I was devastated when, three days after receiving my new 2025 Happy Planner in the mail, I almost ruined it. I was carrying it in my bag, as I walked to work, and my lunch (a stir fry) leaked all over it and my bag. I had barely had it three days, and it wasn’t even 2025 yet.
I could consider replacing it, but I was already attached, dammit. I didn’t want a new one. I wanted this one. That was when I heard a little voice in my head (aka my best friend R’Chel) asking me, “Well, what are you going to do now?” as she does when I mess up and get frustrated.
The answer, of course, was craft it out. I grabbed my trusty iPhone link to the Amazon store and ordered some ‘Tea Dye’ Distress Oxide ink, some ink blending brushes, and a couple of coordinating stamps (to the celestial theme of my planner). I had a plan and felt a million times better.
Luckily, the sturdy outer covers of my planner were easy to wipe clean. The inner laminated covers had to go. They had also protected the pages from the worst of it, except the front and back. I started a project to replace them (I’ll post about it later) but ultimately decided against it. I had purchased some really cool filler materials, so they weren’t really needed.
Now, it wasn’t easy on me. It never feels easy when a gift (even to yourself) seems ruined, and I almost thought it was. Instead, I thought of aged books, and that Japanese craft where they fix broken pottery with gold. I was going to customize my planner/journal and make it even better than ever.
