This Week & How I Decorate My Planner

Soooo...I had planned to share more about my Filofax planner, how I plan, how I decorate, and how it's all organized.  But, I've been totally slacking on the blog lately.  2015 goal - KEEP UP THE BLOG!  Today, I'm going to share one of the above items with you.

How I Decorate My Planner

I thought about doing a fun video, but decided to stick with pictures this time.  See the step-by-step photos on how I decorate my planner below.  When possible, items I have used are linked.

Before the I decorate for the week, I use sticky notes to add dates and information, which I'll transfer over once the decorating is complete.

Here's what I used to decorate this week.  My favorite Staedtler pens, VersaMagic DewDrop Inkpad, and the snowman washi tape - which was a sample I received from someone in a facebook group.  We haven't had any snow, but I'm channeling the snowmen in my planner this week!

There are multiple ways that I like to decorate with the tape, but this is one of my favorites.  I put the tape over the holes on page of the pages.  This way, the color and fun factor is added, plus the tape is reinforcing the holes.  Then I take my X-Acto knife and trim the tape at the ends of the paper.  The inserts I use are the undated week on two pages from SewMuchCrafting on Etsy.  Check out her shop.  She's fabulous!

I also use the Studio L2E List It clear stamp set for my to-do checklist.  

Place your chosen stamp on the stamping block, and ink it up.

Place the stamping block on your pages, exactly where you want the stamp to be.  I love these clear stamps, since you can see through them and know exactly where you are stamping!

And due to the nature of these stamps, you will need to clean them with a baby wipe as soon as you finish, to avoid dying the color of the stamp permanently.

Add stickers and embellishments to finish off your pages.  I typically add a quote to my NOTES section of the inserts.

Add your dates, events, and to-do lists into your planner...and voila!  You are done!  Simple, easy and fun!  I find that decorating my pages is very relaxing and and a great way to take a look ahead at the week to come!

A little up close view of my quote for this week.  Do you know where it's from?!  :)

And this is how I add events on the go.  I take my pens that I'm using for the week and put them in this super cute pouch, which I also bought from SewMuchCrafting.  I drop this in my purse, and can add color coded events on the go.  I always have 2 or 3 colors for the week.  I choose one for work/school, one for personal, and one for grad school.  My colors change every week, so I don't have standard color coding for the entire year, like some people do.  I like changing up the colors every week to match my decorating!  

And that's that!  Let me know if you have any questions!  I hope you enjoyed this step-by-step on how I decorate my planner.  Keep an eye out - I might try and make a video soon! ;)

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#planneraddict

Have you ever been so excited about a new addiction, obsession, or fad?  I have recently jumped on the Filofax bandwagon...and (as The Pointer Sisters would say) I'm so excited...I just can't hide it!

A while back, you might remember that I posted about a Filofax that I had bought.  But it wasn't working.  I wasn't excited about the planner I had - and I just didn't use it.  So I sold it.  Flash forward a couple of months and I purchased another planner (a Kikki-K lilac and gold time planner).  Again, I could tell after a week that planner was going to do it for me either.  So I sold it.  Then, I bought my current planner.  And as the #planneraddicts would say, I am in planner peace!

I bought a personal sized purple Malden Filofax and it's just what I've been dreaming of!  I love this thing!  I'm still waiting on a few items to get here before it's 100% set up and ready to go.  But, until then, here are some sneak peeks of my planner!  I can't wait to show you the finished product!

Stay tuned for more planner love on the way soon!!

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Happy Early Birthday To Me: My Filofax Story

My birthday isn't until the end of February, but I just had to get myself an early birthday present!  Here's how it all started.  I've been following Toni at A Bowl Full of Lemons for a while now.  She is a collector of Filofaxes (who even knew people COLLECTED these!?) and she has a gorgeous collection!  After reading multiple posts of hers, and then finding the 'search' button on instagram...and reading everyone else's posts about their Filofaxes, I fell in love!  I'll admit...I did buy another calendar for this year....but I already wasn't feeling it.  It was larger, had a large spiral binding on it, and just won't fit in my purse easily.  And what good is a planner that can't fit well in your purse?  So, that original calendar is going to be used solely for school/lesson planning purposes now.  I couldn't let it go to waste!  I did some research on which Filofax would work best for me and settled on the personal sized.  And of course, purple was a no brainer!  I love the Malden planners, but they were a little too pricey for me!  So, I did some searching on Amazon and found the Original in Patent Purple!  SOLD!  (And I had a credit on my account at Amazon, which made it even cheaper! Score!)

It's going to take just a little while to get totally moved into and organized in the new planner.  But, it's already been a fun journey!  I purchased the calendar printables from The Polka Dot Posie on Etsy, had them printed and punched and they are now nicely filling my planner!  AHHH!  I love it!  I mean, how can you not want any of this lovely-ness in your purse everywhere you go!?

I'm still waiting on a few items.  Some of these have been ordered already, some I'm in the process of getting.  For example, dividers, a pouch for supplies, etc.

In trying to decide exactly which planner would work best for me, I watched plenty of videos people posted on YouTube showing their organization.  I'm only using a few sections in my planner.  I don't want to overload it.  I want it to hold just the basics that I'll need!  It's working great so far!

I have three sections in my planner.  Lists, Month on Two Pages, and Week on Two Pages.

Lists: This section includes a books read page (that I'm using to track the books that I read for the year), a blog post idea page (that I'll use to jot down notes for any blog post ideas), and some blank pages for random note taking.

Month on Two Pages: This section is blank right now.  I haven't put anything on those pages yet.  The majority of the 'meat' of the planner will be in the week on two pages section.  I'm going to use the monthly calendar to track my weight loss progress, events that cover more than one day (vacations, spring break, etc) and just to note that I have something on my weekly pages for that day, I'll probably just put a colored dot on the day.  If I need to check what is planned for that day, I'll go to the week on two pages section.

Week on Two Pages: This section is what I'll use the most.  Everything I have planned will go on these pages.  I've color coded everything to make it easier to take a quick glance and see what's going on.  I'll let the photos do the talking!  And, how cute are these pages?  The Polka Dot Posie really has outdone herself!!  Wonderful pages...and they make planning so fun!

Do you use a filofax or other planner?  How do you plan out your weeks?

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