Why I love multiple planners!

June 29, 2017June 29, 2017 hansjonesLeave a comment

When I first entered the world of planning, I found it hard to understand how it was possible to use more than 1 planner at a time. How could it be that you invest in a beautiful leather ring bound planner and then justify the need to add to that collection? Why would you not worship every part of that planner and that planner alone?

Oh, how naive this slightly younger version of myself was….almost 3 years on into my love (and mild addiction) into all things Planner related, I use 4 planners on a daily basis! Yep, F O U R. And I use them all with equal determination and purpose.

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So, let’s start with my Kate Spade ballerina pink zipped personal size. A purchase from the US, this beauty is where I store lists, lists and more lists….what books I want to read, ideas for Christmas and birthday presents (for myself obviously!), holiday planning, packing lists, shopping lists and anything else that I think should be or look like a list. With decorative pockets and a couple of creative dashboards made by moi, it’s what makes me smile every day.

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Next is my bubblegum pink Kikki K in A5. A pre loved purchase but in perfect condition. This was the first planner setup I saw on YouTube whilst watching Paper & Glam and I loved it ever since. I use this predominantly as a notebook for work so it has minimal decoration on the pockets and no fancy dividers or dashboard. I keep a Prima Planner pencil case and wipe clean notes page at the front, perfect for on the go. I also use the My Pretty Week tuck tabs to section off the different parts of the planner – so useful and adaptable! By using a planner as a notebook, it also means I can transfer into other planners should the desire take me.

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A planner collection would not be complete without an Erin Condren. I will do a full review on the new planner soon but I essentially use this as my everyday to do list and reminders. It also gives me an excuse to use pretty stickers!!

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Finally, my bargain of the year…Ban.do floral planner which I use to plan my blogs. This has minimal decoration as I don’t use it every day but I pimp it up by creating fun notes pages using my selection of post it notes.

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I think I have finally found Planner Peace. How long it lasts, I’m not sure. Particularly as I am eyeing up a Foxy Fix TN currently…..

How many planners do you use everyday? What planner item can’t you live without?

Plan with me! #beforethetodolists

January 26, 2016January 25, 2016 hansjonesLeave a comment

After sharing my set up in my ice blue Kikki-K Condren, I was asked by many of you how I plan on a weekly basis.

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So, here is a plan with me for this week.

I certainly love the ability to be creative with my planner, however, my inability to make decisions easily means that once I have found a method of decorating that I like, I stick with it for a while until my creative flair inspires me otherwise.

On a Sunday evening, I sit with my We R Memory Keepers storage bag, The Planner Society kit, The Reset Girl stickers and a bunch of other goodies and decorate for the coming week.

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I only actively use this planner Monday-Friday for my work and home to do lists. So, the first step I take is to cover up Saturday and Sunday with some gorgeous paper. I am in love with the notepad from The Planner Society December kit and with a little bit of washi and some stickers, it makes perfect use of the weekend columns I don’t need. This notepaper is ideal for jotting down ideas for blogs, shopping list or general to-do’s. Adding a gumball sticker from The Reset Girl with some inspirational stickers completes this half of the week. If I fancy, I may had a Erin Condren box sticker depending on how busy the week is.

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Moving back to the first half of the week, I repeat a similar process with the craft paper, adding a piece to the lined column and embellishing with The Planner Society to-do pad and stickers. Who doesn’t adore the girls in The Planner Society kit from December?!

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With a choice sticker for the thankful thought, that is pretty much it for the week as every blank inch is full by Friday 5pm!

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Finally, using these “too cute to handle” cards and wooden embellishments from The Planner Society Kit, I created an extra large page marker. It adds to the decoration as well as being practical!

I’ll probably change up my decorating routine in February – use the hashtag #beforethetodolists on Instagram to shower me with inspiration! I love looking at all your planner layouts and decorating.

x PB x

How I am planning in 2016

January 21, 2016 hansjonesLeave a comment

With the addition of a beautiful ice-blue Kikki-K to my planner collection, 2016 had to be the year for planning, planning and more planning.

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From all the inspirational Facebook groups and Instagram accounts I follow, I finally have achieved planner peace – it is only right I give back to this amazing community of people and share!

As you will know from previous posts, I was using an Erin Condren for my day to day planning.

However, I was beginning to get frustrated with the spiral bound system – the spiral was starting to wear and it didn’t have the professional feel that I am aim for when using the planner for work. Furthermore, I love adding my creative flair to planning and I felt the EC was quite restrictive for this purpose.

