SYW167 – Creative Planning for an Organized Life

Rachel Newman 0:00

We see other people doing things. And then we sometimes get frustrated that we can't replicate that. But it's not, it's not about replicating it, if it's not working for you. There is there is a style and a format that will and you will be so much more happy with the outcome if you choose the format that works for you.

Jennifer Wilson 0:20

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 167. In this episode, I'm joined by Rachel Newman, also known as the Life Facilitator, to chat about planning as a creative practice that also brings focus and organization to everyday life.

Jennifer Wilson 0:51

Hey, Rachel, welcome to Scrapbook Your Way.

Rachel Newman 0:53

Hey, thank you so much for having me. Yes,

Jennifer Wilson 0:55

I am looking forward to our conversation today. And to get to know you a little bit better, but can you kick things off by sharing a little bit about yourself with our audience?

Rachel Newman 1:05

Sure. So I'm Rachel, I currently live in Washington DC with my husband and our cat, 'Lil cat. And I was raised in the Chicago suburbs. And after not moving my entire childhood, I somehow have moved to three states and six different homes since marrying my husband 10 years ago.

Jennifer Wilson 1:26

Wow.

Rachel Newman 1:27

Yeah, we are full circle as we began our marriage in the DC area, then moved to Memphis, then to Miami. And we're back in DC again.

Jennifer Wilson 1:37

Okay, okay. So I actually moved to central Illinois from DC back in 2008.

Rachel Newman 1:44

Oh, you're kidding.

Jennifer Wilson 1:45

Yeah.

Rachel Newman 1:46

Well, welcome to Illinois, I guess.

Jennifer Wilson 1:51

What part of town Do you live in?

Rachel Newman 1:52

We are like the right near Chinatown and the Mount Vernon's Mount Vernon triangle area. So nice walking distance from my husband's work. And yeah, it's just it's super centrally located to whatever we need. So it's been great, so far. We moved in December and so still pretty new to being back. But really, like being here.

Jennifer Wilson 2:19

Ya know, just that's super fun to be so centrally located and accessible to anything that you might want.

Rachel Newman 2:25

Yeah, we're definitely city people. Like if I never have to get in a car again, I would be probably the happiest person ever. If I can walk or metro or bus or you know, any other things in a car. I'm like, I will, I will happily do it.

Jennifer Wilson 2:39

I remember one time it was my first summer there. I think this was actually when I was an intern. And a friend was like, Hey, let's just, like the Metro seem busy that weekend, let's just drive downtown and see if we can find a place to park on the mall. And, yes, there was there was a parade that day. And so we ended up in Annapolis, because we couldn't find any place to park we're like, let's just get on this on ramp and just go further.

Rachel Newman 3:03

Oh, no. Yeah. Areas of parking driving. Yeah, we, it's it's the worst. It's the absolute worst. But yeah, yeah. So we we live here and my I started my career as a history and social studies teacher. So education is my background. And then I was, I did a bunch of different things. In Memphis, I was a success coach at a community college, I worked for a financial education program. And then for the last few years, I've been the Content Manager for the Cocoa Daisy blog, and I really love it.

Jennifer Wilson 3:40

Okay. Okay, awesome. I did not know that about you. I love Cocoa Daisy so much.

Rachel Newman 3:45

Oh, it's it is really like, it's such a joy and getting to coordinate the blog is just so inspiring. Our team is just, I mean, they really are doing things that I think just really reach a variety of audiences. And it's, it's just so fun to coordinate it.

Jennifer Wilson 4:05

Yes, we've, we've been talking for a number of years now about how the planning community or planners in general or creative planning is the kind of gateway drug to scrapbooking.

Rachel Newman 4:15

100% Yes, for sure. It's definitely for the people who are like, Oh, I would never scrapbook but it's like, yeah, but But you are, you know, it's just in a different format.

Jennifer Wilson 4:27

Yes, for sure. So what is one thing exciting you right now, in the memory, keeping space as a whole?

Rachel Newman 4:34

Honestly, just sort of the traction that memory planning is is receiving. And I think the permission, people have to use whatever they want, whatever style, whatever planner. I think for the early kind of onset of memory planning people felt sort of, like well, I have to do it in a Big Happy Planner or I have to do it in a certain size or format and I think it's really exciting to see people say no, I can take a bullet journal and make it a memory planner. Or I can, you know, cut apart this insert and, you know, make it how I want. So I, it's been really exciting to see and just to see more people saying, hey, yeah, I can do that, or and wanting to do it and not, you know, making telling themselves they can't.

