Ally Aldridge Page Layout, Personal, Planner, Stickers

Suffolk UKPA Meet

The Christmas Meet Up

On Saturday, 30 November 2019, I attended the Suffolk UK Planner Meet up.

What sort of planner girl am I?

I felt like a fraud going because I am the worst planner girl.  I aspire to be organised and I love stationery, so the planner girl world really appeals to me but I am so disorganised that I can’t plan. Ironic – I know!

But, I went to the first  Planner Meet (April 2019) for Suffolk UKPA.  We had afternoon tea and I hoped to get some tips from experienced planner girls to help me get started.  The women I met were so lovely that when the invitation for the next meet came up I thought… Why not?

What happened at the meet?

I confessed that I am failing as a planner girl but the ladies didn’t shun me.  They welcomed me and we chatted about life, drank tea and enjoyed the nibbles provided.

The hosts, Ellen and Laura had prepared a craft activity for fun.  Laura (Instagram:  @the_do_it_all_mum_uk) had bought wooden discs, some twine and Christmas napkins from Poundland.  This was an incredibly simple activity with impressive results.  I love my new Christmas Decoration and can say “I made it!”

Ellen (Instagram:  @ellenbeemakes) brought her Etsy store to us.  It was great to have a browse through her stock and be able to ask her questions.  Ellen has a great YouTube channel to support creatives with using her products or other crafts.  She is a crafty mastermind.

Ellen and Laura also put together a goodie bag for attendees.  The video below shows what was inside and will help you discover her YouTube channel.

If that wasn’t awesome enough, the event also included a swap table. People brought with them stickers and other stationery that they didn’t need to give away for others to use.  I helped myself to a pad of paper for Noah, some stickers and washi tape.

Here are a few pictures of what I came home with.

Some of the women brought their planners and generously shared how they use them.  I fell in with a planner by Becca (Instagram @simplyhobonichi).  Her planner looked like something out of a magazine.  It had a beautiful personal feeling like a scrapbook.  This is the sort of planner I aspire to create.  She kindly told me about her favourite pens and let me take pictures to send to my husband to form part of my Christmas wishlist.

I’m so happy that I attended.  It was a lovely break from my kids (and if you’ve read my NaNo diary you will know why that was needed).  Being with these women made me feel rejuvenated.  I would definitively be interested in going again.

If you want to find out more about meets, join their Facebook group, Suffolk UKPA.

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My new Carpe Diem planner

I saw a great deal at Craftelier and decided to treat myself to a new planner.  I was choosing between Happy Planner and Carpe Diem.  The Happy Planners in my price range were dated which meant the first few months would be useless.  It is such a waste.  So, I went with Carpe Diem (undated) as I would be able to use everything and it came with co-ordinating stickers to start me off.

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I have used it for the first time for planning May.

Month spread

This is my spread for the month of May.  I love the stickers that come with the planner as they colours look beautiful and compliment each other.  It is so pretty.

What I am not keen on is the week starting on a Sunday?  It kept throwing me and I kept writing things on the wrong day.  I used stickers to cover up my mistakes but someone on IG recommended I buy Frixion pens as these can be erased.

I do like that these pages are undated.  This means the months that I have not used for this year (Jan to April) can be used next year.

This Month

This page is an overview of the month ahead when you can add important reminders like birthdays or important dates.  You can set monthly goals and To-do-lists.

I’m not sure how useful I will find this page.  I tend to set myself weekly targets and quarterly targets.  I also would rather a daily to-do-list than a monthly one.  If something needs to be done I’ll do it as soon as possible, I couldn’t wait a month.

Week schedule

This page has plenty of space to write what I have planned for each day.  I have decided to use the Notes section as my weekly to do list.  This is my favourite page and I need to get better at decorating it.

Thoughts so far

I love how pretty this planner is.  I am enjoying it more than my previous planner.  I would like to get some dotted paper so I could do some bullet journal style pages too.

I will definitly look at getting the erasable pens as I get really upset when I make a mistake.  I would like to get different colours so I can use it for social media plans and writing plans too.

I need to get more stickers so I dont feel so precious about using the ones I have – at the moment I feel a little like I am rationing them.

I already feel more organised. Even though I had things saved on my mobile calendar, I was still trying to remember it all.   Pysically seeing what I have planned and what I have achieved makes me feel like I can relax.

Have you any tips for me?

I am new to planning and know I have a lot to learn. If you can help me out with tips or people to follow for inspiration or good planner supply stores, please let me know.  Many thanks.

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Planner Meet

Last month, I attended a local meet up for Planner Girls. I’ve never been to one before so had no idea what to expect. I simply hoped to get some tips and inspiration on how to use my planner.

We met at Oaks Tearoom in Felixstowe for afternoon tea. We were spoilt with a generous selection of mini sandwiches, scones, clotted cream and mini mason jars of jam. We were so full after eating the spread that we thought the owner was joking about there being more! But sure enough, he topped up our tea pots and brought out a selection of deserts including creme brulee, chocolate cake and macarons.

The cafe was adorable with its pretty cottage decor and real plants. We couldn’t help but take lots of pics. The cafe owner was such a gentleman and always there with what we needed before we even asked.

I was nervous meeting new people but they were all so lovely and it boosted my confidence. Not only that but all the women there were so lovely. They were hardcore planners and chatted about their busy lives and love of stationery and crafts. It felt like a day out with my best friends but I had never met these girls before.

The hostess of the event had made every attendee a personal gift bag based on our favourite colours. She also personally handmade items for each of us. It was such a thoughtful gesture.

In addition, Ellen of Etsy Store Ellen Bee Makes had also created us each a personalised goodie bag to showcase what is on offer in her store. I especially loved the Felixstowe theme stickers. This video showcases what I got.

Meeting Ellen was inspirational. I’ve been jotting down ideas for my own planner aimed at writers and it made me more hungry to do it. If only I had the time.

If you are in Suffolk and want to know about the next event join the Facebook group Suffolk UKPA.

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