creativity || december 2021 set up & reindeer watercolour drawing

It’s the final month of the year and almost time for Christmas & New Year’s! One of my favourite months of the year for the creativity, relaxation, and celebration (but let’s be honest… major minus points for the cold). ❄

So let’s dive into the bullet journal spread for December…

In this photo post I’m sharing:

  • A brief journal entry about taking time to recover if you’re exhausted or drained (whether it’s physical, emotional, or mental).
  • What my December bullet journal set up looks like – colour palette & theme. Plus… a watercolour reindeer, and a video time lapse of the process!
  • A reminder that there is 1 week left to complete our December set up Vibely challenge and have your response featured on Instagram!

taking time to recover

I took a couple of sporadic days and a week off sharing anything in November, by virtue of being busy with school.

When that happens, it’s really hard to not get down on myself for putting my Mistral Spirit and creative projects on the backburner… I really thrive off the reminder that my entire life doesn’t center around any one “thing” that I do (i.e. coursework, project, etc.)

But that one week was busy with a couple of final assignments that just didn’t ignite a spark and left me drained. On top of that I felt exhausted and unmotivated and I couldn’t put much energy into anything else. So giving myself the freedom to only have a couple major things on my to do list rather than a million little ones was the nicest thing I could do for myself.

I wrapped up 2 of my 4 courses this semester within a few days of each other, and used the next few days to transition back into my “normal” which had fallen to the wayside. I slept in, read in bed, spent two hours *slowly* grocery shopping (does anyone else find that SO fun?!), cooked dinner, and did a workout. It was so needed and I’ll try and remember that next time. Taking breaks for exhaustion is just as important as taking them for colds and illnesses.

december set up

This time lapse I posted to Instagram shows my entire process for designing, drawing and decorating my December bullet journal spread! I create these habit/time trackers in my bullet journal every month – for more info on them, check out last month’s recap.

If the link above doesn’t work, you can watch the video here instead. Just make sure to click the “full screen” button in the bottom right, as the video is filmed in portrait mode (vertically):

washi tape and stickers

I kept the washi tape decoration minimal this month, except for two designs which went perfectly with the cool-shaded earthy tones in the spread:

I was gifted both of these sets from The Washi Tape Shop as I’m part of their creative marketing team!

discount code

If you choose to use my discount code for The Washi Tape Shop, thank you! I get a small commission for referring you (at no cost to you). All of my other active discount codes and affiliate links are always on my Links page.

10% off all orders at The Washi Tape Shop with the discount code MISTRALSPIRIT
(Free international shipping already included.)

what we all care most about… the reindeer

For the record, the reindeer was my mom’s idea. (Thanks, mom!) The other option was houses with Christmas trees visible through the windows, which might make an appearance another time. But I was so thrilled with this little guy once I painted him in. I even asked you guys what name he should get… there weren’t many, but the responses were mighty. 😜

  • Mistral
  • Rudolf
  • Rain dear

The drawing itself was based on the one in this video by Four Wet Feet Studio:

As you can see, I really enjoy making a black outline first, and then painting it in. This technique also meant I could watch a bit of a Christmas movie while doing the painting part – all I had to do was layer browns within the lines!

After doing this, I went on an animal drawing kick. I think this might be my brief holiday obsession. Here’s a sneak peek you’ll see more of in an upcoming blog post.

our vibely community

Have you heard of our Vibely community yet?

If not, Vibely is our very first Mistral Spirit virtual space, complete with a Virtual Café and weekly Challenges that we complete together. It has three purposes:

  • As a space to connect, share perspectives, and learn from each other.
  • An inspiration hub. Through the challenges, we’ll curate some of the best advice, inspiration, and creativity from all the assorted thinkers & curious minds who also love the essence behind Mistral Spirit.
  • A source of action. With a community of like-minded individuals, we can stay accountable to our goals and grounded with our expectations.

It’s also a platform that is focused on positivity and is accessible to everyone! If you don’t have access to Facebook, or Instagram, you can join our community and take part in building relationships and working towards your goals with us.

our current ongoing challenge

1 WEEK LEFT: Show us your December bullet journal or planner set-up!

Every Thursday, I post a new Challenge and it’s open to complete for 2 weeks. You can still complete it afterwards, but those 2 weeks are the time period for having your response included in an Instagram feature (which you can also opt-out of if you choose)!

Visit our virtual community to complete the challenge!

COMPLETE our december SETUP Vibely challenge by December 16

This post includes some affiliate links. If you click through to purchase something I’ve recommended, I may get a small commission at no added cost to you! ♥

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