Chaos in my head
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
what is going on in your life? I hope there are only positive vibes. 😉
Well, my life was really fast paced in the last weeks. The days flew so fast and sometimes I had the feeling that I was not really living my life. It was quite surreal. Have you ever had the same feeling?
What happened? Well I had a lot of work to do and the working from home thingy is nice but I really need some time in the office. Unfortunately, I am not sure when and if it is going to happen soon or again. My employer wants to make sure that it is safe for us all before we will be allowed to go back to the office. Well, I try my best to make the best of the situation. I had a really important project at work which had to be fulfilled without any mistakes and it had to be done fast. I had a lot of tasks and there was one meeting after the next. Sometimes I started my day at 7.30 am and it ended 6.30 pm. That isn’t really normal. I usually work 8 hours a day and it isn’t a problem to get the work done in that time.
The second part which worried me was that both of my parents had some serious surgeries. These were necessary and very important. So I couldn’t think about journaling or something else at that time. My thoughts were with my parents. I thought a lot of moments with us three being joyful together. I appreciated that my parents told me a lot of character traits like honesty, being helpful, caring for others or independence. Even to learn that you can fail in life and learn from your mistakes so you can get better next time. I am so thankful for that.
Because of Covid-19 and the surgeries we saw each other for the first time again after nearly 3 months. It was great. 😊 Of course, we spoke on the phone but that isn’t the same. During their stay at the hospital it was quite difficult to visit one. My dad wasn’t allowed to get visitors. Meanwhile, I could visit my mom onces. After the surgery of my dad had to go to a rehabilitation clinic and it wasn’t allowed to visit him. I am happy that both are doing well, they are at home and relax a little bit. ❤️
So, did I have time to journal? Well, not in the way I am used to do it. It was really minimalistic. I wrote blog posts and I forgot to post them.
Am I sorry for the missing journaling? No. It was the first time that I didn’t feel guilty or sorry for it. I know it sounds silly but it was a little breaking point in my life. In the past I felt so fast sorry for forgetting things or not doing things. But I learnt that I can’t handle everything (simultaneously). Even in my brain are thousands of things which I have to do, I know now that it is ok to push one task / our hobby / your passion for another part to the next day/week. That is ok and we are all human and should allow us to breath and don’t get stressed out.
Wisdom of the day: When your life is stressful and in your brain is full of thoughts, give yourself a moment, make a cup of coffee/tea and enjoy it. After that you feel relaxed and confident to handle everything.
Love to you all and stay safe,
Chrissi
Journal Journey: Dingsbats
Hello lovelies,
I hope you all have a great week. This week is a little bit special for me. On Saturday, July 4th, is going to be my birthday! I am so excited. Normally I am not into celebrating my birthday, but this year I am looking forward to it. At the moment there are a lot of changes in my life and I am trying to experience the life from a new perspective and I would like to enjoy some changes. 🙂
Changes can help to find a new notebook for your daily journaling, scrapbooking or just keeping notes for school, work or for finances.
In that case, let us check the Dingbats notebook. I ordered it via Amazon (20,22 Euros) and there is a nice collection or you can have a look at their website. The notebook is a Wildlife Grey Elephant Notebook in seize A5+. It has a vegan leather hardcover with an Elephant on it which is really cute. You can choose between a lot of colours with different animals on it. The weight is 454 grams which is pretty fine for a journal.
When you open the notebook, you will find the inside cover printed with the footprints of an elephant. I think that it is a really lovely idea. There is a little space where you can write your details like your name or address on it.
There isn’t any index and the pages aren’t numbered. There are 192 pages which are waiting to get filled with you thoughts. The paper isn’t a bright white, it is more a cream white and the weight per page is 100gsm. The surface of the paper is extremely smooth which feels amazing. In the back of the notebook is a pocket too. My Elephant Dingbats has a dot grid on the pages which are a little bit visible.
I personally use my Dingbats as a traveler memory keeping journal. So I write with fountain pens, pens, highlighters, pencils and brush pens and there isn’t any bleeding. Watercolouring is the only part which I haven’t used so far.
Great is that there are a pen loop, elastic band and a bookmark. All of which have the same colour black.
All in all I can say in summary is that it is a great notebook, no matter if you are sketching, drawing or just writing with a pen.
Wisdom of the day: If you want a little wildlife in your life, try a Dingbats. 😉
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Journal Journey: Lemome notebook
Hello lovelies 🙂
It is the middle of the week and my workload is huge at the moment. I will not complain about it, because it is a good sign that we are going back to normality. I have been working from home for 13 weeks now and while it was exciting at the beginning – maybe a bit like a little adventure – I would like to be back at my normal office. How about you? Do you still work from home or do you go to work as usual?
Because of that, I am really excited to go on our little notebook/paper journey again with you. This time, we will stop at the Lemome notebook. Have you heard of it or have you used it so far? No? Then have a look because I think you could be interested and like it too 😉
The Lemome notebook has a hardcover and the outside material is brown imitation leather. It is really smooth and it looks very elegant. The seize is A5. I ordered it via Amazon and the costs were 10,99 Euros, which is a good price I think. The notebook’s weight is 426g.
There are 180 pages which aren’t numbered and the paper is 125gsm thick. This is a very good thickness if you are interested in using it for pens, highlighters, pencils and even some watercolour pictures are fine. The paper gets a little bit wobbly with watercolours on it but if it isn’t a drama for you then you can use it. The colour of the pages is not bright white, it is more a creamy white with dots. The dots are well visible.
