Planner Peek: Joanna

I  am so excited to bring you another very unique installment  in the Planner Peek series!  I don’t know about you, but I just LOVE being able to sneak a peek inside other people’s planners. I love to see how they use them, how they decorate them, what type of planner they use, etc. I have asked my readers to submit photos of their planners and to tell us a bit about how they use their planning system. (You can submit your planner by filling out this really short and easy form. If you’re selected, you’ll get a free copy of the digital Sweet Life Planner worth $35!) All of the Planner Peeks in this series have been so fun to see.

Joanna has a very different and fun style for her planner. She started using the Moleskine sketchbook when she was learning about Zentangle. After an entire adulthood thinking the family art gene had passed her by, discovering that she actually could make something which looked nice was a revelation to her! After awhile, she got bored with just drawing for the sake of it, and began using her notebook to keep lists, to-dos and that sort of thing. While Joanna considers herself a digital girl, she never got the hang of the virtual ‘to do' list! Don't you all agree?

A few other things shaped Joanna's style as her planner evolved. Sbe read about the Sketchnote (visual note-taking) technique, and fell in love with some books by Lynda Barry, who keeps everything she does in composition notebooks. Joanna loved the idea of having one notebook for everything (day-planner, lists, ideas, drawings. Sketchnotes) and of using words, drawings, doodles, colors and so on to sort of ‘blog' her life—into the notebook—as she went. Joanna found that she wanted nicer paper, though. she like markers much better than colored pencil, and she hates it when the pages bleed through. So she is doing it Lynda Barry style, but in a Moleskine. Joanna's early style was very black and white and she hand-drew everything.

Joanna has been enjoying using her Moleskine as a hybrid “one notebook to rule them all' day-planner, sketchbook, journal, idea file and general brain-dumping ground. She does it one-page-per-day like the Hobonichi folks. Her style has evolved from plain black ink to incorporate color (used sparingly), stickers, washi tape, stamps and stickers.

Joanna sets up her day the night before, as follows:

“- The date. I try and vary my lettering style, and sometimes will use a sticker or decorative post-it to vary things up.

– A to-do box. I use printable ‘journal cards' I find on-line for this, or sometimes a rubber stamp I bought off etsy that can be stamped right in the book, or fits perfectly onto a standard post-it square. I have some decorated post-its and that can be fun to use instead. I use sticker tape to ‘glue' it in.

– Four boxes to log my meals and snacks. I often will use a stamp for these; I bought a whole box of cheap foam ‘border' stamps at a craft store for about $9. I draw pictures and add little captions. I am a boring eater, but I am trying to lose weight so this keeps me accountable.

– Beyond that, I do whatever. I will write things I am grateful for, or note special events which happen. If I have extra space, I will practice my doodling by copying from a book (Ed Emberley has sone fun ones!) or a Zentangle pattern card. I will fill in the space with stickers, borders, doodles, decorations and so on. It's fun!”

I found Joanna's Moleskine planner to be very creative, artsy and unique.  I was very inspired seeing how she designed and set up her planner.

I just love taking these planner peek tours.  For even more inspiration with your planner, check out all the Planner Peeks in this series.

Do you want your planner featured in this series AND have a chance to get the Sweet Life Planner worth $35 for free? Just click here to fill out the super short and easy form to have your planner considered for the series.

Leave a comment and let us know how you liked the planner peek and how it’s inspired you.