Expecting Perfection

April 26, 2018 3 Comments

Expecting Perfection

Here’s some inspiration from #homwork from the lettering community aficionado. This #homwork assignment was to letter a phrase elegantly that was kind of dirty or ugly. My expression was “Expecting Perfection Always”. A little about the creator of #homwork: she inspires thousands of people to use their imaginations and create something unique. That’s what my monthly challenges are about as well! Create your own works, be your own self, but expecting perfection is not a requirement.

Become a Master

To become a master of a craft or skill, it takes 10,000 hours or roughly 10 years of practice. That’s what I’d always learned, and doing a light bit of research confirmed that 10,000 hours is the consensus to become a master. Whether it takes 1000 hours or 10,000 hours, we are not perfect in just a few tries.

I think we get stuck with expecting perfection at all times, but until we have put in those 10,000 hours to become a master, we need to give ourselves a little slack. And After those 10,000 hours, we will be a master of our own craft, and I believe it is at that point we will know that mistakes still happen. But we will have spent the time to know when to scrap our work and when to continue because it just needs refinement.

Why are We Not Equal?

We are willing to allow others to make mistakes, but not ourselves? Or forgive someone else when they’ve wronged us directly?
Why don’t we give ourselves that same break? That is a question I have asked myself for a very long time. Longer than I care to admit.

I believe that life is a journey and in that winding road of life, there are setbacks and lots of mistakes. Don’t get lost on NOT being perfect, instead, focus on learning from mistakes. My favorite mistakes to learn from are the mistakes of others. 🙂 That way I don’t have to make all the mistakes. If they outright tell me what mistakes they made and what they learned – even better!

Life Changing Magic of Tidying – Experiment

April 22, 2018 7 Comments

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up – Experiment

Anything that promises true magic grabs my attention. Not the hocus pocus, you’re a frog kind of magic, but the kind that promises a more fulfilling, better life. I’ve avoided this book successfully for the past two years. I heard whisperings of it from several people I followed and chalked it up to mere hocus-pocus. It wasn’t until my home reached a breaking point of clutter did I consider reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Sometimes I wish I weren’t so headstrong and stubborn

Are this book’s methods too good to be true? I plan on finding out.

Decluttering by Category - Bullet Journal spread & tracker

Book Review

FYI – I don’t like book reviews. I don’t think it’s fair for someone to pour their heart out in book form, and then I leaf through it, reading it one time and calling it good or bad. Since I regularly read self-help books – conventional rating systems don’t work for me. I decided that my book reviews would have a qualification assigned to each ‘star.’

My Rating Qualifications:

Did I take notes?
Would I tell a friend about it?
Would I re-read it?
Did I buy the book? OR If I got it from the library, would I check it out more than once?
Did it motivate me to make a change?

I have to be honest – the fourth question needed qualification – I don’t know that I will be buying an extreme amount of books in the future after reading this book. So I had to add an extra part to the question – if I check out the book more than once from the library.

With those questions in mind:

My book review is 4 3/4 stars with this note: I’ve only checked out the book once from the library, but I did get the 2nd book by the author, a companion, expanded version of this one called Spark Joy and started reading that one too. I guess that I will probably check it out again in the future. (Read Amazon Reviews here – it looks like theirs is similar to mine)

Experimenting on the Word

Have you ever heard of experimenting on the word? Let me explain if you haven’t. After reading a book that claims to change your life – you can’t rely on just the words; you have to do the things that it tells you to find out if a book is life-changing or not. I’d like to see if this book changes my life as it proclaims. The best way for me to see if it does it to try out its methods and see if what it claims is true.

Current Living Arrangements

Let me tell you why I picked up the book in the first place. We live in a three-bedroom house, and I have three children. Their stuff is everywhere; my things are everywhere. The baby still sleeps in my room, despite being 14 months, there is just no room for him in his sibling’s rooms. His crib is in the nook in my bedroom (thankfully we have that alcove). My husband and I took over the dining room with our desks. (In a house this small, is a separate dining room essential? We have an eating area already.)

