Hi everybody, I'll be offline for a few days while traveling (to Croatia! Woo hoo!!). So if I don't reply to emails or comments, don't worry, I'm not dissing you. I'll be more than happy to reply when I get back!
In the meantime, I have auto-scheduled a post for Monday that you DON'T want to miss! You know how I've said many times that it sure would be great to have a portable-size weekly planner with all seven days as full-size columns? I FOUND one!! A great one, actually. See my review this Monday the 14th!
Until I get back, happy planning! :D
Friday, June 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
My Rickshaw bag in traveling action
Here's an action shot of me and my Rickshaw bag in Apollonia!
Apollonia is an ancient Corinthian, and later Roman, city in Albania that's a couple hours' drive from where I live. My family and I had a great afternoon among the ancient ruins!
Some details: this is a Small Zero messenger bag from Rickshaw Bagworks (who also make the awesome Moleskine folios, and now custom iPad sleeves too!). It's called a Zero bag because there is zero waste in the production. Even the little scraps from cutting the material are used in the production of the bag.
I used their Customizer to choose the exact colors of my bag. The purple color is called Iris (they also have an Amethyst purple that's slightly more bluish). The trim is Pink.
I carried my lunch, guidebook, sunscreen, and enormous 2 liter bottle of water (which I removed for the photo for a better shot of the bag) up and down the hills all afternoon and hardly felt a thing. I told my husband, I can tell it's a well-designed bag if I can carry this much and it feels so easy!
Thank you Rickshaw for an excellent bag!
You can also see this photo on Rickshaw's Facebook page along with my and their comments about it! They mistook the location for Italy though, and I corrected them that it's Albania. Just across the water from Italy!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Journal Writers: how do you journal?
I am woefully behind in my journal. I haven't written in it for months. A big reason for this, I now realize, is I've set up unrealistic expectations for myself in my journal-writing this year.
I decided this year I will only write things in my journal that I want to remember. No emotional dumping, no negativity.
But this has proven difficult. First of all, I've been stressed to the gills for most of this year. (As in, if we don't find a job in the next 2 1/2 months, we'll be unemployed and homeless. How's that for stressful?) Of course I don't want to remember stress like that.
But it's a lot of work to edit out such a big aspect of my life. It's tied to everything else, so it's hard to suss out and write about only the memory-worthy events.
My second problem with my journal is that I use a dated day per page diary as my journal. (A large Moleskine daily diary, to be exact, for the third year in a row.) In past years I've found this motivational, because a blank page for each day encourages me to write SOMETHING. But with so many self-imposed constraints this year, I've tended to write nothing at all.
And so, my journal sits closed on my bedside table.
I thought maybe it would help to have my book sitting open somewhere on a table, and I could write into it throughout the day instead of waiting for time at the end of the day (which never happens. By the time the kids go to bed I'm too tired and drained to write anything meaningful, let alone memorable.) Writing short snippets throughout the day would probably give a better picture of my life anyway. Kind of like Tweets, in my journal.
In fact, just yesterday I saw this awesome article via Moleskiners about how 18th and 19th century diaries were a lot like Tweets today. And today, Moleskiners points out another article about journals, fearing they may soon become extinct in this age of electronic technology.
Journal-writers, how do you journal? Do you write something every day? Do you wait until you have a large block of time and write a bunch of pages all at once?
I guess when and how you write is at least partially determined by what you write about. Is your journal your emotional dumping ground? (Journals are great for that.) Like me, do you try to write about things you want to remember? Do you try to create an accurate record of your life? Or, do you just write whatever you feel like?
And while we're at it, what's your favorite book to write in for your journal?
(For those interested, here is what I use: a large, hard covered Moleskine day per page diary:)
Moleskine 2011 12 Month Daily Planner: Black Hard Cover Large (Moleskine Srl)
I decided this year I will only write things in my journal that I want to remember. No emotional dumping, no negativity.
But this has proven difficult. First of all, I've been stressed to the gills for most of this year. (As in, if we don't find a job in the next 2 1/2 months, we'll be unemployed and homeless. How's that for stressful?) Of course I don't want to remember stress like that.
But it's a lot of work to edit out such a big aspect of my life. It's tied to everything else, so it's hard to suss out and write about only the memory-worthy events.
My second problem with my journal is that I use a dated day per page diary as my journal. (A large Moleskine daily diary, to be exact, for the third year in a row.) In past years I've found this motivational, because a blank page for each day encourages me to write SOMETHING. But with so many self-imposed constraints this year, I've tended to write nothing at all.
