Planning to plan...

I don't know about you, but I've never really been successful with using a planner.  The closest I ever came was when my kids were in Jr. High and High School, and I taped a regular calendar on the inside of the kitchen cabinet nearest the phone.  Anything that went in my purse or on my desk, though, was abandoned pretty quickly, partly because it was never where *I* was at the time, either to check it or to write in it.

As a result, most of my organizational method (ha) over the last decade or so has been the sticky note version.  And they are everywhere.  On my desk, under my desk, in my purse, in jeans pockets, in my car... where I've been, you can probably find a sticky note, a scrap of paper, or the back of a grocery receipt with some scribbled notes and lists.

With this sort of history, it's a bit of a surprise that when Maya from Scrapbookgraphics.com showed us her new "artful" planner project on a Periscope broadcast (you can read about it HERE - the video is at the end of the post), I fell in love with the concept of making my own planner inserts to the point where I am actually going to give the whole system a whirl.  Will I succeed?  Who knows, but since it involves creating pretty pages I figure I have nothing to lose!  (Plus, I do have a love affair with office supplies, and getting new binders and whatnot isn't exactly a hardship, either!) To be honest, it was Maya's addition of little scrap pages amongst the actually planning pages that appealed.  I may never be very good with the actual appointment book aspect, but I love the little binder of daily memories that I envision coming out of this!

I chose to use a half-letter size setup, with a mini binder I found at Wal Mart.  For this to work, I figure I needed to be free to assemble whatever I felt like at the moment instead of planning it all out beforehand, so a looseleaf binder system seemed like the right choice.  I chose the smaller size because I don't have a lot of deskspace and if it is going to have half a chance of being useful, I need to have it out where I can see it.  And I want control over the decorating myself, so being able to print two sheets per page of paper (with minimal cutting, LOL) seemed important too.

After that, all I needed was a template to fit the page size I would need, and some fun with my own digi supplies!  Here's the first one I made (it's for next week, because apparently this week was too soon to plan in my head).  It's ok, I'm not sure I quite had the hang of it (reminded me of my early days of scrapping, it takes some time to find your comfort zone, and what you like and what works and what doesn't).

With the first one out of the way (and nicely cut and punched and in the binder - so official, even though I only wrote one thing on it, LOL), I thought some more and decided to try one for the current week, using a current kit that I love (Autumn Masquerade, which I think I have used more than almost any kit I've made).  And then after I put those pages together, I grabbed some photos from my daughters in our facebook family chat, and created the mini layout with those.  It was so much fun, and I loved being able to just print it out (on the back of the calendar page, because I was being thrifty and organized and all that).  And since there is never a shortage of back and forth in this chat, I know I will have fun little things to document even on the weeks where I never write down a single appointment or list.

And in case there are others out there who wish to take a little spin with this project as well (or some of you who are already dedicated planners but have never created your own pages), I packaged up my templates and put them in my shop.

I also created another set with a different configuration for the days; it has some fun accessories with it, too.  

Not only does this appeal to the part of me that loves control, and the part that gets bored with the same old same old, and the part of me that loves to create and personalize... but think of using all those fun kits that you have in your stash once more!  I can have a different look every week and enjoy them all over again!

One of my CT member asked for a set of digital stickers to use in her planner pages, so I made this set for her.  Easy to use as png files, but I've included a printable jpg file too, in case you are handier than I am with the scissors and glue stick and want to use them that way.  It's my celebratory gift to you!

You can download them HERE

The Planner goodies will all be available at the introductory sales price for a limited time in my Scrapbookgraphics shop, so grab yours and get yourself ready to be incredibly organized in no time flat :)

Maya has also started a private facebook group called the Artful Planner Club.  If you want to find out more about creating your first planner, or if you already create digital pages for your planning system, or if you just want to see what everyone is talking about, you can request membership here. It has been so much fun to see everyone's ideas in action, and I have learned a lot.

Enjoy!

~Julie