Owndesignbook Planner Kit Review

A box full of stationery? Yes, please!!

I placed an order from @owndesignbook for her planner kits last month. I believe she also does custom notebooks and she sells stationery, badges...among others. The planner kits once payment are made, will arrived within 7-14 working days. So mine arrived exactly two weeks after payment.

The parcel came in a box wrapped in kraft papers. 

Underneath, is this beautiful pink, vintage box that I could use to store so many things.

This is what you will see once it is opened. Altogether, there are 41 stuff that fit in that box. The first item that you will get is this pastel coloured 100 Days Schedule. It has elephants and hearts decorations. There are so many ways of using this schedule. I am thinking of making the kids record their good deeds each day. Or maybe ask them to write different kind of activities that they want to do and see whether they can achieve doing all of them. Maybe they can see whether they are able to do their neuro exercises religiously within these 100 days.

 What a coincidence that AZ favourite animal is an elephant.

Next is this shoe-shaped pencil case. It is available in various colours like dark blue, green, pink, grey, purple, yellow, brown etc, but you can choose yours. I picked this soft blue and pink pencil case. It is also surprisingly light.

The pencil case is almost the same length as your standard pen.

Most pens can fit inside. Although the curve sides may limit the number of pens.

It also functions as a pen holder.

I also get this 24 coloured pens by Plus Pen 3000. The colours are vibrant and you get different shades of each colour.

And the best thing is they are fine tipped pens. I find that it is easier to use them in tight spaces especially in my small size journal.

Look at all these pens in different designs and colours.

Lollipop pens. 

 

Hello Kittty pens.

I called them cats and fish bones pens.

These are Mini Bear pens. 

They all have their own names.

Ever wondered why they are called mini bear pens? Look closely at the tip.

And just when I thought I had enough pens....here comes more of them. Well, it sure doesn't hurt to own a few more, kan?

The next item is this mini marker pen that comes in six different colours.

Washi tapes are next. Love it whenever there are washi tapes in any planner kits. I keep on hoarding them. They are just too cute. Plus there are so many things that you can do with them. These are the polka dots and stripes pattern, soft coloured washis. The only let down is they don't really stick hard on surfaces other than paper.

Who doesn't want a rabbit scissor?

 

...or a pink giraffe with a yellow bow cutter?

Love love love the staplers.

Even love the fact that even the staples are colourful.

Retractable correction pen.

Brown bear and Cony rabbit bookmarks.

And the stickers. Some of them have phrases that I don't even understand but I am pretty sure they are in Koreans. Find them really useful to decorate my journal.

Sticky memos and page markers with traveling theme. You have envelopes, stamps and luggage decorations. 15 sheets for each design.

Then I also get these three items. One sticky memos, sticker sheet and a notebook to replace the other items that I should initially get I suppose.

Her instagram photo. The circled ones are those that were originally in the planner kits. But she replaced them with the said items above.

I paid RM160 for the planner kits. Hers is a bit pricey if you compare to other planner kits by other sellers. Most of the monthly kits are between RM20-RM60, never really exceeding RM100. But this kit is not  a monthly kit.You need to pre-order it. However, I do think that it is a value for money kit as you get as many as 40 plus items that will probably cost you more if you were to buy each of them from Daiso, for example. 

I am mostly satisfied with all the items received. If there is a second planner kit with different items curated, I would not hesitate  to purchase from her again. All I can say is I am one happy customer. 

My Kids Have Been DOAWKed!!

There is a BOOKXCESS outlet in One Utama that sells books in an unbelievable affordable price. The books are sold at 50% to 80% off the original price because they are remainder and overprinted books. What is more amazing is all these books are in great conditions and they are not at all preloved.

I first stumbled upon the place as I was going to Daiso. Come to think of it, I have noticed the outlet a few times before but I thought it was one of those novelty shops. All I remembered was there are so many Star Wars posters as its deco. I guess, it was one of those days when I had few hours to spare, I went in and realized that they were selling books (more than posters of course) and their children's corner are amazing. Most of the books are in box sets. So you will see Big Nate, Dork Diaries, Elmo, Horrid Henry, Little Miss,  Thomas, Amelia Jane....all in box sets.

Managed to bought Diary of a Wimpy Kid (DOAWK) Collections by Jeff Kinney among others. It is a box set that consists of six books. They are Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Last Straw,  Dog Days, Rodrick Rules, The Ugly Truth and Do-It-Yourself Book. The books quickly become my kids' favourite. Whenever it is reading time, they were sure to pick up the books and immerse themselves in the life of Greg Heffly. I guess they can totally relate to Greg's schoolboy experience which are told in Greg's diary entries and comical line drawings.

AM loves it so much that he decided to make one for himself. I am so happy that he initiated the journal (he prefers this term than diary) project on his own. And the whole process was just amazing. The best thing is I am allowed to read it. And he also gave the nod for me to share these pages in this blog. Though it may seems petty, but I will always make a point to ask for permission first.

 You know how difficult it is whenever the "How was school?" question is normally followed by a one liner

 answers. Okay. Fun. Boring. As usual. Alright. Same. Bolehla. Best. Tak best. 

This journal saves me from all that. Reading all the entries made me realized stuff that happened at school and the kind of person he is when he is surrounded by his peers. I am able to know his likes and dislikes. His close friends. His favourite food during lunch. Subjects that he despises. Teachers that he adores. What he thinks of his sisters. But most importantly, I appreciate the feelings that he poured in his writings and drawings.

Traveler's Factory, Japan

So my husband went to Japan two weeks ago for his work trip leaving me behind with the kids. After almost ten years of marriage, I am pretty much used to it by now. Now, my husband being the kind of man that he is, went  to most places that we visited during our Japan family trip last year, took photos and sent them to me. His walk down memory lane, though may seem romantic to some degree was actually an attempt to annoy me because he knew how much I miss Japan.  To show how serious he was about the whole 'I-wish-you-are-here' thing, he went to Sushi Zanmai all the way to Tsukiji market, ordered the same bowl of sashimi like he had last time and captured it all in one photo. All in good faith of course haha.

Juicy tunas that melt in your mouth. Japan sure promises the best gastronomical adventure that you couldn't find elsewhere because I can never look at those tunas in Sushi King the same way again.

Ohhh, and that was not it. There is more trick up his sleeves, I assure you. Traveler's Factory was next on his list. But I am kind of glad that he went there because now with a small baby, my days of  traveling seem to be put on hiatus. So, looking at the photos that he sent all the way from Nakameguro's back alley pretty much quench my thirst of traveling. 

 

The view from outside.

Stationery heaven.

My husband brought Pokemon gatchapon (capsule toys) for the kids and of course souvenirs from Traveler's Factory for me. But instead of giving me all the stuff at one go he decided that it would be more fun to let time does the magic...in other words, he loves to 'torture' me. Never mind, since I love surprises, I would say, bring it on. Plus, it is like having your birthday present when you least expected it. 

So the first present was the one that he gave me straight away. And it is this mini coloured pencils set, consists of 12 colour pencils, a sharpener and an eraser. This credit card size stationery set screams journaling on the go, all the way!!! It could easily fit inside your journal. It also has Traveler's Factory logo printed on its case.

 

I just don't have the heart to really put this to use yet. So at the moment, the colour pencils still remain sharp and untouched. 

I found the second gift, a week later, tucked neatly in between AD's nappies. It was a really nice surprise. They are these two black and white wahi tapes. And it is all nothing but the truth, when they (the journaling addict) say you can never have enough washi tapes. 

The Tokyo Metro Trip by Metro and the black Traveler's Factory washi tape.

 This Traveler's Notebook x Tokyo Metro collaboration washi tape showcases all nine lines in Tokyo Metro extensive rapid system. They are the Ginza Line, Marunouchi Line, Hibiya Line, Tozai Line, Chiyoda Line, Yurakucho Lin, Hanzomon Line and Namboku Line.

 A close-up look of the washi tapes. 

I can't wait to see what will my next surprises be.

My Delivery Story

It has been nearly two months since my last post. My new baby girl sure is keeping me busy. I gave birth to her in mid October, three days before my scheduled induced labour. I was a week overdue and she was showing no signs of coming out at all. I had mild contractions three or four days before I delivered her on Thursday, the 13th. The contractions weren't that bad, Alhamdulillah. Although it was my third pregnancy, but it was almost six years ago since I had my last baby, so I was a bit rusty and I had long forgotten what contractions really feel like. I had at least one false alarm. Went to the hospital one night and was later sent back home soon. That was embarrassing.

In the meantime, I did my daily CTGs every morning. I was told that I could just stay at the hospital until my induced date so I don't have to worry much. But the idea of just waiting unknowingly and  simply being away from my two kids is a big No-No.

It was a Thursday night, right after everybody went to bed when I felt the contractions. Although I had felt them earlier during the day, yeah, I was at IKEA with my parents, when I felt them. I knew, the contractions were different than before. The type of contraction that stops you from doing anything, that just bugs you and doesn't seem to go away. Deep down I was telling myself, 'This is IT' but I didn't tell my parents or call my husband because I knew he would straight away rush me to the hospital. Perhaps another false alarm. But that night, the contractions were stronger and longer. I waited for a good half an hour before I decided to wake my husband up and even then I wasn't too sure of going to the hospital. I am glad my very persistent husband forced me to go or I might have ended up giving birth at home instead.

Luckily my parents were at our house visiting since Monday, so we could leave the kids with them. It was one in the morning, the road was cleared, so we reached the hospital within 10 minutes. It could be way earlier if not because of the police roadblock. We were nearing the hospital when I didn't feel any pain  at all. I thought of turning back but my husband stopped me of course. And right when we parked our car at the emergency entrance, I felt one long, sharp contraction and looked at my husband and of course he was staring at me with his I-told-you-so face.

So I was told that I was already 3 cm dilated. Since I didn't want any painkillers, the midwife asked me to get as much sleep as possible as I might be delivering sometime after Subuh. I did not get to sleep much and at about 3 plus am, I felt a strong urge to push. Woke my husband up who was sleeping next to me, had to yell at him to call the midwife since he was a bit groggy. At that time I was 7 cm dilated. Then, things were kind of fast forwarded for me. My gynae came probably 10-15 mins later. Honestly I don't know, as it felt like ages. And I was trying so hard not to push the baby out until my gynae came. She had to rupture the sac and seconds later, one long push, and my baby girl was out. It felt so surreal. But my husband and I were so happy and relieved. At last, we could hold her in our arms and kiss her to our hearts content. It was an amazing experience having AM and AZ and we could not be more grateful to be able to relive it again. Welcome to the world!!

And then there was the night wake up call.😂