Planner Embellishment Pack PEP February'15

Decided to do a post on the latest PEP of February 2015 :)

 

In a month of love, its hard to detract from the theme hearts, gifts and more love! I too had included a special treat in this month's pack - instead of 1, I have TWO Handmade items! These are exclusive to N Studio and will not be available anywhere else :)

 

Let's take a look at the yummilicious goodies in this month's pack!

 

 

 

 

You can see from the photo how jammed pack the pack is, with goodies that you can use not only in your planner but also in your Project Life, your reading and more! In PEP February'15, you will receive
1) A Hearts Washi Sampler
2) A Cake & Donut Sticky Memo Pack
3) A Polka Dots Circle Sticker Sheet
4) A Heart Circle Sticker Sheet
5) A Gift Puffy Sticker Sheet
6) A Candy Sticky Tabs Pack
7) A Patterned Heart Puffy Sticker Sheet
8) A Star Shaped Wooden Bookmark
9) Two Sheets of Washi Sticker Papers
10) A Rainbow Colored Ribbon Bow Sticker Sheet
11) A Rainbow Colored Hearts Sticker Sheet
12) Two Handmade Heart Shaped Felted Paperclip
13) A Handmade Wrislet Holder in Red Glittery Chervon

 

A few items that deserves special highlights...

 

Both the sticky memo and the sticky tabs packs are FULL packs! Which means you get so much more than just a small sampling. Instead you get more than enough to gift to friends, do some swapping or use it elsewhere besides your planner!

 

The HANDMADE wristlet holder is a very versatile item. It can easily be hooked onto any zipper of a pouch, a lunch bag to become a wristlet, freeing your hands while buying lunch or paying for your shopping. It can also be hooked onto a mobile as a handstrap or it can be hooked onto the rings of your planner or binder, making it easy to carry around.

 

The rainbow colored ribbon bow stickers are a personal favourite of mine. It comes in a multitude of colors (aka rainbow) and in different sizes too! I love adding the small ones to an envelope of the letter that I am sending to a penpal to brighten up everything. The larger sized ones can easily be worked into a photo or as a  finishing touch on your Project Life cards/journaling!

 

The Handmade Checkered Heart Shaped Felted Paperclips comes in a pair of red and pink. I use these paperclips to denote the different sections of my planner for easy finding. My kiddos used them to mark homework pages, file worksheets, or just for fun! They can be in tons of places and you will be so happy with how it brightens up everything around it!

Another personal favourite is the gifts puffy stickers. These are awesome in marking off birthdays, as a reminder to buy presents  and even to finish off on a gift tag for a friend!

 

I hope that you will like the February pack. For local (Singapore) purchases, head over to my Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/Nian.studio For foreign orders, please visit my store at www.nstudio.storenvy.com Both purchases offers FREE Shipping! There are also some exciting changes coming to N Studio, with new sampler packs being offered at great prices! All will be revealed soon!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

2015 Planner Decorated

Start of a new year means a new beginning for most things. I have shared my DIY planner in my previous posts, here, here and here. Despite making my own, I still have yet to find 'planner peace'. My main grouse will be the heaviness and bulkiness of my DIY planner making it hard for me to bring out. After much deliberation, I decided to spilt up my planner.

 

I left all my stock lists, my finance papers for my store in the original planner file. This will serve as my working file for my store. I also realize that I am less likely to lug my main planner out as I am generally at home, going out only at most once or twice a month running errands. I thus need a lightweight planner to serve as my to-do list, shopping lists etc when I am outside. I also recently purchased a leather planner which will serve as my main planner where I decorate and do my daily reflection.

 

I was ready to stop here, not wanting to drown myself in planners! Alas! I had to discover that I need a brain dump, for all the ideas that I have floating in my brain. Up till now, my 'brain dump' had been whatever scraps of paper I could lay my hands at that moment. I realize that I needed a more permanent place for all these ideas so that I could return to them or keep them as reference. So yes, ANOTHER planner! GEEZ!

 

Using my firstborn's current pet phrase - 'O~M~G!' I am so not willing to have so many but I also know I need to try them out and see if it works. So here goes nothing.......

