She arrived! She arrived! My Chic Sparrow arrived! It’s a B6 Pemberly Deluxe that I got during their Black Friday sale. Overall, it’s a beautiful cover and welcome replacement for the one I’ve been using up until now. This is my FAVORITE colour and I just LOVE the texture and leather quality.
————— What I learned —————
– its a little wide for my tastes. There is more than 1” depth for a standard B6 planner … personally, I don’t like carrying what feels like a heavy a brick (e.g., loads of inserts, folders, etc). It doesn’t make me want to open it up and write in it all the time. Some people like that style, I don’t…just my preference
– 1/8 elastics to hold the outside are ideal and feels more durable. I replaced the external 1/16 elastics with my own (turquoise) and it turned out lovely
– flat metal fasteners reduce bulk and look nicer than knots when it comes to the elastics (see last photos). They don’t offer this kind of hardware – they seem to focus more on the cover construction itself so the elastics are more of an afterthought
– I’m glad I waited to get the deluxe during their Black Friday sale instead of trying to save money by scrimping and buying just a regular cover (no features included). Truth be told, I don’t see the value of paying +40$ for a rectangular shaped piece of dyed leather … I do, however, see a value in a well-constructed, well-finished cover that has well-placed pockets, a streamlined fit, and elegant fittings. This cover came VERY, VERY close to that.
– I like a well-outfitted planner…kinda like the goldilocks of planners…not too decorated, not too plain… but juuuuuust right. I like good elastics, higher end features like sewn-in pockets, laminated inserts, matching ribbon page markers, and charms…but the frilly clips, bulky ephemera, and rhinestone bedazzling aren’t for me. Its all super cute, but I still need to be able to bring it into meetings without getting strange looks
————— What I’ll do next time —————
– Ask for NO PEN LOOP. It’s attached so that the pen tucks inside (instead of towards the outside) and bulks up the planner, not to mention getting in the way of the contents (notebook tabs, inserts, etc). I cut the one they attached out and will restitch with upholstery thread to match.
– no punched holes – I would punch them myself with metal eyelets at a slightly taller length so that I can control the elastic tension (and not CS).
– Ask for a full pocket on the right side, not a secretarial style pocket. This way, I can slip a book side in and not have to attach via center elastics. I noticed also that their secretarial pocket is small in proportion to the other side and relative to the B6 size in general (rule of 2/3 for secretarial pockets instead of the 1/3 size … which is barely large enough to hold small sticker sheet…
– i’ll save the larger charms for my A5 notebooks. The B6 size seems more balanced with a smaller, subtler bit of decor. The one in the photos is starting to look bulkier than i originally envisioned.
—————Final thoughts —————
Although Chic Sparrow carry lovely colours and leather quality, I’d rather get a custom cover from paper flower studio (glenda slann) or maker’s south (crispian) at that pricepoint … at a slightly lower pricepoint, the Chinese and polish leather artisans, Oleksyn Prannyk in NC and D&M Leather Studio , are EXCELLENT choices. Tell them i sent you and i can almost guarantee they’ll bump you a discount…all 4 are the nicest folks and very talented artisans. I could make my own covers, but I love giving them my business…truth be told, I need to spend more time writing in my planner or journaling than developing the setups for them… it’s been so easy to spend my time making inserts, creating accessories, designing stickers, etc than actually using them.
I love to write, but I got caught up making stuff instead…this blog as a case in point.
Having said that, back to story telling and the creative show & tell…
