Wilko Travelers Notebook/Organiser Review!

Lots of people have been talking about this new TN style notebook/organiser that Wilko has recently released in their latest stationery collection. So I thought I'd get my hands on one, have a play around with it, and give you my opinion on it!

First of all, if you've not heard about it yet or haven't got your hands on one, here's a little info on the dimensions and nitty gritty 'boring' stuff. 

It's an A5 Travelers Notebook style notebook. It costs £5, and comes with four A5 notebooks/inserts inside. The cover is 'Leather effect' which is some sort of PU material. Inside there are four elastics, and there are two poppers on the cover to fasten it (which means there's a little growing room in this notebook!). 

They list it on their website as an 'organiser' but many of us know that even though the inserts might be for organising, the style of this notebook is very similar to a TN.

It is quite a chunk of a notebook, which personally I quite like. The material used for the cover is very floppy by itself, but with the four notebooks inside it holds its shape. Once you've opened the notebooks up inside and used them a little more, the whole notebook does lie completely flat. Which in my mind is definitely a perk! 

The double popper is a really nice design choice, I've seen a couple of people in the community mention that they like this feature. They've designed it so there's extra material on the flap, which covers the second popper. So if you choose to fasten it on the inside popper, the popper you aren't using wont be on show. It's a small design decision that makes a big difference. 

The inserts that come with it are very basic, they're undated and each one is decorated differently. It was really nice to see that they hadn't just put four of their classic lined A5 notebooks in there. Instead they've actually put some thought into each one, so it gives you a bit of a starting point on how to use this TN as a whole.

The first insert is the 'Daily Journal' which has a leaf design on the cover and the title is gold foiled.

Inside each page is split into 3 sections with lines, and a little space to put the date. I quite like this and think you could actually use this for a multitude of different things. Of course there's it's intended purpose of a daily journal, but it would work well as a gratitude journal,  or even a planner if you split one box in two, for the weekend.

The next one is titled 'Edit Undo.' which again has the gold foil on the title, and this time it has a pink ombre cover. 

To start with I thought this was just an insert of plain paper, but when you get to the halfway point in the middle, all the paper in the other half of the insert is actually gridded. I quite liked this as you almost have two notebooks in one, and the grid boxes are also nice and dinky.

The third insert is 'Notes', this one is probably has the most plain cover. It's just a really dark teal, very similar to the PU cover of the TN, and again the title is gold foiled (gotta love a bit of gold foiling!).

This one, as you can probably tell, is a simple lined notebook all the way through. When I have any sort of planner or journal, I always need some sort of doodle/scribbly note paper or insert where I can brain dump things. So even though it's very simple, I don't see it as a bad addition to this TN.

Last of all we have this insert which has the title 'This Year' on it. The cover has a green 'tiger style' stripe design. 

I feel like the whole Hypernatural collection that this notebook is a part of, has a jungle sort of vibe to it.

Inside each month takes up the front and the back of a page, with the dates going down the left hand side of the pages. Once you get to the end of December it goes onto some 'notes' pages, which are just lined paper. 

Of course this is undated so you could start using it anytime of the year. I suppose much like the first insert, there could be various different uses for this insert. Planning your year ahead, making notes of peoples Birthdays, or even a 'sentence a day' style of journaling.

I think the elastics were the only thing I had doubts about. As many of us who use Travelers Notebook style journals and planners know, you are swapping and moving inserts in & out of the TN every week, sometimes daily. The elastic used in here reminds me of the type of elastic they use on product packaging around Christmas time, basically it feels a bit cheap. 

Granted it's only £5 for the whole thing, but this is one of the main parts going towards the functionality of the notebook. If it snaps or weakens, you can't use it as intended anymore.

Saying that I've not fully used this for weeks on end yet, so I guess time will tell. I also don't think it would be too difficult to rethread with different elastic if something were to happen to it though.

All in all it's a pretty good little notebook. Still not 100% sure what to call it, but I'm definitely swaying more towards a TN because it's so similar to how those function. 

I'm also really excited to see if Wilko bring out more of these again in the future, and possibly expand on the sizes they offer. 

If you want to get your hands on one, they do have it available online here.

Have you used this TN style notebook yet? Do you like it? Let me know!

- Daisy X

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Nellie Never Forgets, Greetings Card Subscription!

