How I got started with Planners / My first EVER planners!!

I'm often asked about when I bought my first planner or how I got into planning and planners. I have talked about this in many videos and blog posts but I thought I would go a bit more in depth about it with you today.


So I have school to thank for my love affair with planners and for starting me on my planning journey. Whilst I hated school, I loved my planner and to me it was just another way of keeping this little crazy head of mine on track, focussed (a little) and a form of creative outlet for me (although the teachers hated that part!).

In secondary school we had three terms a year: Autumn, Spring and Summer. Each term we were given a thin little paper journal by the school, free of charge to help us with our studies etc.

I used to doodle on the outside and on the inside, adding my own little marks, splashes of colour and anything that I wanted. This was a time, of the free, the time when I really didn't care what anyone thought of my art, I just wanted to use colour and use it I did. Anything went and it was a freedom of my expression. 

I used to add stickers (please forgive the 90210 ones there lol!) and random rubbish. Oh and tons of graffiti from both myself and my friends. We used to destroy each others but I am glad we did as they are lasting momentos from my school years.

My teachers were forever moaning about how my planner looked, it is no wonder that they didn't crush and stifle my artistic tendancies forever! I had to cover my journals with wrapping paper or posters and then when I wrote all over them I did it again and again. I think I was always covering my books!

On the inside the planner was really useful. We had space for our timetable so we knew what classes we had as well as a list of period and break times.

 In the centre of the planner was a yearly calendar. I have never really used one so I guess somethings never change. I just used to use mine for seeing how long it was until the next school holiday, marking the days off as I went like you would for a prison sentence. Oh I threw in the odd birthday too!

The main thing that the planner was used for was really useful, if I take the time now as an adult to think about it. We had a section for keeping tack of our attendance, a section for notes and reminders, to dos and the like. There was a section for parents to write letters to the school and for the school to comment to your parents on how you were getting on. They used to make us hand our books in all the time for signing and insisted that your parents signed your book every week. What a drag man! Luckily I don't think my parents were that bothered about the state of it, either that or I used to fold it over so they couldn't see what it looked like. On the right hand side we tracked what homework we had to do and when it was due in. As you can see I have always found it therapeutic to cross things off when they were done. Done and gone. Again this is something I was regularly told off for as apparantly teachers should be able to read it. Go figure!

So there we are, that is how I got into the World of planners and a rather cringeworthy look into some of my first ever planners. Oh by the way in case you were wondering, these planners are from 1993 - 1995. Eeeeek!!! I hope you enjoyed - I am off to go stop blushing now!

How I use Multiple Planners

I am a planner addict. I will very openly put my hands up and admit that I like planners and so it stands to reason that I would have more than just one. I mainly have planners that are the Filofax brand BUT that is only because Websters Pages Color Crush are new and new to me. I have had some of my planners for quite a while now.  I am delighted by my Color Crush additions to my planner family and couldn’t be happier with them.  I also have a Paperchase planner and a couple of Fauxdori's.

One of the most frequently asked questions from people new to the planning community or for people who have one or two planners is ‘Do you use all those planners and how?”. The very short answer to that is no, I couldn’t possible use all of my planners at the same time. I would need a separate planner just to plan in when I was going to use my planners and that would just be crazy even for me!

So if I don’t use them all, why do I have them? OK so there is a couple of reasons, firstly my friends and family know that I like planners so buy them for me as gifts for my birthday and Christmas etc and to be perfectly honest that is how I have gotten most of my planners. Secondly I like to buy them and I use them as an accessory. There I have said it. Please don't judge me! I am not really into handbags and I only have two! One is a cross body daily and the other a posh hand held one for when such an occasion arises. I buy planners and change in and out of them like other people would with handbags. I just like to change colour or design with my mood, season or how I fancy decorating that week / month.

