As most of you will know from a post on Sukilu Crafts last Friday I have been part of this blog since it begun in April. I have been a huge fan of the blogging and the youtube world for around 9 years now but have always put off starting one of my own. Then in 2012 I became a mum myself and pretty much put it the back of my mind completely. When my mum had mentioned about starting a blog of her own I immediately offered my full help and support and since then we have spent a huge amount of time together building this website. I originally intended to take care of the technical side of Sukilu Crafts but the more time I spent watching my mum craft and her showing me what other people had done the more interested I become.
As time went on the one thing we found difficult was organising things Sukilu Crafts related such as what posts would go up when, when a new project would be started, what social media platform needed more attention etc. I came across a video by the very gorgeous Elle Fowler - otherwise known as AllThatGlitters21 that was a life saver! It was a video she had some all about her Erin Condren planner. You can watch the video here. Straight away I fell in love and started to look more into the planning world. It's safe to say I became obsessed. This was before the new EC planner had been released but I knew I had to have one. I felt it would be perfect to help out with this blog and also other personal things for myself.
Unfortunately I didn't end up purchasing one on the release date due to the price $55/£35 excluding shipping! In all honestly it just wasn't something I could afford to invest in and I was so disappointed. I had mentioned it to my parents a few times and when I told them I never ended up getting one they offered to purchase it as a gift to me for all the work I had done for Sukilu Crafts. I was so happy and extremely grateful. I'm incredibly lucky to have parents like that!
I wanted to do an 'unboxing' of sorts and also give you my complete and honest review in case anyone was debating purchasing one.
Before I get onto the review I wanted to give an indiction of how long it took to ship to me once my parents had placed the order. The order was placed on 19th June and the website had estimated the shipping date to be 1st July. I then actually received an e-mail on the 29th June stating it had been shipped and it's estimated arrival date was 3rd July. I was very surprised. Then one the 1st July I arrived home to find my partner had hidden it for me to find - luckily enough my daughter is very smart and actually told me where it was!
I chose the ready to ship, vertical, 18 month planner. Enough rambling, picture time!
LOVE the colour of the box. I still actually have it now.
The stickers and card that came with my purchase. I love the scalloped heart stickers!
The beautiful planner itself! The size measures around 7.5" x 9.5" excluding the coil.
The ruler you get with your planner than you can attach to the coil. You could use it as a bookmark.
Lovely inspirational quotes.
I love this part. You can use it in so many different ways but I plan on putting my goals I would like to achieve by the end of the planner - December 2016.
The beginning of each month has a notes section in that months colours and a lovely quote.
Each month has it's own colour scheme. If you have the ending and beginning of two months on one week you will see both colours of each month. Then once you have a whole week within a month you will just have the one colour scheme as you can see below.
At the end of the months you have a 'notes' section. This contains 4 lined pages, 4 grid pages and 5 blank pages.
2017 at a glance!
You also get four sheets of stickers that fit in the boxes. Two sheets with things written on like 'birthday' 'day off' etc and two sheets of blank.
You will also have a doubled sided folder which is very sturdy! In there you will find a perpetual calendar that you can store all important dates and the idea is you move it from year to year.
Then finally at the back you will have a ziplock pouch. Inside you will find some very fun freebies. Compliment cards, referral cards, a sample coil clip and a sample sheets of Erin Condren's do it all dots.
Now onto the review portion, cue more rambling!
I have to be completely honest I saw a few videos on youtube of people unbolting theirs planners and a few people claimed to have issues with their coil. I was a bit worried about having problems with mine but I wanted to give it a fair chance as I had heard so many more brilliant things about it. I am so glad I did. One of the reason I also wanted this planner as I felt the Erin Condren brand itself was huge! The amount of items you can purchase specifically made for this planner on places like etsy is amazing! The whole sticker craze is very popular right now and I am finding myself itching to spend a ton of money on stickers. As a 22 year old I never thought I would say that. I will go into more details about it this in my next post.
When I received my planner one of the first things I did was make sure the pages lay flat when it was open as I had seen a few people say they had an issue with this. Initially I thought I was one of them people and I was so disappointed. I checked my coil to see if it was obviously misshapen anywhere and it seemed to be in a perfect condition so I was very confused as to why I was having this issue. Then I found out all I had to do was twist the coil and problem solved. I only had to do it the once and it stays in the same place to when I turn my pages or have my planner open I never have a problem with it laying flat. If you have a problem with your pages lying flat maybe try twisting the coil slightly.
I also wanted to say I love how Erin Condren has introduced a horizontal version as I feel that style will suit so many people who aren't a fan of the vertical. I did debate getting the horizontal one as I love the colour scheme but I felt the vertical one would suit me more. I may purchase one in the near future however as I wouldn't want to pass it up completely! If you are a filofax, kikki k or anything like that you will probably love the horizontal!
Because I purchased a 'ready to ship' planner I also received a coupon to purchase a new cover! I think it is a very good idea as it takes the pressure off choosing what cover you would like right away and also the ready to ship planners seem to ship a lot faster! I've already got my eye one the cover that I want! You could even make your own cover which I think is amazing. There are many different tutorials on youtube to find out exactly how to do this.
Overall I am extremely satisfied with my planner. I'm still very new to this planning world but I am slowly finding my way. I have experimented with how I plan for the last four weeks but I know it's going to take some time until I am completely happy with how I use it. For the moment though it works perfectly helping me and my mum out with all thing Sukilu Crafts related!
I definitely think it is well worth the price and I don't really see it as an investment as it something I will only have to buy every 12/18 months. The only thing I will say is that I have seen many people uncoil their planner and put in it a six ringed planner such as the Kikki K. I love how it looks so it is something I possibly see myself doing sometime in the future. For now though I am happy with it coiled; I will be sure to do a post about it if I ever eventually take the plunge and uncoil it.
If you would like to purchase this planner or anything on the Erin Condren website you can click the link below where you can receive a $10 off coupon code.
Disclaimer: If you use the link above, sign up and make a purchase I will receive a $10 coupon to spend online at Erin Condren. I completely understand if you prefer not to use this link. You can just go on the website itself and sign up then receive your $10 coupon without having to use my link!
My next post will be showing you how I actually use my planner and also some budget planner supplies I have purchased for it!
Hope you managed to stay until the end. I apologise for the length of this post but I felt like there was a lot I wanted to say!
I also want to thank you all for visiting the website. My mum works extremely hard on all her projects and is so grateful to you all. She has a full-time job as well on top of that so she has very often stayed up late to work on projects.
Be sure to follow Sukilu Crafts on all social media platforms so you won't miss anything. We have been a little bit MIA from Facebook, Pintrest and Tumblr but plan on being a lot more active on all social media fronts!
Thanks again and look out for Susan's step by step tutorial on Sunday. It will be how to make boxes for those yummy cakes she made last Wednesday.
Hugs
Danielle <3
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