Bullet Journal Jottings, Writing & More

BUJO | December 2022

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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Bullet Journal Jottings, Writing & More

BUJO | September 2022

Hello and welcome to my little home on the internet! Today I am sharing my BUJO spreads for the month of September. This month I felt a bit more inspired than I usual, so my bujo has a lot more detail than it has in previous months. I am really happy that I felt inspired because it ends up being so fun doodling and felt less like a chore that I needed to complete. Anyway, here is what I did!

Items Used

Calendar page and September 2022 Dashboard with mushroom doodles.

This months dashboard I ended up making an entire page a calendar and on the other side I doodled a bunch of mushrooms with the heading September 2022. I ended up picking mushrooms because in September where I live I tend to see a ton of them growing.

Habit tracker with mushroom doodle. Weekly Knitting Goals with four sections that look like notebook pages.

The next page I ended up adding a habit tracker, just to see if I would use it honestly. I am going to track taking my vitamins, 10,000 steps, yoga, reading, and making. I ended up continuing with the theme of the month and drew a giant mushroom to take up the rest of the space on the page. Now, the next page I am really proud of. I have my weekly Knitting goals, I honestly should have made it maker goals, but I know that for the future now. I ended up making room for 4 projects to work on and made the trackers look like notebook paper. It came out better than I expected so I am planning on doing it again because I have been enjoying it so much.

Monthly goals and Random Notes Spreads

These last two pages are ones that will get filled out as the month goes on for the most part. The one page is my monthly goals where I would like to read 4 books, I left the titles of the four books blank so I can read whatever I would like. The next two goals are knitting related where I would like to finish my current sweater WIP called Alpenglow and start another shawl called Pressed Flowers. I ended up doodling another mushroom towards the bottom of this page because while I like having goals for the month, I don’t like making goals just to fill up a page. The second page is just a space to keep random notes, it is usually where I write fun things I did or see so I remember it.

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Monthly Digest

Monthly Digest | August 2022

Hello and welcome to a monthly recap post that takes a look at my reading, crafting, and random things I did this month. This month was a ton of fun and relaxing at the same time. I was able to spend a lot of time outside enjoying the summer weather, but also enjoyed some time cooling off indoors with a good book. Anyway, here are some of the things I was up to this past month!

Reading

Finished The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager, I read this with my friends Jenna and Reg earlier this month. I was slow to get into it, but once I did it went pretty quickly. I think what made it hard to get into was the fact I was not a huge fan of the main character. To be fair they are a untrustworthy narrator because of their drinking very frequent, so I think this was the authors point. Personally, I am kind of sick of this in thrillers. Apart from that I really enjoyed the lake setting, it really lent itself to the story. I was able to clearly picture the scenes from the pages and felt that each person we met had their own personality. I did really enjoy the use of lore in this story, it was interesting and really engaged me in the story.

I am currently in the middle of Maledictions: A Horror Anthology by Cassandra Khaw and I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. I am really enjoying both of them for completely different reasons. Maledictions is a wonderful collection of horror short stories that is great for when I don’t have a ton of time to sit and read. On the other hand I’m Glad My Mom Died is a nonfiction book written by a now grown child actress sharing her story. With this book, I really enjoy being able to dedicate time to reading it.

Crochet, Knitting and Crafting

Textured socks on sock blockers with contrasting heels and toes.


This month I ended up finishing a complete pair of knitted socks! I decided to follow a pattern this time around instead of doing a plain sock, I ended up using Picnic Blanket Socks by Helen Stewart. All her patterns are just wonderfully broken down line by line with stitch counts and % progress shown. They are really great patterns for when you are trying as new technique and want more than just the section ending count. These were a ton of fun to make, the texture was super easy and I can’t wait to wear them this winter.

Gray cropped tank top with bows on the straps


The second item I completed this month is the Georges Top by Johanna Gehrisch. I have some mixed feelings about this pattern. While I was making it I came across some things that I would change if I were to make this again. I would complete the bottom section on the round then pick up stiches to do the shaping. I also had to do ribbing around the bottom so the bottom did not curl, if done again, I would do a folded hem, the only reason I did not this time was because I didn’t know if I would have enough yarn. When finishing this pattern, at the time of making it, there was not a lot of guidance, did not tell me how far up to stich the halves together. I ended up guessing the the section I would do in the round in the future, well turns out I needed to do it higher for this items to sit correctly. Some guidance would have been helpful in that regard. Do I like this item? Yes, I do. Would I make it again. No, idea. I really loved the pattern, but having the lack in support towards the end was a bit of a turn off. If I did make it again I would remove the bows and make it longer as well as the changes I mentioned above.

