planners

DIY Plannner Stickers with Labels and Stamps

In The Studio

January is, of course, the perfect month to talk about planning, planners, organization, and all that fun stuff (well, fun for me, your mileage may vary). Imagine recognizes that and ordered up some posts and projects on that subject. I, for one, was happy to oblige.

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I spent a couple of fun hours with stamps and inks and sprays and–this is key–a whole host of Avery label sheets to make my own stamped planner stickers. It meant I could go from needing all of this to stamp in my planner:

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To just needing this little handful:

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Not bad condensing, wouldn’t you say?

You can check out more about this project (along with two other planner-related DIYs) on the Imagine blog (Triad of Planner Awesomeness).

UFOs, Not So ‘U’ Anymore

In The Studio

On Saturday I slept in. And when I awoke, I had this strange sensation of peace and tranquility. And it felt weird as hell!

This was the first weekend in I don’t know how long where I didn’t have completing deadlines weighing me down from the moment my eyes opened. I really didn’t know what to do with myself!

Eventually I decided to take care of some UFOs–Un-Finished Objects–that had piled up on my work table.

It's a little 6" album, but it could use some extender posts already!

It’s a little 6″ album, but it could use some extender posts already!

I’m on a planner kick (happens around this time every year) and raided my embellishment boxes for stickers to use in decorating my new planner pages (apparently that’s a thing; a thing I can totally get behind). So those got filed into spare scrapbook album I had on the shelf for easy access.

September-December Perfect Planner Paper Clips!

September-December Perfect Planner Paper Clips!

Then I made more of my planner clips (like the ones on today’s Helmar Blog), completing more than enough for the rest of the year. I love all my projects, but I really love how these turned out and that they’re something I can use daily. I like when my crafts are both pretty AND practical.

I love this bag!

I love this bag!

Then, finally, I finished the Conference Tote Sew-Along from So Sew Easy. The last few steps were pushed aside in favor of getting the first Creative Mischief Kits ready to roll, so the unfinished bits were hanging out in the completed shell of the bag. At least it was contained! Now that the bag is finished I’m planning on making it my new everyday-tote in place of my messenger bag that holds way too much.

That doesn’t seem like a bad thing, does it? Unless you’re me and have a tendency to carry a lot of things around “just in case” and your shoulders start to pay!

This bag is big enough to hold my planner, journal, pen pouch, and umbrella with plenty of room leftover. And it has monkeys on it, so, you know: perfect!

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And speaking of the kits, the launch went really well, the first few have already made it to their new homes, and I’m now starting on the particulars of the upcoming October release. I also brought them out to the September First Friday and got some really positive feedback.

Of course, today is a holiday, so it’s more kicking around the house with no hard deadlines and later I’ll be grilling up some cheese-stuffed cheeseburgers. I’m looking forward to it!

For my fellow Americans, happy Labor Day! For everyone else, I hope your Monday is as good as it can be.

Finish any languishing projects lately?

Happy New Year! Let’s Make it a Good One!

Creative Business

A lot of starting points are completely arbitrary, but there’s something so awesome about flipping open a new calendar or planner that just holds out so much hope, you know?

New month, new year, new planner!

New month, new year, new planner!

Okay, it might just be me. I can live with that.

If you’re stopping by because you saw my Project Planner download in the Januar DIRT from Gauche Alchemy, welcome, and thanks for poking around a bit 🙂 If you’re one of my regular readers and you don’t get the DIRT each month, then you might want to check out that link, there, so you can download a free, printable project planner I designed.

My custom-designed weekly planner spreads.

My custom-designed weekly planner spreads.

For the past couple of years I’ve been using Planner Pads as my weekly planner system and it was working, for the most part. The only thing was that I found myself shoe-horning in the bits I wanted into one version or another, and that gets to be a bit tiresome after a while. So this year I decided (early enough to actually make it happen, I’m proud to say) I would design my own planner so it would be perfect for my needs.

Granted, I did a pretty thorough search of what was available out there–both pre-printed as well as downloadables–and just couldn’t find the right fit.

Some things I learned about designing my own planner and putting it together:

  1. It really wasn’t all that hard. I wish I’d done it sooner. (I actually had a custom planner in mind several years ago, but I thought paper planners were becoming passe, and I just never got around to it. The format I had in mind back then wouldn’t fit me, now, but I still wish I’d gone ahead with it. Maybe I’ll give it a revamp for next year!)
  2. Paper is really important. The first go-round was on your average copy paper, but it was a little too see-through, especially with certain pens. 28# copy paper may be harder to come by (I had to order mine online, nowhere local carried legal size in that weight) but it’s worth it for the final product.
  3. A black-and-white planner doesn’t have to be boring: fun pens and washi tape tabs can liven up any page. I found a set of scented glitter gel pens while standing in line at Books-a-Million and they are ridiculously fun to write with.

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    I used some of the leftover cork-patterned fabric and a few heart-shaped eyelets to make the covers for my planner.

  4. You can never have too many binder rings. While I did finally find a source for small binder spines, using the last 2 holes of my 3-hole punch and 2 binder rings totally does the trick to keep this planner together. My next cover attempt might include a built-in elastic cord and a pocket on the inside cover, but other than that I think it’s perfect. I also considered using my Bind-it-All to spiral bind it, but I really wanted to be able to insert extra pages on a whim, so binder rings win!

I’m only one week in, of course, so I look forward to tweaking my layout and components over the year to find a really workable set up. And then, maybe I’ll design the 2015 and put it up on Etsy next Fall. It could happen.

How are you planning to organize this year? Are you a paper planner or strictly digital?