I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but planners are having a moment.
I’ve always been little addicted to planners. Not this addicted, but I can’t resist going down the aisle at the store where they are located, opening and flipping through anything that looks new.
If you are just getting into planning, or are looking for a new planner for this year, it can be a little difficult to figure out where to start.
The first step is decide if you want a paper or digital planner.
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For 2020 I’m working on some new goals, and to document them I’m switching up my “hello this month” posts to this new format.
I’m including links to help you if you might be on a similar path. Some of these links may be affiliate, which means I’ll earn a small commission at no cost to you. My full disclosure policy is here.
I’m working on three areas each month
New or improved skill – I’m working a doodling challenge. The Petite Planner has a You Tube channel with a free doodling challenge for 30 days of Bullet journal doodles. I don’t actually keep a bullet journal, but I love to doodle and want to get better at it, and practice is always the answer.
Speaking of practice, the super good hand lettering class that I did two years ago is starting up again – the first month is completely free and there’s no obligation to continue (although fair warning – I became completely hooked and couldn’t quit). Sign up here.
For January 2020 reading I have Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling downloaded from the library. It was on a summer reading list From Bill Gates.
On Skillshare, I’m taking a deep dive into product photography this month. If you aren’t familiar with it, Skillshare is kind of a Netflix for online learning. You pay for a subscription, and that gives you access to as many classes as you’d like, and you can even watch them over and over if you want. If you use this link, you can sign up for a free trial of two months. Like many trials, you’ll need to set up an account, but as long as you cancel before the trial runs out, you won’t be charged anything.
How about you – working on anything interesting this month?
New year, new decade, new me? Hardly.
While I do make resolutions, both the kind you write on sticky notes and put on the bathroom mirror, and the kind you keep to yourself, I’m never trying to become a new person.
Just a better version of myself. That’s a much more attainable goal.
So resolutions aren’t a big deal for me, but what I do like about New Year reflections are the best of lists.
Here are a couple that I really enjoyed –
The New York Times has a neat interactive piece summing up the decade. I had forgotten (or maybe just blocked) some these events.
Every year I look forward to Barack Obama’s tweets listing movies, books and films. I usually find a few new items for my library hold queue and something to watch on Netflix for the holiday when football becomes overwhelming.
As we wind down 2019, I wanted to share with you my annual list of favorites that made the last year a little brighter. We’ll start with books today — movies and music coming soon. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. pic.twitter.com/l5qTGkAPok
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 28, 2019
Speaking of library hold queues, I know I’ve pointed to this before, but NPR has a great book resource called the Book Concierge which lets you sift and sort through all sorts of books. One more reminder on this – if you go back one year you usually don’t have to wait as long on the hold list to get your books!
So how about you – are you a resolution maker? Or have you seen a really good list about 2019 that I should see? Let me know in the comments below!
So it’s the last few hours before the Christmas crafting season comes to an end, and I’m sure you have completed every project, crossed everyone off your list and are totally settled in for a nice Christmas break.
Buuuuut, just in case you are in last minute holiday mode and have a few remaining gifts to create, I’ve found a couple of neat links that create instant holiday greetings.
First off, the font giant Monotype is offering emailable greeting cards that are a typography lover’s dream – one even features a snowman built out of letters.
Next, Letterfolk has a Virtual Letterboard that lets you set up a special message and then save the image. Perfect for attaching to an email, or maybe printing out and tucking into a gift card envelope.
Finally, Canva has a section set up for creating really custom greeting cards. It’s too late to mail a last minute holiday card, but they have tons of templates and you can upload your own art to make something really special. This might be a really good link to save for after the holidays – you could make personalized Thank You cards that featured the gifts!
Have a great holiday!
As a crafter, I tend to get a little caught up in the make-it-myself moment.
I mean really, why would I use store bought gift wrap, cards or bows when I can spend all afternoon trying to make it myself?
Case in point – big bows. I had some very sad looking ribbon bows that I used in my inside holiday decorating for years and years. Each year I said I’d buy new ones, but when I went to the craft store, I’d hold back thinking “How hard could this be?”.
Based on my morning, I’ll go with “kinda hard, actually.” I googgled and Pinterested (is that a word?) and found several tutorials and videos that really looked promising. I found some rolls of ribbon in my stash and set about learning this new fun skill. And ended up time after time with little wads of ribbon, not big beautiful bows.
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