Dutch Door Layout - Perfect for Vacation Journaling

Next week is Thanksgiving, and many of us are off work, or traveling to visit family and friends. This may have you wanting to depart from a typical "structured" weekly layout, and use something a little more flexible to help capture memories. 

A good solution in your DIY Planner is a Dutch Door Layout:

The Dutch Door Layout allows you to use a consistent header across multiple pages. Because the functional planner space is slightly less than you would normally get from a full page, it makes sense to use this for atypical weeks where your time isn't quite as structured.

I used my HP Sprocket to easily create a really fun mosaic with a picture from our trip last year. I'm even bringing my photo printer with so I can print photos each day to add them to my planner!

Where are you going on your next vacation?

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small fee if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations).

Planner - Leuchtturm 1917 Dot Grid Planner, Hard Cover

Brush Pens (Large) - Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens, there is also a nice Starter Kit here

Brush Pens (Small) - Pentel Fude Touch Sign Pen, FLEXIBLE TIP

Photo Printer - HP Sprocket Photo Printer, I also recommend buying extra photo packs right away, as printing is addictive 😂

DIY Planner Daily Time Blocking Layout

I recently was inspired by a blog post from one of the most creative DIY Planners I've come across: Whitney from Life by Whitney. This blog post has DIY Planner layouts for how to be more productive. 

I felt like it was the perfect layout to help organize a SUPER busy week for me

I modified the layout slightly in that I didn't give each hour an equal space. There are times of the day when I'm more productive, and times when I'm not that productive 😅. Thus, it made sense to make some rows taller than others. 

While I filled in this layout for the purposes of a video, the actual implementation involved:

• Sunday Night I outlined the grid including rows for hours and columns for days (I also made Saturday & Sunday less wide than weekday columns too).
• Each morning while I had my coffee (first thing I do in the AM) I would pencil in on the right-side of that day what I wanted to work on for each "chunk" of time.
• Every few hours I'd go into my planner and use a pen to color code my activities to show what I *actually* was working on for that time block.

That's it! My days are pretty crazy, so I would just use each morning to plan my day. If your days are more predictable, you could complete your week in one sitting and save even more time planning your productivity.

What do you think of Whitney's layout? 

DIY Planner Movie Tracker - Template UPDATED

I recently updated my DIY Planner Book and Movie Tracker Template to make it slightly less cumbersome to trace.

I wanted something that was a lot less time consuming to add to a planner. The "film" look was cute, but SO time-consuming. I like the "ticket stub" look a little better.

NOTE: The planner template is available HERE until 11/01/17 as a freebie. 

After that, I plan on moving it into my shop where it will no longer be free. So, download it while you can! 

What movie is next on your "To See" list? 👇

The 6 P's to Better Brush Lettering

Here's a quick video that shows the progress of my lettering.

You can see the difference 9 months of practice has made. For people just starting their journey, here are, to me, the keys to Brush Lettering Progress. (The following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an items cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations.)