 

First of all, my main planner. This will be the main one that I decorate as I plan to incorporate the pages into my Project Life albums. My reflections will also be there, making it easier for me to refer to for my photo journaling. I decided to do away with all types of pages and purchased A6 plain grid paper. Why not plain paper then? In deference to my innate OCD of wanting straight lines, I know I needed some form of guidelines. I tried out with one day a page format but found myself running out of space to write both my to-do list and reflection on the same page. Yea, I am very longwinded :P So, I will next try a day on two page and let's see how it goes :)

Some examples of my a day in two page which I had found it worked wonderfully for me! I use one side for my to-do list and the facing page for my reflections, making it a piece of cake to refer and cross reference. It also will have an air of authenticity as these pages will reflect what I have taken in photos and in my reflections/journaling.

 

 

I have also decided to file my planner pages alongside my weekly PL layouts in the PL album. For the uninitiated, PL = Project Life, a memory keeping system that I have been doing for the past 3 years. It consists mainly of photos, keepsakes like ticket stubs and my journaling of what happened. As my daily planner pages will have my reflection for the day, it will only make sense to put them together and my kiddos will get a good sense of what happened on a particular along with my thoughts. Does it work? You bet it does! I have heard my gals commented ever so often that they had forgotten this or that. It was awesome seeing them relive the memories and emotions. Fast forward to 10 years later, this will truly be priceless memories. If you like to find out more, go here :) They now even have an iPhone app for this which makes it so much easier storing memories on the go and have them print out all done! I am oh-so-tempted to get the app!

Anyhow, I digress. As I was saying, I plan to file in my planner pages so I have made effort to decorate them and also make a start page for each week for easier 'filing'. An example of my start page for Week 4 of 2015 :)

 

My 'brain dump' planner will too be having grid paper but at A5 size to accommodate the various drawings and ideas that I would need to sketch out. This will be filed in yet another Daiso A5 file. However, this will be a soft file instead of the hard one for my store as I envision I may need to bring this file out if I am sourcing for materials. No unnecessary weight please.

 

Lastly, the functional lightweight planner that I have again purchased from Daiso - LONG LIVE DAISO! This will be the one that I carry around always, with all essential dates, events, appointments, to-do lists etc. No major décor here, mainly functional.

 

More details will be shared on each planners in future posts along with my review as I work through them :) In case you are interested, I purchased both the A6 and A5 grid papers from NBC at Raffles City. It is definitely reasonably priced and with member discount of 10%, definitely worth the buy!

 

I have also started on a new by-project this year, inspired by a Instagram post of someone I followed. It forces me to look at a particular part of my day and capture the memories. So far it had worked out great :) More on this in my next post :)
Have a creative weekend!

My First Instagram Giveaway :)

I have recently created a separate instagram account for my store - #nian_studio This was also where I launched my PEP(Planner Embellishment Pack) and where I get inspirations for all things planners.

 

Its really amazing how much creativity is out there, even in something as mundane and routine as a planner. A whole world was out in Instagram on planners and how it could be decorated! I am still constantly amazed at some of the many creations I have seen and it is truly very inspiring!

 

I crashed into the world of planner accidentally while searching for planners online. I had wanted to buy one and got put off when I saw the price. I then proceeded to DIY my own where you can find details of the posts, here, here and here :)

 

Planners are no longer boring looking papers filled with scribbles and handwriting, meetings, to-do lists etc. There are so much gorgeous looking planners out there - Filofax, Kikki K, Erin Condren, Kate Spade, just to name a few. Some are mouth-watering gorgeous, serious! However the price is also jaw-dropping :(

 

Going into the whole of planner decoration is like having a new world unfold in front of you. And yes, I have started to decorate my planner too! Its hard to resist when it is so crafty related :P I shall have another blog just on my decorated pages. Coming soon!

 

The planner community in Instagram is a great one. I had seen some many RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness), giveaways etc and these people are simply generous and amazingly so! I have thus decided to hold my very first giveaway on Instagram. A mini travel journal kit that one can either bring along to document your adventures or wait till you are back home for a memory filled look-back.

