1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,160
Hello and welcome to the Planner
Pals Podcast, a podcast hosted 

2
00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,040
by two true planner pals. 
My name is Mark and I go by Mark

3
00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:08,360
Your pages. 
And I'm Jess Ojasi, Karen. 

4
00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:10,840
And in this episode we're 
talking about something that I 

5
00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,800
get pretty excited about, and 
that is decoration. 

6
00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:17,440
But not just decoration. 
The skill behind decoration, the

7
00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:20,000
things that make it so that you 
can decorate your planner in 

8
00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,040
such a way that gives you kind 
of the warm fuzzies, the good 

9
00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:25,920
feeling as opposed to putting a 
whole bunch of stickers down and

10
00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,000
then realizing, oh, look, I just
wasted all those stickers and I 

11
00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,439
don't even like the end outcome.
But what is even more exciting 

12
00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:35,120
than decoration is the fact 
that, well, typically this 

13
00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:37,320
podcast just has your two true 
planner pals. 

14
00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:39,920
We actually have another plan of
how joining us today. 

15
00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,200
This one, you may know, she is a
former wedding photographer 

16
00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:45,040
turned content creator full 
time. 

17
00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,520
We would love to give a big 
shout out to Aaron of Aaron 

18
00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:49,520
Smith. 
Thank you so much for being here

19
00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:51,760
with us. 
Hi, thank you so much for having

20
00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:53,400
me. 
I'm really honoured that you 

21
00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:56,480
think I'm good enough at journal
decorating to have me talk about

22
00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:59,000
this. 
No, you literally were the first

23
00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,160
person we thought of when we 
were talking about different 

24
00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,320
ideas and whatnot. 
I was like, you know what? 

25
00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:06,000
I'm really bad at this. 
I just feel like it's a skill. 

26
00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:08,320
I don't know that I have it. 
Like, who else would be someone 

27
00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:10,840
that we could talk to about it? 
And literally your name was the 

28
00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,080
first one that popped up and 
we're like, let's make it 

29
00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:14,360
happen. 
Thanks pals. 

30
00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:17,320
So the first thing we want to 
chat about just from a whole is 

31
00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:19,320
just going to be decorative 
planning and kind of how do we 

32
00:01:19,320 --> 00:01:20,920
get to the point where we are 
now? 

33
00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,680
I'm kind of back seating this 
conversation because I'm not as 

34
00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:26,800
decorative planning. 
Maybe we want to define it a 

35
00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,320
little bit kind of like what we 
think it is because for me, 

36
00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:31,600
sometimes decorative planning 
honestly is just putting some 

37
00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,080
stickers on a page. 
Maybe, you know, gluing 

38
00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:36,240
something in and I'm like, I've 
decorated. 

39
00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,640
But I feel like what you 2 do in
your planners or have done in 

40
00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:41,880
your planners is just like next 
level. 

41
00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,560
I don't have that skill. 
So I'm just going to sit back a 

42
00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:46,600
little bit and let you all share
about how you got to where you 

43
00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,680
were because I'm not there at 
any point yet. 

44
00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:52,760
I see you with your stamps here,
you'd be decorating, you'd be 

45
00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:54,680
with that creative lettering and
such. 

46
00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,440
And of course, as per always, we
are not the journal police. 

47
00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,440
We're not here to say like this 
is the hard and fast line of 

48
00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,240
where decoration stops or ends 
or whatnot. 

49
00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,440
But decorative things can be 
very maximalist. 

50
00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,400
A lot of decoration, it can be 
very small touches, minimal kind

51
00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:12,720
of decoration. 
In terms of decoration, by your 

52
00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,440
standpoint, Aaron, what would 
you consider to be like, yes, 

53
00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,160
this is decorative versus no, 
that is minimalist? 

54
00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:22,080
I feel like we actually have a 
pretty good spectrum amongst the

55
00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,200
three of us and there's 
definitely more minimal than 

56
00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:27,720
Mark, but I would say Mark is at
our minimal end of our spectrum.

57
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:29,720
And just I'd say you're probably
in the middle. 

58
00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,440
And then I'm maybe more towards 
the maximalist side. 

59
00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:37,640
But really anything that is an 
aesthetic choice that you're 

60
00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:39,520
making in your journal is 
decorative. 

61
00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:41,880
Even if you're not adding 
stickers and washy tape, if 

62
00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,320
you're choosing to do something 
in a pretty font for title, 

63
00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,320
you're decorating it. 
So we're kind of all doing it a 

64
00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:48,800
little bit, even if we don't 
realize. 

65
00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,440
It no, I think that's a pretty 
good way to define it as well. 

66
00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:53,400
It's like, you know, anything 
that is done for that visual 

67
00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:55,400
element. 
So it doesn't have to be the 

68
00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:59,080
typical kind of traditional, I 
guess the way that we would 

69
00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:01,120
think of decoration in a 
planner. 

70
00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:03,920
Because if you say just 
decoration to me, my mind will 

71
00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:06,960
instantly go to that kind of 
like hardcore maximalism, Like 

72
00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,720
people be whipping out their 
paints maybe, or doing a whole 

73
00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:11,880
bunch of doodling and drawing 
and such. 

74
00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,440
But technically speaking, you 
can have a very wide spectrum 

75
00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:17,240
for decoration. 
So it could be those really 

76
00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,160
small touches. 
And I think that if you keep 

77
00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,760
that in mind when it comes to 
thinking about your decorative 

78
00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,440
stuff in your planner, it can 
make it a lot more approachable 

79
00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,480
for people if they keep in mind 
that it doesn't have to be like 

80
00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,280
hardcore all the decoration all 
over the page all at once. 

81
00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:33,960
Absolutely. 
I would say it's actually what 

82
00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:38,160
drew me to creative planning and
you know, the old bullet journal

83
00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,440
method in the 1st place because 
being able to change it up every

84
00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:43,360
month is what was really 
exciting to me. 

85
00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:45,640
And so that's kind of what's 
kept me coming back. 

86
00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,360
I, I was one of those people who
would abandoned a planner after 

87
00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,120
like 3 weeks of the year, like a
pre printed planner. 

88
00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,600
But I haven't missed a month of 
keeping my creative journal 

89
00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:57,840
since I started it in September 
2017. 

90
00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:00,120
So it's the decoration that 
keeps me here. 

91
00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,280
I think that having it is kind 
of like that foundational part 

92
00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,760
of your journal and keeping it 
so then you do actually come 

93
00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,720
back to and use your journal or 
use your planner can be really 

94
00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:12,280
helpful for people. 
Because like you said, if you're

95
00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,360
going to quit a pre printed 
planner three weeks into it, 

96
00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:18,000
it's like, cool, wasted my time,
wasted my money, wasted my 

97
00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,680
effort to whatnot. 
So having something fun like 

98
00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:24,840
that to bring you back to it can
almost become not just a 

99
00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:27,400
decorative thing, but almost 
like a functional thing for you 

100
00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:29,560
because it's like, yeah, this 
keeps me be coming back and 

101
00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:31,880
actually using my productivity 
or planning system. 

102
00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:36,440
So I kind of almost see 
decoration as like a functional 

103
00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:38,680
fundamental of my planning. 
Yeah. 

104
00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,000
It's part of a creative 
practice, right? 

105
00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:46,040
It's kind of a self-expression 
method as well as a planning 

106
00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:47,840
method. 
I think that's really cool. 

107
00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:49,920
So when it comes to that 
planning part, because, you 

108
00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:51,880
know, I think a big part of the 
conversation when it comes to 

109
00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,440
decorative planning is it's a 
waste of time where you're 

110
00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,400
spending so much time decorating
your pages and doing this whole 

111
00:04:57,400 --> 00:04:58,840
piece. 
I'm gonna be like the devil's 

112
00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:01,440
advocate of like the 
conversation today is it's like 

113
00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,080
the more middle of this guy. 
I don't believe this, right? 

114
00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:06,560
But at least we've probably all 
heard this throughout our time 

115
00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:08,640
of sharing our things online in 
YouTube. 

116
00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:11,280
So for Someone Like You, Aaron, 
that like, you know, kind of 

117
00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:13,560
like you said on that farther 
side of the spectrum of 

118
00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:17,360
decorative planning, do you see 
that as a waste of time? 

119
00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,000
Or how would you kind of have 
that conversation with someone 

120
00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:22,240
that was like, you're wasting 
all your time doing that? 

121
00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,720
Like it's not productive what 
you're doing because you could 

122
00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:26,280
be doing so much more at that 
time? 

123
00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,840
Like what's your usual counter 
conversation to that when you're

124
00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:31,640
hearing that? 
Let a girl have a hobby. 

125
00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,080
I feel like we're really, 
there's such a big trend at the 

126
00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:39,280
moment towards analog hobbies 
and just like getting offline. 

127
00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:44,000
And I think you know, with with 
come from a place of wanting to 

128
00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,680
be really, really productive all
of the time to being like, it's 

129
00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,480
okay to rest actually. 
So this is a way to bring both 

130
00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,080
of those together. 
And as maybe if I was being a 

131
00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,600
little bit cheeky, I would also 
say, well, it sustains me as a 

132
00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:57,800
career. 
So clearly it's not a waste of 

133
00:05:57,840 --> 00:06:00,640
time. 
That's an amazing answer to it. 

134
00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:02,240
I think that's a really big 
part. 

135
00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:05,520
I think that you can both have a
hobby and be productive at the 

136
00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,520
same exact time, right? 
Like it's a fun thing to do. 

137
00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:11,200
So if it's one of those things, 
as we've talked about in past 

138
00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,640
episodes too, I mean, if you're 
doing so much decorating, but 

139
00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,280
then not using your journal 
because you're spending so much 

140
00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:18,800
time in it, like I can agree, 
right? 

141
00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:21,200
That's not a positive use of 
your time. 

142
00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:23,200
That's not a positive use of 
your journal as a whole. 

143
00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:24,280
Really. 
It's just kind of like you're 

144
00:06:24,280 --> 00:06:27,040
just throwing things into it 
because you feel like you have 

145
00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:30,360
to versus I think we're probably
a lot the time comes into this 

146
00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:32,640
where you finally realize like I
can do both. 

147
00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,400
I mean, I know for myself there 
are weeks when like I don't have

148
00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,240
enough time to sit down and do 
like a crazy ass spread, right? 

149
00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:39,840
And I know that I know the time 
that I have. 

150
00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:42,920
So I'm like, OK, bare bones, 
real minimal, get it done this 

151
00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:44,280
week. 
And there's other times where 

152
00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:46,400
I'm like, Oh, I've got this idea
and I'm working through and 

153
00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,320
penciling it in throughout the 
weekend and finally go to sit 

154
00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:51,520
down and like execute on that 
idea. 

155
00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,080
And at no point during that 
process for me am I like, oh, 

156
00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,560
this is a waste of time. 
I'm like, yes, this is helping 

157
00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:58,800
me work towards a goal of 
something that I want to. 

158
00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:00,640
And then go ahead and start 
using it. 

159
00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:02,800
It's always a very positive 
feeling for me. 

160
00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:06,120
I also feel that it very much 
depends on what the purpose is 

161
00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,000
for your planner or journal. 
Because for some people the 

162
00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:12,320
decoration is the purpose. 
Like it is the creative aspect 

163
00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:14,560
in terms of like their hobbies 
that they have or whatnot. 

164
00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,280
It is the thing that brings them
joy and it's cup filling and 

165
00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:19,400
such. 
Whereas maybe the productivity 

166
00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:21,880
aspect of planning isn't 
actually what they're there for.

167
00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,960
So that could also be a factor. 
Yeah, I had that thought too. 

168
00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:27,880
I've definitely had comments 
from people a few times who are 

169
00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:30,120
like, I'd love to keep a journal
like this, but I don't have 

170
00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:34,280
enough planning to justify it. 
And I'm like, cool, start a junk

171
00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:36,600
journal. 
Like it doesn't actually have to

172
00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:38,760
be about planning. 
It can be or you know, a reading

173
00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:40,240
journal is so much fun to 
decorate. 

174
00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:43,520
Like I think even if it is a 
planner set up and then you 

175
00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,680
didn't use it, if you had a good
time setting it up, it wasn't 

176
00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:48,680
wasted and now you have 
something pretty to look at. 

177
00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:50,480
And if you want to, you can go 
back and fill it with other 

178
00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:51,840
things. 
But you also don't have to. 

179
00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,960
I love that as a sentiment, if 
you had a good time with it, it 

180
00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,800
wasn't wasted. 
I think also something too that 

181
00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,920
I've been thinking about a lot 
recently with that conversation 

182
00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:05,600
is find the size journal that 
works for the size of your life 

183
00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,520
at that point too. 
Like I know B sixes are like all

184
00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,200
the rage right now because it's 
a little, you know, it's smaller

185
00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:13,400
than that A5 size. 
You can kind of fill it up 

186
00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:16,840
really nicely versus going into 
that conversation, right, and 

187
00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:19,320
saying, I don't have a lot going
on and then grabbing like AB 5 

188
00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:21,880
off of your shelf, right? 
And like trying to fill out an 

189
00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:25,160
entire page in a week and you 
maybe make it halfway down or 

190
00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,160
kind of the opposite. 
That's what's happened to me 

191
00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,240
where I was like, you know what,
I'm using like several pages a 

192
00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:32,919
week in an A5. 
I need to step put up a notch 

193
00:08:32,919 --> 00:08:36,000
and kind of go to AB5 and like 
right now I'm actually kind of 

194
00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:38,400
on the opposite side of that. 
This is the great thing about 

195
00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,600
having a library of blank 
notebooks next to me is that I 

196
00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,240
can say, you know what, right 
now life does not require AB5 

197
00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,400
size. 
I can go down to a square or an 

198
00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:49,560
A5 and kind of approach it that 
way. 

199
00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:51,840
And I think that's like a really
important part of it as well as 

200
00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:53,280
like, hey, I don't have a lot 
going on. 

201
00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,200
Well, you can decorate inside of
a smaller one, fill out the 

202
00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:58,720
notes that you have and feel 
good about both things at the 

203
00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,840
same time. 
I love that you consider going 

204
00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:04,280
to a square like a size 
downgrade because that's still 

205
00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:06,120
huge to me. 
I'm working in a traveler's at 

206
00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,120
the moment for my my personal 
journal. 

207
00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:12,320
And yeah, I think going to the 
square sounds terrifying. 

208
00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,240
That's so much fun. 
I think that changing up a size 

209
00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:17,360
can be a really great 
opportunity to play around with 

210
00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:19,120
decorative stuff. 
But I think that one of the 

211
00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:21,800
things that really possibly 
holds people back from getting 

212
00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,320
started with decorative planning
or, you know, decorative 

213
00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,560
journaling or whatnot is just 
like that fear of messing up or 

214
00:09:27,560 --> 00:09:30,560
like worrying that you're not 
going to be able to execute in 

215
00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:33,680
the way that it is in your find.
Like the number of times I have 

216
00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:37,120
had a really great idea for a 
layout and then I just cannot 

217
00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,840
get myself to actually put it on
paper. 

218
00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:43,000
So I feel like those kind of 
things and the possible mistakes

219
00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,720
that come with trying to 
decorate your planner that can 

220
00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:48,560
definitely hold people back in 
terms of like, you know, 

221
00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:51,160
beginner mistakes or mistakes 
that you made through your 

222
00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:53,840
decorating journey. 
Erin, what do you reckon some of

223
00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,040
the ones that are kind of common
for people to make? 

224
00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,120
I don't love the word mistakes 
necessarily because I feel like 

225
00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,600
like anything to learn, you kind
of have to go through it to get 

226
00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:04,880
to the other side and be in a 
place where you feel comfortable

227
00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,320
with things. 
But I definitely think trying to

228
00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:10,920
jump in with too many things at 
once can be a little bit of a 

229
00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,040
hurdle when you're decorating. 
So if you're just starting out, 

230
00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:16,600
I would recommend going with 
something a little bit simpler. 

