Creative Soul!

Hello again creatives! Leah [1] here with you on the blog today. It's a new year, which means it's time for a new planner setup that better serves my goals for 2018. I am using this planner, along with a traveler's notebook, as my two main planning and memory-keeping systems. I began my new setup in my A5 cream blossom Carpe Diem planner [2] by giving the front of my planner a fresh makeover using the new “I Am” collection [3]. This collection is full of butterflies and blossoming florals, which symbolize new life, new beginnings, and growth. All of the motivational and confidence-boosting sentiments in this collection are great for reminding you to keep faith in yourself as you take on your goals for the new year.

This year, I have a goal to engage in more art therapy. I loved mixed media so much and I haven't been taking out my art supplies often enough. My creative soul has really been feeling the weight of not prioritizing that creative time. For this reason, I created a mixed media dashboard for the front of my planner that is full of color! Every time I see this dashboard, I am reminded of how much fun I had creating it, which motivates me to get my supplies out. I used lots of texture on this dashboard with watercolor, glitter, chipboard stickers, doilies and lots of layering. I love stapling on butterflies so that the wings lift off the page. This phrases I used here are some of my favorites from the collection that I find most inspiring.

In my pockets, I also added lots of texture with similar elements as listed above, but I even got my sewing machine out. I love how sewing on paper can add such a handmade, personalized touch to embellishments.

I always love incorporating photos into my planner pockets, so I printed these tiny photos out and made them into a simple banner. This is one of my favorite pocket pieces I made and it was so easy to create! I used my sewing machine to sew through the banner, but I used to hand stitch elements like this before I finally figured out how to thread my machine.

For more creative inspiration using this beautiful collection, stay tuned on the Simple Stories [4] and Carpe Diem Planners [5] Instagram accounts!