Rori Rants

First Shoplet Review: Duck Tape!!

So recently I was lucky enough to be chosen by Shoplet to review some of the products they carry--and lo and behold--last week I received this:

Duck EZ Start Premium Packaging Tape, Duck EZ Start Premium Packaging Tape with Dispenser, and Zebra Printed Duck Tape.

Now, I've used Duck duct tape and Duck packing tape before, and I love the stuff--but I haven't used any of the printed duct tape yet--I'm so excited to try this! We also go through a fair amount of packing tape at my house, so I was thrilled to recieve this package.

Here's the product individually:

Packing tape with a small dispenser, perfect for dropping in my bag for last minute trips to the post office--with the cutter right on the dispenser! No scissors, no fuss no muss. Perfect.

Duct tape with......wait for it.......

ZEBRA PRINT!!! Now I love black and white stuff of all sorts, but this is just so extra awesome, and the decorative/fixative potential of this tape is sublime!

Even more packing goodness, with three rolls of tape, and two larger dispensers. Man, I wish I had had these every time I've moved!

I decided I would try all three of the products on the same project: I had to send a pencil to a friend--so here's what I started with:

A mailer that I got an order in with the pencil in it, the packing tape in the small dispenser, the packing tape in the large dispenser, and the zebra duct tape. The first thing I did was tape up a small rip in the package with the packing tape:

For this, I used the tape in the small dispenser. It started easily--and even better, the cutter that is included on the dispenser actually works perfectly! No torn edges, no cut fingers--just perfectly trimmed tape. Then I did this:

I folded the envelope over and taped down the flap with the packing tape in the large dispenser. Again, it was easy to start, and the included cutter cut the tape perfectly. Naturally, being a Duck product, the tape just--works--I love products like that!

Then I taped down and decorated the edges with the printed duct tape, and taped on a piece of paper which will serve as the address label; naturally I used the packing tape for this, and when I label the package I will cover the address with the packing tape for protection.

Now, I love when products work flawlessly. I love it when the components of a product don't interfere with the products use, and it's even better if the product itself is a practical and useful product. I also love whimsical, pretty stuff, and when whimsy meets practicality--it's a huge win.  This packing tape meets and exceeds my expectations for usefulness and practicality, and the printed duct tape is  practical, useful AND whimsical and pretty--what a sexy package of tapey goodness! My only complaint with any of the products is only that I wish the duct tape also had a great dispenser like the packing tape--but trust me when I say that this will in no way hinder my use of this tape...

I have used other brands of packing tape in the past, but I won't any more--the dispensers on the Duck packing tape make it an absolutely outstanding product! Ok, I have to go--I have to find more things to decorate with my zebra duct tape...

**Huge thanks to Shoplet for the opportunity to use and review this fantastic product! It will get lots of use around my house :D

Long Overdue Pencils.com Review

I must really apologize--I have neglected both my blog and this review for FAR too long!

Last summer, I stumbled upon information about the original Blackwing 602 pencil--favored by artists and writers alike for their stellar qualities: very smooth black lines.  I then found out that they were being remade by California Republic Stationers/Palomino, and were available from them at Pencils.com! I loved them SO much I took the plunge, and bought a dozen of the pencils and the Palomino-KUM long point sharpener. I have been loving on the pencils and sharpener all this time--and selfishly not letting y'all know how much I love both pencils.com AND my Blackwings!!

First, Pencils.com:  this company is AWESOME, and is on my top 5  list for outstanding customer service. They are super responsive, and will even cheerfully add things to your order if, like me, you are still surfing the website and find something else you want after you pull the trigger on the "place order" button.  They ship ultra fast (my last order shipped the afternoon that I placed the order), and their products arrive quite quickly. Which is all really really great if you are the twitchy "when will my stuff get here"  anxious obsessive type like I am!

Since then, I have purchased the sample pack of pencils for my kids (I love my kids, but they are so not ready for Blackwings!), a few sharpeners, and then a few more packs of pencils based on the ones we used in the sample pack. Without further ado, here are some pictures:

This is the first picture I took of the Blackwing (sharpened perfectly by the Long Point sharpener seen here with it). Also, I clearly suck at picture taking, and have covered the "6" in "602". Sorry!

This is an up close of the extra blades that come with the Long Point sharpener, and how they are stored inside. GENIUS.

This is a current picture of that original pencil, a new pencil and the sharpener--all still getting much love! I have to say that these pencils are the most spectacular pencils I've ever ever used (and I am super picky about pencils). They are ultra smooth on any kind of paper and the line they make is BLACK. I do have to say though that because they are so soft, they will smudge a bit, so be careful.  This doesn't bother me, and it's well worth it.  I'm not one to mind nib creep on a fountain pen either, but YMMV. Also, the black erasers are not my favorite, but I'm a big fan of plain old Pink Pearl erasers, so I'm probably just biased. If you don't like the black erasers, Pencils.com does sell replacement ones here.  I haven't bothered to do change them out, as the black ones do work fine.