So, the only possible solution was adding the EC to the Kikki-K. Many hours of YouTube watching were conducted to ensure I didn’t end up with a ruined EC and an empty planner. I would highly recommend watching Paper & Glam’s YouTube tutorial as research before you attempt it!

I decided to not include the monthly tabs in the EC as I prefer a cleaner line when closing the planner and the tabs do bend and get in the way if you don’t punch into the boxes. I use a page marker so I can easily go to the current week.

I should make it clear that this planner is used for my Monday-Friday planning. I don’t use this planner for my weekend plans as I am still a fan of diary sharing with Mr PB on our iPhones, therefore, I don’t tend to do a lot of forward planning in the months ahead making the lack of tabs easier to justify!

Taking you through each section of the planner:

Front pockets – I love the layout of Kikki-K pockets. As well as being practical, they allow a beautiful creative set up. My front pockets store spare washi on a hand-made laminated washi card as well as plenty of goodies from The Planner Society – page flags, a to-do list and paperclips – a mixture of hand made and sent in the kit. I intend to do an unboxing of The Planner Society kit but, for anyone interested, it is worth every penny!

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I added this adorable picture frame from selection of scrapbook embellishments and using a portable polaroid printer, I change up the picture depending on the week or month. A fun way to update your planner and add a personal touch!

Dashboard – I don’t tend to use a dashboard as it’s intended but more of an extension to my creativity and having a set-up that brings a smile to my face when I open the planner. Using cardstock, a bow and Planner girl tag from The Planner Society kit as well as some additional embellishments, I simply laminate and then hole punch.

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I love the combination of front pockets and dashboard….

The first section of the planner is my notes section. Adapting dividers purchased from My Pretty Week, I store work notes under the relevant month making them easy to refer to. I use paper from Paperchase and mix it up between yellow and white lined paper.

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The EC section is pretty much intact apart from the tabbed sections – I love the gold foil vellum and the layout of the EC works well for my never-ending work and home to-do lists.

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The pen is a recent Kikki-K purchase and is complimented by the gold EC band that, although serves no purpose, looks stunning against the ice-blue.

I will be sharing my weekly planning in my next post, so look out for that!

Thank you for all your inspiration – I hope this inspires you too

x PB x

#Back2School4GrownUps – Weekly Planning!

September 15, 2015 hansjonesLeave a comment

There is one main reason why I fell in love with planning and it has nothing to do with being more organised……It’s all about the decoration.

Looking at all the inspirational posts on Facebook and Instagram made me realise the fun involved in planning your week and decorating the pages giving you some eye candy to look at every day.

So I thought I would share how I plan in both the Erin Condren and Simplified Planner to give back some inspiration!

As you will recall from my previous post, I use the Erin Condren as my go-to every day planner – work, home, blog and social. I chose the vertical layout, partly because it is iconic EC design but also to give my maximum space for my different to do lists.

I downloaded these adorable checklist stickers from Peach Paper Co on Etsy and they are perfect. I love that they are themed to the monthly colour adding some flair to the pages.

I use the top box for work to do’s. These sometimes follow into the middle box if its particularly busy but if not, the middle box is home related chores – calls, cleaning, shopping lists etc. The final box is always used for my blog post to do’s.

I found these fantastic stamps on Neat and Tangled specifically for bloggers but some of the more generic stamps are great for everyday use. Using an acrylic block and NAME OF STAMP, these create a bold print and are the perfect height for the boxes.

Once I have filled out all the boxes at the beginning of the week, I fill the blank space with plenty of paper craft, stickers, die cuts and stamps. Using a paper buffet of greys, black and white and floral, I also used The Reset Girl stickers and script stickers from Simple Stories and Craft Market. Links below!

The Simplified Planner is my blog planner. I use the monthly spread to plan what topics I will be writing about and the weekly sections to track my social media activity and visits to my blog. This has really helped to see which posts are more popular.

As I write blogs on a Tuesday and Thursday, the monthly layout gives me plenty of room to be creative. Again, using a paper buffet and stickers from The Reset Girl, Craft Market and Simple Stories, I love how this spread turned out.

For the weekly layout, I use these social media icons to write the number of likes against each one. I add my blog visits in the meal planning box and the title to keep track of the topic. Any blank space at the end of the week is of course decorated! I hope this has given you some inspiration in return for all the wonderful posts you share! Please comment and let me know what you think! Happy planning everyone

x PB x

The Reset Girl stickers – http://www.theresetgirlshop.com/

Checklist stickers – https://www.etsy.com/uk/transaction/1058311206

#Back2School4GrownUps – Planner Collection

September 10, 2015September 9, 2015 hansjones1 Comment

It is certainly safe to say that since the beginning of the year when I embarked on my planner obsession, I have accumulated a decent stack of beauties. So, I thought I would share what they are and how I use them.

