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December 3, 2023

My Everyday Life Week 48

Here’s what this past week looked like- My Everyday Life Week 48

Starting to decorate our tree! This was my first Christmas ornament. 

My Everyday Life Week 48 of 2023- a photography series by Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean.com

This is my brother’s first ornament. I ended up with it somehow. 

My Everyday Life Week 48 of 2023- a photography series by Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean.com

I lined up my ornaments to look through them at the window. 

My Everyday Life Week 48 of 2023- a photography series by Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean.com

Bing! 

My Everyday Life Week 48 of 2023- a photography series by Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean.com

CONTINUE READING

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December 1, 2023

I LOVE LISTS

Think of How They Would Feel // I love lists Shutterbean

I LOVE LISTS

  1. Subway adds a new item to their menu.
  2. How to chose the right cooking oil.
  3. What is Grok?
  4. A bunch of conversation starters for holiday parties.
  5. The entire history of autotune.
  6. Best ways to unclog a kitchen sink.
  7. I want to experience the bubble universe.
  8. How old are we? (memes)
  9. Mildly interesting things!
  10. I studied Sandy Skoglund in art school. 
  11. 10 things nobody tells you about vines.
  12. Oooh a faster way to send photos on iPhone.
  13. Here are some of my fave Ways to Create Holiday Magic! 
  14. A roundup of holiday edible gifts from my site! 
  15. Every state, ranked by the worst winters.
  16. What’s a lenticular photo?
  17. A personalized blanket would be an amazing gift. 
  18. Stocking stuffer: cute date night coupons
  19. Weekend Baking: Gingerbread cookies

Shuterbean's Favorite Things 2023- Tracy shares her annual list of faves!

Here are my Favorite Things from 2023! 

My Everyday Life Week 44 of 2023- a photography series by Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean.com

Wanna practice art with me in 2024? Get a Currently Workbook! 

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November 29, 2023

Shutterbean’s Favorite Things 2023

Shuterbean's Favorite Things 2023- Tracy shares her annual list of faves!

Shutterbean’s Favorite Things 2023

It’s my annual favorite things list. As always, everything that’s on this list is something I own/have paid for.  This is what brought value to my life this year! I hope it inspires your holiday shopping. I love hearing how many of you were gifted things from these lists.  YAY!

So let’s get into it. Here are my Favorite Things from 2023:

Tracy Benjamin shares her favorite art supplies in her favorite things list for 2023

Favorite Art Things (Planner Supplies) 

This year I leaned heavily into planner life and this is what I LOVE! 

Tasteful Post-It notes Aren’t these pretty? I don’t like a lot of Post-it colors in my planners. These allow me to use fun pen colors. 

Posca Paint Pens Extra Fine To say I am OBSESSED is an understatement. I have been on a mad search for a white marker and this one is thick and lovely. Now that I have found the best extra fine white pen I can move on to the next chapter in my life! 

Black Gesso I use this stuff all of the time in my journals. I like to apply it with an old credit card, let it dry, and draw on top with white markers. Pencil looks very cool on it too. 

Zebra Brush Tip this is my favorite pen to use for writing, making lists, and drawing. You can highlight words written with this pen and color on top of it and it doesn’t smear and I love that in a pen. 

Silver Chrome Pens pure magic. PURE. MAGIC. I love all of these chrome pens. 

Sticker Book – these stickers are beautiful! I put so many of them in my daily art planner this year. I have built whole scenes around them! 

Tombow Tape Runner This thing is the best thing in the whole wide world if you love to put things in journals but you hate dealing with glue. It’s like correction tape but with adhesive. Love love love.  

Tombow Correction Tape: I’m partial to this brand if you don’t already know. I love Tombow brush pens SO SO MUCH. 

Polaroid Printer I use this Polaroid printer to print photo stickers in my planner. It’s a fun process to print things from your phone!

Stencil Ruler this is the ruler that started it all. And when I mean that…I asked my husband if he could print me some journal templates with his 3D printer and he went wild and made me so many fun templates to use from Instructables. 

Currently Workbook- This is my monthly self-reflection workbook! Next year will be my 6th year working on this project. I am hoping to do more live streaming events in 2023 with this workbook! If you’re on my newsletter, I’ll be sharing more info there.  If you are international and want a copy, here’s link to get one through Blurb. 

Graph Paper Notebooks- These are the best notepads for writing notes while at your computer. I have three in rotation. I love the spiral and the graph paper is perfection. 