When you open the Lemome you have a little space to write down your name. The next page starts with the dotted paper. So for people who like a preprinted index, I can say: Sorry my lovelies, you have to do it yourself. 😉
There is one bookmark in the same colour as the book binding, in grey. A really lovely feature is a black pen loop which is at the book binding in black. It looks quite elegant to me. At the inside back is a pocket where you can store stickers or some sheets of paper. The black elastic band helps you to keep everything closed and well fixed.
Wisdom of the day: Take your time to chill/relax/enjoy even in stressful situations.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Journal journey: Notebook Rhodia
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
I hope you are all safe in this mad world out there. I know that one topic overrolls all news these days. I am really shocked and sad that we still live in a world with racism, hatred, inequality and injustice. I think everybody can give his/her best to make this world a better place. We all can stand and fight against these negative and destroying moments. Black Lives Matter! In the last weeks I read a lot about this movement and I pray for every soul. Such terrible moments should not happen ever again. 🖤
Let us have a look at the outside of the notebook ‚goalbook‘ which is made by the company Rhodia. It is a faux leather soft cover, berry coloured. It feels amazingly smooth. To be honest, I sometimes take it out of the shelf, just to feel the surface. 😉 The seize is an A5 and I ordered it via Amazon for 16,95 Euros. The weight of the notebook is 399 grams which is totally fine to have with me all day. Around it is an orange elastic band as well. For me, it is a really pleasant colour combination.
To find a bridge from such an important theme to an other great notebook is quite hard, nearly impossible. So, I am sorry for the hard cut now.
The thickness of the paper is 90 gsm and due to that it is a little bit thicker than the paper of the Leuchtturm1917. I do not have any problems with the usage of pens, pencils, highlighters and brush pens. Watercolours is one thing I have not tried so far. The paper is smooth and light but it is not a bright white colour. It is more of a creamy white and it has dots on it which are visible but not too intense.
The pages are numbered and there are 224 pages to write on. The corners are rounded which I really like. On the first page is a little space to write your name down and the next page started with an index which is called contents. The following pages are an overview of the months from January up to December. After that there is more space for every month for important dates where you can write a little bit more information.
The goalbook by Rhodia has two book marks in the same orange like the elastic band. At the back of the notebook is a pocket for your stickers. What I like about this notebook is that the inside for the cover is in the same bright orange like the book marks.
Our second stop in our paper road trip ends now and next week we will look at the next notebook. 😁
Wisdom of day: Be kind, be brave and don’t let racism rule the world. #blacklivesmatter
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Journal journey: Leuchtturm1917
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
Let us start with our paper / notebook journey. It will be the first part of many more, hopefully.
We will begin with the journal which I use a lot since I have started to express my notes, appointments and lots more in a more creative. Is it my favourite one? I would say it is one of my favourite notebooks.
At first, we look at the material of the outside cover. It is a bright and happy blue hardcover which feels really smooth and that is nice. It looks a little bit shiny too. The seize of the Leuchtturm1917 is A5. I paid 17,50 Euros and ordered it through their website. The weight is about 254g which is a pleasant weight, especially when you would like to carry your journal with you every day. Around the notebook is an elastic band which matches the colour of the journal.
The thickness of the paper is 80 gsm. So it is quite thin paper (low on the scale of paper weight) but nevertheless this is good for when you like to write with a pen or pencil. Highlighters and other brush pens are fine as well. If you would like to add watercolour, you can do it but keep in mind that the paper can get wavy. The paper itself feels smooth and light but it isn’t a bright white. I would say it has a really light touch of yellow in it. My example has dots on it because I prefer a dot grid. You can buy the Leuchtturm with lines, squares or even blank. Dots/Squares/Lines are all well visible but in a decent way.
The pages are numbered and there are 251 pages which would like to be scribbled onto. 😉 Also, the corners are rounded which is a nice feature. When you open your Leuchtturm1917 there is a place to write your name into and then you have a preprinted space for an index as well. I personally work a lot with the index because I cannot remember where I wrote projects or ideas down.
The notebook comes with two book marks. One is in the same colour as the journal and the other one has a different colour (blue and grey in my case). So you can tell them both apart very well. And other goody is that there is a pocket at the back where you can store sticker sheets for example.
Well I am a little sentimental with the brand and its notebooks because it was my first one. The first one which I used to get addicted to Bullet Journaling.
Well, my dear ones, this was our first notebook we discovered together on our journal journey. Stay strong, healthy and fit.
Wisdom of the day: Everybody has a first love even with a notebook. Leave a comment down below what your first journal was.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Paper isn’t paper, right?
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
we all have our favourite journals or notebooks. We love them for their colour, their size and especially for their paper. So do I.
In my collection of notebooks you can find lots of different seizes and each one has different paper. Am I a journal hoarder? Nope, I am a collector – big difference 😂 I have these journals/notebooks mostly because I am interested in the paper. Out there are so many different shades of white a sheet of paper can have and the thickness can make a huge difference too.
A few weeks came ago, a thought came to my mind: Maybe there are other people like me who would like to have an overview over different notebooks and its paper.
So, I am planning to create a document with my journals. Currently, the list includes the following notebooks:
- Leuchtturm1917
- Rhodia
- Nuuna
- Lemome
- Dingbats
- Traveler’s Notebook
- Galen Leather’s Everyday Book
The following topics will be checked and mentioned in the document:
- the material
- soft-/hardcover
- feel of the cover
- colour
- seize
- thickness of the paper
- weight
- price
- number of pages
- elastic band
- index yes/no?
