Deb's Planner Pages

Stickers are in the house!! Well these little fruity stickers are just the cutest. I used a lot of the stickers to start my spread. I am no where near done but I liked the Washi strips to add decoration in between my squares and this is a limelife planner so the boxes are a bit different sizes but still these fit perfectly allowing you to use another half or quarter box or decoration in the same square. I just used the fruit throughout the layout.

I actually think these cute little fruit would make some awesome washi tape Mrs Brimbles hint hint! You get four nice sheets of stickers in this kit. Plenty for multiple layouts especially if you use others to mix with it.

I love the cute little faces on the fruit and the whimsical feel of it. I am trying hard to get better at layouts but I am still not the best. Sometimes I dive in before thinking it out. I am fluid like that! I am so organized with most of my life and with doing a layout for some reason it stresses me out because I feel once I put it down I have committed to it and then I look at it and think omg I wish I would have done this or that but hey it is just a layout and I try to let this be the one part of my life that I just WING IT!

Sometimes that feels good when you are a OCD personality like I would say I am. So I would suggest to anyone that feels they are too rigid in life to let planning be the one thing you just enjoy being free at. Yes it is commitment once a sticker is down but try hard to work around it and not get too disappointed in it. We all have to get our groove and until you get your groove then accept your planning as it is and own it!

Its like Crazy Elaine in Seinfeld, she couldn't dance but it didn't stop her. Sure she looked funny doing it but she had fun doing it and that is what counts. So if you take anything away from my post let it be that. ENJOY the moment, don't compare yourself to others that you seen having perfect spreads because you are unique and you should be yourself.

Have fun planning!

I have loads of space to fill in yet but at least I am getting a good start.

Mind over Matter

Most days I have great ideas, loads of "to do's" that I plan to do but I ultimately fail at getting them done. I am forever saying to my husband "tomorrow I want to organize my drawers" 'this weekend I need to clean out my closet" but guess what...those days come and go without results. 

My problem is as long as I say it out loud it doesn't mean anything. I would say I am a bit of a type A person but since retiring I am a bit more relaxed about things. The problem for me lies in the fact that because I am type A and I don't accomplish these random things in my head they continue to bog up my head. A person like me that don't accomplish these goals will just go nuts at some point ha ha, cause we haven't done the things we said we were going to do. 

So I am constantly nagged in my brain of all the task uncompleted. SO for me I have to rely on "to do" list and PLAN the items in my planner. Seeing them on paper makes them a permanent task that if I do not get the chance to mark off will drive me insane. Plus its goals for the day and I always try hard to complete what I have given myself to do.

So if you are remotely like this I suggest writing down a "to do" list and then taking your planner and spreading the task out and designate them for particular days throughout the week. Therefore not bogging yourself down but giving yourself a realistic goal that you know you can meet. It will make you feel so accomplished. I know I felt defeated if I talked these task out loud and didn't get them done. 

Something about pen to paper does it for me. It makes it real and then therefore I personally set a goal for myself and make it happen. Try it sometime you will see it does make a difference. I own multiple planners so I try to designate one for my shop things and then use one for my everyday home life. You can also cross post them so that each planner is sync'd so if you do not open the other up you still have an idea of what you need to accomplish. 

Everyone has a particular system. Make your system work for you but I am telling you most people who enjoy planners are probably people who are very much like me. I personally feel I am much more disciplined using a planner. Maybe I don't need 10 of them but I switch off depending on what colors I feel are going to make me happy for a while. 

I hope this little ramble will help you get a system that works for you. We are all not perfect but we strive to make our life easier and productive and when planners came into my life I am much more focused. This post will be on Mrsbrimbles blog so please visit her blog, check out her shop!

Happy Planning!

I wanted to share some really cute items from the March Brimbles box with you. I wasn't sure I would love the space theme because I just don't have small children around or anything but I have to say it was one of my absolutely favorites!! I LOVED these stickers and ephemera! I am sad I used all the stickers!!!

A planner full of red!

Today I am sharing my subscription box from Mrs. Brimbles. This is the November subscription box and it is full of goodies. I loved all the reds!! It was so vibrant this box. Several cute sticker sets and post cards that you can use to dress up your planner or laminate and make a cute dashboard.


I of course took one of the 12 x 12 papers and made a pocket folder for my A5 Kikki it is so easy to make these. I have showed several DIY's and if you own a cutting machine there are files out there you can purchase to make it even easier! I stuck the notepad in my pocket.

Epoxy dots and gingerbread men, reindeers and a cup of hot cocoa what more do you need! Loads of cute word stickers too.

 I love this cute felt paperclip. It went perfect in my pocket folder! And Hello! I love that polka dot washi tape!

 Here is a few pics of my spread for the first week of Dec. More to write in but I at least got a cute start!

I have the Mrs. Brimbles Advent Box that arrived. Oh my don't she know that I sneak peeks! Seriously all these cute little red and white packages to open each day of Dec. If you didn't get one this year remember to grab one next year because she does it every year so far and people love it! 

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my Brimbles November box! 

How to make a 4 pocket travelers folder

Travelers notebooks seem to be the rage lately or maybe I am just late to the par-tay. But I have purchased a few "sew-dori's" or whatever one might call them there are so many versions of Midori's out there. I unfortunately haven't used mine yet but I did get two really cute ones. I love owls so the one is owls and foxes and the other is one is based on my zombie obsession...yes it is a real obsession. So I will show you the two I have purchased and links to the Etsy seller.

But today I thought I would show you a quick tutorial on how to make a 4 pocket travelers folder. Mine is based on the regular size but you can easily modify the process for any size you own. You can also do modifications to add more pockets or slits there are so many possibilities but we are doing the 4 pocket today.

