One of the nicest things about the start of a year is planning what you're going to do in the twelve months ahead. However, for most people, January resolutions and plans simply fly out of the window in a month that is generally cold, dark and uninspiring! All most of us want to do after Christmas is to curl up on the sofa with either a good film or a book, eat comfort food and generally wait for winter to pass! When spring starts to emerge, however, it's a different story - suddenly there is hope on the horizon for warm sunny days and long daylight hours. Projects get dusted off and plans start to form - whether for holidays and trips away, classes to start, gym schedules to dust off and people to visit... and this makes Spring a great time to start getting some dates in the diary.



Now the trouble here is that most planning tools - calendars and diaries - start in January, which means that by Spring you've already missed out on a part year's planning... and what's more, some of those calendars are just plain dull and not very inspiring! When you're making big plans for an exciting year you want to be inspired, moved, impressed and charmed with gorgeous seasonal images!

One gift that is really popular nowadays for the high standards planner is a personalised calendar. Basically, personalised calendars work exactly the same way as a traditional wall hanging or desk calendar, except that they spell out the name of the recipient in the high quality image. These images are varied depending on the personalised calendar you've chosen - there are classic versions featuring everyday scenes such as landscapes, beautiful buildings, bookshelves, afternoon tea, green fields, sunny skies and plants etc - or there is the more targeted personalised calendar which appeals to people with specific interests. For example a sporting calendar might feature a glossy image each month of a football crowd, a golf course, a rugby game or similar - and a theatre themed calendar would have images of dressing rooms, stages, bright lights and costumes etc...But the twist with these personalised calendars is that each of the photos feature your loved one's name incorporated into the design. So for example, a chocolate cake would have their name piped in icing on the top, or a cloudily blue summer sky would feature it in wispy blue clouds! It's a very clever and impressive technique which makes these personalised calendars look really special and unusual and guests are almost bound to stop and have a look! The front cover of the personalised calendars also bears the gift recipient's name and a special personal message of up to 150 characters long, which will inspire them every time they open it up!

The other great thing about these personalised calendars is that they can start from any month you choose - just let the suppliers know when you make your order (they'll ask you for the name of your gift recipient too, so they can work their magic on the photos!) There are three versions available - a large A4 wall hanging size which measures 21 by 30 cm, a desk 'tent-top' style which measures 30 by 10.5 cm and even a mini desk size which is just 14 by 12 cm. These personalised calendars make great gifts because they really show thought and care - and they come delivered in strong packaging along with a gift envelope so that you can post it to a loved one if you so wish - it's a perfect sort of gift for grandparents or even for Mother's Day.

The great thing about these gifts is that they are small and cost effective - yet they are really thoughtful and the sort of thing that people use every day. As well as personal family gifts, they also make a nice touch if you're buying something for work - perhaps for clients or colleagues, as they really suit everyone who has ever made an advance plan! And of course for extra points, if you were gifting a loved one, you could fill in some advance details of the special days you'd already marked in for you both to share - again showing just how much you care about them and guaranteeing to put a smile on their face! With any luck the special date of your own birthday will then appear ringed and starred, with similarly well chosen presents coming your way in return! No one said that giving was for receiving - but let's face it, presents do put a smile on everyone's face, and we all enjoy them!