Because Pencils.com's customer service and their products are so fabulous, and because I believe that quality output depends on quality tools, I bought my kids a sample pack of pencils to try:

These are the sample packs and the sharpeners with erasers I bought for them. Let me say that there is not a bad pencil in the batch, and if you order this pack, you will have a whole whack of pencils to thoroughly enjoy.  That being said, we did find three favorites:

(My sincerest apologies for the upside down shot of the Spangle pencils at left).  From left to right, the pencils are these: Spangle Mini Jumbo, Forest Choice, and Golden Bear 2B's. All of them are from California Cedar/Republic Stationers, and all of them are FANTASTIC--I recommend all three equally, although the Forest Choice are harder for me to use for a long time as they are more slender (carpal tunnel issues).

I also bought this sharpener so that we could sharpen the Mini Jumbos:

 

The dome top comes off to empty the chamber, and it also spins so that you can cover the holes when it's in your bag so it doesn't spill anything. Both of the sharpeners that I got for the kids work brilliantly (this one is my favorite). However, the Palomino-KUM Long Point Sharpener is just stunningly fabulous--especially if you like that super sharp point on your pencils--and is worth every single penny.

So to sum:

*Pencils.com is a great company and is a pleasure to do business with, every time. You should go see them. Soon.

*Every producct I have tried from Pencils.com has been excellent--I don't think you can go wrong if you see a pencil you like.

*Blackwing 602's are the GOLD STANDARD for excellent pencils, and are certainly worth every cent.

*The Kum-Palomino Long Point sharpener is probably the best sharpener on the planet, and everyone should own one.

Here I leave you--Ill be back soon, and in the meantime I'll leave you with some more pencil pr0n to keep you company until we meet again. Enjoy!

Ink Reviews Amateur Style

So, I've been sampling inks at an alarming rate, and I thought I would share some of the results with you. Now bear in mind that I don't have a scanner so I had to photograph them. Obviously, I need a better photographing method--but to be honest, the colors are true--so I'm going to go ahead and post this.

I am a complete sample slut, and thanks to The Goulet Pen Company, I can sample ad infinitum and not waste money on whole bottles that turn out to be a disappointment.  I'll admit that the vast majority of samples I've gotten have not turned into bottle "wants", so this has saved me some hefty spendage. (I sure don't have $ to waste on ink I don't like/use!) 

Note:  All reviews are done on Clairefontaine, 90gsm, bright white paper.
Noodler's Bulletproof Inks are forgery resistant and therefore water resistant.
Noodler's Eternal Inks are resistant to anything like water or light that would destroy/fade the ink.

Ok, without further ado, here we go:

 The first one is Noodler's Walnut.  In my seemingly eternal quest for a brown ink that I can stand, I finally caved and ordered a sample of this.  Lo and behold! I actually like it. It is dark, warm and rich--reminiscent of an actual walnut (go figure, no?). Not red, not orange, just straight up dark brown. Walnut is a partially bulletproof ink, and as such is quite water resistant. Now, my idea of water resistance is not worrying about running the paper under the faucet, but worrying about spilling a glass of water all over my journal.  As such, this ink behaves admirably, and if you have little *ahem* "accidents" with your water glass like I do, you won't lose everything you've written.  The "top" color does wash off as you can see, but at least you won't completely lose your words. As you can see from the utterly unscientific dry time test, it does take a while to dry, but I'm ok with that.

 Next is Noodler's Antietam.  (Yes, yes I am a HUGE Noodler's fan, why do you ask?)  As with brown inks, I've been trying to find an orange that I could live with in permanent rotation.  I prefer the burnt oranges to the "Tang" oranges (for those of you born later than about 1982, Tang was a drink--Google is your friend, look it up), so I tried this.  It is stunning. LOTS of pretty shading, and not hard to read later, so if you use it for your journal, you won't fry your retinas re-reading your entries. I could easily use this as an everyday ink in my regular rotation.  My only hesitation here is the complete lack of any water resistance.  Now, I do use some inks that aren't water resistant, but I still prefer them to have a bit of resistance. C'est la vie--this one's worth it.

 Noodler's Warden Series of inks! Brilliant!! These are Bulletproof AND Eternal--SQUEEE!!! They should have NO problem standing up to my clumsy spillages! This one is Bad Green Gator--and it is FASCINATING stuff.  When you first write, it goes down a bright, wet green, but you can literally watch it dry across your written line into this more subdued green. It had no discernible shading, but I find it quite fetching nonetheless.  Another delightful by-product of sampling is that you may discover that a color of ink that you thought you didn't care for much quickly becomes your favorite, and vice versa.  I've decided that I loves me some green ink! This is muted enough for everyday, but interesting enough to add some variety to your collection. AND waterproof to boot--what a bargain.  Yet another Noodler's win.

Noodler's Bad Blue Heron--from-wait for it-- The WARDEN Series! This is a muted, soft blue. I put at the end of my review that it is a "blue-black", but upon further reflection and comparison with other Noodler's inks in my collection, I think not so much.  It is a medium to light, very muted blue.  This is a pretty ink, and of course waterproof, it's just not my favorite--a bit light for my tastes. I prefer Bad Belted Kingfisher. 

