8.31.2016

Fall Planner Line Up // Free Fall Countdown Stickers

The best thing about fall is how cozy everything gets.  All the warm colors, the flavored coffee, the cozy candles.....Fall is the start of the best time of the year.  The next four months are awesome: first we start with the cozy month winding down from Summer, then there is Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas!  
this post contains affiliate links, please read my full disclosure here.

I've adjusted my planner line up for the fall too - I've moved into a personal size Webster's Pages Color Crush planner in Walnut, a new Simple Stories A5 Carpe Diem in Marigold, and a Studio Calico Hello Forever Planner in Melon.  Each of these I've decked out for fall and I wanted to share with you not only the decor they have but the plan I have for them:

Personal Size Webster"s Pages Color Crush Planner in Walnut
The Webster's Pages Color Crush planners have quickly become my favorite, affordable personal size planner brand.  If you've seen any of my reviews - here, here, & here - you'll know that the Color Crush has grown on me.  From the first one I got that I wasn't so pleased with to the current Spring/Summer 2016 release that I was thrilled with, I've purchased quite a few of these bad boys.  I don't currently use the inserts that Webster's Pages makes, I use a combination of the inserts from my shop.
This planner is my go with me everywhere daily focus planner.  I am hoping to get back into a daily focused routine with this guy.  I will have monthly, weekly, & daily pages in my calendar section.  Not only will this help with daily tasks but will also help me notate things on the go.  I was thinking of making this solely a work planner (for my blog, etsy, and YouTube) but I also like to have a mini set of everything on the go.  So I'm keeping my original 6 tabs - including a work tab with my blog, etsy, and YouTube ideas and schedules, as well as the routines, mail, notes, and miscellaneous.  You can see previous set ups here & here, honestly it hasn't changed much.  My main goal for this planner is to just get back on my daily routines - scheduling time, making lists, and getting things done.
One of my favorite things about the new Webster's Pages planners is that little clear photo pocket in the front.  I use it for a journaling card with an inspiring quote, and as soon I as I saw this quote in the We R Memory Keepers Wildflower paper pad I got at Tuesday Morning, I knew this was the paper pack for fall.  I used a lot of the cut-a-part elements as decor and made planner clips using the following tutorials - the apple with glasses and the You Rule clips are made with stickers like in this DIY and the Scarecrow and Pumpkin are made using this DIY.  The corn clip was made using my Cricut Explore and some of the images as part of the Cricut Access Subscription.  The planner gnome is made using a button from the sewing department!

You can find this planner here on Amazon or here on Blitsy.  Don't forget to sign up for Blitsy - a super cool discount craft site - here.

Simple Stories A5 Carpe Diem in Marigold
The Carpe Diem planners have quickly become my favorite A5 size planner (over the Webster's Pages and even the Filofax Original I have) because of how well they fit the Erin Condren Life Planner.  I uncoiled and punched my ECLP into a OG Carpe Diem - with the fabric interior and the polka dots - and fell in love.  These planners are wide enough not to smush the tabs with both a pen in the pen loop and the button tab closed.  The new planners are a bit thicker, however, due to the fact that they are now made entirely of the faux-leather outer covering.  Additionally, the new planners come with out inserts, apparently they are sold separately this year.  Keep a look out for a comparison video to go up on the YouTube channel! 
This planner is my main or my big planner.  It houses the main schedule and the main monthly calendar.  I love the layout of the Erin Condren Planner and how the vertical style works for me.  I break my day down into To Do, Today, and Little Things - much like the rest of the planning world - and use location & symbols to code rather than color.  You can read more about the anatomy of a no white space spread here.  I plan on continuing to use this planner as the main over view planner & to play with sticker kits...just because I like stickers!
To decorate the main pocket in the front of this planner, I used some stickers (coffee cups here and the Fall Countdown is available at the end of this post!).  In each smaller pocket are some other fun elements - page flags, washi cards made with this tutorial, ribbon paper clips, bow & ampersand paperclips from 5Below and Hobby Lobby, & the apples with glasses were made using this tutorial.  The pom pom was from a lovely planner friend at a meet up in August.  To make the dashboard I used the Rhonna Deisgns app, the tutorial is here.  The typewriter bookmark file will be available soon but until then you can make your own sushi magnetic bookmarks with this tutorial.

