Things are about to change next year - but just a tiny little bit

Hello everyone,

today I am not sharing anything crafty with you. Instead I will give you an idea of how I plan to proceed with this little blog of mine throughout 2018.

Christmas is near, so 2017 is slowly but steadily coming to an end. That's usually the time when people start thinking about those famous resolutions for the new year, about what they will do differently once the calendar marks the 1st of January. But before I get started on my plans for the upcoming year, let me wish all of you

*** Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays ***

The titel of this post already indicates small changes Paper, Wool & Yarn will quite possibly undergo. Well, yes. I will change a few things. But not much.

A truly magical friend of mine - her name is Dena, go check out her blog and YouTube channel - does have this wonderful tradition. She chooses a word for every year as part of her intentions.
And I decided that for 2018 I will do so as well. And my word will be *Grounding*.

Grounding can mean quite a lot so let's focus on what it means in context of my social media presence. And that is quite simple actually:
I am working on a more clear social media concept.

I do currently have accounts on Blogger (quite obviously), Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+ and Twitter. Quite frankly, that's too much for me. With a regular day job that keeps me busy 40+ hours per week and this blog being an unpaid hobby, I simply don't have the time to keep all of those up to date and neatly organized. So down-sizing is the key.

Before I go into detail, let me just quickly assure you that I'll stick to Blogger so Paper, Wool & Yarn is save :)

But Instagram, Google+ and Twitter will have to go. That being said, I won't delete those accounts, I'll just not longer post there. My Instagram account has already been emptied out quite a while ago, Google+ and Twitter are about to follow soon. At the beginning of this month I even disconnected my G+ account from my Blogger account and returned to my old Blogger profile.
My Pinterest account will stay as my private account only. I won't be sharing anything Paper, Wool & Yarn related there any longer and I'll remove the link to it in my sidebar.

That leaves us with Blogger and YouTube. Those two will stay with Blogger being my main focus. But I'll make tiny changes to my posting schedule.
New blog posts will be published every two weeks. This way I am trying to make sure I am putting out good quality content plus I also hope to be able to keep up blogging throughout the whole year without those nasty week-long breaks due to missing ideas and crafting projects. In addition to that I'll try to record and upload at least one YouTube video per month.

Apart from that I decided to give the woo woo stuff a separate home. That means there will be a second blog for everything spiritual at some point in time. But that baby is still in development and not ready for go live yet.

Alright, that's it for today - and for 2017 I'm afraid as I'll be taking the rest of the year off :)

If you have any questions regarding my new social media concept, please leave a comment below.

See you all in 2018!!!

Yours
Uta

Creating Planner Dashboards & New Inserts Available

Hello everyone,

today I've got another planning related blog post for you yet again!

First of all, I'd like to share my newest DIY dashboards with you:

And apart from that, I've got a new planner insert available. This time it's a basic 2018 calendar overview, available in German and English on my Planner Inserts page. Enjoy!

Yours
Uta

Christmas Crafts

Hello everyone,

I thought it's about time I shared some crafty Christmas projects with you!
Truth to be told, there aren't that many Christmassy projects this year, just a few. But let me share at least a little something with you.

So I made a tree skirt! It's the Martha Stewart Scalloped Tree Skirt to be exact. Looks amazing but at the same time it's pretty easy to sew. Check out the video below to get an impression of this crafting project. I will also show you my Christmas tree :)

Thanks for watching and see you soon back here on my blog!

Yours
Uta

Planner Updates - New Inserts included

Hello everyone,

I've finally settled on a design for my January 2018 Filofax inserts. Yay :)

Of course, they are also available to download for free. So if you're interested in them, please check out the Planner Inserts page.

I also started creating some trackers. The first one I finished is one for the Downton Abbey series.