For me my planner is a planning tool. I Use them for, well, planning. Anything that is coming up and needs to be sorted or needs to get done. That for me is the difference between a journal and a planner. The way I see it or the way it works for my life, a journal and a planner are two separate things. I use a journal for recording what has happened in my day, thoughts, feelings, memories, that kind of thing and I use a planner for tracking appointments and to do lists. That is how it is currently working for me. Again there is a big BUT…one of the things I love about the Websters Pages Color Crush planners is that there are some great inserts to use as prompts for recording like you would in a journal. I am not currently using them in this way though. As you probably already know I also have the Large Florabunda planner from Ban.do on my shelf ready to use when August finally rolls around.

As for the planners I currently have and use this is how it works for me:

• Personal size – My daily everything. In that houses my calendar / diary sections, to do lists, blog planning and everything I need to plan for or jot ideas down for.Persoanl size – an old planner that I am not keen on houses my inserts that  I have taken out of my daily, that is the weeks that have passed that I no longer need to have with me

• Personal size – A red planner for keeping everything to do with Christmas planning. This only really comes out from October onwards and houses everything to do with Christmas cards, gifts, travel, house guests, meal planning etc. Check out my Christmas planning series here.

• A5 size – For all the information pertaining to my online retail business such as furture planning, potential stock ideas and supplier information.

• A5 size – which I fondly refer to as my ‘fluffyfax’ this has information pertaining to my three bunnies and two guinea pigs such as their nail trim logs, vaccination records, health records and care notes for when we are on holiday. Check out the FluffyFax here.

• A5 size – working as a home management binder where I record things like which room we painted, when and in what colour paint etc.

 

Only my personal daily which just so happens to be a Color Crush planner at the moment is the one that I look in, well errrrm, daily! This planner goes around the house with me. It sits open next to me on my desk so I can glance at it when I am working. It comes down stairs and sits on my breakfast bar in my kitchen and if I feel like having a cup of tea and a planning session then it comes into the lounge or family room with me too. Of course when I am out and about my daily planner comes too.  I have my schedule with me if I am at the doctors surgery and need to make a follow up appointment, the to do list is there if I am out in town and suddenly remember something I need to do and my notes and ideas are there if I am out having a herbal tea (not coffee he he!) and want to do a little brain dumping. Everything is all in the one place which is what I like.

My motto definitely is ‘your planner only works for you if you actually use it’. What I mean is you have to write in it and you have to refer to it. If you do that you have no excuse for missing things that you needed to get done.  All of my other planners that you could say I am currently using (the ones above) only actually get used when I need to do something in them so it makes sense for me to have them separate.  It makes no sense carrying things around with me that just don’t serve a purpose.

How I am using the monthly pages...

If you have been following me for a while you will know that I don't actually use monthly spreads. I just don't feel in my life that I need to see a monthly spread. I know many of you find it a must have and would be lost without it but for me I just don't need to see everything at a glance. OK so fast forward to receiving the Color Crush planner...the kit comes with lovely monthly pages. Now I was intrigued and you know me, I love trying out new planning ways and methods so I thought I would give them a little road test.


I am using my monthly spread for scheduling and tacking blog posts and YouTube videos. As you can see I am not using it for my personal life and if I am perfectly honest I can't actually see a need for that purpose any time soon. Never say never though as life is constantly evolving and you never know, I may do lol!

At the moment they are working really well for me. I am using the quick list down the side for jotting ideas down in pencil and then I move them over to the day space when I schedule the video in. I tend to write in pencil mainly as then things can be moved around but I will also write in pen when I know that something is a definite.

Decoration wise I have not decorated in advance, I have just decorated as I have gone. Whenever there was a gap and I had some stickers or washi tape around I just whacked it on the page. The result is something that I love!

Products used for March:
Stickers - From my online shop
Washi Tape - Plain pink is scotch tape. Striped from Websters Pages, Sprinkle tape from Hey Charlie Shop on Etsy, White with black dots from my online shop, black with flowers from my online shop.
PL card: These are the days collection (March) from Websters Pages

Products used for April:
Stickers - were from the April Brimbles Box but have now all sold out
Washi Tape - was received in a swap

Products used for May:
Stickers - From my online shop
Washi Tape - From my online shop

I can't show you the actual spread for May because I haven't done anything with it so no eye candy to look at!