Life

Kindle on table and dog sitting by feet of the reader

This month I was able to get a new ereader, if you want some more detail you can see my post called; My New eReader. Overall, I am loving using this, I take it everywhere and I really feel like I get more reading done. Yes, even though I only finished one book. Also, because it is not a computer screen I feel a difference in my eyes, they don’t feel as fatigued after a longer reading session.

mentioned tweet and described four items, Saraya Shawl, Anker’s Summer Shirt, Kari Shawl, Socks.

A milestone I really wanted to celebrate is the fact that August marked one year of knitting. I did a post over on my twitter celebrating it as well. It is so hard to believe I have only been knitting for a month and have created things I never thought I would be able to and have fun challenging myself. Some of the more notable ones include a red textured and cabled shawl called the Saraya shawl, a textured brown shirt called Anker’s Summer Shirt, a gray shawl with eyelet details on the edge called the Kari Shawl and lastly some socks I am very proud of with contrasting heels and toes that I made from memory based on a vanilla sock pattern.

Rock beach next to the woods and water

One of the most relaxing things I did this month was taking walks outside and just enjoying nature. While there were some VERY hot days, it was great to just get out and walk on the days it wasn’t too bad or in the morning or evening. I took the above picture on one of my walks.

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Monthly Intent · To Be Read

Monthly Intent | August 2022

Reading Plans

I don’t have any specific books I plan on reading in August, but I do want to read 4 books in total. If I did have to choose two I most likely end up reading, I think it would have to be to finish The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager, I started read it halfway through July and I have been taking my time since I am reading it with Reg and Jenna. The second one I would have to say has a high chance of being read in August is Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez, I read another work by this author and absolutely loved it so I am really looking forward to picking this one up.

Crochet and Knitting Plans

As for knitting plans I really want to start working on either Morning Rituals by Andrea Mowry/(Ralvery/Makers Website) or Soldotna Crop by Caitlin Hunter (Ralvery/LoveCrafts). Both are sweater patterns, but the first would be starting the transition to fall/sweaters with beautiful cables and the Soldotna is a short sleeve colorwork crop top. Both are beautiful. I am tempted to make one more Summer top before the weather changes, but to be fair I wont have a ton of time in the month of August to knit. Decisions, Decisions.

Random Goals

For the month of August I don’t have too many goals, I am really going to do my best to relax a bit since I will have some time to myself. I really want to go on another nature walk like I did in July, it was just a really fun adventure. I also want to go to the beach as least once if not more to relax near the waves and do some reading. Like I said, I just want to relax as much as possible.

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Monthly Digest

Monthly Digest | January 2022

Hello and welcome to the first Monthly Digest of 2022! This month was VERY chaotic personally with work, getting sick, and just a lot of stuff that needed my attention. Somehow I managed to find time to read, make, and do some other fun things.

Reading

My reading mojo is back! I was able to finish 9 books, which is a shock because I only read 1 last month. I really was afraid that trend was going to continue. I found some winners this month and unfortunately not so great ones, but I am glad I read them.

Crochet, Knitting and Crafting

Apiarist Cowl by Claire Borchardt in red.

The first project I finished this year was the Apiarist Cowl by Claire Borchardt. This was my first time needing a cable needle and I was very intimidated at first. As I worked through it, it became easier. Funny how that happens! lol. I really loved how this came out because I have been using it every day since. It is cute, warm, and soft as can be.

Musselburgh by Ysolda Teague in a gray.

The second item I finished was also a winter accessory, a Musselburgh by Ysolda Teague. This was an impulse make through and through. I had to put working on socks aside because I was unable to see the person I was making them for so I needed something else to work on. I ended up using fingering scraps from an old project. I love how this hat ended up coming out. I have not used it yet because I still need to block the hat, but I am waiting to have to block a few more things.

Life

This month was a really weird one to say the least. But, with that being said, I managed to make some pretty great memories. I went to a paint class with my friend and had a blast! I have not painted in a very long time so it was great to do something different and have some great conversation. I also somehow was able to order a new graphics card for my computer so once that arrives I can install it and hopefully finally finish my play through of Resident Evil Village and actually see what is going on. So, while January was really chaotic, some great things came out of it.

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Wrap Up

Wrap Up | December 2020

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.

View all my reviews

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.

View all my reviews

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 | November 2020

Hello and welcome! Today I am going to be sharing my monthly bullet journal spreads. This month I kept my layouts pretty much the same as previous months, but changed up the theme and colors used.


