Moments Inked - Gift Giving for Planners

Hey there, friends (and especially planners!), after almost two years of using Papertrey Ink's Moments Inked planner, I feel like I've got a good handle on my preferred planner set-up as well as my favorite planning tools and accessories. With the holidays approaching, I thought it would be great fun to share those favorites with my planner friends! I know I would absolutely *love* to receive a gift of someone else's planner favorites. 

I pulled various items from my stamp and die stash to put this gift together, and will try to link to all of them, in case there's something specific you like. But making use of those things you already have and love and use is highly encouraged!

First, here's a look at how I packaged everything. The green polka-dot paper bag is from the Make It Market Mini Kit: Valentine Pin-Ups. I folded a Smokey Shadow Basic Bookmark 3 over the bag flap and secured it with a felt snowflake paperclip. The clip, which is made from two Fab Flakes felt die-cuts plus a wood snowflake accent is also intended to be used in the planner. 

Other supplies used: Make It Market Mini Kit: Holiday Hugs (snowflake die-cuts), Christmas Cheer stamps and Christmas Cheer dies ("Merry Christmas"), Luxe Gold Adhesive sheets, Type Strips III, Type Bits ("planner"), and Make It Market: Clipsters ("girl").

I included two note pads. The larger one, on the left, holds one of Papertrey's 3"x3" white post-it pads. The wrap is a simple tri-fold of Raspberry Fizz card stock, accented with Wet Paint II stamps and a Wet Paint II die-cut.

The smaller notepad came in a 4-pack, from Michael's I believe. I altered it by adding a stamped and die-cut Fab Flakes snowflake and a metallic gold adhesive Swoosh die-cut.

Also photographed are a black striped pencil (found in the Target dollar spot, I believe) and a Pilot Frixion Slim 0.38 in black (my favorite planner pen).

Next, I made a planner insert to store extra washi tape for on-the-go planning. The base of the insert is cut from Sheer Basics vellum using the smallest of the Moments Inked: Binder Page dies, then laminated. I picked out some pretty tapes and wrapped them around a few times. The four skinny washi tapes on the right are all new from Papertrey. Chevron Skinny Washi, Gingham Skinny Washi, and Scalloped Skinny Washi collections are now available in the store (yay!!). (The wide ones on the left are from my stash.)

Next is a monthly divider tab, cut from Sheer Basics Vellum using the Moments Inked: Binder Listed die and laminated. The gold metallic "January" was cut from a Luxe Gold Adhesive Sheet using the Monthly Moments: Year-Round I die set. 

I also cut the rest of the months (using both the Year-Round I and Year-Round II die sets) and packaged them in a glassine bag. I added the sticker after laminating so that it could be easily replaced each month.

Next (on the right) is a full Binder Page divider that I cut out of Sheer Basics Vellum and once again laminated. On the front and back, I adhered glassine bags filled with some of my most-used planner stickers. Here you can see various Planner Banners in the January colors. I stamped the banners using the four different planner banner styles for a nice variety (Planner Banners [two styles], Family Banners, Blog Banners).

On the back are more Planner Banners in some extra colors to compliment the January colors, some Clipsters accents (these are the perfect size for use in your planner!), and last, some flags that I made using both the Tabbed stamps and dies and Bibliophile dies.

Next, I filled a Don't Forget To Write: A1 Gold Seams Envelope with various rectangles that I cut with the Moments Inked: Boxed dies. These are great no-fuss ways to add pops of color to your spreads. I used lots of different papers, pulling from the January colors as well as some accent colors (Woodblock Prints, Super Succulents, Canyon Clay Pattern Pack, and Confetti Toss).

(As a reminder, the largest fits into the notes space on the left side of the weekly layout, another fits into the smaller rectangle just below, and the smallest fits into the day rectangle on the monthly layout. The last works on the day column of the weekly spread. It was originally designed when the day columns were divided into thirds. I find the size is still great for marking off a section of the day column.)

And last, I included just a sampling of decorative stickers just for fun. These were done in the January (and complimentary) colors using the following stamp sets: Quilted: Winter, Cozy Christmas, and Christmas Critters.

Thanks for joining me today! I hope you're as inspired as I am to gift planner goodies this holiday season!

