Avery Dividers in Field Journal Notebook

[wyldrose]

I'm loving my new Field Journal Notebook, but I definitely need some dividers for it. Unfortunately, those are not so easy to find in the 8.5x5.5 size. I did, however, come across some nice looking Avery ones, the "Translucent Durable Write-On Plastic Mini Dividers". Has anybody used these? Has anybody seen them in a store? (I'm having trouble finding them for sale anywhere other than Amazon and avery.com.)

[Janine]

I'm loving my new Field Journal Notebook, but I definitely need some dividers for it. Unfortunately, those are not so easy to find in the 8.5x5.5 size. I did, however, come across some nice looking Avery ones, the "Translucent Durable Write-On Plastic Mini Dividers". Has anybody used these? Has anybody seen them in a store? (I'm having trouble finding them for sale anywhere other than Amazon and avery.com.)

I don't have a FJN (yet) but I am an avid DIY papercrafter and have been in a similar situation with other notebook projects. Have you thought about making your own dividers? A decent cutting device, a hole punch, and some cheap materials will do the trick.

I buy thin plastic folders and dividers when back-to-school supplies are on clearance. That gives me a stockpile of colorful translucent plastic to play with.

I use a tabletop rotary cutter to trim the plastic down to size. Scissors would also work, or a guillotine cutter, but I think a rotary blade gives the cleanest results.

Then you just need a hole punch. You can use a piece of notebook paper from the journal as a template and use a hand-held punch.

Some niceties include:

- rounded corners, which can be done carefully with scissors or with a corner rounder punch.

- tabs, which can be cut out when the divider is trimmed to size or added later. I like the idea of removable Post-it tabs. That way I can change my mind about what's in each section and easily reconfigure the location of the tabs.

- pockets, which can be crafted by starting with a larger pocketed folder and cutting it down in a strategic way.

Yeah, it takes longer and requires some tools, but I love customizing my notebooks to exactly my own specifications. I like to print my own forms and planner pages, too. One can find a lot of inspiration at www.diyplanner.com.

[wyldrose]

Thank you for the suggestions, Janine. I've done quite a lot of research at www.diyplanner.com over the last couple of years; my current batch of GTD templates is based extensively on theirs. I can easily imagine the great results that come from a practiced hand making custom dividers; unfortunately, I don't have room in my life right now for a new hobby. I first considered cardstock and the post-it tabs, but got mired down just trying to figure out where to buy stuff. Anything more complicated than "go to the store and purchase" just isn't likely to happen. :/

[backpack]

I'm loving my new Field Journal Notebook, but I definitely need some dividers for it. Unfortunately, those are not so easy to find in the 8.5x5.5 size. I did, however, come across some nice looking Avery ones, the "Translucent Durable Write-On Plastic Mini Dividers". Has anybody used these? Has anybody seen them in a store? (I'm having trouble finding them for sale anywhere other than Amazon and avery.com.)

Below is the link to where to buy the product, there is a space for zipcode, find a store and find a dealer.

http://www.avery.com/vgn-ext-templat...782-16180-p01p

[backpack]

Thank you for the suggestions, Janine. I've done quite a lot of research at www.diyplanner.com over the last couple of years; my current batch of GTD templates is based extensively on theirs. I can easily imagine the great results that come from a practiced hand making custom dividers; unfortunately, I don't have room in my life right now for a new hobby. I first considered cardstock and the post-it tabs, but got mired down just trying to figure out where to buy stuff. Anything more complicated than "go to the store and purchase" just isn't likely to happen. :/

I love D.I.Ying my own paper calendars but I don't have the space for a full size cutting mat, a guillotine and my printer/desktop setting.


I believe that additional leaf dividers from Tom Bihn and Avery Write On Tabs, (they are removable and available in yellow, blue, pink) could be your solution. Both are buy and use products.

I think that is what I am going to do because the pre-made Avery have 7 holes which don't look seem to be matching the FJN's.


Those tabs are a small investment and can be used with other products like the plastic file folders I use inside my Large Clear Organizer Pouches.

Hopefully Tom and the Crew are going to come up with a clever divider and storage solution soon.

It would be great if it were to involve Dyneema and Clear Urethane!

[wyldrose]

Below is the link to where to buy the product, there is a space for zipcode, find a store and find a dealer.

Yeah, I tried their store finder link, but it doesn't work. And it doesn't work in one of those ambiguous ways that could mean "there are no stores near you" or "I'm completely broken".

[wyldrose]

I think that is what I am going to do because the pre-made Avery have 7 holes which don't look seem to be matching the FJN's.

7 hole products should fit the FJN (I've used 7 hole dividers from Russell and Hazel in a 3 ring classic sized binder). It's just that they will also fit 7 ring binders of the same size.

[wennefer]

Daytimer's Desk size fits in the Field Journal Notebook. They sell tabbed dividers and other accessories.

[wyldrose]

Daytimer's Desk size fits in the Field Journal Notebook. They sell tabbed dividers and other accessories.

A link to the dividers. A good contender for the field; about 2/3 the cost per divider of the Avery, with lots of color differentiation. The material is not listed; I'm going to assume it's card stock.

The entries so far:
Avery's Translucent Durable Write-On Plastic, ~$0.75 each, in lots of 5
Avery's Post-It Tabs, ~$0.10 each, in lots of 40
Tom Bihn's Plastic Leaf, $4 each, in lots of 1
Daytimer's Colored Blank Tabs, ~0.50 each, in lots of 12

Unfortunately, these are all online purchases, which is painful for a purchase under $10, because of shipping. Amazon, for example, wants $6.45 to ship the $6 Daytimer dividers. That's a large part of why I was hoping somebody had seen these in a store. Being able to double check the material and size would be nice, too. That's looking less and less likely the more looking I do, though, so I may just have to suck it up.

[backpack]

I am sure the Post it tabs are available in stores, maybe even the stationery area of your local grocery store.

And for the extra Tom Bihn's Plastic Leaf or Leaves wait for your next order.


I have the Daytimer dividers in a smaller size, they are paper with plastic coated tab probably made of cardstock. They are available at most office stores and places where Daytimer are sold.

They will last long if they are used for storage but they will need to be reinforced if used daily most probably laminated.


Because I need strong dividers for everyday use, I will get TB HDPE leaves.

I do hope that Tom is going to come up with "something" like pocket dividers or even tabbed pockets in Dynema and Cordura.

[wyldrose]

A quick follow-up on my divider hunt. I finally decided to go with the Daytimer tabs, as I became concerned about the thickness on the plastic ones (I use a lot of dividers). They fit fine in the FJN, holes 1, 4, and 7 are a perfect match for the standard 3-ring pattern. Those three holes are also reinforced (the other four are not).

I was wrong about the material. Rather than cardstock, they are actually just heavy paper. I'm rather disappointed about that. Also, the stickers you use to label the tabs are shorter than the tabs, so you don't have as much labeling room as it looks. I didn't dislike them enough to deal with the hassle of returning them through the mail, but I'll definitely look for something else when they (inevitably) need replacing. Maybe Tom Bihn will have something nice for us by then. :)