2015 Planners and Journals - What am I useing?

This post wont be a long one! as I filmed a rather long video about this which you can find below.
With my word for the year being accountability I had to really think about what I wanted in this years planner journal line up, I needed them to inspire me and also keep me in check.

With the sudden hype around the Hobonichi journals/planners I must admit at first I wasn't as pulled as others were...till I saw this video
and that video is like a drug for me! I watch it more times than I care to admit to the universe. My husband even mentioned the video in his VOWS! yep...I love it.
As I mentioned in my video, I am a left hander and we suffer a lot with writing and what we write in and ring binders well they annoy me...I have had my arm and hand banged up against the rings for a whole year and it get's to a person after a while, so I decided to go rouge and try all BOUND planners and journals this year, and just use a ring binder for my wallet.

As you an see the bulk of my books are hobonichi's. I am using the two a6's as my home and work planners they are small and easy to carry both without putting my shoulder out.

Above is my work a5 hobo month on two pages, as things go up I write them into the calender.

This was a gift for xmas from my Besty Joanne (go check her blog shes just started up and already I know it is going to be amazing ) this planner is AMAZEBALLS it is helping so much with my one little word accountability

It is helping me immensely keep my dates for the blog, knowing when things are coming up.

there is a weekily spread aswell, too much awesome for one planner!

Above is a cheap notebook from Kmart, that I bought for the quote on the front and it now houses all my notes and brainstorming for the blog and my youtube channel then that gets filtered into actual posts which then make it to the blog planner....so streamline...I know proud right!?

and then you have both my journals, my daily drawing hobonichi a5 and my Gillio Giramondo, these are my two journals for the year of 2015!
I have been drawing daily on camera for everyone to see, so if you havent see any of them I'll leave the latest one down below for you to watch.

and that is me done for the journals and planners for 2015 I hope you enjoy the videos

x C

2015 word of the year - ACCOUNTABILITY

The year that was, 2014 started out with such high expectations that it was going to be the year where I chased down joy. For Joy was my word, and yet this year was one of my toughest emotionally and mentally. I struggled with the stress and anxiety of planning our wedding from the ground up. Thinking that this was going to be a breeze boy was I wrong, it was one of the hardest and yet most rewarding things I did in 2014.

I think choosing joy was a rookie mistake, with my rose coloured glasses on thinking that the year if I was just 'happy' then everything would just work out and yet it didn't, because sometimes joy cant be controlled. Joy and depression are not friends and I worked that out. This year has been a rather hard year, I don't deal well with pressure clearly! 

So when sitting down to think about my word for 2015 I know I didnt want to pick a word I couldnt control, for it would only disapoint me if I got to the end of the year and another word would be a waste.  So with such big plans for my little blog and my youtube channel what word would be fitting. There were a few words that got thrown about, John even suggested home, but it didnt click. Most things I set out to do seems to fizzlle out, my blog for example I posted 4 times in 2014 an all time low since I started, even though I have ideas bouncing around my head I never seemed to take the time to get them out or started.

My word for this year is accountability, something I can control, something I am responsible for, I want to be accountable for my blog, my channel, my little business and also my health. I want to take charge of 2015 with a fire in my belly, Ive made pre plans already, I wont be planning to fail this year, I want to plan to win. I have many projects and ideas that I want to execute this year and the only way that is going to happen is if I am accountable for my actions.

In the above image I have a pile of planners, journals and notebooks that Ive decided are going to keep me on track for the year of 2015.  I was going to go over them in this post but I think that will take away from just talking about my word. So my 2015 journals and planners will have a separate post and video to go along with it as many prefer videos to written text.

What is YOUR word for 2015 I'd love to know.
x Courtney

  

2014 - Update! Goals and Chasing Joy.

