Elizabeth Craft Designs: Getting Started With Planners Part One

Elizabeth Craft Designs Planners

This will be a two-part post because there is a lot of information to cover! This first post will mainly focus on the A5 standard slim planner.  In addition to discussing Elizabeth Craft Designs and getting started with planners, the posts will cover what is needed, what are compatible companies, and so much more! But first, why invest time and money into crafting a planner for yourself?

Click on the image to enlarge the Suggested Uses infographic

What do you do with a paper planner?

Many people keep a planner for the calendar. It is a great way to keep your day, week, month, and year organized. Some people use it to keep track of appointments, school holidays, trips, practice schedules, work commitments, and general obligations. Other people use planners for aspirational purposes, such as goal setting, meal planning, weight, and exercise tracking, budgeting/spending tracking, self-care, or hobby scheduling, etc. And then there are people like me. We keep track of many of the above items and also lots of other fun things, such as art journaling, memory keeping, mini-travelogues, favorite quotes, gratitude journals, etc. Yes, there are apps for many of these things - but some of us like the feel of a pen in hand, the texture of the paper, and the ability to create something specifically for our own needs.

Getting Started - Materials

It may be worthwhile to evaluate your intended purpose. But, sometimes, as I create something I think of new ideas for using an item. Having a plan is not necessary when making a planner. That being said, some decisions will need to be made at the start. Are you making inserts for an existing planner? Are you creating a mini-book, cover-to-cover? How much do you want to create from scratch versus using ready-made materials? Do you want it to be clean and simple or filled with lots of bits and bobs?

We will delve into more details in the next post. But for purposes of getting started, let us assume you are all-in on the idea of crafting something from start to finish. Take the pieces that pertain to your needs from this information to make something that works specifically for you!

Choose the planner size. As previously mentioned, this post is geared toward an A5 planner. The TN (travelers notebook) sizes will be addressed in a future post. The photos and text that follow show the components and sizes of the die cuts from good beginner die sets with which to get started. The measurements are rounded to the nearest sixteenth of an inch for each individual cut item.

All of the cuts made from Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 1

Planner Essentials - 1 

11 DIES

PAGE DIE SIZE: 5” X 8.25” (12.7CM X 20.9CM) 

Large Rounded Frame 3" also cuts interior mat 2 5/8"

Small Rounded Frame 2 1/4" also cuts interior mat 1 15/16"

Rectangle 1 1/4" x 5/8"

Tag Label (like on drawer fronts) 2" x 3/4"

Folding Round Tab - open 1 3/4" x 1", closed 7/8" x 1"

Stitched Circle - 1 1/2"

Scalloped TODAY - Scallop Frame Circle 1 9/16" also cuts circle with TODAY 1 5/16"

LOVE THIS Circle - 1 5/16"

YES Circle - 1 5/16", also cuts thin round frame 1 3/8"

Page Reinforcers - cuts 6 circles, approximately 1/2" each

All of the cuts made from Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 2

Planner Essentials - 2

9 Dies - package says 8 dies

PAGE DIE SIZE: 5” X 8.25” (12.7CM X 20.9CM) 

Large Tag 2 1/2" x 4"

Small Tag  2 3/8" x 2 15/16"

Pocket with 3 Slots 2 13/16" x 2 1/4" Pocket width - 2 1/2", 3/16" between pockets, offcuts 2 1/2" x 3/16"

Thin round frame 1 7/16"

NOTED Circle - 1 5/16"

Arrow - 2 3/8" x 3/8"

date tab - 2 5/8" x 1/2"

details tab - 3 7/8" x 1/2"

All of the cuts made from Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 10

Planner Essentials - 10

11 Dies - Package says 7

PAGE DIE SIZE: 4.7” x 8.25” (11.9 cm x 20.9 cm

Perforated Postage Stamps - four attached 1 3/8" x 5 3/8"

Smile Square Frame - 1 13/16"

Staff/Stave - 3" x 3/4", offcuts 2 13/16" x 1/8"

Round Swirly Design - 3 3/8" x 2 1/8"

Large Treble Clef - 11/16" x 1 13/16"

Small Treble Clef - 1/2" x 1 5/16"

