How to make a 4 pocket travelers folder

Travelers notebooks seem to be the rage lately or maybe I am just late to the par-tay. But I have purchased a few "sew-dori's" or whatever one might call them there are so many versions of Midori's out there. I unfortunately haven't used mine yet but I did get two really cute ones. I love owls so the one is owls and foxes and the other is one is based on my zombie obsession...yes it is a real obsession. So I will show you the two I have purchased and links to the Etsy seller.

But today I thought I would show you a quick tutorial on how to make a 4 pocket travelers folder. Mine is based on the regular size but you can easily modify the process for any size you own. You can also do modifications to add more pockets or slits there are so many possibilities but we are doing the 4 pocket today.

Here is a pic of the ones I did today. I used some of Mrs Brimbles awesome paper for the inside. I picked it for the inside because of the way you fold it the pattern would have been upside down on the inside pocket. While that may not bother you my OCD brain would not allow it. So for this you will need the following supplies/tools:

**A few of these items are optional. You can get by without them doing it the old fashion way

Paper trimmer
Score board
Glue stick
Corner rounder
Scissors
Circle punch
2 pieces of cardstock 12 x 12

Here are what the pockets will look like when finished

Lets get started!

The measurements for the 2 pieces are:

Base piece is 9.5 x 12

Inside pocket is 8 x 8.5 (go slightly under those measurements so it won't fit so tight.

Now I am going to share some pics from my happy planner spread using the September Brimbles Box. 

The stickers and stamps this month was so stinkin' cute! I love the autumn colors and the images were all Anna's creations which make them extra special. 

This charm is so pretty from Cloudy Clow

 You fox you!

Hope you enjoyed the DIY and the pics of my planner. Now don't you want to subscribe to the Brimbles box! Join us on facebook (click here)  also for loads of conversation, sneak peaks and pics of lovely Brimbles items. 

Debbie 

www.craftinchaos.com

Travelling Notebook

So it's been a little while since I've popped up on this blog! Apologies for that, between travelling up and down the country, and preparing to move, things have just got on top of me. I'm getting there though. My face should be popping up more regularly on here from now on!

Today I've got a travelling notebook to share with you. This isn't mine, it's someone elses but I decided to use the contents of the past few Brimbles Boxes to fill in my pages.

If you are unaware of what a travelling notebook is then I have a full blogpost on my blog where you can have a read, just click here.

In short though it's a notebook that's sent around numerous people and everyone fills in a few pages. Then when it's full up, it's sent back to the person who set it off!

On my first page I decided to add one of the Mini File Folders that came in the May Brimbles Box. I used some of the Alphabet Stickers from the June box, and a beautiful floral sticker that also came in the May box. Inside I added my generic info and decided to draw a little map of the UK to illustrate where I'm from/will be moving to in the next month or so (fingers crossed).

Below that I added a 'currently' section, and decorated that with more washi from the past two boxes (Cloud Washi & Floral Wreath Washi). The 'Shine Bright' washi is from one of the recollection tubes of washi.

For the main double spread in this notebook I split it into chunks. There was no real rules of what to put in the notebook, so when I filled it in I decided to add whatever sprung to mind.

Some people choose to list certain things they want people to write about, where as others leave it open to whatever the contributor feels like doing.

I used the Gold Confetti Washi that came in a past Brimbles Box, along with this beautiful mismatched one from Paperchase.

I popped the little 'weekend' sticker by Sea Salt & Paper, that came in my August Brimbles Box at the top, and wrote a little section about the upcoming weekend.

Then I used a variety of stickers from my Mrs Brimbles Sticker sheet that was in the June box, to decorate the rest of the page.

Again over here I went through all the stickers, and picked out a few that would fit well with the bright colours I was using throughout.

I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I hope the notebook's owner likes it!

I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge I set myself to use just things from my Brimbles Boxes.

- Daisy X

Making Mixed Media Inserts for Travelers Notebooks

I was sat at my desk making a mixed media insert for my travelers notebook when I thought I would turn the camera on and have a chat with you whilst I do it and show you what I did and how I put it together.