Moments Inked Planner: Trip Planning

Hello, today's post is for all the planner peeps who might be stopping by! I've been working on a big summer 2017 trip for a while now (two years, in fact!). Our destination: Alaska. I'm overwhelmed (in the best possible way) with all the decisions, choices, possible itineraries, and just various considerations in general. To help corral all the information into one place, I decided to create a travel planning booklet for my Moments Inked Planner. 

I started with a stack of Refill Binder Pages - Lined (I used 8), trimmed off the binder holes, and scored in the middle for a top-fold booklet. (Lexi Daly shared Mini Notebooks To Go earlier this year, so definitely check out her post for additional booklet/notebook ideas if you're interested in making some of these!)

For my booklet binding, I punched two holes and tied the pages together with some jute string.

To cut down bulk, I did not add a separate card stock cover, so my outside page is both the front and back cover. I customized the "cover" with with some travel-themed stamps and dies: 

Stamps: Traveler's Journal: Adventure, Type Strips III

Dies:  Traveler's Journal: Outer Cover, Scene It: Mountain View, Type Bits Strip

Ink: Canyon Clay, True Black

Paper: Aqua Mist, Ripe Avocado, Refill Binder Pages - Lined

Other: jute string

Since we don't yet know our exact travel dates or the length of our trip, I created a generic page template that shows three days at a time and that I can fill in as we get things figured out (all in pencil for now though, in case we need to rearrange!). 

The days of the week flags (repositionable, of course) are there so that I can keep in mind whether it's the weekend or not and choose or avoid our destinations and activities accordingly. 

Because of Alaska's size and the distance between destinations, driving times are a big consideration, so I added a quick AM and PM to indicate where we are when we wake up and where we'll overnight, along with the number of miles and the time it will take to get from one place to the next. I also added a checkbox to indicate whether we will need reservations or not. We are hoping to leave much of the trip planned but not booked, so we can have the freedom to go off-plan as desired. On the other hand, we don't want to be caught off-guard without a reservation when we need one.

The Notes space below is where I can write down options for activities each day.

Stamps: Moments Inked: Listed, Traveler's Journal: Typed Notes, Moments Inked: Planner Banners, Moments Inked: Active Symbols

Dies: Moments Inked: Planner Banners

Ink: Aqua Mist, Simply Chartreuse, True Black, Raspberry Fizz, Canyon Clay, Hawaiian Shores

We have some key top-level decisions to make about the trip, so I added a "start here" title to a blank page and listed those questions for easy reference. "Start here" is from Moments Inked: Posted II, and the stitched flag die-cut is from Tag Sale: Quilted.

The next page is where I've listed excursions that we're particularly interested in. I wrote the excursions on repositionable stickers that I die-cut using one of the dies from the Moments Inked: Divided die set. As I'm planning, I'll move these to the actual day pages. If I empty this page, I'll know we're doing everything we set out to do (although I think we're going to have to pare this down a bit!).

Below the excursions is a list of other activities we would also like to fit in if possible. (I think we're going to need the whole summer!)

In the back of the booklet there are lots of additional blank pages for notes and information.

Here's how I've started using the booklet to plan out a sample itinerary. I'm doing it all in pencil right now, since we're not even sure yet which direction we'll head first once we get there.

To secure the booklet into my planner (and still allow it to be removed), I made a little binder strip with a slot for the booklet. For durability, I used a piece of a plastic two-pocket folder from the office supply store. 

Instructions: 

Cut a 1" x 7" strip.

Die-cut the binder holes using the full-size Binder Page die

Center the booklet and mark the left and right edge on the binder strip.

Punch a small hole into the binder strip at each mark.

Use a craft knife and ruler to cut a slot between the two punched holes.

Then you just find the midpoint of the booklet and slide it through.

That's it for today! Hope you found something here that you can use in your own planner. I'm thinking these booklets would be perfect for home decor/home improvement projects. Record your room dimensions, window sizes, etc., and then when you get to the hardware store, just grab the booklet and go!

Before I sign off today, a request: if you are an RV traveler (especially if you've RV'd in Alaska) and you're willing to help out a newbie, please email me, message me, leave a comment, etc. We are thinking an RV rental would be a fun way to do Alaska, but I've never even been inside one before, so I have questions. Lots!

We love to see how you're using your planner. Share with us using the #momentsinked hashtag!

Thanks so much for joining me today! Have a great week!

