daffnee: 2018

Learning how to write again.

6.9.18

I've been away from leisure writing for so long, it's like I've forgotten how to write.
I picked up a pen to journal for the first time in almost two years. It was awkward at first, constantly wondering if this is the right word I want to use, should the word be spelt with an a or an e, are the sentences getting too long. And then somehow, music playing, words flowing, I stopped worrying about my penmanship (it was terrible), the spacing between words (hilariously uneven), and the words I used (I have three languages in one sentence), and I just wrote. I wrote about the memories I had stored away, I remembered someone I haven't thought about in five years, and I finally started to process the feelings that shaped me in the past half decade.
Half a decade.
That's how long I've refused to deal with, looking back, one of the most important turning points in my life.
I've talked about that memory exactly three times in the past five years.
It's not a traumatising memory. Quite the opposite, it's one of my most beautiful memories. Which is why I never understood why I'd always prefer talking about my mental illness, my insecurities, or heck, even my feelings, before talking about that memory. Or why I lost it the one time my best friend tried to bring it up in a conversation years ago.
But yesterday, I wrote about it. And I was brought back to August, 2013. For the first time in five years, I remembered the 96 hours that helped shape an important part of who I am today (the optimistic and witty part, not the dripping in sarcasm bit), and I processed the residual confusion.
In the seven page journal entry, I slowly started to understand.

I'm still not ready to talk about that time again just yet, but what I'm trying to say, in this mess of a ramble, is that I'm going to learn how to write again. I'm going to start journaling and I'm going to start blogging again. It might be an awkward mess for the first several entries, but hopefully, things will start getting back on track soon.
And yes, I know, I've said it multiple times since 2016, but this time, I really want to learn how to write again.
With Love, Daphne x

favourite Korean makeup + skincare products

25.3.18

[bullet journal] February review: what I started and stopped doing.

3.3.18

Leuchtturm bullet journal February cover page

I know February only had 28 days, but it honestly only felt like the month was two weeks long?

I switched things up quite a bit in my February bullet journal spread, taking inspiration from here and there. Some changes worked out and others didn't - I thought it might be helpful to document what worked out for me and I will continue doing in March, and what bullet journal experiments are better left in February.

Let's start with what worked out:

Leuchtturm bullet journal February monthly layout project mind maps

Leuchtturm bullet journal February to do list doodles

Mind maps: This is, hands down, the best layout I've added to my bullet journal. I shamelessly stole this idea from the brilliant Evy so I'm not even going to try and take credit. I mostly use the mindmap to keep track of art projects, blog posts, and shop updates. I'm a very visual person, so seeing my project map grow and connect is a great way for me to keep track of things. It's also less structured than a to-do list, which is great when it's a constantly growing list. I wonder if I can incorporate this into my daily layout...
Embracing colours: My bullet journal has always been very black and white - with the only colours being my colour-coded systems. But February was the month I started experimenting with watercolours, which carried over to my bullet journal spreads. I'm still on the fence about using watercolours in my bullet journal as the pages tend to warp. BUT I'm definitely loving the idea of incorporating more colours into my layout. It's a quick way to add some "quirk" and "personality" into layouts.
Incorporating more doodles: I started a visual to-do list at the start of the month (I only got to check off 3 of the 6 things...). This is definitely something I want to carry over into March, and hopefully do more "daily doodles" throughout the month as well.

There are also some things that just didn't work out:

Habit Trackers: I'm terrible at this and honestly, I don't think it did much for me. I was quite diligent the first three days - tracking my water intake and exercise on time, at the end of the day. And then things started falling apart from day 4 - let's just say that it was more of a memory exercise than anything. Do you know how hard it is to recall how much water you had each day the past week? I didn't have much luck with this - maybe it's because I'm terrible at remembering to fill in the habit tracker - but it's something that I'm leaving behind for now.

Leuchtturm January monthly overview vertical layout bullet journal

Leuchtturm bullet journal stars habit tracker

Vertical Calendar Layout: Okay, technically this is something that I did in January and ditched right after the month ended. But as beautiful as a vertical monthly layout is, I still prefer the traditional 7 days a week, horizontal monthly layout. Again, I'm a visual person, so being able to see events and dates marked out in a calendar gives me an idea of when it's happening - on which day and which week - at a glance. Whereas it felt like I was reading a list with the vertical monthly layout.

Something I want to try out in my March spread:

Space things out: Right now, all of my weekly spreads are across two pages, which works out most of the time. But I want to try the dutch door system and space my weekly spread across four pages - essentially giving me more space to separate my spread into more categories (e.g. work, personal, coffee + scribbles co, misc.) and have more space to doodle.

I always thought I already found "my bullet journalling system", I didn't realise I was still experimenting with my layouts until I decided to write this post. Turns out, I'm not as predictable as I thought I was. Do you experiment with your bullet journal layouts? If so, what worked or didn't work for you?
With Love, Daphne x

how drawing became my therapy

24.2.18

[the makeup] five products, five minutes

17.2.18

[bullet journal] favourite bujo supplies

14.2.18

I've been in a committed relationship with the bullet journal system for a year and a half now. It's the golden child on Instagram, but honestly, this is a hyped up trend that's worth getting on the bandwagon for.
Around this time last year, I shared how I set up a new bullet journal. Today we're going to talk about my favourite (stationery) supplies that I use for my bullet journal.
The Notebook Spending the majority of my school years in Taiwan meant that I've tried just about every notebook on the market - from the plain ones you get at school, to the insanely gorgeous and overpriced designer notebooks. Some are great for handing in school work while some gather dust in the notebook drawer because you're scared to ruin it with your handwriting. And some, like the Leuchtturm 1917 Dotted Grid Notebook is the perfect notebook for a bullet journal. The is the holy grail notebook for many bullet journalers, including myself. I mean, the paper quality, numbered pages, light dotted guides, and the sheer selection of colours, really, what more could you want. Alternatively, I've always liked the Muji notebooks and always keep a couple around me to take notes, pencil drafts, or doodle.

