of embellishments from the chipboard die cuts and ephemera pack.

Simple, easy peasy, and who wouldn't want a hello from this cute lil guy?

Happy Creating!
Laura

Affiliate links for products used:

Distress Oxide Galaxy Background

My good friend's husband sustained a pretty serious injury, that is going to require a long recovery, so I decided to brighten his day with this cute lil snail from the Unity Stamp Co's Happy Snail Mail. He's just darling and the sentiments are really cute.

After stamping him on my watercolor paper, I masked him off and started adding distress oxides. Picked Raspberry, Fossilized Amber, and Wilted Violet are the brights that are randomly applied to the background. Faded Jeans and Black Soot make up the night sky. Some water drops and white spray ink make up the stars. After the sky was done, I pulled out my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors (because they are so nice a cheerfully vivid) and painted the stamped image.

Hope your day finds you with a spring in your step!

Happy creating


Affiliate links:

A Star Is Born

Welcome to a new year of CSI challenges. This year we're mixing it up a bit. You can either solve the case the old school way, with all the color, evidence, and testimony prompts....or....be inspired by the inspiration photo. I did a bit of both. The colors this month were just perfect to scrap this photo of my first grandbaby. I also included several of the evidence prompts, but let my journaling just be about this lil dude.

For evidence I used:
distressed background, stars, banners, string, triangles, and dashed lines.

I thought the stars prompt fit perfectly, not only with the baby, but with this super fun kit by Unity Stamp Co, Happy Holidays. I both stamped them out onto watercolor paper, but onto shrink plastic and made fun little embellishments from them. I painted the full sized stars with Kuratake Gansai Tambi paints (I love the brilliance of these paints), and I colored the shrink plastic stars with Prismacolor pencils. The distressing was used by stamping, in multiple generations with some Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. This "Hello" flair, from A Flair For Buttons was the perfect extra addition. A simple border finished off the piece.




Affiliate links for products used:


 

January Bullet Journaling

 

My favorite stamp company, Unity Stamp Co came out with a line of bullet journal stamps. They have released January through March, for now. I had never heard of bullet journaling, but I loved the stamps, so I set out to figure out how this might work for me. I did some research and I suggest starting here, at the beginning, to see how it got its start. There's a short video that gives you the background and overview of the system.

I'm not really a planner kind of person; I don't need colors for each person in the family to chart out our weeks, but I liked the idea behind this sort of journal. I decided I would use the system as a goal tracker and progress keeper, mostly for fitness, but for other improvements too. Once that was decided, I ordered a bullet journal (I like the dotted ones), collected the Unity stamps, and added fitness and planner stamps from Scrapbook.com.

I toyed with skipping the index and future log, but decided to go with it. I can see where a future log can be useful for adding future goals and the index just helps you find things quickly.

 

The future log is a place I can set some "down the road" sorts of goals, especially fitness ones; like "climb that mountain this summer". One of my crafty goals is to work on lettering and line drawing, so I drew the arrow dividers and did the lettering. 

 

The next step was to set up a key. This will be an ongoing process, as I figure out what my needs are and what works for me. I also added a mantra page. I have been injured for over a year now, and lost a lot of my fitness accomplishments. I find myself looking at how far I've fallen, how far I have to go, and get very discouraged. I really do need to focus on the next little step and not be overwhelmed by the mountain in front of me. I had fun with the lettering and the Unity stamp was perfect. 

 

Now that the journal is all set up and ready to go, it's time to get to the first month! I love the font of January Floral bullet journal kit and the flowers are gorgeous. I made the calendar using Lawn Fawn's Plan On It Calendar. So cute! I pulled out some line drawing and made the box that surrounds the dates. I finished it off with Call It A Plan and I Am Woman, from Unity. I just love the quote "There is no fear in fierce". The "My Goals" is from Technique Tuesdays' Goals. I've used Derwent Inktense pencils to color throughout my journal. You don't need much water and I have found it doesn't warp this paper, when water is used sparingly. Be sure to keep that in mind if you wish to use a wet medium, when choosing a journal.

I'm starting my new year by doing 21Day Fix, so I made a spread that lays out the whole program, including a place to record my stats. I've got each day mapped out, including the line dividers, using the Cook It/Clean It kit, from Unity. I figured why not have a bit of fun with the measurements and used Bryna Girl as my model. I added a sentiment from Yes I Can, by Technique Tuesday and added the little scales from the Fitness Planner, by Hero Arts.

Finally I mapped out each of the first three weeks. I used the days of the week from Design Your Week, by Unity. The water glasses, weights, and heart are all from Fitness Planner, by Hero Arts. The numbers and star are found in Plan It Calendar, by Lawn Fawn. The cute lil broccoli is from Plan On It - Fitness, by Lawn Fawn. The inspiration quote and girl are You Got This, by Unity. "Follow the Plan" is from Goals, by Technique Tuesday. The line breaks are hand drawn, using Micron pens. I got this assorted sizes and found myself using mostly the .2 and .3 sizes.

Affiliate Links for supplies used: