It Looks Like I Found Some Words

Over the years I have gone back and forth about sharing. Maybe it’s life that gets in the way, or it could be me getting in the way. At any rate, it occurred to me over the last day or two that ‘creating things to share’ is very different from ‘sharing things I create’, which is where I may have gone wrong and created way too much stress and anxiety. This goes double for making videos.

Asking the right questions.

I don’t know about you, but when I search on YouTube for videos, I want to see how people decorate their pages, not just more tucks and pockets to bulk them up. Or it seems as if everyone wants to either make ‘projects’ to sit on a shelf or sell their journals. I thought I could fill this gap, but the enjoyment of creating can go right out of the window when you’re filming the process, but that isn’t quite what made me reevaluate ‘the why’.

How do you feel about this? I can’t believe I have never asked this question, but what kind of content do you look for?

Then the strangest thing happened.

Right about when I was going to dive into YouTube full on, a bunch of people I follow went dark, for issues ranging from health to burn out. I found myself waiting daily for my favorite creators to show up, and it made me a bit frustrated because it was the bulk of them, but it also made me think, ” At this stage in the game do I need all the hassles of creating content?”. Especially when I have zero intention of monetizing my channel, or Instagram, or this blog…uh no! I feel as if the people I follow struggle with this issue just as much as I do, but they are locked in because it’s how they pay their bills.

For the Love of it.

Now, I have a lot of sh…stuff on hand I need to use up, so I gathered all of the crappity crap I have been holding on to for the last decade or so and organized it into little bags and containers. I didn’t flinch, I stayed with it and worked with these bits and pieces until they were all gone, and this journal is the result. I was so happy with the way it came out I decided I had to share it with you. Believe it or not, it was finished 2 weeks ago, I was having that much fun!

A bit of a hot mess.

I would love to tell you that this journal wasn’t a struggle, just look at some of the things I was working with, it was! But now it’s filled with memories of Happy Mailings, thrifted finds, shoppe leftovers, and even a piece of backdrop paper from too many years ago to remember. There will be even more memories tucked into the pockets and envelopes in the form of my daily journaling printouts.

Looking forward.

Like I said, this journal is finished and I hope to create the time to share the rest of it with you over the Holiday Season. Truth be told I have also made an Advent journal filled with ‘self care’ prompts, it just needs some finishing touches before I can share it.

In closing.

All your wonderful comments and encouragement in my last post warmed my heart more than I can ever tell you! Right now I can’t say where I’m headed with sharing on social media, because I have hit burnout too many times before. If you are here right now, Thank You for your patience. Many of you commented that you would be here if and when I decided to come back, I never would have imagined it would be this soon, but here we are.

So with that being said…

As always,

Thank you for the visit,

Have a great week,

~Patty

July’s Journal: Beach Themed

Last time I was on here I was on my trip to North Dakota. I’ve been back for a while, but decided to take a break from posting and do a little research. I became obsessed with watching junk journaling videos, and I’m glad I did! SO much inspiration out there!

But, in the meantime I neglected to share my ‘Beach’ themed journal, so here’s a bit of it.

Still loving the vintage vibe.

I have a box I throw anything ‘seaside’ into in case I get inspired. You probably won’t be surprised to know I have several ‘themed’ boxes I throw things into when I find them. Do you do that too? I’d love to know I’m not alone here!

Well, somebody went to Hawaii!

As I said in my last post, my daughter and grandson went to Hawaii, so I have lots of photos of them in this journal. I love the mix of decor, memories, and journaling. I thought about doing away with my “Monthly” journals, but it’s working for now, and it’s keeping me creative.

My grandson at a luau.

Also, it’s nice to use up ephemera I have been holding onto (hoarding) for years. Mixing with digitals gives them new life. If you have inquiries about any of these digitals I can send you the links, just ask.

Two of my favorite faces.

Summer feels over where I live. As I write this I can smell wood fires burning (in chimneys to be clear), there is definitely a chill in the air. And I’m drinking coffee with pumpkin spice creamer, that makes it official!…right!

I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to cooler days and Fall feels. We have a granddaughter on the way, due in October, so Fall is going to be pretty exciting. Let me know how you feel about Fall being around the corner in the comments, I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time,

Thank you for the visit,

Have a great week,

~Patty

Garden Inspired Journaling Pages

Hi Friends, I’m back!

I took a short break to focus on organizing our home, a little family time, and some much needed time in nature. There’s always so much to do, it’s difficult to fit it all into one day…and before you know it a month has gone by. Oops!

A cookbook divider with a handwritten recipe.

But, I’m happy to say that I’ve at least set some time aside to be creative. I still have quite a few of these ring bound journals sitting on a shelf, and I thought it would be fun to dust a couple of them off and see what inspires me.

A photo at a garden center I took years ago.

At the end of the month we will be getting new siding and windows on our 60+ year old house, so I’m not doing anything in the garden this year. It feels strange not to be obsessing over a garden, but I can enjoy a bit of gardening in my journals…and enjoy a break!

Saving a page disaster.

This has been the year of the Dragonfly in our area and I wanted to include them in some of my journal spreads. So I looked for a cool digital on Etsy and found some really cute ones. Here’s the link if you’re interested: Store4Fun This page has been sitting unfinished with those paint scrapes for years, it’s amazing what a few paper scraps and paint dots can do.

Muted tones with black paint rings.

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying your summer. I know it’s pretty hot here in the Northern Hemisphere right now. It’s going to get up to 109 F. here in a couple of days, but I’ll be in North Dakota for two weeks getting a break from it. I made a special journal for my trip with lots of trees, wild flowers, birds, bugs, and a few fairies for fun. I may actually share some pages while I’m on my trip, I’ll see how things go.

Until next time,

Thank you for the visit,

Stay cool,

~Patty

Checking In

Hey Friends, just a quick post to let you know I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth.

I have been keeping busy organizing and using up several years worth of ephemera.

I usually just organize then loose interest, but this time I am actually putting it to use.

…and I have almost filled up a journal at this point!

Let me know in the comments how you are doing and what you’re up to.

As always,

Thank you for the visit,

Have a great week,

~Patty

Is Organizing a Creative Pursuit?

Lately, my favorite thing to do is put on an inspiring YouTube channel, grab some supplies, and work on a small project. This was my intention, until this happened…

Where it all started.

I was working on this page spread last week and I needed something small to fill in that space in the corner. So I grabbed that little tag, gathered a few small decor pieces, and there you go. But..(there’s always a but!), I thought “Why not have several of these on hand so I don’t have to get out ‘all the things’ every time I need a small embellishment?”.

That’s what I get for thinking!

Making large tags too.

Of course it turned into a whole thing. Gathering supplies, organizing supplies, and creating a containment unit for said supplies. I am now the proud owner of a “Tag Makings” box…sitting on top of and next to several other “_____ Makings” boxes.

Instant page…well, sort of.

I may be in need of assistance here. I have been spending most of the last few weeks organizing craft/art supplies into boxes. Not as much “making” going on as I would have liked because I am too busy organizing. This wouldn’t be an issue if I didn’t have other obligations…like a dog on diuretics that needs a wee every hour! But I digress…

The collection.

I now have loads of tags that may or may not save me time in the long run…but I’m organized!

As always,

Thank you for stopping by,

Have a great week,

~Patty