Jennifer Wilson 5:27

Yes, I am 100% on board with that I, I love just the encouragement to do what is really exciting you right now in the moment. That's why we asked this question, because we have to follow that. And that's what's going to help us stay connected to our creativity and and connected to the projects we care about.

Rachel Newman 5:46

Absolutely. I mean, I went through three different styles of memory planners just in 2021. And I don't feel bad about it. I was, you know, I love each one for different reasons. And for 2022 have sort of found the one that's going to work for me, but part of the fun of it is, is sort of trying things out and giving your, giving yourself permission to sort of audition styles, I guess.

Jennifer Wilson 6:14

Yes, yes, for sure. And it's you learn something from everything that you experiment with. And you will take that into your next choices. Of, oh, I remember I tried this thing back in the day, you know, has enough changed for me that that might work now, or do I need to probably let it go, even though it's really pretty.

Rachel Newman 6:33

Absolutely, absolutely.

Jennifer Wilson 6:36

So what about your memory keeping Bucket List? So this is a story that just feels really important for you to capture in one format or another, but you have not yet done it.

Rachel Newman 6:45

Yes. So five years ago, my husband and I, for our fifth anniversary went to Aruba. And this was right about the time I was, I had been planning but I was wanting to get into a more memory keeping style of planning. And so I thought pocket pages. I'm just going to jump into pocket pages. And I have an album with pocket pages and all of my photos and everything. And it has been unfinished for five years. And I've realized that I need to just scrap the format because that format doesn't work for me. I love it for other people. I love seeing pocket pages, but it's just not my, not my, it doesn't work for me. And so scrapping the format and starting over, and most likely starting over in just a blank notebook. And probably like a Heidi Swapp Storyline Chapters insert, and going from there and finishing it. And not just waiting for, I have plenty of product, I have, you know, I have plenty of things to work with. I just need to do it. And I think it'll be fun to go back and remember that trip because it was a really special trip.

Jennifer Wilson 8:01

I love this. We always like to call this course corrections where things not working, working, you have to just accept that and figure out okay, can I push through? Or if that just sounds not fun? Or just realistically is never going to happen? And you have to then make a choice. Do I start over completely? Do I take what I can from that and then reuse it into something new. But in order to move forward, we sometimes have to make choices like that. And I love this choice for you.

Rachel Newman 8:28

Yeah, and it's and I think sometimes with with memory keeping, with this hobby, we see other people doing things and then we sometimes get frustrated that we can't replicate that. But it's not, it's not about replicating it. If it's not working for you, there's, there is a style and a format that will and you will be so much more happy with the outcome if you choose the format that works for you.

Jennifer Wilson 8:57

Yes, yes, yes, totally great. So I wanted to have you on particularly to talk about organizing your planning life. We're in our Organization Journey right now at Simple Scrapper. But I kind of want to just talk about being a planner. Being both a functional planner and a creative planner. And and really kind of get your take on this, you know, sub niche of the memory keeping world. But I want to start with your user name because I absolutely love it and it's The Life Facilitator. And so is there a story behind that? How did that come to be?

Rachel Newman 9:31

There sure is. Um, so when we as I mentioned, my husband and I started our marriage in DC and I had been in between teaching jobs. I finished grad school and moved to DC and it was in January. So it was you know, mid year, couldn't find teaching jobs and of course in DC when people, when you meet people, they inevitably ask you what do you do? What do you do? What do you do? And I'm being a new wife and sort of trying to find a funny way to say that I was a housewife, I would just tell people, oh, I'm a Life Facilitator. And it didn't get very much extra question, people will just be like, Oh, okay, and, and kind of carry on. And so I've sort of off the hook. And what's funny thinking back, is back then I was quite a terrible life facilitator. And just the idea of, you know, doing all the adulting, the grocery shopping, the cooking, the cleaning, all of it, sent me into sort of a bit of a panic. And so what, what has happened is because of planning, because I have a planning system that actually helps me do those things I have improved as a life facilitator. And, and the actual practice of planning and organizing and prioritizing my time and energy has, has gotten me there. So fast forward 10 years, and I'm definitely more comfortable as sort of home CEO life facilitator that I was back then. And it's actually a role I'm quite proud of now.

