Hello! Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek into my life and what inspires me.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

It's Almost 2014!!!


Hi!  Wow. Is anyone else as surprised how quickly the New Year is approaching?!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. I have been super busy with making presents this year.  I've discovered shopping for presents is much easier!  But this has been a lean year. And anyways. Handmade stuff is sooo much more personal!


Just popping in to say that 2014 should be a really productive, fun year!  Thanks to my new Finsbury Filofax I am hoping to have a very successful well planned year. What are your plans for 2014?  Any resolutions?  This next year I will be blogging a lot more, at least twice a week. Crafting a TON!!!  So look for new things in my SHOP.  And I will be focusing on health!  I mean, I'm a girl in my 30's now!


Hope everyone has a wonderful New Year. Oh. And there is still time to grab a journal from my shop to use for 2014!!!!  And if you don't see exactly what you want. Let me know!  I love making custom times.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

There is Gingerbread in the Air

It is almost Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!! Just popping in really quick for a HELLO!  Busy wonderful time of year isn't it?  Just wanted to remind my 3 readers that I still have some Journals and Journal Kits in my Shop and you should still be able to get them before the BIG DAY!  Also I still have time for some Custom Journal Kits so just let me know!


And, school is almost done for the semester so that means more fun time for me!!!  Be on the lookout for 3 or 4 new Videos from me before the new year!

I hope everyone is taking it slow and enjoying this always magical season.  Merry Wishes To ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, December 1, 2013

My Field Note size Travelers Notebook!

A List of Things to Journal!

I wrote this list today to remind myself of all of the things I want to include in my personal journal, I did this while waiting for my YouTube video to load!!!  It is almost done now.  So, here is how I spent some of my time in between scouring the house for guests who aren't coming...

Things to Journal About

v     Lists, lists of everything and anything, just write lists!
v     Horoscopes, because they are often wrong but sometime insightful
v     Mail Log, won’t it be nice to see how much mail you’ve received?
v     An Index, because sometimes you might want to refer back to that horoscope
v     Addresses, so if you are ever lost of\r on the go, you have them!
v     Weather, the mild and the shattering
v     Life’s Tidbits, whether you think it important now, or not, you will later
v     Photos, the silly and the serious
v     Goals, whether they be life long or just for this weekend, accomplished or not
v     Quotes, to match your mood or uplift it
v     Recipes, the yummy and the horrifically awful, include them all!
v     Stories, you love, to write, have read
v     Poetry, whether they are wondrous works of your own or of others
v     Lyrics, of your favorite songs or of your own, we experience through music
v     Dreams, to reflect on and marvel at your unconscious imagination
v     Drawings or Sketches, because no one else can interpret like you can
v     Plans, either for the future or just for today, what do you hope to do?
v     Accomplishments, so you remember to pat yourself on the back
v     Happenings, what’s going on around you, be the nosy neighbor
v     Ideas, we have so many ideas!!! Write them down, all of them
v     Charts, whether they be serious or just for fun, experiment
v     Graphs, see reason above!
v     Water Colors or Paintings, because happening across something colorful is fun
v     Memories, so those who read about you later will get a sense of your past
v     Book Reviews, so you can keep track of what you’ve read and WHY
v     Movies Reviews, so you can be that awesome friend to recommend it
v     Places to visit, write out all of the details of a “hope to happen someday” trip
v     New Things, whether it be new knowledge or something you saw, archive it
v     Assignments, either school assignments or ones for life, yours and others
v     Blessings, so you remember to be thankful
v     Prayers, so you don’t forget to fill you universe with good vibes
v     Experiences, whether they be profound or very simple, write them down
v     Happy Thoughts, to be revisited when you are feeling down
v     Headlines, because we learn from the past
v     Wishes, so you don’t forget to hope and work towards making a better life
v     Emotions, to either hold onto or to purge, it’s therapeutic
v     Mantras, to help you stay focused and determined
v     Reflections, so you may have a deeper insight into your life
v     Fears, so you can find a way to banish them and heal
v     Facts, so you can be a smarty and win pub quizzes!!!
v     Lessons whether to be taught to others, or important ones you have learned
v     Maps, because well, maps are just fun… And they could come in handy one day!
v     Events, crazy weddings, bah mitzvahs, comic con, whatever! Write about them
v     Predictions, whether your own or those of others, about you or our universe
v     Epiphany’s, so you can learn from them!
v     Realizations, most often the simple realizations in life are the most profound
v     Love Stories, because everyone loves a good love story
v     Milestones, the day you had a root canal, got apocalyptic highlights, all of it

v     Jokes, a practiced joke teller is a good joke teller, laughter is food for the soul!

