Planner Friday - January

My first Planner Friday post of 2018 is now up on the Trendy Twine blog, please pop over and say hi!

So how is the first month of the year treating you?  I have to admit January is probably my least favourite month but I wanted to start this new year on a positive note so I decided to look for the good and concentrate on things that make me happy.  I wanted to create a spread in my travellers notebook to highlight some things that I enjoy about January so I dug out my Annie's Paper Boutique stamps and got to work!

My January spread

The start of a new year always makes me feel like I have been given a blank slate, the past is over and done with and I have a whole new year full of possibilities to look forward too!  The Choose Happy set sums up this feeling perfectly so I used a couple of these stamps to remind me to keep trying to achieve my goals and to make each day a little better than the one before.  

I added a  mini calendar to the spread to keep track of whether I reached my move goal each day (so far so good!) and I am using the little tick stamp from the Check It Off set to mark off the days I complete my goal.  

Products used: Choose happy stamps

Check it off planner stamp set

Drinks & more planner stamp set

Title it planner stamp set

How's the weather planner stamp set

Not pictured: Mini calendar cards

Journaling card

Goals and memories

On the second page I used a cute snowflake stamp from the How's the weather? set because I love snow days when you can stay at home in the warm or go out and play if you are feeling brave!  I also used a coffee stamp from the Drinks & more set because there's nothing better than a nice hot drink to warm you on a cold day.

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!

My week #26

This was my first decorated week in my planner in ages so I used my absolute favourite new stickers to get me back into the swing of things.  If I see a set of cute Alice in Wonderland stickers then I just have to buy them so when I spotted these vintage style ones from Three Little Buhos on Etsy I couldn't resist them!  And as I was paying for the postage I threw in this lovely floral washi tape too.  I think they both go well together!

My week #26

It felt kind of weird to see my pages looking pretty again, I have been dirty planning for a while now but it was definitely nice to be greeted with such a cheerful spread when I looked inside my planner!  

Close up

Close up

Do you have a favourite theme when it comes to stamps and stickers?  I'm also a sucker for anything cute and coffee related!

Thanks for stopping by!

Planner Friday - June

My second post of the day, I'm on a roll!  My Planner Friday post is now up on the Trendy Twine blog and it is all about summer.

Yes!  It's finally summer!  I feel like I have been waiting forever for it to arrive!  I was so excited for the beginning of the season I dedicated a whole page to it in my journal this week!

July in my journal

I  wrote myself a list of things I like to do in the summer on a cute tag and popped it in my journal along with some strips of washi tape to brighten things up.  I used the lined stamp from the Check it off set to give me a couple of spaces for some summer quotes and I added a mini calendar card for an overview of July.

I used some of the image stamps from the Foodies, Drinks & more and Perfect pairs sets to show things I enjoy during warm summer days like adding ice cream to desserts, a cold glass of wine and iced drinks with a straw. 

You can read the rest of my post here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Get Crafty

The second day of National Stationery Week is Get Crafty so I have spent some time this morning making a little keepsake pocket to go inside my Travellers Notebook!

Get crafty

I like to have lots of pockets and storage spaces in my TN to hold tickets, photos and other bits of memorabilia and it is really easy to add your own.  I used a pink envelope, a Project Life card, some washi tape and stickers to make mine.

I glued the card onto the back of the envelope and then decorated it with the stickers and washi tape.  Then I glued the front of the envelope to the inside of the front cover of my notebook and once it was dry I popped it back into my TN.

Pretty pocket in my TN

It has brightened up the inside of my notebook and given me more room to add journalling tags, washi tape samples and notes etc.

Have you done anything crafty today?

Thanks for stopping by!

One year in my Van der Spek Nomad TN

I have been using my Van der Spek custom Nomad travellers notebook for a year now so I wanted to give you a little update on how it is ageing.  When I was deciding on which leathers to choose for this cover I went with a couple that I knew would change with use, Janet leather 104 for the outside and undyed 102 on the inside.  I didn't want the cover to stay looking pristine, I wanted it to develop its own character over time and look well used and loved!  

Out and about on my travels

Catching some sun

My TN has some battle scars now, my cat decided to sharpen her claws on it a while ago which left some white marks where a small amount of leather had been scratched off.  I used a brown ballpoint pen to colour over those marks as I thought "freckles" would look nicer!  There is also a mark on the right hand side of the front of the cover, this is where I tried to rub out a small water spot but ended up making it worse.  I don't mind these imperfections though, I never wanted to keep it looking perfect.

Front of the cover with my original sample
of Janet leather 104

Comparing my cover with my original sample of Janet leather 104 I think the TN has developed a slightly richer colour and it definitely has a lovely shine to it now.

