NEW CHANGES! March 2019 Brimbles Box Unboxing & a look at the collection (Ad)

Here is my unboxing of the Brimbles Box for March 2019.

The Brimbles Box is my monthly planner / journal box. It is used and loved by creative planners as well as memory keepers and creative journallers.

If you would like to sign up to start your subscription with the March box click here and sign up by 23:59 GMT on Thursday 28th February 2019: https://www.mrsbrimbles.co.uk/product-category/brands/mrsbrimbles/brimblesbox/ 

You can also subscribe via my Patreon which also gives you access to my online content in addition to the box: https://www.patreon.com/mrsbrimbles

There is no minimum sign up period! Check the links above for the current prices.

These products will also be available to purchase online as a complete box (while stocks last) or individual products on both Etsy and mrsbrimbles.co.uk from 1st March 2019.

January Planner Layout

 Hello lovely planner friends. Here in Australia, I'm currently sitting in air-conditioning to save myself from the 40 degree weather - and while I'm not a fan of the very hot Summer weather we get here, it's a great opportunity for me to break out my very favourite colours in my planner. Read: pink. While the sticker kit I used for this layout (An English Garden Sticker Bundle) is technically a Spring layout, the bright colours really remind me of Summer, because everything's so light and bright outside.

   

When I use my vertical planner pages, I love to use a quote/motivational sticker in the top left hand corner - it's the first part of the page and I find it really helps to have something inspiring to read and think about each week. I'm also not super strict about using my habit trackers - they're mostly there as a reminder of things I should be doing. (The reality is I probably should be paying more attention to them, but it's ok - life happens!)

   

Another quick tip: this kit came with gorgeous illustrated and photographic full boxes, which I loved using, but sometimes you just need to make your own boxes! The little girl with the watering can in the bottom left corner is one of Anna's illustrations on top of a blank box and I love the way it looks with the girl coming off the side of the boxes. It adds just a touch more whimsy (and makes me so happy!).

   

We all know there's no one 'right' way to plan in your planner - your system and your decorations (if you choose to decorate) have to suit you and your lifestyle. Being happy with what you create is the most important thing! I love how this layout turned out, and every time I see it I smile. That's how I know it works for me.

Have a wonderful day and keep on planning!

If you like this idea, you may like to follow my videos on Youtube. Each week I post planner videos as well as other content, such as book reviews and crafty projects.

Plan with me 'Magic School'

 Hello, planner friends! I love October. It's such a fun month to decorate in my planner with all the fun Halloween-themed items out there. When Mrs Brimbles released her Witch School sticker set I was so excited, because it combines the ideas of a much-loved book series, school and Halloween-vibes without being just one or the other. Plus, I love the blue theme. I don't often go for an all-blue theme in my planner, but it is a colour I really love and pulling out all the stops for it on a layout just makes it all the more special. And yes, it's definitely a calming colour! You can check out my process video here:

 

 Don't forget to check out the rest of Anna's stickers here. For more planner inspiration, you can follow me on Youtube. Have a fabulous weekend, and happy planning!

Motivational Layout

Hello, planner friends!

This week I wanted to go back and create a layout that was inspiring and that reaffirmed a positive outlook. This time of year can be quite chaotic and it's easy to fall back onto negative outlooks and feel like everything is happening at once, so it's nice to take a step back and have something positive staring at my (in planner form) during the week. This layout features some older stickers and Brimbles box items - but they're super versatile and can be used any time during the year, which I really appreciate.

Marble Sticky Notes // Marble and Gold Planner Stickers

Along with some stamping, I've revisited an old favourite technique of mine - washi tape layering. The awesome thing about washi tape is how it can be torn into all sorts of shapes and layered to create interesting effects. Because of the gold foiling on the stickers, I wanted a hint of gold in the washi tapes (so as not to overpower the layout itself) so I just tore the strip in half and added it on opposite sides of the page!
 





