DIY Diary

Since I've had no response at all from my two requests to the Woman's Success Planner people about possible shipping to the UK I have gone ahead and made my own.

So here is a very photo heavy post.

To start with I've used A5 paper.  White 160 gsm and yellow 120 gsm.  The covers are made from an old receipt wallet (hence the logo on the front) and they were all punched and bound by me using my trusty bind-it-all.  This version covers mid July - end Sept with monthly pages continuing to the end of 2011 and the whole thing is about 5/8" thick (well those are the bind-it-all coils I used)

Here goes:-

 Now to start filling it in and using it.

Diary / Planner Quandry

I don't normally write about diaries and such here (well let's face it, I don't normally write about anything here) but there have been a few planner posts recently that have raised a few questions for me.

At the moment I have a large plain Moleskine journal I use for everyday writing.  You know the type, from what I had to breakfast / lunch and what I did, to why I'm feeling particularly good / bad today etc etc.  It includes details of what we've done on holiday and tickets and prints from my beloved Pogo printer to support that (infact together with my day per page logbook this has completely replaced my scrapbooking and it's much more me than rearranging pretty papers that make me feel inadequate and bereft of an artistic gene).

So anyway, from front to back is my journal and from back to front is my planner.

My planner goes like this:-

- Weekly schedule / timetable
- Year to view (Oct 2011 - Sept 2012)
- April 2011 Month to view
- May 2011 Month to view
- June 2011 Month to view
- July 2011 Month to view
- August 2011 Month to view
- September 2011 Month to view
- Blank
- School Holidays - Easter 2011, week per page
- School Holidays - Spring Bank 2011, week per page
- School Holiday - Summer 2011, week per page

Generally my days are not overly planned, especially when I'm not working.  I tend to just potter about and do bits and bats here and there.  I HATE housework and do the bare minimum and I REALLY need to do more, plus I'm hoping to be working more hours once LJ starts school in September (Eeeek!  My baby starts school in Septemeber) so I need to get more organised.  I need to write everything down, not just the ununsual stuff but the everyday / week / month stuff.

I've been looking at new planners for the upcoming academic year but just cannot settle on one, then I read Laurie's post on The Woman's Success Planner (WSP), closely followed by Rori's posts on the same.  These have got me itching to try it out.  Unfortuately they don't appear to ship to the UK so now I'm tempted to dig out an unused Moleskine and create my own, using ideas from the Woman's Success Planner and adding a few of my own.

So here's where I'm hoping someone is actually reading this blog because I'm after some help / suggestions as to what to include.

So far I have:-
- 2pg Year to view with annual tasks and events listed (birthdays, pet vaccinatons, insurance etc)
- 1pg Monthly tasks and ongoing tasks (thank you WSP)
- 1pg Notes
- 2pg Month to view
- 1pg Weekly tasks and ongoing tasks (I don't think I'd use the meal planner and shopping list the WSP has, the family calendar and notepad on the fridge do this very well for me)
- 1pg Notes
- 2pg Week to view (columns) with the very useful daily tasks circles, tasks area & health tracker ala WSP
- 1pg Week in Review and expenses
- 1pg Notes
- 2pg (where required) School Holiday plans - Activity ideas separated according to free / paid / indoor / outdoor,

Rinse and repeat as required.  I estimate that I will fit about 6 months into 1 large squared Moleskine.  Together with my Quiver pen holder I think that it should be more than enough.

At the back of the journal I will have the next 12 months on a double page spread (or possibly 1 month per page) for forward planning.

I would like to note here that I'm not trying to 'rip off' WSP and would gladly buy their product if it was available to me.

All input feedback gladly received.  Thank you for reading this far.

Normal service will resume shortly, I have been sewing :-)

More Work In Progress

I got around to firing up the sewing machine at long last (it really does need a table top resting place, I'm much more likely to use it if I don't have to dig it out from under the kitchen table)

A couple of hours last Saturday were dedicated to piecing together the 2nd of the two quilt tops I'm making for the boys. I had originally intended the Cosmo Cricket Cogsmo fabric for LJ



And the Riley Blake Allstar fabric for TJ



But they've each independently decided that they want the other.

Both tops are now complete, as you can see, the next step is to piece the backs and get them layered. We are in the middle of sorting bedrooms and I'm hoping to have the quilts completed at the same time the bedrooms are ready. Better get off here and get sewing then.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Crayon Rolls

I've done more sewing.  Mainly making crayon rolls for the school fair this Thursday but it has got me back into it.  I've also finished cutting the sashing for LJ's quilt.  I want to get both tops finished before I start on the backs, mainly because I want to piece a label into the back and at the moment both boys want the Cogsmo quilt.  I need them to see both finished and choose one each before I write on the label and sew it in.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the crayon rolls I've made

Apologies, I should have credited my source.  The pattern came from here

Productivity At Last

I finally cranked up the sewing machine this weekend and got some sewing done.

DH has gone down south to visit friends for the weekend (it's my turn next weekend) so my sewing machine has taken up residence on the kitchen table.  I spent Friday afternoon before the kids got home and Friday evening  (after a KFC dinner and a snuggling up in Mummy's bed movie night) piecing together fabric that has been cut for months.

Do you know when you're going so well you just want to get 'this bit' finished before bed?  Well that's how well it was going.  I got all the blocks pieced and sewn into rows but starting after 9pm meant I didn't get to bed 'til the wrong side of midnight!

I spent an hour after dinner piecing together the rows and I now have a completed quilt top ready to press.  I want to piece the back and piece in one of the labels I had printed up by the lovely people and Spoonflower.  Fortunately this should come together quickly as it'll be made up of a couple of large pieces af fabric plus some fancy twiddly bits and a label.

So here is the finished top.  It's a combination of Kona Solids (Sage, White & Red) and Cosmo Cricket's Cogsmo (Spaceships Aqua & Gears Aqua (white sashing), Stripes & Tossed Robots (red sashing), Sprockets Multi & Spaceships Tangerine (sage sashing))

TJ approves and is impressed with the size (about 6' x 4'), the last quilt I made him barely covers his lap now.  I can't remember where the pattern idea came from.  I know I saw another quilt with a similar pattern and fell in love so out came the squared paper and colouring pencils.  Obviously I tweaked the pattern to fit the size / layout I wanted.  For the technogeek that I am, you can't beat squared paper and coloured pencils for quilt planning.

Here's hoping the creativity continues, I have all but 1 lot of sashing cut for LJ's quilt and obviously both quilt backs.  LJ is having Riley Blake Allstar fabrics, photos will follow.