Kikki K Set Up - Part 1

Mi Kikki K as it came from the store.

Well... it's almost December and the time comes closer for me to start using my Kikki K for the first time, so I decided to personalize it a little bit.

First off, I discarded the dividers that came with the planner. They were the same shade of teal as my planner, but I wanted something with more bang.

So I opened a stash of scrap book paper with a travel theme and I cut and laminated my new set of dividers. 

The Monthly View Tab

I also added the pen I'll be using, some stickers and post its. 

This are some of the dividers after the make over:

 

That's all I did. Ill wait till December to decorate the inside of the planner and then I'll share the photos.

So far, I ADORE my Kikki K.

Q & A About Me Part 2

OK! Time to get to know me a bit more, here are the next 10 weird questions about me.

Q: What’s your favourite accessory?

A: My engagement and wedding ring combo.  I LOVE them so much. My engagement ring is white gold and a solitary diamond, very simple and classic. On the other hand, my wedding ring is a bit crazy: it’s a black tungsten Lord of the Rings wedding band.  We wanted a film related ring and the must fantastic one is by far The One Ring from LoTR, so we went with that idea, and my husband’s favourite colour is black, so black it was. Inside it has an inscription with our wedding date and the outside letters in the language of Mordor are silver.  It stands out and shows our personality.

Q: What is making you mad?

A: That I don’t have enough time with my husband.

Q: What did you have for dinner today?

A: It’s early in the morning, so it’ll have to be yesterday’s dinner. I had oat bran with yogurt and home made strawberry jam. De-li-cio-us!

Q: What did you get done?

A: Our Halloween Party invitations.  This year’s design was based on Andrea Vesalius’ anatomy studies. It is called: L’Anatomie Macabre Présente: la Nuit des Morts Vivants, AKA The Macabre Anatomy Presents: The Night of the Living Dead. It’s quite radical, if I say so myself.

The illustration that accompanies the invitation

Q: Who last called you on the phone?

A: My sister. We live in different cities and we try to chat almost every day. It’s been almost 3 years since we last saw each other, so we Skype, talk on the phone or chat as frequent as we can.  She is the only family I have left and we've always been good friends.

Q: Who are you in love with?

A: Easy, my husband.  I've been in love with him for 17 years and it just grows every day. He is the best!

Q: The best part of today was…

A: Doing something nice for myself. I woke up at 5 am to workout before I leave for work, as I've been doing for the last 2 months. The first thing on my schedule is me: I do a small workout before anything else happens and that way I'm ready to tackle the day.  In the evening I do another workout before dinner and call it a day.

Q: My current favourite website is…

A: Kikki K’s website! I just love it there.  I would LOVE to buy more things for my planner so I go there to drool all over their beautiful stationary, stickers, accessories and more.  Dear Santa, please bring me this Christmas more Kikki K products!

Q: What was the hardest thing you've ever had to deal with?

A: Uff, this is a tough one… not that I don’t know the most difficult thing in my life, but it’s a tricky subject.  The worst in my life was my family.  I grew up in an environment full of psychological and emotional violence and abuse, and sometimes, as a cherry on top, physical violence as well (I have the scars to show).  I never really knew how bad it was, I just assumed everyone else was going through the same things and we all pretended we were a perfect family when we were in public.  It took me years and years to realize it wasn't normal and that it was not OK. In my country we are supposed to live with our parents until we get married (especially women) and Universities don’t have campuses or places to stay, because you are supposed to still live with your parents. I couldn't afford school on my own, so I stayed with my parents until I got my degree and then left to live alone. Even after that I kept seeing them, as it was my obligation, but 2 years and 7 months ago I had this big conflict with them that was the last straw, the last thing to push me over the edge and I broke contact with them for good.  It’s been a rough couple of years, not because I feel bad about stop talking to them (oh, no… it’s the best thing I've ever done in my life) but it was the time that took me to purge all the poison they left inside my mind. All their hatred and loathing was introjected in my mind and became self-hate and self-loathing, so I had to heal from the inside out and I believe I'm finally out of the storm.  It was hard but it was worth it.  If you are in an abusive relationship, it doesn't matter who it is (parent, couple, children, work) step away from it and never return. You deserve better.

Q: Today I wish I had more…

A: Sleeping hours. I love sleeping until late, preferably after 10 am but I can’t and I miss sleeping in.

OK, right in the middle of this!

I hope you find them interesting and you are more than welcomed to answer the questions in the comment section. 

A Great Treat

I started using planners since I college.  I love them!  my first planners were a bit simple: A monthly view, a weekly view and some other inserts like address book (which I relabelled so they could be subject dividers for my notes at school).

Each year I would buy the refills and write every aspect of my life on those pages.  Until digital planners had a boom and stores stopped selling refills and/or planners.

That was a very sad day for me and eventually I stopped using them trying to adapt this side of my (des)organization to the digital area... it never worked. 

Around April this year (2015) I was reorganizing my stationary "things" (a million post-its, pens, stickers, notebooks, etc.) when I found my old planner.  It had a 2001 calendar that was just half used (I bought another planner mid year) and still some od my school notes.  And suddenly, my planner love was renewed. 

I decided to make a Frankenplanner.  I used (a lot of) correction tape to erase the old dates and notes and changed it to become a 2015 planner.  I used it for about a month when I found out (searching for new planners somewhere in the world) that there was this huge community of planner lovers and all the products made for them.

I leant about the use of washi tape and other wonders to decorate the monthly and weekly pages, how to make your own dividers and different ways to colour code (I already did this, but new tips are always welcomed).

And then, The Search began.  Yes, The Search with capital letters.  I was looking for the Perfect Planner, only to find out it was like the Holy Grail, a lot of people are trying to find it, and it's not that easy.

So my quest was laid before me: find the Holy Grail Perfect Planner before the start of 2016.  I went through so many pages, blog posts, reviews, opinions and YouTube videos... Erin Condren, Filofax, and so many more. 

First off, what kind of planner do I want need? Answer: A 6 ring binder/Filofax planner.  I want to customize it end-to-end. 

Then, which ones have shipping to this forgotten 3rd world country I live in... Filofax doesn't. 

So after months of searching and reviewing and thinking, my quest is over!  I'm giving a chance to the beautiful and a bit expensive Kikki K.

I decided I for a 2016 Leather Time Planner Medium: Teal

Today I placed my order and will await for 5-10 business days for my planner to arrive.

I promise a full review as soon as I get it, but after I open it and check it... it's going back to a box until Christmas morning as a gift from me to me.

Now I have more experience decorating my planner with stickers and washi tape, stamps and post-its so I expect a beautiful and decorated 2016 in the pages of my Kikki K.

Let's see if next year I stick with this brand or I get another one.