The back of the cover with the Janet leather sample

Those marks on the back of the cover are from when I took this photo.  I didn't notice the drops of water on the one piece of wood when I was taking the shot and I'm still not sure why only the one spot was wet!

TN in the wild

The undyed leather on the inside of the cover has not really changed.  In fact the sample piece of leather looks like it has gotten darker even though it has just been sat in a box for the last year.

Undyed leather 102 

I have four notebooks inside the cover now and a zipped pouch, I really love a chunky TN!  I use one for water colours, one for journalling, one for notes and ideas and the fourth is for sketches and drawings.

View from above

Playing with water colours and stamps

Journalling

My year in pixels

The next photo is from when the cover was brand new, as you can see there are no marks or scars on it but it is also a more matt colour with almost no shine to it at all.  If you want to see more photos from when I first received the TN check out this post and you can see how my custom cover was made here.

My TN when it first arrived

Look at the shine the leather has developed over the past year, I can't wait to see how it changes again over the next 12 months!

Love that shine!

Let me know if you have any questions about my TN or Van der Spek below and I'll try and answer them.

Thanks for stopping by!

Introducing Openquote Designs - practical planner printables

Hello!  Today I want to tell you about a shop called Openquote Designs and show you some of their lovely products.  Alicia, the lady behind the scenes, is a big fan of paper planning just like me and she creates a wide range of pretty, practical, planner printables.

The inserts are sold as PDF files so you don't have wait for them to arrive in the mail (so no need to stalk your post person!), there's no P&P charges to pay and you can print off as many copies as you need which makes them even more amazing value!  I also have a discount code for you if you spot anything you would like to buy, it is at the bottom of this post.

One of my favourite products is this weekly docket.  It gives you an overview of your week and lets you see everything important in one quick glance.  Each section is a separate colour which makes it nice and easy to use too.  The red area is for your weekly priorities, dark blue is for your tasks, light blue is your week, orange is a tracker with the days Monday through to Sunday and finally purple is for any notes you need to make.

Weekly docket

I used the docket last week and it really is very handy!  I had a lot of things to sort out and do because it was my eldest daughter's birthday weekend (yes, that's a thing in our house!) and Sunday was Mothers Day too.  I had to buy cards, presents, food, decorations and tidy the house for a birthday party on top of my usual weekly routine and this insert helped me keep on top of everything.  

I used the tracker section to record whether or not I hit my step goals, my stand goals (standing and walking around for at least one minute every hour for 12 hours a day) and for drinking 8 glasses of water each day.  I also used it for tracking my eye drops so I wouldn't miss a dose and for colouring in my year in pixels in my journal.

The weekly docket is only £1.50 so if you printed off 52 copies, one for each week of the year, they would have cost you less than 3p each!

Weekly docket in use

As well as individual inserts Alicia also sells planner kits which contain all kinds of practical pages!  Her basic planner kit comes with 10 different inserts and costs £5.  Instead of me listing the inserts I have photographed them for you, as you can see they all have the same matching border so you won't have to get your washi tape out as they are pre decorated!  If this blue and purple pattern isn't your thing there are different sets with floral, spots, triangles and stripes to choose from too.

Get stuff done - basic planner kit

Bill tracker - basic planner kit

Project planner - basic planner kit

Menu planner - basic planner kit

Recipe card - basic planner kit

Password log - basic planner kit

Daily planner - basic planner kit

Weekly planner - basic planner kit

Notes - basic planner kit

The basic kit also comes with a month in review insert but I must have missed it when I was taking these photos, you can see it here though.  I think this set has everything in it you would need to set up a planner and it is available in personal and A5 size.  In fact all the inserts are available in both sizes so yay!

Weekly planner (4 colours)

This weekly planner set comes in four colours so you can choose whether to print your inserts in your favourite one or print all four colours and alternate them through the weeks or print each months worth of inserts in the same colour so January in blue, February in pink etc and as they are undated they are even more versatile!  This set only costs £2 which I think is a pretty good bargain!

Menu planner - basic planner kit 2

To give you an idea of the other style of sets available this menu planner insert is from the basic planner kit 2 , it has the same inserts as the set I showed you but with this fun triangle boarder instead.

Have you spotted anything you like?  Yes?  Okay, well here is your discount code for 15% off all orders, there's no minimum spend amount!  The code is:

SHESECLECTIC15

Valid until 31st December 2017

Let me know if you order anything (because I am nosy!) and thanks for stopping by! 

* Disclaimer - I was given these products free of charge for the purpose of this review, I am not affiliated with Openquote Designs and I was not paid to write this post.  As always all opinions are honest and my own.

My week #4

Green and gold is one of my favourite colour combinations so when I spotted this washi tape from Jadiescrafts on Etsy I had to grab a roll!  The quote "Don't give up and don't give in" spoke to me too so I couldn't wait to use it in my planner.