Moments Inked Planner: Custom Goal-Tracking Pages

[For my April release countdown post, featuring Splits: Get Well Soon, please click HERE.]

Hello, Monday! Today I have a planner idea to share with you. I've designed some goal-tracking pages for my Moments Inked Planner by Papertrey, Ink. As you'll see, I am using the binder format planner this year, but all of these inserts can be created for the spiral planner as well. You'll just use the spiral version of the full-page die instead of the binder version.

I tend to be an all-or-nothing kind of girl, so when 2016 rolled in, I went all-out with my goal setting, as in pages of notes and plans on my computer. Whenever I could, I used the SMART goal method -- S = specific, M = measurable, A = attainable, R = relevant (or realistic), and T = time-bound. At the end of the year, I want to see the specific things I did to achieve my different goals, instead of just vague more-of-this, less-of-that goals.

A few weeks ago, I was reviewing my progress and saw that I've fallen behind in some areas. I'm hoping the goal-tracking pages I designed for my planner will help keep me on track and motivated.

I looked through my stamps to find some basic geometric shapes that I could use for my page designs. These first two pages both use large outline shapes from Two Toned:

With four large rectangles, this page would be great for anything you want to accomplish quarterly, or anything where you'd want to record a lot of info.

I'm using this page to record family mini-vacations and day trips. With kids in sports year-round, my family has precious few weekends when everyone is free, so our family outings have definitely dwindled over the years. It's still important to me that we make time for these adventures. I'm hoping this visual status report will be a helpful reminder to plan for these trips!

Stamps: Two Toned, Clipsters, Go for the Goal, Moments Inked: Listed, Moments Inked: Blog Banners

Dies: Moments Inked: Binder Page, Bibliophile

Ink: Aqua Mist, Green Parakeet, Raspberry Fizz, Canyon Clay

Paper: Fresh Snow Linen card stock, True Black Stripe patterned paper

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I love the hexagon shape, also in the Two Toned stamp set. Like the rectangles above, these spaces are large enough to fit any details you want to include in your goal-tracking. 

I'm using the hexagon pages to track my book-reading goal. This version is much simpler than my book-reading log from last year!

Stamps: Two Toned, Go for the Goal, Moments Inked: Listed, Bibliophile

Dies: Moments Inked: Binder Page, Bibliophile

Ink: Aqua Mist, Green Parakeet, Raspberry Fizz, Canyon Clay

Paper: Fresh Snow Linen card stock, True Black Stripe patterned paper

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Next is a page with twelve spaces, perfect for tracking things you want to do once a month.

One of my once-a-month goals is to purge and donate to charity. I love the organizations that pick up my donations right off of my front porch! This would be a great place to add a planner pocket, too, for storing donation receipts until tax time.

(By the way, does it bother you that there are two orange circles right next each other?.... yep, me too!  You know I'm going to have to re-do that whole page, right?)

Stamps: Borders & Corners {Circle}, Go for the Goal, Moments Inked: Listed, Moments Inked: Everyday Symbols

Dies: Moments Inked: Binder Page, Bibliophile

Ink: Aqua Mist, Green Parakeet, Raspberry Fizz, Canyon Clay

Paper: Fresh Snow Linen card stock, True Black Stripe patterned paper

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Next up is a page with twenty small circles (with room for more) to fill in, stamp, add a checkmark to, etc. I didn't find a circle stamp in my collection that was this approximate size, so instead, I used a Cover Plate: Circles die-cut as a stencil.

I'm using this page to track my weight loss goal of 20 pounds for the year. The "you did it" stamp was a happy find in my stamp collection! It's from Retro Style Graduation.

Stamps: Go for the Goal, Moments Inked: Listed, Retro Style Graduation

Dies: Moments Inked: Binder Page, Bibliophile, Cover Plate: Circles

Ink: Green Parakeet, Raspberry Fizz

Paper: Fresh Snow Linen card stock, True Black Stripe patterned paper

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This is the same as above, but with one extra row, for 25 circles total. I stamped the insides of these circles with an image from Retro Style Birthday.

I'm using this page to track a lettering practice goal of twice a month. The check-mark is from Moments Inked: Posted.