Jennifer Wilson 11:19

You know, I love that so much. Because I don't know if your mom did this, but mine always said, you have to fake it till you make it. And this is a wonderful example of this.

Rachel Newman 11:28

Absolutly. It's so funny, because it's the, it's the position I've had that has taken the most work, it didn't come naturally to me. I was, I was kind of a natural teacher, every role outside of the home that I've had, I just sort of picked it up and was was pretty quick at it. This one, I think, I mean, I think it's a myth that, you know, all women just sort of come out of the, you know, the womb ready to be, you know, cooks and clean the house and do all the things. I just think it's not like a gift for, it's not natural to everybody. And, and so you have to do, you have to work at it. And, and I think planning, definitely planning helped me really stay accountable to those, to those things. You know, okay, I said I was going to, you know, go to the grocery store, today, I'm going to do it because I put it in my planner. I said I was going to do you know, clean the bathrooms today, it's in my planner, I got to do it. And honestly, without, without planning, I think I would be sort of wandering around a lot more aimlessly. And in a house that was dirty and had with no food. So...

Jennifer Wilson 12:44

Yes, yeah. So you know, and just in browsing your Instagram and seeing the work that you do and that you share on YouTube as well. You do both planning from a functional perspective, you do memory planning, you bring your creativity into it, and sometimes all of that's rolled into one. Can you kind of give us your your spread right now of what planners are working in?

Rachel Newman 13:05

Sure. I, I, when it comes to functional planning, I am definitely more on the fun ctional side of it. So just I definitely go, I'm a bit extra with with planning and I know that. So even my, what I would consider my functional planner to you know, most people would look pretty extra with all the things but that's how I like it. So currently, I pretty much am always in in some disk bound, classic size, classic happy size planner for catch all planning kind of my main, get it all on the page type planning. And then I am most successful when I have a daily undated planner as well. That has an hourly section so that I can really kind of time block my day, especially being home it the day can get away from you pretty quickly. And so time blocking has been really helpful not just for productivity but also just seeing where my hours going. And, and I'm using a Passion Planner Daily for that but I've used you know, in other inserts in the past it as long as it has an hourly, that's helpful. And then I for memory planning I have two forms of memory planning that I'm currently using one of them I'm calling my memory bullet journal. So I love bullet journals. I think they're beautiful. I want, I want one but I can't use it as a functional planner. That just doesn't work for me. So I have a memory bullet journal so I can get a little piece of the bullet journal action and the you know the aesthetic of it. While also kind of documenting the nitty gritty of my day. And then and then my memory planner, which is kind of my, my baby, my favorite thing to have and look at, I go back and look at my memory planners all the time. And for 2022 I'm using a Heidi Swapp planner insert that has three months at a time. So three monthlies and then weeklies for three months. And yeah, those are my setups.

Jennifer Wilson 15:27

I love this idea of the memory bullet journal.

Rachel Newman 15:31

Right?

Jennifer Wilson 15:31

Because I think that's one that I don't, I don't hear about much. And that's perhaps sometimes even the missing link of that is a record you might say, for a really long time.

Rachel Newman 15:41

Absolutely.

Jennifer Wilson 15:42

Being able to capture like dates. And you know, just some of the facts that we don't always have a home for.

Rachel Newman 15:48

Right.

Jennifer Wilson 15:49

I love that idea.

Rachel Newman 15:50

Yeah, I mean, it, it serves as, it's definitely a creative outlet for sure. It's kind of the place where I go kind of stamp crazy and put all the stash stickers on the page and change my layout. That's what I'm loving. So I was using an Archer and Olive, Amy Tangerine planner last year, and I loved it. It's one of my favorites, but they discontinued it, which is fine, because I have realized I love having, I love getting to play with layouts. I love getting okay, this week, I'm going to do vertical next week, I'm going to do horizontal the next week, you know, that's the fun of the bullet journal. And so now I get to do that and document my memories. So yeah, I'm very excited about it. I've seen a few other people doing something similar. And it just it really makes my heart happy that that that it's available. It's it's an option, you know, kind of an adult diary, if you will.