So to sum it up, the newest additions available for download are:

• Monthly Overview for January 2018
• Weekly Inserts for January 2018
• Downton Abbey Episode Tracker

And now something off-topic :) Last week I already told you about my newest obsession, the TV series Lucifer. Gosh, the music of that series is so good! And I am so impressed by Tom Ellis singing. Let me share some of my favourites with you:

  ♫  Tom Ellis as Lucifer - All Along The Watchtower [YouTube]
  ♫  Heavy Young Heathens - Being Evil Has A Price / Lucifer Main Theme [YouTube]
  ♫  Friends In Tokio - Call Me Devil [YouTube]
  ♫  Lucifer playing The Unforgiven [YouTube]
  ♫  Royal Deluxe - I'm A Wanted Man [YouTube]

Until next week, my friends :)

Yours
Uta

Two nights in Berlin

Hello my friends,

you might have noticed that last week's blog post was published a day later than usual. Well, that happened because I was away on business from Wednesday till Friday. I attended an SAP training in Berlin. The training was pretty intense, the weather was awful (which is apparently a good thing when you should focus on studying I guess), the hotel was nice and the evenings were quite fun.

The TV-Tower,
view from my hotel room

So the training I attended was the 3-days SAP SCM521 course, Pricing in Purchasing it is called. SAP trainings usually go until about 5pm in the evening. That normally leaves you with enough time to do some shopping afterwards, maybe some sight seeing if you're interested or meet with friends for dinner. I choose to go shopping on Wednesday but had to cut it short due to the rainy cold weather. But thanks to Amazon prime and a pretty good wifi connection at the hotel that did not really bother me at all. I simply spent the rest of the night binge-watching some Lucifer episodes.

An evening well spent - binge-watching Lucifer &
some soup for dinner ;)

Thursday night I had dinner with my friend Maxi. We went to the Mädchenitaliener which turned out to be located right across the street from my hotel. The food was delicious!

The hotel had it's own flowery post card collection

The hotel I stayed at was the Flowers Boardinghouse btw. They have cute little well-equipped apartments and the pricing is definitely okay. What I loved most about it was their post card collection to be honest ;)

Alright, that's it for today. Until next week my friends...

Yours
Uta

Creating Planner Inserts for 2018 + Free Downloads

Hello everyone,

over the last couple of days I've been pretty busy creating and printing inserts for my 2018 Filofax planner...:

Almost every insert you saw in the video can be downloaded for free :) Just go to the Planner Inserts page and choose whatever you're interested in!
My inserts are available in two languages, German and English. Most of them are PNG files, some are PDF files which I offer in A4 as well as in letter format.
I've got a few more inserts on my to do list so stay tuned for more to come :)

Happy Planning!

Yours
Uta

Someone's busy

Hello everyone,

is it just me or is time passing by like extremely fast at the moment? I am already counting the days until Christmas which is approaching quickly and there's still so much to do before the end of the year. So many points on my to-do list, so little time...

I have to confess, I sort of fell off the planning wagon a little while ago and it took me weeks to get back on track. In fact I just found back to my old planner girl self last Sunday. And it all began with a simple brain dump. I just got so overwhelmed with all the things that required my attention. Writing it all down seemed like the best option. Afterwards I started sorting my notes. I created little to-do entries for the upcoming days, wrote down shopping lists and so on. It felt good. It still feels good.

my daily habit tracker for the next two weeks

Last Thursday we had a short power outage in my district. I just came home from work and started doing the laundry when the lights began to flicker and went out. For about 30 minutes we were without electricity. First I thought that just my apartment was affected. But after meeting a few neighbours outdoors I figured the whole neighbourhood was without light and therefore without electricity. Well, it didn't last long so it wasn't such a biggy. But things like that don't happen that often where I live. Luckily I was well equipped with candles (I knew buying candles in bulk at IKEA would pay off one day!) and flash lights.

Magical evening sky last Sunday

Luckily besides all the household chores and such I also found some time to be creative. I am currently in the process of recreating planner spreads I used in my 2017 Leuchtturm planner for my 2018 Filofax planner. Oh and I am thinking about sharing them with you when they're finished. Downloadable pdf files I thought would be convenient.

Well, that's it for today. Unfortunately, not so many crafty thingies, I know, I'm sorry. Next week I will give you a sneak peak of the planner spreads mentioned. I am not sure yet when I'll make the pdf files available. But stay tuned, I'll keep you posted.

