Inserts & Update! (I Cheated...)

Here are the inserts that I received from Piaric!

I used the expense sheet immediately and while helpful, I found myself quickly veering away from the personal sized Filo. I know. Horrible. After all of this hullabaloo with exploratory DIYing, waiting FOREVER for custom inserts and even purchasing a laminator, the personal size is just too small for me at this point in time.
Do I write novels daily?!
Nope.
I just write BIG, so there's not a ton of space in a personal Filo and I feel like it's hard to cram even just a few events into each day. I love the simple, small look. It was EXACTLY what I had been looking for.
But I very quickly found myself yearning for a new Erin Condren in the Horizontal layout and so I didn't even resist the urge to order a new planner for the new year (having a coupon for $20 off and not needing a gold coil also helped. Regular coil = cheaper!).
I will not lie.
I loved my new Erin Condren from the moment I received it.
I hated the vertical and it just was not working for me, but horizontal, that is where it's at!
The watercolor scheme and diamond pattern is just so much more pleasing to me, personally, then all of the crazy color schemes and inspirational quotes in the vertical. Not my thing.
Stickers and washi are of course my thing. But only if I'm choosing what goes in and where.
Any who-how, below is my new baby desk set up where I plan, washi, sticker, and work! Nevermind the Halloween tree; clearly I've been waiting to post.
Pictured with my Filo there is the EC planner I cheated with, sporting an older grey and gold cover. Isn't she gorgeous?!

You'd think that lovely file cabinet would be full of bills and important documents and you'd be correct.
But it's also full of stickers.
And the top keyboard pullout drawer is full of washi.
Obviously.


-Courtney

Inserts! What I Chose for Week on 2 Pages:

There are countless options to choose from when it comes to inserts for agendas. For the Filo I've purchased, the Personal size, I knew that I liked the week on 2 pages option (w2p) rather than week on one page, one day on each page, etc. It's ultimately about what works for you and your routine.
Using my EC, I decided I could size down with my planners and that I didn't like vertical planning. So that helped to narrow it down.
After looking through what Filofax had to offer, various Etsy shops, and a few other overpriced sites I cannot recall the names of, I placed an order with the seller GrowingUpGoddess via Etsy. She had a few options to choose from, but ultimately, I chose the w2p option with a Monday start, notes at the bottom right corner.

• GrowingUpGoddess on Etsy

Because this seller customizes order and the like, she takes a little longer to ship. With a decent price and a layout I was looking for, this was acceptable.
They arrived sooner than expected (yay!!) and look great!

Packaged beautifully!

Once inserted, they were exactly what I had been looking for! Simple design with dates, plenty of space to write and add a few decorations.

For my month on 2 pages, extra notes, expense pages, and a year at a glance pull-out calendar, I ordered from Piaric who has amazing prices (and as suggested by planning Facebook groups, great quality paper!).
I selected my agenda add-ons, sent her a message via the site, and within two days, Pia had messaged and invoiced me. I am still waiting on confirmation of delivery.
I chose the month on 4 pages view, meaning each month's calendar on two pages with note pages on either side so that the calendar would work with any weekly planner! I also chose to have all of my inserts done in ivory rather than white for contrast.
I will post pictures when they arrive!

-Courtney

Let's Begin! What Works, What Does Not:

I'm going to first start by saying that as I am typing this, I am watching re-runs of Martha Stewart Living and bitch just took a selfie with a huge Polaroid camera before it was a thing. She was also using an amazing Fiskars cutting board, cute cut-out craft punches and is all around amazing.
I know that Martha would have made these inserts in far less time then it took me.
Starting my personalized Agenda journey, I began my day by stocking up on the paper products necessary to create some dividers (hopefully to accompany my inserts which were purchased on Etsy and should arrive tomorrow via USPS!). Michael's had a great sale on their Recollection's collection which includes washi, paper products, cutting tools, etc.

My loot.
I tend to go overboard with these Recollection's sales because I've found that some locations don't honor all of the products the same way, which is extremely annoying. So I stock up once and then am good for quite some time. Plus, I just wanted ALL of the paper I could get my hands on because I was overly eager to laminate everything!!!
Below is an overview of the process I went through making my own dividers for the first time. There was a bit of trial and error and sure, a bit of frustration. All in all, I am happy with the result and know the process can only improve from here on.

I definitely was ambitious starting with a design that was smack dab in the middle of a piece of paper. But I went for it.

Totally failed, but I tried again, this time with a pattern. Success!!

I really went for it and made these dividers double sided. I wasn't quite sure how well the laminator was going to like that... But it did its job in the end. Again, I started out quite ambitious. I had a vision and not a very clear idea of how to achieve it. But I digress.
One set back was punch prep I had done with the best intentions. The laminator did not seal as close to the paper as I envisioned, leaving far more space that I had to cut around. I had marked in pencil the holes for the punch to make it easier after lamination but this ended up not being the ultimate area that was punched. You learn, you live. It was not a dashboard page, it is still cute. It will still go in the planner!
I am amazed at how bulky the laminator seems to make the dividers so far. I can't wait to really master that seal so that I can cut them down more closely. I will get there, I am determined.

Continuing on, I made two more pages, one becoming the dashboard page. The last two things I laminated together to make as little bookmark-esq inserts. Whatever, they were cute, I still had the energy.