Jennifer Wilson 16:51

Well, and I think you know, I appreciate that you pointed out that you do take this to the extra degree. But it shows what's possible, and that someone who maybe isn't doing a lot of this could choose one of those options to get started to get their feet wet. And then you know, see how it feels creatively and it's part of your overall rhythm.

Rachel Newman 17:11

Absolutely. I mean, it's taken me, it's taken me a few years to sort of nail down my system. I guess the other part that I usually sneaks into my, my stack is usually some form of travelers notebook. I love having a traveler's notebook for specific projects. Like when we were moving, I dedicated a traveler's notebook to our moving process. And I love traveler's notebooks for sort of specific things that maybe don't, aren't fitting into the other planners or journals.

Jennifer Wilson 17:49

For sure, particularly maybe like longer stories, like I can see a travel might be the perfect example.

Rachel Newman 17:54

I definitely have a few traveler's notebooks. And I love when I've traveled to documenting while I'm traveling rather than waiting. What I've learned is if I wait, I, it could be five years, until I actually document but if I'm documenting while I'm on the trip, limit my supplies and just get the stories down. I'm much, I'm much happier with the result.

Jennifer Wilson 18:20

Oh, I love that. So I'm curious for someone who maybe doesn't know a lot about this, what do you find so inspiring by bringing the stickers and the stamps and the creativity to your planning process and to you know, in all aspects of it.

Rachel Newman 18:37

Um, so I think I, I started this whole sort of journey with journals. I've always had a journal and my journals turned into art journals when I was in college and in my early 20s, and then creative planning sort of came out of that. And so I, there's always been a part of me that loves to make a page, just a little bit nicer to look at. I'm much more likely to go back to it if there's a cute sticker or a little bit of washi, or some stamping something to make me make my eye return. And that's what I love about the sort of creative approach to planning is that it, it tells my brain this is important, this is valuable, because you've taken the time to embellish it.

Jennifer Wilson 19:35

Hmm, I love that distinction. That's really fun way to think about it. And to recognize kind of what your brain needs sometimes, you know, like, we don't always look at planning if we're talking about in a truly functional sense is something fun, particularly if maybe it's not your strong suit or you had to learn it, but adding things that you do find fun and connecting with that and really stacking them and meshing them together, transforms it completely.

Rachel Newman 20:06

Yes, yeah, it has for me.

Jennifer Wilson 20:10

So I'm curious and I have a sense of what your response is here. But how much of the memory planning you do is more about the creative outlet, the self care, the life processing, just personal documentation that it is kind of legacy for, you know, any kind of hypothetical audience.

Rachel Newman 20:29

I would, I'm at like, a 60/40, split of creative and legacy. But I will add that, especially during the last few years, during this pandemic, it's definitely been an important gratitude practice for me. So, you know, being home and having this, you know, kind of weight of a pandemic around you, focusing on little things, and the small moments really helped to sort of mute the noise vying for my attention. You know, there's so much noise around us telling us everything's terrible, you know, like, you know, things are getting worse. But if I look at my memory planners, things look pretty good. Because I've chosen to focus on things that you know, are bringing me joy, sometimes not everything, but a lot of the things that make it into my memory planner are little wins. Like, I made this meal for the first time and it, it was pretty good. And or, like we had a game night, or I had a phone call with a friend I hadn't talked to in a while. Like these, like little things to me, have helped not, have helped make the last few years not feel like a complete kind of waste. You know, I...

Jennifer Wilson 21:53

Yes, I was thinking of a much more foul word than that but we could say dumpster fire.

Rachel Newman 21:59

Dumpster fire. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, and, and so I think you know, for for somebody who might be struggling with their mental health during this time, I think having a memory planner. First spending time, creating an in memory planner means I'm not spending time scrolling the internet and learning about all the terrible things that are happening. But it's also it encourages me to go and do things, some big or small so that I have something to put in my memory planner.

Jennifer Wilson 22:37

Yes, yes, I really hope that this is kind of a silver lining to come out of this experience that we do stay in touch with whatever type of gratitude practice you have, whether it's stickers, or journaling, or whatever you've done to hold on. That that's only going to serve us well into the future, even when life does get a little easier.

Rachel Newman 22:59

Yes, I I hope so too.