Stamps: Go for the Goal, Moments Inked: Listed, Retro Style Birthday, Moments Inked: Posted

Dies: Moments Inked: Binder Page, Bibliophile, Cover Plate: Circles

Ink: Aqua Mist, Green Parakeet, Raspberry Fizz, Canyon Clay

Paper: Fresh Snow Linen card stock, True Black Stripe patterned paper

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 I had so much fun making these pages, and can totally see myself with a separate binder just for goals! (Fewer goals would work, too - HA!) It's always surprising, and kind of embarrassing even, how motivated I am by the simple act of checking off a box or filling in a blank space.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope I've given you some ideas for customizing your planner!

New Moments Inked

Papertrey Ink is adding a fantastic sports and fitness stamp set to the Moments Inked line. Active Symbols will be releasing tonight at 10 pm, along with the rest of the March release. With three kids all involved in different sports and activities, I'm already getting a lot of use out of this one!

First, a few ways I'm using these icons and stamps in my planner:

I've stamped both directly onto the planner pages (weightlifting), as well as on sticker paper (volleyball).

I love the little karate guy! My youngest just started a  karate-related activity, too!

The past couple of weeks have been super busy, so the weekly pages are crowded. I wanted to highlight the semi-finals and championship basketball games my younger son played in, so I did that with the basketball icon. The icons are a great way to make something stand out, plus they're cute and colorful, too!

Whenever a new season of sports begins, it take me a while to remember everyone's schedule. To help, I created a laminated card insert (die-cut with the medium Binder Page die) with the days of the week (stamped with Monthly Moments: Tabbed) and then a whole bunch of circle stickers for the icons. The stickers are removable, so I can reposition if anything changes during the season, and I can swap out next season. (The empty ones are placeholders for horseback riding and music. I'm going to use the little horse from Petite Places: Barnyard for the horseback riding, but that set is out on loan at the moment.)

I've got a few more things to add once schedules are set, and then I'll have a nice cheat sheet when doing the weekly planning.

Of course, many of these little icons will work for other projects as well, such as cards:

We have friends whose daughter has had two exciting basketball achievements recently -- passing 1,000 career points for her high school and signing with a college team for next year. I made her a congratulations card using the new Paper Clippings: Congratulations and then just added a few basketballs for "confetti." Blue and gray are the colors of the college she'll be attending.

Visit Nichole's blog for links to more Moments Inked: Active Symbols inspiration!

Thanks for visiting,

Moments Inked 2016 Planner Review

I am super excited today to share with you my first impressions of the new 2016 Moments Inked Memory Planner system by Papertrey Ink. Each of the Moments Inked Design Team members will be posting reviews this week. If you missed Ashley’s and Suzanne’s reviews from yesterday, I encourage you to check them out. Also, Nichole posted an extensive planner introduction during the December release, which is HERE. You’ll definitely want to check that out if you haven’t already. Last but not least, Audrey is also posting her review today. Lots to see!

I’m thrilled with all the changes Papertrey has made this year! There are now even more opportunities for customizing the planner to suit your own individual needs. 

Here’s a quick run-down of the changes:

• Choose your format: the spiral bound edition or the binder edition 
• There are no longer daily pages included in this initial planner. This reduces the bulk considerably and gives the planner a nice, sleek profile. Note: if you loved the daily pages last year, stay tuned for alternative daily page options that will be announced in the near future.
• Five gorgeous new cover designs for the spiral-bound planner (can also be adapted to the binder version).
• Metal coil for the spiral-bound format instead of the flexible black plastic coil.
• Notes pages at the end of each month
• On the weekly spread, the days are no longer divided into morning, afternoon, and evening.
• And extra specialty page listing out the specific colors for each month -- love this! (It's the little things!)

And here are some things that have stayed the same

(applies to both spiral-bound and binder formats):

• Size is still 5” x 7”
• Same monthly layout
• Same signature Papertrey color combos for each month
• Same 70b linen paper
• Same “extra” pages, including dates to remember, goals, contacts, lined notes pages, grid notes pages, and a year-in-review page.
• Same durable laminated month tabs

For more detail, join me for a video walkthrough of the new planner. 
(Fair warning -- I'm not the cinematographer that Ashley is! Her video from yesterday is so beautifully done and informative -- a must-see!)

So, let’s talk about that binder! Gorgeous! I chose the Ebony binder to get started, but I would gladly take one of each. They all look so pretty! I’m so impressed with the overall look and feel. Very professional and sophisticated. The features have obviously been carefully designed for maximum functionality and aesthetic appeal.

