Homemade filofax pages / diary / wall calendar

EagerLearner

Hi all,

I guess we are all thinking of cutting back and also being greener if possible :beer:

So with that in mind, this coming year is the year I will not:

- Buy a wall calendar for the kitchen for around £6
- Buy any Filofax refills at £4ish a go
- Buy a diary for my handbag at £5ish

Small stuff, but it all counts. Probably a cost of £20ish each year that we can save and put towards something else, whilst being greener too if we can make our own from recyclable paper/card.

I had a look at www.diyplanner.com which is fab, but also a slightly confusing site to read.

1) What I want is the 'Pocket' (slightly smaller than A6?) size of Filofax refills. Mainly need 'Address' section and 'Notes' really. Happy to print and cut them at home, and invest in a Filofax holepunch.

2) Then a wall calendar with a place for a picture per month, with a decent 'square' per day to write in. Again, will print at home onto A4.

3) Finally, a diary for my handbag which is week per view, small-ish size, that I can print and cut myself maybe making a special cover our of cereal boxes or something.

Anyone else planning on doing this or already done it and want to share photos? :T I need inspiration & links!

Edit > Someone might find this site useful for calendars:
http://incompetech.com/beta/cal-monthly/

You generate your own depending on what size you need - very handy!

LameWolf

EagerLearner wrote: »

Hi all,

2) Then a wall calendar with a place for a picture per month, with a decent 'square' per day to write in. Again, will print at home onto A4.

I use Microsoft Publisher to do mine, particularly as I want Pagan festivals printed on, and it costs an arm and a leg to buy a calendar with these.

I use the "art left" design in portrait orientation, and put digital photos from my last holiday in the picture area. I've been doing this since 2004.

EagerLearner

Great idea thanks - will have to look into that one! I managed to print off the 'lower' part of the calendar from that website, now just need to either find a nicer Publisher version, or print off some pics to make the 'top' photo part of the wall calendar, so it resembles the one I have in the kitchen (pic on top, lower part with calendar).

EDIT > That site also offers customised graph paper, which I love for general notes - what a find! You can do the grid to the size you want and also the colour.

rosieben

for speed you could use 'quick pages' which are available free on the net - basically its a pretty design with a blank area to put your photos and the calendar grid. You'd need a graphics package to do this but I think there is a free one that would do that for you. I'll see if I can find any info.

Edited to say: I've just had a check on a couple of digiscrapping sites and they all seem to agree that the free prog I was thinking of 'Gimp' is quite difficult to learn if you've had no graphics experience. Let me know if you want any more info.

jinny

Found out about this from a poster on this site ages ago here's a link.
http://www.pocketmod.com/v2/

OddjobKIA

A mate of mine runs his own printing company (pro-print carmarthen) so I get a free wall planner every year ( have done for around 10 years)...

Barneysmom

Just thought though, wouldn't printing off your own calendar with photos on cost a lot in printing ink?

horsechestnut

You can often get diaries for under £1 at discount stores. Failing that Poundland usually has a good selection of sizes which you can pull apart for filo faxes Just punch your own holes!

Larumbelle

paint.net is a good graphics program if you've never used them before, easier than gimp anyway, and it's free. But you do have to be using windows. Here's a link:

http://www.getpaint.net/

I used to work in the graphics and print industry, and the combination of boredem, tightwaddery and access to equipment led to expermentation.

I used to make my own filofax pages using a graphics program, electric guillotine and the punch on a wire-binder. It is possible, but tricky!
Now I don't work there anymore I cut the pages down by hand (if you position them right you can get 4 on an A4 sheet) and use a single-hole punch that cost about 50p form an 'old-fashioned' stationery shop. You could buy a filofax punch, but they are pretty dear even on ebay - but if you do want a 'proper' punch WHSmith own-brand are cheaper and work just fine.

As for a planner and a diary, well, I think printing a diary would be counter-productive when you can get freebie ones from companies etc that have already been printed and would otherwise be binned. I seem to be inundated with them and end up freecycling some every new year. In fact, Eagerlearner if you PM me your address I'll send you the one my trade union just sent me. It ain't gorgeous, but you could always cover it with a scrap of pretty fabric

As for the calendar, well if you have publisher they are easy to create and print at home, and with another program like paint.net it is a little trickier but still fairly easy. You can then take it to a print shop and get it bound into a calendar 'properly' or , what works just as well but id cheaper and far prettier, punch a hole or two holes in the top depending how you'd like to hang it (I tell you, those single-hole punches are great!) and tying them with a short length of ribbon, which you can save from choccy boxes, gift wrap etc or use pretty string, twine, curling ribbon, or anything else you have around!

rosieben

silvercharming wrote: »

paint.net is a good graphics program if you've never used them before, easier than gimp anyway, and it's free. But you do have to be using windows.

yes paint is a good program but not sure that it includes layering?

Mags_cat

If you use a Franklin Covey planner you'll know how expensive their refills are :eek: . I've got some customisable sheets that fit the Classic size planners that I'd be happy to send to anyone who wants them. They're Excel spreasheet files that you customise to suit and then print out. I would recommend getting a decent Franklin hole punch, though. (I see them on eBay fairly often). For a while I used one of those single hole punches and it took *forever*

If anyone would like the excel files, please pm me