Just when you thought I used Noodler's Ink exclusively-- TA DA! One of my top 3 favorite inks--Platinum Blue Black.  I was introduced to this ink through this review by Peaceable Writer, and then sent a sample from a very kind inky friend. I was (and am) smitten. From the beginning, I have adored this ink.  It is a true, soft, sweet blue. It behaves well, is water resistant, and is constantly surprising.  In different pens, it demonstrates very different color qualities, making it ever enchanting.  Absolutely no nib creep, and it dries fast if that concerns you.

Now, I know you're asking yourself "blue-black?"  Yeah, not so much black, mostly blue. But trust me, you will adore this ink--and if by some bizarre chance you don't, I know where you can unload it!

 Iron Gall Inks--much controversy--much fun! This is Rohrer and Klingner Scabiosa. I know, the name sounds like a really hideous spell from Harry Potter, but the ink is not "scabbish" at all. (Actually, this is Scabiosa, which I presume it is named after).  Now, this ink is quite dry, and I'm not a big fan of dry inks. However, the color and shading properties of this ink are FABULOUS, and it may be worth it to you to at least try it out. I have since tried it in my Noodler's Flex pen, and it's still dry, but also still amazingly gorgeous.  As with all Iron Gall Ink, it is waterproof. The top color will wash away, but the black will be left behind so you don't lose anything important.

 Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher--yep, from the Warden Series!! This is another brilliant ink from the Warden Series. I prefer this to the Bad Blue Heron because the blue is darker and richer.  This is a really nice blue black. It has a slight hint of turquoise--like many of Noodler's blue inks--but nothing like say--Navy.  It is gorgeous stuff.  It is a bit on the dry side in my Pilot Plumix, but that pen is a dry writer any way.  This ink will find a permanent home in my rotation, I loveses it.

 Aurora Black--need I say more really? This black seems to be the gold standard for super "black" blacks.  It is dark, rich, and gorgeous.  The flow is perfect, like a Goldilocks black--not too dry, not too wet.  It is totally black, and the perfect ink for my Platinum Preppy. This is a brilliant everyday ink, and  I use it all the time.  Sadly, as you can see, a lot of it washes away with water--or I guess "smears" is a better word.  If you need a truly waterproof black, I suggest Noodler's Black. It is just as black, and is Bulletproof. But even if you need waterproof ink, you should try this some time, it is a sweet, sweet ink.

 Rohrer and Klingner Alt Goldgrun.  Did I mention that I really like green ink? I bought Noodler's Green, which is like writing with lime Jell-O, and had decided that I adore green ink.  When Goulet Pens got this in, I ordered a sample.  I wish I had ordered a bottle, as now they are out of this one R&K; ink. *sob* This, when I get a bottle, will be in my everyday permanent rotation. It is spectacularly gorgeous--and has amazing shading properties! It breaks my heart that this is not more water resistant, but like with Antietam, it won't be stopping me from using it!

I have yet to try a Rohrer and Klingner that I don't like...ruh roh!  Here's another fabulous R&K;:

Rohrer and Klingner Cassia--purple purple purple.  I'm not sure why there are not more water resistant purple inks, but I think that's criminal. As it turns out, purple has become a favorite ink color of mine, and this is STUNNING stuff! Rich, dark and truly purple--FANTASTIC.  This would not be one I would use for everyday journaling though, just because I prefer a more muted purple for that, such as Noodler's Purple Wampum, or the R&K; Scabiosa.  However, this would be brilliant for Zentangles or Mandalas, or just plain old letter writing.

 Noodler's Navy, one of my Top 3, along with Platinum Blue Black and Aurora Black (mind you, now I have to make room for Alt Goldgrun).  This ink ROCKS my world. Blue black with lots of turquoise--it doesn't get any better than this as far as I'm concerned. It has mega nib creep but I'm not particularly bothered by that. But even if you are, this ink is so incredibly gorgeous, it's still worth at least trying. Also, it is partially water resistant enough that a wee water accident won't utterly wipe out your written brilliance.

Last for today, but certainly not least: Rohrer and Klingner Solferino. HOLY FREAKING CRAP  that's pretty, no? This is a pink purply mauvey piece of heaven right here, y'all. I put in the review that this and Cassia would be finding a place in my ink collection, but I think now that Cassia has moved way down my list.  This is still way up there, but I've yet to decide if this is an everyday journaling ink. It is very bright stuff--and I'm not sure that I wouldn't get tired of it fast if I used it a lot. That being said, it is beautiful ink, and as well behaved as all the other R&K;'s I've tried (save for Scabiosa, the iron gall).


Well, I hope that as amateur as the photographs are, these mini-reviews have given you some helpful information about these inks.  I don't seek in my reviews to list every single attribute of an ink, only those that to me are most useful--maybe that's more of an "impression" type of review, but those are the ones I find most helpful when I look for reviews--so hopefully these have been a bit helpful to you,  or at least entertaining!

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to shoot me a comment, I try to reply to all of them!

**All the above ink samples (with the exception of Platinum Blue Black, but I did purchase a bottle of the ink at Goulet) were purchased by me at The Goulet Pen Company, as was the Clairefontaine notebook I used.

