On Sunday I said I had settled on my ‘word for the year’.
And the word I have settled on isn’t actually ‘Adventure’ but ‘Paper!’
Perhaps, though, I shall try to keep ‘Adventure’ for the spirit of the year.
I know ‘Paper’ might sound rather dull and mundane – a bit passé in this digital age – and it doesn’t quite have the ring of an inspirational quote but, in a bid to be more purposeful with my making and blogging (which isn’t always easy when your internet connection is tenuous at best), I have decided to set up a simple but comprehensive paper system to keep me on track.
It begins with a Leuchtturm notebook, which I chose as a Christmas gift. It is roughly A4 (Letter) sized. It had a closure band, two ribbon markers, a contents page, numbered pages and a storage wallet inside the back cover. My aspiration (I use the word advisedly) is to follow the system invented by Rhyder Carroll and described at: bulletjournal.com but with the focus mainly on making and blogging. I can, for example, write down patterns here rather than on random scraps of paper, keep designs for quilts and suchlike together and note ideas for future projects that I don’t currently have time for…Perhaps when someone’s birthday come along I won’t suddenly remember I was going to make them a hat or a cushion or, heaven forbid, a quilt!
But what about Alice?
I’m sorry to say that Alice has rather fallen by the wayside. I think it is a beautiful little book and I love the illustrations but I found the layout wasn’t ideal in that it gives more space than I need sometimes and not enough at other times and I found the pages a bit small. But my real issue was the ghosting (writing showing through the pages). It drove me mad. I felt I was ruining that lovely book with every word I wrote :(
So is the Leuchttum better?
Alas no :(
Before selecting it I did LOTS of research and found all sorts of bloggers recommending it but I made a pen test page using the same pens as they had and every SINGLE pen I tried FAILED! Even a pencil failed. I could have cried, not least because it was very expensive.
But I can’t keep pouring good journals after bad so I have resolved that this will not be a work of art – it will be a work horse. A rough and ready go-to, which I will value for its usefulness alone and, if I do ever manage to fill it up, next time I will use a sketch book or somesuch.
And I think it could be useful. I especially like the numbered pages as anything can go anywhere and can be easily found in the Contents.
I don’t need it for work or general household information (I’m relatively organised in my non-making life) so I’m thinking this will be more like a ship’s log…
To get started, I’ve made a future log/year planner + a monthly planner for January + a list of tasks/events/birthdays etc. I’ve also made a key to keep control of the information. Never again will I need to search for a calendar to see what date the next ‘Wool on Sundays’ will fall on. At the moment, I’m not planning to make weekly or daily logs but if I ever want change my mind that won’t be a problem.
And I’ve made a page of Blog ideas, a page for Granny Square (who, sadly, has long languished) and a page for The Unexpected Alphabet (to track which letters are done and note/design for any other letters that come to mind.
Finally, I’ve labelled pages for Knitting, Sewing, Crochet etc where I can note the start and end dates of projects and anything else about them that I might want to keep for future reference.
Mostly I don’t choose words of the year or I soon forget them but, at the moment, albeit still wearing my rose-tinted-new-year-glasses, I am thinking that ‘Paper’ has a lot of potential and a spirit of adventure never did anyone any harm :)
Janine @ Rainbow Hare
RAINBOW HARE 
Julie Stocker
While I am careful about leaving comments before 3 a.m., the word ‘Paper’ struck me as a good word for your year. Certainly a more concrete noun than ‘Adventure’, but who’s to say broad is better? Not me. I nodded when you said you had problems with journals and bleed-through. Yes, me too, sadly, and I’m a marker kind of girl. I finally resigned myself to using every other set of pages in my nice journals. The pages where the bleed through occurred were perfect for attaching ephemera related to ideas I had in the previous writing. Those little pips disappeared under the bits of paper, and it was good to be able to have all the original ideas instead of just translations. Often quick ideas jotted down come with drawings and diagrams, and those help me remember more exactly what I intended.
