Thanks for your interest in Inspired Designs: Digital Designs by Crystal! If you have a request for wordart, or an idea for a wordart pack or a kit, please send me an email to inspireddesignsbycrystal@gmail.com or post it in my comment section.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

MY A5 MALDEN FILOFAX: Social Media Planner

Hi All! Hope all is well in digi-land! It's a dreary day here on the East Coast today. I was going to go for a walk and check the mail but I think I'll stay inside and try to get caught up on some design work. I'm working on a new collection for the GingerScraps Buffet that will be released on December 1st. Yay! It seems like forever since I've designed something. It's been since May! I'm ready to get back in the swing of things and get some new product out there.

In my last post I showed you what I'm using to get my life organized... My Erin Condren Life Planner! I'm loving this planner so much! I use it for my general life journalling, scheduling, note taking, etc... It works quite well for that. You don't realize how much in your life needs to be organized until you actually sit down and try to get things put on paper. Hence, my newest obsession... FILOFAX!

I have always used some form of a paper planner in my life. Back in school, I used a school themed agenda for organizing schoolwork, projects, assignments, etc. As I became an adult and started working, I used a cute mini calendar with journal for keeping my work schedule and work responsibilities. I've always had several binders and folders and bins for storing "life stuff", like bills and finances. I am a huge journaller and have always kept a personal diary. Once my kids came along, I started digital scrapbooking and used that medium as a documentation of their little lives and life events. Now that I'm a single mom and 100% responsible for my life and the lives on my 2 kids, I realize how important it is to be organized.

I was looking for a new planner/binder system that I could use to get our new life in order and decided to do some research on YouTube to see what others were using to do the same. I was totally amazed when I stumbled across My Purpley Life! I think on that first day, I watched almost every video that Jennifer had on her channel. It was right there and then that I knew I just HAD TO HAVE AN A5 MALDEN IN PURPLE!!! I got on the hunt for one but couldn't find anything in Canada or the US, so I went on EBAY and found my dream Filofax! 3 weeks later, she was delivered to my door! Now came the dilemma... What do I do with her? I had originally planned on using her as my home binder but since I'm using my ECLP (Erin Condren Life Planner) for most of my home/life, I knew I had the perfect use for her. I will be using her as my Social Media Planner!

I have created 6 sections with custom made Gorjuss Girl dividers for my Filofax. Here  are the sections.

1: Diary
2: Notes
3: Penpals
4: You-Tube
5: RAKS
6: Blog

I think I'll also be creating another section to be used as my digital scrapbook designing. I've still got some issues I'm trying to work out with that one though. So... here are some pics of what I've done with her. :) Enjoy!

All of my dividers were created using digital images of the Gorguss girls. I used Photoshop to clip the images to a divider template and then printed them to A5 borderless size, but I used standard letter size cardstock paper. That way, I was able to leave an overhang for the tabs. I used the dividers that came in my Malden to create the template. Then I used my paper trimmer and scissors to trim them to size.















If you'd like to see a more detailed explanation of what I'll be using my A5 Malden Social Media Filofax for... Check out this video on my new You-Tube channel. As I start using it and filling her up, I'll post some updates. Thanks for looking.

MY YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkOLY7XtYF0

Thursday, November 7, 2013

An Update, A Life Planner and A Filofax!

I know, I know.... It's been forever since I've blogged or designed for that matter. There have been lots of changes in my life and it's only now that I've had the desire to connect with the digital world again. I missed you all so much! I'm about to get back into designing and I hope to have some new goodies very soon for Christmas. I'm working on a super cute kit and I've got a few template packs and wordart packs on the way as well. I'm super excited about it all.

Well... You may have been wondering where I've been spending my time lately. OMG!!! I have found the most amazing group/community in the whole wide universe! Seriously! I have always used a planner of some sort to help with organizing my life. Either it's been a monthly calendar, a few scraps of paper with dates and to do lists on them, or a bound planner/agenda. I think I've tried them all. I even have a few Franklin Covey and Daytimer planners kicking around in my closet, somewhere. Since the kids started school this year in a new school, with new schedules and extracurricular activities, I knew that I needed to get our new lives organized and fast. How better to that than to get a new planner! I've been following Erin Condren's Life Planner system for a while now but never purchased one before. So, I ordered my very first and ever since I've been totally hooked on planning and organizing our lives.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Erin Condren, please check out her website at www.erincondren.com

She offers wire bound planners, calendars, address books, note pads, cards, labels, luggage, and the list goes on and on. And, the part that I loved about it was that you get to pick your own cover AND you get to have it personalized! Here's a pic of my Life Planner! I love her!


 

I've been using my LP for 6 weeks now and I've got to admit that it's really been helping with organizing my time. I've also been using it as a general journal as well. Jotting down little bits of my day. If you'd like to see a more detailed review of my Life Planner, check out my YouTube channel: HERE

So... Over the coming days, weeks, months, etc... I will be featuring lots of yummy new stuff on organizing, planners and yes... FILOFAX! As soon as I get some new design goodies ready, I'll let you know as well.