Cheap planner? Ha!

Well, I ordered another cheap planner from an online shopping site called Wish.  We use the sister site, Geek for cheap technology items like charging cables and robot vacuums (and DD loves the other sibling site Cute for hair accessories etc) and have very rarely been disappointed.  The shipping takes forever, usually, and so long as you actually read the description carefully, it is usually a good shopping experience.

I saw the listing and thought Great! a 2nd planner would be lovely.

Actually, this is one of about 20 listings for the same planner.  Mine was £4, not £7.  Anyway, I selected the A5 size, 5.5 inches x 8.5 inches (or 148mm x 210mm)  and what I got isn’t even remotely that size.  It’s more like not QUITE 7.5 x 5. And the internal 6 rings are not spaced the same as the Filofax hole-punch.

I am in the process of trying to re-size my printable planner pages so I can use it at all – that is the good thing about being the designer LOL! I actually rather like the smaller size.

On a side note, they do sell some nice dies for very cheap prices.

You usually have to look for an image that shows the number of each item but sometimes it doesn’t have that.  I usually email their customer service and get the info back fairly quickly.  You can see the shipping price by clicking SHIPPING. This one is £1.  So for £2 you can get a set of 7 circle dies, from over 4 inches down, similar to Spellbinders.  Most of the reviews say they cut fine, but I’d happily risk £2 to find out! 

 

I was also playing around with some design elements and a trio of 2017/18/19 one sheet calendars. Might as well add them a I’ve already made the slow, difficult trip up the stairs to my Mac. The  seemingly missing lines (look at Feb in 2017) is a weird artifact of the on-screen PDF.  It should NOT be that way when printed.

2017

2018

2019

Again, I have been thinking of interesting ways to make these more usable.  I might end up making the centre section, with the month blocks, available as a download and either leave it so you can decorate the top and bottom to match whatever planner you have, or offer a mix&match set of top&bottoms so you print the date block you like then over-print the decorative elements.

What do you think?  Good idea? I think I have two versions of each year, although at this point I imagine 2017 isn’t really useful, so I would maybe aim to offer 3 each of 2018 and 2019.

LMK!

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Another one to play with – the Pretty Cd calendar and 2018 re-post

OK, so I thought I would try offering the pretty CD calendar to play with:
Download that here.

I’ve created the month blocks and the blank circles.  Let me add them right now lest I get sidetracked and forget like yesterday!

I tested it out and yes, it is tedious and annoying to do, no question.  But, if you have any sort of simple editing program you can easily create your own month blocks. Once you have a basic set of seven in 31-day blocks, it is simple to edit away day 31 for 30-day months and 29-31 for February (except a leap year!) as needed for any given year, and reuse the basic set over and over again.

Here is another month block set.  When printed it will fit either the inky circles or the pretty CD.

I know this sort of DIY effort is not to everyone’s  taste, but maybe someone will take the ball and run with it. And the Pretty CD calendar is one of my most popular.  I’d love to see what great ideas anyone else comes up with!

 

 

 

Experimenting with editable calendars, by request

Note:  Clearly I was in a too much of a rush yesterday – the links to the PDFs are now included! I also replaced the start-days PDF with one that includes both a Sun to Sat block and and Mon to Sun block for the 2020 leap year February!

I had a request from Kelly, who liked my Inky Circles calendar.  She asked about an editable version.  I have mentioned in the past ways that you can edit the PDFs I make using Photoshop (although Photoshop has changed since 2015 when I did that post, so some things might be slightly different now)  but I wondered if there was a way to make a low-tech version.

Let me go thru the PS/PSE version first:

Here are the files so you can see what I am talking about:

There is a 6 page PDF that has 12 empty circles on a square that fits the CD frame

There is a PDF with the different start days, in 31, 30 and 28 day blocks, with a 29 day one for 2020. Remember, the thing about calendars?  There are only 7 options for start days, and the same blocks work for a Sunday start or a Monday start, depending on the day strip you choose.  Usually I make the 7 blocks all with 31 days, then edit out the days I don’t need on any given year when creating the PDFs.  I thought this would be easier for you and I had the space to fill on the sheet {wink}

There is a PDF with the Month names (in Black and in the colours that match the inky circles) and the years (font is Bonveno CF if it helps) as well as strips that start on a Sunday and ones that start on a Monday.

To edit, you need to open all three PDFs as well as a calendar for the year you want to create for. Nothing is locked and I other than to day blocks, nothing is grouped so it SHOULD be easy to edit.

Methodically copy and paste the Month name, the strip of days, the block of days that matches the start day and number of days for the year you want, and the year number onto the blank inky circle.  Do the same for the 2nd inky circle on that page, save as a PDF, then print.