I am not going to debate opinions on sleeping arrangements with children – that’s not what this blog is about, and there are lots of different viewpoints out there. Let it suffice to say that the stuff in our house reached a breaking point. Either our house would break or I would. We want to move to a new home soon with other options like a fenced in backyard, or even one with just a backyard at all. We are not at the point yet where we can move. It’s coming, but not yet.

It Called to Me From Way Over There

My goodness, there’s lots of background story with this one. Anyway, when I took the kids to the library the other day, I wandered around the library and finally had to ask a librarian to find this book. FYI, it was in the parenting section. I brought it home and looked at it for a couple of days. Then I started reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. At first, I thought I was going to take notes. I’m a terrible note-taker when reading, I try to write only the important things. Well, I end up recording everything, and I end up with incomprehensible notes or pages and pages filled with sloppy word-for-word sentences that have no significant meaning.

Book notes - the life changing magic of tidying up - The KonMarie Method of decluttering

Reading the Book

I started with this method of note-taking and soon filled a spread in my bullet journal. I didn’t want to fill more pages, so I decided to go back and re-read it if I felt so inspired and take the notes that are important. So I set down my pen and paper and started reading the book. The book took me about two hours (ish) to complete. I brought it to the park while the kids were playing and then couldn’t get my nose out of it long enough to fix dinner.

Perhaps this book wouldn’t appeal to all, but I LOVE organizing. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is more than organizing. It’s a way of life. In the past two years of avoiding this book, I read silly memes referencing this book and tossing things they didn’t love (like bills, their husband, the noisy dog, etc.) but they were still stuck with all their stuff. I desired some way to get rid of stuff and a lot of it. If we are moving sometime soon, I don’t want to pack it all and take it with me.

It’s Appeal

I’ve glanced sideways at a minimal lifestyle. You know, toured Ikea’s 240 square foot house and briefly thought about living that type of lifestyle and had no idea how even to start. I’m not saying that is the goal by any means, but willingly getting rid of the unnecessary stuff in my life taking up space and keeping only what I love is exceptionally appealing.

After finishing that book promising magic, I wanted more. Not more stuff, but more of her words. But I let it sit for a while, days, so I could spend some time thinking about what I read and if I was ready to jump in with two feet. This method of life-cleansing is not one you dance around. It is one that you jump in both feet and submerge yourself.

Did I Undo the Effects Before I Started?

Before starting on my closet containing years of memories and clothes I used to love or thought I liked, I went on a fun girl’s day shopping trip with my friend. Sounds counter-productive, doesn’t it? I felt so too. But before I knew it, my cart quickly filled with finds, and I had more than 20 pieces to try on plus a new purse. In the dressing rooms, I thought about what I read. Instead of taking home half of my cart, I thought about each item and if I loved it. I ended up buying three things, and I was very excited to wear them. Already different from previous shopping trips.

My Husband Says It Makes Sense(?!) Economically

I talked to my husband about the book and described to him some of the methods used in the book. Like saying thank-you to your clothing for being there or teaching you valuable lessons of personal fashion (some clothes just aren’t for you!). The act of thanking them allows you to let them go. When I presented the concept to my husband, his economics degree supported this concept.

He said, “it makes sense that it is hard to let something go because of ‘sunk cost’ or that you have spent so much time and energy and money on that one thing that you keep it just for that reason.” So many people have held to businesses long after they should have, kept dusty memorabilia in their homes from trips taken or not able to let go of those gorgeous shoes that they wore once because they spent money on whatever artifact is now occupying their home. My husband suggested that saying ‘thank you’ was breaking the psychology of keeping that item because it was a ‘sunk cost.’ I tried it, and it worked.

The Wait, the Anticipation

Due to schedules and appointments, I waited another couple of days before I could sort out my clothing. I have to admit that I was getting more and more excited to go through it though. So finally one day after work, I came straight home and started on my ‘little project.’

Marie Kondo suggested that it would take six months of your life to sort through your whole house. I don’t doubt it. This morning, hubby made the bed (thanks hubby!), so I could start efficiently on the project and pile all my clothes and sort them there. Pretending like Marie was there asking me if I loved an item, and thinking hard about not what I was getting rid of, but instead what I was keeping, the donation bags grew fuller and fuller.