The 6 P's of Brush Lettering

1. Pens - while you can produce "faux-lligraphy" with any writing instrument, brush pens are the key to quality lettering. I'm not going to recommend a specific brand, because they are ALL SO DIFFERENT! You need to take it upon yourself and keep testing until you find which ones work best for you. I will say, the Tombow Fudenosuke Twin Tip or the Pentel Touch Sign Pens (flexible tip) are a great small pens to start with. The Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens are available in smaller starter sets to use as a large brush pen to test as well. 
2. Paper - now that you've invested in some brush pens, you can't just pick up any ol' piece of paper and start lettering on it. You need to spend a little more to get good quality paper to ensure your brush pens LAST! It's soooo easy to fray tips (especially for us lefties!!) so you need to make sure you're using quality paper. Most tracing papers and Rhodia pads are smooth enough. For additional practice sheets I like to use HP Premium LaserJet Paper.
3. Pirg - okay, I cheated on this one. It's really GRIP. This is perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT when starting out, and also the most personal. You don't hold your brush pen like a regular pen. You hold it more like a paint brush. But above all else, you hold it so it's COMFORTABLE FOR YOU! You can watch how someone else holds their pen all you want, but you need to make minor adjustments in your grip until it feels "right". You know, because you'll be able to make razor-thin upstrokes at a snails pace with minimal shakes. It took me almost a month to find a grip that worked for me. 
4. Pressure - this is how you produce thick and thin strokes. You need to be VERY mindful of how you apply pressure. Smooth transitions through curves, delicate handling in upstrokes, maintaining a slow pace during heavy downstrokes... how and when you apply pressure has an impact on how professional your lettering appears.
5. Pace - It's very misleading watching videos and seeing how quickly people write. The reality is, you need to write AT A SNAIL'S PACE. Most times, you're writing so slowly you forget what letter comes next in a word (that's how you know you're going slow enough 😂 ). Remember, slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
6. PRACTICE - okay, this one is really the MOST IMPORTANT component to gaining confidence and competence in your brush lettering. You should try to spend at least 15 minutes a day practicing. It's not a lot, but even just that small amount can make a difference. At the start of the year when I began, I would practice for around an hour each night after my Little Dude was in bed (also to reduce the chances he would want to use my nice new brush pens). You reap what you sow, and the more you dedicate to practice, the more quickly your skills will grow.

Extra advice for Lefties:

Because I do get asked often if I have any advice for fellow left-handers. The short answer is, I don't. Lettering is going to be more difficult because the majority of our brush strokes will be "pushes" rather than "pulls". With enough practice, and smooth enough paper, over time it won't matter. In general though:

• Try holding your pen slightly further back than you normally would. This will allow you more distance between your hand and your lettering, and slightly reducing the chance of "smearing".
• Be mindful of your overturn strokes. Right-handers have a tendency to use a heavy hand on the bottom part of their letters. For lefties, the opposite is true. I notice if I'm not focused on what I'm lettering, the tops of letters like 'a' or 'd' are much thicker than I want them to be. 
• Don't be afraid to try new mediums! I put off picking up a paint brush for MONTHS because I was intimidated about how to "push" a brush. The reality is, lettering is going to be as easy (or difficult) as you think it will be. If you approach new tools with a positive attitude, your confidence is 75% of what you need to succeed (daily practice is the other 25% 😂 ).

I hope you found this helpful! Please don't hesitate to ask my more specific questions below! 

Easily Add Photos to Your DIY Planner

Today on Instagram I posted a Friday Introduction Page from my DIY Planner, and I was able to add photo to really make it pop.

My Secret Weapon: an HP Sprocket! It makes adding photos to my DIY Planner so easy. It uses photos directly from my phone, so I don't have to choose between an instant photo or taking a shot on my phone. There are two drawbacks though: 1) The photos tend to print a little on the "pink" side, so I adjust the tint before I print (which is VERY easy to do) and 2) I recommend taking any extra photo sheets out of the printer when you're done. I left some in the printer for a couple weeks unused, and they were too "curled" to print properly.

I went thru my first pack of photo prints SO FAST I also recommend you order extra photo packs too - printing photos is kind of addicting 😂 .

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Photo Printer: HP Sprocket , uses an app to print photos quickly and easily

Photo Paper: ZINK Photo Paper, the printer doesn't use ink, so you DO need to use special paper to print photos

Brush Pens: Pentel Touch Sign Pens, FLEXIBLE TIP to be able to produce thick and thin strokes

How to Apply Your Custom Planner Cover Sticker

Applying your Planner Cover Sticker is as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 😂

Follow these steps:

1. CLEAN and DRY the surface the sticker will be applied to
2. SLOWLY remove the paper backing from the sticker
3. Holding the sticker approximately 1/2" over the surface; POSITION the sticker 
4. PRESS the sticker onto the surface
5. Using a plastic card (i.e. a credit card) SCRAPE the entire surface of the transfer tape
6. SLOWLY pull back the transfer tape at 180 degrees from the surface
   1. If the sticker pulls up with the tape, reverse course and re-scrape the surface
7. Allow the sticker to CURE for 24 hours before getting wet
   1. To clean, use a damp cloth to gently clean and pat dry

I guess it was only 7 steps 😜  Unless I left one out. Let me know below 👇

Also, I'm currently soliciting sticker testers via my Instagram account. Look for this post and comment if you're interested.