My week #4

These pages are from the last week of January and I was dreaming of spring so I used some pretty floral stickers from my botanical Stickii Club pack to brighten things up.  I was and still am so over dull grey days, I want to see sunshine, green shoots and flowers! 

Close up

Close up

Thanks for stopping by!

My year in pixels - quick journaling in my travellers notebook

I hadn't heard of "My year in pixels" before but I came across the idea in a planner group I am in on Facebook and thought it was great!  Using grid paper you draw yourself a box 12 squares by 31 squares (either vertically or horizontally, whichever you prefer) and then label the 12 squares with the months of the year and the other 31 squares represent the days of the month.

My year in pixels

As some months are less than 31 days long you need to block out the extra days for February, April, June, September and November, I used some skinny washi tape to cover over mine.

You then need to choose some colours to code your moods and feelings and make yourself a key.  I went with purple (joyful, silly, satisfied, content), pink (happy, thankful, motivated, alive), blue (average, okay, uneventful), yellow (lazy, tired, irritable), green (unsure, lonely, sad, insecure) and finally orange (angry, anxious, exhausted).  You can pick as many colours as you like to record your moods, it is up to you and you can decide what you need to label them too.  I just picked ones that would suit me. 

Colour coding

I did label my date boxes but I was unhappy with how they looked so I ended up covering them with some more washi tape.  I have some nice gold date stickers from Filofabulouss which were slightly too big to use here for every day so I used them to mark out the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th and 30th instead.  I took the photos for this post before I realised how hard it was to keep track of which day it was without some kind of numbering so you can't see the stickers in them.

I wanted to make these pages fun as I will be looking at them at least once a day so I decorated them with my most colourful tapes and stickers for some added inspiration.  

Mood pixels

Taking a few moments each evening to look back on my day and decide on a colour to represent it is a quick and easy way for me to journal.  I still get the benefit of reflection and a record of my year without the hassle of thinking about what to write and worrying that nothing interesting enough had happened for me to talk about.  I tried daily journaling last year but gave up after a couple of months because I really struggled with things to record and it took up too much time.  I can definitely commit to colouring in one a square a day though so this is a good system for me and if anything really interesting happens then I can record that on another page in my notebook, I am not limited to just this two page spread. 

2017 in my travellers notebook

Had you already heard of my year in pixels?  Do you fancy giving it a go?  You could start it now and record February through to January instead of waiting until next year to begin.  Or do you find it easy to write about your day and have plenty to say?  I might write a second post about this later in the year to let you know how I am getting on with it and show you all my pixels.

Thanks for stopping by!

My week #3

I was very lucky to get some money for Christmas so in January I hit Etsy hard and found lots of lovely new shops to buy planning supplies from.  Yup, I'm still a stationery addict!  This week I used a gorgeous set of stickers from Isabelle The Owl to decorate my pages and I paired them with a couple of rolls of washi tape from Jadiescrafts. 

My week #3

The stickers are sized for different planners, personal, Erin Condren, Happy Planner etc so you can find a set that will fit yours perfectly and using a kit means they all match a theme and look great together.  I have always loved anything with stags on and combining that with gold and pastel colours made this a must have sheet for me!

Close up

I'm not sure if you can tell from these photos but the heart washi I have used is a rose gold foil tape, it is really pretty.  The pink glitter washi tape added a little extra sparkle too. 

Close up

Have you discovered any new stationery sellers recently?  Leave me a comment below so I can check them out too please!

Thanks for stopping by!

My week #2

After last week's bright colours I decided to go for a pastel palette this time.  I was given a cute sheet of stickers by The Library Designs as part of a RAK (random act of kindness) a little while ago and wanted to use them too.  The planner sticker reminds me of the nude Original Filofax which I have always loved! 

My week #2

I am really enjoying being able to use my new inserts however I need to.  At the moment my days are quite quiet so I am using the second set of boxes on Monday to Friday for my lists and notes etc.  When I get busier and need more space for my daily to dos and reminders I can change labels on the boxes and use two per day instead.  My weekends are nearly always quiet so a single box for each day is fine for those.

Close up

Close up

Thanks for stopping by!

My week #1

For my first week of 2017 I used lots of lovely stickers from Little Rainbow Moon on Etsy, I wanted bright colours to cheer me up when the post Christmas blues hit and these did just the job. 

My week #1

I tend to only use orange colours in autumn and I wouldn't think to pair them with pinks either but I love the combination now!  What do you think of it?    

Sunday was my favourite day of the week, after lots of cleaning and school starting again it was really nice to spend the day in my pyjamas, eating the last of the festive treats and watching films with the kids.  I wasn't quite ready for things to go back to normal, I was still on Christmas time!

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Close up

Thanks for stopping by!