Hellooooooo...

Hey guys :):)

I am still alive and kicking, i promise!! haha

Things have just been so hectic behind the scenes here because its been summer hols, exam results, college appointments, boys going back to school & college and then me getting back to every day normal routine (slowly i might add!!) of school runs and my voluntary job in my youngest boys primary school and then i start college myself very soon!! Yikes!!!

Anyhoo please bear with me while i get myself back into a routine properly and sort a schedule out etc because i do miss talking and sharing with you guys so until i get my head around things here please hang in there!!

Well that's all for now folks and hope you will pop by again very soon :):)

hugs

Gemma

Different types of planners...

Hey guys :):)

Sorry i have not posted for little bit but i have not been well plus my internet has been playing up again and then went off completely :(:( so i have not been a happy bunny, anyhoo as soon as it came back on i quickly got on with this post in case it went off again...fingers crossed he will start to behave & play nice!!

Anyhoo i was asked recently about planning, the different types of planners i use or that are out there in plannerland and do they come structured so i thought i would do a post about various planners but please bear in mind i am a newbie to this planning malarkey so this will be just a basic explanation of various planners :):)

Ring Bound Planners

There are many different brands out there that make ring bound planners and to name a few...Filofax (UK),  Webster Pages, Paperchase (UK), Kikki K and come in various sizes too...A4, A5, Personal, Personal compact, Pocket & Mini but not all brands offer all these sizes.

A lot of these planners will also come with diaries sheets and dividers but some you may have to buy separately so please check first!! 

Those that come with diaries and dividers will come with some basic structure to get you started eg. diary, to-do, meetings etc but once you settle in you then can create your own.
Also the diaries sheets may be different in each planner eg. hourly, week on 2 pages, week on 1 page, daily etc so please check before you buy!!

 I don't have an A5 planner...well i do but that will be shared in another post because i have only just recently purchased them so here is a picture of my Websters Pages personal size planner...

Inside of this planner on the left you will see i have planner clips that are made by me and some stickers i bought, then on your right i have a sticky note dashboard and then behind that i have my month on 2 pages & my week on 2 pages. Here is some examples of my week on 2 pages...

These are all customisable by creating your own dashboards, dividers, diaries etc!!

I found this and may help when creating your own dividers...

Travelers Notebooks Planners

There are a few different brands out there and to name a few of what i am aware of...Websters Pages, Lyra and Co (UK), Travelers Times (UK) and many more.

For those who are not sure what a travelers notebook planner is...its a cover that is rather made of leather or fabric and holds a numbers of notebooks in with elastic tubing, then there is also elastic tubing to hold it all together. They also can come in various sizes too...Extra-wide, regular, personal, passport/fieldnote, A5 and many more depending on the brand.

The notebooks you can buy for these can come in grid, dot grid, plain and lined and then there are some shops who offer printed diaries and you can buy these notebooks from Lyra and Co (UK),  Travelers Times (UK) and My Pretty Week (UK).

These don't come with basic structure so you will have to create that yourself unless you buy the printed diaries!!

I only have travelers notebook planners from Lyra and Co and they are called Lyradori's so here is a small collection of mine (a few more has been added since!!)...

and here is what they look like inside...

this one is a regular lyradori, it can hold 4 notebooks with the elastic tubing i have in it but can hold up to 6 if i add more and it also has a pocket going right a cross the bottom to store stickers, sticky notes etc.

and here is a picture of my monthly spread in one notebook and weekly spread in another notebook that i have hand drawn myself.
People have made dashboards & pockets for these type of planners so these are customisable to some extent and you could find ideas on youtube for those!!

Arc Planners & Spiral Bound Planners
Arc planners are held together by round little disks which do come in various sizes as do the planners themselves.

Arc planner or notebook brands...
*Happy Planner by Me & my big ideas which comes with dated & undated diaries and the structure in this planner is monthly & weekly and come in vertical and now horizontal.
*Martha Stewart which mine only came with lined paper but you can buy diary inserts for it.
*M by Staples arc notebook (UK) which came with lined paper but you can buy diary inserts for it.
These are all customisable by creating your own covers, dividers, diaries etc!!