Jennifer Wilson 23:03

Well and you mentioned just the mental health benefits. And so at the end of 2020, I actually started getting Cocoa Daisy sticker kits because I needed an outlet, I needed something different. And so I bought Hobonichi Weeks to start with. And I found so much peace from setting up my month and setting up my weeks and adding stickers and I was a die hard, I am functional planning only I will never decorate my planner. And now it's all like downhill from there. But one thing that I found is that now I have all this stuff.

Rachel Newman 23:37

Yes, yes, the stuff. Now that is I feel like so the flip side is is that, you know, this practice can be really great for you know, your mental health and you're just sort of remembering the joy and all the good things, but sometimes I think the stuff can can clutter you know, clutter the joy.

Jennifer Wilson 24:01

Yeah, it was just it's been so just so rewarding. And but it's, you know, anytime you start something new, you have a new type of thing you have to figure out how am I going to store this. So I really want to dive into how you keep your planner supplies organized.

Rachel Newman 24:17

I have to start, and this is, so my mother I'm sure is going to just think this is so interesting that I am talking about organization because she has you know her my whole younger life was constantly trying to get my room cleaned. You know, help me get organized and it was just never never happened. But she did always say that whenever I found something was a priority then I would take the time to you know, get it organized. And she was right man. She called it. So, my you know, this is such this is a priority for me and I know that getting organized and being organized actually helps me continue this practice. And so a couple things that I have found for myself is being able to see my supplies has been important. So, like having clear pouches or having having a way that I can, you know, look over at my shelf and see exactly what's on there, as opposed to just shoving things in boxes where they sort of disappear. It's important for me to be able to sort of visually see what I'm working with.

Jennifer Wilson 25:42

I think that's an important kind of personality distinction too.

Rachel Newman 25:46

Yeah, some people that might be very, very, like anxiety driven, but but for me, it's like, okay, this is, I need to see like, Okay, this is my Cocoa Daisy kit for January. These are my stickers you know that have for journaling, whatever it may be like just being able to see them pretty quickly, is helpful, because then it's helpful for me to put them away too.

Jennifer Wilson 26:09

Are there any like particular storage solutions, like specific things that you found that were like, oh, yeah, this is what I was looking for. You're looking for these sticker sheets, we're talking like floppy things. They don't they don't stand up as easily. They're a little bit of a different type of supply.

Rachel Newman 26:26

Absolutely. For me, well, I have found, like, I think they're on Amazon. But they're, they're basically A5 size clear envelopes. And they, I think they're probably meant for A papers, but I love those. And for a long time. That's what I was using to store Cocoa Daisy stickers once I broke down kits. But scrapbook.com has a very similar pouch, which I actually like more. They're they're very sturdy. They sit well upright. And you can get multiples in a pack. Really scrapbook.com I mean, they've been kind of crushing it recently with organization items. They have this, like there. I have this vertical. It's I think it's either for stamps, or pocket cards, maybe. But I use it vertically for my Distress Oxides. And oh, it's I use my Distress Oxides so much more because they are in like hands reach. And they are not a mess at the bottom of a drawer somewhere.

Jennifer Wilson 27:41

Oh, I will have to check this thing out because mine are all nicely stacked in a drawer. But then when I want to find a specific color, I've got like, trying to like do a Tetris situation.

Rachel Newman 27:52

Oh yes, I've definetly done the Distress Tetris before. And this one's really nice. They just kind of slide off and there's enough room right next to them for my little Dew Drops. Like pigment ink Dew Drops...

Jennifer Wilson 28:05

Yeah.

Rachel Newman 28:05

That I love. Stamps are a big part of my planner practice. And so the stamps storing and organizing stamps has been probably the biggest challenge. And so I also love using, Target has a bunch of like kitchen, maybe kitchen, bathroom, like frosted containers. I'm pretty sure Andrea from Retro Hip Mama was the first to like discover these. And then once she discovered them, it was like, I mean, I went all out at Target. And there's different sizes, they're great. But they're great for smaller stamps. And they're great for die cuts when you just want to have like a collection of die cuts. But you don't want to like have to take them out and put them back and take them out and put them back. They sit on this little tray so nicely too.

