Archive for Levenger Circa Notebook
Levenger Circa Nickel Discs Update
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The Levenger Circa Nickel Discs in my Bomber Jacket notebook.
A few days ago I posted a review and went on and on about how great I thought the Levenger Circa Nickel Discs were, and how I was sorry to see that Levenger had discontinued them. I knew that Levenger had discontinued them, but I was hoping that somehow they might reconsider and make them again, and also make them in the larger 1″ size. I pretty much knew it was not likely, however I felt like I had a forum to voice my opinion, so I should do it.
To my surprise I ended up getting an email from Mr. Steve Leveen, the CEO of Levenger, and he told me:
“I did check into it and find that, unfortunately, they did not sell well enough to keep in our line. I happen to like them very much myself (and also the Kyoto discs, which I just switched to). ”
This just goes to reinforce the message that Levenger is extremely customer focused. I have a good understanding of how busy the CEO of any company can be, and the fact that Mr. Leveen took the time to look into this and send me an email to let me know the situation was really impressive to me. The respect and commitment that Levenger has to their customer base is something that every other company should be aware of and try to emulate, and it is one of the reasons that I have no problem continuing to spend my hard earned money on their great products.
The matching Letter Size and Junior Size Levenger Circa Bomber Jacket Notebooks with the Nickel Discs.
So now that I know for sure that Levenger wont be making any more of the nickel Circa Discs, I’ve decided to convert my Letter size Circa notebook from the 1″ plastic discs to the 3/4″ nickel discs since I bought an extra set of them. I just love the way that these look on my my Circa Bomber Jacket notebooks.
Levenger Page Points for Easier Reading and Organizing
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Levenger Page Points
I can clearly remember the first time I got a Levenger Catalog, and saw the Levenger Page Points, and I thought to myself “Wow, $10 for some fancy bookmarks? That’s crazy!” I shortly forgot about them and went on with my business of shopping for accessories for my Circa notebook and who knows what else. It was not until a few weeks later that I realized how short sighted I was being. In this post I will outline 3 different uses I have found for the Levenger Page points, hopefully you will find it helpful. Just a few quick things about the Page Points before I get started though. First, and most importantly for anyone interested in purchasing the Page Points, they can be found here on the Levenger.com website. The normal price for them is $10, and they come in a set of 36 in a nice tin storage container. The Page Points are made of copper, and as noted in the Levenger Catalog, they can be left on the pages over long periods of time without any fear of ruining the pages. Read More→
Levenger Cubi Agenda Stand for Circa Notebooks
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Levenger Cubi Agenda Stand
My third and final post (read part 1 and part 2 here) in my review of products that I am hoping will help me to be more organized is on the Levenger Cubi Agenda Stand that is designed to hold the Levenger Junior Size Circa Notebook, which I am using to keep my daily planner in for 2009. As with all of the other Levenger products that I have purchased, I was impressed with the quality of materials and craftsmanship upon my initial inspection of this item.
The Cubi Agenda Stand comes in either Dark Cherry or Natural Cherry finishes, the one I am reviewing here is the Dark Cherry version. The stand has a small drawer that sits underneath it, which is covered on the front with a black leather inlay. The dimensions of the stand are as follows, for the interior of the drawer it measures 10 3/4″W x 8″D x 1″H and the unit as a whole measures 12 1/4″W x 9″D x 2 1/2″H. The top of the stand is hinged and tilts up so that you can keep your daily planner at a good viewing and writing angle. In the photo below, you can see the stand as it sits raised in one of 3 possible angles. Please note that the scratch you see in the photo was caused by me, and was not shipped from Levenger like that.
Levenger Cubi Agenda Stand Rear View
The drawer on the Cubi Agenda Stand is designed to hold some extra junior size circa pages or other accessories as you can see in the following picture. At most, you can hold two of the quarterly daily planner pages packets, or you can hold a junior size planner in there assuming it is not too thickly stuffed with pages. For my purposes I am just keeping some blank annotated layout pages, the packet for the next quarter of daily pages, my Lamy Studio (Studio review here) and some other smaller accessories like some Levenger Page Points.
Levenger Cubi Agenda Stand Drawer and Accessories
I have to say that this item is not absolutely essential in being able to keep my calendar in order for 2009, however it is such a nice looking stand, and the storage space provided by the drawer really make it something that I felt enhanced my surroundings. As I said in my About Me section, being in the financial services and insurance industry, there is a certain amount of boredom that I must overcome, and this stand is one of those extra “nice to have” items that makes the day a little less boring at my desk. If I could change one thing about the Cubi Agenda Stand, it would be to make the whole thing slightly larger so I could also hold some extra pages for my letter size circa notebook. It seems that the extra 1″ or so that it would have taken in depth and width would have been well worth it so I would have somewhere to store all of my extra Levenger accessories. Hopefully Steve Leveen or someone in charge of product development at Levenger is listening. 
Hope you all have a happy and safe New Year, and I look forward to having you back to visit in 2009. Feel free to subscribe via RSS so you dont miss any of my long winded reviews that help me to justify spending too much of my money on office supplies.
