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Saturday 30 December 2017

Bullet Journal Set Up 2018



Hopefully you'll have seen my post in September about starting a bullet journal and after starting one mid-way through the year, I'm excited to be starting a fresh in a whole new book for 2018. My previous journal was lined, and whilst this was absolutely fine for starting out, I am definitely on the side where I want to use my journal as an artistic outlet and so this year I have gone for the cliche Leuchtturm1917 journal which is dotted. Even just from the set up I've found that the dots allow you to draw lines, and for doodles it's a lot more free and doesn't leave a massive line cutting through the image. I mentioned this in the other post, but my previous notebook did not have numbers and I'm so glad this one does as it will make it really easy to find certain spreads that I need.

Recently I've seen a lot of videos around setting up a bullet journal for the new year and so I thought I would share mine with you to hopefully provide some inspiration, and as a way for me to go through what formats I have found work for me etc. I'm fully embracing the bullet journal as a way of keeping track of what I have going on, as since my previous post my filofax snap broke and so this now holds information on all aspects of my life in one place.



























I've kept the 'Books to Read' spread as one of my goals for next year is to read one book a month. As a English Lit student I used to read so much and although it's great that I can now read whatever I like, I think it's one of those scenarios where you have too much choice you know? I miss being told what to read and discovering new gems of literature that I wouldn't have chosen whilst walking into the bookshop. If you have any recommendations for books that you love and couldn't put down whilst you were reading them I'm all ears as I would like to read a range throughout the year. Alongside this I have created a 'Places Travelled' spread to keep a track of the different days out or trips that Tom and I take throughout the year.

For Christmas I asked for some new felt tips that I could use for my bullet journal, and I was lucky enough to be gifted with a set of 50 Crayola Super Tips. As a nice visual and a way to test out the different colours, I drew a thick/thin line of each colour on a page, as well as sticking different washi tapes in that I have. Obviously this could be done with any material and at any time of the year, but I think this type of page will be great for inspiration for designing throughout the year. 

As my filofax is no longer in use, for the 'future log' I have drawn out a month to a page and can refer to these throughout the year when booking events, or for putting reminders of things that need renewing in a certain month. On each calendar I have drawn a balloon on each date when there is a birthday, and have put details of these and any other information below the calendar.


Something I want to do this year is have a title page for each month and I'm going to work out what the best way is for me to draw out each week of the month. For January I've gone with splitting one page into weekdays, and then on the other page after the weekend I have left a section for our food shopping list for that week. I'm not sure how much I'll use the weekday spread as whilst I'm at work everything I need to do is on google calendar/on a notepad I keep at work. I don't know in future months if it will become more of a week to one page spread and then have a to-do list/shopping list on another page. What's the best way you have found in your journal to write out the weekly spreads?

At the moment that's all that is in my bullet journal and how I do things will change throughout the year but I hope this has provided some inspiration for your journals! If you have any posts on setting up a bullet journal or any examples of spreads you find particularly useful please link them in the comments. I'm looking forward to seeing how this develops throughout the year and having a record of the year to look at come this time next year.

As this is my last post of 2017, thank you to everyone for all of your support and for continuing to read my ramblings - bring on 2018!

Jess x 
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Saturday 23 December 2017

The most festive week

Wowee how did it become Christmas Eve Eve already? (Yes Tom that is a thing). As it's so close to the time where the big man Father Christmas visits, I thought I would get another festive post in whilst I can until next year! I always think the run up to Christmas Day is the most exciting part, and Christmas Eve is my favourite day (excited yet sad it's already tomorrow!). I can't remember how close to Christmas Day school used to finish, but at uni term would always finish the weekend before and so it was weird last year to be working right up to the 23rd. Back in the summer I saw a video of someone going to Edinburgh at Christmas, and so after asking Tom nicely if we could go, I booked the time off work and booked our trip away. It was wonderful to finish work for 2017 on the 15th, and Edinburgh did not disappoint. As we were going further up north we went via Durham to visit Tom's brother Lewis who is at uni there, and this was really lovely as we hadn't been to Durham in a couple of years.
 We stayed overnight in Durham before making our way to Edinburgh. I had been once before when I was a lot younger, and Tom had never been before so it wasn't a familiar city to either of us. Funnily enough I realised that we were staying in the same hotel as I had previously stayed in with my parents, and we think Sheffield is hilly but Edinburgh is on another scale. Following google maps to our hotel we had to walk up about 200 steps (sorry you had to carry both suitcases Tom) but we eventually made it and as we arrived late afternoon we went to see the new Star Wars at the cinema. If you've been a reader for a while you'll know how much of a curry lover I am - I think I have found my new favourite Indian restaurant (called Bombay Bicycle Club, and yes I did make Tom go there because of the name) and I'm gutted that it's 4 hours away from Sheffield so I can't just pop there next time I fancy a curry.


