Literally I have to find a new space for the 2022 of December Daily because I have ran out! The only year I did not do any December Daily was 2019 because I decided to take a break and do art journaling instead. This album is actually handmade using leftover binder D-ring and chipboards I had in my stash. I bought these Tim Holtz fabric from the Yuletide collection from a local seller (which I cannot find on the FreeSpirit website anymore. When I flipped through the 2020 album, I noticed that a lot of the stories were mine and not as much of my kids. I think that time…
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With only a couple months left before Christmas, I thought I’d it would be good to look back at the junk journal pages/spreads I did on-&-off via the hashtag #junkjournalingthru2021. This is almost like a 100-day project but runs all through the year. Reflecting on what I’ve learned: My “style” seems to be evolving and it’s to do with the type of journal I am working on. I enjoyed playing on blank pages when I used TN notebook inserts I “struggled” when I transitioned to using journals that I have stitched and bound together using various papers. I don’t know whether it is because of the existing content already on…
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[This post is a bit long as I’ve decided to combine a travelogue and sharing with you the mini travel album I made to document the trip.] It’s summer… and the itch to travel has kicked in. My dearest friend, Kristina and I have been brainstorming about where to go and because of the ever-changing regulations due to the new cases that happened in Beijing back in June, it was not easy to make real plans. With so many things I have been dealing with, personally and professionally, I decided, I really needed a break, so I finally gave Kristina a definitive “yes” to travel. We came up with a plan…
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Part 2 of our Europe 2019 adventure was to Finland. After Russia, we took the train from St. Petersburg to Helsinki. The train was not full and we saw the wintry white landscape as we cross Russia into Finland. In a way we were excited to see what is in store for us in Finland where we have only a few days. Helsinki was full of snow when we arrived and we were fortunate that the AirBnB was not far from the train station although we took a taxi there. It was not difficult to wander around and find grocery nearby. The full day we had was spent with my…
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A long time coming, sharing here the travel journal I made for our trip to Russia. Actually this is part one of a series of 3 journals from our big trip to Europe last January-February of 2019. A big trip that took us to a lot of places in the dead of winter! Our first stop was Moscow. We flew in from Shanghai and arrived same day with heavy snow marking our arrival. We spent a couple days in the city and took in the important touristy sights, of course (!) like the Kremlin, the History Museum, St. Basil’s Cathedral, and more. Really cold and kids were pretty hyped to…
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Our recent company trip to Nagoya, Japan, last June was a good quick escape for everyone. Before the trip, I have been dealing with deadlines and juggling kids’ activities and finals hence I was not even sure what I wanted to do in terms of documenting our trip. I had planned on bringing along a TN insert which I have been doing a lot on trips. At the last minute, I changed my mind and ended up bringing a watercolour sketchbook my friend Jessie has given to me late last year. This sketchbook along with my other sketchbook dedicated for #the100dayproject (2019) went into my backpack. This is the very…
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As I’m writing this post (albeit a late one), I am still feeling like it’s all surreal, to be having a solo exhibit… #documentinglife has become something of a mission after I discovered digital scrapbooking when I just had kids. It became a way for me to capture those every day little moments in Shanghai as a family that is fleeting yet too precious not to eternalize. Eventually, it grew into a hobby that drives me to find inspiration even from the simplest things in everyday life, and also an effective medium for me to soak in the unique aspects of a new place visited. In a blink of an…
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Cannot believe this is the 10th year that I have been doing December Daily! I need to also rearrange my bookshelf to accommodate this latest album. As always, this has been one of the “event” I look forward to every year. Putting all the Christmas-y goodies into an album has been fun. I just love the glittery magic of it all. Anyways, a few things I want to share on what I have found to what has worked for me to be able to finish this within December. I use handwriting as much as possible – I found that sometimes typing out and laying out texts takes more time and…
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To usher in December, I made some special printables to help you document this month of celebrations and magic. There are different sizes in PDF file format you can download below and hope you will like these. CHOOSE FROM THE DIFFERENT SIZES BELOW: (*DOWNLOADS ARE FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY.) 6×8 Album | A5 Planner | Personal Planner | 3×8 Album | 3×4 Journal Cards I would love to see how you use these pages in your planners. Use the hashtag #arlynaplannerpages and tag me (@abshanghai) on Instagram. Enjoy. SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave
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My first “solo” trip in a long time without the kids. This year they decided to join their school trips and so I ended up going to Ho Chi Minh with my colleagues. Saigon is one of those places I’ve been wanting to go and it was great to have had this chance to explore places with the team and on my own. Definitely an adventure! On this trip I used a TN insert to document the trip and managed to get most pages done during the trip and added a couple full page photos when I returned. I did a lot of quick sketches which I quite love as…
