I am so super excited to share with you the setup I've created for October in my Filofax.  I picked up the Recollections Ravenshead Paper Pad from Michael's this weekend and it's amazing.  I love Halloween.  Love it.  I was so stoked to see this paper pad with more mature "creepy" designs than what you normally see.  I love all things scary, creepy, crawly, and spooky.  This paper pad was meant for me and I took advantage of that!

When you first open the planner you'll see the dashboard I created and the embellishments on the left.  Everything you'll see here is paper from the Recollections Ravenshead Paper Pad.  The "cards" on the left are cut from a page that has lots of different adorable cards.  Within this post you'll see these cards I've added to patterned pages from the paper pad to spruce them up.

Divider #1

Divider #2

Divider #3

Divider #4

Divider #5

Divider #6

This final shot is of my Filofax sleeve that I keep stickers, color coding labels, etc.  I wanted to bring the designs of the dividers and decor all the way to the back of the planner.  So I just cut a sheet of the paper to fit in the front of the sleeve and the contents of the sleeve is behind it.

Stay tuned through all of October because you haven't seen the last of this paper pad.  I urge you to pick one up!  I filmed my October month on two pages for YouTube today and that video will be up later.  I also used this paper pad for this video.

It's my favorite time of year and I'm ready to bring you tons of seasonal planner content!

10 Step Morning Routine to Transform Your Life

I have been compensated by Sundown Naturals® and Pollinate Media Group for this post as part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Sundown Naturals® but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #GoodnessGiveaway #sharethegoodness http://my-disclosur.es/OBstV

My morning routine is such a huge part of my day.  I’m a firm believer in how you start your day sets the tone for the entire day.  I have perfected my routine over the years adding in and taking away tasks.  I’m completely satisfied with where I am now with my routine.  Today I’m going to share with you what I do in the first hour of waking up and why. 

||1} Wash my face and brush my teeth: As I’m nearing my mid-thirties (gasp) I make sure to take extra good care of my skin.  I haven’t always been nice to my face and honestly, it shows.  I can’t make up for it, but I can help it from here on out.  Now, because I wash my face at night before bed ridding it from makeup and impurities, I use a mild cleanser on my face.  In the winter I usually just splash water on it.  However, in the summer months I’m a bit greasy so I start the day by washing that off.

||2} Start my pot of coffee: I know… I know… But hear me out.  I am a coffee junkie, and I’m okay with that.  I drink my coffee black.  NO added sugars or flavoring.  I splurge on quality coffee for myself from a local coffee bean roaster.  Not only do I “need” coffee to get going in the morning, I just really really really enjoy it.
||3} Drink a full glass of warm water with lemon [while my coffee is brewing]: I don’t need to tell you the benefits of staying hydrated.  There’s a lot of health benefits to drinking lemon water in the morning.  I highly recommend you research that and see if it’s right for you.

||4} Take my vitamins: I prefer to take my vitamins after breakfast.  A few years ago my doctor found that I run low on B12.  So she recommended I take a B12 supplement every day. I take that every single day.  I also take a few other vitamins including Probiotics for my digestive health, and Biotin for my hair.  
I am LOVING Sundown Naturals® Adult Gummies.  Sundown Naturals® are gluten, dairy, and artificial flavor free◊. I found a HUGE selection of Sundown Naturals® Adult Gummies at Walmart (they have vitamins for the whole family that you can trust) including: Biotin, Calcium, Co Q-10, Cranberry, Fiber, Fish Oil, Melatonin, Multivitamins, Probiotic, Vitamin B, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D.
The Sundown Naturals® website has a fun short quiz you can take to help determine what gummies are right for you.  I took the quiz after I got home from purchasing my vitamins.  The quiz suggested “Fiber” gummies for me.  You also receive a coupon at the end of your quiz!  I’ll definitely be checking that out.  Enter the Goodness Giveaway Sweepstakes today. Head into Walmart and purchase at least 1 Sundown Naturals® vitamin product for a chance to win weekly prize packages and a grand prize! Every week, one winner will be selected to choose from 1 of 4 prize packs – Yogi Pack, Fitness Pack, Foodie Pack, or $100 Walmart Gift Card. Simply upload a picture of your receipt here and you are entered for a chance to win some incredible prizes now through 11/1.

||5} Yoga: I love starting my day with some stretching or a yoga routine.  I work out at the gym in the afternoon, but I do like to get my body moving in the morning.  YouTube has a lot of videos if you’re new to yoga.
||6} Turn on motivating music, an audio book, or a podcast: Nothing gets me going in the morning like some music.  My mood is very influenced by music.  I’ll also use this time to listen to inspiring business podcasts.
||7} Start a load of laundry: I like to kick off the laundry right away because it’s the easiest household chore and it starts me off feeling productive.  

||8} Make breakfast: I really struggle with this but it’s vital.  I know that I’m happier and more balanced when I start my day off with breakfast.  After a year or two of consciously having breakfast [almost] every day I still struggle.  I’m NEVER hungry first thing in the morning.  My breakfast usually consists of either oatmeal, a fruit plate and a hardboiled egg, or avocado toast.

||9} Create: After I’ve had my breakfast and taken my vitamins, I sit down at my desk with a cup of coffee and create something.  This can be a huge art project or a simple coloring session.  I have found that if I do something creative early in my day, it sets me up to be in the creative mindset all day.  Since creativity is a huge part of my job, this is incredibly beneficial to me.

||10} Look over my planner: Now it’s time to start the work day.  I will go over emails, social media, etc.  Glancing at my planner and planning out what I have to do today and what deadlines are coming up.  

That’s my 10 step morning routine to transform your life.  I’d LOVE to hear how you start your day!  Let me know in the comments what your morning routine is.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. ◊Applies to all products manufactured after 5/1/15. Please check back of label as manufacture dates may vary.

Health & Fitness Planner with Sweet stamps

Sweet Stamp Shop: I'm on the Sweet Stamp Shop blog today sharing my Health & Fitness Planner!  You can view the post below, or go check out the SSS Blog!

I'm on a pretty large journey to getting healthy.  I keep a separate planner for my healthy meal planning, tracking my weight watchers points, and exercises.  I could use a phone app, but I really like having something tangible that I can flip through.  Since this is something that is very important to me, I wanted to make sure it was fun and pretty.  Today I'm going to show you what stamps I use in my health & fitness planner.

In my sidebar I use stamps to notate what my allotted weight watchers points are for the week.  With weight watchers, as you lose weight your allotted points go down.  So I like to keep track of that at the start of the week so I know exactly how many points I can use.  For this, I use the large box from the Basic Tabs set.  If you're not on weight watchers and just interested in keeping a health/fitness planner, you could use this box for any reminder.  

I'm not a huge breakfast eater [I'm working on it...] so I usually have a protein smoothie.  How CUTE are these blender stamps with the sentiment "STOP Smoothie Time"?!  They are available in the new August Release set, Kitchen.

Next in my sidebar I have the matching dashed circle from Basic Tabs.  This is where I notate my weekly weigh-in loss [or gain...].  To show this, I use the scale icon from Plan Fitness.  Also, from Plan Fitness I use the running shoe to represent my Fitbit tracking.  Using the word "goal" from Like a Boss, and the weekly date tracker from Rupert Tracker.  I will put an X on the days I met my step goals or I'll color it in.  

I work from home week days so I don't really plan my lunches.  Usually I make a fruit & veggie snack plate, but I want to make sure I write down what I eat.  So I use the plate & utensil icon from Plan to Eat in this box.  I leave the rest of this box blank so I can fill in my lunch and any snacks I had.  

In the last box I use the super ADORABLE meal half box stamp from Half Box Decor for the dinners I've planned.  Under that I used more tracking stamps to track my hunger level for the day.  I find this has been incredibly helpful for me.  I can look and see what I ate each day that either had me feeling satisfied or not.  I can also cross reference this to see if I was hungry because I was hormonal or emotionally "hungry".  Finally, I have a section where I write down the total points I ate that day.  This week I used a stamp from the new set More Tabs.  Each morning when I sit down to look at my planners with my coffee, I fill in this box pulling the info from my weight watchers app.

I'm LOVING the new Whimsy Weekend set for Saturday and Sunday.  I use the long weekend stamp in this spot because I don't work out on the weekends.  Speaking of workouts, once again we're pulling from the Basic Tabs and Plan Fitness sets.  I use an activity icon from Plan Fitness to represent my workout for that day.  These are very general because I keep an actual detailed list of my workout on my phone since I'm not hauling my planner to the gym.

I've been using this planner for health & fitness for a little over a month now.  It has been amazing for motivation and documentation.  My Sweet Stamp Shop stamps help me personalize my layout to fit my needs each week!

Do you keep a health & fitness planner or journal?  What are your favorite Sweet Stamp Shop sets to use in yours?

*I made the paperclips in the first picture using stamps from the new sets Kitchen and More Tabs*

glam up your bathroom | 2.0

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MegaPrepped #CollectiveBias

Oh do I have an awesome DIY for you today!  It's "Glam up your Bathroom 2.0"!  In case you missed my original Glam up your Bathroom post be sure to check it out.  Today's DIY is even more simple and even more glam than the first.  This DIY uses makeup!  Yes that's right.  This DIY will use supplies you likely already have in your bathroom!

We're going to make this fabulous framed makeup art for your bathroom.  I wanted something glamorous [obvi] and something that would make a big statement on a budget.  Makeup in itself is art.  So why not choose it as a medium for an art project?

I took off to Walmart to purchase frames for my project.  I had a very specific look in mind for my frames.  I wanted something modern but not matchy matchy.  While I was at Walmart, I grabbed up some toilet paper.  My eyes were immediately drawn to the Quilted Northern® Ultra Soft & Strong® with Cleanstretch (9 Mega Rolls).  I can't think of a better way to stay stocked up on toilet paper without having hundreds of rolls stacked up.  Space saver! The Mega Rolls are 4x bigger than regular Quilted Northern® rolls. 

For the falsies frame I grabbed some super cheap falsies from Walmart and just lined them up on white card stock and framed them.  I mean seriously, how easy is that?!  Plus, look at how fresh and glam they look!  I advise getting at least 2 different styles of falsies like I did.  This creates a variance in texture.

These were super FUN to make!  Keeping with how simple these are, I bet you know what I did here.  Yup, you guessed it!  Slather on a few layers of lipstick and pucker up girl, cause we're kissing paper.  I chose several different shades of lipstick and kissed my card stock.  Slap that puppy in a frame and voila!

The larger one I wanted to be a little less busy.  I wanted a lot of the white showing much like the falsies frame.  So I grabbed those same shades we put on our lips.  I pressed the lipstick directly to the card stock and dragged it across in a line.  You'll want to apply a good amount of pressure here.  It creates texture.  Put it in a frame and we're done!

Display them however you'd like.  You can hang them or stand them up.  I opted to place them on my shelving that I store my extra Quilted Northern® Ultra Soft & Strong® with Cleanstretch rolls.  Who knew you could make toilet paper organization so glamorous?  I did!

|| SUPPLIES||

♥Frames

♥Lipstick tubes in varying shades

♥False eyelashes

♥White card stock

While you're out picking up your supplies for this Glam DIY, don't forget to pick up Quilted Northern® Ultra Soft & Strong® with Cleanstretch mega packs.  Because there is NOTHING glamorous about running out of toilet paper!

How do you store your stock pile of toilet paper?  Out in the open or behind closed doors?  Be sure to tag me on social media when you make your own Glam DIYs!

weight watchers wednesday || 8-10-16

I don't have any food pictures for you this week.  I do have another Weight Watchers planner video for you!

This week's installment of Weight Watchers Wednesday is super special because at weigh in on Monday I am officially down 20lbs.  Yes, 20lbs!  Very exciting and completely awesome because I don't feel like it's been that hard...
This is going to be a shorter post because I'm loving all the same stuff guys.  Nothing new.  I'm just keeping on keeping on with the Weight Watchers hustle!
I AM seriously considering a secondary YouTube channel though.  I know I touched on it last week, but I really really think I may go ahead with it.  I'd like to share with you what I eat in a day and videos seem the way to go.  So stay tuned for that.
I've been filming like crazy lately so definitely go check out my YouTube channel and subscribe if you haven't already.
I'll be going back to regularly scheduled blog posting in addition to WWW soon.  I've just been having so much fun filming and editing for YouTube that I haven't written much lately.  Don't worry, my readers are always on my mind!  I have some amazing content coming your way soon!

week 29 recap || 2016

I have had the most productive week!  Last weekend we spent several hours getting a room in our apartment organized to be my new studio.  This room is the largest room in our apartment and it's amazing!  I have "stations" setup for different needs.  Like a filming space, a dedicated photography space, Etsy order packaging, etc.  This has shaved off so much time and I'm able to create so much quicker.

This week I filmed 2 videos for you guys and they're both already edited and uploaded:

Like A Boss || PLAN WITH ME

Coffee On A Park Bench || PLAN WITH ME

I'm really excited about the setup I have for filming.  I'm still adjusting to using natural lighting [large windows in there] instead of my lights, so the lighting might vary for a little while.

This week I had a blog post go live at Sweet Stamp Shop.  It also went live here yesterday.  I teach you how to make a cute easy shaker gift card holder.  I FINALLY picked up a fuse tool so I'm finding all of the things to fuse, haha!

This weekend I put summer clips on clearance in my Etsy shop.  Making room for the fall release! So be sure to check out the clips and get yourself a good discount.

I plan on having my Fall Release the 8th of August.  Definitely keep your eye out for that.

This week I started a new series, Weight Watchers Wednesday.  I'm going to be sharing my weekly experience on WW.  Here's the planner I made to track everything in.  I LOVE the WW app, but I wanted a planner that I can look back at easily and flip through.

Once again this week I used a Sherri Baldy digital stamp in my planner.  I just love them, so very cute.  Next week I'll be shaking it up though and doing something different.  So be keeping an eye on that!

||Let's Be Friends||

If you're not already following me on social media, you should!  I've added some additional profiles, and another YouTube channel [think WW and vlogging] is coming soon.

Instagram [planners]: @emilee_speaks

Instagram [Weight Watchers]: @emileespeaks_ww

Twitter: @emilee_speaks

Facebook: Emilee Speaks

YouTube: Emilee Speaks

Snapchat [planners & WW]: emilee_speaks