A5 Planner setup and supplies - 2014

Hi friends,

This is the coordinating post for my latest YouTube video series on my Franklin Covey Classic Planner which unfortunately is discontinued in this size but is still available in the Compact (slightly wider than the Filofax Personal) size.
I use the Boston in emerald green and have been loving it for quite some time now. The leather is of very good quality, soft and supple, and the price is also very affordable (on sale for $49.50)!
This post is mostly about the supplies I use as well as a general overview of the contents of my planner.

I keep my planner organized and as clutter free as possible.

One of the main reason for keeping decoration to a minimum is my desire to avoid as many distractions as possible. But since I needed to make it my own, I have dedicated the first four pages to family pictures and sentiments. I see them everyday, but they never are distracting me from the tasks and planning I need to focus on.

For instance, and above, I use the Martha Stewart's top loading sheets to keep pictures of my boys as well as a full chapter of a vintage copy of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

Inside the left pocket, I keep the bare minimum (inside a Post-It repositionable envelope).

I only need a few items: post its, a few flags and a selection of washi-tape I wrapped around an old ID card.

Supplies I use for this section:

"Sn@p! Pages Double-Sided Heavyweight Cardstock  I use this paper collection throughout my planner.
Martha Stewart Secure Top Sheet Protectors I use these top loading sheet protectors to insert mementoes and page dividers.
Martha Stewart Planner Insert Stickie notes These are some of my favorite stickie notes. The best part is that they come attached to a sturdy sheet of plastic (a planner insert) which can be cut to size. Above, I only keep the blue ones inside the pocket.
3M - Post-It Pockets I love,love love! these post-it pockets. they are made of durable plastic and are shaped like envelopes. The back has a stickie side which allows the pocket to stay put and flat within my secretarial pocket. It is big enough to contain the few supplies I carry around and the Velcro closure keeps all my supplies nicely tucked in.

For further detail, check out my two videos below:

Part I - Focus Section:
 

Part II - Home Management Section:




As you can tell by the titles above, I have divided my planner into two distinct categories: a Focus Section and a Home Management Section.

 Focus Section :

Here, I keep all my calendars (monthly and week-on-two-pages). I also have additional dividers for  Goals, Wishlist and Blog/Vlog Sections.

For my week-on-two pages, I use my own inserts which can be found in all three sizes (A5/Compact/Personal) on my Etsy shop. This is where I plan my weekly to-dos, appointments, billing as well as journaling and water, rx and vitamins tracking.

I also keep all my goals for 2014 which  I divided into two separate categories: personal and home goals. In my Blog/Vlog category, I keep a simple schedule of blogs and vlogs I want to work on for the next four months, as well as a breakdown (to-dos)  for specific videos. Basically, this is where I plan My Great Challenge.

The wishlist category is further divided using the Post-it Tabs into Books to Read/Buy, To Buy and Gift Ideas.


Home Management:

Here, I keep all my routines including cleaning routines and a section for future meal planning.

I also have a large section dedicated solely to budgeting and paying off our debt as I follow the Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover method to do so. Again, refer back to my video to find out more about this section.

 



The Home Management section also contains a large category where every room of my home has a dedicated section for upcoming projects and to-dos.

I also keep another section for passwords as well as a health section for doctors follow ups, general health info, fitness etc.

In the back, I keep a few stickers, just for fun and added color.

So there you have it, this was a brief overview of my planner setup and again, everything is showcased with great detail in my two videos.
 

Thank you for reading and sharing my blog.

Connect with me on:

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Sophia, NJ.

*My blog contains affiliate advertising for which I receive a small commission when you purchase from the links provided. I was not solicited to review any of the products mentioned. All opinions are my own.

Franklin Covey + Filofax : September 2013 Inserts.

Hi friends,

I am really sorry about the delay, as you know, I had to be out of town for the week. But here they are, the September inserts!
As with previous months, I am providing you with two sizes to choose from:

Franklin Covey Compact and Filofax Personal.

I received a lot of positive feedback about the botanical print backgrounds, so this September month is similar to last August.

In my previous post I provided an insert you can print on the back of each page (double sided), you can find it here). However, you can print these back to back as well, if you choose to.

Here are the link (please remember than when you view them in Mediafire they will look crooked, but print just fine, follow the crop marks for cutting):

FRANKLIN COVEY COMPACT SIZE:

FC September Week 1
FC September Week 2
FC September Week 3
FC September Week 4

FILOFAX PERSONAL SIZE:

FF September Week 1
FF September Week 2
FF September Week 3
FF September Week 4


Thanks for  liking and sharing MGC with friends and family.

