Saturday, December 6, 2014

A few days into the PPP

Although my planner doesn't start until January 2015, I decided I should post some thoughts of post out of the box feelings.

1) I will probably be decorating this planner LESS than the ECLP. I find myself keeping it more professional and with the hour blocks, I have more room to be productive and less room to feel like wasting.

2) I started using the Notes section on the left bottom for my weekly budget.

3) The checklist boxes at the bottom of each day of the week is great. I use them for medications, paying bills, people to call, etc.

4) I use the monthly view more. I started to see the monthly view as it's intended which is as an overview of the month. I color coded things and can see the overall picture of my month better. I'm definitely using the monthly more to its ability than the monthly on the ECLP.

5) I LOVE the paper. I find myself wanting to just feel it and write on it more.

6) It takes Frixion pens well, but as Frixions are, there is a shadow of what you had written when you go to erase.

7) The spiral is the EXACT same as the ECLP. There really isn't a difference.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Plum Paper Planner review


Tonight I received my Plum Paper Planner. Opening the box I was so excited! I had found that the Erin Condren's morning afternoon evening format really just didn't work for me so I was excited about the hourly format of the PPP. Also, the ECLP starts at $50 however the PPPs begin at $31 and that includes any customization to the cover. You only pay to add months, extra notes pages, etc and even that it doesn't come close to Erin Condren's $15 charge for a font change or color change on your cover!

I ordered my PPP on Nov. 11, shipped the 20th and received Dec. 4 on the east coast. 


The PPPs now ship 100% in boxes. They are in a plastic slip along with bubble wrap. I had custom colored my cover (as in my previous post.) 

The PPPs have a heavy card stock cover covered by a translucent frosted sheet. 


First impressions: the cover is very sturdy. The paper is smooth and a bit sleeker than with the Erin Condren. It also seems more like a book to me with no plastic envelope in the back screwing up the shape of the planner. 


This is the first page. You have your usual this planner belongs to and then an at a glance calendar. 


My planner runs from January 2015 to the end of March 2016 or 15 months. 


Each month has it's own tab. The colors in the PPP are more muted and to me, more mature, than the ECLP. I'm much more of a fan of the more understated design and color rather than a planner filled with quotes, designs and vibrant colors. You then have your notes page and monthly view. 



On the side are spots for birthdays, events and notes. Each block is unlined and gray. Holidays are noted.



I ordered the hourly format. PPP has the hourly format, just lines, just lined paper, morning afternoon and evening and a new horizontal format to choose from. 

At the end of the planner is a section of notes pages. I added extra pages. 


Also at the end is a contacts page, holidays and keep it folder. Everything in the PPP is customizable and you can add tons of options. There is also a future at a glance calendar. 




(Sorry for the horizontal photos! I will fix them later.)

Thoughts: I love the custom options of the PPP. It feels more tailored to me than the EC. The pages also just feel nicer to me and more heavy duty. 

Exciting news! Plum Paper gave me a discount code for you guys! Use BABE10 at checkout on Etsy to get 10% off!

*In no way has Plum Paper Design sponsored this post. I purchased my planner myself and they simply added the discount code available for readers.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Magnetic Bookmarks: Folio's Get to the Point

No matter what planner you have, magnetic bookmarks definitely seem to be in. Whether it be Oli Clips or another kind of magnet clips, they're a hot planner item right now. While at a BAM! bookstore this past weekend, I came upon folio's Get to the Point magnetic bookmarks. Super simple, they are a small flag that can hold as little as one page. (I actually found they do better with less pages in them.) They're easy to find the current week in the planner especially if you don't like the snap in bookmarks planners like the Erin Condren come with or to keep track of special pages in your notes sections. I found a set of 8 for $4 at the bookstore. They are on Amazon for $10 for a box of 20.



Thursday, November 20, 2014

So far so good- Plum Paper Planner

I ordered my Plum Paper Planner on Nov. 11. I customized it to all heck, changed the colors on the cover, had no year put on the top, added three months so it would go from January 2015- March 2016. Added extra notes pages and a cover proof. Recently, posters on the Facebook groups have been mentioning a great turn around time at PP. Well sure enough, they have so far been right.

Only nine days after ordering, I received my cover proof. Now when you order, they told me it would take 2-3 weeks. Nine days is not 2-3 weeks. Of course shipping will probably take forever as shipping across country from CA to CT usually is (PP ships UPS and then it transfers to USPS). I don't even mind. The turn around on Plum Paper's side was wonderful. I loved being able to see the custom colors before ordering and confirming I liked it before it was printed. The process of checking the proof, me submitting a small change and getting the second proof was minutes. So far dealing with Plum Paper has been a wonderful experience.


Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Planner Supply Review- Pens

When I first got my planner, I wasn't sure which pens I wanted. I ended up with the PaperMate Profile 1.4.


Available in a ton of colors (I forget exactly how many were in the pack I purchased), the pens write fairly well however sometimes have a bit of a hiccup where they don't want to write. They don't bleed through the EC Life Planner pages, but they're not always the smoothest things to write with. I haven't yet experienced the favorite Flixion erasable pens that every planner addict seems to love, but they may be next on my list to try. I definitely don't hate the Profiles and will keep them, but I would probably rate them a 7 out of 10.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Erin Condren Life Planner

First I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Kaitlyn. I'm a full-time journalist covering two towns. I am also in the midst of planning a 2016 wedding and balancing a lot of things in my life.

I found Erin Condren Life Planners after a friend of mine ordered and shared her referral link to me. (The referral links for EC allow the new person to get $10 off their first order and for the referral giver $10 of gift card credit for ErinCondren.com.)

I ordered my classic LP on Oct. 8 and received it across the country on Oct. 23. (EC ships from California and I live in Connecticut.) I ordered a pretty standard planner, the 12 month plus the remaining months of the year for $5 so I had October, November and December 2014 in my planner along with all of 2015. I chose the cornflower and white paisley cover, a standard cover for EC, and simply put my name. No extra customization.



I was so excited when it finally came! The ECLPs come in a nice, sturdy box with tons of little extras including personalized gift tags/labels, a $10 off your next order coupon, and a $15 off $50 coupon. The planner also comes with a moveable plastic see through ruler, Keep it Together folder, some stickers and a recloseable plastic bag a lot like a heavy duty Ziplock in the back.

The covers this year for the ECLP are interchangeable so you don't have to be stuck with only one cover. I actually have my free cover on the way from the deal EC was running back in October and early November. It has since ended.



The planner is organized by a month page beginning each month and then weekly pages. At the back of the planner is a number of lined notes pages, some blank but designed and pretty pages, the sticker pages, the folder and the envelope. Each weekly page is laid out in a Morning-Afternoon-Evening fashion with some space for notes on the bottom and side.




Some thoughts: I'm not quite sure what to use my monthly pages for. The ECLPs have a huge following on Pinterest and Facebook with multiple groups dedicated to decorating, hacking and using their planners. Some of them have thought up some creative ways to use the monthly pages versus weekly pages, but I haven't gotten the hang of them yet. I tend to put more general things like birthdays and such on the monthly, but they always also end up in my weekly pages.

The ruler: I don't like it. I tried to use it, but it just added unnecessary bulk to my planner. It got me annoyed quickly. I also broke one of the little tabs just trying to put it back in the first time after I took it off the front of the planner. Needless to say, it frustrates me and I use a paperclip with a ribbon on it to keep my place in my planner.

The interchangeable covers: Another thing I'm not quite a fan of yet. Like the ruler, the tabs sometimes break or don't want to stay in the coil. I find myself constantly pushing especially the back cover's tabs back in on the top and bottom of the planner. Not that the cover comes completely off, but just that I'm constantly adjusting it.

The Morning-Afternoon-Evening layout: I'm not sure it's for me. Although I have found a way to use it. (Before noon is morning, Noon to 5 p.m. is afternoon and the rest is evening.) I think possibly the hourly layout of the Plum Paper Planner may be more for me since I have to schedule a lot of interviews throughout the day.

Notes pages: I like them. I found a couple of creative ways to use each one like goals, things to remember and inspire myself, a Christmas list, etc. I even have some work pages and some set up for poems that I want to write or things that just pop into my head.

Overall: I am enjoying the ECLP. I find myself consistently writing things in. I also enjoy decorating with fun stickers, washi and other things I have found at craft stores. I'm just not 100% sure it's fitting my lifestyle with the weekly layout or the bulkiness of the overall planner once you consider the ruler, pages, folder and envelope. It ends up being close to an inch thick, possibly more. However the ECLP design is bright with lots of vibrant colors and it has a lot of good, inspiration quotes scattered through the planner to keep you going.

To order an EC: you can use my referral link if you would like: Kaitlyn's Link.

*In no way has this entry been sponsored by Erin Condren. I purchased the ECLP myself.