I BuJo. Do You?

Since high school (1977) I've kept a sort of planner.  Back then it was a free pocket calendar from Hallmark (remember those?).  Over the years I would try this or that brand of real planner but they never worked for me. 

Then one day this spring I was cruising around Pinterest and saw something about "bullet journals".  The images were often very beautiful but what appealed to me was the idea of a planner that was totally personalized by me, for me.

Bullet journals are the brain child of a guy who needed a more flexible planner to keep his life in order.  He came up with the idea of using a journal type book to use as his planner and keeping his info concise - ie bullet notes.

The idea took off.  And women got a hold of it.  

Now bullet journals (aka "BuJo") are part planner, part journal, part art journal, part book of lists.

I liked the idea of making it my own.  So in mid-June I gave it a shot.

The traditional BuJo is in a bound book or notebook.  It can be as simple as my first BuJo which was this composition notebook from Dollar Tree or an expensive leather bound affair.

The premise of the BuJo is you just start writing in your info.  You have to keep track with a detailed index to get to where your recorded info is kept.  Page numbering is very important.

How you do a calendar is up to you.  There are 'monthly', like the one above.

Or weekly.  Or daily, as the one above.  Using a combination or all works too.

I added a pocket in the back using a photo enlargement I had.

By mid-August I was hating using a bound book.  It just didn't work for me, especially having my lists scattered all thru and having to dig for them.  Also any mistakes where there forever.

So I switched to a binder.  I had on hand an old Franklin Covey planner that my mom had given me when she retired.  (It was one of the systems I tried and couldn't get to work for me).

I bought a 7 hole punch so I could make my own pages or add in a bit of info I wanted to keep.

I don't do the fancy doodling or art work a lot of people do.  I mainly use washi tape to make dividers or to pretty it up a bit.

The beauty of using a binder is that you can do sections and add as many pages as needed.  My binder BuJo has 4 sections.

There is the section called "collections" in BuJo speak.  This is any sort of info you want to have.  My is pretty much practical stuff.  One of my big issues with the traditional BuJo is when your journal is filled and you start a new one, all of those lists have to be rewritten in the new journal.  Good grief!!  Using a binder, I never have to rewrite.

I also have an index for my planner/calendar section.

My other two sections are not indexed - they are my KonMari section and my blogging section.

Here's a few pages out of my "collection" section to give you an idea of how useful it is.

My housekeeping schedule.

Places I take classes at and classes I have taken.

Packing list for trips.

Photos (off of Pinterest) of projects I want to do.

Things I want to can so I can jump on a good deal when I see it.

My KonMari 'to do' list.

And my KonMari "atta girl" gold stars.

Then it moves to my planner/calendar section.

Each month starts with a motivational saying.

After a few regular monthly lists, this is what I use for planning.  The weekly system ended up working best for me.

Best thing is it fits in most of my purses so I have everything I need with me all the time.  

What sort of planner do you use?

Arts for Hearts Classes

The Clarksville artist co-op has started a new project call "Arts for Hearts".  The purpose is to make the creation of art by way of art classes ~ taught by members ~ available to everyone.  To do this, they have some class that are free and others with a low class fee.  The fee classes are to meet the expenses of the free classes.

To get to know the group, I recently took part in a couple of their free classes.

"Create Your World"

The first was a collage class by a local artist who does a lot of 'installation' art. He (and the group) supplied magazines and other materials for the class.  In particular the artist brought in some 'industrial manufacturing byproducts' from where he works (for example; the background is a type of fabric that is 'dyed' by the coloring process in the manufacturing).  And I brought in a lot of my own stash to work with.

Then later in the day was a heritage fiber art class.

We made a braided wool trivet/hot pad.

I redid the braid when I got home.  For some reason the teacher decided she was going to finish my piece and did not do a good job of it. 

My finished piece.

I've got all the hot pads I need so I decided to use this to display/store my Scottish brooches.  The top is a claddagh bar (which is more typical Ireland), then a vintage thistle pin that was my grandmother's.  The bottom three I picked up in Scotland...a thistle, a Loch Ness monster, and a Highland Coo.

I'm pleased with this way to show them off.

KonMari the Studio... Done!

In early December I took a break from my KonMari decluttering to fulling enjoy the Christmas season.  The New Year is here... and it's time to get back to work.  I am happy to say I have finished sorting my studio!

This is the 'workshop' area where I can create.

The north side has my mixed media stash and some culinary items.

