My Polkadot Whimsy Weekend Experience | Event Review

The owner of Polkadot Whimsy offers a unique experience in her Whimsy Weekends which are listed 

as a 3-day crop type of event that not only offers a space to create in and but also offers a fun atmosphere.  Additionally, you have the opportunity to get creative input from fellow attendees and Michelle that make it a special experience and can enhance your projects.

The weekend includes some lunches, snacks, and dinners that are prepared by Michelle.  You are not limited to what is offered, there are various restaurants and stores in the area where you can pick up your own meals if you like.  Since I do not cook, it was rather cool to eat the delicious homemade meals that were prepared for us instead of having to order fast food.  I have posted some pics of some of the meals so that you can get an idea of what type of food was served.

Michelle did a beautiful job of making everything easy to serve and to create a fun family style atmosphere for us to enjoy.

Michelle (owner of Polkadot Whimsy)

For those who are unfamiliar with the Whimsy Meetups and/or the Whimsy Weekends, Michelle (owner of Polkadot Whimsy) has been working in the creative industry for years.  She has taught scrapbooking, card making and planner workshops.  She has also attended the Creative Hobby and Industry  (now called the AFCI ) trade shows to keep on top of the newest trends for her customers at Polkadot Whimsy.

Haley and I having fun at the Whimsy Weekend Event.

She offers these Whimsy Weekend 3-day crops several times a year and they tend to sell out fairly quickly.

Haley and Michelle

She limits the event to 16 people so that each person can have the space they need to work on their project. Each person had an assigned seat that included a special paper pack, stickers, die cuts and a cute pair of socks with their own personalized skate name tag.

The Whimsy Weekends are not limited to scrapbooking.  Several of the ladies attending brought their

sewing machines to use to work on various projects and designs.  One person had a cool Beginner Style Janome Sewing machine that so cute.  I love that you can get a sewing machine in a variety of colors and styles.  I especially liked Keely Reichman's black sewing machine.  It is made of heavy metal and can sew a variety of materials.  It look pretty sturdy.

Keely Richman makes some very cool leather travelers notebooks. She also made the very cool fabric one in this picture and the two leathers ones in the photo above. She also designs stickers, travelers notebook pouches and more. You can see more on her Etsy store.

Odd Girl Journals

Below is a picture of my friend Haley working on one of her planners.

I worked on several projects which included a no-sew blanket, my junk journal, and some time planning in my hobonichi planners.

Michelle has all types of crafting supplies available for use during her event

 (she will specify what items are available for guest use during the event).

For a crafter, her craft supplies were sheer eye candy.

Below is picture of one half of the room set up. As you can see each person has a nice area to hold their supplies and work in.

She also had an outside area set up in a tent that had different machines available to use during the event.  This included a sewing machine, iron, glue gun, Cameo, paper cutters and other fun items.

We  also did two fun "Make & Take" projects that Michelle prepared for us to make.  The first one was a really cute DIY Easter Rabbit Frame project.  Michelle provided all the materials and each person was invited to make the project adding their own personal touch to it.  It was a success.

All the bunny's were different and yet they all looked so festive together.

The second project we had a choice of making a "DIY Junk Journal",

a memory journal,

or a travelers notebook insert.  I choose to work on the junk journal and gathered my supplies to start this project.

There was also a variety of raffle prizes that were given out throughout the crop event. Below is a pic of the grand prize which had some fun supplies in it.

The Whimsy Weekends are a lot of fun.  Michelle is a wonderful host who really works hard at making sure her guests have a fun time.  We enjoyed the wonderful meals she prepared, the fun projects we got to make.  The whole weekend is just a fun atmosphere that it just seemed to fly by too quickly.  My friends and I had a great time there and hope to go back again soon.

I forgot to add that this cute little dog (that Shawnie is holding) came to visit us for



a little bit on Sunday.

Note: I recommend that you get a hotel that is not close to the freeway so that you can get some sleep during the weekend.  I made the bad choice of booking our hotel right off the 5 freeway and it was loud.  The hotel was only a mile away from the event location so it was certainly quick to get back and forth. However, I think to truly enjoy the weekend, you need a bit of sleep.  We stayed at the Day's Inn and it was so loud. I was fortunate enough to pack some really good earphones and play my music all night to cover the noise.  However, if you don't have noise cancelling earphones, you may not get much sleep.