You can instead type the Month name and the date if you want.

For the Low Tech version, you can look at the calendar for the year you want.  Identify the day blocks that match the 12 months of that year and print enough of the sheet so you have what you need.  Cut out the month blocks, the day strips, the Month name and the year, and glue them to the printed inky circles sheet.

Even easier? Print the inky circles, grab any right-sized little calendar and cut out and stick a month to the sheet.  Or print out a calendar and use the month blocks to do a cut&paste – I already have some 2018 and 19 samples up.  I don’t have time to check them now (off to the Dr in a bit) but I think some of the  one sheet and/or 3 x 4 cards will have month blocks that fit.  Ink the edges and it will look like you meant it to be that way! You can punch them with a circle punch or a die and use that too! You can resize a PDF just within your printer options (like print two pages on one to make things smaller, and that works with any PDF, not just mine) to make it fit. Check out the Tear-Off versions.

And LOL!

Your 2017 calendar is reusable in: 2023

So you can just change the year! 2018 will take till 2029 before it is reusable.

No mater how you slice it, it is all pretty tedious.  I know – I’ve been making calendars for years and it can be mind-numbing.  But fun too.  So there yo go.  Feeling adventurous?  Have a play and report back.  I don’t know what other programs might allow you to edit – Adobe Acrobat and Inkscape come to mind, and I love Intaglio, despite it’s bugs.  I’ll have a go with the version of PSE I have (10 and 14, I think, for Mac) when I get back and report back.

 

Half-Sheet birthday calendars – and stickers

OK, so I started these the other day, got super busy yesterday, but here they are.

Both half-sheet Mandala birthday calendars, although I did them as a straight 2-a-page file.  One comment suggested that the booklet style PDFs won’t work universally for every printer, so it is easier for me to just do them this way.

B&W (for colouring in) 

and colourful ones to print and be done.

You should be able to click the image for a closer look. Nope, sorry

I also had a go at making some banners.  You can print them on full-sheet sticker paper and cut them out.  Here is a close up.  I noticed a little tweak I could make, to do with the alignment, but no time now.  I might fix it later, when I do have time. There are two sheets – one with plenty of Birthday/Anniversary/Milestones ones, and some blanks, then a whole 2nd sheet of blanks.  There are also little triangular flags too.

Grab that PDF here

To be honest, I am not sure how useful they are for the BIRTHDAY calendar, but more for planners.  And that makes an interesting point that you might not have thought of – the half-sheet calendars can be hole-punched along the side and integrated into your A5/half US letter planner!

Cool, humm?

So there you go.  Have fun with them and LMK how YOU use them.

Decorate it yourself birthday calendars, 2 styles

Having fun with this!  So I’ve done two versions.  Most of the birthday calendars I see are long and thin.  Fair enough, but it really doesn’t leave a lot of scope for decoration.  When printed, the thin version leaves you with just about 2 inches x just over 2 1/2 inches.  I made it, but probably not what I would use. You can download that one here. I think topping it with scraps of pretty scrapbooking paper would work nicely and if you print it on the plain-ish side of double-sided cardstock then just top it with another scrap it would look nice with little effort.  I may end up making a sample of that, just for fun, and to show you how it would look.

 

What I think is preferable, is the half-sheet version.  I split the days into two columns, and that leaves you with at least 3×5 inches of decoration space.

Note that I made February just one sheet but denoted the leap day in red.

These will print two to a page and you can cut them in half, just like the thinner version. Or you can fold them in half and stick the blank backs together to form a booklet.

Download the 6 sheet PDF here

BUT, and it is a big BUT (I like big buts and I cannot lie… tee hee) if you know how your printer works and you know how to load the paper so the print on the reverse of the sheet is oriented correctly, these two PDF will allow you to print and create a little folded book of birthdays. I use the rear tray, as I know the pages have to be rotated and flipped a certain way for it to work.  So long as you use reasonable weight cardstock you won’t see the printing on the reverse thru the paper.

Part 1 – January and Notes, March and December, May and October, July and August

Part 2 – Notes and February, November and April, September and June

The first page, January and Notes, form the first and last pages, with the blank backs forming the front and back cover.  Here is what you will end up with:

January  Notes  –>> bank on the back

March  December –>> Notes and February

May  October –>>  November  April

July  August  –>> September  June

You can print the sheets one at a time but again, you need to know your printer! I think this version would be super cute as a gift, a little nicer than just the loose sheets.

Birthday Calendars!

You can all thank Kathryn, who commented that she would like to see a birthday calendar.  The biggest struggle was to decide which of the decorative elements would be nice.  I decided to do the pretty lace one and then decided to do once using the gradient, slightly thinner and with, I think, fewer cuts.

