Review of Typo 2014 Luxe Diary in Polka Dots!

Stop. Grab a cuppa tea and a snack. This will be a long-winded, very picture heavy post! I hope you enjoy it! 

I recently stopped in at Typo at my favorite mall, Fashion Valley, here in San Diego. I never really have trouble finding things I like at the lush, whimsical stationery store, and this trip was no exception. I happened upon this precious ringed planner that totally suits my style! I love the light color and pastel polka dots. It's considerably lower quality than any ringed binder I've ever owned (about on par to the Walmart planners) but for $19.95 USD, it refused to be left on the shelf. I've included detail shots of the inserts, which are almost cute enough to justify the whole purchase. 

Of course I failed to photograph the front cover, but it includes 4 credit card slots and one ID slot (clear, slip-in type.) It doesn't include a full-length pocket. The material is a pink plastic faux leather, whereas the outside is made of oilcloth. overall it's quite the solid binder and could take quite the beating. It also includes a black ink, slim silver pen.

The first page is a floral divider for "personal info."

 Behind it, there is the standard information sheet and emergency contact information. I love the font and how simple the inserts are designed.

The next 2 facing pages include a 2014 year at a glance calendar, which lists the months across the top of the page, and each of the days in columns below it. 

And behind that, there is a standard 3 years at a glance reference calendar for 2013, 14, and 15.

Next is a lovely blue "diary" tab.

Then they've included a birthday reference sheet, still carrying on with the clean, streamlined style that I really appreciate!

 The month on two pages layout is absolutely stunning! It features a lovely mint shading. The only thing that totally ruins it is the small saturday and sunday boxes. I mean come on, weekends need love too!

I'm also a big fan of the week on two pages inserts. Each new month has a notes section at the beginning. Depending on how late in the week that particular month begins, it starts further down the page. It is of note to mention, the months that start with Monday do not have notes sections. Also interestingly, they've chosen to include the month and week inserts back to back. So that means that between each of the month pages, there are the subsequent week pages. I kind of like this idea.

Pretty ditzy spot budget section~

The first page includes a very cute "things worth saving for" insert where you can place photos of things you're saving for like festival tickets, amazing shoes, and a dream car. This is what makes me love Typo...the whimsical, fun side of planning and organizing. 

Loving the budget pages. God knows I need them! 

Another very pretty, vintage style to do divider.

 Another simply designed to do / checklist. Kudos to Typo! Even though the paper is very thin, I might even use these inserts for next year! (Would you like to see pen tests on this paper? Let me know.)

The last divider!

Behind that is a standard contact sheet for each letter of the alphabet.

The inserts are identical size and punched for the personal Filofax. The only difference is the ring size, which is definitely on the small side. I have inserted a picture of Filofax personal size pages in the binder as well as the Typo binder directly on top of the Filofax Personal Finchley (to show the ring size comparison.)

A few mm smaller than the Filofax.

 A closer look at the fancy-looking pen, as well as more glamour shots of the inserts.

Overall, the pricetag and lovely inserts really convinced me to buy this little number. It isn't a fancy replacement for my Filofaxes or even Kikki-K binder, but it is a cute, fun binder that screams my personality. It almost reminds me of one of the Kate Spade planners I've been lusting over. As I mentioned before, Typo has created a sturdy binder. The problem I had with the construction was the rings. About 75% of the binders on the shelf had misaligned rings, so be sure to really pay attention to the little details if you plan to pick up this agenda. All-in-all, I don't recommend it as a replacement to the nicer binders you have, but if you're like me, you might be attracted to a sweet little whimsical lovely every now and again. And for $20, what can go wrong? 

What's your opinion on the binder? I personally adore it!

My Week #37

Week #37 in my Kikki-K large time planner.

I have to apologize for being a worse-than-mediocre blogger for the past few weeks. It has been a slightly trying time around here, but I'm coming out on the other side.

In the spirit of staying positive, I present to you the highlights of my week:

• I had sushi this week. Twice.
• Farmers market trip with my mom.
• I rode on a see-saw. Yes, really.
• Staying up all night reading. This time it was The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
• Coffee date with one of my oldest friends.
• Way too much Project Life & book haulage. 
• Generous IG friends and penpals.

& here's a selection of instagram photos this week, for your viewing pleasure~

Clockwise from left: (1) letter from Rin (2) thrift store book haul (3) reading on my iPad (4) farm fresh strawberries 

And now what you really  wanted to know more about: my Filofax week! I fear that my other two Filofaxes, both personals, aren't getting enough love since I moved into the A5 Kikki-K planner.  It's not that I don't love the portability of Personals, I do, but the A5 seems so luxuriously large and spacious. Plus I love my setup and the inserts I've chosen to use in there. It's almost too perfect.

Used this week~ cloud sticker handmade by Shelly at Prim & Parchment, gold stripe washi tape by Freckled Fawn, Anchor sticker gifted to me, Kikki-K everyday gel pen. 

... that's seriously it!

 Oh, and this is not an uplifting/encouraging quote like usual, but it's sooo relevant to my life~ 

There you have it. Another week done. Wishing happy days to all of you!

My Filofax Week # 36

This week was nice and productive. 

First of all I wanted to mention that my giveaway has now closed.

The winner was @sassysally12 on Instagram!

Now onto week #36 here in my Kikki-K planner! 

Starting the week off with a holiday is always nice. Though I actually had to work on labor day - ironic to say the least. I didn't mind. 

