Brush Dance giveaway winners!

Congratulations to the winners!

The winner of the A Fearless Woman 2013 Date Book is: Ukkitty!!!

The winner of the Mindful Living 2013 Pocket Calendar is: Paul B!!!

Winners, please email me at: laurie at plannerisms dot com so I can pass your email on to Brush Dance. They will contact you about sending you your prize planner.

Enjoy your beautiful new planners!  I hope they bring you inspiration and organization all year long. :)

Christine, the president of Brush Dance, told me the meaning of the name:

The Brush Dance is a healing dance for children performed by Indian

tribes. Many neighboring tribes would gather around a fire to pray and

dance for the child in need. The Indians believe that both participants

and observers are important to the dance and that all should attend with a

good heart - leaving any ill feelings behind. While we are not associated

with any Tribes, we do believe that it "takes a village" (or three!) and

that ill feelings should be left in the past and focus on healing.

I think that's beautiful!

Brush Dance planners and wall calendars can be found at www.BrushDance.com, on Amazon.com and at Amazon.co.uk.

Many thanks again to Brush Dance for sponsoring these giveaways, and to everyone who participated! 

Brush Dance giveaways are now closed

Entry is now closed for the giveaways of the Brush Dance A Fearless Woman 2013 Date Book and the Mindful Living 2013 Pocket Calendar.

Thanks to everyone who participated in these giveaways!

I will post the winners tomorrow (Monday) so check back to see if you won!

Brush Dance 2013 A Fearless Woman date book: Review and Giveaway!

Many thanks to Brush Dance for sending me this beautiful planner as a sample to review and for sponsoring this giveaway! Read on to find out how you can win this planner!

The A Fearless Woman Date Book is A5 size with a week per page and month calendars, TABS (yay tabs!), an elastic closure, hard cover and more.

At the beginning of the book there is a pocket to hold papers, tickets, receipts etc.  Every month has beautiful art and inspirational sayings (click on photos for larger views):

The monthly calendars have holidays printed on the days and space below for notes. The weekly pages have big open day spaces with holidays and moon phases printed in the day spaces.

The month calendars are tabbed, and embedded in the weeks:

The weekly pages start on the first day of the month:

and end on the last day of the month:

Then there are several pages for notes before the next tabbed month:

After the calendar pages there is a tabbed Addresses section:

**Edited to add: I just wanted to say, the more I look through this planner and the pocket one in the other giveaway, the more I adore them.  The beautiful artwork and inspirational quotes give the planners a very uplifting, positive vibe that's very addictive. Loads of little details like colors on the weekly and monthly pages; monthly gemstones, flowers and themes; lighthearted reminders like Go Barefoot Day, and more nice touches give these planners personality and charisma! I really really love them.  Well done Brush Dance for making these wonderful, happy planners!

For your chance to win this planner, just post a comment here. Only one entry per person please. Entry is open to everyone worldwide. Entry will close Sunday July 29 at noon UK time.

I will choose the winner via random number generator at Random.org. I will post the winner Monday July 30th.  So check back here to see if you've won!

You can see the entire Brush Dance collection at www.brushdance.com.


See my previous post for another Brush Dance review and giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed. Many thanks to everyone who participated. I will post the winner tomorrow (Monday) so check back then to see if you've won! :)

Brush Dance 2013 Mindful Living pocket weekly planner: Review and Giveaway!

Many thanks to Brush Dance for sending me this beautiful little planner as a sample to review, and for sponsoring this giveaway!  Read on to learn more about this planner and how you can win one for yourself!

The Mindful Living Engagement Calendar is a pocket size, slim little planner:

Each month's weekly pages begin at the beginning of the month and end at the end of the month:

Each month has beautiful imagery and inspirational quotes:

The format is a week per page with holidays printed on the day spaces:

This planner is small enough to go absolutely everywhere with you so you'll never fail to capture an appointment with no worries of double-booking.

