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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

I'm very lucky to have my own little creative nook in our house. It's just at the top of the stairs so I am close to the daily goings-on in the house but also cosily tucked away with my things and my stuff. But this is also my 9-5 job workspace on Monday and Thursday and I think that is becoming a problem. Lately I feel that when I am at my desk I am at 'work' and it sucks the creative side out of me when I come here on Fridays or weekends to do creative stuff. Even if I pack all of my 'work' away, close down Outlook and have the coffee and music cranking. My city-office PC is about to die (I'm there Tuesdays and Wednesdays), so I'm looking at replacing it with a work-only laptop that I can use both at home and in the office (right now I use my home Mac for work). I'm wondering if changing locations on WFH days will trick my tiny brain. I could set myself up on Brett's desk in our library (he is mostly in-office) or even try other spaces in the house. I don't need a lot of other 'stuff' while working so maybe that will help? Keep my little nook just for creative time. Maybe even switching out devices will help? How do you all manage deliniating WFH and craft-at-home? ~ I took a very purposeful ‘gentle January’ approach to the start of the year. I read recently that January is the new 'lost week between Christmas and New Year' and that rings so true. Our January ended with a very lovely and blissful four-day weekend (with all four of us home Friday to Monday). Technically it was five days for me because I finally got a last-minute appointment for my ensoscope on the 23rd after I called the hospital to follow-up the day before (again). The early report said everything looked normal so I have to wait for my biopsy results to determine yay or nay on coeliac disease. Zara’s was visible right away and Eli’s wasn’t, but positive from biopsy, so it could go either way. Results in a week. Friday we met friends for lunch at the Italian place that serves the best gluten free pizza and pasta (according to my kids). Saturday we went to a BBQ. Sunday was quiet and Monday Zara and I went to IKEA and picked up some things for uni at Officeworks (she is starting a degree in music composition this week!!). scrapbooking I've taken the last two weekends off scrapbooking while we said good bye to January (and the fun part of summer) and got prepared for school and university starting. life + home Brett and I have been putting more framed photos and art on our walls this week. Nothing has made our renovated home homier. If you've been procrastinating like me I highly recommend hammering some hooks into the walls and putting things up, even if it's not quite the perfect thing. You can always switch it out. health, wellbeing + the kitchen I've been trying out some new gluten free recipes to assuage my guilt at passing on this faulty gene to my kids. As someone very experienced in the kitchen, GF baking is just so strange and the doughs are not like anything I am used to. But I'm learning and trusting the process. I made donuts using this recipe by The Loopy Whisk , but I stuck with a bought GF flour blend rather than her suggested mix of flours - I just don't have my GF storecupboard set up right yet. I had my oil too hot so they were beautifully golden outside but partially raw in the centre but 10 minutes in the oven fixed everything and they were all eaten. If you have a stand mixer, donuts are actually a pretty easy thing to make (especially the gluten kind). People can never believe I’ve made them but if you can handle yeast dough and fry an egg, you are good to go. I also made GF flour tortillas on Sunday (using a forgotten about tortilla press I bought in the Covid lock down times). They came out great, although its a long and messy process. I used a Loopy Whisk recipe again because I've had good luck with her recipes. My goal this year is to really get into gluten free cooking and baking. It’s a learning curve and I feel like I have to unlearn things as well. Eli has been asking me to try gluten free pizza dough but I’m honestly terrified. Maybe next week. currents reading: I finished and enjoyed Intermezzo by Sally Rooney - a lovely, slow story about grief, family and unconventional love. I've just started Yellowface by Rebecca Kuang and I'm also listening to Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat In Difficult Times by Katherine May (on Spotify). watching: Zara started watching Killing Eve so I've been rewatching parts here and there with her. I realised I never finished so this is a great way to catch up and then we can watch the last season together. It's so good! We also watched Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me this weekend which led to lots of David Lynch YouTube rabbit holes (never a bad thing). listening: I listened to Triple J’s Hottest 100 countdown on the long weekend at a BBQ - I have definitely aged out of that demographic but enjoyed it anyway. Brett and I played some pool on Friday night and did that Spotify thing were you play one song then it keeps playing other songs with a similar vibe and an hour later you say, this is really good music but you don’t know what most of it is. planning: Still obsessed with kitchen planning. Definitely-probably going with some kind of wood look for a lot of it - I just love the warmth. well, thank you for listening! until next time... s

