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!

A Christmas Story Bullet Journal Theme

November 26, 2017 6 Comments

Do you love holiday movies? I have a few favorites that I love to watch every Christmas season. A Christmas Story is one that I enjoy, it’s lighthearted and even more applicable now that I have kids. I had to try using A Christmas Story as a Bullet Journal theme.

Extra elements for weekly themes in your bullet journal + movie quotes | ChocolateMusings.com

Movie references from a themed bullet journal weekly spread - A Christmas Story | ChocolateMusings.com

I’m a fan of themes in my bullet journal. I love to change the colors, doodles, and style month-to-month. It’s a fun challenge to take elements from a favorite movie, such as A Christmas Story, and weave them into your bullet journal throughout the month.

If you’re looking for a way to add a little fun to your holiday spreads, here are some ideas you can apply to your bullet journal themes. I decided to highlight different scenes of A Christmas Story throughout the month.

Other Ways to Dress-Up the Bullet Journal Theme:

sprinkle handlettered-titles throughout the month
add a few snowflake mandalas
paint with markers, plus a little sparkle from shimmer watercolor paints
and add iconic memories from the movie
include some well-placed quotes from the film

Here are a Few Hilarious One-Liners and Classic Scenes from A Christmas Story:

Pink bunny costume
The Fragile Lamp (and the enormous box it came in)
Flag pole and frozen tongue
Broken glasses
Decoding in the Bathroom
Changing the Tire
Christmas Dinner at the Restaurant
Santa at the Department Store
Bullies
A+++++++++/C+

If you’ve seen the movie, images of the scenes probably popped into your head, and hopefully, left a gigantic smile on your face.

How to Start Making a Themed Bullet Journal

When creating a movie-themed bullet journal month, list your favorite scenes or iconic moments to determine what you want to include. Then distill those scenes into a few elements that tell the story without having all the details.

Tips When Creating a Themed Bullet Journal Spread

Something to remember when creating a themed bullet journal for the month or even just a single spread: you don’t have to create an entire scene. Use classic pieces from the story to create a fun theme. Such as fonts from the opening title, famous one-liner quotes from the movie, iconic line-drawing illustrations of memorable scenes (like the leg lamp) all create a unique interpretation of the story.

Leave yourself space for to-dos and appointments, especially during a busy holiday month. However, if you get carried away with graphics, don’t be afraid to write over your illustrations. After all, I created it in a notebook intended as my planner. If you can’t bring yourself to write over the doodles, then keep your theme illustrations to the side margins, so you have plenty of space to work in your bullet journal.

After The Pen - Bullet Journal Weekly Theme: A Christmas Story - creating a theme doesn't mean you can't use the page! | ChocolateMusings.com

Here are the theme elements I used in my bullet journal – A Christmas Story:

Opening movie title font & wreath – Welcome Page
Santa’s List, C+ grade, and Little Orphan Annie Decoder – Monthly Log
“I can’t put my arms down” illustration – Habit Tracker.

To enhance the theme, I chose a different “A Christmas Story” component or each of the weeks in my bullet journal during the month:

Movie quote & pink bunny pajamas
Leg Lamp + Fra-gi-le Box
I double-dog dare you flag pole
Official Red Ryder Outfit & Cracks in Glasses
Whoopie! A Zeppelin! & Oooooooh Fuuuuuuudge!

Busy? But want a bullet journal theme? Add a few elements from your theme and leave lots of space for your calendar, appointments, and to-dos for the week! | ChocolateMusings.com

A Christmas Story Bullet Journal Theme: Welcome Page

A Christmas Story Bullet Journal Theme: Use font inspiration from your movie theme for extra elements! | ChocolateMusings.com

You don’t have to create the movie title exactly in your bullet journal. Use the font as an inspiration for your own title. In this case, I wrote ‘Hello December in the recognizable font used in A Christmas Story.

In case you’re wondering, the title font is ITCBookman Swash. I found the font on a couple of websites:
Fontsgeek.com
Myfonts.com – this one has a great resource called “what the font.” Use it if you need to identify a particular font.

Side note: if you use a font in graphics to sell or anything other than personal use, make sure you have the commercial license for that font.

Trace the font or freehand draw it into your journal. Pay particular attention to the special extras a font has. In this case, the swashes (like the curl on the H, D, m, and r) are an essential part of this font.