Hand Lettering Video - Rise By Lifting Others

Who doesn't like to encourage others?

Fun Fact: The original quote I was going to letter was A LOT longer, but I got frustrated trying to make it all fit, so I changed it to this 😂 .

I'm not going to bore you with a long story, so that's it 😘

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are kind enough to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Brush Pens (green): Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens, there is also this as a good Starter Pack

Heat Dryer - This, or something similar, (you could even use a blow dryer in a pinch)

Brush Pen (black): Tombow Fudenosuke Twin Tip (my favorite practice pen!)

DIY Planner Pen Test - Stabilo 88 Fineliners

Reach further, even if that means for more pens, right? In my new (second) DIY Planner I decided to "change things up" and try some new pens: the Stabilo 30 point 88 Fineliners. My thoughts after this swatch video.

Previously I've used the Staedtler Triplus Fineliners and LOVED them! 

However, when I tried the Stabilo Pens, I LOVED THEM EVEN MORE!

Here's Why:

1. I noticed I was able to hold the pen at different angles to write. With my Staedtlers I was limited to holding the pen exactly perpendicular to the paper to be able to write.
2. The pen is more than three-sided, so it allowed for better "grip-shifting". Constantly rotating your pen is kind of a side effect of lettering. With the Staedtlers having only three sides, I was more limited in what were "comfortable" grip positions.
3. The color selection / range of colors was better with the Stabilos. Granted the neon pens (and yellow) were pretty much worthless, I did like the color options more on the Stabilos

Full Disclosure: the list above is not arranged how the pens arrived. I took it upon myself to put them in that order. The Pen Swatches also exclude the neon colors as well as Yellow & Apricot as they did not appear on the page. (Color Number and Names were found off multiple pins from Pinterest)

WHAT PENS DO YOU LIKE TO USE? 👇

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendation)

Notebook - Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid hard cover

Pens - Stabilo 88 Fineliners 

Watch Me Work - Confessions of a Makeup Addict

This piece is a quote from my sister.

While recently discussing the release of the Holiday 2018 palettes at Sephora, I mentioned I didn't think I needed another eyeshadow one. To which my sister replied (via text): My brain hurts. I don't understand "need". I consider makeup my destiny.

And in the interest of full disclosure, the eyeshadow palette IS in my shopping cart, I just hope it's still there when I go and purchase it tomorrow 😂 .

Not surprising though, because I'm VIB Rouge at Sephora.

How about you? 💖 Makeup Addict or 👎 No thanks, I've got art supplies to buy instead!

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's price to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendation)

Small Brush Pen - Pentel Touch Sign Pen, FLEXIBLE Tip

Large Brush Pen - Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pen, or you can get This Starter Pack

Water Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush, I have 3 different sizes and use them all

Metallic Watercolor - Finetec Watercolors (though I think they are changing their name?)

Paper - HP Premium LaserJet, holds up nicely to watercolor blending

DIY Planner Page - Daily Notes with a Purpose

Now that I've started a new planner, I wanted to try and be more focused with my time. Previously I would have a weekly layout for general items, and a basic daily notes spread so I could write down things I had done each day. (Because I'm getting older and it's starting to get TOUGH to remember what I did yesterday 😅 .)

Here's the video; I'll explain my reasoning below:

I divided my activities into 7 different categories. These are areas that are important to me, my business and my family. Some to make sure the house doesn't fall over, and others to make sure *I* don't fall over!

You can pick as many / few as you'd like, and make them personal to your situation. 

