Self-Care on the Go!

Hitting the road bright and early for Toronto this morning. So very excited for the next few days, I could just squeal! My little sister has been working hard to plan a fabulous bridal shower in my honor, with my Canadian friends and family. Can barely wait! Although I am excited, I know the drive will be long and the weekend will be busy so I've made myself a little kit for self-care on the go. I find when I travel, depending on where I'm going my self-care needs are going to change, as do the contents of my self-care kit.

For this trip the contents of my self-care kit include fun, girly fiction, journal, fancy pens, piece of lush bubble bar and sugar scrub, face mask, ipad, sleep mask, and four cups of epsom salts.

Can you tell I'm hoping for a long bubble bath?

Creativity Challenge Day 3

Getting ready to head up to Toronto in the morning, but managed to fit in a little creative time. In keeping with the tradition of being a DIY Bride, I turned index cards into fashion cards for my maids. With the wedding being approximately two months away, the dresses have obviously already been ordered. The purpose of these was to provide the girls information about the shoes I want them to purchase to match their dresses.

How have you infused creativity into your day?

Ordering Information and Fabric Sample

Picture of Bridesmaid Dress and Matching Shoe

Do Something Creative Everyday: 31 Day Creativity Challenge

Le fiance had to work late last night, so I decided it would be appropriate to take myself on an artist date to paper source. Last week, I crafted handmade "Thank You's" for all of the wedding shower goodies I received. With my upcoming wedding, Paper Source has become my new favorite store. It's actually there motto, "Do Something Creative Everyday" that has inspired this post. Whenever I enter the shop, I find oodles of inspiration. Finishing my thesis, planning my wedding, and searching for a job have become my full time jobs. Some days I feel busier than I was in grad school! One of my former professors said yesterday that, "life only continues to get busier." This comment frightened me a little bit. I had anticipated my schedule opening up after graduation. Alas, this has not been the case.

With all of my pending to-do's,  it's been challenging to find those moments during the day to fit it in time to nourish my creative spirit. Being a bit of DIY bride, I have found a few moments to sneak it in while still feeling productive. This got me thinking that perhaps I need to rethink what creativity means to me. I had always considered creativity time and art making time as one in the same. However, pondering the notion of creativity a little more deeply, I have begun to consider how it might be infused in daily life. In making a greater effort to reintegrate creativity into my life, I've decided to take the month of August to challenge myself to do something creative everyday. Creative projects can be on a small or large scale depending on the day. Having travel plans this month poses an even greater challenge, but I am excited to see what emerges.

Below are snapshots from a couple of creative endeavors from yesterday and today.

Artist Date at Paper Source 

These are the supplies for my handmade "Thank You's". I'm not going to post the final product yet because I don't want to ruin the surprise for those who haven't received theirs via snail mail yet.

Decorating Planner Pad

Due to being a full-time student for the past few years, my day planner correlates to the school year, rather than the calendar year. Today, I spent some time personalizing it! 

Front Cover

Back Cover

Tabs Separating Months