Change it up! Use Movie Quotes to Enhance Your Theme

Incorporate quotes into your bullet journal theme. Luckily, A Christmas Story’s script is chock-full of U short quotes.

Infamous scenes like the pink bunny outfit or leg lamp are so memorable partially due to the comedic one-liner quotes like: “Aunt Clara had for years labored under the delusion that I was not only perpetually 4 years old, but also a girl.” And “he looks like a deranged Easter Bunny” immediately brings to mind the pink bunny costume scene.

Elements from the Theme

You don’t have to create elaborate layouts for a theme. I drew a starburst shape on Ralphie’s glasses on the main illustration for this weekly layout. Then repeated the starburst shape marking each of the days.

What are some other quotes from A Christmas Story would you use?

Official Red Ryder | You'll Shoot Your Eye Out Weekly Bullet Journal Spread - use elements from your theme to create a fun & functional spread | ChocolateMusings.com

Plan With Me Videos

Watch the playlist with all the plan with me videos for this December’s Bullet Journal Set up.

Bullet Journal Theme: A Christmas Story

I have to tell you what fun I had with this ‘A Christmas Story’ Theme in my bullet journal. Using shapes to represent the hole in Ralphie’s glasses, the Fragile box, leg lamp, and other subtle nods made this theme even more delightful.

If you were to use A Christmas Story Theme in your bullet journal, what other items would you use? For instance, the little brother’s scarf could be a mood/habit tracker. What else would you do?

Add extra 'Easter Eggs' to your monthly bullet journal theme so you discover them throughout the month. It makes your bullet journal theme extra fun! | ChocolateMusings.com

No Matter Which Notebook I use – You’ll Always Find These Supplies Close at Hand

And like that…It’s November – 1st Week of November – Minimal for Function

November 1, 2017 9 Comments

And like that…It’s November.

What in the world? It’s November! I just got used to writing 2017 as the year. We are in the thick of holiday season (or very near to the thick – is that a thing?) and I am definitely relying on my minimalistic weekly designs to guide me through this busy time of year. I decided this month to start at the beginning of the month instead of half the week’s spread from October and the other half as November. So I ended up with a couple of half-week layouts.

I had big plans for the start of this month

My big plans were to start this month off beautifully. I even went grocery shopping this morning to get ahead on…well.. life without having to drag my three kids along. All those good intentions were met at every turn with something just trying to bring me to my knees.

You ever have one of those days you know, the day that just won’t quit? That was today for me. I have worked very hard to simplify this next month and show more gratitude. I firmly believe that if I wouldn’t have tried so hard to include these two things in my life today could have quite possibly knocked me down for a good part of the month. It was that bad. I didn’t realize I would gain strength from simplifying my life and having an enhanced attitude of gratitude.

This week has just five boxes on this page plus a ‘to do’ section – it’s strange how a minimalistic design can bring such peace and tranquillity amidst chaos.

What do you do for tranquility?

So I would like to know what you do that helps bring tranquility to your life when your whole day goes awry.

Do you meditate?
Do you exercise?
Yoga?
Eat Chocolate?
Binge-watch your favorite show?

After I post this, I am going to go mindlessly doodle. Maybe it will be amazing. Maybe not. Today it doesn’t matter because I need it to mentally recharge. Regardless of the outcome of my doodles, I feel like because I planned – not just my day but planned my month to live beautifully I am able to overcome and bounce back ready for a new day with renewed resolve.

Dimensions of the Spread:

Here are the dimensions of the single page plan – this could be used for a work week with just 5 days and fit two weeks to a two-page spread.

Tomorrow is a new day hand lettered quote

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully.

Tricia

Starting in the middle of the week with the beginning of a new month? Here is a minimalistic weekly design for your bullet journal, minimalism

Weekly Layout – Mini Time Block + Pumpkins & Mummy Text

October 21, 2017 4 Comments

Simple Weekly Horizontal Spread with Mini-Time Block with Pumpkins & Mummified text

It is nearly the end of October! What happened? This month went by faster than September! This month has had some ups and downs. I think I take on too much emotionally. I internalize everything. Journaling has helped me overcome this and get me out a slump or help me pull myself back up and keep moving on. I created a simple weekly horizontal spread with a larger place for daily ‘to dos’ and a small area for time-blocking.

This spread focuses focus on just the area of time that I am struggling with – the evening time, which is when I do a majority of my blog/video work. I find that if I am slipping into a slump of some kind simplifying gives me freedom, which reignites my creativity. This is a HUGE reason why I am an advocate for my bullet journal. I have the flexibility to change things week-to-week or even day-to-day based on what I need.