bullet journal pens muji gel pen uniball signo uchida fineliner sakura micron pilot juice up pen

The Pens - Layout Pens
I only use these supplies when planning my layout, and not in my day to day bullet journaling. I always use a pencil to draft my layout, including where I want the weekly layout, the notes section, and the decoration, before going over said draft with a black fineliner. I use multiple brands, but my favourites are still the Uchida Drawing Pens and Sakura Microns, usually in 0.3 nib.
Sometimes I title my layout with the fineliners, other times I go in with Pentel Sign Pen to bring some brush lettering and variation to the layout.

The Pens - Day to Day
I'm not usually picky with my pens - but I'm picky with which pens I use for what purpose. For example, I only used the cheap Bic Pens for taking notes in English back in school (I used different pens for writing in Mandarin, FYI). The same goes for my bullet journal supplies - I have a selection of Muji gel pens, Pilot Juice Up Pens, and Uni-ball Signo in 0.38 for the bullet journal. My bullet journal is colour-coded, which is why I have a selection of pens. Additionally, these pens are on the slimmer side, which makes it easier for me to bring around in my tiny pencil case. I also really love the Pilot G2 Pens, but don't carry them around as often since they're on the bulkier side.

tombow pastel brush pen paperchase washi tape shinhan watercolour

The Extras I usually keep my bujo layout quite monochrome, with the colour coded notes being the most colour. However, I still like to add a bit of colour from time to time, just to spice things up a bit. The Tombow Dual Brush Pen Pastel Set and Zebra Mildliners are my go to for highlighting the days of the week or adding small sections of colour. If I'm feeling a little more daring, I might opt for watercolour to create blocks of colour. I'm still torn on using watercolour in the bujo though since it warps the pages quite a bit.
Another great way to add some colour and decoration is via washi tape. I'm really loving this dreamy pastel set. I also like to use washi tape to create a "bookmark" of sorts, by taping the edges of a particular page - for example, the monthly overview page. That way, it's easier for me to locate said pages at a glance.

I mostly stick to the same supplies for my bullet journal - partially because I'm a creature of habit and partially because I always use what's in my pencil case. I always want to switch things up, but I try new pens and I wonder why I tried to fix something that wasn't broken. Do let me know if you want a more in-depth review of anything I mentioned. In the meantime, are you picky with which pens you use for your bullet journal? What are your favourite supplies?
With Love, Daphne x
Note: This post contains affiliate links. You aren't charged extra if you purchase from said links, but I will be able to earn a small commission from said purchase.

creative resolutions for 2018

25.1.18

Oh hi, I'm not dead. One of my resolutions for 2018 was to start blogging (regularly) again. I've found multiple creative outlets in the past year, but I miss writing. I know I said the same thing in my last comeback, but this time, fingers crossed, I write more than 9 posts a year.

I'm not big on one word resolutions (the stress of finding ONE word to describe all your resolutions) but I think I can find one for 2018: CREATE. Let's ignore the fact that January is almost over, I still want to share my creative resolutions and goals for the upcoming year. It seems like a nice intro post to the revived daffnee.com. Also my personal resolutions are boring, I don't think anyone wants to read about how I want to sleep before 1AM or drink 2L of water a day.

Anyway.

Start journalling/blogging again. Writing was my OG hobby. I always had a journal or blog to just write for the sake of writing for as long as I could remember. But then some things changed and I started ditching words for drawings. And honestly, I miss writing. So this year, I want to start journalling/blogging, and just writing again.

Start art journalling. In my head, I'm not thinking a separate art journal (although that's the goal one day), but rather incorporating art into my bullet journal or having single art journalling pages for some days or when I travel. I love words, but some things come to life with pictures.

Expand art styles and mediums. I've stuck to florals and fineliners since I started drawing last year (I know, it's insane how it's only been a year), but I want out of my comfort zone. Watercolour is at the top of my list (which you can kinda tell from my Instagram account) - it's a medium that requires a lot of patience, a high sense of colour, and a personality that handles unpredictability well. None of these traits come naturally to me. But if I can step out of my creative comfort zone, then I'll also be able to start making life changes, right?

Start a shop/freelancing. I haven't figured out which one I want to do more, on one hand, a shop is slightly easier since it would be selling the art I've already created. But on the other hand, I had a lot of fun doing commissioned work as they allowed/inspired me to try different things. Maybe I'll end up doing both.

and last but not least:

Create for the sake of creating. I shared more details about this in a recent Instagram post (oh man, I'm doing a lot of backlinking to my Instagram page today), but in short, somewhere along the way late last year, I got caught in the numbers game and created for the likes and followers. There's nothing wrong with that, but I started losing sight of why I started creating in the first place. It was no longer the stress outlet I needed, and almost started becoming a stress-source. Not anymore.

I'm pretty sure you can tell, but I'm getting slightly rusty with my writing skills. It's going to get better. Promise. In the meantime, what are your creative resolutions for 2018?

With Love, Daphne x

Pages

Learning how to write again.

favourite Korean makeup + skincare products

Favourite Korean Skincare

Favourite Korean Makeup

[bullet journal] February review: what I started and stopped doing.

Let's start with what worked out:

There are also some things that just didn't work out:

Something I want to try out in my March spread:

how drawing became my therapy

[the makeup] five products, five minutes

[bullet journal] favourite bujo supplies

creative resolutions for 2018

OH HAI.

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