I purchased the Align Stapler. This little device is basically a disconnected stapler that is held together top-to-bottom with a magnet. You put your paper in between the pieces and staple. The idea is you can staple any size papers. Ideal for making your own printable inserts right? I posted on my FB groups about purchasing it (before I received it) and had may people telling me how awful it was. Not being one to just march to everyone else's drum I didn't really care, I wanted to find 
out for myself how it works since it was only ten dollars on Quirky. I received it this morning. After the first staple attempts right out of the box sucked, I was a little anxious. Once I got the hang of how it works I love it. The device is very light, so gives the impression of being kind of cheap. When you staple, you don't get that satisfying thunk that you do with a conventional stapler. If you can get past that, the stapler works very well. In the
photos, I stapled a piece of cardstock and eight sheets of copy paper that I had a page-a-day hobonichi printable on for the month of April. It stapled all of it. I also discovered the other option, which is not mentioned anywhere, is that you can take the top staple mechanism, with an eraser under your papers and the mechanism placed above and staple more than the thickness you may be able to with both sides together. I hope that makes sense....so basically using it as an open stapler in the tacking position - which is how I have been stapling inserts prior to this. I think for the price, the device is well worth the money. You can find it here.
Giveaway Winner!!!!!
Congratulations Carolynn Hunter on winning my second giveaway. Thank you Carolynn for following on my blog and Instagram. I hope they are adding to your journaling/planning love! Your prize will be in the mail tomorrow. Please send me a message through my contact form on here with your address. For everyone who didn't win I am planning another giveaway, details which will be announced next weekend. Thank you to everyone who has made this blog the most amazing experience.
My Odd use for an Insert
I have an insert in my field-note size TN that is strictly for weekends. Weekends can be very hectic and sometimes during
the course of the week, I can forget what I need to get done so I keep an insert that just has my weekend activities. As the week progresses I add to it, including the fun things I might do with family, friends or my kids. Yes, I have calendar inserts in my regular size TN but I don't always want to carry that one on the weekends and I don't necessarily want a calendar in my smaller one, so this was the perfect solution for me. I do keep a month calendar in my smaller TN, it's the pictured one, which you can find here. It doesn't add any bulk and I can move the sticker around if I need to.
The most wonderful thing about TN's is that at any given moment you can change your TN to be exactly what you need it to be. I have a place on my bookshelf for inserts that I need occasionally but not all the time. That is really what makes my TN's so valuable to me. As I said on my Instagram account, 'I loves them, I do!'
Countdown To Next Giveaway
We are on the countdown to Sunday morning's (that is the the 29th) giveaway of a Nomadic Flap Type Pencil Case (picture from JetPens as well as the pencil case) giveaway. It will be crammed with items for your portable planner needs. All you need to do to be eligible to win is follow my blog and my Instagram account...that's it!!!! By following my blog you will get notification of AMAZING, FANTASTIC posts on using your Traveler's Notebook to add joy, happiness, peace, focus, and fun to your life....for free - that is a great deal...don't you think? If you know of someone who might like to be entered please share this post with them...
Want to Put Traveler's Notebook Inserts together Easier?
I just bought one of these....I can hardly wait to get it. It's called Align and it is a stapler with a magnetic detachable base so
you can staple anything! Shipping is dirt cheap. I don't want to sew inserts together and stapling can be a pain, what a perfect solution. You can find it here.
Send me a Message if You are a Vendor or Shop on Instagram.....
I am on my Instagram account several times a day and see such a huge benefit to it for vendors and craftspeople who are
trying to promote their work. If you are a vendor or have a shop and would like your Instagram account listed on a post I am putting together about top 100 Instagram accounts for planner/office supply/midori lovers/addicts please send me a contact me with your info about your shop and your Instagram account name. I would love to include your shop and promote it for you! If you know of someone who doesn't read my blog but has a shop they would like included let them know and ask if they would like to be included in the list.
Coming: My 100th Follower Celebration Giveaway
My 100th Follower Celebration Giveaway is coming on Sunday, March 28. It isn't a new car or a trip to the Bahamas or a new TN Cover (dang I know....) but it is a Nomadic Flap Type Pencil Bag from JetPens crammed with goodies for your portable planner needs. There are no complicated hoops to jump through to be eligible to be that random winner. Just follow my blog and my Instagram account and POOF, you are entered!
Quite a few people have messaged me and said they don't 'do' Instagram. I didn't either, until I started my blog. I'm really glad I started because I get more good ideas for my planner on Instagram than almost anywhere else AND I often learn on Instagram first about sales, discounts and new products of my favorite shops. Think about it...not just to be entered to win but just for the fun of Instagram. (Pencil case picture from JetPens.)
Portable Planner Tools I use Most
I carry a bag every day and keep pens, pencils, washi, stickers, paper and tools that I use most. I have my favorite tools and I thought I would share them with you all. First is a mini hole punch, mine is old and green and beat up but w
orks great. You can find one here. Next would be standard issue whiteout tape. My favorite is Oops! sold at Staples. It never goes off track or bunches up. I love the Tombow glue pen. This glue pen looks like a a regular pen, same size and will glue the tiniest spot. These are actually hard to find in stores. JetPens carries one here. Once you use one, you won't want to be without it. I always need a pair of scissors in my bag and for me the perfect ones are Sun-Star Stickyle Pen-Style Scissors. Mine are pink but they come in six different colors here. I also like having an X-acto knife but wanted something small and easy to carry so I keep this retractable blade in my bag as well. Mine is black and the size of a pen. I always keep a Sharpie brand pen in my bag for writing on Washi or other surfaces of stickers etc that I can't use other pens on. I like my stainless steel one because it is refillable. I've had it over a year and haven't refilled it yet. I also keep an Avery Glue Pen in my bag. It has a broad end for larger gluing jobs and sticks much better than traditional glue sticks. I have used Scotch brand double-stick tape for years. I always keep a roll in my bag as well. For all my erasing needs I keep an Ain 'dust gathering' eraser in my bag. It leaves larger eraser bits and is easier to clean up. It also erases cleanly. I typically use Blackwing Pearl wooden pencils and so keep a pencil sharpener in my bag. My sharpener of choice is the famous Ratchetta. Found at JetPens mine is pink. It sharpens two ways and doesn't break the lead when sharpening....best pencil sharpener I think. I keep a Midori Multi Ruler in my bag. I probably use this at least three or four times a week. It is sturdy, cute, and comes in three colors. It measures in cm, which is nice because most things Traveler Notebook seem to be in cm. Last but not least is my container of clips, paper clips, circle clips, classic clips, Midori clips....so there you have it. Nothing fancy but at any time, I can reach in my bag and have, at my finger tips, just about any tool I need for my TN.
Feelings, my friends, are not Facts...
When I first realized this many years ago, I was quite shocked by the truth of the statement. As human beings, it is our job to assign emotion to everything and everyone in life. The connection of emotion is what makes us human. Our emotions filter our interpretation of truth and fact. If I was to say: the sun was a bright pinky-yellow this morning as it rose, many of you would conjure some type of emotion associated with a past sunrise that you encountered, thus your interpretation of past sunrises is painted with your version of the truth of those sunrises.
It’s pretty harmless to have your own filtered version of a sunrise, however, where we can get in to trouble is when we take life affecting moments, immersed in emotion, and consider our emotions around those moments’ facts. It is easy to get in a 
cycle of over-thinking about a person, event, or issue when there are a lot of conflicting or overpowering emotions involved. We get sucked in to thinking our reality-filtered by our emotions-is fact. Our reality is not necessarily the reality we should be taking in to account. Our emotions tug us in the direction of a heart’s desire or a financial need or a family burden. The need or want attached to those things give us a distorted version of what is. Our minds trick us in to thinking the feeling-filtered perception is fact because that is easiest to believe. Face it, as humans we are very attached to our feelings and we are all, to a degree, egocentric. “My ideas, ways of doing things, beliefs are the best…” If we didn’t buy in to our own beliefs and patterns we would be wrecks.