Brush Dance is a very environmentally conscious business. Here is some very interesting insight into the business from Christine, the president of the company:

Brush Dance has been in business for 25 years – our focus has always been on mindful living. Combining beautiful artwork with words that inspire and evoke a sense of joy has been our specialty and we are fortunate to receive letters from people all over, telling us how our products have influenced their lives.

When new items are delivered to our warehouse, it is like Christmas morning around here. We are all so seriously proud of what we're putting out into the world.

An interesting note about Brush Dance – beginning a year or so ago, we all went home to work. We maintain a small office for business records, and we meet regularly as group, but for the "every day, getting it done" stuff – we're all at home. It's worked out beautifully – employees get to spend less time commuting and more time with their families. We've also found that everyone is more productive. A real win/win for all of us – and the environment. 

For your chance to win this planner, just post a comment here. Only one entry per person please. Entry is open to everyone worldwide. Entry will close Sunday July 29 at noon UK time.

I will choose the winner via random number generator at Random.org. I will post the winner Monday July 30th.  So check back here to see if you've won!

You can see the entire Brush Dance collection at www.brushdance.com.

See my next post for another Brush Dance review and giveaway!

 This giveaway is now closed. Many thanks to everyone who participated. I will post the winner tomorrow (Monday) so check back then to see if you've won! :)

2013 Dodo Pad personal size Filofax-compatible diary inserts

Due to popular demand, the daily squares in the 2013 Dodo Pad personal size Filofax diary inserts are larger! They are now the same size as the daily squares in the Mini Dodo Pad diary. I measure the daily squares at 1.4 cm square.

Here is the sample page showing how to use the weekly grid. There are five columns which can be used for individual people, or morning/ mid day/ afternoon/ evening, or Reminders/ Tasks/ Appointments, or Work/ School/ Home/ Family, or many other endless ways.

There is a planner to show the entire year at a glance for the current year (below), and for the next year too (not shown).

The Filofax-compatible Dodo Pad diary inserts have all the same features as the original Dodo Pad diary including weekly-changing art, facts, dates of interest, puzzles and more.

Every week is different!  I learn something new and interesting every time I open a Dodo Pad.

Holidays for the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are printed on the day spaces, as are the moon phases. Dates of note, anniversaries of important dates, and other interesting happenings are commemorated on each page.

At the back of the diary are a few pages for notes, and a handy table for numbers or other info you need for quick reference:

Also available are Dodo Pad diary inserts to fit the A5 Filofax and A4/ US Letter size binders.

Many thanks to Dodo Pad for sending me this diary insert as a sample to review!

Pretty Chaotic Printable Planner now only $2.50!

You might remember my review of the printable planner from Pretty Chaotic (and if you don't you can click here to see it)-- now you can get it for only $2.50! 

Click here to see this post on Ask Anna to find out how!

Financial Planner-ing

Over on Philofaxy today I have a post on how I'm using my personal Filofax to track expenditures, list comparative prices, and try to help me keep costs down.

I'm also using my weekly/ monthly planner to write in paydays and bills on the dates they are due, record weekly and monthly categorized totals (groceries, petrol, etc.) and distill all my figures down to determine if I'm staying on budget or going over.

I haven't seen the show, but recently a friend told me about one of those "extreme couponing" shows where the woman used her planner extensively to keep track of coupon expiration dates and money saved.

Do you use your planner for financial planning, tracking expenses, budgeting, couponing or saving money?  Please leave a comment!

2013 Dodo Planner Calendar

Dodo Pad has a new monthly calendar! The Dodo Planner Calendar is a brand-new product for Dodo Pad, and I'm very excited to review it!

There is a handy forward planner for next year, and spaces to write important numbers:

This is a vertical monthly calendar with five columns for different people in your family, or categories such as work/ school etc.

There's also Notes space to write important reminders, which is very handy.

Each monthly spread has Dodo art, humor, facts and dates of interest. Holidays for the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and moon phases are printed on the day spaces.

This is a very large wall calendar. Open it measures approximately 2 feet/ 60 cm long. The spaces are plenty big for writing in what each person is doing each day.  In fact the daily spaces are big enough to use the Dodo Save The Day reminder stickers.

