Countdown to 2011 #2: V & A Quilts Collection

Image Credit – V&A

The Victoria & Albert Museum always do a great collection of notebooks, stationery and diaries. This year is no different. Their diary choice reflects one of their key exhibits this year:

The V&A Diary 2011 is published to coincide with the V&A’s major Quilt exhibition in 2010 that will also be going on a world tour. This exhibition showcases the V&A’s collection of patchwork and quilted covers to bring together over 300 years of British quilting history, from the 18th century to the creative reinvention of the quilt by contemporary artists. 

The diary illustrates a selection of quilts from the exhibition and also includes some previously unseen images including reverse sides plus sewing equipment such as needles, étuis and other ephemera.

The diary is available as a desk diary (23(h) x 20cm(w)) or as a pocket diary (14(h) x 12cm(w)). Inside are full size beautiful colour pictures of the collection, opposite a weekly view diary layout.

Countdown to 2011 #1: The Desk Diary – Paperchase

I’m usually faithful to my Letts A4 Desk Diary but when I was in town shopping this week – this diary from paperchase caught my eye as a potential replacement.

Image Credit: Paperchase

It is lighter than it looks, and has an even feel. It is eye-catching and pretty and described on their website as:

A4 circle stripe 2011 diary with linen cover, silver gilded page edges, ribbon marker and FSC paper. Contains personal information page, calendar, planners, UK holidays, important dates, world times, conversion factors and international dialling codes.

Down sides? Lines are a not as narrow as I like  and I think (but I can’t remember to say with absolute certainty but the Sat/Sun were on one page instead of having a page each (which is more useful for some people than others).

But why change a good thing? It is clear – the only reason I would choose it over the Letts is it is prettier (i.e. more colourful) and is cheaper at £15. This is not to say Letts diaries are not fantastic quality and beautiful – just with more conservative colours. Not to mention they’ve also got the recycled option. So there is still a decision to be made.

Countdown to 2011

It is this time of year again. Time to decide what calendar, diaries and planners I am going to use in the upcoming year. Once again I’ve decided to scrap what I’ve used in previous years

Despite trying a range of diaries this year for various purposes, the one that served me the best was my Daycraft diary: Slim line, pocket-sized, flexible, wear resistant and both monthly planner and weekly view. Excellent.

Qualities I’ll want this time round. Time to start looking…

 

 

Simon’s Cat – Diaries and Calendars for 2011.

I know it is way too early to be agonising over your diary choice for next year (I can’t talk I’ve already bought my colour-a-month for 2011).

But I came across this today and thought I would share.

Simon’s Cat is offering a 10% discount on calendars and diaries for next year if you pre-order before October. Diaries are priced at £9.99 for the A5, and £6.99 for the slim line. The site allows you to preview January images – as can be expected there is a whole range of cute drawings. What more could you ask for.

Daycraft: Chromatic Days 2010 Diary

This is Daycraft’s Chromatic Days 2010 Diary. It has a lovely soft and flexible bright yellow cover. Although I will say it marks easy. The diary is A6 in size (106mm x 150mm) and very slimline. One of the most attractive things about the diary is of course the Chromatic edges:

The actual diary itself is week per page and the diary is 72 weeks starting on 31 August 2009 – it spans a long time and the diary is no thicker for it. Personally I think it is a great idea, unfortunately as I only got the diary this month I”ve not been able to take advantage of the longer time frame. But on a more positive note, I’ve been using it instead of my flora and fauna diary. Here is what it looks like on the inside….

Just look at the lovely colours Makes my Day.

Daycraft notebooks and Diaries are not yet available in Europe / UK. But I got sent these diaries to review and help raise awareness of them as they are looking to find distributors in the over here.

I will now be doing the first giveaway next week, so come again…

The Flora and Fauna Diary

I know I am late with the Diary Review, but they do have a notebook exactly the same style and just a little thicker and with the same paper which you may be interested in if you’re not in the market for a diary. The notebook (and the paper) is from Cavallini & Co.

I love the brightly coloured front cover, which has a vintage but wacky feel to it. The inside cover, rather than being plain is also highly patterned:

Inside the diary we have all the usual additions: personal details, important dates, international dialling codes, time differences, tube map and national rail map. I love the fact that it has a national rail map – that is actually of use to me, more so that the tube (london underground) map, because I rarely go to London.

Now for the diary pages: They are organised in week view. I like my pocket diary to be week view as I can cart it around in my purse and all I need to do is simply note things I’m doing, or look things up to see if I’m free, my larger diaries are the day view ones.

You get a good amount of space in each day, and of course like most weekly view diaries the weekend space is smaller. The paper is good thick cream paper withstanding the use of ink gel and fountain pens with no show through. Smooth and easy to write on.

Compared to last years diary? Well last year I had a moleskine (weekly view) diary different layout so I’m not going to compare on that front, although I did enjoy the space to do a to-do list. But this year, now that I am no longer a student I do have more of a need for space in each individual day, so it works out well. The paper seems thinner in the moleskine, although I cannot say for sure.

Size wise the moleskine is more pocket friendly, but the Cavallini is slightly more      compacted and is thinner (as it lacks a pocket in the back cover).

Cavallini have a wide range of products available in several main themes (one of which is Flora and Fauna featured here).

These products can be bought in Waterstones, The Pod Company and Papernation.

2010 Diary: A5 from Funkypigeon

I’ve mention Funky pigeon before with regards to Christmas Cards. But yesterday I got an A5 Diary from them:

Basic, professional looking diary. I choose dark red with cream pages from their selection of colours. The layout is a day-a-page, with small time notations, and with space for notes at the bottom. There is also a small monthly calendar at the top of each page so you can plan ahead. Has both a ribbon marker and tearable corners, so you can choose you own method of marking the page.

There are loads of extra information in the diary including:3 year calendar, notable dates, planner, conversions, holiday planner, UK mileage, travel information and international information. At the back to the diary there is the usual space for accounts, addresses and general notes.

Great diary and I’m loving the cream pages. One negative is that fountain pen goes through the paper a bit.

Funky pigeon is currently doing a giveaway of a free pocket diary until 31st on the blog / twitter (same style as my A5 diary). Make sure you check it out.

Countdown to 2010 #8: New Internationalist Planner

Looking back at my previous entries you will know I am a big fan of BOLD, VIBRANT and COLOURFUL. Enter: the New Internationalist Planner. The planner is brilliantly designed (done by many different young artists), and not like anything I’ve seen this year so far. The planner style is weekly view and is available from their website.

For more photos (internal) see here and here.

Countdown to 2010 #7: National Trust Diary Collection

National Trust Desk Diary 2010: £13.

I originally spotted this National Trust Desk Diary in John Lewis. The beautiful cover photo caught my eye immediately and it became a contender for one of my 2010 diaries. Each month there is a different stunning photograph of a National trust property – very similar in style to the amnesty international diary.

However, when I went to check out the website I was amazed by the selection of diaries (and calendars) available. The most notable being the similar pocket diary (£7). The site also features the previously mentioned Sarah Raven Diary (£13).

(Photo Credit: National Trust Website)

Countdown to 2010 #6: Moleskine Colour-a –month planner

(Photo Credit: Notebook Stories)

I’ve had my eye on one of these for a while and have of course been waiting for the new year to debate whether to make such a purchase. However, help is on the way if you are like me and lust after one of these babies:

Notebook Stories has done a great another great review of this planner and even has some to give away. So check it out if you haven’t done so already.

Good Luck Everyone.