Spiral brand...
Spiral bound planner are held together with a metal spiral.
*Erin Condren which comes with dated monthly & weekly diary and can come in vertical, horizontal and even hourly.
*Jane Walker planner by AJ6Designs which comes with dated monthly & weekly diary in vertical.

Now i don't own a Happy Planner or any of the spiral bound planners so i can't show you any examples but i do own a A5 arc planner so i can show you an example of the monthly & weekly set up i have created...

with the Happy planner and the Erin Condren you wont have to do this!!

Please take into consideration that some shops are not UK based so if you do buy from them there maybe extra charges added to your total or even customs charges so please check first!!

I will leave some links to UK shops that sell planners...
Mrs Brimbles
Lyra and Co
Travelers Times
Filofax
Paperchase
Kikki K
WHSmith
AJ6Designs

All these planners mentioned in this post can be made pretty with stickers & washi tape etc!!

I really hope this makes sense and has answered any questions you may have in choosing your first planner but if you do have questions please do not hesitate to ask in the comments below!!

Well that's all for now guys, i hope you like what you have seen and will pop again very soon :):)
hugs
Gemma

Augusts Monthly pages...

Hey Guys :):)

I am here today to share my August monthly set ups in my planners so first up is my Martha Stewart A5 arc planner...

I have put all stickers in place and i now just need to pen in the rest.

Next up is my monthly set up in my stunning lyradori...

I am not going to use any stickers on this set up, i will just simply pen in everything instead or i may even doodle them but then again i might even change my mind...who knows!! haha

I also added a note section on the bottom for appointments & birthdays etc.

Products used...

Planner inserts - Hand drawn & written by myself

A5 arc planner - Martha Stewart

Stickers - Wendy Prints, DreamBigandPlan

Regular Lyradori - Lyra and Co

Unicorn magnetic bookmark - My Pretty Week

Unicorn planner clip - The Ginger Cat Co

Well that's all for now guys, i hope you like what you have seen and will pop again by very soon :):)

hugs 

Gemma

PTLDoodles - August...90's Saturday morning cartoons

Hey Guys :):)

On Monday was the start of the PTLDoodles - August challenge and this time Kacheri aka @passion.themed.life has chosen 90's saturdays morning cartoons, now there is a couple i am unsure of so i will have to google them but the rest i am ok with.

Here is the list... 

What do ya think...awesome right?!?!

Anyhoo here is my set up which is only pencilled in for now...well all the little boxes that is and they are for the daily images to go in but once the images have been penned in i will then pen in the boxes to finish them off.

I am liking the look of this set up and cant wait to see it all filled in. :):)

If you have joined in this months challenge please let me know in the comments of where to find them because i would love to see them!!

 I will be back at the end of every week to show you that weeks drawings as coming back every day to share will be a little to much so i hope you come back then to see them. :):)

Well that's all for now guys, i hope you like what you have seen and will pop by again very soon :):)

hugs

Gemma

Decorated pages 1st - 7th August...

Hey Guys :)

I am here today to share this weeks decorated pages in my A5 arc planner and my stunning regular lyradori...have i told you how much i love this lyradori?!?

Maybe...once or twice!! haha

Anyhoo i decided to go for a monster theme this week because i thought they are really cute and i am sure you will too. :):) So here is this weeks decorated pages, first up is my Martha Stewart A5 arc planner...

and now for my stunning regular lyradori...

As you can see i carried on the theme and only added the basics in pen but as the week goes on it will get filled in more with things that have happened, going to happen and even add to-do lists so i don't forget over the week because i have a brain like a sieve!!

