Am I taking part in One Book July this year?

You know me, self confessed Planner Addict and Journal nerd. It's true I have several planners and several journals on the go at any one time.

I have been increasingly asked of late if I will be taking part in 'One Book July'. Now some of the questions have been a general interst from people who are generally interested in stationery and notebooks etc like myself, wanting to know if I will be taking part and my set up etc. Other times I have felt that they have been a little bit 'mocking' like; 'you couldn't possibly do it all in one book. Hard to explain that one, but some I have felt have mocked my multiple planners. They just don't know me at all lol!

Firstly let me say that there is a reason that I have multiples. I enjoy it. Yup, I enjoy using different books, for different things. Some books speak mixed media art to me and others speak little sketches. I just genuinely enjoy using different books at different times. Some of them I am in all the time and others I dip in and out of. I love the joy of finding a new journal in a shop as I am sure many stationery addicts will feel the same way. So I use multiples for fun and enjoyment not out of neccessity.

If you have no idea what I am talking about in terms of 'One Book July', this was a concept created by the Coffee Addicts Club, Rhomany, Miss Vicky B and Carrie Harling. Take a look at the video below as Rhomany introduces the concept and tells you what it is all about:



You can also head on over to the Facebook to see what is going on: www.facebook.com/onebookjuly

I watched all the girls with great interest last year and what they were up to. I also follow the lovely Suzi Blu and her Paint & Chronicle series with great interest. Basically Suzi uses one book for all her planning and journalling. If you don't know about that check out Suzi's video below:


I have been watching every week and every week I adore her books the way they grow with her. I lust and yearn for one book that combines my life in such a way yet nothing has of yet made me make that switch, that move to one book. Maybe I just haven't found that one book that excites me enough to plan and journal in it. I just love to use multiples even though I really do want to use one book. What is that all about huh?

So am I taking part in One Book July this year? let me explain it in a video....



How about you guys? Are you taking part? I would love to know if you are, what you are using and all the reasons behind it. And if you care to share photos I would love to see those too as I love to oggle other peoples journals.

Good luck to everyone taking part!

This weeks pages - Have a Monster of a good time!

Products Used
Planner: Websters Pages Color Crush Planner in Sky Blue with matching folio
Planner Inserts: Websters Pages week on two pages
Washi Tape: From past Brimbles Boxes
Journal Tag: Websters Pages - These are the days collection
Stickers: my online shop

How I use Multiple Planners

I am a planner addict. I will very openly put my hands up and admit that I like planners and so it stands to reason that I would have more than just one. I mainly have planners that are the Filofax brand BUT that is only because Websters Pages Color Crush are new and new to me. I have had some of my planners for quite a while now.  I am delighted by my Color Crush additions to my planner family and couldn’t be happier with them.  I also have a Paperchase planner and a couple of Fauxdori's.

One of the most frequently asked questions from people new to the planning community or for people who have one or two planners is ‘Do you use all those planners and how?”. The very short answer to that is no, I couldn’t possible use all of my planners at the same time. I would need a separate planner just to plan in when I was going to use my planners and that would just be crazy even for me!

So if I don’t use them all, why do I have them? OK so there is a couple of reasons, firstly my friends and family know that I like planners so buy them for me as gifts for my birthday and Christmas etc and to be perfectly honest that is how I have gotten most of my planners. Secondly I like to buy them and I use them as an accessory. There I have said it. Please don't judge me! I am not really into handbags and I only have two! One is a cross body daily and the other a posh hand held one for when such an occasion arises. I buy planners and change in and out of them like other people would with handbags. I just like to change colour or design with my mood, season or how I fancy decorating that week / month.

For me my planner is a planning tool. I Use them for, well, planning. Anything that is coming up and needs to be sorted or needs to get done. That for me is the difference between a journal and a planner. The way I see it or the way it works for my life, a journal and a planner are two separate things. I use a journal for recording what has happened in my day, thoughts, feelings, memories, that kind of thing and I use a planner for tracking appointments and to do lists. That is how it is currently working for me. Again there is a big BUT…one of the things I love about the Websters Pages Color Crush planners is that there are some great inserts to use as prompts for recording like you would in a journal. I am not currently using them in this way though. As you probably already know I also have the Large Florabunda planner from Ban.do on my shelf ready to use when August finally rolls around.

