Giveaway :: 2012 Planner | handmade by The Creative Place

Per my post earlier this morning, I decided to go for it and put together a quick and simple planner for 2012. After seeing a lot of inspiration (thanks so much for the comments and links!), I came up with this planner, and made 2.

Each month includes a calendar of the entire month, and then a space for each day throughout the month. Several notes pages are sprinkled in as well. All printed pages are printed on 30% post-consumer recycled paper. Also sprinkled in are various extra pages, including ledger pages, graph paper, and other office-y type papers, because nothing is complete without some extra fun pages :) 

A lot of my motivation to make the planner came after having this idea for the cover -- 1" paper squares punched from various papers -- new and vintage, adhered to kraft cardstock :) I knew what I wanted the cover to be, just needed to have a book for it to be a cover to ;)

Please note that as I stated in my earlier post, this planner is not perfect (the o-wire binding is a little kinked, some of the pages are punched really close to the edge - but none are falling out of the planner ;), little things like that). This was my first one I have ever put together and the first time I've ever bound something with my new Bind-It-All. It is still fully functional and I am comfortable giving it away. I wouldn't sell them in my shop until all of the kinks are worked out, but since it's a giveaway, it's free, so I think it's ok :).

To enter:
+ Simply leave a comment. Please include your email address!
+ For additional entries (leave a separate comment for each that you do):
  - Become a follower of The Creative Place (here on the Blog, on FB or Twitter) and leave a comment for each (leave a comment if you are already a follower or subscribe through RSS).
  - Blog, tweet or FB about the giveaway. Be sure to include a link to this post.
+ International entries welcome.
+ Comments will close sometime on Monday (January 2) and I will announce a winner. Planner will be mailed that day so you can start planning out your year! :)

stay tuned for a 2012 planner giveaway.

Thank you all so much for the links to all the beautiful planners the other day. I was so inspired by them and some others from etsy that I decided to go for it and try making one. I did it! I made a planner. In fact, I made 2. And, seeing as how I only need one, I'm giving the other one away :) Both of them are far from perfect. It was my first time using my new Bind-It-All machine, so... yeah :) But, they are fully functional and I'm still comfortable giving one away (I wouldn't sell them in my shop until all of the kinks are worked out, but since it's a giveaway, it's free, so I think it's ok :)).

I finished it late last night and was not able to get good pictures, so I will be posting the giveaway later this morning once I have some better pictures to share. For now, here is a sneak peek of the cover. Kraft paper and a mix of new and vintage paper. Stay tuned for the giveaway :)

Holiday Journal 2011 :: Finished.

Yay! My holiday journal is complete. I am in love with how this journal turned out. Love it. Some of the pictures didn't print that well (printed at home, which usually works well, but my printer was acting up ;)), but I'm still happy with it. I blurred out a few photos for privacy reasons, but I feel like you still get the idea of the layout of the page. I plan on adding a few more photos to the back of when my sweet in-laws were here the day after Christmas, but am calling it finished for now :)

For the patterned paper on the left, I printed out a sheet of this free printable wrapping paper.

For Day 18, I printed this gorgeous free printable by Emily of Jones Design Company, found (via pinterest) here.

Go here to see the first half. So glad to have another one of these finished. I loved looking back through this one from last year (2010). And this one from the year before (2009). It's neat to see how my style and approach have changed each year. I'm loving it :)

thinking about: a 2012 planner

Thinking about the New Year that is quickly approaching. thinking about what kind of planner I am going to use. Not sure if I'll just keep one like this, as I have in the past (which has always worked well), or if I want another one that is smaller. Trying to decide if I should just buy one or if I should take on designing a simple one and bind it myself. 

I spent a long time last night looking around at different planners on etsy and amazon and found a bunch of gorgeous and very well-made ones, but none are exactly what I have in mind.

I like the idea of making one myself. I like the idea of being able to add in special pages here and there such as graph paper, specialty paper, or envelopes, for extra jots and notes. I like the idea of binding it myself (I got a Bind-It-All for my birthday- woo hoo!). But I also want to be realistic with my time and how busy I already am. Taking on designing a planner (even a simple one) sounds like a.lot.of.work. I may go for it and try designing the first couple weeks and see how fast it goes. Will be thinking on this further and will share what I end up doing.

What about you? Any planner ideas/links that have really worked for you?

christmas snapshots

Happy Tuesday! I hope you and yours had a great Christmas weekend :) We had a fabulous Christmas weekend, complete with traveling to Virginia to see my parents, and all of my sisters and their families. Lots of yummy food, lots of laughs, lots of catching up. We were home for Christmas eve and enjoyed a Christmas eve service at our church and Jimmy got to dress up like a shepherd and sing. It was adorable :) A relaxed and great Christmas morning, spending time together, opening presents, playing with toys, eating a fabulous quiche lorraine and cinnamon rolls and then going to church to celebrate! My sweet in-laws came for a visit yesterday and it was great to spend time with them as well :)

For now, getting the house put back together, making to-do lists, and of course, playing with my sweet boys. Lots to share here over the next couple weeks. Lots of ideas and thoughts, news and inspiration to come :)

Merry Christmas!

Image found via flickr here. Image published before 1923 (from the Library of Congress).

last minute DIY gift ideas

A roundup of a few last minute DIY gift ideas. Perfect for the "I have no clue what to give this person" :). All of these cute ideas are thoughtful and practical, and not to mention - economical :)

1. Life Through the Lens Paperclip Fabric Bookmarks
2. AmbrosiaGirl Tiny Polaroid Magnets
3. Design*Sponge Paper Scrap Pencils
4. The Purl Bee 20 Minute Tote
5. Cooking with My Kid Cinnamon Sugar Popcorn Gift
6. The Creative Place Tile Magnets
7. Good Housekeeping Cute Cookbook
8. Rashida Coleman-Hale (via SewTimeless) Snappy Coin Purse
9. Delightful Distractions Fabric Covered Book (Think: Sketchbook to go with the Paper Scrap Pencils!)

around here.

Busy around here right now. Wrapping presents, running errands and getting ready to leave town to visit family for a few days before Christmas. Enjoying the season together, Christmas cards in the mail, a fun paper pack I purchased on etsy, and an unexpected gift of a cute little glitter pocket from a customer :) Wishing that the rain we are having was snow (I like cold and snow for Christmas! :)), but so excited about all of the impending festivities :)

8 years

Celebrating 8 years of marriage with this amazing man today. We've shared lots and lots of laughs, lots of tears, joyful seasons, difficult seasons, ups and downs, good days, not-so-good days, and been blessed with 2 precious boys. Grateful for things that have always remained constant in our marriage: our love for Jesus and for each other. And our commitment to serving Him together, side by side. 

I love you babe. You're my best friend and the love of my life. Thank you for always loving me, always encouraging me and always believing in me. Thank you for how you love me and our sweet boys, and for working so hard to provide for us. I'm so glad to be in this life together. I love you. Happy Anniversary :)

from the archives.

Happy Monday! I hope you had a lovely weekend :) My hubby returned home safe and sound Friday night and we are enjoying catching up and hearing stories :)

So for today, a couple links to some DIY projects from the archives: Paper Lantern Ornaments, an ornament roundup and a roundup of free printable Christmas tags.

Paper Lantern Ornaments

DIY Christmas Ornament Roundup

Printable Christmas Tags Roundup

and it's friday.

+ I'm not one to rush through the days and to wish time to pass more quickly. But this week I've been doing just that. My hubby has been in Haiti for the past week, and I'm so excited for him to get home late tonight. I have had tons of fun with my sweet boys, my wonderful friends and my sis and her hubby. But I'm also ready for my other half to come home. I'm ready to hear stories. I'm ready to see pictures and video of the sweet people in Haiti. I'm ready for him to be here :) I've been able to talk with him briefly each evening and have a glimpse of their days. He has had a wonderful time there and can't wait to be home as well. I cannot wait to hear more! :)

+ My sweet Jimmy has his first "school program" for Christmas this morning. My heart is giddy thinking about watching him sing and saying his line "All the people were amazed at what the shepherds told them." I cannot wait. I have a tissue in my purse just in case there's a tear (or two or three) :)

+ My house is a wreck, haha ;) My wood floors look like they have not been swept in ages (they haven't). The carpet in the living room is covered in bits and pieces of cereal, Ritz crackers, peach puffs and Christmas tree pine needles. Laundry is piled up, waiting to be folded (at least it's clean?!). My brand new camera lens is now in 2 pieces, waiting to go to the repair shop after my adorable little toothy-grin 10 month roly-poly learned how to climb the stairs (where my camera was briefly sitting). My office looks like it exploded with leftover Christmas cards, paper trimmings, Christmas gifts, and matchbox cars. But it's been a good week. A hard week, but a good week. A week with lots of giggles, lots of matchbox car traffic jams, lots of running around the house, lots of coloring, drawing and working on Christmas presents and projects together, and lots of fun mama-and-her-sons time. And I'm thankful. Thankful for my boys. Thankful for my family. Thankful for my friends who have texted or called me each day to check in, to see how I'm really doing. Thankful for my man who is willing and excited to go help and love on others around the globe. Thankful for my man who loves our little family so, so much. Thankful for my man who loves me and supports me unconditionally and spurs me on towards Christ!

+ As we draw closer to Christmas, I'm excited. Excited for the rest of this season. Excited to celebrate with family and friends. Excited.

I've re-opened shop for the weekend.

I decided to re-open the shop for the weekend for last minute shopping. The shop will remain open until Monday, December 19 and then close again sometime Monday afternoon until after Christmas. All orders will be shipped by Tuesday, December 20. There are lots of great gift ideas in the shop: jotter journals, scrap packs, paper rounds - perfect last minute gifts or stocking stuffers. All orders will include a little 2" x 3" cello bag with some fun bits and pieces :)

Handmade Christmas: Ornaments

*SPOILER ALERT: If you are in my immediate family, please refrain from reading the rest of this post. Christmas gifts are being shared here today :)

I am making a lot of the gifts for our (large) family this year. Not only are handmade gifts super fun, thoughtful and personal, but usually they are quite economical :) This year we decided to make several different little things, including Christmas Ornaments. I am making one for each family (or couple). I purchased a set of 6 clear glass ornaments from my local craft store the other week when they were on sale for about $2.50. These would also be great for ornament exchange parties, teacher gifts, hostess gifts, etc.

I made several different types and am loving each of them. They were super quick to make, and I made all 5 of them during my little ones naptimes. I had been wanting to try this idea I found on pinterest, and also wanted to use some Christmas ribbon I had and some I recently found. For the others, I kind of went with whatever was on my work table and ended up filling one with leftover Christmas confetti, and the other with Christmas garland.

Ornament with the garland - since the paper rounds were sewn together, they "fluffed up" nicely instead of falling flat once inside the ornament.

The invitation from my littlest sis' wedding. This one is one of my faves and I am going to make a few more like this, only with Christmas paper and vintage book pages. I will be adding one to our tree this year :)

I will also be writing a small "2011" on the bottom of each one in permanent marker to commemorate the year.