Intro to Decorated Planners

So we’re all familiar with the Devil’s Playground that is called Pinterest?



One of the particularly evil things about it for me is what I like to call the “squirrel factor.” You know what I mean. You go online just to look at ideas for, let’s say, masculine birthday cards. You enter your search, start scanning all the great photos, things are going good, and then bang! A squirrel. “Look at that delicious looking triple layer black forest cake…I’ll just click on it quickly to see how they made it…” aaaand suddenly, it’s three hours later. You’ve read about birthday cakes, walking tours of the Black Forest in Germany, Hansel & Gretel, gingerbread houses, the health benefits of ginger, and watched videos of how to construct your own herb greenhouse. You have long forgotten any ideas for masculine birthday cards, and since it’s now 2am, you have no time to make one either. Bad squirrel.



However, every now and then my squirrel leads me to some really interesting places. About a year ago, while researching art journaling techniques for a class I was teaching, I came across what I first thought were some really nifty decorated smash-style scrapbooks. On closer inspection, I realized they weren’t scrapbooks, but were instead day planners. My heart suddenly began beating a little faster… but first a little backstory.

For those of you that follow my blog, it will come as no surprise to you that I’m a fan of organization. So when I admit that I have always carried some form of day planner since high school and can’t remember a thing if I don’t have it written down in there, you will probably just shrug and go…”Yeah. That’s Pam. She’s a little OCD.”

In real life, whenever I pull out my planner to write something down, I’ve endured the well-meaning jibes from friends who wonder why I bother now that we all have Google Calendar and smartphones with fancy apps. Truth is, I actually like and use these too. The productivity section is one of my fave areas to browse in the iTunes App Store…but I digress. Bad squirrel.

Anyhoo… the bottom line is I’ve always had to explain my love of planners. How good it feels to physically check off those items on my to do list, and why finding *just* the right pen is a quest akin to searching for the Holy Grail. I always felt so…alone. Like I was the last person on earth that still went to stationery stores, just for fun.

Well, that’s enough backstory before I totally weird you out, and we can get back to my rapidly beating heart. Now you can imagine my absolute delight to discover, through the magical internet,  an entire, vibrant community of pen and paper planner lovers!

I spent the next few months in a happy online fog packed full of reading planner-centric blogs, watching You Tube videos and of course, drooling over photos on Pinterest and Instagram. I joined Facebook groups dedicated to people sharing their planner “set ups”. I learned the “plannerd” lingo, preferred stationery haunts and favourite planner brands. I navigated Etsy (another squirrel haven) and discovered shops dedicated to making beautiful leather planners, downloadable, customizable inserts and the most adorable stationery imaginable. I even ordered a special stamp all the way from Singapore.

I can now proudly wave my organizational geek flag and say all this stuff makes my heart sing, while knowing there are many, many others who feel just like me. *happy sigh* For instance, just looking at this photo makes my knees go weak:



So why on earth, you must be wondering, am I sharing all this here on my Stampin’ Up! blog?

Part of me hopes that this will inspire you to dig out your old planner, or even a notebook, and give it a second chance. Use it to schedule your day, motivate you to complete tasks, help you track things like baby feeding schedules or your calorie intake. Consider using it as a journal, bucket list keeper, or scrapbook. Write down your dreams, set goals and make plans to achieve them. Use it at the end of the day to celebrate your accomplishments and to record things you are grateful for. Unplug from your devices for a little while and rediscover the joy of pen & paper. *cue grandiose music while stepping off of soap box*



Ahem. Sorry. Got a little carried away there. OK stampers, so if none of that speaks to you, maybe this will… Can you guess what is one of the biggest things these “plannerds” people use to decorate their planners? Yeppers. STAMPS! Talk about a match made in heaven! Stamps are awesome in planners because they add colour/content/decoration to your pages without adding an ounce of bulk. Squee! The possibilities are endless! Check out this little decorating from one of my dailies last week. Recognize the Painted Petals set?

 

Whew. Long post for me today. All of that rambling was to set up this little announcement of mine:
Over the next few weeks, in between my regular card making posts, I intend to start sharing my ideas for using stamps in planners. I might even do a video or two.

This will involve inviting my fellow “plannerds” to visit this blog (a big hello wave to those of you already reading!) As such, you’ll likely notice some of my posts will go back to stamping basics that many of you seasoned stampers will already know. Please bear with me, as many of the readers are new to stamping and I don’t want to scare them off! (sshhh..just hand them an ink pad and step away slowly…LOL) Hopefully I may discuss a thing or two you didn’t know, or may have forgotten. I will also be showing some things that are *gasp* not Stampin’ Up! specific, but I hope that you’ll still come along with me for the ride!

So there you have it. If you’re at all curious over what I’m blathering on about, hop over to Pinterest and check out my “Planner Pizzazz” board. You can also try a search for “Filofax” or “Midori Travellers Journal”. I double dog dare you.* Oh, and say hi to the squirrel for me while you’re there.


*This blog author is not responsible for hours (weeks) of lost time pouring over internet content. Feel free to blame the squirrel.