well hello

Happy New Year!

It's the 6th of January so we are (sadly) past the anything-goes part of the holidays and heading into the let's-get-serious-and-set-some-goals part.

Social media is pushing a lot of planning, journaling and notebook content my way and I am here for it. I'm not back at work until next week so this is a good time to get myself organised for the new year and my head on straight.

We are also in the thick of summer here so there is still that lovely feeling of endless days right now.

Let me catch you up on a few things.

shannanpages shop

On 2 January, my digital shop became part of the wonderful group of digital scrapbooking stores at Hey Scrapper.

The shannanpages shop celebrated its six year anniversary in November and I decided that saying yes to this move would give me an opportunity to A. have some direction and accountability B. work alongside some amazing designers that I have looked up to for so long C. be part of a team and D. have a refresh and try something new.

My store now lives here: https://heyscrapper.com/store/shannanpages/ or there is a link at my old store that takes you there.

You will find most of my back catalogue of products there and new things going forward. I will also post new items and their links as they release at shannanpages.com

As always, I'll keep you posted on Instagram when new stuff comes out.

I am excited for what 2026 will bring for my design-life.

(Also, for people wondering why I chose the name shannan_pages - when I first started sharing on Instagram I thought it would be great to have separate accounts for different interests so I created shannan_pages, shannan_eats etc as a way to differenciate. I'm just sticking with it now).

new product releases this week

A double template to create a weekly planner-style spread (8x10, Letter, 12x12, 9x12 and 6x8). I love the ability to add colour to this one and the clean and simple layout. There is also a place to add some currents each week (or anything you would like to keep track off week after week). This would make a great album or book if you made a year of spreads.

Hand-drawn calendar 3x4 JPG journal cards for 2026 (as well as a set in transparant PNG format overlays for use over photos and layouts). These are great for adding into pockets or using on digital pages.

my 2026 scrapbooking projects

I still haven't finished my 8x10 2025 photobook (I'm stuck because I've reached our Japan trip in the timeline and there are just so many photos I am torn on how to work it into the yearly album).

I've just started another simple 6x9 book (or pages that will eventually be a book) for 2026. This one is less photo based than last year - I want it to be a casual, simple look at our everyday lives with a focus on thoughts and ideas rather than just images.

I also plan to make regular digital or hybrid 'scrapbook' layouts (I just found a bunch of unused albums in my storage). I will always choose a photobook over an album but there is just something fun in printing out a page without waiting, working outside of a set style and being able to add some letter stickers and other non-digital items.

life + home

My kitchen redo is still not done (or even started) but we are really hoping to do it this year. The only thing holding us back is the not-so-distant memory of our big 2023 renovation and all of the mess, intrusion and decision-making that entailed. I had this on my list for last year but we had a trip to Japan and a few other things so it fell off. Here are some of my inspiration Pins. The good thing about waiting is that I've really been able to think it through properly.

We spent a few weeks in November finally finishing things downstairs - guest bedroom, Zara's bedroom and Zara's study (she chose to keep two rooms in the renovation instead of getting a larger room). This involved new flooring and carpet, lots of paining and new furniture. I won't share photos of her room (still not completly done) but this was our inspiration photo from Pinterest. It came out so great - dark, moody and cosy just like she wanted.

watching

Still in the Stranger Things after-glow. We did a full rewatch just before the new episodes so we have really been immersed in all things Hawkins. Loved the finale. I also spent most of December listening to the special Squawk radio station that ran through December - so good.

Binge-watched Heated Rivalry because everyone online told me to. They were right. Amazing love story.

Zara has never seen Buffy so we started from the beginning a few weeks ago and it's just perfect summer afternoon TV viewing. I keep thinking about story lines and characters that are yet to come knowing that she is going to love it. We are halfway through season two and so happy that we are in the Spike and Drusilla era.

listening

Enjoying La Luz and The Mystery Lights (recent record buys). We've also been playing our stash of Stranger Things soundtrack albums (about to pre-order the Season Five one which will be epic).

OK, thank you for reading if you made it this far. Hoping to be back here soon.

S