Overdue Rhodia Webbie Review

So, I can't say I don't win anything anymore! A few months back (I know, shame on me!) I won a Rhodia Web Notebook on Rhodia Drive. I was thrilled! I had been wanting to try Rhodia for some time, but had not yet ordered one.

Rhodia "Webbies" as they are affectionately known, come in two colors--orange and black--with corresponding end papers, elastic closures (which I was too dumb to photograph), ribbon markers, and back pockets. They come with your choice of blank, lined, or dot grid paper, and in two sizes: 3.5" x 5.5" and 5.5" x 8.25" (mine is the larger size). Rhodia paper is 90gsm, ultra smooth and FABULOUS as only Exaclair paper can be.

Rhodia Webnotebook paper is "ink resistant" like Clairefontaine paper, which means that the ink you use will not feather or bleed--and is therefore PERFECT for fountain pen use!  In fact, there is ZERO feathering or bleed through on any of my pages, and I've tried close to 50 inks, including Noodler's Ink, which is sometimes very wet. (I wasn't smart enough to photograph the back of one of the pages for you, but mine is not the only review online by any means, and most of them are clearly better at this than I am and show you that there is only minimal show through, no bleed through).

I chose the orange cover, and dot grid paper. Here is that brilliant orange cover:

This picture, of course is not exactly the right color--this is a bit too washed out--the notebook is a true orange orange. It is also soft; almost like leather, and a bit "bendy", if you will.  For some odd reason, I didn't take a photo of the orange elastic strap, but you can see a better picture here and here.

On the front inside, the end papers are also orange:

Then, in this notebook, like many others, the first page is actually glued to the end paper, so it's not as usable as the others, although I've managed to not waste any of this delicious paper!

As you can see, there is an orange ribbon marker, and I'm using this notebook for pen/ink sampling. Which brings me to my next point--this is a bit weird.  The color of Rhodia Webbie paper is odd--not an "ivory" in the usual sense of the word--but almost "apricot".  It makes inks look very very different than they would on a true ivory or white paper.

Now, you may find that this does not bother you. It bothers me. You see, I prefer bright white paper--all the time. However, since Quo Vadis quit making the Habana with bright white paper, there is an unfortunate dearth of quality notebooks with white paper. This, I think, is a travesty (and a brilliant market niche gap if you happen to make fanfreakingtastic notebooks with fanfreakingtastic white paper). 

Clairefontaine does make a journal type notebook, but not of this quality. 

Now, with that being said, let me reiterate that Rhodia paper, like all of Exaclair's paper product line, is SUPERB, and I will continue to use Webbies. However, I am going to have to choose ink carefully, and also try my inks on regular Clairefontaine notebooks to see the "true" color of the ink.

Any hoo, here's the back pocket:

Right now mine is full of Goulet Pen Company bookmarks and stickers, a Noodler's Ink Flex Nib Creaper pen instruction sheet, and Karen at Exaclair's business card.

I love this notebook, and thank you, thank you, thank you Exaclair and Rhodia Drive for giving me the opportunity to win one! This is my "journal of choice", and when I finish my dratted Piccadilly notebook, I'll be getting a Webbie to replace it. If you're in the market for a new notebook, I highly recommend a Webbie! They can be purchased from my favorite pen, paper and ink retailer The Goulet Pen Company, and while you're there you can get some ink and a pen to go with it. Enjoy!!

I'm Back! and a Goulet Pen Company Review

So, some of you have missed my blog (thank you both of you, I <3 my fans!). To be honest, I got frustrated with doing all the typing and loading of pictures..and correspondingly totally ran out of things to review or to say. I know, hard impossible to believe I had nothing to say--

Happily, I have some new things to review, and I have missed blogging lots, so I plan to actually make a "blog post schedule". That's right! Semi-regular blogging! This post schedule will be kept in my Filofax for now, although regrettably, not in fountain pen ink (special note for all my fellow FiloCracks).

As some of my Tweeps know, I have gotten mildly totally madly obsessed with fountain pens and inks lately.  I was already mad keen on papers of all sorts, and had tried fountain pens before, but was never particularly satisfied with my fountain pen/ink experience. I honestly don't know how I found The Goulet Pen Company, but since I have--boy howdy have I gone kabonkers! I will save recent pen/ink acquisitions for another post, but I wanted to share with you a review of The Goulet Pen Company.

The Goulet Pen Company is located in Virginia and headed by Brian and Rachel Goulet. You can read about how their company got started here. They carry fountain pens of all sorts, calligraphy pens, some roller ball pens, fountain pen and calligraphy ink, and paper to use your pens and ink on. Pens run the gamut from Edison Pen Company offerings right down to the Platinum Preppy pens, which I adore.  Most of the paper they carry is from Exaclair--the gold standard of fountain pen friendly papers. They carry a plethora of fountain pen ink, and are due to get more soon, including  Rohrer and Klingner and De Atramentis.