I've used:

• Errands
• Business (Development)
• Creative Pursuits 
• Household Duties
• Meals
• Practice / Reading
• Me & My Family

(I also have small columns at the start and end of each row to make of awake and asleep times too.)

By dividing my activities into these categories I can try and make better decisions about how I spend my time. The categories are flexible enough, so I can "veg out" watching a TV show after my Little Dude is in bed, because YES! I need some "me time" each day.

Do you think this strategy might work for you? 👇

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Notebook - Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid hard cover, my last notebook was a dud, and I'm so glad I ordered a new one because the page quality is SO MUCH better 

Pens (Small) - Stabilo 88 FIneliners, my new favorite pen for my planner. The tips are durable enough I can write from a variety of angles (which is important when using different lettering styles)

Pens (Brush) - Pentel Touch Sign Pens, Flexible Tip, great for practicing letter forms too

Watch Me Work - Lettering, Blending & Engine Fires

Funny Story. True Story.

This past weekend, my hubs was FINALLY able to pick up his new pick up truck from the dealer. He spent months researching, test driving and doing more research about all the different trucks out there. When he found one he liked, the dealer searched all over the country and two weeks later the dealer had his perfect truck ready for him.

Within 24 hours, on our way back from Costco smoke started pouring into the cab of the truck. Hubs stops / pulls over. Can't find anything. Fortunately we're in a neighborhood, so we can proceed at 30 MPH. 2 minutes later MORE smoke pours into the cab. Fortunately there was a police officer that just happened to be driving by at that moment and pulled over as well to try and help. 

The Officer was nice, and offered to call us a tow truck. Unfortunately we had the Little Dude and a pickup truck full of Costco Goodies. My hubs said we would just "limp home".

Never one to miss a joke, but after we were SAFELY all home, that 👆 is what I said to him.

Poor guy. Long story marginally shorter, an engine sensor fell out. The dealer was accommodating and came to pick it up and drop it off for us. Fingers crossed the dealer "removed" this option while they were servicing it this week 😑 .

BLENDING TIP: When blending with a water brush, I try and "lift off" my brush in the middle of the blend (not the bottom of the letter) to allow more color to stay in the correct area. 

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's price, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Brush Pen (large) - Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens, or this is a good Starter Pack

Brush Pen (small) - Pentel Touch Sign Pen, Flexible tip, these are perfect for practicing letter forms too

Water Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush, makes blending colors easy and seamless

Metallic Paint - Finetec Metallic Watercolor

Paper - HP LaserJet Premium, very smooth for blending brush pens and slightly heavier than regular paper, so it holds up to the water brush too

DIY Planner Page - October 2017 Monthly Layout

There are lots of different layouts for setting up your month in your DIY Planner, and I recommend you experiment from month to month with different layouts to help you see what might work best for you.

Here is my layout for October 2017. 

I'm a very "linear" thinker, so having the days laid out like this is easier for my brain 😂  I use the wider columns to allow 1/2 for my Little Dude's happenings and 1/2 for my Hub's travel schedule.

New this month I added dashed lines to indicate the start of a new week. I'm not quite sure yet what impact it will have on my planning.

Because I'm pretty forgetful about dates I also like to have both last month's calendar and next month's calendar for quick reference. Bouncy hand lettering is a must too 💁 😂.

As a side note, I had some extreme difficulty trying to blend my brush tip markers in this new planner. I've ordered some other notebooks for testing to see if this is an anomaly, or indicative of Leuchtturm 1917 planners going forward. I'll keep you posted.

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Notebook - Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid hard cover, though see my note about paper quality above

Black Pen - Tombow Mono Drawing Pen, i used the 03 for the lines and 01 for filling in the numbers

Brush Pens - Sakura Koi Brush Pens, normally these stay "wet" a little longer for easy blending, but the Leuchtturm Paper wasn't cooperating

Small Brush Pens - Pentel Touch Sign Pen, FLEXIBLE TIP, make sure to get the flexible tip in order to achieve the varied brush strokes used in modern calligraphy

DIY Planner Page - Gratitude Log, October 2017

Another month is here! Time to create a layout to make note of all the wonderful memories you make this month.

