Planning the planner(s)

This year I have been using a Happy Planner as a journal rather than the dotted Wordsworth & Black notebook I used in 2021.

I bought a new planner for 2023 a little while ago but hadn't decided quite how I was going to use it.   I don't need a planner as such as all my appointments etc are on my phone and the calendar in the kitchen.

I spent some time watching videos on YouTube which show how different people use their planners.  Many of them are into something called Frankenplanning where for each month you take a section out of anything up to 7 planners!  I think that's taking it a bit far.

Having said that, it was my intention to only have one planner/journal for 2023 but the way it's looking there may well be three.

Firstly, there's the main one in which I shall record what has happened each day.  This is how I've used my planner/journal this year with a page at the end of each month with photos of some of the things that have happened.  I did start blogging about it but stopped taking photos of my journal pages in June.  The pages are a daily vertical layout.

I think this year I might include photos on the weekly pages rather than putting them on a page at the end of the month.

The second planner/journal has pages with a horizontal layout.

And it has this cover.

However I am going to swap out the cover to this:

I'm going to use this as a journal to record my thoughts mostly on what I read from this book which I actually bought in August 2021 but haven't used.

I hope to include other thoughts about life in general.  Or not, as the case may be!

The third one is this pretty wildflower planner which will have a variety of pretty lined paper in it.  I am going to use this for the journaling of a course I have signed up for with Fibre Arts Take Two called: Essence of Identity with Donna Watson.

I'm also going to include with this photos of my creative work and list the materials used and the size etc.  I also want to start writing about how I made each piece and what techniques I used.  I'm hoping this will lead to understanding the piece of work which will inform the next pieces I make.

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time you will know that I choose a Word for the Year.  As I write this I'm still not sure what that word is for 2023.

However come back next week to find out how I get on with choosing the word.  And whether that means a 4th journal!!!!!

Thanks for  joining me today.

Happy New Year

Half way

Can you believe we're halfway through the year?!

Over the past few months I have bought rather more sticker books than are sensible.  So I need to use them.  The journal pages for June reflect me using them.

This one is totally butterfly mad because it was Naomi's birthday this week.

Just getting round to sorting out this week and the monthly calendar.  A bit behind for some reason.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice 

More journal spreads

A short post today.

Last month I showed you my pages up to Easter.  Here are the spreads since then.

This has been a special week.  Andy & Naomi's 13th wedding anniversary on May 9th and our 39th wedding anniversary today.  Naomi chose purple as the colour scheme for their wedding and I wore a purple dress to our wedding's evening party.  So of course I chose purple for these pages.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

Planner mania

I feel that using this planner is like a mix of the journal I was keeping last year and the scrapbooking I did years ago.  I am finding it really enjoyable although somewhat time consuming.  But being creative is much better than scrolling Facebook and Instagram.

I showed you the setting up of my second planner in this post.  I am really using it as a journal rather than a planner.  And my diary/journal/planner featured in this post.

Today I am featuring my main planner/journal.

In last year's journal I put a photo in almost every week.  In this journal I decided I would use the last page of the month (which is supposed to be a Currently page for February), as a photo memory page for the month.

Here's the calendar pages for February.

This week's pages

And next week's pages in production.

I'm still watching lots of YouTube videos especially Planning With Bumble (MaryEllen) and Scrappy Wife (Elisa).

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice
 

November pages

I'm still keeping up with journal.  In the past I've often given up around June or July so I'm pleased I'm still going.

Valerie's theme for November was music and so I used my music washi tape to decorate the page.  I also found some scrapbook cardstock with music on for the backgound for month square.

I like having weekly to do lists as it makes me feel as though I've achieved something when I tick them off.

The theme for this month is Joy.  Valerie provided a PDF of the music and 'borrowed' her wreath artwork from the devotional PDF she also provided.

My word for 2021 was Intentional.  I haven't started investigating a word for next year yet.  Have you?

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice

Starting tomorrow

My friend Mary produces amazing Bible studies and in particular I love the one she does for Advent.

Advent Words is a Bible Study combined with a creative response.  Mary posts the study every day through Advent which starts tomorrow.  You can follow along with Advent Words without the creative journaling if you wish.

Last year I put my Advent Words in my Living Your Word of the Year Journal.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do this year and then I happened upon this concertina sketchbook in Hobbycraft for just £2.   I bought 3.  They come with the concertina part fixed to the covers. (top left).  With one I cut the end fold so that I can use the back of the pages (right) and with the other I removed the spine from the cover (bottom).  I will probably remove the ribbon tie from the this last one.

I downloaded some free images from Visual Faith Ministry.

I found some scrapbooking papers I had stashed away.  Not at all Christmassy, but all my Christmas stash is packed away in storage with all the Church Studio resources whilst we have no building.

I printed out the words in a font called FilledABC.  I don't usually like words to be in capitals but I thought I would go with these.

I've set up the journal ready for tomorrow.  It's mostly still black and white.  I will colour in the images from Visual Faith.

Each week will have a layout like this - with the candle wreath and the words for the coming week.  I will colour each candle flame on the appropriate weeks.

And here are my pages prepped ready to begin.

I still haven't found a way to take decent photos of concertina journals.  I think I will make that my mission for the next 4 weeks - to master taking photos of my journals.

Will you be celebrating Advent or recording December in some way?  December Daily and Journal Your Christmas are popular ways.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice

October

October has been a month of collages.  You may have picked that up if you are a regular reader.  So it's not a surprise that my October journal pages are full of collages too.  Photos of the collages I've made rather than new collages.

I had to start a new journal as January to September completely filled the first one.  I am hoping to not only put the last 3 months of 2021 in this journal but to get the whole of 2022 into it too. I've cut back on some of the pages that Valerie includes in Plan With Me so I can do this.

As you can see the journal is quite colourful.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

Journal update August and September

It's hard to believe it's over 2 months since I last did a Journal Update.  I have mostly kept up with it although interest is waning.  That's not unusal to be honest.  Most years I've lost interest by June.

I tend to fill in the calendar at the end of the month to record what I've done.  This might change now there's less likelihood of cancellations.

Here's one of my diary pages.  I fill in the gaps with photos from the month.

My To Do lists.  Rather than list what I'll do in each day I list the aim for the whole week.  This gives me flexibility.

I also use photos of my grandchildren in the spaces but I don't share those online.

September is the last of the Dutch doot cutoutsand even with this one I glued it to the page behind!

At last - in person workshops on the calendar

September diary pages

To Do pages

January to December completely filled the book.  I bought a new one which I hope will last right through 2022.  As Valerie isn't repeating Plan With Me in 2022 so I shall only be doing the calendar, diary pages and To Do lists.  I thought I would do that from this month onward.

 

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice