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2016 Planner Layout, Week# 20

Hey There!

Welcome back to another weekly layout post. I know we all love to take a look at other planners and how they get set up and used. I'm still working out of my Passion Planner and really love how the weekly spread and notes areas are set up. I think the best part of having multiple planners is how you can switch out to use what works best at whatever stage you are at. 

For this weeks layout, I decided it was time to use up some of my Planner Society Kit goodies. I tend to start my layouts by deciding on my washi first. Then I work from top to bottom adding in my daily task stickers. The TPS kits are very useful because soo many coordinating elements are included in each monthly kit. This particular kit had all the colors I love to use in my planners. 

I've mentioned my desire to keep my priorities balanced so listing out my morning routine this way really helps to keep accountable. I may not complete them daily but without this guide I'm more likely to get distracted from household responsibilities. With so many endeavors this year, I really needed a place to filter and I feel that is accomplished in this tiny little planner.

While I mostly need my planner to be functional, I also need to do at least one activity that is just for me! I fill the needs to create and have pretty things around me by decorating my planner. I know many old school planner people may not get the point, but if your a creative, I encourage you to bring a little of your craft into your planner. 

 

  

I really appreciate you coming by to take a look at my planner layout. The funny thing about creative people is our need to share with others in hopes of encouraging them to be creative too.

I'll see you back here next week with another planner layout. I also want to mention some behind the scenes improvements such as moving to WordPress and merging this blog with my upcoming shop. Speaking of, don't forget to sign up here to be notified by email when my Etsy goes live.

PS: there will be an awesome deal for the first fifty sales!

2016 Planner Layout, Weeks# 18 & 19

Hi There!

I'm so glad to see that some of you are sticking around! I know it's been too long since I've shared a layout so today I will be showing you last week and this week; both before the ink of course. I'm still only using my Passion Planner as I have too many projects and don't have the time to work out of three planners at this time... Priorities. You can read a bit more about this planner in this post.

My desire to take the time to decorate waned a bit until I attended the Michaels' Happy Planner Class. I wasn't a huge fan of the HP stickers from last year but they have really made some improvements so I gladly got all that I could, plus some. In fact, No Spend may need to be making a visit to my wallet real soon!

Passion Planner Week# 18

I could have taken a closer shot of my full spread but I wanted to show what I've been carrying around. That little kitten pouch is housing most of my skinny washi, including the new Jot brand washi that everyone has been grabbing up from the Dollar Tree. If you use a Passion Planner, skinny washi is the perfect size for a one hour time slot. Speaking of which, that is how I got the idea to create my own PP stickers. It's no secret I have the worst handwriting, so any chance I get to add in some text I'll jump right on it!

I was just getting back into decorating, so I didn't do side by side closeups because I wasn't totally in love with the spread. I know we all have these moments, but just a little encouragement, keep doing what you love even in your dry spells. You'll be glad you did when you look back.

 

 

I still love doing my little closeups; it's fun to see some of the details from a different perspective. Those two washi's are from the Jot brand I mentioned above. Love them, I think I found four different styles, each with at least five skinnies per pack.

Passion Planner Week# 19

Now here is a spread that I'm totally in love with. I reprinted my labels onto white matte paper in softer colors. I am definitely a pastel girl with a dash of bold thrown in. Are you noticing my pen trend? Staedtlers will forever have a place in my planning stash, even if it's only a few colors.

 

I love everything about this spread... and the planner. I just noticed yesterday that they offer a full downloadable planner if you share them on social media. What an awesome idea for those that are on tight budgets but are seeking the perfect planner. Here's the link if you want to try it out for yourself.

I may just need to live in this planner for the rest of the year. I think everything is so cute and compact. Most of the stickers on this page came from a Sticko set I found at Walmart. There's some MAMBI and Dollar Tree sprinkled throughout. I mentioned making the text labels but there are a few more of my own stickers too. I want to point out the label right beside that cute little kitty. I've been working on my branding for GingerPaperCo and I'm happy with how it's coming along.

  

 

I gotta mention that cute little cactus from Shanni at PlannerMania. She makes the cutest stickers, most of which are hand drawn, that coordinate with so many life events. She is fun to watch on Periscope too!

I really do want to thank you for taking the time to visit! I hope you'll continue to stick around to see some of the awesome updates I hope to implement in the near future. I say this every time, Quantities on ready to ship items will be limited so I encourage you to sign up to receive an email notice when my shop opens. HINT: there will be an awesome deal for the first fifty sales!

