Last Week's Vintage Layout

In order to keep this blog alive, if my week's layout has been ... appropriate, I shall blog about it here to give some of my readers how to quickly and easily turn boring white pages, into a somewhat colourful yet functional layout.

Last week's layout was vintaged theme, so I went with browns and a touch of gold. I used supplies I had lying around the house and were begging to be used:

Items used:
- Brown flower Washi tape from Spotlight
- Brown lace sticker border from Kmart
- Gold washi from Little B (bought from Officeworks)
- Clock, butterfly and 'memories' stickers from Kmart
- Stamps from Sweet Stamp Shop
- Silver 'clip' from mt washi
- Pen: Mitsubishi Uni Style Fit - brown and black

Easy peasy.

Kikki K A5 Cloud Stockholm Planner Review

Kikki K currently has a sale going on which has 20% off their 'luxurious' Cloud coloured Stockholm collection. I was a little excited by this as I have been eyeing the A5 cloud planner (and compendium) for a while but couldn't justify the $175 price tag. So when this went on a slight sale, I decided to take the plunge. I had just sold my A5 Malden prior (as it was too floppy to use, even though it's beautiful), I had the extra money to get myself another needed A5 planner for uni.

I ordered the Kikki K planner on Friday, it was shipped Sunday (Monday, really; AusPost doesn't work on weekends) and I received it on Tuesday. I had a particularly shitty bad day on Tuesday with some miscommunication going on with my uni supervisor and I, so I was really looking forward to picking this up from my post office after uni for a little pick-me-up.

Despite the fact that I knew it was an A5, the large size never fails to surprise me every. single. time. I couldn't open in up on the train (unfortunately), so I had to wait till I got home to do the big reveal. And I must say, I was highly disappointed...

I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the box and the dust bag that came with it (which is probably nicer than the planner inside), but that's not why we're here for. We're here for a review of this:

Kikki K Cloud Stockholm A5 Planner

(Again, forgive my pictures; they seem to degrade in quality with every post...)

At first glance, the colour to me seemed dirty. That's all I could think of when I opened it up. Unlike the A5 compendium I've seen and caressed in store, this grey just seemed... off. Maybe it's me and maybe it's the lighting, but I just couldn't shake the 'dirty' word out of my head when I saw it. But I kept going, hoping for the best.

Then I saw this and it was wrapped up for return faster than you can read this sentence:

Squared spine. WHY?

The spine, look at it, just look. It's square. If I had known about this sooner, I would definitely not have bought it. Maybe it may seem to be such a small hiccup to some (handling it in real life was worse, trust me!), but the fact that the spine is stiff and square just broke the deal for me. It looked awkward, bulky and like an A4 lever folder; yknow, those that sell for $2 at your local stationery store? I hated it. I actually do not understand why Kikki K had to make the spine so square. If it were round like the others, I would have no doubt, kept it because it does smell wonderfully leather and the insides are pretty, but square?! Nope, just can't do it.

Buckle

Something else I found slightly awkward was the metal for the buckle. It was slightly sharp on the edges and would definitely hurt if hit against or held at a weird angle. Strike 2.

Inside

Unlike the outside, the insides were absolutely fine. The rings were nice and tight, the zip was good and smooth, the back pocket could be used as storage and I even liked the slit pockets as it brought on less bulk for the planner (compared to the cheaper Kikki K leather planners).

Undated monthly calendar, meeting notes, to do notes and non-specific notes included

The planner held monthly calendar inserts that were non-specific, so you could use it at any time of the year. It also had a bucket load of lined paper which would probably last you the year.

I forgot to take a picture of the back of the planner, but it held another disappointment for me as there were 2 spots on it that couldn't be cleaned off. The dots reminded me of someone handling the planner with newspaper stained fingers... ugh.

Now, if the planner had a rounded spine and a less painful-to-handle metal buckle, I most definitely would have kept it. But after handling the planner, I'm beginning to wonder if I would have needed to 'baby' it. I have seen people commenting that the leather has somewhat 'scratched' away in some areas just by sliding it on a table, and with my rough handling, I wonder how long it would have lasted. I hate planners that need to be babied, and maybe that's why I keep coming back to my Ochre Malden. It's durable and the scratches obtained just adds to its age and character, rather than to its demise.

Don't get me wrong, despite all of this, I tried loving it for a week. Tried and tried till I found an A5 Lockwood for the same price on eBay (which would hopefully be better made in all aspects possible) and bought it. So now that I'm money short, I decided that this planner had to go back to Kikki K for someone else to love.

Sorry dear, I tried.

Malden 2015 Set Up

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone's new year is filled with good intentions and goals! To kick this blog off, here's a little post to showcase how my planner will look like:

I am currently back to my trusty ol' Personal Ochre Malden because knowing that uni is coming up soon, I'll need it to survive my rough handling going in and out of my backpack. I have this urge to use my Medium Gold Kikki k but I'll settle for this for now.

Personal Ochre Malden for 2015

I currently have 8 dividers in my Malden and have had that same amount for quite a while now. The sections include:

1- Dashboard

First divider: Kikki K Dashboard

This dashboard was from Kikki K's dashboard kit which you can find on their site for all three sizes (Pocket, Personal and A5). I didn't actually need to put this in my planner, but since I had it, I thought why not? At the back of the dashboard holds all my sticky note notes which can include things to buy on my next outing trip, parcels to be delivered etc.

2- Monthly view

I found that I didn't use this section as much as I thought I would in 2014, but since it came with my Kikki K planner, it would be a waste not to use it. I mean, it's useful when I need to mark my holidays and deadlines in advance, but I find myself not checking it as much as I use and view my weekly inserts.

3- Weekly view

Weekly Divider

Kikki K Weekly Inserts

My weekly section uses Kikki K's inserts. I used to like their inserts as they held dotted lines that were pretty faded, but visible enough to keep my writing straight, but they've increased the boldness on them, and though I don't quite like it, I still think it's the best and most accessible inserts I can get my hands on

4- Personal notes

Personal Divider

My personal section houses all the little bits and lists such as things I want, things to buy, exercise dates, etc.

5- Bf notes

Bf Section

Bf and I currently live a state apart. We met right after high school but unfortunately for me, my family relocated down south to Melbourne while he stayed in Sydney. We're 3 years into the relationship and although it can get hard at times, it's been well worth it because at the end of the day, we both know that there is no one else we'd want to be with. So who says long distance relationships can't work? Inside this section, I write down all the times we've met, pictures, gifts list, and just things that are worth documenting

6- Expenses

Expenses Divider

Kikki K Expenses Insert

This section is practically the most important section of all. Hah. To track my spending and to give me an idea of how much I've spent already keeps me grounded so I don't waste more money on things I know I don't need but want in my life! I use Kikki K's expenses insert for this, as it's simple and has a good amount of lines to keep track of my spending for the month

7- Other

Other divider

I don't actually use this section and all it does is house extra note paper. I used to put my Bigcartel information in here, but now that it's closed, it's quite empty

8- Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous Divider

Stickers from Kikki K, sticky notes, etc

The last section houses the items found in the Kikki K dashboard kit which includes a pocket, stickers, page marker and a plastic envelope to keep my little bits and bobs.

I rarely change my set up and just stick to one throughout the year. The only thing I might change are my dividers, and what I may put in my 6th divider, but other than that, this will be stuck with me till my life somehow changes.

And that's my set up for 2015!