Friday, November 29, 2013

Hello Everyone!!!

Wow!!!

I can't believe it is already the day after... Thanksgiving!!!  How have all of your holidays been thus far?  My life has been über busy. Working full time for the first time in 8 years has been hard. I find myself trying to sleep less to be with my family more while also still trying to keep up with all of my household duties, school and passions like reading and penpaling!!!

Thankfully my current journal/planner have been helping me keep sane. I will be doing a new video tomorrow about my current setup and how much I love it!!!  Guys. I am almost finished with an entire journal!!!  Sure it's a small sized Field Notes. But as many of you know. I tend to have journal/planner fails. And I have NEVER even come close to filling any journal. So I am super excited. 

Hopefully I will find some time for some new SHOP goodies!!!  Right now I still have quite a few mini journal kits as well as finished journals. So if your holiday shopping. Check them out!!!  


Ok. Any suggestions for future posts, videos or crafty things you would like to see???  Let me know in the comments!!!  

And happy holidays guys. I hope you are having an amazing season. 

Cheers!!!

Thursday, October 24, 2013

And The Winner Is.....

Em!!!!  The magical Em Press is the winner of the Journal Kit giveaway!!!  Thanks to everyone who checked out my goodies and played along with me!


Remember that holidays are coming up soon and all of my lovely Journal Kits are for sale in my shop. And because you guys all rock!!!  If you wanna purchase anything from my shop. Type in the coupon code SIMPLY for a 10% discount!!!  And I LOVE to do custom orders so if you don't see what you want just message me!!!  Ok. See yah all later!  Cheers.

P. S. There will be a new video in a few days and some NEATO BURRITO new posts

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Willow Mucks Shop GIVEAWAY!!!

Hi guys!!!  So. Here it is. My very first giveaway!!!  It's pretty simple. And it's for all you journal and memory keeper fans!  So you all know I LOVE to journal. And always incorporate ephemera and such into my journal pages. Anything to help capture a moment or a feeling!!!  Or an event?  Like a movie stub or a concert ticket. Or a photo!


Ok so back to the giveaway. I will be giving away one of my new mini journal kits!  Each kit comes with a corrugated cardboard cover. Lots of ephemera goodies to help get you started. Two binder rings and pre punched pages!


All you have to do to enter click on my shop and take a look at the kits!!!  Leave a comment here about which is your favorite and why!  I will randomly pick a winner next Thursday. October 24th at 12 o'clock noon PST and send them their very own custom built kit!!! Thats right. Custom!  You get to pick the theme and colors. 


Ok!  Well that's it!  Easy peasy right?  And remember the holidays are getting close! And this is a wonderful time to capture memories and these make great gifts!!! Cheers!


P.S!  If you are like me. And also enjoy journaling in pre built books. These kits are great for that as well!  My newest preferred journal is a simple but lovely Field Notes!


Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Popping In


For a quick hello!!!  Man. Has life been busy. Going backwards in a way. Instead of less work and more time at home. I've had to increase my hours at the bank... Sad pants. But oh well. Bills must be paid!  I have a few neat things coming up here. So don't despair!  Haha. If anyone still reads this!  Including a give away!!!


And remember. Christmas will be here in no time!!!  So make sure to get your journal kits and smash books from my shop before they are all gone. And also. Remember I do custom orders!!!  So if you want something special. Or holiday themed?  Just let me know!!! Ok. I will be back on Thursday with the giveaway details!  Muahahahaha. Cheers!!!

Monday, September 23, 2013

The Journal Kits Have Landed!!!

And I am SUPER happy with how they all came out, and tomorrow there will be even more in my SHOP!!!
P.S. I have no idea why there is that GAP!!!  And can't seem to fix it...













































Thursday, September 19, 2013

TEASER!

Hi guys!  Thanks for sticking with me. Well. If anyone's reading this. Haha. 

So!!!  Here are some sneak peek pics of what I am getting ready for my SHOP!!!



30!!!  JOURNAL KITS!  They will be kits that include awesome sturdy corrugated cardboard covers. A menagerie of pretty and themed papers. And LOTS of little embellishment goodies so you can easily put together your very own special journal!  They will be pre hole punched for yah and two binder rings will be included.  I am HOPING (and crossing my fingers) that they will be listed before the weekend!!!  But definitely by the end of this Sunday. September 22. 



For the quickest updates follow my shops Facebook page (there is a button over there on the right)!  And I will post here on my
Blog as soon as they are available. Also. Watch for a YouTube video so you can see them a little more close up!!!

And as always. If anyone is interested in a custom other. Just holler!!!

Cheers!!!

