MAKING A MIDORI FELT INSERT

Today I attempted to make a Midori insert for cards and miscellaneous items from felt material. It wasn't hard and once you got the measurements right and cut to perfection using a rotary cutter, the sewing part was a breeze. Or so I thought. This was the end product:

Handmade Midori Felt Insert!

It doesn't look bad, and it really wasn't that hard... except for the fact that I kept getting the strings tangled up creating this massive blob of knotted strings at the back of the material (oops). But if you weigh up the costs to what you might find on etsy etc. going handmade maybe isn't so bad.. especially if you're trying it out for the first time, and aren't too sure if a professionally made item is right for you.

Here's a list of the materials I used, from where I purchased and the total costs:
1- Navy blue felt from Lincraft x 2 - $0.98
2- Scissors
3- Sewing machine

Seeing that I already had the last two items at home (and I'm sure you would too), the total cost of this project was less than $2. Pretty cheap if you asked me. And if things don't work out, I won't even feel bad for leaving it in a corner to collect dust. Hah

BLOG LAYOUT REVAMPING

Just a little update: as you can see, I've been doing a little revamping of my blog layout. Going to try for a clean and simple layout this time, and hopefully, it'll give me more incentive to flood my posts with pictures to compensate. Starting with:

I've been trying to mix crafting with food lately, trying to get into grips with using my camera (mostly that provided on an iPhone 6), and trying to make the most of editing softwares. I'm hoping for a more diverse blog too, so ways to edit your photos, programs I use, etc would start to flow into here in the future. Besides, now that I'm almost a year and a half into planning, the planner craze has died down a little for me and now I'm using it purely for what it is meant to be used for: planning. I've taken more of a liking to my Midori due to its versatility and leather goodness (and its photogenic properties, of course), so you'll definitely see more of that to come.

Times are changing friends, and hopefully that'll be a good thing for you, me and this blog!

WEEKEND INSPIRATION

I was meant to post this a while ago for the #listersgottalist challenge but time got the better of me. But I guess better late than never, no?

Friday: My Phobias

As I was rushed for time, needing to help mum in the kitchen and needing to study for upcoming exams, I decided to do a simple layout for day 10, using scrap paper I had lying around for it all. The resources used in this layout included:

1- Flower: Maggie Holmes Open Book Ephemera
2- Project Life cards: Maggie Holmes
3- Newspaper print: Pebbles Happy Day paper pad
4- Dotted washi
5- Brown number paper: Kaisercraft
6- Black paper

Done!


Saturday: Best Things about Being a Kid

Confession: I actually already had this page pre-made from a previous 'art journal' but was left unused. So since I was rushed for time, I decided to reuse it and it worked perfectly for this prompt! Items used in this layout included:

1- Scrapbook paper: unknown - I've been hoarding these for years
2- World Globe & Paint palette sticker: unknown - it came in a pack with the scrapbook papers
3- Ruled paper sticky note: Little B from Officeworks
4- Black and white striped washi
5- Ruler: Kaisercraft paper pad
6- 'Bam!' sticky note: Typo
7- Vintage brown clip; MT washi tape
8- Timetable (top right: my actual uni timetable for a little added personalisation. Hee

Hope this has given some inspiration to you lovelies out there!

THIS WEEK'S KRAFTY LAYOUT

I'm back to being busy as a bee with my final exams coming up, but I took a little break in between and drew up this lovely simple kraft layout made with washi tape and kraft set stickers. A full list of items used are listed below the picture:

1- 'Vintage film roll' washi: Kaisercraft
2- Crosses (+) washi: Kmart Australia
3- Kraft speech bubble stickers: Typo
4- Bicycle picture: Type
5- Owl sticker: Typo

Clean and simple, yet productive.
Brilliant

MY PLANNERS FOR 2015: UPDATE

So now that we're almost half way through the year (I can't believe it either), I decided to write a little update post on what has changed (a lot), and what I still use from the initial list I posted here:

What I'm Using Currently:
1- Ochre Malden Personal Planner:
As autumn has arrived in Australia and the days are getting colder, I decided to swap from my Kikki K Dark Mint (which served me well), to my old love. And honestly, I've found myself staring at it during periods of studying, just admiring its simple beauty. And smelling it too, because I'm weird that way. It currently only holds the necessities so the smaller rings (compared to the 30mm Kikki K rings) don't explode. This includes my monthly & weekly diary, personal notes, bf notes and expenses. I'm currently using the plain cardboard 5 tabbed divider I got from Muji in Singapore and I love the minimal setup

2- Midori Traveler's Notebook: Brown & Blue:
This is currently my notebook - which I swap between the blue and brown Midori because I can't decide which to use (they're both just so lovely in their own way!). This can hold anything from shopping lists to doodles to ... anything that jumps to mind, really.