Choosing the right planner for you

Spirals and Binders and Travelers OH MY!

choosing the right planner for you

Its funny I have always been a "crafter" and moved into a plannerd and the obsession with having lots of planner supplies is in full swing because that is typically how I roll. I go in with all guns blazing when I start a hobby. Much like crafting I had to have all the tools and sometimes would buy something just because I was new and others had it so I surely needed it once I figured out how to use it that is! So now my craft room runneth over! I slowly started mixing in with the planner crowd and less with the crafting crowd. Although my love for both still continues I have found a way to merge the two loves.  I decided to make paperclips and then my obsession with planners and all things planner related kicked in. BOOM i was hooked and BOOM I had an Etsy shop. 

Today's discussion is a bit of a run down of various planners and if I own one I will give my opinion but maybe if you are new it will give you some insight as to what planner would work best for you. Everyone talks about "planner peace" to me this is a fictitious state in which most planners will never achieve because most of us its not so much about finding the one planner that will "complete us" its more of a collection. Much like buying a beautiful designer purse because you just love purses, planners can be that same for many people. You might have the same planner in multiple colors or sizes even. Personally for me I like big planners and I cannot lie! I can't deal with the small ones although I think they are cute and could serve as a wallet and thus be dual purpose. Lets break down the 411 on planners.

Spirals:

These are much like a large notebook but depending on what brand you buy you can sometimes select the layout you want for your weekly spread. I love these planners because I use notebooks a lot to doodle, take notes etc. so my spiral planner is something I can use for all those things PLUS it keeps me organized. I personally love Limelife planners. They have so many different weekly layouts to choose from that you are bound to find what you want. There are add on's such as "meal planning", "social Media"etc. I have both of these add on's in my planner. They now have a teacher planner as well. You can customize your cover and the owner is so sweet even if something doesn't say you can customize it she will go the extra mile to do something requested if she can. I like to support small woman businesses and this is definitely one of them. Also awesome side mark here there is a place you can go to print off a sample of each weekly layout so you could play with it and see if it truly going to work for you. The con is that you cannot remove the pages to decorate or write so sometimes the coil gets in your way. I do like being able to fold it over like a notebook but again certain days of the week are hard to stamp or decorate because you are close to the spiral. Now there are several companies out there selling spirals like Erin Condren, 1407 planners, Plum Paper Planners and more. I have owned an EC and for me personally the Limelife is much better quality and much more customizable. Paper quality is excellent. Stamping in the planner is great because of this. But keep in mind there are many inks that work best when stamping in planners so do your homework on that. I let my daughter have my Erin Condren when I got my limelife so I don't have it here to take a pic.

Most of the sizes are close on these planners. Roughly 7 x 9"

Here are the links to check them out:

Price Points: 

Limelife Planners $55 plus add on's 

Erin Condren $50 and up

Plum Paper planner $31 plus add on's
Happy Planner $24.99 (not exactly a spiral but it falls between spiral and ring)

Ring Binders:

I have owned the daytimes, filofax, webster pages, simple stories, Kikki K ring binders. They come in multiple sizes depending on your needs compact, personal, A5.  I personally am a Kikki girl. All of the ones listed are great planners and many are coming out with so many colors, and designs that I will continue to own them as well! (remember I am obsessed now) My Kikki K is my favorite planners. I only have a small amount of them but the ones I have I love. The quality is wonderful, I love the colors they offer and the styles inside the planner with the pocket configurations. I do love the new webster pages coming out and the simple stories as well so for me most ring binders will work for you it is just a matter mainly of your budget. IF you want leather binders filofax and kikki both have excellent quality. If you are vegan several of the companies have a more vegan friendly materials. Alway check your rings when you get one to make sure they are tight. The nice thing is you can remove the pages to decorate so that the rings don't get in your way. 

Sizes: Compact, Personal, Medium and A5

Price Point: (starting prices can vary depending on size. I will be going by A5)

Filofax $67 and up

Kikki K $70 and up (watch for sales!!)

Webster Pages $45 

Simple Stories $45

**watch for sales and clearances for some great deals on all of them

Travelers 

I always thought that these were more for journals but there are so many people making inserts for them that have more of the calendar aspects to them or other books to track various things. Then you can still get the grid paper notebooks, lined notebooks and you can have multiple books within your cover so you can go to town with this! Its a great item to take with you on trips so you can doodle, journal or keep track of your life. You used to see these mainly made out of leather but now so many companies are making their variation of these. They come in a variety of sizes. They can be called midori's, fauxdori's, sewdori's and many many more! They can be leather, fabric and a variation of faux leathers and materials. They come in various sizes also. You can easily make your own if you watch youtube and also make your own inserts. So this can be a fun project or help if you are on a tight budget. I just bought my first one the other day and it was a fabric one and it is so cute! So you can really show your personality by buying or making one with fabric that speaks to you!

