Inspiration Project Planner Set Up

Many people have asked what is the point of decorating the pockets in planners? 

My answer? 

They make fantastic inspiration boards! The minute you open your planner you can be immediately inspired! And inspiration brings motivation. Something you want when you're planning anything.

As I am using this A5 from The Lollipop Box as an inspiration project planner, I went all out and decorated the pockets. Yes it's a lot of faffing, but it's worth it. You can use up bits of ephemera, paperclips, stickers, cards, etc. Cut them up if you have to in order to give a bit of a background to one of your pockets. 

Next I added a clear plastic wallet. I did have to re punch the holes for it to fit my planner as it was one from a two ring binder at Wilko's. 

I reinforced the holes with beautiful glitter hole reinforcers...

Next, I added the month and week to view sheets from the Lollipop Box. Octobers colours just happen to match my lilac planner perfectly.

I found a task list from a previous box and clipped it to the plastic wallet. This meant I had my task to hand.

The planner itself is a lovely compact A5 and feels lovely to hold. Perfect for on the go! And it has two, yes TWO pen loops! The loop is magnetic and so very easy to open and close.

Look out for an upcoming video showing you how I actually use this planner. 

The 12th House: Full Circle - The New Moon In Virgo

With the new moon in my 12th house, this coming month is all about releasing the old to create space for the new. It's about the completion of a full cycle...something I didn't even realise until yesterday and yet it couldn't be more timely! 

This is why I love how the moon acts as a calendar in my life!

Next month is all about new beginnings so I need to prepare for them! The Dream Create Journal challenge 'Seeking In September' is really helping to me achieve this. 

My book has evolved into books, and I've found wisdom coming to me, without even looking for it, that will help form the foundation of a new healthier, balanced and whole life. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited this makes me feel.

There are some challenges though. 

Letting go.

Letting go not only of things, memories, or the past. But of expectations of being the perfect mum. My eldest daughter is now a fully fledged teenager but she is extremely independent and has been since birth! I've found that I have to take a step back and take my hands off the reigns and allow her to grow. It breaks my heart but it's one of those things I think all parents have to go through. Especially with the fiery independent child! The new found wisdom I'm gleaning will definitely help towards doing this in the best way possible.

Glow

Another book I'm reading is Glow15. 

The 15 stands for a 15 day kick start to a new healthy lifestyle. I knew, that if could break down this new health regime to a kickstart and give 15 days to it, I stand a better chance of sticking to it because I'm a stickler for not wanting to ruin something I've worked hard to achieve.

I hope that by the time of the next new moon I will have read, fully prepared or even started this new health regime. If anyone one is interested, I'll do a book review of Glow15 here on my blog. 

Craft Cabin

Another thing that couldn't have happened at a more perfect time is getting my own space to start creating in. At the time of writing this space should be complete within the week. I have some painting, which is the time consuming bit, left to finish. Next it's just a question of moving my crafty things in and we're good to go! Check out the video above for part one of the progress!

So where is everyone else this month? Remember to never give up on your dreams if you're still waiting. And for those who have seen theirs come to pass, don't stop reaching for more and expanding.

Mini Book of Positivity With The Lollipop Box Club

When I opened this month's box I knew I had to incorporate the polka dot tissue paper. So many elements came so well together and this brought on a creative block.

Looking at the gorgeous charm in the DIY kit, by Cloudy Cow gave me an idea! To coincide with it, I would put together a mini book to document my dreams, wishes and general positivity. 

I started by sticking together some of the papers to form the pages. Next, using the string on the tag, I tied them together.

For the inside, I wanted to add quirky elements. So taking an envelope as my template, I opened up the Mystery gift Bag, and drew round the envelope. I cut around the pencil marks and glued together...

I then fussy cut around one of the scallop edge boxes, wrote 'My Dreams' at the top, and placed inside the envelope...

To seal the envelope I used a velcro dot and added a piece of ephemera for both extra stability and an extra element.

Then I decorated some of the pages...

I really didn't want to leave out the cute little bag, tissue paper hearts and sequins. So I thought, why not put them together. There really is no purpose for this other than it looks pretty and it makes me happy. This is a positive book after all!

For the front cover I added some decoration, but my favourite bit has to be the polka dot tissue paper. I added this as a protective cover and finished off by tying the lace around the book to secure it...

And so we come full circle because you may have noticed I added Daisy's little charm...

My Journey To A Magical Life - The Key! Part Four

Continued from part three.

This was when signs intensified. I was reading a book that was recommended to me. It was all about a woman's search for faeries. For enchantment in a modern world.

 (I know, I know, but you've come this far with me you might as well stay to the end!) 

Anyway, I'm not talking about the cute Disney cartoon type but a real investigation into all the stories of what some call 'The good folk'. The authors story was not only a real eye opener for me, but I felt relief knowing there were "normal" women, my age, actively on the search for that something more. 

Once I had read that book, I had a new awareness and respect. An awareness that maybe there is, as Brian Froud mentions in an interview with the books author, another world/dimension which we once could see but now lost sight of. And a respect that, if this really is the case, I need to pay more attention. 

An affirmation taken from a book I had been repeating for a couple of years now includes the words "The world of the wondrous." It's a nod to the fact that people's inner child still believes that something wonderous, beyond their imagination, can happen.

I had always felt everything in nature is not only alive, but speaks and communicates. A skill we have lost over time, yet one which can easily be cultivated once again. For example, the wind often "spoke" to me. I would feel it beckoning me to listen and pay attention (to what, I don't know). However, because I didn't realise that was what it was saying, I felt restless and agitated at those times. Like I was supposed to do something but I wasn't sure what. It was only later that I knew it was an invitation to listen and pay attention. And again, serendipitously, as I write this I come across another lady who knows the feeling. She describes it as;

The winds restless chant.

So as things with my situation intensified, I held the thought that I was standing on the verge of a fantastic new, yet ancient, discovery. Some of it I saw, literally, as a child. But again, that's another story. 

In a whirlwind of change we found a house. It was perfect. There and then we said we wanted to proceed with our application for it. For a whole week we were left wondering if we got it. I couldn't bear it. We were so close.

One day, still waiting, I went into the back garden to place some incense to mask the smell of weed that consumed the area. Thinking about the book I had read, and of the possibility of an unseen world, or rather a world hidden to us, I looked at the Hawthorn tree. Known as the tree of fairies. At a time when neighbours were felling trees, as if they were allergic to nature itself, I put up fences around the Hawthorn to protect it. It was right on the garden boundaries and if I didn't do something, it would also soon become the victim of the neighbours abhorrence to nature.

So for years there it remained. Thinking of it's symbolic attribute to fairies, I smiled, connected to my inner child and with a tentative nod to the thought there may be more than meets the eye, I went and placed a incense stick by the tree. 

That's when I saw it.

A key.

An old key, embedded, but not buried, in the mud. 

You have to know, I had been mowing our lawn for weeks consistently and never once saw this key. I knew it wasn't just a coincidence.

I ponder on what it could mean. Then a thought dropped in my head. The key to the house was finally given to us. As if it had been held onto, by an unseen being, preventing us from leaving. This house, this prison that had held me for so many years, could hold me no longer. I was now free to leave.

Two days later, we received the news that our application was successful and we could move in immediately. I felt no sentimentality for the old house. Everything of importance I carried with me in my heart.

This is where all my faith, positive thinking, affirming, all that work, began to yield its fruit! 

Final post coming soon...