3- Midori Traveler's Notebook: Black:
This is my journal, of sort. I use the Midori 2015 week on a page refill to quickly document my day, as let's be honest, my life's too dull for a full page diary. Hah.

4- Kikki K Sentence a Day:
Yes, I still use this! It's simple to keep up with as it only requires a sentence a day (thus the name), so I'm loving it and is still up to date! Yay!

5- Kikki K Large Cute 215 Diary
I bought this in Singapore when I went back in February and instead of leaving it empty (as it's just so darn pretty!), I decided to use it to document my BF. The Aldi daily diary was great, but as it was plain, needed daily decorations, and I wasn't really writing much, I decided to give the Kikki K diary a chance, and so far, I'm loving it. I have just enough space to write what I need, and the weekly decorations keep it cute as ever with no extra work. Hurrah!

6- Moleskine Extra Large Plain Softcover Notebook
My drawing book, for now. As I intend to use regular pencil mostly and as I'm going for a 'messy' approach, the thin pages and the fact that it can bend 360 degrees, works for me.

7- Hobonichi A5 Diary:
I was using this studiously in the beginning of the year as a planner for uni but slacked off halfway through and ended up with a tonne of blank pages *cringe*. So I decided to utilise it again once I started writing notes to study for my upcoming exams and has thus been revived!

What Has Been Discarded:
1- Hobonichi A6 Diary:
Yup, it unfortunately has been set back to my shelf and no longer loved. I might bring it out in the future to take part in listing challenges such as the #listersgottalist challenge I currently am taking part in, but it has taken the backseat for now.

2- Aldi Daily Diary:
As mentioned before, this has been put aside to make way for the Kikki K Large Weekly diary

3- Pinetti Pocket Notebook:
Been long discarded for my regular sized blue / brown Midori. As much as I liked the portability, it was too small for my needs, and I somehow tend to always go back to my Midori...

So there you go! I thought I discarded more than that, but I'm glad I didn't!

LETTERS IN NOVEMBER REVAMP

So I know I've been slacking on my posts recently, and trust me, I do feel bad for leaving my lovely readers out in the cold, so instead of continuously writing planner reviews (which I must admit, have been declining as I have started to control myself over my planner purchases), I've decided to incorporate other arty farty aspects of my daily life as well.

For starters, if you follow me on Instagram (which I update every one or two days), you'll know that I've been taking part in the #ListersGottaList challenge by the lovely ResetGirl (@theresetgirl, check her out!). So in order to keep this blog alive, I'll post some of my entries on here to keep you guys up to date with what I've been doing and to allow those that doesn't have an instagram account, to view and read about it here. I'll even throw in some details of the entry that won't be posted up on Instagram (because really, ain't nobody got time to read a full entry post on IG).

But before I start on that, here's a few snapshots to get the ball rolling. These are a few of the things I've been working on recently (apart from my assignments and studies, ie):

1- The #ListersGottaList challenge from Day 8 and 9:

Day 8 & 9 #ListersGottaLIst challenge!

If you've been following me on Instagram, you'll notice that I tend to go all scrapbook-y for all my layouts. Trust me, I've tried to tone it down a little and keep it as simple as possible, but whenever I try, I think to myself: "ooh, that looks like something that should be included, and that too, and this and definitely that", and well, yknow... So these two days was an attempt to keep it 'simple'. Day 8 was to document your favourite washis, and so... I ended up covering the whole page... and Day 9 was to write down your past and present favourite expressions. I used Typo kraft speech bubble stickers which came in handy for the phrases, washi to give it some colour, and ephemera I cut from a Project Life card. Simple.

2- The Blue MTN:

The Blue MTN

Brown, Blue and Black Midori TN - love!

I received this gorgeous limited edition Blue MTN yesterday after waiting a month or so for it, and it is absolutely lovely! I managed to get it on preorder from Bookbinders Online, with the accessories coming next week.

3- Drawing Days:

Fox Studies (& my lovely MTNs)!

It always seems as though that whenever exams are around the corner, I find myself doing things I tend to slack off when I'm free; drawing being one of them. I've recently been fascinated with wolves, foxes and the 4 legged loves, and so decided to draw them. I must say, I'm rusty, but once I get into it and know the anatomy of these lovely thangs, it does get better. So there you go people, practice practice practice! And just so you know, all I'm using is a pencil and a Large Plain Notebook from Moleskine. Nothing special!

