In late 2020 I found myself researching bullet journals. I needed a change, a new creative outlet. I stumbled into the world of digital, printable, planners and my universe tilted (in a good way!) I loved it! There were so many options, different page sizes, layouts, Sunday start, Monday start, and there were (drumroll please...) STICKERS! Yes, beautifully colored stickers with artwork to fit every style and aesthetic. I was entranced. I searched and printed and worked, but never quite found exactly the right fit. I was puzzled; there are literally thousands of options, probably more and I couldn't find quite the right fit. So, I made my own. I'm no stranger to Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop - so I embarked on a journey. I created my first weekly layout and tried it out in Jan 2021. It was almost right, but not quite. I hit the drawing board again and birthed the perfect weekly layout for my needs! I use a 2-page spread of full 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper and the box sizes are very similar to the Big Happy Planner dimensions. This means, with a little tweaking I can use pre-designed stickers for the Big Happy or Classic Happy Planner to decorate my pages. (I know what you're thinking...why not just make the boxes exactly the same size and make your life easier?) Well, if you do a little Google search, you will see that everyone has a different opinion on the size of the boxes. If you look at stickers to purchase, the boxes are all slightly different sizes. And, I have never found a sticker pack the I have simply purchased, printed, cut out and stuck down. I have always changed a bit of the coloring or edited the lettering or something. So, if I am going to fiddle with them anyway, I might as well have the layout that is just right for me. :)
For me, I like a Monday start and I like to have the "Side Panel" on the far right instead of on the left. I like to get right into Monday when I look at my planner. I have set up my weekly pages like this:
I add a small Monthly Calendar to the top right and a Weekly Goals List and Gratitude Box to the lower right in the Side Panel. I have tweaked the layout a few times, but so far it is working well for me. Here is a sample of a recent weekly layout:
The stickers shown are based on the beautiful work by DesignLovelyStudio's Apple-solutely Fall Big Happy Planner sticker set (BW163). I purchased these stickers on Etsy and then added them to my own template in PhotoShop made some changes and printed the pages like this. From there I add a few additional decorative and functional stickers as I go about my planning and throughout the week. This brings me great joy to work with such beautiful artwork and colors while also creating some of my own stickers from purchased artwork as well. I hope you enjoy!
