Rose Blossom Blog Hop: Blessed in Planning

Hi All! Welcome to the Rose Blossom Blog Hop featuring Close To My Heart's September Stamp Of The Month: Blessed Beyond Measure. If you're just hopping in from the incredible Shelly Nemitz's blog, Just One Pretty Piece, you're in the right place. If you're starting with me, you can find a list of participants at the end of this post. Now on with the show....

I don't know about you, but I am SO ready for autumn--pumpkins, apple picking, crisp mornings, and gorgeously colorful trees. Close To My Heart has captured the season beautifully in this month's Stamp Of The Month set:

The sentiment about gratitude is one of my all-time favorites, and I could use frequent reminders of it's truth, so I decided that I would use this month's SOTM in my planner. Let's take a look:

I've been a planner girl since at least age 10. My first planner had a teddy bear on it and was purchased at Skaggs in my hometown (or maybe it was Ben Franklin....), and so began my quest for the perfect planner system. About 10 years ago I despaired of every finding said system and began creating my own. This year I decided to change things up just a bit and combine my love of notebooks, the midori system, and planning. So I created a monthly planner in mini notebooks by Field Notes. My favorites are either Square or Dot grid. The one shown here has a cherry wood cover. Here's a look at some close-ups and the back cover:

Now let's take a look at the inside:

This is also one of my all-time favorite sentiments. I added it to a 3x4 card from the brand spankin' new Swan Lake Paper Packet by Close To My Heart. It is a gorgeous fall collection I know you'll enjoy. Here's a couple of close ups:

And here's a look at my monthly spread.

To keep the ink from bleeding through the pages, I used second generation stamping for the pumpkin, and the sentiments. (I use washi tape to block out travel and event dates.) Here's a look at the stamping:

On to the weekly:

My weekly spread is really why I create my own planner every year. It allows me to track my day in detail as well as my husband's and kids' schedules. (I somehow missed a dividing line between Friday and Saturday in their schedules. I corrected that later.)

I created bookmarks for my pages using CTMH Poppy Thick Twine and strands from the Jute ribbon.(I also used these on the notecard I made for the opening page.

Finally, here's a look at my daily spread. The dates were created using CTMH Capture This stamp set and the other items are from CTMH Plan On It! and Simon Says Stamp Plan On It, as well as the retired Dated Stamp Set (also by Close To My Heart). As you can see, I keep it pretty open so I can jot down what I need to during the day. (Haven't filled out my to-do list yet. It's a long one!) The heart and cups are used to track my daily exercise and water in take.

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed a peek in my planner! Now hop on over and see what the amazing Morgan Vogt has for your inspiration at Tweetscraps. 

And here is a list of participants as promised:

Brenda

Lynn

Marg

Shelly

Kim {that's ME}

Morgan

Kristine

Kelly

Have a wonderfully creative week!

CTMH Blessed Beyond Measure (Sept. 16 SOTM)	CTMH Capture This Stamp Set	CTMH Plan On It! Stamp Set	Simon Says Stamp Plan On It Stamp Set
CTMH Swan Lake Paper Packet	CTMH Cranberry Exclusive Ink	CTMH Poppy Exclusive Ink	CTMH Saffron Exclusive Ink
CTMH Goldrush Exclusive Ink	CTMH Fern Exclusive Ink	CTMH Peacock Exclusive Ink	CTMH Chocolate Exclusive Ink
CTMH Poppy Thick Twine	CTMH Rustic Home Ribbon Pack	CTMH Boardwalk Washi Tape Pack	CTMH Carnival Washi Tape Pack
CTMH Gold Glitter Paper	Tim Holtz Calendar Words Script Dies (Sizzix)	Tim Holtz Mini Paper Clips (Idea-ology	Field Notes Cherry Graph Notebooks
InkJoy Ballpoint Pens (PaperMate)

InLinkz.com

A Peek in My Dori (part 2): Sticking with The (Blog) Plan

Hi All! Yesterday, I showed you my beautiful Quiltdori from Rachel McGough at Handmade U. (You can see more photos of the cover here.) Today I wanted to show you two things: 1) a simple hack that allows you to get more notebooks into any dori cover, and 2) how I'm using these Field Notes notebooks as a blog planner. So let's get started.

