2014 Planners | A Closer Look!

Hey y'all! I hope you had wonderful weekends! Mine was pretty fabulous - dinner at the lake, a night downtown and a Brett Eldredge concert at Southern Living's Biscuits & Jam concert series held at their 2013 Idea House here in Nashville. It was pretty fun and we got to meet Brett after the show - follow me on Instagram (@stephcreekmur) to see those photos. It was the first weekend in awhile that I didn't work the entire weekend! I'm trying to do better about giving myself "down time" but I have to be honest, today has been pretty crazy getting back into the swing of things! :)

Anyway! I wanted to pop in and share some actual photos of the 2014 Planners which will begin shipping next week! I am so excited about these and can't wait to to start using mine! I don't know about y'all but I love a colorful planner and I fill mine out with different colored pens and use pretty washi tape! So fun!

In case you missed the last planner post, here's a quick run-dow:

• This is a complete 2014 planner that also includes the last months of 2013 as well as the entire Jan '15.
• Dimensions: 9" x 7" - The perfect size. Large enough to be able to write down everything you need to and small enough so you can throw it in your purse and take it on the go.
• White, Wire O binding - beautiful and durable.
• Dated, weekly and monthly formats. 
• Monthly Views
• Monthly format features some of my favorite inspirational and uplifting quotes and Bible verses. 
• I know the week technically starts with Sunday and ends with Saturday but I have never thought of my weeks in that way so the monthly format is laid out staring with Monday and ending with Sunday. 
• The weekends are done in fun patterns to help us remember that they are different than the rest of the week and we should act accordingly! :) 
• Space is available for notes as well as personal goals for the month. 
• This is something that may exist in a planner out there but I have never been able to find one. I have combined all monthly views together. When I am using the monthly view, I like to flip easily between months. I don't want to have to flip through the entire weekly view of that month. 
• Weekly Views
• Lined sections to keep track of everything you have to get done in the day. 
• Notes sections available for both halves of the week to keep track of any extra to-dos. 
• Many planners I've used in the past have had super small Saturday and Sunday sections. The weekends are sometimes when I have the most going on so I tried to keep these sections large enough to fit all of our plans. 
•  Includes a notes section for all those things you need to jot down quickly. 

The monthly views for the entire year are all together in this planner. When I am planning or scheduling ahead, I like to move quickly and easily from month to month to see what's ahead. I use this section of the planner for keeping track of appointments or any traveling I may have.

Next up in the planner is the weekly view! A lot of planners I have been finding in stores these days are going to a schedule format or setting up each day in terms of breakfast, lunch and dinner. This format may work great for those of you who dictate your day by meals, but it just doesn't work for me. I like to have a block of space to use as a mini to-do list. This is also the section I use when planning for future blog posts.

I hope these photos have helped give you a better look into the 2014 Planner and have answered any questions you might have. I think they are so beautiful - if I do say so myself - and I'm so excited to get them into your hands so you can start planning too! If you still have questions don't be afraid to leave it in the comments or shoot me an email! I'd love to hear from you! :)

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If Martha Called Tomorrow, Would You Ready?

My answer? Absolutely not. Have you ever had a certain opportunity come your way and it either didn't happen because you weren't prepared or the outcome wasn't as great as it could have been because you didn't take advantage like you should have? While I sadly have many examples of this, I'm only going to share the most recent and what I like to call, "the straw that broke the camels back".

Many of you know Kristin from The Hunted Interior. She's a super talented interior designer based in Atlanta. I met Kristin a few months back when she asked if I would donate one of my gold foil Hey Y'all prints for a room she was designing with Room Service Atlanta (see the finished room here). I have been amazed by the positive response as a result of Kristin's blog post on the room and the styling she did of the print. My sales saw a serious spike and I am so grateful she asked me to be a part of her project.

Fast forward a few weeks and I decided to email Kristin and see if she would be willing to style a few photos of my other wall prints. She so generously said yes and asked if I could get them to her by a certain date because The Everygirl (yes, THE EVERYGIRL!) was coming to her house for a feature. How awesome? Now my products will be seen by an even larger audience, right? Wrong. I failed to get the package in the mail in time and Kristin didn't receive the prints until after the shoot was over. Major fail on my part and major bummer. Kristin's feature on The Everygirl went live today and if you haven't already, be sure to check it out. Her home is absolutely gorgeous and much to my surprise - I spotted my thank you note pinned to her bulletin board! Thank you, Kristin!

Photos by Dash Photography for  The Every Girl

All of this to say: Set yourself up for success, people. Don't fall into the trap I have so many times before this. We really can be our own worst enemy and the only thing standing in our way. Had I planned and prepared like I should have, my prints could have been shared with thousands (and thousands) in the beautiful photos of Kristin's home.

Starting tomorrow I am going to be making more of an effort to streamline my business and workflow so that when Martha (or The Everygirl) come calling, I'll be ready. If you have any tips or tricks (having stamps on hand, setting canned email responses, etc.) for how you streamline, I'd love to hear!

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