KonMarie Method - decluttering and sorting through all the stuff - real life experiment

No Before, but a During and an After

Like many things I start doing, I forget to take ‘before’ pictures and realize after I start the project. I cleaned out my closet. Gathered every article of clothing I possessed, each handbag, every pair of shoes and all the socks I owned. From just my closet, I stuffed three 45-gallon bags, and I threw out a big box of trash.

Two hours passed, more like flew by. I ended up with 20 shirts and about ten pairs of pants and shorts, and I was happy. I kept only things that gave me joy. There were items in the back of my closet that made me feel sad because of experiences in past jobs. I liked the feel of the fabric against my skin, but my heart was heavy every time I saw it hanging in my closet, and what’s more, I could never bear to wear it again. I can’t say how good it felt to say thank you and goodbye.

It Just Might Be Magic Afterall

I cannot wait to start another category. I do feel like I kept too many socks. What can I say? I love me some fuzzy socks.

The goal is to keep it up for six months and see where I am at that time. Is anyone else willing to go on a binge house-cleaning/organizing spree with me? I’d love to have some friends.

I created this layout before reading the book, thinking to do a little at a time. Now I know that it is not the most accurate way to track progress with the KonMari method. But I like crossing things off, so I’ll use it anyway and make perhaps some other trackers as well.

Results:

I reduced my closet to 1/4 its size, I love finding pairs of socks. I don’t miss any of the clothes I never wore anyway. The shoes that hurt my feet? Gone. The worn out handbag? Gone too.

Total Number of bags taken for donation: 4

Number of Trash/Recycled Bags: 3

In the coming weeks, I’ll share progress and reports of how this little experiment is going. Even if it doesn’t last, I’ll be glad to get rid of stuff. But I’m hoping that it produces the magic that it promises.

Will you join me? I’d love some friends along this journey. Do you have any advice? I’d love to hear about your experience. I created a couple of printables you can print, complete, and hang up or add to your bullet journal or planner. Click on the image below to view it in the shop.

April Mid-Month Habit Check – Determine your Priorities

April 19, 2018 3 Comments

Is this month headed for another slump? As I was looking at my habit tracker earlier this month, I silently grimaced. It seems as though these supposed life-improvements are not improving anything! My thoughts meandered around this subject as I checked off other tasks through the day. Later that night, I realized something. It’s not earth-shattering, but it could be life-changing. The goal is to make these habits come naturally and automatically, but they don’t at first. They need a conscious effort.

Determine Your Priorities

I go throughout my day expecting for these habits to happen (because they’re habits right?) Habits just happen. Well, these are not well-formed habits yet. They are only habit seedlings. Tying back to my word of the year “Grow,” these little seeds need nourishment and given priority. If they don’t get priority, they will get pushed to the way-side and wither. This piece of information was like an entirely new revelation. Why hadn’t I thought of this before?!

In the 365-day project on Skillshare (check out the intro to that class) Cynthia says to get very specific with the time to work on the project. Habits need the same care and planning. The things I practice aren’t going to happen by themselves, and I know as well as anyone, if I leave them to the end of the day, they aren’t getting done.

Ask Every Day:

Every day I ask myself ‘where are your priorities’? Do you want this to really be a habit? As you can see, going to bed and getting up early is not a priority for me this month #5 & #11 and #1 needs work too. But after I shifted my perspective, I started putting more time and effort into making sure I do the other items on my habit tracker. I am nowhere near perfect, but the shift in thinking is substantial.

Determine your priorities: Habit tracking - the shift in perspective that changed everything.

Definitions

There are some habits on my tracker that will never receive a 100% completed mark at the end of the month. Like “not a dollar spent”. I can’t eliminate groceries, gas, and other necessities throughout the month. But I can define it better ‘as no frivolous spending’ or set aside specific days to grocery shop.

