Have you ever fallen down the Pinterest rabbit hole, where you blink and the realise an hour has passed and you are no longer clicking on what you searched for originally? This is a little addiction of mine. I am working on it.
When I started my planner, Pinterest was a wonderful source of inspiration and ideas. I loved to see what other people incorporated into theirs. How their bullet journal system works. What they draw and colour and washi tape…
I also very quickly then develop some handwriting envy because some dotters just have beautiful penmanship.
One of these Pinterest excursions introduced me to the traveller’s notebook. A system that many people use for journaling and planning and incorporating all the parts that make up their life. It allows you to keep everything together, but still separate and this really appealed to me. As with many things I immediately opened Google and clicked on the shopping tab and could not find anything like the beautiful images I saw on Pinterest.
I abandoned my search and started my planner system in a beautiful yellow Filofax. I would have given up on my traveler’s notebook had it not been for a small little Facebook community called Bullet Journal Group for South Africa! Not only are these individuals who adore stationery and writing and planning but also people who instantly give recommendations when help is asked for. Members inspire one another with beautiful page spreads and journaling and planning tips. I was thrilled to find a community that got as excited about highlighters as I do.
Individuals on the group are happy to share their planning systems as well as where they found the perfect dot journal. What also increasingly rocked up on the feed were people singing the praises of some of the small privately run businesses that make beautiful bespoke stationery, stickers and yes… my traveller’s notebook!
Props for Dots stocks stickers, stamps and washi tape, a little bit of everything really. The range was however recently expanded to include beautiful handmade Traveler’s Notebooks and I immediately fell in love. I sent an email on a Saturday and it was immediately answered by Lonkie Loosemore who sent through prices and followed up with samples and colours and questions about the pockets I would like. I even got to choose the colour of the stitching. I was blown away by the personal service and thrilled when my beautiful bespoke TN showed up a little more than a week later.
I tried to take some photographs but it does not really do it justice. She even sent a matching pencil case, all handcrafted and gorgeous. I think my yellow Filofax will still be my day job planner but I am so excited about the possibilities that are opened up by the TN. Thank you very much Lonkie at Props for Dots, I will cherish it always.