It’s not uncommon for scrapbookers and creative planners to cross between worlds, leveraging their skills and interest for a new outlet. In this episode I’m chatting with Pascha Shepard about her journey into memory keeping through December Daily and how she blends function with artistry in her planners. Our conversation includes:
- How Pascha documents important life moments in her planners.
- Pascha’s favorite creators and shops who promote inclusivity.
- How she infuses her planner style into holiday projects.
- Pascha’s approach to functional but beautiful planner setups.
Links Mentioned
- Pascha’s planner Instagram @poshplans
- Pascha’s personal Instagram: @positivelyPascha
- Pascha’s website: poshplans
- Cloth & Paper
- Planner Aesthetic
- Rose Shadow Collection
- StudioBlissCo
- Anika’s Kreative Kloset
- CutenessBowtique
- Isis Ella Jewels
- GO Wild Conference
- December Daily project
- Common Planner by Sterling Ink
*Affiliate links help to support the work we do, at no additional cost to you.
[00:01:13] Jennifer Wilson: Welcome to Scrapbook Your Way, the show that explores the breadth of ways to be a memory keeper today. I’m your host, Jennifer Wilson, owner of Simple Scrapper and author of The New Rules of Scrapbooking. This is episode 256. In this episode I’m chatting with Pascha Shepard about how a passion for planning informed her approach to memory keeping.
[00:01:38] Jennifer Wilson: Hey Pasha. Welcome to Scrapbook Your Way.
[00:01:40] Pascha Shephard: Hi Jennifer. Thank you for having me.
[00:01:42] Jennifer Wilson: I'm excitedd to chat with you today.
[00:01:45] Jennifer Wilson: Can you kick things off by sharing a little bit about yourself?
[00:01:47] Pascha Shephard: Sure. I'm excited to be here too. My name is Pasha, friends online call me Posh. And I just love all things stationary, memory keeping. I'm a believer, I'm a mom. That's it. Just a regular person.
[00:02:03] Jennifer Wilson: Well, those are some of my favorites to chat with because when we share passions for creativity and playing with all the fun things, uh, that's when some of the best conversations happen. So I always love to ask our guests what is exciting them right now. So I would love to hear one thing in your everyday life as well as one thing in scrapbooking, planning, and all your crafty loves.
[00:02:27] Pascha Shephard: Okay. What's exciting me right now, two things come to mind immediately is my puppy Blue. I got a Yorkie Poo last summer. Um, and I built a house last year and we moved in last summer as well. So I'm really excited about decorating and all the outdoor planting stuff. So really into those two things right now. Making the house a home, making it beautiful. And then my cute little puppy.
[00:02:54] Jennifer Wilson: Oh yeah. Sounds wonderful.
[00:02:56] Pascha Shephard: As far as memory keeping and planning, I'm in a new system. I'm trying this year, for both. So I'm pretty excited about that. See what will stick. 'Cause you know, we always start off strong. Will I really like it? Will I really still be using it by the end of the year?
[00:03:11] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, it's sometimes, uh, I don't know. I think it's a miracle when I've used a single planner for the whole year.
[00:03:18] Pascha Shephard: Right? I did it. I did that for the first time last year, ever.
[00:03:22] Jennifer Wilson: Awesome. So I I know you are more of a planner, but you do dabble in scrapbooking. And I'm curious if there's any stories that you still want to document that feel really important that you're gonna pull out more of your scrapbook supplies and jump into.
[00:03:37] Pascha Shephard: It would be the heavy stuff to get, get it off of me. In an, in an artistic way. That's the only thing I haven't done yet. I love keeping up with the happy moments, um, of life. But there are some things I need to just completely get off of me. That I'm looking forward to doing when it's time.
[00:03:55] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes. And fortunately we have so many kind of beautiful products that can make that feel just a little bit easier.
[00:04:03] Pascha Shephard: Yeah.
[00:04:04] Jennifer Wilson: So, getting into more about you, I'd love to hear about your planner origin story. Do you remember what your first planner was?
[00:04:10] Pascha Shephard: I do. It's not exciting though. My first planner was an Office Depot monthly calendar. It was giant. I wanna say eight and a half by 11. And at the time, I still had all my children at home and they were all in school. One was in elementary, one was in middle, one was in high school, and they all had extracurricular activities and I had to keep up with that as well as at the time, a traveling husband. So I had a monthly Office Depot calendar to keep everything organized. And I used pencil, not even pen, pencil. Because I was always scratching things out or rewriting something.
[00:04:54] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. No, I, I used friction pens for a long time 'cause I wanted to be able to erase.