Their website boasts what is known as "The Swab Shop", which shows scanned swabs of the inks that they carry. Also in The Swab Shop, you can compare ink swabs, which is absolutely brilliant, and totally unique in the fountain pen/ink world! You can also purchase samples of all of their inks, which is one of my favorite things about Goulet.  I have ordered countless samples of inks to try, and I can't tell you how awesome it is not only to try so many inks--which is more fun than a barrel of monkeys--but to be able to try an ink BEFORE you buy a bottle (or a dozen) of ink that you end up not liking.

Goulet's prices are reasonable, and they ship uber fast. I placed an order last Tuesday, and received it on Friday, much to my delight! I wanted to include a few pictures of how they wrap your precious inks/pens/papers, because their packaging system is outstanding. This is the box that I received Friday:

Inside this box was this box:

Then this:

As you can see, all of my merchandise is wrapped in bubble wrap which is taped down really well. They also included a bookmark and a sticker, and that's my invoice. There is always a hand-written note on your invoice--awesome personal touch in the modern age of such crappy customer service from so many companies. (Altogether another rant, some of which I have already shared here)

 After the bubble wrap was off, it looked like this:

You can see my whack of sample vials through the plastic wrap. HOURS of unbridled inky entertainment!

And we've arrived at the merchandise--all held perfectly still in shipping, and all in a tidy little package. (Wish I could afford a tidy HUGE package, but alas and alack...mostly a lack). Any hoo,  I ordered a whack of ink samples,  two bottles of Noodler's Ink in Saguaro Wine and Green, a bottle of Aurora Ink in Black, two new Platinum Preppy pens for my mom, and another Noodler's Flex Nib Creaper for me, this time in clear.

This is how my fingers looked after I was done playing with samples of ink:

Underneath you can see my Rhodia Webbie (which I won from Rhodia Drive, and I'll review in another post) that I adore to distraction. That black is still on my fingers--quality stuff!



The Goulet Pen Company's customer service is just so top-notch! Twice, after I've placed an order, I've emailed them with something I wanted to add to the order. Both times, they have kindly added my merchandise to my order with no problems. They've quickly responded to any emails I've sent them as well, and have been super helpful when I've had pen or ink questions and needed assistance or recommendations.

Brian Goulet has a blog called Ink Nouveau, and it is chock full of useful and helpful information about the products they carry. Brian and Rachel also do a weekly live broadcast called Write Time at 9;  it's on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. They usually talk about the goings on at Goulet, but they have also interviewed Nathan Tardif of Noodler's Ink, and Brian Gray of Edison Pen Company.

All in all, a completely pleasant experience with The Goulet Pen Company, and I can see why they have a bit of a "cult" following. (I hesitated to use that word, but read about the October Flexpocalypse and you'll see it may not be missing the mark by much). Their following is totally deserved though, and I know that Brian and Rachel have worked very, very hard to cultivate and keep this following by providing outstanding customer service and far exceeding customer expectations. I'm (obviously) a bit of a "Goulet Groupie" myself, and can't wait until I can order some more inky goodness!  I can safely say that if you order from them, you'll enjoy the process AND the product.

I hope you've enjoyed my review, and I hope you'll stop by and take a look at The Goulet Pen Company.  I will be reviewing some of the new items (and a few of the older ones as well) I've purchased at Goulet soon: stay tuned!

Woman's Success Planner Update

My Uncalendar lies abandoned on a bookshelf. Want to know why? Well, I'm going to tell you any way!

Remember my Woman's Success Planner Review post? Where I said something stupid like I couldn't use this planner because the lines were too small? Or there was not enough space, or something really dumb like that? Happily,  I was SO wrong!

Earlier this week, I was having problems with my Uncalendar. No matter how hard I try to use the Un, it just works against me. About the same time that I was struggling with the Uncalendar this last week,  Steph Calahan posted a tweet about the "7 Minute Life Planner".  I looked that up and found a whole series of videos about the planner.  While it's not something I think I want to invest in, there are really excellent ideas in it, and in the videos, which I highly recommend watching.

After watching those, I realized that the Woman's Success Planner was the perfect planner to add these ideas to. So, I broke it out and started filling in goals, tasks, and daily tracking items.  Mind you, there were already some daily tracking items in the planner, but I modified a few and added a few. 

Long story short, after a week of using this planner more fully, I am in love with it.  Mind you, I would still really, really like to have wider lines, and a bit more space in general.  I would also like for some of the items to be user fill-inable (it's a word now, ain't it?) However, in lieu of designing our own planner from the ground up, we have to decide what we can live with, and what we can live without, yes? So for me, the benefits of this planner outweigh the deficits (as perceived by me).

Here are a few pictures of how I'm using it now:

I changed the "Menu" planning area at the beginning of the week so that I can list the #B90Days readings for the week. This way they don't take up room on my days, and also there's a bit more room here to write them in.

At the bottom of the task area for each day, I have added the question "Have I done what I said I would do?" (from the 7 Minute Life Planner) and a y or n check box. I adore the thrill of checking y! Below this, you can see the Health Tracker check boxes that come already in the planner. There's space for Water, Fruits and Veg, Exercise, and one to Personalize how you want it.  Also, along the bottom are the circles to color in when you've completed the daily task that corresponds to the number.  I've changed some of those also.

