Planners have always been around, of course.  I remember my grandfather always having his huge, brown leather Franklin Covey sitting on his desk or by his phone. I would flip through it and pretend to be a fancy businessman who had lots of things to write in my planner.

I suppose that was where my love of planners came from. My favorite person (my grandfather) always had one, and important people had important things to write down.  In school, they would always give everyone the “standard issue” planners that had our school name on them… and everyone would have the exact.same.one. And they were always way too small.   So I always had to go out and spend my baby-sitting money on another planner that was bigger and … unique to me.   Of course, I would try to color coordinate subjects and homework, and lists… but ultimately forget to bring my colored pens and just go back to pencils, post its, and my doodles on the side.  I could also never stick with a planner for long.  About every 3 months, I would switch– either to a new planner, or back to one I’d already bought.  I loved mixing it up.

Middle school/High school Allie would have LOVED the planner trend right now. So many to choose from! So much to decorate with!  What am I saying? CURRENT Allie loves the Planner trend going on right now!

Since I’m loving this “trend” (not a trend in my eyes– an “it always was”) I thought I would do a fun round up of my current favorite planner items, from the actual planners, to stickers, to pens, to my favorite YouTube channels for planners (yes. it’s a thing.  A thing I love.)

Let’s go.

 

Planners I love

The Get-to-Work Book from Elise Joy

What I love about this planner:  First off, it’s from one of my favorite bloggers/indie biz women ever, Elise Blaha Cripe… so I’m probably going to automatically like it.  But practically, it’s beautifully designed, and everything included in the pages is very intentional to SET GOALS and MAKE STUFF HAPPEN.   The reflection pages, the project pages, the project planning pages… they are gogeous, and I would be happy with a note pad of all of those so I could just plan out every idea I’ve ever had without “rationing” the ones in the planner for the really really really good ideas.

Have I mentioned that it’s gorgeous?  GORGEOUS.
This is my current, main, “all the time” planner that has business “stuff” and some life things thrown in. 

UPDATE July 2016:
I’m still using this planner, and even got the next version!  I filmed a video walk through and compared and contrasted between the two versions.

The Erin Condren Life Planner

What I love about this planner: This planner is the “popular kid” at school– the cheerleader, who will continue to be popular until she graduates, and then she’ll go off to college and STILL be popular, because she’s pretty, and smart, wears the best clothes, is super nice, and GETS THINGS DONE.  I might have taken this high school thought too far.  I didn’t believe all of the Erin Condren hype until I just sucked it up and bought one for myself just to try– I needed a planner for my part-time job, and I thought, “Might as well get a pretty one and see what all of this Erin Condren hype is about.”  Man oh man. The hype is worth it. The colors are gorgeous. The “extras” are wonderful. The paper stock is awesome. And I love the ability to switch out custom covers.  Gorgeous.  And every sticker maker and their mom is making stickers to fit inside the Erin Condren, so you have plenty of decorating options, should you choose to go that route.
(Psst. If you’re interested in an Erin Condren, use this link and get $10 off your first order!) 

 

Pens

You can’t plan without your trusty favorite pen now, can you?  Pens are a VERY personal thing, I know. The pens I adore, you might HATE.   But here are my personal favorites anyways.

Sharpie Pens  • Uniball Signo Gel •  Uniball Signo White •  Sharpie thin highlighters 

ALSO- Staedtler Ballpoint Pens  ( I love the colors of these, but I’m looking forward to upgrading to the “inkier” ones) 

Decorating Supplies

There’s nothing more “all the rage” right now than planner DECORATING.  I think it might be more popular than actually… planning!  While my planners are much more about my to-do lists… I have also jumped on the “make it pretty” train as well! Here are some of my favorite decorating supplies!

Stickers 

Craftcake Designs  Doodled and designed by my oldest “online” friend, I love Elaine’s doodly style and fun designs.  Totally cute and make my planner look SO FUN!   I also love that she offers physical (that she ships!) and printable stickers  and die cuts (that you get right away!) to choose from. I’m a printable girl, myself! 😉   Use the coupon ALLIESCRAPS20 for 20% off your order!

Scribble Prints Co  Super popular stickers from Andrea Marie– and they are super functional.  She has designed them to fit perfectly in the Erin Condren Life Books. She also has a great YouTube channel where she walks through her planning.  Most of her shop is physical stickers, but she also has a printable shop as well.

MAMBI Happy Planner stickers  I love the “Me and My Big Ideas” Happy Planner’s designs, but the format just doesn’t fit me right now. However, they do have awesome stickers that fit perfectly in both of the planners that I do love right now.  My favorites are the quote stickers, the header stickers, and the post it notes! 

Pssst! I’m also adding printable stickers and planning supplies to my shop as well! Check them out here! 

Stamps

RuKristin stamps can be used for so much more than just planners– but they work really well in planners. Don’t forget to also check out her Currently lists and sticky notes. Amazing.

(image from: Kelly Purkey)

Kelly Purkey  I love Kelly Purkey’s  planner stamps oh so much.  My ordering fingers didn’t move fast enough to get them the last time she released them, but I have pre-orders in for her next round and I’m soooo excited!

Washi Tape 

I love adding washi tape to my planner.  Actually, I love adding washi tape everywhere.  There are so many places I love to pick up washi tape… and if you asked me to tell you where I got each one… I can’t promise I would ever be able to tell you.

Here are some of my favorite places to shop for washi:

Studio Calico  •  A Beautiful Mess • Freckled Fawn • RuKristin • Pretty Tape • Craftsy

Staples •  Target • Hobby Lobby •

 

*****

That’s it! That’s my list of favorites. Did I miss one of your favotites?  Let me know in the comments!
I’m sure I’ll be adding to this list as I find more favorites as well!

Happy planning!