[00:05:00] Pascha Shephard: Love those too.
[00:05:01] Jennifer Wilson: But I love the, yeah, I think I definitely started with a monthly as well. Um, and then everything kind of spiraled from there.
[00:05:09] Pascha Shephard: A beautiful spiral.
[00:05:11] Jennifer Wilson: So how long have you been adding more creative touches to your planners?
[00:05:15] Pascha Shephard: I would say since this community. Planning for me was always functional. And it still is, but there was not pretty. If it was pretty, it was because I use a colored ink or a colored pencil, never because of stickers. So I would say when I got in this community, which, so I had a blog that was a beauty blog. 'Cause I was a luxury beauty blogger back in the day. And I was planning there. And then that is how I stumbled upon this big community, as we call it. And fell down that rabbit hole. And I would say that is when I really started buying stickers. Um, which I had to embrace too. 'Cause I was like, am I really gonna buy stickers? Am I really buying stickers?
[00:06:10] Jennifer Wilson: I know.
[00:06:11] Pascha Shephard: Now you, it's like, don't look at me funny. I like 'em. You know what I mean?
[00:06:14] Pascha Shephard: Now I stay up beside 'em, but I would say 2014, 2015.
[00:06:19] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. That's so interesting. 'Cause it was around the same time I went the other way, I discovered beauty bloggers and YouTube videos. Because I was watching scrapbooking and crafting things and then I kept getting recommended these other things, and now I watch way too many of those myself.
[00:06:35] Pascha Shephard: That's funny how they intertwine.
[00:06:38] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes. So what would you say to someone who's really only used a planner in a functional way and is curious about trying out stickers and, and doing all the other things.
[00:06:50] Pascha Shephard: I would say, honestly, I would say you don't have to. But if you want to, start with headers or um, simple phrases or words. I would, or a bow, something really simple.
[00:07:05] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, I think that's a good strategy to dress it up before you fully commit to, um, kind of bringing some of that like, uh, childlike joy to, to what we do.
[00:07:19] Pascha Shephard: Yeah.
[00:07:20] Jennifer Wilson: So, of course our listeners are primarily scrapbookers, and so I'm curious how your planner is a memory keeping tool for you.
[00:07:27] Pascha Shephard: I've always kept the high level, high vibrational happy events. As well as some of the darker ones in my planner. And I love that I do that. Because even a couple weeks ago someone was asking me something and I was like, I can't remember when we did that. But I just grabbed my Memory Planner and I could just flip through until I found that weekend. And then I could say exactly what we did. So I just keep up with it by noting important, important memories only, in the monthly section.
[00:08:00] Jennifer Wilson: Now I am curious, do you keep all of your planners or only some of them.
[00:08:04] Pascha Shephard: I usually keep one from every year. And I'll keep the one that has the most. Last year was my first year completing the year in one planner. Um, so I'm keeping that one of course, and this year I'm trying something different. I decided I wanted a bound book. Those would be easier to store than a rings planner. So I'm trying a bound book and I will save the book.
[00:08:32] Jennifer Wilson: Okay, cool. Yeah. I'm curious, what planner were you using last year that was so successful for you?
[00:08:39] Pascha Shephard: I had a Personal Rings, but the inserts were Cloth and Paper and they were very, Cloth and Paper's very functional and minimal. But I did add stickers. I did dress it up, minimally, of course, but I did. But the inserts just worked perfectly for me. It was just enough space. I didn't feel like I had to fill white space. It's just something I didn't feel like I had to try something else. And before I knew it was the end of the year and I was like, holy cow. I used one thing the entire year.
[00:09:11] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. That's awesome.. Yeah. Your style is so, I would say, I would call it like elegant.
[00:09:16] Pascha Shephard: Thank you.
[00:09:17] Jennifer Wilson: Um, it is like joyful and beautiful. But there's a, there's a kind of just a, a very simple elegance.
[00:09:24] Pascha Shephard: Thank you so much.
[00:09:25] Jennifer Wilson: And I've noticed that your spreads celebrate black women, honor your faith and express your values. So I'd really love to hear what creators and shops you love to spend your money with.
[00:09:37] Pascha Shephard: Oh boy. Um, everyone. I have a little bit of everything. Um, if you're asking specifically about African-American, or inclusion, you'll see on my feed it's highly Planner Aesthetic and Rose Shadow Collection. Those two are kind of just my entire vibe, but I do.
[00:10:03] Jennifer Wilson: Okay.