Download the Lace one:

or Download the gradient one:

You will note there are more than 12 months.  That is because I wanted to both make the sheets full, with no blank spots, and so I could include alternatives.  For example, February (with and without the 29th of a Leap Year – people with birthdays on the 29th have it hard enough LOL!) and so I could offer Red/Green for December, AND for the first time cater to those who would prefer BLUE for the festive season.  I found this little breakdown, which is surely the result of people like me who have only the vaguest idea of how to spell it, and depend on Google to auto-correct!

Hanukkah : 8,470,000 hits.
Chanukah : 3,390,000 hits.
Hanukah : 862,000 hits.
Hannukah : 677,000 hits.
Chanuka : 335,000 hits.
Chanukkah : 274,000 hits.
Hanuka : 192,000 hits.
Channukah : 128,000 hits.
Chanukka : 116,000 hits.
Hanukka : 86,300 hits.
Hannuka : 51,400 hits.
Hannukkah : 37,300 hits.
Channuka : 33,600 hits.
Xanuka : 992 hits. (even I know this one is crazy)
Hannukka : 686 hits.
Channukkah : 508 hits.
Channukka : 489 hits.
Chanuqa : 25 hits. (and this one!)

But again, people who don’t celebrate Christmas might be I bit tired of only seeing Red or Green for December.

So basically, all you need to do is print and cut.  There is a NOTES section, so if you have too many birthdays on a single day you can use that for extras.  Or you can add Anniversaries or other milestones like retirement, make special note of the big birthdays (18, 21, 50, etc) or jot down gift ideas that might come to you at any time during the year.  Really whatever you think you need.

I still want to do one that is more clean lined and graphic, possibly using this one as the style:

but it would be handy for anyone who wants a particular style to make note of it as a comment, preferably with a link so there is no confusion.  Also please comment if you prefer the two-to-a-page style or the thinner 3-to-a-page style.

Oh, and I had thought I might do a Decorate-it-Yourself version, like the calendar blocks that people seem to like:

Does that appeal?

Jeez.  I disappear for MONTHS and return full of questions…..

{wink}

Reoriented doily, again! 2018 and 2019

Once again, I had a request from Ronna for the doily calendar to be reoriented. It’s really just a series of very repetitive copy/paste actions combined with a few flips.  Here is the 2018 sample, the 2019 colours and font can be seen in the previous post:

Download the 2018 version here

Download the 2019 version here

And come back tomorrow for a couple of Birthday calendars.  {wink}

2018 and 2019 Doily One-sheets

Here are the 2018 and 2019 Doily one sheets.

 

I had a request via a comment for Birthday calendars. I’ve never done one before but would happily do so if there was  a need.  I’ve seen many available for download, once I started looking for them – so the questions is, do my calendars add anything to the mix?  I’m not sure.  There might be people who like my style and who want to have a whole range of items with the same design.  If that’s you let me know. Maybe I’ll have a play!

 

 

2018 and 2019 Doily Calendars (for the forward thinking among you!)

It feels like wishing your life away, looking that far into the future, but I got a request and I would have done them anyway, so I did both 2018 and 2019 in the Doily style calendar.  I imagine I will also end up doing the One-sheets for planner people.

A usual, I tweaked the colours from the 2017 version and changed the month font for both 2018 and 2019. See the samples:

I always have a moment of panic, looking at the on-screen images, but I assure you that the thin lines do all match when printed. It’s just a weird artifact.

You can download them here:

2018 Doily calendar

2019 Doily calendar

Bad blogger! and 2018 One-sheets

Well, we have a respite from visitors for a bit.  Lovely as it is to have them, it is disruptive.

There has been a lot going on, but I perhaps do a nice overview post at some point, when I find the time. But for now, just a couple of things.

Yes, I am still sending out book folding templates, but you need to know two things:

I cannot fit a particular template to a particular book.  There are people who do that but they will charge you.  I make the template, you count the folds, and find a book to fit.

Why I won’t tell you how many pages you need can be found here 

Next, I got a request for One Sheet calendars for 2018.  Here are a couple.  I did make them both portrait and landscape.  Some people use them for small planners, some for A4/US Letter ones and some use them upright and some sideways.  Remember that the PDFs should resize to fit any size paper.  So if you tick A5 and tick Scale to Fit in your print dialog box, it should print on a half sheet, if you load half sheets in the printer. Bear in mind the text will be small.

The multi-coloured one

Horizontal (landscape)

Vertical (portrait)

 

The colourful block one

Horizontal (landscape)

Vertical (portrait)

 

The leafy circles

Horizontal (landscape)

Vertical (portrait)

Hope they prove useful!