Anyway, I can't really write lengthy posts currently as I need to study for my final exams for the semester (and my degree!), so till next time!

Study Planner Review

So a little something different today:

I was given the privilege to test a little study planner by Cool Pencil Case out this week and I must say, I am quite impressed. Here's how the planner looks like:

Study Planner!

On the inside, however, is where the magic happens. The planner begins with this title page already exploding in colour:

Inside

Then comes a timetable to remind you of the classes you ought not to miss (but still do):

Timetable

There is a school term plan on the next page, which isn't pictured as well. Next comes some weekend (and secret time) clock scheduling, which I must admit, is pretty darn cool:

Weekend Scheduling

Thereafter comes the weekly scheduling:

Weekly view

There is an undated month-on-two page view before every weekly planning, too, but isn't imaged. The weekly goes over 4 pages, and reminds me of the Erin Condren layout. It's highly decorated and varies in colour and pattern for each month. Unfortunately, the planner only accommodates 6 months worth of planning...

Monthly Appraisals

At the end of the month, there are monthly appraisals allowing to reflect on what you've done well and all the things you need to improve on.

At the end of the planner, there is an entire section dedicated to exam planning. They hold exam timetables, subjects you're taking and scores you'd like to achieve, a 2 week (cramming) plan leading up to the exam and a scoreboard to log your final marks:

Exam Timetable

The end of the planner holds a few note pages for scribbles, etc

Quotes at the start of every month

Overall, this planner would be great if I were in school. It's something a parent would get their kids to teach them to be more organised. With the variety of colours, motivational quotes, planning section, exam timetable etc, I can see it appealing to the young (or the young at heart)! And right now, for purchases of $30 or more at the Cool Pencil Case store, you can use the code SPRINGWITHCPC to get 10% off your order! Hooray! They have some other cool stuff on there as well, so do check them out!


Disclaimer: I was given the planner free of charge to test it out, but this has not swayed my opinions of the item whatsoever. Just thought you should know!

Liebster Award Nomination!

Hi there,

I was recently (sorry for taking so long!) awarded a pretty little Liebster Award from Lyn of Planner Bug and I have to admit, I was a tad bit excited over it. It's safe to say that I have never been awarded any awards for my blog, so this was a little milestone for me. The Liebster award is a little incentive to get to know a blogger better, and is thus passed around the blogger community.

The rules are as follows:

1. Post 11 random facts about yourself
2. Answer 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you
3. Nominate 11 bloggers to do the same
4. Let the bloggers you have nominated know that they have been nominated

So here goes!

11 Random Facts:

1. I own two phones: a Samsung and an iPhone. (Because one is too mainstream... I'm kidding!)
2. I need inspiration to fuel my creativity. Once it stops, so does my ideas.
3. I love traveling but hate flying to get there. Someone invent a teleporter already!
4. I'm a compulsive buyer. (Shocker.)
5. I was born in Singapore and raised in Australia
6. I don't like tomatoes
7. I'm a hoarder. (Another shocker.)
8. I don't in fact like my Radiography course, currently. I'm just doing it as a means to an end (sshh don't tell my future employers)... I'm hoping my next focus of study will actually have my whole heart
9. I think I love my Midori more than my Filofax
10. I want to be a creative designer - someone like Dear Lizzy or Amy Tangerine. I want to get there
11. Privacy is everything. That's why I don't choose to let anyone know how I look like.. Just imagine me as Superman. Only a woman. And crazy with paper. Supercrazypaper lady?

Answers to Lyn:
1. What's your drink of choice?
Majority of the time, I go with cold water. It's refreshing and quenches my thirst every time. Of course I wouldn't mind the occasional sweet soft drinks, but I must admit, after a while of drinking it, I always go back to water.

2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Cheesy but anywhere where I can be with my future husband. But if not, Ireland. Or London. Or Paris. Or Hawaii. Or any of the countless places I want to travel to...

3. Who inspires you the most?
I've always found myself stuck on this question, but when it comes to a creative point of view, it will have to be anyone which fuels my creativity and gives me a sort of spark to start my own design from theirs, such as some of the IGers I currently follow. Check out who I follow on IG to know them!