(ever since Homer Simpson said ‘saxamaphone’ I have a habit of adding in letters here and there to words and ‘resomolutions’ has really stuck. I like it.) I don’t really do resolutions - I know it’s magical thinking to believe ‘new year, new me’. But I do like to choose a word, or even a direction (or a suggestion of a direction), for the year. Something I know that will help me move forward.  This year I’m choosing ‘real’. I’m not even fancying it up by saying ‘authentic’. I just want to be real in my life, in my friendships, in my marriage, on the internet, and in my work. I want to present the real me and I want to talk about the real stuff. Not that I’m actively living a fake life - I am definitely authentic in most aspects - but I could use some practice in speaking up and being real even when it’s uncomfortable. As an over-achieving people-pleasing first-born eldest-daughter (gosh that’s a stacked deck right?!), I’ve conditioned myself into being a perfect low-maintenance type. But the thing with being low maintenance is that you don't get a lot of maintenance. People assume that you have life handled and they don’t have you at the top of their ‘just checking in’ list (or maybe on the list at all). And why would they? It would almost be an insult to ask low-maintenance gal if she, god forbid, needs anything. So I’m trying out being more open and direct about what I need. I work in government relations and have a communications degree but confrontation and emotional communication elude me. Since making an effort to work on this, I've already seen some big changes. (And do you know how we became ‘low maintenance’ in the first place? Um, it’s not because we are well adjusted and trauma-free I’ll tell you that much!).  I don’t have any advice for any of my fellow low-maintenance folks beyond a nod of solidarity and a fist bump. I see you. It would be great to get to a place where voicing our needs (major and minor) is not revolutionary but just a regular thing. We really are our own worst enemies sometimes. I will keep you posted.. life + home Even though we are sliding to the end of January, this week felt like the beginning of the new year for me. The return to work and semi-regular routine (kids are still on summer holidays) forced me to face 2025 and get some planning underway.  We have had some wild weather in Sydney this past week. The rain and cooler, grey days are very welcome, not so much the chaotic thunderstorms that left a lot of people without power and damaged homes. Of course I’ve also been following along with all those in LA that have lost homes, schools and whole neighbourhoods. I am so heartbroken and sorry for everyone affected. What an awful way to start the year. weekend We had a wide open weekend, which is my very favourite. There has been so much socialising the last few months (good! great!) but I just need to rest and refill my battery. When I’m feeling like this, the greatest kindness I give myself is time - a Friday, Saturday and Sunday with nowhere to be and nothing pressing to be done. Time to potter about my house, drink coffee in bed in the early morning, watch some TV, do some crafting, listen to music, sit in the sunshine with a book, spend some time in the kitchen (gluten free cupcakes), have an afternoon lie-down, light some candles, and do some chores at my own convenience and pace. If I could conjure up my perfect Saturday - that would be it and I’m grateful when I can give it to myself. scrapbooking projects I finished the first page of my Everyday2025 project - that’s usually the point when I can say, OK I’m doing this. I’m still thinking about what other crafty things I want to do this year and I keep coming back to the concept of small and back-to-basics, whatever that means. We have a long weekend coming up and I want to spend an afternoon (at least) playing at my desk and making things with no agenda, project, product or anything in mind. Just for funsies. shannanpages shop I released this new template to my shop last weekend - Log It. It’s a simple way to keep track of things like reading, watching, listening, making, gardening etc and comes with a lot of alternate title options to choose from. Available in 12x12, Letter, 8x10, 6x8 and 9x12. health, wellbeing + the kitchen My digestion thanks me when I don’t eat too late in the day, so I’m trying to plan my meals better and make sure I eat early when possible. I feel best when I stick to breakfast, big lunch and small, early dinner/snack schedule but it doesn’t always fit with life. Still struggling a bit with gluten free meals for the kids, especially when they are home all day on holidays. Zara is easy to please but Eli at 15 seems to grow taller everyday and is constantly hungry. Lots of protein smoothies and leftovers required. Our strategy has been to mix up gluten free versions of our favourites with brand new recipes. Quite fun but a lot of kitchen work. currents reading:  //Intermezzo by Sally Rooney //Fast Like A Girl by Dr Mindy Pelz watching: //Old episodes of The Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlett (never seen it) after pulling out my Gerry Anderson box set of 45 records Brett got me as a gift years ago (such a fun listen). //Bits from The Goodies on YouTube - another core childhood memory. //Any YouTube video that says “I bought an abandoned cottage…” (we watch this one every week and this is a new one that popped up for me) //Any YouTube video that says “Decorating ins and outs for 2025…” (I do love some opinionated design advice) //First-time-listen react videos of Beatles albums (esp Revolver and Rubber soul). Can people really be oblivious to the Beatles? I like this one (the best ones are by people with a music background or who work in the industry)  (As an aside, if there was a Guitar Hero-style game for strings, I reckon I would kill playing air-violin on Eleanor Rigby, even though I’ve never even touched a violin IRL).  //I also like watching movie react videos because I get to re-watch my favourite films in a short burst (I've watched The Apartment several times since Christmas this way). //Mulholland Drive and a few episodes of Twin Peaks with Zara to pour one out for David Lynch, who I admire as an artist so, so much. He will be so missed. listening:  //Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness all the way through on Saturday afternoon with Brett (it’s four records) //Lots of background jazz music on Spotify while working to match the dark, stormy weather //Sufjan Stevens, also a rainy day fave //Still on my Joni Mitchell Blue kick - adding it to my record wish list (how is my collection Joni-less right now?!) loving: the cooler and wetter weather (and the excuse to hibernate and recharge). planning: a new kitchen for 2025 (I think!). This is a hangover from our 2023 second-storey build and just needs to happen. We had a year off to recover from the mess and chaos and I think we are ready to jump back in for the final stretch. I’m adding lots of things to my Pinterest board, marveling at the way my taste in interiors and design has changed since we began this whole process back in 2022. I’m really drawn to mid-century modern style and am looking for a warm and well-used vibe for my kitchen. I cook a lot so I want it to be a place I love being. Our house is also open-plan so the kitchen needs to fit in. (If anyone wants to share any kitchen remodel advice, please do!) Here are some of my pins: well, thank you for listening! until next time... s

I want to write here more often but I often feel as though I need have something big and important to say in such a formal space. But it's just a blog. And my favourite blogs involve regular people just showing up and saying 'hey hello, here is how my regular old life is going right now'. I also like having a space that is mine and is not beholden to the whims of the dreaded algorithm. Where I can just show up and write so hopefully I will do more of that this year. life + home I have had the most head-spinning and hectic Christmas/NewYear period and my work break flew by - all over as of today. But I felt like I found a good balance between fun outings, house to-do's and lots of laying on the couch in the airconditioning watching James Bond films with Zara. scrapbooking projects I don't feel free to move on to new things until the old ones are finished so I am giving myself another week to get all the 2024 stuff off the books. I finished my December Daily mini and as of this morning, my Sentence-A-Day project is complete - I just need to get it together to send off to print. Very glad I perservered and finished that one, it will be a great little snapshot of the year. I also have a 2024 photobook project (10x8 size) that is done up until October so I want to get that completed too. That's been great for my larger, better photos but I don't think I'll continue that this year. I don't have concrete scrapbooking plans for 2025. I've learned that I really like/need an easy way to document the little things so I've created a set of three templates to cover a month at a time with space for a quick photo and a few words - very similar to my Sentence-A-Day but changing up the design because one year working on the same looking pages is enough for me. Going to to that in 8x10 again and print as a Blurb book. For the rest of the time, I think I'll just make regular pages when it strikes. I really enjoyed getting back into making random 6x8 and 8x10 sized pages last year. shannanpages shop The plan is to continue to release digital templates and products on a regular basis (trying for Saturdays). I also want to do more YouTube tutorials and need to really get those classes I keep talking about finished and posted (so close, it's only the lack of time and perfectionism that's holding me back). The first new templates went into the shop yesterday. The Every Day Monthly Template Set is what I will be using this year for the little bits of life - available in 12x12, Letter, 8x10 and 9x12. This template has three pages to cover each month. I also have the Ranked24 two-page template for compiling end of year lists - various topics are included in the template, including books, movies, moments. (It also has a Ranked25 option if you want to document this year). This one comes in 8x10, Letter, 9x12, 12x12 and 6x8. health, wellbeing + the kitchen Summer is the best time to reinvigorate cooking for me. We have been going to a new-to-us fresh food market and getting the most amazing and inspiring grocery hauls. Both kids were diagnosed with celiac disease late last year which has brought some challenges - we have become that 'when you live in an ingredient household' meme - but we are adjusting well. Eli is becoming a really good cook and help in the kitchen. I'm waiting on my endoscope appointment and have about resigned myself to a celiac diagnosis also, enjoying my gluten last hurrah (you need to be eating gluten regularly prior to the biopsy for an accurate result). I've been getting the most incredible oxheart tomatoes and eating them on crisped italian bread with goats cheese, basil, salt, pepper and lots of olive oil. It's also the season for spicy prawn tacos, platters of mangoes, watermelon and ripe peaches, eggplant parm, ciabatta sandwiches crammed with cold cuts, greens and the pickley-est mayo concoctions, aperol spritzes by the pool and icecream in bed late at night. summer Summer feels like it is flying by this year. Back-to-school signs are