- numbers on the pages?
- are the corner rounded?
- feel of the pages
- colour of the paper
- dots/lines/squares?
- book mark
- other experiences which I made
Well, when I look at the points, my „notebook-paper-project“ is quite a huge. Because I don’t want to let you wait, I will write short posts where I present one notebook at a time.
If you have any idea which notebook I could test additionally, don’t hesitate to write me here or send an e-mail to stationery-nerd@gmx.de or you can send me a message via Instagram. I will look at your suggestion and it will find a place in my list too.
Because of that, I will start my testing phase now 💪
Wisdom of day: If you have a huge goal, break it down into a few smaller goals. So you will see success very soon. 🙂
Love to you all and stay healthy,
Chrissi
Learning with my journal
Hello lovelies, 🙂
I hope you are all still safe and healthy these days. I am fine and I am still working from home. It is now nearly one month I have been doing this and there are some advantages of it but also some disadvantages. I miss the small talks with my colleagues and on the other side I start more relaxed into the day because I don‘t need to drive the way to the office.
Another advantage is that I can try out new things which I have at home but I didn‘t find the time to try out. So I decided to learn Japanese more strictly. I am not a good learner when I have to sit down and learn just Katakana and Hirgana. Because of that I thought that a new approach would be a worthy try. 😊
I have some activities and to do‘s in my journal which I do very regularly. For quite some time I tracked my productivity with little doodles. I thought I could combine this with my new way of learning. I will look up the Japanese word for the activity/to do/productivity and every time I use my doodle I will write the Japanese word next to it. During my writing and doodling I will speak out loud the word I will have written.
What I don‘t want to do is write the Japanese word in normal letters. I would like to get a connection between the doodle and the Japanese signs. Every Japanese word which I didn’t use so far I wrote with pencil and when I used it and checked the spelling (for the third time … seriously 😂) then I rewrote it with pen.
Of course I have included a cheat sheet for looking up the Katakana or Hirgana in the back, in case I don’t remember (basically a table you can easily find on Google). 😉
Well, I have practised it now for a while and it helps me a lot. I remember the Katakana/Hiragana better and also it’s now easier to find the syllable sign I need from my cheat sheet. Furthermore, I remember Japanese words now better from the writing, the speaking out loud when writing and the looking up on my cheat sheet.
Do you integrate your learning into your journal? If so, how do you do it? If you don’t, why don’t you. It would be great if you left a comment.
Love to you all and stay healthy,
Chrissi
Erin Condren vs. Happy Planner – which planner brings me a happy life?
Hello my stationery friend, 🙂
I hope you had a lovely Easter and a few days off too. I had four days off with Mr. Stationary and my little pug girl. We tried to relax and didn’t stress ourselves even with the world outside still being crazy.
As the title gives you a little sneak, I would like to compare these two planners. I know there are a lot of people outside who love both planners and the other part is just pro either Happy Planner (HP) or pro Erin Condren (EC). As you might know, I am not afraid to try out new things and so I bought both. Mr. Stationery asked if it is really necessary. „Well, of course“ was my reaction. 😂
So some quick facts I organised in a chart for you:
| Erin Condren | Happy Planner | |
| product | Deluxe Monthly Planner | Happy Planner Classic Pastel Dreams |
| dimensions | 7 x 9 and 8.5 x 11 in | 9.75 x 8.55 x 1.32 in |
| weight | 933g | 564g |
| months | 12 (started in September 2019) | 12 (started in January 2020) |
| layout | vertical | horizontal |
| price (without shipping) | 59,27 Euro | 24,05 Euro |
| customized? | yes | no |
| where did I order? | on Erin Condren | on Amazon, because I saved a lot of shipping costs |
| Accessories? | yes | yes |
What do they have in common?
On every divider is a motivational or positive quote. Both planners have a bright and colourful concept. Every month starts with a page where you have a goal section and there is a place for notes. Then you find the monthly overview with a small space for notes. Really awesome is that there are important bank holidays printed into both of them. The following pages are the weeklies for the month. Even on every weekly spread you have some space for notes or to dos for the week. The days are seperated in little boxes.
Here are some pictures of my two planners. The first diashow shows Erin Condren and the second one shows the Happy Planner:
What is different?
At first I would say it is the paper in general. The paper of EC is a little bit thicker than the paper of the HP. Both papers are high quality and normal pens, highlighters or brush pens don’t bleed through the pages. The colour of the paper is different too. The HP paper is brighter than the Erin Condren paper. The EC planner has a extra page with free space where you can put some trackers or planning a huge event. That is pretty cool. The first page where you can write down important things for the month is a little bit different. EC has space for birthdays which HP hasn’t, but they call it important days. EC included the bank holidays in every weekly and you can see a little overview of the month.
Furthermore, at the time when I ordered each of the planners, I only had the EC customized. There were lots of different options to choose from and it was fun to create it the way I wanted it. However, for HP I cannot say whether it was customizable because I ordered it through Amazon because shipping was much cheaper through Amazon than via their own website – which is quite a pity I think. Due to that, I did without customization.
Both are ring planners but each interpreted ring planner in their own way. EC is really bulky and huge. It is quite stable and it stays in its form. On the other side HP has the rings which you can change in seize and colour which is a really lovely idea. My HP seems thin and wonkier than EC next to it. I am a fan of bookmarks but neither EC nor HP has one.