As for the planners I currently have and use this is how it works for me:

• Personal size – My daily everything. In that houses my calendar / diary sections, to do lists, blog planning and everything I need to plan for or jot ideas down for.Persoanl size – an old planner that I am not keen on houses my inserts that  I have taken out of my daily, that is the weeks that have passed that I no longer need to have with me

• Personal size – A red planner for keeping everything to do with Christmas planning. This only really comes out from October onwards and houses everything to do with Christmas cards, gifts, travel, house guests, meal planning etc. Check out my Christmas planning series here.

• A5 size – For all the information pertaining to my online retail business such as furture planning, potential stock ideas and supplier information.

• A5 size – which I fondly refer to as my ‘fluffyfax’ this has information pertaining to my three bunnies and two guinea pigs such as their nail trim logs, vaccination records, health records and care notes for when we are on holiday. Check out the FluffyFax here.

• A5 size – working as a home management binder where I record things like which room we painted, when and in what colour paint etc.

 

Only my personal daily which just so happens to be a Color Crush planner at the moment is the one that I look in, well errrrm, daily! This planner goes around the house with me. It sits open next to me on my desk so I can glance at it when I am working. It comes down stairs and sits on my breakfast bar in my kitchen and if I feel like having a cup of tea and a planning session then it comes into the lounge or family room with me too. Of course when I am out and about my daily planner comes too.  I have my schedule with me if I am at the doctors surgery and need to make a follow up appointment, the to do list is there if I am out in town and suddenly remember something I need to do and my notes and ideas are there if I am out having a herbal tea (not coffee he he!) and want to do a little brain dumping. Everything is all in the one place which is what I like.

My motto definitely is ‘your planner only works for you if you actually use it’. What I mean is you have to write in it and you have to refer to it. If you do that you have no excuse for missing things that you needed to get done.  All of my other planners that you could say I am currently using (the ones above) only actually get used when I need to do something in them so it makes sense for me to have them separate.  It makes no sense carrying things around with me that just don’t serve a purpose.

Mrs Brimbles Design Team Call for creative planners and journallers!

I am so thrilled and thoroughly excited to announce my first ever design team call. Whooop Whooop! Do you love getting creative in your planner and / or journals? Are you social and like to interact with like-minded creative people? Do you enjoy sharing photos of your planner and journals? Do you enjoy playing with new products every month? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you just might be the right fit for the Mrs Brimbles design team.

 

Let me tell you what it is all about…

Basically every month I will send you some goodies. Those goodies may be items that I sell as stand alone items in my online shop / on my Etsy shop OR it may be the Brimbles Box for that month. Whatever you receive, you will receive something, every month for you to play with and share.

The design team is open to creative planners and journal keepers. If this is not you but you would still like to be on the team, why not apply anyway! If the products that I sell are in line with your creative pursuits you may still be a good fit.

Being on the design team also means that you will also get exposure for your blog / social media and your artistic talent! Everything that you do with your goodies I will also share and you will also have ‘presence’ on my blog for the duration of your DT inclusion. The design team will last for one year (1^st September 2015 to 31^st August 2016) and either party can resign / withdraw at any time without notice or reason, all I ask is that if I have sent you something you just finish up with that before you go. I may or may not run this again the year after but if I do, in order to keep it fair to everyone I will re-advertise and you will need to re-apply should you wish to carry on the next year.

This opportunity is open internationally.

In return for receiving the items from me you will be required to:

• Share an ‘unboxing’ of what you received each month on your Blog / YouTube / Social Media Accounts etc.

• Create something(s) using the items that you have received and submit a blog post with photographs for inclusion on my blog: mrsbrimbles.blogspot.com once a month (timetable to be agreed with the final DT). You can also share this on your blog too and of course I will link back to you at all times.

• You will also need to create something(s) using the items that you have received and share this on your blog / YouTube / Social Media accounts with links back to me and the products.

So just to clarify, you will need to create TWO projects each month along with sharing your new products. Of course you can do more if you would like to, it would be very welcome and I will always re-tweet / re-gram etc

Interested?