Jennifer Wilson 29:01

Oh, lovely. Now I'm curious because you mentioned stamping and so we're going to depart for a second because I need to know what type of inks do you find successful in your planner. Because I know sometimes things can get a little smeary versus when you're working on cardstock in a scrapbooking situation

Rachel Newman 29:19

Right. I think, I think it's hardest for people who are coming from memory, from memory keeping scrapbooking with a certain stamp ink. You know the dye inks, the you know the kind of heavy duty inks. To then transition to planning and stamping because all of a sudden none of your inks work. And so my my two favorite stamp inks is Versafine and it's just an honest it's just like a black ink. And I love it. I use it on everything it's crisp. It typically doesn't bleed, bleed through or ghost depending on the planner and the insert. But pigment inks are the best option for planner pages. Because the you know it the ink doesn't smear on the page now. I am I will not say that for like the Hobochini, that's a whole nother ballgame. Which I I have dabbled with, but I'm left handed. And I mean, that paper did not work for me. I just smeared right over those pages. So I, yeah, so for most planners, pigment ink, and then and then also I really love Distress Oxides. I think depending on the color, they work really great. In a lot of inserts, you might have to do like a stamp off and then stamp but they work, they work pretty well too. And I, I'm a big fan of stamping on a sticker paper and then cutting it out and putting it in your planner too like, you know, make the stamp work for you.

Jennifer Wilson 30:59

There you go.

Rachel Newman 31:00

You know, make it make a sticker out of them, make a die cut out of them. And I just think stamps are so versatile. And I think sometimes people get caught up with like, well, I don't want to mess up the page. And it's like, Okay, well then don't stamp on the page stamp on something else, and then put it on your page.

Jennifer Wilson 31:13

So yeah, and I think we just need that permission and the reminder.

Rachel Newman 31:16

Oh Yes, yes.

Jennifer Wilson 31:17

To do that sometimes.

Rachel Newman 31:18

I'm all about giving permission to, you know, hack something, you know, you use it the way that it makes the most sense to you. Because it's yours. You know, there's, you know, the, the Distress Oxide ink, you know, police aren't coming for you. Like you can do whatever you want. And if it if it's easier for you to stamp on something else, and then add it, go for it.

Jennifer Wilson 31:44

For sure. So I'm curious. And I think you already mentioned this a little bit, but do you break apart your collections after the current month is over?

Rachel Newman 31:52

I do. That has, for a long time I didn't and I wish, I would have started this earlier. But I have two things that I do with Cocoa Daisy kits. And then I also subscribe to Heidi Swapp Stop The Blur kits. And I first well, I definitely break things down. And I put them into categories based on what I think I'm going to use them for. So like I love reusing Alpha stickers, I love reusing, you know, decorative embellishments, those sorts of things. Those typically make the cut and stay in my collection. There are other things that will not make the cut and will not stay in, in my in my stash. Because I know I'm just not going to use them after the month is over. Like certain if a kit is really theme, has a pretty heavy theme to it, I'm likely not going to use the decorative items again. And so I have a little destash bin that those things go into. And I'll either give it away or I'm going to say it, I'll throw it away. It's my stuff. I can do what I want with it.

Jennifer Wilson 33:13

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I think I've I've struggled with that. They're currently still are kind of together. I just have like binder clips, stacks of stickers hanging around. And I'm trying to figure out exactly what I want to do. Because in theory, I could use you know, a box anytime but then I always have plenty of boxes coming at me. So yes, yes, it's a little bit of a balance there. I think I need another planner just for my extra stickers.

Rachel Newman 33:42

I think too sometimes it's hard with kits that have variety of types of stickers on a specific page to know like, well what do I call this? You know, and, and for me, I just choose like, well, what are the stickers, I think I'm going to be looking for and wanting to use again. So I love label stickers. I love box stickers, that has its own category. And even if there's other stuff on the page, I'm likely not looking for the other things. I'm looking for the box label stickers.

Jennifer Wilson 34:15

That's a great tip, I think that's helpful.

Rachel Newman 34:17

Yeah, because otherwise you're like okay, I I do recall, I had labels one time based on sort of the name of the sticker sheets. You know that that did not work very well. And so this, I, my storage is always about what am I going to be looking for. What am I and and if I'm going to be looking for, you know, date stickers, I have a calendar envelope. And it doesn't matter if there's other things on it. I'm probably going to be looking for those date stickers. So I think that helps me keep the things I know I will likely use again and give myself permission to let go of things that, you know, I'm just not going to. You can't love every kit, you can't love every collection. There are things in every collection that I do like, and I tend to pull those first and use those first. But there's nothing wrong with letting go. Let me like Elsa said, We got to let go. Let it go. And it will. It's I've never regretted letting something go. I have regretted keeping something so long that every time I look at it, I think oh, my gosh, I can't believe I still have that, you know?