Interesting, though, is that you can customize your planner on both websites. If you aren’t sure which planner is the right one for you, Erin Condren has a solution for you. You can answer some questions and they show you the perfect match for you. On the Happy Planner website I was overwhelmed and felt a little bit lost by so many wonderful planners. One of the coolest things about the Happy Planner is that you can change the styles of the pages as much as you like. You can add more note pages, blank pages, or other styles – just as you like.
Now we are coming to the biggest part: Accessories! Is there a planner buddy who doesn’t like the perfect matching stickers, washi tapes or envelops with their planner?
Oh gosh, I can sit there for hours just scrolling through the huge amount of stationery goodies which both websites have. What can I say, I bought stickers. I personally like most the quote sticker for both planner systems. But I think that the variety for Happy Planner is bigger than that for Erin Condren – based on what I saw on their respective websites.
Which team are you? Team Erin? Team Happy? Or do you like both?
I learned one important thing for me and I never realised it before so deeply like at this point. I need a blank page. I’d like to decide for myself where I put this box and how much space I need for the days etc.
I was really curious about this experiment and I would do it again. It wasn’t a failure though, but I found out that I am a planner girl who doesn’t like planners with already printed boxes. 😉
The best part are the communities around such planer systems like those discussed above: People often share their spreads, they like them, they discuss the stationery goodies and everybody can feel the positive vibes. ❤️
Wisdom of day: Sometimes you try something and you will learn more about yourself as well as your style than you would ever imagine.
Love to you all, stay stafe,
Chrissi
If you want to be a stationery doctor, you need a Writer‘s Medic Bag
Hello lovelies, 🙂
this time my review is different to the other ones. This a really very special one for me.
As you might know I ordered the zippered Folio by Galen Leather for my Hobonichi in the colour Crazy Horse Forest Green. I am totally in love with it and so I decided to write about it. As usual I posted it on Instagram. It was late at night and I got a message via Instagram from Yunus from Galen Leather. My heart dropped and I was so nervous. My husband looked at me and asked what happened. Well, Yunus offered me the item which was second on my list, after the Folio: the Writer‘s Medic Bag. I was speechless and I am still impressed by so much generosity. ❤️🙏 I am so thankful for this opportunity.
Because of that I have to say that this is an advertisement. (It is my first time)
I was so excited and every time I got an e-mail from Galen Leather my heart started jumping. I wanted to tell it the whole world. (Yes, I can be very enthusiastic :-D)
The days passed by and I received an e-mail with a tracking number. The delivery would be with UPS. I know they are really fast. And yes, it was very fast till it landed in Germany (just from one afternoon to the next morning) and then it was the hour of German customs. They needed some more information. So I send UPS all the details which they needed and the days passed by. I didn‘t get any response from customs. My personal luck was that the UPS staff sent me updates after I had asked for the current status. It was nerve wrecking for me. I wanted this bag so much. And finally, after a couple of days, I got an automatic update that it would arrive soon.
It was Friday noon that day. There it was. As you might know, I work from home, so I called my colleagues that I would do my lunch break. I had 30 minutes for the Writer‘s Medic Bag.
The package is brillant. I love the fact that it is made of cardboard and the vintage look is amazing. The Medic Bag itself was yet again in a lovely brown cotton bag for protection. I can‘t say it often enough: I love the green colour! It is so intense, bright and it is a deep and rich colour. The stitches are so perfectly crafted and the surface of the leather is really smooth, so soft. The bag matches perfectly with my Folio.
The measurements are 29 x 20 x 8 cm. The weight is just under 1 kg (0,9kg). A bullet journal like a Leuchtturm1917 in A5 size fits very well. Even my current journal (Nuuna) fits into the bag. Without any problems I can put my travelers journal and my Hobonichi Weeks for my daily stuff into it. At the back of the bag are two metal loops and one leather loop for the shoulder strap.
When you want to open the Writer‘s Medic Bag you flip open the cover and on each side are three magnets to hold them. If you undo them, you can fold the front forward. Great idea! So simple but yet great. The magnets are quite strong, so it can‘t open too easily.
The Medic Bag has two compartments: The big one is for your journal and the second one is with little pockets and loops for your pens. The six loops are great for pens. Next to them are three loops which are wider. You could use them for cables, chargers, little boxes. At the box on the front side are little pockets. A larger one which is zippered (perfect for sticker sheets), above it is a large pocket and further above it are three more but this time little pockets. The material is very good worked up. You can see how precise every stitch was placed.
Inside the bag were a few lovely things, Galen Leathers had put there. There was a card „blue voyage“, a little bag with coffee and earl grey tea, an „evil eye“ with explanation, a card with Zeynep (the talented woman who created this amazing bag), and a history and a card with details to the product itself (like date, who made it, colour and important information to the leather and its care). On the website it says that it is the last piece Zeynep created and it makes me sad to read that but yet I am happy at the same time to appreciate her master piece.
I am a huge fan of such small details. I know a lot people who are not interested in the information but I very much appreciate it. By that, the product gets a final touch and you get the feeling to order more than just the bag.
If you have time, go to their website and take a look at the history of the company. They share their incredible story with the customers and you get the feeling to be a little bit connected to them.