Yours
Uta

Autumn Fun & Crafts

Hello everyone,

now that was one stormy weekend over here in Germany!
I spent the weekend in Gera with my friends Kristin and Maxi. We had an absolutely wonderful time, cooking yummy food, watching Autumnal movies, crafting and visiting a local animal park. And as usual: Time flies when you're having fun!

The first movie we watched was Hocus Pocus. A Halloween classic I would say. I loved it when I was a child and I still enjoy watching it.
The second movie we chose was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. When three Harry Potter fans meet in Autumn there is really no other choice than watching one of J.K. Rowing's master pieces ;)
For crafting ideas we turned to pinterest. Weeks before our girl's weekend, Kristin created a pinterest board and made us collect ideas of all sorts. We finally chose to hook these cuties:

These pumpkins are super easy to crochet and it's a great project to use up yarn from your stash.
Nevertheless, we made some tweaks to the original instructions. The stem as described in the pattern didn't really work for us. I therefore simply used one of my knooking needles and added a knitting-like stem which turned out pretty good I think.

Pinspired Crochet Pumpkin

Yesterday was a public holiday here in Germany, Reformation Day. It's usually not a holiday in the region where I live but as we are celebrating its 500th anniversary, whole Germany had the 31st of October off. I basically spent that day doing homework. Besides that I set up my planner for November and also printed out The Reset Girl's Happy Planner Club prompts for the upcoming month.

Happy Place Planner Club Prep

Well, and that's it for today. Until next week, my friends!

Yours
Uta

Back to normal, slowly but steadily

Hello my friends,

I think I can finally say I've settled into my new place :)
Well, not everything is unpacked and I am definitely not done decorating but all in all my move is complete. And truth to be told, it took me long enough. I am still amazed by the amount of stuff I own...

The first Christmassy goodies I bought this year :)
Found these cute stickers at the local drug store (Rossmann)

My office / crafting room isn't set up yet. I still have to find a new cupboard which can hold not only my paper work but also my crafting suppliers. Quite a challenge, I tell you. But as I have finally figured out what hides in which moving box, I think I am sort of back into crafting action nevertheless.

The magical dashboard of my 2018 planner
I found this amazing paper in my stash

So last Sunday I started working on personalizing my 2018 planner. So far I decided on the first dashboard and I made notes on the different sections I'd like to create. Nothing huge so far but I am getting there. As I don't own a laminator I will probably buy some clear foil to cover all the other dashboards with. But that's not decided yet. Same goes for the question whether I will create all monthly dashboards in advance or on a month to month basis in 2018.
You see, still a lot of thinking and crafting to do but it feels good to be back in creating mode :)

Taking notes in my current planner planning
the sections of my 2018 planner

See you next week, my friends!

Yours
Uta

My Planner for 2018

Hello everyone,

I have finally chosen my planner for 2018!

Yours
Uta

Still on the move

Hello everyone,

so this will be once again about me moving, so sorry ;)

Before I actually started packing together my belongings, I looked for tips and tricks online on how to make moving easier in some way. While doing so I came across a moving newsletter by IKEA for IKEA family members. This newsletter includes a coupon for a starter package to pick up in the store. The starter package includes a couple of coupons as well as some labels for moving boxes.

IKEA labels & DIY labels for kitchen and office 

Those labels are adorable but unfortunately there aren't enough for all my belongings. I therefore simply scanned them and made more by printing them on simple sticker paper. This way I also added another label to the collection that wasn't there before which is a label for my office.

New DIY labels in use

As you are reading this, I am taking some much needed rest from breathing in wall paint and being up all day long for quite a few days. Well, rest maybe isn't the correct word. I will probably spent most of the day filling some more moving boxes.

Moving boxes lined up in my living room and ready to be filled

I spent the last days painting the walls of my new apartment with great support by my mother. In the meantime my father installed some lights and took care of some cables. Piece by piece my new place is coming together.
I am expecting a huge furniture delivery to arrive tomorrow which will be followed by a few more busy days setting everything up. And of course most of the boxes still have to be brought to my new place so there's still quite a lot to take care of.

