A Mile A Day In March Movement Challenge

I'm excited to announce a new challenge I'm partaking in - "a mile a day in March," a movement challenge coined by Amanda Zampelli.

As a person whose hobbies involve being sedentary, this monthly movement challenge will do wonders for me - and Amanda (a planner/craft girl herself) has created printables and activities to motivate people like us to get out there and do it - and then craft/plan/record/document/scrap about it!

Below you'll see how I'm using some of her printables and documenting my experience with it.

• Weekly Documenting - using Amanda's small square printables made for The Happy Planner, I've decided to dedicate the last box of my day (or the "Evening/Night" box) to keep track of how I'm doing. This will let me jot what I did quickly so that I can journal about it other places. A motivational sticker from the Fitness Planner Stickers Pack for The Happy Planner jazzes it up a bit!

• Pocket Pages - these cute  2" x 2" squares Amanda created are perfect for The Happy Planner Pocket Pages, and similar to her, I'm using it to document but also as motivation. I stuck some Pocket Cards in for motivation, as well as some of her printables which act as my cover page for the final documentation in my planner.

•  Journaling - these larger inserts Amanda created lets us participants write a little story, convey our motivation and intentions behind why we're doing this challenge, and memory keep. Since I didn't have cardstock to print on (the best paper to stick in The Happy Planner) nor The Happy Planner Punch, I opted to adhere my journaling pages to a piece of graph paper. They are double sided, so I only had to use one sheet! Now it's thick and nice to write on. As you can see, there is a space to cross off each day you complete the challenge (which I forgot to do) and a place for each day to record your distance, time, the place you completed your daily movement, the story of why you ended up doing what you did, and motivation to finish the challenge.
  
  
  
  
  

• Project Life - I haven't downloaded them yet, but I plan on using Amanda's 3 x 4 and 4 x 6 journaling cards, plus the pictures below to document in my PL. They're perfect because I don't have many fitness/health related embellishments (thanks Amanda!). More on this to come post-challenge!
  
  

  
  
  Behold - a beautiful scenic picture on my Day 1 walk through my neighborhood.

Action shot!! Those pants are so big and comfy.

Happy Planner Prep // March 2016

One of my favorite things about The Happy Planner are the monthly dashboard pages that give you the ammo you need to attack your month's effectively. In my particular planner, each month has 5 prompts, including a section for birthdays, special events, goals, important dates, and things not to forget. Although some things may overlap, I like to use this section to get creative, do a little scrapbooking, and of course, make it colorful and fun to look at as I flip through my planner, all the while letting me be organized and know what's ahead.

You'll notice some sticky flags scattered, and that's because during prior months I will get ideas for future ones, so I just stick ideas down as I get them. Then, once I sit down to assemble it, I will remember what I wanted to put down, and can simply remove the flags.

Next, I will go to my computer and print out images that pertain to each section. I only like to do a few here and there so it's not too busy and I can add stickers. To size pictures to fit in each box, I'll take my ruler and measure how big I think I want it and outline where it would go with a pencil. I didn't show this step, but you get the idea I'm sure. For this month, I printed out a photo of my dad (and brother) for his birthday, two of the Happy Planners I'm in between (they're coming to stores this month !!!) and a little quote, which I like to use in my "Don't Forget" section as a personal reminder.

Since my dad was the only one with a birthday this month, I jazzed up the space with some stickers from a MAMBI Pocket Pages sticker book. Some old Target Dollar Spot alpha stickers gave some color, while a number sticker for the date of my dad's birthday is from a MAMBI Alphabet sticker book. Both MAMBI sticker books I bought from Hobby Lobby. To add some birthday pizzazz, I just took a snippet of confetti washi tape.

I'm stoked for the reveal of my two articles coming out this month, so I wanted to highlight that it is a special event for me, even though I put the same thing in my Feb dashboard. See all of my current publications here. A gold foiled "work it" sticker dresses it up a bit.

Last but not least, I added one of the new pocket cards to the front of my March divider (see top of post). I like how the black and gold pop on the blue and green stripes. I adhered it to the center with a tiny bit of washi tape so I could easily remove it if I wanted to use it somewhere else!

MAMBI Happy Planner Haul - NEW CHA 2016 RELEASES!!!

 

I had been waiting a hot minute for Me and My Big Ideas to FINALLY release their new products that debuted at CHA 2016, and to hold them in my hands is short of a Planner Miracle (is this a thing? it should be!).