 

 

 

 

You will get a small mini journal with blank pages, a pen, a roll of camera Washi tape, a set of travel themed post it memo and tabs, stickers and more stickers! Oh, don't forget the handmade felt cloud paper clips that will carefully hold your keepsakes. These handmade paper clips are a favourite of mine!

 

To enter into the giveaway, easy!

1) LIKE the photo in Instagam

2) FOLLOW #nian_studio

3) REPOST tagging #nian_studio

 

It is PARAMOUNT to repost with the tag #nian_studio so that I can see who had done it when choosing a winner :)

 

So, the best of luck to everyone! The giveaway will close on 8 Jan and winner announced the next day :)

 

 

Brewing...Brewing...Brewed!

Remember I mentioned in my last, last post that I had been brewing something new for N Studio? Something to do with planning, scheduling and pretty embellishments? Well, It is now completely brewed and I am so excited to do the full reveal!

So what is it?

It is a monthly kit for planner décor!

I have been bitten by the planner bug and I do find myself making better use of my time and remembering things more since I am writing them down :) I also love decorating my planner, a carry over from scrapbooking! What I plan to do is to incorporate my planner pages into my Project Life album by putting each month's worth of planner pages into the appropriate section. Thus I will not feel that the décor is "wasted" , 2 birds with 1 stone :P

After I embark on decorating my planner and started to buy things like post-it notes, stickers etc, I quickly discover that the local market do not have many relevant ones for planner use. Another problem will be that it tends to be sold at high quantity like for example, I get 50 pieces of the same boring post-it notes and it is too much as I don't need a post-it note like everyday and it does get boring looking at the same design month after month! I like variety in my planner, so that it looks different month to month, day to day.

 

An idea then started to brew. I am sure there will be planner addicts in the same predicament. Wanting more variety but end up with many leftovers and feeling guilty! I wanted to make a kit that gives variety, not too much of each item that it becomes white elephants but definitely enough for a month's worth of décor! As this idea take root, I found myself getting more excited, wanting to see if it can fly :)

November is a super special month for me. Many "firsts" in my life occurred in November. I was super psyched to have this announcement and reveal in this month too! It had been some time since I got so excited about a new idea, a new project. Even the planning stage felt awesome as I immersed myself. Oh! The pretty and adorable items I buy definitely up the awesome quotient!

My monthly kit is called PEP.

 

Some FAQs :)

 

What does PEP stands for?

PEP is Planner Embellishment Pack. It will be a monthly kit and there will be sufficient items inside for a month's worth of décor. There will be more usage, less leftovers and therefore less guilt!

 

When will PEP be launch?

PEP will be launched 20th of each month, while stock lasts. Currently there is no intention for a subscription system until further down the road. This will allow trying without any commitment and as a subber myself to some scrapbook kits, I totally appreciate a non-committal kit :)

 

How can one purchase a PEP kit?

All PEP kits will be available for purchase on my bigcartel at www.nianstudio.bigcartel.com every month on the 20th (Singapore time). There will also be add-on items available for purchase that are relevant for planners as well.

 

What can I get in PEP kit?

There may be post-it notes, index stickers, décor stickers, bookmarks, paper clips, Washi tapes, pen, ink pads, handmade items and more! It will all be relevant for planner use and there will be about 12 different items in each kit. 

 

How much will shipping be and will the kit be shipped worldwide?

Yes! It will be shipped worldwide :)

 

Shipping charges are as below:
 

Local (Singapore): USD$1  for the kit.
 

Foreign: exact shipping charges based on weight as the weight of the kit may vary from month to month. Exact shipping charge will be available at the point of purchase when you purchase the kit at bigcartel.

 

The most important question... How much does a kit cost?

 

My belief for pricing things had always been selling it at a price that I myself will purchase. I do not believe in charging at such exorbitant prices that I can't even bring myself to buy it!

 

So.... the kit will only cost USD$9.99!

 

Yes! Its less than USD$10 but the total retail price of the items in the kit definitely exceeds that :) There will also be handmade items that are exclusive to the kit only.

