Customized Calendar for the Rocketbook
by Suzanne Owens
I am a special education teacher in a resource setting at the High School level. I am also a coaches’ wife. I found out about the Rocketbook through a Coaches’ Wives group on Facebook the week after Christmas. So clearly I ordered 3 Core notebooks ( 2 letter size and 1 executive). We fell in love instantly!
Being new, I began to read about how to best use it for my educational and organizational needs. If I am being honest, the blank pages are nice, but we all need lines to neatly write in a straight line. Why should I pay for an expensive planner when I could utilize digital resources to make whatever I needed? I saw how some used permanent ink to draw templates. However, that makes me nervous. I wanted something nice but removable if my needs changed.
I just happen to be the owner of a new Cricut as well. Cricut is a brand of cutting machine that cuts paper, vinyl, some fabric types and other crafting materials into preselected shapes or words. You are able to connect the machine by usb or bluetooth to a device (computer, ipad, smartphone) that have the Cricut design software, Design Space. I came up with a calendar grid that would work for my needs to go in my Core. I measured my Rocketbook to make sure my QR code and Symbols were visible. Then the fun part, picking out vinyl! I browsed the isle of Hobby Lobby and chose a sheet of green non permanent adhesive backed vinyl by Cricut and a sheet of Purple Paisley for the calendar.
The process is easy. I used a basic calendar grid in Cricut design space. I added a box to the top of the design for the month. Next, I made a smaller box and centered it over the first box, highlight both boxes and selected the slice option. This “cuts” out the area in the design to allow a place for the month. Next I selected all the components and connected them all together by pressing attach on the side menu. I added a box to the right of the design to be the correct size of the boxes in the grid. I did this to block off days off or empty squares. My calendar grid 8 in wide by 7.46 tall. The optional squares are 0.986 wide by 1.194. I didn’t want to do the squares out of the same color of the grid so I didn’t do both at the same time. I “hid” the squares by clicking on the eye in the column to the side. Select the “Make it” button at the top right corner of the screen. It will take you through a couple of reminders about settings (use the vinyl setting) and tell you to load the vinyl. Apply the vinyl to the Cricut cut mat. Place the Cricut by feeding it into the machine and pressing load. Then press the Cricut button to make the project. The Cricut will cut the vinyl and unload the sheet. The Design Space will ask you to click finalize and save. Repeat the process for any boxes to go in the empty blocks or small circles to add for important dates.
The next step is to take the vinyl off the mat and remove the excess vinyl. This technique is called weeding. This is just you simply peeling off the vinyl not needed for the project (as in the outside of your grid, the inside of your boxes in the grids, etc.) because this is not an intricate design this will take you a few minutes at most.
Now, you use transfer tape to take the vinyl off the backing and move it onto your Rocketbook. Press the transfer tape (I use clear contact paper) over the top vinyl and peel the backing off. Use the least amount of transfer tape as possible, but make sure the entire design is covered. Line up the design with the dots on the page in your Rocketbook. Center the design and press down. Now, if you are like me and you press it down crooked, don’t worry! You can peel it up and line it up again. Once you have it where you want it, peel the transfer tape slowly off. Peel the transfer tape off as close to the design as you can, not allowing any of the tape to fall back down. Now you customize it to your liking. The sky’s the limit! I am considering the idea of a ”How To” video when I do my next calendar for my friend’s Rocketbook. I will share that as well!
