DIY Planner Redux

You may remember this DIY planner I made last summer.

 

Well, as you can see, it's gotten a little beat up over the year, not to mention getting close to running out of months, so I decided it was time to refill it. And while I was at it, I gave it a little makeover, too.

I had a stroke of genius this time. One of my problems the first time around was that the paper didn't always lay flat, even with the use of excessive double-sided tape. This time, I purchased full sheet mailing labels and printed a pattern into what basically came out as a full sheet sticker.

Word to the wise: the 8.5x11 sheet was just slightly too small, so I ended up using two different full sheet patterns. Next time, I think I'll cut some contact paper into 11x17 and take it to Kinkos to print.

Anyway, even with the two different patterns, I think it turned out really nice.

I also bought these little alphabet stamps in the dollar section at Target and personalized my planner with my name.

And, if you want a little gloss, you can throw on a coat of Mod Podge (one of my favorite things ever).

Woohoo!

Self Portrait

One of my goals for 2013 is to learn photography properly. I took a class back in high school using a manual film camera, but though I've had my Nikon D70 for about 4 years, I've barely used M mode. For shame. I know.

Another goal is to learn cool tricks with Photoshop beyond the basic layer masks I use for work.

I'm going to periodically be posting photography samples throughout the year to see my progress. Here's a self-portrait I took today after reading about how bubbles freeze below 32 °F. I decided to experiment and, sadly, my bubbles did not freeze, but I did get some cool pictures, including one with my reflection in it.

What do you think?