And so, my journal sits closed on my bedside table.
I thought maybe it would help to have my book sitting open somewhere on a table, and I could write into it throughout the day instead of waiting for time at the end of the day (which never happens. By the time the kids go to bed I'm too tired and drained to write anything meaningful, let alone memorable.) Writing short snippets throughout the day would probably give a better picture of my life anyway. Kind of like Tweets, in my journal.
In fact, just yesterday I saw this awesome article via Moleskiners about how 18th and 19th century diaries were a lot like Tweets today. And today, Moleskiners points out another article about journals, fearing they may soon become extinct in this age of electronic technology.
Journal-writers, how do you journal? Do you write something every day? Do you wait until you have a large block of time and write a bunch of pages all at once?
I guess when and how you write is at least partially determined by what you write about. Is your journal your emotional dumping ground? (Journals are great for that.) Like me, do you try to write about things you want to remember? Do you try to create an accurate record of your life? Or, do you just write whatever you feel like?
And while we're at it, what's your favorite book to write in for your journal?
(For those interested, here is what I use: a large, hard covered Moleskine day per page diary:)
Moleskine 2011 12 Month Daily Planner: Black Hard Cover Large (Moleskine Srl)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Your Time to Plan
Do you have a certain time of day when you sit down with your planner and go over the day's and week's upcoming events?
A certain Philofaxy reader whom we all know and love said she sits down every morning with a cup of tea and her Filofax. She reviews her day, and flips through the next several days, to know what she needs to do and when.
I tend to just look at my planner on the fly, several times throughout the day. But recently I had the thought that I might feel (and perhaps even actually *be*) more organized if I look at my planner first thing in the morning and again in the evening specifically to review upcoming events and prepare for them.
Do you have designated planner-time sessions, or like me do you glance at it on the go?
A certain Philofaxy reader whom we all know and love said she sits down every morning with a cup of tea and her Filofax. She reviews her day, and flips through the next several days, to know what she needs to do and when.
I tend to just look at my planner on the fly, several times throughout the day. But recently I had the thought that I might feel (and perhaps even actually *be*) more organized if I look at my planner first thing in the morning and again in the evening specifically to review upcoming events and prepare for them.
Do you have designated planner-time sessions, or like me do you glance at it on the go?
Monday, June 7, 2010
Daycraft Decoder sketchbook and Laptop notebook
These are some of the coolest notebooks I have ever seen. Photos do not do them justice. Wow!
These were generously sent to me as samples from Daycraft, the #1 brand of diaries and notebooks in Hong Kong. My reviews of these are long overdue!
First, the Decoder sketchbook. The sketchbooks in this range have messages on their cover in Braille, Sign Language, Morse Code and Semaphore (flag signaling communication). I have the Morse Code one. This book is extremely cool:
There is an elastic strap to hold the book closed. The 110 gsm paper is black, with rounded corners:
This paper would look great written or sketched on with a silver Sharpie, paint pens, pastels, chalk and even pencil:
The first page has an interesting history of the use of Morse code:
The back cover has the entire Morse code alphabet and numerals, so you can decode the message on the front cover:
This book is very eye-catching and is sure to be a conversation-starter!
Another conversation-starting notebook is the Laptop notebook. Imagine people's surprise when you open up your "laptop" and they realize it's a notebook!
This book really looks like a laptop computer from the outside.
Even the page edges are printed to look like electronics:
The white 100 gsm paper is lined. Interestingly, the pages are lined lengthwise on the page, so you write across the length of the page with the book open laptop-style:
Both of these books are A5 size, approximately 8 1/2 by 6 inches.
Daycraft is still looking for a US distributor, but in the meantime you can buy many of their products online at:
http://www.verachan.com/online-shop/diaries/
Be aware that they ship from Australia. They do ship internationally, but be sure to check your currency conversion and shipping rates to avoid any surprises on your credit card bill!
Click here to see all of my reviews and giveaways of Daycraft diaries, notebooks and sketchbooks.
Click on the name to see each of my reviews for the following Daycraft products:
Executive diary
Vogue diary
Strawberry Juicy notebook
Make My Day diary
Signature sketchbook and Feminique notebook
Animal Pals diary
Animaland diary
Chromatic Days diary
Cantoon and D-sign notebooks
Many, many thanks to Daycraft for sending me so many of their amazing products to review! All of their books are very cool, and of superior quality with excellent paper. I hope they find US distributors soon!
These were generously sent to me as samples from Daycraft, the #1 brand of diaries and notebooks in Hong Kong. My reviews of these are long overdue!
