Planner Friday - December

Hello!  I am back on the Trendy Twine blog today with a Christmas themed Planner Friday post...

I'm so excited, can you believe there are only two days left until Christmas?  I'm on the blog today to share with you the planner pages I created using some fun festive stamps from Annie's Paper Boutique!

My Christmas week

Being Christmas week I don't have a lot of appointments or commitments to write down so I had some extra space to play with when I started decorating the pages.  I used three sets of Christmas stamps to add some pretty reminders and these will also be great for when I document our holiday in my journal.

Products used:

This is December Stamp Set

Merry & Bright Stamp Set

This is December #2 Stamp Set

Trendy Page Dots

Journaling Tags

Inks

Used but not pictured:

Check It Off Planner Stamp Set

At Home Planner Stamp Set

More At Home Planner Stamp Set

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by and happy holidays!

P.S 

I have had a lot going on recently that has affected how often I blog, I am going to try to post more often again in January... new year, new start and all that.  Thank you for sticking with me :)

Planner Friday - November

With a month to go I can finally mention the C word out loud without being told off, yes it's time for some Christmas planning!  I have made myself some inserts to kick off my Christmas plans and I'm sharing them over on the Trendy Twine blog today!

Hello!  Christmas is exactly one month today so I wanted to share with you the pages I have created using Annie's Paper Boutique stamps to help me tackle the big day! 

Christmas planning

On the first page I have used a couple of heart banner stamps from the Check It Off set for my to do list.  This is where I will write down things like buy cards and stamps, write and post cards, order the turkey, buy wrapping paper, ribbon and bows, check Christmas lights (and untangle!) and anything else I need to do the first week of December. 

Then I have used the Morning, Day and Night stamps from the Title It set so I can make a note of what I want to and need to do on Christmas Day.  I have also used the Shopping, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Reminders stamps from this set on the second page.

I have left myself a space at the bottom of the page for anything I think I will need to remember.

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Japan Candy Box Giveaway!

Last month I received an email from the lovely people at Japan Candy Box asking me if I would like to host another giveaway for them.  Of course I said yes, so they sent me a fab box to show you!

A cute box of treats delivered to your door

Japan Candy Box offer a monthly subscription option or you can go for a single box, you can find all the details and prices here.  Each box contains 8-10 fun candies, sweets and treats and they are delivered direct to your door.  

First look inside

Inside the box you will find a thank you card which lists all of your goodies.

Sweeties!

I received 10 tasty treats including crisps/chips, sweets and gum.  There were also a couple of fun sets to make your own candies which I can't wait to try out! 

Lots of yummy things to try

My favourite thing in the box was the Tohato Caramel corn, in fact I liked it so much when I tried it I forgot to stop eating it and take a photo.  It really was delicious!   Another couple of things I liked were the Coris Soft Centred Grape gum and the Kabaya Mixed Fruit Bottle candy.  

Coris grape gum

The gum had a liquid centre which was a nice surprise and the mixed fruit sweets were very yummy!

Kabaya mixed fruit candy

Ok, so if you liked the look of all these snacks and sweets and you would like to win your own box of candy pop your info into the Rafflecopter gadget below.  The more steps you complete the more entries you get *wink*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winner will be notified by email once the giveaway is closed and the prize sent directly from Japan Candy Box.

Good luck!

My week #39

My week #38 pages were all about flowers and the last days of summer, well my week #39 are definitely centred around autumn!  You might already know this is my favourite time of year so I went a little over the top with my decoration.

My week #39

The washi tape is from my Stickii Club set and the floral stickers too.  The animals are from a roll of washi from Little Rainbow Moon, aren't they sweet?

Close up

Close up

Have you entered my Dodo Acad-Pad giveaway yet?  You have until the 7th November to be in with a chance of winning a fab new planner.  I am also about to launch another giveaway to win a Japan Candy Box so keep an eye out for that post if you like kawaii sweet treats! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Lord Dodo's Acad-Pad review and giveaway! *Now closed - winner announced in the comments*

Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?  No!  It's the Dodo Acad-Pad and it's here to save you from your daily, organisational struggles!  The Acad-Pad is perfect for anyone who has just gone back to college, school or uni or for someone who just can't wait until the start of the new year to get themselves a new planner.

Acad-Pad 2016/17

I have been a fan and user of Dodo products for years and years now, before I became a Filofax/planner addict I used their desk diaries to schedule my life and when I moved on to the ring bound system I stuck with the Dodo Pad and Acad-Pads as they're also available as Filofax inserts.  

The Acad-Pad is an academic diary which runs from September through to August (the Dodo Pad is for January through to December) and it has a week on one page layout with a second page for notes, doodles, reminders etc.  Both pads have bright, colourful covers so they are easy to spot if they are buried under piles of paper on your desk or hidden behind everything bar the kitchen sink in your bag!  The covers are also made from sturdy card so if you're balancing the diary on your knee while on the bus to school or on the train to work you have a nice, firm surface to write on.