Each Field Notes notebook is made up of 48 pages, so I decided to use one per month to plan out my blog. I wanted to carry 3 months with me at any given time, but my Quiltdori has 2 elastics. So what to do.... I turned (as any self-respecting DIY-er would) to YouTube. As it turns out, this is a common problem that is solved by a super easy hack.

Step One: slide one of the notebooks onto one of the elastics as you normally would. Step Two: grab a rubber band.

Step Three: Open two notebooks to their center seams and hold them together front to back. Step Four: Slide the rubber band over the back half of one notebook and front half of the other. In the picture above, you can see how it looks when the notebooks are closed. Below is a close-up of what it looks like from the top.

Finally, Step Five: slide the notebooks under the elastic, letting the elastic sit between the notebooks and over the rubber band. (See the photos above and below.)

And there you go. Three notebooks in a dori built for two.  So now I have blog planners for December, January, and February with me. Perfect!

So now let's take a look at how I set the planner up. 

This is basically a modified bullet journaling system. I began with my index on page one.

Then I did a two page spread for my monthly calendar. It's pretty generic right now because I haven't taken the time to spruce it up.

Next, I added two-page weekly spreads. I only included Monday through Friday because I'm not sure if I'll be blogging on the weekends. I might add a slot for Saturday going forward, but we'll see.

After my weekly spreads, I added a page per day for daily to-dos concerning the blog. I used the last 4 pages to keep my brainstorming list of ideas. (Sorry, no picture of that one.) ;-)

And there you have it. That's how I use my Quiltdori for my blog. I have another one that I use for the rest of my life. I'll do a post on that some other time. :D

To see more fun Quiltdoris, visit Rachel's Handmade U over on Instagram.

Have a wonderfully creative day!

A Peek In My Dori (part 1): The Basics

Hi All! So a couple of weeks ago, my friend Rachel McGough (the host and brilliant brains behind Handmade U) sent me one of her beautiful quiltdoris. She makes these from vintage quilt blocks and fabric, and they are fantastic! I thought I'd give you a peek at mine. (As you can see by the title, this is going to be a multipart post....)

Quiltdori in bag

My quiltdori arrived in a cute barn red box (the signature color of the Handmade U barn), and was wrapped in cheerful, rainbow tissue paper. It also came with this cute muslin bag, that I have some creative plans for.

Quiltdori front

Rachel's quiltdoris come in a variety of colors and patterns. I asked for this one that is a riot of color and has a fantastic combination of vintage patterns. I love these bright, cheery fabrics.

Quiltdori back

I was also able to choose the color of the elastic used for the closure and inside. The yellow is the perfect compliment to the fabrics on the front and the inside of quiltdori.

Quiltdori inside cover

 If you look closely, you can see the awesome red accent stitching on the front and the back. (I love all the details in this little cover.)

Quiltdori with Field Notes

So I've had this collection of Field Notes notebooks since 2011. Yep. Four long years. Now I'm an avid journaler, but these notebooks have dotted pages. I wasn't sure how I would use them, so I set them aside. I'm so glad I did. They are a perfect match for my quiltdori.

Quiltdori fits three Fieldnotes notebooks

Here are the front of my notebooks. I love Field Notes notebooks. The covers are heavy and the paper is so smooth to write on.  There is sense of quality in these books that is touched with a bit of humor. The Fire Spotter edition shown here has the tag line: "Always Watching." If you've seen Pixar Monster's Inc., you can just hear Roz saying that, right? :) It's a standing joke in our family, so naturally I had to pick these up when I saw them.

Quiltdori with Fire Spotter Field Notes

So I have three notebooks in this quiltdori, but you may have noticed that I only have two inner elastics. I'll show you how get two books on one elastic in part two of this post. I'll also take you through one of my notebooks that has become my blog planner. So stay tuned for that.

My Quiltdori

Now, one more look at my quiltdori by Handmade U's Rachel McGough. If you're looking for a one-of-a-kind dori or just want to see some awesome vintage fabrics that are bound to bring a smile to your face, check her out at Handmade U on Instagram. 

And don't forget to pop back by tomorrow to check out the blog planner....

Have a wonderfully creative day!