 Here, you can see some of the categories I've added, and my ugly drawing of a book. The icons are for Sleep (in hours), and I changed the flower one to "Reflection" recorded in minutes, and then the Book is-- quite obviously perhaps-- "Reading" also recorded in minutes.

Here, you can see where I've changed some of the daily tasks.  Some of these like "swish toilet" and "reboot laundry" are borrowed from FlyLady.

 I've also added as a daily task "plan", so I actually make time to plan for my next day, or for the next week.

This is another iteration of the Y/N choice for "Have I done what I said I would do?" question for each day.

 This is my current week, with some things filled in. I've put in the subjects for homeschool also.  This will change, because I think I need a separate planer for homeschooling. But you can see where I've filled in my water and veg intake.

 Here, you can see where I've put in my sleep hours, and my reading and reflection time. Also I'm not doing so good on the daily tasks thing, as you can see. But I love coloring in the dots as it's totally gratifying, so I expect this to change this next week when I get in more of a routine about what I want to do each day.

Here is the end of this week, with blog post plans, homeschool plans, and not much else really yet. So that's about it.  Let me reiterate how awesome this paper is! It takes any kind of ink you can throw at it, and it takes it perfectly! NO show through on the other side, no feathering. Just..perfect.  Also, the thing smells really good, did I mention that? I love the smell of paper and ink...I can't wait to be able to order the Address Book and leather cover!

Pamela Henrie, of The Success Choice left a comment on my review post (!), and she confirmed that not only was the paper recycled, but it is made in the U.S.A., as is all of their product line.

Also note that they make a binder version of this planner. It would have to be re-punched to fit in a Filofax (I think, and it's A5 size), but  that's easy peasy. Just don't expect to be able to use your plastic Filofax hole punch toy, as I'm not sure how that would work on the monthly pages.

Error in my last post! My apologies.

I made an error in my last post. It should read "Woman's Success Planner", not Women's Success Planner.

My sincerest apologies to my readers, and also to The Success Choice, LLC.
All links are correct however, and should take you to the website.

Woman's Success Planner Review

Yet another casualty result of lurking on Plannerisms...In the comments section of this post, Anna mentioned the Woman's Success Planner.  Go ahead and look (because you know you want to) I'll wait for you here. Ok, ready to go? Good, let's do it:

So naturally, I went and had a wee looksie too.  Well, it looksied fabulous, so I spent $ I shouldn't have and  buysied the Q3 to check it out.  It arrived yesterday, and I thought I'd share it with you, because it's fabulous!

The planner is spiral bound (loves it), and the covers are that nice laminated cardstock stuff. It should hold up well even if you  don't want to purchase the leather folios that go with them (although I can't imagine not wanting to, they're delish).  The planner comes in 4 quarterly divisions.  I have mixed feelings about this.  In reality, one quarter should be enough to carry around.  However, I like to look back at my stuff and I'm not sure I wouldn't miss having the whole year together.  On the plus side of this, though, the planner is only a little over .5" thick, and that makes it super portable, so that is good.

(The answer is, I don't have any damned idea why I didn't rotate this when I uploaded it, you'll have to move your neck. Sorry *head slap*)

See that little logo? Here's the genius explanation of it from the inside cover of the planner: "The logo for The Success Choice, LLC represents *choosing to bloom (flower) *amid your challenges (swirl) *in your continuous journey (circle) *toward perfection (square).  I WISH I was that smart...alas and alack..mostly a lack...ANY HOO,

Here is the inside cover:

This tells you about the planner and how to use it, and is continued on the inside of the back cover.

Next is a two page layout for 2011 Midyear Planning that includes space for your vision, your goal status, goal actions, and goal roadblocks.  There's  also space for ideas about how to overcome roadblocks.  A goal setter's dream planner, this is.

The next two pages have: (left side) a 3 year planning calendar with last year, this year, and next year;
(right side) the beginning of the month page.

Now is probably a good time to talk about the paper.  The regular weekly pages are on the nicest ivory colored  recycled looking (not sure if it's actually recycled) paper with bits of stuff imbedded in it.  It also has a bit of a tooth which I adore, and takes fountain pen ink perfectly, with almost no show through on the other side of the paper.  The month pages, however, are a brown (looks like a paper bag) heavy card stock. GREAT sturdy paper, but if you don't like anything but bright white paper, this may be a no-go for you.

Next is the monthly layout, with suggestions about things to do called "Blooming Ideas" on the right side of the right page, and notes space on the bottom of the pages.

Then, at the beginning of each week, you have this page that includes weekly tasks, a menu planner, and space for a shopping list.  Here you can see my major problem with this planner...the line width. Only about 1/8" throughout.

Then you have the weekly layout.  I took these pictures on top of Clairfontaine paper, which is VERY white, so you could see the color of the paper.  The weekly layout is genius, and task oriented instead of appointment oriented, although there is space at the top of the dailies for AM and PM. At the bottom, there are places to record your water intake, veggie intake, exercises, and daily tasks.  You can see that the daily tasks are numbered, and go along the bottom of both pages.  When you complete them each day, you just color in or cross off the appropriately numbered circle. How incredibly smart is that?? As you'll see later, I have appropriated this idea...