Supplies

  • Cabin images from Pixabay: #1 and #2
  • Tombow #946
  • Sharpie Pen
  • A5 Garden Slither Dot Grid Notebook from Olive and Archer
  • Scotch Adhesive Dot Roller
  • The Sacred Self-Care Oracle

My first few pages of the month are the introduction pages. I have really liked making these pages to give each month a definitive space. This month I felt like having a fall cabins as my theme so on the left I used a picture from pixabay of a cabin in the middle of the woods and mountains in the distance in the fall, all the trees are either a bright orange or red. I added a piece of ripped tan paper to add some dimension. On the right I I wrote November 2020 in script and highlighted in orange.

The next spread is just of a monthly calendar. I went really simple and plain with this months spread because I knew I would be adding a lot to it as the month progresses. I also highlighted the days of the week at the top of the calendar with the same orange color.

This month I am using a different oracle deck, the card that I pulled for the month was Sync with the moon and I added a quite from the guidebook that says, “I embrace my ebb and flow, my many phases, and the cycle of life. on a piece of brown paper. On the right hand page I added a description of each of the moon phases and when those moon phases are. The dates I added on a pice of brown paper to add some color to this page.

I wanted a page to keep track of my crochet projects I am working on so I just added the word Projects in script on top to fill in later on. On the right hand side I decided to add another picture of a cabin in the woods. This time it is still in the autumn, but this one is on a lake that reflects all the rich colors.

These two spreads I do every month. On the left I have my Month Ahead spread then one half is my tbr and the other is my monthly goals. I did not fill them in before these pictures are taken, but my TBR post is live if you wanted to see it. You can find that here: To Be Read | November 2020, Using a Prompt Generator. On the right hand side I added some shelve under the heading Books Read in script. Here I will place printouts of the books I read this month. I once again used the orange color to highlight the titles and subtitles.

Lastly, we have my weekly spreads, which I only did two weeks of because I am not 100% sure if I am going to be using them or not. But, I wanted to give myself some time to decide. My weekly spreads are the same as the past few months. Monday-Friday have their own boxes on the left side of the page, along with the weekend. On the right hand side of the page is open for me to add notes and memories. I used the orange color to highlight the day of the week and date.


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Bullet Journal Jottings, Writing & More

Bullet Journal | September 2020

Hello and welcome to my post where I am sharing my bullet journal spreads for September 2020. I don’t know about you, but September has really snuck up on me this year. I feel like it was the first week fo August and then I turned around and it was the last week already! Anyway, the only good news about time flying is creating some new spreads!


Items Used

  • Alphabet stamps
  • Scotch Adhesive Dot Roller
  • Tombow Brush Pen in color #912
  • Mechanical Pencil
  • Micron 01 in Black
  • Royalty Free Stock Photo: Pixabay
  • A5 Garden Slither Dot Grid Notebook from Olive and Archer
  • Amenti Oracle by Jennifer Sodini

Here is my dashboard for the month, as you can see by the picture on the right I am already feeling fall. I am not a huge fan of summer and the heat so I am one to always rush it out of the way. I really loved the picture of a walkway at a park with tall fall trees overhanging it and the addition of fog. I want to jump into the picture just like they do in Mary Poppins, I can feel the crisp air already! On the left I decided I would add a little script in the name of the month above the monthly calendar. I highlighted this page as well as all the others with a peachy orange color, Tombow Brush Pen in color #912.


On the left, I really wanted to keep the same month ahead spread I used over the past month. I really liked having a list of my TBR ready for me to work through as well as having a list of personal goals. I find it really motivating and allows me to focus my time instead of just wasting it. On the right I really enjoyed my bookshelf spread where I paste the picture of the books I have read throughout the month. Below you will find a picture from my August BUJO.

Here is my books read bookshelf for the month of August, this is not all the books I have read, but you can see I read You Were Born for This, The Secret River, Fever Dream (my favorite of the month), Smoke and Mirrors, The Comedy of Errors, G’morning, G’Night, After the Quake, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, and The Hunger.

On the left you will see my oracle card for the month, this month I picked I spread joy. Which honestly, I love! I will say the image on the card a woman almost in a ballerina post on her toes with a few triangles behind her confuses me, but I am going to explore it more throughout the month. On the right hand side I am going to be doing a self care tracker. I have not really been taking great care of myself so I really want to make sure I leave time to care for myself in a wide range of methods. I put a square for each day of the month and when I do a form of self care I will color it in.