Levenger Junior Size Circa Bomber Jacket Notebook – 2009 Planner
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Levenger Junior Size Circa Bomber Jacket Notebook
My previous post detailed the Levenger Circa 2009 Daily Planner Refills that I am using to improve my organizational skills this year. Today I wanted to focus on the actual leather portfolio that I am keeping those calendar pages in, or as Levenger calls it, the Junior Size Circa Bomber Jacket Notebook.
The junior size notebooks from Levenger measure 6 1/2″W x 1/2″D x 8 3/4″H. The measurement depends on the size rings that you decide to use with it, but the dimensions used here assume the standard 1/2″ discs that all Levenger notebooks come standard with. Other than the actual size of the notebook, the junior size has the same features and accessories that can be found with the letter size version which I did a two part post on here and here. The only real difference is the inside front cover, where the pocket sizes are smaller than the ones found in the letter size notebook. The following picture shows the inside pocket with a standard credit card or gift card placed inside so you can get an idea of how big it is. Obviously you will find that the larger pocket on this notebook is just shy of being 8 3/4″ high, since that is the height of the notebook itself. Read More→
Levenger 2009 Junior Size Daily Planner and Calendar
Posted by: | CommentsA few weeks ago I had to start figuring out what I would do in terms of a calendar or planner for next year, so naturally I found that my first instinct was to head over to the Levenger site and poke around. After spending some time there and at a few other sites I decided that for 2009 I will be using a Levenger Circa Junior Size Daily Planner and Calendar. The layout is pretty simple, yet it offers plenty of space for all of my needs, even in the smaller junior size of 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″. The flexibility of the Circa system makes it quick and simple to take these calendar pages out as needed and put them into my larger letter size Levenger notebook if I know I am going to be traveling and only want to bring a few days worth of pages instead of the entire planner.
This is a “one page per day” style planner, but technically there are two pages I guess. The first three pages of the calendar contain a one page view of 2008, 2009, and 2010 in a monthly format. On the left side of each daily page you have a nicely laid out 7AM to 7PM (in 1/2 hour increments) scheduler, with a notes section below it that has 7 lines for you to work with. On the right side of each daily page, there is a full page “Things To Do” checklist with 24 blank spaces for your entries. Below this you will find another notes section with 7 blank lines, identical to the previous page. If you continue reading this post on the next page, there are some pictures of the calendar pages. Read More→
Levenger Circa Bookcloth Notebook – Pt. 2
Posted by: | CommentsThis is the 2nd part of a 2 part review on the Levenger Circa Bookcloth Notebook. I will attempt to answer some questions that I received regarding the first post, however the main objective of this post will be to review the functionality of the notebook itself. In addition to posting individual pictures with this post, I am trying a quick video to show the notebook in action.
First let me start with a quick overview of the pricing for both the notebook and accessories that are covered in this review. As previously mentioned, the Letter Size Circa Notebook comes with 60 sheets of 8 1/2″W x 11 1/4″H paper, and it also comes bound with 11 of the 1/2″ discs. One of the nice things about the paper is that is a heavier stock, and most pens I have written on it with write very smoothly and show no bleed through or feathering. The price for this set up at time of purchase was $58 + shipping. In addition to the notebook itself, I also purchased:
-1 package of plastic multi-colored dividers (5 for $12)
-1 package of plastic multi-colored pocket dividers (5 for $12)
-1 page finder/ruler ($4)
-1 set of large 1″ discs (22 for $10) note that only 11 are needed for this size notebook
-1 2008/2009 fold out calendar, no longer available on Levenger site
The grand total for this notebook…$96 + shipping. Read More→
Circa Bookcloth Notebook – Pt. 1
Posted by: | CommentsPart 1 of this review will consist of my initial thoughts on the notebook itself, I will focus on the actual functionality in the second part of the review.
So for my first review I wanted to start with the item that was probably most responsible for my recent re-obsession with pens, notebooks, desk accessories, and other office supplies. After a long period of being unimpressed with the available notebooks and journals out there, I had pretty much given up and decided that most of them were the same, and not anything that would help me be more organized and efficient.
One of my co-workers who swore by the Levenger brand (not just the Circa Notebooks) showed me his notebook, and after a few minutes of flipping through the pages and mulling it over, I decided I might be willing to give it a try. That night I went home after work and spent 2 hours on the Levenger site looking at all of the options, I was still a bit apprehensive, however I gave myself a few days to think it over and finally found myself on the site again that following weekend with the intent to buy, which I thankfully did. My purchase included the notebook in this review, along with a smaller version of it (the junior size) and a handful of accessories that I will blog about in a later post. Ever since then, I hesitate to think just how much money I have given (and will continue to give to) Steve and Lori Leveen, the husband/wife co-founders of Levenger.
Levenger Circa Bookcloth Letter Size Notebook (Black)
When my package came in the mail I was immediately impressed with a few very simple, yet pleasing elements of what I found inside. The signature green box with matching elastic strap in which my notebooks were enclosed was an indication of the care and pride put into the Levenger product. Once inside the box, I discovered that my notebook was nestled inside a soft cloth enclosure that resembles a mix between a thin fleece and a micro-fiber cleaning cloth. In addition to the box, I found a packing slip stored in an envelope and sealed with a Levenger branded sticker. Inside the envelope when I reviewed the packing slip, it was reassuring to see the packing slip hand initialed by a Levenger employee next to each item in my order to assure that nothing had been missed. Read More→