That's it for now; see you next week!

Update: Post Schedule Change

Hey There!

It's been a little too long since I've sat to draft a note here! I'll spare you the details but it would have included a huge camping trip and poison ivy to my arms, neck, and face. So yes, I'm having to get back into the swing of things. 

While away, I had plenty of time to do some soul searching regarding how I want to manage my "social presence". As you may know, one of my goals this year is to open my etsy shop. What you may not realize is how much prep goes into creating, branding, designing and stocking an online business. It's lots of fun but a little challenging when you have so many burners going at once! I have lots to get in order as it gets closer to my shop opening so most of my time needs to be focused on that for now. Actually, I was working on a major branding project that came to a screeching halt and I haven't gotten back to work on it yet. I'm really excited to finish that up so I can share it here. 

I also want to say how excited I've been to have so many visitors come over from Philofaxy.com. I realize I'm small beans compared to most blogs but you take the time to make a few extra clicks and I'm so grateful for each one. All this to say, I've decided to reduce my schedule to one post per week with some extras sprinkled here and there. I plan to do my best to keep it organic so there may be weeks when I don't do a "Planner Layout Post" because I decided to keep it simple and only use my Passion Planner.

I have big hopes for my business and I would love for you to follow along. I'm trying to decide if I want to include this blog in my branding and whether I should carry my business name here too. Either way, I will continue to blog because I love it. I'm pretty sure things will begin to fall into place and I'll be back into full swing before you know it. 

Word of the Year Update

Hi Friends.

It's been a solid thirteen weeks since I shared my Word of the Year- Pursue. I'm here today to offer you an update and hopefully some motivation to keep moving forward to meet your goals too. I'm happy to report that up to this point I have been able to keep Pursuing all my personal goals. I must credit a lot of my current success to the use of my planner system. To lay it out for you, I'll recap my personal goals then what tools I've been using to accomplish each.

For years I've been getting by with status quo while taking care of littles and dealing with medical needs. As of last Fall, I've been free of my major medical issue so I had to figure out what to do with myself without the weekly doctor appointments. It's the strangest feeling going from having to coordinate so many outside activities to not having many reasons to leave the house! My extra time gave me the opportunity to evaluate the next phase in my journey. Basically, that's how I came upon the word Pursue for this year.

The first and foremost I wanted to Pursue was overall health. In order to make this happen, I new I needed a plan. These are the four areas I planned to focus on: Spiritual, Emotional, Physical, and Relational. I also knew these were interdependent and if I could tackle the Spiritual and Emotional in a tangible way the other two would fall into place. My solution was to Write the Word and Journal every day, if possible. I was rapidly growing out of my new Filofax, so I converted it into my Spiritual Journal. As any Filofax user may agree, It's hard to resist having one and not write in it as often as you can. For journaling, I just use a notebook I picked up that had a cute cover.

 

I strive to write in these every morning to start my day out with a clear mind and conscience. I call it my PB&J time {Prayer, Bible, & Journal}. I'm forgiving if it doesn't happen but will make an effort to get back to it as soon as I can. There is definitely a difference when I miss too many journaling days because I feel anxious if I don't get some things out of my head. Doing this task, even if I don't feel like it, leaves me feeling accomplished. I won't share much about the Physical and Relational because they're too personal for a blog like this. I will say, I'm experiencing progress but they definitely have some built in flexibility as they can fluctuate so easily.

The next two areas I wanted to Pursue were more long term goals. I talked about them a bit in the last two months; you can read more in this post and this post. I have since been officially accepted into our local Community College and still hope to take a class this coming Fall. And Yes, I'm already thinking about my future College Planner! For my shop, GingerPaperCo, I've been working daily on prepping for a Summer Grand Opening. I'm so anxious to get it up and running that I'm considering a soft opening to provide downloadable products.

 

I ordered this academic Passion Planner when they were offering a clearance on 2015-2016 stock. I figured for the price, it couldn't hurt, but this has really become a very important planner in my arsenal. It was a priority that I maintain a balance between home responsibilities and my pursuit of an Etsy shop. I was starting to struggle a bit but now that I'm mapping out my time hourly, I've gotten so much more done. I use this as my daily Business Planner and I plan my work tasks for the afternoons after all other responsibilities have been accomplished.

I'm so excited to finally share this update! I hope you enjoyed it and maybe got a little motivation. I will be sharing my full planner system in the near future so stayed tuned for that. Don't forget, if you want to be notified by email of the shop opening you can sign up here. Quantities on ready to ship products will be limited when GingerPaperCo opens this summer.

