 Welcome to the fifth post in the Createyou86 September Studies Blog Series. It is hard to believe that September 25, 2014 I started this blog, and i was sitting on a twin size bed in California just browsing the planning community, and hoping that i would be able to join, and make it.....whatever that meant. I knew that i wanted a Filofax, and then I knew that i wanted to be a blogger, and everything kind of clicked. I never considered all of the work that goes into blogging, or where i wanted to be in two years, but seeing where i am (in Pennsylvania still sitting on a bed, but it is queen sized) now i know i want it to get better.....BIGGER and BETTER! I have new blog series' on the way, as well as new YouTube videos which i hope everyone will enjoy. Last year we did some case studies, and I would definitely like to continue those (they take a few months to get together, we might ask for your participation in answering questions, and they are more wordy than other posts here, but i think overall they are a great addition to the blog.) I want to thank everyone who has supported this blog, or any of our social media channels. My favorite is Instagram because i can post photos, and interact with other users with my same interests in planning, and organization. Today I decided that I wanted to try a photo shoot so i asked the other half of Createyou86 (James) to help me out, and see what would come of it in some of my favorite fall clothes. I am also creating this post while i listen to Ella Henderson's "Ghost", because it was one of my favorite songs two years ago. All photos were taken by Createyou86.               Thank you for sticking around for two years with us! I had so much fun doing this mini photo shoot with James. We can't believe it has been that long, and we can't wait for many more Blogiversary's thank you for spending ours with us! Let us know in the comments below how have you changed in the past two years? OR What would you like to see from us going forward? 
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 Welcome to the fourth post of the Createyou86 September Studies Blog Series. This post will be a little different in that it won’t be a long, and rambly. I would simply like to share some of my handwriting styles with all of you. This post will contain photos of notes taken by hand by me from some of my college classes. I have found over the years that i have MANY different types of writing. This stems from being taught how to write (how my sister taught me) not how they taught us in school, when my hand gets tired, or starts to get writers cramp, when i’m not feeling good, lazy, or am just plain not in the mood to write. All photos taken by Createyou86. There are so many different reasons that handwriting changes, and mine is no exception. In the planning community beautiful handwriting is like a beautiful handbag! (or anything else beautiful that you would love for your planner.) It is coveted, and wanted by many. Let us know in the comments below what some reasons are that YOUR handwriting changes? or How you like your own handwriting!   Welcome to the third post in the Createyou86 September Studies Blog Series. This post may seem trivial, but i can promise you that I am guilty, and for most planners it is a pretty. serious. discussion. Let’s start at the beginning, two years ago when i started planning, many of the posts about owning a Filofax were about how terrible the paper quality was, and what pen you should buy so that you can avoid bleed through, or shadowing. At this point there was “pretty planning”, but it wasn’t as prevalent as it is today. When i received my first Filofax I was overjoyed, I could now be apart of an exclusive community that nobody else (in my family or locally) knew about, or cared to know about (that i was aware of anyway.) That first Filofax was a red Personal Domino, and it came with a red Papermate Inkjoy (that pen is still working 2 years, and 3 months later) which i had never to my knowledge tried using before. I loved it! I loved how smoothly it glided across the page (with no skipping at all). At this point i knew nothing about pens, and had no idea what skipping was. I loved how vibrant the color was, but soon things changed. Some time into my new Filofax addiction (let's just call it what it really is!) I began to explore other options. I went this route because red was starting to get old, and i felt like i couldn't see my planning as well as i might with a different color. PaperMate has so many different types of pens, and colors, and tip sizes that i was starting to become overwhelmed when i went to Target, or The Dollar Tree (at this point i have an entire pencase full of different colored pens even specifically from PaperMate because i did a product review, and pen test for them.) After testing, and reviewing their product i decided that i still LOVED the product, but i didn’t need color except for special occasions. I decided that i would stick with black pen only…. I am also that person that went to Target to buy the PaperMate Inkjoy 18 COLOR pen set…. Now let's be clear. I AM using colored pens in planners other than my daily planning, but i don’t use them often enough that i will be running out of that eighteen set pack ANYTIME soon. You can check out several of the planners that I use in my previous post (Rigid Planning), and below are a couple of my most recent layouts.   Let us know in the comments below if you use colored pens/pencils for your planning, or black pen!   Welcome to the second post in the September Studies Blog Series here at Createyou86. While many of us use our planners for function AND decoration, some of us choose to decorate our planners, and cover up all of the white space. This is something that i could never do. Perusing the internet i see a ton of “no white space” planner pages, and the beautiful stickers, and setups, and i wonder how i could possibly focus on functionality with so many colors, and patterns present on two small pages (personal size Filofax). The only answer…. “I can’t!” I was always told by my choir teacher in highschool, that “Can’t” should never be a word in my vocabulary, but when it comes to planning I just can’t wrap my brain around no white space spreads. Not only are Filofax pages not catered to when it comes to planner stickers, but my brain functions very rigidly around my personal schedule. Most everything happens the same in my week except for my work schedule which recently has changed pretty frequently. So what exactly does “rigid planning” mean? This means that i use the same stickers (or types of stickers), in the same places each week, only deviating if i have a cute quote or stickers that go along with a set (and i feel that i have room for them), or i have a specific bill to pay. My trash, laundry, cat litter (paw), and blog post stickers are all placed meticulously. When i purchase stickers I tend to buy more than one of the same sheet so i know i will have quite a few for quite a while. As i said earlier, my brain is not a huge fan of change when it comes to my planner. Below are a few photos from my Gold Special Edition Saffiano Personal Filofax (Check out my Instagram for weekly planner setup photos). Let us know in the comments below if you are a "rigid" planner, or a "free flow" planner!
