My first Digital Diary book is printed, bound, and sitting right here on my desk—and I can’t stop flipping through it.
What started as a low-pressure creative project to capture everyday life from the comfort of my couch has turned into something deeper: a personal time capsule, a visual commonplace book, and honestly, one of the most sustainable memory-keeping routines I’ve ever created.
But more than that? It’s given me the chance to reflect on the long-term creative projects I commit to—and how they grow, shift, and evolve over time. And that’s what we’re talking about today.
Here’s what we’ll cover today:
What I learned after printing my first Digital Diary
Why it’s important to check in on your long-term projects
What’s next (and what’s changing) for Volume 2
Let’s dig in.
📚 The Book Is Real—and It’s Gorgeous
The cover is glossy. The colors are vibrant. I used mostly budget options with Blurb, and I was genuinely surprised by how beautiful the finished product came out—especially some of the digital illustrations and my handwriting layered over photos.
This book holds three months: January 1st through March 31st. I even went back and filled in a few early days where I hadn’t officially started the project yet, just to make the full quarter feel complete.
There’s something magical about holding a book that documents your everyday life, especially when you built it yourself, one digital page at a time.
📸 A Few Peeks at the Printed Book
Here’s the glossy cover and a few of my favorite spreads from the printed version:
🪩 Why I Needed to Reflect
Creative routines are easiest to stick with once the rhythm clicks—but that also makes it easy to coast without asking: Is this still working for me?
Printing the book gave me space to answer that question. And honestly? It’s still working. The one-page-per-day format fits beautifully into my real life. The content is delightfully imperfect—photos, screenshots, TV mind maps, news blurbs, recipe notes, digital doodles, and whatever else I’m thinking about that day.
But seeing it printed also showed me where I want to grow.
I want to build in monthly dividers to break up the flow.
The template I used wasn’t perfect—I grabbed a planner PDF on Etsy, and now I know I want a smaller, tighter trim size with better margins. (I’m designing my own for July!)
I’d love to eventually add things like color-coded tabs. Not necessary, but it would be cute.
Your Turn: When’s the last time you looked at one of your creative projects with fresh eyes? What’s working—and what could use a shift?
📓 What’s Actually In the Book?
Screenshots (phone + desktop)
Scrapbook and Daily Pages photos
Food photos, recipes, and doodles
Digital illustrations and Procreate sketches
News articles, memes, tweets, lists
TV mind maps (shoutout to Severance and Righteous Gemstones)
Notes, quotes, and lots of digital handwriting
This project has morphed into a cross between a digital diary, a visual commonplace book, and a creative dumping ground. And I love that. It doesn’t have to be consistent or aesthetic—it just has to be mine.
🛠 Tools + Process That Worked
iPad Mini: small, cozy, and easy to use on the couch
Apple Pencil: the new one I bought myself for Christmas is working OT here
GoodNotes: my home base—especially great for exporting to PDF for printing
Procreate: for illustrations, stickers, and art bits
Blurb Trade Book (8x10): what I used for Volume 1—though I’m switching to 6x9 for future books
🛋️ Couch Time vs. Creation Time
Here’s the thing: Not every day looks the same.
Some nights I can only do five minutes while we’re playing video games. Some weeks I’m out living life, not documenting it. And sometimes I spend a whole afternoon adding art and longer notes.
It’s never going to be a perfect balance—and it doesn’t need to be. This project bends with the seasons of my life.
🔮 What’s Next
I’ve already started working on my Q2 book (April through June), and I’ll print that the same way. Then in July, I’ll switch to my custom template and updated format.
This isn’t a passing phase—it’s how I’m planning to document my everyday stories for at least the rest of the year. It’s practical. It’s sustainable. It’s creatively fulfilling.
And it feels good to know that.
Weekly Resources:
🎥 Digital Diary Flipthrough Video (25 min—up top):
Watch the full January–March walkthrough and see every page.✍️ Get Started with Your Digital Diary (previous post):
My first deep dive into setting up this low-pressure creative routine.🎨 Bardot Brush: Free Procreate Tutorials:
If you’re new to Procreate, this is hands-down the best place to start.🧠 Free Reflection Prompt (PDF):
“What’s Working / What’s Not”—check in on your current creative projects.
Sponsored by: this amazing newsletter!
Upgrade your newsletter subscription to join us for the next live workshop:
Daily Pages x Scrapbooking — Saturday, May 4 (aka National Scrapbooking Day and also Star Wars day—love when they overlap).
This workshop blends creative journaling with scrapbooking sketches for all kinds of stories. Replay + archive included.
“I joined for the workshops and stayed for the friendships!” — Julie
Here’s what we covered today:
Long-term projects need reflection, not just momentum
Printing can transform how you see your digital creative work
Imperfect pages tell the best stories—especially when they live on your shelf
Action Step: Pick one creative project you’ve been working on. Take five minutes to ask yourself: What do I love about this? What would I change in the next version?
Talk to you next week!
xoxo,
Kristin
P.S. If you’re working on your own digital diary—or thinking about starting one—hit reply. I’d love to hear about it 💌
Share this post