I may even share my pages again at the end of the week to show you how they have turned out and filled in as the week has gone on...well as long as i don't forget. haha

Anyhoo i know some of you guys have been wondering about the designs of weekly pages, well i hand draw them each week and i then pretty them up with washi & cute little stickers...simple & easy!!:):)

Well i think these pages are bloody adorable...even if i say so myself!! haha

Products used...

Planner inserts - Hand drawn & written by myself 

A5 arc planner - Martha Stewart

Regular Lyradori - Lyra and Co

Pens - Papermate flair

Washi tape - Mrs Brimbles

Stickers - Poundland UK

Well that's all for now guys, i hope you like what you have seen and will pop by again very soon. :):)

hugs

Gemma

Goodbye July but helllllloo August...

Hello folks :)

I can't believe we're in August already...my gawd the time is flying by and before we know it, it will be Christmas!!

 Oh no i have said the dreaded "C" word!! 

Sorry...Not!! hahaha

I bloody love Christmas :):) it's my fave time of the year because no-one goes anywhere in winter...well by the time December comes that is.

So when we all get in at the end of day from school, college etc we all snuggle up on the sofa with our quilts, cups of hot chocolate (not forgetting the marshmallows!! Lol) and watch good old Christmas movies...look you have me started now and I'm getting all excited!!

 I'm just a big kid at heart!! hahaha 

Right enough of Christmas...back to August, no July because i want to share a picture of my tops posts on Instagram with you so here is July's top posts...

These 5 posts had the most insta love on them and to be honest i like them too so thank you for all the insta love me lovelies, its means a lot!! :):)

Now where is August going to take me...well i am not 100% sure but what i do know is i have the boys off school & college for their summer hols so there will be days out etc, I'm not sure where as yet but when i do i will share with you!!

I am also going to have a think about this blogging malarkey too because i want to make it interesting for you guys so if you have opinion...good or bad please do share and i will take it on board, thanks guys :):)

Well that's all for now folks, i hope you like what you have seen and will pop by again very soon because i have this weeks decorated pages to share with you. :):)

hugs

Gemma

PTLDoodles - July...Ocean theme Overview

Hello folks :)

I shared with you last Saturday some of my PTLDoodles for July well today i am here to share the full month of July's doodles as it comes to a close but first off here's a little reminder of this months theme and a little background info...

I came across a doodle challenge on Instagram run by a girl called Kacheri aka @passion.themed.life
Now Kacheri came up with this monthly doodle challenge and it is called "PTLDoodles" and each month Kacheri sets you a theme and gives you 30 or so (depending how many days are in that month!!) names of things you need to draw so here is July,s challenge...

 so each day you doodle a picture corresponding to that number...how easy is that and what an awesome theme so i had to jump at the chance to play along. :):)

Well here is my full month at a glance...

What do ya think??

I am quite pleased with how it turned out and i have really enjoyed playing along, it was an awesome theme. Now as we are nearly in August it means i will be soon starting a new theme but i am not sharing what that is as yet but what i will say is...its another awesome one :):)

Right i best pop off as i have to prepare for next months spread which is gonna be a different layout this time to see if it will give me a little more room to draw, will share soon!!

Well that's all for now folks, i hope you like what you have seen and will pop by again very soon :):)

hugs

Gemma

My first LollipopBox Club kit...

Warning: This is where you go make yourself a cuppa, grab some biscuits & get comfy because it may turn into a long post with lots of pictures!!

Hello folks

A while a go i came across a lady on Instagram who creates these gorgeous kits for those who love to plan, journal, scrapbook etc and i have been eyeing them up for some time but finally took the plunge and subscribed. 

The name of the lovely lady is Lisa and she is the owner of LollipopBox Club and each month she creates these kits that come in these little boxes that fit through your letter box and cost £15 a month if you subscribe but if you click the link here this will take you to her page and it will explain in depth about how the subscription to her club works.

Don't be fooled to thinking "Ah, you wont get much in one those little boxes!" because i am about to show you today how much Lisa can cram into one of those little boxes...they are a like a Mary Poppins bag!! Its true!!