I would love to know if you use a monthly spread and what you use it for because I am intrigued. I don't have any bills that I need to track because everything just comes out of the bank on a direct debit or standing order. Please do let me know because I am nosey and if you fancy sharing a picture or two with me I would love to see those as well. I would just like to know what I am missing out on and why people use them. For me I just can't get my head around a use for them so now I am using them for blog planning I am glad that they are not going to waste!

Pocket Letters meet Planners (keeping photos and memories in your planner)

As you know I have been really into my pocket letters of late. I made a pocket letter over the weekend and happend to break one of the pockets and at first I thought 'well that is a waste' and then my brain started ticking over, the cogs started to whirr... and then I had a 'eureka' moment. I decided to cut it down to one and a bit pockets to add to my planner and so I have two nice little pockets that I can add photos and other bits and bobs to for the purposes of eye candy, that or I can tuck receipts or tickets into it for filing away or journalling about later.

So if you have spare or broken pockets laying around you now have another use for them! Of course you can do the same sort of thing with the business card inserts that Filofax sell but I actually like these because the sections are bigger meaning you can either put more in or you can put something in that is bigger. Does that make sense? It does in my head! I also like the way it feels in my hand. I am a very tactile person and I love to touch things all the time. The business card slots are very often quite rigid thick plastic, very durable and perfect for keeping cards secure etc but I like that this is just a bit floppy he he!

It kind of reminds me of keeping photos in your purse / wallet. Do you remember the photo booths at Woolworths where you used to go with your mates or your boyfriend and get a strip done to put in your purse? The photo that I have in my pocket at the moment is an instax and it fits absolutely perfectly!

Products shown:

• Planner and inserts / dividers shown are from Websters Pages, this is the White Color Crush Planner. 
• Pockets are baseball trading card sleeves which are widely available on Ebay and Amazon.
• Arrow paper clip is from Websters Pages
• Ephemera shown is from my own stash but I do also sell these in my shop. I sell these because I love them so!

The FluffyFax - Set up tour of my pet health care tracking planner

Welcome to the FluffyFax show and tell he he! OK so I call it a Fluffyfax because it houses all of the information regading my fluffies health and wellbeing. When I say fluffies I actually mean my three bunny rabbits and my two guinea pigs. And it is actually the A5 Filofax Domino in patent turqoise which I have shown you before.

I have always documented and tracked various things for my fluffies. It started out as just a section in my daily planner (A5 and then Personal size), then it moved into a personal size all of it's own and now we are on A5. I decided to make the move from personal to A5 because the two vets that I take my girls too either give / send their invoices and information in A5 or A4 size. I wanted to start keeping some of these so it made sense to upgrade them to an A5 size. Prior to the Dominos I had two A5's, one being used as a home management binder and the other as a journal so it was a nice excuse to ask for a Domino for my birthday!

Let me take you through the planner so that I can show you what I have in here and why.


Of course as we are going to be using something so beautiful as the turqoise we may as well put some other beautifulness in and of course I think my girls are beautiful so expect to see some photos of them in the following pages. My little bragging book he he!In the secreterial pocket I have some of the spare inserts that I am using in the planner. The dashboard actually serves no purpose other than for prettiness. I just love Belle and Boo products as you well know particularly as Boo looks so much like my little Florence Tinkerbell. Aesthetically my planner is quite bunny heavy and that is because I have yet to find anything really with guinea pigs on so if you do, please point me in that direction and I will love you forever!

In the first divider I have general informaion pertaining to all of them so I have details on the vets that we use and who goes where. The two new additions go to a different vet than the others because they had a bundle deal on microchipping, vaccines and health checks. A tad confusing but then that is what a planner is for, to keep me in check.

