I’ve done a craft corner type post before, but since creativity (and journaling especially) is something I really want to focus on this year, I thought I’d share my experience with journaling so far.  I did my recap post using my Currently 2020 journal, but I wanted to talk about some of the other journals I’m using.

In my last Currently Obsessed With Post, I talked about how I wrote in journals a lot, and then just sort of stopped as I got older.  I’ve been keeping up with a few of the journals I have: the 52 Lists journals.  There are four of them total: the original 52 Lists journal, the Togetherness Journal, the Happiness Journal and the Calm Journal.

They’re actually really fun and I love writing a list every week.  I might not do Top Ten Tuesday anymore, but lists are fun, and these get me thinking!  I’ve skipped around a little bit, because sometimes the topic doesn’t work for me.  I’m a little worried that I’ll end up with lists I don’t want to do at the end of the year, but I’m thinking that it will work itself out.  I might not want to do some of them now, but I might want to later on.

Taking the time to actually think about things is nice.  It’s a way for me to slow down and reflect on things, and that’s something I really want to do this year.  It’s weird how I didn’t realize how much I was holding in until I wrote it down.  That’s my favorite thing about having a journal- it’s a great way to write down what I’m thinking, whatever form it might take

And while this isn’t necessarily related to the 52 journals, it is something I want to talk about.

This little blog has become my journal, in a way.  It was something that I was thinking about on my way to work recently (and I want to say it was while I was listening to Stay Sexy And Don’t Get Murdered).  I don’t talk about myself much anymore, though I felt like I did it way more in the early days of the blog.  And sharing my thoughts on what I’m reading is super-cool and really fun, and it’s a great way to look back on what I’ve read and what I thought about those books.  That’s definitely not going to change, but right now, I’m in a mood to talk about other stuff too!

There’s just something about physically making a list that’s really calming.  I’m not just typing furiously: I’m actually taking the time to put my list on paper.  It slows me down, and maybe that’s what I need right now.  Handwriting is actually fun for me, and I have just as much fun picking out a pen to use.  It’s hard because I have a pretty good pen collection.

I swear, every time I go to Michael’s now, I spend as much time looking at pens, markers and notebooks as I do yarn.  I have a rolling cart that has been assembled, and it’s been nice to have my pens, journals, notebooks and coloring books in one place instead of scattered around my apartment.  It’s a lot more organized, and it’s easier to get what I need.  Between that, and the tv tray I got a while ago, I finally have a small but portable work station!

I ended up getting another one for some of my yarn…sadly, I don’t have enough space to have enough carts for all of my yarn, but considering I wanted to just wanted to move one container of yarn to the cart, I’d say it did it’s purpose.

I was really nervous about the carts, though.  Assembly was required, and generally speaking, I don’t assemble things like carts.  But these were stupid easy to put together, and in a matter of minutes (literally) I had carts that I could organize to my hearts content.

So, my art cart is pictured below:

Initially, I wanted the lavender cart you’ll see in a little bit, but I could not find one for the life of me.  But this blue one was really pretty, so I went with this one instead.

The top tray is pens!  I admit to going overboard with pens, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I can stay away from pens for a while.  The middle is coloring books, colored pencils, a hand lettering book and regular pencils.  And the bottom tray has a pencil case with a few extra pens, a ton of different size notebooks, and some washi tape.  The washi tape would be great in the scrapbooks I want to make.

I’m still convinced I’m going to scrapbook all of my photos.  I’ve been saying that for over a year now and I still haven’t done it.  There’s also the question of where I’d put the finished scrapbooks.  I have a place for the photo boxes, so that’s where they’ll be staying until I get everything else a little more organized.  Or until I decide to do it, whenever that may be.

And for fun, here’s some yarn!

It’s pretty appropriate that a few of my crocheted blankets are in the background.  I feel like this yarn is a lot easier to get to, which is always a plus, and I feel more motivated to use it now that I can actually see it!  My goal is to eventually use enough yarn to not need a cart, 3 different bags, a cloth storage bin, and like, 5 different bags.  I have to say that I’m actually doing pretty good with buying no or very little yarn.  It’s just a matter of actually using it.

That’s all for today, and I’ll leave you with a few things to answer, if you want to!

Does anyone else journal?  And if so, what journals does everyone use, whether it’s a blank journal, or something with prompts?  I’m also up for some pen/marker recommendations if you have any!