Example of how to use the pad

The weekly page is incredibly versatile, there are five boxes for each day and you get to label them however you like.  On the example page in the diary they have split the day into To Do, Morning, Afternoon, Evening and Dates & Deadlines.  When I first started using a Dodo Pad my headings were Notes, AM, PM, Kids and Ian (my husband), now my children are older they get their own box each so they are labelled Me, Ian, Hayden, Caitlin and Summer.

Having a second page each week gives you plenty of space to makes notes about your course work, thesis ideas, meetings or even meal plans and shopping lists.  It is pretty much a blank page to fill however you see fit, the possibilities are almost endless!

Weekly layout

Each weekly spread has a theme, some are seasonal and some are just fun and now these pages are more colourful than ever before as for the first time they are printed in a variety of colours instead of a single colour each week with shades of grey, black and white. 

Some pages are factual, some are humorous and quirky but they are all entertaining, practical and certain to keep you organised and amused throughout your day!

Each week has a different theme

As well as the diary you also get overview pages for Aug 2016 to Sep '17 and Sep 2017 to Aug '18 for all your forward planning needs and an Appendix section too.

Stuff and store pouch

At the rear of the pad there is a special stuff and store pouch, I have popped a little notebook in here to help you see it more clearly.  This spot is great for holding loose bits of paper, your homework, shopping lists or anything else you would like to keep neatly in your planner.

Indodispensable data

Finally there are a couple of pages for any important information you want to keep handy, mine are full of phone numbers and email address.

My Dodo Pad in my planner

I currently have the 2016 Dodo Pad in my organiser, I will be ordering the 2017 soon so I will have it in plenty of time for the new year!

Ok!  So do you like what you see?  Would you like to win this fabulous pad for yourself?  All you need to do is leave me a comment below telling me what you would label the five boxes in the Acad-Pad if you were to win it.  Here are the rules:

• Leave me a comment telling me what you would label the five boxes in your Acad-Pad (Reminders, AM, PM etc).  I will number them and then use random.org to select a winner.
• Only one entry per person please.
• You must be over 18 to enter or have a parent's permission.
• The giveaway ends at 12pm UK time on the 7th November 2016, any comments after this time will not count.  
• The winner will be announced on this post on the 8th November 2016 and they will have 48 hours to contact me to claim their prize.  If I don't hear from them I will have to draw a new winner.
• The Dodo Acad-Pad is the only prize, there is no cash alternative.
• This is an international giveaway.

I would just like to thank Rebecca from Dodo Pad and Georgie from The M Word for sending me this pad to review and give away, it is really nice to be able to share one of my favourite products with you all!

Good luck!

*Disclaimer - I was given this product free of charge for promotional purposes.  I was not paid to write this review and as always all opinions are honest and my own.

Planner Friday - Halloween special!

Hello!  It is Planner Friday again on the Trendy Twine blog and this month I am sharing with you the Halloween pages I have created in my journal...

Last month I showed you a peek inside my journal, well this month I wanted to show you how I will be documenting our Halloween celebrations!  

Happy Halloween!

I absolutely love Halloween!  I have so much fun getting ready for it, decorating the house, carving pumpkins, making spooky treats and watching (family friendly) scary movies with the children, it's one of my favourite times of year.  This year I want to record some of my memories so I have broken out my Annie's Paper Boutique stamps and some colouring pencils.

Products used:

 Happy Halloween stamp set

Documenting the Everyday stamp set

Documenting the Everyday #2 stamp set

Foodies planner stamp set

Hello Fall planner stamp set

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!

My week #38 featuring Stickii Club's monthly subscription box

As it was the end of summer I wanted to do a pretty floral layout for my pages before I started being drawn towards oranges, browns and autumnal themes.   

My week #38

The washi tapes I used are from Little Rainbow Moon who is fast becoming my favourite tape supplier!  The flowers in vases and jugs was a wider roll of washi that I couldn't use on the tops or bottoms of my pages as it would take up too much room so I cut the images out and used them as stickers instead.  

Close up

Close up

The real stickers I used are from Stickii Club and they do a monthly subscription which delivers gorgeous stickers to your door!  There are three kits to choose from Pop, Retro and Cute and they very kindly sent me one to try out.  I loved the Retro set I received, it was full of pretty floral stickers, washi tape samples and bits of ephemera in various styles and colours!  The theme of each kit changes every month so you get a nice surprise each time.

Stickii Club Retro monthly subscription box

The boxes cost $10 a month with free delivery in the U.S or $2 p&p for anywhere else.  Your subscription automatically renews but you can cancel it at any time so you are not tied in to receiving a set number of boxes.  If you are in the UK like me that works out about £9 including postage for a lot of goodies!  You can use this code to get 15% off your first box if you want to treat yourself:

 TRYSTICKII

If you want to see more of the stickers they sell pop over to their Instagram account and take a peek.

Thanks for stopping by! 

*Disclaimer - I received this kit free of charge for promotional purposes.  As always all opinions are honest and my own.  I am not affiliated with Stickii Club and I have not been paid to write this post.

