Sweetbriar Dreams

So where shall we go on our journey today?

Friday 1 January 2016

A New Blank Page


So a new year starts and 365 blank pages stare at me excitedly once again.  I'm not one for New Year resolutions as they scare me with their threat of failure.  Once again I will ditch those pounds (as let's face it, we don't eat like that every day!), once again I will do more exercise (because the weather will get better... eventually), once again I will be more organised (as I don't have to rush about getting Christmas presents until the end of the year!)  Promising myself things because Big Ben has chimed at midnight will not help.  To me January 1st is another day with the difference that (and here is where I do get excited) a nice blank clean diary can be started


Oh yes, my love of the note book/journal is at a height at this time of year and those that know me oh so well had wrapped me up some beauties for the tree.  I had actually bought myself a mighty oober humungous handsome devil before Christmas and have been itching to decorate and start filling in those gorgeous blank pages.  Two pages to a day!  Just waiting to be filled with the both equally exciting and the mundane thoughts running through my mind.  


Washi tape, coloured pencils, glue, postcards, sketches... yes, my plan will be a very thumbed and tatty book by the end of the year (don't you just love a tatty book?!).



I needed a cover though and as much trawling through Etsy and Ebay, I just couldn't find what I wanted, so a bit of shopping (very slow on crutches - but determined!), I bought these.


And then added them to the stash as I decided to make this!!


Well, correction, I did use some of the papers and supplies but didn't feel it was "me", and then found a Greenwich map and the creative juices flowed!

So, January 1st and the ink has just started to weave it's curves and lines in the book.  I hope that life will allow me even just an hour to work on this each day and that as the days turn into weeks, a glance will show exactly where I am from the tatty pages already thumbed.

Today has however been full to brimming with getting our home back to normal.  As I type this my feet are complaining and telling me off - what did the nurse say? "Absolute rest!", oh dear!  But it is so lovely to see fresh flowers dotted around the newly cleaned spaces.  It gives a real sense of achievement and makes me smile with so much content.


I only bought three bunches for £2 each, but there must have been six bunches per bunch as I ended up filling every vessel I could find!


My dresser is looking so neat and tidy after the festivities.  It had been quite cluttered but now my eyes feel cleansed each time I look at it, especially with another container full of flowers 



Another thing that I do think of at the beginning of the year is my word for the coming months.  Last year it was BALANCE.  How true this was, especially at the end of the year with me balancing my feet!  This year I am going to be bold and say...

POSITIVE

I lost my way last year and it reflected in my blog writing, my variety escaped me and I became more focused on my trips out and about rather than what was happening around me.  So with newly decorated and blank journal in hand (or should I say trolley!), I can look back at each week and remember all those lovely heart warming moments to share along with filling this jar with a positive thought from each week to unravel at the end of 2016.


So, with a deep satisfying breath I will publish this now for all my lovely readers (you are all so extremely special to me) and relax in my normal, happy home.  My big POSITIVE year now begins!


A very Happy New and Positive Year to you all.


40 comments:

  1. Happy POSITIVE! New Year to you! Love your new book! xx

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  2. Yes the same for me too - Wishing you a positive and happy new year 2016!

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  3. Your new journal is a beauty - very personalized. I'll look forward to your positive thoughts as I have always looks forward to your excursions. Happy 2016, Chel. I love your flowers, too!

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  4. I love your new journal...I always look forward to visiting you, Chel. Many Happy New Year Blessings to you.

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  5. Have a really good year Chel x

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  6. Ooh.. Your journal looks beautiful and ready for an exciting and creative year! I hope you are healing well and I look forward to reading about your big journeys and your daily life events Here's to 2016!!

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  7. Hi Chel,
    Such an inspiring journal - I just L-O-V-E the cover!!! Oh yes, I agree with you on the New Year resolutions ... and am also waiting a word to be found (It is surely in the tip of my tongue ...). I need to say I have enjoyed your posts and photos - enormously - of your trips to the beautiful and historical places, London, and cities around - I hope you will keep on posting some of the photos as you're round and about :-)
    Wishing you the very best 2016!
    Nina xx

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  8. Thanks fpr this beautiful post!
    Wishing that your 365 pages will be filled with love and joy!
    xox

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  9. What a beautiful way to decorate your journal, very inspiring.

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  10. Let me wish you and your loved ones a Very Happy New Year, my sweetest Chel,
    with all my heart, filled with gratitude for the so beautiful friendship linking us,
    sending sweet hugs to you
    Dany

    P.S.: the cover you've made for your journal is really wonderful !

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  11. Lovely book and flowers to start the year right. Wishing you the very best for 2016.

