Filofax

DIY Bow Clips for your Planner & More!

DIY Planner Bow Clip

Ever since I showed you guys those cute little bow paper clips I made for my Filofaxes, you have been asking me to do a DIY tutorial on how to make them! Well, ask and you shall receive, right? I Actually put together a video with not one, not two, but three DIYs for making paper clip accessories for your planner so that everyone is able to create exactly what they want for their planner.

DIY Bow Making Pattern
This is a low res image, download the full file via the link below!

To go along with this DIY video, I created a special Bow Maker Pattern Printable to act as a template for creating your own bows. I show you how to use this template in the video, but the file itself also has directions as well. Feel free to download this file and make yourself bows to your heart’s content! But remember, this printable is free for personal use only. Commercial use of this file is prohibited, and please, if you want to share the file with friends and family, link them to this post or my YouTube video instead of directly sharing the file!

Three DIYs, you read that right! So, other than the bows, I also show you how to make page clips with chipboard elements as well as how to make clips from printables and any other images or icons you may find! If you can print it or if it’s made from paper, you can turn it into a decorative page clip for your planner!

In the video I use my new 2014 Favorite Things Sticker Set as a template for some clips I made by printing the PDF on heavy printer paper instead of on sticker paper! I love this new Sticker Set of course because it’s filled with some one my favorite images and icons from the year! Think pink peonies, coffee cups, perfume bottles and of course, stripes! You can purchase this set from my shop and use it as stickers or to make your own page clips as well!

So here is the video linked above! This is definitely one of those tutorials that is better explained visually, so if you would like to see the three methods I used to make some lovely embellished paper clips for my planner, check it out! Of course, if this video helped you in any way or gave you some new planner inspiration, please make sure to share it in your social media and tag me @MissTrenchcoat! It would mean the world to me!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

This article was first published on Strange & Charmed on December 18th, 2014 and is being reposted as part of my Holiday Prep Hiatus! For the months of November & December I will be recycling some vintage S&C content that you may have missed in order to give myself some extra time to finalize projects and spend time with my family during the holiday season. All reposted content will be marked as such. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past blog post!

10 Ways to Personalize Your Planner for the Holidays!

10 Ways to Personalize Your Planner for the Holidays

I enjoy a beautiful planner just as much as the next girl, but decorating my planner day in and day out just isn’t something that normally excites me. Now that it’s December, however, it’s a completely different story! This season really is the most wonderful time of the year to me, so I was actually excited to go all out decorating my planner. In case you are wondering, I am still using a disc bound planner system. I’m using 1″ black arc discs, and the half letter sized inserts from my shop (A5 equivalent in the U.S.), with a custom front and back cover made from laminated card stock. This has been my setup since August and I’ve never been happier… although in 2016 I plan to get even happier with my system as I’m converting my existing set up into a DIY Spiral Planner (video tutorial here).

Since December is my final hurrah with this planner before I go full spiral, I thought it would be fun to deck out my planner with 10 inexpensive personalizations. Most of the DIYs and items cost no more than $1 from places like the Target Dollar Spot and Dollar Tree, which is fabulous, because this sort of decor is definitely disposable to me and I don’t like spending too much money on temporary planner decor. Don’t get me wrong, I will drop a pretty penny on planner supplies, but only those that are relevant all year long!

IMG_7517

So, I made a video showing you the 10 personalizations, here they are listed for you if you’re curious, but I highly suggest checking out the video for more details and some great visuals.

  1. Novelty holiday pen
  2. Seasonal Inserts (freebies from my shop)
  3. Holiday themed stickers (My complete printable set)
  4. Christmas page marker
  5. Christmas card dashboard
  6. Holiday themed sticky notes
  7. Seasonal embellished paper clips
  8. Custom planner cover (get yours here)
  9. Jingle Bell planner charm
  10. Sparkly planner band

Make sure to check out the full video to see the decorations in action!

I hope you enjoyed the video and the inspiration! Feel free to let me know which personalizations you enjoyed the most and of course, the video description has even more links for DIYs and tutorials to help you recreate these decorations for your own planner! HAPPY HOLIDAYS PLANNER FRIENDS!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

Your December Free Planner Printables are Here!

