The reasons why a handmade calendar is so awesome by iHanna

Creative brains need to beautify everything, even such a thing as a calendar. We just want to be our own boss, and manage our own time. The first step is to create a calendar that we will actually use.

If you think "cool handmade calendar", the first mixed media artist that comes to mind is iHanna who has created a lot of Calendar Inspiration and tutorials on her blog, from making your own binder to creating calendar tabs, so I invited her to chat about the subject.

Here is what she wrote on the reasons why she loves to make her own:

As a journalist I love writing and that is a big part of my life. I also am passioned about knitting, making collages, sewing, taking photos with my Nikon d50 camera, playing in my Art Journal, crocheting, making softies, reading books, drinking coffee while I work and being on the lookout for even more inspiration!

Crafters, artists, paper lovers and planners all agree that a personalized personal planner is the way to go – if you have the time to put into it for planning your year, blog posts, important dates, and the daily progress of your many creative projects! With specific list pages to record what you watch, read, borrow, want to check out in the future and more... Make your planner work for YOU!

As I printed pages for 2014 I decided to create all the 52 weeks in one computer file (with all the 365 days dated and week numbers added). I then, finally, decided to offer it as a digital download, for a small cost, to all my readers who has been requesting it since for ever. To me, and you probably, the time it takes to assemble this is sooo worth it! Oh the joy of putting it together and then getting to use it.

I love my planner

What I absolutely LOVE about making/using my own planner is:

* choosing papers (mine is 80 gram cream coloured paper especially bought for this project)

* making my own section dividers (tabs)

* using pretty scrapbook papers, postcards and other fun stuff

* deciding what’s important and what’s not (in a pre-made calendar you will always get a new phone list but what I really want is a space personal lists like my read book list etc)

* printing 6 months at a time and then the rest later

* having everything in a ring binder so that I can move, remove and change order of everything that’s in there

* having room and papers especially made for list making, sketching, writing, keeping track of time, to do-lists and more

* being able to make something pretty that I use in everyday life – daily

* being able to customize a ring binder that fits your purse!

* that I can re-use the ring binder, dividers and list pages year after year!

Thank you so much Hanna for highlighting the many creative reasons to make our own planners! Both my organized and my creative sides are happy with these. ;)

You can still get iHanna´s 2014 calendar pages on etsy https://www.etsy.com/listing/174045641/diy-calendar-planner-2014-for-the and the extra pages, especially made for list makers and those of us who love to plan our lives ahead of time, here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/182564607/printable-extra-pages-for-planning-an

Places where you can find iHanna on line:
Website:
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Twitter: @iHanna
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Instagram: iHanna
You Tube: iHanna´s Creative Channel