everywhere and Easter hot cross buns showed up in Woollies immediately after the 25th. Can we please just enjoy this season before barrelling towards the next? This rush to the next thing is adding to the feeling that life is sped up. I've really enjoyed the last few weeks where the hot and humid days have been interspersed with cooler, rainy weather to give us a break. This is the summer of afternoon James Bond films with Zara, evening pool games upstairs playing records and making cocktails, morning dips in the pool, slow and lazy afternoons and repeat viewings of What We Do In The Shadows  in bed. Our home is really geared for summer with the pool and lots of outdoor lounging and dining space and I feel very grateful. It also makes entertaining so easy and I love having friends and family here. currents reading: I just finished All the Beautiful Things by Jonathan Seidler. I really liked it and the framing of the story. watching: All of the James Bond films with Zara (we have just entered the Pierce Brosnan era) What We Do In The Shadows (rewatch - incredible) Lots of YouTube interior design videos ("what design trends are we leaving behind in 2024" is huge right now) and anything that has a title along the lines of 'I bought an abaondoned cottage in the middle of nowhere...' Heartstopper Season 3 with Zara and Abbey one afternoon Nosferatu (cinema - loved) Heretic (home - very good) listening: Joni Mitchell Blue over and over The Smith's record I got for Zara in Melbourne for Christmas ( and if a double decker bus, crashes into us... ) Lots of vintage Italian summer themed Spotify playlists. loving: the way January feels like a fresh start thank you for being here! s

All of those cool scrapbook projects that float around our wonderful community? I haven't done any of them this year. I’m documenting the little everyday pieces and the big shiny photos in my yearly projects but I’m worried I’m not documenting the deeper story of the here and now. I’m feeling a bit sentimental lately, with a desire to hang on tight to time as my kids get older and our family life is on the cusp of a shift as Zara finishes high school - longing for a little project to capture how life is right now in some detail. Something that encompasses all of us rather than just me (which is often the focus of my scrapbooking). I thought I could at least tackle a layout a week and build an album of pages that represent the ‘right now(ish)’ for our family. I plan to mostly use photos I already have but will add new ones as needed for the stories I'm putting together. I'm not trying to capture a specific period of time, just a general snapshot of this season of life. I've made a set of digital layered PSD templates (available in the shannanpages shop ) in 8x10, Letter, 9x12, 12x2 and 6x8 size. There are ten templates with prompts to help guide the documenting plus five photo-only insert templates to add when needed. I've chosen topics that I think tell a good, rounded story, but of course you can switch the headings out for ones that mean more to you or add additional pages by duplicating the templates and adding additional titles (the font I've used is Market Deco ). I will probably do that too. Of course you don't need the templates to play along - I've listed the prompts I'm using at the end of this post if this sounds like something you would like to do too. Here is my first page using the FUN + GAMES prompt. I've used black and white photos - not sure if I'll do that throughout but I like it. I'm not going super-deep of over thinking it, I just want some of this stuff saved. Here are some thoughts and suggestions if you want to play along. I'm making my project very family oriented but this would also work well as an 'about me' album: 1 HOUSE + HOME Who's living at home right now? What is home like? Any recent changes or renovations? Are you happy where you are living? Are you planning a move or staying put? What's your favourite thing about your home? What's your favourite space? 2 HEALTH + WELLBEING How are you (no really)? How is the family? How are you taking care of yourself? 3 ROUTINES + SCHEDULES How does your daily routine look? What about other people in the family? How have your routines and rhythms changed? What things are difficult to manage right now? 4 FUN + GAMES How are you all blowing off steam? What makes you laugh? What activities do you all look forward to? How important is having fun in your home? 5 COOKING + EATING Are you enjoying time in the kitchen right now? Or not? Why? What is everyone enjoying for meals and snacks? Who is in charge of dinner at your place? What is the family's favourite meal? What is on high rotation? 6 WATCH LISTEN + READ What are you loving together and individually? 7 OUT + ABOUT What activities are you doing outside of the house? Where are you going? What do you want to do more of? Are you 'stay in' or 'get out' kind of people? Has that changed over the last few years? 8 WORK + SCHOOL How is your job? Are you happy at work? Who is working in your family? Are you WFH or outside the home or both? How is everyone doing in school? What subjects are you/they taking? Are you thinking about a career or job change? 9 GARDEN + OUTSIDE Are you tending a garden? How has that been going this year? What are you growing? What are your favourite outside spaces to spend time in? Are they at home out outside of the home? 10 FAMILY SNAPSHOT (OR SELFIE - I've included both in the template) Introduce your family like they are Jeopardy contestants What's a fun fact about each person? (Or just you). Thanks for reading - tag me on instagram if you start a Life, Now project of your own.

