more ways to be creative in your planner

Following on from my previous post on keeping creative diary pages, I thought I'd do a follow up post illustrating more ways I use to be creative. I will mainly talk about keeping pages functional as well as pretty but with a minimalistic theme too. I hope you enjoy it :)

Strategic Placement

Scary sounding title but it sounds really fancy and I wanted to sound clever :) Basically, carefully arranging the components of each day can make a big difference between pretty and messy.

For instance, in the next picture, you'll see a day where I've put to-dos on the top left, TV on the top right (this is a component that isn't a part of every day), a goal of the day on the bottom right (again, not on every day), appointments in the middle left and the bottom right denoting something of note (if there is space for it).

Not every day has to follow the same structure - you can jazz it up and one day, to-dos could be on the right instead or there might be no space for a goal so you leave that out.

Layering

Just like layering with clothes, you can also layer in your diary. Layering can bring about an interesting end result and doesn't have to take up too much space.

Here is some layering I did with some heart stickers:

And some layering I did with a sticky tab and washi tape (I love layering washi tape):

Less Is More

It's really easy to go overboard with stickers, washi tape and colour in your planner. Ultimately, your planner has to be functional too so if you limit your space too much with these other tools, you might lose interest in staying organised. So, my tip here is to keep in mind how much space you'll have for to-dos, appointments and other essential things that need to be written down after the decoration is done.

Personally, I prefer not to put washi tape at the tops and bottoms of my diary pages (the space is limited enough!) but I have done it on notepaper in the past.

Sometimes, using simple things, such as dashed lines, can look good too. I love using dashed lines and have used them a lot in the past. I only do it once or twice in a week's spread and sometimes, it's missing completely in an effort not to overdo the creativity.

More Written 'Fonts'

I love trying to write in different ways - cursive, print, capitals; I try them all! And sometimes, using different 'fonts' can be a cheaper way to decorate. No stickers or washi tape needed :)

Here are a few examples from my own planner:

Does it annoy you that the pictures aren't in order of tests?! Me too...

And my personal favourite...

Washi Tape

If you're new to washi tape or don't want to use too much due to the limited diary space, you could use it to highlight days of the week or months. Here are some examples:

As you can see, using washi tape doesn't have to be space-consuming.

Illustrations

Adding a simple illustration can add that personal touch.

For example, in the next picture, I've drawn a kite in the top left picture where I thought I'd write down some song lyrics I love, a microphone in the top right, a heart in the bottom left and a crown in the bottom right. I wouldn't say I'm the best at drawing and if you feel the same about yourself, keep those illustrations simple - that's what I do :)

Splitting Words Up

This is something you could say is impractical in some cases (and I wouldn't disagree with you - splitting up words?!) but that was until I tried it. I think this can be done if the word is split in the right place but I guess there's no hard and fast rule.

Corner Sticky Notes

I have some big corner sticky notes so I cut them in half and now they fit perfectly in my planner. A pair of scissors and the sticky note world will be your oyster.

Stickers

If you're not a big fan or don't know how to get into the world of stickers, using useful stickers could be a good start. Weather stickers, these Filofax ones or Paperchase appointment stickers are all simple ways to introduce them into your planner because they are functional and add a little bit of colour too.

Alternatively, you could just use your own illustrations instead.

Using Washi Tape For Monthly Planners

I've seen this on Flickr in the past and it is a good idea for things that last for several days. I have done this before in my actual diary pages:

And here is an example from my monthly planner pages:

Accessories

Sticky page markers, paper clips and bookmarks can all add another level of personality to a planner. My personal favourites are these duck clips from Midori - they are made of thick card but I didn't actually realise this when I purchased them! In the next picture, you'll see the duck clip and you'll also see a tiny part of a Rilakkuma sticky page marker I have used on the left.

Using Felt Tips

Felt tip pens are a great way to add colour but only if the paper can take it. I like using chevrons to decorate and although the next picture doesn't show it in my diary, it does show what I mean. If you look at the part that says 'connect! >>>>', the chevrons I'm talking about are the '>>>'. You can see more about this picture in this post.

So, I hope you enjoyed a second post on keeping creative diary pages. I hope you've not found too much overlap with the first post as I've tried to only talk about things not mentioned in it. 

What other ways do you use to make your pages as creative as possible? :)

keeping creative diary pages

As you probably know, I like to keep my diary colourful but functional and I have noticed that quite a few others seem to share this mindset. I know that others prefer to keep their diary simple without all the frills others would add, but I guess that's down to personal taste and preference. For me, however, I would like to look back at a certain year's worth of diary inserts and leaf through it as if it were a mini-journal too. 

Anyway, I thought I would do a post on how I decorate my diary sheets and also the inspiration behind some of the ways I use colour and stickers to maintain a functional planner, but also keep my inserts as a sort-of 'mini-journal'. 

