I
think before we get to the planner and what comes with it I want to
tell you a bit about why I decided to buy it.
Way
back last December I had decided that I wanted to figure out some
kind of planner to help me keep track of stuff. I am trying to keep
up with multiple blogs, YouTube channels, Facebook, home-school my
son, email from friends around the world and the rest that life
throws my way. On top of all that I really want to get my Etsy shop
back up and actually have it make some income. So as you can guess I
have a lot to keep track of.
Back
in December I started looking at planners in the stores but I didn't
find what I thought I wanted. Most of the ones I found really didn't
have the flexibility that I was looking for. Also frankly most of
them were just plane boring.
Since
finding one ready-made didn't seem to be something I was going to be
able to do I of course decided to make my own. In many ways this was
a good thing because I was able to really discover what I wanted (and
just as importantly what I didn't want) in a planner.
Since
January I have printed out several different types/styles of
planners. Some of these I found as free printables online and some I
designed myself on my computer. One big advantage of doing it
yourself is you can work with one month at a time and change it
before you print off next month. None of them were what I was looking
for.
Fast
forward to this summer. Oregon is experiencing a record breaking hot
summer. Since summers are normally not all that bad here we don't
have AC. It has been miserable and many days I have just not felt
like doing much. What I have been doing is spending a lot of time
watching YouTube videos. I started out watching some crafting videos
and then when I ran out of those I started watching a bunch of
beauty/makeup videos. For some reason those are the channels that
have planner videos on them. I discovered a new world of decorated
planners! I started watching all the planner videos I could find,
some were great some I switched off within seconds. Through these
videos I found out about several brands of planners that are really
popular. One of those is the Life Planner by Erin Condren. The first
time I looked at the website and saw the price I was shocked, that
thing runs $50! Then I looked at the amount I had already spent on my
project of trying to make the perfect planner. I admit it I have
spent way more already this year which made me take another look.
After watching even more videos I came to the conclusion that this is
the planner I have been searching for. So last Sunday I bit the
bullet and ordered one. You can pick a customized cover but I decided
to go with the “ready to ship” version since I can order a
customized cover later if I decide I want one. This way my planner
was shipped in just a couple of days instead of having to wait for a
week or more for the customized cover to be printed. From the videos
I have seen the covers are super easy to change anyway and I might
even be able to make my own. (that would be wayyyy cool)
So
I ordered on Sunday afternoon and my planner came on Thursday
afternoon via FedEx.
*disclaimer
time- I very carefully opened the box on Thursday evening but put
everything back very carefully so I could take pictures and
film video for you guys.
Now
I have to admit that I filmed the un-boxing and wrote the above part
of the blog post about 3 or 4 weeks ago. I kept telling myself that I
needed to get the video and blog post finished but I never got the
time to get back to it. (I guess I should have put it in my planner
as a “to-do”)
Anyway,
since I have been planning in my planner I decided to add a walk
through of what I have done in it so far. I am planning to start
doing “Plan with me” videos and blogs this week so stay tuned for
those (or better yet- subscribe to my channel so you will know when I
post them)
Here
are pictures of the planner spreads I showed in the video so you can
see them closer.
October
month at a glance.
I
was initially going to add to the decorations on the monthly page
each week but changed my mind really quickly on that one. I ended up
using some of the stickers that were left in my sticker book from the
week of August 10-16. I do love those critters and they look like
they are having a great time. They make me smile every time I look at
them. I used the side bar to set a monthly goal- almost reached it
too. At the bottom of that column is some notes that I need to
remember about the month. I designed my own stickers to post on the
monthly page when I post a blog and/or video. I made one set and can
use them with all my channels easily by simply circling which
channel/blog at the bottom. There is just enough room to make a quick
note about what the post was. And a place to circle if it was a blog
or a video. Most of my posts are both by the way.
Onto
the week of August 3-9, this was my first time doing this type of
planning although I had already logged a bunch of time watching PWM
videos. I stuck with the colors of the month and used printable
purchased stickers. I went for a lemons/lemonade theme for the most
part.
Okay,
now for the first really decorated week, August 10-16. I really took
advantage of one of those dollar sticker books that are sold at the
craft store. I used a combination of purchased printable stickers and
some free ones from Vintage Glam.
The
third week I planned, August 17-23, I have to say is my favorite so
far. I love the sunflower theme. I was able to find a sheet of
sunflower stickers at the craft store. I added to that with some
stickers I made myself. I even made my own weekend banner and I
really love how it turned out. The rest of the stickers are from some
sets of printable stickers I got from Etsy.
The
week of August 24-30 ended up being a bug theme. I wanted to stick to
the color scheme of yellow and green, I looked for stickers to go
with several themes but had very little luck at the local stores. I
did find enough bugs in various books of stickers and sheets of
stickers that I had on hand to make it work. It isn't my favorite but
I do like it.
The
other page I have decorated is the monthly spread for September. I
love the dark purple and gray that the month is colored. The first
thing I thought of when I saw the colors for the month was
wine/vineyard/grapes. But, I had a really hard time finding stickers
to go with what I had in mind. I did find a few so I decided to use
them on the monthly page. Most of them dimensional and I don't want
to use those on too many pages (I am afraid of making the planner too
fat for the binding)
The
other big change was the cover, I decided to make my own for the
month of September. I picked out a fall leaves paper for it and
overall I like how it turned out. I have plans for how to make a
better one next time. (Watch for that to be appearing on my planner
in October)
So
that is my planner so far.
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