About time for a little update here on the dusty ole blog. Autumn is coming in slowly here in Sydney (my very favourite). The evenings are definitely cooler even if the days are still warm enough for swimming. Daylight savings ended on the weekend so this morning felt slow and luxurious. I will be pleased to not leave for work in the pitch dark on my office days. I will also be pleased to be done with this summer's extra relentless heat and humidity. LIFE + HOME The house is tentatively done with lots of small jobs left and a few big ones. The IKEA bar saga came to an end today as they delivered the last two drawer fronts we needed to finish. I say 'saga' as we bought (or tried to buy) an IKEA kitchen to turn into a bar (my bright idea) back in January and have had to buy different parts piecemeal, checking in with the IKEA app multiple times a day. Not ideal but that's how they do it. I scored the last two drawer fronts on Friday at 3am and almost woke Brett just to celebrate. I felt like I had scored Taylor Swift tickets. I also got to move into my new upstairs office space over Easter - finally! Downstairs needs some work. Painting, new beds for the kids, some re-arranging of rooms and furniture. We really hustled to get a lot of things done in time for Christmas and lost our DIY mojo after that. It's very easy to leave your messy not-quite-finished downstairs when you have a clean and shiny new upstairs to hang out in. Hopefully the cooler weather will kick us back into gear. We are very happy with how the addition came out (if you are new here, hello!, we added a second floor onto our house last year). Everything we chose and bought just worked, even when we had to go with Plan C and D for things (powder room tiles, you nearly did me in with your 'discontinued' and your 'we have one last box but it's lost in the warehouse' shenanigans). I took the kitchen off the whole remodel agenda early on knowing it would just be too much at once so that is one gigantic thing left on the to-do list. Hopefully we will get to that later in the year (we had termite damage a few years back so it's a necessity sadly). I did joke to Brett on the weekend that he could do it himself with IKEA... SCRAPBOOKING I am feeling good about my crafty projects this year. I have two main year-long projects - Sentence-a-Day and a photo-heavy 10x8 album. Both are digital and just require a weekly sit-down to keep up to date. They will (hopefully) become printed books when done. Sentence-a-Day is very much like memory planning with a quick caption about the day and a few tiny photos interspersed. The 10x8 photobook is just an opportunity to use my bigger and better photos. I'm keeping this one very simple with some journaling cards and words sprinkled in. The big giant landscape photos are what it's all about really. There is a lot of crossover and I see them both as Project Life-ish, but I love having one place for the tiny details of life and one to showcase my photos. I'm also trying to make regular layouts as well and have been sharing prompts on Instagram (shannan_pages) to encourage everyone to play along. The idea is to just make something about a topic in whichever way you like. Sometimes the formulaic nature of Project Life style scrapbooking gets a bit tedious, so regular layouts are always a fun addition. Lots of digital templates have been going into my digital scrapbook shop this year. I am also working on classes which has required a lot more of me than thought. My first two will be Minimalist Memory Keeping and Digital Scrapbooking Basics. Stay tuned and thank you for your patience! I think I will participate in Ali Edwards' Week In The Life later this month (I don't do it every year but I'm in the making mood). The key for me is to come up with a format and framework before the week starts. COOKING Eli is obsessed with this teriyaki beef recipe and makes it weekly (sometimes with diced chicken instead). I made this brussels sprouts & bacon pizza on the weekend, it's a favourite. The feta is key. These strawberry overnight oats were delicious if you love strawberries (I do). These meatballs were great. I love how huge they are because rolling small meatballs is a drag, as is frying them (these are baked). This grapefruit marg has been a summer staple. If you are into cocktails, I recommend watching Anders on YouTube. My almost-ready bar has me obsessed. ~ Thank you for reading and being here!

I am really looking forward to the Christmas season this year. Our house is slowly getting into shape and we are coming into Summer. I’ve really become conscious of simplifying December (a late-in-life lesson) and I plan to repeat that to myself like a mantra. Don’t take on too much, don’t let perfectionism ruin the season and don’t make yourself miserable. The last two years, I’ve done a handmade mini-book for December Daily and I plan to go small again this year - just so achievable and fun. Blurb now has a little 5x5 photobook option available so I’m thinking I might do a fully digital project rather than cobbling a book together myself. I've made so many photobooks but never for December Daily. We will still be busy house-wise so taking the printer, paper and glue out of the equation will help keep me on track. My last two albums were a fun mishmash of everything Christmas and December but I think I might narrow this one down to a more traditional story/photo a day structure. My photo taking needs a jolt and December Daily will be perfect for that. I think I might create 25-31 two-page spreads with a repetitive journal theme like "December is for...". That way I can concentrate on getting some great photos throughout the month and creating a little collection of things that mean 'December' to me (which is the beginning of Summer for us down here in case the swimming pool is confusing :) I could probably fill the book off the top of my head right now. Here's a little mock-up. Just a simple 'December Is For' repeated everyday with a number added (this one is from the December Daily 2021 Digitals Number Stamp Set from Ali Edwards). I think this is the way for me this year. Just the thought of not having to print myself is a load off, as well as only needing to come up with one photo a day. And I just love working with little squares. In my mind, I'm calling this my HADD (half-assed December Daily). Happy to have you come along and be half-assed with me this year if that appeals - let's do it! (...but not too much...calm down...jeez).

