Bonjour October

Bonjour planner girls! It's almost the end of the month...and that means only one thing! The Planners&Journals October planner kits are about to be released!

Planners&Journals collaborated with the wonderfully talented Cynthia Renard , also known as @lovecynthia, for the illustrations in October's planner kit. There were so many wonderful designs that was used for the inclusions of the kit and you'll get to see what those are in this blog post. Yay! 

Ok, can I just say how obsessed I am with her illustrations?! Amazing! She also recently released her super cute acrylic stamps so hurry and go check her shop out!

Now going back, here's a picture of what you will be getting in your kit:

Let's have a quick run through of each item, shall we? :) 

You will get 3 Sheets of colored double-sided weekly in 1 page,

..5 Sheets of colored double-sided weekly in 2 pages,

..and here's a small change in your planner kits starting this October that I don't mind at all! You will get 15 Sheets of colored double-sided daily pages. That's right! Instead of a day on 2 page spread, you'll be getting a day on 1 page instead. I know you might be wondering why there is such a change. Basically, the P&J team discussed and realized that by adjusting the daily pages to just 1 page, there will be more goodies that can be added to your kits and I think we all want more goodies right? Not to worry, you'll still get the important and functional parts of the daily pages such portions for your schedule, to do list, things to buy, notes and water intake tracker.

You will also be getting 2 pieces of sample card stocks, 4 pieces of 4x6 journal cards and 4 pieces of 3x4 journal cards. I noticed that a lot of people like their journal cards to be double sided but I actually prefer mine to have the print on only one side. I guess I like it that way because I use journal cards for my planner and having the print on only one side helps me have less of a difficult time choosing which one to use. It also gives me the liberty to stamp or design on the blank side specifically to my purpose. 

The super cute mini pillow hand sewn by the P&J team and the cute tassel from Tali Ti Amianan below will also come with your kit. Tali Ti Amianan is actually a local brand that makes handmade and eco-friendly products by the local surfers, women and elders in San Juan, La Union. AWESOME!

You will also receive 2 sheets of planner stickers by The World of Fraffee. I think the sticker sheets were printed on semi-glossy material but I don't mind. I usually use Sharpies or Micron when I write on my stickers and washi tape anyway so it wouldn't be a problem. I liked Fraffee's stickers so much that I've already ordered more stickers for my planners! I cannot wait to get them!

And here are my favorite things... embellishments! 

I am totally, absolutely, ridiculously over the moon with the wood veneers and ephemeras that comes with the kit. I'm already thinking of making a few of them into paper clips. Hmm.. or not? Ugh! I can't decide! Oops! Do you ever feel like you don't want to use some of your things because you just want to keep them aside? I think I'm in that position right now! To use or not to use??

There you go! That's a lot of goodies from the kit, right?

I'm thinking of moving back into my gold Kikki K Time Planner for October because I kind of miss using it but I think the Kikki K Why Not matches the kit more? Help me decide? Oh and is there anybody who might be interested in a simple "Plan with me" using goodies from the kit through Periscope? If you think that might interest you, let me know and I'll do it as soon as I can :)

That's about all! I hope you had fun reading through today's blog. Your kits already be on their way to you! Hooray! Don't forget to add the hashtag #PnJplannerkit in your photos, okay? We're very excited for you to get them. 

Merci!

I shrunk Mommylhey into paper clips!

Hi everyone! I wanted to share with you my new found love – shrink plastic! It’s basically an amazing way to turn your drawings or stamps into cute little paper clips and charms. I've been having a shrinking craze over the past weeks. If you are familiar with the September Planners and Journals PnJplannerkit , you will see a shrink plastic paper clip appearance there too. 

I’m sure you recognize these stamps from the MLD Social Babe set and I will walk you through how I was able to turn them into little paper clips. 

Here are the materials that you will need:

1. Shrink Plastic 
2. Stamp sets – I used the MLD Social Babe stamp set
3. Scissors
4. Hole puncher (if you want to make charms. I didn’t have enough tools so I wasn’t able to)
5. Staz On Jet Black
6. Different colors of Sharpie markers
7. E600 industrial strength adhesive
8. Paper clips
9. Wet wipes (not in picture)
10. Oven toaster (not in picture)Wax paper (not in picture)

Let’s start! There are two kinds of shrink plastic. One that is smooth on both sides, and one that is already rough on one side. If you have the type of shrink plastic that is smooth on both sides, you will need to sand the other side of the shrink plastic to make it a little rough. The reason why you'll need to sand the shrink plastic is so you will be able to make the coloring material that you will be using stick to it more. The shrink plastic that I got is already rough on one side, so no sanding needed for me. 

Get a sheet of shrink plastic and dab your choice of stamp on the rough side of the shrink plastic. I will be coloring in my stamped images so I used the StazOn Solvent ink pad in Jet black because I wanted to make sure the ink will not run or smudge when I fill it with color. Remember to clean your stamps completely before you keep them! This will prevent it from further discoloration and of course so it will not stain your other ink pads. Other people have special stamp cleaners, I just use the regular baby wipes.

Let the StazOn dry a little bit before you start coloring in so that the ink will not smudge. I used my trusty stash of Sharpies for coloring. Remember, you have to color on the rough side of the plastic, on top of your stamped image. I like using lighter colors for my shrink plastic because it gets darker and brighter after it shrinks.

After coloring, preheat your oven toaster for a couple of minutes. While waiting for the oven toaster to heat up, cut the shrink plastic carefully and place the cutouts on a sheet of wax paper (still rough side up). Your oven should be ready then. Place the cutouts in the oven and set the timer to 1-2 minutes. That should allow the shrink plastic to “cook”. The plastic will begin to shrink (watch it! it's like magic!!) and when it stops shrinking, you will need a spatula to press on it and make it flat. Leave it in the toaster for another minute, take it out then wait for another 3 minutes for the shrink plastic to cool down before you take it out of the wax paper.

After it cools down, you can easily turn your shrink plastic to cute paper clips! Put a drop of E600 industrial strength adhesive at the back of the shrink and place your paperclip. Let the glue dry completely for 24 hours in a well-ventilated area.

And after 24 hours, you have your very own Mommylhey design paperclips! Isn't that fun?!

That's all! Now, I'm off to make more paperclips! I bought 3 extra packs of shrink plastic so I could play around.  LOL! Let me know if you tried shrinking. Enjoy!