When we go on hoiday, Jon's parents usually come and stay at the house to look after the girls, they like staying and call it a mini break, they live in the town and although we are not a million miles away from each other they like to come out to the Country! The folks are quite well versed in the fluffy care but I do like to leave them with notes just so that they can refresh their memory if they forget something. I detail when to food and bedding etc and I always like to leave them with vets details. The beauty with the fluffyfax is that it is altogether all of the time so I don't have to write it down each time, I can just leave the fax out on the side when we go.

Nutrition is very important to them as it is us but for bunnies and piggies there are lots of foods that they can't eat and some that should only be fed in moderation. My girls do have their favourites so I pretty much know what to give them but every now and then we may have something new in and I wonder if they can eat it, well I have it here printed out for quick reference and saves me going online all the time. I use the PDSA to obtain my information as it is supported by my vets. Please note that this is a guide to help you out and I cannot be held responsible for any of the accuracy of the information that it contains. Please ensure that you do your own research or you check with your veterinary surgeon that food you are giving to your animal is safe. OK that was my little disclaimer!

I also keep the information of where I have purchased snuggle items so I can refer back to them.

Moving on then to the other dividers. Each divider has a photo of the fluffy that it refers to so that I know who is whos section, that and it is an excuse to have another photo of my girls! This Mumma does love her girlies. In my old fluffyfax I had names on the dividers and laminated over them but I am doing it this way so that I can change sequences if I need to / want to (not because I am expecting a fluffy to depart us anytime soon - "touch wood")

Each of the sections contains a sheet with further information about each fluffy. As our girls were adopted there are some gaps as we don't know everything.

I keep a log of their nail trims so I can work out when their last one was and when to book the next, they usually go around the three month mark. I also like to keep check of their vaccinations.

I find keeping a health log really useful. It is useful for us so that we can see changes and improvements and monitor conditions and we can also see when it was things occurred. There are always times when we can say "when was that". Again if we are going away, this is useful information for people to have in case there are flare ups or if care giving is still needed.

And that is pretty much that. It keeps us well organised so we know what is what and it is working really well for us. Do you track your pets health and welfare? I would love to know and I would love to know if you have any suggestions on things I should be doing. I have had bunnies and piggies all my life but there are still things that can be learnt.

This is not a selling post, I am literally just doing a show and tell of my set up and hopefully inspire you to track your pets health if you don't already but if you were interested in any of the inserts / dashboards I do sell these in my Etsy shop.

I hope this has been a useful and interesting read and I will catch up with you all soon x

How I Plan!

I thought I would share with you today how I plan.

I get asked quite a lot about my decorated pages too, whether I do decorate (from YouTube subscribers) and also a lot of you wonder because when I do show my decorated pages they are blank with no information on them. Some of you thought that I just do this for blog purposes and that they are mock up pages. Nope. I can assure you that I do use them I just transfer the information on to them once they are decorated.

So todays post is pretty much video only because it is much easier to 'talk' you through the process!




As you know I have been decorating lots of late. I never used to be a massive decorator. I have added the video I did a year or so ago which talks more about decorating from my point of view back then. Some of you may be new to the blog and may not have seen this. It is actually really interesting I think to go back in time and see how you have changed and developed!

Thinking of starting a blog? Blog Post & Video Planning & Scheduling

I often get emails from people who are looking to start up their own blog or YouTube cannel but haven't got a clue where to start. I try and help the best that I can but I am not a blogging guru, I just plod along and adapt as I go and just hope that I am doing the right thing. I just decided to start blogging one day, I picked a platfrom (blogger) and just started writing blog posts and my YouTube channel came some time after that (I did delete some of my first blog posts as they were just too cringey!). For me the blog and YouTube channel never was and still isn't about how many subscribers or readers I have. I started it from a place of passion about what I love and just wanted to share that. Basically what I am saying is that I have no idea whether what I am doing is right or wrong but it seems right for me. I can tell you about my experiences, what works for me and how I plan for posts but ultimately you need to find a way / system that works for you! There is lots of information out there and I find Pinterest particuarly good if you search for information on how to blog. There is a board I follow here which might help.