 WELCOME BACK! It has been quite a while since we have had a blog series here at Createyou86 (since February really!) You might be wondering where we have been. After moving cross country, and celebrating the holiday's, the job search started, and life changed. When i got my job in January my schedule changed completely, and i found myself exhausted, and worn out. That being said i started focusing on our YouTube Channel to see if i could grow that a bit, and started reserving the blog for product reviews. Well guess what? With fall coming i am feeling reinvigorated, and ready to get back at blogging regularly! (It also helps that i bought a new laptop this weekend, and it doesn't freeze up in the middle of typing a blog post, or delete everything i have written several times making me have to re-write what i had already written!) I would like to welcome you to a new series September Studies. This series will be taking a more in-depth look at myself, and how I plan. More specifically, why i plan the way i do, and why i use the planners that i do. SPOILER ALERT! There will be a new weekly series beginning with this series, and our second Blogiversay is coming up! Keep reading for the first post in this series!  Welcome to the first post in the September Studies Blog Series here at Createyou86. You might be asking yourself "Do I have a planner brand?" If you use a planner at all you probably do. If year after year, you find yourself getting the same type of planner/planners you probably have a brand that you love. My specific brand of choice is Filofax. Yesterday, i was reading a post about why someone had stopped using a Filofax, and how they never, ever intended to go back to it. The reasons were mostly because of ring gaps, a mean PR person (who is not currently with the brand), and they didn't like the direction that the brand was taking their designs because they were too "fashionable". Do i love Filofax? Yes, do i buy them because they are fashionable? Sometimes, but i think that they are great because they are interchangeable. This being said, i have several Filofax's and i can easily move my planning to another binder if i get bored with my current setup. You might be asking yourself if i have tried other planners? The answer is YES! I currently own several Michael's (Recollections) binders which i consider to be very rigid, but still have them stuffed full of information, i have tried The MAMBI365 Happy Planner (The verticle layout just doesn't work for me because i am so used to personal Filofax's), I use a Webster's Pages light pink planner for my finances, random lists, and meal planning, I have used leather, fabric, and faux leather fauxdoris which i use for a blog planner (in fact i used to make my own!) I can honestly say that after all of the planners that i have tried over the past 2 1/2 almost 3 years Filofax is my brand. I personally don't care about their PR people, or how crappy the paper quality is (mostly because i can replace it with paper that i like). After all, isn't that why we love ringed binders? I know that is why i love them! Here are some photos of most of the planners i own (all photos taken by Createyou86). Thanks for stopping by to check out our newest blog series!
Let us know in the comments below what "your" planner brand is!  Welcome to another product review here at Createyou86! It has been a while since we have had a product to review, and we are working on new blog content just as we have been working on new content for our YouTube channel. Our summer in Northeast PA has been super hot, and muggy. We hope that your summer has been beautiful, and that you are looking forward to fall as much as we are! If you are looking for a new book for your little ones because you have read Brown Bear, Brown Bear more times than you care to admit, Night Night, Farm by Amy Parker would be a great product for you. This book has a hard, but squishy cover, and hard, thick board pages. As you can see from the cover, this book has beautiful illustrations by Virginia Allyn, and a great story for any young child. As someone who works in a daycare, and has for over ten years this book will withstand most any abuse because of how thick the board pages are which is a great quality in a book considering most children given the chance will chew on books. This is a story about life on a farm after the sun goes down. If you are looking for a bedtime book, this one is perfect. The animals are all tuckered out from the day's adventures, and you can join these adorable farm animals in pajamas as they say "Night night" to the farm, to their mommies and daddies, and to God. Your little ones will sleep until the rooster crows knowing that the God who made them loves them too. This book is available from Thomas Nelson Publishing for USD $8.99 / CAD $10.00. Below are a few more photos of the book. (All photos taken by Createyou86) DISCLAIMER: I was provided this product free of charge from Flyby Promotions in exchange for an honest review on my blog. I received no monetary compensation, and all opinions are my own. Let us know in the comments below what your favorite children's book is!  |
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Photos used under Creative Commons from jeffdjevdet, spinster cardigan, One Way Stock, regan76, M. Dolly, Thomas Rousing Photography, Post-Software, kevin dooley, Alan Stanton, Photoshoparama - Dan, campbelj45ca