31 Things to Do in December

Hello Friends & Happy December Eve! I’m here to share with you all my latest free Filofax printable insert! As I have been doing in previous months, I created a monthly to do list filled with seasonal and holiday driven items called 31 Days of Merriment & Cheer! Of course, I also have my monthly December Dashboard as well to help you get organized and make the most of this holiday filled month. These inserts are available in both A5 and Personal Filofax equivalents over on my Shop as an instant download! Make sure to pick up yours while you are taking advantage of the BONUS DAY of my CYBER WEEKEND SALE! That’s right! The biggest sale I’ve ever held is still going on for one more day. Use coupon code CYBERWEEKEND15 for 20% off anything and everything in my shop thru the end of November eastern time!!

december-dashboard

New in the Shop!

If you haven’t been keeping up to date with my latest releases in the shop, let me give you a quick run down of some new items you won’t want to miss!

Happy Holiday’s Printable Sticker Set

christmas-stickers

You Got This! Goal Setting & Organization Workbook

You Got This! Goal Setting & Organization Workbook

Charmed Office Essentials Printable Sticker Set

charmed office

Don’t forget, the code CYBERWEEKEND15 will get you 20% off your entire purchase in my shop thru midnight December 1st, so be sure to take advantage of this holiday sale before it is too late!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

It’s Time to Organize Your Filofax for 2016!

How to Organize Your Filofax for 2016

November is right around the corner and we only have a few precious weeks left in 2015 before our new year begins, so now is the time to start thinking about your Filofax or planner set up for 2016! My favorite thing about using a Filofax or other customizable planner system is that I have control over the inserts I use and how my planner is organized. If something isn’t working in my planner, I don’t have to trash it or live with it, I can course correct with new inserts until I find what works for me! Personally, my planner journey has been a long, but fun road! I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on some great systems and beautiful binders and if you have been following my planner journey for some time, you know I have tried nearly every type of system under the sun, but ultimately, the systems I end up sticking to are customizable ones! I need to have control over the way I view and plan my days, especially as a multi-passionate entrepreneur! This is why, from day one, I have created my own printable planner inserts that are unlike anything I have seen available before, and I’m very excited to announce that I have a whole collection of new and updated inserts now available for 2016. Let me show you what’s new!

The Charmed Life Planner + Charmed Life Personal Planner

New for 2016 are two complete continuous planner systems! What I mean when I say continuous is that these planner inserts are a mix of monthly, weekly and organization pages that cycle through on a monthly basis. So, instead of having a section with all your monthly spreads, and then a section with all your weekly spreads, in these continuous inserts, the month begins with a monthly view, then goes into some organizational inserts for the month and then the weeks of that month follow, until you get to the new month and the cycle of continuous inserts begins again. It’s a much more streamlined way to organize your planner inserts, and a request my customers have made for some time.

The Charmed Life Planner Vertical Week on Two Pages Insert

Now, the two systems are respectively known as The Charmed Life Planner and The Charmed Life Personal Planner, the former being a half -letter (A5 equivalent) and the latter being a Filofax equivalent personal sized insert. Now the A5 Charmed Life Planner was released as a 17 Month printable planner system back in August, and includes my unique vertical week on two pages layout. This layout has proven to be an amazing planning resource for my business and from the businesses of friends and fellow entrepreneurs that I know who have been using and loving The Charmed Life Planner! With room for you to zero in on your top three priorities for the day, a ruled section that can be used for taking notes, making a list, or setting a schedule, and finally an open area that is flexible enough to fill a variety of uses- this printable planner is a complete business building solution! Other inserts within this planner include month on two pages calendars, monthly master task lists, and an expense tracker for each month to help you keep your plans and your money in order!

The Charmed Life Personal Planner, Filofax Personal Sized Daily Business Planner

Now, The Charmed Life Personal Planner is the real new kid on the block! Following in the footsteps of its big brother, this personal sized planner insert set is just as ready to help you get down to business with my streamlined day per page design! Let’s be honest, as a business entrepreneur, most personal sized planner inserts just don’t provide enough room for you to plan and think, so to solve this problem for myself, I created another versatile business planning insert that provides the answers. A day per page with a lightly printed hourly schedule gives you the ability to schedule a full day of meetings, take copius amounts of notes, and make lists and plans to your hearts content. Of course this printable insert set also includes the built in month on two pages layouts, monthly task list and expense sheet as well, but this pint sized planner also has something extra- inspirational artwork acting as dividers between each of the months! So, don’t fret if you can’t keep the whole year of inserts inside your personal planner, these divider pages make splitting your inserts into months or quarters for easy storage very elegant!

