A New Year, A New Planner

Happy 2015! *Throws glitter and confetti into the air*

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with friends and family. Now that the Christmas decorations have been packed away, the turkey leftovers have been polished off and the guests have been waved home, it's time to get back to the daily grind. 

Do you remember the planner I made back in July? If you don't, that's it on the left in the picture above. Sadly, it wasn't quite up to the rigors of resident life and you will notice that the edges and corners look a little worse for wear. That's why, I really couldn't pass up the chance to make a new one for New Year.  

I decided I needed a better core for this one. Since my bookbinding skills weren't passing muster, I thought to start with a book and build from there. 

Conference swag is awesome for crafting because it is usually quality stuff that I don't mind altering and best of all, it's free.

I really like the clear plastic covers for the front and back - they will protect my designs nicely.

Even though the covers were laminated, I decided to reinforce them anyway to make sure that this one lasts the whole year. 

I designed the calendars again on Microsoft Word, keeping things simple. This time, I cut out each of the calendars and glued them to the pages of my notebook.

During one of Michael's open paperstock sales, I picked up some lovely floral patterns. I decided to do the same thing as my previous planner and picked two different patterns for the front and back covers.

The key to any professional-looking paper wrapping is in the corners.

So what earth-shattering organizational system am I using now? Well, I have developed a love of sticky notes and a realization that I do not need to keep a record of every minute thing in my day. My to-do lists are going to be written on stickies which are stuck to the first page of my agenda. As things are accomplished, I will have the satisfaction of ripping up said stickies. 

Major events will be laid out on my month-at-a-glance calendars. All the rest of the pages in the notebook will be for other lists, notes or even some impromptu journaling.

I have collected so many stickers over the years and never seem to know what to do with them. Time to add a little colour and fun to my agenda!

And that's it! Of course, an organizational system is only as good as the person who is using it and I am hit-or-miss at best. We shall see how this year goes. 

Allison and I want to wish everyone who has been following our blog a very happy new year. It's been a lot of fun sharing our hobbies with all of you - 2014 was an awesome year for crafting. As I glance back at my first post of last year, I am happy to note that during this last year I posted 'work in progress' shots, created a tutorial, and got Allison to post some of her creations - all things that I said I would do. I fell short of my goal of having a post up per week but I posted twice as much as I did in 2013 - progress!

So what are my crafting goals for 2015? I'm aiming for a total of 52 posts this year and a lot more crafting afternoons with friends. So get your scissors and glue ready - it's going to be another amazing year!

Happy New Year!