What do you do then, when you may be in a cycle of over-thinking or uncertainty over some emotionally charged issue? You aren't sure what is fact and what is your emotion-induced fiction, swaying you in the direction of your heart? You journal. Get out your Traveler Notebook and start writing down the emotions you are feeling, the raw facts you know for sure, your perceptions of the facts, and any feedback you might garner from close associates. Add it all up, sum up the information, write from a third person perspective, dispassionately with neutral observations, then take a step back. Leave it, walk away, let the thoughts settle. Ponder them on a long walk, over a hot cup of tea, remember to believe in your own best self and return to your written words. You will, I promise, have gained a perspective. Write it down, the unfiltered perceptions and why your emotions tugged at you so much. Remember however, even though feelings are not facts, they are what make us gloriously human, so beautiful and fragile, and each emotion is worth feeling and savoring.
This, that and the other thing....
So my cute planner swag today is stickers from marebearcrafts.com - she has an Etsy shop...an adorable note book for my passport size cover from papayaart.com, I LOVE their art, bags, cards, notebooks....I want it all
In my free downloads you can find some printable quote cards that I have used in workshops...if you like quotes, which I seem to collect, you may find some you like. They are right here. I don't recommend trying to print them on business card stock, after saving them as a PDF the formatting probably shifted.....
Collecting items for my next giveaway. If you want to be entered just follow my blog and my instagram - that's IT! How easy is that? One lovely random sweet person will be picked March 29 as winner!!!
Big Giveaway!!!
My little blog has reached 100 followers and so we are having our next giveaway. Because I'm a baby blog just starting out I can't give away Instagram Cameras and TN Covers...but one day....I just love giving stuff away. This giveaway will consist of this Nomadic Flap Type Pencil Case in Red, crammed with pens, pencils, stickers, washi, and other assorted surprises for all your portable TN needs. How do you enter? You need to be following my blog and my Instagram both and you will be automatically entered...that's it! The drawing of one random follower will be Sunday, March 29. I'm looking forward to giving it all away! Thank you for following my blog and sharing my passion for TN's. (Photo is from JetPens where I purchased the pencil case)
Are You New to the World of the Traveler Notebook? Some Basic Information...
The original Traveler Notebook has been around since the early 1950's. Called the Midori Traveler's Notebook, it is an import from Japan and actually made in Thailand. Fans of the traveler notebook style call anything not the Midori a 
"Fauxdori." There are a lot of Faux's out there and many have rightly earned their own names and own fan following because of the high quality of workmanship that goes in to each one. Almost all of the Faux's are made by hand, one at a time, and often customized by the creators. I don't actually know of ANY genuine leather Faux's that are not made by hand, hence the cost of the cover which, depending on size, can run anywhere between $30 and $100 and higher depending on how much customization you want to your cover.
What sets 'Dori's apart from other types of planners such as Filofax, Erin Condren, Cocoa Daisy, etc is that the 'Dori is very versatile in how you choose to use it and set it up. There are literally no limitations when it comes to how to use it. The basic principle behind the 'Dori is this: it comes with elastic bands down the spine that hold your inserts inside. The inserts can be changed, moved around, and you can make your own inserts. Midori original fans call them refills....
The number of elastic bands down the spine vary with style and customization. The number of bands does not limit the number of inserts you have in your Dori as there are ways to hold more inserts...see TheResetGirl on YouTube for more on this.