2016 Calendars, Planning Supplies & Freebies!

2016 Monthly Journaling Cards. Perfect for your Planner or Project Life!

Of course, over in my shop you can also find my complete collection of individual dated printable planner inserts to fill a variety of planning needs, all updated with 2016 dates! You also won’t want to miss this beautiful set of printable monthly journaling cards for 2016 that is a perfect accompaniment to any planner, and new to the shop for 2016, I have also created a set of monthly printable stickers for you to use to keep a month at a glance view wherever you need it most in your planning system!

2016 Monthly Calendar Stickers!

Last but certainly not least, I of course have a variety of new 2016 free printables in the shop to help you add some simple organizational elegance to your planner system!

FREE Printable 2016 Year at a Glance Filofax Insert for Personal & A5

First, I have a lovely 2016 Year at a Glance Insert! The perfect date reference for your planner.

FREE PRINTABLE 2016 Yearly Tracker for Filofax Planners

Second, a 2016 Yearly Tracker tri-fold! Perfect for tracking time, health and other repeating events or activities!

FREE PLANNER PRINTABLE November Dashboard & 30 Days of Thankfulness

And finally, don’t forget to stop by the shop each month for my free monthly bundle! Each month I put out a Monthly Dashboard and seasonally inspired task list to help you add inspiration to your planner! November’s inserts are now ready!

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get started organizing my planners for 2016! I hope this overview helped introduce you to a new planner insert that will bring you closer to planner peace! Let me know what you think of the new designs and new freebies down in the comments!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

2 October Free Filofax & Planner Printables + A BONUS Photo Challenge!

2 FREE October Filofax Printables + Photo Challenge

Well, well, October is here, and seriously, it’s one of the favorite months of the year! So, let’s celebrate the coming of Fall with not one, but two FREE planner printables! If you’ve been hanging around with me for a while, you may remember that last October was the debut of my first Monthly To Do List! I created my 31 Things To Do in October Insert to help me keep track of all the fun Fall activities that I wanted to accomplish in the month and I’ve been thrilled to see my concept of creating monthly to-do lists has taken off! Now, I realize it’s been some time since I created a monthly task list, I know many of you are equally in love with my Monthly Dashboards, so this month, I decided to publish both!

And that’s not all!

October Photo of the Day Challenge

There is so much I want to accomplish this month and with my #CharmedDSLR 30 Day Photo Challenge coming to a close, I thought it would be fun to keep the photography challenges rolling, so I am excited to announce that I will be hosting a #31ThingsToDoInOctober Photo of the Day Challenge! The prompts for this challenge are all in line with my October To Do List, so in order to make this challenge a little more fun and interesting, you don’t need to follow the prompts for each day, instead, I want you to take the prompts in ANY ORDER you’d like! This will be a fun way for us to document our months and this way, instead of everyone posting the same image prompts, we get to see the variety of things we are all up to during the month!

Doesn’t that sound like much more fun?

I think so too! So head on over to my shop and download your 2 FREE inserts, available in both A5 and personal Filofax equivalents, save the graphic above and repost it to your Instagram account, and get started with me celebrating and documenting your October! Make sure to follow me @MissTrenchcoat on Instagram and of course use the hashtag #31ThingsToDoInOctober as you check these seasonal activities off your list!

Can’t wait to see you over on Instagram!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

Get Your Free September Printable Planner Dashboard!

FREE September Printable Planner Dashboard

Hey friends! How was your August? Mine was epically productive, which was a great primer for me to jump into autumn with some new energy and fresh plans! One of the best ways that I find helps me to have a great month is to organize my plans for the month before it begins and layout everything I want to do, goals I have laid out, books I want to read and important dates I want to remember for the month. That’s why I created my monthly dashboard printables that I share with you all!

Since September is now upon us, head on over to my shop to download your FREE September Printable Planner Dashboard available in both A5 + Personal Sizes! Once you have your dashboard printed out and in your planner, I want to see how you are using it to plan your key plans for the month so make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram @MissTrenchcoat and use the hashtag #CharmedGTD so that others in the community can find your pictures and get inspiration from you as well!

I hope you have a wonderful month ahead!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

P.S. You’re joining in on my #CharmedDSLR Photo Challenge & Mini Course for the month of September, right?

August Dashboard Free Planner Printable

August Dashboard Free Planner Printable

Hello friends!

It is that time of the month again and I have a new free monthly printable dashboard for you! Since so many of you told me that you loved the dashboard style freebie I introduced last month, I decided to continue with this printable for August! Of course, this printable is available in both A5 and Personal sizes and can work with the equivalent planner of your choice. As some of you may have seen, I am currently using an Arc style planner that I designed myself. Check out my latest YouTube video “How to Make Your Own Planner” for a tour of my latest planner set up and also a giveaway and some other freebies you’re gonna love!