I love coming across new stationery subscriptions, and this one is a bit different to any I've had before! I really love the idea behind it. They are a relatively new business on the greetings card market so I'm excited to share a little bit about them with you guys!

The lovely Ashley from Nellie Never Forgets got in touch with me and asked if I'd like to share & review a box! He founded the business with a wonderful purpose behind it, to help people stay in touch. I completely agree that a card or any piece of mail sent to someone means so much more than a text message. Who doesn't like getting mail?! (Unless it's a bill...)

In the subscription pack you get three cards sent to you each month for the very reasonable price of £6.99! (plus FREE shipping to the UK!)

The cards arrive packaged in tissue paper, then in a cardboard box, and a plastic mailer (I'm assuming the plastic mailer is to avoid any water damage on the off chance they get wet in transit. But I think they would be perfectly safe with just the cardboard box, which would help with not using any unnecessary plastic). 

It's sent as a large letter, making it small enough to fit through the letterbox, so the postie won't have to knock!

I've got a little stash of greetings cards, and I'm always adding to it. They come in so handy if someone's Birthday has crept up on me and I don't have time to go out and find a card. 

The cards all have really nice simple designs, and on the website it states that they are designed by some of the leading greetings card designers. 

The print quality of the cards is pretty good, I wouldn't say it's top top quality, but it's definitely really nicely done. The card it's printed onto is good quality textured card, and they all come with a kraft envelope.

All the cards are blank on the inside, which is a personal preference of mine because I don't always want the standard 'Happy Birthday' written in there. Sometimes I like to add my own twang to my message! 

As you can see the cards I received weren't all Birthday cards, there was a nice variety for different occasions which I think is definitely the right way to go with this sort of subscription service. Having cards for any occasion is so handy, and also the style of each card is a little different too. 

They all have beautifully simple designs, but there's a mix of different size and style of font on each.

If you don't send cards out to people, I think it's one of those things that is worth getting into the habit of doing. I'm of course a 'happy mailer' so I send lots of mail out to people, just to spread a little sunshine and put a smile on peoples faces.

  A handwritten message is so much nicer to receive over a text. Even though it's a little more expensive than a text, if it brings a smile to someone's face, it's 100% worth it in my mind.

Something I liked with the branding is just how neat and simple it is. The logo that's on the back of them all isn't too busy or fancy so it doesn't take the focus away from the front of the card at all. I'm someone who always takes note of these sorts of things, I appreciate branding that's been nicely done and fits well with the product!

If you would like to try out Nellie Never Forgets then you can get your first box completely FREE! Yep, that's right, FREE.  If you use the code GCFREEBOX your total will come down to £0.00! (If you live outside of the UK there may be postage charges) 

I thought this was so lovely of Ashley to offer this up for you guys, so go check out the website and get some happy mail sent out to your loved ones!

Click here to head over to the website.

Also you don't have to sign up for a fixed amount of time, you can sign up for however long you want as it's a monthly rolling subscription!

I hope you've enjoyed having a little closer look at the Nellie Never Forgets greetings card subscription. If you grab yourself a free box, let me know!

- Daisy X

*Please note, this is a sponsored blogpost. Even though I've been paid & this box was sent to me free of charge, this does not sway my views and opinions. I will always share my honest views on the product and company.

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Pocket Filofax Notebook Review!

As many of you might know, I own a couple of Filofax Notebook's. One of my A5 sized ones I ended up using as a bullet journal for a good few months, and I absolutely loved it!

Filofax got in touch a few weeks ago and asked if I'd be interested in taking a look at one of their Pocket sized notebooks. Seeing as I loved the A5 sized ones so much, I was intrigued to see how much the Pocket sized ones differed. 

I of course picked the Lemon Yellow one! This notebook is from their Classic Pastels range, and all of these have the elastic closure on them. My rose gold metallic Notebook from Filofax, doesn't have an elastic closure, none of the metallic ones do. So this could be a pro or a con to some people, but for me, it doesn't make a massive difference. I think Aesthetically the elastic does add to the notebook, but practically speaking it really doesn't take that much longer to open the notebook, compared to one that doesn't have an elastic.

The spine is the same as the larger notebooks, it's a pretty clever design. Whether you have lots of pages inside, or not that many, having the spiral going through the cover like this seems to help the spine from morphing too much, it kind of grows and shrinks as and when it needs to. If you want to fold the cover back on itself, the spine also allows for this to happen.

