Get With The Plan, Year 3

            ***Looking for updates? Planner pages for 2011 can be found here.

Two years ago the very talented Jessica Sprague created the cutest digital pages for a planner and made them available as a free download through the Creating Keepsakes website. I loved the artwork but as usually seems to be the case with planner pages, some of them didn’t fit my way of organizing. So I took her designs and adapted them to fit my thinking, and CK was kind enough to allow me to share them on my blog.

To say it has been popular would be an understatement; it seems like someone finds my blog almost every day throughout the year by Googling planner pages. And as the calendar gets near the end, I get e-mails asking if there will be a version for the next year and when it will be available. This year many of you indicated you wanted to make them as Christmas gifts…a great way to use supplies, give some handmade love and save a little on the gift-giving budget.

So here it is…the 2010 Planner (well, my version of it anyway).

The pages have been revised with some fresh artwork. Jessica’s was beautiful but I was ready for a change. I used some free digital elements (all of which are noted at the end of the post) for an updated look and the pages have been formatted so you can print on both sides of the page, saving paper and making the finished book more practical to use. Once printed, you can cut them exactly in half and you should have sufficient space to bind them with a Bind-It-All or punch holes for loose-leaf rings.

 

There are still trees on the calendar pages but in this version they change with the seasons. The calendar itself is larger and easier to read, and there’s room to note important dates, like birthdays and anniversaries, on the same page as the full month. I’ve combined sample pages above but the pages are actually set up to print in monthly order.

The files for these pages, like all the files provided here, are PDFs in zipped format so you’ll need to unzip them then view and print them in Acrobat Reader. The monthly pages are all set up as right-hand pages. I’ve made each page a separate download and while that’s more work for those of you with faster connections, it allows some with dial-up service to receive them without so many problems.

Download JanFeb
Download MarApr
Download MayJune
Download JulyAug
Download SeptOct
Download NovDec

There’s an inside cover page and a yearly calendar page as well. They too are set up as right-hand pages.

Download Cover_Year 

No planner would be complete without some pages for lists and reminders and there are three again this year, two of which are shown above. Not shown is the “Notes” page which looks identical to the “Things To Do” except for the title. There are two files for each so you can make them left- or right-handed pages. The files are marked with an “-L” or a “-R” so you should have no problem telling one from the other. In addition, I created a blank page in both left and right orientation; it has only the blue outline and the tree in the corner. It’s nice to have a blank space to glue something to or to scribble on. You could also set up a text box to fit inside the blue outline and add your own content by running the blank page through your printer again.

Download ToDo List Pages
Download Notes Pages
Download Shopping List Pages
Download Blank Pages

The most unique part of Jessica’s original planner was the pages she designed specifically for us scrapbookers, and I’ve updated the design on her “Must-Make Pages” and “Page Planner” designs. Again, I’ve combined them for the sample above but they are actually separate files available both as left- and right-handed pages. If you’re making the planner for a non-scrapbooker, you can skip printing these pages.

Download Must-Make Pages
Download Page Planner Pages

Here’s how I set up my pages:

Cover-Year page with Blank-L on the back
Monthly pages with Things To Do-L on the back
Things To Do-R pages with Notes-L on the back
Must-Make Page-R with Blank-L on the back
Page Planner-R with Page Planner-L on the back (multiples) 
Shopping R with Shopping-L on the back (multiples)

A word to the wise: Experiment on some copy paper to be sure you’re loading the paper correctly when printing on the second side before you move to your cardstock. Every printer is different, and I admit I had pages upside down and backwards on more than one occasion before getting the hang of it…but then, I’m a little spatially challenged.

The final download is simply some extra elements I used in my book and thought you might like as well. They’re labels and the tree I put on my front cover and divider pages. I'll have photos of those in tomorrow's post. 

Download Extras

Come back tomorrow and I’ll show you how I did the cover, give you some tips and share ideas to decorate the inside to make the planner something you'll be proud to give or keep for yourself.

Free digital elements used in these pages:
Digital Brushes: Tree: Silvia, Graphics-Illustrations.com
Snowflake: EasyElements.com
Flowers: Rhonna Farrer, Pink October, twopeasinabucket.com
Digital Papers:
Blue: Jessica Sprague, Beautiful You Light Blue Solid, creatingkeepsakes.com
Pink: Cherie Mask, Pink October Pink, twopeasinabucket.com
Green: Cherie Mask, Be Merry Green, twopeasinabucket.com
Orange: Jessica Sprague, Beautiful You Red Solid (modified), creatingkeepsakes.com
Page Planner and Must-Make Pages design (modified): Jessica Sprague, creatingkeepsakes.com
Digital Elements:
Bird: Adobe Photoshop
Gift: Microsoft Office

Comments

[Miriam molloy]

This is beautiful Brenda! I can't wait to make some for my mom and sister!!

[Linda Abel]

I can't wait to download. I have to wait until I have time to download. Thanks for sharing.

Linda from KS

[Pat]

What fun, Brenda. Love the quotes on the calendar! I'm sure I'll have to make AT LEAST one of these. Thanks so much for all your hard work.

[Lilolu]

Thank you for sharing this.

[Helen B]

thanks so much for sharing this.

[emily]

Awesome Brenda! Can't wait to download and do one for myself.

emily

[Flo]

Thank you SO much for those lovely useful pages!!! I wanna get organized!!

[Lynne]

What a gift! Thank you thank you!

[Dino Nicolini]

I think that is the best pocket planner. you can take it anywhere.

[Niama Perrotte]

I feel that this website is very helpful.

[Yam]

AWESOME!!! Thank you!!!

[Mirien]

I can't believe that you allow all of us to benefit from your hard work--for free! Thank you.

[Moi]

Thank you for sharing and making this available. It's beautiful!

[Frantonio]

Hi, There appears to be something wrong with the Mar-Apr file. Would you please look into fixing this issue, so it may be downloaded. Thanks, Frantonio

Here are the details:

Extracting MarApr.pdf
Error: Invalid compressed data to expand (inflate) the file

[Crissie]

Thank you!! This is such a great find for me. I love it :o)

[Lori]

Just found your blog and your planner -- Love, Love, Love it! Adore the changing season trees. Thanks for the beautiful creation and adding one more project to my list of to-dos before the end of the year! :)

[Jude Davis]

Hehe!!! I found you by Googling "White vinegar"... don't ask! Just wanted to thank you for the lovely pages; as well as gifts I think I will be making one for me... Thank you so much for sharing.
HeyJude!

[marai]

Brenda, thank you for sharing this. :) I would love to make this as a gift to my twin sister! Thank you so much. It's beautiful.

[Stephanie]

thanks alot for sharing your great work.....way to help me out next year! thanks

[Judith]

Thanks for sharing... I love creating my list-of-things-to-do and this is a great help... Thank you.. thank you.. thank you..

[Alicia Péres]

I am just amazaed.

Thanks so much for the idea, the downloads and the realization that being organized can be sooooooo easy. You wouldnñt believe how long I spent just yestaerday looking for a good planner. Thank god I didn´t buy any. They were far too expensive and less than half as useful and nice looking as yours.

Many thanks again.

Alicia - from Spain

[Libai]

thanks a lot .. really nice

[Emma O.]

Thank you for sharing your hard work! I'm off to get more ink and print away!

[Kathy M]

I decided to do one of these at the last minute and I'm so glad this post was still here! Thank you for sharing this and saving me/us all the work, Brenda! Merry Christmas to you!

[jane]

Thank you for sharing!
I really love it but somehow I couldn't print the pages nicely.
Do you have any suggestion?
Or maybe, anyone mind telling the most appropriate way on how to do it?