It’s Planner Season….

And that means that I’m already in the market for next year’s planner.

Ever since I’ve entered the corporate world, I’ve listed all my activities and schedules in a planner because I can’t afford to miss a deadline. Time management is the key to surviving. All the more, I need to be better at it because I’m also in school.

I use a planner for work, school and sometimes blog activities and I’ve learned a thing or two about balancing all my activities.

It’s sort of become my standard procedure to look at planners that work for me at the end of the year and to scout and save up for the ones that I want to buy. It’s sort of my year-round companion so it’s worth the purchase. For this year, I went with the Best Things Are Yet To Come Mini Happy Planner. Because I also used it for brain dump and as a budget planner (occasionally a travel planner), I also write my thoughts on filler paper that I ordered online from Saffy Tenten. Because it became bulky, I also got the rose gold expander discs and that served me well throughout the year.

And as 2019 comes closer, I’m slowly going through my Mini Happy Planner and I’m also finishing its pages. Later on, it will sit on my shelf and join the other planners that have kept me company in the years prior.

It also means that I’m hunting for next year’s planner as early as now.

I’ve narrowed down the choices to two: the DYL Planner which I think will be helpful for school, and the MAMBI Classic which will be useful for work and other commitments, especially travel plans and budget. Other planners made it to the shortlist, but I’ll discuss the details later on.

Photo from Design Your Life Planner 2019

DYL Planner for School (Php 650)

I thought that I might give the DYL Planner a chance for next year. I was drawn into it because of the fun design, and because it has travel planner pages. Not only that, there are a bunch of helpful sections there as well, like finances and goals. As an added bonus, there’s a bunch of new accessories to match it with too. 

Accessories to match it with:

sticker book (Php 450)

coffee dessert clear stamps (Php 725)

gold foil leaves wide washi (Php 190)

vaporwave sticker flakes (Php 120) 

Classic MAMBI Planner for Work

I’ve used the Mini Happy Planner and I thought of giving the Classic size a try because of the bigger writing spaces and because I write a lot. I have this habit of dumping all my thoughts all at once in a given day, and because with what I do, details matter all the time.

I’m torn between the Mermaidesque and New Adventure in Classic size because I tend to gravitate towards mermaid designs and of course, anything that is travel inspired will definitely get my attention and keep me fantasizing for the next destination to visit.

Photo from Michaels Stores 

Mermaidesque

The Mermaidesque design is all about foiled details on a lovely color scheme of blue, purple and pink. I’m not sure though it the vertical layout will work for me as I’m used to the horizontal layout. So I went and searched some more in Michaels and found the pretty design in blues and violets. 

Photo from Michaels Stores

New Adventure

This design is for those bitten by the travel bug and I’ve thought of settling on this design to make use of all the travel-inspired stickers that I’ve received this year, while planning for the next escape. I thought of filling it up with filler paper for all those diary entries and then some project pages as well. The tricky part is checking and comparing rates and how to get the best deals from sellers here. 

Accessories to match it with:

Puncher (Php 920)

Sticker books (Php 850)

Happy Notes Fill Paper (Php 320)

Dot Grid Fill Paper (Php 320) 

Photo from Sheila Mae Ruiz on Facebook 

Starbucks 2019 Japan Planner

The 2019 Starbucks Japan version also caught my eye, because you know me, if anything has anything to do with mermaid, I’m down. I see that it can be a good school planner, besides school for me is all about preparing outputs and reports for class discussions and complying with requirements, so I don’t need that much extra pages for a school planner. However, I wouldn’t want to spend for drinks and collect stickers just to claim a planner because there’s no Starbucks branch in Zamboanga City and I’m lactose intolerant (LOL #sorrynotsorry) hahaha. Also, I know that there are people who hoard planners and price them insanely high as New Year comes closer. So I won’t be caught in the rush though.

So there, yeah. I’m going to save for my choice planners and then make the plunge before the year ends and so that I can set it up before officially welcoming 2019.

How about you? What are your planner picks for 2019? 

Postcards From Pamucutan: Raisie’s Tips For Writing Postcards (The Virtual Ones At Least)

Before I share with you how I write my postcards, let me first explain to you how I send them.

It started with my friend A who proposed that we keep in touch through old-fashioned pen and paper. I willingly agreed being the pen and paper junkie that I am. But we feared that our letters would take weeks to arrive through the Post Office and utilizing other express couriers would hurt the budget. And so we maintained writing letters mostly about catching up and sent them through scanning the letters and uploading them through FB messenger.

