How to Make a Simple Planner Header in Silhouette Studio

I'm going to go over how to make some simple stickers for your planner using Silhouette Studio. I'm very new to the Silhouette world and also to sticker making. I learn by searching for each step I'm trying to do. Never in one place have I found how to do such basic stuff so I'm going to throw some of that together for other newbies like myself. This is part one. 

How to Make a Planner Header in Silhouette Studio

First, turn on your registration marks so you know where to place your items. I found it works best for me if I just use the default settings for my Silhouette Cameo, but you can play around with them if you feel comfortable. 

You need to know the sizes of the stickers you want to make. The example I'll use today is a column header. I'm working with a classic Happy Planner so my header sizes are 0.25 x 1.50 inches. 

1. Draw a rectangle. The size/shape doesn't really matter since you're going to resize anyway. Make sure the object is selected. 
2. Go up and click on the Scale button. This can also be found under "Object" drop down menu. 
3. Change the width and height. Now, to make sure your silhouette doesn't accidentally cut and give you white space in your sticker, you can make this part a little bit bigger than usual. I do 1.57 width and 0.27 height. 
4. Don't forget to hit apply. 

Now you have your header box. 

To give it some color, click the line color button and pick whichever color you want the outline to be. Click the fill color window button and pick your fill color. 

Next you need your text. Click the text button, type whatever you want your header to say. Click outside the text, then click the text again to select it. Resize the text to fit. Choose your color etc. 

When you cut your stickers, you don't want the letters to get cut out so pick the 'Cut settings' box then select your text. Choose the 'No cut' option. Then select your colored box and do the same thing. 

Now, put your text on your box. You can use the align window to align the text and the box the way you'd like.Once that is done, drag your mouse to select both objects. Right click and 'group' the items. The last thing you need to do is create another rectangle to be the cut line. Make this one 1.5 by 0.25. Line it up to where you want your header to be cut. Drag your mouse to select everything and group again. 

Now you have one, ready-to-cut header. To make copies, hit 'ALT' and click on the object. When you drag the object there will be a duplicate behind it. Do this as many times as you want.

Let me know if you have any questions or anything you like to see in particular in part two. 

Thank you! 

7 Tips for Setting Goals

I'm a very goal-oriented person. Usually. Sometimes I forget to set goals. Or sometimes I have so many goals and to-dos that my head is like a blizzard of ideas. This year I seem to be the latter. So, so many goals. 

This year, one of my goals was to organize my goals. See how complicated this is getting already? 

So here are the steps I'm trying to follow. Also known as my advice on how to set your own goals.

1. Make a Master List

I used Day Zero Project and made a list: 52 Things in 52 Weeks. I still don't have a full 52 items on my list, but I added as many things as I could think of that I wanted to accomplish this year. Now, you don't have to go overboard like me and try to think of 52 goals. You can just make a reasonable list of a few goals, or hundreds of goals if that's your thing. Just remember, the more goals you have, the more overwhelming it can be. 

2. Prioritize Your Goals

Figure out which are your biggest, most important goals. Figure out which ones you want to focus on first. I chose 'Write a book', 'Start and Grow Blog', 'Organize My Goals' and 'Have a Baby' <-- Hah, not kidding! Some people may choose to pay off a certain large debt or start a healthier lifestyle or change careers. 

3. Set a Deadline For Each Goal

Now my deadline for all my goals is by the end of 2016. Your deadline can be anything that works for you. Make it realistic and attainable. Some people can write a novel in a month (see NaNoWriMo) but that's a huge goal. I know I can't manage that with a full-time job, a husband, a 4 year old and some cats. But by the end of the year? I think know I can do that! 

4. Make Sub-Goals

Focus on each large goal, one at a time and make sub-goals. For 'Write a book' I decided I wanted to try to write 1000 words a week. I have a goal to keep my desk and room tidy so I can focus during writing time without getting distracted. I wrote 'tidy desk' in my planner on each Sunday evening slot for the next couple of weeks as a reminder. I want to start the week fresh and ready to go. For 'Start and Grow blog' I made a sub-goal to start jotting down post ideas as much as possible. I also have the goal of posting regularly - starting with once every Monday. 

5. Find a Way to Organize

If you have a planner, write in your deadlines. Schedule in some time to work on your goals - like an evening to write, a morning to go to the gym. Or use a notebook to keep your goals written down with sub-goals and deadlines. For me, I use Day Zero to keep my goals all listed, a notebook to keep track of bigger goals and sub-goals, and I plan some goal time in my planner. I write down my deadlines in RED to stand out. 

6. Motivate

Make sure to keep yourself motivated to complete you goals. There may be times where you feel like giving up. You can do this either by setting rewards when you reach certain milestones - such as a fancy, expensive pen you've been wanting after you write 5000 words in your book. Or your favorite piece of cake after you've managed two weeks of healthy eating. Or find a friend to hold you accountable for completing your goal. Someone who can act as your cheerleader. Maybe quotes or songs are more your style. This saying, found on my to-do list notepad/mouse pad from Chapters Indigo gives me a little boost of encouragement sometimes when I need it. 

I will have more on motivation at a later date!

7. Complete & Celebrate

Make sure to celebrate and give yourself credit when completing your goals. Not everyone is so dedicated. Blog about it. Tweet about it. You did it!

What are you goals for this year or this month?

Items seem in this post:

My amazing pens shown in the post photo. I use these to color code my planner and color code lists. Sometimes I use them to simply doodle and color. I only have the 10 pack but now that I've tried them, I'm dying for the 20 pack for more variety.