This is another one of those themes that I've been planning for a very long time and I am so excited that I can finally reveal it in its entirety! For months now, every time I had an idea for something fantasy related, I've asked myself "but should I release this now or should I save it for the fae theme in the fall?" and let's just say that the list for this release got way too big to contain.
This kit was born from a tiktok I saw a long time ago that was basically "I'm going into the fae realm. No one ever told me why I shouldn't." and the idea of finding a mushroom circle in the forest and diving on in.
Now, fae are well known in Appalachia to get up to tons of mischief and generally, being up to no good, so I don't actually suggest diving into the fae realm but well, we can have some stickers that celebrate all the magic and bright colors and escape into with our planners and the books we read for a season, right?
These stickers will be released in the shop on Friday 7/18 at 12pmCST so you can get them in your hands and start building your TBR list and that way you'll be ready to read the minute you're ready to start your fall list!
Officially, this year, we're doing our fall challenge at the very end of the year -- October, November and December, but since that's the very last quarter of the year and it's insanely busy AND this kit features some bright colors and everyone will want to start their fall season at different times, I figured it was fine to release early.
I also wanted to go ahead and use it to kick off the fall season, so it's coming out early because the fall season is always crammed with releases because we have fall, Halloween AND then prepping for next year. So, even though it's July, definitely grab it sooner, rather than later because the holidays are going to start coming at us quickly.
As always, our vertical kit is 4 pages and you'll be able to pick up all 4 in a bundle or each page on it's own. We'll also have our 1.3" skinny kit. This one is great for the Hobonichi cousin OR other planners that have similar sizes! It also fits the Always Fully Booked vertical planner!
In case you want to use the same theme for the first and last weeks of the season, we'll also have two extra sheets that will have some stickers for stretching a kit a two full weeks. You can pick up one or the other or both to flesh out the way you use your planner.
As for the challenge itself, we will have a group read for it, though if you choose not to read the group read you can count it as a free space. We will start voting on the group read in the Creating & Co Book Club after the theme goes live.
There will be 8 other prompts for a total of 9 and as you read, you'll fill up the bookshelf!
In case this is your first challenge with us, here's how it works:
- Take one of the prompts and find a book that applies.
- Read the book and write the title and rating into the table
- Cover one of the books with the full color version from the sheet
- Repeat until you finish all the prompts!
Our most common size is 4.75" x 6.75", which is shown above. It fits perfectly in our build your own book journal too! I also use it in my a5 bullet journal.
We will also have a 7" x 9" version that you can use in most common planners--Erin Condren, Happy Planner, Yellow Paper House, Paper House Productions, etc.
Here are the prompts and what each one means:
- Features Forest/Nature Magic - some kind of magic is used that involves nature, whether that's alchemy or potions or actual wand, waving magic
- Trickster Character - since fae are often depicted as mischievous characters in folklore, I thought we could have a character that loves to play jokes, goof off or laugh OR an actual trickster that is part of folklore
- Otherworldly Realm - there's a world that is not part of our world that the characters visit or they are aware of or are trying to get to (like, a scientist could be trying to prove multiple dimensions if you're reading sci-fi, for instance, or just studying if you're reading academia)
- Bargain/Deal - two characters strike a bargain or deal at some point in the novel. Be careful if it's with a fae though, because many of them can use bargains as part of their tricks in traditional legends!
- Shifting Seasons - since fall is all about the changing of seasons, a change in seasons/weather occurs during the book
- Mythical Beings - since fae are mythical creatures, something nonhuman is part of the book OR something nonhuman is referenced/studied in the book
- Lyrical Prose - since riddles are often used by fae or they just speak in a beautiful, traditional way, I thought it would be nice to find a book that is written in a beautiful way too OR features poetry or a song
- Published in October/November/December - published in these three months of any year
- Group Read/Free Space - This will be voted on in the Creating & Co Book club group on Facebook and we'll chat about it sometime in November (before Thanksgiving!)
As always, you can interpret the prompts however you want, if you have another idea! You can also read one book per challenge or have one book fit more than one prompt.
The second sheet of the challenge has a few other stickers you may want to use in your planner. The "badge" sticker is meant to be used to keep track of all the challenges you complete over the year. We have a badge tracking sheet that you can use or you could just add them to a blank page in your planner.
The sheet also has the book labels that are perfect for adding to the day you finish one of the books for the challenge along with some reading achievements that are just a fun little sticker for yourself when you accomplish the things on it!
I also made some more dashboards that you can use to track your reading for the season because I love when you can have a whole little section in your planner that all matches.
If you're a big reader, we also have a seasonal book bingo! This way, if you want to really challenge yourself, you can do two challenges for the season (the main one and this one) and if you want even more of a challenge, you can try to get a black out bingo.
These prompts are totally open to interpretation, so feel free to just read them and then decide how you want to use it!
Speaking of journal sheets, I have been LOVING using journal sheets for book review layouts and making weekly layouts instead of using traditional planners this year so I made a four page set that matches the weekly kit but I also made some extra sets that go along with the color scheme and the general vibe.
I honestly had so many ideas that I had to cut myself off because I was just working myself too long every day. Hopefully I can fit some of the ideas I had into future themes because that is where my question of "should I save this for the fae set" comes in.
Don't worry, if you aren't up for a reading challenge that has prompts and you just want to read some books with some mischievous fae OR some sexy ones, you can do that too! Our mood reading challenges are perfect for that! Just pick ten books that fit the vibe and off you go!
I also made some funny, tongue in cheek planner stickers that kind of fit the theme as well, at least in the way that they might show up in an enchanted forest that I hope you guys like too!
The last thing on this list is one of my favorite new things that I made this year.
Because I had so many ideas for this theme, I also made a couple of to be read themes that fit the vibe! I've been using these sticker sets to accomplish my goal of reading from my TBR this year. I've been wanting to read the books I own this year but I have so many options that it's overwhelming.
So, I've been using these to pick 8-10 books to kind of narrow my focus. This way, I'm not just staring at too many options.
