Hello, again!   This is Amber, founder and creative director of Simple Stories.  I can't believe how fast this month has flown by - here I am for another installment of my monthly Document It blog feature. 

I don't know about you, but March has been a crazy busy month for me.  From meetings and deadlines for Simple Stories, to soccer practice, dance competitions and school activities for the kids - plus planning a major family vacation for Spring Break - I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water.  Thank goodness I've been using my Life Documented planner to keep me on track with all I need to accomplish this month!

For the month of March I wanted to switch it up a bit - so I moved into the green 6x8 faux leather album - such a fun and bright color for spring.  I love how my planner is filling up with pages and things to help me keep my life together.

I love opening each month to the colorful Monthly Dividers - and by simply adding the 3x4 March 2015 card from the Life Documented 2015 Card Set, I have a great reference for the calendar days at a glance. 

This month I'm focusing on how I'm using our Basic and Designer Washi Paper Tape along with the free "Who. What. When. Where" printable included in the January Free Printables for a quick and easy way to document and track all of our on-going monthly activities.

Step One

First, I get out all of my Life Documented Washi Paper tape sheets.  These are my all time favorite product - cool little washi tape strips in 3x4 sheets!   We have a great assortment of colors and designs to easily plan my life - and brighten up my pages.  There are two sets in the Life Documented Planner Collection - each set inclues two sheets each of 12 different designs - that's a total of 288 pieces of washi in each set!  I love that they're sheets vs. rolls, so it makes it so much easier for me to take them on the go in my planner.  Having the large assortment of colors and patterns in one package is another plus!

Step Two

Next, I printed off the "who.what. when. where" free printable from the January Free Printables and trimmed to size. This provides a dashboard for my washi tape strips and information - a sort of "key", if you will, for our monthly activities.  Each activity is assigned a certian washi tape design or color - and I simply added pieces of washi tape to the provided space on the sheet and filled out the corresponding acitivty.  This works best for ongoing and reoccuring activities as the who, what, when and where details are consistent from week to week.

After I've added all my main events to this dashboard, I slip it in a 6x8 pocket page so it stays protected since I'll be referring to it througout the year & then insert in my planner.  

Step Three

The final step is using the washi dashboard as a key for filling in our activities on the calendar each month.  So instead of writing the details for each event in the calendar square, I simply add the strip of washi tape that corresponds with the event.  This saves time and space on my monthly calendar.  The Washi Paper Tape comes in both thin and thicker pre-cut strips, so on really busy days like our Wednesdays I can use the thinner strips to get all of our activities in.

That's it!  Three easy steps to plan your month - and add some fun to planner pages!

COOL COLORS - March

Last month I shared how I'm using my planner to also plan and document my year-in-review album, plus a fun assortment of cool colors using your Life Documented cards.  Check out some fun possibilities for this month, with a mixture of green, navy, grey and a touch of wood grain.

FREE PRINTABLES!

Now we get to the really fun part!  We've designed these FREE printables for March to coordinate with your Life Documented planner.  Even better, we'll be offering free printables each month!  

Click here to download March's Free Life Documented Printables.

There are a 5 free printables this month, including:

March Month in Review
Clean it Up - week at a glance
Clean it Up - daily
Clean it Up - weekly
Clean it Up - monthly

TIP: The March free printables are on a single PDF document with 6 pages - print off what you want and the quantity you need.  We've added cut marks to each printable, so you can easily trim your pages to size.