231
00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,560
Maybe just pick like a couple of
colors and work with those. 

232
00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:22,720
Definitely buying a lot of 
stationary before you've kind of

233
00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:25,280
really committed to the hobby 
can be a bit of a trap because 

234
00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:28,240
then you're also overwhelmed not
just with your page space, but 

235
00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:30,600
with how much stuff you have to 
choose from from you might feel 

236
00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,840
like you have to use all of it. 
And this one's really hard for a

237
00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,960
lot of us and it was hard for me
in the beginning too, but you 

238
00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:38,680
know, we can reach a point where
we let it go. 

239
00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:41,280
I think it also helps that I'm 
Australian and we just have this

240
00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:43,920
she'll be right attitude about 
most things in life. 

241
00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:45,720
But just letting go of a 
mistake. 

242
00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:50,160
I know it's so hard to do, but 
like in the long term, anything 

243
00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:52,800
that you've done in your journal
isn't really going to matter in 

244
00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:55,160
a few months from now. 
And you're probably not going to

245
00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:57,640
remember your mistakes as much 
as you're going to remember the 

246
00:10:57,640 --> 00:10:59,040
things that you made that were 
beautiful. 

247
00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,560
So just trying to let go of that
perfection. 

248
00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:04,440
I know it's hard, but it's 
really important. 

249
00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:05,880
I like what you said there, 
though. 

250
00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:08,800
I think you have to be able to 
make those mistakes though, to 

251
00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:10,840
then get to the point where you 
can let those go. 

252
00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,720
Like this past week, I was doing
some stamping and I just stamped

253
00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,320
something down. 
And I always tell myself, never 

254
00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:17,760
stamp the same thing twice, 
right? 

255
00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:19,640
It's going to blur. 
It's not going to look great. 

256
00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:21,720
And I went ahead and did it 
anyway. 

257
00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,880
And I was like, this looks like 
poop on my page. 

258
00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,360
And I literally just moved it 
down a line, popped it looked 

259
00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,480
great and I just left it there 
and I was like, wow, Mark, 

260
00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:33,240
because usually I would have 
been like, cover that up. 

261
00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,360
Do with, you know, like I was 
find all these other solutions 

262
00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:38,920
to try to fix it. 
And almost to your exact point, 

263
00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:40,520
I was like, it doesn't matter. 
It's a weekly. 

264
00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:44,800
It's literally not even a 2cm of
a space. 

265
00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,920
Like it's not a big deal and 
kind of moved along from there. 

266
00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:51,200
I'm also a big proponent, 
though, in that same breath of 

267
00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:54,200
saying cover mistakes with 
stickers or like washi tape. 

268
00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,000
Like it's a really great way. 
Your page looks really cool and 

269
00:11:57,000 --> 00:11:59,760
nice and you've if you use some 
of the washi tape that you never

270
00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:02,600
ever use, usually cover up a 
mistake, you're good to go. 

271
00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:05,400
I love that it's stamps for you 
because to me stamps are like an

272
00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:09,160
expert level journal tool and I 
tend to avoid them a little bit.

273
00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:11,800
And you're like minimalist guy 
and you're out here with your 

274
00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:12,680
stamps. 
I love it. 

275
00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:16,080
I also love that we sometimes do
have to learn multiple times 

276
00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:18,080
over. 
It's like, OK, the first time I 

277
00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:20,320
tried to double stamp something,
it didn't work. 

278
00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,040
The next time I tried to double 
stamp something, it didn't work.

279
00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:25,240
And now you're like, what, five 
years into the piece of 

280
00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:26,240
stamping? 
You're like, you know what? 

281
00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:29,120
Maybe if I try it this time, 
maybe if this time I double 

282
00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,960
stamp it, it'll be OK, no? 
My mistakes usually come from 

283
00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,160
being impatient. 
So it's like erasing something 

284
00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:38,480
that's not dry yet because 
there's pencil under it. 

285
00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:42,320
Or like, I'll just put this here
for now and then if I change my 

286
00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:44,400
mind, I'll move it. 
And then you try to peel it up 

287
00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,040
and it tears your paper 
underneath and you're like, why 

288
00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:49,280
did I do this? 
I mean, it's funny when you say 

289
00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,640
like stamps or expert level, 
whereas like for me, anything 

290
00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:56,600
that involves layering paper or,
or stickers or anything that 

291
00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,320
that's just so outside of my 
space. 

292
00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:01,400
It was actually like one of the 
things I first thought of when 

293
00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,320
we were planning for this 
episode is that I, that's why 

294
00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:06,680
I'm like, I think that 
decorative planning is a skill, 

295
00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:09,080
like very much a skill, 
especially when it comes to 

296
00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:10,800
that. 
Because for me, any mistake I've

297
00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:13,120
made with like real, like 
decorative. 

298
00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:17,320
Again, for me, decorative is 
like adding paper and stickers 

299
00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:20,520
and all kinds of just off my 
page where I've tried it. 

300
00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:22,160
I was like, oh, layering, I see 
people do it. 

301
00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:25,080
It looks so nice and beautiful. 
Aaron, you being one of those 

302
00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:27,000
people that can like layer 
things beautifully. 

303
00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,200
I just don't think I have like 
this spatial awareness for it 

304
00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:34,560
because I'm like, OK, square 
piece of paper, OK, sticker on 

305
00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:36,520
the corner. 
And then I'm like, well, then 

306
00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:40,480
now where do I write on here? 
Like maybe I put a washy piece 

307
00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:43,680
over here and the next thing you
know, it just looks like the 

308
00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:46,640
bottom of my trash can after 
like a crafting session. 

309
00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,360
Everything's stuck together and 
it's just, it looks horrible. 

310
00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:52,960
So like, that's how I see a lot 
of this, where I was just like, 

311
00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:55,480
yeah, not that that's why I like
stamps because it's literally 

312
00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:58,280
like stamp ink, paper, Don. 
I'm like, yeah. 

313
00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:00,240
And it looks really nice. 
That makes sense. 

314
00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:03,360
I think you're right in that 
it's a skill, but what's great 

315
00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:05,000
about a skill is that anyone can
learn it. 

316
00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:07,600
It's really something that it's,
it's kind of there are there are

317
00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,040
formulas that you can apply. 
It is a creative thing. 

318
00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:14,960
So there's always going to be 
space for, you know, breaking 

319
00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:16,800
the rules and doing whatever you
like. 

320
00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,160
But I definitely have some 
little cheats that I think could

321
00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:22,240
help you out maybe. 
Yeah, no, let's let's share the 

322
00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:25,280
cheats because I think it's 
really important because I know,

323
00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:28,480
like I said, for me, this is an 
area where I'm like, I can never

324
00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:30,000
do that. 
Whereas like you just said, 

325
00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:31,680
you're like stamps, yeah, I 
could never do that. 

326
00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:34,120
So we can certainly get into 
that space. 

327
00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:38,040
A little bit of story time. 
When I was in school, I did art 

328
00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:40,560
class all the way through until 
like the end of high school. 

329
00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:44,240
And my art teacher repeatedly, 
the feedback she kept giving me 

330
00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,480
was your thing is just a thing 
floating in space and it has no 

331
00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:49,320
background. 
Like, I need you to layer 

332
00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:52,000
things. 
And I was like, but I poured my 

333
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,120
heart into this. 
What do you mean it's not deep 

334
00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:57,160
enough? 
And I think I may have taken 

335
00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:00,480
that and run too far in the 
other direction because now I'm 

336
00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,120
like all about the layers. 
Everything needs a background 

337
00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,840
all the time. 
But as far as jumping into if 

338
00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:09,240
you wanted to layer your 
ephemera of stickers, your 

339
00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:13,560
tapes, your pieces of paper, I 
kind of have like a rule of 

340
00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,360
three. 
So if you're looking for a CHEAT

341
00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:19,040
SHEET of a way to get started 
without kind of feeling 

342
00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,040
overwhelmed, I would recommend 
you go for something solid, 

343
00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,800
something textured and a detail.
So you're something solid could 

344
00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:29,000
be a solid piece of washi tape 
that's just one color, or it 

345
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,640
could be a piece of paper that 
maybe it has a little bit of a 

346
00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:34,800
pattern on it, but it's not 
anything too eye-catching, 

347
00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:36,880
something that just kind of 
disappears into the page and 

348
00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,480
it's like I'm a color. 
And then you're going to go for 

349
00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,320
your texture. 
My very favorite texture that I 

350
00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:44,520
use all the time is a wide washi
tape with some scripts lettering

351
00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:46,960
on it because it gives you a 
little bit of something, but 

352
00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:49,800
it's not interesting enough that
you're like, I want to read this

353
00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:52,360
piece of washi tape. 
It's just kind of there going a 

354
00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:54,640
bookish vibe, you know, 
something a bit vintage. 

355
00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,800
And then your detail could be a 
sticker sheet that you really 

356
00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,600
love, or it could be a roll of 
pet pre cut tape, preferably pre

357
00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:05,120
cut because the ones that aren't
pre cut just take so long and 

358
00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:07,400
you're just going to kind of 
stack those things. 

359
00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,080
So everything needs to be 
touching the thing that came 

360
00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:12,000
before it. 
And then you've got a little 

361
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:15,360
vignette in a corner or down the
side and you've got like, just 

362
00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,280
stop there, leave it there. 
Repeat anywhere that you've got 

363
00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:20,000
a bit of space. 
Instant theme. 

364
00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:22,560
See that's my problem. 
I don't know when to stop. 

365
00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:25,240
I think that's my biggest like, 
downfall when it comes to this 

366
00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:26,960
stuff. 
And that's that's something 

367
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,240
that's trial and error and that 
depends where you fall on that 

368
00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:31,080
minimal to maximal spectrum as 
well. 

369
00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,920
Like I might stop here or as 
Mark you might stop more like 

370
00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,360
here. 
So that's personal preference. 

371
00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:38,720
Throw it in the trash. 
How about you, Jess? 

372
00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:41,680
Yeah, I think that the the rule 
of three, I love a rule. 

373
00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:43,480
A rule just makes things so much
easier. 

374
00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:46,480
And I do think that being able 
to, you know, keep it to those 

375
00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:49,920
combining of elements that do 
like work nicely together. 

376
00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:51,760
If you have something in this 
category, something in this 

377
00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:53,880
category, something in this 
category, it can make it so much

378
00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,120
simpler. 
I also just love 3 as a number 

379
00:16:56,120 --> 00:17:00,400
for decoration in general, like 
3 items on a page, 3 colours in 

380
00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,080
a colour palette or something 
like that. 

381
00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,000
It just always seems to be a 
nice approachable amount because

382
00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:08,000
for a colour palette in 
particular, if you have two 

383
00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:10,880
colours, like sure, OK, like 
what? 

384
00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:12,920
Golden blue. 
Beautiful. 

385
00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,040
Absolutely excellent. 
Love that colour. 

386
00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:17,040
That's that's my colour palette 
in here. 

387
00:17:17,319 --> 00:17:19,640
I know, right? 
It's so good. 

388
00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:22,480
It's just a classic. 
But then if you kind of add 

389
00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:25,800
white as a colour into that now 
it's just like a little bit more

390
00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:27,680
complex. 
I know white people say like, 

391
00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:29,560
oh, it's not a colour. 
I'm like, yeah, sure. 

392
00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:31,920
Talk to Pantone. 
It really is. 

393
00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:34,280
If you're working with Blackout 
Journal then it's really a 

394
00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:36,760
colour. 
Definitely not that I shall be 

395
00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:39,680
using a blackout journal. 
I'm far too impatient for that. 

396
00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:42,880
But gosh, it looks so good when 
people put the white ink on the 

397
00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,840
black paper. 
If you think about it in terms 

398
00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:49,360
of like just adding in one extra
thing to make it a little 

399
00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:52,640
trifecta, a little trio, I find 
that that just makes it very 

400
00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:55,520
still approachable, but also 
just adds a little bit of 

401
00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:58,400
complexity, which can give you a
bit more flexibility when it 

402
00:17:58,400 --> 00:17:59,600
comes to setting up your 
layouts. 

403
00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:03,440
My current palette that I'm 
using has a pink kind of peachy 

404
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,120
gold kind of color and a dark 
grey. 

405
00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:08,600
And it means that then when I go
to put headers in or whatnot, I 

406
00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:10,560
have choice. 
I can use one of the three. 

407
00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:13,760
I can, you know, put down second
line highlights in whichever of 

408
00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:15,720
those colors. 
And it just gives you a bit more

409
00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:18,720
to play with in terms of adding 
visual interest while still 

410
00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:22,160
keeping it not overwhelming. 
Is it terrible that I know 

411
00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:24,920
exactly which tape set you're 
talking about when you mention 

412
00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:26,320
those colors? 
Because I've used it too. 

413
00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:29,840
I know, right? 
It's I had such FOMO. 

414
00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:32,000
See, this is the thing. 
If you want inspiration, just go

415
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:33,920
and check out what everybody 
else is doing and then you'll 

416
00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:35,760
see that they're all using the 
same thing and and you'll have 

417
00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:37,840
to use the same thing. 
That takes. 

418
00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:41,040
That's the perfect example, 
though, of like a great place to

419
00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:42,760
start. 
If you just get that tape set 

420
00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:44,640
and a couple of pens, there's a 
theme. 

421
00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,080
It's perfect. 
Yeah, I find that working in 

422
00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,640
themes in general just makes 
decoration a lot easier, or at 

423
00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:52,480
least I personally find it. 
Is that part of the reason you 

424
00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:55,720
use themes Erin or? 
Yeah, I definitely started. 

425
00:18:55,720 --> 00:19:00,280
I do my themes monthly in my 
planner and I will just do 

426
00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:02,760
whatever I like for a page in 
something like my reading 

427
00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:06,440
journal, just to match the book.
So that one's very eclectic, but

428
00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,160
as far as like monthly themes in
my journal, I'm pretty sure I 

429
00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:11,720
only started doing that because 
I saw other people doing it. 

430
00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,560
But it is just enough time for 
me to, I feel like get really 

431
00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:18,400
good use out of some stationary,
sometimes even use some things 

432
00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:21,320
up, which is always a good 
feeling, and then move on to 

433
00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:22,760
something else before I get sick
of it. 

434
00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:24,680
And I think that's the sweet 
spot for me. 

435
00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:27,480
Yeah, I think that that novelty 
factor can definitely add to 

436
00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,880
enjoyment. 
And as you kind of mentioned, a 

437
00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,400
month long period is a 
sufficient amount of time to 

438
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:36,320
like almost get your reps in and
practice utilizing the materials

439
00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,040
in different way, which can be 
very helpful when it comes to, 

440
00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,120
you know, future designs and 
future decorative escapades that

441
00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:44,000
you're doing. 
Because you start to find these 

442
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,440
formulas that you use for 
yourself in terms of how you 

443
00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:48,880
bring elements together. 
And that can make the decoration

444
00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:50,920
just a little bit more 
approachable, which is nice. 

445
00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,160
So Aaron, when you're talking 
about your monthly themes for 

446
00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,600
those who may be having seen 
inside of your journal, so 

447
00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:57,360
you're setting up a theme and 
then you're setting up your 

448
00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:00,840
entire month at one time. 
Or do you still set it up week 

449
00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,320
by week, but you're just keeping
out those materials to keep that

450
00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:05,920
theme going? 
I was kind of going somewhat 

451
00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:08,480
week by week on my my weeklies, 
which is where most of my 

452
00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,560
planning really happens, like to
do lists and events and that 

453
00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:14,480
kind of thing. 
I'm not doing a huge amount of 

454
00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:15,880
habit tracking and that kind of 
thing. 

