It's time for a (true) story.

I have always been crazy about planners.

It started with hardcover planners when I was in school. My love for paper and stationery was there from an early age. But I didn't have the know how and funds to really create anything myself yet. So I bought planners in store.

My first Filofax like planner came to me when I was 14. It was see through and there was this blue liquid with glitters in it. I loved it. Until the cover had a small tear somewhere and my entire planner was blue and wet on the inside as well. Eek.

The years following this blue glittery planner I got a variety of planners. I wish I had photos of my final one in high school. We were forced to use the planner provided by school. Obviously its goal was to be functional, but the creative being in me could not leave it alone. We weren't allowed to alter the planner. But I did. Heavily. I plastered the thing with stickers, tape, articles, images, everything I liked. In the end I even made a custom cover for it from old jeans. Without the alterations the planner was about 1cm, but by the time I was done with it, it was about 5cm. I was 17 then.

For a few years planners weren't that interesting. They were barely used and especially when I wasn't a student anymore, I had little use for them. But I just couldn't resist buying them. I always had an issue choosing. I liked so many of them. So I often purchased multiple planners. From Forever Friends especially. But I also had Garfield planners, Loesje, Winnie the Pooh et cetera.

Fast forward to 2010. I had been buying this new magazine called "Flow Magazine" for a few years when they announced they were releasing a new planner.

It covered part of 2010 and 2011, and I was absolutely in love with the look of it. On the outside there was this hard cover, but inside it had rings and sticky notes, and coloured (brown) paper. I adored this planner. To be fair, I don't quite understand why they have never released a similar one since, cause it was the best one they've had imo. But I also understand they want to change things. But the makers of Flow Magazine will never know the impact that specific planner has had on me. Cause it was the start of me customising my planners again. Until 2013 when I finally started looking at Filofax planners. The dream. Having a decent cover, and then create your own inserts. Being able to add stuff to it and remove it if necessary.

Source: Philofaxy ❤

I got my first Filofax (Graphite in brown, 2011 collection) and that's when I started designing, printing and cutting my own inserts. And shortly after, I also started selling them.

So I design my own planner inserts every year. I have done so for about 10 years now. Initially I designed and sold them over on Retro Hugs, but I don't have the energy for this anymore. Not to mention it's extremely time consuming to make one set of inserts, and people are not willing to pay me enough for the hours spent making them. So I ended up hating doing it, and that's when you know you should stop. Or at least take a break? But my break has been going for years now and I have no intention of selling them in the near future.

But I still love custom planner inserts, so I will definitely go through the trouble of making them for myself. Even if it takes a full day to just cut all the sheets. To clarify, my Dahle guillotine cuts pretty uneven, and I don't have the funds to replace it. So I started cutting my (Happy Planner Classic size) paper with my Silhouette Cameo. I have a long cutting mat (12"x24") but it's not that sticky anymore and has bent edges, meaning paper tends to move about quite a bit. At the end of the day, it's still hell to cut everything. But the end result is worth it, and so I do it anyway.

I like being able to design/cut/print my own inserts because then I can use the paper I want, a layout that works for me, colours I like and a font that matches everything related to what I do.

Yesterday was the day I cut 140 sheets of 160 grams creamy white paper. It took most of my morning and afternoon but it's done now. Now I just have to find the energy and courage to start printing them. Which is a whole other story of why I don't want to sell them anymore 😂

I'll be back to share the end result when it's done. 😍