Hobonichi Techo this is the planner I used this past year for a daily art practice.  I filled mine with lists, photos, color, tape, stickers, pens, paper, makers, and magic. Every day this year I checked in with myself and made art while I was at it. I did it with a couple of friends and it was fun to share our pages via text together. A lot of my pages have ended up in My Everyday Life posts. 

Hobonichi Cousin I will continue the daily art planner thing next year but am stepping up in size. While I loved the techo, it was just too small for me at times. I want more real estate so we will see how this one goes! 

Intentions for the Week Planner – This is what I use to plan out my weeks! Next year will be my third year using it. This past year was a little tough for me as I was experimenting with a daily planner so for a few weeks, I fell off the habit. It’s cool though because I designed the planner to be a template for whenever I needed it. I don’t feel guilty about not having every week filled in. It’s there when I need it and I’m glad I made it.

Shutterbean Favorite Beauty & Wellness Things 2023 from Tracy Benjamin's favorites list!

Favorite Beauty & Wellness Things

Revlon Hair Dryer Brush  I’ve been wearing my hair curly this past year so I mostly let it air dry. When I want to dry my hair before bed, I use this thing and it works fast and makes my hair very smooth. My Mom would have loved this thing.

BrioGeo Fairwell Frizz  – I got this in one of my FabFitFun boxes last year and it is SO good with helping me have weightless curls. I put it on wet hair and then scrunch it and let it air dry. No frizz. Hooray for NO FRIZZ. 

Big Retro Reading Glasses I bought this pack and love them. My family thinks they’re silly but I like that I know IMMEDIATELY that they’re my readers. I have one pair that lives on my nightstand, one in my office, and the other next to where I sit on the couch and read. 

Black Licorice Vanilla Body Butter I put this stuff on before bed. If you love black licorice like I do, you’ll love this. It’s soooo creamy and doesn’t make you feel super greasy. My bed ends up smelling like it and I love that. 

Spiral Hair Ties- I almost always have one of these on my wrist. They are so convenient, they don’t pull my hair and they aren’t annoying on my wrist. I don’t lose them as much as I do regular hairbands. If they are stretched out, you can just place them in hot water and they go back to normal. Hooray for life hacks! 

Insta-Dri Nail Polish in C-hill Out– I am currently wearing this color as I type this. I fell in love with dark green this year and I am glad I can make my nails my favorite color! 

Insta-Dry Nail Polish in The Queen’s Velvet Another one of my faves this year. I sometimes add a glossy top coat to this one. It’s SO PRETTY.

Essie Nail Polish in Gadget Free-  This one is almost chrome-like. I love looking down at my nails when I’m wearing it. It’s like JEWELRY for my nails. 

FabFitFun Subscription- I’ve kept this subscription up for the past few years because it introduces me to a bunch of new products and also helps me with gift giving! One month I got really nice cheese knives and beautiful beach towels to gift.  Here’s $20 off your subscription if you want to check it out too! 

Apple Watch 9 Series- This is what I got for my birthday this year and I love it so much! I used to be loyal to Fitbit for many many years and made the switch and there’s no turning back, baby. I am motivated to move every day and close my rings. I also like that I can control the music from my phone and text. 

Ice Shaker 26oz. Insulated Tumbler- I am always blown away that there can still be ice cubes in this tumbler a DAY LATER. I drink more water when I use a straw so this thing is gold. Now if I could only just glue it to me and drink from it all day long instead of putting it down somewhere in my house and losing it. Big sigh!  

Spirit IEX 195 Elliptical Machine This has been part of my workout routine for the past two years. It’s held up well and when I went on a trip and used another elliptical machine, I really missed my machine at home. That proves that I am loyal and love my elliptical. End of story. 

Shutterbean Favorite Home/Tech Things 2023- Tracy shares her favorites from the year on her blog!

 

Favorite Home/Tech Things: 

JBL Speaker- I use this one in my bathroom. It connects easily to my phone so I can listen to music (LOUD!) while I get ready or shower. 

Noise-canceling headphones – If you are an introvert and you have to be around people a lot, these headphones are INCREDIBLE. There’s a TV in the same room as my kitchen and my family will watch shows while I’m cooking it can be SO IRRITATING to listen to something that I don’t want to hear. I put these headphones on, put on some music or a podcast and I am in another world. The ultimate coping mechanism! 

3D printing machine- Casey got this at the beginning of the year and it’s been really fun to see how much he uses it. He makes things for Cooper and I and it makes me so happy! 

iDiskk iPhone storage I use this thing to pull videos off my phone so I can work with them on my computer. It’s great!! It’s handy. I just wish I didn’t lose it all the time because it’s so small. 

