From old to new. The 2016 Giving Journal

Five Reasons to Get the CBTL 2016 Giving Journal

It’s the time of the year again when we get to decide which journal we’ll have for the coming year. It’s such a crucial choice as it would be our constant companion for the rest of the 365 days. Most of the time, my usual compact moleskines would do but there is something about having a large journal where there’s enough space to write down random thoughts, doodle or even paste in random items on the pages itself. There are so many to choose from but like this year, it would seem I would settle on Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf’s the 2016 Giving Journal for my large journal. Here are some of the reasons why I chose this one to spend some of my time to collect stamps (and add calories) to collect.

The 2016 Giving Journal need only 12 stamps
The 2016 Giving Journal need only 12 stamps

Only 12 Stamps for the 2016 Giving Journal

I know there’s something about collecting that gives item a sense of novelty of just simply buying them. Completing them also has a sense of accomplishment adding value to the item. While I like the idea of collecting, it would also cost money (and like I said, unnecessary calories). It’s good that CBTL’s 2016 Giving Journal only requires 12 stamps, 8 of which is a choice any drinks, 1 Holiday Featured Beverage, 1 Espresso/Coffee-based drink, 1 Tea Latte and 1 original Ice Blended.

Watercolor artwork theme for this year
Watercolor artwork theme for this year

Quality and Design

CBTL’s 2016 Giving Journal comes in four vibrant colors – latte brown, baby blue, summer orange and deep purple. I chose the latte brown which is lighter than the deep brown 2015 Giving Journal. I like the simplicity and minimal design. The cover material feels good on the hands as well. The recycled paper is thick and of good quality for the 2016 journal. They made use of water color (or is it latte art?) artworks to feature the beverages they have for each month. Overall it feels clean and organized but has that hand-work feel to it.

Good deal on coupons
Good deal on coupons

Monthly Coupons

Summing up all that was spent on collecting stamps for the journal, the inclusion of monthly coupons is a good consolation for getting the journal. Compared to CBTL 2015, the CBTL 2016 Giving Journal has more opportunity to share with friends like a “Buy 1 drink and 1 free” for a certain month. Also, they finally have made it easy to pull-out the coupons.

A poem about overflows
A poem about overflows

Inspiring

The CBTL 2016 Giving Journal is all about “Overflows”. This is about having a life overflowing with blessings and extending it to others. This is a no nonsense journal and almost all the calendar pages have something written words to inspire and contemplate about.

CBTL's beneficiary
CBTL’s beneficiary

Real LIFE Foundation

And talking about sharing overflows, every CBTL 2016 Giving Journal collected also benefits the Real LIFE Foundation. CBTL chose this Christian NGO which helps poor communities through education, mentoring and community development.

Weekly calendar view and notes page
Weekly calendar view and notes page

Wishlist for 2017

I already got my CBTL 2016 Giving Journal and am excited to use it in my new year’s journey. While I whole heartedly like it, I would like to see some additions as well. What I really liked with my moleskines are the moon phases. It may seem trivial but being a photographer and traveler, I always check what the phase of the moon is when I travel. Other than that, I would highly recommend it if you want a large handful journal that is both inspiring and feel proud to have one because of how it helped other organizations from collecting one of it.

The CBTL 2016 Giving Journal may be collected until January 10, 2016 and claimed once completed up to 60 days after promo period. 

Monthly calendar view
Monthly calendar view
Back sleeve and stickers
Back sleeve and stickers
Jotting good memories and planning fun ones
Jotting good memories and planning fun ones
Pages to write random notes
Pages to write random notes

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