Hey everyone, it’s Elsie here on the blog today and I’m showing you how I’ve decorated my month in one of the new AC planners!
I love planners that are a bit of a “blank slate” so I was really happy when this AC one landed on my doorstep! Each monthly and weekly layout is designed in a very clean and simple way, which is perfect for the way I like to use my planners. I always prefer this style of planner because it means I can have fun with the decorating!
Towards the end of each month I have a “decorate my month” hour or so where I can relax, watch a bit of TV and just play with scrappy supplies and decorate the next month’s overview page. I use my weekly pages in a more pragmatic and not-so-pretty way, as it’s full of lots of notes and scribbles in my terrible handwriting! But I find that taking some time to decorate the monthly overview is a nice way to get myself into the right headspace for the coming month.
Obviously I want to make my planner pretty, but I know that I need to keep it practical so using more dimensional supplies is out of question in this format. So I turned to the Creative Devotion collection which is designed for bible journaling, and so it’s also ideal for planning.
I honestly don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have washi tape! It’s become such a staple item to use in my planner as it’s so easy to mask and highlight days/weeks in a quick and pretty way. You can see how I’ve done with some black and white stripy washi to highlight some vacation days!
Another way I used washi on this spread was fussy-cutting it to use as embellishments. The watercolour paint effect circles add some extra pops of colour and stuck so smoothly onto the paper you can hardly tell that it’s actually washi tape and not paint!
Stamping is also one of my favourite techniques to use. The Creative Devotion line has some really awesome and versatile stamp sets, but my favourite stamp is one from the ‘Praise’ set. It’s a small cluster of paint splatters which is perfect for someone, like me, who loves the look of paint splatters but doesn’t want to get paint out! Using this stamp with a few colours of ink adds some extra colour and whimsy to my embellishment clusters.
The scripture pad from Creative Devotion is incredibly beautiful. I used it on this page as a tip-in so I could write a reading list and I attached it to the side of my page with some washi tape. I like the fact that this gives me some extra room to write if I need it.
Keeping my planner as flexible and as easily changeable as I can is really important to my whole planning process, and there are a several items in the Creative Devotion line which are perfect to help me do that. I found the sticky notes dashboard incredibly useful as there are some sticky tabs which are great to use for writing on any events or notes where the dates might change. There are also erasable pens, which are a total lifesaver for someone like me who has terrible handwriting.
There’s also a really handy pocket on the front of the planner which I’ve filled with a few bits and pieces that are easy to use when I’m planning on-the-go! I created this washi sampler by using a piece of acetate and wrapping some of my favourite Creaive Devotion washi tapes around it. I then secured it to the pocket of the planner with one of the tassel paperclips.
I also used one of the pencil cases to fill up with some of my favourite tools that I can use on my planner pages. I filled it with a date stamp, ruler, coloured pens, erasable pens, gel highlighters, a mechanical pencil and a small ink pad in one of my favourite colours. I can’t believe how much I could fit into this one pouch! Keeping my favourite things in this pencil case will be so useful to have on hand whenever I need to use my planner.
Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you’ve got some inspiration on how you can also ‘decorate your month’ with the new AC planner!
Supplies: American Crafts Floral 2018 Planner – Shimelle Sticker Book – Creative Devotion: Matte Texture Stickers (#342589) – Clear Stamp Sets: Praise (#343054), Trust (#343055) – Washi Tapes: Set 1 (#342612), Set 3 (#342626), Set 4 (#346401) – Mechanical Pencil (#342594) – Erasable Gel Pens (#342595) – Gel Highlighters (#342606) – Fineliner Pens (#342610) – Faux Suede Tassel Paperclips (#342650) – Gold Mini Accent Clear Stickers (#342767) – Plastic Alphabet Stickers (#342780) – Sticky Notes Dashboard & Case (#342845) – Roller Date Stamp (#343051) – Vellum Scripture Pad (#343056) – Roses & Words Pencil Case (#346402)