Spring Floral – Weekly

Posted on March 24, 2017 by Elizabeth Inloes

Hello Spring!

Monday welcomed a new season, while here in Wisconsin we still have melting snow and have been experiencing some cooler weather, but today it sure does feel like spring (high of 72)! This week was my spring break from school, so with little going on in my planner I decided to use the bottom as a big floral garden. I got this idea from Jennie McGarvey in one of her recent videos. While I made my florals a tad bigger, I am also not a mom of three with a ton of events taking up room.

I knew I would only need about a box to write various things in for the week as I didn’t have homework each day or specific tasks. I used the flowers from the Today is the Day value pack, as well as the full box on Monday. I used silver letters from the Alphabet value pack to spell out Spring Break and little bullet points from the same value pack as the flowers.

I like how this turned out because it is clean with big bold flowers and color on the bottom, but it moves the eye over the week. I wanted to keep it simple and colorful, because when I decorated this, it was snowing.

I also tried working on some lettering by accenting the first letter downstroke on some of my words. I am working on adding some new emphasis on words to break up my writing in my planner.

Happy planning everyone, and if you have any questions leave them below!

Posted in Weekly Spreads | Tagged break, color, floral, flowers, fresh, green, happy, organized, pink, planner, spring | Leave a comment

St. Patrick’s Day Weekly Spread

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Elizabeth Inloes

“May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand.” – Irish Blessing

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I hope you’re hearts are full of gold, you didn’t get pinched for not wearing green, and you are enjoying the festivities presented to you.

This week I decided to go with the classic green and gold theme, but used a variety of shades. It complimented the already existing purple on the page.

I chose to use a gold washi tape on the top to cover the headers. On the second row I used green glitter headers I got from Oh Hello Stationery Co. I used various stickers from multiple MAMBI value packs. Because today is St. Patrick’s Day I decorated it a little more. Also, Saturday is the start of my Spring Break from school so I used chipboard letter stickers I got in the Christmas time Target dollar spot. I didn’t have a ton going on this week so I was able to have more decoration than functional purposes.

Next week, because I am on spring break, I will only be posting one blog post and soon afterwards I have some cool things to show you all. Stay tuned and stay safe with celebrations of this fun Irish day!

What did you do for St. Patrick’s Day? Did you decorate your planner in green? Leave a comment below!

Posted in Holiday Themed, Weekly Spreads | Tagged gold, green, happy, organization, patrick, planner, Stickers | Leave a comment

Prepping For Spring Break

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Elizabeth Inloes

Whether you’re traveling somewhere warm and sunny, taking the kids to do something fun, or just going home t0 see your parents after being away at college, here are three ways to prep in your planner for Spring Break!

Start with these: Hourly Inserts for the mini, classic, or big.

1. If going somewhere, use one for a packing list/ to-do list before leaving.

We all know that awful feeling when you finally get to your destination and realize you forgot something and have to find a place to go buy it.. If there even is somewhere!

This list will be easily accessible in your planner, and can be taken out and moved around. To use an hourly, you can use the front and cover the times up to make to lined columns. The back grid can also be a shopping list. Don’t forget the sunscreen!

2. If the kids are off school, use it to plan day trips or activities.

Or, if you still have to work, a schedule with a baby sitter, or a more extensive meal plan. If doing activities, you can schedule that in the hourly part, and then in the to do side put what needs to be packed in the car, or other to-dos and must sees of the day.

3. Going home while in college.

If you are a student like I am, and are going home for the week, these can be very useful to plan various things. Like who you are catching up over coffee with and when, what homework you must complete for the dreaded Monday afterwards, and all the things you need to take home.

I hope that this gave you some ideas of how to tailor a hourly insert sheet to your needs and if you have any ides leave them in the comments below.

Have a safe and happy spring break everyone!

Posted in Hourly Inserts, Tips and Tricks | Tagged break, hourly, organized, planner, spring, tips, to-do | Leave a comment

Planning On A Budget: Washi Tape

Posted on March 10, 2017 by Elizabeth Inloes

Hello lovelies!

Today I wanted to talk about a simple way to plan on a budget.

Washi Tape is an easy way to plan for cheap and a little can go a long way. Target, Dollar Store, ShopKo, other stores and any craft store sell washi tape. This is a thin tape made from paper that can add some color and interest to a page without breaking the bank. Michaels sells too great starts to a basic washi collection. They sell value packs: planner washi and seasonal washi. These are great because they are only $10 for 45 rolls of tape, which is a steal!

Michaels also sells tons of their own brand (Recollections) which comes in multiple colors and widths. They come in single rolls or small value packs as seen below

This is the best place to start, because it is cheaper and the tape can be used a lot longer instead of one use. What is also nice is Target always has it in their dollar spot or seasonal areas. For Christmas I picked up a few rolls and actually I like some of them better than the more expensive stuff I got at Michaels. They have some value pack ones, or one off rolls. They also have rolls in the shape of an object (bats for halloween, or trees for Christmas) that come on a clear backing so they are actually in the cut shape of the object.

