What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday 328 -- I am Back and I am Blessed!

Happy Wednesday lovelies! This is actually my first blog post in two weeks. I had an eye surgery, and had to go through a two-week recovery process which included pretty much staying off the computer except to watch Netflix or videos. Can you imagine? It was hard! And they didn't really prepare me very well for my recovery process, so that just added to the hardship. I won't go into detail. However, I am blessed to have a brilliant surgeon, great medical team, and an awesome family. I continue to heal with my left eye and get better vision every day.

After two weeks, not much going on with my crafty desk that you can see. But, if only you could see the plans in my head!

Visit all the desks at What's-On-Your-Workdesk-Wednesday.

#creativemidorichallenge Day 12 - Keep it real

 I'm happy to start feeling like myself again. One of the things that really got me through this two weeks was, of all things, my Midori traveler's notebook. I wrote things in my planner which I keep in there--kind of amazing considering I wasn't going anywhere or doing anything except recovering...yet I needed my planner to make me feel like a human! I also have a list book in my Midori, an art journal made of watercolor paper, a notebook for my side hustles, dashboard with folder, and a notebook for quotes and thoughts. This kept me motivated on these days when I wasn't allowed to do much else. It was so nice that all these notebooks were together in one place. And I had the time to finally put a table of contents in my notebooks which I now love, and I did some journaling about how I was feeling along with a Midori creative challenge every day in my art journal. The creative challenge goes through this month, and I was ahead on it, but no more now that I'm back in the office. I'm now struggling to keep up with it every day. But I'm not giving it up.

the little desk that stayed by my side with my few little creative goodies

My family took good care of me and brought me little presents every day which even included some washi tape! Boy, they know me. The cats loved having me home every day. My hubby bought me the softest neck pillow which I needed during recovery. It became my "Wilson." (You'll know what that means if you've ever seen the movie Cast Away) I guess my Midori was my Wilson too.

I love my fabric Midori - I call it my Dolldori

Now I'm happy to be off to do something I couldn't do for two weeks. Forget my troubles and visit you guys!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, Be Happy

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday #325

Early...a little dark on the craft desk...coffee, of course...a pile of pearl cotton...more old photos from my mother's extra boxes that were not put into albums...washi tape, pens, and journaling goodies...underneath it all an old cookbook on breads.

Welcome to What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday!

I have to keep it short this week and only have a short time at my craft desk today which makes me sad. I love having a whole morning when my energy is at its best for the day, and I feel creative, and I can work on my latest obsession. Right now it's my fabric Midori notebooks and I hope that within the next two months I have enough made to start my little business. Wouldn't that be fun? In the meantime, I have lots of old photos to deal with. 

I especially love some of my childhood photos. I mean, who cries on Christmas morning 1964 when she's just received a pink Barbie car, Barbie dolls, Barbie bed, and a tea set? What was wrong with me! Why did they take that picture? Should I scrapbook it?

My sister's birthday is the day before mine, and we found a great old photo of one of our famous cakes. Mom always got us a cake with a blonde doll on one half and a brunette doll on the other. You gotta love that.

Have a happy, blessed week!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

A little stitching, a little kitty love...What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday 324

My midori goes everywhere

Happy What's-On-Your-Workdesk-Wednesday lovelies! See what's on my desk again? My little 14-year-old baby Minnie. It was one of those mornings where she was constantly attached to me whether I was at the desk, doing laundry, in the kitchen...she's my little shadow.

She loves getting right in the middle of my craftiness.


Back to school time has ramped up the busyness of my days. I'm still dreaming of and working on stitching up midori travelers notebooks, but between work and a big family project, my craft desk is missing me a little lately. All I do is perch here in the morning with my coffee (after the treadmill where I'm watching Last Tango In Halifax), write in my Midori, get on the computer a little, and then I dash off to my day. *sigh* 

I hope to have more crafting time and energy soon. Now I'm dashing off to a few desks to get some inspiration!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

Planner Peace in My Midori - Scrappy Stash Busters

Love, love, love planning in my Midori.

I didn't think this was going to happen, but then I found a free printable planner on MyLifeAllInOnePlace.com, and decided to try it.