There is a whole world of artists making inserts, dashboards, folders, pockets, stickies, clips, and more so that you can make your 'Dori exactly the way you want it for your exact needs. Many 'Dori fans have more than one, I myself have three and use all of them. Which brings me to size. The original Midori is considered the 'regular' size that other 'Dori's are compared to. There are also larger 'Dori's and smaller 'Dori's, clear down to the cover that is the size of a standard passport. Many 'Dori fans use this size for a wallet. You can look here for exact measurements of the cover and the inserts for all the different sizes. This chart is from MorganLeFaesTrinkets blog, which also gives new users a host of information on setting up notebooks.
I would go so far as to say that 'Dori's have a cult following and people who use them are extremely passionate about them and protective of the artists who create them. There are a multitude of blogs, Facebook groups, Instagram Profiles all centered around the 'Dori. I have a lot of links on my blogroll on the right side of my blog that will link you to cover artists, supplies, and blogs. If you have questions feel free to post them. If you are a longtime fan, please share this post with those who are contemplating their first 'Dori.
Using your Traveler Notebook to Reach Through Time....
Near the small village of Montignac, France is a complex of caves called Lascaux. The walls of these caves have amazing primitive artwork dated to over 17,000 years ago. The artwork is primarily large game known to have lived in the area at that time. The artists 'signed' the paintings with their hand prints...extraordinary hand prints, reaching through time to tell us they were there and created the depictions. The hand prints
are far more extraordinary to me than the animals.
I was thinking about those very caves years ago when I decided to start keeping 
a zibaldone or hodgepodge book. Some of you may also know these as commonplace books. I've always been rather fond of the idea of leaving a 'memorial' to my children, a snapshot of who I am, my daily life, my hopes, dreams, passions - and the zibaldone was the perfect way to accomplish this.
The zibaldone is in essence an information management device, a way to keep a collection of loosely related ite
ms, a way to keep track, in 
hardcopy, of your life - quotations, thoughts, inspiration, poems, pictures, recipes, article snippets, life observations....each book is unique to it's creators perspective on his or her life.
I've been keeping one for many years, I've put some snapshots in this post of old ones and of my current one in one of my Traveler Notebooks. I have four children, and I know, one day, when I am gone, they will be going through my possessions and they will come across these books and will have something akin to those handprints on the walls of Lascaux, my effort 
to reach
through time and show them who I was, what I was about, how much I loved them and thought of them, those books will be my hand print.
Something's Coming...
My daughter and I are in the process of developing a product for the TN...anyone's TN, doesn't matter which cover o
r inserts you use. We are SO excited about this and we think it is going to be simply amazing. Actually, we have SO many ideas for TN's that we are creating a company to encompass all our ideas....our company is called Muji-Muji. I won't say much more than that but when our first product rolls out in a few weeks, anyone who is a follower of my blog will get a VERY special deal on it...because you have been there from the very beginning, inspiring me, appreciating my words and thoughts and musings. I will keep you all posted. Share the blog, let people know so they can get in on it. I promise all of you, you won't be disappointed. Tomorrow will be part two of Oseola and Achieving Your Goal. We will review the tasks from the first post and I will give you some new ones....now I need a cup of coffee.
Store Review - Buteo Bunker
This morning I am having internet problems and am sitting at a Starbucks cafe to post. Internet problems are never fun and for someone who is somewhat technically challenged it's an even bigger problem. I am supposed to be at home, s
creen sharing with my son in Los Angeles who is going to help me with Google analytics and working on increasing traffic to my blog and getting my blog out in 'internet land'. Instead here I am, on a public network, feeling very naked and exposed.
So this internet problem and my technical challenges brought me to decide to spotlight a shop on Etsy that I love...Buteo Bunker. Buteo Bunker sells covers, printables and inserts. I have bought printable graph, line and dot inserts. Now I am technically challenged but pretty good at printing and for the life of me, I could not print the file double sided. I was frustrated. I messaged the shop and got a reply and resolution instantly. He went above and beyond to help me resolve my issue. I've since given his exact printing advice to others having the same issue with other printables from other shops. The shop also sells covers. I haven't purchased one, however, all the reviews I've read of his covers, there was only love. In this day and age, for me personally, customer service is huge....enormous. If a shop has good customer service and response time, I'm all in, because they care enough about each customer to respond and fix any issue. My daughter has recently purchased her first cover and is going to use Buteo Bunker printable paper.
