For my American friends

Happy Independence Day!

Until next time,
J.



Let the creative juices flow!

I first came up with the idea of making a creative planner a few years ago when We R Memory Keeprs introduced their Memory Dock system.  It was a collection of organizers to help you document your ideas for scrapbook layouts.  I really, really liked the idea, and the planners were gorgeous (if not a little expensive).  But the sections that were included and the available refills really didn't suit my style of page planning, and I couldn't use it to record ideas for other non-scrapbooking crafts.  So I said to myself, "Self, why don't you just make a creative planner? And that way you can have everything you want in it, and nothing you don't (there were things in Memory Dock system that would have gone unused)!" And that's exactly what I did.  My creative planner's first home was a beautiful tapestry daytimer that I received as a graduation present when I graduated from high school.  It's now moved into its new permanent home: a 2" mini-binder that I covered with a hand-stitched plastic canvas cover.  The cover took me a long time to make, much longer than I had anticipated actually, but I think it turned out really well.  The final step in the process was to decide what sections I wanted to have and make dividers for it. I have sections for Scrapbooks and Journals, Book of Me Layouts, Plastic Canvas, ATC's, Sunday School crafts and general crafts.  I also have a section for lists of supplies like my punches, a section for lists of things that I need and a section with store addresses and hours, and a list of crafty websites I like along with user names and passwords.  Now I'm working on gathering up all the notes I have all over and putting them into my planner.  Call me crazy, but there's something so satisfying about flipping through my planner and seeing all these project notes all together in one place.  Here's some pictures for you to admire.

Until next time,

J.

Happy Canada Day!

Some friends of mine celebrating Canada's 144th birthday...

From left to right: Shawne Alexis, Jami Michaela, Holly Jayde and their furry friends show off their Canadaian spirit.

Holly Jayde, Bucky the Beaver, July the Bear and Pierre the Bear.

Jami Michaela and Melvin the Moose

Shawne Alexis and Van the Bear (yes, Van is short for Vancouver, home to 2010 Winter Olympics)

Shawne is all dressed up and ready to go see the fireworks in her Vancouver 2010 hoodie, Mommy's fleece hat and carrying her Canada flag.

Happy Birthday Canada!

Until next time,

J.