NO SPEND CHALLENGE: FEBRUARY 2019

I blinked and January was over. I feel like I can barely remember any of it already. There was work, and being tired, and trying every day to do a little more and make more of my time, then there was being sick and doing nothing and then it was gone. I was not in the moment. I was not aware of the little things. I was consuming for the sake of it. I want February to be different. Slow. In the moment. Mindful. I want to look around and see that I already have everything I need, and maybe even more than I thought. Find something old and make it new again. Do with what I have. Finish stuff rather than start others. 

To help me focus on all of that, I decided to make February my No Spend Month. (quick note that No spend months are part of my 2019 Bucket list. I want to do two of them.) 

It's the shortest month of the year which makes it sort of easier. It follows two crazy spending months (December was the Holidays and January in France is full of sales). And it comes before March which is EYF month! It will be my first time going to a big knitting festival, first time going to Scotland and I want to enjoy it all as much as possible. Which makes February the perfect opportunity to slow down, look around, take stock of all the things I already have then make the most of them rather than add new things I think I need but probably don't. 

That can easily apply to almost all areas of my life:

- knit on my already on the needles projects

- go through my stash and assign yarn I already own to projects already on my queue

- read the giant pile of books next to my bed

- go through the freezer and drawers fool of food and meal plan with those

- enjoy more all the free things we luckily have access to rather than seek the next cool new thing eg free yoga videos online (I'm a huge Yoga with Adrienne fan!)

...

In simpler words, I won't spend money unless I absolutely need something I don't already have or can borrow. I will also try to make money by getting rid of the things that no longer serve a purpose. I will reorganize and make space so that I truly know what I already have and what I actually need. 

I like a good challenge and I know I can make this one fun rather than restrictive. Wanna join?

My 2019 Bucket List

Happy 2019 everyone, wishing you all a loving and gentle year! I am using the first few days of this new year to reflect on 2018 and make plans for 2019. First up is my bucket list. I'm not big on resolutions because I find them not as "action based" as I'd like but bucket list are exactly that for me. A random mix of serious stuff that I dream of and small fun things I'd like to enjoy. And because writing things down makes them so much more real and well, makes me a lot more accountable, I thought i'd share them here :). In no particular order:

1. go to EYF

2. read 24 books

3. find a home

4. get a massage

5. watch fireworks

6. increase my income

7. go to the sea

8. grow Wild Handmade

9. cook from cookbooks

10. get my driver's licence

11. do a 100 days project

12. use the stash

13. swim

14. sew a pinafore dress

15. get a switch

16. make out

17. get better at yoga

18. try more plant dyeing

19. do 2 no spend challenge

20. plan a summer trip

The Makers Bookclub

Welcome to the first installment of the Makers' Bookclub! Today is the big reveal of our first picks for January/February! As announced previously, the format I have gone for is 2 books every 2 months. It could be two fictions, or one fiction and one non fiction and the whole point is that you have two whole months to read one of them (or you know, both if you feel like it. The first thing you might notice with those two books is that they are NOT new releases. I don't know about you, but despite my best efforts I always seem to read new books two years late. Sooo many get released all the time and the pressure to keep up is just too much for me. I also find that I am more in the mood for some books in specific seasons and so I figured for some of the picks of this bookclub I would go back to slightly older releases that perhaps just like me you missed out on or you know, have had on your shelves for two years gathering dust ;). Let me know how you feel about that!! (also, hoping that means it's easier to find second hand copies or get it from your library that way!)

Anyway, without further ado, the books I have selected for this new year are:

Uprooted by Naomi Novik and Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

E. Gilbert is obviously super well known for Eat Pray Love (which I personally adore, don't know about you) and in 2016 she came out with Big Magic, which is all about how to live a creative life. As a maker, being creative and finding inspiration are obviously always front of center so I figured this was just a perfect pick for a Maker's bookclub :) I do hope it will inspire you as well and will help you in making 2019 your most creative year!

As for Uprooted, it is a novel I bought as soon as it was released and then somehow put aside for too long. But the topic and general vibe of it is so perfect for the Winter season that I figure the time had come! It is also a perfect example of everything I like in fiction: magic, darkness, fairy tales, strong female characters, woods, wizards and so on. I am always looking for fantastic worlds that will draw me in and make me forget my life for a few hours, and I certainly hope this one will do that for us! (a quick extra note: I realize there is a chance some of you have already read this one so if that's the case feel free to swap it for Novik's new release Spinning Silver, just don't spoil it for me us haha)

Alright that's it! Let me know your thoughts, are you excited, interested, disappointed ??? 

------------------------------

(french version)

Hello les françaises, j'ai vu que vous étiez quelques une par ici et comme je ne sais pas trop si vous préférez lire en français ou en anglais je me suis assurée pour cette première selection d'avoir des livres disponibles en français :)

Pour commencer l'année, j'ai donc choisie Big Magic de Elizabeth Gilbert, disponible chez nous via Le Livre de poche sous le titre Comme par magie ! J'espère qu'il vous inspirera a faire de 2019 une année placée, entre autre, sous le signe de la créativité!