First, I created a watercolor background and painted lettered on that. I was concerned about bleed-thru with the watercolors, so I created the piece by cutting a 5x7 sized sheet of HP LaserJet Premium paper and working from there.

When laying down the water background to place the plastic bag on, I used my Finetec watercolor to add some extra metallic sparkle to the background.

Next, I created the layout for my daily entires. I wanted to do a different layout from last month, so I tried to fit them all on one side of my planner

Unfortunately i completely FAILED at this. At the last second I thought I would add some more lettering so it wouldn't be so boring. UGH! I forgot to tape down the watercolor piece before I started, so I awkwardly added it in the middle (but them kept bumping it around). 

Because October has 31 days, I created a long skinny 31st entry all the way at the bottom of the page, but forgot it was supposed to be there and ended up drawing my vertical lines too long.

No matter though, because the bottom of the page was out of frame anyway, so your couldn't even see what I was working on <eyeroll, face palm>

We'll see if I keep up this layout. I have a feeling, due to the smaller size of the boxes I might have a difficult time keeping my thoughts in the space provided.

How about you? Do you use some sort of Memory / Gratitude Tracker in your Planner? 👇

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendation)

Markers: Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens, I have all 96, but this is a great starter pack

Paint Brush: Pentel Aquash Brush, in this piece I used two different sized brushes, so do yourself a favor and get the 3-pack

Metallic Watercolors: Finetec Metallic Watercolors, Gold Palette (though this set is fairly compatible for a more reasonable price)

White Paint: Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleed Proof White, the most opaque white paint on the market

Paper: HP LaserJet Premium , it's 32lb, so it holds up to watercolors well

Black Pen: Tombow Mono Drawing Pen, I used the 03 size here, but also use the 01 and 05 regularly too

DIY Planner Page - Sports Schedule

GO BEARS!! I was inspired by the CraftyEnginerd's Blackhawk's schedule in her DIY Planner to create one for my beloved Bears.

I used the ESPN App which had pretty much ALL the info that I needed. (Hooray) I included space for a "W" or an "L" as well as what day of the week the game occurs.

Feel free to tell me how good my Bear's Logo doodle is (but please don't report me for IP infringement 😁 ). I found an image on my phone and held it behind the paper, kind of like a light box, I tried to do a (crude) tracing. (Method inspired by the Petite Planner - here's another brilliant tip from her)

And finally, I noticed the Bears are playing the Lions at Detroit Saturday, December 16th. Lemme know if you want to go, now I'm only half an hour away! 🙆

What team would you use a tracker 👇 ??

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an items cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations):

Planner - Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid hard cover

Black Pen - Tombow Mono Drawing Pen 03, my "go to" for making boxes in my planner

Brush Pen - Pentel Touch Sign Pen, FLEXIBLE tip, make sure to get the flex tip in order to get the thick and thin strokes for brush lettering

Colored Pen - Stabilo 88 fine tip pens, I *just* ordered these and I think they are my new favorite! I really like the versatility of the tip to be able to write at all sorts of different angles. Perfect for Lefties, and planners on the go!

Watch Me Work - I'm a Terrible Driver

Nobody (for the most part) goes into Driver's Ed expecting to "kill it" their first time behind the wheel. My first time behind-the-wheel inspired this piece (story to follow):

So there I was, in the middle of my turn, and my instructor, Mr. Dumbrowski, very matter-of-factly asked, "What in the sam hell are you doing, Angela?" My meek reply was, "tuuuuuurning?" On the bright side I also got to practice 3-point turnabouts on my first day too (which was okay, because I still use them A LOT! 😂 )

If you check out my Instagram, you'll get another bonus story about Driver's Ed that caused Mr Dumbrowski to ask me "what the hell?" again 😅.