Seeing as the notebook covers are quite plain, I think it does add a little quirk to them too.

Inside, the notebook comes with a ruler, a little intro page, a wedge of lined paper, and some pretty pastel dividers. Like the A5 notebook's, you can buy refills as and when you need them. They have a few different styles, including dotted paper (£1.99 for 32 sheets). So if you were thinking of using this as a small bullet journal, then they have the ideal paper for that. The paper quality for these notebooks is something I've been very impressed with. It's not super thin, and is lovely and smooth.

The dividers are pretty pastel colours, which is the standard colours for their Classic Pastels range. The top divider also has a built in pocket, so if you wanted to keep things in the notebook then you can do. They compliment the cover nicely so I don't have a problem with them, but because you can removed the pages of these notebooks, you could quite easily make yourself some personalised dividers to fit the notebook.

The cover of the notebook is very smooth to touch, but does contain some texture. On the website it's described as a 'leather look', so isn't real leather. The front and the back of the cover also has what feels, and looks like a more solid surface. This makes it a lot easier to write in if you don't have a flat surface nearby. Even though it's very sturdy, and has the flat covers, there is also some bend in it. So it's not completely a hard back notebook.

I think this is going to end up being the notebook that comes along with me, in whatever bag I'm using. It's the perfect size, it has the dividers so I can organise my thoughts, and the solid covers mean I can easily write in it wherever I am. 

If you are thinking of getting one, you can take a look at their whole range of Notebook's here, or if you want to grab yourself the Lemon one I've got, you can find that here.

Hopefully you've enjoyed hearing my opinion on this adorable, dinky notebook!

- Daisy X

*Please note, even though this notebook was sent to me free of charge, this does not sway my views and opinions. I will always share my honest views on the product and company.

Central Crafts Firenze Tiny Journal!

I'm so incredibly excited to share this with you guys!

This is most definitely the smallest journal I own, and when I received it, I couldn't quite believe just how dinky it was! This was sent to me by Central Crafts, which is a site that offers a range of various products, including an amazing selection of handmade leather journals. It's UK based, family run business, that has been about since 1999. So they've had a lot of time to perfect the quality of their products, and it definitely shows!

This one specifically, is the Firenze Classico Mini, and it's available for £10. 

It measures 6.5 x 6.5cm, and the pages inside are 5 x 6cm, so yes! It's a teeny little journal. But it is most definitely the cutest journal I own. 

It came in two colours, Chocolate & Tuscan Sun, I went for the Chocolate colour as I preferred the darker leather. It came in this little bag, so if you were planning to buy it as a gift for someone, or didn't want to scratch it. Then there's a little dust bag to keep it in.

The journal closes with a wrap around strip of leather, something that I haven't had on a journal for quite a few years now. I think I'm just so used to having journals with elastic closures for convenience, I've never really looked at this style before. But for a journal this size, there's really not that much wrapping to be done!

I love the chunkiness of the journal, even though it's small in size, it makes up for in quantity of paper inside. I feel like this journal would be so nice to note down daily perks, positive quotes I come across, and even sketching/painting things when I'm feeling inspired. Because it's so small, I reckon I will find myself using it more, it's not quite as daunting as having a large blank page in front of you.

There was the added option of having it embossed, which I definitely had to get done! Most of the examples I had seen had shown the embossing on the front cover of the journal, but I asked if they would do it on the side/spine of the cover, and they said it was totally fine. I decided to get my initials on there, and I'm so happy with how it turned out! Embossing is an extra £4 for initials, or you can get one line of text (+£7) or two lines of text (+£10) on there too. 

The paper inside is cream in colour, and relatively thin, though it does feel like really good quality.

On the website it says that it is Italian acid free plain writing paper, and it also states that it is fountain pen friendly. I'm definitely intrigued to see which of my pens work the best on it.

The leather cover of the notebook has been made using off cuts from larger pieces of leather. I love that this beautiful little journal can come out of a few scraps that would have potentially gone in the bin if not. There are natural marks on the leather, and it does seem to be the type of leather that will mark up. Personally though I really like that, and I'm looking forward to seeing it wear as I use it.

If you would like to see what other journals Central Crafts has available, you can check out their whole journal range here.

You can find a direct link to this journal here.

They have also provided me with an exclusive discount code for you guys! Just enter the code MYGREENCOW when you checkout, for 10% off your order! (It expires on the 16th of November 2017)

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at this little journal! If you end up grabbing one for yourself, I'd love to see what you end up using it for?!