 

I am very very excited for this kit and can't wait to launch it! I will be adding more items for sale to my bigcartel this week so do go in to have a look :) All purchases can be combined shipping with the kit. The kit is on first come first served basis, while stock lasts :)

Here's a photo of the full reveal and more details can be found in www.nianstudio.bigcartel.com

 

Awwww.....I am so so SO excited! PIease take a look and I would love to get any feedback!Oh! Do follow me Instagram too for any new items for sale and sneak peeks of future kits!

 

 

Still Brewing...

I promised details of my "brew" this week but as things got delayed here and there plus me coming under the flu bug, I wasn't able to totally tie up all loose ends :( Thus, yes, it is STILL brewing.....

 

But, I do have some news on N Studio which are in some ways tied to this new "brew". N Studio had ventured into Instagram and BigCartel!!!

 

Instagram had been the craze for quite some time and yeah while personally I have tried it for awhile, it didn't quite take hold of me. When I first saw how others were using Instagram as a marketing tool, I was intrigued. I wanted to try it out but hesitated due to some other reasons which I will tell you in a minute.

 

Why the hesitation when so many had already jumped on the Instagram bandwagon? Actually I was concerned about where I am directing my Instagram viewers to and how do I make it as seamless as possible? I explored several online selling options, Facebook Page, OwnAShop etc. But it all did not quite gave me what I wanted.

 

Facebook was great for the network and connections but one can't complete a sale per se on Facebook. Some form of communications is needed like for example me replying if its in stock, how much postage will be etc. While most people are happy to do these communications, I know of some who would very much prefer to complete the deal online including payment etc. with minimum communications.

 

OwnAShop gave me the chance to do that, to put things online, have stock inventory, postage costs etc. I would have been very happy with OwnAShop if only it do not require one to register an account before they could do any purchases. That turned a few off. I know because I had received these feedback.

 

Back to the drawing board.....

 

I knew I need to do more than Facebook Page selling. While majority of people do have a Facebook account, some aren't comfortable doing transactions via Facebook, some do not go in regularly and some just simply do not have a Facebook account! I need an actual website that allows me to sell online without any sort of registration.

 

There were quite a number out in the market - Shopify, BigCartel or host your own domain. Hosting my own domain is out, at least for now. Not only my html is just not up to mark, the cost of that is a tad too high for me. I then spoke to a few seasoned online business owners on their views on Shoplift and BigCartel. The impressions were mostly good for BigCartel and I like that they do not have a commitment period. You are allowed to change your plan from month to month. I totally appreciates this type of flexibility!

 

So, I am happy to announce that N Studio has both of these now!

 

Instagram - user: nian_studio or #nian_studio

 

BigCartel - www.nianstudio.bigcartel.com

 

Both of these will also feature strongly in my new "brew" :) Sneak peeks will be posted on Instagram and new items for sale will too be up on Instagram. I will be boosting my items for sale in BigCartel throughout the week leading up to the reveal of the "brew".

 

This is a HUGE step for N Studio. While I am totally excited about it, I am too very worried and wary about the responses and if it will actually reap something.

 

I would have to wait and see :) Don't forget to come back next week for the full reveal and also some general FAQs.

 

Have an awesome weekend!

 

 

 

 

DIY Planner (Part III) - The "Decoration"

The last installment of my DIY Planner - the decorations :)

 

There are so many videos and Instagram on this that it is a tad overwhelming! Then again there are so much inspiration that its really very motivating and creative! Having just embark on a planner myself, the creative juices just flow and I am so glad for having all my scrapbook embellishments on hand. Makes me less guilty too cos I AM using them :P

 

I decorate only the monthly calendar as I use that as an important reference point for the month. It allows me a good overview of how busy my month will be and also for planning purposes. Also, decorating the weekly pages seems abit frivolous to me as I use that only for one week and moreover I do write down loads there as my to-do list, reminders, important events, appointments etc are all there. Already pretty full without any decoration!

 

Let's take a look at my October and November monthly calendars. For privacy purpose, the contents are blurred out but you can still see the decoration :)

 

 

 

 

 

 



There are tons, seriously TONS of such inspiration on YouTube, Instagram, pinterest etc. Absolutely no short of motivation! I am still exploring different styles and frankly, different styles makes for an interesting planner!