Printable Meds Admin Tracker ~freebie

Hi There!

I hope you've been doing well. I'm suffering through a severe case of Poison Ivy so I didn't do any planning this past weekend. In lieu of my normal Tuesday post, I offer this post outside of my normal schedule. This is real life so I decided to offer another freebie that I'm making use of this very week. I made a form similar to this worksheet when my boys were younger and getting sick more often. I needed a way to know when to administer meds within the specified time and this was really helpful to map ahead and mark off.

Meds Admin Tracker

I modified this form to be more versatile for those of us on different time schedules. There are twelve lines to record in a way that works best for you. The check boxes are to help if you map ahead and want to mark when you have completed that scheduled dose. In addition, I also included an area to record when there is fever.

Since I quickly made this form up, I only made it in an A5 but would gladly attempt another size if requested. I really hope if you find need for this form it will help to make the process much easier.

Print Disclaimer

Print Disclaimer

This printable was made by me for your personal, non-commercial use only. Please don't redistribute these files; if you wish to share this with your friends please send them back to this post to retrieve the files.

Notes:

{1} Click the image to print. Once printed, you will cut your page along the solid lines. 

{2} You may want to laminate this form before punching your holes so that you can reuse it as needed.

Printable Monthly Goals Foldout ~ freebie

Hey There.

Last week was my first monthly recap and right after hitting that publish button I got really excited about prepping for next month. I needed a form that would help me decide what my goals would be for this month so I had more content for my April Recap. Naturally, I created my own and included everything I thought I would need to map out my goals. I am so excited to get this into your hands so you can meet your goals too.

I'm learning that goal setting doesn't come naturally for everyone, myself included. That being said, if you find that your having to reevaluate your goals in order to complete this form then your off to a good start. The object is to get you thinking about your goals and hashing them out in a way that will help you succeed.

Click either image below to access the full PDF file.

Monthly Goals Foldout

Let's start with the outer pages because this is where you will begin and end your goal sheet. This sheet is made to be bi-folded in toward your rings on the left. This will show your "Top Three Goals" when you flip to this page and the "End of the Month" notes will be on the back side. 

You can fill out this section how it best suits you; one to three smaller goals or one major goal broken down into two or three. The idea is to pull from the top of your list (or brain) in no particular order. You will write as much detail as you can to help you prioritize and determine your steps and action plan for the inside of this sheet. 

The Monthly Goal Map is set up in a way that will allow you to prioritize your success. Depending on your specific goals, this map may help you to piggyback one to the other or you could complete your most compelling goal to propel you to complete the next.

To fill out this form you will evaluate the "Steps" you need to follow to reach said goal. Ideally, each goal can be done in four or less steps. If that's not possible, this may be an indication that you need to divide that goal to make it more manageable. The same concept applies to your steps; wherein a few basic task will make up your "Action Plan" to complete that step.

It's not necessary that you complete one step in order to move onto another. Once you have completed this form you will have a layout of all your tasks, or mini goals. For efficiency, you may find that you can group tasks from different steps. My theory is the task is done, no matter the order of completion. The more you mark off the more motivated you may be to move on to the next.

I really hope you can get some goals accomplished with this form. I'll see you back here next week with another Planner Layout and a Word of the Year update. Also, I'm working really hard on getting my shop ready for a Summer opening. I would love for you to take a look and add me to your favorites. Don't forget, quantities on ready to ship product will be limited, so if you want to be notified by email of my shop opening you can sign up here.

Print Disclaimer

Print Disclaimer
This printable was made by me for your personal, non-commercial use only. Please don't redistribute these files; if you wish to share this with your friends please send them back to this post to retrieve the files.

Notes:

{1} If your printer allows for duplex printing you may need to make sure "short edge" is selected.

{2} Once printed you will cut your page on the dotted line. Next fold in so the Goal Map is on the inside but be sure to leave space for your holes. It may help to line up the outer box edges.

2016 Planner Layout, Week# 14

Hey There!

Welcome back for another week of planner layouts. I'm trying to bounce back from Spring Break. It's kinda tough with the fluctuating weather and even worse, the dark rainy days. I'm also nursing a sinus infection making me short on words so let's get started.

Carpe Diem Week# 14

I seriously had the hardest time picking my washi this week, so I was happy to find these cute stickers leftover from Target's One Spot last year. Lots of rain clouds and rainbows happening these days. 

