January Jackpot: Ecosystem notebook give-away!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 07:43PM 
I'm pretty happy with how my 2013 notebook is coming together so far. I saved one of the stickers from the Crowded Teeth/Michelle Romo Fancy Stamp Ring kickstarter I participated in last summer, begged some more stickers from Semi-Rad, and am generally pleased as punch. All I need now is a Caluvfornia sticker (on back order), and it's ALL GOOD.
I am so loving the Ecosystem notebook I'm using this year!
How the notebook looks and feels totally matters to me since there will seldom come a day that I don't leave my house with this book in my hand, in my bag, in the capacious pocket of my favorite black coat. I'll take it out to dinner with the husband, so we can make plans, sketch out ideas, scheme projects and vacations. I'll basically scribble in it everywhere I go.
I am lost without my notebook.
So far, the pink tab marks my 2013 Goals, and thanks to all the work play I did with Leonie Dawson's Incredible Life workbook, I've got a few pages of Action Items already to deliver on all those Goals. That's right: Action Items.
Hot damn but it DOES feel good to start the year strong, clear and geared-up to kick ass!
I made the switch from Moleskine this year, and have to say that I'm super in-love with the blue of my new notebook, Lagoon blue to be exact. Mine is a soft-cover Architect style, so it's grid instead of ruled. It has the same handy little pocket inside the back cover as Moleskine, for toting around little notes, mementos, extra stickers and such.
One thing it has that my Moleskines never did -- wait, make that TWO THINGS: it's madein the US from 100% post-consumer recycled paper, AND the pages are perforated close to the binding, so you could tear 'em out if so inclined. I was a little worried about the high-recycled-content paper -- would ink bleed through? would it be too thin? -- but it's lovely. I am crazy about this notebook.
And here's where it gets EVEN better.
I was so stoked about my new notebook -- was already so happy about the pretty blue cover and the feel of the paper under my pencil -- that, on a whim, I emailed Ecosystem to see if they'd be so kind as to send me a notebook to give away.
They sent THREE!
try as i might this image just won't rotate!- 1 large Author ruled Journal, in Kiwi
- 1 medium Author ruled Journal, in Clementine
- 1 small Artist blank Journal, in Watermelon
For more info on the notebooks, exact sizes, etc., check out the Ecosystem website.
How To Enter
Here's all you have to do to win one of these pretty babies.
Leave a Comment on this post, either about how you plan to use this book this year for journaling or planning or whateva OR about what your big goal is this year and how this free book might help you get there. That's a pretty wide field; pretty much any thoughtful Comment is going to get you entered into this big drawring.
Three winners will be selected at random, each one receiving one of the three notebooks PLUS a Semi-Rad sticker of your very own to let the world know what a super bad-ass you really are.
Winners will be selected at noon PST on Monday, January 14th, my birthday, just 4 days from now, so don't dawdle -- get your Comment up! And anyway, I have to give these away fast 'cause time is passing and you NEED this notebook to get your year started right!
Yay, notebooks! Yay, Ecosystem!
Please note that although Ecosystem did provide free stuff for this give-away, I paid for mine fair and square -- in other words, my enthusiasm is 100% authentic, the real deal, honest!
2013 goals, Ecosystem, leonie dawson, semi-rad
Reader Comments (15)
Love that you're doing this, A! Fun!! I set some intentions this year (in my old pink Moleskine), and among them: Hike up my 'skirt' and dig in the dirt. Skirt meaning pull up them boundaries, AND get my girlie on. Dig in the dirt means take a good look inside for a sorting out, AND eat predominantly what grows in dirt. I'd use this little book to keep me on-track for these and all the others. There are quite a few, so have to keep writing to remember! xo
Very cool -- i think i saw someone else with these notebooks lately! I am super excited for what this year may produce, for you and BY YOU! You are in my thoughts, here is sending love!