Washi tape is a great way to start and experiment with planning decoration without spending a lot of money.

Any questions? Leave them below!

Posted in Accessories, Tips and Tricks | Tagged budget, cheap, crafting, organized, planner, tape, washi | Leave a comment

Merging Two Months

Posted on March 8, 2017 by Elizabeth Inloes

The awful dreaded two months on one week with opposite colors. But there are simple ways to still bring you the ever coveted planner peace.

1. Pick a color scheme that will compliment both sets.

This is where most people struggle. A quick and easy tip I learned is you can never go wrong with a rainbow week, a multi color week, or black and white. Most of my split weeks tend to be one of those options. For example, down below is this month from February to March.

2. Make it look cohesive.

The goal is to make the change less obvious, unless you are really set on showing the split. Personally, I take my year by a week at a time and making a cohesive look for the whole week no matter what day it is, makes me focus and break down the work load. If it looks together, it’ll make you even feel more together!

3. Remember, there is always another try the next week!

Some of the best advice I have been told by countless other planner people is remember there is always next week. If you are really unhappy with a week, there is always a blank slate the next week. Also, your planning style will change so it’s a good chance to learn from past mistakes.

Ultimately do what makes you most comfortable and what will make you most productive because at the end of the day, that’s the main goal of a planner.

Questions or comments? Leave them below, and stay tuned for Friday!

Posted in Monthly, Tips and Tricks, Weekly Spreads | Tagged calendar, Monthly, organized, planners, two, weekly | Leave a comment

Monthly View – March

Posted on March 3, 2017 by Elizabeth Inloes

For this first week of March we have already looked at some memory keeping and currently pages, but today I wanted to show you all my month at a glance.

I fell in love with the idea of a month being on two pages when I first started planing. Now, my month at a glance has become a life line. As a student, or a very busy person, it is so helpful when trying to make plans especially when I don’t decorate my planner for the week until the end of the week prior.

This month I carried the colors already on the page and used green, purple, and gold. I wanted to incorporate St. Patrick’s Day with the green, but overall green is not one of my favorite colors. With the compliment of the gold and purple I really love this aesthetic.

I added a bit more after this, but they are personal things and I didn’t want to share too much. I have spring break in March so I used purple washi tape to mark that off and the sticker in the left corner says “i am so lucky”. I did the same trick as the currently of cutting flower stickers up for the edges to add a little pop of color. The little icons are all bills and paydays. Overall, this month turned out a lot better than I imagined and I will take some of the ideas into account for next month.

How did you decorate your month at a glance? What do you use your month for the most? Leave a comment below!

Posted in Monthly | Tagged gold, green, march, Monthly, organized, planner, purple, washi | Leave a comment

Motivational Memory Keeping and Currently Page

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Elizabeth Inloes

Happy March Everyone!

To kick off the new month, I want to show you all how I use my planner as a decorative and easy way to also memory keep. Though I have had the planner since September, in January I started memory keeping a bit.

The way I chose to memory keep but also have an inspirational dashboard every month was to invest in the MAMBI Page Protectors. They come in three layouts with four per layout so one per month. I also invested in Pocket Cards which they have an abundance of selection. These cards can be used for journaling or just decorative purposes like I use them. They have different sized slots (4X6, 3X4, and 2X2) and they snap right into your discs. I chose to put motivational coordinating quotes on each of these and then after every month will add some photos in as well to keep a mini photo album. As you can see below, I have a card about St. Patrick’s Day, which I will fill out after the fact.. More on that in another post.

Also, with a new month comes the currently page. Generally I don’t decorate the currently page, I just fill it in. This month however, I did add some decor to add some color in. I decided to cut up some of the clear floral stickers from the Today Is The Day value pack and place them on the edges. I learned that trick from a design team member named Heather (@kellofaplan).

As you can see, today is the new planner release! I’m looking into buying a mini to do social media and band tracking so look for more on that to come.

How do you like to decorate your currently page? Did you purchase any new products in the release? Leave a comment below!

Posted in Memory Keeping, Monthly, Tips and Tricks | Tagged green, happy, keeping, march, memory, Monthly, organized, photos, planner, purple | Leave a comment

Erin Condren Stickers for Happy Planner

Posted on February 24, 2017 by Elizabeth Inloes

While many people use Erin Condren planners, they aren’t for everyone. Many times people who have Erin Condren planners end up covering up their weekly outlooks with whole sticker kits, generally found from Etsy. While they look pretty and I love stickers too, I simply can’t afford an Etsy kit for 52 weeks plus 12 monthly pages a year. That adds up very quickly for my college kid budget!

