Plan it Out: Ringing in 2010 with a Snazzy Collage

Last fall I quickly realize how utterly dependent on a planner I had become. As I had used a planner since high school and only (somewhat) recently found myself without the need of keeping track of papers, assignments and other drudgeries of student life, this dependency makes complete sense. So I went in search of a trendy little weekly moleskin planner. I searched everywhere for one to no avail. After double checking the moleskin racks at Blick, I decided that I would just make my own planner/calendar notebook. I bought a three pack of brown soft cover, plain paper moleskin notebooks and got to work transforming it into a planner.

My first planner notebook was not very aesthetically pleasing. I was definitely more concerned with producing a functional product as quickly as possible. To do so, I found, downloaded, printed, cut out and pasted monthly calendars into one of the notebooks. Thankfully I had enough foresight to leave a few pages in between the months--all of which quickly filled up with "to do" lists, notes and doodles. Despite my DIY solution, I wasn't quite satisfied with the final product because it lacked the signature elastic closure that moleskins are known for. I tried to devise my own elastic closure, but opted for a rubber band instead. Needless to say, this first planner worked out really well, but lacked aesthetic appeal...especially after months of heavy use.

With the beginning of the new year I needed a new planner. My old one had little life left in it and I still had two blank notebooks. But my new 2010 weekly date book would be different; it would be a dressed up version of the first one in every way possible. I decided to collage the cover of my new one and use calendars that were more decorative.

The mock-up.

I like to lay my composition out before I glue it down, and I used this photo to help me remember where everything goes. Except I forgot to look at the photo. Thankfully everything ended up where it was supposed to go.

The final product

I originally intended to collage the front cover but ended up extending it to the back cover as well. (I just have too much good stuff!) The majority of my collage supplies come from magazines or the Internet. The 60s dancing couple and cotton candy tree, for example, are from the blog This isn't happiness; the little girl with the bunny on the back panel is by Naoko Stoop, and along with a bunch of other cool graphic works, can be found on and downloaded for free from Feed Your Soul.

Probably my favorite three components: 1960s dancing couple, cotton candy tree and fungus.

On the spine. Wrap-around Butterfly .











Back panel

The insides.

I downloaded a carnivorous plant calendar from a blog called A Print A Day. I just downloaded the files, increased them a little in photoshop, printed them, then cut and pasted them in place. Pretty sweet, I know...