455
00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:20,480
I've kind of moved away from the
the classic bullet journal kind 

456
00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,640
of tracker systems I think, but 
I do it at the moment. 

457
00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,400
I do it all in one go. 
The traveler size makes it a lot

458
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:28,320
more approachable. 
I think in that way, because 

459
00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:30,720
it's small, it doesn't take as 
long to set up. 

460
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,400
So I do recommend a smaller 
journal if you are just starting

461
00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:35,120
out because it's a lot less 
intimidating. 

462
00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:38,080
But yeah, I've been finding that
setting up a whole month in 

463
00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:41,600
advance is OK for me. 
I have a pretty repetitive kind 

464
00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,000
of life schedule. 
I'm most of the time just right 

465
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:45,560
here in this office when I'm 
working. 

466
00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:49,640
So I feel like that benefits me.
I think if you were someone who 

467
00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:52,480
was in a more kind of flexible 
situation there where things 

468
00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:54,760
could change a lot from one week
to the next, it would probably 

469
00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,720
be more beneficial to do things 
as they come rather than in 

470
00:20:57,720 --> 00:20:59,640
advance. 
But I like doing it all at once.

471
00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:01,840
That's going to be my next 
question actually was, you know,

472
00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,040
how do you plan ahead for things
that you don't know that are 

473
00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:06,000
happening? 
But what you're saying there at 

474
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,080
this point in your life, in all 
of these years of journal and 

475
00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,120
you've just realized like you 
kind of use this exact amount of

476
00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:15,000
space, Therefore you kind of 
plan in advance for it versus 

477
00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:16,840
not really knowing. 
Because that's how I feel like I

478
00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,680
could probably never really 
fully set up a month in advance 

479
00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:21,600
because every week is a bit 
different for me. 

480
00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,440
That's why I like to do like a 
week by week planning, even 

481
00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,800
though I think planning a month 
in advance may be helpful for 

482
00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,760
like, instead of giving myself 
like a next week section of my 

483
00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:34,600
weekly, I could just turn the 
page and write it down on that 

484
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,400
next week's page instead. 
But I've always one of those 

485
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:40,160
people that's like, well, what 
if my notes in my task and kind 

486
00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,760
of all of those go past the 
pages I've already said I don't 

487
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,120
want to have to like find 
another space for them to live 

488
00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:48,920
in those following weeks. 
So that's I think a really 

489
00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:52,160
important part of it for those 
people who are trying to figure 

490
00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:55,280
out like, well, can I or should 
I set up a week in advance or 

491
00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:57,040
should I not? 
Like you said, your I think your

492
00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,200
rule is a very good one. 
I actually used to plan even 

493
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,280
further in advance because when 
I was a wedding photographer, I 

494
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:06,240
was quite often booking weddings
a year, a year and a half in 

495
00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:08,280
advance. 
And so I needed space to be able

496
00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:09,760
to keep track of all of that 
kind of stuff. 

497
00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:11,600
I don't have to do that so much 
anymore. 

498
00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:14,440
My planning, I can be a lot more
flexible, like in the short term

499
00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:15,760
than I used to be, which is 
nice. 

500
00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:20,120
But yeah, I also, I'm just kind 
of fine with blank spaces. 

501
00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:23,920
Like if I have left too much 
room for a weekly, that honestly

502
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:26,160
doesn't bother me. 
I know some people don't love 

503
00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,040
what feels like wasting paper. 
I feel like we've kind of 

504
00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:31,120
touched on this already, but 
it's as long as I had a good 

505
00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:33,000
time with it, it's not really a 
waste to me. 

506
00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,880
And sometimes you'll have a week
where you were just really 

507
00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:39,920
unwell and, you know, maybe it's
not so much fun, but you can put

508
00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:43,200
like, OK, well, I started 
feeling unwell On this date and 

509
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,360
then I went to the doctor On 
this date and I started this new

510
00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:47,200
medication On this date. 
And then you're like, well, 

511
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:49,760
that's still useful. 
Not talking from experience a 

512
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:50,880
month ago. 
What do you mean? 

513
00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:54,440
So I know you mentioned that you
mainly do monthly themes. 

514
00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:56,800
I say it like I don't watch all 
of your monthly plan with me. 

515
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,440
So like, ha, whatever fan 
moment, Oh my gosh. 

516
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:03,080
But I know that in your mystery 
journal that you set up, you've 

517
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,960
also been doing some kind of 
like overarching themes. 

518
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:09,120
What do you see the kind of 
benefits of that versus more of 

519
00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:11,720
a like pick and choose on each 
individual kind of like a 

520
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:13,920
monthly basis compared to that 
one? 

521
00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,400
Yeah, so the mystery journal is 
in just in case anyone's not 

522
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:20,800
familiar, it's a project where I
set up a journal in advance for 

523
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,160
six months and then give it away
on my channel. 

524
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:26,320
And I the main reason I started 
doing it is because as a 

525
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:29,840
self-employed person for a very 
long, my own journals not always

526
00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,200
that relatable to people and I 
don't feel like there's always 

527
00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:33,880
that much inspiration they can 
take from it. 

528
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:36,400
So the Mystery Journal was my 
personal challenge to come up 

529
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,480
with something that anyone could
use, give some more inspiration 

530
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,040
to people who are maybe in a 
more traditional employment 

531
00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,400
situation than me. 
And then you know, what am I 

532
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,440
going to do with it at the end? 
So I do it in advance and give 

533
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,920
it away. 
And the last few I have been 

534
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:51,640
theming kind of an overarching 
theme. 

535
00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:54,600
The first one was Magic and then
we had Floral 1 going at the 

536
00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:56,320
moment. 
The next one's coming up soon. 

537
00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,080
I won't tell you what it is yet,
but my channel members know, I 

538
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,280
guess it was really a personal 
challenge to myself and I have 

539
00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,640
more stationary than any one 
person could ever possibly use. 

540
00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,240
So it's been fun to look at my 
collection and be like, I have a

541
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,640
lot of flowers and I'd like to 
move some of them along. 

542
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,280
So let's do a floral themed 
journal, which has bitten me in 

543
00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:17,200
the butt a little bit because 
floral is kind of my own fall 

544
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:18,600
back. 
So I feel like I'm at a point 

545
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:21,360
now where I'm maybe pushing out 
a bit too much floral content 

546
00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:23,080
and there are people who aren't 
into flowers. 

547
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,320
I'm like, I'm sorry, I promise 
I'll do some stuff that's not 

548
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,200
flowers soon. 
But it has been really fun just 

549
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,120
to kind of lean into a theme and
because I'm setting it up quite 

550
00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:32,800
quickly. 
I do that one over the course of

551
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,680
probably six weeks it you can 
really get into a flow and it 

552
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:39,480
kind of helps to stay in that 
headspace and be like we're 

553
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:41,080
we're just gonna think about 
flowers for a while. 

554
00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:44,200
Yeah, I do think that there it 
can be kind of nice in a way to 

555
00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,440
give yourself that overarching 
theme to add a little bit of 

556
00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:48,680
like, like some boundaries or 
restriction on yourself because 

557
00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,480
otherwise, like, you know, world
as you're always there, like so 

558
00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:54,360
many different options for a 
theme, like inspiration can 

559
00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:55,760
strike from pretty much 
anywhere. 

560
00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:58,960
In terms of like the most common
places for you to find theme 

561
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,960
inspiration, though, where do 
you find yourself most often 

562
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,600
either looking for it or most 
likely to have it like right at 

563
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:08,000
that point? 
Honestly, my own stationary 

564
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:09,720
collection is typically where I 
go. 

565
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:13,000
So usually if I've just got some
new stuff, there'll be something

566
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,880
in there that I'm excited about.
And I'm like that's I need to 

567
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,440
use this moon tape immediately. 
And so I'll go through 

568
00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,040
everything else that I've got 
and kind of build a theme around

569
00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,240
that. 
But likewise, if I'm not feeling

570
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:26,720
very inspired, if I have no 
idea, sometimes I'll go to my 

571
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:28,760
channel members and be like, 
help me pick a theme. 

572
00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:31,480
But sometimes I'll just go to my
collection of washi tapes or 

573
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:33,800
I'll go through my folder of 
papers and just try to 

574
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:36,680
rediscover things that I already
have and go, oh, wait, I haven't

575
00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:38,520
used this yet. 
And it's these colours. 

576
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:40,000
What else do I have that's these
colours? 

577
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,040
What else do I have that feels 
vintage or whatever it is? 

578
00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:46,240
And I try to just shop my stash 
as much as I can. 

579
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,640
I definitely consume a lot less 
planner content than I used to. 

580
00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,200
I used to go looking for 
inspiration on Instagram a lot 

581
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:54,640
and there is still a lot of 
wonderful inspiration there. 

582
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,160
But I'm just trying to spend 
less time looking at screens so 

583
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,600
try to keep it looking within my
own office 1st. 

584
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,200
I love that because I think 
that's where a lot of people 

585
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,400
fall in the same thing. 
We buy all of this stuff all the

586
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,360
time because we see it and then 
we put it in a drawer or we 

587
00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:11,400
organize it away. 
Right now I'm going through a 

588
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,160
project where I'm cataloguing 
all of my stamps, so all of my 

589
00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:15,800
clear stamps and my block 
stamps. 

590
00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:19,600
Because the problem that I'm 
having is I have them all, but 

591
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:21,720
then I'm like, oh, I need days 
of the week. 

592
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,320
What collections do I have that 
have days of the week on them? 

593
00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:27,800
So like I'm using air table 
right now and I'm like doing 

594
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,200
this whole project because I've 
already stored them. 

595
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:33,560
I have them all stored and I 
labeled all the good things. 

596
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:36,600
But now I'm like, OK. 
And it has been amazing like 1 

597
00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,160
because I've been going back 
through things that I forgot 

598
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,600
that I had like one of my 
favorite stamp sets was from 

599
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,280
Archer and Olives. 
It was their familiars from like

600
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:47,120
a number of Halloweens ago. 
But there's just some really 

601
00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:51,040
cool looking animal stamps that 
are on there that could just be 

602
00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,200
like really cool centerpieces 
for a page. 

603
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,720
I'm also just like realizing how
much I have things I haven't 

604
00:26:56,720 --> 00:26:59,200
touched in a while and it's been
great because because I've been 

605
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:01,240
doing exactly that. 
I'm like, Oh, I like write it 

606
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:02,960
down. 
I'm like, we're using this next 

607
00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,360
week. 
And then I'm like, Oh, wait, a 

608
00:27:05,360 --> 00:27:07,280
familiars. 
I think there was a washi tape 

609
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:08,800
collection that also came with 
that. 

610
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:12,240
I'm like, all of a sudden those 
things are coming together and I

611
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,360
love this idea because I'm not a
real color person. 

612
00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:16,920
So I'm more of like a image type
of person. 

613
00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:20,160
So I'm like, Oh, snakes, OK, to 
be serpents. 

614
00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,400
I what do I have for that? 
Right, or potion bottles or like

615
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:25,120
whatever it might be for that 
week. 

616
00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:28,080
And that's been a really fun for
me, but it also is a really 

617
00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:30,280
great way to do it. 
And it's funny because like what

618
00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:33,760
she said up front, like I never 
really considered myself like a 

619
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,600
person who makes themes pages. 
But like, as you all are 

620
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:38,800
talking, I'm like, no, I totally
do that. 

621
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,080
I'm like, Oh, I'm going for like
this idea. 

622
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,040
Then technically it's a theme. 
And then every week is a 

623
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:45,520
different theme. 
I don't know, I always think of 

624
00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:48,280
themes how you all kind of 
planned or have planned in your 

625
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:50,720
journals, which is like setting 
things up for an entire month. 

626
00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:53,560
And my thing is, I think I would
get bored of it after the first 

627
00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:55,840
week. 
So I was just like, Oh, now what

628
00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:57,520
I'm going to do, It's already 
here. 

629
00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,960
So it's it's it's been like a 
little eye opening, like, oh, 

630
00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,440
wait a second mark like you are 
and it's OK. 

631
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:08,000
It doesn't have to be overly 
decorative necessarily to still 

632
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:09,720
be decoration and have fun with 
it. 

633
00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,440
Just pop a little stamp and be 
like, yeah, stamp decorated 

634
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:13,680
plan. 
Good, let's go. 

635
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,080
I feel like one day we should 
all set up a layout for each 

636
00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:18,640
other and try and use it for a 
week and see if it works. 

637
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,880
Oh gosh, I'd be like, what is 
cyclical planning and why is 

638
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:26,600
this a weird start and it 
doesn't end on the normal day. 

639
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:28,640
I'm used to and. 
I'll just be like cool so here's

640
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,840
your 5 bucks weekly you heathen.
The weekend exists. 

641
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:36,240
That's what happens when you use
your bullet journal for work and

642
00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:39,160
you don't work on the weekends. 
I've never had that, so fair 

643
00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:41,000
enough. 
It's how it works for me. 

644
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:44,520
One of the big things I was 
curious about, Aaron, when you 

645
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,400
were talking about this, you 
know, rules of three and things 

646
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:49,240
like that. 
Maybe this comes into place here

647
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:51,600
a little bit when you are 
thinking about those themes. 

648
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:54,040
I know you said you're kind of 
shopping your stash, you know, 

649
00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:56,480
where you're starting from one 
thing and kind of building that 

650
00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:57,960
out. 
Like what does that look like 

651
00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,920
for you and your process? 
Because again, we see a lot of 

652
00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:02,640
the end results. 
And maybe like you said, if 

653
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:04,440
you're already, you know, 
watching your stuff on YouTube, 

654
00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:06,000
you kind of see as it builds on 
itself. 

655
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,200
But could you share with the 
other Planet pals like how you 

656
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:11,160
build out a theme and like how 
that process looks like for you?

657
00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:13,920
Absolutely. 
So often it starts by making a 

658
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:15,560
really big mess. 
I will just go through 

659
00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:18,680
everything and find anything 
that works in terms of color 

660
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,440
scheme or in terms of theme with
the original inspiration piece, 

661
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:25,920
and then I'll bring that to my 
desk and I'll typically make a 

662
00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:29,120
little mood board page with it. 
So I'll try out all of those 

663
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:31,320
things next to each other. 
Sometimes it's tricky if it's 

664
00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:33,760
something like a little sticker 
set where you've got a limited 

665
00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:36,280
number of the items and you 
don't want to stick something to

666
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,320
a page that means you can't use 
it anymore. 

667
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,680
But I'll kind of just put down 
some washi tape or stretch it 

668
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,200
out if it's got a release 
backing and layer things 

669
00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:46,760
together and just see what looks
good with everything else. 

670
00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:49,080
Get rid of anything that doesn't
make the cut. 

671
00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:51,960
Try and pare it down. 
I have been known to do some 

672
00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:54,480
setups with a lot of stuff and 
that's really fun. 

673
00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:57,040
I kind of moved a little bit 
away from that now because I 

674
00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:58,720
think it just, it was taking a 
really long time. 

675
00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:01,280
And when you record your content
for the Internet like us, and 

676
00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:04,720
you can see that this setup took
you 6 1/2 hours, you're like, 

677
00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:07,040
OK, maybe it's time to rein it 
in. 

678
00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:09,480
But putting together a little 
mood board. 

679
00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:11,160
It's like proof of concept, 
right? 

680
00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:14,200
That the theme that you 
envisioned in your head is 

681
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:15,600
actually going to look the way 
that you thought. 

682
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:17,240
And then you can Swatch pens 
against it. 

683
00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:19,120
You can make sure that those 
colours match up. 

684
00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:21,720
It's it's kind of my favorite 
way to do it. 

685
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,400
And I'll like include that 
sometimes in my vlogs and my 

686
00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:26,560
channel members get to see that 
whole process behind the scenes 

687
00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:28,440
for the mystery journal too. 
They help me pick all of the 

688
00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:30,640
themes for that. 
So that's great because then 

689
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,640
outsourcing the ideas is like a 
little bit less mental home for 

690
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:34,960
me. 
It's also so much. 

691
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:36,320
Fun. 
Yeah, Especially if you're doing

692
00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,240
what, like 24 plus setups in a 
year? 

693
00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:41,040
Because what, you've also got 
the start of journal setups 

694
00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:43,040
across 2 separate notebooks in 
theory. 

695
00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:47,240
So that's what, like 7 per 
notebook times four 7 * 420 

696
00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:49,760
Yeah, 28 setups, Yeah, wait, way
too much. 

697
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:54,240
I've never done that math. 
Oh my God, that's wild. 

698
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:56,160
Are you factored reading 
journals and things? 

699
00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,000
Am I good? 
Yeah, exactly. 

700
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,120
And then like if you're doing 
any other kind of like specialty

701
00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:03,240
setups for anything in 
particular, then that's also 

702
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:05,160
going to add to it. 
So that's a lot of things to be 

703
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,560
thinking of. 
But then part of my like, you 

704
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,000
know, FOMO mindset comes in. 
It's like, Oh my God, that's 

705
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,200
only 28 setups. 
There are so many good themes 

706
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:14,320
out there. 
I definitely have journals I 

707
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:16,320
care more about the aesthetic 
off than others. 

708
00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:20,400
So my actual planner that I use 
every day, I feel like I put 

709
00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:22,200
some effort into. 
But something like my reading 

710
00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:24,440
journal, I'm not mood boarding 
that bad boy. 

711
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:26,960
I'm jumping in with whatever 
feels good in the moment and we 

712
00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:29,600
just see where it ends up. 
I have a bit of a slogan, which 

713
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,880
is don't think, just stick, 
which probably isn't helpful if 

714
00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:34,960
you're a beginner at this kind 
of thing and you're trying to 

715
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,000
learn some techniques to make 
stuff look better. 

716
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:39,960
But I promise you in a year or 
two you'll be like, don't think,

717
00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:41,720
just stick. 
Put it wherever instinct feels 

718
00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:43,040
good. 
That's my reading journal. 

719
00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:45,720
The mood boarding? 
No way, because then at least 

720
00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,240
you do get that kind of like 
test run, trial run of how 

721
00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:51,480
things work together. 
Because I find that the thing 

722
00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:54,400
that I get most caught up on is 
color paletting and making sure 

723
00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:56,160
that the colors match across 
materials. 

724
00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:00,880
Because if I, you know, pick out
a tape or a sticker set or 

725
00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,520
something that has like a very 
particular shade of green and 

726
00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:07,120
then I use a pen that's like the
wrong shade of green, I'm like, 

727
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:08,400
cool, just throw the journal 
away. 

728
00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:10,200
Ruined it all. 
It's just not for me anymore. 

729
00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:11,840
A. 
Certain shade of green. 

730
00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:14,040
Sorry, you just made an incubus 
reference and you didn't even 

731
00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:14,480
know it. 
Oh. 

732
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:18,760
God, I'm so good at doing that. 
This whole conversation so far 

733
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:20,800
is kind of blowing my mind 
because I'm just always like, 

734
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:24,600
sometimes thinking of one thing 
to do in the week is just like a

735
00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:28,040
lot. 
And you all are like, Oh no, 27 

736
00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:30,880
different themes really used 
notebook. 

737
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:33,160
I'm like, Oh my goodness, I 
couldn't imagine. 

738
00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:35,440
That's across the year. 
That's not that's not for a 

739
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:37,320
week, though. 
Like on hard mode, doing it 

740
00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:40,560
weekly anyways, you have to do 
52 individual themes plus a 

741
00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:43,280
start of journal setup. 
So out here, we're on like, you 

742
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,480
know, the measly 28. 
You're just like, yeah, 53 crown

743
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:48,960
it. 
I guess, but I don't know, I 

744
00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,120
just feel like it's a lot of 
thinking for multiple journals, 

745
00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:54,240
I guess and doing it. 
I get why, right? 

746
00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:56,360
Like it makes absolute complete 
sense. 

747
00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,280
And you're like you said, this 
isn't just you know, something 

748
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:02,280
fun you're doing on the side 
like this is also your full time

749
00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:04,040
job essentially as well too, 
right? 

750
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:07,400
So like having those ideas, but 
utilizing them too, not just 

751
00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:09,800
always creating them, though the
mystery journal think I think is

752
00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:11,840
very cool. 
I think it's an awesome idea, 

753
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,640
especially knowing that like at 
the end somebody gets that 

754
00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:16,200
right. 
Like that's a really fun thing 

755
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,520
to do and also go back and watch
the process is that it's been 

756
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:22,240
created and then potentially 
when that, which is awesome, 

757
00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:24,280
which I think is cool. 
One question you have for you, 

758
00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:27,000
Aaron, again, because I know 
that we've been like talking 

759
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:28,760
about how amazing you are, what 
you do. 

760
00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:31,480
So you've talked about the 
process in which you do it. 

761
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:34,240
I'm also curious about like the 
tools of the trade. 

762
00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:37,240
You know, when it comes to like 
putting these things together, 

763
00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:41,320
what are some tools that you 
feel like are like must haves 

764
00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:45,000
when it comes to being like a 
decorative journal in your sense

765
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,400
of what that looks like? 
I love when things are already 

766
00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:51,960
cut for me, so I'm a really big 
fan of pre cut pet tapes and pre

767
00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:54,800
cut like kiss cut washy stickers
and that kind of thing. 

768
00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:57,160
I have a cricket and I'm not 
afraid to use it. 

769
00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:00,440
I love making my own cricket 
stickers with like foil or print

770
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:02,360
then cut. 
Particularly for the mystery 

771
00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:04,160
journal that's coming up, 
there's going to be a lot of 

772
00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:06,880
stickers that I made myself for 
that one, which will be fun. 

773
00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:10,120
I love a sticker tweezer. 
You can't go wrong with those. 

774
00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:12,639
Especially for things like pet 
precut tapes. 

775
00:34:12,639 --> 00:34:14,600
They can be a bit fiddly to kind
of peel up. 

776
00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:17,440
But my favorite thing to do with
paper is to RIP it. 

777
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:21,199
I think it looks so much more 
romantic and a little bit 

778
00:34:21,199 --> 00:34:23,400
whimsical to have some like a 
torn paper edge. 

779
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:26,880
I typically will almost never 
put down a piece of paper just 

780
00:34:27,199 --> 00:34:31,040
the way that it was printed and 
cut by a manufacturer. 

781
00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:32,880
I'll usually change it in some 
kind of way. 

782
00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:36,239
That's awesome. 
Yeah, I'm of the tool type 

783
00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:39,280
though, where like with paper 
specifically, I'm like, I don't 

784
00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:42,800
know that I want to cut like 
tear it because I know me, I'll 

785
00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,199
be like, oh, tear, tear, tear. 
It would like tear across the 

786
00:34:45,199 --> 00:34:46,639
other side. 
And then it's like not really 

787
00:34:46,639 --> 00:34:48,719
usable. 
Like a lot of bind decoration I 

788
00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:51,159
tried to make usable. 
So like if I am going to put 

789
00:34:51,159 --> 00:34:54,600
down another paper inside of my 
paper journal, which seems a 

790
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:56,840
little repetitive, right? 
But like I get it. 

791
00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:59,480
I'm always like, Oh no, no, no, 
like I just got some like 

792
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:03,240
cutters to do like a deckled 
edge because I also like the way

793
00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:06,720
it looks, but also don't trust 
myself enough to do it the right

794
00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:08,640
way. 
So I'm like, OK, let's get 

795
00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:11,160
something that cuts it to to 
make it look that way. 

796
00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,920
What a great workaround. 
Oh yeah, I mean, that's how my 

797
00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:15,880
life is, you know, where I'm 
like, oh, I need a thing. 

798
00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,480
Or like just has talked about 
fussy cutting before and like I 

799
00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:22,800
don't know what I'm gonna fussy 
cut but I have a fussy cutting 

800
00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:25,520
tool now because I might want to
fussy cut something. 

801
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:28,480
No I had one ID clotted it. 
I was like, you are not for me. 

802
00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:29,840
And I write. 
They're the worst. 

803
00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:32,240
I'm so glad he's excited but I'm
like, awful. 

804
00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:36,880
This. 
Yours might be good but I just I

805
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:39,440
don't have the skills. 
I just got this because Jess 

806
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:41,120
talked about it all the damn 
time. 

807
00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:43,520
No, no, no, no, you. 
You must not be remembering this

808
00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:44,600
correctly. 
I'm pretty sure that was 

809
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:47,800
distinctly in the episode of 
like our worst planning tools 

810
00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:49,240
that we would not purchase 
again. 

811
00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:52,240
Oh, I thought it because you've 
talked about it so much. 

812
00:35:52,240 --> 00:35:55,080
I don't know, I got it. 
Well I will find something to 

813
00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:57,400
fussy cut now because I bought 
this damn thing. 

814
00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:00,040
I will try to avoid fussy 
cutting at all costs, but if I 

815
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:04,640
have to small scissors, yes, and
there's so much better hands 

816
00:36:04,720 --> 00:36:05,800
too. 
Comfy grip. 

817
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:07,200
We love these ones and they're 
sharp. 

818
00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:09,440
Ouch, Ouch. 
Yeah, proof of concept. 

819
00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:13,360
I went the other not comfy grip 
like little tiny baby scissors 

820
00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:14,520
like. 
Nail scissors. 

821
00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:16,200
Yeah, and it looks like a little
bird. 

822
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:18,600
I have one of those too. 
I know how about you Jess, like 

823
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:22,080
do you have any like go to tools
that are like part of your must 

824
00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:25,640
have for decorative planning? 
I typically default to using a 

825
00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:27,960
tape for the most part. 
If I'm doing, you know, a more 

826
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:31,800
decorative setup, one where it's
actually got other materials and

827
00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:35,320
pens, typically I will kind of 
like center it on some kind of 

828
00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:38,240
tape or sticker set. 
Usually the sticker set is on a 

829
00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:41,240
roll of tape because it's like a
washi tape sticker set. 

830
00:36:41,240 --> 00:36:44,800
So stuff it, it's a tape and 
then I will just bring in other 

831
00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:47,360
elements to marry with it. 
If we go with that idea of like 

832
00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:49,920
the rule of three, I will 
usually keep it to like the 

833
00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:54,160
tape, some kind of other neutral
background type of thing that I 

834
00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:57,800
could layout with that tape and 
then some kind of like a pop of 

835
00:36:57,800 --> 00:36:59,760
color. 
So that could be a marker or it 

836
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:03,240
could be some something else. 
So usually I just let that tape 

837
00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:06,400
or that kind of like more 
intricately decorative piece do 

838
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:10,880
the heavy lifting because I am 
not great at marrying lots of 

839
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:14,480
elements together unless it is 
just one of those kind of like 

840
00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:18,200
standout pieces, more 
intricately detailed, more like,

841
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:21,600
you know, finely decorated and 
then a whole bunch of background

842
00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:23,080
elements. 
You know, if I'm doing a 

843
00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:26,280
collaging kind of piece, then I 
can get pretty bulky in terms of

844
00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:28,880
those background elements. 
We might have a couple of 

845
00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:32,480
different shades or different 
colors of background papers or 

846
00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:35,640
something, but they aren't 
really there to draw focus. 

847
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:38,160
Because as soon as I start to 
bring in too many things 

848
00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:41,520
together that are the type of 
things to draw focus, then I 

849
00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:44,600
start getting very particular 
about how well they match 

850
00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:47,480
together. 
I am the first to say I'm a 

851
00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:50,160
persnickety biscuit. 
I don't like it when elements 

852
00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:53,120
clash or they don't look like 
they're from the same kind of 

853
00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:55,720
artistry style. 
Which is why I am definitely a 

854
00:37:55,720 --> 00:38:00,680
sucker for a tape set as opposed
to marrying like sets that were 

855
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:04,440
like not together initially or 
elements from one set and 

856
00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:07,960
another where the decorative 
style doesn't really match. 

857
00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:10,600
Like, you know, if we go with 
the example of florals or 

858
00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:15,200
something like that, if the type
of floral does not look the same

859
00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:18,160
across multiple sets of stickers
or multiple tapes, I won't use 

860
00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:20,120
them together. 
Which is why I'm much more 

861
00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:22,840
inclined to just pick like, hey,
this is my feature tape or this 

862
00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:25,160
is my feature sticker set. 
And everything else is just 

863
00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:28,520
there to support that, kind of 
like main character. 

864
00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:30,760
Interesting. 
See, I'm totally really opposite

865
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:34,400
from Duke. 
Like especially with my stamps, 

866
00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:36,920
I'm like, oh, look, this is like
a little whatever. 

867
00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:38,480
I mean, they there's, they're 
close. 

868
00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:40,920
But I think what I'm also doing 
at this point is just like 

869
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:43,880
trying to use my damn stamp. 
So I'm like, this is kind of a 

870
00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:46,880
handwriting font and this kind 
of also looks like a handwriting

871
00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:48,160
font. 
They are not from the same 

872
00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:51,080
creator, the same font set, 
nothing like that. 

873
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:52,920
And I'm just like, yeah, it 
works. 

874
00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:55,200
But I guess this is the good 
thing also for me because like 

875
00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:58,360
you said, you guys focus so much
on like color and texture 

876
00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:01,680
matching and all of that. 
I because some colors just look 

877
00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:04,200
the same to me. 
So like I can't rely on that 

878
00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:06,720
whatsoever. 
So like, that's why my stuff 

879
00:39:06,720 --> 00:39:09,680
tends to be very basic. 
And I think why I'm also nervous

880
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:13,760
about doing that because like my
entire life, it's always like, 

881
00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:16,320
interesting, why don't you put 
those things together? 

882
00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:18,040
And I was like, they totally 
match. 

883
00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:20,600
Someone's like Mark that's brown
and that's green. 

884
00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:23,200
That's not the same. 
And I was like, it looks the 

885
00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:26,000
same to me. 
But like that's I think a big 

886
00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:28,800
part of it for me where I've 
just kind of fallen away from it

887
00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:30,600
a lot. 
I mean, I have so many just like

888
00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:33,440
the papers now that like Archer 
and Olive is giving out with 

889
00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:37,960
like every release, every like 
new set that we get, every 

890
00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:40,800
subscription box. 
I was like, OK, but like, what 

891
00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:43,680
do I do with these now? 
Because I don't feel comfortable

892
00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:47,440
myself personally using them 
because then it's like, you 

893
00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:50,240
know, something very photo 
realistic from like one of those

894
00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:53,120
paper sets. 
And then I don't have anything 

895
00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:55,080
else like photo realistic to go 
with it. 

896
00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:58,400
So like I just kind of find 
myself just mixing and matching 

897
00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:00,720
things cuz I'm like, Nah, that 
is what it is. 

898
00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:03,240
At least I'm using it. 
That's a style in itself too. 

899
00:40:03,240 --> 00:40:07,600
Like I think that's OK to do. 
I feel like maybe I'm not 

900
00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:10,600
usually a fan of these myself, 
but you can get those kind of 

901
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:13,800
ephemera packs where there's a 
bunch of stuff altogether. 

902
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,160
You'll have like a couple of 
tapes and some stickers and some

903
00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:19,920
papers and they've been curated 
to all look good together. 

904
00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:21,960
You really can't go wrong with 
something like that. 

905
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:25,480
So I guess that's how like pro 
tip for colour blind journal 

906
00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:27,840
pals. 
I did just get one of those from

907
00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:30,240
Journal say I didn't know that 
it was that, but it had like 

908
00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:34,240
letters in it. 
It had PET stickers and like 

909
00:40:34,240 --> 00:40:35,640
long pieces. 
It was all this thing. 

910
00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:37,720
I was like, hey, I've got a 
theme here. 

911
00:40:37,720 --> 00:40:40,560
No, I wouldn't do that normally 
that was a total accident of a 

912
00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:42,600
purchase, but I was excited 
about it. 

913
00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:45,880
But then I went ahead and 
separated everything out anyway.

914
00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:48,800
So I'm like, I'll know if it 
works together or not when we 

915
00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:50,880
get there. 
Like all these little, you know,

916
00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:52,960
train tickets, that'll be what 
it is. 

917
00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:56,120
And then I'll be like, oh, some 
washi tape, some PET tape. 

918
00:40:56,320 --> 00:40:58,240
Oh what a random stamp that's in
a different language. 

919
00:40:58,240 --> 00:41:01,280
It looks like a train ticket. 
And that's my theme. 

920
00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:02,240
I like it. 
I'm like that. 

921
00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:05,880
That could be a theme, just as 
like a screen calling theme that

922
00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:07,800
nobody would ever want to look 
like trash. 

923
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:11,440
I didn't say that. 
I saw it thinking it. 

924
00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:14,680
I saw it in your eyes. 
I saw it in your eyes. 

925
00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:17,080
That's OK. 
You were talking about bringing 

926
00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:19,560
stamps from different sets 
together and I'm like, I'm so 

927
00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:22,840
happy that you're comfortable to
do that, but I am not that way 

928
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:24,680
inclined. 
I'd be the person who's out 

929
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:27,360
there with their ruler, like 
measuring the line weight. 

930
00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:30,800
So I'm like, no, no, this stamp 
is too thick compared to this 

931
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:34,160
one and they can't possibly be 
used together or I would use 

932
00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:37,760
them together and then I'd get 
out my like, you know, 001 pen 

933
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:41,320
from Micron and just go and like
etch an extra line weight so 

934
00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:44,160
that they do look like they 
match together because I get 

935
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:47,200
particular about those kind of. 
Wow. 

936
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:49,520
Yeah, I don't have time to make 
it look. 

937
00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:51,720
I wouldn't even know because 
then I would mess it up and then

938
00:41:51,720 --> 00:41:53,840
it would look like garbage and 
I'd be mad at myself. 

939
00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:56,720
Like it's just, it's fine, it 
works, it's good. 

940
00:41:56,720 --> 00:41:59,160
This week is going to look 
totally different anyway, so who

941
00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:01,080
cares? 
Turn the page this week is dead 

942
00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:02,280
to me. 
I'm done with it. 

943
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:04,000
Pretty much. 
Sometimes it's like that. 

944
00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:07,560
Sometimes it does be like that, 
but to your point about the idea

945
00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:10,800
of, you know, those kind of 
curated packages or whatnot for 

946
00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:13,120
people who are just getting 
started with decoration and they

947
00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:15,720
do want something that feels 
cohesive, but they don't feel 

948
00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:18,200
like they have the skill set to 
bring the elements together by 

949
00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:20,000
themselves. 
That can be a really great place

950
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:23,320
to start, especially because 
oftentimes all of those ephemera

951
00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:26,400
sets have just like so much 
stuff in them that you can use 

952
00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:30,360
it once and then again and then 
again, maybe even for like a 

953
00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:32,840
couple of months if you really, 
really loved the theme. 

954
00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:35,080
I like to change my theme 
monthly, though. 

955
00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:37,600
It feels like a fresh start, but
it could be something that does 

956
00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:41,280
help out beginners. 
So a little secret, I also watch

957
00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:45,120
the content that you guys make 
and Mark, I know that you tend 

958
00:42:45,120 --> 00:42:47,080
towards more of a monotone 
colour palette. 

959
00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:48,760
Is that because of your colour 
blindness? 

960
00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:50,880
Is that why you tend to stay in 
that area? 

961
00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:54,600
01 bazillion percent. 
The only place that I get a 

962
00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:58,640
little crazy with colour is 
inside of my fountain pens, and 

963
00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:01,320
the only reason I'm able to do 
that is because I'm very 

964
00:43:01,320 --> 00:43:06,840
meticulous about catalog my inks
as well and using my resources 

965
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:09,960
to find out the actual shrew 
color of an ink because a lot of

966
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:13,800
them look the same to me. 
My color tags are literally red,

967
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:15,880
blue. 
I have a little bit of teal in 

968
00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:20,320
there sometimes right? 
Green, but I don't know, like 

969
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:23,600
the variances of that. 
So there are times where I'm 

970
00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:26,240
like, oh, OK, like this week, 
for instance, I'm using 

971
00:43:26,240 --> 00:43:29,760
something, it's called Blood 
Falls and it's in my mind it's 

972
00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:32,960
red and it is red. 
But then also because of my 

973
00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:35,280
color deficiency, like parts of 
it kind of look a little 

974
00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:38,360
brownish to me, like rusty. 
And so in my mind, I'm like, oh,

975
00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:41,160
it's like rusty blood, like, OK,
you know. 

976
00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:44,240
But a lot of the times though, I
do stick to just black. 

977
00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:47,080
But I will say that a lot of 
times I do that, especially with

978
00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:49,120
stamps and stuff like that, it's
because I just think it looks 

979
00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:51,920
really nice and crisp. 
You know, I come from a design 

980
00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:54,440
background and like a print 
background that's moved into 

981
00:43:54,440 --> 00:43:56,160
digital. 
So I think a lot of that, like 

982
00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:58,960
early design really kind of fell
in love. 

983
00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:02,720
I also just love like Bauhaus 
was like a really big influence 

984
00:44:02,720 --> 00:44:05,240
in my own personal life. 
I also am a big fan of just like

985
00:44:05,240 --> 00:44:07,760
architecture and architectural 
drawings and writing. 

986
00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:09,600
And most of that's in black, 
right? 

987
00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:11,800
You don't really have a lot of 
variances in that. 

988
00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:15,520
So, so much of that I think is 
influenced a lot of who it is 

989
00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:17,960
and like who I am. 
And then a lot of times though, 

990
00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:20,440
I just kind of rely and like 
really do throw it to the wind 

991
00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:23,040
where I was like, OK, this has 
some color in it. 

992
00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:25,880
I'm just going to put it down. 
And like, I'm not that worried 

993
00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:28,840
about it where maybe other 
people are more specific about 

994
00:44:28,840 --> 00:44:31,360
it. 
I'm just like, Congrats to Mark.

995
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:34,600
He used a color this week, you 
know, like go go me. 

996
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:39,480
But at no point do I ever really
honestly think like, oh, does 

997
00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:42,800
this blue look good with this 
other color? 

998
00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:46,520
Because most of the time I 
honestly couldn't tell you my my

999
00:44:46,520 --> 00:44:50,040
family over Christmas found out 
like just how color blind I am. 

1000
00:44:50,240 --> 00:44:54,400
There was this TikTok that was 
like from a ophthalmologist who 

1001
00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:56,800
was like, you know, what I 
realized during Christmas is 

1002
00:44:56,800 --> 00:44:59,840
that it's a really sad time for 
those that are color deficient. 

1003
00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:03,560
And she showed 2 screens like 
here's what colorblind people 

1004
00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:06,600
see and here's what like regular
people see. 

1005
00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:09,320
And both looked exactly the same
to me. 

1006
00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:13,240
And no lie, at the end of it, 
all three of the people in my 

1007
00:45:13,240 --> 00:45:17,440
house looked at me and said, oh,
that's the saddest thing I've 

1008
00:45:17,440 --> 00:45:20,600
ever heard in my entire life. 
And my one daughter was like, so

1009
00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:23,000
you see everything in poop, 
green and brown. 

1010
00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:24,800
And I was like, well, what do 
you mean? 

1011
00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:27,000
She's like, Christmas looks dull
to you? 

1012
00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:29,800
I'm so sorry. 
I was like, I just always look 

1013
00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:32,320
this way to me. 
So like a lot of that really 

1014
00:45:32,320 --> 00:45:35,600
just is like, I like the way it 
looks and I got to go with it. 

1015
00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:39,000
But I think that you could 
honestly really say a lot of it 

1016
00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:43,000
is black and white or like very 
lightly coloured. 

1017
00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:45,240
And if it does have a colour and
I probably don't know it. 

1018
00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:46,840
Yeah. 
Oh, that's so fascinating 

1019
00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:49,360
because I am that other end of 
the spectrum where I'm like 

1020
00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:52,400
perfectly matching my pens to 
the washi tape and trying to 

1021
00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:54,160
make everything look so 
cohesive. 

1022
00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:56,960
I just that's where I live my 
life you. 

1023
00:45:57,400 --> 00:45:59,360
Know yeah, I just say like 
something that I think that I 

1024
00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:02,000
like a lot, you know, and I'm 
like, oh this looks really cool 

1025
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,160
to me, right? 
And so I'm like, OK, well that's

1026
00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:05,440
all that matters at the end of 
the day. 

1027
00:46:05,440 --> 00:46:08,960
Like if I see an ink that looks 
really interesting to me, I'm 

1028
00:46:08,960 --> 00:46:12,400
sure to other people it's like 
the most whimsical, fantastical 

1029
00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:14,160
colour they've ever seen. 
And I'm like, this is a cool 

1030
00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:17,080
green and I only know it's green
'cause I read the description. 

1031
00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:19,400
Well, I can imagine you out 
there making like rage bait 

1032
00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:22,760
videos being like, come with me 
to Swatch this beautiful like 

1033
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:25,680
dark green ink and it's actually
just like trash brown. 

1034
00:46:25,840 --> 00:46:27,960
And everybody in the comments is
like, what's wrong with you? 

1035
00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:31,720
And you're just like, thank you 
for your support, I guess. 

1036
00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:34,720
Blame my eyes. 
There was a whole thing on 

1037
00:46:34,720 --> 00:46:38,080
TikTok last year where a lady 
who found out that her couch 

1038
00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:41,320
that she thought was blue was 
actually grey and then TikTok 

1039
00:46:41,320 --> 00:46:43,360
spiraled into this. 
Do we have millennial grey? 

1040
00:46:43,360 --> 00:46:45,880
Because all the millennials have
color deficiency. 

1041
00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:48,560
Maybe, Yeah. 
I don't know. 

1042
00:46:48,560 --> 00:46:51,280
It reminds me of that. 
Is the dress gold or blue or 

1043
00:46:51,280 --> 00:46:53,600
whatever that was? 
And that was the worst person. 

1044
00:46:53,600 --> 00:46:55,080
I was like, I don't even know 
what it was. 

1045
00:46:55,080 --> 00:46:59,080
It's supposed to to be honestly.
It's obviously green or poop 

1046
00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:00,560
brown. 
Those are the only two options. 

1047
00:47:01,200 --> 00:47:03,640
How do you think red basically 
is green or poop brown? 

1048
00:47:03,640 --> 00:47:05,400
Yeah. 
So obviously when it comes to 

1049
00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:08,160
picking a color palette, maybe 
for Mark in particular, it's 

1050
00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:09,960
going to be a little bit 
different and a little bit more 

1051
00:47:09,960 --> 00:47:12,000
challenging. 
But when it comes to actually 

1052
00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:15,000
selecting your color palettes 
for your journal setups, Erin, 

1053
00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:17,280
do you have any kind of systems 
or rules that you use for 

1054
00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:19,480
yourself for that? 
Yeah, absolutely. 

1055
00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:24,320
I think lately I try to keep it 
to something kind of simple, 

1056
00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:27,720
depending on what sort of the 
detail is in that three, kind of

1057
00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:30,800
the rule of three, my details. 
Usually the thing that has 

1058
00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:33,440
inspired a theme, and it sounds 
like maybe it's similar for you 

1059
00:47:33,440 --> 00:47:37,000
to Jess, I'll typically just 
pick colors out of whatever that

1060
00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:39,080
detail theme is. 
So if it's a very colorful 

1061
00:47:39,080 --> 00:47:41,160
floral tape, then I'll probably 
have a few options. 

1062
00:47:41,400 --> 00:47:43,880
If it's something that doesn't 
have as many variations in it, 

1063
00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:45,960
then it's a little bit more 
straightforward. 

1064
00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:47,680
You just kind of go with what 
the tape says. 

1065
00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:51,160
But I have run into a couple of 
situations where I thought, I've

1066
00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:54,760
got this one specific use case 
here, my September theme from 

1067
00:47:54,760 --> 00:47:57,960
last year, this one burgundy 
kind of frame tape. 

1068
00:47:58,360 --> 00:47:59,600
And I don't know what to do with
it. 

1069
00:47:59,600 --> 00:48:01,920
And I'm holding it up to my 
stuff and I'm like, I don't 

1070
00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:03,400
know. 
So actually I have a little 

1071
00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:05,800
cheat for this. 
There's a website called Color 

1072
00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:08,800
Space. 
It's literally colour dot space,

1073
00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:10,600
colour spells with AUS spelling 
without AU. 

1074
00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:14,280
And you can put in a colour, you
can use a hex code, you can use 

1075
00:48:14,280 --> 00:48:17,160
an RGB code, or you can just use
their little colour picker tool 

1076
00:48:17,160 --> 00:48:19,960
to try to get it as close to the
thing that you have and hit 

1077
00:48:19,960 --> 00:48:22,080
generate. 
And it will just use colour 

1078
00:48:22,080 --> 00:48:25,240
wheels and stuff to generate you
a whole list of colour palettes 

1079
00:48:25,240 --> 00:48:26,840
to choose from. 
And some of them have got 5 

1080
00:48:26,840 --> 00:48:28,680
variations, some of them have 
got 3. 

1081
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:30,880
And you can just go through 
those until you find one that 

1082
00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:35,160
you're like, I think I have some
Aqua blue washy tape that I 

1083
00:48:35,160 --> 00:48:37,720
could unexpectedly pair with 
this burgundy thing. 

1084
00:48:38,120 --> 00:48:40,840
And it ended up being a really 
cool theme with a little bit of 

1085
00:48:40,840 --> 00:48:44,160
like baby pink as well. 
So that's a pretty good hack if 

1086
00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:45,120
you really don't know what to 
do. 

1087
00:48:45,560 --> 00:48:47,880
Yeah, those color palette 
generators can be like super 

1088
00:48:47,880 --> 00:48:51,000
helpful, especially the ones 
where you can upload a photo or 

1089
00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:53,840
an image and it'll kind of pull 
the colors out of it. 

1090
00:48:53,840 --> 00:48:57,720
So if you wanted to do a kind of
sunset vibe or whatnot, you can 

1091
00:48:57,720 --> 00:49:00,920
just go and find a picture of a 
sunset and it'll pull out shades

1092
00:49:00,920 --> 00:49:03,720
that I think would work well, 
especially if you want to do 

1093
00:49:03,720 --> 00:49:07,200
something it's not necessarily 
out of the ordinary. 

1094
00:49:07,200 --> 00:49:09,840
And so that it's like, you know,
completely different to what 

1095
00:49:09,840 --> 00:49:11,400
you'd expect. 
Like we're not going to do an 

1096
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:13,920
orange palette for a watermelon 
theme. 

1097
00:49:14,280 --> 00:49:16,480
I mean, it could. 
Some people might. 

1098
00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:18,360
It's cool. 
It might look a little 

1099
00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:22,400
interesting, but like, yeah, but
it can be a good way to kind of 

1100
00:49:23,120 --> 00:49:26,680
like, push the creativity a 
little bit or make it so that 

1101
00:49:26,680 --> 00:49:29,840
then you're doing a theme that 
might be kind of typical or, you

1102
00:49:29,840 --> 00:49:33,920
know, a type of decoration that 
people have done before, but 

1103
00:49:33,920 --> 00:49:36,760
you're using colors that are a 
little bit more unique. 

1104
00:49:36,880 --> 00:49:39,920
That can be a fun way to do it. 
Assuming you have the stationary

1105
00:49:40,120 --> 00:49:43,160
in your collection to do it. 
Yeah, I'm just going to assume 

1106
00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:45,000
that everybody else has a pen. 
Water as well. 

