My Creative Binder
Late last year after I signed up for Ali Edwards Story Kits, I decided I needed a home for my paper project ideas, sketches and class PDF's. I emptied one of my favorite binders that I wasn't using anymore and started sketching out some general topics that would be good for labeling the dividers.
I'm using this Wilson Jones binder with 5 tabs and love the transparent dividers. I've used it a lot over the last 10+ years and it has held up so well. I just use their online template to make the tab sheet shown above to label the dividers. The template just slips into a sleeve in the back of the binder so the topic of each divider is visible no matter what tab you have open.
In the front cover of the binder, I keep my weekly Evernote printouts (I'm using this app for my Project Life notes this year). In the clear pocket on the right side are some random papers I need file within the binder, but they are mostly layout ideas based on old blog posts from when Morgan was little.
LISTS / The first section initially held all of my project ideas, both in progress and future projects, but last month I replaced it with my favorite pages from the Start Fresh Workbook & Planner. This was exactly what I needed to help me prioritize all of my crafty projects and breakdown when I'd like to complete them. I highly recommend this guide if you're feeling unmotivated or overwhelmed with what to work on next. It helped give me crystal clear focus to figure out what projects were important to me.
PROJECT LIFE / Section two holds a print out of this weekly list so I can keep track of what week it is for blog writing and uploading my spreads. Behind that I have printed a years worth of these Hello Forever pocket page planners to fill out each week when I print my photos.
STORY KIT / Not only is Ali's monthly Story Kit packed with beautiful and unique product, but the content is absolutely amazing. She has been sharing several projects she's made with each kit in the online classroom, as well as videos and an in-depth PDF that I've been printing so I can make notes while listening to her videos and sketching layout ideas as the month goes on. Each month I have been keeping a single list of layout ideas based on her monthly theme, as shown above.
SKETCHES / When I was subscribing to the Studio Calico scrapbook kits last year, I would save my favorite layouts from the Creative Team in my Inspiration Book on their website, as well as create a sketch on these sheets from Marcy's 2014 planner (though they are intended to be cut in half for a half size binder, I left these full size for this binder). These sketches have given me a great starting point when I pull out a new kit to play with, especially if I'm stumped with a particular product. As I work through my kits, I will very likely clean up this section a bit, but for now, it's working just fine. I also have some grid paper in the back for other random sketches and sketch challenges.
CLASSES / This last section holds a couple of PDF's from classes I've signed up for and refer to frequently.
That's it - it was super easy to set up! The hardest part was figuring out what to label my dividers, but after completing the Start Fresh Workbook and really thinking about what I want to focus on this year, these five general topics were best for me. I love having all of my paper project ideas and inspiration in one place and am excited to watch this binder evolve as I pursue my creative goals this year.