Tag: december

Current Reads and WIPs

Current WIPs and Reads | December 2022

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me to a mid-month peak at what I am reading and working on. Now, this month I will be very honestly with you. I am really dissapointing myself as a reader for various reasons, but I am looking forward to reading more in the new year. So, I am just going to be focusing on this, I will have a bunch of wonderful books to read next year. Is that not something to look forward to? I think it is. Anyway, here is what is currently going on!

My Current Reads

I am keeping this section mainly to look back at more than anything, but I am currently reading nothing. Yep, I am reading nothing at all and have not read anything all month or the few months before this. I am really hoping to turn this around in the new year as I said in the opening.

My Current WIPs

Day 7 of the Self Striping Advent Socks Toe-Up

Spinifex Socks by Helen Stewart, this year I ended up getting a 24-Stripe advent skein to make a pair of socks. I picked mine up from
Freckled Whimsy and I have been enjoying the process of working on these socks a little each day. Apart from this project I have been working on a few smaller presents for people so I don’t want to share them incase they happen to read this post.

7 Mismatched Knitted Mitered Squares Connected

I also did decide to use my scraps to make a Coziest Memories Blanket, which is going to be an ongoing project for the next few years easily. It is nice to find a way to use my left over yarn in a way that makes something that is cozy, usable, and a bit of a memory capsule of the projects I make. This blanket is made up of mitered squares each square uses different yarn so it looks almost patchwork.

What are you currently reading or working on?

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Lists & Recommendations

December Holiday Playlist

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Hello and welcome to a quick little list of the songs I have been listening to this month on repeat. I am normally someone who has one giant playlist with 100s of songs on it so I get a different experience, but this year I decided to make a playlist of just Christmas music for when I am feeling festive. Here are the songs that I ended up adding to that playlist.

  • 12 Days of Christmas by Pentatonix
  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Pentatonix
  • Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms
  • It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas by Perry Como
  • It’s Beginning To Look Like Christmas by Bing Crosby
  • Winter Wonderland (Remastered 2006)by Bing Crosby
  • Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane) (1947 Version)by Gene Autry
  • The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)by Nat King Cole
  • Jingle Bells (Remastered 1999) by Frank Sinatra
  • Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer by Gene Autry
  • Frosty The Snowman by Jimmy Durante
  • Frosty the Snowman by Gene Autry
  • 05 Snow Miser/Heat Miser Song by Uncle Bob’s Rarities
  • 07 Here Comes Santa Claus by Uncle Bob’s Rarities
  • Where Are You Christmas (From “Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas” Soundtrack) by Faith Hill
  • You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch (From “Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas” Soundtrack) by Jim Carrey
  • Welcome Christmas by Danny Elfman

Are there any other songs I should add?

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Bullet Journal Jottings, Writing & More

BUJO | December 2022

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Hello and welcome to my BUJO for the month! This month I went festive for the fall season and really embraced pumpkins. This past week I ended up going to my local box craft store and really fell in love with the art style of this pumpkin craft paper I came across called Pumpkin Patch Paper. I decided to grab a sheet and used it to decorate this time around, which I actually ended up kinda loving so I might do it again next month. We shall see! Anyway, here is what I did for the month of October.

Items Used

Calendar and Dashboard

Monthly Calendar and Decorative Craft Paper

I decided to keep this month’s spreads very simple since chances are I will have a lot going on. December is always a ton of fun, but it can be overwhelming at times. To keep things a bit calm, I figured I would keep things clean and organized. For the monthly calendar I just labeled it December 2022 and gave each day a rectangle on a single page. On the page opposite I decided to add some craft paper that has a blue background and images of blue holly, snow, pine sprigs, and a cut of a berry spring repeated throughout the page. I had used this method to decorate my BUJO the past few months and I have really been loving it.

Monthly Goals & Advent Tracking

Goal Pages, Monthly Notes, and Advent Tracking

On the left hand side I broke the page into two sections. The top is to keep track of my monthly goals I have for myself. These include setting up budgets, connect yarn to projects, read a book, complete 24 days of Blogmas, bake cookies or another sweet, and create goals for 2023. I already completed a few of these, but have quite a few to complete still. Under that I made a space called Monthly Notes, I usually save this spot to write down fun and exciting things that have happened over the month, almost like a memory dump of sorts. It is really fun to look back at.