Inside cover of my Midori planner

Que music. Planner peace!!

The weekly planner layout, 6 months per booklet, gives me plenty of room to write my lists, to-do's, add stickers, and write in appointments.
 

A blank week where I've already added a few planner stickers

Outside cover of my Midori planner

 The most fun thing about making booklets is decorating them with scrapbook paper, washi tape and stickers!

This baby goes everywhere

My Midori always travels in my bag, so why not have a planner in it! What really makes it work for me is the other booklets inside. Next to my planner is my list book. I just made it with a pad of yellow lined paper, and I feel free, because the paper's not fancy, to just scribble all kinds of lists: apps I want, recipes to try from Pinterest, craft shopping, very specific to-do's, household project...you get the idea, no list is off limits!

 My pretty patterned paper stash is getting a workout with my Midori booklets - love that. Next, after my planner and simple lists book is a booklet I made with nice lined paper called Random Notes, Thoughts & Quotes. I'm a quote collector, and too many times I've written these things in my planner on the go, and then they get lost. This is why this book is a perfect companion, but it all stays together and doesn't get dated. 

Next is my booklet dedicated to my Side Hustles. So when I have an idea or thought pertaining to my craft selling, Etsy, or writing projects, it has its own special place and I know where to go back and find it. If I'm planning a due date for something, then it's right here next to my planner. Perfect and peaceful. And by the way, I love this new Post-It tape!

My art journal is the last booklet, and it's made of watercolor paper. I also carry a small palette in my  bag, so I can paint and draw whenever and wherever. I love having an art journal in with my planner, lists, and side hustle booklets because sometimes my art relates to something else, like creating my new logo, or inspired by a quote.

I love this swing-out board I made with a grommet attaching it to my dashboard in my Midori. It has washi tape on the go! I made the board with an old planner cover trimmed up to the size I needed. Talk about upcycling. My dashboard is simply card stock patterned paper with stickers, a clip from a very old Workbasket Magazine from the fifties, and laminated so you can stick blank post-it paper to use on the go. Inside my dashboard is a folder I made as well with six pockets. Love, love, love it all!

 The moral of the story is, I obviously can't operate with just a planner. My planner has to have a lot of buddies that cover all the aspects of my day. The Midori solves all those problems. And bonus, I stitched this Midori myself with matryoshka fabric that I'm crazy about because I'm obsessed with those Russian dolls!

About two months ago, I didn't really know anything about Midori traveler's notebooks, and look at me now! And I'm old! I'm telling you that last bit because I've seen too many who think they have nothing to plan, so why have a planner. To that I say, celebrate your life every day. Plan things to do, watch, read, eat, drink, make, buy, cook...enjoy every minute.

Que music...planner peace!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

WOYWW 323 - Paper, Fabric, and Midori's

I love the fatness of my Midori

Late in the evening, I'm at my crafty desk fiddling with an insert for my Midori traveler's notebook I've stitched up. I love to make and decorate my own inserts, and suddenly decided that my art journal insert should really be made of watercolor paper. So there I went, trimming up the watercolor paper so that I could fold it all in half, add a cover to it, bind it with some holes and elastic basically, corner edge everything, and decorate a little more. It's more fun than scrapbooking! I finish up the spine and the edge by laminating it with packing tape so it will last a long time.


Visit all the lovely madness and mess on every desk at What's-On-Your-Workdesk-Wednesday.

Next I made a washi board with washi tape samples I can keep in my Midori, and I used a grommet to hinge it to my dashboard. This is the back side of the dashboard which is a folder, and it is decorated with scrapbook papers, stickers, and clippings from 1950's Workbasket Magazines and then laminated so that I can keep a few post-it notes inside. It's great to keep a few supplies like this right inside your traveler's notebook.

Have a happy week.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

Inside My Midori - How I Stuff and Decorate My Dolldori

Are you a Midori lover? I think this traveler's notebook traditionally known as the Midori, or Dori with a more descriptive prefix, is taking over the planet a little bit. It is definitely for pretty paper lovers...making and/or decorating your own inserts is a great paper stash buster. I stitched one up just for fun so that I could use my beloved matryoshka doll fabric, ceramic doll bead, include some embroidery just for myself on the inside, and now I'm completely in love.

