Hello again creatives! Leah here with you on the blog today. It's a new year, which means it's time for a new planner setup that better serves my goals for 2018. I am using this planner, along with a traveler's notebook, as my two main planning and memory-keeping systems. I began my new setup in my A5 cream blossom Carpe Diem planner by giving the front of my planner a fresh makeover using the new “I Am” collection. This collection is full of butterflies and blossoming florals, which symbolize new life, new beginnings, and growth. All of the motivational and confidence-boosting sentiments in this collection are great for reminding you to keep faith in yourself as you take on your goals for the new year.

This year, I have a goal to engage in more art therapy. I loved mixed media so much and I haven't been taking out my art supplies often enough. My creative soul has really been feeling the weight of not prioritizing that creative time. For this reason, I created a mixed media dashboard for the front of my planner that is full of color! Every time I see this dashboard, I am reminded of how much fun I had creating it, which motivates me to get my supplies out. I used lots of texture on this dashboard with watercolor, glitter, chipboard stickers, doilies and lots of layering. I love stapling on butterflies so that the wings lift off the page. This phrases I used here are some of my favorites from the collection that I find most inspiring.

In my pockets, I also added lots of texture with similar elements as listed above, but I even got my sewing machine out. I love how sewing on paper can add such a handmade, personalized touch to embellishments.

I always love incorporating photos into my planner pockets, so I printed these tiny photos out and made them into a simple banner. This is one of my favorite pocket pieces I made and it was so easy to create! I used my sewing machine to sew through the banner, but I used to hand stitch elements like this before I finally figured out how to thread my machine.

For more creative inspiration using this beautiful collection, stay tuned on the Simple Stories and Carpe Diem Planners Instagram accounts!