August was a roller-coaster. A good roller-coaster.
I started the month by installing new shelves on my Studio. I did it by myself and I'm quite proud of that (although at least one of them is very crooked).
Since I started to make screen printing that my studio has to serve a lot of purposes, I had to make sure that everything had its place, easy to reach but also easy to put back where it belongs.


I started a new drawing project. The goal is to draw at least an hour every day for 100 days. It might be sketches, finished illustrations etc. You can check it on my drawing account on Instagram.
I started to plan a few late summer new products and also the Autumn releases.


I created a few new illustrations and patterns for the 2019/2020 and 2020 planners. I created and released new planners. (I will write about them soon, but you can check them out in the shop already).


At last, I was able to release two T-shirt designs and one Tote bag. All of them screen printed in my humble studio. This was probably the highest point of my month!! (will write more about it one of these days).

In July I had to do a few constructions works in my studio so I would better apt to do screen printing in my workspace (you can see a few images of it on my stories on Instagram).


During the month I got a new printer, an inkjet printer that prints A3. I've been playing the idea of offering more prints and reproductions of my illustrations, and this printer will help me doing so. I also wanted to stop depending on other printers, I become very particular about colour in my work, and sometimes it's not easy to make sure that the colour I picture and use is the one that is printed. I think this will help me to make sure the colour I print on Nuts for Paper works are colours I intended them to be.


During July I was still learning to work in screen printing and with my new tools. You can see in a photo one of the failed screens. Learning screen printing has been a lesson on patience and also a lesson on how to work clean and methodically. I was surprised that despite the slowness of the whole thing I continued excited throughout the whole process.

June was Nuts for Paper 6th Birthday!
I started to (slowly) launch a new branding image for the Brand. I felt after 6 years I need a little refreshment in the image. The implementation will be slow because I still have cards and other merch items that I want to use before creating new ones.
Did you notice that the logo of the brand changed?

June was the month that I actually started to understand a bit more about screen printing. In May I had bought a kit for beginners, and despite I learned a lot with it, it didn't have the most appropriate tools for what I intended to do. I was so excited and I wanted to launch T-shirts and Tote Bags, but I had to delay the making of these things until I have a more appropriate workspace and tools.

June was also marked with two visits to Lisbon's Book Fair, an event that I love to go and explore.

My personal library | Gallery wall on my home studio

May was a month full of important decisions but especially I felt that there was a change of mindset and priorities.


In May I launched three new organizational Notepads
A4 MONTHLY PLANNER | LIVE IN THE MOMENT
BUSY CRITTER TO-DO-LIST - PLANNER NOTEPAD
LIVE IN THE MOMENT - A5 WEEKLY PLANNER

At the end of the month, I decided to learn, by myself, screen printing.

New adition to my cactus collection

Quick April re-cap
In April was my birthday, I got a fresh haircut and colour in my hair.
I took some time to think and re-think the projects that I was working on. And I started to draw a lot, but to draw with some purpose...

Day 25 | How it's made
Last year I share a few vlogs on YouTube about how made some products. Photos of the process are harder to have, I'm usually so taken with the making and process that I seldom remember to photograph it. This is a halfway process of making pin badges. This was an older design that it's not available anymore.



Day 28 | Packaged
I try to only use paper on the packaging of Nuts for Paper products - kraft paper or tissue paper are often the ones that use along with baker's twine. I learned with a friend to enjoy the process of wrapping things, it's almost like each thing that I do and wrap it's a gift from me to you.


Day 29 | Most difficult to make
All hardcover notebooks, planners and journals. Especially because it has been a while since I did hardcover notebooks, and there are minor things in the cover that can make or break the final product. This only means that I need to make more of them!!

March Meet the maker 
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Studio | Week 4 | Week 5
...
March is the month of the March Meet the Maker created by Joanne Hawker
This year I decide to participate and share on both of my Instagram accounts some of the prompts.

