Planner Friday - February

There's a new Planner Friday post over on the Trendy Twine blog today!

Hello!  I am Amanda from She's Eclectic and I am the resident planner girl here on the Trendy Twine blog.  I love to use my APB stamps to help me stay organised and to add a bit of fun to my planner pages too.  As next week is Valentine's day I have gone all out with a "romantic" theme full of hearts and things that go together perfectly so let me show you how I did it!

Products used: You & me planner stamps

Perfect pairs planner stamps

We go together planner stamps

Valentine trendy page dots
Used but not pictured: Check it off planner stamps

Weekend banner stamp

At home planner stamps

More at home planner stamps

School days planner stamps

The first thing I always do is to add washi tape wherever I can fit it in on my spread, usually along to top and bottom of the pages.  Then I pair that with a set of trendy page dots which reinforce the holes and protect my pages from tearing as well as adding a lovely splash of colour! I do this before I write or stamp anything so I know exactly how much space I have to work with.

Next it is time to get practical with the Check it off, At home, More at home, and School days stamp sets!  I use the Check it off stamps to create my to do lists and then I use the other sets to add my reminders and things I need to complete like doing the recycling, paying bills and running errands.  They also cover things like events, appointments, assemblies and after school clubs.

If you want to just get organised you can stop here, you have made your plans and now you just need to work on finishing them but if you want your planner pages to look really pretty as well as being practical then there is one more stage left to do, decorate them!

Decorating with image stamps, washi and trendy page dots

I use my APB image stamps to create my designs and a few stickers here and there.  For this week I used the You & me, Perfect pairs and We go together stamp sets to add sweet little couples that compliment each other like coffee and doughnuts and eggs and bacon.  Then I coloured them in to match my Valentine's Day theme using lots of pink!

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Planner Friday - July

Who's ready for another Planner Friday?  Please pop over to the Trendy Twine blog and check out my latest post!

It's finally summer and the schools have broken up for the holidays here in the UK!  I am all set for fun in the sun, days out and lots of adventures which I want to document in my cute little travellers notebook and Annie's Paper Boutique have the perfect stamps to help me do it!

Products used: Choose Happy stamps

Documenting The Everyday stamps

Documenting The Everyday #2 stamps

Used but not pictured: Mini calendar card

Camera paper clip

Kraft tag-its

How's The Weather stamps

You & Me stamps

Perfect Pairs stamps

Foodies stamps

Drinks & More stamps

I wanted to create a spread I could fill in whenever something memorable happened during the break so I got out my stamps and planning essentials and set to work!

My summer holiday spread

I started with a strip of washi tape along the top of the page and then added a sweet mini calendar which I filled in with the dates for August.  I am going to use this to record any important dates during the month and the week my husband has booked off work.

I used stamps from the Documenting The Everyday #1 & #2 sets to make sections for my memories and stories so now I have space for Family Time, So Fun, Time With Friends and room for my favourite photo I take over the summer.

Creating sections

I stamped my kraft tag-it with the Details stamp from the Documenting The Everyday #2 set and glued it next to the place I had made for my photo so I can write about when and where the picture was taken and why it is important to me.

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Planner Friday - April

Hello!  Not only is it National Stationery Week it is also Planner Friday today so hop over to the Trendy Twine blog to read my latest post...

Wow, Planner Friday came around again so quickly!  I feel like the months are speeding by and it will be summer before we know it.  Though that's not a bad thing, I can't wait for some sunshine! 

For today's post I wanted to show you how I use my Annie's Paper Boutique stamps to help keep me organised and add a little fun to my planner pages too.  

Products used: Perfect Pairs planner stamps

Check It Off planner stamps

At Home planner stamps

School Days planner stamps

Need Coffee planner stamps

Coffee gold planner clip

Trendy Page Dots

I knew when I started planning my week that I was going to be busier than usual so I added plenty of check boxes for my daily to dos using a stamp from the Check It Off set and then added my reminders and lists with stamps from the At Home and School Days sets.  I reinforced the holes in my pages with colourful Trendy Page Dots, paired them with some bright and cheery washi tape and added one of my favourite coffee planner clips.

Talking of coffee I knew I was going to need a lot of caffeine see me through the week so I made it the theme for my pages!   There is a special set of  APB stamps for my fellow coffee addicts, aptly called Need Coffee and they are the perfect size for planner pages as they are quite small so you will still have have plenty of space left to make your notes around them.  I also used a larger coffee stamp from the Perfect Pairs set in my Sunday section as I have less to do that day and had more space for decoration.  The last thing I did was to colour in the stamps with fineliners and pencil crayons and then I was ready to face the week!

