How to Use an Entire Paper Pad Series: Part 2 Planning

Last week I started a blog series about what to do with a large paper pad when you actually want to use it - and use as much of it as you can.

This week I'm going to show you the paper pad I'll be using, as well as the results of my planning session with it.

This is a Hot Buy pad from Michaels, specifically Parisian Lane. As I mentioned before, these paper pads are probably my favorite because of their price point. I don't like every one they come out with, but I do like a lot of them. And you can't beat the price!

So I took an evening and looked over this paper with my general project ideas in mind. (See this first post if you don't know what I'm talking about.)

I first picked out papers for composition books. I got four of those.

Then I picked out papers for mini albums. I got two of those.

Traveler's notebooks were next, and I got two of those.

Of course, each of these projects involves multiple pieces of paper. You can only see the top sheet in the photo.

I didn't bother setting aside any papers specifically for cards and tags, but I did have a few sheets left when I was done setting aside papers for these eight projects. (You can see the leftover sheets and bits in the top left corner.) I'll add my scraps from these projects to the pile before I start working on the cards and tags.

Here's a closeup of one of the mini album packets:

I used a zip-top sandwich baggie to contain the little pieces from the cut-apart sheets that I thought would work best with each project. Then I used a binder clip to keep it all together, along with a note on scrap paper about which project each one was.

These all went into one of my 12x12" Iris cases for protection against missing pieces and bent corners. Now when I want to create a project, all I have to do is pick one from the box. It's also very easy to keep the scraps contained so they're all available when it comes time to use up all the scraps on cards and tags.

So that's it for this week! Next week I'll start into the actual projects and show you what I came up with.

Are you a fellow Hot-Buy-paper-pad-collector? Do you have an all-time favorite?

Want to see the rest of the series? Check them out at these links:


Part 1 - Introduction
Part 2 - Planning
Part 3 - Composition Notebook Journals
Part 4 - Traveler's Notebooks
Part 4 - Traveler's Notebook #2
Part 5A - Mini Album #1
Part 5B - Mini Album #2
Part 6 - Cards
Part 7 - Tags