If you would like to keep a pen or pencil with the calendar at all times you can stick on a Pen Loop (in your choice of color).

Many thanks to Dodo Pad for sending me this calendar as a sample to review! It is an excellent addition to the Dodo Pad lineup.

Poll result follow-up: Using more than one planner

Something that surprised me in the comments on the last poll was how many people use more than one planner at the same time. Many people use a large planner that stays at home or work, and a smaller planner that goes everywhere with them.

One of those people is Mstraat, who gave us lots of excellent views of how she uses her Moleskine Taskmaster at work. This one stays at work, and she carries a smaller planner with her.

I also see often over on Philofaxy that many people use an A5 Filofax at work, and carry a smaller Filofax with them everywhere.

I use two planners at once: a weekly where I do all my forward planning, and a pocket daily where I plan and record today. Because my weekly is only for future and my daily is only for today, I don't have to write everything back and forth in both planners, I only write today's appointments into my daily. Sometimes I carry my weekly with me, but I always carry my daily.

Do you use more than one planner at the same time? If so, how do you designate what you write in which planner? Do you have to "synch" them often, or is there little overlap?

Please leave a comment!

Poll Result, and loving your planner

I was very surprised by the results of the poll Do You Carry Your Planner With You?  The vast majority of people do carry their planner everywhere!

Here are the numbers:

Do you carry your planner with you everywhere?

163 votes

Yes, I carry my planner with me everywhere.	112 (68%)
I only carry my planner when I know I'll need it for appointments.	35 (21%)
No, my planner stays at home/ work.	16 (9%)

In the poll post, I said I only carry my planner when I know I'll need it to make an appointment. But I meant my actual planner, my weekly, which is where I schedule appointments. I do carry my pocket daily Moleskine diary everywhere, which is actually my daily log book. So according to my own rules, I would have voted that my planner does go everywhere with me.

When you carry a planner with you everywhere, it tends to record loads of details. This becomes a valuable and interesting record of your days, and a handy reference for information on the go. My daily pocket diary is the landing spot for all those little details each day.

Also, when your planner becomes your constant faithful companion, many people become very attached to them. I often see on Philofaxy how people even bring their Filofax to bed with them! For many people, their planner is consulted first thing in the morning, often throughout the day, and the last thing at night.

Because their planner is always with them, it's also a handy place for people to stick in receipts, tickets, cards, notes, pictures, quotes and more.

Do you love your planner? What do you love about it? And, what types of things do you stick/ put into it?

Guest post: Jotje's Review of the Weekly Family Planner and Family Life Book by Organised Mum

Many thanks to Jotje (from We Really Didn't Need Another Filofax Blog!) for these excellent reviews of the Family Weekly Planner and Family Life Book from Organised Mum!

When Laurie heard that I had bought this year’s Weekly Family Planner and Family Life Book she asked if I would do a review for her blog. I’m of course most honoured to do so!

This is the first time I bought a Family Life Book. However, I am using the Weekly Family Planner for the 5^th year now. This is a wall calendar that I hung on the side of my kitchen cabinet, so that every family member can have a view of the current week.

We have 4 kids, and every family member has his/her own column!

The best – award-deserving feature: a clear flyleaf,  where I write everybody’s name and all fixed schedules. This saves a trillion hours per year on rewriting the same stuff over and over again. I swear!

The planner is supplied with a small black dry-erase marker that is clipped on the planner itself. The quality is outstanding: Even after a full year of use, it is not empty! The felt-tip is small enough to write in the boxes, and best of all: it’s usable on the plastic sheet, but also on the paper pages!

On the left are (detachable) sheets for Todo’s and Shopping. I don’t use these, unless my Filofax is not at hand. Then I scribble what I have run out of on the shopping-list, or a reminder for DH on what he needs to do.

In the very back of the Weekly Family Planner is a huge and very strong and durable paper pouch, that usually gets a bit overstuffed with all the classroom-lists, garbage pickup-schedules, stickers, booklets etc.etc. I must say, it is soooo superstrong that it never ever has ripped! Fantastic quality!

Our family honestly could not function without this planner. I have no idea how I coped before!