My Prima Planner Leather Personal Size Travelers Journal in Warm Stone | Product Review

The My Prima Planner Leather Personal Size Traveler's Journal in "Warm Stone" product review. The Prima Marketing “Genuine Leather Personal Sized Travelers Journal” is a beautiful leather 

cover that features a wash of grey that can easily be distressed and personalized.  The light grey 

stone color of this leather journal along with the natural imperfections of the leather makes it very 

visually appealing. I placed my Midori Traveler's Notebook (Travelers Company) and my 

Hobonichi Techo on each side of the My Prima Planner travelers notebook to give you an idea 

of the actual size of the leather travelers journal.

Now the leather journal itself comes in a nice plastic box that protects it a bit from the elements 
during the shipping process.

The Prima Marketing leather personal-sized traveler’s notebook in warm stone that I purchased 
includes:

• 1 Genuine Leather Travelers Journal Cover (5"x7.25")
• 4 Interior Elastic Bands
• 1 Exterior Elastic Bands
• 1 Zippered Pocket

Unlike past travelers journals that Prima Marketing has released.  The leather personal sized travelers journals do not come with inserts.  You can purchase a set of four from the "My Prima Planner" site or from any retailer who carries the personal size inserts.  This leather travelers journal in the color warm slate has a couple of inner pockets within the interior ofthis travelers notebook.  

When you open it up flat there is a secretarial pocket and one larger pocket behind it that can 
be used to hold documents or receipts. On the right side of the leather travelers journal, is a 
slightly deeper pocket. One of the best features of the new leather travelers journals in the 
leather pen holder which is big enough to fit my new favorite pen. I have used clips in the past 
to hold pens but it is always nice when a manufacturer includes them in the design. As you 
can see there is also a zipper pocket located on the right side of the Prima Marketing Leather 
Travelers Journal. It has a nice heavy duty zipper that works perfectly for me.

You can purchase personal sized notebook inserts from Prima which are sold in sets.  I got the Pastels notebook set which includes 4 inserts.  I really like the quality of the paper used in the Prima Marketing Travelers Notebook inserts and will be ordering more to use as refills.

The leather Prima travelers journal itself measures 5 x 7.25” when folded. Because this cover is leather there is a bit of stretch to it.   I was able to stuff it with my Hobonichi Techo and two inserts and it stretched to 2 inches and has held up very well.  The leather Prima travelers journal in personal size sells for $39.99 on the My Prima Planner site and does not come with inserts, so don't forget to order some.  Anyway, I was able to stuff my Hobonich Techo and three inserts into it. Here is a side view of that.

You can see that is is a bit bulky, which worked but I was not happy with the look. So I took out one of the inserts so that it still closed comfortably.

The elastic is nice and thick and is well chosen and works very well to hold everything in. I like the thicker elastics because they last longer than the thinner variety.

Another great feature on these is that they are so easy to personalize.

I personalized my journal with a simple rhinestone initial. I loved how the warm stone leather travelers journal looked new. However, I really prefer the distressed well-used look on my travelers' notebooks. So I decided to distress it by using my jeans to rub different parts of the cover to give a more aged look. 

I also dropped it on some rocks. It even survived being borrowed by my dog who chewed a small bit of it. It still looks great and now it has that rugged well-loved look.  

I then added some of the cute swap items that were given to me at the Prima Magical Event and a decorative elastic that I got from the pop-up Etsy event in Santa Ana, California.

My friend purchased the peach colored leather personal travelers journal and I really like it too.  I may order one of those so I can switch between the two journals.  Between the excellent quality of the "My Prima Planner" products, the ease of daily use and being able to switch between the various planners, my Prima collection seems to just keep growing.  Also, for those who may not know it, Prima Marketing also offers some really cool cling stamps that are great for using in their new traveler's notebooks, along with some fun planner sticker collections. You can see more at their website or blog.

Note: I do not work for Prima Marketing.  I paid for these products with my own money. The opinions and experiences I had with these products are my own and may vary from other individuals.

Thank you for stopping by!

SaveSaveSaveSave