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Planner Friday - January

My first Planner Friday post of 2018 is now up on the Trendy Twine blog, please pop over and say hi!

So how is the first month of the year treating you?  I have to admit January is probably my least favourite month but I wanted to start this new year on a positive note so I decided to look for the good and concentrate on things that make me happy.  I wanted to create a spread in my travellers notebook to highlight some things that I enjoy about January so I dug out my Annie's Paper Boutique stamps and got to work!

My January spread

The start of a new year always makes me feel like I have been given a blank slate, the past is over and done with and I have a whole new year full of possibilities to look forward too!  The Choose Happy set sums up this feeling perfectly so I used a couple of these stamps to remind me to keep trying to achieve my goals and to make each day a little better than the one before.  

I added a  mini calendar to the spread to keep track of whether I reached my move goal each day (so far so good!) and I am using the little tick stamp from the Check It Off set to mark off the days I complete my goal.  

Products used: Choose happy stamps

Check it off planner stamp set

Drinks & more planner stamp set

Title it planner stamp set

How's the weather planner stamp set

Not pictured: Mini calendar cards

Journaling card

Goals and memories

On the second page I used a cute snowflake stamp from the How's the weather? set because I love snow days when you can stay at home in the warm or go out and play if you are feeling brave!  I also used a coffee stamp from the Drinks & more set because there's nothing better than a nice hot drink to warm you on a cold day.

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Artline Monday - Getting organised!

Did you set yourself a goal this year to be more organised?  Do you feel like some people have everything together and are perfectly prepared for any situation while you struggle to keep on top of things?  I thought for today's post I would share with you some ideas to help you achieve your organisational aspirations.

The first thing you need to know is that most "organised" people aren't naturally prepared with no effort.  They have developed a system which works for them and you can too.  Some people use a planner, a computer or mobile phone, a diary, a simple notebook or bullet journal to organise their lives, they could even use a combination of these things!  You might have to try a few different ways until you find what works for you but it is worth persevering.  I put everything into my planner but I also use the calendar on my iPad and phone too.  This is because they sync between the each other automatically and I can set reoccurring events and reminders without having to input them separately each week, month or year. 

Planning tools - my Filofax, Artline pen & iPad

I used to feel like I didn't have enough time to do everything I wanted to but once I started planning my days I found that I just needed to use my time more efficiently.  Time management is a skill you can learn.  If you think about your day from when you wake up through to when you go to bed you can see how much time you have to work with.  Make a list of what you need to do each day and estimate how long each activity takes you to complete.  Include things like eating, getting ready, travel time, hours at school or work, errands, studying and house work etc, how much time do you have left afterwards and what can you fit into these moments?  You might find you have a lot more time available than you previously thought. 

 

Planning ahead

Planning ahead is also really helpful for keeping on top of things.  I like to have an overview of the next month or two at least so I'm not surprised by anything later on.  As you can see I have notes and reminders in my planner for right up to the end of June at the moment and it is only the middle of January.  Looking this far into the future means I am prepared for these events as they crop up instead of feeling like I am trying to keep too many plates spinning at once or playing wack-a-mole with lots of things popping up and needing to be dealt with straight away.  I know what is coming and what I need to do in plenty of time which is a lot less stressful!

All this planning and organisation might feel a bit overwhelming to begin with but with some practice you will find it easier to do.  Once you have gotten into the habit it becomes second nature to make plans, follow them through and to manage your time effectively.  

If you find that paper planning is the thing that works for you then Artline has a whole range of pens, highlighters and stamps to help you stay organised throughout the year!  If you would like to read some more of my organisation hints and tips check out this previous Artline Monday post for some planning basics.

Planner Friday - July

My latest Planner Friday post is now up on the Trendy Twine blog, please pop over and check it out...

Hello!  Welcome to Planner Friday!  I know for some of you the summer holidays began a while ago but here in the UK the schools don't finish until this afternoon and I really can't wait!  I wanted to do a tropical theme in my planner to celebrate the start of lazy days and endless sunshine (fingers crossed!) so let me show you what I used and how it turned out.