Sizes: Passport, Pocket, Personal, Regular, Wide, Extra Wide

Price can range from $30 and up depending on materials and size. 

I am no expert but hopefully this little run down helps a bit.

Now for a bit of eye candy! Did you know that Mrs Bimbles has a sticker subscription now too! SAY WHAT!! Here is a pic of all the stickers I received from the subscription. I mean what a good variety of stickers right!

Sticker subscription

A5 Planner Box

 Thank you for stopping by and hope you found some of the information helpful!

Brighten your day.

Journal Pages in my Fauxdori

With this month's box I decided to use the contents to decorate my journaling pages.

I recently went to see Zootropolis at the cinema with my brother, and seeing as it was a kind of fun film, the April box had lots of fun bright things that just went really well with what I was journaling about! I absolutely loved working with such bright colours, and fun stickers!

These journaling pages didn't have any photos on, I decided to just use the things I had collected during the day. We actually got given a free sticker book and stickers when we went to see the film, so of course I didn't turn that down. It was a lovely day spent with my brother, and I also beat a few anxiety worries, so definitely a day to be documented! Hence the use of the pink 'Documented' sticker on the page on the left.

I of course kept the cinema ticket to stick in! One of the many reasons I like buying tickets at the cinema rather than online, is because you get a 'proper' ticket. They look a lot nicer in a journal or scrapbook! We also got charged for teen tickets rather than an adult, which was highly amusing. I'm nearly 22 and my brother is 19... But hey! All I said was 'two tickets to see Zootropolis please' so I'm not going to complain if they want to charge us less. I used the cry laughing emoji sticker to represent the 'lols' we got out of that.

I used the rainbow dashed journaling card from this pack of ephemera by Mrs Brimbles, to create a little flap on the page. I stuck one of the stickers we got from the cinema on the front, and decorated it with the purple & pink heart washi tape, and some arrow stickers from the sticker sheet that were in my Brimbles Box. I also used from film strip washi tape that I got on eBay.

On the other side of the flap I stuck another one of the stickers we got, and I popped one of the little sticky tabs from the sticky notes that were in my Brimbles Box. I tend to use any sticky tabs that already have words on, like stickers. Because the film sticker was quite dark, the sticky tab really helps to break up all the dark colours. Without it there, it would have just looked really glum and bland.

I decided to keep my bus ticket from the trip to the train station as this was one of the things I was most anxious about doing. It's a nice little reminder that I managed it, and didn't freak out! I stapled this to the page so it could easily be lifted up, and I could put things underneath it.

Underneath I added one more sticker we got at the cinema, and used this orange 'Admit One' washi tape, which was also from eBay, to decorate around it. I added one of the striped flag banner stickers from the sticker sheet in my Brimbles Box to the corner of the Zootropolis sticker. It felt a little bare without something there, so this small addition helped to fill the gap.

At the bottom of this page I wanted to add a little cluster of washi & stickers, just to help balance the pages out a bit. I went ahead and added some more of the film strip & heart washi, and then added this yummy looking donut sticker! Once we got home I ended up having a nap, watching tv & eating 'crappy' food, even though I didn't have a donut, the donut does represent the type of food I went for, haha!

Once I'd done the journaling I decided to go over random words and phrases with the highlighters that came in my Brimbles Box. I love this technique when it comes to journaling, but I've never had more than two colours of highlighter to do it with. Now I have a whole set, so I did go a little bit crazy! I love how it turned out though, there was so much colour going on around the edges of the journaling, the written section looked very bare in comparison. 

Hopefully you enjoyed seeing how I used a lot of the items from this month's box! I really enjoyed using them to decorate my journaling pages! 

- Daisy X

My Travelers Notebook / Fauxdori Set Up & Contents

Well as you know my little Travelers Notebook and I have become the best of friends of late. Our relationship has been growing stronger and stronger every day. When I first knew about midori's or travelers notebooks I really didn't get what all the fuss was about. Maybe I wasn't doing it right or maybe I just hadn't found the right one I am not sure. I dabbled in a couple and wasn't massively digging it. I then went on to the fabric ones from Love Neen and Lyra & Co (both on Etsy) and I loved those but only for sketch books and journals. But since I have been using my TN from Websters Pages it has been a match made in heaven. I know, I know, I have been going on about it lol!

