Two Steps Forward One Step Back

I haven't been blogging about my goals and diary the last few months but I am still working on getting things down on paper.
I had a bit of a set back for October with almost no goal writing or daily Journal/ Diary organising but I am determined to get back on track for November.

I like to use different ways to organise myself just to keep it interesting. They all have the same priority of goal setting and journaling or diary keeping just with a new style.

Today I found a lovely blog called Adventures in Guided Journaling by Christie Zimmer. She does a great job of putting out daily journal prompts to download for free.

I have just printed out her Goal Setting pages and will be working on those for November. I will punch holes in one end and fold them into my A5 journal.

I did some planning and doodling and brain storming. I now have my November goals listed. I will choose 4 most important ones and write out a detailed plan for achieving them this month.

Stay Organised,

Val

Kiiki K Planner Pages with Flying Geese (Quilt Pattern)

I sat and made a quilty border for my planner pages the other night. In the free sample you can put your heading in plain text.

I then just couldn't help myself and coloured it in!

I planned how I could set it up as a weekly view then drew it up so it crossed two pages.

I have been thinking a lot about my planning this year and just this month I decided that I will work in 20 min blocks. I have found that this is enough time to get immersed in the task and forget the timer but it is also short enough so I can fit lots in during the day.

My weekly view days are divided into 4 sections vertically because I have also found that 12 x 20 min work blocks is just enough work for me to get done what I need to each day. The rest of the time is play time like reading, drawing, watching DVDs or Netflix, surfing the web, doodling ideas for all sorts of things.
Each division is 3 tasks or 1 hour of work.

I put all sorts of things in my daily 'To Do' list of 12 things. Half are related to my hobby pattern business some are related to well being and some are other hobbies, housework and gardening.

I have even started adding 'Walk to the beach' on my list each day just as a reminder to get off my but and go outside for a while.

There is quite a lot of work involved in drawing up planner page designs so I am working towards putting them in my Etsy shop soon.

Today I have put links to the blank notes pages as a free download. It has the flying geese around the border and comes as left and right pages in A5 size.
I put a text box on so you can put your own title on the page or leave it blank. The title looks best if you type two words.

It is best to print it on A5 paper even if you just make your own by cutting an A4 sheet in half.
Of course, if you have the Kikki K planner pages you can just print it onto them.

Flying Geese Border Left

Flying Geese Border Right

Stay Organised,
Val

Printing Straight onto Kikki K Large Planner Pages

I have several large planners that use A5 pages.
I like to pretty up the pages with layouts I have made myself.

How do I print onto A5 paper from Adobe Reader?

• For starters my printer takes A5 size paper. I just have to slide the paper guides to the narrower width.
• Open your A5 document in Adobe Reader.

• Select File > Print

• At the bottom left you will see a button for Page Setup. Click this.

• I get a message but just click Yes.
• Choose the A5 paper size.

• Something I noticed as odd was that the document didn't appear to fit onto the paper correctly in the preview image. 

• When I printed, it fitted on just fine. 
• I used Kikki K personal planner pages. I have ignored the header when making the page layout.
• The pages below are printed both sides. I print a right page then put the paper back in and print a left page.

If you would like to give it a go you can download my doll notes left and right pages. 

Doll Notes Left

Doll Notes Right

For me, the hardest part is getting the paper in the printer the right way around. Even with the little picture I still get confused. I think I have finally worked it out. On my printer I pull out the paper draw, then with the page header towards me I flip it over face down and put it in.

Because the file pages are only A5 they fit beautifully onto A5 paper. 

I guess if you don't want doll pictures you will have to wait until I make something else.

I am playing around with some quilt design note pages and some bookish note pages as well as some goal setting pages. 

Stay Organised,

Val

May Round Up

Housework plan for June

April goals were achieved except for getting the round up done on the blog.

I played a lot sewing and designing this month so I only got about half the goals I wrote down done.