- Daisy X

*Please note, even though this journal was sent to me free of charge, this does not sway my views and opinions. I will always share my honest views on the product and company.

Boxclever Press, Busy Days Platinum Starter Set Review!

You may have seen in the vlog I put up on my YouTube channel last week, where I opened a wonderful package from Boxclever Press. Well in this blogpost I'll be going through everything I received in the package, and sharing what my first impressions!

They sent me the Platinum Starter Set, and inside there was the Busy Days Planner, x2 Sticker books, x6 Washi Tapes, Spare discs, a punch, a clear zip pocket, and then diary inserts from May -August 2017 (which are obviously out of date now, but nice to have if you choose this planner for memory keeping, and want to back track). My first thoughts of this set was that it would make a brilliant gift set. You have everything in here to get started!

The washi tape set included the following designs, B&W fruit line drawings, trees through the seasons, film strip, gold foiled dots, birds sitting on a line, and then some grass washi! The set has a nice variety of tapes to choose from, and will be great when it comes down to using them to decorate the pages in your Busy Days planner. They are all decent length rolls too, the classic 15mm by 10m!

The sticker books were probably one of my favourite things. They've done an amazing job on them, all the stickers are just beautiful and they are such great quality! The sticker books are themed, and I know a few of my blogger friends who also received this bundle to review got slightly different themed sticker books!

Inside there's a page with puffy stickers...

..Then you have two pages of some kinda of vinyl/plastic ones, that are slightly transparent..

...Then lastly there's three pages of paper stickers with gold foiling on! The colours of all these stickers are so vibrant, and I absolutely LOVE how many you get in here. All of the stickers are unique too, there's no duplicates. 

Here's a photo of the other sticker book I got, this one was themed around baking, and homemade things. They are so great for documenting and decorating! I think one of the best things about these stickers is that there's a nice balance of objects, and then banners and flags. So you have a good choice of what to use when decorating. 

I was very impressed with the punch. This is so you can create your own inserts or use printables, and add them in. Considering this is a disc bound planner, you can't just punch holes in pages with your everyday hole punch, they are a bit more of a specific shape. So this punch will definitely make things a lot easier when it comes to personalising the planner!

It was extremely heavy too, you can definitely tell it's a quality punch, not cheaply made at all. I hate using a punch that feels like it might break every time I punch something. I was trying to find the best way to show you the quality of it in a photo, it's not something that's really easy to show via a computer screen haha. But with all the punches I've come across, this one is definitely one of the better ones!!

The planner itself has a hard plastic cover, with the name of the planner & the Boxclever Press logo on. Personally I prefer my planners to not have a name/wording on the front. This was also the only cover option which again, I like to have a bit of choice when it comes to that kind of thing. But this is a newly launched planner, so I'm sure the Boxclever Press team have lots of plans for the future of this planner regarding colours options!

The tabs in this planner are great, nice quality, evenly spaced and colourful! The font on a planner tab is something I'm a little picky about too, I like simple but bold fonts, nothing too fancy. I really like the one they've used on these tabs. They also have a plastic cover over each of the tabs to make them more durable.

Inside, the pages are somewhat decorated for you, each month has a different sort of colour scheme depending on the season. There's also some monthly goal style pages (shown above) at the start of each month too. I think they look maybe a little 'childish' (I can't think of a better word) with the different shaped boxes and font choice. Some people might prefer this sort of style, but personally I don't. I think consistency throughout the planner is important, and these pages are a little different to the monthly & weekly pages. I don't think there's anything wrong with having a planner partially decorated before you get your hands on it, but it can't look too personalised to suit one persons taste.

The monthly and weekly layouts I much prefer. They are decorated, but not so much that you feel you can't make them your own. The month starts on a Monday which as you guys know by now, I much prefer! The space you have in each box is really decent too. They are a little wider than ones you find on your average monthly insert, I think that a lot of people would benefit from that. So many times I've written something in a box and realised it's too long so had to add a hyphen and put the rest of the word below it. 

Again the decoration on the weekly spread is very similar to the monthly. The way the week is set out is also really different, I've not come across any layouts like this before, but I like it! The colour scheme of the weekly and monthly pages do also change per month, to reflect the season. I also love that each day is split into three sections, that can come in very handy.