I can’t say it often enough, it is more important to support family or small businesses than buying your supplies from a huge store. Yes, it can be pricier than in the big store next to it, but when you shop there often, the shop owner will recognise you and you will start chatting, you will start to form a very nice personal connection. I like these little chats and I enjoy going into such small businesses. Small/family businesses have a special place in my heart. 💕
To cut a long story short, I love my Writer‘s Medic Bag and I can’t wait to go outside, sit in a café and start journaling (of course after the Corona virus). 😍
Special thank you to Galen Leather for sending me this incredible piece of work. I am really overwhelmed and I am in love with the bag and its colour. Thank you, Yunus for the offer and my card said the bag was made by Nurgül, thank you so much for your work as well. It will not be my last ordered product, you can be sure of that 🙏🙂
Wisdom of the day: Buying from small businesses is the best appreciation you can give to them.
Love to you all (from a very happy little stationery addict),
Chrissi
Journaling in the time of social distance
Hello my lovelies 🙂
We are all in the same boat. We have to practice social distance to take care of our beloved families and friends. I try so too, but well it is really hard for me. Normally I meet friends for some coffee or tea once a week, sometimes we go out for dinner or we go out for a walk. I love my family and my friends and because of that it is quite hard not to phone them and say: „Let us go out!“
Yesterday (Sunday, one of my favourite days of the week) I sat on my bed and flipped through my journal. I realised that I hadn’t met some friends in three weeks. Well, we phone regularly but it’s not the same. I was sad because nobody can say right now for how long it will stay this way. Because of that, I thought about all the things I love to do as well. My journal shouldn’t look empty 😉
I started a page called „my favourite things during Corona virus“. Of course my little sheep buddy is there as well. You will see it at the end of the page. And I wrote down a few things. I was really surprised how many things I like doing and what I can do in this time.
Ok, here are my favourite things:
- Tea or coffee time on the balcony
- decluttering (I really love to do this :-))
- cuddling my little pug girl
- journaling / creating new spreads
- reading a book
- Tidying up
- drawing Eggbert
- learning something new
- writing a letter
- playing with Nintendo Switch
- playing a board game
- go out for a walk with Maya and my husband
- taking care of our plants
- dancing
- doing sports (Yoga in my case)
- playing my instrument
- phoning family and friends
- Facetime
- Skype
- Listening to my favourite music
- singing loud and wrong to my favourite songs (:-))
- trying new recipes
- …
I think I will find a few more things to do. 🙂
What are your favourite things you like doing in this time? Did your journaling style change? Do you have such a page as well?
I am not in quarantine but I work from home. It is quite new to me and I am honest with you, I don’t like it. I want my office back.
My personal, unfortunately unsung, heroes are the people who work in the medical field, the people in the retail trade, the people who work for the police and the fire departments, moms and dads at home, all the small businesses which find their way to keep the business up and help their community, the lorry drivers who transport and deliver the goods for us. I am so thankful and glad that such great people keep our lives going. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Normally I would write my wisdom of the day, but today I have a wish: Do it the sheeptastic way, stay at home, keep safe, stay healthy.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Using my Nuuna as my Bullet Journal
Hello lovelies, 🙂
Our world seems to be a weird place at the moment. One little virus attracts attention around the world. In my city, we have 17 people who are ill and a lot of tests are still going on. So, please stay safe and be careful.
Yesterday, I realised that I wrote about the situation in my journal. I wrote about it a couple of days constantly. At first it was just a sentence and now it is one of the biggest topics. Because of the browsing through my journal I thought of a review to the usage.
At first for those of you who have a quick or first view to my blog: I used a Leuchtturm1917 in the last three years of my journaling. I totally adore these notebooks. I like their thin paper and the dot grid pattern as well.
But for the year 2020 I decided to try a notebook by Nuuna.
Here are some quick facts:
- 256 pages in bright white
- the pages are numbered
- Dot grid (3,7mm)
- 120g heavy paper
- DIN A5+ (165 mm x 220mm)
- Softover
- no index, no pen loop, no book marks and no elastic band
- price: 25,90 Euro
I have been using it for three months now and I miss my Leuchtturm.
The Nuuna has great advantages like the bright white pages and the size of the notebook is bigger than a standard A5 notebook. Even with the small dots the notebook looks bigger. The paper thickness is great because you can use different types of pens and highlighters. And the cover of the notebooks have a wide variety.
If you are someone like me, who loves book marks and an elastic band to secure it, then this notebook may not be your first pick. The missing index is not a huge deal but I like notebooks where there is one prepared. 😉 But my personel difficulty is the dot grid. 3,7mm is too small for me. I have a quite big hand writing; one square is too small and two squares are too big. I am a 5 mm dot grid girl. 😀
Am I going to go back to my Leuchtturm notebook? After these three months? Nooooo 😉 because the points which seem to be disadvantages for me, are not a huge thing for me. I will use it for the whole year. But I am not sure if I would use one as my bullet journal next year again. It might not be a good bullet journal, for me, but it definitely is a great notebook.
I have started a gigantic planner and journal chaos this year, I will give you an update soon😅
So this is all for now. Sorry that there are not any pictures but you can visit my Instagram account where I post regularly pictures of my journal. 🙂
Wisdom of the day: If you do not try it, you would not know if you could love it. ❤️
Love to you all and stay healthy,
Chrissi
Review: Galen Leather Portfolio
Hello lovelies, 🙂
three months ago I was wandering through Instagram and there was an advertisement which caught my eye. Do you know that moment, when the products, the font of the company and the setting of the products look interesting to you but you are not sure if you should give it a try? Well, that was my moment. The days went by and I tried to remember the name of the brand. I forgot it and was a little bit disappointed about myself for that. But I spotted the products again, this time it was a photo posted by a person whom I follow.