[00:10:04] Pascha Shephard: Shop around. I love finding a new shop. Um, I love Studio Bliss Co. I love Anika's Kreative Kloset. I love Cuteness Bowtique um, those women as well have inclusion stickers. Um, a lot Isis Ella Jewels. Um, I'm always looking for a reason to buy more so. But on a high level, it's predominantly Planner Aesthetic and Rose Shadow Collection.
[00:10:29] Jennifer Wilson: All right. We definitely include all those links in the show notes to the episode. Now, I hadn't planned this question, but I'm curious if you've gone to Go Wild.
[00:10:39] Pascha Shephard: I have a few times.
[00:10:41] Jennifer Wilson: And how, like how was that experience and how does it, how does it like connect you further with other creators and like deepen your love of
[00:10:50] Pascha Shephard: Oh, it's a wonderfully overwhelming experience. Um, I'm an introvert. So it's exhausting, but in the most wonderful way. Because where else would we find that many people, loving planners the way that we do. And can talk about it on a level that we do. So it was great. It's just a lot. It's a lot.
[00:11:15] Jennifer Wilson: No, I've been totally, I've been so curious, but I'm such an introvert too.
[00:11:20] Pascha Shephard: Yeah, it's wonderful. There are times I'll just kind of sneak away to my room and just my hotel room. And just kind of decompress before going out again. Um, but it's great and you meet so many people you talk to all the time online. Or you, you love their pages and you finally get to meet them and it's just fun. It's fun. Have you been?
[00:11:44] Jennifer Wilson: Oh no, I haven't. I've just been curious to go. Um, my introversion has kind of prevented me from jumping in. Plus I'm in a season of life where my daughter is playing a lot of volleyball and so I, it's just not the quite right time for me. But.
[00:11:59] Pascha Shephard: You will find though, there's a lot of introverts there.
[00:12:01] Jennifer Wilson: That's awesome to hear.
[00:12:04] Pascha Shephard: Yeah.
[00:12:05] Jennifer Wilson: I wanted to talk more about how you've connected with the planner community. Um, I scrolled all the way back on your Instagram account in the first post was from 2016.
[00:12:16] Jennifer Wilson: So what has been the role of Instagram in kind of developing, um, developing your style, connecting with others, and just, you know, really feeling like this is a part of your life?
[00:12:29] Pascha Shephard: Wow. Yeah. Just the amount of inspiration the planner community has on Instagram has been wonderful. I mean, I've been led to calligraphy. I've been led to December Daily. I've been led to other memory keeping projects as well as all the different ways to plan. And it's just been a wonderful ride.
[00:12:50] Pascha Shephard: As far as connecting, you know, at first we meet people, that's how we're meeting them. And some people stick. And, and you tend to branch into the private messages and you become friends. And then you exchange phone numbers and then it's safe. And you, next thing you know, years have gone by and you guys have been in each other's lives and you've met on Instagram. I love it.
[00:13:13] Jennifer Wilson: I love that there's something so special about that, and I love how the lines have been blurred. It's not online friends and real life friends, like this is real life.
[00:13:22] Pascha Shephard: Right.
[00:13:23] Jennifer Wilson: And so can you tell me how you got started doing December Daily?
[00:13:26] Pascha Shephard: Well I always kind of did something, but not on that level at all. Um, 'cause this is my favorite time of the year. It was mainly just photos, um, and listing. And then I, how did I. Someone told me about Ali Edwards. Oh, I remember who. She's passed away now. But one of my planner friends that I met on Instagram. And she lived local and we became very good friends in real life, um, introduced me to Ali Edwards. And it's been done since I met, met that whole system and project I should say.
[00:14:04] Jennifer Wilson: So what have been some of the ways that you've approached the project? Because I've noticed a kind of, and I think we all do this, we we switch it up. But I think you also maybe incorporate some of your planner perspective into it as well.
[00:14:15] Pascha Shephard: Well, mainly it's, I don't really cross the two. But the different ways I've captured it. The first year I had a large sketchbook that was kind of, I guess now that I know what a commonplace notebook is, I was using it as a commonplace notebook. But more so just, um, my creative moments where if I felt like watercoloring or a poem I saw or a scripture that touched me. And I still, I only keep that, um, sketchbook because it has my first December Daily in there. And I just took a lot of photos at Winter Planner Land, which was a huge event back then. And printed them all out on regular computer paper. I went in Word and resized the photos and printed them on computer paper. And put them all in that sketchbook. Um, didn't really tell the story, but that's how I captured my first December Daily. And then the year after that, I said, okay, I want something just for December Daily. And at the time. I was into traveler's notebooks. So I purchased a separate traveler's notebook just for Christmas, just for the holidays. And captured December Daily on a much bigger scale for the first time. And I absolutely loved it. And then I got into the albums. And I've gone, I've tried them all. Eight by 10. . Six by eight, three by, is it five by three? So I've, I think I've tried everything but the giant ones, I haven't done nine by 12.