Daily morning ritual: Brewing several pots of tea for the day

Well, I am definitely looking forward to when it's all done and I am finally settled into my new apartment :)

Yours
Uta

Moving forward...

Hello friends,

I am still quite busy with moving. As a matter of fact, I have not yet arrived in my new apartment. There are still some walls to paint and rooms to furnish. And let's not talk about all the paperwork that still needs to be filed and the necessary visits to authority.

Especially for the furnishing part, pinterest proofed to be quite helpful. I have created several boards - one for each room - which I fill with whatever strikes my eye. Slowly but steadily, I am settling with a certain style and color pattern per room.

my pins for the living room and dining area

Apart from that my planner is currently my everything. It's filled with several tables and to-do lists where I am constantly ticking of tasks but also seem to constantly add new ones at the same pace. But there's a light at the end of the tunnel :)

Now let me share with you some impressions of my still unrenovated new apartment:

Until next week, my friends - enjoy the lovely Autumn weather in the meantime :)

Yours
Uta

When tonsils and sinuses team up...

Hello everyone,

I don't really have a DIY project to share with you today. So I thought I should share my excuse for that instead :)

Tea-time!
Herbal Tea from TeeGschwendner

Some of you might remember that last year at the beginning of December I got knocked out by a pretty bad tonsillitis which sort of ruined all of my Christmas crafting plannes. Well, the tonsillitis came about a week ago. Not as bad as last year, but this time it brought along a friend called sinus infection. Even one of those two without the other can be annoying but as a team they are pretty nasty, I tell you.

A new crochet project - counting rows...

So for about ten days I've been taking Roxi 150 antibiotics every morning and every evening plus Sinupret drops (don't ask, I just can't handle pills) three times per day. My throat started to get better pretty soon but my sinuses had a party for over a week. I am still amazed by the amount of snot they can produce on a single day....well, sorry, too much information, I guess.

When you're moving in about two to three weeks but already
sold almost all of your furniture :) I call it indoor glamping!

Okaaaay, so what did I do during all that time? Well, not that much. I wasn't allowed to do anything exhausting by doctor's order. And when you're as sick as I was, pretty much everything is exhausting - even the few steps to the mailbox and back can feel like a 5k.
So I mostly stuck to activities that can be indulged in while sitting or even lying. I started a crochet Christmas present for a friend, I spent a lot of time online searching for inspiration for my new apartment's interior, I sold some of my old furniture via ebay ads and I drank a lot of tea. Oh, and I also binge watched Harry Potter and Downton Abbey which allows me to successfully tick off one point from my Autumn Bucket List :)

Alright my friends, I hope to be back with some crafty content soon.

Yours
Uta

Happy Mail from the USA

Hello everyone,

my friend Dena from the USA sent me some Birthday Happy Mail! Truth to be told, I couldn't wait til my birthday, I had to open it right away :) Here's what I got...

Yours
Uta

Autumn Bucket List 2017

Hello everyone,

it's that time of the year again, my favorite season, it's Autumn :) Well, not officially yet, official start would be September 22nd. But I declared it Autumn on the 1st of September so for me it's Autumn!

Like in the years before, I created a Autumn Bucket List which I am presenting you today:

As you can see, I wrote it in my planner this year, right next to the September spread to be exact. This way I have everything in one place.

What have you planned for this year's Autumn?

Yours
Uta

Happy Mail from Algérie!!

Hello lovely readers,

today I am sharing with you this gorgeous happy mail my friend Sarra from Algérie sent me!

And I highly recommend you visit Sarra's YouTube channel :)

Until next week, my friends...

Yours
Uta

Travel Journal No. 2

Hello everyone,

I hope you all doing fine wherever you are on this wonderful world!

About two weeks ago, I took a trip to Gera to visit my best friend Kristin and her lovely daughter - my goddaughter apparently - for a few weeks. Of course I journaled about that special time in my travel journal afterwards. And with doing so, I filled the last pages of it.