For the first couple of letters, I wrote on good, old-fashioned stationery and envelope. I also used Project Life cards once. But I thought of designing my own postcards and printing them out and have used them ever since- at least for A because I still write J the usual letters. These postcards I’ve sent over I collectively called Postcards From Pamucutan. I’m compiling them for when until A pays a visit back home.

I was doing a bit of research before writing this post and I found Charles Simic’s post on The Lost Art of Postcard Writing. I’d really like for you to read it and I promise there’s an interesting sample there.

So now that’s out of the way, I have a few tips to share with you.

1. Choose a postcard with a design full of character 

We all know the regular touristy-postcards which is common here in the Philippines but believe me, the unique designs are the ones that can make your recipient react unexpectedly. These are the more memorable ones too. 

2. Write on scratch paper/ start a draft

Begin a draft on scratch paper. If your penmanship is small or if you are comfortable with a .3mm pen, you can write long sentences or until three paragraphs of two sentences each. If you have big-spaced penmanship, you can adjust your message when you transfer it on your postcard. Also keep it neat and clean! 

3. On the writing style 

This is what makes your postcard quite unique, and it’s your personal message to the recipient. The most basic ones are of course, the weather, what you did, etc. But if there’s one piece of advice I can share with you, it’s going to be write the way you speak. There are times when I can hear my friends from their letters and it makes me miss them so much more. So this is your chance to pop, let your writing style speak! 

4. Don't forget the address 

Even if I’m sending my postcard virtually, I still like to see my postcard filled up and complete (even if it means I made the address up LOL) such as calling A’s apartment Hitler’s Tower. But if you’re sending them by post, make sure the address is complete.

 5. As for stamps

I have to admit that I’ve eliminated this portion because I send my postcards to A virtually. But I still like to try to send him a postcard just to see how long it will take, and for him to keep the postcard and the stamp. But because I am a person obsessed with all the writing accessories and stationery, I am now looking for washi and sticker flakes with stamps especially the vintage designs. 

Here’s a hint, if you can’t find whimsical and quirky postcards, you can design your own and print them out yourself. I might introduce the tools I have to you if you’re interested. 

My friends and I have started combining the analogue method of writing to each other in lieu of the instant-messenger chats and this is how we make the old-school and the modern meet.

Do you have any tips on writing postcards you’d like to share? Don’t be shy and leave me a comment! 

A Writing Icon: The Fountain Pen

“I was thinking of getting you a fountain pen for a wedding present, but then I realized you already had one.”

That’s the scene in The Sound of Music with the very regal and fabulous Baroness Schraeder played by Eleanor Parker that reminds me of why the fountain pen is an icon.

It’s rare to spot a fountain pen in one’s desks these modern days, but it continues to be an icon of a writing instrument among those old-school pen and paper writers.

A close friend of mine still writes handwritten letters with a fountain pen on parchment paper in the age of computers and Facebook messenger.

A fountain pen comes in many different varieties such as capped or retractrable, fine or thick nibs, pocket-sized or the regular length. Basically and by definition, a fountain pen is a writing instrument with a reservoir or cartridge from which the ink flows continuously to the nib.

The list of masters who use the fountain pen in writing their works are Neil Gaiman, Simone de Beavoir, Stephen King, Dylan Thomas and Claire Messud.

Never have I expected to actually own a fountain pen because the ones I usually see are the posh ones which must cost a small fortune already. But thanks to my crazy friends A and M, I have a simple but meaningful fountain pen with my name engraved on it. It came as a surprise and these are the times when I feel so grateful to have thoughtful friends who know me so well.

I’ve used the pen mostly for signing cheques and policies as well as bank transactions. I received a box of refill cartridges with it and I’ve already consumed half of the cartridges. I like the cartridge system to minimize having to frequently dip into ink and also avoid any mess I might cause because honestly, my desk is far from very neat. Though I’m anticipating that I have to look for replacements pretty soon because I live and work far from town and the local and only bookstore might not carry it here LOL. Let’s just say fountain pens are not very popular in this city and only a handful of people actually use it.

But they do make very beautiful and thoughtful Christmas (or even wedding) gifts. 

So what do you think of the fountain pen? Would you consider acquiring one or are you going to stick to a good sign pen for your signature? Share your thoughts with me by leaving me a comment. Cheers!

Scribbles: Currently Obsessing Over Galaxy Washi

Yeah, yeah.

Who actually falls in love with galaxy washi right? I mean, it's just sticky duct tape with prints. But I've fallen in love with starry, night summer skies and I've always enjoyed stargazing in quiet places.

These washi reminds me of those quiet nights just chilling in the patio and just talking.

I guess I'm lucky that no physical store here carries them yet, or else I'll be hoarding away again.

More pins are in my Pinterest board if you're interested.