Last, but not last are my weekly spreads. I have been using these weekly spreads where I only put a mini calendar on the left page and leave room for notes and memory notes. On the right I have a rectangle for every day of the week, apart from the weekend, which I combine. This really works well for me because I have room to add appointments and such, but also lists to check off for the day.


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Bullet Journal Jottings, Writing & More

Bullet Journal | July 2020

Bullet Journal

Hello and welcome to my July bullet journal post. This month I changed a few things, but mainly kept things the same. But, I really enjoy the vibe I created for the month by adding a few pictures from a stock photo site and marker colors. I have really started to enjoy photographs in my spreads to set a mood as of late instead of doodles. Anyway, here is what I put together for July!


Items Used

Archer & Olive A5 Garden Sliter Dot Grid notebook

Tombow Dual Brush Pens 312

Tombow Dual Brush Pens 946

Sakura Pigma Micron Pens 01 and 05


On the left I placed my monthly calendar, I really loved highlighting the color green and orange in the picture of the cafe on the right hand page. I feel like it really pulled these two pages together. I picked the cafe because it looked so calming and relaxing with the color scheme of the various shades of green and pop of orange and tan. I also added The Reading Rush to my bujo because I am planning on taking part this year. I am so excited about the challenges this year, they are so fun in my opinion.

The next two pages house four different things. On the left I have my TBR for the month of July listed and a space to write my monthly goals. I also added a mini calendar for reference for the page on the right. On the right I have a vertical calendar were I will mark the days I read and on the right I am going to be adding my blog posts. I carried over the orange and green color by highlighting the titles and lines on the page.

These next two pages are a bit more plain. On the left I picked my oracle card for the month and I left the area around it blank so I have room to reelect upon it. This months card says “I Line in Truth”. On the accompanying page I added a picture of a brown doorway with a ton of plants because it goes well with the oracle card and the cafe picture I previously mentioned. Due to the fact that orange and brown are used a lot I decided to just add highlights with the green marker.

Now, this page on the left is my Books Read that I started using last month. In this spread I doodled a few bookshelves where I will then glue in the covers of the books I finish reading. I will share a picture of it competed below. On the right I added a picture of a window in a greenhouse while it is raining. It matches the green and orange theme perfectly and it is relaxing and a place I would love to read. I love plants and I would love to have a green house at some times in the future and I would love to sit inside during a rain storm and read.

Here is a picture from my bullet journal from last month (June 2020). On the left is a completed Books Read spread where I pasted pictures of the book covers. I really loved this so much more than the lists I was doing in the future. I ended up reading I’m Judging You, The Glass Hotel, Quichotte, Untamed, Prodigal Son, Full Dark No Stars, Twelfth Night, Anansi Boys, and A Darker Shade of Magic at the time of taking this picture.

Here is a picture f my weekly spread I started using last month and it worked so well. On the left I kept is mostly blank so I can add all the good things that happened that week, the only thing I added was a mini calendar and I highlighted the current week the spread is for. On the right I have six boxes each week day has its own and the weekend shares one. I decided to highlight the day of the week and date with the green I have used throughout this month.


What theme are you using this month?

What do you have planned for June?

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Bullet Journal Jottings, Writing & More

Bullet Journal | April 2020

Bullet Journal

Hello and welcome to my April Bujo post! This month is actually my last month in this notebook, which is a little sad since there are so many memories attached to it. But, I am kind of execited about my new notebook as well. It feels like a refreshing new start and I kind of wanted to pull that into this month’s spreads. My new notebook has a snake on the front so I wanted to bring the snakes to April as well. Now, without further ado, here is my bujo spreads for April.


Items Used

Archer & Olive Bujo

Tombow MONO drawingpen 05

Inspiration 

thebujophase on instagram


This is my magical readathon spread this time around. I left another page blank if I want to make a progress spread, but I have not made up my mind if I I want to or not. I did want to make a spread with the information for my career and optional training I am trying for. If you want to see the books I picked for this years OWLs, you can see that in my post,  To Be Read | April | #OWLsReathaon2020.

This is my monthly spread for the month. I am giving this new spread a try, using a method called Dutch Door. I decided to have my daily page count present on the peek through. I figured with the OWLs it would be fun.

On the other side of the Dutch Door I put my Blog Notes and my TBR list and a little print out of a snake. I am looking forward to using this during April, it is always fun to try something new.

This month I made my weekly layout a bit different this month. I wanted to give each day its space and its own to do list space. With working from home I really felt the need to keep everything in one place, I am hoping this spread and and cute snake can help me with that.


Do you enjoy snakes?

Are you participating in the OWLs? What are you reading for the OWLs? 

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