Anyhooo I have been meaning to share my set up with you and you lot have been asking but it's been a tad busy round here but Ta Da! here it is!

As you know one of the things that sets the Websters Pages TN's out from some of the others is all of the nifty pockets on the inside. I am not really utilising them for anything much. All of my loyalty cards and debit cards are in my purse and so these pockets are just getting filled as time goes on with bits and bobs like stickers and photos. I kinda like that it grows and changes organically though. The first insert that I have is a week on two page diary from Travelers Times on Etsy. The cover is a plain Kraft and so I have collaged mine with bits of scrapbook papers, stickers, enamel dots and the like. I love how it looks and how it is a collection of things that represent my personality.

Next up I have another insert, again from Travelers Times that I am using for my 'You' planner. My word of the year for 2016 was you or Me if you prefer and that is all about encouraging me to spend more time on myself as I often neglect me. This just helps me to keep track of that to make sure I am doing something. The covers of this insert are made using scrapbook paper and greetings cards that I received. If you want to know more about my word of the year you can watch my video:

I also have a journal inside which I use for thoughts and feelings, ya know 'dear diary' stuff as well as documenting my life with photos and bits. I don't do any messy art journaling in there though. This is the sort of clean, dry stuff I do on the sofa of an evening.

I also have a fourth notebook and my watercolour palette for on the go needs. You'll get a much better look at those though in the video.

And so that is my set up and everything that is housed in my travelers notebook. I hope that gives you a bit more of an insight into the inner workings of me and also gives you some ideas for what you can use yours for too.

Planner peace & decorated pages

Well I always thought I had planner peace. In fact no I am sure, 100% sure that I did in fact have planner peace with my personal ring planners using the Websters Pages week on two page inserts. It made me happy and it worked. Really worked. Of course I only used this for my 'home life' and all work and blog stuff is in another planner or two. So if you are blissfully happy why change? Why rock the boat? What if it didn't work?

Well those are easy to answer....I changed because I received my Websters Pages Travelers Notebooks and I fell in love with them. Previously I had used fabric fauxdori's as journals only but when the WP ones arrived it was certainly love at first sight and I wanted to move my whole life into it and apart from work stuff which is still separate, this is what I have done! If I fall out of love with it I can always go back but for now it makes me very happy.

I promise I will do a set up tour soon. I know I have been promising but things have been very busy in the Brim household with one thing or another and then to top it off I got a cold which took me 'out of service' for nearly a week. I was gonna film today but I thought I would save that for another week so you can enjoy without hearing me sniffing! In the meantime I thought you would like to look at my decorated pages for the past few weeks as I realised that I haven't shared any pages here on the blog for such a long time!

Fauxdori Insert Decoration

Hello wonderful planner addicts! Itís Zinia here again and today I want to share with you how I decorated my Foxydori using the March stationery Brimbles Box.

Since I generally keep my decorations minimal to have plenty of space for my planning, I decided to use the washi tapes that came in my box in a different way.

So since the washi tapes that were included in my box were sort of Easter themed and I didnít feel like going for that style in my planner, I decided to punch tiny circles from my washi tape and create abstract decorative stickers. I tried to cut through the designs so you canít really tell anymore it was a bunny or an egg, you just see lovely colors and patterns.

I also used the amazing bunny stickers that Anna designed for this month to give some more interest to my little clusters of washi stickers.

As far as planning goes, I used the adorable stickers we got by Craftiní Chaos. The colors are really so darling and Iíve always been a huge fan of drop shaped stickers.

I also paper-clipped a page of the notepad to keep temporary notes and to-do lists for long term projects so I can just move it on my next week if there are still things to be done.

To add a little extra detail to my spread I used one of my most favorite Studio L2e stamp sets, Get it Girl 2, to add some motivational words.

So this is how I add little bits of decoration in my Foxydori while still keeping a lot of space for my daily to-do lists. I really hope you enjoyed, until next time, happy planning :).

 

 Feel free to stay in touch with me through social media: Blog ï Instagram ï Youtube ï Facebook ï Pinterest ï Twitter