Products used:

Trendy page dots

Mini index cards 

Trendy bakers twine

Check it off planner stamps

School days planner stamps

At home planner stamps

My day planner stamps

Used but not pictured:

More at home planner stamps

As always I started out with some washi tape and Trendy page dots to give my pages a splash of colour and then got out my collection of planner stamps to fill in my to do lists and reminders.  

My Planner Friday to do list

I also made myself a little Planner Friday card to keep track of what I needed to do for today's post and added a bit of Trendy bakers twine just because it's such a pretty colour!

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!

My week #26

This was my first decorated week in my planner in ages so I used my absolute favourite new stickers to get me back into the swing of things.  If I see a set of cute Alice in Wonderland stickers then I just have to buy them so when I spotted these vintage style ones from Three Little Buhos on Etsy I couldn't resist them!  And as I was paying for the postage I threw in this lovely floral washi tape too.  I think they both go well together!

My week #26

It felt kind of weird to see my pages looking pretty again, I have been dirty planning for a while now but it was definitely nice to be greeted with such a cheerful spread when I looked inside my planner!  

Close up

Close up

Do you have a favourite theme when it comes to stamps and stickers?  I'm also a sucker for anything cute and coffee related!

Thanks for stopping by!

Planner Friday - June

My second post of the day, I'm on a roll!  My Planner Friday post is now up on the Trendy Twine blog and it is all about summer.

Yes!  It's finally summer!  I feel like I have been waiting forever for it to arrive!  I was so excited for the beginning of the season I dedicated a whole page to it in my journal this week!

July in my journal

I  wrote myself a list of things I like to do in the summer on a cute tag and popped it in my journal along with some strips of washi tape to brighten things up.  I used the lined stamp from the Check it off set to give me a couple of spaces for some summer quotes and I added a mini calendar card for an overview of July.

I used some of the image stamps from the Foodies, Drinks & more and Perfect pairs sets to show things I enjoy during warm summer days like adding ice cream to desserts, a cold glass of wine and iced drinks with a straw. 

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Introducing Openquote Designs - practical planner printables

Hello!  Today I want to tell you about a shop called Openquote Designs and show you some of their lovely products.  Alicia, the lady behind the scenes, is a big fan of paper planning just like me and she creates a wide range of pretty, practical, planner printables.

The inserts are sold as PDF files so you don't have wait for them to arrive in the mail (so no need to stalk your post person!), there's no P&P charges to pay and you can print off as many copies as you need which makes them even more amazing value!  I also have a discount code for you if you spot anything you would like to buy, it is at the bottom of this post.

One of my favourite products is this weekly docket.  It gives you an overview of your week and lets you see everything important in one quick glance.  Each section is a separate colour which makes it nice and easy to use too.  The red area is for your weekly priorities, dark blue is for your tasks, light blue is your week, orange is a tracker with the days Monday through to Sunday and finally purple is for any notes you need to make.

Weekly docket

I used the docket last week and it really is very handy!  I had a lot of things to sort out and do because it was my eldest daughter's birthday weekend (yes, that's a thing in our house!) and Sunday was Mothers Day too.  I had to buy cards, presents, food, decorations and tidy the house for a birthday party on top of my usual weekly routine and this insert helped me keep on top of everything.  

I used the tracker section to record whether or not I hit my step goals, my stand goals (standing and walking around for at least one minute every hour for 12 hours a day) and for drinking 8 glasses of water each day.  I also used it for tracking my eye drops so I wouldn't miss a dose and for colouring in my year in pixels in my journal.

The weekly docket is only £1.50 so if you printed off 52 copies, one for each week of the year, they would have cost you less than 3p each!

Weekly docket in use

As well as individual inserts Alicia also sells planner kits which contain all kinds of practical pages!  Her basic planner kit comes with 10 different inserts and costs £5.  Instead of me listing the inserts I have photographed them for you, as you can see they all have the same matching border so you won't have to get your washi tape out as they are pre decorated!  If this blue and purple pattern isn't your thing there are different sets with floral, spots, triangles and stripes to choose from too.

Get stuff done - basic planner kit

Bill tracker - basic planner kit

Project planner - basic planner kit

Menu planner - basic planner kit

Recipe card - basic planner kit

Password log - basic planner kit

Daily planner - basic planner kit

Weekly planner - basic planner kit

Notes - basic planner kit

The basic kit also comes with a month in review insert but I must have missed it when I was taking these photos, you can see it here though.  I think this set has everything in it you would need to set up a planner and it is available in personal and A5 size.  In fact all the inserts are available in both sizes so yay!