On the right hand side I reserved to keep track of my advent projects this year. I have three that I am thinking about activitly doing this month, but I am thinking I will be only doing two. The two I know I am doing for sure are the 24-Stripe Socks. This is where you knit a single stripe on the socks per day. These will be my Christmas socks. I picked the 2022 Advent 24-Stripe Yarn by Freckled Whimsy and I plan on using a pattern called Spinifex Socks by Helen Stewart (Ravelry). The second one is a 12 Day Advent from MadlineTosh where you get the choice of 4 patterns and the yarn to complete that project as well as a few other goodies dealing with the yarn arts. I don’t know the patterns yet, so this should be fun to find out on December 1st! The last one that is a long shot is to use my minis and leftovers over the month of December to make the Anthology Throw (Ravelry), also written by Helen Stewart. I have a feeling I wont be doing this one, but just incase I wanted to add it. I plan on coloring in the days I actively work on each project to see how I keep up with these projects.

On both of these pages I ended up using up the leftover craft paper to add some pops of color as well. I thought it would be fun to tie everything together and add make things look a bit cuter. As you can see, I really kept things bare this month, I usually have a habit tracker and some other lists, but like I said December tends to be a little much so I wanted to go easy on myself. But, there you have it, my bujo spreads for the month of December!

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Monthly Intent

Monthly Intent | December 2022

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Hello and welcome to my monthly intent post for the last month of 2022! I know I have been very hit or miss with posting this year, but I am hoping to turn that around this month and going forward. Anyway, as with very monthly intent, I am going to take a moment to share some of the goals and plans I have for the month ahead.

Reading Plans

I honestly have no real goal this month in particular. I have a lot going on this month with last min. gift knitting and crocheting and all the holiday plans. I feel like if I am going to have a goal is to just read what I want. I have no plan and that is my plan, if I can call it that.

Crochet & Knitting Plans

This month I really want to enjoy my knitting my advent striped sock and maybe crocheting my other advent as well. I say maybe because the advent I was lucky enough to have has both a crochet and knitting pattern and I have no idea what they look like at this point. I feel like I will figure it out once I see what my options are. Other than that, I just have a few gifts I need to finish, but I am not too stressed or worried about the deadline currently.

Random Goals

This month I really would like to get organized for the new year. I mainly want to set myself up for success in 2023 by doing what I need to do to try and succeed at the goals I have for 2023. December is a really odd month for me in this respect. I feel like it is all about wrapping up the previous year and getting ready for the new one.

Other than “prepping” for 2023, I really want to take part in blogmas this year and post each day leading up to Christmas. In the past, I did a version of blogmas, The 12 Days of Blogmas”, but this year I really want to commit and post from the 1st of December thought the 24th. It is a lot of work, but I think I can do it. Plus some of the posts I am planning are fun and silly. I am hoping this will reignite my love of blogging.

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Monthly Digest

Monthly Digest | December 2021

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Hello and welcome to a fairly short recap of what what reading, crafting, and life was like over the past month. This final month of 2021 was faster than I care to admit, but it was still filled with some great things. I am really overall happy with how this month went, but also this past year. Even with everything going on I feel like it was an improvement from the year before and I hope that next year is even better than this one for myself and all of you. I am wishing you all a wonderful 2022! Now, on to how my month was.

Reading

This month was a bit weird when it came to reading. I ended up only reading one book, The Bear and the Paving Stone by Toshiyuki Horie and translated by Geraint Howells, I ended up giving it 4 stars. As for a book haul I picked up 5 books only because of the 50% off hardcover sale at BN. If you want to see the books I picked up from that haul you can see that in my post; Barnes and Noble 50% Hardcover Haul.

Crochet, Knitting and Crafting

As for crafting, knitting, and crocheting I ended up finishing all of my WIPs so I can start off 2022 with a clean slate. I already know the first project I am going to be casting on. I completed the 2021 12 Days of Tosh Advent Crochet Cowl designed by Toni Lipsey of TL Yarn Crafts, who is just an amazing designer. The colors were just so beautiful and it was a blast to work on for the first 12 days of December. Next I finished the Kari Shawl by Sari Nordlund. I absolutely love how it came out and I can’t wait to block it and use it! The last project I finished this month is Modern Double Crochet V-Stitch Blanket by Daisy Farm Crafts. I have been working on this blanket on and off since 2019 so I am happy to finally be able to use it!