The brand is Galen Leather. It is a Turkish company and they make journaling accessories, bags, wallets and office articles. Everything is made of leather and wood. The best part is that every single piece is made by hand.
To be honest, I loved the writer’s medic bag and a5 zip folio. The price is high but I think that it is totally fine because of the material and the craft work that goes into it. I decided to look up the leather zippered a5 folios. And Armor of the Journaling Gods sent an arrow right into my heart. 💘
I decided to order one of these folios in green. I know everybody thinks about a lovely brown colour but this green seemed so intense and deep. And I simply adore green shades. 💚
It was really interesting to see that I received, a few days after the order, a mail concerning the time which it needs to make such a piece and if I would have any questions, I could ask any time. Another few days later, I got another mail with the history of the company. I was blown away. I had never got such a mail before and my heart was melting. My heart belongs to family businesses because both of my grandparents were craftsmen and had their own businesses. I grew up at their work places and still today I love supporting small businesses or family businesses. You can see the hard work which is put into their products and the passion is tangible.
Then, I got the mail that it is shipped via FedEx. I was so curious. When it arrived I was at work and my hubby was at home. I waited for some pictures. I couldn’t really concentrate on work 🤣
I loved it from the first picture on. The green was the exact shade as on their website. When I got home, I had to feel it. It is a very smooth leather surface. I like the smell. I bought the folio where a Hobonichi Cusin fits in. There is place for pens/pencils, credit cards, or washi cards in my case, you can store keys or charger for your phone. It is beautiful and perfect for me.
I put in there my favorite pens, a pencil, a ruler, a pair of scissors, some washi cards and, of course, a journal. Normally, I have my Hobonichi in there but in the picture I put my Traveler’s notebook in it. (It was the first journal which I picked.)
If you want to buy a piece of leather with high quality then I can recommend this company without any hesitation.
(I didn’t get any money or other kind of compensation for writing about it and it wasn’t a present of the company.)
Wisdom of the day: If you find a shop interesting, then give it a try especially when you could support family/small businesses.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
I dream about little sheep
Hello lovelies, 🙂
Have you ever had a dream which seems too big for you? Have you had this dream for years? Do you have one or more supporters? And, do you live the dream?
Well, I had a dream when I was 14 years old. I liked to draw one little character. It was a sheep. To be honest sheep aren‘t my favorite animals but I liked them, nonetheless. They are woolly and seem to be happy during their time outside on the meadows. Time went by and I stopped drawing and many years later I started drawing again. I sat next to Mr. Stationerynerd in a seminar at our university and they discussed philosophical questions about life. It wasn’t that interesting for me, so I drew Eggbert again. This happened 10 years ago. A few weeks ago, I started drawing again. But this time I drew my little sheep buddy for friends and I included him into my journal. Eggbert is a kind of daily companion. 😄
I have so much fun drawing him and because of that, I now try to create him digitally. However, I am not a great artist, I have no clue about digital art and how it works. But I am going to figure it out somehow and I will take you with me on my journey. You are welcome to give me some advice or you can learn from my mistakes. 😉
If you would like to see more pictures of Eggbert. You will find them on my Instagram account chrissis_stationery.🙂
At the moment I have a few people who encourage me to draw the little sheep and try to make out of it. And I am so thankful for those people.
My dream is still growing. Maybe I will start with Youtube, maybe I will design stickers or maybe both? Who knows? Actually, nobody except for me. And I have to create Eggbert in his little scenes and see how people will react to him.
If you need a friend/ a supporter for your dream and you feel alone, write to me. We can talk about it and if you need a letter/mail with motivation and positive vibes, I will be happy to help you too.
Wisdom of the day: You go, lovely! Live your dream because it is waiting for you. ☺️
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Preview: Compare the planner – Erin Condren vs The Happy Planner
Hello lovelies, 🙂
Sunday is my day full of relaxation and I am doing only things I love. Sometimes I chill on the sofa and watch Netflix… no just kidding 😆 I surf through YouTube. I really like doing this. It is relaxing to watch the newest YouTube Videos of my favorite channels. ( I watch a lot of Netflix, I don’t need a special day for it 😁)
As you might know, I don’t like one particular style of planner or notebook. I‘m amazed what journaling addicts can do and how every single one gives his/her journal a personal touch. I think that you can’t do anything wrong when you are journaling because it is everyones own understanding. It is your style and you‘re doing a lovely journaling work.
I watched a video where a young girl was really passionate about her Happy Planner. Then I was thinking about my Erin Condren. Then I saw this Happy Planner. My brain started working, what if I would compare them. Did somebody do this before? I don’t know. I hope I’m not going to be doomed or something like that. 😂
So, I went shopping for a Happy Planner.
I will compare both planners within the next fortnight and give you an update regarding my experiences.
Wisdom of day: Compare what you want as long you do it love!
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Archer and Olive Notebook
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
today it is a rainy Sunday. I love rainy days. For me it is calming down and relaxing. I like the sound of the rain drops against our windows. 💝
In a lot of Youtube videos or Instagram pictures/stories I saw people using Archer&Olive Notebooks. I got curious about it. So, I decided to buy one for myself.
They have a huge and beautiful variety of notebooks, sketchbooks, planners and accessories. The only thing which I knew, was that I would like to have a notebook where the pages were black. After a few seconds, I fell in love with the ‚BLACKOUT book – A5 Deep Green Dot grid notebook with BLACK pages‘ for 38 Dollars. I loved this green colour. So, I ordered it and waited for it to arrive.
