Squared notes – my Filofax mini lists

A couple of years ago I went on a shopping binge in the states one of the items I bought was a rainbow spiral notepad of square post-it sized paper. I had 5 minutes before the shop closed and bought it thinking they were sticky notes. No such luck.

Nevertheless they proved a great addition to my desk and handy for writing quick notes down on in the office (and also quite funny watching people steal them thinking they were sticky notes and try to stick them).

One great thing is they are perfect for slotting into my personal Filofax. I tend to use them for the additional mini Iists that I need, whether it is my todo list for the week (to make me look at it) or a list to things to pack like in the one pictured.

Bright, vibrant and eye catching. I do keep a running to do list towards the back of my Filofax, but it is nice to put the immediate or important todos right at the front where I will see them – after all the thing I use the Filofax for most is checking my diary.

What is your Canvas?

The sky is your canvas with the skywriting journal, it is similar to the walls notebook which is perfect for graffiti doodles. The pictures in these notebooks are your pages, your canvas. Unfortunately for me they more likely to inspire me to doodle, than write but i find them inspiring nonetheless (and relaxing in the case of the sky journal).

Pictures and photos make a great canvas or backdrop for a notebook, and a recycled or up cycled notebook is frequently made up of such images. Ideally what pictures do you think make the best canvas?

Personally I love postcards. Postcards as a canvas are great, provide inspiration but leave room to write and you get so many classic images on postcards. My favourite postcards as landscape scenes, quirky sketches and vintage art.

P is for…. Paper, Printables and Pictures (oh my!) #atozchallenge

P is a nice healthy letter of the alphabet. Plenty of words… too many words. I’ve talked a lot about (note)paper lately, being a notebook blog, so for atozchallenge readers dropping by, I thought I’d drop the notebook focus and write a blog about Printables.

I absolutely LOVE Printables, whether it is: my desk calendar, planner pages, forms, Shopping list, cards, recipe cards, gifts, origami, crafts, and lists. Don’t already use them? See what delights the internet can offer you:

– organised home – household notebook
– philofaxy – diary inserts and Templates
– recipes from kayotic kitchen
– an old favourite in productive flourishing
– Printable Paper and Lists

Such an easy way to get organised and take control.

Every time I use Printables I aways have great ideas for my own and personalisation. So if anyone has any advice or tips and how to make my own Printables that would be much appreciated (I would of course share them on the blog).

L is for… Love #atozchallenge

I may be sticking to a rather predictable “L” word here. But love a strong powerful emotion should not be ignored. So much passion and inspiration comes from love. Writing comes from love.

No doubt everyone has a few items dedicated to “love” in the broader sense – a diary, writing down your loves, hopes and dreams. A notebook, scrapbook or box to keep all those cherished memories. A noteset for handwritten love notes. And even when we can’t express what we feel, a simple note to say we’ve gone to get milk…

… can go a long way.

Love notes… Simple ways of showing we care.

H is for… Handwriting #atozchallenge

On a personal level I love receiving handwritten mail (usually postcards from my parents), on a professional level, i.e. during the course of my job I hate handwritten letters as they are quite frequently a mess, with appalling handwriting. Handwriting: Truly a lost art.

Lately I have been reading about parents improving their handwriting skills by helping their kids with their handwriting. I can’t help but think they should have been doing that anyway, but never mind. To practice handwriting, there are some great notebooks you can get, with specially spaced lines to help improve your handwriting. It takes patience, but the right tools can go a long way.

Another useful purpose for notebooks… Who said they were just for looking at ?

Post Box: Roald Dahl stamps

The Royal Mail have issued their latest collection of stamps on the 10 January 2012. The collection takes the well know illustrations (illustrated by Quentin Blake) from Roald Dahl’s six most famous books (great pub quiz question).

Please see the shop website for some great Roald Dahl items (not just stamps).

Winnie The Pooh Collection

Image: Royal Mail: First Day Cover

Today the Royal Mail issued a new set of special issue stamps featuring EH Shepard’s original illustrations of Winnie-the-Pooh, Christopher Robin, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga and Roo taken from AA Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books.

View all the products here and see here for more detail on the images found on each stamp.

 

Wallace & Gromit for Christmas

They’ve not updated the Royal Mail Stamp List yet, but it has been announced that the animated characters Wallace & Gromit will appear on the upcoming Christmas Stamps (on Sale 2 Nov). Much more fun than the choice last year.

image credit: Creative review

Botanic Memo Box Set

When he went on holiday my BF bought me a memo pad, in a cute box – his words “I don’t really know what it is?”.  The concept of why you would want notelets in a box was apparently alien to him (along with how I can use so many notebooks).

The memo box part of the Botanica collection available from Galison.com. It is a colourful design (even though the dominant colours are brown and olive. The notelets have a light pattern on them, that don’t distract the writing, but make for special notepaper.

The box contains 250 sheets of paper and measure 3-1/2 x 5-1/2″. Perfect for posh little notes without going overboard or if you just want to brighten up someone’s day. Paper is of good quality and you don’t get bleeding with inky pens. I can’t stop doodling on them.

Post Box: Helvetia Fr1.20 Dairyman’s Dog

[tweetmeme source=”notesinabook” only_single=false]

Definitive stamps: «Animals» 1993

Designed by Basle graphic artist Celestino Piatti and steel engraved by Max Müller, Bern.

“Fr.1 .20 Dogs can be fairly described as pets, farmyard animals or working animals, depending on the breed . While widely kept as a pet, ‘man’s best friend . also has an important role to play on the farm as a watchdog or shepherd’s and cowherd’s helper . Some breeds are still occasionally seen harnessed to carts carrying milk churns . Last but by no means least, dogs render invaluable services as search and rescue animals at avalanche and disaster sites, as guard dogs or as guide dogs for the blind. The best-known Swiss breeds are certainly the four types of Sennenhund (dairyman’s dog) — Bernese, Appenzell, Entlebuch and Big Swiss — and, of course, everybody’s favourite, the St Bernard.”