Large Eighth Note - 5/8" x 1"

Small Eighth Note - 7/16" x 3/4"

Large Beamed Sixteenth Note- 13/16" x 7/8"

Small Beamed Sixteenth Note- 5/8" x 11/16"

All of the cuts made from Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 41

Planner Essentials - 41 Rounded Corners Page

8 Dies

PAGE DIE SIZE: 4.7" x 8.27" (11.9 cm x 21 cm)

Stitched panel -3 13/16" x 7 3/4" 

Double Frame - 2 3/4" x 7 5/16", also cuts one stitched tag and one stitched mat each measuring - 2 5/16" x 3 1/8"

Vertical Numbers - 7/16" x 6 1/4"

Arrow Clip - 1 7/16" x 1 3/8"

Short Tab - 1 13/16" x 3/4"

Two longer Tabs each measuring - 2 1/16 x 11/16"

Planner Binder - Blank Canvas

This is a canvas color planner on both the inside and outside. It isn't made from canvas but can still be altered with paint, ink, or ephemera.  This A5 size planner binder comes with 6 binder rings, interior pockets, a tab for a pen or pencil, and a band closure. It measures 9" x 6.25". 

In a future post, we will talk about ways to alter planners and some of the coordinating products that are available for them.

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.

Products Mentioned:

Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials

Elizabeth Craft Designs - Planner Essentials Collection - Dies - Essential Set 1
Scrapbook.com

Elizabeth Craft Designs - Planner Essentials Collection - Dies - Essential Set 2
Scrapbook.com

Elizabeth Craft Designs - Planner Essentials Collection - Dies - Essential Set 10
Scrapbook.com

Elizabeth Craft Designs - Planner Essentials Collection - Dies - Essential Set 41 - Rounded Corners Page
Scrapbook.com

Elizabeth Craft Designs - Planner Essentials Collection - A5 Planner Binder - Blank Canvas
Scrapbook.com

Tips and Ideas for Using Big Stamps

Using Big Stamps

Recently, I found a new-to-me stamp company, Colorado Craft Company. Their Big and Bold stamp collection looked particularly interesting because they are really large images!  I purchased a couple of sets and started playing with them. The first one is called "Miss You Peony". Working with the gorgeous peony image led me to discover a few tips and ideas that I hope you will find useful when using big stamps on your projects.

Stamping Tips

3C's Blissful Butterflies and Miss You Peony 

Extra-large clear stamps may be too big for a traditional acrylic block. Listed below are some alternate ideas for using a big stamp. Practice on some scratch paper to see which options work best for you and your project. Keep in mind, it is a good idea to turn the stamp upside down and apply the ink to the stamp rather than tapping the stamp onto the ink pad.

• Using the carrier sheet that the stamp comes packaged upon
• Fiskars Easy Stamp Press I have better success with this tool if I press down without hesitating
• Using your hand as a flexible 'block' - this is particularly useful in art journaling 
  
• Using the top side of the MISTI tool or removing the top of the Tim Holtz stamp platform and using it as a giant block

Ideas

Watercoloring

Both of the examples above were colored using watercoloring techniques. The stamps can be stamped using traditional, no line, invisible line, or ghost stamping and then inked or painted. In the video below, I show a couple of ways to do this along with some of the stamp block substitutes.

Traditional Coloring

The card posted below was colored with Tombow Dual Brush Pens. I outlined the image to help make it pop a bit. This is a personal preference. Please do what you think looks best!

Background stamping - no coloring

Neither of the example shown below needed coloring after stamping. The crisp image is so striking on the scrapbook page that it did a good job of adding to the story without taking away from the photographs.

The art journal page on the right-hand side has the peony stamped on it several times. Both projects used Tuxedo Black Memento ink.

Supplies

From the Colorado Craft Company: 

Blissful Butterflies Stamp Set or from Scrapbook.com

Blissful Butterflies Die Set or from Scrapbook.com

Miss You Peony Stamp Set or from Scrapbook.com

Inks:

Tuxedo Black by Memento

Rose Madder Archival by Ranger

Tombow Dual Brush Pens

Thank you for visiting today!

Beverly