There are other habits that are simply not getting priority placement in my day. 8 glasses of water, 7000 steps, in bed by 11 are a few. If I truly want these to become a habit, which is where I don’t have to think about them anymore, then I need to think about them {a lot} to form the habit. They need to sit forefront in my mind and not just exist in my life as something ‘nice to do’. Determine your priorities, do you really want these things on your daily to-do list done? Do you really want to create a habit out of these items? If so, they need a higher priority.

Design This Month – Habit by Number

If you’ve been a reader of this blog for a month or more, you should know that I hated March’s layout. For April’s Mid-Month Habit Check, I resumed grid/box layout. But this month I ordered them by number and added a little flip-out key at the bottom. I went through each item and assigned a name and definition to the number. I filled in the obvious ones first, like 8 glasses of water, in bed by 11, and then I matched up numbers with goals. Some are kind of silly or a stretch, but it was fun!

I don’t think I’ve ever posted what all my habits are, sometimes I let you find out on your own if you want. Sometimes I cleverly crop the photo to exclude those habits, but I decided to share them with you, partially so I could explain my method, but partially because I am now more accountable for them because I shared them publicly and with friends. Hold me accountable ok? But be nice about it – life happens. I’d do the same for you.

What DO the Numbers Mean?!

Not 1 dollar spent (the opposite page is a spending tracker – I am excluding all of those things on the spending tracker. If we need gas or if I take the kids to the doctor, I exclude those from my tracking. But if I buy medicine at the store and some other things too, that counts against the tracker!)
2 Prayers said (personal prayers)
3 kids need attention (it’s a good thing I don’t have 4 or more, I’d be neglecting at least one each day)
4 pillows on a made bed – truth be told, we have more pillows than that, but I want a made bed!
5:30 up – I have a love-hate relationship with mornings. When I’m up, I love them. When I love my bed too much to get up, I hate them.
6 Dinner ready. This pairs nicely with #1, if I have dinner ready, we will be less likely to go out to eat. The hubby gets home at 6, so it all works out.
7000+ steps. I know the recommended steps are 10,000, but 10 was already taken and I am building up to a higher number. A month ago, the steps goal was 5,000. So I am doing well!
8 glasses of water. The best way for me to do this one is to start early in the morning. Get 4 in me before I leave for work then it’s not so daunting.
9 minutes of reading. I didn’t have something that fit 9. Nine is less than 10, which makes it seem even less overwhelming right?
In my 10 minutes – give myself credit for the things that I do.
In bed by 11. I have to chuckle as I look at the clock right now, it is 11:09 pm. Oh, the Irony! If I can make this a more regular habit, #5 will be easier too.

Overall Summary

I LOVE the idea of “Habit by Number” and that may become my new thing. It becomes less overwhelming assigning a number and specifics to the task. The goals are clearer and I can see an end in sight. Numbers add specifics. Changing my perspective and giving priority to these tasks that I hope will become forever part of my life promises to be a phenomenal shift in perspective.

Habit Tracking by Number - with flip down key chart, assign a coordinating number to each of your habits

Question:

When you’ve said ‘I did a thing’ what did you do?

If you’ve bought a traveler’s notebook – where did you find yours?

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully and don’t be afraid to find your inner muse.

~Tricia

How to Turn a Ring Planner into a Traveler’s Notebook for $12

April 15, 2018 3 Comments

Traveler’s Notebook

So, I did a thing. I’ve wanted a Traveler’s Notebook ever since Kara from BohoBerry.com introduced them on her channel. If I logged my hours looking at different options, well, I don’t even want to know how much time I’ve spent. That’s why I didn’t record my hours. (Watch the video on her channel here).

I could never convince myself to just to buy one, without testing it out to see if I liked it. I create my own pages sometimes, and especially for my blog, it is easier to use printed templates than it is to recreate it every time (trackers which are big and cumbersome on a page).

Separation of the Journals

This month, I separated my long-term collections from my planning journal so I could keep the collections for a more extended period and hopefully stretch out the planner journal longer too. (Read the post here.) But how great would it be to have a financial planner insert, current travels insert, maybe an art journal or a doodle calendar insert?

