The planner I currently use is a Day Runner binder from the early 2000s with an approximately 6 x 8.5 inch page format. This is very close in size to some other brands of planner pages and supplies that are available from craft suppliers right now. I also have some partially used bound blank journals with pages very close to this size. A lot of these partially used or out of date pages have large areas of lines which are very useful for writing on so I cut them out of their binding to customize for use in my planner. I use my planner as a calendar, a to do list, an idea book, and an art journal. I often use old pages removed from the planner in a permanent scrapbook. I’m heavily into paper crafts and I love getting creative with my planner – I’m going for an eclectic “collaged” look and I freely mix products from different companies as well as found and recycled papers. Canvas Corp makes some paper designs which make it really fun and easy to create custom planner, journal and scrapbook pages. Since many of the products already have an eclectic collaged look to them, they are useful to create visual and functional transitions between all the diverse materials I’m using.
Products used:
7gypsies Architextures Collection Ledger Paper
7gypsies Ordre Du Jour Collection Pen and Tell Her
7gypsies Ordre du Jour Collection To & Due Paper
Scrap chipboard or cardstock
Scrap paper
Journal pages with lines
Assorted interesting found papers
Paper cutter, Glue stick
Scissors, Ruler, Hole punch, Pencil, Bone folder
Here are some pages that would be fun to try to incorporate into one planner. From left to right, I have some unused pages from a 2016 prayer journal, some cutouts from a Do It Best hardware calendar with inspirational sayings, one of the original Day Runner pockets, and some pre-printed pages from Heidi Swapp.
To get these pages all to fit into one planner, I have to make sure the pages are close to the same size and that they all have holes in the same place. I made a reusable template by figuring out the maximum page size for the binder I’m using and cut a piece of scrap chipboard to those dimensions. Then I marked where the holes should go in pencil and punched them out. Now I can trace around this template to make new planner pages from blank pieces of paper, lined decorative paper or various other found papers.
Here is a two-page spread showing some pages that I made with my template. On the left the base of the page is the Ledger Paper design by 7gypsies. On the right is an unused page from a prayer journal that I tore out, trimmed to fit my template and punched with holes. Any sections of the page I wasn’t going to use I covered up with assorted papers, from Canvas Corp brands and other sources. The “Ransom Note” style words on the To & Due paper help everything mix together visually.
If you want you can embellish the pages further with stickers, rubber stamps, paper tape, ephemera from your life and anything that is relevant to you. My planner is an important tool I use to keep myself organized and keep the creative ideas flowing. I hope you get as much out of yours as I do out of mine. I have made a couple of Pinterest boards filled with inspiration if you want more ideas for planners and journals. Planners, Journals, Albums, Scrapbooks and Handmade Books Art Journaling.
Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann
blog and Instagram
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