Find this planner here on Scrapbook.com, or here on Blitsy.  If you use this link and create a new Erin Condren account, you'll get a discount on your first purchase!

Studio Calico Hello Forever Planner
I originally purchased this planner in Graystone one time when Studio Calico was having a 20% off sale (watch my first impression video here).  Since then, I've purchased the other two colors - Melon and Clear Sky - from another sale on the website.  I love these planners because they are the best size to fit an Erin Condren or Happy Planner uncoiled, untrimmed, and punched.  (Watch a comparison video on the best A5 planners for ECLP or Happy Planner here.)  I dislike these planners because the quality reminds me of an old photo album.  Honestly the quality seems to differ between all three colors - the Graystone color has a flimsy feeling elastic yet the Melon color has an elastic that feels very thick.  I also now have 3 sets of inserts I'm 100% not going to use!  They are pretty hokey looking and I think and 8th grader in a graphics class could design them - they aren't clean enough to be sleek and modern & they aren't curated enough to be inspiring.
When I first got the Graystone color, I figured 'since I had it. I might as well use it' and turned it into my memory planner.  Turns out I love these planners for that purpose and have just switched over to another color.  For this planner the only goal is to have fun.  I plan to document my weeks with a theme, pictures, and more decorative stickers.  This planner is purely fun for me, it doesn't have to be functional.  I love this because I can be creative - I can mix patterns, I can pull different designs, I can just play with out the fear of not checking anything off!  This is more of a what happened this week type of thing than a what will happen in the future thing.
To decorate this planner for fall, I filled the main secretarial pocket with stickers I would use in the planner so that they are handy.  The smaller pockets are rather odd sizes so I put some colorful page flags in the smaller pocket along with a bow clip from 5Below and a glitter die cut leaf.  I used a DIY shaped paperclip to hold some fall inspired journal cards together and used two yellow ribbon clips to add some fun.  There are a few To Do list sheets from a Target notepad held together with a typewriter magnetic paperclip as well as an exclamation point clip.  I also use pocket pages in this planner - the 6x8 size fits perfectly and you only need to punch 4 more holes as the two existing holes line up with the middle ring of each set of 3 rings.  I also put washi tape over the disc punches of this Happy Planner sticky not insert to create a dashboard for my planner.

Find this planner here on the Studio Calico website.

Now that I've shared with you my Fall planner line up, I wanted to sneak in a free sticker printable for fall - the Fall Countdown Stickers as seen in the pocket of the A5 Carpe Diem!  There are multiple file types included for you - a PDF for you to trim by hand, a Silhouette file if you've got a Silhouette die cutting machine, and a PNG file if you've got a Cricut Explore cutting machine.  I do hope to start adding all three of these files into the blog (and into the Free Sticker Friday posts) but I need to work through some of my stash of designs before making more

DOWNLOAD THE FALL COUNTDOWN HERE


Remember, as with all printables on my blog these files are for personal use only.  Do not sell this file or claim it as your own.  Do not sell anything created from this file. Do not disseminate this file or end product in mass.  If you would like to share these stickers online please link or Pin to this blog post and not the files themselves.  As always, thank you for playing nice!

If you'd like some more planner printables, please click here.  Looking for more planner posts, click here.  Want to know more about the Silhouette vs the Cricut?  Watch my vlog here.

8.29.2016

Make it Monday // DIY Mini Journal using the Cinch

Guys - I'm participating in 30 Lists.  You may remember that I've tried this like two times in the past and failed horribly at it.  I've been working on my own listing journal and that has taught me a lot about this process - intention and priority are two of the words that journal has taught me - and I plan on finishing my 516 listing journal this coming weekend since it will be a 3 day weekend!
Mini Journal DIY with the Cinch
this post contains affiliate links, please read my full disclosure here.

