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.

Day 11 | Reducing Waste
For the most part, I've always tried to be true to the name brand and have more paper packaging instead of using plastic. Maybe the most relevant recent change is wrapped my products in tissue paper and replace the bubble mailers for cardboard flat mailers. It's not a big change, but small steps go a long way.


Day 12 | Hands at work
Some stills from last year video that I did showing the process of Bloggers Camp notebooks. I seldom have photos of my hands at work...


Day 13 | Photography
- I like to photograph what I made on white backgrounds (usually it's an IKEA table that I have at my parents living room).
- I try to photograph with natural and not direct light so usually means I can photograph from 10 am to 3pm (in my usual spot).
- I don't use a tripod, I prefer to search for the angles with the camera (although most of the time I photograph flat lays).
- I try to use things like other notebooks, clips, pencils, pin badges, bookmarks and other little things to make the photo more interesting.


Day 14 | How I learnt
It all started with books. When I was 11/12 years old my father started to gift me books about drawing, later I dwell in books about arts & crafts, design, art history even philosophy of arts. The books made me fall in love with art, with drawing and illustration... And also the craft. I learn from the books, from some teachers I had along the way and from the internet. Although I have a degree in Design, and post-graduation in Visual Design most of the things I do I learn them by making them, I learn with the experiences of others who bravely share their paths and experiences either on social media, blogs or books. I also need to credit a few workshops that I did - I might not have learned a lot from them, but at least I learned what I didn't want to do or what was not my path (and this is a very important thing)
These are my books, the ones that are in the studio


Day 15 | Motivation or Goals
One of the things that keeps me motivated is the people and how they react to my illustration and products. Other is the whole creative process - I love to create and make new things.
As for goals:
- at the moment my goal is to create a website for Nuts for Paper and have a page with the services and products that I do
- get back to create new products (stickers, planners, tote bags, mugs, etc are some of the priorities)

[Day 16 | Workspace - check next post]

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 !!

O Calendário de 2019 só podia ser inspirado nas novas aventuras do Chubby, o esquilo.
Uma das minhas intenções para o próximo ano, é de começar a escrever e desenhar mais aventuras do Chubby. Gostava de fazer uma zine com estas aventuras, e espero que 2019 seja o ano em que finalmente o faça!

The 2019 Calendar could only be inspired by the new adventures of Chubby, the squirrel.
One of my intentions for next year is to start writing and drawing more adventures of Chubby. I would like to make a zine with these adventures, and I hope 2019 will be the year I finally do it!

Chubby, o esquilo é a mascote da Nuts for Paper. Depois de em Julho me ter desafiado a desenhar novos desenhos/aventuras com este esquilo acabei por selecionar algumas desses desenhos e transformei-os em ilustrações.

Chubby, the squirrel is the mascot of Nuts for Paper. After having challenged myself in July to draw new drawings/adventures with this squirrel, I finally selected some of these drawings and turned them into illustrations.