Notebook Have a Look - teNeues CoolNotes

I decided to buy one of these notebooks while on Twitter.  Papernation, the Bristol based stationery store and tweeterpal had linked to these new notebooks.  I immediately loved the look of them, particularly the notebooks with contrasting ribbon and inside cover colours.  They come in a range of colours and some, like the one I purchased have patterned inside covers.  This one is argyle pattern but they have stripes and also plain colours inside.  I'd had a couple of glasses of wine, so instead of my usual looking at notebooks again and again for weeks and months (because I do not need a notebook), I bought this straight away.  I purchased the pocket size which is priced at £5.99 and is 9cm x 13cm.  For non Europeans that's about 31/2 x 5 inches.  As you can see by the picture with the CoolNotes placed on top of a pocket Moleskine, it is a bit shorter.  You can feel this difference when you hold the notebook in your hand and I really quite like the size.  I imagine it might feel a bit too small for a large handed man but for a short fingered female like me it is fine.  Still on the size topic, the down side for some might be that a 3"x5" index card will not fit in the back pocket of the notebook.There are 192 pages.  I dont know the exact weight of paper but feels 80 or 90gms.  Smooth and cream in colour.  I haven't written in it yet but looks like it might handle better than dread Molseskine paper.  What is unusual is that the left hand page is plain and the right hand page is lined.  If you click on the picture of the pages I hope that you can just see this.  The lines are actually made up of dots so they are not intrusive.  I'm not sure what I needed one plain page and one lined page for but i knew I did need this combo.  Unquestionable need for it.  Papernation have a link from their blog to this notebook where they use it as a business card holder.  I didnt immediately get it till I had the notebook in my hand.  Paste the business card in the blank page and write some details on the lined page.  It makes perfect sense.  You could do similar when travelling and pick up hotel/accomodation /restaraunt business cards and paste them in with a brief review or some notes about each place. 

So as usual i haven't quite decided how to use this.  I could just use it for notes and not let the plain/lined combo limit me.  After all it might be good to have sometimes but I can write in a straight line on plain paper too so shouldn't stop me using it.

The notebooks also come in A5 size which is a size I really like for work so who knows I might try that once my Woodstock Moleskine is finished.  They are £8.99 so certainly a cheaper option than a large Moleskine.  Postage from Papernation is £3.95 which i fieel is a bit steep but this is automatically reduced to £2.50 for low weight items.  The notebook arrived in superb time, I ordered on a weekend it arrived on the Tuesday I think. Couldn't be happier with their service and because they do engage on Twitter properly, not just like some companies who appear to advertise and then vanish, you feel that you know who you're dealing with.  I think there's a few of you out there who would like these aptly named CoolNotes.

January Creative Challenges

Thanks to a link from Twitter pal diysara I came across this site: Daisy Yellow.  It is a site full of creations and creative ideas.  One of the regular blog entries sets monthly creative challenges.  I liked this idea because we all need something to aim for or a bit of motivation or just a reason to take 15 minutes for ourselves.  All the challenges are attainable and you can pick as few or as many as you like.
I chose to try these challenges

• Read a book just for you
• Alter a recipe you frequently make
• Write down a quote and share it with a friend

How did I do?  Well I've started to read a book.  The Modern History of great Britain by Andrew Marr.  I dont know much about politics or the things that have shaped our country and Andrew Marr is a good storyteller.  The trouble is it's quite a big book and so I'm often put off carrying it to work on the train.  So that has held me back.  Lesson learned: choose smaller books.

This month I have been trying out a few new recipes and playing about with some I've used for a while so I wont bore you with these but I have been sometimes pleased, sometimes disappointed with my efforts.  I haven't had to throw anything straight in the bin though, so I count that as a success.

The quote I chose to share came about because I bought a self inking stamp for £2.99 in LIDL.  You can make your own words and phrases from letters provided in the pack.  I chose
'All those who wander are not lost'  Words from JRR Tolkein.  I popped the letters into the stamp to make this phrase.  It took a couple of attempts because I'm not so good at spelling backwards and mistook Q for O on account of my fortysomething eyesight.  I stamped it on a card and drew a wee tree beside it.  Well my friend loved it.  It does suit her as you might think she is a bit lost but she does love to wander.  She's now added it to her signatures on the forums she uses.  I've been amazed at how pleased I was about the success of something so simple.  I've picked February's challemges but it's a short month so I'd better get a push on it.
Thanks Daisy Yellow....

Groundhog day

I feel I cant let Groundhog Day go by without comment.  Mainly because the film of the same name is one of my favourites.  Odd perhaps to watch a film about reliving the same day over and over again, over and over again.  Yet I have.  And of course while the tradition relates to whether or not Punxsatawny Phil sees his shadow or not and then whether there are 6 more weeks of winter or an early spring the film has influenced our view of the whole thing.

I have to admit to not being greatly optimistic about an early spring as the snow fell this morning in Glasgow.  I'm hopeful I wont relive the same day over and over again.  Not that it was that bad but it certainly wasn't that good.  But perhaps we should always try to do something different every day.  No matter how small the difference.  It's too easy to get into a rut and forget to enjoy life.  What did I do different today?  I chased my daft dog round the house while it ran about with a toy, always ten steps ahead.  I did say it didn't have to be a big difference.