Good Morning!
Yes months and months have gone by, we have had Christmas and new years, and a long line of family birthdays! My my the last few weeks have been tiring and lovely all at the same time! I made it one of my goals to try and blog and do a video at least twice a month! (start small and work my way up) The school holidays are in full swing currently, with a lot of minecraft happening...

 we had a big Christmas this year, as we do most years now John and I are together, between us there is a lot of family members. Elijah turned 7! and is on his way to grade 2 this year! and little Boo, is ready to start her journey at big school staring Kindy this year aswell.

 2013 started off with a bang, with me getting engaged, and a whole whirlwind of things happening, including the highs and lows of my weightloss journey which I have written about in the past on here. I am still struggling with the balance between this journey and the rest of me. So I decided that for 2014 I would chase one thing, and one thing only.

I decided that this word would pave the pathway for my everyday for 2014, I want to chase joy, and chase it with my arms wide open...so if something doesn't bring me joy...I need to change it up.

With my word safely thrown over my year like a butterfly net, I decided I needed some other goals to live by, as it seems I always set out with the best intentions as most people do! but this year I really want to do the things I set out to do January 1st. I joined a group 12, 52, 365 where we pick goals to do once a week, once a month and everyday....or just one of those, I jumped in with a goal for each category!

To read a book every week for my 52 goal...currently I'm on my second book for week two began yesterday.  Below is the book I finished for my first week..and what a wonderful book it was.

 I decided that for 2014 I wanted to put pen to paper for at least 10 mins a day in my written journal, and in my art journal...of course my new beautiful art box my dad gave me, made that job an absolute pleasure to work in day in day out, I can tote my fave supplies from the studio to the couch each day with no problems...Its one of my fave gifts of the season.

My Midori Travelers Notebook  is my written journey, and it is where I put photos, and daily writings, which I am dating for the first time in years! my way of staying accountable is to date the pages so I dont miss any...everyday commitment. It doesn't take me long, I've been inking my pages up with splashes of distress stain just to give it some visual interest, and sometimes some photos or stickers, as I take so many photos, this is a way to use them in here, and in my art journal.

 It has been a long time since I've kept a proper written journal, and I am enjoying the process again. It doesn't take up much of my time, and I know once I reach day 365 I will have a nice little line up of finished Midori notebooks to show for it.
I will do a whole post devoted to my Midori Journal in the coming weeks, as I know there are many that would like to have a look at it.

 and of course, the other thing with my 365 goal is pen to paper in my art journal, now 2013 was not a good year for my art, I barely picked up my art journal in 2013, and when I did, what I created within the pages felt wrong..and lacking life and love. Once I finished my big sewing book, no journal seemed to feel like home...I even tried getting out 6 or 7 journals and working in heaps! which was a train wreck waiting to happen.
So this year, I picked up my strathmore journal which I got last xmas as a gift from my mum, and just started working in it, it already had pages from my Jane Javenport Stencil post in there, so there was some bright life on the pages already...so I ran with it... The Friday Pages blog post will come back this year, with everyday arting, there are quite a few pages that will need to be shown!

 Last year, I won a scholarship to the amazing Print and Scan Workshop with Jane Davenport...I was humbled and totally overwhelmed with emotions at getting a spot when only two were given away, this year I am taking my business to full flight, once I work through the course, and do all my homework, my images and journal pages will be available as Fine Art Prints in 2014. I also want to start working on one of a kind Fabric pieces featuring my artwork, so keep and eye out for that!
There will also be one off original canvases going up into the store as well, I have to finish off my commissions and then I will be jumping onto that moving train with gusto. As of now, I will no longer be doing commissions until further notice.

as for planners! well there will be many a blog post on those! from what I'm using for 2014, to the amazing binder that now has my wedding planner in it....stay tuned! It is lovely to be back, and thank you to all who emailed me over my hiatus to check to see if I was doing ok! It is such a heartwarming feeling when I got the odd email here and there. They are all appreciated.

How is your 2014 shaping up! and what is your word for the year!
xx Courtney.