My summer of freewheeling and dirty planning

First off I have to say I have no idea where summer went, I feel like I blinked and missed it!  Things were very quiet here on the blog for a couple of reasons, the first is I was freewheeling.  The six week summer holiday is the one time of year where I don't have to stick to a strict schedule and I can just coast along.  There are no assemblies, presentations, concerts, performances, games, or workshops I need to attend, I don't need to set an alarm for the mornings and on the whole everything is more relaxed and unstructured.  Because I have a lot less going on I don't need to rely on my planner as much as I do during the rest of the year, this leads us to my second reason.... dirty planning.  

Dirty planning

This is a term I heard in one of the planner groups on Facebook and it tickled me.  Dirty planning means no decoration, no fuss, just scribbling things down and not a scrap of washi tape in sight!  The only reminders I needed in my planner over the summer were for paying bills, birthdays and my husband's work schedule.  I knew I wouldn't have to check these multiple times a day so it didn't seem worth the effort to decorate my pages.  Instead I popped everything into my Dodo Pad inserts, they already have their own doodles and quotes on them which is more fun than blank pages and I didn't feel the need to liven them up.  It was kind of nice to take a break from washi, stamps and stickers for a while and it has made me enjoy playing with them even more now I am back to using them again.

Here are a few things I did over the summer:

* I received this gorgeous letter from Lucy of Quill London earlier in the year, I thought the envelope was so pretty I didn't want to throw it away so I turned it into a pocket to keep bits and pieces in my planner.

Envelope into planner pocket

* I have been in my Van der Spek organiser for over 12 months now, I still love it and I have no intention of moving out of it any time soon!

Planner peace

* The Color Run Birmingham (the happiest 5k on the planet), what an amazing day!  I can't wait to go again next year! 

Clouds of colour

It's a messy business

* I went on holiday, I adore being by the sea and spent as much time as I could on the beach.  I took my travellers notebook with me and had some fun filling it with memories and stories.  I will be showing you some of my pages from it next Friday so keep an eye out for that post.

Ilfracombe beach

Ilfracombe harbour

My Van der Spek travellers notebook

I think that's everything and we are all caught up now, I have a few My Weeks to share with you so I will be working on those next.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you had a great summer too!

Six months in my Van der Spek organiser - the love story continues

So I have been using my Van der Spek custom organiser for the past six months now and I am still completely smitten with it!  I love the 30mm rings and how much they hold, I love the colour combination I chose and I love seeing how the leather slowly changes as it ages and with use.  

Six months old

Can you believe that I haven't wanted to change my binder at all the last six months?  I used to swap between my Filofaxes all the time but I haven't had the urge to since I moved into this beauty.  I haven't brought any new planners (apart from the three I am giving away for my blogiversary but they don't count as they aren't for me!) or even been tempted to so I guess splashing out on my dream planner has saved me money. 

  

Developing a shine

You can see here that the outside leather has started to develop a shine, it is hard to capture properly as it is still gloomy here but it is definitely shinier than when I first got it.

Top view

When I was designing my planner I ummed and ahhed over adding the big back pocket but I am really happy I did.  I use it for keeping all sorts of letters and papers in before I file them away properly or transfer the info onto my pages.  This photo also shows just how much the 30mm rings can hold!

The back view

I wanted my VDS to be my workhorse and it is.  I haven't tried to keep it perfect, I have just used it and that has been quite refreshing!  It has been caught in the rain with me but those spots dried away to nothing and the only mark on it at the moment is a darker patch on the right had side (just below the middle) on the back of the binder which happened when it came into contact with an unidentified liquid.  

Perfect stitching

The stitching inside and out is still perfect, the turchese thread has kept it's colour and pops against the ciocolatto leather.  I love the contrast of the two together.

Inside

Inside is still the same as the day it arrived apart from the indents on the leather from the rings and they don't bother me at all.  There is no wear and tear on any of the pockets or card slots, this thing was made to last and it shows!  

When I brought this organiser I was planning on doing a monthly or quarterly update on how it was ageing but it is made with such quality leather that six months of constant use have gone by and it still looks pretty much as it did the day it arrived.  Any changes it has gone through have been subtle and I doubt I would have been able to capture them in a photo before now anyway.  At the moment I can't imagine ever wanting to move out of this binder, I don't even want to order another one from Van der Spek because I got everything I wanted to in this organiser and I found the perfect colour and leathers for me so nothing else takes my fancy.  I have found planner peace!

I have ordered something else from VDS though with my Christmas money but it is not a planner or an organiser!  That is all I am saying for now but I am hoping it will be with me soon so I can show you!

Thanks for stopping by!