If you would like to apply please send an email to: mail@mrsbrimbles.co.uk with the subject DT CALL APPLICATION and include the following information

• Your Name

• Country you live in (just so we know, this is not what we will be basing your submission on!)

• Links / Addresses to your Blog, YouTube and social media accounts (Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, instagram etc). Please note that you do not need to have all of the aforementioned social media accounts, if you do that is great. The only prerequisite is that you have a blog for sharing your DT creations on.

• Are you a creative planner or journal keeper? what do you do and why?

• Tell me a bit about you and why you would like to be on the design team / what you could bring creatively to the team?

• In your application please include photos on how you have decorated your planner or journal. Please give direct links to where photos can be found if you haven’t sent them by email (please share specific project links and NOT your general instagram link for example)

Closing Date for submitting your application is Sunday 2^nd August 2015. You are welcome to check that your application has been received but please note that I will not get back to you confirming the decision until after 17^th August – I will need time to think. I may get back to you sooner but don’t panic if you don’t hear until after 17^th. I will expect the design team to start as of 1^st September (don’t worry you won’t have to post anything on the 1^st, that is most likely when I will send you your first goodies!). The final DT will be announced on my blog and social media and you will be required to share your photo so we can all see who is who but you don’t need to worry about that until you are on the team.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch. Please email: mail@mrsbrimbles.co.uk using DT QUESTIONS as your subject line. I will get back to you as soon as I can.

On application close, I will assess all of the applications together and then choose, which is most likely going to be very difficult! I am going to be open as to the number of DT members in case I can’t narrow it down. Most likely Mr B will help me choose. Just to clarify I will be selecting based on your creativity and the best fit for the products that I sell and not on your Country or the fact you don’t have a YouTube channel etc so please do not let that deter you from applying.

Good Luck and I can’t wait to see your entries!!

The Planner Society Kit - June Unboxing

When my postman knocked on the door and I saw he was holding my June kit from the Planner Society I couldn't wait to open it hence why a planner related post is going up on a Tuesday rather than a Friday! I kinda knew what was in it already as I had seen all the photos being posted on instagram but it is still nice to crack it open and look at all of the goodies. You know I filmed an unboxing....



To find out more about the kit check out Christy's website: http://www.scarletlime.com/papercrafting.html

PLEASE NOTE: I purchased this kit (these products) with my own money.  This review is my own personal opionion on the product / company, given in good faith and has not be sponsored or endorsed. None of the links are affiliate links

This weeks pages - tell your story!

Products Used
Planner: Websters Pages Color Crush Planner in Gold with matching folio
Planner Inserts: Websters Pages week on two pages
Washi Tape: From my shop (discontinued)
Journal Tag: Websters Pages - These are the days collection
Paperclips: Staples
Pen: My Etsy Shop
Stickers: my online shop

The Badger Box - Quirky / Illustrated Gifts & Stationery

I was approached by the lovely Becca who runs an online shop called The Clever Badger as they have just launched a subscription box called The Badger Box. When Becca introduced herself she said that "The Clever Badger sells a range of quirky and illustrated gifts" so you can imagine how intrigued I was! I mean if you don't know me by now lol! You know that I love finding unique presents and stationery from designers and artisans, especially in the UK. Please do go and check out her website as she really does have some fantastic products.

Anyway obviously I said yes I would love to review your box...

What is the badger Box and how much etc?

The Badger Box is a monthly subscription box which contains four or five items with one commissioned by a UK based designer. The products will be a mixture of homewares, stationery, gifts, jewellery and greeting cards. Each box is themed, this month the theme was 'it's getting hot out there' and next month the theme is 'Great Adventures' which is released on 28th June 2015 at 7am.  A one off box is £18, a rolling subscription is £16 and £50 for 3 months worth of boxes. Shipping is free for all UK orders. International shipping will be the flat rate of £4.

So what did I receive?

I filmed my unboxing so check that out below.



In my box I received:

• A packet of sweeties (errrrm yeah they are long gone!!)
• A pair of 2d glasses but I am not sure what that is about he he!
• A seed bomb - you throw it to scatter flower seeds around
• A felt coaster
• A greetings card
• An art print

So what do I think?

