Lady Falcon Travelers
How I'm using my Traveler's Notebooks at the moment
A year has passed since I made my first leather Traveler's Notebook and I've been using this sytem now for well over a year.
I've been making my own diaries and inserts right from the start and have adapted the system to suit my needs. I've used several different lay-outs and setups through-out this period, but I think I have now found a setup that works exactly how I like it.
I have 4 RS TN's for different purposes, one for work, one for art journaling, one for my Etsy store and one personal journal and diary/agenda. I also have a Fieldnotes sized TN for lists and keeping track of online orders and a small Passport sized one that I use as a wallet.
At first I used a setup with a MOTP, a WOTP and a daily diary with a chronodex adaptation to fit a 24 hr day. As time progressed and I was slowly overcoming the symptoms of my burn-out, I found I didn't need a full daily page to keep track of what I was doing. I did however want to keep at least a page per week.
___Warning, picture heavy post___
I didn't like how everything was in seperate booklets and wanted to contain it all into one. So I designed a diary that would do all that, the MOTP, the weekly and a page per week for tasks and stuff.
This month I tried this setup out after having tested it for my work diary.
Here's the MOTP, which is followed by the weekly pages.
I felt the boxes were to dark, so for the new template I made the boxes thinner/lighter...but I'll have to wait till the new year comes around to use the new template...no sense wasting a perfectly good diary, right?
The first week I kept fairly simpel. Used a fountain pen with pink ink, bought originally for my daughter, but I think I'm going to keep it =)
Now I'm pretty sure these pictures are not very interesting for anyone who isn't interrested in diaries and planning and such.
Still, I thought I'd add them, just to give the complete picture ;-)
And who knows you might like this setup, in which case these pictures may give you an impression about how this can be used.
Now we've come to the next month and a few things are already entered in there, among other things, my 22nd wedding anniversary ;-)
As you can see, the monthly pages go before the weekly.
To keep the weeks from splitting I decided to place the monthly pages in front of the week where the thursday was in the new month. Like the way we decide wether the first day of the new year is also in the first week of the new year...
When I feel I don't have enough space or, like in this case, I want something I can move to another page/week, I use tip-ins with washi.
At the end of the booklet I pasted a list with tried and tested menu ideas...in case we run out of things to think of for dinner.
to the right I pasted a list with dutch holidays.
I mark those on the last pages as well, since these are yearly overviews.
In this TN I also have a Midori zipper pouch.
A home made file folder with pen-loops.
A Midori card file.
And a journaling booklet.
Which will be full tonight...
I won't show pictures of the journaling booklet in this blogpost, since this one is picture heavy enough as it is.
I like decorating my booklets, but I'm not prone to using any one style...
I just use whatever I feel like.
Or even whatever I bump into at the time on my desk...
There's a little elephant, an oister I bought from a friend's shop and the remaining wings of a fairy I got in a swap last year...honestly, it was a fairy. It broke off, but as a reminder of the kindness of the person who sent it, I keep the wings on there ;-)
I hope you liked my boring diary pages anyhow and I wish you a lovely week.
I've been making my own diaries and inserts right from the start and have adapted the system to suit my needs. I've used several different lay-outs and setups through-out this period, but I think I have now found a setup that works exactly how I like it.
I have 4 RS TN's for different purposes, one for work, one for art journaling, one for my Etsy store and one personal journal and diary/agenda. I also have a Fieldnotes sized TN for lists and keeping track of online orders and a small Passport sized one that I use as a wallet.
At first I used a setup with a MOTP, a WOTP and a daily diary with a chronodex adaptation to fit a 24 hr day. As time progressed and I was slowly overcoming the symptoms of my burn-out, I found I didn't need a full daily page to keep track of what I was doing. I did however want to keep at least a page per week.
___Warning, picture heavy post___
I didn't like how everything was in seperate booklets and wanted to contain it all into one. So I designed a diary that would do all that, the MOTP, the weekly and a page per week for tasks and stuff.
