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The Craft Fantastic
I’ve previously shared tips on specific journal styles or layouts (bullet journal – travel – diary) but if you’re looking to use your journal on a more casual basis, it can be nice to have some prompts.
TOP TIP: Make a list of ideas at the back of your notebook, to refer to any time you’re stuck.
Check out my previous post on layout ideas to help with setting up the page if you’d like.
I’m back from a short break in Boston, ready to restock all your favourite handmade stationery, plus some shiny new products.
These vertical leather pencil pouches are something I’ve been working on this year. I’d made a few testers and trialled them in my brick-and-mortar stockists, but have just launched them online! You can find them in my Etsy shop, in the Stationery section.
Get your fill! I’ve made some traveller’s style leather journal covers, that can be refilled again and again with simple A6 notebooks; there’s elastic running through to keep them in place, and a handy elastic closure to keep everything shut. I’ve popped a few in my local stockists, and will be adding them to Etsy soon.
My next journal making workshop is taking place Thursday April 10th at The Galleria in Burton Latimer, 6:30-8:30pm: learn to make an A6 journal using rescued leather. I’m hoping to do a couple of different style journal workshops in the future, so keep your eyes peeled 
.
Want to book in? Contact The Galleria directly.
Looking to build on your bullet journal, or pimp your diary spread? I’ve collated a few ideas, incorporating past posts, adding updates and new ideas for you to try.
Create a simple chart, table or block system to track things – whether it’s daily activity, drinking more water or keeping on top of housework! Use a key to help keep it visually accessible, creating different colours or patterns for different segments of what you’re tracking.
I shared this in a previous post about Bullet Journaling, but as I find it so useful I’m sharing it again! You can adapt this to suit your needs. The page is split into 3 sections: the top 2/3 (roughly) has been made into 2 columns for lists, leaving the bottom section free for notes or important details.
Sometimes it’s nice to have a place for self care and reflection. This is a great space to your imagination and get creative. Here, I’ve created a cherry blossom design, filled with some ideas of little monthly wins.
Try making this origami pumpkin in a variety of colours and patterns for a fun autumn project. You’ll need a sheet of fairly thin square paper; crease the folds with a creasing tool, or you can use the back of your thumb nail.
Ahoy there, Journalers!
Whether you want to keep a visual diary, or just have somewhere to practice and progress your skills, an art journal is a great addition to your creative journey. In this post, I’ll give you a few ideas to start you off. The first thing you need is a somewhere for your art! My handmade journals have paper suitable for pencils, pens and some paints; if you missed them, you can check out my previous blogs about that here:
It’s a good idea to start simple, especially if you’re just beginning your art journey (if you’re like me, you won’t draw, paint or write anything on the first page in case something goes wrong 
). You can often find drawing challenges and prompts online, which can be useful for experimenting with different styles and subjects (Inktober is underway throughout October, with a drawing prompt for every day).
Some ideas could be:
Still life
Nature
People
Abstract or doodles
Below you can find some helpful tips if you just need a bit of inspiration to set your creative juices flowing.
Magazines: flick through until something catches your eye… draw it!
Alternatively, look around you. What is there that you could try to draw or paint? Something with an interesting shape or engaging colours? Replicate it, or break it into basic shapes for a more abstract look.
Wanting to build on your skills? Setting a goal can be a good way to stay on track (one of mine is get better at drawing hands). Dedicate a whole page to practicing one thing.
Some other ideas: daily sketches, details, different styles, different mediums. Experiment! Doodle! Date your work and look back on your progress. Most of all, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Perfection is overrated 
Join me at a local fair in Northamptonshire, or come along to a workshop and make something for yourself. I’ve got a few dates in the diary – check them out below 
Don’t forget you can shop with me online if you can’t get out and about to any of these events.
I’m running a few workshops towards the end of the year, including leather journals & festive origami.
Please visit The Galleria or Wellingborough Library for venue details and to book.
I’ve got 3 fairs booked in so far in and around Northamptonshire – including a book extravaganza at the start of October. That one will be the most dangerous in terms of spending money I think
Keeping a travel journal is a great way to both plan and document your travels. Being a list maker, I always keep a notebook for planning and packing, occasionally adding notes or drawings while I’m away. Whatever you’d like to use yours for, I’ve put together some ideas for what you could include – and some fun decorations examples!