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE AUGUST DASHBOARD!

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

July Dashboard {Free Printable}

July Dashboard Free Planner Printable

Who’s ready for another FREE planner printable?!? This month I decided to do something a little different with my planner freebie. I know I normally make a task list for the month with fun inspirational and seasonal to dos, but this month I have decided to shake things up and design a monthly dashboard. Although I know my task lists are fun, they have been getting a bit redundant and in an effort to make these printables as useful as possible for my entire community, I decided to change up the design.

July-Free-Printable-Example

Let me walk you through what this insert is all about! I really find it helpful to have a dashboard or one place where I can keep track of important monthly items. Whether those items are important dates I need to remember like birthdays and anniversaries, or my monthly goals or reading list, I know this dashboard will help you get that little extra edge of productivity that we all desperately need! As usual, these inserts are available in both A5 and personal size.

To download your own FREE copy of these inserts, click here to head on over to my shop where you can access the files!

If you do download these free inserts, please let me know about it by taking a picture and tagging me on Instagram with the hashtag #StrangeandCharmed so I can see how you are making use of these inserts in your own planners. I love seeing your pictures, and I can’t wait to like them and interact with you on IG! Make sure you’re following me @MissTrenchcoat!!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

How to Get Started with Intentional Planning | The Happiness Planner, Gratitude Inserts & Freebies!

Filofax Weekly Gratitude Insert

As you already know, I love planners, and although I normally share my tips and tricks for getting the most out of your planner through scheduling, project management and task lists, I know there is more to planners than just productivity! Many people turn to planners to achieve a sense of peace in how they spend their time, but unless you actively and intentionally use your planner to more fulfilling ends, you probably find you’re coming up short. If you would like to get more out of your planner and achieve a sense of fulfillment that your days, tasks and choices are making an impact on your life and the lives of those around you, the concept of Intentional Planning will interest you!

In order to explain my concept of Intentional Planning, I have put together a whole video on the subject that outlines my five tips for getting started with Intentional Planning. The video covers my tips, the basis for the concept and a few methods for implementation. This video features two great Intentional Planning resources, the Happiness Planner, which I review and explain within the video, and also my new Weekly Gratitude Insert to help anyone with a six ring binder system begin gratitude journaling for increased happiness and contentment. The team over at Brandmentalist, creators of the Happiness Planner, were generous enough to offer a few planners as part of a giveaway, so if you are interested in winning your own Happiness Planner, watch the video for details on how to enter to win one of two planners that I will be giving away!

Happiness Planner Giveaway & Freebies
Download Your Free Happiness Planner Bookmarks Here!

Finally, to celebrate the Happiness Planner and the concept of Intentional Planning, I have designed a freebie for my subscribers and followers; a set of 6 colorful bookmarks that are based off of the Happiness Planner! You can use these bookmarks in your own Happiness Planner, or any other way you see fit. This is just a little gift from me to you!

Let me know what you think of my concept of Intentional Planning! I’d love to hear if this topic interests you and if I can be of service to provide any additional information and support. If you utilize any of my tips from the video and care to share a picture of your solutions in your own planners, feel free to use the hashtag #IntentionalPlanning so I can find your pictures on Twitter or Instagram and give them a like! Also, feel free to check out my latest printable inserts if you would like to get started with Gratitude Journaling!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature

Oh, Hello May! {Free Printable}

Free Filofax To Do List for May

Sometimes, I legitimately wish that I could have a time turner because the days really do pass too quickly! Well, it’s nearly May and it’s time to say a warm hello to one of the most welcoming months of the year. The first quarter of the year is over and done and we are well into the second. I know for the past few months I have been creating these free printables with a bit of a theme to them, but this month I decided to go back to basics and make a good old fashioned To Do List for the items I want to accomplish in May. It is just so important to make the most of each and everyday, and I think this is seriously a lesson I am learning on an ongoing basis. So, I hope you’ll join me in the month of May by getting your free printable and checking off the tasks along with me so we can celebrate the unofficial start of summer together!

Free Filofax Printable Insert

If you would like to download these free inserts (available in both A5 + Personal Size), click here to hop on over to my shop where you can access and print them immediately!

If you do download these free inserts, please let me know about it by taking a picture and tagging me on Instagram with the hashtag #StrangeandCharmed so I can see how you are making use of these inserts in your own planners. I love seeing your pictures, and I can’t wait to like them and interact with you on IG! Make sure you’re following me @MissTrenchcoat!!

xoxo,

Alexis-Signature