I love Stationery.
Quirky little pens, stylish notepads, novelty erasers…. You name it, I probably have it!
Friends and Family know not to leave me alone in Tiger, Tiger, Paperchase or Smiggle as I will come out with huge bags of stuff and an empty wallet.
The thing is though, I do actually use them. I have various different notepads for different reasons; one for shopping lists, one for things to remember, one for items to pack when going on an adventure. I even have one for jotting down work ideas or things to do when I wake up in the middle of the night!
So, you can imagine my delight when the lovely Julia offered to send me two journals from the stunning Modena Journals range.
I eagerly went onto the website to have a look at the options I could choose from and was delighted to see two different ranges that really ‘called’ to me.
Although the designs are almost identical, the materials and interiors are not and this is what inspired me choose one from each range
My first option was a gorgeous Honeycomb premium leather book with an elasticated closure and two woven bookmarks inside.
Honeycomb Leather
The buttery Honeycomb leather has a beautiful soft finish which opens up to 144 pages of 100 gsm, ivory ruled sheets which are sustainably sourced from FSC certified forests. The two page marker ribbons compliment each other very well; one grey and one honeycomb.
TWO page markers!
A white elasticated band on the front is multi-purpose; if you stretch it over the back of the book, it keeps it closed and prevents damage to the pages. You can also use it to hook a pen onto, ensuring you can always make notes whilst on the move.
Elasticated Closure Opened
The outside cover has a lovely metal embellishment; the Modena logo. This gives it a bit of a stylish accent and looks gorgeous too!
I was lucky to receive an A5 version which is 210 x 145mm and absolutely perfect for fitting into a regular size handbag. The paper is of a beautifully high quality and is an absolute pleasure to write on.
Snazzy Embellishments
Being a pen fanatic, I usually carry a Parker ballpoint in my bag and I found that this wrote beautifully on the pages. I decided that I would use this journal to record my thoughts and hopes and adventures.
Random Thoughts
Yes, I could use it as my diary or even as a book to write down my fiction stories in the hope that I could get something down on paper that I could turn into a book. However, that kind of journal would be one that I would keep in the house and use whenever I had an idea.
Prideful?
Whereas, this book is too good to keep in a drawer or a writing bureau. It deserves to be seen out in public and admired by those who love stationery just as much as I do!
Ramblings
Now, if the Honeycomb journal was that good, what was the second journal like?
Work…
The second was slightly different in that it was a linen bound book in a hot Raspberry colour. Again in an A5 style, the book features a hot pink elasticated strap and two page marker ribbons.
Raspberry Journal
It is a very similar size to the leather bound journal; 210 x 140mm but has more pages inside. A total of 208 pages of 70 gsm Ivory paper, covered in hundreds of dots.
Dots?
Going Dotty
Well yes, Dots are brilliant for bullet point journals and relevant notes. You can scribble, write, make columns of figures, play a game of squares and even draw abstract shapes if you so wish.
In Closed Position
I intended to use this as a bullet point journal. I had one a year or so ago and had great success with it and had missed the focus and comfort that the journal had brought to me.
How do I feel?
Therefore it was a no brainer to start adding pages of brightly coloured graphics.
Don’t get me wrong, I am no kind of artist but even I can write words of positivity, create sleep charts, make an emotions page and more. If you don’t feel comfortable in making your own charts, you can get lots of free sheets on the internet which you can glue in and add your own notes.
Sleep Patterns
The other great thing about a dotted journal, you can easily draw lines, squares, bar charts and graphs. This gives you a lot of scope and versatility.
Raspberry Fizzer
As previously mentioned, I was sent the A5 version. Modena do offer the same quality notebooks in a smaller A6 size which is perfect for popping in your handbag. I personally love the idea of that as I am always needing to write notes down or else I completely forget things!
I am absolutely thrilled with my two notebooks and Modena have kindly offered a 20% discount for all my readers. All you need to do it pop onto www.modena-journals.co.uk and use Tanya20. The discount is valid for one use per customer and will go on until the end of Sept.
Such a joyful colour
They are also offering free postage on orders over £25 which saves a few more pounds! Postage is only available to the UK and Ireland currently.
The only thing you may struggle with is choosing which of the marvellous colours, fabrics and sizes you want!
Till next time,
SPSG xxx