It was interesting to monitor the hole shipping process. One day after I placed my order, I got an e-mail that my notebook would be on the way to me. That was surprisingly fast. After the service provider got the order it took a while. I understand that the notebook had to go half way around the world but do you know this moment when you are really excited and can’t wait to get it? That was me.🙈My excitement was slowed down by the postal service. Actually, I can’t remember the exact number of days the shipping took.
The package is unbelievably beautiful when I had it in my hands after it had been delivered. The leaves are in deep green shades and the sign in the middle is golden. The colours match very well.
The green colour is even better in real than it was in the photo on their website. The leaves are golden foiled. The paper of the pages is gold foiled as well which looks really amazing.
You have two bookmarks and they match perfectly with the green shade and the black pages.
The dot grid on the pages can be seen very well which is really good for me because I like to draw my lines without a ruler. I like the wonky style 😄 The Archer&Olive notebook is the notebook with the thickest pages so far.
I was so happy to get the notebook that I forgot one important thing: I didn’t have any gel pens in neon, metallic or glitter which I could use in there. 😂That is typical me. Now I am waiting for my Sakura gel pens to arrive.
Wisdom of the day: If you want to start a project, be prepared and don’t get unpatient. Waiting is a good thing. 😉
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Making new friends and receiving happy mails
Hello lovelies 🙂
I hope you had a great weekend and you enjoyed the time with your friends and family.
I got a happy mail on Friday and, as the name suggests, I was so happy about it. One of my newest friends, Angeline, sent it to me. There were so many goodies in it and I felt thankful for meeting new people, making new friendships and I can give or receive something. Basically, we are swapping stationery. 😀
I am in a Facebook group for kawaii journaling and last year there was a post about a happy mail train. One person starts and nominates another person. Then the second person is looking for someone as well and the train is moving. My friend Clare from Australia had this brilliant idea and nominated me. I, however, nominated my friend Prarng from Thailand. I didn’t know the girls at that moment. We started a conversation via Messenger.
I was so excited to get a package with lots of stationery and I was happy to share my stationery with somebody as well. We wrote a lot and it has been so much fun till today. I hope these new friendships will stay.
At the beginning, we talked about stationery, the journals we use and things we like. After a few days we talked more and more about our lives. Clare and Prarng don’t live in the same country as I do, but it doesn’t matter because we have plenty of stuff to talk about.
It was one of my best decisions to take part in the happy mail train. To be honest with you, I am in a few Facebook groups and I adore these perfect and beautiful looking spreads. But I think that my spreads aren’t that cute or beautiful. But through my conversations with Clare and Prarng I realised that it could be possible that other people might like my spreads. And so it is. It gives me a little boost for my self-confidence . This year I will be a little braver and post more things about me and my wonky style spreads. 🙂
I totally love both happy mails. There were stickers, sticky notes, a journal and lots of cute paper.
That was the part of receiving lovely goodies. Now I tell you something about the other side: the sending.
I chose Prarng. I asked her about her favourite colours, animals, which journal she uses and what stationery she likes. I thought over and over about the goodies and then I packed together washi tapes, sticker flacks, sticky notes and different paper. I wrote a lovely letter and brought it to the post office. I was so curious about whether she would like it.
It had taken such a long time till it arrived. But when I got Prarng’s message that she liked everything, I was so happy and a little relieved, too. It was such a joy taking part.
Wisdom of the day: If you have the chance to take part in a happy mail train or a stationery swap, just do it. You will surely find new friends, get lovely stuff and bring happiness to others, too.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Holiday in Tokyo
Hello to you, 🙂
I hope your day is or was great and you are still enjoying it or enjoyed it – all of it depending on where you are when you read this 🙂. I enjoyed the Christmas time. I love the lights and the scent of cookies in the air. Did you decorate your journal for this special time? This time of the year is really special for me for remembering the past.
I was quite impressed that in Tokyo so many places were decorated so soon (it was mid-November). Here in Germany, Christmas decorations are not put up so early. Still, the lights there were so beautiful.
We went to Meiji shrine and I got a stamp in my stamping book, called „goshuin“. In Yogogi Park it was quite peaceful but at the shrine were a lot of people. The shrine is popular for ceremonies like weddings. At that day, we saw three wedding couples with their families. They looked so beautiful in their traditional Japanese wedding clothes.
There was an exhibition with flowers and bonsais, too. It was so beautiful. (I love plants. It was so lovely for me to see the exhibition.)
We walked through Yoyogi Park towards Harajuku. I watched so many videos about Harajuku and especially about Takeshita Street. This street should be great for shopping and having really good food. Unfortunately, the street was so overcrowded that we just moved in the crowd. People with claustrophobia wouldn’t and shouldn’t go there, I think. It was too much for me and I don’t mind walking in a crowd. We bought a little plastic egg timer for cooking eggs. With the help of that, my hubby can eat his hard boiled egg and mine won’t be a hard boiled one. 😂
For dinner we had Udon in Shinjuku. There is a shop near our hotel and we went there last year too. So we decided to eat there again because it was so delicious. 🤤 And it was incredibly delicious again.
The next day we went to Ofuna by train. We wanted to take a ride with the monorail down to Enoshima. It was quite fun. From Enoshima station, we walked down to the beach.
From Enoshima monorail station you can see Mt. Fuji very clearly on a good day and we had such a good day💓
The beach was quite empty and I walked along the ocean for an hour or so. I even had my feet in the water which was so relaxing. I was really happy because during our trip in May 2018 we didn’t have time for such a moment. The weather was unbelievably good. It was 23 degrees and we had sunshine.