Photo Credit: Scribble Prints Co

While these spreads are what planner community people call “no white space” they aren’t best for everyone. But if you are like me and wanted to try some Etsy stickers and found a shop with REALLY great pricing (Shoutout to Pretty Cute Planner!) then try it, but don’t buy a ton at first.

Here is the main difference in layout between the Happy Planner and Erin Condren.. the size of the boxes. This is if we are comparing the vertical planners, which is what majority of people in those two planners use. As you can see below, Erin Condren (Lifeplanner) has the bottom notes every week where the Happy Planner just has the three boxes.

If you want to learn more about the differences you can read more about it in my blog post about choosing a planner, or YouTube has an abundance of comparison videos.

Now, with these size differences in mind.. Erin Condren stickers no doubt can be used in a Happy Planner. Happy Planner stickers can be used in Erin Condren planners too, but with weekly super kits from Etsy you would find it harder to fit everything.

This week in my planner I chose to use a kit I purchased from Pretty Cute Planner when she had an awesome sale. I personally like white space in my planner because I do color code, so it adds extra room for writing, is cheaper because I use less stickers or washi tape, and because it lets my eye rest.

As you can see, the full design box stickers are a little short, as are the checklists, but that’s okay. It gave me more room to write and the little labels were super helpful (and who doesn’t love a little glitter?!) She offers the Happy Planner size for most of her kits, but I failed when I ordered. Oh well, it was a learning and teaching experience!

So the moral here is, if you find a kit you really really want that is only formatted for Erin Condren planners, it will still work!

Any questions or comments? Leave them below!

For more fun throughout my week, follow me on Instagram!

Posted in Accessories, Stickers, Tips and Tricks | Tagged erincondren, organization, planners, planning, Stickers, tips | Leave a comment

Color Coding

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Elizabeth Inloes

A basic, but vital part of my planning routine includes an easy, but lifesaving system. I use color coding religiously. While this system isn’t for everyone, it is especially helpful for students or people who have multiple organizations/ people to keep track of. If you establish a system that works for you, you will find you rarely forget something.

Color Coding!

For me, as a college student, I find it helpful to have a color per class and then a color for work. I also use another color to denote overall school events (such as days off, or advising). As a junior, I am taking 5 classes (one online– yikes!) and work two jobs on campus and one at home, so easy and fast differentiation of assignments/events is super helpful.

Some like to color code based on priority, especially in weekly layouts (Ex: Red needs to be done right away, Blue needs to happen within the week, etc.). I always found this more confusing, but experiment with what works for you. I find that color coding based on the type of event or what it is needed for makes it easy when glancing quickly at a page. For example, one of my classes is Social Media Optimization and I chose that class to be blue. So whenever I look at my page and see that shade of blue I know it’s for that class. My system started by matching the color I think coordinates with the class topic– like when your parents used to assign you coordinating folders and notebooks in elementary school (Green: Science, History/Government: Blue or Yellow, English: Red.. Etc.).

Planners are a visual representation of what you need to get done, aspire to be, and much more. Make them work for you, but color coding is a cheap way to really work a planner.

Any questions? Comment below!

Posted in Tips and Tricks | Tagged coding, color, organization, planners, student | Leave a comment

Valentine’s Weekly Spread

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Elizabeth Inloes

This week was Valentine’s Day, so I thought I would share the first ever full week peek into my personal planner.

For this week I used a combination of washi tape from the Michael’s Recollections Seasonal Box set (which is a steal if you can find it!) and the Target Dollar Spot. I also used a few stickers from the Seasonal, Color Coordinating sheets, the Functional (purple cover) and the Today is the Day sticker packs by MAMBI. To top it off I have embellished with a few stickers from a dollar sticker pack from the Target Dollar Spot as well. Last but not least, there is one little sticker that looks like Pam from The Office because I was working my desk job, and I feel like her sometimes. I got that sticker from an awesome Etsy shop called Oh Hello Stationery Co.

I chose to do a traditional red and pink spread for the week because I like traditional colors for holidays most of the time. If I was to redo the spread however, I would leave myself some more room on Tuesday to write. As you can see I got busy last minute and had a bunch of appointments and things to remember with various people and crammed it into less than a full box because I had decorated too much already. Otherwise I think the classic Red and Pinks turned out just fine because I left enough White Space for my liking. As you may be able to see I color code my planner because I am a student who also works two jobs. I will talk about this more in another post, but if I wasn’t a student I think I would have written in red and pink ink too.

How did you decorate this week? What was your favorite part or least favorite part? Leave a comment below!

Posted in Holiday Themed, Weekly Spreads | Tagged happy, organized, paper, pink, planners, red, seasonal, valentines, washi, weekly | Leave a comment

It's All About The Paper