At the back of the planner there is a pocket page, which has yet more stickers inside! Anyone who's used a planner in the past will know that pockets come in super handy! So it was a nice little surprise to find one at the back of the planner. It's a double sided pocket so there's basically two pockets here.

Lastly I thought I'd give a little size comparison to a Personal sized Filofax. Just to try and give an idea on how big this planner is. It's a chunk for sure, I'm not 100% sure if I'm a fan of the size. For someone like me who has tried many planners before, I've found the larger ones are just not as convenient. I like to be able to take my planner downstairs with me, or out of the house if I need. This planner I would most definitely say is a desk planner.

Overall, I love the accessories, they've done an amazing job at those!! I think I would prefer the planner being a bit smaller, or at least having the option to choose a smaller size if I wanted. Having some smaller rings might work with making the planner a little more mobile, so you don't have to have the whole of 2018 in there at once. You could carry around a couple of months at a time for example.

The design of the monthly & weekly pages are great, I'm just not so sure on the others, I just wouldn't be able to use them. The funny shaped boxes, and font would put me off.

Something that was very clearly consistent throughout, was that the products were great quality. Nothing stood out as being less quality that the rest, and I loved that.

I think it's definitely worth going for if you are looking for a new desk planner, or alternative way to journal, as there's PLENTY of space on the planning pages to plan things out or even add little photos. Also the accessories and extras they offer in this kit, means you will be able to really build on the planner straight away. You won't struggle with making it pretty, and personalising it!

If you want to check out this Platinum Starter Set, you can click here.

Also be sure to take a nosey at the Boxclever Press website here.

They've got a wide range of planner products, so it's definitely worth a nosey!

- Daisy X

*Please note, even though these products were sent to me free of charge, this does not sway my views and opinions. I will always share my honest views on the product and company.

Boxcitement Unboxing & Review!

I've got another unboxing for you all today! This time it's a brand new box I've never unboxed before, I also haven't heard of this box before this, so I was incredibly intrigued to have a nosey inside.

The box itself contains a range of different things, from stationery to jewellery, and anything else in between. They have products designed exclusively for the box, and as they say on the website, the Boxcitement team has many years of combined knowledge in various fields like graphic design, fashion design & illustration. So they know what they are doing, and they know exactly how to put together a beautiful box of goodies!

Here is an overview of everything that was inside the box! (Minus a beautiful print that couldn't fit in frame) As you might be able to tell, the May box was fruit themed. You can't help but love the burst of fruity colours when you open the box, plus those coloured felt dots are pretty darn cool, I will be keeping those to use again!

This magnet is like a giant badge, but instead of a pink on the back, it had a magnetic section so can be popped on a fridge or other metal surface. I love the design of the watermelon and kinda wish it was used on some more of the items too haha. I think they geometric style works so brilliantly with fruit!

Now I couldn't not be a tiny bit over excited for this! A fruit mix washi tape!! It's very unique, compared to the many fruit themed washi tape's I already own. I think it's the lilac colour within the design that helps with this, it dulls down the bright colours a bit without making the colour scheme boring.

  

This was something I'm unlikely to use as it's intended to be (as jewellery) because I'm not really someone who wears bigger pieces of jewellery. BUT I can most definitely re-hash this and make it into some sort of planner charm, or even if I don't find a way to do that I can always regift it. Again though I love the lilac colour they've brought it, it really does compliment the fruit theme perfectly.

This was something a little fun, it's a fruit cocktail kit. So they provide you with some cocktail straws, quirky coasters, and a card with some drink recipes on! I don't drink myself, but the coasters are so lovely and can definitely be used in crafting. I do love the variety in this box and the surprise element of not actually having a clue on what will be inside!

Now these stickers are probably my absolutely favourite thing in this box! How stinkin' cool are these?! (Again with that lilac, yay!) They are amazing quality, and I think it's safe to say I'll be hoarding these for a while, to save them for as long as possible ahah!

Of course there were some other bits and pieces in the box, that you can see in the second photo on this post, but I thought I'd pick out some of my favourites and more interesting items to show you.

If you want to check out Boxcitement, you can do so here.

There's also all their social media links below...

Instagram

Twitter

Facebook

Let me know what you think of this fruity box of goodies!!

- Daisy X

*Please note, even though this box was sent to me free of charge, this does not sway my views and opinions. I will always share my honest views on the product and company.