My week #37

If you have been reading this blog for a while then you will know I love anything kawaii so when I came back to decorating my planner pages I knew straight away I had to use these Pusheen stickers on my layout.

My week #37

Ever since Facebook introduced stickers for their messages I have been a little obsessed with the flying, rainbow, unicorn, kitty Pusheen.  It's all of my favourite things combined! I have one more of these stickers that I am going to keep forever and never use, yes, I am a sticker hoarder!

Close up

Close up

Do you ever buy stationery and then not use it (unless you have doubles) or is it just me?

Thanks for stopping by!

Planner Friday - Documenting the Everyday stamp sets

There's an extra Planner Friday this month on the Trendy Twine blog, I'm showing off two new sets of journaling stamps and giving you a peek inside my Van der Spek Travellers Notebook.

Hello!  I am back today to share with you a couple of new stamp sets from Annie's Paper Boutique.  The Documenting the Everyday sets are perfect for journaling, I used them recently to record my holiday memories and I want to show you how some of those pages turned out.

Products:

Documenting the Everyday Stamp Set

Documenting the Everyday #2 Stamp Set

Camera, Coffee, Plan, Love Letter & To Do Planner Clip Set

Journal Tags

Stamp Block

Ink

I love the look of combining different fonts together to make my writing more interesting but to be honest the only two I can do properly are print and cursive!  That is why I love these stamp sets, they have so many fun fonts and doodles and using them really makes my pages come alive!

Pages in my Travellers Notebook

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Playing catch up - My week #30

Ok, so this is the last week I decorated before the summer holidays!  After this post I will be sharing my September spreads with you and we will be back up to date again.

My week #30

I know I go over the top with pink sometimes but it is one of my favourite colours.  I think it's nice to do a theme using a single shade every now and then, it makes the pages look less cluttered and busy.

Close up

Close up

I used some more of my Chocho & Mimi stickers for this layout, I think I am a little addicted to them but they are so cute!  The cup of positivity sticker is from The Plump Planner, I really liked the quote and it was pink so perfect for this week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Playing catch up - My week #27

I can't quite remember how I came across Little Rainbow Moon on Etsy but I fell in love with the shop straight away!  The first thing I just had to have was this gorgeous dream catcher washi tape and then I added some cute stickers and a few more rolls of washi into my basket as well.   

Before the ink

I know I don't usually show you my pages before I have written or stamped on them but because the dream catcher tape is so thick the only place I could use it on my planner pages was down the centre and I wanted you to see how nice it looks! 

My week #27

I used a pastel purple ink for my stamps which is a bit difficult to photograph but I could read my to do lists and reminders easily in real life.

I wanted to create a really pretty theme for this week as it was the week my husband and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary!  He was working on the actual day so we had to wait until he was off before we could go out but we had a lovely meal together on the Friday and cocktails... yum! 

Close up

Close up

I have one more week to show you from before I started dirty planning (just pen, no decoration) during the summer break and then a couple of weeks from September when I started decorating my weekly spreads again and then we should be up to date!

Thanks for stopping by!

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!

Planner Friday - September

So summer is finally over and I find myself reaching for my planner more and more now I am getting busy again. I had been freewheeling through the weeks while there was no school, just making notes and reminders for myself in pen without a scrap of washi tape or planner stamp in sight! That was because I only needed to check my pages once or twice a day but now I need to check them more often I want to make them pretty and fun again.  With that in mind I bring you my new Planner Friday post which is up on the Trendy Twine blog!

For me September is the biggest "get organised" month of my year, it is when the new school year starts and suddenly I have lots of places I need to be and things I need to do.  Over the summer holiday I get kind of lax with my planner because my days are less structured and I have fewer commitments but when September comes around I dive back into planning and it feels good to find my old rhythm again!

Products used:

Trendy Page Dots circle reinforcements

More At Home Planner Stamp Set

At Home Planner Stamp Set

Check It Off Planner Stamp Set

School Days Planner Stamp Set

Round Stamp Block with guidelines

Washi Tape

Ink

I used a couple of new stamp sets this week, the first is the More At Home set which is a fabulous addition to the APB planner stamp collection.  It has so many handy options for cleaning reminders like Countertops, Toilet, Cat Box, Living Rm, Family Rm, Mop etc I think between this and the original At Home set I have every stamp I could ever need when it comes to keeping my home running smoothly! 

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Planner Friday - August

It's Planner Friday again today and I have been on the Trendy Twine blog sharing what I have in my planner pouch.  Please pop over and take a peek!

Hello!  I thought I would do something a little different for Planner Friday today and show you my "everyday carry" planning supplies.    
I keep a pen in the loop of my planner but I like to have a few more products with me when I am on the go.  I keep them in a little travel pouch which holds lots of goodies but doesn't take up too much room in my bag.    

Annie's Paper Boutique products:

Journal Tags

Note Cards

Planner Pencils

Trendy Page Dots circle reinforcements

Camera, Coffee, Plan, Love Letter & To Do Planner Clip Set

Pens, paper clips & pencils

I like to have a few colourful pens with me and some note cards and journal tags to record memories and reminders.

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!