1107
00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:47,080
I did a count of my pens the 
other day. 

1108
00:49:47,840 --> 00:49:50,760
I was very upset with myself. 
But you're prepared for every 

1109
00:49:50,760 --> 00:49:52,480
eventuality, so. 
Exactly. 

1110
00:49:52,480 --> 00:49:55,520
It's good to have options, even 
though sometimes having too many

1111
00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:57,640
options can lead to analysis 
paralysis. 

1112
00:49:57,960 --> 00:50:00,720
Or like when you've got two 
colors that are like so similar,

1113
00:50:00,720 --> 00:50:03,000
but you're like but does this 
blue match better? 

1114
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:05,920
Or does this blue match better? 
That's where I come down to 

1115
00:50:05,920 --> 00:50:07,320
comfort. 
I'm like which pen is more 

1116
00:50:07,320 --> 00:50:09,680
comfortable to hold? 
It's a good system for it. 

1117
00:50:09,680 --> 00:50:12,640
At least there's like a default 
like, you know, way to apply 

1118
00:50:12,880 --> 00:50:15,400
what a rule to it so that you 
end up with something that 

1119
00:50:15,400 --> 00:50:17,600
you're going to be happy with. 
It's going to be a second line 

1120
00:50:17,720 --> 00:50:19,600
highlight. 
The Tombow always wins cuz the 

1121
00:50:19,600 --> 00:50:22,520
tip is just the right width for 
the 5mm dot grid. 

1122
00:50:22,680 --> 00:50:25,760
Yeah, A. 100% agree with that. 
That's so crazy cuz I hear Jess 

1123
00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:28,120
talk about stuff like this. 
I'm like, that's a weird thing 

1124
00:50:28,120 --> 00:50:29,360
like that. 
Know that it does that. 

1125
00:50:29,360 --> 00:50:30,960
And then you're like, yeah, we 
were just. 

1126
00:50:30,960 --> 00:50:33,240
I was like, oh, we were talking 
about our favorite tools and I 

1127
00:50:33,240 --> 00:50:34,920
was talking about how much I 
like mild miners. 

1128
00:50:35,520 --> 00:50:38,320
And Jess was like, I don't 
because it doesn't perfectly fit

1129
00:50:38,320 --> 00:50:40,920
within the 5mm grid, but a 
Tombow does. 

1130
00:50:40,920 --> 00:50:44,680
I was like, that is wild to like
know those things but when y'all

1131
00:50:44,680 --> 00:50:47,440
are as good as you are, you know
those things. 

1132
00:50:48,120 --> 00:50:51,040
I'm pretty sure just coined the 
term second line highlight. 

1133
00:50:51,760 --> 00:50:54,240
Now we all use it. 
I think that I can't remember 

1134
00:50:54,240 --> 00:50:56,480
who I got it from, but I was 
just like, well, that's what it 

1135
00:50:56,480 --> 00:50:58,360
is. 
You highlight every second line.

1136
00:50:58,360 --> 00:51:00,880
And now that seems to be like 
the common turn of phrase for 

1137
00:51:00,880 --> 00:51:02,600
it. 
But it is just a really fun way 

1138
00:51:02,600 --> 00:51:04,480
to, like, add visual interest. 
Right. 

1139
00:51:04,480 --> 00:51:07,720
And readability, yeah. 
Really make clear the space 

1140
00:51:07,720 --> 00:51:10,360
where the planning will happen 
without having to draw a box 

1141
00:51:10,360 --> 00:51:12,320
around it. 
And it acts as a little bit of 

1142
00:51:12,320 --> 00:51:14,240
decoration too, because you get 
that pop of colour. 

1143
00:51:14,240 --> 00:51:17,000
It's great so. 
As someone who is, again, I'm 

1144
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:19,400
still going to call myself a 
decorative newbie, at least from

1145
00:51:19,400 --> 00:51:21,600
the other end of the spectrum, 
right, where I don't live. 

1146
00:51:21,960 --> 00:51:24,440
Something I'm curious about 
Aaron and and Jess as well. 

1147
00:51:24,440 --> 00:51:26,520
You guys can share this because 
again, I don't know where to 

1148
00:51:26,520 --> 00:51:28,680
start. 
So like if somebody like me 

1149
00:51:28,680 --> 00:51:30,640
wanted to start with your rule 
of three, right? 

1150
00:51:30,640 --> 00:51:34,200
We're looking for like, was it 
again, color, texture. 

1151
00:51:34,200 --> 00:51:38,280
Solid a texture in a detail. 
What are some places that we 

1152
00:51:38,280 --> 00:51:41,320
could start doing this from your
experience? 

1153
00:51:41,320 --> 00:51:45,280
Like, what's the baby step into 
the other side of the spectrum 

1154
00:51:45,280 --> 00:51:48,000
of decorative planning? 
It really depends on the purpose

1155
00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:50,200
of your page first and foremost,
I think. 

1156
00:51:50,200 --> 00:51:53,360
So if it's something like a 
calendar spread, it's pretty 

1157
00:51:53,360 --> 00:51:55,440
important that your calendar 
fits on the page. 

1158
00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:58,520
So typically I would start by 
placing down the functional 

1159
00:51:58,520 --> 00:52:01,120
thing first. 
But if it's not serving a 

1160
00:52:01,120 --> 00:52:04,000
purpose like that, where maybe 
you're going to be putting some 

1161
00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:06,680
long form text around some 
stickers or something like that,

1162
00:52:06,680 --> 00:52:09,160
then you may be want to know 
where your decorations going 

1163
00:52:09,160 --> 00:52:11,400
first before you jump in and 
write because you don't want to 

1164
00:52:11,840 --> 00:52:14,640
then not have space leftover for
your pretty stuff. 

1165
00:52:15,000 --> 00:52:18,480
So I have a couple of go to 
layouts that I use for my 

1166
00:52:18,480 --> 00:52:21,680
decoration over and over again. 
I have outed myself on these 

1167
00:52:21,680 --> 00:52:24,920
ones on my channel before but 
once you find out what they are 

1168
00:52:25,200 --> 00:52:28,280
and you look at my stuff you 
will see them everywhere because

1169
00:52:28,280 --> 00:52:30,760
I just use them to death. 
I am an outfit repeater for 

1170
00:52:30,760 --> 00:52:34,120
stationary so the first one I 
call corner colleges. 

1171
00:52:34,120 --> 00:52:35,400
I think this is a pretty common 
1. 

1172
00:52:35,400 --> 00:52:38,360
So whether it's a full double 
page spread or just a single 

1173
00:52:38,360 --> 00:52:41,480
page, you have something in say 
the top left corner and the 

1174
00:52:41,480 --> 00:52:44,760
bottom right corner or swapsies,
you have something in the top 

1175
00:52:44,760 --> 00:52:47,520
right and the bottom left. 
And do you have lots of space 

1176
00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:49,440
then still left? 
This is really good for 

1177
00:52:49,600 --> 00:52:51,560
particularly like doing some 
long form writing. 

1178
00:52:51,560 --> 00:52:54,640
You have some room still left 
kind of swooshing in an S shape 

1179
00:52:54,640 --> 00:52:56,600
down the middle. 
That's a really good one for 

1180
00:52:56,600 --> 00:52:58,480
that kind of thing. 
But you can also fit some habit 

1181
00:52:58,480 --> 00:53:00,760
trackers in around that kind of 
thing, all sorts of stuff. 

1182
00:53:01,200 --> 00:53:04,080
Next I call my letterbox, which 
is like, you know, the 

1183
00:53:04,080 --> 00:53:08,120
widescreen bars that they put on
movies to make them 16 by 9 

1184
00:53:08,160 --> 00:53:10,840
aspect ratio. 
So you're really just completely

1185
00:53:10,840 --> 00:53:13,040
covering the very top and the 
very bottom of your page. 

1186
00:53:13,280 --> 00:53:16,160
You have to be careful not to go
too far so you don't eat into 

1187
00:53:16,160 --> 00:53:19,680
your planning space, but just 
align and align and you're good 

1188
00:53:19,680 --> 00:53:21,840
to go. 
And the third one is the same 

1189
00:53:21,840 --> 00:53:24,600
thing but vertical. 
So columns, one on the outside 

1190
00:53:24,840 --> 00:53:28,440
edge of each page or just on one
side if you're just doing one 

1191
00:53:28,440 --> 00:53:29,960
page rather than a double page 
spread. 

1192
00:53:30,440 --> 00:53:33,240
I use those constantly, but 
because I'm using them with 

1193
00:53:33,240 --> 00:53:36,000
different stationary, they look 
different every time and people 

1194
00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:37,280
are like, oh, you're so 
creative. 

1195
00:53:37,280 --> 00:53:39,040
And I'm like, oh, I'm working to
a formula. 

1196
00:53:39,520 --> 00:53:41,160
I think it's so important. 
I mean, that's how I look. 

1197
00:53:41,160 --> 00:53:42,920
A lot of my weekly spreads. 
It's the same thing. 

1198
00:53:42,920 --> 00:53:47,320
I'm like, OK, it's columns that 
create 5 or 6 or 7 if I really 

1199
00:53:47,320 --> 00:53:49,640
want to include a weekend, but 
then I'm just using like a 

1200
00:53:49,640 --> 00:53:52,400
different stamp set or a 
different sticker set for like 

1201
00:53:52,400 --> 00:53:54,160
the top of that. 
And I would just write the day 

1202
00:53:54,160 --> 00:53:56,760
of the week under it. 
It is pretty incredible, like 

1203
00:53:56,760 --> 00:54:00,040
how much that can change. 
And like even though I know that

1204
00:54:00,040 --> 00:54:02,600
from my spreads, like what you 
just said, like utilizing those 

1205
00:54:02,600 --> 00:54:05,360
spaces, I was like, no, that 
that actually could work out 

1206
00:54:05,360 --> 00:54:07,480
really well. 
Like I certainly could just put,

1207
00:54:07,480 --> 00:54:10,160
you know, something across the 
top or even in the corner. 

1208
00:54:10,160 --> 00:54:13,000
It's like almost like having 
like a little fun corner of your

1209
00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:15,400
page. 
I'm like, OK, everything else is

1210
00:54:15,400 --> 00:54:17,760
productive. 
It's notes, it's tasks, it's the

1211
00:54:17,760 --> 00:54:20,720
ongoings, but like, I just want 
to have a little fun up here. 

1212
00:54:20,720 --> 00:54:23,520
It's like almost like giving 
myself like a little play space 

1213
00:54:23,720 --> 00:54:26,480
on my page, which I like. 
And I also like that I'm also 

1214
00:54:26,480 --> 00:54:29,480
bounding it as well because then
I'm not overthinking it and 

1215
00:54:29,480 --> 00:54:32,200
thinking, OK, I put this, OK, 
where else can and I put that I 

1216
00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:34,320
go too far. 
Like I said, that's always my 

1217
00:54:34,320 --> 00:54:36,920
downfall because I'm like doing 
too much. 

1218
00:54:37,160 --> 00:54:39,840
But I like this idea of like 
just utilizing like these 

1219
00:54:39,840 --> 00:54:43,200
quadrants for it and it kind of 
saves the rest of your space for

1220
00:54:43,200 --> 00:54:44,200
the things you're actually 
doing. 

1221
00:54:44,200 --> 00:54:47,680
So I that's really helpful. 
Sometimes the functional page 

1222
00:54:47,680 --> 00:54:50,800
space actually tells you, it 
sort of dictates the space 

1223
00:54:50,800 --> 00:54:52,840
that's leftover that you can use
for decoration. 

1224
00:54:53,080 --> 00:54:55,920
So something like a weekly, if 
you've got an A5 journal and 

1225
00:54:55,920 --> 00:54:59,080
you've divided it into that kind
of eight boxes, but you don't 

1226
00:54:59,080 --> 00:55:01,800
want to have a note section, say
you take out the one that's in 

1227
00:55:01,800 --> 00:55:04,560
the top left corner and you just
put some pretty stuff there. 

1228
00:55:05,480 --> 00:55:07,160
The page just told you where to 
decorate. 

1229
00:55:07,160 --> 00:55:08,560
Same with something like a 
calendar spread. 

1230
00:55:08,560 --> 00:55:10,800
They're usually a bit wonky 
where like, you know, the month 

1231
00:55:10,800 --> 00:55:14,280
starts on a Wednesday and it 
finishes on a Friday or 

1232
00:55:14,280 --> 00:55:16,560
something. 
And so you've got this automatic

1233
00:55:16,560 --> 00:55:19,040
space in those corners that you 
can get a little bit crazier 

1234
00:55:19,040 --> 00:55:21,600
with than what's left around the
outside. 

1235
00:55:21,600 --> 00:55:24,680
Like just listen to what your 
page layout tells you. 

1236
00:55:25,280 --> 00:55:27,920
I like that it's like filling 
the page but just do it in a 

1237
00:55:27,920 --> 00:55:29,600
more decorative way and then 
leave it a blank. 

1238
00:55:29,640 --> 00:55:32,560
I do think that having those 
kind of like set spaces to put 

1239
00:55:32,560 --> 00:55:35,680
your decoration in can make it a
lot more approachable, which is 

1240
00:55:35,680 --> 00:55:37,440
great. 
And like, sure, it might be 

1241
00:55:37,440 --> 00:55:39,920
formulaic, but kind of as you 
said, Aaron, if you're using 

1242
00:55:39,920 --> 00:55:42,680
different materials or supplies 
or like, you know, even just 

1243
00:55:42,680 --> 00:55:45,920
colors or whatnot, you get a 
different finished product, 

1244
00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:47,680
which is great. 
That is definitely one thing 

1245
00:55:47,680 --> 00:55:50,600
that I do miss about the monthly
calendar is that you did have 

1246
00:55:50,600 --> 00:55:52,960
those kind of set spots that 
were good for decoration. 

1247
00:55:53,240 --> 00:55:56,240
But I suppose that also means 
that each time you come to a new

1248
00:55:56,240 --> 00:55:59,880
calendar month, there's that 
kind of like decision, what kind

1249
00:55:59,880 --> 00:56:02,200
of process that goes behind 
figuring out where you need to 

1250
00:56:02,200 --> 00:56:04,040
put things. 
Or somebody like me whose 

1251
00:56:04,040 --> 00:56:05,480
calendars are all rectangles 
now. 

1252
00:56:05,480 --> 00:56:07,840
It's like, cool. 
No, it's letterbox or bust kind 

1253
00:56:07,880 --> 00:56:10,680
of a thing. 
You just have to listen to it. 

1254
00:56:11,160 --> 00:56:13,880
Yeah, exactly. 
I mean, I guess that in those 

1255
00:56:13,880 --> 00:56:17,120
cases I could approach it as 
that kind of like figuring out 

1256
00:56:17,120 --> 00:56:19,840
different ways to decorate 
because decoration like we kind 

1257
00:56:19,840 --> 00:56:22,920
of said at the start, it doesn't
have to be those typical like, 

1258
00:56:22,920 --> 00:56:25,080
you know, your stickers, your 
tapes, your like larger pieces 

1259
00:56:25,080 --> 00:56:28,320
of doodling or whatever else. 
It can just be those smaller 

1260
00:56:28,320 --> 00:56:30,760
kind of design choices that you 
make for yourself. 

1261
00:56:31,000 --> 00:56:34,640
So things like putting in the 
double line highlight or putting

1262
00:56:34,640 --> 00:56:38,280
in a different lettering style 
or putting a border on the page.

1263
00:56:38,280 --> 00:56:40,640
Whereas, you know, sometimes 
maybe you don't do that. 

