#OneBookJuly2014 Set up!!

So I've decided to do the challenge and decided which notebook to use and wanted to share with you how I will be doing it. This is probably something that will be evolving and I can't say for sure right now if this will work or not but it is a start!

I received this adorable A6 sized Hobonichi in the English version as a birthday gift and for this challenge it just seems perfect! Half of the year has already passed and so it makes room for me to create more lists and things like that. I am still playing with the paper so this gives me plenty of room. The size is very tiny but I hope to make it work.

For the month at a glance section I will be using this as an index. I already tried this for the month of June and I love how it looks. I just highlight the days events and list them in here. This really helps me with Project Life because I do tend to fall behind and this is a great reference. It's also great as a quick glance to get an idea of when events occurred!

I began with some general sketching and then I set up a basic skeleton for my daily to do's and fitness following. I like to write down how much water I drink as well as if I did a work out or not and my assessment of that. I find that when I write down how I feel about a work out it's very motivating!

I have also transitioned some of my bullet journaling into here as well so we shall see how that goes moving forward.

I then of course brought in my Hobonichi style of journaling even though I will miss my faux hobonichi for the month. 

I did do a day and it all seemed to fit which I was really happy with but it is much smaller than the A5 size and I definitely would not have room to put in an washi tape or stickers. I will do my best to get everything in and who knows I may start to like it!

I also wanted to compare what the dot paper looked like to the Leuchttrum notebooks.

I really prefer the Leuchttrum compared to the Hobonichi!! Looking forward to the challenge and if you share please use #onebookjuly2014

#OneBookJuly Challenge!!

Rhomany's realm which I am a huge fan of hers on YouTube, got in touch with me to do a challenge!! I think that this challenge is just brilliant and I can't wait to get started. In fact I did start some just to get a bit of an idea what notebook and pen will work and so far it's been a bit challenging but I am up for it!!

Want to know what I'm talking about? check it out!!

How Danny Gregory Inspires me!!

I always look to other artists'/illustrators' for inspiration. I look on YouTube first because I like to see if I can find their technique or look through a journal. I love love love (can't say love enough times) looking through peoples journals. It inspires me!! I love to know how people think about their drawing or how they fill up their journal. I love to not only know the finished product but also the process.

Journals are so intimate and private and I think it's what makes them so beautiful to look at. Someone's feelings and thoughts just poured over blank pages, it's beautiful!

While scouring the internet I stumbled upon Danny Gregory! I loved his beautiful illustrations of his travels to different countries. Not only was his art beautiful and I wanted to just take his journals and stare at them but he captured beautiful moments. Moments that you only experience if you are actually there. He captured feelings and that's what I love to do when I journal!! I want to come back and feel that feeling again. I want to capture that memory as best as I can.

While researching Danny more I went to my local library and stumbled upon a few books.

A Kiss Before You Go was the first book I flipped through and I will warn you that you will need a box of kleenex. Danny captures in this book a tragedy that happened to his family and how he copes with it. It's an incredible journey that he is able to capture in the book. The way he must adapt and change his life to an accident that his wife had. She was his best friend and they had planned so many wonderful things in their lives and it all changed in a minute. He also has a 10 month at the time and their lives just completely change. He captures this so beautifully in his illustrations that it will make your heart hurt. 

The book has bright and beautiful images. You can see from the above photo the emotion involved. 

The pages are unique and tell a story like I have never seen before.

Now the next book I picked up I was very excited because I always look for new ways to continue to stay motivated in my journals and I think this book was the answer that I have been looking for!!

This is a book that I think I will need to purchase because it's something you can just pick up and get inspired within minutes of looking at the pages. Danny asks you to just look at the world around you. Really look at the flower, it's color and the contours. Look at every little detail. He stresses the importance of capturing that moment and the beauty of the flower. I love to just stop and examine something I want to draw. I love stopping to smell the roses so to speak. This book really speaks to me.