I Had A Birthday!!!

And it was WONDERFUL!  (Family drama aside).


I celebrated all last week. I only worked two days so that was wonderful in itself!  My Bestie made me a wonderful yummy birthday dinner the night before any birthday. Raviolis with sauteed zucchini. Mushrooms. And asparagus.   Yum!!!  We had a lovely strawberry blackberry shortcake for dessert. And then there were presents!!!

She had been to Italy this summer and I reaped the rewards. She gave me. A beautiful hand painted mask that just screams LEO!  And guys it fits my face as if it had been molded just for me. I also received flowers. A friendship bracelet. A necklace  (that I had stolen from her back in high school). She still had it!!!  A lovely little glass owl. And. A. VINTAGE typewriter!!!  It is a Smith Corona Sterling. It is from the 50's and it has that lovely old smell. You have to pound away on the keys. There is no number 1 or an exclamation point!!! But it comes with a 1/2 and a 1/4 key...  And I absolutely love it. 


My hubby gave me a beautiful hope chest that now lives next to my desk. I was taken out the day of my birthday for breakfast at my favorite little breakfast spot. THEN the following day my hubby orchestrated a surprise Birthday Breakfast Party!!! My original birthday party had been cancelled due to family stress. So he made it up to me! I was completely surprised and shocked and loooooooved it. 

All in all it was a wonderful week and I am so happy to be THIRTY!!!

OH!!!  And watch out for some wonderful new items going into my SHOP soon!!!  Like in the next few days.  Hint: There will be JOURNAL KITS!!!  (ok so that wasn't really a hint...)

CHEERS!!!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Why I Love Paper

I received some upsetting news today and it got me thinking about why I love paper. You all know the obvious reasons. It's pretty and bright and colorful and often filled with silly pictures and it simply makes me smile. But there are many more heartfelt and important reasons than just the aesthetic ones.

Paper lasts. Paper that is thousands of years old has been recovered and people's stories have been told. Stories other wise never known. After I received my unhappy news today I took to crafting to distract myself. I covered my MTN Diary Insert in paper. The main focus being a vintage postcard. A postcard that is over 100 years old.  Here it is today still telling its story. The postmark has it dated 1910.

This made me think about why I love to journal on paper and write real letters instead of emails. There is something wonderful and deeply human about writing. About putting good old fashion pen to paper. A feeling a white screen just can't do. Don't  get me wrong, I love the technology we have today. But there are some things which just can't be done digitally. When the computer/phone/tablet battery goes dead that's it. Sure you can back things up but who will happen upon them? Most likely no one... No one will see your digital journal in 100 years. No one will happen across those heartfelt emails to friends and family 100 years from now in an attic. No one will know your story, life, dreams, hopes, fears.

I wish writing journals and letters was a requirement. Something that was taught in school at a young age and encouraged. Think of all the wonderful stories that could be shared between people that wouldn't have been other wise. Imagine having personal, thoughtful records of family members that have gone...  A lasting tangible something to stay connected with. Something to turn to when feeling lonely or nostalgic. Something...

Sunday, August 11, 2013

It's ALMOST my 30th Birthday!!!

SO, here is what I have been up to!!!  I opened my Birthday presents that I bought for myself.  It was a VERY happy mail week.  I had a box full of memo pads from Kawaii Ya and a box full from Shop Kawaii.com.  I did a silly low quality iPhone video of the Shop Kawaii opening if anyone is interested.  I still want to do a full on stationery share video so stay tuned!

***Stationery***



I am still having planer indecisiveness!!!  I LOVE my Fluoro Pink FF but can't seem to use it...  Why oh why do I always do this with planners?  Should have known, silly Sara Jean, tricks are for kids.  I have had a few binder system planners over the years and after set up I seem to not be able to use them!!!  Is it the rings?  I don't know...  Is it the dividers?  IS IT TOO structured???  I think that may be it...  The wonderful beauty of it's structure panics me...  And with my Filo the possibility of ruining its beauty, well, that is a BIG fear.  Silly, I know.

So currently I am switching things up!  Trying something new that I have never used before.  A Midori Traveler's Notebook!!!  Behold the beauty in it's simplicity.  A piece of thick leather which holds paper books.  The fact that my handling it will actually improve it's physical appeal makes me feel calm.  It reminds me of my love for adventure and is very Indiana Jones-esque. The elastic band method of keeping and adding notebooks of my choosing is fantastic and so straightforward. It is still SUPER customize-able which I adore and need.  I plan to collage the covers of the inserts, add an Owl charm to the unobtrusive hanging thread book mark and maybe even add a bead to the elastic band that keeps it closed.  Simple but personable!  Is it weird that I find it more warm and inviting than binder rings? Anyways, I wont bore you with silliness but here is the Un-Boxing video!  And I will keep you (yes the one of you who reads this) updated!!!  And if you haven't seen a MTN is action Google it and look through the Flickr group feed!!!  There are some absolutely beautiful photos of this little gem in action.