This month I tried this setup out after having tested it for my work diary.
Here's the MOTP, which is followed by the weekly pages.
I felt the boxes were to dark, so for the new template I made the boxes thinner/lighter...but I'll have to wait till the new year comes around to use the new template...no sense wasting a perfectly good diary, right?
The first week I kept fairly simpel. Used a fountain pen with pink ink, bought originally for my daughter, but I think I'm going to keep it =)
Now I'm pretty sure these pictures are not very interesting for anyone who isn't interrested in diaries and planning and such.
Still, I thought I'd add them, just to give the complete picture ;-)
And who knows you might like this setup, in which case these pictures may give you an impression about how this can be used.
Now we've come to the next month and a few things are already entered in there, among other things, my 22nd wedding anniversary ;-)
As you can see, the monthly pages go before the weekly.
To keep the weeks from splitting I decided to place the monthly pages in front of the week where the thursday was in the new month. Like the way we decide wether the first day of the new year is also in the first week of the new year...
When I feel I don't have enough space or, like in this case, I want something I can move to another page/week, I use tip-ins with washi.
At the end of the booklet I pasted a list with tried and tested menu ideas...in case we run out of things to think of for dinner.
to the right I pasted a list with dutch holidays.
I mark those on the last pages as well, since these are yearly overviews.
In this TN I also have a Midori zipper pouch.
A home made file folder with pen-loops.
A Midori card file.
And a journaling booklet.
Which will be full tonight...
I won't show pictures of the journaling booklet in this blogpost, since this one is picture heavy enough as it is.
I like decorating my booklets, but I'm not prone to using any one style...
I just use whatever I feel like.
Or even whatever I bump into at the time on my desk...
I have 3 bookmarks, that I don't use as such, but I do like to keep some charms on there.
There's a little elephant, an oister I bought from a friend's shop and the remaining wings of a fairy I got in a swap last year...honestly, it was a fairy. It broke off, but as a reminder of the kindness of the person who sent it, I keep the wings on there ;-)
I hope you liked my boring diary pages anyhow and I wish you a lovely week.
How to add extra booklets to a Traveler's Notebook
I received several questions about how to add extra booklets to your traveler's notebook and since this is rather difficult to explain with just words, I thought I'd make a blogpost about it with pictures to make it easier to see.
As an example I used my Fieldnotes/Pocket sized Traveler's Notebook, with just one elastic (1 long and 1 short)
I took it completely apart, to show you how I add the notebooks to my TN and took lots of pictures...
When full it looks like this.
With a zipper file around the first booklet
A file folder with pen-loops around the second.
And lastly just a plain booklet.
Normally a Traveler's Notebook comes with 1 long and 1 short elastic down the middle. You can use the long elastic to insert one booklet and maybe the shorter one to inserts another.
I want to insert 3 booklets, a fie folder with pen-loops and a passport sized Midori zipper file
For this you take the two booklets you want on the outside and, in this case, fold the zipper file around the booklet you want it. You can add the zipper file any way you like, but this is how I have it in this TN.
Open the booklets in the middle and put them back to front. Take an extra elastic, either the Midori type elastics or a thin, knotted, elastic cord (which is what I use) and slide it over the back of the first and the front of the last booklet. Effectively pairing the booklets into a set.
Then take one of the booklets and slide it under the long elastic in the TN.
Pulling it all the way trhough, so that each booklet sits on either side of the long elastic.
Take the remaining booklet, fold the file folder, with the pen-loops, around it and slide it under the long elastic in the middle of the two other booklets.
You could also do this first and then slide the set of two booklets over this one, but by doing it the way I showed, the two outer booklets will sit more securely within the cover.
Both ways work though and some prefer the outer booklets to slide over.
The result will look something like this. You can take the bookmark and place it in your booklet.