I hope you've enjoyed this layout. As always, if you want more planner inspiration, I post planner videos every Sunday (AEST) on my Youtube channel, Noveltea Corner. Until next time, happy planning! Stef

SMART Productive Planner

“Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.” "You've Got Mail" - Nora Ephron

You've Got Mail is one of my favourite films. I just love cheesy chick flicks, that are usually so predictable you just know that the girl and guy who hate each other at the beginning will fall in love along with some kind of misunderstanding along the way. But there's something about it too. I think it feeds into my love of New York but also the fact that it starts with "Fall" well Autumn here in England. I love this quote because it makes me think of "Back to School" season. As I write this Jaxon is on his third day at school. After the first day, he said he wasn't going back. Then yesterday morning he was a bit more for going to school. Today the debate was which side of the road we had to walk and then where to cross outside the school (there's a pelican crossing but about five metres away there's also a small traffic island in the middle of the road so you can wait for the lights to change and then still cross the road further along - if that makes sense!) So what have I been up to with my days so far of "freedom"? Well, lots actually. I'm almost up to date on the washing and have managed to clear some other bits of clutter that have been gathering around the house. I even got the bedding and towels back into the airing cupboard instead of them migrating across the landing.

 
I may have got distracted by pretty highlighters too. Interesting colourful spreads make you more productive right? Well I'm sure it might but not 100% I was as productive as I could have been! Then I got onto longer-term goals. What did I want to achieve next week and in the rest of September? Well, I might have got to a "Before Christmas" stage as well but decided to pause that one. SMART Goals. So I don't know about you but when it comes to making goals that aren't just a "cross of a to do" kind of goal I often end up back at SMART goals. (For daily goals I sometimes try the 1-3-5 method that my friend Rickie introduced me to. 5 little tasks, 3 medium tasks and 1 big task each day rather than a long to-do list like I normally do. You can read more here). Back to SMART goals, so let's go back to the beginning. What does SMART stand for? Specific - Make sure the goal is well defined. What do I want to accomplish? Why is the goal important? Who is involved? Where is it located? What do I need to achieve it? Measurable -  Make sure the goal is obtainable - think about how will I know when it is accomplished? (For instance, rather than ride my bike more, I might set a goal like ride my bike 10 miles a week) Achievable - how I accomplish this goal? How realistic is the goal? Relevant - is the goal relevant? Does this seem worthwhile? But also is this the right time? Time-Bound - Every goal needs an end day so that you have a deadline to focus on. Maybe it's the day of a big race (like London Marathon is always around the 25th April - actually it's nearly always the weekend before my birthday!)

 

My planner is definitely more of the appointments along with daily to do list kind of goals. I've decided to try and start a new insert in my standard TN for the longer goals. With Jaxon now being at school on weekdays, I'm trying to be more proactive and try and achieve some of those goals that I kept putting off because I couldn't do them with Jaxon in tow. September started with a lot of decoration, I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and even if Anna's September stickers weren't technically HP and Hogwarts themed they did work perfectly (with some additions) to decorate the week leading up to what is the day everyone catches the Hogwarts Express to school. I paired the stickers with red and yellow washi. They were the closest I had to the Gryffindor colours (although I did discover at last year's Jingle and Mingle that technically I'm a Hufflepuff. Have you booked your tickets for this year's Jingle and Mingle? They are available here)

 

Hannah

Unicorn Planner Pages

 

 Welcome to Part 2 of my Unicorn Sky sticker kit layouts. I loved this set so much that I made two layouts in the same month to celebrate them because I just couldn't help myself (you may have seen my August layout earlier). Again, I mixed and matched Anna's stickers with papers and washi tape I already had lying around, and for a change I decided to be sparse on my stickers to make them stand out more.

Up until this year I've never been a big fan of vertical planning although now that I've been playing around with it for a few months I can see the appeal and it definitely ticks a lot of my list-making boxes (planner pun intended) because I am such a list person. I've been experimenting with different layout styles and have settled (for now) on a half-page columns for Monday-Thursday - because, honestly, I'm so busy working that there's not a whole lot happening on those days! - and full page columns for Friday-Saturday where I need a lot more space to document what's happening.

   

 It was also really nice to get back and grab some pens and do some doodling on my pages. I haven't done that for ages, either, and it was a lot of fun to just fill in a few little spaces that popped up in the layout.

   

 I'm a huge fan of layering pieces together to create something different and I loved using Anna's unicorns to pull the whole thing together. Look and this precious one - it's like she's waiting for all the amazing things to happen in this week!

   

 All the extra paper, ephemera and washi tapes come from stores locally here in Melbourne (and some of it is quite old now so tracking them down was tough) but I'm a firm believer in using what you have and mixing and matching where you can. It just creates a lot of visual interest.

   

 I'm looking forward to putting down all my plans in this week's layout. I think it's going to be a great week! 

 Stef

https://novelteacorner.com/

August Monthly Set Up

 

 Everyone needs a little magic in their life, and nothing says magic like unicorns. This month I took the stickers from the Unicorn Sky collection and created two layouts, the first which is this monthly layout. I love mixing and matching craft supplies I already have and I found an old set of papers and ephemera pieces from a collection I bought ages ago from a local store and paired it Anna's stickers to create something I think is fun and whimsical and enjoyable to look at.