Jennifer Wilson 35:33

Yes, I think I think we all have something like that in our lives for sure.

Rachel Newman 35:37

Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 35:39

So what advice would you have for someone who maybe is starting down this path, maybe they're just listening to this episode, and they're feeling really excited? Or maybe they they bought a Happy Planner this year, but they're not quite sure what they want to do? Or they subscribe to Heidi Swapp? Like, what? How would this excuse me. What tips would you share with them?

Rachel Newman 35:59

I would say actually find somebody that inspires you. And don't be afraid for the first few weeks, first few months, whatever to to kind of replicate what they are doing. So that you start getting your almost like a sketch. You know, at, you know, in scrapbooking and sketches are so helpful for people to get started. You know, think of scraplift other people and, and mimic it, and then you start to see, okay, well I like this, I don't really like this, this feels more me, this doesn't. And I think that's the great thing about this community is that there's so much inspiration out there. And so many people are so excited when you are inspired by them. So, you know, if you scraplift somebody, let them know. Tag them, you know, make sure that, you know, they they can see what you know how you inspired them. I think that's a big, we don't have to start from scratch, we can actually be inspired by other people and help and let that, you know, move us forward. And then I think too, there is a lot of great things in this community. There's also a lot of FOMO in this community, the fear of missing out. The fear of you know, not having the newest item and those sorts of things. And I think that can be a real stressor for people and, and so I, one rule I have for myself is if there's something I see that I really like, I give my, I don't buy it until like a week later or three days later. And yep, I might have missed the sale. But if I want it, still want it afterwards, then it's then I want it at full price, then it has actual value to me. And you know, the sales aren't, there's, there's always going to be sales, there's always going to be you know, but if you can wait and sort of and you still want it, then get it. You know, but don't be afraid to sort of miss out on, you know, the, the, the newest and greatest thing.

Jennifer Wilson 38:21

I think that's a really important lens to look at, at new purchases. And if you're willing to pay full price for it, can be really helpful for making decisions to make sure you're not making them out of FOMO or just because it's a good deal.

Rachel Newman 38:37

Yeah, and, and I don't be afraid to use, you know, go back and use things, you know, that are from a few months ago. Especially I find this with, you know, subscribing to kits. You know, as a creative team member and as you know, as somebody who works for Cocoa Daisy, I have to be using the items that are current, but I do remind myself that I need to also be going back and reusing things previously. So that I actually use it but also to remind other people that you know, go back and use that kit from three months ago or combine kits. Or you know, I think especially with kit subscriptions, it becomes sort of all about the next kit and all and collecting almost. And, and I'm all about use it, use it, use it, or let it go.

Jennifer Wilson 39:32

Yes, yes, you're the life facilitator, not the life collector.

Rachel Newman 39:36

Facilitate that either on to the page or out the door.

Jennifer Wilson 39:42

I love it so much. Well, Rachel, this has been so delightful. Can you share where we can find you or anything new you have coming up in 2022?

Rachel Newman 39:50

Sure. So you can find me on Instagram and YouTube at The Life Facilitator and writing for the Cocoa Daisy blog at www.cocoadaisy.com. And then I just wanted to say that I this year, my goal is really to connect with people around memory planning, memory bullet journaling more. Because I believe there is a style and format for everybody. And I really want to kind of help and coach and get people who are interested in finding their, their style and their format. So I would love to hear from you. Please reach out. And yeah...

Jennifer Wilson 40:33

Oh, beautiful. What a wonderful send off and it's so in alignment with what we do here at Simple Scrapper and on this podcast, so I really appreciate that.

Rachel Newman 40:43

Well, thank you so much for having me. This has been so fun.

Jennifer Wilson 40:47

Thanks, Rachel. And to all of our listeners, please remember that you have permission to scrapbook and to plan your way. Are you ready to start implementing the great ideas you hear on the podcast? The Simple Scrapper membership offers a welcoming space to connect with fellow Memory Keepers and find that creative accountability you've been craving. Visit simple scrapper.com/membership to learn more and join our community. It's the best it's ever been.