Here is a pic of the ones I did today. I used some of Mrs Brimbles awesome paper for the inside. I picked it for the inside because of the way you fold it the pattern would have been upside down on the inside pocket. While that may not bother you my OCD brain would not allow it. So for this you will need the following supplies/tools:

**A few of these items are optional. You can get by without them doing it the old fashion way

Paper trimmer
Score board
Glue stick
Corner rounder
Scissors
Circle punch
2 pieces of cardstock 12 x 12

Here are what the pockets will look like when finished

Lets get started!

The measurements for the 2 pieces are:

Base piece is 9.5 x 12

Inside pocket is 8 x 8.5 (go slightly under those measurements so it won't fit so tight.

Now I am going to share some pics from my happy planner spread using the September Brimbles Box. 

The stickers and stamps this month was so stinkin' cute! I love the autumn colors and the images were all Anna's creations which make them extra special. 

This charm is so pretty from Cloudy Clow

 You fox you!

Hope you enjoyed the DIY and the pics of my planner. Now don't you want to subscribe to the Brimbles box! Join us on facebook (click here)  also for loads of conversation, sneak peaks and pics of lovely Brimbles items. 

Debbie 

www.craftinchaos.com

Planner Sticker Organisation

I don't know about you but one of the biggest reasons my spreads are not as decorated as they could be is because my stickers are so disorganized. I pride myself in being a very organized person but running a Etsy shop, planning a wedding for our daughter has made my life a bit chaotic. I get a lot of stickers in the mail from various shops, subscription boxes etc and I also make some for myself so I feel like if I had it all organized I would sit down to plan and it would be effortless as far as finding the right stickers to use in my spread.

So after seeing so many people create a sticker book i decided to do the same for myself and even categorize it a bit. So I am sharing this on Mrs Brimbles blog today. Here are a few simple steps to make the process not so daunting.

Things you will need to get started:
Paper (I just used some cheap cardstock I knew I wouldn't use for much else)
Glue runner or glue stick
Disc or a ring bound planner
Hole punch depending on what style of book you are making
Paper trimmer

#1 compile all your stickers together. If you are like me some are here, some are there so get them all together.

#2 Sort them in some categories that you think would be helpful such as "decorative" "functional" or even just by shop. However you see the separation of one or the other helping you to maximize your planning experience. This of course is optional and since I had so many I opted for setting up mainly by shop.

#3 measure what would be the largest set you would be needing to fit on a page. Most of mine were relatively the same size so I made my pages a bit big to fit two sheets on a page.
I think mine is a bit bigger than I would do next time. My sheets were cut to 8 x 10

#4 Cut a stack of paper into the largest size needed for your biggest sticker set and then hole punch them all. I am planning on making one like a Happy Planner look so I am using the disc and therefore utilizing the happy planner punch but you can do the same with a ring bound book as well.

#5 Using an adhesive runner Put little adhesive on the backs of your sticker sheets and place on your cardstock you have prepared for your book.

#6 OPTIONAL: Create you some tabs for all your categories and sort the sticker pages you have created into the categories you deemed important to you. Start putting in your sheets. You can do this with a 3 ring binder, Happy Planner style disc etc.


Here is what mine looks like. As you can see you can also create a cute cover for your book and now you can easily carry it around with you as you are planning making it so much easier to use those stickers instead of collecting the stickers! Now have fun making your own book!

So get busy and make yourself a sticker book, make your life easier when you sit down to plan. Show us your sticker books!!!

Here is one of my past spread. I need to do a new one with this months goodies. I will share a pic of them as well.

This months goodies in the planner box:

Cute Pencil bag and love that charm and washi

Close up of the charm

Love these stickers from Sea Salt & Anna's own designs. That bee and that adorable girl is just so cute! Flair to match too!


Head over to pic up extra's that may be left from the box click here >>>Mrs Brimbles Shop

Functional Planner Dividers

Debbie here from Craftin' Chaos. I have not always been a "planner girl" in the sense that I am now. I have always utilized a planner both paper and digital but I never had the fever I have now for planners. I still am a newbie honestly, so I am still continuing to learn what works for me.

One thing I can share that has changed for me is that I made myself dividers for things I found myself needing to track or keep record of and that has profoundly changed my life because now I actually utilize my planner so much more than I ever did.

I have my own Etsy shop so I am constantly writing things on anything I can find on my desk so now I have a designated place to keep all that information! I also created a section for my blog and design team posts, monthly, menu planning, To do, Supplies. These are all categories that I felt I could use help organizing and keeping all things contained to one easy to use spot. Each year I find myself learning more and more about ways to keep myself organized with my shop and all the things going on in my life.

I am very OCD and I have always been an organized person even before I got into planners because it is just my personality. I arrive 10-15 minutes min early to any appointment, I ran my own company and I had a lot of balls in the air so I had to stay on top of a lot of things.

I would say I am an over achiever and pressure myself to get any and all things done that I can. I hate to say no to people so therefore my schedule gets hectic all the time but I seriously love my life being that way because it makes me feel much more alive. Yes things get stressful but I thrive on things being chaotic in a sense.

So if I had to give a new planner any advice it would be to make the planner work for you and set it up to where you will actually utilize it in the best possible way. For me I was not doing that until now. I have learned a lot from all my planner friends and I hope that by sharing tips when I can you can see how it can make things run smoother for you. Here is a pic of my planner and my dividers. Here are some photos of my dividers.

Now to share some goodies with you from Brimbles Stationary Box

I plan to use these cute little folders for pocket letters and let me tell you these washi's I am in love with the arrows!!

Anna's original artwork is always a bonus with the kits. I save all these cards to put in my planners. Such a cute pen and pretty button flairs you can make refrigerator magnets or paperclips with!

Thanks for stopping by!