Linnea Poster Calendar- I’m continuing my Mom’s tradition by purchasing this calendar every year. She had it in her kitchen and delighted in seeing what the artwork looked like for each month. The print quality is amazing and the colors are so vibrant. I think of her every time I glance at it. 

Bubble Bear This guy lives in my office. He was gifted to me by my friend Reese. This bubble maker brings a lot of joy to my household. I catch Cooper blowing bubbles every now and then. It’s one of the best ways to find your breath! It would make a great stocking stuffer for sure. 

Timer Cube this is one of my favorite productivity tools! I LOVE IT and have two! One for my kitchen and one for my office. 

Nakano Classic Chef Knife Set- Chop therapy is easy with this set. It has all of my favorites and THEY ARE SO SHARP. The handles feel great in your hand and they are BEAUTIFUL.  If you use code: SHUTTERBEAN, you can get 30%off your purchase! 

Art Sack Reusable Bag- These help me carry groceries and they carry A LOT! I love that Yellow Owl Workshop has a lot of fun patterns this year. 

Thanks for reading my annual Shutterbean’s Favorite Things 2023 edition! 

Happy Holidays xo           

 

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November 27, 2023

Intentions for the Week

Intentions for the Week Workbook by Tracy Benjamin now on sale!

Intentions for the Week- Week 48 in 2023

Happy Monday, friends!

We are back from Idaho! It was a fun/relaxing trip. We are wiped out from being in a car all day. I did meal prep this weekend too. YAY. It feels good to be back in my kitchen and having control of my fridge again. 

Let’s get into it! Here are my Intentions for the Week.

CONTINUE READING

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November 26, 2023

My Everyday Life Week 47

Here’s what this past week looked like- My Everyday Life Week 47

We spent two days in the car this week. Driving to/from Idaho to visit family for Thanksgiving! 

My Everyday Life Week 47 of 2023- a photography series by Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean.com

Here are the cards I pulled for the week. This week was the 6th year anniversary of my Mom’s death.

My Everyday Life Week 47 of 2023- a photography series by Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean.com

Driving through Tahoe. 

My Everyday Life Week 47 of 2023- a photography series by Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean.com

The weather was perfect on our drive up.

CONTINUE READING

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November 24, 2023

I LOVE LISTS

Does what you surround yourself with move you forward? I love lists // shutterbean

I LOVE LISTS

  1. Time Magazine shares top photos of 2023. 
  2. Zillow’s predicted design trends for 2024. 
  3. People share their AirBnB horror stories.
  4. Is this the highest grossing photo of all time?
  5. What’s the quickest way to soften butter?
  6. The slimmest apartment in Japan. Yikes.
  7. Thanksgiving menu Plaza Hotel 1899
  8. This must be cool in person.
  9. What outdoor life was like in the Victorian era. 
  10. Why you shouldn’t let your dirty dishes soak in the sink.
  11. The art of hoshigaki.
  12. Most memorable pop culture moments in 2023. 
  13. Here are Ina’s three freezer staples.
  14. A gift for the aspiring jeweler. 
  15. Here are some of my homemade holiday gifts ideas! 
  16. Peanut butter, ranked. (I’m a skippy fan)
  17. The best Trader Joe’s stocking stuffers.
  18. A giant colorful wall calendar situation! 
  19. Daily art practice for 2024= hobonichi cousin + this cover
  20. Currently Workbooks for 2024 are in my Etsy shop! 

 

I’m working on a favorite things post for 2023. Here are some of my favorite things from the past!

Shutterbean Favorite Things Gift Guide 2022- kitchen, outdoor & art inspiration!

Shutterbean Favorite Things 2022

Shutterbean Favorite Things Gift Guide- Tracy Benjamin shares her favorite things from the year!
 
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November 20, 2023

Intentions for the Week

Intentions for the Week Workbook by Tracy Benjamin now on sale!

Intentions for the Week- Week 47 in 2023

Happy Monday, friends!

We are visiting family this week for Thanksgiving. It’s also my Mom’s 6-year death anniversary. I always take some time to look through week 47 from 2017.   I am glad that I have kept up My Everyday Life since 2011 because I can access old feelings and times. It helps me process hard feelings and emotions.  Anyways, thank you so much for your support over the years. 

Let’s get into it! Here are my Intentions for the Week.

CONTINUE READING