book review // give yourself margin

 

Do you often feel like your life has everything squeezed in and you just manage? I do. This is why I was very excited to hear about Stacie Bloomfield's new book, Give Yourself Margin, and happily accepted the request to write a review.  (Also, if you don't know, Stacie is the creator of Gingiber.)

I think most of us at least have areas of life in which we push ourselves to the limit. Even during a year when a pandemic forces us to slow down or cancel a lot of things, we still have full inboxes, new ways to learn and work, pressures to do the things we couldn't before, and oh the Zoom calls! 

Most of the time it's a fine balance for me, but I just meet my deadlines and I'm regularly on the edge of a meltdown. If I'm being honest, I have far too many days where I literally run through the house between my iron, my photo area, my computer, and so on. It's a terrible way to live and I'm taking steps to fix it. Give Yourself Margin is a helpful tool, even just to pause and reflect.

 

The title of the book comes from the idea of fabric margin and leaving enough seam allowance for possible mistakes or simply preventing your fabric from fraying. Feel familiar in life? Anyway, crafts and creativity are at home in this book (after all, the subtitle is "a guide to rediscovering and reconnecting with your creative self").

You'll see it in the beautiful artwork, like this double-page spread. Which, by the way, is just one of the many inspiring and thoughtful pages.

 

Has "NO" ever looked more beautiful? Part of me wants to tear this out of the book and frame it. Because I don't say it often enough. 

As Stacie says elsewhere in this book, I tend to connect my value with my productivity. I follow Jesus, so I ultimately should be finding all my value in who I am because of Him. But day-to-day, I forget, which leads to the wrong yeses sometimes. This is a good reminder.

 

In addition to the beautiful images and encouraging text, there are also pages that create a way for you to engage. There are spaces to set goals, write lists, or grab a journal. It's an active book in that way, so you can put these ideas to use right away.

 

 

If you're familiar with Stacie's art, you'll know that she often includes tasteful nudes in her work. This is one example from the book. The full page reads "everything behind you is why you are here" and I'm not gonna lie...the cheeky play on words with this illustration makes me smile. 

 

 

So here's the deal. Give Yourself Margin is a beautiful book that I think we all need. It's good for flipping through for a quick pick-me-up, but it's also the kind of thing you can process and use as a workbook. 

Also, this is a secular book (with maybe a touch of spirituality), but as a person of the Christian faith, I could read and view this through my own worldview and it connected. Now I just need to keep working on adding more margin in my life!

Disclosure: I was not paid to write this review, but the publisher did send me my copy for free. I've loved Stacie Bloomfield and her Gingiber line for ages and I'm happy to support this book launch!