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  12. I love the new notebook and its lovely cover. Enjoy filling it! Happy New Year! :o)

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  13. Maybe you should be resting by writing in the pretty pink journal. Take it easy and keep the positives coming. Lovely photos. Hope your day is blessed. ~:)

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  14. Happy new year - and love your journal. Positive sounds a fab guide for the year - I think I'm going with shine x

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  15. Good for you! I think you're starting out in a very "positive" way. I can read your excitement between the lines. You mentioned writing about what is around you. How about also writing about what is within you? Then it's more like a journal. Doesn't have to be personal. Just day-to-day stuff you can view at the end of the year.
    Brenda

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  16. Chel - Positive is such a powerful word! Your journal turned out so pretty. I write in a journal every night and have since John passed away. It helps me sort out my feelings and as I look back, I realize how much I have to be thankful for and how blessed I am each and every day.

    Judy

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  17. You've written much more eloquently than I can as far as what you hope to accomplish in this New Year. I miss my journals and sometimes we do need to scribble and dribble and decorate the pages to feel the creativeness in our minds. I many take your cue. I miss reading a 'really' writing. Time escapes me (as you might know by my lack of visits to your lovely blog). I hope to stop running around like a chicken with my head cut off and start to be mindful of the things I truly love to do.

    I hope all is well after your surgery I also hope it wasn't too painful and that you're not in a lot of pain now. If you'd like to drop a line feel free- I'd love to hear how you are doing.

    I also scrolled down to read your year in review. You have the most exciting travels and adventures. Can I be you for just a few weeks?!!!

    Love and Happy New Year, Chel!

    Jane xx

    Jane x

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  18. Isn't it lovely to start anew, fresh and with enthusiasm for the new year. Hope you are healing and life treats you well. Happy New Year!!

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  19. I wish you a POSITIVELY wonderful year in 2016!!

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  20. I've been itching to get to my new journal, too. I tend to restrict myself to words and a few pencil sketches, but your washi tape, coloured pencils and more ideas are inspiring me. There's something about a new book full of blank pages that is terribly appealing.
    Positive is a great word! I'm still thinking about mine. Last year I never really found one. Happy New Year to you, Chel. Looking forward to positive infiltrating the blogging realm, too.

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  21. Happy New Year, Chel! Gorgeous flowers and a beautiful new journal!

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  22. Sounds like you're off to a great start in the new year. I love new journals and what fun to write and create in them. And I did note that you like it to be 'tatty' by the time you're done. I have a similar like for a journal that looks well loved and used.

    Happy New Year and happy blogging, Chel!
    Brenda xox

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  23. Hello there my friend! I'm trying to pass the time as I sit here in Frankfurt, Germany waiting for my connecting flight back across the pond! I enjoyed this post and your previous ones immensely. I love how you decorated your journal and am thinking I need to do something similar with one I have at home. Yours turned out beautifully! Have a blessed day! I can't wait to get this 10 hour flight over! I have a hard time sitting still for so long! Hugs, Vicky

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  24. And a happy healthy New Year to you too.
    Are used to love getting a new exercise book at school and used to start off so neat and tidy in it but then it became less so as I worked my way through the book.

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  25. Positive is a good choice of word. I love what you have done with your journal, and your flowers are gorgeous. A great start to the new year.

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  26. Inspirational, Chel. Thank you and Happy New Year.x

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  27. Positivity - not easy to achieve but a perfect start to 2016. A lovely post Chel, those flowers are so pretty and colourful. I made a start with the decorations, like you clearing away all the extras and cards and dusting, but the tree is still up (a job for tomorrow).

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  28. What a good positive start. I was born near Greenwich , went to school there and that map brought back a flood of very happy memories, one of the few places I still really miss.xx

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  29. Love the photos in this post. Best wishes for 2016.
    Liz @ Shortbread & Ginger

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  30. Oh my gawd, that diary is like porn to me haha!

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  31. Happy new year to you Chel - don't you just love new stationery and that blank canvas, ready for action feeling!

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  32. Hello! What a gorgeous new blog to visit! I love a new diary but working in a school, it's the new one we get in September that I love!

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  33. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment so I knew you'd popped in. I enjoy having a good wardrobe sort out, I try and do it a few times a year. I tend to buy new things most weeks during the car booting season and I need to be a bit stricter!
    I absolutely love your new diary cover, you are obviously a very creative person.
    Wishing you a very happy new year and lots of happy adventures for filling up your diary with.
    Lisa x

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  34. Wishing you the best New Year. It was a hard year 2015 for you. I know I was sad for you as well. We slowly heal and I think your readers, I know I did, appreciate your honesty about the hurt you felt with your sweet Coco.
    Sending a New Year Hug,
    Carla

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  35. Wishing you a very happy New Year.

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  36. It all looks lovely and fresh. Happy journaling, and I hope the feet will feet better soon. Thanks so much for visiting my blog.

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  37. What is it about piles of coloured pencils that is so appealing? It always reminds me of the line in 'You've got mail' about a bouquet of pencils :) Loving your new blog design. Happy new year and I hope you continue to recover quickly. x

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  38. Your journal cover is delightful. I chose the word blossom for 2016.

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