How I plan to use this notebook:
If chosen, I will use this notebook in my job as a CIA agent. "Karen" is my operative name, FYI, and I've probably already said too much. Anyway, due to budget cuts, the Feds have made me purchase my own supplies, which really stinks. I follow people around and take copious amounts of notes about where they buy coffee, whom they meet for lunch (and what they order), when they drive in the carpool lane alone, and if they buy 16 or 17 items in the 15 item express lane at the market. I have to turn in my notes every month, so I go through 12 notebooks every year. This adds up! In case you are wondering, "Why doesn't she just take notes electronically and email them in?"...the answer is that my work is TOP SECRET and the Internet is not secure, so I must have a real paper notebook.
Thank you for considering me.
OMG, you reminded me how much I miss a new notebooks. You also reminded me how important it is to STOP and take note of those special moments - and to document them! I have been considering the new planner/notebook thing for awhile (remain undecided)... Been reviewing and assessing so many new notebooks online of late...
Love from a kindred paper girl... Your fellow Paper Doll, who shares your birthday (but one year later)... Hee hee...
Well, I have to say I think you need to give the notebook to "Karen". "She" needs it more than I do. That said, you've inspired me. I write all my notes on little scraps of paper all over my desk and haven't kept a real notebook/journal since I was in my 20's. At four months away from 50 (yikes!), I definitely need to start some serious planning about my life. And 2012 kicked my ass and took me by surprise -- and I don't know if I would have avoided some major ass-kicking if I'd written down some thoughts/concerns/paranoias (oh dear) here and there -- but it's definitely a possibility. And I HATE the woo-woo phrase intentional this or that...but there might be some non woo-woo applications of that in my life (I'm just going to do any reiki believe me if I start being intentional about anything). Anyway, I was intrigued by your posting about the downloadable goals/calendar thing, but I can just never bring myself to print (ask the kids) so I'm stuck there. This might be the in-between answer. I suppose I could go to Longs and buy a notebook, but I can see how a little fun and inspiration might be just the ticket. (Do I win if I write more words than anyone else?)
I am so glad that you are bloggin about your journaling, because it is one of my goals during 2013. I used to journal constantly and I abandoned it when I became adultish. I crave the ability to review, rehash and reflect ... and I always feel guilty when I find my journaled scraps and I don't know the context or date of my musings. Do I need a super cool (AKA semi-rad) notebook to really inspire my journaling? I don't know, but it can't hurt!
Mostly I just look forward to continued insppiration with your blog.
use for notebook: to transform my life then go out and inspire others to do the same
I admit, I am a die-hard Moleskine fan but I have seen these notebooks before and would love to try one! I just signed up for a writing course, online and the major assignments is to do our writing in longhand, so I need a new notebook for that! I would love the big green one for that purpose.
PS Your birthday is my parents' 25th anniversary. Happy birthday!
Nancy
I am totally throwing my hat in the ring for these. My lovely small Ecosystem notebook has been filled to the brim with notes and ideas. I miss notebooks too and just declared that I'm going back to them! http://www.imnotthenanny.com/2013/01/with-pen-paper-im-embracing-my-analog.html
As electronified as my life has become, I refuse to give up pen and paper! I love writing letters and notes to loved ones; I still write in a bedside journal, and I continue to utilize a month-a-glance planner, because it never crashes, loses my data, or runs out of juice. I am constantly cursing myself because I can't remember something clever or funny or silly my daughter has said when I finally find a scrap of paper to write it down. I would love to have a journal to preserve her unique five-year-old perspective on the world for posterity. Thanks for the opportunity to win one of these lovely little journals! That it's made out of recycled materials is totally a plus for me!