So today I am sharing with you how I plan for and schedule in my Blog posts and YouTube videos...


I also did a video on this last year but the way that I do this has now changed. I have a much better idea of how and why I do things now which is something that comes with experience and something that you will develop along your own blogging journey. I am also using a personal size planner as my daily go to rather than my A5 so that has also impacted on how I schedule. I no longer want that information in my daily diary section. Anyways check out my previous video if you have not already seen it as that will give you another way to plan and this way might work better for you than my new way. But ultimately as I said before you need to find the way that best works for you.



I have a download again for you this week that might help you get started, if nothing else it will help you whilst you establish how you want to plan things in. 

Download
This week's download contains the pages as show in the video. The inserts are available to download as both personal size and A5. You will need software that can 'unzip' the folder to release the files as both pdf and jpeg.  To download the files please click here. Please note that the inserts that I am offering as freebies are different to the ones that I sell, so if you have already purchased a set of my inserts these are in addition for you. If you haven't purchased any of my inserts and would like to or just have a nose at them you can view them in my Etsy shop here. Please note: These inserts are entirely free and a gift from me and only the inserts provided are free, I say this because I know some people might prefer one of the other designs that I offer but it is only the ones in the freebie set on offer at this time. These inserts are for your own personal use only and are not for resale as either printables or hard copy. Thank you.

So was starting a blog or YouTube channel on your goal list for this year? I have thoroughly enjoyed my blogging journey and do reccommend it and I hope this has inspired you and given that little push for you to do so.

Shaping Your Year / Goal Setting

I am a massive believer in that we can do anything that we want to do in this life, we just have to work out what it is exactly that we want to do and then plan for it. Sometimes those dreams need saving for, sometimes they need a training schedule put into place. Everything is achievable if we set that goal / intention and work towards it.

Along with most people in the World, I like to start the New Year with setting myself goals to work towards that you and I also like to look a bit at the wider picture and set myself some areas to work towards in years to come too. I am very fortunate to say that one of my 'longer term' goals that I set for myself a few years ago came true at the end of 2014 and that was to be on a creative design team. To some it may seem trivial, to me it means the everything.

We are all unique individuals and our hopes, dreams, aspirations and goals reflect that too. Never let anyone tell you that your dream is stupid or that you will never do it, you just don't need that sort of negativity and discouragement in your life! No matter what your situation or what walk of life you have come from, you can achieve what you want to do. So you've always dreamed of going to Disney Land, well let's work towards that. "I can't / will never be able to afford it" you say, well that is just a negative block that is standing in your way. Save for it! Plan to save for it! You will get there, even if you just put £1 a week in a savings jar, it will add up and you will be working towards your dream.

If we are looking at wider, longer term goals or goals that may seem to big like saving for Disney Land try to chunk them down into bitesize pieces to help you stay on track and motivated. Don't think I need to save £5K for a two week holiday for Florida, think I am going to save £20 this month. It makes it a lot easier and you start to feel great about your accomplishment which makes you work harder to complete your goal. You will probably find that you de-clutter the house looking for things to put on ebay or you stop buying that coffee on the way to work, that £1 lottery ticket that you never get a return on...money will be found from somewhere!

This time last year I talked about goal setting so you might want to go and check that post out. There are free inserts that coincide with that and I talked quite a bit about chunking your goals down into manageable pieces so you might find that just as useful or more useful than todays post. It all depends on you and how you like to work, remember everyone is different and you just have to find what works best for you. Only You!

Of course we don't just have to set goals for ourselves at New Year. We can set goals whenever we like but most people like the idea of a New Fresh Faced Year to kick them up the butt but remember every Monday marks a fresh new week. What I am trying to say is if you feel like you have fallen off the wagon just pick yourself up, dust yourself off and catch a lift on the next wagon that comes through the village on Monday! Never feel guilty as that can lead to a downward spiral. So you had that chocolate bar which took you off of your healthy eating plan, so what it is not the end of the World, don't eat another one with the mentality of "well that was the diet ruined I might as well have another". Don't do that to yourself, just mark it off as a treat and carry on. From years of experience with dieting it is always full of guilt and deprivation and it is not mentally healthy - it's all in moderation thrown in with some exercise.

So let's take a look at my approach for this year and my intentions...

I don't normally set a 'word for the year' but I have seen so many people do this and it is also a recurring theme in many online art and journal courses, I know it is in Life Book 2015 which I am taking again this year. This word setting seems to help a lot of people so I thought that I would give it a go too. The word that I have come up with for myself for 2015 is CONFIDENT. I also decided to set myself a motivational quote for the year and the quote I have chosen is: "If not now then when?"

You may be wondering why I have come up with both of those, well the word of the year I go into more depth about in my video and the quote is actually targeted at an area of my life that I am not comfortable in sharing, I still have some issues to over come in that area. I will probably share one day when I am ready as it will probably help others but for now it is just for me. I decided to create an insert for journalling about the meaning behind the word and quote so that it all ties together and has more weight and meaning. I am hoping that having the meaning to look back on will help me to remember why I set myself that in the first place and further motivate me to succeed.

So why do I set goals for myself? Well quite simply because I find that if I don't, the World could quite happily go on around me and before I know it we are counting down to midnight on the cusp of 2016. We all have lives that we are chugging away at and it is very easy to get caught up in the cycle of getting up, going to work, coming home and cooking, watching TV, bed, getting up, going to work...see what I mean? We can get stuck in that cycle. Obviously we need that to some extent to make a living but we can also break that and get out there and do things and that is what I intend to do. I want to work out what it is I want to do this year, what do I want to accomplish and give myself a pat on the back for come next New Years Eve? Where do I want to go this year? What do I want to do? I want to set these intentions and plan for them so that I actually DO THEM!

So coupled with that I have my list of what I am going to do so that I can all tie it in and work it into my life.

I hope that has helped you to see how I am doing it this year and to know what my intentions are. If you haven't watched the video please do so as it is more indepth and detailed than this post.

Download
This week's download contains the pages as show in the video. The inserts are available to download as both personal size and A5. You will need software that can 'unzip' the folder to release the files as both pdf and jpeg.  To download the files please click here. Remember to check out last year here. Please note that the inserts that I am offering as freebies are different to the ones that I sell, so if you have already purchased a set of my inserts these are in addition for you. If you haven't purchased any of my inserts and would like to or just have a nose at them you can view them in my Etsy shop here. Please note: These inserts are entirely free and a gift from me and only the inserts provided are free, I say this because I know some people might prefer one of the other designs that I offer but it is only the ones in the freebie set on offer at this time. These inserts are for your own personal use only and are not for resale as either printables or hard copy. Thank you.

Remember your planner will only work for you and help keep you organised and on track if you actually use it - review regularly!

My Personal Filofax Set Up / Tour

Today I am sharing my personal size current Filofax set up with you. This has been looooong over due for which I apologise. I have been asked a lot but firstly I put off sharing as I was jiggling things around until I was happy with it and then just as I was about to share, along came the most recent Filofax Blogger Challenge so that took it's place. Anyway here it is, here is my set up...

Ah the Malden, oh how I love thee...

I was using my Pocket Saffiano as a purse / wallet if you recall but unfortunately I broke it beyond repair. As the Malden has so many pockets I thought I would just use it as a purse too. The zip pocket at the bottom hold coins, then the card pockets house my cards and then the long pocket at the back has my notes in.

I always use a dashboard and I usually keep my sticky notes on the reverse so that I don't hide my design away - I like to look at my dashboards. Behind that I have a card holder insert. I have taken then cards out for confidentiality reasons but they are some of my lesser used cards. I also keep a photo of Mr B in there with his works business card behind it.

Next up I have an 'About Me' page with emergency contact information and details of medication that I am allergic to...just in case!