Since my TN's have a slit at the top and bottom hole, I always tuck the bookmark between the bottom slit, thus securing the booklets even further.
You could also piggy back a booklet onto the spine of another, like with the file folder, but that would split this booklet in half and it will push the first booklet out in front. If this is not a problem for you, then this is another way to add more booklets.
Also If you like to have 4 (or more) booklets onto 1 elastic, you can repeat the pairing of the booklets any number of times. You can also Pair two sets of two by adding a third elastic through the middle of the sets and slide one whole set underneath the long notebook elastic as you would with one notebook of just the single set. This way you'll have a set of two notebooks on each side of the long notebook elastic.
You can go even further and attach notebooks with extra elastics to the other notebooks.
By increasing the numer of booklets in the TN, you will increase the width of the spine, which decreases the width of the cover and it will increase the weight of the Traveler's Notebook. =)
I make all my TN's with 2 long and 2 short elastics, so you can repeat this procedure on the other elastic in any combination you like. (In another blogpost I will show you how to add the elastics and bookmark to your cover.)
You should also remember that by using your inserts, they will get thicker, sometimes twice (or more) as thick. When you use your TN, bits and bobs will get tucked in, kept in the file folder or in the zipper file, these all add to the thickness of the TN, making it increasingly difficult to write in. So you may want to stick to 3 booklets, it might not seem a lot at first...but just wait and see, it'll fill up in no time =)
So yes, as the little card says, thanks for being lovely and I hope you enjoyed this. Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Have a lovely week.
As an example I used my Fieldnotes/Pocket sized Traveler's Notebook, with just one elastic (1 long and 1 short)
I took it completely apart, to show you how I add the notebooks to my TN and took lots of pictures...
When full it looks like this.
With a zipper file around the first booklet
A file folder with pen-loops around the second.
And lastly just a plain booklet.
Normally a Traveler's Notebook comes with 1 long and 1 short elastic down the middle. You can use the long elastic to insert one booklet and maybe the shorter one to inserts another.
I want to insert 3 booklets, a fie folder with pen-loops and a passport sized Midori zipper file
For this you take the two booklets you want on the outside and, in this case, fold the zipper file around the booklet you want it. You can add the zipper file any way you like, but this is how I have it in this TN.
Open the booklets in the middle and put them back to front. Take an extra elastic, either the Midori type elastics or a thin, knotted, elastic cord (which is what I use) and slide it over the back of the first and the front of the last booklet. Effectively pairing the booklets into a set.
Then take one of the booklets and slide it under the long elastic in the TN.
Pulling it all the way trhough, so that each booklet sits on either side of the long elastic.
Take the remaining booklet, fold the file folder, with the pen-loops, around it and slide it under the long elastic in the middle of the two other booklets.
You could also do this first and then slide the set of two booklets over this one, but by doing it the way I showed, the two outer booklets will sit more securely within the cover.
Both ways work though and some prefer the outer booklets to slide over.
The result will look something like this. You can take the bookmark and place it in your booklet.
Since my TN's have a slit at the top and bottom hole, I always tuck the bookmark between the bottom slit, thus securing the booklets even further.
You could also piggy back a booklet onto the spine of another, like with the file folder, but that would split this booklet in half and it will push the first booklet out in front. If this is not a problem for you, then this is another way to add more booklets.
Also If you like to have 4 (or more) booklets onto 1 elastic, you can repeat the pairing of the booklets any number of times. You can also Pair two sets of two by adding a third elastic through the middle of the sets and slide one whole set underneath the long notebook elastic as you would with one notebook of just the single set. This way you'll have a set of two notebooks on each side of the long notebook elastic.
You can go even further and attach notebooks with extra elastics to the other notebooks.
By increasing the numer of booklets in the TN, you will increase the width of the spine, which decreases the width of the cover and it will increase the weight of the Traveler's Notebook. =)
I make all my TN's with 2 long and 2 short elastics, so you can repeat this procedure on the other elastic in any combination you like. (In another blogpost I will show you how to add the elastics and bookmark to your cover.)
