Plan With Me Monday-Planner Essentials

Hello crafties and welcome to my blog and the first post for my planner series. Today we're going to talk about how to get started and some supplies you might want to have on hand. Like any papercrafting project there are a zillion and one ways to go about this. Part of the fun is finding what works for you from planner to embellishments. Obviously, you will need a planner and I'm sure I don't have to tell you there are a plethora of sizes and styles. I'm using a MAMBI Happy Planner this year. What drew me to this planner was the moderate cost and the fact that it is a disc binding system so the pages can easily be removed for ease in embellishing. Another option is to get a download calendar file-two that I would suggest are The Planner Series 2016 Full Year Calendar from Paper Sweeties or the 2016 Planner Printable Set from The Cutting Cafe. The other goodies in my bag of supplies are Paper Sweeties Planner Series stamps, Pink & Main Planner stamps, Cardz TV planner stamps, assorted dye inks, Sharpie markers, washi tape, stickers, flag punches for weekend banners and postie notes. You can also find ready made stickers by the tons from many talented people on Etsy. It is my intention to show you different options weekly. One week it will be a layout with stamps, one week a printable download, a week with Etsy stickers and so on.

Here is a photo of my weekly planner pages for this past week. I decided to go with a winter theme, an odd choice for someone living in Florida, but I'm a transplant that originally came from Michigan. I'm happy to say I've left the cold and snow behind and I don't miss it in the least, but I most certainly have many cold weather memories.

I started this page spread with some free downloadable printable sticker elements from Jessica Brown @ MYPLANNERENVY.COM. I found this site to be a valuable source for freebies to decorate a planner, especially helpful for those just starting out. There are PDF files and files that can be cut with a Silhouette. I'm a little odd in that I enjoy fussy cutting, so that's what I do, and honestly I haven't had the time to sit down and mess with importing the files and cutting them with my machine. I printed this Pastel Winter Sampler twice on sticker paper that I bought at Staples. I will usually cut my elements out in the evenings while watching a favorite show on TV. After cutting out all the pieces I wanted to use I added washi tape to the pages then decided what patterned papers I wanted to stick in each section. I made a weekend banner using a flag punch from EK SUCCESS and Paper Sweeties Alpha stamps (upper case) and added a couple purple twine bows at each end of the banner. Keeping with the winter theme I decided to add a die cut snowman in the bottom corner. He came from the Paper Sweeties Snow Time Bundle.

A closer look at the weekend banner.

Please come back tomorrow for the premier post showcasing the new Paper Sweeties Planner Series January 2016 Release and my weekly calendar pages. Here's a little sneak peek. Happy planning!