I had pushed aside the thoughts of buying a traveler’s notebook and thought I was past it. Until we ran some errands today and stopped at Hobby Lobby. That store and Michael’s are the bain of many well-crafted financial spread trackers. I wandered down the tote aisle, and I found a planner tote. Had it been black and white, I would have bought it. I thought I was safe, but then I turned around.

But it Has Rings!

Then I found a planner (with rings) that was on clearance for $10 when it was usually $40. Remembering a video that I had seen a while back from Alexis (strangecharmed.com) on how she removed the rings from a binder and used it for her disc-bound system. Even though it’s a how-not-to video, I followed what she did, and it was perfect. (Watch that video here.)

The Process Before & After

Alexis’ process of removing the rings worked perfectly. I didn’t even have to hammer as she did (probably because my planner was more cheaply made than hers). I didn’t have the little discs on the outside, but they were glued on the inside to some cardboard. They were quickly removed with a pair of pliers.

Once the rings were removed, I still needed to thread the elastics through. I thought about poking a hole through the outside and feeding the elastics through those holes (and it would have been easier if the holes went all the way through the cover). But I didn’t want to poke holes if they weren’t already there.

How I Threaded the Cord Through

This is where it got a little complicated. I measured the cords (and actually measured them way too long to start). There needed to be a way for the ties to go through one hole and out the other. I found some bamboo skewers in my kitchen drawer with a pointy end and fed it through the hole.

Well, that worked, but how do I get the laces through? I tried to tape them to the skewer. The tape came free in the middle while I was lacing it. Again, hubby to the rescue! He got a tiny drill bit and drilled a hole through one of the skewers so I could thread the stick like a needle. It worked perfectly.

Now for the Rest

So I pushed the skewer through the slots again and pulled the cord through. Yes! I had one elastic for my notebook. Well, I tend to go over the top with everything I do. I wanted 6 inserts because I’m crazy. I tried the needle trick again, but it got stuck in the wrong place! Hubby suggested I tie the one already pulled through to the others and just drag them. It wasn’t the prettiest solution (the knot was too big), but it worked.

Tie It Off

After consulting my friend, Patti, (asarye.com) who has a ‘real’ traveler’s notebook (by the way it is GORGEOUS check it out) on how tight the bands were, I tied them off and added my journals. For $12 and a little finagling, I think it worked out great! I love the black and white stripes on the outside and the polka dot on the inside.

How I’ll Use It

I added one A5 notebook to the inside. I could comfortably fit two notebooks (without any inserts) if I wanted. Or I could just have one journal and {up to} 5 inserts. It looks like I’m going to have to get designing some inserts! One other amazing thing about this cover is now I can take my journals from Ampersand By Kiki B out and about with me – they will be all snug in their cute, striped cover.

The Result

I am super thrilled with the way this turned out. Loosening those top ‘buttons’ I thought was going to be the hardest thing, but that turned out pretty easy with the mini-screwdriver. Hubby was a fantastic help and threading the laces through using the skewer was such a good idea!

My only concern is that the inside will tear as the bands are slightly tugged on, I will have to think about that!

Question:

When you’ve said ‘I did a thing’ what did you do?

If you’ve bought a traveler’s notebook – where did you find yours?

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully and don’t be afraid to try something new and find your inner muse.

~Tricia

Save this layout to Pinterest for later – while you are at it, follow me on Pinterest for more inspiration!

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Supplies Used:

I found the cover and elastics at Michaels for about $12 and I had the other tools at home.

From Drab to Fab #1 – Headers, Calligraphy & Outlines – How to Make Fancy Headers Part 1

April 12, 2018 3 Comments

Turn a Drab-Looking Collection into Something Fabulous by Adding a Fancy Header

I love to make pretty headers for my bullet journal. Here’s a guide to dress-up your collection. Organizing the information in the journal is another way to make it pretty. I like lists, but I also enjoy variety (thus a huge reason why I like bullet journaling – I can change things up every single day for variety). Here are some ways to make your lists ‘pretty’ or just change-up the format.