I stitch my dolldori's to be the large cahier size--about 8 inches tall and 5 inches wide when closed

Next time I'll share how I made and decorated my notebooks, but for now, we'll just take a walk through my Dolldori. She's gotten quite fat with creativity, and that's why I love it.

At this point I have five notebooks, a dashboard, and a folder inserted!

Stitching up a fabric dori, which is traditionally made of leather, means it's just not going to be perfect--and I love that too.

Inside I stitched a front pocket and the first notebook is my art journal which will hold some drawing, coloring, and favorite quotes and verses. I used this cupcake scrapbook paper for the cover.

Here is the back of the art journal cover, and the front of notebook insert no.2, a writing and info journal.

Inside cover of notebook no. 2

Here is the back cover of notebook no. 2 and the front cover of notebook no. 3, dedicated to notes and info about my craft projects, Etsy shops, and writing projects. 

Inside cover of notebook no. 3

I made notebook no. 3 with a variety of colored printer paper, and I printed lines on it, so I really like how it went together.

Back cover of notebook no. 3 - front cover of no. 4

I decorated notebook no. 4 with polka dot scrapbook paper and a cutout from a scrapbook pad page, but inside is simply yellow notebook paper. It is a notebook just for lists!

This is the back cover of the list notebook, and the front cover of my dori planner! So here's the truth. I love my dolldori so much, I tend to want to carry it around in my bag. I have a little 2015 art journal style planner  that is just for my bag, but I love having a planner in the dolldori more. I wasn't really going to do that at first, but then I stumbled upon mylifeallinoneplace.com and was able to easily print out the planners for my dori for free. Each document makes a six-month planner booklet, so this one is June-Dec 2015. It has weekly pages, plenty of room to write, and still fits nicely with all the other notebooks.

Inside front cover of dori planner

 

One of the planner pages for an upcoming week--I've already added some stickers

I absolutely wanted a dashboard in my dolldori to be post-it note headquarters. I just laminated it using packing tape. Inside that folder is a six-pocket folder I made from a file folder, and still need to decorate it a little more. Important thing: it all fits!

Back cover of the planner, front cover of the dashboard

Inside the dashboard with the six-pocket folder

Inside back of the dashboard

The inside back cover is embroidered...you know how I believe in wearable art, so my dolldori is wearing it.

The best thing about my dori is how personal and original it is. It's true that you could have a plain leather Midori with standard, plain cover inserts and be happy with that. But, if you want to unleash your creativity on something that you get to carry around, look at, and use all the time, this is a wonderful way to do that. And the notebook inserts will fill up, and you get to decorate more and keep enjoying them and finding new ways to use them. I'll be posting soon about how I make and decorate my inserts--it's not too complicated, but really fun. Back to my stitching!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

WOYWW 322--Stitching Notebooks

On this desk is all the planning and pretty papers. But I'm actually at the sewing machine, stitching up potential inventory for my Etsy shop I've dreamed up, and having so much fun.

It's What's-On-Your-Workdesk-Wednesday....where we simply share what in the world is on top of our desks to the world.

I would show you the stitching going on, but I'm actually not convinced that what I just did is perfect enough! I guess handmade items can't be expected to be completely, 100% perfect, right?

This is my first fabric midori notebook I made for myself. The notebook inserts inside are all decorated with scrapbook papers, washi tape, and stickers--so much fun. This notebook has an art journal on the go, a list journal, insert folder I made and a book of quotes. I don't know if I have more fun making the notebooks or decorating the inserts. Because it's like scrapbooking that you're going to look at more often. Some people use their Midori traveler's notebooks as planners, some people carry them around in their bags, and others like the way they can put four, five or six notebooks in a Midori and keep all their information organized.

Inside my fabric Midori with a pocket and a decorated notebook insert

I swear, the organizing never ends! Today I feel like my desk is just as big a mess as ever. Especially when I'm in production mode for my design. I may need the beach soon.

Have a happy week!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch