Sunday 26 August 2012

Journal 10

A note: All the highlighted words in my blog are clickable links.

I have been wanting to share this Journal with you for a little while now.  It's called Journal 10 and is available in the UK, Canada, USA and Europe.  It costs £25 and can be ordered from their website, but it is so worth every penny.  It measures 26cm by 19cm and is 3cm thick, so it really is a lot of book.  

I think you might just be able to make out the dark green cover which is made of leatherette (vinyl), so any spills will easily wipe away.

I've personalised the inside of the front cover as it was blank. 



I added my favourite poem "Footprint In The Sand" and printed it on a pretty background, I also made myself a book plate and added my favourite Spiritual quote too.



















So what is Journal 10?  Well it is a Ten Year Journal, we've all heard of 5 year diaries, well this one covers 10 years and mine started this year, 2012 and ends in 2022.
Here we have the contents pages and your details.



Then information on, How to get the best from your Journal 10.
A Long term planner and there's plenty of room to write your plans in there.
Looking ahead... Goals and Accomplishments, each year has it's own full page.
A 12 year calendar over 3 pages.
At the beginning of each month there is a 2 page spread of a 10 year planner
And this is what each page looks like....(I choose October 8 because it's my birthday! lol)
There's 4 lines per year, so you need to write small to fit events in, but can you see on the bottom right, there is a finger pointing symbol and a p, this is so if you have more stuff to add, there is place at the back of the journal where you can write more about that days events, should you need it.  You simply add the page number of where to go.  The symbols on the left are for you to use as you please, sometimes I had my weight or the day's temperature.
These are called your carry over pages, there's more than 40 of them so you will have plenty of space to add extras.
There is also an A-Z index of name, addresses and phone numbers, even extra space to add new addresses if the person moves home.
Next are the Keeping Track pages, here you can write details of Medical, Car and even blank spaces to add your own subjects.  Each year as it's own page.
Special days, 2 months per page for this one.  I should just add here, the paper is of lovely quality and is quite thick, but the pen I used here, did bleed through a little, I think they were fine liner gel pens.
Through out the Journal, I have added Post its.  For example on January 16th, it's my son's birthday, so in the box at the top of the page, I have his name as a reminder.....I don't want to write.. It is Kieran's Birthday every year, so this reminds me.  On the Post it, I have wrote the year and what presents he got as a reminder, so then I can leave the 4 lines free, to write what we did that day.

I've done pretty much the same thing on March 9 as it's my Mum and Brother's Birthday.  This time I have wrote their birthdays on smaller sticky labels and added the year they were born so I can easily work out ages.  The reason I have used Sticky labels is so I can move and replace them when I write further down the page.
Again, I've used the same concept with memorials, I added the date of the passing too, so I know how long it's being.  I've also got this information under Special Days.
The only dislike I have about this Journal is the actual size, it is a very odd size!  It is smaller  than an A4 sheet of paper but much larger than A5.  I have searched high and low, to find a suitable cover that will fit.  I found this plastic cover from an old ex library book, its too big but it's working for now.  This journal will be used daily for the next ten years so needs to last as long..... not sure how that is going to work out!  I looked at the Filofax Folders to see if any of them would work, but the folder needs to have a vertical opening on the right so I can slip the back of Journal 10's cover into it.  (A4 Flex would come in handy here..... although it would be a little big, I think it would still work!)  If any of you can think of a Filofax cover please let me know!

I've placed Journal 10 next to my A5 Finchley and Personal Holborn to give you an idea of the actual size.
I wish I had discovered this Journal years ago, it would have being lovely to fill it in while I was pregnant with my children, or when I first met my husband.  In fact, if you read some of the testimonials on the Website, some people are doing this.  One lady did it and handed the book to her daughter as a graduation present, what a wonderful gift to receive, your first ten years documented for you!  I would have loved this!

So I can't wait to read in ten years time, when I am almost 50 years old, what I got up to in my 40's.


Edited 29 August 2012
Just want to add, I had a go at making my own 5 year diary using an A5 Filofax, just blogged about it on: My Blog.








12 comments:

  1. Ohh! Thank you for sharing your excellent find with us, such a great idea, it would make a lovely present for new parents! :)

    Jerra xx

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  2. I've been thinking about getting one of these (somewhere on my huge list to do). So glad you've done such an in depth review of this. It looks great, but I'm not sure if it'll just end up being stuck in a cupboard (like every all the diaries I had and started when I was younger - they all found their way to a bin eventually...). I usually manage to last about 3-4 days :o)

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  3. Ive never seen a 10 year one! Have thought about the 5 year ones a lot - even got one as a gift for my sister last year.

    I love all the pictures you showed :)

    Tracy

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  4. Great review! I'm currently keeping 2 five year journals, one for me and one for my daughter - hers I back-filled to her birth. I would get this Journal 10 but it would be silly to do that before I finish the 5 year journals! The ones I have are quite small, smaller than a personal Filofax. I think the Journal 10 size probably works better!

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  5. What a lovely concept - a decade of memories in one book.

    To make it special, I would make a cover out of material - suede or something tactile, with an embroidered nameplate of the family name. Or make an ‘envelope’ style slip case out of material with a ribbon tie (like Buddhist use). There is a leather zip around Bible cover with the 'Footprints' poem embossed on the cover.

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  6. I have started an undated journal, so that I can dip in and out of it. Love this one though! xx

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  7. It's a great idea although too limited on space for me I think, even with the extra spaces, I once tried one of the five year ones but gave up after a few weeks. How many journals do you keep Gail? I don't know how you fit it all in, i've not journaled for a while but i'm starting again in Sep when the kids go back to school, i'm still going through the Filofax or Notebook dilemma lol :)

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  8. Hi Gail - It could be B5 paper size. Check B5 paper size through google, and if it matches then you may find a cover on jetpens, or even on the muji website. B5 is a common paper size in Japan. Thanks for your post.

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  9. Thanks to everyone for the lovely replies and letting me know the size, I might be able to get a cover after all for it.

    Alison, I spend about one night a week filling in each journal rather than pull 3 different ones a night out. I keep a daily journal so I just use that to go back and write in the others what I can. To be honest, I could do with an extra few more hours in the day to do it all. lol But I don't make it a chore, I enjoy it, when it becomes a chore, I believe you stop enjoying it.

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  10. What a lovely journal! Looking at it it could be US composition book size/US letter size. I think it was Ronald Reagan who decided that paper size in the US so you can blame him ha ha :) You will find nice covers for it on Etsy.com or you can even order one in that size. My journal came from the US and is that size too.


    Janet (thisbugslife.com)

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    1. Thanks Janet, it is a very strange size, but RR was a very strange man too. lol

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  11. Thank you for this! Boy there are some great finds on this week's web finds. I am playing catch up on a lazy Saturday and have spend the last 4 hours (yes, I said 4!) viewing and absorbing all this wonderful info!! Have fun with your journaling! FUN being the key word!

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