We spent our time walking around and exploring (we were going to go on the sightseeing bus and go in the castle but both were an extortionate price) and ended up walking about 20 miles over two days. This included going to find the real life (though technically dead) Tom Riddle in the Greyfriars churchyard as rumour has it this grave inspired JK Rowling for her Tom Riddle; going around the Christmas Market, thoroughly enjoying a chip on a stick, having a go at the Christmas tree maze, and going to the National Museum of Scotland. 







The festivities did not stop in Edinburgh though, as on returning home we took our annual trip to Chatsworth to see the house decorated in this years theme 'Oh Dickens it's Christmas!'. Normally we go during the first weekend of December so it was weird going three days before the day, but it was as fab as always and we're getting a lot better at navigating the maze! 







I have felt very festive this week and I'd like to make a Christmas getaway more of an annual thing (though not for actual Christmas) - what are your favourite places to visit in the run up to Christmas that I can add to my list? I hope this has added to your festive feeling and I would highly recommend a visit to Edinburgh or Chatsworth at this time of year (get planning for next year!). As this will be my last post before Christmas Day, I hope you have a wonderful one and see you next week for my Bullet Journal set up for 2018!

Jess x 

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Saturday 16 December 2017

Christmas Shoeboxes



I feel incredibly lucky that Christmas has always been a happy time for me and not a time of worry or stress, as I know that this is not the reality for a lot of people around the world. I was at the Student's Union the other day and I saw that they're collecting shoeboxes for the homeless in the area and I thought this was a really good idea and one that I wanted to get involved in. Previously I've made a shoebox for someone in need in another country, and I'm happy that this format has become local to my community. They had separate lists dependent on who would be receiving the box, which was helpful as sometimes what you want to donate isn't always what is required, and so I knew that what I chose from the list would be much appreciated.

I chose to make a box for a dog, which included:
- Christmas Dinner selection food trays
- Two Jumbone chews
- A pack of Dentastix
- A pack of poo bags
- A rope toy

I don't know if this is something that's nation-wide, but I'd have a look on google to see if there's any charities collecting shoeboxes nearby. There's loads of other ways you can get involved aside from making a shoebox, such as donating to a foodbank, donating your time, or having a big clear out before Christmas and taking any unwanted items to a local charity shop.

Christmas has always been my most favourite time of the year, and if I can do something to make someone else's Christmas an enjoyable one then I'm all for that. A bit of time and effort on your part can make a massive impact on someone else. It would be great if you could leave other ideas in the comments so that I, and everyone reading this post, can get involved in one way or another.

Jess x 
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Thursday 7 December 2017

Month in Photos | November

How has it been a week of December already? You know the drill by now, end of the month = round up of the month. So let's get on with it so you can go back to your Christmas films ok?


1.//The sky continued to be beautiful this month despite the rain at times 2.//Lucy surprised me by taking me pottery painting as my birthday present 3.//Animal Crossing Pocket Camp came out which is amazing but where's Tom Nook? 4.//Our old housemate Adam came to stay and he and Tilly finally became pals 5.//Tom and I went to see Scouting for Girls and I felt 15 again 6.//My parents have moved and I've been reunited with them and Max 7.//Even at the age of 23 I still felt the fear of Father Christmas walking around the garden centre 8.//Tom and Tilly have been as cute as always 9.//Speaking of garden centres, our local one had an AMAZING selection of Christmas bits, without a scary Father Christmas

I can't believe the next one of these will be my last one of 2017! What did you get up to in November?

Jess x
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