At the end of each week, there is a Weekly Review page (more utter brilliance) and two pages for Notes, one on the right of the Weekly Review page, and one Notes page on the back of this page (that would be the left side, and on the right is the beginning of the next week).

At the back there are 9 months of future planning pages (the layout is a blocked month on one page with notes at the bottom), so it goes through June 2012.  Then there  is one page of Future Planning, with a 2012 and 2012 calendar, and monthly boxes through June 2013. After that there are 6 Notes pages like the ones at the end of the week. This would be great for contacts or other permanent or long-term lists that you carry.  Alternately, you can purchase from the website an address book that is smaller than the planner and can be moved from quarter to quarter.

After the Notes pages, there is a clear plastic sheet for business cards, and one clear plastic envelope. These are a bit flimsy, but remember that each one of the planners is only for one quarter, so they should hold up fine for that time period--provided they're not overstuffed by the user *ahem*.  Then on the back inside of the planner, is the continuation of the information from the front inside, as I talked about earlier.

Now, I think this planner rocks, frankly. I wish I could use it, because I think it's just a stroke of brilliance (Filofax could take some notes here).  However, the fact that the lines are so narrow does me in completely.  There is just NO way I can use this as a planner! I'm glad I bought it though, because I learned LOTS. I have appropriated some of their ideas and adjusted my Uncalendar accordingly.

On the top under "What Needs To Be Done This Week?" I have blocked off space for a check box (so satisfying when you can check it off!) and placed routine weekly tasks like clean the fish tank (blech). I usually get this done any way, but I like having the routine reminders.

Then in the small green box on the very top right, I have put "Daily Tasks" and assigned them each a number.  I have then put the numbers 1 through 5 on the middle blue line on the daily spaces.  When I complete each task, I cross off the number! This is really helpful for establishing a routine, because honestly? I suck at routines...I hate them, but am comforted by them at the same time.

On the left side of the weekly page, I have added some of my categories from my Planner Pad, and also added a Weekly Review space in the green lined box up top.  I think this is genius, and it's nice to go back and figure out what you were doing and also to be able to make readjustments to your plan(s) for the future.

I haven't added much to the monthly blocks (aren't they nice and LARGE?), but I did add in the note space at the left of the monthly calendar a "Need" and "Want" list.  These will be waiting a LONG time it seems...*sniff* but I totally digress.

At the back of the Uncalendar, there are 12 note page (2 pages) layouts.  These are so smart, they allow you to add notes to your monthly calendar.  **As an aside here, I have decided that I could probably get by with a monthly calendar with note pages, and may switch to the Moleskine monthly next year.  This added to my daily log book should be close to perfect, even though it requires me to carry 2 books.

On the left side of the page, I keep a running prayer list.  I haven't included that so that I can protect names, lest anyone should be made uncomfortable.  You can see at the bottom I've added RAIN. Yeah, I'd love it if you'd put rain for New Mexico on your prayer list too, if you're the praying type. Thanks!

Then I have a mid-month review sheet that I cut out from my Planner Pad.  I don't know where I got this, but it is really helpful.  Now to build in a routine for using it...On the right side of the notes page is oodles of space to use however.  I've not allocated this space yet, any ideas? I LOVE the idea of all that space though!

So I have learned a few really valuable things here: 

1. The Woman's Success Planner is just a stroke of pure GENIUS, and even if you don't use it as your main planner, the investment of at least one quarter as a reference guide is money really well spent.  If you are goal oriented at all, and have smaller writing than I do, GO FOR IT! You won't regret it at all. (Also, you should totally get the Address book and Leather Cover for it, then you should do a blog post!)  And if you're a dedicated Filofax user, you can STILL put the quarters in the back or front of your Filofax to fill in any gaps that the Filofax inserts might be leaving in the planning of your life.

2.  I like a honkin' huge planner. I write big, and I like having some white space around what I write any way. (I totally miss having a leather binder though, with a pen loop and space for "stuff") Also, I am NOT creative, and need the help of others to figure out how to use my planner it its best advantage. I guess I feel like since I don't have some big high powered job (or any job right now, for that matter) that every day life is irrelevant to plan.

3.  I may be able to get by with just a monthly planner, and then use a lined notebook as a daily log.  I am still using this format as per my last post. I can always add the week info into the log book, also as per my last post.

Daily Log

So a couple of weeks ago, I was still again lurking on Plannerisms (my favorite new hobby, apparently), and I came across some posts (Which I can't seem to find. Just go peruse the whole blog, it's all good stuff any way and you'll enjoy yourself) Laurie did about using a planner as a "daily log book".  Since this is how I was primarily using the daily pages in my Filofax--albeit being frustrated by the lack of space--I decided I would work on this idea.

I found an old Piccadilly notebook that I got on sale at Borders a couple of years ago lying around gathering dust.  It looks just like a Moleskine, and is the same type of format replete with elastic cord, ribbon page marker (which I hate) and pocket in the back.