I had a look at the Ecosystem site and at a first glance it was clear that I'm an "author". I love ruled notebooks and carry them around, much like you do, but I write a kind of diary. I say "kind of" because it's more like discussions with myself, getting my feelings straight, trying to remember certain moments or revelations, these kind of things. And I love handwriting. I don't know but when I write, other things go through my mind and onto the paper than when I type. What I would love most is the large "Author" ruled journal. But - and wasn't it clear that a "but" was about to come? - I live in Germany. And I'm not sure if it would be very eco-friendly to send the journal on this long journey, adding carbon footprint and all. I guess my best option would be to go and look whether there is a similar product on the local market and just keep on dreaming of the day when someone who's travelling anyway will bring me an Ecosystem Journal from the States. It will be a lovely dream. :-)
I have never seen these notebooks before, but I have to say, I am impressed! I think toting one of these beauties around would inspire me to write more stuff down, and to make more time to do it. Which, incidentally, is one of those things that I like to do around New Years', set goals, but don't call them resolutions. I suck at resolutions, but I can totally get behind goal-setting.
Happy New Year!
Clearly you need to get more of these books to appease all of these endearing peoples' needs.
I'm in it for the sticker...
Okay, seriousness aside, let's establish the scenario:
See, I've been spending copious amounts of my time with my son these days. And not all of it by choice, of course, but Copious (capital 'c' intended) nevertheless.
Just a side note; if he were of drinking age (do they serve goat milk at bars?), we could at least go out together during those 3-5 a.m. time slots that make him so jovial. But he isn't, so we don't and I sit and contemplate at the edge of his bed, imagining finding time and peace of mind to write, then I imagine my pupils dilating like a barn owl's, and I fall asleep on my own lap. He's a time thief, but like any charismatic thief, I offer him everything I have, and more. At least in his case, charm appears to be something you are born with.
I've digressed - my side note is probably bigger than my point...
More frequently, there are times between other peoples' projects where I don't want to be between other peoples' projects anymore. I want to find the "me" time again. No, I NEED to find it again. Once upon a... part of that "me" time was used for transcribing - notes, dreams, snippets, anecdotes, then fleshing out and creating short stories, scripts, essays and so on. I'm not saying that I can't do, or won't be doing this without getting one of your nifty books (sent all the way from Marin or France, mind you ;-)), nor am I saying that if I were to get one of of your books, I'd neglect my boy at 4 in the morning. It's just an amusingly timely bit of serendipity that you're offering at the same time as I'm mulling - more fodder to climb out of the dark barn at the side of the kid's bed.
Besides, you can't have enough notebooks. And being the expat CA green nerd that I've always been, there's that love of all things recycled that can be re-mussed up.
Anyway, it's a nice lure to get people to share a few thoughts (myself included) and to make me feel like a gambler and a sponger at the same time!
I hope the three who get them genuinely enjoy them. I'm not really of the lottery/contest-winning kind either. That's also something you inherit.
Oh wait.
There was that one time when I was a teenager... I called a radio station and got 2 concert tickets to see Cheap Trick!
Maybe I will get one of those stickers after all...
Excuse me, I have to tend to my son again.
Nice idea, A.
Good luck, people!
First I want to thank you for inspiring me in ways to keep my thoughts, plans, goals, and action items organized. This year i am starting over. I am moving to the place my soul calls home after three years of healing from nasty divorce living in the place i grew up (which i never called home - not even as a child). I am transferring with my current job... i need to find a home and i will be starting a craft business which is what i want to do for the remainder of my life. I have never lived on my own, I am almost 50 and that is kinda sad. My goal for this year is to live in Cali, with out roommates and sell my arts and crafts at all the festivals i can get to. These goals will take alot of thought, organization, planning and action. This is why i need a notebook like this one... to make a roadmap for my new life as a Single, Financially Capable, Artistic, and Spiritual woman from California. :-)
Dear Commenters,
Thank you for all of your wise, funny, creative replies. I have been so delighted to read your words, to have your participation in this January Jackpot! Thanks to random.org, a Random Number Generator, here is where this batch of free Ecosystem books will be going to live:
- small: Kate
- medium: Shay
- large: Yoshe
Yay! This has been delightful. Shay and Yoshe, I've emailed you. KATE, authoress of Comment #11, please send me your mailing address to ariane[at]trelaun[dot]com, so I can send you your prizes.
Thanks so much. This is going to be such a GREAT year!
XO
Ariane