From Enoshima we took the Enoden to Hase. It was a lovely ride and it took just 20 minutes or so. We went all the way up to the big Buddha statue of Kamakura.
Then we walked back to Hase-dera temple. We went there because I wanted another stamp in my goshuin book and we were looking for a statue which has three little figures (a so-called Jizo).
After that we went on the Enoden to Kamakura for the Studio Ghibli shop.
I can highly recommend to buy a JR train ticket with a seat reservation (Green Class) because you can enjoy the ride back with a seat instead of the risk of standing for an hour and a bit 😉
The next day started quite relaxed. We decided to go to Omote Sando where the Hobonichi store is. It is a lovely walk from the station to the shop. Unfortunately, I didn’t check the opening times. The shop was closed. 🙈 So we went to Loft in Ginza where I shopped my Hobonichi. 🥳
We walked through the streets of Ginza and took the Metro to Shibuya. We went to Wrapple because I couldn’t visit the shop last time. Unfortunately, Wrapple closed end of December 2019. I am really sorry for that because I was overwhelmed there. There was so much, yes much not many 😆, washi tapes rolls. For me it was washi tape heaven. The shop had every wall decorated with washi tapes.
After that we walked through Shibuya and enjoyed the sunshine with a cup of coffee.
Our last day in Tokyo and we realized how fast time can fly. My husband made it possible for me that I could try some Fugu (blowfish 🐡).
It was a great opportunity to try it but to be honest, it was a one time meal for me. It tastes good, but it wasn’t my taste.
We also walked through Shinjuku Gyoemmae. The weather was windy and it became more and more cloudy.
I love Japanese parks. The compositions of trees, plants, water and rocks are amazing. For me, it is one of the most perfect and beautiful places to relax and recover new energy.
After very exciting and shopping intense days, we flew back home. At the airport we had this one moment where we both realized that Japan is more then just a summer love. Japan could be our new home, so now we work for this new home.
We will start learning Japanese, so that we can communicate. We will save money and we will look for new jobs in Japan. This dream isn’t one you can realize within a year. But we will start it. 💪
Wisdom of the day: When you have a dream, then hold it and work for it.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Hello 2020
Hello lovelys, 🙂
Happy New Year!
I hope you celebrated New Year. I didn’t do it because of my little pug girl. As you may know I have a pug called Maya and she is really a sweetheart. I know a lot of people with cats or dogs and the animals are afraid of the fireworks. But my little girl isn’t afraid, she is brave and would like to attack the fireworks because it is too loud and they disturb her silence. 😂
So we were at home, sat on our bed and watched the fireworks over the city because from our flat we have a good view for that. Maya, after she saw that there was a connection between light and sound, was bored by it and so she slept on me. 🥰 That is my little girl.
My journal isn’t prepared, my goals for this years aren’t completely think through and my stationery isn’t completely perfect. Why do I this? A few years ago I was prepared and everything was ready but I felt stressed and I wasn’t me.
I was thinking about posting here or on Instagram right on New Year’s Day. But I wasn’t sure, because everybody did it. So many people were posting what the first page in their journal was or how pretty everything was or what their word for the new year would be. It is really impressive how people can be so prepared. I have a more relaxed approach.
Actually I love the journey through a year. You have so many adventures which are out there waiting for you. Instead of goals I have a frame within I go on my adventure tour through the year.
What is in my frame:
- enjoying my life
- celebrating with family and friends
- learning new skills
- laugh and love
Wisdom of the day: Don’t plan your life, live it. You have just one life.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Hello again
Hello to you, 🙂
I am very sorry that I haven’t written for quite a while. As always, I will be honest with you.
In the last couple of weeks my life wasn’t easy. I had problems at work and in my private life. I enjoyed our holiday in Japan just to some extent. I thought that I would take so many pictures and I would write about everything. But it didn’t happen because my thoughts circled around my problems.
In Denmark, where my hubby and I used to relax in a little house at the cliff near Løkken, I took everything for journaling with me. My journals, my new washi tapes, my pens, the new stuff from Japan; everything was in bags but I couldn’t touch it. I didn’t have the energy and I couldn’t focus on anything. I slept a lot and I went out for walks on the beach.
We went back home and I got sick. I have been sick till today and I hope that I will recover soon.
At the moment I post my advent calendar surprises on Instagram (@chrissis_stationery). My calendars are made by Stickiiclub. The variety of stickers is huge and I love the selection.
In the next couple of months I will steadily do more posting again.
But here are a few photos I took in Japan:
Wisdom of the day: Everybody needs time to recover and when you need the time, take the time.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
First day in Tokyo
Hello to you all, 🙂
yesterday, we arrived in Shinjuku late in the evening. We decided to go for a quick walk to Family Mart to get something for dinner that evening and breakfast the next day.
As I promised my posts will be short and I will write with a lot of details after the trip. 😉
Our first day was exciting. We went to Asakusa to the shrine and I got my first stamping book
After that we went to Kakimori where I create my (second) personal notebook and we designed four inks at the inkstand by Kakimori. It was awesome!
By coincidence we found a little shop called Jiyucho. The idea behind it is that you can write a letter which will be sent to you one year later. We had a lovely chat with the young lady in there.
After a ride with the Metr, we arrived at Tokyo Skytree where I visited Loft for more stationery shopping.
Wisdom of the day: Trying and loving new things are walking together.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Evil Journalista 