Life

This month was a bit of a roller coaster of good news and some bummer news, but overall the month was really awesome. I got to catch up with some friends I had lost touch with due to our busy lives. I got to go to a traditional tea, which was very lovely! I didn’t do much outside this month, it was a bit too cold for me personally, but I got to spend a lot of time with my loved ones and catching up with friends and honestly, that was the beat part of this month.

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Wrap Up

Wrap Up | December 2020

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Hello and welcome to the last wrap up of 2020. I am going to make this one short and sweet since we are already in 2021, but I wanted to share the books I ended up finishing and mini reviews for each of them. I am going to be posting a whole year post either tomorrow or in the next few days. I currently have some rare time off so I am really taking this time to relax and not put pressure on myself. I will be uploading more regularly after the first week of January.

The IncarnationsThe Incarnations by Susan Barker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This novel was just something outside of the genre it was labeled as. It is a thriller, fantasy, and historical fiction all mixed into one. This book follows a cab driver in Beijing and the story goes through time as you learn about his past lives as he does. Each life had its own chapter where you explored the lives of these two souls, the lives they lived varied quite a lot and they endured a ton as well (violence, sexual violence, and suicide to name a few). The writing itself was beautiful, and the way the author organized the book was perfect. At no point did I think the pacing was off or was bored. I was glued to this book when I was able to find time to pick it up. Another aspect I enjoyed was the fact that the author intertwined these stories with Chinese folklore, classic, and history.

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An Orchestra of MinoritiesAn Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So, this is a very imaginative story. I really loved the premise of the tale and I really enjoyed that it was narrated by a guardian spirit called a chi. The writing itself was really wonderful and I think the author has a gift for sure. Unfortunately, this book was filled with female objectification and I can only hope that the authors purpose in this is to bring light to this. The main character cannot take any responsibility and is pig headed. He commits a horrible act who hurts someone he is meant to “love”. I put it into quotes because it isn’t love. The women in this novel are nothing more than their use to the main character. I had such high hopes for this novel, while I did not like this tale at all I will be checking out the authors other work because their writing itself was done very well.

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Royal HolidayRoyal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a very cute read and a perfect little holiday book to read during December. When I picked this up I had no idea it was a series…oops! Either way I enjoyed it and the writing was good.

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Lovecraft CountryLovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A wonderful collections of historical horror/science fiction that show cases the “typical” horror and the horrors faced by American Americans.

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The Existence Of AmyThe Existence Of Amy by Lana Grace Riva
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A detailed review is to come, but this was a beautifully written novel that follows the main character through their personal struggles with mental health, specifically with OCD. I read this in a single day because the story itself was compelling, but also the writing was and methods used were perfect.

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December Stats: 9 books, 2868 pages, 8 fiction, 1 nonfiction, 3 ebooks, 1 hard cover, 5 softcover, 9 owned books, 1. 5 star, 6 4 star, 1 3 star, and 1 2 star.

What was your favorite or least favorite read of December or 2020 as a whole?

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Bullet Journal Jottings, Writing & More

Bullet Journal | December 2020

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Hello and welcome! Today I am going to be sharing my very limited layouts for December. I decided not to add my weeklies to this post since they have no changed at all, but I wanted to share all of my other items. Also, this being the last month of the year. I also started to get ready for January so I was really focused on that. Oops, sorry December. I am also changing quite a few things for next year so that should be a fun post come January.

Supplies

  • Random Wrapping Paper
  • Cutouts from Michael’s craft store – No longer available
  • Sharpie Pen
  • A5 Garden Slither Dot Grid Notebook from Olive and Archer
  • Scotch Adhesive Dot Roller
  • The Sacred Self-Care Oracle
  • Craft paper giftag

This first page I really consolidated this month. I have the title page of sorts right next to my monthly oracle card. On the title page I glued down some wrapping paper with trees and deer that were muted colors. I then added a craft paper tag and stamped December 2020 on it. I felt it fit the theme of the month. This months card is family and has two women hugging one another. I felt like family is something I am really missing this time of year. I then added a drawing of a lady and a green tag to kind of pull the tag in from the other page.