Year-long projects (like Project Life) that span a year and capture all of the little details in a simple, repetitive way are a favourite of mine and some my most valuable albums. The years that I have decided not to have one of these projects in the mix, I find myself missing a place for all of the little daily bits and photos. I love having a project that is always in process - something to pull out and work on when I'm not feeling super creative or in the mood to start from scratch. Even better when I'm following a template or repeating design. So I thought I would do a quick roundup of the various longer-term documenting projects I have completed or designed solutions for as we start making plans for 2024. These options are all minimalist in style because besides being my style, it's the simplest way I've found to keep these projects achievable over a long span of time. Any of these digital ideas can also be turned into regular paper pages too I'm sure. Some of these options make great stand-alone albums, others can be repeated regularly and just included as inserts in your everyday album. Clicking on the product photos will take you to the related shop page. Most templates have various size options. 8x10, 10x8, 5x8 and 6x9 are popular photobook sizes if you want to go that route. GRIDS Let's start with Becky Higgins' OG style of scrapbooking where you pair photos and journal cards in pocket pages (or grids when we are talking digital) to document your week or month. I have done so many iterations of this in various sizes and still think it's one of the best and simplest ways to capture daily life. It's also the best way to use up those stashes of journal cards we all have, digital scrapbookers included. RECAP SPREADS Sometimes a quick recap spread at the end of the week or month is all you have time for. My favourite templates in this category already have titles and some structure to follow. TRACKING MEDIA I really like the concept of making a page once a week or month to document what you are reading, watching etc. What a cool album that would make over a year and so simple if you repeat a template. ANNUAL PHOTOBOOKS Some years I have taken a really photo-forward approach to my yearly memory keeping. These are great for those seasons in life where you are taking so many wonderful photos that you want to showcase (for me that was when the kids were younger). I make sure to always include words too. PHOTO-A-DAY I loved how this project came out. Pair a photo with a caption everyday. Simple. JOURNAL-HEAVY PROJECTS Sometimes I just really want to dig deep and write a lot. I'm always grateful that I did. DOCUMENTING JUST THE WEEKENDS Imagine having an album at the end of the year that documents just your weekends - amazing and do-able. THEME-SPECIFIC One year I documented all the food we ate and cooked (I got the idea from a Rachael Ray cookbook) and another year I documented all of the new recipes I tried. This is a great way to document your interests and hobbies and track your progress over a year. DIGITAL MEMORY KEEPING/PLANNING Using planners for daily documenting has been huge in the last five years. When I tried to make some templates to size my photos correctly for my paper planner I realised I could just make a planner-like spread in Photoshop and call it done. This is a really fun way to scrapbook and I love my finished album. KEEPING A DIGITAL JOURNAL I love the concept of a notebook that is part scrapbook, part art journal, part journal. Or a more formal daily notetaking practice. DOCUMENT A LONG-TERM PROJECT Perfect for things like renovations, gardening or even craft projects. A final pep talk on these kinds of projects: they require consistent attention and can quickly become a chore but if you keep going, you will end up with something so worthwhile.

Well hey. This year has been a year alright. And we’re only in October. We embarked on a major house renovation (building a second floor onto our house) and while I pep-talked myself to deal with the physical aspects (dust, mess, chaos, stress) I was woefully unprepared for the mental toll. My husband recently told a friend “it kinda takes over your life and brain” and that’s it exactly. The constant planning, organising, pivoting and decision after decision after decision left me in a fog. I also lost my scrap space and had to cram my way in between Brett’s work laptop and Eli’s gaming PC. Even though I am a happy minimalist, it just wasn’t the same without my pretty things around me. I was a bit blindsided by the hit to my creativity. I realised only recently that I’ve had a textbook case of burnout. Constantly exhausted, unable to concentrate, lack of motivation, bad sleeping patterns, regular headaches. Well d’uh. Who isn’t burnt out right now? But as the build winds down, along with the year, I’ve felt a real change in my energy and am looking forward to settling into my new creative space and making pretty things. (Getting my dining table back and my record player set up again last week did me a world of good too). I’ve been finishing off some of my 2023 projects and re-imagining others. I’m turning silly ideas into silly layouts that I love. I’m in the mood to make. So here is a little update on where I’m at with all things scrapbooking. December Daily I’m very excited for December Daily this year (my 16th one!). Some daily creativity is just what I need. I’m planning to do a hybrid mini album again - I just love the tiny-ness and the low stakes. I’m going to play it very cool and calm and just wing it come December. Sentence-A-Day I came up with a template for a sentence-a-day project earlier this year (available in my shop here if you would like to play along) but didn’t get far. I think this will be a great thing to restart in January and continue through to the end of the year. I love having a project to capture all of the small things and I only need one photo or sentence (or both) each day (and skipping a day or two is totally OK too). I’ll do my pages digitally 8x10 and print as a book at the end. Autumn/Winter Book I recently looked at all the pages I’ve made for this book that got derailed in June. I love them! I also have a bunch of regular digital layouts I made in January and February so I’ve decided to incorporate those photos and stories into this project and just call it my 2023 book. I’m going to take the next few weeks to add some July-November photos and stories then work on it alongside my December Daily to finish it off. It’s a very minimal style photobook so shouldn’t be too much work. Just a quick aside - I always include December in my yearly projects even when I’m doing December Daily. I feel like it gives a ‘proper’ look at our year and I don’t mind doubling up stories or photos at all. And with my small format December Daily, there will be lots of extra photos around to use. General Layouts I’m thinking about working with a physical album next year alongside my longer photobook projects. I know I’ve categorically stated my preference for photobooks over physical albums so many times, but the pull is there right now. I’m yearning to just take a piece of paper, stick down a photo and write something now and then (ha! - paper scrapbooking, have you heard of it?). It doesn’t all have to be highly conceptualized year-long books and thematic projects (saying that to myself of course :) I’m thinking an 8.5x11 album that’s just available for me to add different sized pages when I feel like it. Some digital, some paper and some both. Stories that might not fit into a larger project. There’s something about holding a finished page and flipping through a growing album that you can’t get from the photobook process. I’m craving rainy afternoons with scissors, paper and photographs (and the digital version of that). Back to basics. I will also have more storage space at home so I’m also not as worried about adding another physical album to the mix. Photography My camera roll is a sad, empty place right now unless you count paint colours, IKEA aisle locations, tile choices and random photos of the dog. Time to get thoughtful about this really important part of scrapbooking. Shannanpages Shop This week my Christmas/December templates are going into the shop (10x8, 6x8 and 4x8) , as well as some Journal Cards. I have a few more ideas so might add to the Christmas collection over the next month or two. My goal with the shop in general is to add new templates or products most weeks on Saturday (Sydney time). I like a schedule to work to and to create some expectation for my wonderful customers. Shannanpages Classes Coming soon, I promise (probably around February). I know people have been waiting (not a lot, but a few of you!) and I appreciate your patience. Turns out classes are really hard to develop and take a ton of work and bandwidth. Getting there though! My first class options will include minimalist scrapbooking, digital basics and writing. November is giving me January feels this year. New start, Spring in full swing here. Thankful I’ve found my crafty mojo again and excited for what’s next. S.