Weekly planner (4 colours)

This weekly planner set comes in four colours so you can choose whether to print your inserts in your favourite one or print all four colours and alternate them through the weeks or print each months worth of inserts in the same colour so January in blue, February in pink etc and as they are undated they are even more versatile!  This set only costs £2 which I think is a pretty good bargain!

Menu planner - basic planner kit 2

To give you an idea of the other style of sets available this menu planner insert is from the basic planner kit 2 , it has the same inserts as the set I showed you but with this fun triangle boarder instead.

Have you spotted anything you like?  Yes?  Okay, well here is your discount code for 15% off all orders, there's no minimum spend amount!  The code is:

SHESECLECTIC15

Valid until 31st December 2017

Let me know if you order anything (because I am nosy!) and thanks for stopping by! 

* Disclaimer - I was given these products free of charge for the purpose of this review, I am not affiliated with Openquote Designs and I was not paid to write this post.  As always all opinions are honest and my own.

Planner Friday - February

Wow, February has just sped by!  I can't believe we are in the last few days of the month already!  I've been getting ready for March and spring over on the Trendy Twine blog, come on over and take a look! 

Hi!  I am Amanda from She's Eclectic and I'm here on the Trendy Twine blog for another Planner Friday!  This month I want to show you how I created a bullet journal style layout in my Travellers Notebook using some fun stamps from Annie's Paper Boutique.

I have seen so many bullet journal ideas recently and really wanted to give some of them a go BUT I'm not great when it comes to doing fancy writing and fab little doodles so instead of doing everything with pen and by hand I decided to use my APB stamp sets instead!

Products used: 

Documenting the Everyday Stamp Set

Check It Off Planner Stamp Set

Drinks & More Planner Stamp Set

How's the Weather Planner Stamp Set

Perfect Pairs Planner Stamp Set

Round Stamp Block with Gridlines

Inks

Used but not pictured: Journaling Tags

Pocket Calendar (currently out of stock)

I wanted to do an overview spread for March including my goals for the month and to help me keep track of any important dates or tasks.  I used the Check It Off set to make these lists and a pocket calendar glued onto my page so I could see the whole month at a glace.  I have left myself a space to record any special memories during the month with a journaling tag and a couple of stamps from the Documenting the Everyday set as well.  To me March is all about those first few days of spring when we finally get a little sunshine but here in the UK there is also just as much chance it will snow or be incredibly wet so I used the How's the Weather stamps for a touch of decoration.

You can read the rest of my post and see how my pages turned out here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Planner Friday - August

It's Planner Friday again today and I have been on the Trendy Twine blog sharing what I have in my planner pouch.  Please pop over and take a peek!

Hello!  I thought I would do something a little different for Planner Friday today and show you my "everyday carry" planning supplies.    
I keep a pen in the loop of my planner but I like to have a few more products with me when I am on the go.  I keep them in a little travel pouch which holds lots of goodies but doesn't take up too much room in my bag.    

Annie's Paper Boutique products:

Journal Tags

Note Cards

Planner Pencils

Trendy Page Dots circle reinforcements

Camera, Coffee, Plan, Love Letter & To Do Planner Clip Set

Pens, paper clips & pencils

I like to have a few colourful pens with me and some note cards and journal tags to record memories and reminders.

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Planner Friday - July

I want to start by saying sorry for the lack of posts recently!  My internet provider has been "upgrading" the cables in our area which has either left me with no internet at all or a cripplingly slow connection that has made me want to through my laptop away!  I have taken lots of photos while I have been offline so I am going to be working my way through and writing the posts to go with them as soon as I can.

Anyway, today is Planner Friday again over on the Trendy Twine blog!  Please pop over and say hi.  

Hello!  I am Amanda from She's Eclectic and I'm here for another Planner Friday!  I love to create pretty and practical planner pages using products from Annie's Paper Boutique, they help keep me organised and have some fun while I do it too!

Products used: 

Check It Off Planner Stamp Set

At Home Planner Stamp Set

Trendy Page Dots circle reinforcements

Clear Stamp Block

Washi Tape

Ink

Feeling Funny Planner Stamp Set

Feeling Happy Planner Stamp Set

My pages are usually pretty full when my children are at school, there always seems to be a club, assembly or performance going on that I need to write down!  Now it is finally the summer holiday here in the UK I have quite a lot of empty space to play with so I decided to break out my journaling stamps again.

Journaling stamps 

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!