The book allows you to draw! It shows you ways to find time to draw and how to add drawings into your life everyday!! I have added another smaller journal and try to sketch as many sketches as I can throughout the day. I try to capture even the smallest of moments, like my coffee cup! I love it!! Danny has really inspired the inner artist in me!!

My Domino A5 in Patent Hot Pink Filofax!

I have several personal filofaxes since getting into them and becoming an addict!! I do really really like the size but of course I feel like any hobbyist you like to venture out and try different things! I have been loving my faux hobonichi that is housed in an A5 journal and I have been really loving that size!!

So I went to the filofaxusa.com website and saw this beauty for $39.99.

It's just stunning and perfect!! I didn't find all too many videos on this beautiful filo but decided that for the money I could not pass up this opportunity. It lays flat beautifully and it reminds me of my midori!! I love that it is a bit flexible and yet sturdy enough to hold everything in it's place. 

On the inside I love my Erin Condren planner but I don't love that it is in a spiral form so I took it apart and put it in my filofax and I couldn't be happier!!

I love the mermaid cover and now I can have it always!! I also love how wide the pages are and the boxes are a good size to break up the day!! If you are unfamiliar with the Erin Condren planner I do have a review.

The colors and the inspirational quotes are just what I need in my planner. The pages are also thicker so you can use almost any type of pen and you will not have shadowing or bleeding where with the filofax pages you will see shadowing with everything but pencil!!

I did add this super cute charm of hello kitty dressed as a witch and I just love it!! I tied it up pretty close so that it doesn't dangle too low and interfere with anything!

I did move over the Erin Condren folder as well and this houses all of my stickers!!

And just a few more pictures!

I just could not be happier with this style and size. It does not add too much weight and it is slim enough that it fits in pretty much every bag that I carry. Finger prints do not show on the cover which was something I was worried about and it just feels perfect in my hand!!

For a better look please check here!

My Bullet Journal!

I stumbled upon the bullet journal system while watching Youtube videos on Filofaxes. I think that the idea is genius!! I love it and it has improved my productivity and I am able to complete so many more tasks. I truly feel organized and it's such an easy system!

I also stumbled upon the DIYfish inserts that also were featured in many many Filofax videos on Youtube. This is also a brilliant idea. The only problem that I was running into was that I was not using all of the pages. So..... I decided to combine to two in my Midori travelers Notebook. I love the graph paper and so i am using the graph paper midori notebook to do this with. 

From what is pictured above you can see that just used a ruler and drew with pens the grids to make a calendar for June. In the calendar I write events that I know will take up a day and not allow me to do much with my videos and blog as well as blog posts and video posts. I just like to make sure I am being productive during the month. In the bottom portion I took the DIYfish insert idea and drew in the grids. Here again I like to visually capture what my productivity is. I keep track of my youtube videos, blog posts, fitness, spending, and cloth diaper washing. You can basically use this for any kind of tracking that you want to do!

Now getting into the bullet journal part, I seperate my days with thin washi tape and I just write in the date. I write all my tasks with a little box next each of them.

Check out my YouTube video to see everything in a more in depth view!

My Influenster Box! June 2014

I recently stumbled upon a whole bunch of videos and found all these people talking about Influentster. I quickly looked for the site and found it really very fun!! You can sign up for free and take a bunch of surveys. If you fit into any of the categories then you may be picked to receive a box full of goodies!!

Well I felt super lucky when I was selected and here is what I received in my first Influenster box!!

It's a really pretty box and I imagine that it comes different for different themes but I'm a sucker for fun boxes and packages. 

This box happens to be the wedding/bridal party theme. This for sure hits home right now because my sister is getting married July 5th and so I have wedding stuff on my brain. I have been organizing a shower for her and a bachelorette party so I was very curious as to what was inside!

The first item is the Pure Silk Moisturizing Shave cream which retails for $1.49 for the 5 oz which is the one I received but I think it's a pretty great sample size and I actually have one very similar to this in my shower. I love using this on my legs especially now for the summer!!

