Company: PlanAhead
Item Reviewed: See It Bigger Planner

Taken from website...PlanAhead. Even our name suggests forward thinking, which is something you will find in each of our products. Whether it is our organizers, planners, calendars, journals and pad folios available in multiple designs, formats and sizes; or our binders, calculators and accessories engineered to our exacting specifications, PlanAhead has something for everyone, including the professional, student and casual user. We’ve thought of everything. After all, “a little planning goes a long way.”

My Thoughts

I love this product! For a lot of reasons. I have always been a paper person myself, I love technology, but there is something about having a piece of paper in your hand telling you what needs to be done that is comforting. Even more so now with the See It Bigger Planner from PlanAhead. I no longer have to squint to read what I wrote or try to cram everything into one tiny little box. And it fits nicely in my laptop bag so it will go everywhere with me. The Large Print is perfect for anyone who doesn’t like squinting to see what they need to do. Perfect holiday gift for just about everyone on your holiday shopping list! Two thumbs up (and clearer vision) from me

Company: Orange Circle Studio
Item Reviewed: Mom’s 24/7 Wall Calendar, Do-It-All Planner
Item Given Away: Assortment of Orange Circle Studio Products
Start Date: July 12
End Date: July 26

In 2009, a group of friends made it a habit to meet for lunch and coffee at The Circle in Orange County, California. They daydreamed about art, innovation, and unique product design. It wasn’t long until Orange Circle Studio was born, a publishing company that puts thought, passion, and amazing designs into every product it creates.

You want a beautiful art calendar to adorn your bare walls? We’ve got that. Your life is a whirlwind? There’s products loaded with super functional planning features that will bring you organizational bliss. You’re looking for stationery that moves you, and journals that inspire? They’re here. We’re still new, and our ever-expanding line of products has us jazzed. We hope it gets you pretty excited, too.

Put an end to desktop clutter! You’ll love having the organizing tools you use every day at hand. Plus, the four sturdy pockets are made of see-through plastic so items like highlighters, pencils, business cards, push pins, and more, are clearly visible. Each organizing calendar comes with a matching 50-sheet notepad, three 50-sheet sets of flags, as well as matching paper clips and binder clips.

Bold Blossoms Do It All Calendar

For fabulous ladies who do it all, the Bold Blossoms Do It All Calendar is the perfect calendar to get organized! You’re a girl on the go—appointments, dates, travel, work, parties—and you’ve got to keep it all together. Organizing everything in one spot helps keep life simple and fun! Starts in August so you can jump-start your new year! Unique features include a magnetic hanger with pen holder and pen, as well as two pockets. Includes 225 stickers. 17 months.

My daughter will actually be using this calendar to keep track of her own agenda. She saw it when it arrived and claimed it right away, saying it was pretty and just her style and that it would look great hanging in her room.

Bold Blossoms Do It All Planner

The perfect planner for women who do it all! Small enough to be portable but with plenty of room to plan, this planner has tear-off lists, stickers, a pocket, and an elastic-band closure. 17 months.

I love the compactness of this planner, and I can’t wait to start using it in August when the calendar starts. One of my favorite aspects of it is the pocket in the front, he perfect place for me to put receipts from the day in so I can record them at home. I would also put my children’s prescriptions in it as well as odds and ends paper.

The Mom’s 24/7 Calendar

2 in 1! The monthly grid you love PLUS a large weekly pad that helps you plan for extra busy weeks, family members, times of day, or tasks. Starts in August because Mom’s new year begins with the first day of school! Includes magnetic hanger with penholder and pen, and 50 undated weekly sheets with tear-off Shopping/To-Do lists. 17 months.

I have just the spot on the wall this calendar will be going on and it will be right in front of me at all times. I love the large grid area to write in, something I have trouble doing in a small planner most of the time. With three kids and my own interests the space will get filled up pretty quickly. I will be making it so my kids can fill in their own things that they need to get accomplished. This will come in handy for their homeschooling needs as well.

I love the design on all of Orange Circle Studio products and I can’t wait to start using them and simplify my desk and time in August. Through the generosity of Orange Circle Studio I have been given the opportunity to host a giveaway of a few of their products. I have the following to give to some Dirty Shirt readers…

• Mom’s 24/7 Monthly/Weekly wall calendar
• Bold Blossoms engagement planner (this has been the #1 bestseller at both Borders and Barnes and Noble this year)
• Bold Blossoms Do It All wall calendar (2 copies)

In total their will be 4 winners and prizes will be distributed as follows: First Random number drawn will receive the Mom’s 24/7 Wall Calendar, Second number drawn will receive the Bold Blossom Planner and the last two drawn will receive the Bold Blossom Do-It-All Calendars. Please see rules below to enter to win today.

Giveaway

• MAIN RULE – Tell me in comments what you use to keep control of your schedule. (remember if this rule is not followed then no others will count)
• 1 Extra Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed or by email (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment.
• 1 Extra Entry – Follow me on Twitter (button in header) and let me know your Twitter name in a separate comment.
• 1 Extra Entry – Tweet this giveaway. Copy and paste – @Jentifa is giving away Orange Circle Studio Calendars & Planners – 4 Winners! Check it out here http://bit.ly/cLlRQ6. Then come back and leave the direct link to your tweet (go to your twitter account, click on the words when your tweet was sent (ie. 5 seconds ago) and copy and paste that link in comments.
• 1 Extra Entry – Friend me on Google Friend Connect on sidebar and leave a separate comment that you did.
• 2 Extra Entries – Write a post on your blog linking to my blog.

This giveaway will run through midnight on July 26, with winner being announced the morning of July 27. Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

With BusyBodyBook planners, managing your time is a breeze! BusyBodyBook family calendars provide each family member with their own column to organize and track their schedules and activities while coordinating with each other side by side.

The BBB GRID format provides the clearest view of your daily & weekly schedules and activities helping you stay organized, focused and on track. You’ll easily view overlapping schedules and avoid doublebooking when you plan with BBB’s personal and family calendars.

BusyBodyBook organizers are versatile. Assign spare columns to household projects, babysitter instructions, meal planning, personal goals, holiday or vacation preparations,important clients, kid’s school subjects and extracurricular activities.

Find more time when you plan with BusyBodyBook’s unique GRID format. BusyBodyBook and the BBB Fridge GRID Pad were created by a very busy mom – for her family and yours.

• 2 Monthly Planners – One planner to record birthdays & anniversaries! Another to note next year’s appointments & future events.
• Months-at-a-glance – An overview to help plan ahead for the holidays, vacations, or special events.
• Key contact pages – 2 Pages for your emergency contact information, doctors, coaches, babysitters…
• Removable shopping lists – Perforated pages for creating handy grocery or gift lists.
• 2 Pockets – Inside front & back covers provide a deep pocket to hold important papers, receipts, coupons…
• Bookmark – Easily flip to the current week with this unique bookmark that grabs the spiral.
• Notes – A full page each week for notes, to do’s, lists, or alerts. Plenty of notes pages in back of BBB too to record and keep
• important information.
• NEW! – Sturdy, clear plastic covers now provide BBB’s beautiful covers with even more protection.

My Thoughts

When it comes to planners I am picky. They need to really be able to keep track of what I do, my family does and be handy to carry around with me. I have been very lucky to have been introduced to BusyBodyBook. It not only keeps track of my families appointments and  activities but I love the fact that it is spiral bound, which makes it one of the most versatile books for me to use. Most of the time I have it opened right to the date and it is so convenient to use. I am loving my new 2010 BusyBodyBook and I recommend them to everyone this holiday.

Berry & Pumpkin 2010 planners

The wonderful people over at BusyBodyBook have donated 2 – 2010 BusyBodyBooks for me to giveaway to 2 lucky Dirty Shirt readers. See rules below to enter for yours today.

Giveaway

• MAIN RULE – Tell me in comments, by the image above, if you would like the Berry or Pumpkin 2010 BusyBodyBook. (remember if this rule is not followed then no others will count)
• 1 Extra Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed or by email (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment
• 1 Extra Entry – Fan The Dirty Shirt on my new Facebook Page widget (scroll down on right side) and leave a separate comment that you did.
• 1 Extra Entry – Add my Christmas button to your site and let me know you did in a separate comment (code is at the top of blog)
• 1 Extra Entry – Follow me on Twitter (button in subscribe section on the right sidebar) and let me know your Twitter name in a separate comment.
• 1 Extra Entry – Tweet this giveaway. Copy and paste – Merry Christmas! @Jentifa is giving away 2 BusyBodyBook 2010 Planners! Check it out here http://bit.ly/2YF5uw. Then come back and leave the direct link to your tweet (go to your twitter account, click on the words when your tweet was sent (ie. 5 seconds ago) and copy and paste that link in comments.
• 2 Extra Entries – Write a post on your blog linking to my blog.

This giveaway will run through midnight on November 25, with winner being announced the morning of November 26. Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

Your Success is Our Highest Priority

At Bubble Planner, we create time management tools that enable people to unleash their potential. We have a passion for helping others design the life they’ve always wanted.

It is our belief that everyone has within them right now the power to create startling and powerful change, thereby, experiencing success like they never thought possible. It is our further belief that a lack of knowledge and effective tools are what’s holding people back from realizing their dreams.

When you buy Bubble Planner products, you’ll discover new ways to accomplish more. We build into our products success strategies that we’ve developed after many years of trial, error, and research. We’ll also show you exactly what’s working for our customers right now. The tools and strategies you’ll discover will help build unstoppable momentum toward the life you desire and deserve.

Last month I was sent a “My Daily Bubble” planner to try out and was skeptical at first. My thinking was “How can a planner like My Daily Bubble help me when writing my thoughts and ideas and things to do down on paper hasn’t helped me in the past”. And trust me, my mind is always going a mile a minute trying to remember everything that needs to get done. Sometimes I succeed in completing everything and sometimes I leave one important thing out, usually something I forgot to write down.

But the Bubble Planner has really simplified things for me. See below for the layout and then I will tell you how I use mine.

I write everything that I know I need to do during the day down on “My List” (on the right) and then transfer that all over into the bubbles. Best way to describe it is that say I have to make a phone call about computer work. I write down in one bubble the work I need to do then I draw a line to another bubble, connecting the two, with the person’s name and phone number I need to call. That way while doing the work I don’t forget to call the person. And I don’t have 2 different pieces of paper with information written on them to lose. Of course this is just the way I use it, you may have a different approach.

CHOP it down

One of the best ways to get control of your life is to break it down into manageable pieces. CHOP is an acronym for the contexts of your life: Computer Actions, Home Actions, Office Actions, and Phone Calls. When you subdivide your projects by defining the next physical action, you begin to take control. Having a sense of control will make you happier.

I couldn’t of said it better myself, and I am so happy to have had this company ask me to review this product because it has overall made my life so much easier. I HIGHLY recommend the My Daily Bubble as well as all Bubble Planner products to anyone wanting to gain a little more control over the hectic-ness we call life.

And thanks to the wonderful people over at Bubble Planner I am able to giveaway one My Daily Bubble to a lucky Dirty Shirt reader. See rules below to enter the giveaway:

• MAIN RULE – Tell me in in comments how you stay organized, or how this planner will help you accomplish that. (remember if this rule is not followed then no others will count)
• 1 Extra Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed or by email (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment
• 1 Extra Entry – Stumble this post and leave your Stumble name (I will be checking) in a separate comment
• 1 Extra Entry – Favorite The Dirty Shirt in Technorati and leave your name (I will be checking) in a separate comment
• 1 Extra Entry – Follow me on Twitter (button in subscribe section on on the right sidebar) and let me know your Twitter name in a separate comment
• 1 Extra Entry for Tweeting about this giveaway. Please leave direct URL in comments so I can check.
• 2 Extra Entries – Write a post on your blog linking to my blog and to the Bubble Planner website.

This giveaway will run through midnight on March 4, with winner being announced the morning of March 5. Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.