Organized Wife - Happy Life

Caution: Very Long-Winded Post

I was supposed to be planning a party, but as I browsed online and involved myself in a conversation about the Martha Stewart planner (that everyone is slowly falling in love with), I suddenly had the urge to finally take the plunge and change it a little.

I nagged hubby about this planner all day Saturday at the pool.  And when I say "nagged", I mean I gave him details and lists about this wonderful & cute planner.  Normally I don't "nag" him about things I wanna buy because he understands my craft addiction, but this time I just couldn't justify paying more than $25 for a planner.  I've had other planners (and currently have 2), but I really never used them.  It was just a date book.   So what planted the MS planner seed?  One name, Cathy.  Her and her blog that shared detailed photos of how she organized hers.  Click Here For Cathy's Blog Post.   And after looking through it I thought, what a clever contraption!!  I have so many pads and lists and notes everywhere that always get lost, and I end up not completing tasks or forgetting birthdays.  (I know, we have Facebook now for that - lol).  So this was the perfect solution for me to get rid of the clutter in my purse and my desk, and get myself, my life, my ideas, my To-Dos, my appointments and my thoughts organized!

After the pool, we were supposed to go to the supermarket for some groceries.  And as hubby drove I just browsed my phone for updates and emails, then I looked up and saw we were at Staples.  I freaked OUT!!

I went in and told myself that I would spend $25 MAX.  Didn't happen.  *shrugs*  I was so overwhelmed with such pretty supplies.  It's a while since I went in there.  The last time I was there (last yr), I purchased a $2 or $3 pack of 100 black & white striped paper clips (which I thought was OVER THE TOP EXPENSIVE - I'm stingy - lol), so for me to even consider spending 20 bucks is shocking.  I mean, I can do that with my eyes closed at any craft store and not flinch, but for some reason I feel guilty doing so when it comes to buying myself shoes, clothes or any other "needy" items.  WEIRD, I KNOW!!

So the above photo shows what I purchased.  Not proud, but happy & excited.  That night (as we watched a movie - "The Vow" - what a great story!), I put my book together how I thought was perfect for me (everyone will have different sections), and immediately began to add things.

I decided that it would be cute to put a spin on my "categories" and use an "i" in front of every subject as a play on all the iPhone APPS.  So I came up with iAddress (addresses), iBlog (for blog & vlog posts and ideas), iCreate (for what nifty fun ideas pop into my head at 2am when I'm trying to sleep), iDo (To-Dos), iJournal (for when I take photos that I want to later scrap or smash - I jot down the date and what happened so I know later what it was about - if you know me [via INSTAGRAM], you know I take TONS of pix with every intention of smashing or scrapping most of them), iSend / iReceive (what I've sent and received to penpals as RAKs or whatever), and  iWish (what I'm looking to purchase in the future and don't want to forget about).  

After I was done categorizing my book and putting it together, I realized that the first tab (calendar) didn't have a catchy/cute name.  And being that my tabs were specifically placed in alpha order (cuz I'm crazy like that); and being that I REALLY wanted the calendar tab to first in the book, I opted to leave it as is.  I really wanted to add something cute like iDate, iSchedule or iPlan, but that would mean having to move the entire section somewhere else because my minor OCD would have me go nuts if everything was not alpha-categorized.  

And now on to the reason for this blog.
Yes, there's a reason which wasn't stated in the 5 page essay above.

I've seen many different photos of how people changed the look to the front of their MS planners and all were just so adorable, but I've been honestly afraid to do it.  First of all, the planner I purchased was the cheaper one ($6.99) and has like a snakeskin texture to it that feels plastic'y.  So adding stickers or whatever would've been difficult.  Plus I wanted what I put in the front to have some weight to it, so that it can sort of keep shut while on it's back, without having to add a band or anything.  

I decided I would use 3D objects and metals, so I pulled out my Tim Holtz organizer (stuffed with yummy gems), and carouse for cute pieces to use.  My 10-minutes-earlier-clean desk quickly became cluttered with all kinds of doo-dads and tid-bits that I thought would be cute to add.  I'm a quick crafter, so I was not about to start painting wood and crackling and staining things JUST TO ALTER THE FRONT OF MY $7 PLANNER!!!, so I selected pieces that were finished, cute and easy to hot glue down. 

The rest of this blog will take you through my "creative journey" of altering the planner and maybe give you inspiration to alter your current planner as well.  It is NOT to make you go spend your "hard earned" money on this particular one, TRUST!, but just to give you some ideas.

With that said, here are the photos.  

[click photos to enlarge]

Recollections bling, strategically placed.  lol

Prima Shabby Treasures - Ornate Metal Frame

I wanted to add my initial in the center of the frame, but I wanted it to be from this sticker set (because it's glittery).  And although I could've used a chipboard letter and painted it black and sprinkled glitter on it, I didn't want this to take too long, so I skipped that process.

With time that sticker would peel off, so I made sure to use some adhesive.

Added a metal "sexy" charm (that I got on ebay ages ago), to the top of the ornate frame.

Added a small crystal butterfly that I've been hoarding from a RAK I received from Sharon.
Thank you Sharon!!  =)

Cut up some more of that Recollections bling, and added more to the top.

An Eiffel Tower Puffy!!
Thanks Becky & Cathy for sending me these.

I wanted to add flowers (that match the book), but I didn't want them to be felt or mulberry since it would get ruined inside my purse or lying around.  So I went to my Recollections & Prima stash (aka Hoard Vault), and dug out these resin flowers.  Sturdy and pretty.

The Tim Holtz "JOURNEY" key was the perfect extra touch of "grunge" that I wanted to complete the "look" I was going for.  I wanted to also add a small "handle" to look like a knob opening a book, but I didn't want to add another element just an inch above everything that was going on down at that corner.  So I put the Tim Holtz "knob" (however you call it - lol), inside the hole of the key and that became my "handle".

Just one more of those pretty crystal butterflies that Sharon sent me (medium this time),
added just below the key and flowers, was the final and finishing touch on this cover.

And for those that haven't seen this planner or accessories,
I thought I'd show you what it looks like.

I do like that the back was plain, but I still needed a pocket to store some stickers and extras in;
because I didn't want the zipper pocket that is a part of the collection (sold separately),
to break from stuffing it.
So I added my own pocket of "GOODNESS",
 that comes from the SMASHBOOK collection by K&Co.

Fits my flags, tiny hexagon rainbow stickers (to add cuteness to my pages),
and extra MS labels.

P.S.  I used Tombow Mono Multi to adhere it to the back spine.

And FYI -  [i learned't the hard way] that

the sharpie fine point markers and sharpie pens are 2 very different writing tools... 

The marker (no matter how fine) will bleed through.  The pen doesn't.  

The pen is a little more pricey, but worth it in this case.

And they sell a variety of colors.

You can also use the SMASHBOOK pens, but that's too bulky to keep in the book.

VOILA!!

It's not OVERLY done, and it's not something simple either.  I wanted it to look shabby, grunge, sexy and also have a Touch of Paris on it; because, as you know, I'm obsessed with Paris!!  

I really hope you enjoyed today's project share and I deeply apologize for this lengthy blog post.  I just like to share the details, so that there will be no questions for me to answer later on.  I have a life, you know!  lol =D

Thanks for checking in.  Have a wonderful weekend!!

x0, Damaris