You should also remember that by using your inserts, they will get thicker, sometimes twice (or more) as thick. When you use your TN, bits and bobs will get tucked in, kept in the file folder or in the zipper file, these all add to the thickness of the TN, making it increasingly difficult to write in. So you may want to stick to 3 booklets, it might not seem a lot at first...but just wait and see, it'll fill up in no time =)
So yes, as the little card says, thanks for being lovely and I hope you enjoyed this. Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Have a lovely week.
Mir Ardhon helped me make a file folder
I promised a long time ago I would make a video about how to make a file folder for your Traveler's Notebook. Since the video isn't realy coming along I thought a photo tutorial would be just as helpful.
So I set out make a file folder with the Traveling Dori, Mir Arhon watching my every move.
I'll do my best to keep the instructions short and clear.
This is a folder for a Regular sized TN, but this can be adjusted to any size you need.
You'll need 2 sheets of cardstock (or a file folder in my case) in the height you want. Since this is RS that would be 210 mm.
From 1 sheet you'll cut 2 pieces in the with of your insert (110 mm for RS)
You score 1/2" from the bottom and 1/2" from the side on each piece, making sure you score them oppositely.
Then you will cut off the two corners of the non scored side... also mirrored for both pieces.
To make the slit for the card slot, you place the scored side against the edge and the bottom at 3" (this goes for all sizes, as this will mark the height of you card slot). You slice through the card in the middle, making sure you make it approximately wide enough, but it doesn't have to be exact, since we will use this just as a guide later.
Just make sure it isn't too wide
Any rough edges can either be sanded down or sliced off with a sharp knife. I like making curly bits, so I slice them off.
Cut or slice the corners of the parts you are going to fold over.
Round the remaining corners, yes also those tiny ones...or you could just sand those down.
Fold on your score lines, making sure to reinforce those very well, this will make it easier later.
For the card slots you make two holes on the witdh you need for your card.
I use a big bite for this. Depending on the size you are making you should make sure it is wide enough.
Take your ruler and sharp knife and carefully slice from hole to hole to make the slot.
For the back of the folder, you take the other piece of cardstock and score the width of your insert, skip a bit and score again.
Measure the correct width and slice off the remainder.
Now you are left with this
Take the glue and generously apply it to the folds.
Place your File folder underneath something heavy and let it dry.
If you want, you can add pen loops to the folder.
Measure the with of the pen you want to use and mark that.
Glue the piece to your folder, making sure left and right side are on the same height.
Place it under something heavy to dry completely.
And you will end up with something like this
You can use it in your Taveler's notebook or any other purpose you might find for it.
After this Mir Ardhon and I felt a little hungry, so we enjoyed a cup of soup together =)
and did some reading with wind and rain outside, nice and cosy inside. Look at the color of that fall leaf.
I hope my instructions were clear. Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Have fun making your file folder and I wish you a wonderful week.
So I set out make a file folder with the Traveling Dori, Mir Arhon watching my every move.
I'll do my best to keep the instructions short and clear.
This is a folder for a Regular sized TN, but this can be adjusted to any size you need.
You'll need 2 sheets of cardstock (or a file folder in my case) in the height you want. Since this is RS that would be 210 mm.
From 1 sheet you'll cut 2 pieces in the with of your insert (110 mm for RS)
You score 1/2" from the bottom and 1/2" from the side on each piece, making sure you score them oppositely.
Then you will cut off the two corners of the non scored side... also mirrored for both pieces.
To make the slit for the card slot, you place the scored side against the edge and the bottom at 3" (this goes for all sizes, as this will mark the height of you card slot). You slice through the card in the middle, making sure you make it approximately wide enough, but it doesn't have to be exact, since we will use this just as a guide later.
