An Interview with Charlie from Sea Salt and Paper!

Hi guys!  Today we have a fellow planner blogger Charlie from Sea Salt and Paper!

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Hello! It's Charlie from seasaltandpaper.com (formerly heycharlieblog.com) my blog is all about my love for planners, stationery, productivity, living by the sea & all of the little things that make life lovely.

1. What planner/planners do you have? Are there any you want to get?

My planner collection is always changing! I currently have two A5 Filofax Dominoes, one hot pink and one in turquoise. Three fabric fauxdoris (one in field notes size and two standard size). Next up in my collection are two Erin Condren Life Planners (ECLP) an 18 month Horizontal and a 12 month Vertical.  Lastly, I have a personal size turquoise Filofax Domino. Oh, and a pocket size Filofax Domino in deep pink.

I am so in love with the ECLP that I haven't got eyes for any other planner! I don't think I've reached planner peace, but my current set up is really working for me. I have pre-ordered the new limited edition gold Filofax Saffiano but I haven't got any idea what I'm going to use it for yet!

2. What planners are you using at the moment?

I'm using a fabric standard size fauxdori as my carry around planner. This planner goes with me everywhere! I'm also using my A5 turquoise Filofax Domino which I use to archive my shop and blog finances. And, of course, I'm using my horizontal ECLP (project management planner) and vertical ECLP! (wellness/fitness journal). I haven't been keeping my wellness journal up to date, so the setup for this might change in the future.

3. What are your favourite planner brands?

I'm really in love with my Erin Condren Life Planners so EC is definitely my favourite. I am also a ring binder planner girl and I equally love Filofax and Kikki.K.

4. Where do you draw inspiration from for your planner?

Instagram is my favourite place for inspiration. There's so many other planner addicts out there and I love being part of the community. It's also a great place to learn tips and hacks. YouTube is also a massive inspiration, this is the first place I look if I want to find a review of a particular planner or planner accessory.

5. Do you have any favourite planner bloggers?

There's so many to mention! The first planner related blog I ever read was Anna's (www.mrsbrimbles.co.uk). I've learned so much from her and still do even to this day.  I also enjoy reading Rachels blog www.therachelmark.com. Others I read often are www.strangecharmed.com, www.wendaful.com, www.polkadotparadiso.wordpress.com, www.philofaxy.blogspot.com,www.plannerbug.com, www.amanda-sheseclectic.blogspot.co.uk, and www.anxiouslybeinghavok.com to name but a few.

6. What are 5 things for your planner that you absolutely can't leave the house without?

1. Sticky notes 2. Paper clips 3. Pens 4. Page flags 5. Corrector pen. 

The only planner which I take out and about is my fabric fauxdori. It's super light and holds everything I need. Inside I have a master to-do list, schedule, bill tracker, house work tracker, business goals, project ideas and brainstorms, and notes.

7. What is the current theme for your planner pages? 

My planner pages are quite minimal at the moment  - sometimes I like to have a theme and sometimes I like to leave it undecorated. I'm using soft pastel colours throughout my planner at the moment.

8. What would you describe your planner decoration style as?

I would describe it as functional - I definitely like to see more writing than decoration. When I do decorate I will usually start with washi tape and pick out stickers and sticky notes to match.

9. How did you first discover your love of planners?

I have always had a planner of some description, even when I was as young as 8! Up until 3-4 years ago I used a week on one page diary, but once I discovered my love for Filofax and ring binder planners after watching planner related videos on YouTube I never went back! 

10. What is your favourite thing about Live. Love. Planners?

Live.Love.Planners is an exciting blog full of refreshingly honest, well-written blog posts.  I can't wait to see what you have in store for us!

Thank you for inviting me over to your blog Beth! 

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Thank you so much for coming doll!  Remember, if you are interested in taking part in an interview here on Live Love Planners, shoot me an email at liveloveplanners@gmail.com and I'll respond as soon as possible!  Thanks for reading!

An Interview with Chelley Darling!

Hey dolls!  Today I have one of my favorite planner geeks, Chelley Darling!

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1. What planner/planners do you have? Are there any you want to get?


