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| My "Planner-ed Out Perfect" series is not sponsored by any company or product... despite the fact that I desperately wish it was. Alas, I just geek out about all this stuff for free. |
The start of a new year, means the start of a new planner, and we're already more than a month in!
One of my favorite presents to open on Christmas morning, for the past three years running, has consistently been the newest iteration of my beloved planner. Investing in a quality personal agenda has been one of the greatest changes to my organizational habits throughout my collegiate career, and it's not going away now that I've graduated!
As you've seen in past posts in my "Planner-ed Out Perfect" series, I've been pretty picky about my paper planners for a while now.
From the hectic scheduling of my Junior year, to the serendipitous discovery of my planner-soulmate, from how I love to decorate its many pages, to whether my planner love connection held up for a second year, and even to how the new ways people are planning out their day with creative bullet journals has impacted my personal organization, I seriously just can't stop talking about this topic.
And, of course, 2017 is sure to be no different!
My Third Year with the Day Designer
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| Clearly, I've got a bit of a theme going, here. |
Like I said before, once again, I've started off the new year with an old favorite: the Day Designer by Whitney English, purchased for this year from the Flagship Collection in the pattern "Palm." Not only does it follow the same format as its predecessors - including the organizational elements, monthly calendars and goal setting workpages that I've always loved - but the cover fits in perfectly with my "Word of the Year" for 2017: Growth!
In fact, you can find leaves, flowers, fronds, and branches all across my stationery for the year, including doodled inside the front page of my journal. Whenever I get a few minutes to sit and sketch - like when I'm pondering over what tasks to fill in my to-do list for the day with - I google lists of flower symbology through the online Farmer's Almanac, and use the corresponding image searches to help inspire some relaxed scribbles.
So not only is this year's planner a valued piece of my personal daily stationery, but it also fits perfectly into the ways that I'm developing my action plan for the year. Sometimes aesthetics and functionality just perfectly intersect, you know?
New Year, New Stickers
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| Funny enough, these are only the stickers I received for Christmas. Since then, I've gotten two Etsy orders and a few random bits from Joann's... but now that everything is busted out of its shiny packaging, I'd feel bad retaking the picture! |
My Christmas stationery haul also included these fantastic choices from Scrapbook.com, which I've been using a little more sparingly than you're probably used to me doing in past years. Due to the fact that I'm now a recent graduate, living at home with my family, and trying to figure out the next couple of steps to getting a career started, my schedule is a lot less jam-packed than it used to be when I was still in school, and so, too, have the decorations in my planner been pared down.
However, that doesn't mean I'm not using stickers or washi anymore; I'm just being a lot more selective about how and when I use them... especially because they're so, so pretty, and I'm trying to make them last a little longer this time!
New Obsession: Redbubble
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| Never before have I been so absolutely able to express my interests in sticker form. I can't wait for my Beauty and the Beast, Disneyland, and D&D dice stickers to arrive! |
And speaking of stickers, I recently embarked upon an obsession only a little under two weeks ago that has completely changed the sticker game for me.
It all started when I was watching random bullet journaling videos on YouTube - probably one of my most frequent platform searches, right next to "street food," "thrift haul," and "soldier coming home family surprise" - and I saw a girl with a "300 Fox Way" sticker on her journal (which is, of course, a reference to one of my favorite YA book series of all time, The Raven Cycle, from Maggie Stiefvater).
Immediately, I was overcome with the urge to figure out where she had gotten it. After scouring through both Etsy and Society6, I was beginning to lose hope... until a random link sent me to Redbubble, where I was able to find the exact same sticker, no problem!
If you don't know, Redbubble is a graphic designer-oriented online marketplace, which happens to be a hub for the nerds of the world to purchase non-official, but totally-awesome, merchandise related to some of their favorite things. Plus, fun fact: if you buy 6 "small-sized" stickers in one purchase, they are all automatically discounted 50%, which means that my first order of stickers was only a little over $10.
I say "first," because, well, it took less than 24 hours after my original purchase arrived, that I set out to order a second set of 6. (It should be arriving right on time for Valentine's Day!)
More Journal than Bullet Journal
Of course, I've got more personal paperwork to my name than just a planner, too. As you've heard before, I've kept a journal since I was about 12 years old, and the habit is still going strong... it's just taken on a little bit of a different format in the past year or so!After finding journaling contentment with my psuedo-bullet journal over the summer, I was curious to see how the format would carry through to the new year. So, instead of my regular composition notebook covered in crawling print letters, I invested, once again, in a solid, large sketchbook from Pentalic, in which I can doodle and paint, as well as still provide plenty of room for personal ramblings as need be.
I'm doing a lot less actual journaling than I would have hoped, but I'm still super happy with the elements of a bullet journal system that I did integrate, including pages with favorite quotes, "Month on a Page" spreads, habit trackers, and seasonal bookshelf doodles.
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My Favorite Shops and What I'm Hoping to Purchase Next
So I've already told you that another round of Redbubble stickers are on their way, but those aren't the only goodies I've got my eye on!
- Another recent obsession of mine has been Mochi Things, a kawaii stationery store based out of beautiful Seattle, Washington. I stumbled upon this gem when searching for a monthly planner my sister Delaney could use for the year, and quickly grew enamored with its abundant supply of cuteness, and quick shipping times. The next big thing I've got my eye on from this store: leaf sticky notes, to fit the theme started by my planner and journal!
- As you can probably tell from the sample pages of my journal, I'm also pretty deep in love with my Tombow markers, which my parents got me for my birthday this past October. After featuring them a couple of times on my Snapchat Stories, it turned out that my friends like them as much as I do: two of them ended up buying the same packs I have! While the pens themselves are pretty pricey, I can't help but wish I had access to the sheer color options of this beautiful 18-pen pastel pack.
- I discovered MT Masking Tape by accident, when perusing a nearby cutesy gift store in Tacoma, called Stocklist Goods. After sifting carefully through a whole bowl of candy-colored goodness, I did a little iPhone sleuthing to find the washi tape website, and boy, was I smitten. Not only are the solid colors all prime hues - with just the right amount of flexible sheerness for good washi - but the specialty collaborations make me want to collect them all! My favorites? The Olle Eskell Skansen Houses, Mina Perhonen Forest Tile Blue and Crown Gold, and Almedahls Italiensk Blomsterhylla.
As you all know, I'm always happy to share my planner passion. You can find all of the posts in my "Planner-ed Out Perfect" series collected under a new tab on my top menu, under the tab "Just Planner Things"!
Have any of your planner habits changed with 2017? How do you keep track of your busy schedule? Let me know, in the comments below!
I would like to see you gather all your planner posts together in an e-book.
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