Coté fiction, j'ai choisi mon genre de predilection, la fantasy, avec Uprooted de Naomi Novik, disponible en France sous le titre Déracinée. Magie, forêt mystérieuse, princes et princesses, contes de fée et sorciers, je vous souhaite de réussir a vous evader quelques heures grâce a ce roman!

Bonne lecture!

2018 reading challenge / an update

Ever since I started using Goodreads a few years back, I have set each year a reading challenge for myself. Last year was 30 books. This year I went with 36 which meant an average of 3 books a month. Doable right?

10 months later, it's October, and so far I have read 23 books in 2018. 

20% of me is like ugh I will never make it to 36 this challenge is a FAIL. The other 80% is honestly quite impressed with 23 considering how much I've worked this year (I was unemployed for 6 months in 2017 so plenty more to read back then). I think if you would randomly stop people in the street and ask them how many books they've read so far this year, 95% of them would say less than 10 (I 100% just invented that statistic but I really don't think most people read than much nowadays).

So I'm happy with my 23. I have like 5 I am currently reading (all different genre, so I don't mind having multiples at once, there's always one that fits my mood this way). Pretty sure I can reach 30, which would be awesome.

Looking back at the 23, I can easily "read" into my year so far. I have been tired and looking for comfort reads hence lots of re read and fantasy. Plus a few self improvement books which is a big 2018 theme for me, trying to figure some things out and take better care of myself. Books really do say a lot about ourselves, don't say? 

What has your reading year so far been like? 

Are you on Goodreads? Feel free to add me there :)

THE 1000$ PROJECT / ON MONEY

I hate money. We spend our lives trying to make lots of it, judge those who don't have it, and never ever feel content with what we have. I'm 29 and the reality of my life so far is that I work a full time job, bust my ass off 6 days in a row on sometimes very physical tasks, always standing up for 7 hours, have an awful commute every single day, then sleep for 2 days then start all over again. Yet at the end of the month, I don't make enough money to be allowed to rent a flat, even a tiny one. So what exactly is the point of money if hard work isn't even a guarantee of having a roof over your head? This is the question I have been asking myself for months, years of active life. 

I love money. I wish I had lots and lots. It allows me to buy yarn and books, to see the world and eat good food. I am constantly trying to make more of it. I can't really get a second job (I've tried) because I don't work a regular 9 to 5 job and my hours change every week. So I've recently started looking for other solutions, ideas, inspiration in general. I've listened to podcasts, binge watched Youtube videos, and stocked up on books. I'm currently listening to  Jen Sincero's You are a badass at making money (no opinion on it yet, still early in the book), then found Canna Campbell's Youtube channel. Her videos are all about empowering women to get to financial freedom. She has content about such things as Frugal February (aka no spend month, more on that very soon), and developed a concept called The 1000$ Project (she even wrote a book about it, though I would say her videos are already plenty of content worth to start with). That inspired me. One of her big point is to find ways to free ourself from our monthly usual income (aka our paycheck) and develop side projects in order to create passive income. A passive income ,as its name suggest, is an income that once set up would take care of itself and thus take us one step closer to that financial freedom. Her personal strategy through the 1000$ project is to gather 1000$ at a time, then invest it in shares and perceive dividends each year that form her passive income. For others the 1000$ could go towards deposits, or help pay back loans. For me as a knitter and wannabe designer, when I think of passive income I think of patterns. Of course that involves lots of work, designing, having actual ideas, writing, testing, promoting… but once your pattern is out there your part of the job is done and the money you can make months or years later from it is passive income.  

The project has also encouraged me to look around for creative ways to make money: selling stuff you no longer use or care about (destash anyone?), actually looking, really looking, into your monthly budget and seeing if cuts could be made (I spend way to much on takeout when really I could cook more at home and save tons), looking for people interested in paying for skills you have but never use (I can translate english to french and vice versa for instance and maybe some people out there are looking for that skill set!). You could participate in marketing studies, test out apps. Once you start brainstorming, the ideas don't stop. And I love that about this project, It's giving me motivation to grab my own financial freedom, see money in a more positive way (aka one where money doesn't control me but I have control over it), and try and somewhat move forward. 

And since I have now written this on the Internet it's clearly official: I have embarked on my own 1000$ project as of October 1st, and am giving myself until the end of 2018 (a total of 3 months sounded like neither too short or too long of a time period) to make as much as I can. Inspiration struck this weekend for me and I have actually started designing a knitting collection (think Cozy Winter) to be hopefully released in December!! Cross your fingers for me it works out! 

What do you think? Have I gone insane? Could this be fun? Are you feeling like giving this project a try? Let me know in the comments!

Love,
Lea