 

 

 

 

 There's nothing like creating layers on a planning page and it's been ages since I used scrapbooking papers to do so. I love the mix of the commercial products and Anna's illustrations to provide 

contrast.

   

 I hope this provides you with some ideas to just play in your planner. There are no rules, no right ways to create magic. 

Be inspired and inspire yourself constantly! 

 Stef

https://novelteacorner.com/

August 2018 Brimbles Box Unboxing

Here is my unboxing of the Brimbles Box for August 2018. The Brimbles Box is my monthly planner / journal box. It is used and loved by creative planners as well as memory keepers and creative journallers.

Monthly subscriptions are also back! If you would like to sign up for the next Brimbles Box you can do so here: https://www.mrsbrimbles.co.uk/product-category/brands/mrsbrimbles/brimblesbox/
Boxes on subscription are £18 including postage wherever you are in the World. One off boxes are £15.00 plus postage so if you are international it would work out cheaper to subscribe wink wink! You can also subscribe via my Patreon which also gives you access to my online content in addition to the box: https://www.patreon.com/mrsbrimbles

Imagine a messy desk with just about enough space for the keyboard. That’s my desk, so the idea of sitting at my desk to journal or create anything more than the odd scribble has been a challenge. Working hasn’t exactly been easy with no space on the desk but it’s worked in it’s own way! Back in May we went to Paris for the weekend and then to Disneyland Paris for a week. I’d spent all week collecting train tickets, paper place mats from the restaurants and photos galore to then journal about it when I got home. Just like I’ve done with so many other trips. Well, we arrived back on the Sunday evening in theory ready to go back to normal life, however at the end of our trip, my son Jaxon had gone down with Chicken Pox. While my husband went back to normal life, Jaxon and I were sort of in quarantine. This is where working for myself comes in handy but between one thing and another journaling about our trip was getting further and further down the list. It’s now the middle of July and I’m writing this post. Jaxon is in bed and Chris has gone out for the evening (I have a Bear Grylls series playing on my iPad – now that’s a crazy adventure there!). Now some people are doing One Book July this month and it did cross my mind to join in, but it’s only now that I sort of have a plan in place. (About time right?) Passion Planner



For months maybe even years it had crossed my mind to get a Passion Planner but having not got on with other hourly based planners I wasn’t sure it was right for me so kept putting it off. When I sat down with another independent business owner here in Bedford and I saw what her Passion Planner looked like, I was convinced – I’d print off the tester PDFs from the website and see how it would go. Well that lasted all of the time it took me to fill in the next few weeks – I decided to order the undated version and get on with it. Well the classic is a bit big (it’s A4) but works wonders! When my stickers arrived from July’s Sticker Club, I carried them around tucked in my planner for  a few days and got a few ideas together like alternating the sticker washi with normal washi tape. Then when Chris was out at the church youth group and Jaxon was in bed, I attempted to get some filming done before it got too gloomy. I’m not sure it’s my best recording but it was fun to have the camera out for the first time in a while.

 

Journaling



 When you consider all the delays about writing about the Paris trip, I think I got further and further away from wanting to journal about the trip because there was more time that had past since we had got back. In the end I sat down and did it. I knew by getting on with it, I’d actually be able to clear both some of my messy desk and the pile that was growing underneath my desk (and would regularly get kicked and messed up!) Also I’ve been collect items since our holiday so they are taking up more space too! My go to for journaling is usually some kind of TN insert, for a long time I’ve been in a TN but something recently has taken me away from that and I’m not entirely sure what it is that has put me off. I’ve been working my way through the notebooks and inserts I already have. Some are as big as A5 and others are smaller size TN inserts. My current notebook is a Midori MD A5 notebook with grid pages. I’ve used some of the collage sheet from previous Patreon collections from Anna to decorate the outside and then used some of July’s Patreon collage sheets to decorate where I’m starting in the notebook. This will be a bit like a bullet journal in that it will carry my to do lists but it will also work as my journal to write about what we’ve been up to and how I’m feeling etc. Also it will be a bit of a “catch all” so there might be photos and things too along the way (maybe a flip through will follow at the end of the book). I’m hoping now that I have this plan, I can clear my desk a bit, I can feel a bit more clearer in my head and come up with a plan to move forward. After all what’s the point in getting caught up in all the decorative planning if you don’t actually get any plans done?