First up are my top two – The Simplified Planner by Emily Ley and Erin Condren Life Planner.
The Erin Condren Life Planner was arguably the first enabler into planning heaven for me. Spotting a YouTube video of one being decorating made me fall in love at first sight. With the teal and gold metallic personalised cover, I opted for the the traditional vertical layout. I use this as my every day go to planner – every appointment for work and home is noted on the monthly schedule – different colours for each to easily identify – and the weekly is my HUGE to do list – anything from a work related task to phone calls are separated up into one of the three boxes. I also add blog to do’s as well! I love the layout, it’s super versatile and plenty of space for writing or decorating when it’s a quiet week (although very rare!)

The Simplified Planner is the pineapple weekly and is perfect to use as my blog planner – it wouldn’t be right to use it for anything else! I use the monthly spread to plan my posts and decorate the blank space. Writing on a Tuesday and Thursday only gives me plenty of room to be creative. The weekly schedule is used to record the statistics from my blog and social media. I use cute little social media stickers for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest and jot down the number of likes and comments against photos as well as the number of visitors to my site. It really helps to see what draws the most interest – unsurprisingly, the planner topics are the most popular! Look out next week for layout designs!

I definitely aspire to seasonal living and that extends from my home into my handbag! The Pineapple & Button Co. planner is of course my first and will remain a steady favourite. The teal and pink makes it the perfect Spring/Summer accessory.

The patent blue Paperchase planner is my go to Autumn/Winter choice. It has a great feel to it and plenty of pockets to decorate seasonally. I tend to use both of these as notebooks and for on-the-go lists! I will be featuring this planner in the 2nd instalment of Getting Ready For Autumn.

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The Smash Scrapbook is where I create mood boards for our home. Cutting out ideas from interior design magazines, I pull together colours, textures and room decor to inspire me with our ongoing projects. I love the size and thickness of the paper as it allows me to go a little crazy with the glue stick!

Finally, a grabbed this adorable Cath Kidston Christmas Organiser long before I realised I was a #PlannerGirl so it hasn’t been used to its full potential………until now! Full of cute dividers for menu planning, cards lists, present lists and notes, it will certainly get some Pineapple & Button Co. treatment this year! Watch this space!

I would love to see all your planner collections! Please share on Instagram using #Back2School4GrownUps

x PB x

#Back2School4GrownUps – Lets Get Organised!

September 8, 2015September 7, 2015 hansjonesLeave a comment

Since launching into the world of planning, I have come to release the importance of organising my planning supplies – not only does this make the hoards of washi tape, pens, stickers and accessories look even better but it also helps me to plan in the most efficient way.

Vintage Letter Rack

I converted this letter rack into the most perfect planning storage. A gorgeous dark wood passed down to me by a family member, it stands with pride on the corner of my desk. I had thought about painting it but I love the vintage feel.

The width of the slots make for a great washi holder (with plenty more room for more which is always important!). The pens and the stickers fit perfectly at the back of the unit with journal cards and accessories in the front for easy access. I always have this by my side when planning for the week.

Websters Color Crush Planning Case
I purchased this Webster Color Crush planning case from eBay. Complimenting the Pineapple and Button Co colours, it’s great to have in your handbag along with your planner of choice.

With 3 pockets of varying sizes, it holds a substantial amount of on-the-go planning accessories – washi tape, pens, sticky notes, stickers, paperclips. A must for any stylish #GirlBoss.

This divine wrap pencil case was a gift from Mr PB for our wedding anniversary. A beautiful soft tan leather, it smells incredible. Coming into Autumn, it makes for an adorable accessory.

It’s a great size too, holding washi tape, paperclips, pens and a few stickers. I have started using this along with my navy patent Paperchase planner as this seasons staples.

Being such a fan of The Reset Girl, I have learnt many a new technique for upping my planning game! The one significant tip is creating a paper buffet.

Selecting paper stock in complimenting colours for my chosen theme – whether it be my EC, Simplified Planner or an autumn notebook – and then cutting them into circles, squares and page flags, really makes creating a layout easy peasy lemon squeezy as well as being super fun! I store the paper buffet in these simple dishes and change the contents up each month.