The east wall has mainly my sewing/fabric area.  It will also hold my scrapbook/photo album stuff (in boxes until I get the shelves built).

The south wall has all my misc supplies...bottles, yarn, felt, rope/cord, jewelry making things, and so on.

Just as I did with my bottles and jars, every type of supply was gone thru and neatly organized.

Let the creating begin!!

And when I don't feel like creating, the other half of the room is a quiet place to relax.

Now that the work is done, I can decorate, create, read, and just have fun.

Care to join me?

Wanna Swap?

As part of my plan to become more creative, I have joined up with a couple of groups that does 'small art' swaps.  I've done three so far.

The first was what is called an "Artist Trading Card".  It's a take off of baseball trading cards, the same size.  Very tiny art.  

In this swap it is a deck of cards, you make 54 cards and get the same back...all made by different people.  The theme for this swap was "Travel".    The above where the cards I made.

And here are the beautiful set of cards I got back!

The next swap was Christmas ornaments.  I made these 3 needle felted hearts...

...and received these three lovelies to hang on my tree.

The last swap I did was a post card swap.  The challenge was to use our favorite color.

This beautiful trio are what came back to me.

I'm keeping my swaps in an album so I can admire them and use them for new ideas/techniques.  (I'll put photos of my ornaments in so I can remember them).

If anyone is interested in these groups, email me and I will give you the information to hook up with them.

Cajun Food at the Bayou in Pocahontas, MO

Himself and I were treated to lunch at this hidden gem in the tiny town of Pocahontas, MO.  It is just a short distance north from Cape Girardeau, MO.

When you see this unassuming building with the huge parking lot... you are there!

The cold dreich Wednesday weather must have kept the locals home, tho a few did wander in while we were there.

The menu had a lot to pick from and we each had a different meal.

Cajun Catfish dinner.  Himself said it was the best catfish he'd ever had.  He also had the blackberry cobbler which he said was excellent.

Jumbo shrimp dinner with okra and fries.

Red beans and rice.

And my Gumbo with okra and wonderful cornbread.  

Will we go back again?

Absolutely!

Go! Club at Open Doors

I've mentioned before the kids love doing philanthropic activities when we are together.  In November we checked out Open Door Animal Sanctuary with a small donation.  They passed with flying colors (you know it's true...some people running charities are just jerks).

 The kids asked if we could go back, so in December we did just that!

But first we made a stop at the local grocery store.  Their 'want' list in hand, we shopped and explained to the kids why each item was important.  Little Bird pulled out the bags of cat litter and got them stuffed under the shopping buggy.

Little Hoss checked things off his list.

Two buggies later and it was load-the-car time.

They wanted to do the work themselves, so of course we let them.  Ownership is a huge thing and they were both owning it!

Hoss getting some help from his Unca.

A short time later we were backed up to the front door with all our stuff.  This area is the offices and "Cat City".

In the other direction are where the dogs are housed.

"Ownership" continued as bags were toted inside.

Once done we were invited to hang out in "Cat City".

Wow.

Couches for cats and people.

And beds for everyone.

Little Bird found a friend...

...who followed her all over the room.  She SO wanted to take him home.  We explained that her Mom would kill me if she took him.  And that he was safe right there with all his kitty friends until someone came to take him to his very own forever home... just like we took Persia.  She liked that.

In the doghouse?  Not this time! 

We also had a chance to talk about protecting animals when they saw this guy who was recovering from an injury.  He's out in one of the nice exercise pens they have.

http://odas.org/

Open Door Animal Sanctuary (ODAS) was founded in 1975 by Mrs. Joan Costello-Oetting and Mrs. Carol (Marlin) Perkins, wife of the late Marlin Perkins (OK...they had me there.  Anything attached to the Perkins has a "go" in my book), former host of Wild Kingdom and Director of the St. Louis Zoo. Had it not been for their compassion, vision and hard work, Open Door Animal Sanctuary would not exist today; and if not for Open Door, thousands of injured, abandoned and unwanted cats and dogs would have been unnecessarily euthanized.

Open Door Animal Sanctuary is the largest no-kill sanctuary in the greater St. Louis area and State of Missouri. We serve the community by taking in stray, abused, neglected and otherwise unwanted cats and dogs and placing them up for adoption. Each day we provide shelter, food, medical care and LOVE to over 400 animals. Every animal that comes to us has a home and a second chance at life. If you are looking to adopt a dog or cat, we have the most animals to choose from in the area!