Hannah You can find me here: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Blog.

Bright & Cheerful planner pages

Hi friends!

What do you do when the weather turns grey and miserable? (Shh, it's Winter here in Australia!)

Me, I like to make things as bright and cheerful as possible in my planner to try and take my mind off the fact that it's gotten pretty icy outside.

This week I dug out the remains of my Hop To It sticker collection and put it to good use along with some washi tapes from my collection.

Every now and then I like to just play with washi tape - layering it up and tearing it to create different effects, and this week was no different. I love how it turned out with different patterns and colours contrasting with one another to create a look that a single washi tape on it's own couldn't do.

My tip to you all is don't get stuck doing things the way you've always done them - it's so much fun to change things up and just play. And if we can't play in our planners, where can we?

Check out my planner video below to watch how this layout came together, and scroll down for more close-up photos of the pages.

As always, feel free to follow me on Instagram or Youtube for more planner inspiration.

Until next time, happy planning!

Stef xx

June Plan with me!

Happy June, everyone!

This month I was inspired by 2 older Brimbles sticker kits that I had leftovers from and I have to say, they go pretty nicely together. The two kits in question are the Cats in Bloom and September Garden kits, which both feature lovely neutrals and muted colours.

June is the start of Winter here in the Southern hemisphere... but I might be in a bit of denial, going with such a Spring-y themed month. I can't help it, though, I love the colours and the personalities of the little cat stickers, which just inspire such a sense of whimsy.

(And who said thematic planning has to happen all the time - or ever? Go with what you love, right?)

I hope this layout inspires you to go back to all the leftover stickers you have lying around. See what you can mix and match into something brand new and fun!

As always, if you're looking for more planner inspiration, check out my Youtube channel, or head on over to Instagram and say hi!

Until next time, planner friends, have a wonderful day!

Stef

An English Garden

I have another collection to show you!

So I was sat in my garden and looked around and thought I must journal about how lovely the garden looks right now. So I took some photos and then the inspiration fairy said "why not turn these into a collection".

So I did and here it is lol! This collection is available to purchase now as either a Brimbles Box or individual items.

Browse the collection at: www.mrsbrimbles.co.uk

Plan With Me! Dreamer of Dreams

I don't very often share these types of videos but I thought I would just turn the camera on whilst I added loads of stickers to my planner lol!

I used the Dreamer of Dreams and the Wild at Heart Collection from my shop.

Updates to stickers!

Hey peeps!

Just to let you know that I’ve made some changes to my stickers...

1. On my functional sticker sheets I’ve changed the icons so they are chunkier and therefore bolder and easier to see

2. I’ve added a couple of different icons and made some more obvious or more universal

3. On the planner box stickers I’ve added appointments instead of all the plain strips

4. All stickers now have different paper! I’ve found better paper, more expensive paper so I’ve switched (and I’m actually switching again next month as I’ve found even better!).

I hope you like the new and improved stickers, I certainly do. I'd love to know what you think!

Anna x

Grace's Planner Brights/Planner Con Projects

This month I was super excited to receive the Planner Nerd Brights stickers as my D.T. package, as I will be off to Cambs Planner Con in a few short weeks! So I already had the matching stickers that came with my ticket to the event, and now had loads of Planner Nerd stickers to use!

I started by decorating the week of Cambs Planner Con in my personal size planner - I rarely decorate in advance so it felt a little weird but I really like how it turned out. 

 I did, admittedly, add stickers from my planner con kit, but it's mostly stickers from this month's club. There will be a Plan With Video published on my YouTube channel for this, but it won't be until Sunday 15th (so it's ready for the relevant week!), so keep an eye out for that :)

Close Ups!

After this I still had plenty of stickers left over, and at first I was a little stumped at how to use them. The obvious way to use them would be journaling (or other forms of memory keeping) Planner Con, but I couldn't do that before the event! So I had an idea - decorate a little notebook to pass around at planner con, asking people to sign it, and have that to keep as a memento of the day.

Here's a close up of the front page so it's easier for you to read the text:

I also used more stickers from the kit to decorate some of the pages inside:

So if you're going to be at Planner Con 2018, please keep an eye out for my little book! As the blurb says, I'd be ever so grateful if you signed it!

Of course, this kit isn't just for Planner Con attendees, most of us are Planner Nerds in some form, and these are perfect for anyone who enjoys "jammin' on their planner" :P 

Thanks so much for reading! 

Grace @ms.paperlover

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