I will also share that I have journals my grandmother and great-grandfather kept, but more to dp with farming and weather than creative ideas. Though ‘Paper’ seems fragile and temporary in the current day of computers, I feel it has considerable staying power to those who value it. You’ve made a excellent progress for such a young, new year.
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Carol
Oh, you are WAY more organized in your creative life than I will ever be. I started my first journal ever for the Endeavorer Challenge and have held to it faithfully. The first and only time a journal has worked for me. A simple composition book, penned in mechanical pencil. Primitive as journals go, but thankfully this is working for me.
xx, Carol
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Catherine
It sounds like a whole new hobby in itself. It will be a lasting record of your crafting/blogging year which is wonderful. I was the kind of child who loved the stationery cupboard at primary school. All the new crayons, pencils and books. Now I’m a bit lazier and love using my computer and iPad. I just back up my important documents so they don’t get lost in the ether.
Enjoy!
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Archie The Wonder Dog
I would love to be a journal/notebook sort of person, but alas, I am much more inclined towards jotting on pieces of scrap paper. To this end, I have just ‘invested’ in four A6 spiral bound notebooks (50p each) and (yet) another reporter’s notebook. The plan is to have one notebook in each project tin/bag (where notes will be needed) and I can then tear out any pages which need to be disposed of. I think it’s the permanence of ‘proper’ notebooks which put me off, so I’m hoping this will be a way to keep things organised but still feel like ‘jotting’ rather than ‘writing’. Oh, and I’ve also bought a notebook (with tear-off pages) with a concertina envelope in the back – £1.49 in the sale! I feel this will be particularly useful in my knitting bag…
I’m sorry the pens haven’t worked out in your lovely new notebook, maybe biros would be better? Although I love writing with a proper ink pen (and my handwriting is much neater, too!), I usually use a Parker ball point with a fine tip as it doesn’t bleed or smudge.
Happy New Year!
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sigridkatkatkatoen
Love the drawing with the balloon!
I always jot down crafty ideas and plans on loose pieces of paper, just to line them through or get new ideas from these ideas… :-) Keeping a beautiful notebook is nothing for me, I can’t work neatly on the field of creativity :-)
I hope you enjoy your book anyway!
Take care, Sigrid x
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Flashinscissors
Shame about “Alice”, that was a very pretty book!
“Paper” means a lot to me as despite only blogging for three years I have 4xA5 books of notes and an A4 book of notes about blogging (actually one of the A5 books is really notes before blogging) and I have a new A4 book awaiting use later this year. Oh, and they all have tear out pages or I doubt I would write a single word in them for fear of “spoiling” the books! I know, it’s silly, but it’s how it works for me!
I am currently using the first A4 ruled notebook which I bought in Smiths and, like Julie, I generally write on every other page, however looking back my biro (and I do like a nice blue biro) hasn’t gone through the pages (and in places I have written on the backs of pages without the biro showing through to the other side). Although I have to say I don’t often remember to look back at my notes I do like them being there!
So much for the paperless society that we were supposed to become with the advent of computers, tee hee!
Your Leuchttum book looks lovely, Janine, and you seem set for an exceptionally organised year!
Hugs,
Barbara xx
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MrsCraft
What a shame about the ghosting, especially since it wasn’t cheap. I love that you’ve made the best of it all though!
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soma @ whimsandfancies.com
When I saw the word paper, I wanted to wait until the weekend to read this post so I could cherish it to the fullest. I am so excited about your ‘word of the year’. Paper is NEVER dull and mundane. Don’t despair about the journal, Janine. Sadly, it takes a few trials before you finally find the paper you like. You could turn Alice into an every-other-page journal – glue pictures, scraps on the left page, write on the right page. Your Leuchttum book looks lovely already. Work horses over time often turn into work of art. Once you finish the book, you will be amazed!
-Soma
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Cheryl
Brilliant word for the year! Gasp– I haven’t chosen a “word” of the year, thanks for the gentle reminder :-) Maybe my word should be “procrastination?” lol….
big hugs and wishes for a fabulous New Year filled with paper….money :-)
Cheryl
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