Plan With Me // November Monthly - A & M Memories Designs

This post contains affiliate links. I do not make a commission on any sales, but I do receive the products free of charge to review and market. 

Crunchy

Leaves,

Crisp

Air,

Autumn

Arrived!

November is such a lovely month, I thought it deserved TWO monthly spreads. I don’t usually do two but my Volunteer Happy Planner needs a little love once in a while. 

This spread was given to me by the lovely Angela over at A & M Memories Designs. I am a part of her planning and design team. I am given spreads to review and share with you guys. More about that later. 

The monthly kit is her November Kit printable for the Happy Planner. She also has the same one for Erin Condren Planners.

Here is the grand reveal. Three pages of printables in gorgeous fall colors. 

 

The only thing I think that could be improved upon is how stickers are arranged for printing. I wasn’t thrilled the sidebar printed on its own page. I LOVE the sidebar, I just feel like I wasted paper printing it.

Also, do my colors look off? Everything looked great online but I think my printer went wonky. The ink is no where near out. Oh well. Colors will vary from screen to screen and printer to printer.

 

The date covers and sidebar fit perfectly. Angela even included covers for the empty boxes. I really love that detail. This kit has a nice autumn feel with the pumpkins and leaves. 

I love that the holidays and Daylight Savings Time was included. I often forget these things. Veteran’s Day is especially important in my volunteer planner since all my volunteer work is for disabled veterans. 

I really like how this turned out. I’m mad at my printer but it was bound to happen sometimes. 

 Supplies I used:

Paper

Staples® White Inkjet/Laser Full Sheet Shipping Labels, 8-1/2" X 11, 100/Box

I like these over the Avery sheets because they work for both inkjet and laser printers. I know there is also some amazing papers on onlinelabels.com. For personal printing the matte or glossy papers are your cheapest bet. The weatherproof paper is my favorite though.

Printer

HP OfficeJet Pro 6830 Wireless All-in-One Photo Printer

Daiso Japan precision knife

Metal ruler

Small scissors 

What pen do I use on a dark kit?

I have a white gel pen for the black and dark parts. The rest of the boxes work well with any kind of pen. I tested a glitter gel pen, ball point pen, staedtler fine liner, an inky pen, and a colored fine point mystery pen. The glitter gel pen and ballpoint pen smeared if touched immediately. Give those time to dry. About a full minute. The other pens were dry in seconds, which was shocking. My favorite inky pen usually needs 30 seconds to dry. 

Use code NATALIE15 for 15% off your order from A & M Memories. I don’t receive any kind of kickback or anything. It’s just a nice way for you to always have a sale. Mention my name for a free sampler. 

I’m a part of the Design and Digital Team for A & M Memories. I am required to make 4 posts a month. I receive the items free of charge to review and bring to you. I do not receive any compensation for the posts or for you using my discount code. You can join the A & M Memories Facebook group for updates and exclusive sneak peeks. 

My Top Writing Instruments for Journaling

So, I am obsessed with pens. This has been going on long before I started journaling. I have enough pens in my glovebox to never use the same one twice in a month. It only seemed right that I feature my favorite journaling instruments.

Micron Pigma Pens

Why I love these:

• They are archival ink so they don't fade. 
• They come in multiple thicknesses

Some downsides:

• The thicker the pen, the longer they take to dry. 
• Sometimes they smear. 

Also pictured is a pen that came with my Happy Planner kit. It writes really well and I wish I knew where I can get more.


Zebra Midliners

Why I love these:

• What's not to love?? They are dual ended highlighters! I can use them as actual highlighters or fine points. 

Downsides:

• None! 
• Just kidding. 
• Sometimes they make the paper feel weird. Almost like they were scrubbed into the paper. Maybe it's just me. 

Staedtler Triplus Fineliners

My friend got me these for my birthday and I. Am. In. Love. They are smooth and so bright. I use them for basically everything, even adult coloring.

The downside:

• If you're using them on thinner paper, like my moleskine, you can have some ghosting. (In case you're wondering, ghosting is when the ink shows through the back of the page.)

I will show off my other journaling supplies soon!

What are your favorite writing utensils? Leave me a comment below!

Journaling and Mental Health

So, I spent all week trying to decide what my first post would be. I made lists, I had brainstorming sessions with my husband, I researched until my anxiety was through the roof. That's when I figured it out. I'd write about my bullet journal and my journal is all focused around my mental health.

I don't know about you, but my journal is everything. It holds all of my schedules, my lists, even my journal entries. More importantly than that, it holds my self care pages.



My first page is a sort of "check in" list. It's a list of goals to keep me feeling a little human, even if I don't feel like myself.

My next spread is actually for other people. My Personal Emergency Guide is inspired by epbot.com's PEG. I have a special paper clip and specific washi tape noting its location in my journal for my husband. Sometimes I'm overly emotional and it's good for him to have an idea on how to help me.

Now let's get down to the things I use daily:

This is my daily mood and symptom tracker. I rate everything on a scale from 0-10, and I have a space for notes at the bottom to see if anything impacted my mood swings.

The mood mandala is new this month and inspired by Boho Berry. I absolutely love her spreads and printables. Anyway, this mandala will allow me to assign an overall feeling to each day, and I get to be creative with it.

This page is huge for me. Every day I have to find things to be grateful for. Since starting this, I've had less depression days overall.

What pages help you the most?