{Project Life} Calendar

This is for those of you that asked about this . . . this is a new product from Becky Higgins that goes in line with Project Life.  I found it at Michaels and I believe that this is the only place to find it.  I had been thinking about going back to a paper calendar this year, this is kinda a big deal for those of you that know me and my love all having all things electronic.  But I found that I while having everything at your finger tips on my phone, iPad, computer, it wasn't really in front of me, like open on my desk staring at me, reminding me of upcoming events, things to do . . . yes, I set reminders on all of the electronic devices, but the reminder pops up, you have to dismiss it in order to continue what you are doing and then it disappears and, well, most of the time disappearing out of my memory too!

Anyway, when I walked into Michaels and saw this lovely colorful package of goodness I was soooooo excited.  It fits into a really cute 6 x 8 binder. I wanted it.  But I really am trying to NOT add  things that I will not use to my collection of stuff.  I left Michaels without the calendar.  Mind you there is also a journaling kit and a recipe kit.  Of course I wanted ALL of them!  But I left with none of them, I was proud of myself.  Over the next few days while I was deciding on my word for 2014 and thinking about things I need to do in order to simplify and make my life easier, I decided it was time to give a paper planner another shot.  I went quickly back to Michaels where I was happy to find that both the planner and binder were unmarked, but 40% off, I'd say it was meant to be, lol!

I brought it home and put it all in the binder and didn't write in it right away . . . I guess I wanted to be sure that I thought this was really something that I was going to use this year, I don't need more unused stuff (my husband would call it crap) on my desk.  But I finally gave it and started writing in all of the dates for 2014.  Now, I am really liking having the paper in front of me, I can see the week easily and make lists and have it all visible.  Is it the "perfect" calendar, no, there would be a few things I would change, BUT, it's cute, that counts for a lot in my book, it's colorful, and I love colors, and if Michaels ever gets the 6 x 8 page protectors in I can add a few of those throughout and I think at the end of the year will sort of make itself it's own little mini scrapbook. So that makes it just perfect for me right now!

Bright colorful dividers

Each month is a different color, one week is on one side of the page

There is a part at the top for "things to-do/places to go/people to see"

And each month has a fund 2 page spread of different things each month, DIY projects/Wish List/Skills to Learn/For the Garden/Camping List, etc.  kinda fun!

 This is from a digital kit I purchased from the Sweet Shoppe, this helps put Project Life in front of me on a daily bases, to remind me to take photos and start thinking about how I want that week to look.  This is a very cool downloadable calendar and all of the PL templates are included, so you can add whatever layout you will be using that week to the page before you print.  I have decided to follow Ali's lead and just use Layout A pocket pages this year.  I think this will help me know what I need to do each week, what kind of photos I need and it will keep it simple and help get it DOne!  

I'm hoping that this combination is going to help me be successful  DOing the things things I want to this year, and at the top of that list is to have a complete album at the end of 2014.

**Note: I bought the teal binder and have been using it for the last 2 weeks.  It's heavy, I took out June - December for now.  Yesterday I found a "simple stories" album that feels a little bit lighter and less bulky, so I'm trying that out for now.  I think the album, whatever brand is going to get a bit used looking if you carry it around.  So I figure I can save the nicer one to put a final project in vs wearing it out all year.