To improve my mood I went overboard with my planner stickers; Can you tell? It feels like it's been awhile since I used up my stash. I really need to venture out more and order from different shops. Most of these are from PlannerMania, the first and only shop I've ever ordered from. Sad, I know. I make my own stickers, but how boring it would become if that was all I used. I'm definitely open to suggestions.

These little clouds are too adorable. Maybe Kawaii is what I need to be searching for new sticker shops. If you're a regular, you may notice I was successful in swapping my "Weekly To Do" to the outside. It was a hack so I can't share too much but I can share a washi tip with you. If you buy a combo pack of washi add a bit of the opposite pattern to the insides and you'll never have to worry about forgetting it's mate.

  

I really like adding in the cute little closeups at the end to break up the post a bit. So that's my Carpe Diem. For everyone's reference, I'll do my best to add my resources below each section from this post forward.

Resources:

A5 CarpeDiem~ Simple Stories {Store Locator}

Gray Washi~ Michael's

Pink Stripe Washi~ Hobby Lobby

Kawaii Stickers~ PlannerMania

Spring Stickers~ Target One Spot

Pink, White, & Word Stickers~ GingerPaperCo

Undated A5 Planner Inserts~ PrettyFiloPlanner

Happy Planner Week# 14

Let's move on to my Happy Planner and my newest DigiScrap Planner Sticker Set. I decided not to design this set as one full sheet but several that could be coordinated for up to three weeks of layouts. Doing this allowed me to add many more bits and pieces as well as a larger variety of boxes. I ended up with eight half sheets. 

My idea with this kit was to set the stage for hosting a tea party. I pulled in a variety of textures, colors, and elements you might see in the form of clothing, partyware, and even jewels. I had so many elements to choose from that I had to hold back from overdoing this layout.

That little picket fence was the part I was most excited about. I imagined I was walking to my first Spring Tea Party with the sun shining and butterflies bouncing about. It's really hard to capture in this format but I gave it a try and I like how it turned out.

 

 

I can't wait to offer this set but there are so many intricate pieces that I feel I'll need to modify before I can offer this set. I definitely don't want to make a fun decorating process difficult for anyone.

That's it for this week, I hope you like what you see. I'll be sharing the other bits of this set in the coming weeks to see if I can actually stretch this mega set that far. I'll be back Thursday with a new printable that I'm really excited to get out to everyone. Don't forget, if you want to be notified of my shop opening you can sign up to be notified by email here. I plan to be a ready to ship shop but inventory will be limited to start out.

March 2016 Recap

Hey There!

Hope you didn't mind the lack of Thursday posts during our Spring Break. I said I would be back in April but I've been thinking of ways to make it easier for some of you to follow along and thought I would try out Monthly Recaps. Since today is the last Thursday, I figured now was as good a time as any. My goal would be to eventually transition them into a monthly Newsletter. I'm not sure how well these will be received so I'll see how it goes.

This post is picture heavy so to keep the content to a minimum you can click on the image headings to read the original posts. 

March 2016 Planner Layouts

Week# 9

 

Week# 10

 

Week# 11

 

Week# 12

 

Week# 13

 

I share my weekly layouts, #beforetheink, every Tuesday using both an A5 Carpe Diem and a Happy Planner. I haven't been consistent in sharing my resources in my posts so they're listed below, with any applicable links.

Resources:

* Simple Stories Carpe Diem Planner

* PrettyFiloPlanner Printable Inserts

* MAMBI Happy Planner

* GingerPaperCo Stickers  

* PlannerMania Stickers

* The Planner Society Kit Stickers

* Target / Dollar Spot

* Dollar Tree

Printables ~ Freebies

These posts have proven to be my most popular so far. No doubt everyone likes to get their hands on freebies but this really helps me to know what to keep offering in the future. I love creating my own printables/stickers for my planners and general home organization. Now that I know they're useful, I'll continue to offer a variety of stickers and inserts. Here's what rolled out this month:

Planner Appointment Freebie ~ with bonus stickers

 

St. Patrick's Day Planner Stickers

Easter Planner Stickers

Note: These planner stickers were designed to allow for use outside of their holiday theme. Just skip the colored eggs and leprechauns and you're good to go. And yes, clovers are a Spring element.

I really hope you've enjoyed this little recap. Overall, I think March has been my most productive in all areas.  I'll be sharing an update soon on how things are going with my "Word of the Year"; you can read up before then by checking out this label on my sidebar. See you next week.