When the products first launched on their website, I was so excited that I actually waited a few weeks to buy anything. I had an idea of what I wanted, but kept going back and forth with products in my cart because I obviously didn't want to order everything at once (although I wish I could!). And then one day, I was scrolling through my normal instagram tags when I saw someone post about seeing some stuff arrive in Hobby Lobby. I have a Hobby Lobby only 10 mins or so from my house so immediately I was like: Must. Go. 

Sure enough, I made it last weekend and they had just about everything in stock that they supplied. To my dismay, the smaller storage pouch that attaches to the back cover of The Happy Planner was out of stock! But I didn't stress because I knew they were selling it and it'd be back in a matter of time. The real "planner problem" if you will (let's just dub a bunch of terms today!) was that there weren't ANY of some of the new products I was looking for in stock, including the must anticipated pre-punched washi sticker pack, dashboard dividers, new sticky notes insert, etc.

But to get on with the haul... I picked up the two new sticker packs which include "Everyday Reminders" stickers of all shapes and sizes, an updated version (and combined?) of the To Do and Don't Forget sticker packs (which they do still sell). This new pack will be a definite replenisher (something I have no problem using to my liking and rebuying as needed) and features gold foil and the tiniest colorful icons in circles, which are slightly more appealing than the Colorful Icon pack (which I also picked up). That pack has Green, Light Blue, Teal, Dark Blue, Purple, Pink, Yellow, Orange and Red, as well as a Pastel Pink and Blue/Gold Foil combo - whoa that's a mouthful. The icons include an arrow (pointing to the right), asteriks, star, exclamation point, heart, and bigger astericks. 

The next things I picked up were sort of unexpected, with the exception of the new half sheet notepaper. I absolutely love the quality of The Happy Planner paper. It's thick, so you can use a variety of pens on them and they won't bleed. It also just feels great to write on and take notes with. I use the dated notepaper a lot for work when I'm researching and drafting pieces. But the half sheet notepaper is a whole new door to creativity, leaving room for lists, tasks, to do, and the like. Also great for when you just don't want to use a whole sheet of paper (because the reg. sheets are quite big!). In addition, my mom insisted I needed the planner bands, which I was waiting to actually pick up once I chose my new 2016-2017 planner, which I'm lookinh forward to unveiling and sharing with you. The planner bands come in a blue, pink, and gold, which are versatile colors that play with The Happy Planner's various covers quite well. I have the blue one on my black My Life planner cover right now as you will see below. Also, I picked up the "Hello" edition of the magnetic page markers, which I really knew I didn't need but are so darn cute. These are very strong, and I currently have the "hello" mint flag on my week, holding it from the month to the last week of the month for an easy flip. The striped arrow is on the other side of my weekly spread, holding the reminder of whatever the weeks are in the month I'm on (Feb). The "Life is Good" and pink heart with white polkas are also adorable, but my mom definitely snatched them...lol!

Last, but certainly not least are the new Pocket Pages and Pocket Cards, a new system for memory keeping that is revolutionizing the planner commuity right now. Not one single company has anything like this for planners, and MAMBI certainly knows what they're doing because pocket pages are the hottest scrapbooking trend right now (see Project Life and Simple Stories Sn@P - well, SS are pioneers in this too, because the SN@P system has ways of planning and memory keeping simutaneously, but that's for another post...). So, obviously when I saw this I had a plannergasm (yay, more terms!) and knew I was going to buy them. Then fast forward a few weeks, and I'm totally suckered into scrapbooking, Project Life style (stay tuned for this post). I immediately can the MAMBI pocket page system because I didn't believe it would sufficiently work for me if I was going to start doing PL. It would just overwhelm me, and I'd be repeating too much. So why was it on the car ride to Hobby Lobby that I was like forget it, I'm getting it? (#rhetorical) I really don't know. 

After playing around with it, I found the Pocket Pages to be of very good quality, just like the ones I bought for my PL. Now the question is, would I go back and not have boughten everything I needed to start PL, and just stick with the MAMBI? And, the answer is no, because scrapbooking for PL is completely different than Pocket Pages for MAMBI. I've been putting (so far) a lot of effort, time, and money, into my PL because it's just an entire different creative outlet. Pocket Pages are fun to stick in here and there, and one day you'll see how I'm incorporating them once I figure out their best use, which will probably be in my 2016-2017 planner setup.