How about you: were you an A+ Driver, or "Room for Improvement" 👇

MATERIALS USED

Paint - Ecoline Watercolors with Finetec Metallic Watercolor accents

Paint Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush

Pen - Tombow Fudenosuke Twin Tip

White Paint - Dr. Ph Martin's Bleed Proof White

(I'm posting this really late, but I may go back and add links to the products at some point)

DIY Planner Page - TV Series Tracker

Until the age of Binge Watching, you didn't hear a whole lot of people admit that they liked television. I, on the other hand, have always loooooved TV.

Now that Fall 2017 is upon is, here is the start of my TV Series Tracker in my new DIY Planner.

Here is how I set up my list

1. I used the Rotten Tomatoes Fall TV Schedule to decide which shows I wanted to watch
2. I went to IMDB to determine how many episodes were in each season I was tracking (some shows have yet to include this number, which is why they were left blank in my tracker)
3. I alphabetized my list 😜  But you can use another method that works for you
4. I started my Series Names on the 6th "box" to leave room for up to 5 Stars (so I can rate each season when I'm done watching it)
5. I numbered each episode (actually pretty helpful if you are bouncing around between shows, plus it gives you a sense of accomplishment to be able to mark each one off!)

I still need to add a note if I'm going to watch the episodes via Hulu / Comcast On Demand / DVR, because who has time for live TV?

The show I'm looking forward to MOST this fall is Lethal Weapon. But if you know anything about my entertainment preferences, it falls squarely in the "Buddy Cop" genre!

What show(s) are you looking forward to watching? 👇

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an items cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Planner - Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid hard cover, I saw these at PaperSource for the same price! 

Brush Pen - Pentel Touch Sign Pen, FLEXIBLE TIP. Make sure to get the flexible tip version, or else you won't be able to get the thick and thin stoke variations

Black Pen - Tombow Mono Drawing Pen, what I use as my "black pen" in my planner. I also use the 03 and 05 quite regularly too (NOT an affiliate link)

Gray Pen - Staedtler Tripus Fineliner, these are my "color pens" for my planner 

Watch Me Work - No Use Crying Over Spilled Coffee

The reality is, I'm MORE likely to cry over spilled coffee than milk, but I've spilled enough coffee that I might be numb to the entire situation.

In my latest (failed) attempt to not be a spaz, I managed to knock over my coffee cup and spill over my Little Dude's Immunization Record two days before I need to turn it into his preschool.

BLERG!! But did I get angry?

1. No. This wasn't my first coffee calamity, so I just reached for the paper towels.
2. I was pretty "Benadryl Drunk", hence the knocking over of the cup to begin with. Heck, I was one long blink away from falling asleep where I was standing.
3. I realized this would set the appropriate framework for the school to judge my parenting. At least when my Little Dude shows up with uncombed hair and Chocolate Pop Tart breath, NO ONE will be surprised.

First I made a watercolor background using simple circles and a hint of Gold Finetec.

Then I used watercolor to letter the word "Coffee" and brush pens for the rest.

I tried to get "fancy" and save my flourishes for the end. I kinda failed, but mostly because I also had planned on doing a flourish off the "l" in "like" and completely forgot. Oh Well.

Insight 💡: wetting the surface BEFORE I put the watercolor down made for a much more even distribution of paint when drying. You can see in the first dark brown circle in the upper left corner there are more noticeable variations in the paint after it dried than in the other circles.  

Anywhoooo. What's something important you've spilled on with coffee? 👇 Feel free to let me know I'm not alone in my clumsiness. 😂

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an items cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush, I should have used the larger one for the watercolor background as it would have made painting the circles easier

Paint - Ecoline Watercolors, I started with the 10-Pack, but you can purchase them individually here (not an affiliate link)

Gold Paint - Finetec Metallic Watercolors, gorgeous paints

Brush Pens - Pentel Touch Sign Pen, FLEXIBLE TIP, make sure you get the flexible tip, or you will not get the necessary variations in your upstrokes and downstrokes

Paper - Generic Cardstock from Staples (not an affiliate link)

DIY Planner Page - Lettering Your Personality Type

I had some pretty harsh "ghosting" on my new DIY Planner, so I thought I would fill the space with some lettering.