4. Which historical event would you have liked to witness in person?
Lol these probably aren't 'historical' as such, but I wouldn't actually mind living a few of my memories again. I've had some of the greatest memories anyone could ask for, and I would love to feel the emotions I felt and the scenes I witnessed all over again

5. What is your favourite food?
Oh, questions like these boggles my mind! I sure don't mind a lot of food, and I know the foods I don't quite like, but favourite food always stumps me. Fish and chips maybe? A home cooked meal? Prata? I know the list would probably encompass a lot of Asian foods though... hahah

6. What kind of music do you listen to?
Old school boybands - Westlife, Backstreet Boys, Boyzone, New Kids on the Block, Savage Garden etc. I don't mind today's music, but don't quite like the way they're going. I miss the 90s where music actually held meaningful words (not words that were repeated over and over again and yet needed to be written by 4 songwriters...)

7. What is your favourite tv show, past or present?
Too many! I reckon the old time favourite would be FRIENDS, but currently, I have so many I think I've lost count. They would include: Vampire Diaries, The Mentalist, The Big Bang Theory, Gossip Girl, Merlin, The Flash, Pretty Little Liars, The Originals, Scorpion, Suits, Simpsons, Once Upon a Time, Marvel's Agents of Shield, and the list goes on...

8. What is your favourite pastime when you're alone?
Playing with paper, being creative and more. Or shopping for craft supplies. As long as pretty paper and embellishments are involved, I can go for hours and not get bored.

9. What is your favourite dessert?
Ice cream. Mmm

10. If you could travel back in time to a particular decade in the 20th century, when would it be and why?
I was born in the 20th century and I wouldn't mind reliving all of my 90s years again! It was a time of great music, innocence and fun!

11. What was the last thing you bought?
That might be a problem... I was in Singapore a week ago and I bought too many things to remember. Hah. I know I bought Midori supplies, ink, stickers, paper pads, pencil case, batteries, instax film, copics and more though. It was a great 10 days.


That's it! I was meant to nominate another 11 blogs and 11 questions for them, but unfortunately, I don't quite follow too many blogs to nominate any... I hope that's ok (>.<)

Kikki K 'Life is Sweet' Dark Mint Planner Review!

Ok, I'm particularly excited about this one. Kikki K recently stocked their new collection called 'Life is Sweet' online (and in some stores!), and because I have itchy hands and loved the pictures they had on this planner, I decided to purchase it the morning it was released. And being in Australia, and particularly in Melbourne, where their warehouse is located, I'm probably one of the first few to get my hands on it. And I can tell you, it is divine in so many ways (and definitely worth much more than the A5 Stockholm!)

So here it is:

Kikki K Medium / Personal Dark Mint Planner!

Back

Inside:

Inside

30 mm rings!

Polka dot dividers with separate tabs!

Back - notepad

All moved in - with next week's inserts!

Overall, there are a few things I love about this planner:
1- The colour - unlike the previous mint they had, like the textured mint they brought out recently, this mint isn't as bright. It's more towards a pastel blue, and easy on the eyes. I must admit, the hexagonal gold might take a little getting used to, but I guess it works. The inside is also a nice shade of dark blue and light blue dots. Overall, great colour combination.
2- The rings - guess how big they are! 30mm! Yes, 30mm. They included some chunky as rings in this one to hold their big stack of note paper that came along with it. Now I know not everyone might like this as it does add to the bulkiness of things, but now you can store a whole lot more. I for one, think it's a good change as there are rarely any 30mm personal sized binders out in the market that look this good.
3- The dividers - they're decorated with yummy little polka dots! Unlike the previous where it's just a plain shade of colour, their dividers are absolutely beautiful, and so is the colour combination. Not to mention, unlike previous dividers where the tabs 'continue' on to the next, the divider tabs provided in this Dark Mint planner are separated. I know it's not a big deal, but I've always preferred the separated tabs.
4- The clasp - I'm so glad they decided to go for a clasp model rather than an elastic. I very much prefer the button closure as it makes the planner look... neat.

And if anyone was interested, here's a little comparison of the Kikki K planner with a pink Filofax Personal size Finsbury:

Top: Kikki K Dark Mint Medium Planner
Bottom: Filofax Pink Personal Finsbury

So if you're thinking about purchasing one, I suggest you do! It is absolutely lovely and I can actually see this model running out faster than any of their previous ones! Also, since it's above $60, use the code DIARYLOVEFEB to get $10 off! Hurray!

Enjoy, my lovelies!

PS. I'm selling two brand new Kikki K Gold Pocket Planners for US$45 each shipped worldwide. They both won't come with inserts. First come, first served! Email me or use my contact form to get in touch with me for more pictures if interested :)

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!