Organiser

I am always running late for just about everything (or so my husband claims….), so this year, I thought I would get organised for a change.  I use Outlook and a filofax to keep track of everything, but there is nothing like a visual aid to serve as a reminder of appointments, to do lists, dates and so on and this combines all of these in one handy wall hanger.

Project supplies

Digital:

• Kraft Party (collection) by Kimeric Kreations

•  Handle pouch (hybrid template) by Girl Boy Girl Designs

• Vintage Birds 2013 Calendar by Optic Illusions

Other supplies:

• Chipboard
• Acetate slide/clear project cover
• Eyelets
• Flower punch
• Cropadile or other tool to make holes for the brads
• Scissors/trimmer
• Glue, double sided tape, 3D foam pads/dimensionals
• Perfect pearls mists (optional)
• Distress ink (optional)
• Ribbon, string, or baker’s twine

The first thing I did was cut the chipboard down to A4 size (11.7″ by 8.3″).  I then created a new document in photoshop (A4 size) and dragged two of the kit papers onto this and resized them.  I wanted a patterned paper for the base but I also wanted a grid or lines and this kit had some truly gorgeous papers,  I was spoilt for choice!  So I chose two papers, opened them both in Photoshop and then layered one on top of the other:

In order to be able to see both papers, I changed the blend mode of the top paper (the lined paper) and the opacity:

Changing the blend mode is an easy way to see all the layers of papers and you can effectively create new papers in this way!  I then added the numbers 1 to 31 (for each day of the month) down the left hand side above the lined paper as well as some embellishments.

Each month of the calendar was placed on new layers in the document along with some different patterned papers from the kit and arranged so I only needed four sheets of A4 paper for printing.  I also managed to fit two of the butterflies onto one of the papers and after printing on 160g/m² paper (making sure that only the layer I wanted printing was visible each time), this is what I had:

I also printed off some of the tags from the kit but I ended up not using these (there is only so much you can fit onto an A4 organiser!).  The newspaper print was printed on both sides of one sheet of paper, with the handle pouch template being printed on one side too (you can just about make it out in the above photo hiding underneath the watermark).

It looks really effective in newspaper print when cut out, doesn’t it? It is such a useful template too and can be used for all sorts of things!

If you look carefully, you will see where I cut out through the pouch to create two photo corners in order to hold the current month’s calendar.  The other eleven months were placed inside the pouch.

I then took the chipboard, placed the background paper on top and then the clear report cover, making sure they lined up perfectly.  I used binder clips on each side to hold them all together whilst I punched holes in each corner using my cropadile and then fixed eyelets into each hole.  The handle pouch was placed in the top right corner and attached to the organiser with two eyelets along the side:

Apart from the handle pouch and the eyelets, everything else was printed onto the background paper (which is below the clear cover).  The clear cover is so that you can write on it and wipe it off each month.

This is a close up of the pouch and calendar:

The pouch is used to hold the calendar and I know I will also be using this for little notes as well.

I then decorated the organiser with the butterflies (which I sprayed with perfect pearls mist first) and flowers made using a Stampin’ Up! punch and the printed patterned papers.

I love that calendar, it’s gorgeous!

And here is the one of the flowers:

However, I did discover that clear glue will not stick a flower onto a clear cover as the flower just slips off when the glue is dry!  As a result, I had to gently poke a hole in the cover and paper underneath (but not the chipboard) and carefully insert the brad, fastening it underneath.  If you make one of these organisers, just make sure that you either use a glue that will adhere to a clear cover, or insert the embellishment before you attach the cover and paper to the chipboard!  This flower is the culprit (I made this from the left over newspaper print paper):

I used the distress ink to grunge up the flower first though.

I threaded strong baker’s twine through the two top holes and tied it at the back so I could then hang the organiser at the side of my desk and as you can see, I have already started making use of it!  I can see that the “to do” list area may well need to be larger should I make another one of these!

This was a quick and easy project so why not have a go and see what you can come up with?  We’d love to see your take on this in The Digichick gallery!

Other Articles by Lynn:

• Joie de Vivre flowerpot! - May 16th, 2013
• Quick and easy mini album - April 29th, 2013
• Easter Basket - March 22nd, 2013
• Gift box and cards set - December 31st, 2012
• Christmas planner/album - December 3rd, 2012