I really like the concept of this box. I love the products that The Clever Badger sells so I know we can expect good things from the box in the future and I am really looking forward to following them on social media to see how the box grows and develops and finding out about new artists etc. I loved the theme of the box for sure and the quality of the items was really good. For me I would prefer if the print was 'finished' for want of a better word. It is a great piece of art but I think it would feel better if it was in a mount or something. It's hard to explain but for me it would just feel more like a product than a piece of card. I know from curating my own boxes that you know how much the RRP of an item is but other people don't always see this in the same way so it is hard for me to review this box in a way. I am more than sure that the RRP of the products meets what the box retails for but in my personal opinion it just felt like it was a bit shy of this. I don't want that to come accross as a bad thing because as I say, I know what that is like from a box curator point of view BUT I am all about giving honest reviews and feedback so I can only speak as I find. This is however the first ever box and so it can only grow over time. Overall I did really like the box though. Please do leave some feedback to let Becca know what your thoughts are, I am sure she would love to read them!

To find out more about the box and about The Clever Badger please check out these links:

E: becca@thecleverbadger.com

W: www.thecleverbadger.com

F: www.facebook.com/thecleverbadger

T: www.twitter.com/thecleverbadger

I: www.instagram.com/thecleverbadger

If you are interested in purchasing a box, boxes will be available on June 28th at 7am on a first come, first served basis! To register your interest email info@thecleverbadger.com
 

PLEASE NOTE: I was given this / these product(s) in exchange for my honest review and opinion, the fact that I was given these does not alter my opinion in anyway. This review is my own personal opionion on the product / company, given in good faith and has not be sponsored or endorsed. None of the links are affiliate links. Unless otherwise stated, all photography is my own.

This weeks pages - Fun of the Fair

This weeks pages - all the fun of the Fair!

Products Used
Planner: Websters Pages Color Crush Planner in Sky Blue with matching folio
Planner Inserts: Websters Pages week on two pages
Washi Tape: Unknown
Paperclips: From a RAK I received
Stickers: my online shop

Even Florence is in love with my pages this week! She decided to photo bomb me!

A look inside the Kate Spade and Shop Ban.do Planners / Agendas!

Hey Planner lovers! The cat is kinda out of the bag over on instagram and Twitter...the 'big brand' company that I have been hinting at over the last couple of months is finally here and if you follow my accounts over there you will know that those brands are Kate Spade and Shop Ban.do. So there we go girls. I am super duper over the moon giddy with excitement. I have been working so hard behind the scenes to pull it off and I can't believe that they are actually in the house but they are. I am now a Kate Spade and Shop Ban.do stockist here in the UK. I had to say that one more time because I still can't quite believe it myself but it is true.

More on the stationery line will be coming to the shop soon and possible some of the lifestyle products as well if you lovely peeps would be interested in that but for now I am proud to announce officially on the blog that the planners / agendas are in stock whoooop whoooop!

So I posted photos on my instagram / Twitter of the ones that I am keeping and I asked if any of you would like me to do a video so you can get a better feel for them and see what the insides are like. You gals said yes so here we are!

Both the Kate Spade and Shop Ban.do planners are 17 month so if like me you are itching to get into it you don't have to wait that long. They start in August 2015 and end in December 2016.

If you are interested in purchasing any of these planners just head on over to my shop here: www.mrsbrimbles.co.uk/shop

First up let us take a look at the Shop Ban.do Florabunda.




So I am keeping the large spiral bound version. I love it and fell in love with it the moment that it arrived and I really cannot wait to use it, luckily I only have to wait until 27th July and then it can be mine mwah ha ha! I am still undecided as to whether this will be a planner or a journal or a mixture of the both but I love it! I have never used a spiral or bound planner before, only rings but this is just calling out to me so badly that I want to use it and I hope I will love it as much as I think I will!

It also comes in a smaller size but this is hard bound and not spiral, the inside is exactly the same and it comes in two outer designs.

 

So let' smove on and take a look at the Kate Spade agendas. They come in two designs, the gold spot and the black stripe and in two sizes. I know there were some ifs and buts over the gold spot as the 2015 version was known for the gold dots scratching off. I can't 100% vouch for this design but I did do a scratch test on a spot and nothing budged and you couldn't see where I had done it so hopefully all has been rectified there.