Weekly Horizontal Bullet Journal with mini-time blocking and cute pumpkin doodles

Last week I tried to time block my whole day but left little room for those pesky ‘to dos’ that creep up but don’t need a time-slot. If I start using dailies, I think that weekly overview of the time blocks would be more beneficial. I haven’t made the leap to using a daily planner yet.

Ways to use the time block

In the video, I thought I might write the tasks assigned to the time block below, using brackets to designate the tasks for the block of time. But I could instead use color to appoint blocks of time assigned to a task. Hmmm.

Left side weekly spread view, pumpkin details and time blocking are sure to warm up that inspiration | Chocolate Musings

Cohesive Weekday Plans and Off-the-Cuff Weekends

I start my weeks on Monday if nothing else to make my weekends look larger. But I like having my weekdays together – it makes things feel more cohesive. A little section for meals, general ‘to dos’, fill up what might be considered the un-scripted bottom part on the left page.

Saturday and Sunday nestle nicely together. I do not time block those days – we do lots of family things like going to the park or playing frisbee outside or in the cul-de-sac or building the tallest Lego tower ever so Lego Batman can scale to the top of the table or going to QT (QuikTrip – a local gas station that has fun drinks!) that are completely unscripted and usually spur-of-the-moment type activities. Sometimes, we just sit and watch a movie. Often times, my little girl (who is turning 6 tomorrow! – what???), will ask me to show her my art for the week and she will try out my techniques. She saw my ‘mummy video’ (see the post here on how to create mummy text) and immediately tried it out.

If I have errands or events, I will jot them down in the Saturday/Sunday slots – but those days usually stay pretty clear.

YouTube Planning Video

I created a video of my set up for this week. Watch the video below or on my YouTube Channel here. Don’t forget to like and subscribe for future videos.

Mummy Text and Script Hand Writing

I discovered that making Mummified text was so much fun – and completely appropriate for the nearing holiday, I added some mummy text to the weekday names. If you missed it, here is the tutorial for making mummy text or mummy pumpkins or mummied mummys. Whatever you wish to mummify. The orange washi tape is to mark my monthly calendar (see the set-up here). I love the sparkle!

Doodle Details

I love the days written over the top of doodled pumpkins and the swirls of the green vines on the pumpkins below. Just enough whimsy and doodle to keep the page interesting, but give enough space to write and plan and all the things.

Overall

Overall I love this Simple Weekly Horizontal Spread. It has enough space to plan and create and enough function to accommodate schedules.

Mummy text and cursive writing mix for days of the week | Bullet Journal Weekly Layout with Mini-Time Block

Weekly planner layout with mini-time block and fall doodles

Look on the Bright Side – It’s About Perspective | Life in Comics

October 4, 2017 Leave a Comment

Life in Perspective

So this happened yesterday. No, I did not randomly come across snails painting Mona Lisa portraits, but a painting of mine got smudged by a well-intentioned significant other. It was a painting for someone else. There’s no saving it, I will have to redo it. I went to bed last night trying to control my anger. I tried to keep things in perspective – that there are bigger problems in life. However, my subconscious was serving up dreams that would have said that I was angry. My vibrant dreams were riddled with me running away and crying.

Positive Perspective - snails painting and learning to look on the bright side, even after the worst seemed to happen

Perspective is a Choice

But the thing is, I don’t want to feel angry with my significant other. He didn’t mean to. If I were completely honest with myself this painting for someone else and the quality was not up to my expected standard. I would be embarrassed to give it to them. It needed to be redone. It’s just hard to admit that after you’ve spent time and energy producing something that could be classified as just ‘alright’.

I will redo the painting, and this time, I will be proud of the end product. But what’s more, is that this idea of life in comics actually took shape. You see, I have had this idea for a month or so, but how to implement this idea was elusive. So as I dreamt in my restless state, the ideas formed and came together.

I woke up early this morning, even before my 8-month-old woke up. I created what was in my mind in about 45 minutes. Where in the past, it took me hours and I would end up with nothing to show for it. It’s amazing when and how inspiration comes. It was a very welcome change, especially since I’ve been in a slump for really being productive and getting things done.

So here’s to the choice of looking on the bright side and finding good in every situation. It’s all about perspective. And perspective is a choice.