This year my main scrapbooking project was my digital journal, a 10x8 photobook called 'Digest'. It was a mix of project life, art journal, full page photos, layouts, notebook, bullet journal and smash book and I love how it turned out. It's probably one of my favourite things I've ever made. I have a video walkthrough of the finished book on my YouTube Channel and if it looks like something you might like to try, I have the digital templates available in my shop in 6x8 and 8x10/Letter sizes. When that was completed (October 2021-October 2022) I started a little 5x8 book that just pairs a photo a day (ish, it's OK if I miss) with a caption and that's it. I'm still going with that and plan to keep it up in 2023 for as long as I'm enjoying it. (I also have digital templates for this project in my shop - Daily Delights). Mine will end up as a 5x8 trade book at Blurb when I'm done. But I needed a main project for 2023 that could follow my simple parameters: > digital > ultimately printed as a photobook > one-project-fits-all rather than multiple albums So my plan is to make another 8x10 book that is sectioned by monthly dividing pages and covers all of 2023. I really like that size - not too big, not too small and perfect for the bookshelf. This time, I want a bit more structure than last year where I started with a blank slate every page (but had a common style). I want to include some theme pages that are recurring each month, like regular features in a magazine. These would be things I would like to track over the year and I'll end up with 12 pages on that theme over the year. Topics I'm thinking of including would be: cooking/eating, health/self-care, house (we are renovating this year), reading, watching, listening and intentions for the month. Not sure if they'll follow the same template each month. I also love project-life style grid pages for all of my little everyday photos and stories to live so I will include either a single or double page 3x3 grid per week. This is Week01 so far (the numbers I'm using for the weeks are from last year's digital December Daily variety number pack and I am obsessed with the retro vibe of the vintage set). If the grids are the only thing I end up getting done this year, then that will be fine. A grid a week sounds like a lot but it's a great place to use up journal cards, digital elements, selfies, not-great-photoes, collected memes and all of that ridiuculousness. The rest of the month can be filled out with regular layouts (I've gotten away from those and look forward to getting back to that), drawings, full page photos and some longer journaling pages. I like the idea of some structure as well as lots of freedom. I'm not great at envisioning projects until I have real-life stories and photos so I'm hoping once I do January, I'll have a better idea and some kind of roadmap for the album. I'm also not locking myself in and every month doesn't have to include everything. I also mentioned last year that I would be offering classes in 2023. I've been working behind the scenes and hope to have the first two ready soon: Digital Scrapbooking for Beginners and Minimalist Scrapbooking. Thanks everyone! Let's make some stuff!!