So here is July's LollipopBox Club kit called "Flowers Faires" and this is how i received the package and even the outside is gorgeous!!

Just inside of the package with a little personal note, explanation about the kit and gorgeous sprinkles on top of the beautifully wrapped kit...

I then carefully opened the tissue paper so i can use that later on to reveal the kit, doesn't look much here but you just wait...

The next lot of photos will show you the items i received in this kit so here is the gorgeous little coin pouch...

Notebook and pen which a fine nib pen...

 How cute is this little fairy bag and wait until you see whats inside...

 and here is the yumminess inside of the fairy bag which contains a gorgeous fairy charm which i so love and then other magical bits...look at those little shrooms!! :):)

 Then you get 2 felt shrooms & this very pretty flower planner clip...

 Then there is this little package which contain 2 flowers clips where you could use them for your hair or crafty projects...

 and in this little package was some white felt with explanation of what it could be used for...

 then some flowers and some gorgeous organza ribbon...

 I think you only receive this package if you subscribe (i could be wrong!!) which contains lots of yumminess for crafty projects... 

 of course not's let forget the lollipop...

 then Lisa adds in some paper products which can be used in your planners etc and look at those personalised list of must do's, fab or what?!?...

these gorgeous backing papers which some are also double sided...

 then these gorgeous stickers and ephemera from Little Rainbow Moon which i so love...

and here is all the kit in all its glory, isn't it magical?!?

Oh yeah...i did put everything back into their pouches because i wouldn't be able to fit it all in the photo otherwise...

I told you its like a Mary Poppins bag but you didn't believe me did you??

Well I am please that i subscribed and can't wait for my next kit to arrive because if its anything like this kit...well i am safe to say i am in for another package full of yumminess!

Thanks Lisa!! :):)

Oh and don't forget to click the highlighted LollipopBox Club word because that will take you to LollipopBox Club kits home!! 

Well that's all for now folks, i hope you like what you have seen and that you will pop by again very soon :):)

hugs

Gemma

Decorated pages 25th - 31st July 2016...

Hello folks :)

I am here today to share my decorated pages in my 2 new planners and i must say i absolutely love them so here is a pick of them (again!!)...

 Look at those unicorns peaking out of the top of my lyradori!!

25th July - 31st July decorated pages in my arc planner...

 This week i went for an owl theme and i just love the colour combo too, i also went for a matching theme in my lyrdori too :):)

I just need to try different pens out in this notebook because the pens i originally used was my Papermate Flair and they had started to bleed so i have to find one that doesn't!! :(:(

Its probably because it was a cheap notebook!! 

Products used...

Planner inserts - hand drawn & written by myself

A5 arc planner - Martha Stewart

Regular lyrdori - Lyra and Co

Pens - Papermate Flair

Washi & stickers - Poundland UK

Well that's all for now folks, i hope you like what you have seen and will pop by again very soon :):)

hugs

Gemma

Planner Haul & my giveaway prize i won...

Hello folks :)

I would've been here before now but unfortunately i have not been to well but heyhoo...I am here now!!

Today i want to share with you a planner haul along with a prize that i won on Instagram so first up is my planner haul...

 My sweet friend Jane and owner of Lyra and Co went to america recently and she showed me that she has bought herself Martha Stewart A5 arc planner, well i fell in love with it straight away so she asked me if i would like picking up as they aren't available here in the UK and of course i jumped at the chance, thanks chick!! :)

Also Jane bought some stunning fabric from US and made some gorgeous lyrdori's with it but when i saw one of the lyrdori's was made in the most stunning fabric and one i have been after for so long i had to jump at the Chance...it would've been rude not to!! Lol

Don't they compliment each other beautifully :):)

If buy anything from Jane please can you let her know in the note section that Gemma aka me.mylife,and.coffee sent you :):)

I then made a little haul from an Etsy shop called The Ginger Cat Co.