Firstly, sticky notes. I find these very useful for when a large chunk of information has to be highlighted. Often, I use them for lists (such as a shopping list) or for other bits of important information (such as train times).

I find that using a sticky note enables this chunk of text to jump out easily but it also ensures that there is a way to 'separate' that information from other bits of my daily planning. Also, sticky notes can look pretty too!

Next, colour! Colour is fantastic to ensure the continual use of my planner. This might not be the case for everyone, but it definitely is for me. I've always enjoyed being creative (I first used Photoshop when I was fourteen!) and I guess that never went away. 

There are various ways to use colour - by using different colours to write different things, highlighting, underlining, drawing shapes, etc.

Now, onto stickers. I use a variety - from plain to animal faces to Rilakkuma ones. I use them to highlight something important, or just to decorate the pages - there are many reasons as to why I use them. They also add colour which is a big thing for me. In school, I was a very visual learner and colour helped, and I guess that transferred over to my day-to-day planning too.

I like to try and use stickers in a creative way too - as you can see below.

I used Martha Stewart x Avery teardrop stickers and cut each in half and made a pattern with them. I loved how the green and the blue complemented each other and I used this as a way to keep track of TV shows I was watching instead of the usual just-write-it-on-plainly method!

Another thing I use is washi tape to highlight things. Although I mentioned the use of highlighters earlier, I personally prefer to use washi tape as I didn't like how highlighters bled on the Filofax paper. However, now that I am in Smythson inserts, this is less of an issue but I've always found highlighters to be quite messy and I can't say I am a big fan of them in my planner.

I highlight various things - if a day is boring, I might highlight a TV show to watch, or if an important event was to occur, that might be highlighted too. I like using washi tape on washi tape too:

Finally, I like to mix up the 'font' I use for things. This adds to the journalling aspect and I like using 'bubble' writing, or very thin writing to add that extra bit of 'art' to my pages.

One last thing (I promise this is the last one!) is that sometimes, I add in some illustration of some kind to denote an event. An example of this is on a day when it snowed!

I rarely illustrate properly though, and prefer to use my Rilakkuma stamp set instead (not only are they cuter, they are also a quick and easy way to decorate my pages). Alternatively, if I find something cute in a magazine, in a department store (such as a perfume card), I would stick that on to decorate a boring day. Sometimes, I even stick train tickets on a day that I travelled somewhere interesting too.

I hope you've enjoyed a brief glimpse into how and why I decorate my diary pages. If you still hadn't figured it out, it's because:

- colour and creativity helps me remember things and also keeps me committed to my daily planning

and because:

- I like to look back on my diary pages as if I am reading an old journal I have kept.

How do you like to keep your planner?

letting my creative juices flow

I made this today (on the whim) due to boredom. I woke up feeling creative and didn't quite know what to do with the feeling - after all, it was raining so I couldn't go out for a walk and take a few photos, I was not in the mood to do some academic reading and all of my summer goals had been started and were progressing well.

Therefore, I decided to make a collage on Photoshop. I chose Clemence Poesy to be the subject of this collage because I absolutely love her style (I've made no bones about that before) and also, to coincide with the last Harry Potter movie! Now, I technically grew up with the Harry Potter movies. I'm around the same age as the Harry Potter lead actors (they are 21ish, I'm 21 in three months...eek!) and it feels like I've been part of the films! How cheesy does that sound?

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Here's the collage in question. Comments and cricticisms are welcome!

Click here for the full size version (800 x 600)

Picture credit: Clemence Poesy.net


Also, I have a planner surprise in store for you all... I recently purchased two potential planners for next year and I don't think I've seen anything like them on the blogosphere before so stay tuned!

summer goal

With less than a month to go before my last exam, I'm eagerly planning summer in the hope of making myself find the motivation to study hard for these exams. (Trust me, it's distracting - Hyde Park within a short stroll, the summer sun, Knightsbridge nearby too, High Street Kensington also nearby... I'm spoilt for choice for a place to hangout with my friends.)

Anyway, one of these goals is to get back into making 'graphics' or I prefer to call them 'graphic collages' as that's essentially what I do.

This is one I made last summer:

And I was quite proud of it as I think it was the second one I made after three years away from making any! I started using Photoshop when I was 14, so I've been using it for a grand total of just over 6 years now.

If you're interested, feel free to give me Deviant Art Gallery a browse - but I will be having a clean up of my portfolio in a few weeks time as I feel a lot of the work on there doesn't reflect my current style!

Have you got a creative side to you? It could be scrapbooking (which I love! Wish I could do it!), photography, painting, sketching... you name it. If you have Deviantart, please feel free to link me to yours as I find other creative people really quite inspiring!