***Un-Boxing Goodness!!!***


P.S. I deleted at least 30 exclamation points and 5 all cap words from this post while editing!!!  HAHA





Wednesday, July 31, 2013

The Doctor is In?

Noooo not THAT Doctor!!!  I wish...  Tonight I made dinner for my disabled hubby. He LOVES Hamburger Helper. I. Do. Not...  Toooo much sodium.  Too out of a box. But every once in a while he gets nostalgic for his childhood and requests it. So I try to oblige ever so often. But!  I never leave packaged "food" as is. I always "Doctor" it up!!! I attempt to make it much healthier and a lot more tasty.

Tonight's experiment was Hamburger Helper Lasagna...


Here is what I did to make it taste worlds better and a tad bit healthier. 

1. First I start with the Whole Grain version! When it comes to prepackaged meals... I try to be as health conscience as they allow, which isn't very easy...

2. Then I used a pound of lean ground Italian sausage. I figured this would go great with the lasagna flavor and it ended up being quite a bit less greasy than hamburger meat. 

3. After browning the sausage I added two large ripe organically home grown tomatoes and let them simmer down!  I thought they would dilute the included seasonings saltiness and add a nice natural flavor and lets face it, a boxed meal can always use some fresh ingredients!


4. After the tomatoes simmered down I also added french cut green beans to the mix after all greens are important!!!

5. Finally I only ever add about 2/3rds of the included seasoning. That stuff is just too salty!  Your blood pressure will thank you.


I have to say. It was REALLY GOOD!  My picky almost 4 yr old even ate it! Perhaps after 10 years together it's my fault the Hubs occasionally begs for Hamburger Helper. Because I "Doctor" it up every time!  He just thinks it comes out of the box that good.



Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Filo Fun and Broken Collar Bones!

No! I didn't break my collar bone...  But the DH did!  Skateboarding at 7 am to the corner store...  I was woken up to a ready to pass out hubby saying he had possibly dislocated his shoulder and needed to be taken to the ER. At first I thought he was going to make me try to put it back in socket!!!  Eeeep. But alas he did not which is good because it wasn't dislocated but broken...  Sooo that was fun!


So far this week (it's only Tuesday) has been filled with playing in my Filofax and getting everything set up juuuuust right. Which is so fun!  I decided I really loved next years vertical and lined week on two pages. So much so that I disliked this years horizontal unlined ones...  Sooo I sort of made my own for the remainder of the year!  Not toooo shabby. I scanned the first week of next years. Popped it into Word. Printed it front and back on regular printer paper. Washi taped over the incorrect dates and VOILA!!!  Happy camper. 


I also revamped my Mail Log!  Writing the same info on two pages (incoming and outgoing) was getting tedious and ridiculous! So, I took advantage of the wonderful roomy pages in my A5 Chloe and made new ones!  LOVE! (Yes that is a Unicorn paperclip and yes it is awesome).


Then I FINALLY made a log for keeping track of Shop sales and crafty purchases!  When the big bag "Tax Collector" comes round this year Sara Jean will be prepared! Don't mess with a girl and her Filo...  LOL


I was good and also finally made a Food Log to keep track of things. Because, well, this girl is turning 30 in three weeks and wants to live until shes 90!!!


This picture is simply here because I love the fly leaf I made and the tree.. The TREE!  Oh, how I love trees...


I finally started Smashing and Journaling in my Filofax! The little miss bought her very first "Luvie" with her own munnies from her piggy bank so I kept the receipt , snapped a shot and voila!


There, um, may have also been a stationery purchase delivered last week from Janet Store...  It wasn't me, I swear!!!  Ok, yeah you caught me, it was me...  But it is all so awesome!


And I mean really, all of my stationery fits in two shoe boxes!!!  So I don't think that I have a problem so nee ner nee ner neeeeeee ner! LOL

Well I suppose this post should end!  Some things to look forward to in future posts are:

*A Stationery Stash share video? Would anyone watch that? I mean besides me...
*ZINES!!!  I really, really, really, wanna make a Zine
*A new Video update on my life in my Filofax Chloe!
*Stationery!!!  I am going to be designing some collage stationery to sell! MY DREAM!
*Lots of Postcards and Beeswax, intrigued?
*Oh and there will be many cups of iced coffee and possibly a baby... (Figure that one out)!