Little Planner Book

Hi Bloggers

Have been looking at planners lately - they are very popular & look like fun to make.

But how can they fit every life?

I do not plan meals;  have no kids to taxi to sports & culture events;   also do not need to plan my day by the hours.  So I decided to do a planner just for me to see how it goes.

It was difficult to define what I needed.  

I found that I had huge scraps of papers with thoughts, words that would be good on ephemera pages, things needed to be reordered, names for collections of papers - these were stapled together & were quite a fat bundle.  

1.  I set up a small spiral bound book for orders & reorders only - 11x17cm - once the order/reorder is done, I just tear out the page & toss - no need for a planner.

2.  I left my scraps of paper which have been bundled together & ignored for the moment - so easy!

3.  What was left were major projects:

• an advertising campaign in AU Simply Cards  is driven be things to do by date.  This, therefore needs its own 'Planner'

• next paper collections for the year - this is driven somewhat by date but by almost going backwards from when it will be published to when it needs to be printed allowing for their queue; in order to get it to the DT Ladies to have their projects ready for the blog.  Then it gets very messy doing files for download, files & pics to website & etsy etc.  I have a whole program for all of this so no 'Planner' needed.

I then really had no choice but to go back to my scraps of paper:

A decision was made to sort the scraps into categories - I defined 3 kinds - this led me to creating a mini planner book that could grow with more categories & have paper tidied/added/tossed as it was used & also deep pockets for keeping things tidy

Paper used in this one is is French Chic

Front cover has a flap with a ribbon wrap to close. It also has an extension on the flap & edge of front to allow the planner to hold more paper & signatures as needed.

Opening the flap 

Inside the cover there is a deep pocket for stuffing with contents before filing into a signature

Back of 1st signature & front of 2nd

 Inside each signature there is another deep pocket & pages of lined paper - these came from a cheap A4 exercise book & are not attached to the signature but kept in place with 3mm ribbon. You could also use thin string, hair pony tail elastic or hat elastic

2nd & 3rd signature

Back of 3rd signature & inside back cover of planner. I have added a monthly calendar in order to track dates - this is printed from Outlook Calendar in Folio size.  The calendar can be placed anywhere you want.

The second planner is similar to the first in size & uses clips to hold the 3 signatures & their contents.

The papers used are from the Slightly Grunge Collection with Dark Brown Cardstock with a vintage trinket cut in half as a deco

The calendar, which is magnetic, is attached by a magnet on the inside of the cover - can be moved wherever it is needed. Very handy

A monthly calendar printed from Outlook - folio size or you could print A4 & fold in half

The paper attached here is created in Excel with gridlines chosen.  This is a great method to jot down 'to dos'

Inside each signature is lined paper using a rubber band.  I started  each with 3 double sheets

Back of planner has a deep pocket for 'whatever' is needed.  It could be a recipe torn from a magazine, a picture of a project that looks exciting or a schedule of 'whatever'

I hope this gives you some ideas for your own planner.

Dimensions:  Cover 15 x 23cm

Signature cardstock: 14 x 22cm

Lined Paper:  Use the centre of the exercise book  13.5 x 20.5cm

The book can be made larger or small as you wish - it will be further defined by whether it is on a counter or your purse.  Make it in any colour, any size, add plain paper for doodling or creating an idea for a terrific card or future project.

You could also use it as a craft art book - 'Ideas'

Bye for now

Meg