1264
00:56:41,400 --> 00:56:43,240
So good. 
Yeah, there's just like so much 

1265
00:56:43,240 --> 00:56:45,880
variation that you can do to add
those personal decorative 

1266
00:56:45,880 --> 00:56:48,280
touches and stuff, which also is
a really great way to just make 

1267
00:56:48,280 --> 00:56:50,600
it your own. 
Like if we think about borders 

1268
00:56:50,600 --> 00:56:53,320
specifically, you have like the 
single line border, you have 

1269
00:56:53,320 --> 00:56:55,600
different whites, line or 
whatever, you have different 

1270
00:56:55,600 --> 00:56:57,480
colors. 
You could do a dashed versus 

1271
00:56:57,480 --> 00:56:59,080
like a hand drawn versus a 
ruled. 

1272
00:56:59,640 --> 00:57:00,640
A little bit of washing. 
Tape. 

1273
00:57:01,080 --> 00:57:03,080
Yeah, a little bit of like a 
small washi tape. 

1274
00:57:03,080 --> 00:57:05,240
I love a thin washi tape for 
that kind of thing, for 

1275
00:57:05,240 --> 00:57:07,400
dividers. 
And it's just a bunch of 

1276
00:57:07,400 --> 00:57:09,880
different ways that you can add 
those small decorative touches 

1277
00:57:09,880 --> 00:57:13,280
without it having to be those 
kind of like, you know, things 

1278
00:57:13,280 --> 00:57:15,720
that our mind might default to 
when we think decoration. 

1279
00:57:15,720 --> 00:57:19,560
It doesn't have to be those kind
of like larger focal pieces of 

1280
00:57:19,560 --> 00:57:22,360
like ephemera and stickers and 
tapes and whatnot. 

1281
00:57:22,360 --> 00:57:25,040
It can just be those very small 
touches that add a little bit of

1282
00:57:25,040 --> 00:57:28,040
visual interest, a little bit of
flair and enjoyment, which is 

1283
00:57:28,040 --> 00:57:30,160
nice. 
Borders are such a good way to 

1284
00:57:30,640 --> 00:57:32,600
kind of pull something back if 
you feel like something's 

1285
00:57:32,600 --> 00:57:34,400
missing. 
So particularly if there's like 

1286
00:57:34,400 --> 00:57:37,200
a corner collage going on, but 
it feels a bit disjointed and 

1287
00:57:37,200 --> 00:57:39,040
you're like, it needs something.
I don't know what it is. 

1288
00:57:39,200 --> 00:57:41,640
It's probably a border. 
Literally just connect them 

1289
00:57:41,640 --> 00:57:44,320
around the outside and it's 
gonna look so much more 

1290
00:57:44,320 --> 00:57:45,040
cohesive. 
Yeah. 

1291
00:57:45,200 --> 00:57:48,200
This whole idea is interesting, 
something that I've been not 

1292
00:57:48,200 --> 00:57:51,080
struggling with necessarily, but
like moving from an Archer and 

1293
00:57:51,080 --> 00:57:54,320
olive into the hemlock and oak 
that I have now. 

1294
00:57:54,320 --> 00:57:55,720
The numbers are a little bit 
off. 

1295
00:57:55,920 --> 00:58:00,960
So like the center of my B5 
because it's 31 one squares 

1296
00:58:00,960 --> 00:58:05,480
across, I have this one square 
gutter essentially is what I 

1297
00:58:05,480 --> 00:58:07,120
call it. 
And so all the time I'm just 

1298
00:58:07,280 --> 00:58:10,560
basically like drawing 2 lines 
down the page and I'm always 

1299
00:58:10,560 --> 00:58:13,480
just like, I don't love the way 
that this looks. 

1300
00:58:13,480 --> 00:58:17,080
You know where I'm just like now
all of a sudden I'm like, Mark, 

1301
00:58:17,080 --> 00:58:20,480
instead of doing that, like pop 
a washi tape down your page, you

1302
00:58:20,480 --> 00:58:22,880
know, or use something like that
instead. 

1303
00:58:22,880 --> 00:58:25,760
Like you said, it's one of those
things where I had my brain. 

1304
00:58:25,760 --> 00:58:27,280
It's so funny, like for all this
time. 

1305
00:58:27,280 --> 00:58:29,560
I mean, I have all this damn 
wash that I complain about all 

1306
00:58:29,560 --> 00:58:32,560
the time and I'm never quite 
sure like how to use it. 

1307
00:58:32,760 --> 00:58:34,480
It's just not a go to tool for 
me. 

1308
00:58:34,480 --> 00:58:37,200
I don't know what it is about it
where I just like I always feel 

1309
00:58:37,200 --> 00:58:40,720
like it has to be used like in a
specific way and usually it's 

1310
00:58:40,720 --> 00:58:44,160
always layering something or 
just kind of looks weird on my 

1311
00:58:44,160 --> 00:58:46,640
page. 
But like this is like a really 

1312
00:58:46,640 --> 00:58:51,760
cool potential concept for it. 
Now I need to find only 5mm wide

1313
00:58:51,760 --> 00:58:53,320
washy and I'll be good to go. 
They're out there. 

1314
00:58:53,320 --> 00:58:55,640
They're doing this. 
Don't tell me that I have 

1315
00:58:55,640 --> 00:58:57,600
enough. 
I have a whole freaking wall. 

1316
00:58:57,720 --> 00:59:00,360
I have two buckets filled of it 
over here. 

1317
00:59:00,400 --> 00:59:03,280
I don't need to hear that. 
I need a fussy cut my washy. 

1318
00:59:03,480 --> 00:59:06,280
Mark your cutter that does the 
Deckled Edge does. 

1319
00:59:06,280 --> 00:59:08,800
Is it the one that has like the 
seven different heads that you 

1320
00:59:08,800 --> 00:59:12,080
can slide around? 
I have that one, yes, I just got

1321
00:59:12,080 --> 00:59:14,920
that one. 
Pop your washing tape down and 

1322
00:59:14,920 --> 00:59:17,360
cut it with one of those things 
down to 5mm. 

1323
00:59:17,360 --> 00:59:19,880
You don't need to buy a new one.
If you've got some, you can make

1324
00:59:19,880 --> 00:59:22,160
it 5mm. 
That's what I was just thinking 

1325
00:59:22,160 --> 00:59:24,920
and actually the other one I 
have has these little 

1326
00:59:24,920 --> 00:59:27,400
attachments to it that got to go
down like a ruler. 

1327
00:59:27,680 --> 00:59:30,280
And I also, I was just showing 
you guys, showing them before 

1328
00:59:30,280 --> 00:59:32,840
because we love sharing stuff 
like this, like little sticky 

1329
00:59:32,840 --> 00:59:35,160
washy stuff that's here. 
But like I could certainly stick

1330
00:59:35,160 --> 00:59:37,840
it down on a page, I feel like 
and get it to the right 

1331
00:59:37,840 --> 00:59:41,160
measurement that I want. 
This has been an eye opening 

1332
00:59:41,160 --> 00:59:43,240
adventure for me today. 
Like I'm going to be a 

1333
00:59:43,240 --> 00:59:45,360
decorative planner now, guys. 
I hope you're ready for it 

1334
00:59:45,720 --> 00:59:47,560
coming for you. 
You have to send me all your 

1335
00:59:47,600 --> 00:59:48,640
friends. 
I want to see they're. 

1336
00:59:49,120 --> 00:59:50,920
Gonna be like Mark, that's 
boring as hell. 

1337
00:59:51,160 --> 00:59:53,480
OK, you put a piece of washi 
down the page. 

1338
00:59:53,480 --> 00:59:55,840
Congratulations. 
You will not be graded, I 

1339
00:59:55,840 --> 00:59:58,280
promise. 
I will be judged. 

1340
00:59:58,400 --> 01:00:01,480
But also, if you wanted to like,
practice with your layering and 

1341
01:00:01,480 --> 01:00:04,000
such, you could also just top 
and tail your washi with like 

1342
01:00:04,000 --> 01:00:06,120
something else. 
I'm like thinking of you making 

1343
01:00:06,120 --> 01:00:08,200
a little baton in the middle of 
your page. 

1344
01:00:08,200 --> 01:00:11,080
Like something doesn't need to 
be big, but it's just like adds 

1345
01:00:11,120 --> 01:00:14,000
a kind of like the sticker at 
the top, the sticker at the 

1346
01:00:14,000 --> 01:00:15,080
bottom. 
Yeah, exactly. 

1347
01:00:15,080 --> 01:00:16,800
A sticker. 
Top of sticker at the bottom and

1348
01:00:16,800 --> 01:00:19,040
it kind of like anchors those 
things on the page. 

1349
01:00:19,040 --> 01:00:22,080
I think that this is the thing 
that, you know, people often say

1350
01:00:22,080 --> 01:00:24,560
like, oh, how do I use washi 
tape type of a thing? 

1351
01:00:24,840 --> 01:00:26,760
And I kind of never really gave 
it a lot of thought. 

1352
01:00:26,760 --> 01:00:30,560
I'm like you just do like, wow, 
I know revolutionary just do it.

1353
01:00:30,800 --> 01:00:33,600
But maybe part of the issue that
people are having is that there 

1354
01:00:33,600 --> 01:00:36,160
isn't something to anchor it is 
that idea of what you said, 

1355
01:00:36,160 --> 01:00:39,120
Aaron, with floating in space 
type thing nothing to really 

1356
01:00:39,120 --> 01:00:41,360
give it that depth. 
Maybe that's the issue people 

1357
01:00:41,360 --> 01:00:43,560
are taking with their tapes and 
stickers and not really knowing 

1358
01:00:43,560 --> 01:00:45,360
how to use them. 
It's because they do feel like 

1359
01:00:45,440 --> 01:00:47,760
they're just floating there in 
space with no friends. 

1360
01:00:47,960 --> 01:00:50,880
Whereas if you just connect it 
with the border or add like, you

1361
01:00:50,880 --> 01:00:53,400
know, a little bit of tape below
it or on top of it or something,

1362
01:00:53,680 --> 01:00:56,480
it kind of turns it into a very 
tiny collage, but something that

1363
01:00:56,480 --> 01:00:59,400
gives it a little bit more meat 
behind it, makes it feel like it

1364
01:00:59,400 --> 01:01:01,360
belongs on the page. 
Yeah, I would say like 

1365
01:01:01,360 --> 01:01:02,680
definitely. 
Like I have all this little 

1366
01:01:02,680 --> 01:01:04,360
stuff too. 
I always forget what it's 

1367
01:01:04,360 --> 01:01:07,560
called, but like I call it washi
tape, but I don't know that it 

1368
01:01:07,560 --> 01:01:09,640
is like Kit Kitta Kitta 
stickers. 

1369
01:01:09,640 --> 01:01:11,360
I don't know. 
But like it's the same kind of 

1370
01:01:11,360 --> 01:01:14,640
thing where I have all of these 
little matchbox deals and I'm 

1371
01:01:14,640 --> 01:01:17,840
always kind of like, but like 
how do I use it on my page? 

1372
01:01:17,840 --> 01:01:19,600
Because like you said, it's just
kind of floating there. 

1373
01:01:19,600 --> 01:01:23,160
So like I tend to like pop him 
down as like a quick header or 

1374
01:01:23,160 --> 01:01:25,200
something like that. 
Like I have all these great 

1375
01:01:25,200 --> 01:01:28,040
ideas and I have all of the 
materials to do it. 

1376
01:01:28,240 --> 01:01:30,040
It's just always that execution 
part. 

1377
01:01:30,040 --> 01:01:31,600
I just don't feel confident 
enough. 

1378
01:01:31,600 --> 01:01:34,240
I'll stick a sticker anywhere. 
It's not the problem of it, but 

1379
01:01:34,240 --> 01:01:36,600
like I want it to feel good. 
I want it to make sense. 

1380
01:01:36,600 --> 01:01:40,520
I think also, otherwise I'm just
plopping things down in a 

1381
01:01:40,520 --> 01:01:43,280
sticker book and like, I would 
do something different with 

1382
01:01:43,280 --> 01:01:45,400
that, you know, like if I was 
going to do that, I would just 

1383
01:01:45,400 --> 01:01:46,840
do it. 
But I, I want it to look good 

1384
01:01:46,840 --> 01:01:50,200
and functional and fun. 
But I think a lot of it comes 

1385
01:01:50,200 --> 01:01:52,240
out of that confidence for 
myself as well. 

1386
01:01:52,280 --> 01:01:54,840
Next time you can pop one down 
and then stamp over top of it. 

1387
01:01:54,960 --> 01:01:57,400
Perfect, done. 
I'm just ready to go. 

1388
01:01:57,600 --> 01:01:59,480
Well, that's the thing too with 
like layering, I'm always like, 

1389
01:01:59,520 --> 01:02:01,200
oh, I don't want to add bulk to 
my page. 

1390
01:02:01,200 --> 01:02:03,960
So if I'm like layering papers 
and stickers and stuff like 

1391
01:02:03,960 --> 01:02:06,320
that, it feels like I'm going to
have like this gap because 

1392
01:02:06,320 --> 01:02:09,600
again, I can't stop myself. 
So it'll be like a really to get

1393
01:02:09,600 --> 01:02:11,200
out of there. 
But that's actually really 

1394
01:02:11,200 --> 01:02:13,160
smart. 
Why I've never thought about 

1395
01:02:13,160 --> 01:02:15,880
putting a washy tape or 
something over a stamp. 

1396
01:02:16,240 --> 01:02:18,040
It doesn't add a lot of width to
it that way. 

1397
01:02:18,040 --> 01:02:20,040
That's a good idea. 
All right, I have plenty of 

1398
01:02:20,040 --> 01:02:22,040
notes now. 
You've given me all these ideas.

1399
01:02:22,920 --> 01:02:25,760
Watch out world Mark is 
decorative stamping now, No? 

1400
01:02:26,040 --> 01:02:30,320
He's gonna steal our jobs. 
Definitely not, they'd be like 

1401
01:02:30,320 --> 01:02:33,560
who is this garbage person 
that's making this stuff on 

1402
01:02:33,560 --> 01:02:35,760
YouTube? 
Start a new channel so it can 

1403
01:02:35,760 --> 01:02:37,240
fail. 
You do not deserve to be 

1404
01:02:37,240 --> 01:02:41,160
monetized for this crap. 
Why is it all green and brown? 

1405
01:02:41,160 --> 01:02:44,080
I don't get it. 
It's Christmas themed, what are 

1406
01:02:44,080 --> 01:02:45,920
you talking about? 
It's his style. 

1407
01:02:45,920 --> 01:02:48,200
Now people would just be like, 
that's Mark style. 

1408
01:02:48,560 --> 01:02:51,720
That'll be very on brand for 
him, just like double stamped 

1409
01:02:51,800 --> 01:02:55,600
green and brown like, but now 
with a piece of washi tape over 

1410
01:02:55,600 --> 01:03:00,360
the top because layering. 
Feel like you would get some 

1411
01:03:00,360 --> 01:03:04,040
pretty good traction with like 
the the cottage core, like Bard 

1412
01:03:04,480 --> 01:03:07,160
D&D community. 
I think that would go down 

1413
01:03:07,160 --> 01:03:10,720
really well actually. 
Grass and green and dirty and 

1414
01:03:10,720 --> 01:03:12,600
old. 
Yeah, that's very much me. 

1415
01:03:12,840 --> 01:03:14,560
I think that that would work out
great. 

1416
01:03:15,240 --> 01:03:16,400
Yeah. 
There you go, rustic. 

1417
01:03:17,240 --> 01:03:19,600
I'm a trash person. 
I know that Mark obviously has 

1418
01:03:19,600 --> 01:03:22,520
his page of notes, but for 
anybody who is just getting 

1419
01:03:22,520 --> 01:03:25,640
started with decorating in their
planner, anybody who's still 

1420
01:03:25,640 --> 01:03:28,240
feeling a little tentative and 
like, oh, I don't really know 

1421
01:03:28,240 --> 01:03:30,120
what to do, how to approach it 
or anything. 