Day 19 | Dream collaboration
It already happened - my dream collaboration was to design/illustrate books. Recently I designed and illustrated two activity books for young girls for a national publisher. Previously I had the opportunity to design a couple of books, but these two where the first fully illustrated and designed by me.
- O meu Diário Superfixe
- O Diário das Melhores Amigas
Published by Booksmile - 20|20 editora


Day 20 | Design Process
From paper to product/notebook
Everything starts with a pencil, paper and an idea. Then it's tested, and coloured on the computer. Then printed and checked if it works. This was part of the design process of last year Bloggers Camp exclusive journal.


Day 22 | Proud of
I am proud of Nuts for Paper
This year my brand is going to make six years and I'm very proud of everything that I did and achieve with it. (The brand birthday is on the 5th of June if you wanna mark it on your calendar ;))


Day 23 | Top tip or Advice
Make time in your schedule to rest and do other things not work-related. I learned it a little bit too late to avoid a small burnout. Nowadays I'm learning to balance both things: work and leisure

March Meet the maker 
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Studio | Week 4 | Week 5
....
March is the month of the March Meet the Maker created by Joanne Hawker
This year I decide to participate and share on both of my Instagram accounts some of the prompts.

Day 16 | Workspace
This is my Nuts for Paper Studio 2019 version. I can see that throughout the years my studio is getting more full and colourful (just like a well-used Nuts for Paper notebook). This is the main area of the studio, on the left is glueing station and my ream guillotine. In the front are the two main desks - the left one is where I cut cardboard and sew the notebooks; the one on the right is where I pack orders and where my computer sits (most of the time nowadays my studio is a computer free zone, which is interesting and makes me see how much time I spend at my computer). On the right is where the bookshelves are (check day 14 for a full view of them). I'm lucky enough to also have a workspace at home - which is where I draw and work on illustration. Have designated spaces for certain work help me on being more focused when I am working.



March Meet the maker 
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Studio | Week 4 | Week 5
...
March is the month of the March Meet the Maker created by Joanne Hawker
This year I decide to participate and share on both of my Instagram accounts some of the prompts.

March Meet the maker 
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Studio | Week 4 | Week 5
....
March is the month of the March Meet the Maker created by Joanne Hawker
This year I decide to participate and share on both of my Instagram accounts some of the prompts.

Hardcover Planners

March is the month of the March Meet the Maker created by Joanne Hawker
This year I decide to participate and share on both of my Instagram accounts some of the prompts.

Day 1 | Favorite to make!
One of the things I love most to make is planners - from the interior design, pattern making or illustration creating, printing process, bookbinding... I just love the whole creative and handmade process. I think it's one of the things that I make that merges design with art and crafts. For me, it's the perfect mix!!

Pocket Size planners

Journal Size Notebooks (A5)

Day 2 | How you started
Nuts for Paper started in 2013 when I and a friend decided to do something productive and creative since we couldn't find design internships or jobs. Each one of us developed different things, my focus was on art directing, generating ideas for notebooks and draw. We open our Etsy shop a month after making the brand an official thing and a few months later did our first international sale!! I always have been passionate about stationery and making notebooks, so quickly I understood that this had a future (and one that I was particularly interested in).




March Meet the maker 
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Studio | Week 4 | Week 5

February was a month full of creation of plans (you can have a sneak peek of my planners)
I started a 100 days drawing project.
I had a few issues and scares with my computer (all solved now *cross fingers*)


I did a quick public speaking presentation about Nuts for Paper. The preparation of the presentation made me research for a ton of images from the past. I end up doing this collage, which I feel represents well what Nuts for Paper was during 2018.

New Year, new plans and 365 days to execute them!
That's how felt that this January was...

Antes de começar a focar-me em 2019, aqui no blog, queria reflectir um pouco sobre 2018.
Esta reflexão anual já é costumeira - se tiverem curiosidade podem ver a dos anos anteriores:
Before starting to write about 2019, I wanted to reflect a bit about 2018.
This annual reflection is already customary - if you are curious you can see it from previous years:



No final de 2017 dizia-vos que "Sinto que passei por uma fase menos boa durante o ano que passou, mas que está nas minhas mãos sair deste ciclo vicioso e pouco produtivo em que estou."
2018 foi o ano em que decidi pôr as mãos à obra e mudar o que precisava para me sentir melhor comigo própria e assim conseguir voltar a criar com uma outra leveza. Este processo têm sido lento e na maioria das vezes pouco linear, com tanto de avanço como recuos, mas cada vez mais sinto-me no caminho certo (e acho que o importante é isso mesmo. Tenho mencionar nesta parte que a Vânia do blog Lolly Taste têm sido uma fonte de inspiração neste processo de me sentir melhor comigo própria).
A meio do ano inscrevi-me num ginásio e foi uma das melhores decisões que fiz em 2018. Mais do que o peso que perdi ou não perdi, a força física e a energia que ganhei foram das melhoras coisas que me aconteceram em 2018.
At the end of 2017, I told you that "I felt I had gone through a less good phase during the past year, but that it is in my hands to get out of this vicious and unproductive cycle in which I was."
2018 was the year that I decided to change what I needed to feel better about myself and to be able to create again. This process has been slow and rather bumpy, with both advancements and setbacks, but I feel that I am on the right track (and I think that's what it's important).

In the middle of the year, I enrolled at a gym and it has been one of the best decisions I made in 2018. More than the weight I lost or did not lose, the physical strength and energy I gained were the best things that happened to me last year.
Aqui no blog mantive uma rubrica semanal que se chama Bites & Bits. Mas a meio do ano deixei de publicar. Senti que me precisava de desligar-me das redes sociais e focar-me noutras coisas.
Here in the blog, I keep a weekly publication called Bites & Bits. But in the middle of the year, I stopped publishing. I felt that I needed to disconnect from social networks and focus on other things.

1/52 | 2/52 | 3/52 | 4/52 | 5/52 | 6/52 | 7/52 | 8/52 | 9/52 | 10/52 | 11/52 | 12/52 | 13/52 | 14/52 | 15/52 | 16/52 | 17/52 | 18/52 | 19/52 | 20/52 | 21/52 | 22/52  | 23/52 | 24/52 | 25/52 | 26/52 | 27/52 | 28/52 | 29/52 | 30/52 | 31/52 | 32/52 | 33/52 | 34/52 | 35/52 | 36/52 | 37/52 | 38/52 e 39/52 | 40/52 | 41/52 | 42/52 | 43/52 | 44/52 | 45/52 | 46/52 | 47/52 | 48/52 | 49/52 | 50/52 | 51/52 | 52/52

No entanto fui partilhando fotografias regularmente no Instagram pessoal no meu desafio de publicar uma foto por dia (coisa que mantive até agosto). Foi uma maneira muito interessante de registar o meu dia a dia. Talvez volte a este projecto um dia destes, mas provavelmente num outro formato.
However, I was regularly sharing photos on my personal Instagram for my challenge of posting a photo a day (which I kept until August). It was a very interesting way to register my day to day life. Maybe I'll come back to this project one of these days, but probably in another format.

Janeiro | Fevereiro | Março | Abril | Maio | Junho | Julho | Agosto | Setembro | Outubro | Novembro | Dezembro


Em 2018 celebrou-se o 5º ano da Nuts for Paper!! Melhorei o estúdio, fiz um projecto criativo de 100 dias à volta da Nuts for Paper e em que partilhei mais do que 100 cadernos feitos mim.
Comecei a fazer Vlogs relacionados com o meu trabalho da Nuts for Paper. Espero voltar à carga com os mesmos brevemente.

Outros pontos altos do ano para a Nuts for Paper:
- foi o quarto ano que criei os Cadernos para o Bloggers Camp ( um encontro de bloggers criado por três bloggers a Ana do Infinito mais um, a Catarina do Daydreams e a Catarina do Joan of July).
- fui novamente parceira do evento Blogging for a Cause (criado por cinco bloggers portugueses.Todo o dinheiro angariado foi doado a cinco instituições)


Em termos de ilustração 2018 foi um ponto de viragem:
- Explorei novos métodos de trabalho de desenho (falei mais sobre isso na publicação que escrevi sobre as ilustrações que criei para o Bloggers Camp)
- Explorei mais os meus diários gráficos (Sketchbook Friday).
- Tive uma ilustração minha a ser publicada na revista Calm (a ilustrar o texto da querida Susana da Bless).
- Retomei o desenho dos esquilos que queria ter feito no Inktober de 2017 e acabei por desenvolver um pouco mais as aventuras do Chubby (a mascote da Nuts for Paper).
- Em Outubro desafiei-me a desenhar algo completamente diferente e sair um pouco da minha zona de conforto e adorei!!

