I am continuing with the creative roundup series to show you how I lead my best creative life during the month. I like to document this to remind you (and myself) that being creative doesn’t have to be huge or elaborate projects. It just means taking the time to be creative in whatever ways I can throughout the month.
September was a very busy month for me with only a little bit of creativity. I went on a Scrapbooking retreat with friends, went to a blogging conference and filled the rest of my weekends in the month with family activities. My goals for September were to keep my head above water with our busy schedule and finish one project on the scrapbook trip.
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Projects
As I mentioned last month, I took part in Ali Edwards Day in the Life project in August. I got my photos printed and planned ahead while organizing my supplies for the scrapbook trip. Since I had taken notes, I used them to fill in the journaling. I was very happy with the outcome of this project and can’t wait to take part in it again. If you are looking for any tips to accomplish your own Day in the Life, check out this post with 3 Tips to Help You Complete a DITL.
My first Day In The Life project completed
As I was trying to decide how I would put together this project I created a little mini kit. I wanted to keep things simple since it was my first DITL project. Although it was a small project, the key was that I had minimal supplies and a plan. That idea of “kitting” sparked a light bulb moment for me. I searched through my stash and found the perfect journaling cards that I used for each prompt. Keeping the “end in mind” of the finished project really helped me accomplish my goal – to finish at least one project on the scrapbook trip.
I also found that creating a project kit with minimal options helped me focus on finishing the project. It probably has been talked about before by a million scrapbookers and crafters, but simply limiting my options helped me so much! I can’t wait to put this method in place on future projects to limit crafting overwhelm.
Along with Ali Edwards Day in the Life project, she also does a project called December Daily. I placed my first order for December Daily products from Ali Edwards during the September launch. It was quite an exciting preview and launch window. The community was very active and it’s fun to take part in an online product launch like this when many local stores are closed. Waiting for the order period to end and for the products to be shipped is the painful part. Patience is a virtue, in life.. and Scrapbooking!
Organization
Organization was a foreign concept this month. I did put a few things away in my new Ikea Kallax shelves, but not much. This month was more of shuffling crafting supplies from one corner to another. I can’t wait to not be so busy and really take the time to be amongst my crafting supplies and get them organized.
Inspiration
This month I got a lot of inspiration from both inside and outside the scrapbooking community. From inside, as per usual I have been binging the Scrapgals podcast, checking the Ali Edwards Facebook community feed, and staying on the lookout for Becky Higgins Facebook live videos.
From outside the community I found a ton of inspiration from fellow bloggers at the conference I attended. It was such a great experience to be able to meet other creative bloggers and get their perspective on motherhood and creativity. One of the women I made friends with is Hannah, who blogs over at Lily and Thistle where she focuses on how to be creative in the midst of motherhood. Hannah also has an Etsy Shop, homeschools her 4 children, and is a wonderful friend. I am so glad I was able to make a connection with her.
Learning
I spent two full days and then some at a blogging conference where I learned a ton about how to share my passion online. I have never been to a conference before, so this was absolutely overwhelming and exciting! There are so many things that I can’t wait to implement on Crafty Julie that will help you lead your best creative life.
This month, I also did a little bit of practicing with hand lettering during my scrapbook trip. I bought some new Tombow Dual Brush Marker Pens and practiced hand lettering. I don’t have a lot of experience with it and there is still so much to learn, like capital letters, but it was fun to play around.
Practicing hand lettering with Tombow Dual Brush Pens and tracing paper
Business & Blogging
As this month came to a close it was the end of another quarter and evaluating my 90-day goals. I set my goals fairly high for these three months and didn’t achieve them all, but I learned a lot. As I continue forward I have a good perspective on what to goals to work towards in the coming months.
Whatever happens, I believe in blogging about how to lead your best creative life through scrapbooking. So come successes and failures, I will keep pushing through to grow and learn more about blogging with a purpose.
Wrap-Up
This month was an absolute whirlwind and I don’t think my brain could have soaked in any more information. After an active month in August of crafting, I was okay to lay low in September with a busy schedule.
Like I said last month, it’s always a balance and some days, weeks, or even months trade-off with each other. What is most important is that I’m content with my actions and that I’m intentional about the things I do. I am the one who makes the decision to pursue my best creative life in many different ways.
So now, I want to hear from you! How was your month of September when it came to your creative goals? Did you make any crafting projects, scrapbook layouts, or accomplish something you’ve been working on for a long time? Let me know in the comments and let’s inspire each other!
As always, lead your best creative life today 🙂
Julie
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