Setting up my Blogging planner in my Kikki K Gold A5


Hello Batlings!

I hope your 2015 is looking really lovely! I have settled back into work, and into my studies and my home hobby business for the year and it feels like I had never had a holiday!

Today's post is about my new Kikki K gold planner and how I set it up to keep myself organised with my two blogs! Empress Bat's Journal (this blog) and Apothecary Greens (my blog about herbalism and alternative therapies).  If you are interested in my other planner related posts and my free printables, please have a look at the page where I have put all my planner related post links.

Note, I have not yet 'prettied' up the planner as I have only just set it up! I will do an update to this post once it is all pretty with stickers and washi and doodles!!

Personalise planners to work for you!

Remember using planners, binders, notebooks, diaries, and sticky notes, is all about what works for you! So work out a system that makes sense and that you know you can use to be more productive, less stressed, and organised!

I use multiple 'planner binders', but they are not all used as diaries/calendars.  They are used as conveniently sized project binders, each has a different use, and each works well for me, with my diary as the 'hub' of operations!


Blog Planner Set Up

1. I took everything out of the Kikki K planner, I sold the refill papers to another planner fan, and started to sort the A5 ring binder in the manner that makes sense to me. 


gutted the Kikki K planner

2. On some scrap paper I worked out what I needed in a blog planner book. I ended up with needing seven sections: schedule, information, blog 1, blog2, to do, inspiration, and tools.
Happily the Kikki K planner came with seven dividers, I just need to change the tab titles!

3. With my trusty Dymo Labeller, I made labels on some cool silver metallic tape.  Then as I was telling myself how cool the labels looked, I realised I had made them too big...so I altered the font to small and tried again!!


Making my own tab labels
Newly labelled dividers back in the planner

3. For the SCHEDULE section, I used the Kikki K month to two pages, I will write in the boxes when i need to draft a post or load up a post and other important blog type things i need to know dates of.
For Apothecary Green is use a green pen, and for this Empress Bat's Journal I use a purple pen. (my colour key is on the right hand side of the page)

4. Using some file cards in large size, i punched holes in them to fit in my planner, and wrote my sites and what they are on them. Example '' @empressbat | twitter | social media"

These cards will be in my 'Information' section, as they contain the sites I use for blogging and social media, and any guest bloggers and their blogs. Basically handy information I can get at a glance!


file cards to use in my planner
5. the next two sections are called Blog One and Blog Two and are for Empress Bat's Journal and Apothecary Greens respectively. In this section I use note paper with holes punched in the sides.  My brain dump for my blogs goes in these two sections. Blog ideas, what aims I have for each blog or post, how to increase my audience, drafts of future posts, all that kind of stuff!

6. To Do: the to do section has things I need to get done, a memo section of things i need to do, for example: contact my guest blogger..hint hint Madame Monstrous of Zentangle Creations, and fix up my templates... notes of things that once done can be discarded.

7. Inspiration: In this section I have pages with pockets, I stash magazine pages, and stickers and all sorts of items that inspire me for my blog posts! I also have printouts of information I may wish to refer to later when composing a blog.

I make the pages with card stock and washi tape to create pockets.


one of my pages with pockets! Some inspiration cards are in this pocket


8. Tools: this has pages about how to make a blog sparkle (like the Blog Ready Challenge by Raine of Lime Tree Fruits); as well as information on search engine optimisation, and HTML and CSS for formatting websites.

9. Page Lifter: I used two pieces of metallic gold card, cut to A5 size, and washi taped together, to create a page lifter for the back of my planner pages, to stop my pages curling up when I shut the binder.  The card stock was doubled to ensure it is thick and heavy, and I made the holes larger than normal so it can move freely in the binder. This helps it to act effectively as a page lifter.
Page lifters stop your pages getting all curled up when you close your binder! They are easy to make form stiff card stock, make sure you make the holes for the rings larger than usual so the page can move freely.


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Welcome 2015!

Hello Batlings, and welcome to 2015!


bats flying near the moon at night


ANNOUNCEMENTS

(1) This year I am very excited to announce that Empress Bat's Journal has a wonderful  guest blogger on board who will be sharing her wit and wisdom with you all as the muse takes her! You may know her from the Madam Monstrous blog, she also blogs on Zentangle Creations; she is a great person and I am really happy that she has accepted my invitation to be a guest blogger for Empress Bat's Journal.  

(2) Last year I participated in the Documented Life Project  (DLP) 2014; this year I have decided to double the creative projects I am participating in, so I shall be actively involved in creating pages in the Documented Life Project 2015, PLUS the Creative Every Day challenge! My DLP pages will be shared on this page and my Pinterest Board for DLP as usual, and the Creative Every Day challenge will be in a blog post each month or so with the subject line: CREATIVE EVERY DAY: <Month>: <Theme>.

(3) As promised in my December 2014 blog post I will share with you all my resolutions/goals for 2015 and I will monitor and review them through-out the year to see how I am proceeding with them. Feel free to share your resolutions in the comments of this post too! Publicly     promising to achieve a goal and reviewing your progress is a handy tool to keep you on track!

MY GOALS FOR 2015


  • Write
  • Organise
  • Create
  • Positive
  • Improve

Write: 

I will blog on here and/or my Alternative Therapies Blog and/or my Herbalism website at least once a week. 
I will actively keep a journal where I write at least a paragraph of either fact or fiction every day!


Organise:

I will organise my time effectively to be able to fit in all my projects and volunteer activities, and my hobby business, and my studies, and my fulltime job without exhausting myself and ensuring I have time to relax and ..just be!
I will organise my stuff: I will stop hoarding and cluttering!


Create:

I will actively participate in creative projects 
I will design and create items to sell in my etsy store and  via my Facebook Page
I will play music (whichever instrument I feel like playing at the time)
I will draw, just for fun


Positive:

I will keep supporting small home, family run, and hobby business to be a positive force in keeping cottage industry alive!
I will continue Project Funmail to bring some happiness, smiles, and positivity to the days of others.
I will do things for myself and be mindful that I am a worthwhile part of the universe and deserve good things too


Improve:

I will take steps to improve my hobby business
I will complete at least two tertiary qualifications this year
I will exercise more and look after myself
I will be organised
I will stay free of clutter
(clutter is a common theme here.. i have OCD and tend to hoard...)


Having said all that...all that is left for me to say in today's blog post is: may your year be full of wonder, happiness, and imagination!




............................................................................................................... Please visit me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat handcrafted gothic goodies at bargain prices. see me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat ...Please visit me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat handcrafted gothic goodies at bargain prices. see me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat