A lesson in customer service

I know things on here have been quiet.  My last couple posts have been about Erin Condren and how much I love my planner.  I still very much love my planner but something happened over on the Erincondren.com Facebook page today that still has me stunned.  Take a look for yourself.  

I am part of the Erin Condren fan page on Facebook & one of our members was able to catch this before they deleted it.  Erin Condren has been having a rash of issues with quality control, especially products with photos.  The woman this is addressed to is the creator of the fan page.  A woman who has stood behind the company at their lowest this past holiday season.  A woman who had referred tons of people to the company.  A woman who has placed well over 20 orders since discovering the company just 6 mos ago.  

I myself just placed order number 10, for a wedding planner.  I purchased a notebook for my Girl Scout troop business.  A notebook for my daughter.  Several sticker orders, too.  I love all of my products and my life would be in shambles without my life planner (I'm serious), but when you treat your customers like this, especially one that has a true love and passion for your products is absolutely uncalled for.  I would love another life planner but until the dust settles and Erin herself does some major damage control my business with the company is done.  I was so excited to get my wedding planner but that excitement has been squelched.  

Product love, Erin Condren style and with a $10 coupon!!

I've had my Erin Condren Life Planner for a couple months now and let me tell you, that baby is a life saver!  I don't feel as scatter brained anymore and if I need something I can refer back to when it happened very easily.  I use mine to keep track if my work schedule, my fiances drill schedule, my kids school activities and days off, my personal appointments, and I track my calls from work in there too (we get a call bonus so I keep track of the number of calls I run in a shift).  

Since ordering my Life Planner I have also ordered a notebook with a monthly calendar added in for my Girl Scout troop.  It'll keep track of all of our activities, financials, and badge work activities.  I'm so excited to get that, I will definitely do an unboxing and review when I get it.  

I'm also contemplating getting a notebook, no calendar, just for me.  I'm a sucker for a pretty notebook! Not sure what exactly I would use it for but the possibilities are endless.  

That's my lifeline right there, I've shared that picture before but it's just so pretty I can't help but share it again! I didn't customize the colors on this one but I did on my Girl Scout notebook.  If you're contemplating getting one of these beauties but the cost is a turn off for you I have a $10 coupon code that you can get! 

Simply sign up for an account using this Referral Link.  You will get a $10 code sent to you practically immediately! The email you use must not already have been used to sign up for an account on ErinCondren.com.  Just act quickly! That $10 code expires in 30 days!! Also, if you place a small order with that $10 coupon code you can come back and use gift20 to get $20 off a second order!  Right now they have luggage and lunch boxes 25% off! Can you imagine the Christmas possibilities?! 

Disclaimer: that referral link will also earn me a $10 gift certificate ONLY if you purchase something!  Once you place an order you can share your referral code in your circle of friends, on the web, and wherever earning YOU endless $10 credit!

Getting Back into Cross Stitching

Many years ago my mom cross stitched me a stocking and I've been looking for years for something for our entire family but never came across anything that I liked enough to spend the money on.  So I decided to cross stitch my kids each a stocking.  The patterns came from Cross Stitch and Country Crafts circa 80s and 90s.  I bought the magazines with the patterns in them from eBay and finally got started on my sons.  His is the least labor intensive so I figured I'd knock that one out quick.  

Here is what it's looking like so far!

I have a lot more of the little details filled in but the scene for this stocking is a tool shop.  This is only part of the stocking but appears to be the area with the most thread color changes and teeny tiny details.  

I also created a little pattern.  It has NOTHING to do with this stocking or even Christmas.  I just saw a pic and thought it would be funny to duplicate in stitching.  

You can download the chart here:  i own you pattern

This download is hosted on scribd so it's a nice easy way to acquire this adorable coffee mug.  I can't wait to see what you make!  You could easily change the mug color too!

Erin Condren Life Planner Review

I finally got my planner!  So far I love it, I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I want to use it.  What I love about this planner:

• Size, fits perfectly in my purse
• Lots of room to write (at least for me)
• You have a monthly calendar view followed by the weekly spreads
• Each day of the weekly spread is broken up into morning, day, and evening
• Lots of stickers included! Doctor's appts, game day, mani/pedi, day off, birthday, etc and a bunch of blank ones to put whatever you want. 
• Clear zippered pocket in the back to hold things.
• Tabs are laminated!  I can see how in years past this was an issue when they weren't laminated.  They're very sturdy as they are now.  

This is the perpetual calendar.  I've put in some birthdays but I've seen others who have used it as a workout log, a financial log, etc.  They just use washi tape over the birthdays and anniversaries, I don't see this being a huge use to me.

This is the 2013/2014 at a glance.  This is super useful if you just want to see where a particular date falls in the year without having to flip to the actual month.  All the months have the same color schemes so once you figure out what they are you can easily dart your eyes to that month.  All of the color combos rock.

This is what a monthly spread looks like.  The blue washi tape shows when my kids are with their dad and the black washi is the weekend my fiance has his Army Reserve duty.  I also put when my car payment and my car insurance payments are due on this calendar.  My paydays are also written in so I know what to expect and when.  Nothing is on auto pay so it's my visual reminder. 

This is the weekly spread.  The week runs from Monday-Sunday during the weekly spreads.  Also, if a month changes during the week it will change to the corresponding colors for that month.  As you can see here, this is an Army weekend!  I chose not to put when the kids are with their dad here just because the monthly thing is a reminder, especially if something comes up and I need to know where they're going to be so I can schedule appropriately.  I also use these spaces to write down the run numbers of any ventilator transport I have as those are extra money.

 These are the notes pages.  There are a bunch of lined pages and a handful of blank ones.  The lined ones just have her little asterisk in the lower corner opposite the binding and LOTS of room to write!

These are the blank pages.  These have some of her designs on the top, this one is the fleur feliz pattern.  Others are gingham, candy lace, plaid, and zig zag.

This is the contact section, lots of places to write lots of numbers.  I use Postable for all my permanent addresses I keep track of, this I'm using for school contacts for my kids and such.  I don't see myself using this too much but it's nice to have to jot down an address in a pinch.

 This is the keep it together folder, it's double sided and fairly deep.  I have a couple things stashed in here now and I can definitely see getting some use out of this!

 The other side of the keep it together folder and the plastic zippered pouch.  I keep all the stickers that came with the planner in here.  I tore them out and cut them into their colored sections with my paper trimmer.

This is the inside of the back cover.  It's the years 2015 and 2016 at a glance.  I like knowing what days of the week birthdays fall on, or holidays so I have an idea of what we might be doing.  No, I don't plan that far in advance but it's nice to know if something falls during the week or weekend.







The coiling on the planner is super sturdy.  It's very hard to pinch two of them together so I can imagine this is going to take lots of abuse and still look darn good!  There are a couple things I'm not thrilled about already, one of my notes pages came scuffed, not a big deal but it's the tabbed page, otherwise I'd just pull it out and use it for something else.  There's a small tear in the bottom of the folder on the pink side, it's from where the ruler/bookmark was tucked into the pocket, maybe to avoid this they can snap the bookmark inside the front cover or put it with the info they put in the box.  Also, the cover scratches super easy.  The back of my planner already has some rough spots where it's been scratched up already.  They did offer for me to send my planner back but I opted not to because I've already started using it.  I just let them know because the quality of the laminate is not worthy of a $50 planner.

They also include a boat load of free labels.  You get 23 of them with your planner, which, if you were to purchase on her site is a $25 value.  I also got 2 codes worth $10 each as well.

Over all, I'm happy, I love my planner, not sure if I'll be buying another one next year but we'll see, $50 is a LOT of money for us right now.  If you want to check out a video I did head over here to you tube!



Disclaimer--I was not compensated in any way for this review, this is just such a hot item that I figured I'd write up my own opinions on this product.  

Erin Condren here I come!

So, I finally gave into the fact that I can't hold everything in my brain and I fail miserably at keeping an electronic calendar.  I've been reading great things about the Erin Condren Life Planners and how they just keep getting better.  I tried and tried to find something similar for cheaper but nothing was large enough or set up in the way that I want.  More often than not they're loaded with crap I'd never use, I really don't need a world time zone map, nor do I need formulas to find areas or circumferences, or metric to imperial conversions, or a place to write my class schedule, or a giant block for the day.  

I found a planner online that was similar, The Everything Planner by Gennifer Bursett, then I tried to create my own with just what I needed/wanted.  Well, when all was said and done I ended up wasting a crap load of time because when I went to upload my own planner to get it printed it would be MORE than buying an Erin Condren Life Planner.  It wouldn't be nearly as pretty as the Erin.  

I am happy to say that I have this baby on the way to me!

Obviously, mine will have my info on it but that's the cover I chose.  You can also choose your own colors if you choose.  You can choose a multitude of options to include with your Life Planner as well.  I just chose a 12 mo calendar but you can choose an 18 if that's your speed.  I prefer an academic calendar vs a straight yearly.  Also, you can get stickers, pens, pen holders, elastic bands, etc.  

I cannot wait for mine to arrive, it does take a few weeks to produce and ship, waiting is hard!  Mine is expected to ship on 9/13.  They also have teacher planners and I'm considering getting one for my sister when she graduates from school as a grad gift.  Yes, they are pricey, but having what I needed and wanted was worth it rather than buying 3 or 4 $10-15 planners and not being happy.  I stalked blogs and such for reviews for a few weeks before I bought one.

In other news, I still haven't pulled out my sewing machine since we moved.  Lacking a table that I can comfortably sit at is a big reason why.  I have a very small space for a dining room table and haven't found the perfect one yet.  I did bring home an IKEA catalog yesterday so maybe I'll be able to find something there, wasn't really able to find one yesterday when we went.  

Hoping to find some sewing mojo soon!

Project Life Storage

Since I've been bitten by the Project Life bug I've acquired 3 core kits, a couple themed cards by MAMBI, and some assorted page protectors.  I don't keep all of the core kits, depending on the kit I keep about 1/2 the kit so the boxes they came in were just too big for what was in them.  Plus having 3 of them made shuffling the boxes a little tricky.  I've been scouring pinterest looking for a solution and none of them were both cost effective and realistic for me.  Today while I was at Michael's I found this:

It's the extra large photo keeper from IRIS.  Michael's had their storage on sale this past week for 50% off so it was only $20.  There are 16 4x6x1 inch boxes in the carrying case.  I was able to consolidate all my cards into 6 of the small boxes with room to spare for all the new Project Life goodies that were just released last week.  I will never buy any Project Life products without a coupon.  

The top row holds all my Honey cards, the middle row holds my Midnight cards and my MAMBI cards, and the bottom row holds all of my Blush cards.  

My favorite part about this storage is that it's portable, easy to store in a closet, and if I can buy another set of these boxes if need be.  

Getting started with Project Life can be a bit expensive, however, you can use coupons at Michael's and Hobby Lobby for all Project Life branded products. 

Lots of good things!

Has it really been over a month since I posted?  Seems like just yesterday!  Well, LOTS of things have happened in this past month, some good, some bad, and some fantastic.  

I'll just get the bad out of the way.  Someone hit my fiances car in the parking lot of our apartment then took off.  Then the motor blew up unrelated to the accident.  Then our landlord went insanely batshit crazy on us, but that takes us to the good.

We got a new apartment!  Since our landlord went off the deep end we figured it would be better to cut our losses there and move.  We were able to negotiate an early end to our lease and found a much better place to live.  We have a washer and dryer so no more schlepping to the laundromat, which ROCKS.  I'm so stupidly excited about that it's not even funny.  We also have a garage which I'm sure I will come to love in the winter.

And saving the best for last, the most fantastic news ever...

These two sweet adorable little ones have come home where they belong.  I'm loving life right now.  I've only mentioned it a couple times here on my blog but they're coming home.  August 9 to be exact.  Welcome home kiddos!