I did mange to:

• Draft the easy version of my Boy Friend Shirt. I have called it the Everyday Shirt
• Did a bit on the sleeve of the Australian Girl Doll denim jacket. I have worked out that the two piece seam needs to be quite curved.
• I started drafting the skirt for my Wardrobe Capsule.
• I stitched and quilted one quilt block and have started stitching the second block for this month.
• I read at least 2 books and I'm pretty sure I read two e-books. I didn't finish listening to the audio book. I lost interest in it.
• I worked on a new free pattern. It is the tie that is going with the new outfit I am making.
• I also managed to get in a few walks to the beach.

Part of May I was away visiting my mum so I am happy with my achievements for May.

What about June.
I have sorted out the goals journal and the habits journal. I have scheduled the house cleaning for half of June on my new month at a view page I bought and downloaded from Etsy.

I printed it on the spare pages I have for the planner so I don't even have to punch the holes. The faint lines on the page are good for writing in the boxes.

I haven't quite got around to making my vision board list for June. I will update this when I get it done.

I love my new planner from Kikki K. I have bought all the accessories in the collection except for the pencil case which I am going to try making myself. I have a fabric paint pen that I will use to draw on my own cat picture.

Stay Organised,

Val

March Round-up

I have decided to put my round-up posts in my Organising Blog. That makes more sense than either of my sewing blogs. The round-ups are like a reflection on how well my organisation actions were for the month.
Last month wasn't so good because I just didn't get into writing my 'To Do List' every day.
March has been great because I spent time getting organised. I usually spend about 30 to 45 mins sitting and going through my journals, transferring things to my week at a glance to do list. I don't have a page with just a daily list. I like to see what I have done for the week and having the week on one page makes it easy to move things along if they need more time.

You can see how I set it out below.

You can download a blank A4 PDF by clicking on the image below.

From my March list I managed to complete 8 out of 10 items. 

I got the hankie skirt published.

I added new gallery pictures.

I made some progress on my quilt.

I found new things to pin on my Pinterest boards.

I read another e-book cosy mystery on my iPad. 

I listened to Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly

For April I have a slightly longer list but if I work on the To Do list every day I should breeze through.

Publish 2 patterns

Publish a free skater skirt

List 3 clothes packages on Etsy

Pin 20 new pins (not repins)

Do all the ground work on a new outfit pattern bundle

Read an e-book

Get a new jigsaw puzzle half finished

Read 2 library books

Cut out more quilt applique elements

Add 2 gallery pictures to the doll clothes blog

Comment on 10 blogs

Comment on Google+ every day

Work on the 2004 dress for Australian Girl Doll

I made up a new vision board for April.

Along with my list for the month I have committed to working on the pattern updates every day. It bugs me that some of the patterns are not up to the standard I now have.

I will continue to put the housework on the To Do list. I have broken down listing the clothes packages into small steps for each day. It is one task that I continually procrastinate about. I don't really know why.

I have included walking out to the beach to sit and look or wander along for a short time whenever I feel like watching TV or eating sweet food. To make me think of it more I have decided to take a photo each time I go out and make a nice coffee table book from them on Snapfish.

The key to it all is getting things on the To Do list each day.

I hope you give yourself time to plan each day. It is time well spent.

Cheers,

Val

Making Organising a Habit

I will get my goals list under control soon. I went off the rails there for a few weeks but I so love the feeling of getting the things on the list ticked off so I am going to keep going with the To Do lists until it becomes easier.

I don't think it will ever become easy. It is just not in my nature to do things systematically. I really have to work at it.

I think that is why I love the Vision Board concept so much. I can be creative and go off on a tangent but the overall affect is a big To Do list with added inspiration.

I keep the board above my sewing machine and each month I create a new vision with new To Do's, new ideas and new inspiration.

I have been using my Goals Journal, my Habits Journal and my Dreams Journal to write up my daily To Do list. My habits and goals are part of what I need to do every day so this works really well.

My habit that I am working on this month is "write up a To Do list every morning". I want to make it a habit even if it is not a part of my genetic make up.

I have beautiful inspiration cards that I bought from Kikki K.

I also have some inspiration words that I printed up myself.

The words up there now are:

Sew, Laugh, Plan

Cheers,

Val