If you are looking for a shop that stands by his products, responds quickly, and cares about the customers, check it out. I promise you will not be disappointed. If you have a Buteo Bunker cover please let me know in comments how you like it. You can also search YouTube for videos on the covers!
Tomorrow morning I will be announcing the big giveaway winner and reviewing MarsiaBramucci's All-In-One insert that I love!
Oseola McCarty and Achieving Your Goal in Your Traveler Notebook, Part 1
Not very many people know about Oseola. She was born in 1908. Her family was poor. When Oseola was in sixth grade her aunt became very ill and needed home care. Since the aunt had no children of her own Oseola quit school and took care of her. She never returned to school. She later became a washerwoman, washing clothes for the people in her town. Oseola took her pay and gave 1 dime to her church, 1 dime to each of her three relatives, and set aside in a savings account, 6 dimes to the University of Southern Mississippi. Oseola worked as a washerwoman her whole life, retiring in 1994 because of arthritis. In July 1995 it was announced that Oseola had established a trust for Southern Miss in the amount of $150,000. She accrued this money by slowly, painstakingly saving little amounts of money out of every dollar she took in.
This isn't a lesson about financial management or savings, this is a lesson about never giving up, never losing sight of that goal. Sometimes a goal can be accomplished in days, weeks, months and sometimes that goal will take years to come to fruition. There are other lessons here about how giving helps you get, a lesson about how putting others first means you receive far more than you will ever extend as well....
Oseola's gift was earmarked for kids who were disadvantaged and could not afford college. She is still giving long after she died. I've been teaching Oseola's life lesson since 1997 in my Joy Is A Choice classes for women in mid-life changes who want to take their lives in a 180 direction. I tell them if Oseola can give .60 cents at a time and create a trust, they can take a goal and by committing a little energy every day to that goal, accomplish great things. Mark Twain said most people miss success because it is dressed up in hard work...and he is right. That consistent, constant effort is what makes the difference in the end, just look at Oseola when you doubt that.
If you have a goal...whatever it is...take a blank insert, a very lovely, special one in your Traveler Notebook. Find a label, put it on the front with the title of your goal. Inside, put a header titled: Goal, in a couple pages, Steps to Goal, in a few more pages, Brainstorm, in a four or five pages, Why I shouldn't (Yes, I said shouldn't). Then spend some quiet time writing your goal on the first page. As you think of other components or dynamics to your goal record them. After you write out the goal, start listing the steps you need to take to achieve it in the next section. The steps do not need to be in any order at all...they will be re-arranged later...leave room for other steps you think of later on...keep your notebook with you, with pen, because thoughts about your goal are going to pop up at the most random time and I want you to write those very random thoughts in the brainstorm section, additional steps in the appropriate section and ANY negatives that pop up in the 'why you shouldn't' section. Some of those thoughts will later be re-organized in to coming sections. Then, when you have more quiet time, I want you to write in the 'why I shouldn't' section every thought you've ever had as to why you cannot go forth with your goal....maybe financial reasons, logistical, space, people, whatever the reason, write them down...this isn't the place to argue with those reasons or challenge them, simply record them. These can also be negatives others have said to you about your goal. Don't move on to any other steps until Goals, Steps and Shouldn't are completely exhausted and filled in....Next week, we will talk about what comes next. I can tell you this process, if you are faithful to it, is going to result in some amazing things happening in your life. Keep watching for Part 2 in Achieving Your Goal, Oseola Style.
Just to Give Credit where Credit is Due...........
The real brains behind my blog...Bijoux...don't go anywhere without it. Ideas come up all the time and need to record them otherwise they fly in one ear and out the other....lol.