To help give a solid, and super-smooth, background I glued a piece of paper over my planner page. It doesn't quite give the authentic "look" of a collection page in a planner, but it definitely got rid of my "ghost" problem.

The first step is to figure out your personality type - If you haven't yet, you can take this Free Test from 16Personalites.  

From there, I was able to read about my personality as well as my strengths and weaknesses. The first time I read it, it made SO MUCH sense to me! 😂

Here's the first page;

And here is the second page:

It lists out some of the main points (thought admittedly, I don't agree with all the aspects of what the profile indicates 😬).

Full Disclosure: I did mock up the layout using my iPad and the Procreate app prior to starting to letter (though the brush strokes on my tablet were a lot thicker than my IRL brushes, so there was more "white space" than I was anticipating. 😅 )

It was a really fun exercise, and helped me to understand why do things they way I do. What's your personality type? Feel free to share below! 💖

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

DIY Planner - Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid hard cover, my favorite! 

Pens - Pentel Touch Sign Pen FLEXIBLE Tip, make sure you get the flexible tip, otherwise you won't be able to produce the different widths necessary in brush lettering

Paper - HP Premium Laser Jet, it's 32lb, so it holds up well to "wet" markers and it super smooth

Adhesive - Tombow Permanent Adhesive, I didn't get a "before" picture, but this is very good adhesive and hold up very well

Watch Me Work - Watercolor Leaf Branches

I wanted to work on my watercolor skills, so leafs are kind of the most basic things you can do. 

BUT DON'T PAINT LIKE I DO 😂

1. If you are left-handed, start on the RIGHT side of the page, that way you are less likely to smudge what you just worked on
2. It's better to make leaves using a smooth downward pressure on your brush in two long strokes, than just using the tip of your brush, as I did here 

I tried to add a little orange Finetec sparkle, but you really couldn't tell from the angle I was holding it at 😑 .

Also, try and remember to dot ALL the 'i's in a piece too <facepalm>.

If you want to know who won my giveway, you can check my Instagram. (Winner will be announced Tuesday, September 20 at 8ish AM)

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an items cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Paint Brush - Pentel Aquash Brush, I recommend the 3-pack as all three brushes are useful to have 

Paint - Ecoline Watercolors, the 10-pack is a great starter set. You can also purchase them individually here (not an affiliate link)

Metallic Paint - Finetec Pearlescent set of 12, but you can also buy them individually (not an affiliate link)

Paper - HP Premium LaserJet Paper, it's 32lb and super smooth, so it works well for blending colors and holding up to water

Setting Up Your New DIY Planner - Book & Movie Log

Here's the next part of the "Setting Up Your New Planner" Series. Entertainment tracking is a great way to remember what you've read/watched as well as what you WANT to read/watch.

Here is a FREE TEMPLATE to help add this tracker to your new planner. 

Here are some videos of the template in action:

As well as:

I keep this Layout in the front of my planner for easy reference. You can also easily create a 2 paged book or movie log depending on your needs. Simply cut the page down the middle, and you can use it on either side of your planner!

PLEASE COMMENT BELOW 👇 if you download the template. I'd love to hear feedback as well!!

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not change an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Planner - Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid hard cover, I like this because it already has an index and numbered pages, but any planner will do

Outline Pens - Tombow Mono Drawing Pens (not an affiliate link) I used the 05 and the 01 in this layout

Lettering Pens - Pentel Touch Sign Pen FLEXIBLE TIP, make sure you get the "flexible tip" pens to give you the variation on your up and down strokes necessary for brush lettering (looks like the price has crept up on Amazon, so you might be better off finding these in-store at Target)