My second picture here at the forefront has my TBR and goals on the left page. I have kept this the same, I just decided to add some of the muted tree and deer wrapping paper to the top part of the page to add a it of texture and pull the theme together. On the right page I added books read, also stamped like all of the titles this month, at the top and doodled shelves to glue pictures of the books I read during the month.

If you want to know what my weekly spreads look like you can see them on my post called, Bullet Journal | November 2020.

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To Be Read

To Be Read | Last TBR of 2020

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Hello and welcome to the final TBR of 2020, it is hard to believe I am writing that sentence honestly. While this year has been very difficult, it has felt slow, but also really fast to me. But, here we are, tis the season to write an end of the year TBR. I am going to be keeping it quite small this month, but I still have a few books I want to get to before 2021 comes our way.

Book stack of Lovecraft Country, The Changing, An Orchestra of Minorities, The Incarnations, and A Promised Land.

Love Craft Country by Matt Ruff, this first book on my TBR was picked by Erica for the Someone PicksMy Books series I have on my blog. I have to say, it took a lot of self control not to read this book sooner. I have been eyeing it since she picked it for me.

The Changeling Novel by Victor LaValle and The Incarnations by Susan Barker are both horrors I wished I had gotten to sooner. I feel like in general this TBR should have the theme, “books Luna should have gotten to sooner” honestly. But, both of these sounded really fascinating and I really want to read already.

An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma is the last book I am reading for my reading a shortlist Man Booker challenge. I decided I am not going to be reading the sequel to the Handmaids Tale because I really don’t think she should have won. Anyway, I have been looking forward to An Orchestra of Minorities for a few reasons, the first being it is narrated by a guardian spirit and secondly a life changing event.

Lastly, I am planning on reading A Promised Land by Barack Obama. I had this book preordered at my local bookshop and did not get around to starting it in November, but I want to read it ASAP. I really loved his wives book and her story and I am interested in hearing his story in his won words as well.

There you have it, those are the five books I plan on reading before the end of the year. I am really hoping I am able to finish them all in time. I know my reading slowed down quite a bit the second half of November, but I hope this post motivates me a bit to get going and pick up a book!

What are you planning on reading before the end of 2020?

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Wrap Up

Blogmas | Middle Mark | December 2019

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Middle Mark

Hello and welcome to my mid-month check in! I am so excited to say the first half of December has been such an improvement reading wise than last month by a long shot. I was worried I was going to be ending the year in a slump, but it seems like that is not the case. So, on to the books!

Intuitive Tarot: 31 Days to Learn to Read Tarot Cards and Develop Your IntuitionIntuitive Tarot: 31 Days to Learn to Read Tarot Cards and Develop Your Intuition by Brigit Esselmont

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand I though it was very informational and good for a beginner. On the other hand it started rubbing me the wrong way with the amount of self promotion in this book.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am all for authors and stuff making money, but reading this book I was pulled out of reading about tarot to get essentially an ad to go to the authors website to download something, read something, or join something I need to pay for. There are at least 31 bolded urls in the book. At least 14 of them are for something you pay additionally for. So, the author is getting money via sign ups after free trials or outright purchases or sign ups for a course and ad revenue due to increase traffic.

Now, like I said, I can totally get wanting to want to drive more people to your site. The problem is with how frequent and how it is presented in the text. It seriously pulled me out of my reading so many times. Also, one of the free items was a 6 page download that could have easily been added to the book already. Now, at first I thought this might be because the author wanted to only present new things in the book, but that is not that case. There were a few things I read on the website already that were also in the book. (Example Day 22: Creating a Sacred Space).

Now, with that all out of the way. The information in this book is really informative and I think it is broken down very well. The information is done in short bursts and you have activities you can work with to get a hands on experience. It really is wonderful for beginners. If you don’t mind bolded self promotion throughout your reading experience and you have not read a lot on the website I say give it a go.