Just make sure it isn't too wide
Any rough edges can either be sanded down or sliced off with a sharp knife. I like making curly bits, so I slice them off.
Cut or slice the corners of the parts you are going to fold over.
Round the remaining corners, yes also those tiny ones...or you could just sand those down.
Fold on your score lines, making sure to reinforce those very well, this will make it easier later.
For the card slots you make two holes on the witdh you need for your card.
I use a big bite for this. Depending on the size you are making you should make sure it is wide enough.
Take your ruler and sharp knife and carefully slice from hole to hole to make the slot.
For the back of the folder, you take the other piece of cardstock and score the width of your insert, skip a bit and score again.
Measure the correct width and slice off the remainder.
Now you are left with this
Take the glue and generously apply it to the folds.
Place your File folder underneath something heavy and let it dry.
If you want, you can add pen loops to the folder.
Measure the with of the pen you want to use and mark that.
Glue the piece to your folder, making sure left and right side are on the same height.
Place it under something heavy to dry completely.
And you will end up with something like this
You can use it in your Taveler's notebook or any other purpose you might find for it.
After this Mir Ardhon and I felt a little hungry, so we enjoyed a cup of soup together =)
and did some reading with wind and rain outside, nice and cosy inside. Look at the color of that fall leaf.
I hope my instructions were clear. Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Have fun making your file folder and I wish you a wonderful week.
Traveling Dori, Mîr Ardhon
Since the beginning of this year (march 2014) I've been involved in a project where people from all around the world share snippets of their life in a Traveler's Notebook.
For a brief period of time they will host one of the projects Traveler's Notebooks and capture their every day lives into the notebooks, with whatever medium they feel comfortable with. Be it writing, drawing, painting, photography or a combination of any of the above, anything goes.
A facebook group has been created for the group and many joined for the first trip around the world. Since there are so many people in the group, several subgroups have been cerated and each group has its own Traveler's Notebook.
I made 2 Traveler's Notebooks and inserts as a contribution to the project and coordinate both groups these travel within. These traveler's have departed for the USA on april 14th 2014 for their first stop and continued their journey around the world from there on. Some of the pictures of these travelers have been shared on Flickr and on Facebook. I will try and get more pictures gathered there. There are also pictures on Instagram (#TravelingDori).
Last week one of the traveler's came home after its first trip around the world and I was at awe. Its so wonderful to see all the contributions in the book, all those pieces of life from all around the world. To read about them, see their photo's and feel their art and heart.
So I made a little video, yesterday evening, which doesn't do it justice at all, but will give a little impression of the Traveler.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/v/Yyluxez5j08?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata[/embed]
I named him Mîr Ardhon (Treasure World)
derived from Tolkien's Elvish:
LEND MÎR OS ARDHON
journey ◈ *lend S. [lˈɛnd] (lenn- S.) n. journey ← lenn-mbas PM/404, X/ND1
treasure ◈ mîr S., N. [mˈiːr] n. jewel, precious thing, treasure ◇ Ety/373, LotR/E, S/434, PM/348, LB/354, RGEO/73
around ◈ os- N. [ɔs] pref. about, around ◇ Ety/379
world ◈ ardhon S. [ˈɑrðɔn] n. augm. of ardh, 1. Geog. great region, province ○ 2. by ext., world ← Calenardhon S/386, PM/348 ◈ gardh S. [gˈɑrð] n. 1. Geog. bounded or defined region ○ 2. by ext., world ◇ WJ/402
He's huge compared to my daily TN.
I'm barely able to hold him with one hand =)
It's a pleasure to flick trhough all these wonderful colorful pages.
The first notebook is now filled completely.
The second one has still room to play.
The Junk journal insert I made has room to play as well.
And so does the last notebook.
Ready for another trip around the world in round 2 of this awesome project.
This week it's my turn to add to the colorful and lively pages. Looking forward to that.