[00:15:55] Jennifer Wilson: So will you do the project again this year? And what size are you thinking about? Or does it depend on what the albums look?
[00:16:01] Pascha Shephard: I absolutely will be doing it again. Um, there are a lot of projects I start and can't finish. Or I don't start because I know I won't be able to finish. But December Daily is the one project that I make time for that throughout the month of December. It takes precedence. Because at the end of the day, that is the one project that will be completely done. So yeah, I can't wait to do it again this year. And I will be, I don't know what I'm using yet.
[00:16:32] Jennifer Wilson: I love it. So I'd like to conclude just by hearing about what I'm assuming multiple planners that you're using this year. Like what is your core every day um, what does your suite look like and why did you make those choices?
[00:16:45] Pascha Shephard: Yeah. I did. It's funny you asked that because I, um, at the beginning of the year, you know, we do our planner stack. What we're using. And yesterday I recorded the end of the first month, what it's looking like now. And I'm at a place where I just buy whatever I wanna buy and try. I don't try and really justify it anymore 'cause it just brings me joy and it's, a minimal expense to bring me some joy. Um, I started with four. I still have four, but only two are really getting touched. And only one is getting touched every single day. Which is a new system for me, the commonplace, the Common Planner by Sterling Ink. I just love it. Because the front is planning and the back is all freestyle. Which is where I'm journaling and keeping scriptures and quotes and things of that nature that I wanna keep track of or go back and look at.
[00:17:49] Jennifer Wilson: Now you're using the A6 size, right? So that's kind of one of the smallest. Have you used that size before and is it enough space? Like I, I'm one using like seven by nines right now, so, or B6, I think.
[00:18:03] Pascha Shephard: It is pretty small. Um, now my, my number one always go to, if I ever disliked Common Planner, will always be pocket size. I've spent more years in pocket rings than any other size, and I have tried all the sizes. Um. It's just a good sweet spot for me. Oddly enough, I don't like A6 in rings. I only like it in a bound book. And it's just always been a size I've gravitated to for my notebooks.
[00:18:33] Pascha Shephard: So it made sense to start there as a planner, and it's working well. It's enough space for me. And I like to write small. It helps writing smaller, helps me write neater. So it is my sweet spot as far as the size of a bound book. Otherwise, I would do pocket. Which is a little smaller.
[00:18:52] Jennifer Wilson: And how are you feeling about having the bound book? Like do you feel like this is, uh, a new love for you?
[00:19:00] Pascha Shephard: I do, because I can tip in. Um, you know, you can over stuff a, a, ring planner. Um, but you can do the most in a bound book as well. But I'm not gonna chunk it up too bad. I really am more interested in keeping record of the plans made this year. And the memories this year. So it's, I love having it all in one place. It's not bulky and I can just throw it in the bag.
[00:19:33] Jennifer Wilson: Now I'm curious, did you, because I fell down a rabbit hole. Looking at these, did you get the compact one that has like 200 some pages or the, the full one that has 500 some pages.
[00:19:44] Pascha Shephard: I went for the full, I wanted to capture a whole year of journaling.
[00:19:49] Jennifer Wilson: Kind of chunky on its own, doesn't it?
[00:19:51] Pascha Shephard: Yeah.
[00:19:52] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.
[00:19:52] Pascha Shephard: Yep. I love it.
[00:19:54] Jennifer Wilson: Well, I have to say this has been a delightful way to start my day. Thank you so much for spending time with me.
[00:19:59] Pascha Shephard: Thank you so Much for spending time with me. I love talking about these kind of things. I appreciate it so much.
[00:20:06] Jennifer Wilson: Can you share where our listeners can find you online and anything that you know you have new or coming up later in 2024?
[00:20:14] Pascha Shephard: Um, planning and memory keeping at PoshPlans on Instagram. I do have a, another another Instagram that's a little more personal, showing more of my personal life. It's at PositivelyPasha and YouTube, which is also PoshPlans.
[00:20:35] Jennifer Wilson: Terrific. Again, thank you so much and to all of our listeners, please remember that you have permission to scrapbook and plan your way.
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Great interview. And thank you for touching on the merging of memory keeping and planning. I started off doing both, then separated the two, for about a year and a half, and currently I find myself moving back to combining the two.