In terms of illustration 2018 was a turning point for me and my work:
- I explored new methods of drawing (I talked more about it in the publication I wrote about the illustrations I created for Bloggers Camp)
- I've explored more in my Sketchbooks (Sketchbook Friday).
- I had an illustration published in the Calm magazine (to illustrate the text of the dear Susana of Bless).
- I finally draw the squirrels that I wanted to have done in 2017's Inktober and I ended up developing a bit more the adventures of Chubby (the mascot of Nuts for Paper).
- In October I dared myself to draw something completely different and get out of my comfort zone and I loved it !!

Depois de 10 semanas de quase silêncio aqui no blog, estou de volta.
Durante este tempo precisei de prioritizar outras coisas e fazer algumas mudanças nas minhas rotinas. Algumas das mudanças foram superficiais e insignificantes, outras foram fundamentais e afectaram o meu dia a dia. Não me vou alongar sobre estas mudanças (algumas delas tenho falado no meu Instagram pessoal, e outras fui falando no One photo a day de Junho, Julho e Agosto).

De momento estou a terminar um desafio de desenho que comecei no mês de Julho. Durante o mês de Julho desenhei um esquilo por dia. [Podem encontrar estes desenhos aqui no blog Sketchbook Friday 25 e 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 e 31]. Durante o mês de Agosto colori alguns desses desenhos (podem vê-los na conta da @nutsforpaper no Instagram). Estas ilustrações irão fazer parte duma nova colecção de produtos que vão incluir prints e um calendário (entre outras coisas).

Estou a terminar de desenvolver as agendas para 2019 e quero começar a pensar também em algumas coisas para o Natal (em particular conjuntos de produtos que as pessoas possam oferecer como prendas de Natal).

Estou entusiasmada com Setembro e com a promessa de dias mais frios e Outono!!


After 10 weeks of almost silence here on the blog, I'm back. During this time I had to prioritize some things and make some changes in my routines. Some of the changes were superficial and insignificant, others were fundamental and affected my daily life. I will not dwell on these changes (some of them I've been talking about in my personal Instagram, and others I've been talking about in One photo a day of June, July and August).

At the moment I'm finishing a drawing challenge that I started in July. During the month of July, I drew a squirrel a day. [You can find these drawings here on the blog Sketchbook Friday 25 e 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31]. During the month of August, I colored some of these drawings (you can see them in @nutsforpaper account in Instagram). These illustrations will be part of a new collection of products that will include prints and a calendar (among other things).

I'm finishing developing the agendas for 2019 and I want to start thinking about something for Christmas too (in particular product sets that people can offer as Christmas gifts).

I am excited about September and with the promise of colder days and autumn !!

Nas últimas três semanas dediquei-me a vários projectos, desenhos, agendas 2018/2019, o 100 days project, IRS, IVA e os cadernos para o Bloggers Camp deste ano (que irei partilhar mais próximo do evento).
Apesar de atrasada no projecto 100 days of Nuts for Paper sei que vou terminá-lo no próximo mês. Estou a pensar num outro projecto que quero começar nos próximos meses (mais ligado à ilustração) mas antes quero dedicar-me às agendas.
Não tenho publicado muita coisa nas redes sociais (Facebook & Instagram), confesso que estou um pouco cansada das redes sociais, mas reconheço a sua importância e necessidade de voltar a elas (brevemente espero).


In the past three weeks, I dedicated myself to some projects, drawings, 2018/2019 planners, the 100 days project, IRS, VAT and the notebooks for the Bloggers Camp event (I will be sharing more about the notebook later).
Although I'm late in the 100 days of Nuts for Paper project I want to finish it in June. I'm already thinking in the next project (more directed to illustration) but before that, I want to dedicate myself with the planners.
I've been a little absent on social media (Facebook & Instagram), I confess that I'm a little tired of social networks, but I recognize their importance and how helpful they can be.