Do you remember the plain Moleskine Cahier I turned into my travel journal in 2015? It looked like this:

Well, it's time for a new one now.
My choice once again fell on a Moleskine Cahier in paper bag brown. This time I decided to go for a more detailed but also quite simple design. So I went for a stack of suitcases I drew on the cover using colored pencils.

I am not a Picasso, I know that. But I love how it turned out :)

Thanks for stopping by and see you again soon!

Yours
Uta

PS: I am planning a little Autumn special for September - something for the crafty and planner loving people among us. So stay tuned, I'll be posting details soon!

NES Controller Pillow

Hey everyone,

every now and then I let my inner Nintendo nerd lead the way when it comes to pick new crafting projects. And that's when things like this happen :)

An NES Controller inspired pillow case made off crafting felt (a gift btw, I did not keep it):

It was quite a challenge to figure out the sizes of the different shapes. Luckily I am not that bad when it comes to math.

See you next week!

Yours
Uta

Final Notes on Camp Reset #TRGCampReset

Hi everyone,

as promised last week, here's my last blog post about Camp Reset!

Let's start with the rest of the Listers Gotta List cards:

The first challenge of week four was all about Memory Keeping. We were asked to print out some of the photos we took throughout the past weeks of Camp Reset and create a memory page in our journals. Here's how mine turned out:

The second challenge was to finish one of our WIPs. I chose to finish two projects. One I can show you today (a couple of different cotton pads), the second will be a present and therefore will be kept a secret for now :)

Alright, that's it!

See you all again next week!

Yours
Uta

Further Impressions from the Camp #TRGCampReset

Hello everyone,

currently we are in the forth and therefore last week of camp. After this one I will probably share one more blog post with you regarding the last days of Camp Reset. Today I am sharing with you an update of what happened last week and this week so far.

Let's start with some #ListersGottaList impressions. I haven't shared these last week as last week's post focused on the scavenger hunt Cori let us do. So today there are a few more to show you:

A lot of Camp Reset challenges are revolving around healthy eating and movement. In week two we were asked to share healthy recipes with our fellow campers and even try some new ones we found online.
I went for the following. The Frozen Yogurt Bites are a recipe I found at The Balanced Life, same goes for the Infused Water. The porridge is my own creation but at the same time a pretty basic recipe that others will probably cook pretty similarly. I also came up with the simply Iced Tea recipe.

>> FROZEN YOGURT BITES

Combine plain greek yogurt with a bit of honey for sweetness. Use a simple plastic bag or piping bag to make bite sized drops on a sheet of kitchen foil. Pop into the freezer for at least an hour. Enjoy!

>> INFUSED WATER

Put a couple of cucumber slices, lemon slices and ginger slices into a pitcher filled with spring water and let infuse for about 3 hours before drinking.

>> BANANA WALNUT PORRIDGE

Combine 1/2 cup porridge oats, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 cup water and 1 banana (sliced) in a sauce pan, bring to boil and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Garnish with about a handful of walnuts (chopped) shortly before serving.

>> NEW YORK CHAI ICED TEA

1l of the Teekanne New York Chai (cooled) combined with a couple of lemon slices and ice cubes.









And that's it for today, my friends!

As I said, stay tuned for another blog about the last days at Camp Reset coming your way soon :)

Happy Craftin' (& Campin')!

Yours
Uta

A Scavenger Hunt #TRGCampReset

Hello everyone,

one of the Camp Reset challenges for the current week is a Scavenger Hunt which I completed on Sunday morning walking through my favorite park here in Kassel, the Botanical Garden.

Here's what I found along the way:

1) Picnic	2) Blue
3) Pests	4) Trees
5) Water	6) Leaf
7) Footprint	8) Shade
9) Lovely	10) Rock
11) Birds	12) Yellow
13) So Cute	14) Path
15) Perfect	16) Furry
17) Clouds	18) My Shoes
19) Wings	20) Flowers
21) Bright	22) Selfie
23) Grass Blade	24) Weather
25) Branch	26) What I See
27) My Gear	28) Mindful Moment
29) Above Me

Have a wonderful day!

Yours
Uta