I'm really enjoying my items right now but there are just so many more calling my name. If you're a Happy Planner, what have you been enjoying from the new line or what do you plan on picking up?

Until next time,
~Alexa~ 

Happy Planner Prep// February 2016

February is among us, which means its time to look at the important things going on in the month before the actual month is planned in particular. I definitely have struggled with getting creative for this type of page, so when in doubt I turn to the MAMBI blog for inspiration. Sure enough, MAMBI Social Media Coordinator Amanda Zampelli has an adorable page filled out, and included a super cute pic of her boyfriend with some other embellishments. Drawing inspiration from that, I came up with this memory keeping type page, and I'm so in love and already thinking about March's layout.

To size this pic down of my boyfriend and I (taken last Valentine's Day, actually), I measured the paritcular section I knew I wanted it to go in, and then put those dimensions into MS Word. I knew I didn't want it to take the whole width of the page, but more on the height side. I of course left wiggle room for embellishments. The black and white heart washi tape (last year Target Dollar Spot) was a nice and stark contrast against the bold red box above that contains the monthly overview calendars. I printed out some MAMBI printables from a previous V-Day on their website, and cut out this "I love you!" scrap from one of the pocket pages. I definitely played around with things like a jigsaw puzzle, seeing what fit where the best. Running scenarios over is part of the fun of it! After I finished the majority of the layout, that section was looking a little sparse still - I didn't like how there was a bit of a white box just chillin' out! I heard this song play from a commerical from the TV (I was doing this in a communal space) and heard "baby, you're electric" which went perfect for my lovey dovey/romance theme of this February layout.

For Special Events, I decided to highlight the fact that my first two articles will be submitted for publication this month in the magazine I intern for (see publications). I like to use my gold foil stickers sparingly, so I used the "big day" one for this special occasion. 

For Feb Goals, my friends and I are in the midst of planning a trip to Orlando that month to go to Universal, so I put this adorable picture of my friends we'd be going with/seeing there as a visual reminder that this trip needs to get planned! The thin gold washi complemented the gold, red, and black theme I was going for.

For Important Dates, I decided to put V-Day down since it would be my fourth with my BF. Plus, I had this super adorable chipboard sticker from Target Dollar Spot this year that already had the date on it and everything - it was meant to be!

Lastly, I had just about run out of ideas when I was reading some of the cute extra V-Day stickers I had (I bought a lot this year, but hey, they're only a buck!) and used this Don't Forget section as a reminder to myself since this year it has to do with my OLW: 2016 (One Little Word) which I will go more into depth with next month. "You Are Whaley Special" is a special little something just for me. I also put down "take polaroid pictures" because I want to get a bunch on my weekend getaway with my friends since. Scrapbooking is a personal goal of mine for 2016, and doing this layout made me realize how much I'm looking forward to taking the steps to make it happen.

Molang Diary Flip Through: December 2015

 

I've had my Molang Diary for about 2 and a half months now and it really has been the perfect creative outlet for me for the time being. However, I've been experimenting in my Happy Planner ever since the announcement of the new items coming to the Create 365 line for Me & My Big Ideas since the CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) Trade Show for 2016.

But, at any rate, my diary has served as a way of documentation. The diary stickers and simple layout make it easy and pretty to look at, and I have fun while doing it. With copious amounts of Christmas stickers, I pretty much went ham, and actually have ones for next year, should I still be doing it. Below is my monthly spread, and you can get a good idea of how I implement stickers to essentially make meaning out of my life!

 
  
Next, we have the checklist spread, where you can list to dos, or whatever you want really. So far, I've used this spread differently for each month. For December, I went with a list of things I'd like to do in December, sort of like a Christmas Bucket List - and I call it a bucket list because I had a gut feeling I wouldn't have been able to complete much of any of it, as you can see. On the other side, I have some Target Dollar Spot sticky note checklists, because even though I use eraseable pen for the most part, I still felt the need to leave it as it is due to my anxiety of permanence.



 And here we have my weekly spreads. Check out a video of how I planned/documented my weeks here.









Since I found diary stickers to be so much fun to use to plan, I decided I'd try using them in the weeks of my pocket Filofax as well. I like to use very minimal decoration, especially because Filofax calendars are so ephemeral to me, as opposed to the bound book of the Molang Diary. On January 3, I decided to try the rest of the month out solely journaling and adding a sticker here and there because I knew I would be focusing a lot on my pocket Filofax during the month of January.