I used my new Freckled Fawn multi-colored airmail washi (love!) to reinforce the pages. It made me so happy just looking at it. In addition, I used a Kikki-K cloud post-it to denote Monday's holiday, and a Mara-Mi chevron post-it to write down the giveaway winner's address.

I have been moving away from pastels in my planner for the past two weeks. Just exploring...

This week I started reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides - an interesting read. I hope to get it finished by next week, as I have  a stack of books waiting to be read. Here's to another fabulously organized and pretty week. 

I'll leave you with this pretty piece of inspiration from Julia Child. Art is by the lovely FoodLovesWritingShop.

My Filofax Week #35

Another week in my Kikki.K large time planner!

Disclaimer: my pictures will be a little off  in this post - because our weather has been dreadful - cloudy but hot & humid. Wow. This week passed so quickly!  It was a pretty low-key week here, but I'm learning to enjoy those. Another month is coming to a close, and I'm excited to see what September brings. 

Mara-Mi kraft paper notepad + neon stickers = insta-fun!

I went with a neon-ish theme this week, just because it made me oh-so happy!

My favorite bits of the week were the heart sticky notes and the little "don't forget" note.

One of my friends from the Netherlands helped me purchase a lot of lovely bright items from a store called HEMA. The shaped sticky notes, binder inserts, printed sticky notes, and both washi tapes seen here are from there. These bits are just so bright and cheery!

Other items used: Pilot FriXion pen, black ink, jetpens.com; Pilot Hi Tec C Coleto, sweet mode, jetpens.com; Avery neon color-coding dots, amazon.com; kraft paper notepad, Mara-Mi, Marshalls.

I hope you had a happy week. I'll leave you with one of my all-time favorite quotes, by J.R.R. Tolkien:

From rain to shine

Don't forget, my giveaway is open for a few more days & Happy (almost) September!

Free Printable "I Heart My Blog" Filofax Insert - Personal & A5

A preview of the "i heart my blog" planner.

Hello lovelies and happy Friday! As a treat for all you Filofax-using Bloggers, I've uploaded a printable page for your enjoyment! You may click on each to preview and download to your heart's content. And don't worry if you can't find one you love, there will be more.

A5 Size  i heart my blog planner*

Personal size i heart my blog planner

* if printing on A4 or US letter size paper, please print two per page.

I hope you like them! What other printables would you like to see on cafe et papier?

Psst...have you entered my giveaway? One week left...

My Filofax week #34

I had quite the strange week this week. It was supposed to be the first week back to college, but I ended up taking the semester off because of things beyond my control. Interesting, to say the least. 

It turned out to be a great week (after Wednesday was over) and I did a lot of lovely crafty things like starting project life and writing many letters. 

Products loved this week: magnetic typewriter pagemarker, HEMA, gifted to me; left side blue sticky notes, Michaels, $1.50 for 25 sheets; "Not all those who wander are lost" sticker, Kikki.K, $19.95 for a book; Pink dot washi tape, Target; A7 notepaper, Kikki.K, 4.95 for a notepad; Light blue mini sticky note, Girl of All Work, gifted. 

Left side of the spread

And the right side.

Here's a fun little view of 2 of my top tabs, both by Martha Stewart and embellished with Kikki K stickers.

This week's inspiration: Live in the moment.

Psst... Have you entered my giveaway? 

Starting Project Life (oh yes I did!)

I took the plunge this week and started Project Life, though not without much deliberation. I was really hesitant to start in the middle of August - over halfway through 2013, but I read a ton of blogs that were super encouraging to me. Most of them said something along the lines of: your book is your book - there are no rules. After seeing this over and over, (oh, and after getting wind of a 5th & Frolic kit - love me some Dear Lizzy!) I decided to go for it. 

This is the first layout I made - centered on a trip to Las Vegas we took earlier this month. 

Products used: Design A page protector, Becky Higgins, $29.99 for a 60-pack; Kraft Edition core kit cards, Project Life, $29.99 for 616 cards; Dear Lizzy camera stamp (don't remember where!); Studio Calico wood veneers, $1.99, TJ Maxx; Amy Tangerine Thickers, $1.49, Marshalls.

Project Life Essentials: Cards & Canon Selphy printer

Photos, cards, and page protectors: these are the only products you need to get started on Project Life. Take it from me, I've seen all the really lovely project life layouts (I stalk #projectlife on Instagram like it's my job!) and sort of get intimidated. But in reality, everyone can start with just a few simple things. I, of course, had bits and pieces here and there from other crafty pursuits, so I added them in. And did I mention the major haulage I've been doing in order to get started? Yeah. Sorry bank account. I really recommend the Selphy because it is so simple to setup and use with the iPhone - which is my primary camera these days. 

Products used:  Design A page protector, Becky Higgins, $29.99 for a 60-pack; 5th & Frolic core kit cards, Michaels stores, $29.99 for 616 cards; Blush edition core kit cards, Project Life, $29.99 for 616 cards; American Crafts DIY Thickers, $1.49, Marshalls; Freckled Fawn wood veneers, $5.00, Paper Tales Shop, San Diego.

Overall, I'm really enjoying my new project and trying to make it my own. I like putting in personal touches like a penpal letter from the lovely Rin, or a parking pass from my college along with pictures and of course the gorgeous journaling cards. 

I have a feeling this will be a really fun hobby.

Psst... have you entered my giveaway? x