Journal Time
I’ve always kept some sort of journal or diary – even if just to add in the life events of the day. In this post I’m sharing my April journal spread. I add mundane stuff like hospital appointments and school announcements to keep me organised.
My Nan passed away a couple of years ago this month and after she dies I found that she too kept similar diaries. Entries that make my heart sing are simple ones – ‘Lisa, Carol for breakfast – nice day’.
A couple of Christmas’ ago a lovely friend bought me a dotted journal and I’ve been gradually getting a little more creative. For April I’ve gone for a very pink, Spring theme. You can check out some of the different resources I’ve used here. I don’t often share the pages that I do but my theme for the month is:
Progress NOT Perfection
So, in the true spirit of ‘Progress NOT perfection’ here’s my April spread in my journal. I’ve become bored of tracking things like how much water I drink. Therefore, for April, I’ve decided that my habit I’m going to track is ‘CREATE’.
I’ve purposely left it as a very open prompt so that it can be anything creative that I do. I just want to do something creative every day – even if health-wise I can only do a couple of minutes. Creativity is good for the soul!
I’ve got a daily drawing book at the ready although I know I’m not good if I feel restricted to repeat something. Therefore it’ll be a more sporadic sketchbook!
I’d love to sew myself a pens/ pencil wrap at some point but for now my theme colours for the month, that I will use on my weekly spreads are in this wrap I got for £2 from Hobbycraft. You can find out the pens and pencils I’ve used here.
Creative Ideas
A list of creative ideas might be helpful so that I don’t have to think too hard about it. I have a list of activities that I do with my daughter Floss that are in three sections – some energy, low energy, no energy depending upon how I’m feeling on a day. Doing the same for my own creative pursuits might be wise to help me keep motivated over the month. I want to make more iris folding patterns. Ow and dig back out my Conscious Creativity book.
Sketchbook Ideas
Floss and I have got really into watching YouTube videos of others using art materials. It’s great to get inspiration and a starting point.
We loved watching ZoeHartist’s video of a Scrawlrbox challenge – it’s an old one – Scrawlrbox #077 – January 2022. It’s well worth subscribing to Zoe’s channel. We love her videos.
We got Scrawlrbox #097 on sale – it comes with Frisk acrylic markers. However we used Zoe’s inspirational mushroom video to give us a starting point to have a go.
I love watching Floss be creative – her mushroom artwork brings me such pleasure to look at. She’s so much more free with her art than me and in the last year or so has truly started to develop her own style – she’s only seven!
Someone who’s had a profound affect on her has been Petr Horáček. He’s an author and illustrator who has truly inspired her. One of the book events we went to we got to watch, spellbound, as Petr created this gorgeous whale piece below.
His natural artistic style and comments on her artwork have given her a real zest to go her own way.
Letting Go
One thing I would mention is that whatever materials I am using Floss wants to use. I used to feel quite precious about my resources and would use them when Floss wasn’t around. However, what I found is that it means I don’t find the time to be creative.
Recently, I’ve been showing Floss how to use and care for the materials I have and we share them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure at some point my 0.1mm nib fine liner is going to be obliterated. However, the joy we get when we sit and create together – like the mushrooms – means it’ll be worth it when it does happen…ok twitching slightly thinking about it! 🤣
Do share in comments if you keep a journal/ diary – have others in your family?