Round 2 of the project will be open to new members, so if you're interested check out the group on facebook.
I hope you enjoyed this and I wish you a wonderful weekend.
Got Tangled...
Yesterday I was browsing through Pinterest looking for some inspiration, I stumbled upon a beautiful collection of Tangle patterns. When I clicked trough to the blog I found they were made by a lovely lady named Emily Houtz. She made an entire set of Tangle reference cards and they were free to download.
With this many Tangle examples I figured I could perhaps make a booklet with Tangle examples to take with me in my Traveler's Notebook. After a bit of fiddling (quite a bit actualy) I managed to get them into the format I wanted them and made a trial booklet for my daughter.
She loved it very much an proceeded to make a cover for her booklet filled with doodles. Her cover not finished so I can't show it here yet, but she's having so much fun with it.
Looking at this I thought maybe other people would like a booklet like this as well, so I wrote to Emily to see if she would mind me sharing the booklet I made with her Tangles. I got a lovely email back from her and she graciously allowed me to share the booklet template with you.
I adjusted the template file a little and made an example booklet. I'll be taking this one with me in my RS TN.
The booklet consists of 60 pages.
Filled with tangle examples.
In several different styles.
And room to add your own at the end.
I made mine with a plain cover...just printed with the vintage pens...leaving room for me to doodle on the cover.... once I get a bit more practice. At least now I will always have some examples with me.
Please check out Emily's blog or her Flickr pages for more inspiration. She has some wonderful examples.
The booklet pdf is free to download from the dropbox link on my Midori TN Free inserts page. You will find the template in the RS folder (RS tangle sets.pdf)
With printing this, set the printer to double sided printing (or brochure and flip on the short side). Use the booklet setting from the pdf settings, as shown in the picture below, select all pages and choose both sides for the subset when printing double sided. (sorry I only have the dutch version of the settings)
Have fun making your booklet and Tangles.
A new quotes insert template
Recently I updated my Midori TN free inserts page with the link to the location where you can download them. I also added my new logo and the link to my Etsy shop. In case you would like me to make you a Traveler's Notebook or inserts for Traveler's Notebooks.
Among the inserts are some templates with quotes I collected overt the past year and used with my art journals. An insert with random quotes and an insert with Hitchhikers Guide quotes by Douglas Adams, since this is one of my all time favorite books. I've shared these free templates already on my facebook page and in several Facebook groups, but thought I'd share them here as well.
I used the last one as a travel journal while on holiday and realy enjoyed the setup.
In one of the Facebook groups I'm a member of, Midori Traveler's Notebook Forum, a lovely lady, named Cassandra, posts daily quotes, QOTD. I thought it was a shame to see those quotes disappear into the stream of the timeline and asked her if she was alright with me collecting those quotes to gather them into a booklet. Which she was and she graciously allowed me to share the booklet.
Yesterday I printed my new journal booklet with Cassandra's quotes and made some covers to go with it. My daughter accompanied me while making a mess. We had a lot of fun together. She made the middle cover and I think it turned out beautiful.
We used some spray inks with stencils for these covers.
Flipped them over after the first spray to get the reverse effect.
Rubbed some ink into another stencil.
Used stamps. old dictionary paper and washi tape to decorate a little further.
The back cover is folded so we have room to keep some papers, ephemera and stuff in the back of the booklet.
Added a little flap at the bottom of the back cover inside the flap. and added some decorative papers.
Finaly we folded the printed papers for the insert and assembled the booklets. So here are some pictures of one of the finished inserts.
Inside fron cover.
Each right page has a quote.
The back cover with the flap.
And inserted an envelope and a pcture I wanted to keep.
I'm afraid the lady didn't stamp as well as I wanted, but I still like it. She's one of my newest Stampers Anonymous stamps and I realy love these.
So true....
We had a lot of fun making these and I hope you enjoyed watching. Have fun making your own and I wish you a wonderful week.