The next item is the EcoTools Pure Complexion Sponge which retails for $5.99. I'm really really excited about this product. This is made out of all natural products and you can use this to really get all the make up off of your face and also if you feel like you might need a little more exfoliant for your face. Really excited about this!

This is really impressive because it's a full size Olay Regenerist Luminous Tone Perfecting Cream which retails for $30.99. I am debating whether or not I want to try this because I really like the face products that I have and I may give this to my sister to try out.

This is neat because this is a company called Riley & Grey. I believe they can make cards and judging by the one that I received it's really beautiful.

This nail polish is just gorgeous it's Sally Hansen Complete Salon that retails for $7.99 and it's the most beautiful blue color and I will be putting it on my nails as soon as I finish this post!!

And last but not least a tide to go pen!! I use these all the time and they are just the greatest life  savers!! I have these in all of my bags because I have a toddler and things tend to end up on me so this really helps!

Well this is everything and I think it's a really great box!! Looking forward to getting more in the future because this is a really great box!!

DIY Customizable Notebook!!

I have lots of journals that I use but lots of times they are designated for something specific. Whether it's my 'dear diary' style of writing or my book journaling and the many other journals that I have. I notice that I jot alot of list throughout the day. I write grocery lists, packing lists, recipes, books, ideas for shows etc and don't have a great way of keeping track of all these lists.

I was inspired by the Erin Condren Life Planner that came out today with the removable cover and decided that I wanted to do the same but with pages in a spiral notebook!!

So here is what I came up with!!

 As you can see from the photos I kind of adopted the Erin Condren and Arc system into my notebook but did it more cost effectively. I used a hole punch and cut little slits into the holes to make them fit into the spiral. This way I can just tear out my sheets if I need to as well as adding a calendar in my notebook because that was something that I found that I would really want in my notebook!

 Popping it in and out is really easy and gives me a completely customizable notebook!!

I added a section for all of my grocery lists and if I want to move it or put that section somewhere else in my notebook I can!!

If you would like to see a step by step tutorial on this please watch my video !

My Hobonichi Style Month of May Flip Through!!

So a month has come and gone and since I have adopted the Hobonichi style in my Faux bonichi notebook I just love it!! I love sitting down every single day and drawing in it and recapturing the days events. I primarily love to do little drawings and then a few sentences about it!

 My month of May spread is only on one page because I originally made a mistake

 I made it work by using a bit of washi tape to decorate and then filling in the days with what the weather was like.

 It's so much fun to look back at the month and see how the weather was trending! I love it! I just love every single thing about this little book!

I don't always draw the sun or the clouds but I think that is what continues to make it unique and not all that uniform. I do what I want in this book and if I don't feel like drawing a sun or clouds I just don't. I also was inspired to pick up watercolor pencils and I am obsessed with using them in here. Now my faux Hobonichi is a miquel rues journal that I purchased from Barnes and Noble but surprisingly enough it can withstand a bit of water. The paper is just slightly wrinkly but I love it!! I love it when a book looks used and loved!

Here is an example of a daily spread. I had shared some bones with the neighbors dogs and they are super sweet. They are still pretty young pups and so I drew a picture of them as well as my daughter is teething so I drew a picture of her crying and a picture of a tooth next to that.

I find that I really love to draw fun pictures in here!! It really is a great way to remember things!

 On one of the other days I drew a picture of the Tieks I had ordered online and I just love them!! I wanted to share the beauty and joy I had when I received the package! I also went to the park with one of my girlfriends and my daughter is shy so she was hiding her eyes so that no one could see her!!

I like to document when I finish reading a book as well as what we had for dinner!! Yes its a great way not to repeat dinner!!I make sure that if storms are intense that day that I include that in my Hobonichi as well!!

If you enjoyed this post and would like to see more of pages please check out my video!