Sophia, NJ

You can find me on FACEBOOK and YOUTUBE

*This site and post contains affiliate advertising. I am not affiliated with Filofax or Franklin Covey, all opinions are my own.

SMASHbook Series: The Inside Cover

Hi friends,

This is so exciting! I finally managed to put some time aside and return to my most enjoyable hobby of all...SCRAPBOOKING!

If you recall from my last video (My Scrapbooking Journey) I purchased a SMASHbook and decided that I would tweak my scrapbooking platform a bit. 

I have the large - Purple SMASHbook, which I found on sale at Michaels and instantly fell in love with.  The whole concept of "wrecking" an album for the sake of keeping memories is just my cup of tea! I particularly like the idea that SMASHbooks are supposed to be stuffed with all manner of momentos, pictures, small trinkets etc. with a complete disregard for bulk! Further, they can be super interactive with all sorts of tabs to be pulled, pockets to be opened and flash cards to be read.

So, I went ahead and made this first page, which is actually the front inside cover of the album.

Ta Da! What do you think?

I had a lot of fun reconnecting with some of my old techniques: as you can see (above) I like to play around paper flowers by rolling edges with a pencil. This gives them dimension and added drama!

Overall, I am very pleased with the result. The color scheme was a bit of a stretch for me as I tend to prefer muted tones but maybe this is the sign of a new chapter in my life!

Left Side

Right Side

But wait, there is more! I made a video of the entire process from start to finish! So if you want to see how I created this page, just sit back and enjoy (this is a time lapse video!)






Thank you for watching!

Sophia, NJ

You can find me on FACEBOOK and YOUTUBE

* My blog contains affiliate advertising. I am not affiliated with any of the brands mentioned in this post. All opinions are my own. This is not a sponsored post.

My scrapbooking Journey from paper to digital and a SMASHbook Haul!

 

Hi friends,

Did you know that I am a scrapbooker? Scrapbooking is the only hobby I have actually maintained and committed to over the years....In fact, 11 years and counting!

My Mother-in-Law introduced me to the craft back in the days, and probably prior to becoming parents ourselves...been hooked ever since!

Today, I am taking you on a little bit of a journey through my Scapbooking years. This is the coordinating post to my YouTube video where I really explain, in depth, all about my scrapbooking journey...Thank you for watching!




Here are some random pages, from my paper albums - you can look at the majority of my scrapbook pages on my scrapbook.com gallery:

 

After many years of paper scrapbooking, I just could not find it exciting anymore, I guess I had reached a creative threshold and needed to find new ways to spice things up. So I learned Photoshop (on my own, yes I did!) and began a second journey, this time into digital scrapbooking! Here are some of my digital pages:

I like digital scrapbooking because it allows me to feed the creative bug inside of me while remaining cost effective. You can purchase a digital kit - complete with the backgrounds and all coordinating elements - for under $5 and re-use it over and over. Eventually I began to create my own elements as well and the last two above are my own creations, backgrounds, elements etc.

But after a couple more years of strictly digital work, I began to miss manipulating paper, elements and being a more active part of the page creation. I also thought that either types of scrapbooking lacked an interactive factor, in that folks could look at gigantic albums, page after page, without getting much out of it other than simply looking at pictures and pretty layouts.

Check out the video for more!




Last year, I came across a new system called SMASHbook and at first, I was not too impressed as I thought it was targeting high school kids, so I put the idea aside. In the past few months, however, I came across a lot of SMASHbook videos on YouTube and Galleries on the Internet...I was intrigued again and finally made the leap!

I went to Michael's and purchased my first album and a lot of supplies. I did not start creating pages yet - needing to redesign my office and create a scrapbooking space - but will do that very soon....I can barely hold the excitement here!

Here are some of the pages I found on the Internet and provided their source in the link below each picture:

Jennie Garcia

 

Juliann Shahhin

Altered Fantasy

Scrapbook Savvy



Precious Papers

Layout by Lisa Day available on Jackiep1102

To me, it looks like SMASHbook-ing is the answer! It provides paper and elements manipulation, I can incorporate digital pages AND the viewer can interact with the pages since there is plenty possibilities for pull outs, envelopes, flash cards, tabs, reading prompts etc. Something that was not necessarily available in traditional scrapbooking albums and definitely not at all possible with digital scrapbooking! YES! I am embarking on a new journey and cannot wait to share some of my pages with you!

There is only one drawback: the more stuff you put in there, the bulkier your album because - creating a storage dilemma....But I will think about that later!

Thanks for  liking and sharing MGC with friends and family.

Sophia, NJ

You can find me on FACEBOOK and YOUTUBE

*This site and post contains affiliate advertising. I am not affiliated with Smashbook and K & Company, Michael's or any other brand mentioned above.