Oh that is a question I almost don't want to answer - lol! I am a collector for sure. I'm definitely not sharing a specific number, though I've been destashing and parting with a lot of the ones which don't quite make my heart sing any more. I'd rather they go to a loving planner home. With that being said, I do use, or have a plan to use, all of the planners that I own. I think the best way to answer that question is to provide a recent collection photo of nearly all of my personal-sized planners:

I have since parted the medium lilac kikki.K and my small lilac kikki.K. 

I do own some of the more rare planners, including:
- A Taylor floral Forever New from 2014 (along with the matching pencil pouch)
- A sparkly gold Forever New from 2014

- A mint die-cut A5 Forever New from 2014
- A bright floral Molly & Mimi from 2014
- An A5 Gold Filofax
- A one-of-a-kind pocket Filofax called Roses:

And yes I realize how lucky I am to have some of these!

As for planners that I want, I'd have to say a White A5 Color Crush, some of the kikki.K's from 2013 and earlier, and the new Fluoro Pink Patent Compact Filofax.

2. What planners are you using at the moment?

I am not a spiral-bound planner type of girl, and I only use less-than-letter-sized week-on-two-pages layouts for planning certain projects, not my entire life. I've just recently come close to completing a DIY letter-sized disc-bound planner that I'm fondly calling my "Shine Darling" planner. (I'm feeling planner peace!) She's my command center for everything in my life. I also use over a dozen regular old white binders for organizing paperwork, notes, plans, and printouts. Being a creative, I have a LOT of projects in the works. Being a planner girl is the only way that I'm able to turn ideas into action steps. My 6-ring binders are used for managing certain projects that I want to be especially pretty and fun to use, or that I can most easily manage without relying on letter-sized paper. I also use Wunderlist to manage and prioritize tasks and lists and collect brain dumps, which are then turned into plans in my planner! :)

3. What are your favorite planner brands?

Color Crush, Forever New, Molly & Mimi from Target-Australia, Happiness Planner, GettoWorkBook (if only that layout worked for me!) and, most recently, all of the tools and accessories from the Happy Planner, Arc, and Levenger

4. Where do you draw inspiration from for your planner?

Nothing gives me the most inspiration for my planners than when I'm just curled up in bed, planner in hand, with a few boxes and bins of supplies close by. Using what I have in new ways, to create what I need, is one of my favorite things about having a planner. I try to avoid taking inspiration from other planner girls, as inspiring as they are. We all have our own style and tastes, so finding a way to express yourself without necessarily mimicking others is a large part of your individual planning journey. I do keep a list of improvements for my planners that I work on whenever I can, and I'm always jotting down new ideas, or setting aside pieces of paper/ephemera/washi, etc after thinking how perfect they'd look in a certain planner theme. In general, when setting up a new planner, focus on the foundation first, and then move onto the decoration.

5. Do you have any favorite planner bloggers?

Oh dear, I don't really follow blogs. I just don't have the time. I've glanced at a few and loved their layout and content. I've read the most posts from MissTrenchCoat, who's a productivity guru after my own heart. FiloAlly.net, LifeWithPearls.com, and TheRachelMark.com all have beautiful content. I'm sure I'm forgetting many of my friends - I'm so sorry! I spend most of my free social media time in Facebook groups, most recently in my own Planner Darlings group, where I'm able to connect with and help my followers one-on-one - something I've been wanting to do for a long time. :) 

6. What are 5 things for your planner that you absolutely can't leave the house without?

I actually do not carry my planners outside of the house apart from my pocket gold Sugar Paper planner. I've read too many horror stories about expensive and rare planners being lost, stolen, or damaged. I work from home, (a lot), and being a single girl in her mid-20's, I don't have a lot that I need on the go that I can't access on my phone. Modifying your question a bit, some planner supplies I can't live without: sticky notes, my new Levenger Circa 123 punch and Happy Planner discs, a wide palette of colorful pens and highlighters, listpads, and Project Life cards.

7. What is the current theme for your planner pages?

It's been a few weeks since I decorated a week-on-two-pages layout. I'm probably going to be using the gorgeous flamingo theme from July's The Planner Society Kit for the next layout.

8. What would you describe your planner decoration style as?

A wide variety, due to the design teams I'm lucky to be a part of, but I always seem to resort back to pastels and bright rainbows with hints of gold, when left to my own inspiration. I don't have many planner stickers, so I'm not really a planner sticker girl. I have my crafting roots in card-making, so I use a lot of untraditional stamps and techniques. In adjectives: free, messy, creative, pastel, rainbow, happy, pretty, gold accents, occasional doily

9. How did you first discover your love of planners?

I've been using lists and binders and notebooks since I could write. I kept journals when I was very young, but stopped until around the age of 20, and I've been journaling semi-regularly ever since. I've always used productivity systems, and even created my own gamified life system at one point. It wasn't until the summer of 2013 that I discovered Filofaxes and 6-ring planners. I was watching Youtube videos, researching studying techniques for nursing school. The nursing school passion was kind of lackluster, and it was quickly replaced with my passion for planners. I'm grateful to have built a business around something I've been passionate about since I could write, and I have many more planner projects and businesses coming in the future.

10. What is your favorite thing about Live. Love. Planners.?I love how active you are in the community and how you're always coming out with new ways for planner addicts to use and have fun with their planners! Please keep it up! :)

Blog: chelleydarling.com

IG: Instagram.com/ChelleyDarling

Youtube: youtube.com/user/PlannerDarling

FB Page: Facebook.com/ChelleyDarling

FB Group: Facebook.com/groups/PlannerDarlings

Chelley Darling is a creative entrepreneur and coach with a burning passion for productive pretty planning. A member of the Webster's Pages Color Crush and The Planner Society Kit design teams, her dream is to launch her own product lines for planners. She's an outspoken advocate for mental health awareness, especially with the areas of depression and anxiety, and works to encourage others to use creativity and planners as therapeutic aids.

Planner-Lover, Paper Addict:
Spreading happiness through creativity,
and bringing daydreams to life.

hellochelleydarling@gmail.com | chelleydarling.com

Design, Dev, Coaching & Consulting:
Helping planner girls shine since 2015
prettymarvels@gmail.com

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Thank you so much for coming doll!  Remember, if you are interested in taking part in an interview here on Live Love Planners, shoot me an email at liveloveplanners@gmail.com and I'll respond as soon as possible!  Thanks for reading!

FREE Undated Inserts (For all Planner Sizes!)

Hey dolls!  I know it's been a while since I have posted a freebie, and you guys have been so sweet on both Instagram and on here on my blog!  You dolls leave such sweet comments and have been so supportive, so you guys totally deserve a freebie, and what better freebie then some weekly inserts! And of course, so all you guys can use it, it is in Pocket (Small), Personal (Medium), and A5 (Large) sizes!



Some features of the inserts:

• They are undated so you can start using them whenever you like!
• Each week has a section for yours goals for next week.
• Simple lay-out, which is perfect for decorating your weekly set-up

So what are you waiting for? Download yours below!

A5 Size

Personal Size

Pocket Size

Make sure to share your inserts on Instagram using #planitwithbeth so I can check out how you use your inserts!  Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy your inserts!

Week of 7/13: Weekly Decoration Post!

Hey guys!  Sorry I haven't been blogging lately, but I thought I would catch up with the posts I haven't done this week, so I am going to be doing my weekly decoration post.

This week's theme is purple owls!  For this week, I used a lot of items from my Dollar Tree Haul, including the owl sticker and the purple crowns tape being used on the bottom border.  I also used tape from my giveaway haul from Miss Puff to use for the top border.  The page marker used for this week is actually the same one I used in in my weekly pages a while back!

All other stickers pictured, including the page marker, envelope, heart, and washi tape stickers, are from Plan to Play's Pretty in Pink Sticker Set.

I hope you liked this week's set-up!  Make sure to comment below and tell me what you think!  Also make sure to check out my giveaway on my Instagram here or a chance to win some of my favorite planner items!  Thanks for reading!

Week of 7/6: Decorated Pages!

Hey guys! Lately I have been really craving sweets (more than usual!), so to help fulfill a bit of the mental craving (if that's even a thing?) I decided to do a sweets themed week!

While I was on vacation a while back, I was in a gift shop and I spotted these adorable puffy sweets stickers, which I knew I had to grab for a weekly spread, so all of the stickers pictured above are from that set.  I love the bitten donut!  The yellow tape used in the header is thin washi I received in my Giveaway Haul from Miss Puff.  The multi-colored confetti-like tape used in the bottom header is from a washi sample I got from Interrobang Designs in a giveaway package.  The bookmark is made by me from some glitter scrapbook paper.

That's it for today!  Thank you for reading!  Make sure to comment below to tell me what you think of this week's set-up!

An Interview with Joannywhite!

Hi guys!  Today I am very excited to have a fellow planner geek today, Joanny from the blog Joannywhite! I put together a couple questions for her to answer.  Here she is!

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Hello lovely people,

My name is Joanny and I blog over at Joannywhite.co.uk. I am a chocoholic who recently discovered her love for planners, stationery, journalling and smashbooking.

I was very excited when I saw an email from Beth asking me to do an interview for her blog. I feel very honoured and so of course I said yes.

1. What planner/planners do you have? Are there any you want to get?

I only have two planners at them moment- My personal Saffiano in Aqua and my mini Metropol in Raspberry.

I am currently experiencing planner lust right now and I've been really wanting to get the personal Filofax Butterfly and I also have an eye for the hobonichi techo planners although to be totally honest, I think I am more in love with the pretty covers.

2. What planners are you using at the moment?

I am currently using both my planners. I use the Saffiano as my main planner and the mini as my wallet. You can view my set ups here and here.

3. What are your favorite planner brands?

Considering the fact that I have only ever used the Filofax brand, I think I am going to be kind of biased in saying I love the Filofax brand. I love their inserts even they are not all the same and the quality of the paper is not the best but I can't really make any comparisons. I also do love the paperchase planners. They have got really pretty designs and they are much cheaper than the Filofaxes too.

4. Where do you draw inspiration from for your planner?

When I just found out about the gorgeous world of planners, the pictures and blog posts where the first things to draw my attention. Then I found out about the videos on YouTube and I was hooked. I get my inspiration mainly from YouTube, blogs and sometimes Pinterest.

5. Do you any favorite planner bloggers?

I have a long list of bloggers I love including Angela at Paperlovestory, Amanda at She's Eclectic and Abby at Spread The Giggles just to name a few.
I'm sure there are loads more but the list is too long.

6. What are 5 things for your planner that you absolutely can't leave the house without?

I don't carry loads of things in my planner. I try to carry the minimum so it doesn't become too bulky for me to carry around. But the most important things are pens, notepaper, and some washi tape and sticky notes to decorate my pages

7. What is the current theme for your planner pages?

I haven't had the chance to decorate my pages for this week but I mostly use washi tape as the main decorating tool and then add some sticky notes and stickers to match the theme. I occasionally doodle in my planner but only for week where I am not too busy and I have loads of empty spaces in my planner.

8. What would you describe your planner decoration style as?

I try not to go over the top but I like it neat and pretty at the same time. I am a very visual person and the prettier it is, the more motivated I will be to open u the planner and actually use it. Below are a few of my favourite decorated pages.

9. How did you first discover your love of planners?

I first found out about Filofaxes on the stationery and organisation thread on The Student Room and then from this thread, I was led on to the The Filofax Appreciation Thread where I was introduced to some Filofax blogs and then from the blogs, I started watching Youtube videos. I bought my first Filofax in June 2014 after watching countless set up videos and I have never regretted that decision.

10. What is your favorite thing about Live. Love. Planners.?

I just recently discovered Beth's blog after she entered my blogiversary giveaway but I really do love her writing style and I love the many photos too.

Thank you again for hosting me Beth. I hope you guys enjoyed learning a bit about me. If you would like to know more, here are my links.

Blog: Joannywhite.co.uk

YouTube Channel: Joanny White

Twitter: Joannywhite

Google+: Joanny White

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GetInspirationToday?ref=hdr_shop_menu

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Thank you so much for coming today Joanny!  Remember that if you would like to do an interview (and you don't have be a blogger by the way), just shoot me an e-mail at liveloveplanners@gmail.com and I will get back to you as soon as possible.  Also remember to enter my giveaway here!  Only a few days left!

Week of 6/29: Decorated Pages!

Hey guys!  4th of July is almost here, which means it's time to make some Patriotic Planner Pages! I'm not sure if I have mentioned this or not, but I am a student in art school, so lately I have been trying to add my artistic skills into my planner to help an interesting decoration element to it.  So this week, instead of using stickers, I actually doodled little pictures in!

For the header, I used plaid deco tape I received from my giveaway haul from Miss Puff.  For the bottom of the pages and also the labels in the header, I used red skinny washi tape.  For the paperclip page marker, I made a tassel out of embroidery thread on a paperclip.  The American flag, the fireworks, and the 4th of July banner are all doodles I did in ink and colored pencil.

Thanks for reading!  I hope you all liked this weeks set-up and make sure to comment and tell me what you think!  Also make sure to enter my giveaway here!  Only 5 days left!

My New Color Coding System!

Hi guys!  If you read my last post, you'd know that I received color coding stickers in my giveaway haul package from Miss Puff, and I was extremely excited to receive them because lately I have feeling the need to put together a new system because I didn't feel like my old one was working for me.  So after sitting down and following my steps from My Thoughts & Tips on Color-Coding, I created a new color coding system for myself!

To help remember which color belongs to what, I took a index card and hole-punched it for easy reference in my weekly lay outs.  I also cut slits where the holes are for easy removal from week to week.

My code goes as followed:

• Pink- Blogging
• Reddish Orange- Kung Fu
• Orange- Family/Friends
• Yellow- Homework (for when I head back to school in the Fall)
• Green- Vacation/Holiday
• Blue- Shopping
• Indigo- Cleaning

All the topics I used for my color coding chart are the most general things that happen in my daily life, which is why I chose them as my general categories.  I like using the stickers because I can easily place them near the day of the week I am on without any hassle.  I also like the fact it provides an easy glance for me to use when I need to know the just of my day.

Thanks for reading!  Make sure to comment below and tell me what you think of my new color code and also if you have a color coding system as well.  Remember to enter my giveaway here!  Only a few days left!

My Planner Flip Through

Hi everyone!  As you know, I've officially reached planner peace in my Filofax (see How to Create a Divider System in Three Steps), so I thought I would do a planner flip through to show you what my planner looks like right now.  Just warning you now it's a very photo-heavy post.

So I am currently using my Duck Egg Blue Patent Filofax.  It's a compact size, so ring space is limited and I have to really think about what I actually want to include in the rings.

So when you first open up my planner, you'll see my Paris themed dashboard with a few binder clips and some Paris page flags.  In the top card slot, I have a few paper clips I made.  In the bottom card slot, I have a note pad where I write quick notes and lists.  In the flap in the front, I'm storing a small stack of large Project Life cards.

When you flip past my dashboard, you'll see a set of dividers I made.  The first divider holds my actual planner pages shown here:

This is just a random decorated page that I have in my planner section.

My second divider holds my To-Do Lists like the one here:

Look familiar?  It's my Bee To-Do List Freebie!

My next divider is my inspiration.  I do different collages and put anything that really inspires me for motivational tools.

An example of one of my collages.

My next divider is where I keep my general notes.  It's really only note and graph paper, so I'm not going to include a photo for it.

This divider is where I keep all my contacts and most of my personal info.  Here's what my contact sheets look like:

I used the standard contact sheets that come with Filofaxes, but I added a few stickers to add some pizazz.

Last but not least we have my budgeting divider.  This is where keep track of all my expenses and anything having to do with money.  Here's what some of the sheets in my budgeting section look like:

I primarily use my Expenses & Purchases Freebie for my budgeting section.  I also have an envelope I made stuck on the back of my divider as well which I use to hold cash.

At the back pocket of my planner I keep my smaller Project Life Cards.

Thanks for reading!  Make sure to leave a comment and tell me what you think and also remember to enter my giveaway here!

Planner of the Week- Webster's Pages Striped Color Crush Planner!

Hey everybody!  Sorry I haven't kept up with the Planner of the Week feature due to things like my giveaway, but today I have decided to make the Webster's Pages Striped Color Crush Planner this week's planner!  I love Webster's Pages Color Crush planners, they are always coming out with new designs, and one of their more recent designs is the teal and white striped planner.  One of my favorite colors is teal/mint, so of course I was in love with this planner.  Another great thing about these planners is that they are at a super great price that is great for an planner newbie looking for a planner to start on or anyone looking to add to their collection without paying a super outrageous price.

Webster's Pages offers a large range of different Color Crush planner, so make sure to check out their entire range here!

Thanks for reading!  Make sure to check out the rest of the Color Crush range and also remember to enter my giveaway here!

Week of 6/8: Decorated Pages!

Hi everyone!  For this week's pages, I went with the theme "Pretty in Pink", and my mind set was anything and everything pink and sparkly!  Like my decorated pages post a couple weeks ago, I decided to recycle some old birthday cards I have been keeping to help decorate.  Here's my end result:

For the bookmark in this picture, I used a sparkly heart sticker I had on hand and the backing of an old card that was EXACTLY the perfect height for a personal sized bookmark, not trimming needed.  For the pink heading I used an old envelope in place of scrapbook paper.  The sparkly arrow is a sticker I hot glued onto a paper clip making a nifty little pointer for important events.  The sparkly deco at the bottom is sparkly washi tape that I was given to as a gift, so I'm actually not sure where that from.

That's it for today!  Thank you for reading and make sure to comment below for any requests for upcoming decorated pages.  Also make sure to enter my giveaway here!

Happy National Donut Day! (Freebie Inside!)

Hi guys!  I'm going tostart of by saying Happy National Donut Day!  With an abundance of yummy donuts everywhere on social media, I was struck with a "lightning bolt" of inspiration.  After painting all morning and using Adobe Illustrator (and a little bit of Kung Fu in between),  I created a Donut Dashboard for everyone!  So here's what it looks like in my planner:

And here's what the download looks like (which can be used as a mobile wallpaper!  It's totally on my phone right now!:

So what are you waiting for?  Go ahead and download your very own Donut Dashboard!

Download A5 Here
Download Personal Here
Download Pocket Here

Week of 6/1: Decorated Pages!

Recently I entered a cute little flash giveaway for stickers on Instagram provided by the lovely Vanessa Glass of the new Etsy store Interroband Designs!  This site is absolutely PERFECT for any planner geek, and I absolutely LOVE the planner stickers she has!  After entering this great giveaway, I surprised to find I had won some of Vanessa's Citrus Planner Stickers, which are great considering that summer is almost here.  And what better to do with these stickers then to decorate this weeks planner pages with!

 Don't they look cute in my planner?  Plus, Vanessa was nice enough to include some adorable washi tape with the stickers that coordinates perfectly with the stickers.  To give you a better idea of what she included, here's a pic of all the goodies she sent over:

That's it for today!  Thank you so much Vanessa for sending this stuff over!  Thanks for reading!

Planner Review: Filofax Patent Compact Organizer in Duck Egg

Hey everybody! I know a lot of planner geeks (including myself) love to hear reviews on different planners to find out which planner is best for them.  In honor of my Duck Egg Patent Filofax's One Year Planner-versary tomorrow, I have decided to give a little product review on it and how it's held up over the years.

Size
I bought my planner in the compact size, which I thought I wouldn't be a big fan of because it limits the space that you would get from a personal planner, but I was delightfully surprised.  Despite the smaller, this planner is very good at storing lots of goodies and is the perfect size for when on the go.

Price
This planner is actually a very decent price, especially for anyone just starting out in the planner community.  It is 47.25 US Dollars or 32 Pounds, which I believe is pretty reasonable especially since it has a high quality finish on it.

Scratches/Dirt
Sadly, because of this planner's finish, it is very prone to scratches and dirt.  Although mine has held up very well over the year, it still quite a few scratches and smudges, so I recommend storing it in a cloth bag when not being used (which I sadly didn't do).  Therefore, if you are the type of person to just throw your planner in the car, your purse, or etc. without delicate handling, I do not recommend this planner for you.

Pockets
This planner is intended to be very slim, Filofax definitely optimized the space and fit quite a few pockets including two credit card holders, a flap pocket, and a one vertical pocket in the back of the planner.  Some look for as many pockets as possibly, but I really like the amount of pockets in this planner.

Overall Opinion
Overall, I really love this planner and I totally recommend it to anyone.  The color is exactly how pictured and is perfect for me.  It is a great price and if treated with care, it will last forever.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this new segment.  Make sure to comment below!