PLANNING: go as basic or as in depth as you like. Keep it simple with where & when they’re going, or plan a full-on itinerary. Here are some ideas to get you thinking:
-Destination/dates
-Travel/accommodation details
-What to do while you’re there
-Budget
-Language basics
PACKING: a list of essentials is good, so you don’t forget anything important. But it’s fun to plan everything else too 
My top categories are:
-Essentials
-Toiletries/accessories
-Clothes
-Miscellaneous (for things that don’t quite fit in other categories!)
TRAVEL DIARY: unlined pages keeps things versatile. You can have space for writing, drawing or adding photos or tickets (in case you get such a rare thing as a paper ticket!). If the paper’s sturdy enough you can glue things in; you could also use paperclips, or stash things in the pocket of your notebook. What? Your notebook doesn’t have a pocket?! Add one yourself by gluing an envelope to the inside cover.
Finally, some ideas for decorations and doodles. You can add these to the appropriate pages as you’re planning. Think general travel icons, local foods or what to expect weather-wise.
These paper envelopes are quick to make once you’ve got the hang of them. They’re a fun way to package small gifts, send a special note, use in a scrapbook or to decorate handmade cards.
All you need is a square of paper. I’ve used a two-sided paper, but you can use whatever you’d like. Remember my two rules of origami – fold neatly and crease firmly!
Do you love lists? Organising your thoughts on paper? Tracking your goals? Bullet journaling might be for you!
Bullet journaling isn’t a new trend – in fact, it started to become popular around 10 years ago, so most likely you’ve heard of it. It can be used to focus your tasks, track your goals and generally organise your life; often done on dotted paper, but you can use blank or even lined. The point is to customise it your way.
As with starting any new notebook, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with all those empty pages. Some people use bullet journals a bit like an extension of a diary or planner – often with a key or index for reference.
However, this can be a big undertaking at first, so my advice would be to start with one or two things and go from there; make them something you like, something fun – books you want to read, top films etc. or tracking your favourite exercise (if you have one!).
To get yourself started, you only need a few basics.
Essentials:
Nice to have:
What about paper type? A dot grid allows you to easily draw neater lines & boxes, create charts & tables, and gives you guides to draw banners and embellishments – without hindering your creativity too much. If you want to use blank, lined or graph paper, that’s fine too!
The biggest task is setting up the pages; using templates and guides can help, especially if you’re using blank paper – draw out a guide on a spare piece of paper and you can use it to trace again and again.
It can be as simple or as complicated as you’d like to make it. Tailor it to your strengths and needs. If all you need from it is a title and some bullet points for lists – perfect. If you want to decorate every inch of paper – go for it!
These simple flags can be made any size you want, and can be used for things like titles or tabs for section headers, or just to decorate the page.
To do/To buy
This is a great one to start with: nice and simple, easy to repeat and can be customised each week/month. (It’s one I use all the time!). I used the dot grid to draw the outlines, then decorated the edges with coloured fine liners. Stars make a fun alternative to round bullet points.
Books books books 
Aiming to read a certain number of books each month, or just to track your reading for the year? This bookshelf layout can help do that! The “shelf” was created on plain paper, using a ruler and pencil, before going over in pen. You can then sketch out the books in pencil, and outline or colour them in as you finish each book.
Fancy having a go? I’ve got two styles of dot grid journal in stock:
Moon Phases and Smoky Keys.
Shop plain paper journals and notebooks here.
I’ve recently rescued a bumper batch of leather sample sheets and am really enjoying using them! There are some gorgeous colours and textures in there, and I’ve started splitting them into collections such as Mermaids, Monsters and Magic (this is more just for myself, because it’s fun 
).
Here’s some of the things I’ve been making so far:
Soft green leather pencil case – plenty of room for stashing all your favourite stationery items.
Subtly different dusky shades for a new style of book-inspired jewellery: a trio of mini journals for a chunkier necklace.
What a combo 
duck-egg blue with bottle green. This one is A6 with blank cartridge paper inside.
journals & stationery made from colourful leather samples