My Favorite Binding System
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Hello! My name is Crystal Wilkerson & I’m so excited to have this opportunity to guest post for the Crafting Chicks! I’m a stay-at-home mom, graphic designer, scrapbooker & organizational enthusiast. I’m also just trying to make it through the daily maze of home, work, & family responsibilities like the rest of you. In my constant effort to try to stay on top of the chaos (always a work in progress), I’ve discovered a binding system that I absolutely love. Today I’m excited to share that system with you!
This system is often referred to as the “rollabind” system, however it can actually be found under several different names/brands. You may have heard of a few of them: Martha Stewart’s Discbound System, Staple’s Arc, Levenger’s Circa, & Rollabind. While I am not affiliated with any of these brands, I’ve experimented with all of them & definitely have my favorites that I’ll be sharing with you.
This is made possible through the combination of their unique punch & circular discs. You can easily add, remove, or rearrange your papers at any time!
One of my favorite punches is the Arc Desktop Punch (pictured above) from Staples. You can easily punch up to 8 pages at a time.
If you’re looking for something that can punch through laminated material or plastic, then you’ll want to go with Levenger’s Circa Leverage Punch (15-page capacity). I recently purchased this & have loved using it to create laminated covers like the ones seen below.
Levenger also has a slim Portable Punch that is great for traveling (1-3 page capacity).
The reason for this is because you add the discs individually. This gives you the ability to make it as big or small as you’d like depending on how many discs you use. I have made binders of all sizes for all kinds of purposes!
You can find ready-made covers in a variety of colors & materials. One of the most popular covers seen all over Pinterest (and one of my personal favorites) is the Martha Stewart Discbound Notebook in Faux Leather (pictured below on the top right). It comes in a beautiful light turquoise color. It was unavailable for a while but is finally back in stock again! Staples & Levenger also have a variety of quality covers to choose from called Arc Notebooks & Circa Notebooks.
You can also make your own covers by laminating your own design or you can use a cute piece of scrapbook paper! Below are some notebooks I made to keep on my desk while I’m working. I’m including the download for you to make your own! Just print out on a piece of white cardstock, laminate, bind, & enjoy!
The smallest discs can hold up to 50 papers, while the largest discs can hold up to 450 papers! There is also a variety of styles & colors to choose from. My favorite discs are from the ones pictured below from Levenger. They are made out of 100% lightweight aluminum & look beautiful!! You can find them HERE. They are a little pricey, but keep in mind that you will never need to throw these away. You can literally keep reusing them for years to come.
Martha Stewart & Arc have more affordable discs that come in a variety of colors. The quality isn’t as good as Levenger as they are made out of plastic, but they still work great & look good too! I’ve also spotted a fun line of discs & planner accessories called Create 365 by “Me & My Big Ideas”.
You can also find lots of accessories that work with your binders like tabs, page protectors, rulers, notebook paper, etc! The possibilities really are endless!
Last year I created my life planner utilizing this binding system. I’ve been working on a new version for 2016, but have yet to finish it due to the craziness of my life lately. However, If you’d like to try out my planner from last year, I’m doing something I’ve never done before & it’s just for Crafting Chicks readers! From now until my new planner becomes available (which should be very soon), you can grab last year’s version for 90% off! And the best part is, 90% of the pages are not dated, so you can use them forever! I’ll post a picture of the cover of my planner below, but you can see it in it’s entirety by clicking HERE & HERE. And you can purchase it HERE. Be sure to enter the coupon code: CRAFTINGCHICKS to get it for only $3.99!
are they interchangeable?
Yes they are!
Wow! how does that work. Just checking, so I can get the levenger discs with the staples hole punch etc????
What size discs do you recommend for making the planner more portable-friendly in a purse? I love the A5 page size, but my Filofax is too big to carry around. The width of my planner inserts and dividers is equivalent to a bullet journal, so do you recommend 1″ or could I get away with 3/4″? Thanks so much!
I think you just need to measure and see how thick your planner is going to be. Then you can decide. I like the flexibility of the discs cause you can make the planner work for you. So if you get the 3/4 and it’s too much paper, take out some and add it when you need it. For me I only have 6 months of the year in my planner to make it smaller and more portable.