First, the Decoder sketchbook. The sketchbooks in this range have messages on their cover in Braille, Sign Language, Morse Code and Semaphore (flag signaling communication). I have the Morse Code one. This book is extremely cool:
There is an elastic strap to hold the book closed. The 110 gsm paper is black, with rounded corners:
This paper would look great written or sketched on with a silver Sharpie, paint pens, pastels, chalk and even pencil:
The first page has an interesting history of the use of Morse code:
The back cover has the entire Morse code alphabet and numerals, so you can decode the message on the front cover:
This book is very eye-catching and is sure to be a conversation-starter!
Another conversation-starting notebook is the Laptop notebook. Imagine people's surprise when you open up your "laptop" and they realize it's a notebook!
This book really looks like a laptop computer from the outside.
Even the page edges are printed to look like electronics:
The white 100 gsm paper is lined. Interestingly, the pages are lined lengthwise on the page, so you write across the length of the page with the book open laptop-style:
Both of these books are A5 size, approximately 8 1/2 by 6 inches.
Daycraft is still looking for a US distributor, but in the meantime you can buy many of their products online at:
http://www.verachan.com/online-shop/diaries/
Be aware that they ship from Australia. They do ship internationally, but be sure to check your currency conversion and shipping rates to avoid any surprises on your credit card bill!
Click here to see all of my reviews and giveaways of Daycraft diaries, notebooks and sketchbooks.
Click on the name to see each of my reviews for the following Daycraft products:
Executive diary
Vogue diary
Strawberry Juicy notebook
Make My Day diary
Signature sketchbook and Feminique notebook
Animal Pals diary
Animaland diary
Chromatic Days diary
Cantoon and D-sign notebooks
Many, many thanks to Daycraft for sending me so many of their amazing products to review! All of their books are very cool, and of superior quality with excellent paper. I hope they find US distributors soon!
Friday, June 4, 2010
ecosystem weekly planners
In my previous post I told you all about the ecosystem brand of 100% recycled planners and notebooks (which you can read more about at www.ecosystemlife.com), and gave my review of the medium author lined journal. In this post, I will give you details about their weekly planners.
The ecosystem advisor planners come in a variety of formats, sizes, and cover colors. The available formats are monthly, and two different formats of weekly: the "calendar weekly" has a week + notes format with the week's schedule on the left page and the right page lined for notes. The "calendar weekly horizontal" format has the week spread across the two pages.
ecosystem very generously sent me one of each of the weekly format planners to review. Both formats of weekly planners have the same information and monthly planning pages.
Inside the front cover there is an Information page where you can write your name and contact information. On this page there is a printed note that says if the book is found, please refer to the ID number printed inside the back cover and go to www.ecosystemlife.com to reunite the book with the owner. For this reason it's a very good idea to register your book on the website. I think this is an excellent service provided by the company.
There is another information page where you can write more details if you wish including your address, phone number, blood type, medications, driver's license number etc.
After that there is a two-page spread with the current year's planning calendar:
After that there are planning pages with the months as columns with a line per day:
After the current year's monthly planning pages there is a two-page spread with next year's overview, followed by monthly planning pages for all of that year.
After the monthly planners, there is a 2-page spread with a Travel Record to record your destination, itinerary, notes and dates.
The next 2-page spread is a time zone map for the US. After that there are pages with US Toll-Free numbers for airlines, car rentals, hotels, computer online services and more. This would be very useful for anyone living in or traveling to the US.
The next 2-page spread is a map of International Time Zones:
The pages after that include international dialing codes, US area codes, a page of measurement conversions, and a website log to record website names, urls and notes.After that, the weekly planner section begins.
Here is the pocket size horizontal weekly planner with an onyx (black) hard cover:
The matte-black cover is truly hard-backed for durability. The cotton elastic strap and placemarker are color-matched.
The horizontal weekly format shows the days of the week across both pages (you can click on the photo for a larger view):
All holidays for the US, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Australia and New Zealand are printed in the day spaces. Also printed on the day spaces are religious holidays for several religions, and celebration days like Grandparents' Day. The phases of the moon are also printed.