I purchased 2 unicorn planner clips for £2 each and received them rather quickly...oh and well packaged too!! The lovely Shona had also sent me some little extras to which consisted of 2 flowers planner clips and some gorgeous planner stickers which had unicorns on them, thanks honey!! :):)

If you would like to purchase from her shop, then please use..

CRAZY25

for 25% off and no min spend either!!

Please let Shona know in the note section that Gemma aka me.mylife,and.coffee sent you :):)

Now on to my prize from My Pretty Week

Lisa ran a giveaway on Instagram for £20 shop credit and i was lucky enough to win so i visited Lisa's shop and this is what i bought with my credit...

4 travellers notebooks at £2.25 each

6 magnetic bookmarks at £2 each

Aren't they gorgeous and *Sssh* one is for my sister!! :):)
If buy anything from Lisa please can you let her know in the note section that Gemma aka me.mylife,and.coffee sent you :):)

 Well that's all for now folks, i hope you like what you have seen and will pop by again very soon :):)

hugs

Gemma

Cloudy cow bundle...

Hello folks :)

As you are aware i am still playing catch up with what you have missed while i have been mia so today i am here to share a bundle that i bought from Cloudy Cow back in June.

Now Daisy from My Green Cow does these awesome bundles and each bundle will slightly differ from one another, also they are only available every now and again and there are 2 to choose from...Random or New.

But please remember these aren't always available so keep an eye out for when they do!!

Anyhoo i still wanted to share my bundle that received from Daisy so here it is...

Gorgeous right...well this bundle cost me £10 + p&p

I must say it came in a tiny box that can fit through your letter box but what is surprising is how much can be packed into those tiny parcels...its like a mary poppings bag!! Lol

Anyhoo if you would like one of these bundles then please visit Daisy's shop Cloudy Cow and grab one. :):)

Well that's all for now folks, i hope you like what you have seen and will pop by again very soon. :):)

hugs

Gemma

PTLDoodles-July...Ocean theme

Hello folks :)

I came across a doodle challenge on Instagram run by a girl called Kacheri aka @passion.themed.life
Now Kacheri came up with this monthly doodle challenge and it is called "PTLDoodles" and each month Kacheri sets you a theme and gives you 30 or so (depending how many days are in that month!!) names of things you need to draw so here is July,s challenge...

so each day you doodle a picture corresponding to that number...how easy is that and what an awesome theme so i had to jump at the chance to play along. :):)

So here is my doodles so far this month...

I am quite enjoying this challenge to be honest and will play along again next month but i may change the layout next time, to what i am not sure its something i will have to look into.

As for the doodles...i think i am happy how they have turned out and i have been asked many times if i am going to colour them in but do you know what...i don,t think i will because i like them as they are!! :):)

Anyhoo i think i have waffled on enough but not to worry i will do another update again very soon on this challenge but i might now wait until the end of the month before i do so to share the finished challenge spread.

Well that,s all for now folks, i hope you like what you have seen and will pop again very soon :):)

hugs

Gemma

Decorated pages from 27th June - 24th July 2016...

Hello folks :)

Edited: This should have posted this morning but no...i scheduled it for the wrong day instead of today!! :(:(

I am here today to share some decorated pages with which i created in my new A5 arc planner that i purchased from Staples for £6.50...now the only downfall about this arc planner is that it doesn't come with any weekly or monthly inserts.

Anyhoo a lovely planner buddy off Instagram called Lydz uses grid paper in her planner and hand draws her weekly pages etc so it inspired me to do the same...so yeah, i pinched her idea and do the same myself!! Thanks chick!! :):)

Here goes with the decorated pages...

27th June - 3rd July

 4th July - 10th July

 11th July - 17th July

18th July - 24th July

 I think i am loving this planner very much and enjoy creating spreads so i may stick with it a while, i am not going to say permanently because i could end up changing my mind but at the moment i 'm happy as i am!! :):)

Well that's all for now folks, i hope you like what you have seen and will pop again very soon :):)

hugs

Gemma