Moleskine Hack

I purchased a soft-cover agenda Moleskine in July. Now that I've begun my Moleskine obsession, I wanted to buy another notebook that was ruled to put more ideas and journal entries etc in. I was going to just keep them side by side but finally figured it'd be much more handy to combine them! So here we go...

I started off with my (slightly worn) soft-cover agenda and one volant ruled notebook.

Some people call the next step a 'hack' - I call it adding tabs to a notebook - these ones are used like post-its, with one sticky part and the part that sticks out to write on. The volant notebooks have 96 pages, so I put a tab on page 33 and 64.

Now comes the real hack (which by the way, I haven't seen done in my researching yet...) You'll need a pair of scissors. Open the volant notebook to the last page and cut about a half inch off the end. Then diagonally cut the top and bottom edges.  The agenda has a back pocket, which will become the 'sleeve' for the cut-volant-back-cover.

You may need to trim more off the volant - but stick the back cover inside the back pocket of the agenda.

Voila!

Here you can see with the soft cover binding it stretches to make room for the volant notebook. I wouldnt try this with a hard-cover Moleskine ;)

Moleskine Madness

So if you've never heard of Moleskine before, they're a brand of notebook.  http://www.moleskine.com/

But they are no ordinary brand - oh no. They are simple, durable, elegant and timeless. The little black dress of notebooks. They come  ruled, plain, with grids, bars for music or plain, durable paper for sketching or even painting. A lot of people add or change them (adding tabs, pockets, etc) these are called 'hacks'.

Here are some links for some great hacks:

http://www.organizeit.co.uk/2009/04/25/definitive-collection-of-moleskine-hacks-tips-and-resources/

http://freelanceswitch.com/productivity/the-monster-collection-of-moleskine-tips-tricks-and-hacks/

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/10-great-moleskine-hacks.html

This is another great resource for Moleskines - simply add your text to the MSK template and you can print out a page that will fit perfectly into your notebook.

http://www.moleskine.com/msk.php?display=wizard

I'll be posting some of my own hacks tomorrow just for fun. If you're not as notebook nutty as I am there are some more before and after pics in the works too ;)

Fun Fall Projects

Remember that binder and the seasonal folders from my last post? I finally put them together with some scrapbook paper and stickers. Here's the finished result:

I love the rich burgundy and golden colour on the paper! The words read 'Love' 'Family' 'Sharing' 'Warmth' etc.

And the Seasonal folder! Some stickers just for fun and labels -because they're fun too. The labels dont quite match the bright stickers and the folders themselves, but they match the outside of the binder and well... I like them just fine. :)

I've also created a notebook to use, hopefully like Dawn uses hers. I love making collages, so it seems logical (? - to me that is -) to make a collage EVERY DAY (wahoo!!!) of my thoughts and things I see in magazines etc. Here is mine:

I have the book laying open so you can see the front and back - and a ribbon bookmark weaved through the spiral. I was going to take pictures of my first attempt at collaging my thoughts - but it was too messy. Maybe one day when I've got the system down pat ;)

And of course some fun fall decor projects from Michaels - LOVE that store.

For this very simple project I took a terracotta pot, a candle, a branch of fake fall leaves, some mod podge and a paintbrush. I separated the leaves into smaller bunches, and took 4 straight off their stems. These 4 I mod podged onto the pot. Then using a little wax to hold it in place, the candle was set. Lastly I stuffed in the leaves (not gluing them down so that the candle can be replaced easily).

This project took another little pot, some rub-ons and a tealight. Voila! Harvest-style candles. (I made 4 matching candle holders -apple, pear, plum, and cherries - would make a cute gift I think too!)

This was the easiest of all. Flower bunch + Vase = Fall floral arrangement. :)

Organization

I've been reading a blog lately called By Sun and Candlelight and been very inspired by her organizing. She uses a file crate system which looks quite efficient - however as I currently have no children, I don't think I have enough to organise to make this system worth it! However I am planning on implementing a seasonal planning system, a sort-of miniature file crate system if you will. I have purchased a binder, a notepad and 4 dividers with pockets. Blue - Winter, Green -Spring, Yellow -Summer, Red - Fall.




I'll post again when I've made this into something I will actually use :) But for now I thought I'd share what I currently use for my organization and planning.

Right now I have a home planning notebook, and an agenda. In my home planning notebook, I have 4 tabs: Hospitality, Organization, Food, and Money. In Hospitality I simply record who we have over for dinners when, what we eat and what we do. This may seem silly, but with my memory we'd likely serve the same people lasagna 3 times in a row otherwise :) Under Organization I have notes, organizing tips, details for projects etc - a whole mish mash. In food I keep lists of meals we like and grocery receipts are in a pocket in the front. I also have meal planning lists as well as a few recipes in here. Under money, I list our utility and gas bills. We have people living in the basement who pay half, so I have to have an accurate record of these bills and when they pay us! At the very front of my home planning notebook (before any of the 4 tabs) I have a section where I designate one month for each page. On these pages I write brief goals and notes. So thats that! On to the agenda.

Its a very simple Moleskine agenda with the days of the week on the left page and a lined page on the right for notes. In my agenda I record when I do (and don't) work, pay day, bill due dates, special events and things I have to remember. On the lined page I write my to do list.

The only other thing I use to organize papers etc is two folders on my desk 'To File' and 'Require Action'. For example, if I get a bill in the mail, I put it in the "Require Action' folder and note the due date in my agenda. When its paid, I write 'Paid' and the date in my agenda and put it in the 'To File' folder. About once a month I take all my 'To File' papers and file them! (I guess that would be another system I use - maybe I'll post on it another time - but in a nutshell its just a bin with hanging folders that hold all of our important documents, receipts, manuals, pay stubs, paid bills etc.)

Organization aside - I found a friend while doing the laundry today :) Kittins!

What do you use to organise?