But I also know that another key part to refer back to information is to make it look amazing. Making fabulous headers is a very easy way to dress up the page – especially if a majority of the content is a list. I realize that a lot of lists are day-to-day tasks compiled on Daily Spreads or Weekly Layouts. Not every list needs a fancy header. Personally, I just list those out and check them off when done. Because the next day or the next week, I turn the page and rarely refer back to that page again.

A Collection is Different

A collection is something that you’ll probably refer back to time and time again and probably won’t be recreated regularly. These are the ideal page to dress up the titles and organize your lists into unique spreads. A collection is a little more special than a calendar spread. So it can look a little more special.

Side note: I have (for over a year) kept my collections intermingled with my weeklies and monthlies. Since starting my new journals, I have a planning journal and a permanent collections journal and I love it!

10-Minute Collection – Title

I created the “Have 10 Minutes?” collection page in my Bullet Journal on a whim. I started making a list in Google Keep on my phone (you can read the post here and a follow-up here) but then I decided to move the content over to my collections in my Bullet Journal because I knew I would use (more) it if I wrote it down.

My ideas are best started in pencil. Just like a rough draft when writing a paper, the pencil provides a good outline, but you can change it easily as the ideas develop and progress.

Ways I Dressed Up the 10-Minute Collection:

Title – added a fancy-schmancy title with blended colors outlines and swirly-twirly flourished fonts
Sub-Titles – separate sub-titles for each area of my room help organize the page
Organized Lists – Classify each item and list them under the correct sub-title
Mind-Map Layout – Change up the layout – the title doesn’t have to be at the top. Put the title in the middle of the page and spread the sub-categories out and around the title.
Uniform Font List – use a uniform font to write out all the items in the collection

Dressing Up the Title:

The Number

Starting with the number – I wanted that to be big and bold but have a unique look. I looked through my font list on my computer and chose Algerian. I think this is a pretty standard font on most computers. If not – you can find it on fontsgeek.com or myfonts.com or a variety of other font websites. I chose this font because it was thick in parts, thin in others, I liked the flip on the 1 (the serif) and the line on the right side kind of like a shadow.

I sketched out the number and made it bolder than the referenced font so I could blend colors from lightest at the top to darkest at the bottom and have more space to color it in.

Tip: draw inspiration from fonts, but if your font doesn’t look exactly like what you see – now it’s yours.

Blending Colors

Start with the lightest color as the base when blending. Then add the next darker color slightly overlapping the lighter color and so on. I added black to the bottom in this case. Use the lighter color to smooth the edges. Then use the colorless blender or a water pen to further even-out the color. Don’t blend too much or you might make the paper pill.

Tip: Blending colors can sometimes make messy edges on the outside. Outlining the text after blending can ‘clean up’ the lines or disguise uneven edges.

Finishing the Blending

I find that I when I use the next lighter color to blend – it ends up looking more even. But sometimes you need to use the colorless blender to smooth out the edges. The blending marker I have has a stained tip, but if you clean it after each use (just rub it along some paper until it goes clear) it will be fine. I have noticed that the tips of the lighter colors will stain, but that doesn’t matter.

Flourished Text

After sketching the number, I wrote the text in script font. But I didn’t add all the flourishes. I wanted the word ‘have’ to mingle in and out of the numbers – so I could rearrange the text to adjust placement. Once I liked the layout, I added the flourishes with a pencil. After working through the flourishes, I added the thick and thin lines of the text.

Normally I’d have used a brush pen to make the thick and thin lines, but I decided to use a mono pen and thicken the lines on the downstrokes because I thought it might be hard going across the center of the two pages.

Tip: Anytime you pull the pen or marker down, that would be the thick line. When the lines turn up or are horizontal, those are the thin lines.

In the next fancy headers post, I will show you how to outline the text and finish off the spread.

If you’re just anxious to have the header, you’re in for a treat. I have it available in my shop! Click here to visit.

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully and don’t be afraid to find your inner muse.

~Tricia

Save this layout to Pinterest for later – while you are at it, follow me on Pinterest for more inspiration!

Follow @ChocolateMusingsCreates

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Want to know what I used in this post? I’ll tell you. (Contains affiliate links – if you click-through and end up purchasing a product, I receive a small commission – though the cost is the same to you.)