They are here!!! My Deluxe and Simple Erin Condren Take Note Notebooks (whew, mouthful) have finally arrived and they are adorable. So of course what else would I do but film an unboxing and review of the two beauties for y’all? I’m super pumped about this one too because I actually used a real camera to film it all. That’s right – no more creepy vibrating background. Just pure, HD up in my faceness. You’re all so lucky! As usual you can either click play below and/or read through the post which will feature pretty pictures and comparisons of the deluxe and simple Erin Condren Take Note Notebooks!
The new EC notebooks are (thankfully) lower priced than I remember and this year they offered different sizes as well: 8.5×11 and the standard 7×9. However, not wanting to tote around something huge, I went with the 7×9 for both of my notebooks. You have the option of adding a calendar to the deluxe for an additional $15 (ouuuuch) which I went ahead and splurged on because I plan to use it as a blog/content/business notebook and figured the calendar will help with my editorial calendar organization. I plan to use the simple to use as a family notebook, hence the Clementines cover because we’re a band duh, however I’m having a massive block in how to get it set up. Any helpful hints are appreciated!
So far the notebooks are just great. They have the same paper/quality that the Erin Condren Life Planners do and I love the note paper, just as I do in my planner! Any designs printed on the paper are gorgeous and bright so it’s a real treat to look at. The paper is thick enough to handle some heavier pens without bleed such as the PaperMate Flair, Staedtler Triplus Fineliner, or Pilot G2 0.7mm
The months in the Deluxe are very cute but it’s a bit annoying to have to hand place all of the Colorful Dots that are included for dates. I understand why it’s not dated but it’s still a pain in the arthritis! I half considered using tweezers to place them before I gave up and just placed the first and last day of the month. I do love the little saying on the front of each month – it’s quite similar to the sayings at the top of the months in the planner.
Above you can see a thickness comparison between the simple and deluxe notebooks to the 18 month Life Planner (that does not have the last 6 month’s weeks in it). While the deluxe comes close to the planner, it falls just a bit short. The deluxe does come with the “keep it together folder” and a clear pocket in the back which had been removed before I took this photo though, so that probably helps a bit with the overall bigness 
On the other hand the simple is about half the thickness of the planner – I just love how it feels in my hands!
I reeeeally love these notebooks. The quality is amazing and so much nicer than the spiral notebooks that you can pick up at the store. Which they should be of course! The great thing about how many pages these have is that they should last you for quite a while. Erin Condren does offer dividers now to separate the sections like a multi-subject notebook, however when I placed my order I didn’t think about getting any and I’m very happy I didn’t. At the time I didn’t realize that the dividers are basically the same size as the 7×9 interchangeable covers with slight tweaks to the design on the back. So basically you can just use your extra covers as dividers! It’s also kind of a deal since if you purchase one interchangeable cover you get a front and back cover, basically giving you two “dividers” for $10.95! You can see what it looks like in the video above
I’m super excited to dive in and start using these beauties! Have y’all gotten any of the new Erin Condren Take Note Notebooks yet? Any tips on using them family style or even for blog content?
Wishing you DIY divider hacks to help save your pennies,
Shantelle
PS – You can save $10 off your first order if you sign up for the site using my referral link! Yay savings!
to use with my Erin Condren Life Planner. I was also so happy to receive a survey to complete on the 2015-2016 planners – I’m crossing my fingers for a smaller version! Not too much longer now!
to what I purchased) if you’ll be using stickers for things like birthdays, vacations, doctor appointments, whatever. I used mine to make cute stickers for each Monday.
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