Hello! Before I move into new year stff, I wanted to share a final post with the rest of my December Daily pages. So happy to have this done. Sometimes I have continued until the 31st but this little guy was stuffed so 25 days it was. Day 16 documents the last day of school for the year and the start of their summer holidays. What a great feeling. The Summer stamp is an old digital by Kellie Stamps and the other side has a December Daily dotted paper and December Stories box from last year's kit. Day 17 is a little 'To Do' list. The red striped card is from the 2017 Paislee Press December Daily minikit (I changed the heading) and the digitals on the photo are from the Paislee Press December You Are My Fave No. 6 (definately a much loved and used kit). Day 18 was baking day. I made cookies and the annual Christmas plum pudding. The butter card is an older one from Kelly Purkey/Paper Person and is just perfect. Day 19 documents a night out to see The Killers. I typed up some lyrics over the concert photo and used a digital ticket from my stash (sorry I don't know where it came from). Fantastic night. Day 20 we went out for lunch which is a rare thing for a Tuesday. The card is from In A Creative Bubble (resized and altered to fit here) with a December Daily 'Love + Gratitude' stamp on top. I also used digital numbers from last years' December Daily kit on the photo. Day 21 was my last day at work in the city, so I used a photo of the big tree in Martin Place. The date wreath on the photo is an older Ali Edwards December Daily overlay and the card is from last year's In A Creative Bubble December Daily kit. I typed the wrong date on the card but figured that was on-brand and left it in. Day 22 is in celebration of Zara getting her learners' permit this week. The paper is from one of this years' December Daily 10x8 paper packs - I love it. The label sentiment is care of Clark W. Griswold and sums it up just about right. Pass the Tylenol indeed. Day 23 documents that annual 'setting of the table' - my favourite activity and I always do it a few days ahead. The card and background green pattern are from last year's In A Creative Bubble December Daily kit. Day 24 is just a quick capture of our Christmas Eve. Digitals are by Paislee Press. And finally Day 25. I love a Christmas morning present opening photo but don't always think to take one. The patterned paper and ornament card are from a 2015 December Daily kit. I spent a nice quiet post-Christmas morning glueing all of my pages back-to-back and hole punched them for the album (by Jamaica Makes). It all fits perfectly. Thanks for following along! I also have a video walk-through of the finished album on my YouTube channel if you want to take a look. Grateful for this little mini but ready for new things. xS.

Half way! Making most of my pages daily, although I had to catch up on Friday after a busy week. So happy that I chose to go small this year, it's fitting perfectly with my 'less' theme for December in general and makes it easy to get done. My album arrived (it took just over a week to get here which I thought was pretty amazing). I'll keep making my loose pages and put it all together at the end. I've ended up doing a spread a day which means mostly a photo on one side and a journaling card or element on the other. I'm making my pages in Photoshop Elements and printing out at home (on my Epson Expression Photo), sometimes adding some letter stickers. My font through the book in Oceanside. Day 08 was a work-from-home day so I documented how I love being able to play records while I work. I have a few old sets of digital cards from Push Print Studio which I love. They are so fun and simple. I recoloured this one to red so it would match the red in my living room photo and put some journaling between the words routine. The red half-circle is from the Paislee Press December You Are My Fave No. 6. Red makes me so happy. Day 09 is about my obsession with food and all of the Christmas-themed food magazines and cookbooks that are around this year. This is definitely part of my December. I went with a pink theme to match my poolside pink flamingo pillow. The date circle is from Paislee Press December You Are My Fave No 9 (recoloured) and the plaid paper is from last year's December Daily kit. Day 10 documents my son and I honing our homemade pasta making skills. I bought this cookbook Saturday Night Pasta while we were in Covid lockdown after hearing the author on a few podcasts. She started a homemade Saturday night pasta tradition as something to do while her husband . So cosy. Eli is obsessed with the cavatelli so that's what we make and we are getting good at it. Delicious. The patterned paper is from the Paislee Press December You Are My Fave No. 6 and the wreath number is one of Ali's older overlays. Day 11 documents a typical Summer Sunday morning - hanging out by the pool, reading books, listening to music and drinking coffee. The Soaking up the sunshine stamp is from a Paislee Press summer kit and the Eleven is part of an older Ali Edwards' December Daily overlay. The slushee patterned paper is from my Summer Digital Paper Pack. Day 12 was Eli's first day at a week of swim school (a great way to spend the very last week of school). He was so tired and a little sunburned so he laid down next to me while I was watching TV and had a nap, which is so rare at thirteen that I had to sneak this photo. I made the card and the number is from last year's December Daily digital number set. I knew I wanted to document watching Fleishman Is In Trouble because 1) I love the show and 2) I love this poster, so that's Day 13. The snowflake paper is part of the LifeLovePaper patreon (recoloured a little to match the poster). Day 14 documents our outdoor movie night watching Home Alone (which actually happened on Saturday but didn't get into the book until this day). The patterned paper is from this year's December Daily 10x8 digital pack and the stars and text on the photo are from last years' December Daily transparencies. Day 15 documents a client lunch Stephen and I went to at Circular Quay (Sydney - obviously :). I didn't take a photo because it's a bit strange to do that with clients, so I took this photo from the hotel's website. We were sitting almost exactly in this position. The number is from last years' December Daily numbers set and I made the label from a card in last years' Paislee Press minikit. When I saw Ali's great book-club page using that cool frame paper, I went and bought the digital version so I could make this Christmas movie spread. I sized the paper down from 8x10 to fit across two pages in my mini (8x5.5) then imported that to Procreate so I could make my photos masks there and keep that wonky hand-drawn look. Then I imported the mask layer back to my Mac and added photos from the internet. I didn't number this one so I'm just calling it an insert. So that's week two. Happy how it's coming along. SHANNANPAGES SHOP I also added a new template set to my shop last week - a project-life style set of ten double-page templates that are designed to document a year of photos as a weekly or monthly spread. They come in 8x10 and 8.5x11 but open as double spreads so there are 20 layouts in total for each size. Thanks for reading! S