But today's DIY is about creating a small journal using the Cinch tool.  This tool is one of my favorite high end craft tools and it gets very little use in all honestly.  So I thought I'd break it out for this little listing journal since I needed to whip one up in a hurry.  Let's get into it.

supplies :: Cinch tool, pliers, cinch 1" binding, at least 30 4x6 grid journal cards, 2 4x6 journal cards for cover, laminating sheets, laminator, scissors, assorted 3x4 decorative journal cards, assorted 6x6 paper pads, corner rounder, assorted washi tape, paper trimmer, library pockets (optional)
First, choose the 6x6 papers to use for this project.  I chose about 20 patterns to use from quite a few paper packs.  My inspiration for this journal came from two bright neon library pocket envelopes I had in my stash.  I'm pretty sure they came from the Dollar Tree in the teacher section at one time, but I'm not 100% sure.  The bright neon pink and electric green inspired the colors I chose from various paper packs.  The paper packs I used for this project are Amy Tangerine Sketchbook, Heidi Swapp Favorite Things, an American Crafts paper pad, and Pink Paislee Citrus Bliss.  Next, choose the coordinating 3x4 cards you'd like to use - the kits I used that went well with my color scheme were the Heidi Swapp Favorite Things and the Project Life Sunshine Edition packs.  
DIY Journal
Using the paper timmer, trim the 6x6 papers down to 4x6 size. Round the corners with the corner rounder.  This is one of my favorite punches because it has multiple options depending on the corner radius you need for a project.  The sharpest radius is the one that matches the Project Life radius the closest.
Project Life DIY
Because these paper pads aren't double sided, the washi tape will create a 'double sided' look to the journal pages.  Place the tape along the side of the 4x6 grid card (it is easier to make a straight line this way), align the two journal cards wrong sides together, fold the washi tape over on to the patterned paper.  Repeat for as many 4x6 patterned papers you have.  You don't have to have 30 of them, it is better if you have just slightly fewer.  20 - 25 patterned papers should be good.
Using your Cinch tool punch the pages in the alignment you'd like.  I use the info printed on the Cinch as guidelines (kinda like how pirates use rules....just as guidelines) for punching holes.  But I also just make it up as I go.  To repeat the spacing I did - pull out the first two knobs as well as 10 - 12.  Leave the guide pushed all the way in & punch all the 4x6 cards excluding the front covers.  Once the front covers are laminated, pull out the guide just a tad (one click) and punch the two covers.  To punch the 3x4 cards push in all knobs 1 - 7, and pull out all knobs 8-12.  Bring the guide back to its original position and punch all 3x4 cards.
Assemble the cards on the coil, back and front covers right sides together (back cover on the coil first) then add your inserts the way you'd like.  Use the back end of the Cinch to close the coil.  You can see detailed instructions in this post.
And now you're done!  I love this little guy - a great way to use up scraps and create a cohesive look.  I've found the way to create something I really like is to form it around an inspiration piece and come at the project with intention.  Some projects can be created all willy nilly but some projects need to be planned.  I really wanted this project to be super simple so the only other elements I'll add into this listing book are the scraps from this project, a black pen, and highlighters.  I do plan on stamping the list numbers - I'm not going by date because I know I won't finish it like that! - using some ink and stamps I have already.  If all the work is done, all I have to do is write.  And I wanted all elements to fit in a small pencil bag!

Do you do any journaling?  Have you tried any list challenges?

xoxo, Moe

8.26.2016

Free Sticker Friday // Cricut Ready Happy Mail Stickers

Time for another edition of Free Sticker Friday - this time I've got some Cricut Ready stickers for you!  I've been loving making these stickers for you all each week. I have especially been having fun making them for the Cricut Explore!  The Cricut Explore isn't the most popular machine for cutting stickers in the planner community but it is definitely possible.
this post contains affiliate links, please read my full disclosure here.

These little neon envelopes are great to mark happy mail days, snail mail going out, or even (the dreaded) bills.  To use these simply save the PNG file, upload to Cricut Design Space, add to your canvas, and size the width to 5.5 inches.  (Keep the proportions locked so that the height automatically resizes.)  Then click on go!  I use the vinyl setting on my Cricut Explore to kiss cut these, but you may also try using the Washi Tape setting.
If you'd like to find some more Cricut Ready stickers, click here.  You can also find some Cricut Explore tutorials on my YouTube channel, here.  One more link - find Cricut Explore DIY's on the blog here!


As with all printables on my blog, this is for personal use only.  Please do not sell the design as is or use the design to make anything to sell. Do not sell the printed stickers made with this design.  Do not disseminate these in mass quantities or share this file.  If you would like to share this link with friends, please link or Pin this blog post and not the file.  Thank you for playing nice!

**Updated with a PDF file included in the download!**

Enjoy!

xoxo, Moe