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Baby Steps Print (dark blue)
£2.50 – £5.00 Select options
Baby Steps Print (light blue)
£2.50 – £5.00 Select options
Baby Steps Print (pink)
£2.50 – £5.00 Select options
Baby Steps Print (yellow)
£2.50 – £5.00 Select options

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thehappysideof40

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Did you ever feel like you’re not achieving enough? Or not as fast as we’d like to at any rate.
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I’m chronically impatient and constantly put myself under pressure to deliver all the things in one fell swoop. Unrealistic goals, too short deadlines - I’m guilty of them all.
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So it’s taking a lot of self-control and reprogramming the way I think to remind myself that small steps, consistently made, will get me there in the end. I’ve had a rejig of my shop and although my unrealistic goal was to have an entire collection of new prints and planner inserts at the start of each month, I’ve realised that was wayyyy too much pressure. And that’s not the way I want to work anymore. So in a funny way, it seems fitting that the first physical print I’m releasing in my shop is this. Baby Steps is hand lettered and can be found in my shop now in four colour options. More coming slowly 😉
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#solopreneurlife #selfemployedlife #alifeofintention #slowthingsdown #seekinspirecreate #smallmakers #justacard #shophandmadeuk #handmadeisbest #createmakeshare #heytheremaker #makersgonnamake #slowmakermovement #modernmakers #typographyart

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Another half-term done. How did it go for you? It’s back to normal today and if you’re anything like me, this can easily become a week of zero productivity. Not because there isn’t a shed-load to do, but because I often find myself completely overwhelmed by the sheer volume and I have no clue where to start.
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In an effort to combat this rabbit-in-headlights feeling, I’ve started prepping myself with an almighty brain dump of everything that has popped in to my brain over the last week. Literally everything gets put down on to one humongous list in my planner. No worrying about order, prioritisation; the only slight categorisation I do is to separate in to one of three sections - work, home and self.
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I should say that this is not about creating a crippling to-do list - no sir-ee, this beaut will probably keep me busy for the next month! But what it does do is free up my overactive brain from trying to *remember* everything, and give it space to figure out the do-ing instead. Which is kind of the point really, isn’t it! Have you got any good tips for overcoming the overwhelm when you get back to work after a break?

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If you’re new to this bullet journaling malarkey, or maybe just bujo-curious, you might be wondering where the hell to start when it comes to setting up your first journal? Well wonder no more - I’ve written a blog post to explain how I set up my most recent journal in just one hour. And it wasn’t a journal for monthly, weekly or daily planning. It was a specific book, dedicated to organising the million-and-one redecorating / DIY jobs needed in our home. It might not be Grand Designs, but fingers crossed by the end of 2020 we won’t have a bedroom door that regularly falls off its hinges 😬! Link in the usual place 👆

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“When we feel lost [..] the best thing we can do is look back. Because there are clues; from our childhood, from how we played. Before there was ever the risk of failure.”
-@elainewelteroth speaking on Episode 25 of In Good Company

If you asked me 12 months ago whether I would start a business that involved illustration and art, I would have laughed. But if you asked me the same question 30 years ago, my response would not be surprise; just excitement and joy. The clues were there, maybe I was just too afraid to look for them.

#followyourcuriosity #wordstoliveby #anewperspective #getunstuck #trustyourpath #limitingbeliefs

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If I had to sum up why I fell in love with bullet journaling, this would probably be it. I realise flexibility and control probably sound like a bit of a contradiction 🤦‍♀️, but I guess it’s about balancing those two sides of my personality. I do better when I have a list, knowing that everything is written down helps me to stop worrying about tomorrow or next week or the rest of the month; and just focus on the now. That’s the sense of control. The flexibility is probably the rebel in me that doesn’t want to be tied to one format for 12 months! I like to switch it up depending on my mood, what I need and sometimes just out of sheer boredom 😄. What about you, are you a planner - and if so, why do you love to plan?

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I don’t know where this quote comes from, but it could have been written for me. I might be feeling all Beyonce this week, but please know it’s a long, twisty, winding, trail that led me to the path I’m starting on now. If you’re feeling stuck, like I was last January AND the January before that AND the January before that, don’t lose heart. The most important decision has already been taken, that you are lighting that damn tunnel up for yourself 🧡

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Ask and ye shall receive. Here is a flip through of my February bullet journal setup! And because I’m feeling in a sharing mood, scroll 👉 to see my setup for the start of the year too. I’ve had so much fun creating these layouts, but full disclosure - they’re not something I whipped up in an evening 😆. Not every page in my journal will look like this and there will be plenty of messy, super quick, scribbly to-do lists when needs must. But when I have the time, I love to create a solid design to start my month with a sense of calm and purpose.

If you’re feeling like your journal or planner needs a little love, but aren’t sure where to start, I just opened my online shop for digital downloads (link in bio as always). All the spreads in this post are on there. And each month I’ll be adding new layouts and monthly calendars that you can use in any A5 notebook. Above all, bullet journaling should be fun so whatever it looks like, enjoy the process! (And to thank you lovely people for your support as I’ve figured out where I was going in life, there’s 10% off everything until Sunday!)

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Take 542. Self portraits are clearly *not* my forte. For better or worse though I guess this is me. In conversation with the lovely Nicola from @seedtosource yesterday, she spoke about the importance of our work being a true reflection of who we really are.

And she’s spot on. In the last decade, as my career grew, I changed into who I thought I should be. Instead of finding something that reflected who I already was. But this week, as I get ready to put my lettering art and bullet journal templates up in my shop, this feels like a chance to realign.
So this is the me who loves to draw. Who loves to create. Who also loves diy, repurposing, a good home improvement show, beautiful stationery, 80s music, meaningful conversations and my own company. What about you, what do you love?

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☝️Anyone else? I’m trying very hard not to get bogged down in the details as I finalise things for the shop launch next week. But it’s hard to break those habits, and in my experience perfectionism just stops me from actually getting the thing done. Tips anyone?

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I read more last year than I thought I could. 15 books to be precise, which is probably 14 more than I normally manage! I only know this because, for the first time, I wrote them down. I kept a simple list and it really helped me, both to remember what books I *wanted* to read, and then keep track of what I finished. So this is a nice easy spread I created for my bullet journal. Or if drawing it out isn’t your thing, a printable will be available in my online shop (hopefully coming soon!). How many books are you hoping to read this year?

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