Outside features include metal corners for durability (and good looks), a simple snap closure in a gold finish to match the corners, beautiful top-stitching, and an elegant embossed Moments Inked logo.

Inside features include a pen/pencil loop, storage flaps/pockets, gold binder rings, and a notepad insert.

I enjoyed using the spiral-bound planner last year, but I do think I prefer a binder system. I tend to want to rearrange/add/subtract somewhat frequently, which will be much easier with the binder format. I also just like the elegance of the binder.

The binder pages are the same for both the spiral-bound and the binder version, so the following applies to both systems. 

I really like that the day columns on the new weekly spreads are no longer divided into morning, afternoon, and evening. As a stay-at-home mom of three busy kids, the weekday evening section tended to be overflowing, while the morning and afternoon sections were often unused. And when does afternoon officially become evening anyway <grin>? I plan to experiment with the weekly spread, maybe divide the day columns into two sections, one for calendar and one for tasks. Or I may divide into categories — family, personal, and blog. Either way, I appreciate the ability to tailor those columns to my needs instead of trying to force things into the morning, afternoon, and evening parameters.

I’m glad to see that two of my favorite features have remained:

1) the motivational quotes at the beginning of each month — what a great opportunity to reflect on an encouraging phrase or quote!

2) the goals page at the beginning. I found myself referring to this frequently throughout this past year to check on my progress and re-focus as needed. Some of my accomplishments likely wouldn’t have happened had I not written them down here. The goals page also, oddly, allowed me to let go of at least one thing that really needed to go. I’ve been trying to do Project Life for at least four years now. Instead of being discouraged by yet another year of “failing” at it, the goals page has helped me realize that it’s time to just let it go. 

I’m very curious to see what Nichole has planned for the daily page alternative. I didn’t use large parts of the daily page regularly, so I don’t altogether mind that they’re gone, but I would still like to include daily gratitude and  simple memory keeping in my 2016 planner. We’ll see what comes out in the months ahead!

Who else was excited that Week One of the new planner has already begun? Here’s a look at the current week (I had to break in the new planner right away!):

I’m planning to continue with weekly Bible verse journaling this year. For now, I’m continuing to use the weekly verse suggestions that I found on the Oak Tree Community Church website.

Conveniently, the first verse, Psalm 119:105, is included in Papertrey’s Light of Life stamp set. I decided to create a lighthouse scene for the Scripture using images from Guiding Lights. Since the darker colors tend to show through a little on the other side of the linen paper, I stamped off once for the red and black.

I shared info about the “books due” flag in THIS POST.

The black divider is one that I used last year in the spiral-bound planner. I die-cut it from a vinyl two-pocket folder that I picked up at an office supply store using the Moments Inked: Tabbed List die. For now, to adapt it to the binder system. I just punched holes in the other side. 

I used the new white Post-It notes (two 3x3 notes) to create a to-do list for the week. The header, lines, and checkboxes are all from the Moments Inked: Posted stamp set. The title is from the Moments Inked: Listed stamp set, and the stars are from the Monthly Moments: Tabbed stamp set.

Once my kids’ activities start up again after the holidays, I won’t have nearly this much real estate for decorating, so I took full advantage of it this week! The New Year’s cluster was done with a bunch of stamps and dies. The product list is for reference and not meant to overwhelm at all! The idea is to use things you already have.

     Christmas Cheer stamp set  (Happy New Year)

     Wet Paint Tags stamp set  (Cheers)

     Star Scribbles

     Moments Inked: Planner Banners (tiniest star image)

     Just the Ticket stamp set and Just the Ticket Border die (ticket)

     Monthly Moments: Year-Round Mini stamp set (hello January)

Sometime last year, I started using the monthly spread as a blog calendar, and plan to continue with that this year. I’ve used a mixture of repositionable Avery circle labels (colored with Copics) and stamped die-cuts using the Monthly Moments: Tabbed stamps and Monthly Moments: Tabbed dies. The tabbed die-cuts are also stamped with a “post live @“ frame from the Moments Inked: Blog Banners stamp set. I suppose technically they are upside-down, but this way they don't cover up the dates!

Last photo for today, I also glammed up the opening title page with some gold adhesive Wet Paint Alpha letters to spell out my name. Swanky!

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s post. I look forward to sharing more planner ideas throughout the coming year. 

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Thanks for visiting today!