All in all, I am pleased. I am ready to tackle more projects and I have learned a thing or two for next time.
Such as:
I am in need of a new double sided tape runner because I could only find my refill (spoiler alert: you can't use that as a temp tape runner) and it would have been super useful while doing double sided dividers.
I really hate xacto knives.
The guillotine style paper cutters? Not good for projects like this.
I really need a ruler and cannot find one anywhere.

Until the inserts arrive!

-Courtney

What I Bought! Preparation:

Amazon was decidedly the cheapest option for one-stop shopping when it came to beginning my scary crafting journey.
So here are a few links to the items I have purchased to step-up my laminating game:

Scotch Thermal Laminator 2 Roller System $33.09!
 Laminator
Scotch Thermal Laminating Pouches
 20 Pouches
Rapesco 6 Hole Punch
Hole Punch

Yes, that is Boba Fett in the background. Pottery Barn. You're welcome.
Using Amazon Prime, everything arrived in a quick 2 days! Reviews to follow; all of the ones posted online seemed promising and everything was purchased at the suggestion of Facebook community members. Apparently, the laminating sheets that work similar to contact paper work just as well and you can run them through a laminator for a better seal once you've got your good inside. You learn something new after every order.

So, there is everything in its crafting glory! I can't wait to put it all to good use!

-Courtney

Agenda Love! The Beginning:

This blog will be dedicated to capturing my journey to personalizing my most recent obsession: Agendas.
It all began the Spring of 2014. I saw a YouTube video all about this planner by some woman named Erin Condren that seemed to be obsessed with rainbow colors and putting your name on things. I was immediately interested. Not by the rainbow colors, I'm more of a neutrals girl, but by the idea of my new married name prominently featured in bright gold lettering on a large planner that helped one get more organized. I am all for organization.
I was, at the time, back in school and only using a $10 Target planner for homework assignments and the random work schedule. I only pulled this out when I was bored in class. I knew at that time that spending almost $90 on a planner was obscene. I shelved the idea.
The following fall, I saw yet another planner video on this Erin Condren lady's planners, which were suddenly referred to as "agendas" and because of this, made them sound far more grown up when the women featuring them in their videos covered them in stickers and brightly colored tape. Design options? Fun stickers? What the hell was all this extra fun? I had to know.
I became obsessed with finding discount codes, the price was still obscene to me.
It wasn't until February 2015 that an amazing coupon came out (25% off on a metallic planner! Gold coil! Yes! Yes!) and I JUMPED! I got a grey covered metallic planner, with my name personalized in gold letters, just as I had been dreaming of.
The real task was making it worth the $75 I had just spent on it (nevermind the steep discount Condren was having on her site the week AFTER I had purchased... I got what I wanted and tried not to cry.) Multiple YouTube videos and Facebook planning groups later, I had purchased a little over $100 worth of washi tape (new to me, essential to the planning community), and stickers. This agenda shit was a real investment. Luckily, I have not really spent much more since as I got myself all stocked up in the beginning. This summer, I purchased a second planner cover, pictured. Oh, yes.

Starting off, I was absolutely obsessed but I was apprehensive. Was this just a phase? Would the honeymoon wear off after a couple of weeks?
I am so happy to say that about 7months later, I am still on the planner bandwagon and have been faithfully keeping up with her. My Erin Condren has been keeping my schedule on track, keeping me up to date with my bills, and has helped me keep track of my money like a boss. I feel so organized every time I open her up and see her cute stickers and expenditures!
Only lately have I felt that going into the new year, Erin Condren (EC), feels a bit immature to my agenda game. I feel that she was my gateway, paving the way to agenda love. But now I am ready for something a bit more serious, a bit more adult and more me.

So I bought a Filofax. 

With a Filofax, you can customize EVERYTHING!!
While my beautiful Filo has already arrived, I am still awaiting on her inserts for week on two pages, month on four pages (with notes on both sides!), some notes, a year at a glance pull out, and an expense pull out for a year. All on much thicker paper than comes with the standard Filo. All of this was purchased on Etsy and with the help of FaceBook communities and was painstakingly annoying to decide on.
So here my Filo sits, unusable. There is also the matter of price. Shit is expensive for Filofax! And in terms of personalization, sometimes, it's just better for one to DIY. I can't find a dashboard, inserts, or dividers that fit what I am looking for.
So I am going to make them myself. And I am terrible at things like this.

So in preparation, I have purchased:
- 1 laminator-1 6 hole punch for personalized agendas
- Thermal pouches

I still need:
Craft paper
Laminated/thick folders with cute designs (apparently this is a good idea to use as well)
1 paper cutter
1 really good xacto knife!
1 cutting board for crafting. I didn't know this was a thing? But I guess it makes sense.

I am so pumped to make my own inserts for my Filofax. I have no idea what I am doing. But the point is to document the experience so that other uncrafty people like myself can either learn from my mistakes, or see that anyone can in fact do this.
So let's do this!

She's NAKED!!! July was a particularly good decoration month, which is why it is featured. Nothing else as of late looks nearly as nice since I've recently purchased a new home and don't have a desk. Life. (And I have no shame showing how much I save having two hybrid cars. Everyone should switch. #noshameinmyhybridgame )
More fun to come!

-Courtney