Because I change inserts a lot with my mood / depending on how I want it to be decorated, I am paranoid about forgetting key dates so I have a master list which sits at the very front. This is printed out onto a nice thickish scrapbook paper so it is more durable and because it lasts a while I want it to look nice on the other side too!

Next up is my diary section... the inserts used are from my Etsy shop.

I like to keep to do's, lists of ideas and my blog and YouTube planning all together. I never know when some inspiration or an idea may strike so I like to make sure that I can jot it all down. Once it has been done I get rid of it which I know always shocks people. Once it is done with out it goes!

If I have a pretty pad and it is too big, I just trim it down to size!

I will talk about my blog planning process in another blog post.

Next section along is my personal to dos and home stuff. I am useless at remembering to do housework so I have a housework task sheet. This really helps me to look at what needs doing and when I last did something. To some this may seem really anal but it is the only way our house gets cleaned!

Behind that I have my task lists and Mr B also has a running task list there for things he wants to and needs to get done. He knows it is there so just goes to find it when he needs to.

Then I have notepaper. I don't like to not have any as I have said, you never know when you are going to jot an idea down!

Right at the very back I have a section for my penpals. The inserts that I use for this are from Just Keep Pinning over on Etsy. They are cute and very useful indeed.

I really hope that you have enjoyed a look into my lifeline :D

Planning for Christmas - Food & House Guests - Filofax Friday

So we are hopefully really rocking and rolling now with our Christmas planning, I am certainly getting there and feeling so much better for it. I am starting to feel really smug knowing that I have everything all under control. Well at least I think I do lol!

I was unsure as to what order to share my Christmas planning with you as for me a lot of it goes hand in hand in that I plan for various things for Christmas alongside each other yet they did need breaking down into weeks for the purposes of video and blog posts.

This week I wanted to look at planning for the food and also for house guests.

Food for me plays a major part in Christmas, it is a time when I get together with family and friends and indulge in one too many mince pies. I probably buy way too much food along with everyone else in the Country but that is part of the fun in Christmas. What would Christmas night be without the Christmas episode of The Good Life and a box of sweets, for me nothing that is what!

I like to plan what we are eating for Christmas fairly early so that I can start shopping. Christmas as we all know can be rather costly and I like to spread the cost a bit by getting one or two items with long shelf lives everytime I do my food shop from the end of September. I like to do this not only to spread the cost but also to make sure that I have got everything that I really want to. Some items do sell out and fast and I don't want to run the risk of not getting those items by leaving it to the last minute. I also find that nothing gets forgotten this way in the mad supermarket dash! I know the shops are only shut for a couple of days but once Christmas Eve rolls around, I have no intention of taking my slippers off...I just want to huddle inside and relax and not have to worry or care about going to the shops.

So what I do is meal plan what we will be eating over the festive period, obviously this is not set in stone, I am not that rigid with my planning but it is the basis. The we creatures of tradition in my family and what we eat on Christmas day rarely changes. For this reason I print out my menu on to a nice piece of scrapbooking paper so it is thicker and more durable and has a pretty design on the back. This will then last me for many years to come!

Once I have my meal plan I then translate this into a shopping list which I can work from over the coming months. Every time I buy something I just tick it off the list and this means that hopefully come Christmas I will just need to buy my fresh produce. I already have things like the cranberry sauce and stuffing in a special dedicated box in my pantry. I keep it in there seperate so we are not tempted to use / eat anything, especially the treats I buy!

Christmas baking has been a tradition ingrained in me by my Mum. I remember many Decembers sitting in a dark room with just the Christmas twinkle lights on watching the delights that are Delia Smith's Christmas and Fanny Cradock's Christmas. I love them so much, they just remind me of childhood Christmases and what Christmas is all about, pre ipads and other gadgets, you know, a good 'ole wholesome family Chrsitmas. If you don't know what the heck I am going on about, I have embedded two videos below for you...let me know if you watch them and what you think!