 

Next on the post will be some changes to the blog schedule, yes, again.

 

I have been *brewing* something for N Studio and it had been taking up quite abit of my time, Coupled with orders coming in for my lanyards which thankfully is selling pretty ok at the retail shop :) With Christmas coming up, I do anticipate more orders and also maybe some goody bag orders if I am lucky :P

 

So, I will be cutting back on my posts, making it once a week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday. This will allow me more time to spend on N Studio and if the newly brewed opportunity flies then I will be even busier!

 

I will be posting about the freshly brewed idea next week, tying up loose ends now and firming up the details. A hint on what it will be, it's something to do with planning & scheduling combined with pretty embellishments.... Curious? I am too, super excited about this idea and I am crossing my fingers, toes (eyes too!) that it will fly :)

 

Have a great week ahead!

DIY Planner (Part I) - The "Hardware"

I shared previously on my planner system and how I use stickers and Washi etc to both decorate and annotate my planner. However, upon longer usage, find that this system just isn't working for me. As it was a weekly planner, I was unable to see the month in a glance and that made me nervous as I can't get an overall picture on how busy the month will be. Moreover, despite it being a weekly planner, I consistently find myself running out of place to write what I need to. I know I need a new system that wouldn't cost a bomb and yet works the way I want it. What better way than to "build" a planner of my own?

 

I researched online on planners and found many ready made ones that looks super good apart from the price tag that is. Paying a lump of minimum $70 for a nice looking professional planner is just not something that I can afford. Moreover, the inserts may not be what I want and I still have to either print on my own or buy again. I was more determined to try and build my own.

 

Where does one go when you need cheap yet useable stationeries? Daiso of course! I have some idea of how I want my planner to be. So away I go shopping, Daiso style :) 

 

I want a decently sized planner, one that I can bring along when I go out yet not too small till I need a magnifying glass just to write or read it! I also wanted a size that I could easily find inserts on. Most free-to-print inserts are A4 or A5. I know that A4 will be too big, bulky and heavy to lug around while A5 seems like a good size. I also know that I wanted a normal 2-ringed file so that I could use the regular hole puncher to file my inserts and not have to get a special puncher for the usual 6-hole of a planner.

 

 

This bright and cheery colored 2-holed A5 file was what I wanted :) Its bright colors makes it happy. A bonus, it comes with 4 dividers and some papers which are lined on one side and graph paper on the other side.

 

Next I bought some colorful reinforcement rings and a pack of filing seal. I was actually quite intrigued by the filing seal and wanted to try and see if it works.

 

 

Filing seal is a 2-row sticker with punched holes. You could adhere this on both sides of the item that you want to file and it instantly creates the holes that you use for filing. This is particularly useful for items like folders which you may like to include in your planner. An example is as shown below...

 

 

If you could see in the left side of the folder is a row of punched holes. This is how the filing seal works - by creating the holes needed for filing. With this, you can then simply slip the folder into the file.

 

Next I needed a pencil case to hold my writing stationeries. I then chanced upon a real find - a small pencil case that comes attached with a elastic band that helps me keep the pencil case close by and also helps to ensure the planner stays shut when I wrap the pencil case around it, Killing two birds with one stone :)

 

 

I also bought a pack of A6 hard cases for me to slot in inspirational cards/quotes. Here again I made use of the filing seal to create the filing holes. A pack of these A6 hard cases give you 2 cases, just what I wanted.

 

 

 

Last but not least, I wanted a catch-all bag for all the planner barangs like Washi tapes, stickers etch, including the planners itself. I wanted to be able to grab and go :) Since my planner is A5 sized, I grabbed a A4 sized bag to make sure I have sufficient space. Selection there wasn't too great but I did end up with a decent albeit a more kid-ish one :P

 



 

All in all, I spent less than $20 building my own planner. Its definitely more satisfying than just buying one off the shelf and I get to save money on top of getting real self-satisfaction! Now, that's what I call a GOOD DEAL! :P

 

This concludes the hardware part of my planner :) In my next post, I shall go into details of the "software" like how I structure my planner, where do I download the free printable etc.  

 

N Studio - Handmade, A Way of Life

N Studio started a year ago, born out of my love for handmade things, and to start a new direction for myself, to see if it could work. Being a stay at home mom has always been my first choice of 'career'. Despite being so, I know too that I will not be truly happy unless I have a small goal, something to call my own, something that I could work towards. Thus I started N Studio, giving what I do a name, an identity that I could work towards establishing.

 

 

I had been creating hair accessories for a few years so naturally I started N Studio on these familiar grounds. A simple hairclip is not as simple. Alot of thoughts goes into the design, color, coordination of patterns, choice of hardware, target age group etc. Alot of hard, back breaking work goes into it as well, from selecting ribbons, colors, design of bows or resins to be used, to literal glue sniffing, getting fingers burnt literally by the hot glue gun, sealing the ribbon ends and bending over the table making the hairclip itself. I guess only those who had made them would know how much work and love have gone onto it.

 

Yet when selling them, many a times what we hear are comments on how expensive the hairclips are, if they are durable (because they are handmade) and worst of it all, being compared to factory made clips that are alot cheaper. It hurts, alot. It is also a fact that I need to acknowledge and accept, that the local market just isn't friendly to such goods. The appreciation for unique handmade items are different.

 

I know that to make sure N Studio float, I need to expand my product base. I started to experiment with beads and jewelry. Though I had some small success from these, I knew it wasn't really my first love and the amount of stock I have in ribbons (imagine if I unroll all my ribbons, I could easily fill a bathtub!) takes me on a really LOOONG guilt trip. I know that I need to stay on this material and I need new directions.

 

I made my first ribbon lanyard for a friend's daughter. She loved a certain ribbon design yet is too old to be wearing it as a hair accessory. I then created the lanyard using the ribbon and she loved it! With help from friends' words of mouth I started to make lanyards on order, especially for goody bags. Recently a retail store started to carry my lanyards as well and sales, though not fantastic (yet.... I can hope can't I?) but is picking up and boy am I grateful! As these lanyards can be made with one's preferred ribbons, its a great choice to give something different in a goody bag, something handmade and unique. The reasonable price is another pull factor though it also meant low profit margin :(

 

Making lanyards then sparked off another direction for N Studio. As I helped friends with their goody bags, I started to see a need for customized goody bags especially to a certain budget and theme. I then decided to give it a go and launch this as a new service. I packed goody bags using the customer's budget and theme (if any). Teacher's Day was my launching pad and there were decent orders to make me smile.

 

Have I given up on hair accessories? Not totally. I designed new accessories and am now in the midst of making them for the launch. This new accessory combines different crafting methods and I am so happy to see it turn out well :) I hope that the launch will go well which brings me to my update on N Studio.

 

N Studio will be at MOE HQ today, yes TODAY :) Its the one next to Bouna Vista MRT. If you work there, do drop by the canteen to take a look at my lanyards. Unfortunately, these will my only item there as its a friend's stall and I am only asking for her help to have the lanyards put on sale. If anyone is interested in customized lanyard or goody bags, you can also contact me at asknstudio@yahoo.com.sg 

 

My full stall will be on Sunday, 26 Oct at The Pinnacle. I will be having my own stall there and other than the lanyards, I will also be having my newly designed hair accessory :) Apart from the above, I am also awaiting confirmation on another setup in a cafe on another October Sunday as well. I will keep all updated again on this :)

 

I hope to get more stalls soon. I also feel that it is better for customers to see and feel the product themselves in real time. However, as with handmade items, time is needed for the products to be made and I do not believe in rushed, under quality products so please bear with me while I try my best to fulfill orders.

 

So, I hope to see you at one of my stalls! Do introduce yourself when we meet so that I could put a face to the name who had been appreciating my creations!

☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀

✴ FREE NORMAL LOCAL POSTAGE by Big Momma SG. Read post here for details!

✴ WASHI TAPES GRAB BAGS GIVEAWAY ! There will be 3 winners! Read post here for details of entering! Ends 15 October 2014.

☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