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A Constellation of RosesA Constellation of Roses by Miranda Asebedo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*Book given for review by Wunderkind PR*

“I thought this was an amazing read, it could easily be one of my top books of the year. As I have said the author is very talented. Her writing is well balanced and easily creates a world and characters that the reader can fall into with out a problem. I was engaged in the story from page one and I wanted more when it was over. I highly recommend this book to anyone.” Blurb taken from my full review you can find here: Blurb taken from my full review you can find here: Book Review | A Constellation of Roses by Miranda Asebedo

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Bury What We Cannot TakeBury What We Cannot Take by Kirstin Chen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a really was an interesting and eye opening book. It was a good read and I appreciate the author writing a story like this. Sadly, towards the end of the book I started to like it less and less.

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The Light Between OceansThe Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The premise was interesting, the setting was wonderful, the story was average for me. There were parts I really enjoyed and parts that were just blah. It was a interesting read like I said, it really makes you think about what some people will do when they really want something so badly.

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Wayward Son (Simon Snow, #2)Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I lost interest pretty quickly in this one. I have been reading it on and off since September and it is a shame since I was looking forward to this book for a long while. I even picked it up fill price at the bookstore. It was just dragged out and I feel like a lot of what happened, happened for the sake of something happening. I don’t know, it is hard to put into words.

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The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy, #1)The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a lovely book, I really loved the folklore that is throughout the story. The writing is beautiful and imaginative. I plan on getting the next book in this series from the library.

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Currently Reading 2

I am currently reading 4 books right now and I really want to finish at least three of them before the end of the month. I am hoping the time off I have coming up will help.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling, 49%

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore, 43%

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb, 4%

The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon, 3%

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Bullet Journal Jottings, Writing & More

Bullet Journal | December 2019

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Recs

Hello and welcome to another peak into my bullet journal. This month I kept it really simple and to the point. I have a ton going on and I didn’t want to get too distracted by all the extra spreads and such. But, I am still in love with how it came out. It puts me in a wonderfully cozy mood.

Before I jump into talking about my monthly set up, I wanted to show you a general spread I added. I was inspired by the youtuber named Samantha Menzo. I can’t remember the particular video it was that I saw, but I ran with the inspiration. With the name Luna, you can only imagine how much I enjoy the moon and its cycles.

Here is my dashboard and month at a glance page. I once again used the artwork from Plant Based Bride, you all must be sick of hearing me talk about her, but she is a wonderful and talented individual. I also started following a youtuber Shayda Campbell and she is very inspiring as well. I really enjoyed the cozy feeling in this artwork instead of being all about the holidays. Don’t get me wrong I love the holidays, but for me there is so much more to the month than that and I would be looking way to forward to it and keep wishing the month away. Speaking of, I still need to decorate!

This month I wanted by habit tracker to focus on things that I need this month or I want to make a priority. I didn’t want to add any fluff. I am tracing if I was active in anyway, if I read, if I slept for 7 hours or more, if I took my vitamins, if i did a bit of tidying, and if I study. I really loved relearning and learning new things I decided that even though my test is over I want to continue to learn. On the right you can see my post tracker, I am trying to get a bit more organized and visuals always work better for me. I also like to track what I need to do when it comes to particular posts. I like setting little bench marks, I feel more productive.

This is my book tracker, I am going to be tracking when I read a book and which book it is. I decided I am not interested in knowing how many pages a day I read. It was just too much data for me and my needs. On the other side you can see another painting of that beautiful cabin on my dashboard page.

Now, I already posted my TBR post, but I was slacking and did not write it down. I will say I am loving adding art throughout my bujo lately instead of just being spreads. It breaks things up nicely and just adds something for me. If you are interested in seeing the books I am planning on reading this month you can see those here: TBR | December 2019

This month I am keeping my weekly spreads the same as last month, this layout is really working for me. As they say, if it an’t broke, don’t fix it

So there is the sneak peak into my bullet journal, I hope you enjoyed it. In the future I would love to add more of my own art and such back into it, but life has been a little all over and I don’t hav a ton of time to draw and paint currently. I hope that changes soon, but in the mean time, I am loving the artist and bullet journalers I have found to help me out.

What theme are you using this month?

Who do you get inspiration from?

Do you use a bujo?

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