I just opened a page...and started. No planning, no laying out...I just went. I dated one week by dating the left hand page of a leaf, and then allowed 2 pages per day.  Then I decided at the end of that week that a leaf with the week ahead on two pages would be a good idea.  This way I could put any tasks for the week, any things to "research" (what I call all the time I spend online. It sounds so much prettier than "killing time"), blog ideas, etc.  I mark it with this yellow flag, so it's always easy to turn to. This "weekly" page keeps evolving, and I really like that.  I love that every week I can vary the format, the print, the color of pens, whatever I want. FREEDOOOMM!

As for the Piccadilly--I actually don't like it and wouldn't buy another.  Mind you, it's better than Moleskine by a long shot: much better paper and no nasty chemicals (read their site, I swear! It's a Prop 65 warning for CA residents because Moleskine uses a "plastic softener" PLUS, they're made in China. I'm trying to stop buying things made in China.  Just a personal conviction).  However, I find that the lines are WAY too narrow for my writing, and that there is a fair amount of show through on the pages (you can see that in the page above) especially with fountain pen ink.  I also prefer paper with a bit of "tooth" to it, and these pages are very slick.  It takes my fountain pen ink (Private Reserve in Fiesta Red, if you're interested) a fair amount of time to dry.  Frixions work fantasmically on it though!  Here's the page I used to test my new ones on:

I think when I finish this notebook I will try either the  Ecosystem Notebooks or the Exacompta Basics notebooks.  Both of them have a bit of tooth, and the Ecosystem is recycled AND made in the U.S. Plus, I've decided that I really prefer white paper to ivory.

But meanwhile back at the ranch: This "log book" experiment is working WONDERFULLY well.  On the daily pages, I just write the weather, things that are going on (lots about fires lately, sadly), things the kids do/say, thoughts, feelings etc. There is OODLES of space, as I can determine how many pages I need per day--I LOVE THIS PART!!

The only things I'm still having trouble with are:  1. Where to put contacts. I don't want to have to re-write these, and right now they're still in my Filofax Topaz (which is wearing at the corners already *sniff*. Crummy leather)  2. Where to put lists.  3.  Some routine tasks are not making it onto my weekly pages.  Of course, with my life having come to a grinding halt this summer, it's not all that critical, and I have plenty of time to work on solutions to these issues.  I think that as this is working so very well, even if I return to a "regular" type planner, I will continue with the daily log book.  This means that my planner choices and needs have changed very dramatically--and you know what that leads to---Yep...MANY MORE HOURS ON PLANNERISMS!! (Doing RESEARCH, I said! RESEARCH)

**HUGE thank you to Laurie, without your blog I would be so lost...

Uncalendar Review

A few weeks ago, as I was going through another gut wrenching episode of planner angst, I was again lurking on Plannerisms (My favorite site for inspiration!).  As I was going back through posts searching for a planner that I thought might work for me, I came back across Laurie's review post on the Uncalendar.

I hadn't considered this planner seriously before, and I'm not sure why--so I ordered one (the 8.5" by 11" Lifestyle size, but they also make a Half Size), and may I say that Uncalendar has one of the best websites/storefronts EVER.  Other planner folks (*ahem* Planner Pad *ahem*) could take some notes on this user friendly interface!  After you create a profile, you can log back in and track your order (Super handy for those of us who are obsessed concerned about when we'll receive our fix merchandise). Also, there is a section called The Training Room with all kinds of handy additional information about how to use the Uncalendar to its best advantage.

I got the Uncalendar pretty fast (the Uncalendar company is in Arizona, and I'm in New Mexico. How convenient...), and then almost as soon as I opened it, I came to a screeching halt.  I'm going to wait a few minutes while you go look here and here and here at the insides of this planner.

Are you back? Good. Now you can understand how overwhelmed I was at the empty boxes on the left side of the weekly planning pages.  I simply have NO idea how to set these up.  I tried using the categories that I described in my Planner Pad post, but that was a no-go. Plus, I have to admit, that as papers go, the Uncalendar paper is marginally better than Filfoax paper--especially compared to Planner Pad paper which is an outstanding quality.  This limits the pens that I can use to doodle/draw/mess in my planner, and that frustrates me; as do the primary colored boxes.

I didn't take any pictures of the Uncalendar, because the Uncalendar website shows the insides better than I can, and to be honest, I haven't written anything but dates into this planner at all.  I plugged in 2 weeks worth of dates....and then did nothing else.  I went back to my Planner Pad for the time being, and have NO idea what to do with my Uncalendar.  I may use it as a lesson planner for my kids--any other ideas?

Now, this is not Uncalendar's fault.  It is lovely, really, and the notes pages in the back of the planner are GENIUS. A whack of those can be ordered from Uncalendar by themselves, which is totally worth it folks, because these note pages rock.  Just don't expect to be able to use your Lamy Safari on them.

Verdict: For me, another planner fail, but a really nice planner for visual/creative types, and if you even think this will work for you, order it.  It's certainly inexpensive enough to try out, and even if it doesn't work, you can use the notes pages any way, so not a total loss for sure.  The customer service from Uncalendar is spectacular, and this company is unhesitatingly recommended.