So let us take a look inside:

What do you think of them? What would you use them for? As the Florabunda is quite 'open' I am tempted to do a mix of planner and journal but I am not quite sure yet!

Thanks for getting excited with me and for all of your support I genuinely love you all xx

The Letter Bee Box - Stationery, PenPals & Journals - June Unboxing

The Letter Bee box is a monthly box curated by Patty from Furthermore Press. The box is aimed at everyone who loves letter writing, stationery and journals. Each box is themed and all the goodies inside the box relate to that theme in some way. love it!

I filmed my unboxing so that you can get a better sense of the products or do please keep on reading for photos of what I received.

About the box:

Boxes can be ordered through Patty's Etsy shop - Furthermore Press

Letter Bee box: $35US inc shipping in US   $30US + $22.50US shipping for UK which in totaly equates to £36. Patty also offers a Petite Letter Box: $22US + $5.95US shipping, outside of the US you need to get in touch with Patty so she can give you a quote.

As many of the items are unique and hand made there are a limited number of boxes each monthso get in quick if you want one!

This months theme was 'Write Away"...A celebration of handwriting and hand drawn lettering. As usual there is a card detailing all of the items inside as well as a sweet treat and some lovely tea.

On to the items then. Please note that there were lots of other bits but I have stuck to just showing some of the bigger items / my favourites so for a better look at the box contents you are best to watch the video!

Set of monogram letter cards, my initial of course!

A journal and a book to practice your lettering techniques with lots of different types of papers so you can see how ink handles on them.

A variety of different 'tools' for creating your lettering.

I think this has to be one of my favourites of the favourites as I have recently rediscovered my love for using wax seals on my letters. This one was handmade by Patty herself! And there was a cute little tray too!

As usual a lovely selection of note cards and postcards.

And a lovely selection of stickers.

Yet another wonderful box full of goodies. I loved the theme again this month and Patty's artwork is simply wonderful. Not everything is photographed so do check out the unboxing video to get a proper sense of what exactly is in the box. Definitely value for money in my opinion!

All in all another wonderful box full of goodies. I loved the theme again this month and Patty's artwork is simply wonderful. Not everything is photographed so do check out the unboxing video to get a proper sense of what exactly is in the box. Definitely value for money in my opinion!

PLEASE NOTE: I was given this / these product(s) in exchange for my honest review and opinion, the fact that I was given these does not alter my opinion in anyway. This review is my own personal opionion on the product / company, given in good faith and has not be sponsored or endorsed. None of the links are affiliate links

How to fill your fountain pen with bottled ink

I just thought I would do a quick little tutorial to show you (if you weren't sure) how to fill a fountain pen that takes ink from a bottle as opposed to ink cartridges. As you may know some of the June Brimbles Boxes contained pens like this and it has cause a little bit of confusion so here I show you how!


Where do you get the ink?

Bottled ink isn't as hard to come by as you may think, there are a few 'high street' / accessible places. I have the Cross brand ink in black which I purchased for £4 from Paperchase. I also know that WH Smith sell the Parker brand for about £8.

Adam is a total ink guru so I really reccommend you check out his blog for reviews on different ink brands and where to get some of the more exotic ones: http://www.thedeskofadam.com/blog?tag=ink

This weeks pages - cute little vardo

I am ever so in love with the illustrations by Helz Cuppleditch, I think she has just the sweetest style and I just can't get enough of them. I recently got a load of her range into the shop and I just want to use it all. All at once! I know that is silly but then I think if you find something you just simply love then sometimes you just can't get enough of it. I think you will understand what I mean, just look isn't it simply darling. That little vardo just has to be used. There is no other reason behind this week other than it is just the cutest thing ever. I know I am going to be using my planner loads this week just so that I can keep on looking at the cuteness!

Products Used
Planner: Websters Pages Color Crush Planner in Teal with matching folio
Planner Inserts: Websters Pages week on two pages
Washi Tape: Helz Cuppleditch Riverbank Revels available from my shop
Journal Tag: Websters Pages - These are the days collection
Paperclips: White star from Websters Pages.
Pen: My Etsy Shop
Stickers: my online shop