Beautiful Ciak Journals

While living in England I got hip to quite a few of the little treasures Europe had to offer. And right before my trip to Italy (Actually, while I was researching the trip) I found out about Ciak journals- and I fell in love.

Do you ever get that feeling of loving a notebook so much that you can't even write in it? That would be my relationship with Ciak. It's funny because, after I discovered them, I went to Italy, got lost, and found myself in a store full of them. Kismet much?

The cover is a brilliant pink color, but they have so many to choose from- yellows, oranges, and greens being my favorites. It feels buttery smooth to the touch and has a flexible yet durable texture. There are 224 pages in this baby. And we all know Italian leather is the best! They also use eco-friendly acid free paper. Double score.

I'm gonna be honest, I just want to curl up in bed with this thing. As a side note, I am currently in bed watching some God awful movie on Amazon with my Fire Stick. Let me tell you, amazing is WINNING with this fire stick situation!!! Hashtag MOVIESEVERYWHERE! (yes, I spelled out #)

The elastic comes out of the spine and is tightly secured in a tiny notch in the cover. The Prices range from $15- 25 USD but I originally paid in pounds so I'm not sure exactly how much it was. The elastic is very thick and it is extremely more durable than the moleskine's.

You can see the small notch in the picture below. The biggest design flaw with this notebook is the fact that it doesn't lay  flat. There is a gap between the spine and the pages and this causes the notebook to rise from the table. I'm not a fan of this. I guess I could get all bendy and ruin it, but I don't think my soul will let me.

My favorite part- the paper. This is very high quality "Ivory" paper, or at least that's what they say in the description. After using my Spanish to try to navigate the Italian website, and finding that I'd made a horrible mistake because they are in no way connected, I did some internet hopping and found that the paper is 110 gsm.  And....

It takes fountain pen ink brilliantly! I mean, my pen absolutely glides across the page. That is my single favorite thing about the Ciak. I wish I could find a midori insert that took ink as well as this. Hmmmm maybe that's my next mission in live. Can I find a cahier with this kind of amazing paper- ohhhh with graph paper.  Mission accepted!

You can find them at The Journal Shop!

Maybe one day I will figure out what kind of goodies I want to put in this beauty.. Until then, I will continue to rub the leather on my freshly washed face, and stare at it on my shelf of wonder.

Any idea on what I should use it for? How would you use it?

Productive Luddite: Cutest Notebooks Ever

I love new notebooks.

A lot.

Fresh paper makes me happy.

TheHubs is writing a screenplay, and being the most awesome wife ever, I wanted to get him the cutest things to help him with the process. Enter Productive Luddite.  Their mission is to plant 10 trees for every book purchased. How amazing is that? So far they have 29,020 trees planted. They have so many different genres of journals including everyday carry notebooks, golden age notebooks (including whiskey, gratitude, and coffee journals!), and adventure journals. I really like the zombie notebooks too! I mean, really just too many to mention. You have to check them out.

The one I;ve had my eye on forever is the Really Big Freestyle notebook boasting 800 pages and it comes in the prettiest pink you have ever seen in your life. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it is really pretty. 

And I can pay $29.00 for this awesomeness. And I will. I got my eye on you boo! Mama is coming for you. But to the item I currently have...

As I said, I bought this for TheHubs and his screenwriting aspirations. He hasn't written in it yet :/ <---- that should be an angry face. One should never gift someone with something that they themselves would prefer lol. I tend to do that. No one in my immediate circle likes paper stuffs as much as I do. Try as I might. But why don't they get the hint and buy them for ME!? Booo.

Anyway, look at how neat! Pages for character development and for acts and scenes. I would think this would be the screen writers wet dream. It's so functional.

As a free gift, I received this awesome Matte Black journal from their everyday line.

Did you hear me say FREE! Free.99! They have so many everyday journals, and this one is a sample of all the different kinds of paper you can get.

 Grid, dotted, grey grid, scheduling pages, black, and lined, ect. There are a few more that I didn't take pictures of. I can't figure out what to use this one for. Needless to say, I love everythign about this company and will probably buy 17 more before the years is out. Probably what I use most of them for... Something pretty to look at! :)

Do you plan on giving them a shot? What would your dream notebook include?

ZenKraft, Art Journaling, and Happy Mail

First of all, when are they going to add Journaling to the dictionary as a verb? I am so tired of the red line telling me that I am incorrect! Hahaha! 

Anyway, Welcome to another fine edition of journaling with Shaina. I've spent the past week breaking in my new ZenKraft with pockets, Stormy, and she is just delicious. The leather feels so good in my hands, and I still have trouble putting it down!  I would definitely suggest looking through the blog and finding something you love. In fact, my friend Brianne has just found the magical world of midori and I sent her right over to ZenKraft for her first one. Boy she is already losing her mind!  And The owner of ZenKraft sent me a little gift as well!!! 

Do you see how adorable that field notes size is? I am going to do a video on Stormy soon, and until then, I am going to be getting little Hershey- that's the baby's name- together. I am so ready to decorate it, and I will have plenty of extra stuff to put in, now that I've purchased my happy mail. 

All of these goodies have just come in from Ebay. Since I do quite a bit of art journaling, The sticky notes add to the flavor of my pages. 

Can you believe all of this only cost me $10? With no shipping. It all arrived within 2 weeks. Now I know what you wanto to ask me and here it is:

Ginger*jujusmile10 

That is the name of the seller I tend to use on ebay. All of this came from there. 

Those nautical sticky notes are my favorite. I love the blue, however, I may have to use a white gel pen to show up on it. Overall, I'm happy with the purchase and even happier with my leather love. I think my next post will highlight more of my journal techniques. 

As a side note, I am changing my entire blog. I have to be honest. At one point, lifestly blogging and fitness blogging was what I was most interested in talking about. But not so much anymore. I Will still throw in some of that, but mostly just reviews of paper love! Because that's what's near nad dear to my heart! 

What was your last Happy Mail Purchase?