 If you enjoyed this look at the month of December in my Molang Diary, you can check out some videos I made on YouTube in this playlist.

Finally! My Large Mint Dokibook Unboxing and Haul

Yes, it's true. I'm coming at you with yet another haul today. I've been online shopping waay too much these past few weeks, so now it's just going to start downpouring in on the Alexa Please Blog. After waiting for almost a month, my 2016 A5 Planner finally came in the mail this week, and I just couldn't wait to show you this beauty.

It may seem odd that I never did a post covering the possible agendas I was considering for 2016, but that was mainly because up until the week that I placed this order, I didn't know any myself. I knew I wanted an A5, because the medium/personal sized kikki.K/Filofax style planner was just not doing it for me anymore. I couldn't find inspiration on YouTube, Pinterest, or Instagram to get me back in the grind, and didn't have motivation to put anything to paper. It was scaring me- I thought I'd never find something I loved much again since I first discovered my love of planning. But then, something amazing happened. I stumbled upon Dokibook.com...

I had heard of Dokibooks for awhile now, but never considered looking into them enough because of the complex process of buying them overseas at Spreenow.com. Spreenow is a website that I can't exactly explain to you because it confuses me that much, but this is where people have been getting their Dokibooks. And, if I lost you at Dokibook above, a Dokibook is essentially a faux leather 6-ring binder that is modled after the kikki.K and Filofax aesthetic. They are fake kikki.K Time and Personal Planners as well as fake Filofax Maldens and Saffianos that come in a multitude of colors if we're going to really try to compare. Love Doki (the brand that makes Dokibooks) also has their own spin on a kikki.K time planner, where they have created the zipped version of the medium sized. You can check everything I explain in this post on Dokibook.com, but here are the contents of my order for a quick look:

Large (A5) Mint and Gold Dokibook 

Large Monthly Undated Refill Inserts

Large Weekly Undated Refill Inserts

Large (A5) Zip Lock Envelope

Apple Sticky Notes (exact dupe from kikki.K 2014 Cute Collection!, but no longer available on the website)

So let's get down to the exciting stuff- the haul! I plan on making a review of this planner where I will go more into detail about Dokibooks and all that. Please see an explanation under each picture for further details, and here is my unboxing!:

 The adorable Dokibook store logo!

 My box of goodies! The bear sticky notes were actually a freebie they must've thrown in. How sweet is that?

 First, the main event- the A5 Dokibook in Mint with Gold Dots

 I really liked this tissue paper

 The color, beautiful! Just as I had imagined how the exact replica of the kikki.K mint and gold time planner from 2014 would be. The strap is a bit thicker, but the leather feels almost the exact same, if not the same as my 2015 lilac and gold time planner from kikki.K.

 As you can see, the inside of the Dokibook is virtually the same as the kikki.K- the only difference is that the secretarial pocket is not lined with the super cute black and white dot lining, and there is no zip pocket.

 But, if we look to the right, there is a slip pocket aside from the other expected pocket where a paper pad should go!

A closer examination of the rings, all tight except the very bottom, but you get that with ringed planners. Hopefully it won't be too bothersome!

 The back of the Dokibook- all looks well. Again the only difference here is that there is now kikki.K embossing on the bottom center

 Here is a look at all of the inserts that come with a Large Dokibook- 8 dividers, 1 top loading envelope, 1 ruler, and 1 translucent divider

Hard to initially tell, but the dividers read: Monthly, Weekly, Today, List & To Do, Favorite, Account, Chronodex, and Others

 Ruler

 Top loading envelope

 Translucent divider - I'll be using this as a page lifter.

 The additional items I ordered: a large zip lock envelope, Apple sticky notes, and the bear sticky notes freebie!

These are the large monthly and weekly undated refills available for separate purchase. Since I'm new to A5 size, I had to get these. To see the layout and how I will be planning in these inserts, stay tuned for an upcoming post!

Closer look of the large zip lock envelope. I plan on storing all of my planning essentials in here for easy access and on the go.

 

A close-up of the sticky notes. Aren't they just adorable? 

 

 An overview of all of the inserts that came with my order!

Hopefully this unboxing gave you an idea of what the Dokibook Planners and inserts look like in real life. If any of you own a Dokibook or plan on getting one, do share!

Until next time,

~Alexa~