Aren't they just delightful, retro, non-fussy and terribly British...I love it!

I like to try new things and I very much enjoy a good Christmas baking session so this year I am making a note of all the recipes that I would like to try!

In the above photos, I mucked up my cutting and consequently my hole punching which is why it is off but I didn't want to waste ink and paper to print new ones off - yours will be fine, there is nothing wrong with the margins ; )

Also if you like the look of the stickers they are available to purchase in my Etsy shop here.

As I explained in my video at the top of this blog post, we have no idea if we have house guests this year or if we are going visiting, it is all a big nuts this year! Anyway there is a potential that we may have some of our friends up. This is quite a big deal for us as we live in a quiet family of just Mr B and I along with the fur babies and our friends are a loud family of 6! I need to have a think about where everyone is going to sleep and just think about things like bedding and towels, you know just to make sure that everyone is sorted!

Download
This week's download contains the pages as shown in the video as both personal size and A5. You will need software that can 'unzip' the folder to release the files as both pdf and jpeg.  To download the files for week 4 please click here. Please note that the inserts that I am offering as freebies as part of this series are different to the ones that I sell, so if you have already purchased a set of my inserts these are in addition for you. If you haven't purchased any of my inserts and would like to or just have a nose at them you can view them in my Etsy shop here. Please note: These inserts are entirely free and a gift from me and only the inserts provided are free, I say this because I know some people might prefer one of the other designs that I offer but it is only the ones in the freebie set on offer at this time.

Next Week
Well next week will be my very last Christmas in October post which kind of makes me feel a little sad! I will of course be continuing to plan for my Christmas. Next week I will be sharing about gifts giving and receiving but if there is anything you would like me to cover then please do let me know and I will try and incorporate that for you.

Giveaway
I am so pleased to have what I think is an awesome giveaway to go along with this series and I hope you will agree. The giveaway is brought to you by myself and the lovey Charlotte. Please do thank Charlotte for her kind generosity by visiting her:

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CharlottesWeb86
Blog: http://therobinsnest86.weebly.com/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/handmadebycharlottevictoria

Charlotte has only recently started her blog but you will not be dissapointed, she has some lovely images and planner lovliness so please do go and have a look.

So what can you win....some lovely things that is what my dears! I have three prizes for you... the first prize is everything that you see in the photo below which is.... from me: a brand spanking new red original Filofax which retails for £60.00 on the Filofax website, Christmas sticker sheet, candy cane planner charm, washi sample card and your choice of Christmas printable inserts from my shop. From Charlotte: a Christmas fly leaf, dashboard, set of dividers and pen. Everything that you need to plan your Christmas this year and every year after!

The second prize is everything you see below...from me: a Christmas dashboard, washi sample card, sticker sheet, Christmas tree planner charm and your choice of Christmas printable inserts from my shop. From Charlotte: a set of beautiful Christmas dividers.

And last but not least the third prize is your choice of Christmas printable inserts from my shop.

You want to enter? 
If you would like to enter the giveaway to win the Filofax shown above please use the rafflecopter widget below.  To enter you will be asked to follow both mine and Charlotte's Etsy shop which is mandatory to receive your entry (this is just as a thank you for hosting the giveaway but you are not expected to make a purchase!). All other 'follow' options are optional so don't worry if you don't have those accounts, it just gives you extra chances to win.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
By submitting an entry to this giveaway you agree to the following Terms & Conditions:

• Open internationally
• You must be over eighteen years of age or have parental / guardian permission.
• I will package the item(s) and will send in good faith but I cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage to the item in transit.
• The prizes stated above are the only prizes - no alternative colours, no cash alternative.
• The inserts are digital for you to print at home and will not be supplied printed.
• Three winners will be chosen at random and notified by email. Winners will be announced on this page after the closing date.
• If the winner(s) do not respond to my email within 48 hours a new winner(s) will be chosen.
• Your email address will be added to my newsletter database - I will not sell this to anyone else nor will I constantly be spamming you and you can unsubscribe at any time!