1422
01:03:30,120 --> 01:03:32,920
Do you have any good advice for 
our beginners out there, Erin? 

1423
01:03:32,960 --> 01:03:36,400
I think my main piece of advice 
is just to be kind to yourself. 

1424
01:03:36,800 --> 01:03:39,160
I know it can be really 
frustrating when you're seeing 

1425
01:03:39,160 --> 01:03:41,760
people on the Internet making 
stuff that you think looks 

1426
01:03:41,760 --> 01:03:44,000
really good and maybe you don't 
feel like yours measure up. 

1427
01:03:44,280 --> 01:03:45,960
I've been doing this for eight 
years. 

1428
01:03:46,280 --> 01:03:49,240
You got to get some practice in 
before things start to really 

1429
01:03:49,240 --> 01:03:51,040
click. 
And I do have a video flipping 

1430
01:03:51,040 --> 01:03:53,400
through my first bullet journal 
if anyone wants to check it out.

1431
01:03:53,400 --> 01:03:55,760
It does not look like what I do 
today. 

1432
01:03:56,120 --> 01:04:00,200
It is very far removed, but also
learning is frustrating. 

1433
01:04:00,320 --> 01:04:03,760
It's kind of part of the process
to to go through those periods 

1434
01:04:03,760 --> 01:04:05,320
of frustration to come out the 
other side. 

1435
01:04:05,320 --> 01:04:09,360
So when you're feeling that, try
and embrace it rather than being

1436
01:04:09,360 --> 01:04:11,080
like this isn't for me and I'm 
just not good at it. 

1437
01:04:11,240 --> 01:04:13,280
That's actually a really 
necessary part of the process of

1438
01:04:13,280 --> 01:04:15,200
push through. 
That's a great tip for our 

1439
01:04:15,200 --> 01:04:16,760
beginners. 
Mark, I know that you don't 

1440
01:04:16,760 --> 01:04:19,080
consider yourself a decorative 
planner even though you're a 

1441
01:04:19,080 --> 01:04:21,240
bold faced liar. 
What would your advice be? 

1442
01:04:21,920 --> 01:04:23,960
I mean, I think The thing is 
just finding what you're 

1443
01:04:23,960 --> 01:04:26,480
comfortable with. 
You know, something that I did 

1444
01:04:26,480 --> 01:04:29,440
very early on before I even 
officially started bullet 

1445
01:04:29,440 --> 01:04:32,760
journaling as I made just one of
those little like multi fold 

1446
01:04:32,760 --> 01:04:34,880
pieces of paper. 
And honestly, I also just folded

1447
01:04:34,880 --> 01:04:37,840
paper in half and stapled it 
across the edge and I was like, 

1448
01:04:37,840 --> 01:04:39,760
and this will be my bullet 
journal trial. 

1449
01:04:39,960 --> 01:04:42,640
I think you could do the same 
thing when it comes to this. 

1450
01:04:42,640 --> 01:04:44,800
I mean, some of the ideas that I
have right now. 

1451
01:04:45,240 --> 01:04:49,480
I was just showing you all my my
new like leather bound like deal

1452
01:04:49,480 --> 01:04:51,480
that I got here and inside of 
here. 

1453
01:04:52,000 --> 01:04:55,560
It came with some of these 
papers that are lined and I 

1454
01:04:55,560 --> 01:04:58,040
don't typically use lined 
papers. 

1455
01:04:58,360 --> 01:05:00,680
So some of the things like I'm 
thinking about on here is 

1456
01:05:00,680 --> 01:05:03,000
actually doing something Aaron 
that you mentioned, which makes 

1457
01:05:03,000 --> 01:05:04,640
a lot of sense to me now that 
you've said. 

1458
01:05:04,640 --> 01:05:07,240
I had to hear someone else say 
it for me to like know that it 

1459
01:05:07,240 --> 01:05:09,440
was a thing. 
But like this idea of like 

1460
01:05:09,440 --> 01:05:12,400
creating almost like these 
templates or things that I can 

1461
01:05:12,400 --> 01:05:15,400
reference for myself that like I
know look good or that I've 

1462
01:05:15,400 --> 01:05:18,400
experimented with and like, who 
cares if it doesn't look good 

1463
01:05:18,400 --> 01:05:21,720
inside of there, but I can like 
refer to it and come back into 

1464
01:05:21,720 --> 01:05:23,000
it. 
So I think creating some of 

1465
01:05:23,000 --> 01:05:25,240
those. 
I, I love the idea of what you 

1466
01:05:25,280 --> 01:05:28,360
all shared about a mood board. 
I don't know how or what I would

1467
01:05:28,360 --> 01:05:30,240
do. 
I'm assuming like little pieces 

1468
01:05:30,240 --> 01:05:33,240
of paper and, and color swatches
and stuff like that. 

1469
01:05:33,440 --> 01:05:35,600
That's not me. 
So, but I, I'm sure it probably 

1470
01:05:35,600 --> 01:05:37,960
would be. 
But like creating maybe some of 

1471
01:05:37,960 --> 01:05:41,720
those ideas yourself and like 
having those as go TOS when you 

1472
01:05:41,720 --> 01:05:45,800
talked about like the idea of 
these like specific templates 

1473
01:05:45,800 --> 01:05:49,240
for like where things go, like 
that's something else you can do

1474
01:05:49,240 --> 01:05:51,880
for yourself is like a reminder 
right as you're going into those

1475
01:05:51,880 --> 01:05:53,560
pages. 
So like a lot of what you 

1476
01:05:53,560 --> 01:05:56,880
shared, you know, is actually 
like a really great thing for 

1477
01:05:56,880 --> 01:05:57,840
me. 
I mean, I've done that for 

1478
01:05:57,840 --> 01:06:00,640
bullet journal spreads where 
I've gone ahead and I have, you 

1479
01:06:00,640 --> 01:06:03,640
know, R&D journals where I've 
kind of just thought it out like

1480
01:06:03,640 --> 01:06:06,680
on paper 1st and I use those as 
reference sometimes when I need 

1481
01:06:06,680 --> 01:06:08,920
it. 
I also would just say, you know,

1482
01:06:08,920 --> 01:06:11,400
dipping your toe is a really 
nice way to do it. 

1483
01:06:11,400 --> 01:06:14,360
It's hard for all of us planner 
people that like want to go all 

1484
01:06:14,360 --> 01:06:16,600
in and buy all the markers and 
buy all the things. 

1485
01:06:16,920 --> 01:06:19,480
You know, buying like a sticker 
set, like you said, is a really 

1486
01:06:19,480 --> 01:06:22,160
good way to do it. 
I'm a big fan of like Eric small

1487
01:06:22,160 --> 01:06:24,680
things. 
So like I also, because I'm not 

1488
01:06:24,680 --> 01:06:27,800
a good person at like pulling 
themes together, Eric small 

1489
01:06:27,800 --> 01:06:30,200
things has a very specific look 
to her work. 

1490
01:06:30,480 --> 01:06:34,280
So like I know that I could pull
from anything Eric small things 

1491
01:06:34,520 --> 01:06:37,480
and it's going to look cute and 
cool and it fits inside of my 

1492
01:06:37,480 --> 01:06:39,520
aesthetic. 
So like that's another thing to 

1493
01:06:39,520 --> 01:06:42,840
like find a creator maybe that 
you like, because a lot of times

1494
01:06:42,840 --> 01:06:46,600
they have their way of doing 
things, whether it's stickers or

1495
01:06:46,600 --> 01:06:48,280
stamps or whatever that might 
be. 

1496
01:06:48,440 --> 01:06:50,960
So for me, that's the easiest 
way to kind of do it as you can 

1497
01:06:50,960 --> 01:06:53,680
stick with the creator and then 
you kind of automatically have 

1498
01:06:53,680 --> 01:06:56,800
things that go together. 
But that's really kind of all 

1499
01:06:56,800 --> 01:06:59,400
that I have for it. 
And I, I think for me really is 

1500
01:06:59,400 --> 01:07:03,200
just like, you know, don't 
overthink it because clearly I'm

1501
01:07:03,200 --> 01:07:05,720
not like y'all are telling me 
that I'm a decorative planner 

1502
01:07:05,720 --> 01:07:08,040
and I'm like, I don't, I don't 
think I am. 

1503
01:07:08,280 --> 01:07:12,160
But maybe it's just, you know, 
really sitting down and thinking

1504
01:07:12,160 --> 01:07:13,920
about what you want that to look
like. 

1505
01:07:13,920 --> 01:07:16,040
Or in my case, it's just 
experimentation. 

1506
01:07:16,040 --> 01:07:17,400
Every week is something 
different. 

1507
01:07:17,640 --> 01:07:20,160
I my journal next week is going 
to look different because of 

1508
01:07:20,160 --> 01:07:22,160
this conversation that we just 
had. 

1509
01:07:22,160 --> 01:07:24,800
So I think the other planner 
pals too, like use this as 

1510
01:07:24,800 --> 01:07:29,120
permission to try something a 
little bit different and be OK. 

1511
01:07:29,120 --> 01:07:31,960
No, like this was experimental. 
Look at at the end of the week 

1512
01:07:32,160 --> 01:07:35,240
and like critique your work, you
know, or I don't know how 

1513
01:07:35,240 --> 01:07:37,320
someone else look at it and be 
like, is this garbage? 

1514
01:07:37,600 --> 01:07:39,160
And they'll tell you if it is or
not. 

1515
01:07:39,480 --> 01:07:41,840
Yeah, just invite me over with 
my red pen and let me mark up 

1516
01:07:41,840 --> 01:07:43,080
your notebook. 
I'm not going to do that. 

1517
01:07:43,360 --> 01:07:46,440
But I do think that the idea of 
applying a critical eye to 

1518
01:07:46,440 --> 01:07:48,840
things can be a really good 
beginner tip. 

1519
01:07:49,120 --> 01:07:52,160
Like as you're looking through 
your Pinterest and Instagram and

1520
01:07:52,160 --> 01:07:54,720
people sharing their journals 
and planners on YouTube or what 

1521
01:07:54,720 --> 01:07:58,400
not, look at it critically in 
terms of what about this is 

1522
01:07:58,400 --> 01:08:01,760
visually appealing to me. 
Like what aspects in particular 

1523
01:08:01,760 --> 01:08:04,720
could I try and recreate in my 
own system because I like the 

1524
01:08:04,720 --> 01:08:06,600
way they look. 
So that could be. 

1525
01:08:06,720 --> 01:08:09,120
Is it the color palette? 
Like is it that combination of 

1526
01:08:09,120 --> 01:08:11,800
colors in particular that is 
giving me the good feelings 

1527
01:08:11,800 --> 01:08:14,120
inside? 
Is it the actual positioning on 

1528
01:08:14,120 --> 01:08:15,800
the page? 
Is it the way they've bought 

1529
01:08:15,800 --> 01:08:18,279
elements together? 
Is it just specifically that 

1530
01:08:18,279 --> 01:08:20,399
tape set and now I have to go 
buy it? 

1531
01:08:20,640 --> 01:08:24,240
Maybe it happens to the best of 
us, But another thing that I 

1532
01:08:24,240 --> 01:08:27,760
would probably recommend if 
you're just getting started is 

1533
01:08:27,920 --> 01:08:30,439
really just kind of trying to 
simplify it down to that kind of

1534
01:08:30,439 --> 01:08:33,920
like 1 main focal element or 
something similar. 

1535
01:08:34,160 --> 01:08:36,920
And like Aaron has told us, 
using that rule of three to like

1536
01:08:36,920 --> 01:08:40,200
pair it with a couple other 
things that aren't going to have

1537
01:08:40,200 --> 01:08:44,359
a lot of kind of visual interest
compared to the decorative 

1538
01:08:44,359 --> 01:08:45,279
thing. 
Like they're still going to be 

1539
01:08:45,279 --> 01:08:46,880
visually interesting. 
That's why we're putting them on

1540
01:08:46,880 --> 01:08:49,160
the page or whatnot. 
But you have that one kind of 

1541
01:08:49,160 --> 01:08:51,920
heavy hitter, that thing that is
going to be more detailed or 

1542
01:08:51,920 --> 01:08:54,720
more of the focus of your 
decoration and then have a 

1543
01:08:54,720 --> 01:08:56,720
couple like supporting 
characters, right? 

1544
01:08:56,760 --> 01:08:59,200
You know, the background 
characters that are here for the

1545
01:08:59,200 --> 01:09:01,240
main character energy of that 
heavy hitter. 

1546
01:09:01,680 --> 01:09:04,560
But planner Powers, we would 
love to hear from you when it 

1547
01:09:04,560 --> 01:09:07,080
comes to decorating in your 
journal and planner, do you 

1548
01:09:07,080 --> 01:09:08,760
consider yourself a decorative 
person? 

1549
01:09:08,760 --> 01:09:11,279
Do you consider the stuff that 
you're doing to be decorative? 

1550
01:09:11,920 --> 01:09:14,920
If so, what are your favorite 
ways to decorate either? 

1551
01:09:14,920 --> 01:09:17,520
Let us know in the comments on 
YouTube or you can hit us up at 

1552
01:09:17,520 --> 01:09:21,040
plannerpalspodcast@gmail.com or 
over on Instagram at Planner 

1553
01:09:21,040 --> 01:09:22,840
Pals Podcast. 
We have to say thank you so 

1554
01:09:22,840 --> 01:09:25,520
much, Aaron, for joining us, not
just with all of these amazing 

1555
01:09:25,520 --> 01:09:28,359
like tips and tricks and rules 
of three that now we will all 

1556
01:09:28,359 --> 01:09:32,200
remember, but for being our very
first guest on the Planner Pals 

1557
01:09:32,200 --> 01:09:34,319
podcast. 
Like this is a big deal, not 

1558
01:09:34,319 --> 01:09:37,240
just for us, but like for 
everybody, because now we just 

1559
01:09:37,240 --> 01:09:40,160
want to do this even more. 
I'm so honored to be the 1st 

1560
01:09:40,160 --> 01:09:42,000
guest Planner pal to come on the
show. 

1561
01:09:42,040 --> 01:09:44,680
Thank you so much for having me.
Of course, Aaron, we want the 

1562
01:09:44,680 --> 01:09:46,640
planner pals to be able to find 
you. 

1563
01:09:46,680 --> 01:09:49,319
So where should they be seeking 
you out? 

1564
01:09:49,560 --> 01:09:52,319
You can find me on YouTube. 
I'm just youtube.com. 

1565
01:09:52,399 --> 01:09:55,680
Aaron Smith, just my name and 
I'm over on Instagram as well. 

1566
01:09:55,680 --> 01:09:58,640
Aaron Smith dot art. 
And of course, we have those 

1567
01:09:58,640 --> 01:10:01,200
linked for you in the 
description of this episode. 

1568
01:10:01,200 --> 01:10:03,200
So do make sure to go and check 
out Erin's stuff. 

1569
01:10:03,760 --> 01:10:06,000
There's a reason that she was 
the first person we thought of 

1570
01:10:06,000 --> 01:10:07,960
when it came to talking about 
decorative planning. 

1571
01:10:07,960 --> 01:10:11,040
So if you want more decorative 
planning inspiration, you're not

1572
01:10:11,040 --> 01:10:13,520
maybe feeling super comfortable 
and you want to see somebody 

1573
01:10:13,520 --> 01:10:16,960
else do it, a definite pro. 
Then make sure to head over to 

1574
01:10:16,960 --> 01:10:19,880
Erin's channel and check out all
of the inspiration she has to 

1575
01:10:19,880 --> 01:10:21,400
offer you. 
As always, thank you so much 

1576
01:10:21,400 --> 01:10:23,560
Planner pals for checking us out
and listening and we will talk 

1577
01:10:23,560 --> 01:10:24,640
to you next time. 
See ya.