Hey there, planners 🙂
For my second #throwbackthursday post, I thought I’d share a handful of my fave layouts over the past year or so. For those of you that have been following me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen these. But if any of you have just found me recently, here’s a glimpse at my design style!
So far, I’ve posted a few times about my personal planner…. but I’ve got to give some love to my tried and true A5 as well. I’ve been planning in my ring-bound A5 since the get-go and I love the space and flexibility that I have to create. I try to mix it up a lot in my planners: try new techniques, think outside the box, use non-traditional supplies… not that I want to overcomplicate things, but because stretching my creative muscles is part of the whole enjoyment for me.
Here’s a look at a few of my favorite A5 spreads (in no particular order):
Feb 22-28: I used stickers from a 12×12 echo park sticker sheet for this spread. I was ga-ga over the colors and those big round letters were just begging to live at the tops of my columns! A few coordinating stamps and washi strips complemented the design and I kept the rest pretty simple. I used small icons for most of my activities and basic to-do lists across the bottom.
March 14-20: This whole layout was an assignment I did for the StudioL2E design team. My favorite parts are the flowers that I stamped along the bottom, using simple rounded rectangle stamps that were intended to be used for events. (I created a short demo video on my YT channel showing how I did that – click here if you want to check it out). I also love the fresh color scheme and that gorgeous geometric washi!
July 25-31: OK, let’s be real, I might just love this next layout because I LOVED this vacation we went on – it just evokes such fun and happy memories! But that’s a perfectly acceptable reason to love your planner pages! I went nuts over that cute station wagon from Taylored Expressions and the vibe was just perfect for our laid back getaway weekend on the water. I am also super proud that I did not use pink anywhere on this spread, which is rare and challenging for me!
April 4-10: aaaannnd, here is my beloved pink in full force! LOL! All of the elements of this layout came from the Felicity Jane SUSIE kit which won me right over with that triangle patterned paper. I used punches and scissors to work the gorgeous patterned papers into my design. Many of the stickers and cut-aparts show up here too – they’re great for this size page. There is also super faint stamping that you can barely see – enough to provide structure but not distract from the other elements.
June 20-26: Aside, from being my birthday week, this was also a favorite because it is such a different style for me. I used the June 2016 Hip Kit Club package almost exclusively. These kits are not really planner specific but I loved the challenge of making them work on this page. I cut patterned paper, did lots of layering and incorporated some larger elements than I normally do. I kept the stamping and writing very subtle and I was really happy with the end result 🙂
September 5-11: This is a super simple, very typical spread for me. I put scheduled events in the middle of the page and to-do lists along the bottom. Very structured and orderly (I think I was craving some order after our fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants summer schedule! Thank God for back to school!) I loved these bold colors – inspired by the criss cross washi – and that adorable school bus from Simple Stories (even though we live literally across the street from the school and my kids don’t take the bus… shhhhhh don’t tell).
September 26 – Oct 2: This layout featured tons of stickers from Scraptastic Club. As my blog name suggests, I really LOVE my ink… but I also appreciate the convenience and beauty of stickers and there are just so many amazing choices out there! This is one of the few spreads I have done with hardly any stamping (again, I like to push myself out of the comfort zone – try it… it’s fun!) and I really love the results!
November 14-20: This layout is all about the houses and the turkeys, folks. Look no further for adorableness because, come on – really?? Kudos to Scraptastic Club for this amazing kit. I had to let my little gobble gobblers hold my “November” banner at the top and create a whole little neighborhood along the bottom. So stinkin’ cute!
September 19-25: This page featured tons of great stamps from Taylored Expressions and some fabulous numbers across the top (from Heidi Swapp) that are total eye-catchers! The stamps are actually outlines only, and I used a little watercolor to fill them in and give them dimension. I also love that little alarm clock!
February 2016: this monthly layout was the happiest thing to look at throughout the cold and dreary month of February in Michigan! Rainbow colors are always a big win – I have gone back to that color scheme repeatedly in my planner pages. The bold pops of black work great with all those bright colors! I used a tiny hexagon stamp repeatedly to make the cool border on top and to create faux “reinforcements” around the punched holes.
Hope you guys enjoyed this little trip down memory lane… maybe it gave you some ideas or inspired you to try some of these styles or techniques! Since I showed so many different layouts, I did not link all of the products I used – but if there is something specific you’d like to know about, please ask in the comments and I’ll be happy to get you the info!
Have a great day!
xo,
Tricia