Monday, March 23, 2015

♥ What's in My Planner? - ECLP Monthly Pages Decor ::April 2015::


Hello friends! I'm still new to the planner community and so decor isn't really top notch yet. Since experimenting with different materials, styles and colors I've come to realize that having a theme or motif is key. 


Before decorating a page it is essential to put down notes on days, tentative or definite, that serves as reminders or tasks, events, birthdays, appointments ... etc.


When you have your materials and theme in mind you're ready to start decorating. I like to consider holidays or special occasions happening during the month, as you can see the last few days of March starts Holy Week so I used the cross washi to run from Monday through Thursday. I used silver/platinum stickers with Bible quotes and crosses for both Good Friday and Easter Sunday, unfortunately due to the lighting and camera flash it didn't come out obvious. 


And since it is Spring I wanted to dress the month of April in yummy pastel colors! 




Purchase Erin Condren Life Planners, Notebooks, Wedding Planners and more ...
https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/cathyelpedes0316

Here's a descriptive overview of how I set up the month of April: 


Sunday, March 22, 2015

Spring Backyard Project: Plant/Garden Box

It's Spring! 

Time for garden projects :)


Hubby constructed this plant/garden box himself :)


materials from Lowe's and/or Home Depot








1
time to paint!


we used the extra paint from our pergola 


left this to dry for the whole day





loaded the garden box with potting soil and 3 tomato plants





2 hybrid tomatoes and one cherry tomato


Thursday, March 19, 2015

Planner Haul | Jo-Anne's Fabrics, Target, Walmart + Daiso


Here are some more planner goodies I have picked up recently :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Jo-Anne's Fabrics


Target One Spot


Walmart


Daiso





Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Erin Condren 2015 Life Planner Overview

Hello friends, I hope everyone is well! Here's another planner post I wanted to share ~ I've really been contemplating purchasing the Erin Condren Life Planner and giving it a try since watching PLAN WITH ANITA on YouTube and I just love her decorating style but I first came across this planner brand watching AtHomeWithNikki Planner Organization 2015: Planner Supplies! First let me just say and believe me I love my kikki.K Mint personal planner and my handy dandy pre-loved Louis Vuitton PM agenda but I have to admit there was just something about the Erin Condren planner that got me wanting to buy one. So I was happy to discover that Erin Condren is sold here in the Bay Area at the Staples in Pleasant Hill. And I am assuming that these are their "Ready to Ship" planners featured on their website because these planners are ready to pick up for purchase. So whatever the cover it comes with, that's what you'll get. Staples does have stock of other EC accessories like other limited covers and planner elastics bands sold separately. Here is a walk-through of the planner I purchased --- 


BTW you can purchase ECLP online using:

https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/cathyelpedes0316




I bought this planner looking exactly like this, no box or plastic cover


Just right behind the info insert is their signature detachable ruler which is used as a bookmark and the cover is a sturdy laminate that is detachable as well and can be changed with other planner covers of your choice. 


Upon opening the cover, the left side is a page where you can put your personal info. The first, second and third pages are colorful greeting pages.


As you turn the first tab it is your 2014-2015 Year at a Glance pages


As you can see all the months are separated with tabs and I love how after each monthly page the weekly pages follow right after. Unlike other planner pages the months and weeks are separated in their own sections.


This is how the monthly page looks like


And this is how a week on 2 pages looks like. Different format to the kikki.K and FiloFax pages.


Towards the end of the planner there are a good amount of pages for notes and decorative pages for doodling, 2 pages of 2016-2017 at a glace, then you get here - preprinted stickers pages for life different activities in RED, PINK, ORANGE, TEAL and GREEN.


These next two pages are blank and are for customizing your own activities.


This insert is so handy and is a folder type pocket both front and back, useful for receipts, stickers, notes...etc.


The last insert is a transparent seal-able pouch for writing supplies, cash or planner accessories.  


With purchase this planner comes with 4 different designed gift stickers/labels.


The elastic band I bought separately and comes in a pack of 3 for $6.99






Overall I do love this planner though I will be honest, I wish the monthly and weekly pages weren't as colorful and were either printed in black or charcoal gray to allow customization. Still I feel this is a great planner and super love the weekly pages because it has more space in comparison to the ring bound planners. I highly recommend this planner if you are one who is interested in a variety of planner layouts and would like something different for your needs.


Monday, March 9, 2015

Chicken Veggie Omelette

Hello friends! Here's a quick breakfast dish I prepared earlier. Rummaging through my refrigerator I realized I didn't have much except for leftover Costco rotisserie chicken, spinach, cheese and our frig staples - milk, eggs, onions, tomatoes. Been trying my best to stick to oatmeal most of the week but I felt like having a treat and cooked something savory for a change. I partnered sliced fresh fruit for a healthy side (strawberries and mango).







eggs, chopped onions and tomatoes, diced chicken breast, salt, pepper, paprika, milk, cheese and spinach
Here I just eyeballed the ingredients, you can make your own adjustments if you wish to try this recipe.









Friday, March 6, 2015

Decorate with Me - St. Patrick's Day week | #catzplanner

Hello friends! First week of March rolled right in just as swiftly as February left, this weekend is Daylight savings so don't forget to adjust your clocks, Sunday is spring forward one hour ~ TIP: we usually do that the night before. We're just about to start the second week and my gosh aren't we moving fast! Anyhow I wanted to share my planner decor for the week of St. Patrick's day and it happens to be my birthday on the sixteenth. I hope this provides some inspiration to those of you who are planner junkies like me. 

I like to keep things simple with basic accents on my pages because I will be filling them with sticky notes and writing throughout the week. But I also put a little extra glam on important dates and holidays. Half the time I plan as I go and note things to remember in advance.

pages flags are from Jo-Ann's fabrics


my washi tape box is from Ross


I marked the day I am off with a sticky note to write reminders, activities or errands.




Sunday, March 1, 2015

Planner Haul | Target One Spot, Michael's and Walmart

Hello everyone! The past week I've been on a scavenger hunt for a certain item at the Target One Spot but at the same time I also picked up some planner goodies for stock. I honestly realize the true struggle now of searching for these infamous 30 piece page flag sets. I've been to a total of 6 different locations and still haven't found them. Anyhow here are some treats I was able to grab ---




I also went to Michael's and picked up some more goodies, mainly basic stamping supplies --- 



Finally ended at Walmart for the last few items for this 
haul---