Now over to the Family Life Book

You will find that the Family Life Book has a lot of similar features as the Life Book, with some great differences. But let me start at the beginning.

Here is the book with the paper slip still wrapped around it. As you can see the book can be closed with a purple ribbon:

And here without the paper wrap (and the ribbon pushed towards the back):

The backside of book:

Upon opening the Family Life Book you’ll find the same Personal Info page that the Life Book has:

Next are two pages where you can fill in the weekly schedules of up to 7 (!) people. It is subdivided into AM, PM, After school and Evening. Superb!

Then you have a yearly overview of 2012 and 2013. The planner lasts from Mid-August 2012 until the end of 2013.

Personally, I wouldn’t know how to use these tiny boxes. The only thing I can think of is highlighting holidays/vacations?

Excuse the blurry picture below. It shows Useful Numbers on the left and a birdseye view of 2012 and 2013 on the right:

And here – finally – the essence of the book: the weekly spreads. As you can see the week has a grid layout, allowing for a complete columns for up to 7 people. Ideal for our family of 6!

Additionally there is a column for your meal plans and a column for weekly Todo’s and reminders for Next week.

When all 4 of my kids have a different schedule or playdates on the same day, and I also have to record my own appointment and work times of DH, a weekly diary tends to get messy and I loose the total overview. With these boxes, this is no longer an issue!

Closeup of the weekly view:

After the weekly pages there is a separate tab for the monthly planning pages:

On the first page you can fill in your regular expenditures to keep track of your budget:

Then you have a page to record the Todo’s for the month September, followed by a record of your income and outgoings in September:

Next: Monthly layout of October, Todo October, Incomes/Outgoings October and so on.

Personally I’m very bothered by the fact that the monthly overview is one time on the left, then next month on the right. Bugging! Also, I would have LOVED LOVED LOVED a two-page spread of the months (like the Life Book has (see Laurie's post with page by page photos of the Life Book here) …

In December we get to my favourite part: the Christmas & Holiday planning pages:

First you’ll have a whole page for all your Christmas plans, which is great for outlining your general plans.

Then a page for your Christmas budget. On the right page you have a list for Christmas cards. Invaluable! First write down whom you want to send a Christmas card, then check the box after you have done so.    

Next is the Christmas Presents list. I advice to use that list throughout the year, so that you’ll already have lots of idea’s (or maybe even have done the shopping) when it’s actually Christmas!

Then there’s the Summer Holiday Planner, that Laurie already described in her review of the Life Book.

And finally in this section: two pages to record thoughts and plans for 2013 and two pages for 2014.

Unlike the Life Book, the Family Life Book does not have the detachable shopping lists in the weekly pages. Those are located behind their own tab. 

Three perforated lists per page, plenty of pages, that will surely last for the duration of your Calendar!

Finally a birdseye view of 2014 and 2015:

In the picture below I am holding the two repositionable clear dividers to indicate your week/month or whatever page you’d like. They have top tabs. A very nice feature is that you can write on these dividers with a dry-erase-marker (e.g. for the weekly schedule of your kids) which saves re-writing time. Downside (in my personal view): you’ll have to turn the divider first before you can add something on your pages.  

In the back of the book is a little paper pocket that holds the stickers that are supplied with the diary, and a little address book, that you could then transfer to the following year. Good thinking!

Pages in the address book:

Very nice and useful stickers!

This year I also ordered a package of household stickers to mark the ever-changing pick-up days for dustbin, garden waste, paper and plastic …

The paper quality is fantastic, too. Heavy paper, that accepts all kinds of pens without bleed-through. This year’s paper seems to be thicker than last year’s even! I haven’t seen a mention of this on their website, so I hope I’m not imagining things …

Of course you might wonder, how I – being a One Life, One Filofax kind of gal, am using this? Well, to be honest: I have already dismantled the wire and repunched the weekly pages (plus lots of the others aswell) for my A5 Filofax. Size-wise it’s a perfect fit! I’m very happy about this, and can’t wait to put it into action. I can’t believe I haven’t thought of this before …!