Another week and I’m still struggling to get back into the swing of things. I think one of the issues I have is wanting to do too much. Everyone knows the statement of spreading yourself too thin and my caffeine crazed excitement for all things creative really does pull me in too many directions. I’ve been trying to cut myself out of certain groups and releasing myself from obligations, but it’s really hard to do. I keep trying to plan my schedule on a weekly basis, but continue to crumple up my planner pages in desperation. I was a project manager in a prior life, so scheduling is nothing new. Unfortunately, it’s a lot harder to schedule your own personal life and even more important, the whole reason I’m not a project manager anymore is because I didn’t like the regimented scheduling. It’s totally anal to try and account for all the seconds in a day. Even a more relaxed kind of project management system doesn’t really allow for the curveballs in real life. Living in Italy, I’ve learned to take it easy and enjoy the slow life. Even more, I cherish all those surprise and unplanned moments of the day with my family… you can’t schedule that!

As I crumpled up another failed planning of my week paper, even one that was bullet-pointed and vague, I realized I had to turn the tables. Sudden EUREKA! I don’t need to figure this out today! I probably never will even if I bang my head against the wall anyway. Let me just take it slow, day by day and see what kind of schedule naturally forms. Like reverse budgeting, because there’s only so many hours in a day. Instead of writing out ALL the things I need or want to do and trying to fit them into slots of the week, I’m just going to make a semi-priority list. Then I can just go through my days and see what I can get done as a weekly routine or daily routine. Adding one thing at a time, so my schedule slowly builds. It seems a lot less intimidating this way. For example, besides work and meeting those particular deadlines, my first daily routine will be to blog every day right here on tortagialla.com. That’s my first big thing, because it keeps me thinking, creating and sharing! I will be blogging each weekday on the following subjects:

• Mondays – inspiration, resources and links
• Tuesdays – let’s make something tutorial
• Wednesdays – freebie download
• Thursdays – creative workspace photos
• Fridays – thoughts as we go into the weekend

I suppose the only interruptions would be for super special series that I’ll release successively together That’s the “plan” anyway. Whew! I feel so much better after writing this post and sharing my thoughts. I hope you’ll be looking forward to my daily postings and can take something away from my build-a-schedule idea. We can always slow down a bit in our lives and schedules…enjoy the surprises and unplanned moments in your life! Ciao ciao and have a great weekend!

Posted on September 3, 2010 at 11:16 am | thoughts + discussion | 5 comments

I’m all about organizing and getting back to my routines these days. Summer vacation was super fun and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my family from the States and showing them my Italian way of life, here in Tuscany. I miss all the relaxing and eating of gelato, but at the same time I’m anxious to finally get back to my routines. Vacations can be so exhausting, right? I’m still doing a lot of thinking about my blogging schedules and how to fit all that I want to do into a 24 hour (so limited!) day. I can certainly veg out and do nothing with my hubby…but usually I want to be busy, accomplishing something with my hands. It just feels good. So here’s a little creative workspace peek…stuff in progress or probably more correct to say stuff left undone from before August.

My family also brought my new tools that I ordered and asked them to lug on over to Italy…it’s cheaper this way. I finally got a Wacom tablet, but have no idea how to use it. I also got a Big Shot to cut shapes into paper, but I really want to try with leather. Hope I don’t break the darn thing!

Thanks for stopping by to see my creative space…I think I’ll keep this routine for every Thursday. Check out all the other creative workspaces on kootoyoo as well…so much inspiration!

Posted on September 2, 2010 at 2:09 pm | work in progress | 10 comments

Happy September lovely blog readers! I’m still pondering over how I can organize and refine a posting schedule for my various blogs, including this one…see the last post for details. I’m always open to suggestions, so do let me know what you think. What do you want to see, learn, share, discuss about? In the meantime, I thought I would post this little printable freebie. I’m going into a lot of scrapbooking and minibook making for all my vacation photos, so these were some journaling notecards I whipped up to use. There’s space to put in the date, location and notes…especially good for itinerary types of memory keeping.

Download Date Location Notes Printable Journaling Notecards PDF

Hope you enjoy and until next time…when I get my scheduling sorted out! Thanks and ciao ciao!

Posted on September 1, 2010 at 4:46 pm | designs, free goodies | 2 comments

As I mentioned in a previous post, August is vacation time here in Italy. They call it ferie and the conversation all month long is about where you went, what you did…and eventually, oh no, it’s time to get back to work! Although I had plans to continue posting through this period, in the end I was swept up by the rush of hosting family visiting from the USA. I can’t say vacation was all that restful, but it was definitely great times and now I have thousands of photos to go through! Back to the grind and playing catch this week for sure.

So this past month, I didn’t have a lot of time to journal, but the creativity definitely came out in finishing up issues of my Pensieri zine. Also, if you haven’t already, check out the bookbinding tutorials I did post this August – easy peasy accordion book, longstitch binding and chain or coptic stitch binding. I’m going to take this week to get back to the old routine, but I also started thinking about all my blogs and how I could organize better and schedule my postings more consistently. If you have any comments on posting schedule and topics, please let me know! Besides this art blog that is the most active, I also blog about papercrafting on BacktoPaper, pattern designs on justgraphic and embroidery on andfeeling. Since I can’t bring myself to cut down on my interests, I’ll just have to optimize my time and get more organized…I’m always wanting to do more, not less!!!

Posted on August 31, 2010 at 8:44 am | blogging | 12 comments

“Pensieri” means “thoughts” in Italian and that is the title of my first handmade zine. It feels fantastic to put my thoughts into writing and have it published in a little book format. Not only that, I had loads of fun creating this handmade zine stitched together with lots of little bits and bobs to get your creative juices flowing. This first issue is all about Art Journaling – one of my loves and I’ve made the zine into a collaborative art journal… here are some peeks…

Are you ready to get your very own copy of Pensieri? This very first issue is fun-filled, handmade with my love and care. You’ll find Pensieri in my Etsy shop for those interested…come a take a little art journaling journey with me

Those who are interested in art journaling or have thought about starting, please check out the art journaling week of blog posts on Julie Balzer’s blog! It’s a whole week all about art journaling and I’m super honored to be guest posting as well. Woohoo! Check it out all week long and enjoy!

Posted on August 17, 2010 at 1:34 pm | art journal, store, zine | 22 comments