The medium weekly (week + notes format) planner is the gorgeous watermelon pink color:
This has the flexi cover, which is flexible yet durable. Again the placemarker and elastic strap are color matched.The weekly format shows the week's schedule on the left page, with the right page lined for notes (click to enlarge):
As in the horizontal weekly format, all holidays and phases of the moon are printed in the day spaces.The medium size ecosystem notebooks and planners are the same size as the large Moleskine notebooks and planners. This medium ecosystem planner fits perfectly in my Rickshaw Bagworks Moleskine Folio (which you can read my review of here):
Both planners have a pocket in the back to hold papers, cards, or whatever you like. There is a selection of inserts for the back pocket available to purchase, to supplement your planner: a monthly calendar, notes pages, address booklet, to-do lists and more.
You can read my review of the paper, and details about the brand in general, in my previous post.
If you are interested in planners that are 100% recycled and 100% made in the US, you should definitely check out the ecosystem collection!
Ecosystem products can be found in participating Barnes and Noble, and Staples stores and also can be purchased online.
You can find ecosystem on:
Twitter at http://twitter.com/ecosystemlife.
Facebook (search for "ecosystemlife")
Read their blog at http://ecosystemlife.tumblr.com/
Many thanks again to ecosystem for giving me the opportunity to try their excellent products and learn more about their brand!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
ecosystem lined journal
I have a lot to say about ecosystem products! I actually have three ecosystem products to review, which were very generously given to me as samples from the company: the lined journal (green), the week + notes planner (pink) and the week on 2 pages planner (black). 
Rather than do it all in one massively long post, I will talk about the ecosystem brand itself and the lined journal in this post, and the two planners in Friday's post.
Where do I start?? There's so much to tell you! I'm just going to have to jump right in.
ecosystem is a brand of 100% post-consumer recycled notebooks and planners which are 100% made in the USA. Every single component, from the paper to the elastic strap to the cover, is made in the US.
ecosystem products use New Leaf paper, which is 100% post-consumer recycled and prepared using a chlorine-free bleaching process. All print throughout the books is soy-based. The books are printed in Maine at a printing facility that uses a reverse-osmosis water filtration system, ensuring clean water runoff.
The covers are produced in Rhode Island with 100% post-consumer paper, and coated using water-based technology. The environmentally-friendly latex that coats the covers can be recycled into heating oil!
The elastic strap and ribbon bookmark are made with organic cotton and dyed with water-soluble, low-impact dyes. Even the packaging is made from recycled materials!
The planners and notebooks come in a variety of colors: onyx (black), watermelon (the gorgeous pink you see in the photo above), lagoon (a beautiful vibrant blue), clementine (bright, clear orange), and kiwi (the nifty green color of the journal I'm reviewing here). The new grape color covers will be available at the end of this month, which I am very excited about!
Inside the back cover of every ecosystem planner and notebook there is a book ID code that you can type into the website to find out all about your book, when it was manufactured, where each component was sourced, and even how many people are employed at each manufacturing facility. Also with the book ID code you can register your book on the website so that if you ever lose your book, the finder can type in the book ID into the website so that ecosystem can reunite you with your book!
Also available are inserts that slip into the back pocket of the notebooks and planners. These inserts come in: monthly planner to get an overview of each month; grid, lined or blank paper; address booklet insert; or to-do lists. These inserts greatly expand the possible uses for your book.
I will talk about the details of the planners in my next post, here I will focus on the notebooks.
The notebooks come in a variety of sizes and cover styles. The Architect notebooks have grid paper, the Artist notebooks have blank paper, and the Author notebooks have lined paper.
The notebook I received to review is a Medium Author (lined journal):
The Medium size measures 5 1/4 by 8 1/4 inches and is exactly the same size as a Large Moleskine. In fact, I am happy to report that the Medium size ecosystem planners and notebooks fit into my Rickshaw Bagworks Moleskine folio, for those of you who are interested!
This Author lined journal has a flexi cover, which is flexible yet tough. It has a matching green elastic closure and placemarker:
The journal has 192 lined pages. Every page is micro-perforated, so you can tear out any pages you like:
The paper itself is very good, and I would never have guessed it's 100% post-consumer recycled. You can tell there is some recycled content because there are some tiny flecks in the paper, but it is very smooth and bright white, not something you normally see in 100% recycled paper.
I don't use fountain pens so unfortunately I can't tell you how the paper performs with them. I use a variety of pens, normally Sakura Microns, Pilot V5s and Sharpie pens. With these wet ink pens there was very little show-through and absolutely no bleed-through. Interestingly, on one side of the paper I noticed some slight feathering of the ink lines but not on the other side of the pages, so there is a very slight difference in texture on the front vs back sides of the paper. For me, it's not enough to make any difference. People who are very picky about their paper may notice it more.
There is a gusseted pocket in the back to hold notes, cards and whatever else you want.
