Have you ever heard of the documentary question? If a film crew followed you for a day or a week, would your values and priorities be clear from the video footage? In this episode, we're exploring my fascination with documenting the everyday, the dangers of allowing a task to fill too much time, and the joy of flow at our craft table. Plus, I want to know which new stamp releases have captured your imagination.

Every month I play a little game in my planner. Before I set up appointments and the many tasks I need to complete, I schedule three things that bring me joy. These three experiences are meant to light me up and get my creative energy flowing. They are not about the shoulds of life or even self care so oil changes, dental appointments, and even massages don't make this list. Instead, I think of artist dates...concerts, manatees at a state park, tickets to a musical. This month I needed some fresh ideas and a personal assistant. Listen in as I describe the results I was served after entering a quick prompt with ChatGPT.

If you give this a try, I would love to hear about your prompt and your results! Please share on our Facebook page.

Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, shares a lot of ideas on generating happiness. One of my favorites is about novelty, trying something new, and the right level of challenge.

Dana Wilde, author of Train Your Brain, is know for saying feel good first then take intentional action to be successful.

For a long time, I've put those two things together to create a personal happiness formula, but I recently modified it to this:

Novelty + Challenge = Happiness

Happiness x Community + Intentional Action = Success

Listen in to today's episode for more and you'll also have the opportunity to weigh in on the success of my recent 'trying something new' card project.

It started with a punch card. I wanted to create a habit tracker to remind myself to print photos every month. I really wanted a small camera stamp and a large camera die. Once upon a time, there were five local scrapbook stores in my city. Getting a stamp or die was a simple thing. Walking the aisles, waiting for inspiration to grab me was a favorite treat. Oh how I miss my LSS.

Can you guess how many million valentines are sent each year in the United States? I had so much fun crafting sweet little valentines this past week. Listen in for one of my favorite tips to make your die cuts pop and be sure to sign up for my free newsletter to receive the instructions to make the card.

It's hard to describe the satisfaction I get from a good list. It's right up there with reconciling a complex account to the penny. My art journal has a whole new set of lists (many of them inspired by the latest Bella Grace book of lists) and already the pay off has been tremendous. It may sound silly to keep a list of shows you might enjoy on Netflix, but my brother loves to recommend things I should watch. I never seem to recall them when I have free time, but now that I have my list I dutifully noted Licorice Pizza. Just a few days later I saw my note and made time to watch the film. When my brother and I caught up to discuss it, we were excited to share our ideas and insights. In fact, the conversation is one of the most memorable we've had in months. My list gave me the focus I needed to be a little more thoughtful and the end result gave me a joyful connection I'll remember for a long time.

One of my favorite ways to build momentum and energy for a project is to draft a written plan and to give myself gold stars as I make progress. For years now, I have set three experiences on my calendar at the beginning of the month as the top experiences I want to give myself. The photos from my Big Three are generally my favorites of the month and I love to showcase them in my monthly layout. This year I am also working to tie the Big Three experiences in with my 26 in 2026 list. In this episode, I am sharing my Big Three plans for January and February.

I'm on a quest to capture the everyday magic of my days, starting with the things I most enjoy about January. I love the feeling of a fresh start at the beginning of the year. I'll spend time dreaming and planning everything from mini adventures and travel to my spring garden. I'm also designing the systems I need to reset my craft space and complete projects that drain my energy.

Listen in and be sure to share your January scrapbook layouts over on our Facebook page. If you'd like to see more information on how I use my lemons, message me at [email protected] and I'll type up all my tips and recipes for the blog.

How would you like to use your favorite paper crafting hobby and supplies to support your goals? If you have a project with a finite number of steps or a begin and end date, a punch card might be a better option than a habit tracker. Listen in as I talk through punch card projects supporting my 26 in 2026 goals and I attempt to end my days of "riding dirty" with a punch card designed to motivate me to get my car detailed.

Want to see my first punch card? Sign up for my newsletter.

Classic films mentioned in this episode:

• My Man Godfrey starring William Powell and Carole Lombard
• The Philadelphia Story starring Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart
• The Thin Man starring William Powell and Myrna Loy

In this episode, I'm chatting about capturing everyday magic and the value of documenting the ordinary in our scrapbooks. I'll be featuring layout ideas for this project in my newsletter so be sure to sign up! I'm sharing aboutmy current season of life, the energy of a collective fresh start, the concept of wintering, my first five star reads of the year and of course, my word of the year.