As I mentioned before, the ecosystem notebooks come in a huge variety of sizes, formats and colors, so you are sure to find a notebook to fit your needs from this lineup. Additionally, according to one of @ecosystemlife's tweets on Twitter, they will have a sketchbook available late fall with 80g white paper that will be suitable for watercolors.
Ecosystem products can be found in participating Barnes and Noble, and Staples stores and also can be purchased online.
You can find ecosystem on:
Twitter at http://twitter.com/ecosystemlife.
Facebook (search for "ecosystemlife")
Read their blog at http://ecosystemlife.tumblr.com/
Rather than do it all in one massively long post, I will talk about the ecosystem brand itself and the lined journal in this post, and the two planners in Friday's post.Where do I start?? There's so much to tell you! I'm just going to have to jump right in.
ecosystem is a brand of 100% post-consumer recycled notebooks and planners which are 100% made in the USA. Every single component, from the paper to the elastic strap to the cover, is made in the US.
ecosystem products use New Leaf paper, which is 100% post-consumer recycled and prepared using a chlorine-free bleaching process. All print throughout the books is soy-based. The books are printed in Maine at a printing facility that uses a reverse-osmosis water filtration system, ensuring clean water runoff.
The covers are produced in Rhode Island with 100% post-consumer paper, and coated using water-based technology. The environmentally-friendly latex that coats the covers can be recycled into heating oil!
The elastic strap and ribbon bookmark are made with organic cotton and dyed with water-soluble, low-impact dyes. Even the packaging is made from recycled materials!
The planners and notebooks come in a variety of colors: onyx (black), watermelon (the gorgeous pink you see in the photo above), lagoon (a beautiful vibrant blue), clementine (bright, clear orange), and kiwi (the nifty green color of the journal I'm reviewing here). The new grape color covers will be available at the end of this month, which I am very excited about!
Inside the back cover of every ecosystem planner and notebook there is a book ID code that you can type into the website to find out all about your book, when it was manufactured, where each component was sourced, and even how many people are employed at each manufacturing facility. Also with the book ID code you can register your book on the website so that if you ever lose your book, the finder can type in the book ID into the website so that ecosystem can reunite you with your book!
Also available are inserts that slip into the back pocket of the notebooks and planners. These inserts come in: monthly planner to get an overview of each month; grid, lined or blank paper; address booklet insert; or to-do lists. These inserts greatly expand the possible uses for your book.
I will talk about the details of the planners in my next post, here I will focus on the notebooks.
The notebooks come in a variety of sizes and cover styles. The Architect notebooks have grid paper, the Artist notebooks have blank paper, and the Author notebooks have lined paper.
The notebook I received to review is a Medium Author (lined journal):
The Medium size measures 5 1/4 by 8 1/4 inches and is exactly the same size as a Large Moleskine. In fact, I am happy to report that the Medium size ecosystem planners and notebooks fit into my Rickshaw Bagworks Moleskine folio, for those of you who are interested!This Author lined journal has a flexi cover, which is flexible yet tough. It has a matching green elastic closure and placemarker:
The journal has 192 lined pages. Every page is micro-perforated, so you can tear out any pages you like:
The paper itself is very good, and I would never have guessed it's 100% post-consumer recycled. You can tell there is some recycled content because there are some tiny flecks in the paper, but it is very smooth and bright white, not something you normally see in 100% recycled paper.
I don't use fountain pens so unfortunately I can't tell you how the paper performs with them. I use a variety of pens, normally Sakura Microns, Pilot V5s and Sharpie pens. With these wet ink pens there was very little show-through and absolutely no bleed-through. Interestingly, on one side of the paper I noticed some slight feathering of the ink lines but not on the other side of the pages, so there is a very slight difference in texture on the front vs back sides of the paper. For me, it's not enough to make any difference. People who are very picky about their paper may notice it more.
There is a gusseted pocket in the back to hold notes, cards and whatever else you want.
As I mentioned before, the ecosystem notebooks come in a huge variety of sizes, formats and colors, so you are sure to find a notebook to fit your needs from this lineup. Additionally, according to one of @ecosystemlife's tweets on Twitter, they will have a sketchbook available late fall with 80g white paper that will be suitable for watercolors.
Ecosystem products can be found in participating Barnes and Noble, and Staples stores and also can be purchased online.
You can find ecosystem on:
Twitter at http://twitter.com/ecosystemlife.
Facebook (search for "ecosystemlife")
Read their blog at http://ecosystemlife.tumblr.com/
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