December update! Philofaxy Meet-up and Planners- Midori TN and Filofax!

Hi guys!! Long time no see!!

I've not posted for 3 months, I'm sorry about that!
In September I was busy looking for a job, and then in October I started a full-time job!! So for the past 2 months (although it feels longer), I've been working 40 hours a week and travelling 2 hours a day, then I've been very tired after work, so I haven't had the time or energy to blog!

Philofaxy meet-up!!

At the end of September I went to the Philofaxy meet-up in London! I won't write a full blog post about it, and I didn't take enough photos, but it was amazing!!!
It was lovely to meet the people I hadn't met before, especially Mella and Chrissie, who I shared a hotel room with, and also seeing others again, like Debbie (who we also shared a hotel room with) and of course Steve! The Friday was amazing, as we had lunch together, shared Gillios around the table (I didn't let myself touch any of them until I'd washed my hands after lunch!), then popped to the JP Books shop to look at Midori Traveler's Notebooks and other Japanese things before making our way to the station for our evening adventure! There we met all of the others, and we chatted until everyone got there and Steve bought tickets for our visit to Filofax HQ at Burgess Hill!!
    It was amazing there- the staff were brilliant and passionate about their products!! There was a table of vintage Filofaxes which were absolutely incredible to see in person (and I was trying to think of ways to smuggle them out...), and a presentation about the past, present and the future of the brand, and a Q and A session. Then we mingled, inspecting a wall of current-range Filofaxes, spoke to the staff, answering their questions and showing off our expertise!! Unfortunately we didn't get to see any of the new Filofaxes for next year, but we did see the options being considered for the patterns for the non-leather Filofaxes for the future!
    On Saturday, we went to a lovely French cafe for some amazing pastries and gorgeous hot chocolate drink (think melted chocolate!!) for breakfast, then made our way to the huge Paperchase on Tottenham Court Road! I was very good, and didn't buy much- but I could have moved in quite happily!! Then we made our way to Vapianos for lunch, where we got to see most people from the night before, and some others too, and had a nice session of sharing Filofaxes and eating Italian food!! Then we went shopping, including making our way back to Paperchase!! Unfortunately people had to start making their way back to train stations and airports, but it was an amazing weekend and I would love to do it again soon!!!

Planner update!

As you probably know, over the past year I've been chopping and changing between planners, and that's still been happening over the past few months!
    However, over the past couple of months I've been happily using my Midori Traveler's Notebook for my calendar diary/agenda/planner. (Video from October here) I love this thing for lots of reasons, but using it as my calendar diary (by which I mean my WO2P diary calendar, not a journal diary), I really love it because I prefer bound diaries rather than the loose-leaf diary pages in my Filofaxes because I wouldn't archive them properly and I'd lose them. Also because I'm not worried about taking my Midori out and about with me like I am with my Filofaxes, if it gets some scratches on it, it just adds to the character, and there's no rings to damage!

My Midori on my messy desk a couple of months ago

However, I'm going to be tweaking my system a bit over the next couple of weeks. I'm trying to perfect my planner system before 2014, so this is my challenge for December. And yes, I'll be going back to a Filofax again! BUT I'll also be using my Midori...
    Although I love my Midori TN, it doesn't work perfectly for everything for me. As my only planner, I have my WO2P calendar diary, organisation lists, and notes. However, I can't fit everything I need in it, and so I need to spread out into other planners. Also, I don't really like having so many serious things in my Midori- my diary with serious appointments, my organisation lists with serious to-dos, and my notes which aren't very fun either- all of these serious things, shouting at me to "Do this! Do that!" aren't fun, and are making me not want to open my Midori! And in the past, I've planned better and managed my life better when I use both an A5 Filofax for planning in conjunction with my Midori.
    So my plan is this: I'm going to continue using my Midori TN as my calendar diary, which I love, and I'm going to put my current organisation lists (which have been in a separate notebook, but I'll move them to save space) onto a monthly dashboard spread in here. My diary in here will be my everything- I will put all of my appointments, to-dos, plans and everything in here, I won't have one in my Filofax or anywhere else, because I don't want to get confused or forget an appointment. After this insert, I'll have the space for 2 more notebook inserts, which will be fun and creative sections- things that make me want to open and use my Midori! I think I'll have one notebook for creative writing- poetry and short stories, and I may have another creative notebook (I'd like to sketch or paint, but I'm not good at it), or more probably a notebook insert for random notes, ideas, lists and other things. My Midori will go everywhere with me, around the house, to work, shopping, etc etc!
    Then, I'll have my A5 Filofax, probably my Aqua Malden or Espresso Siena, switching between them! This will be my main planning place, having the things that won't fit in my Midori- it will have all of my planning lists (except my 'current' lists, e.g. shopping list, waiting for list, keep in mind list, etc etc, which will stay in my Midori), projects, goals, reference information, long-term notes, random lists etc. This is my brain, it will hold and organise my life- and the flexibility of a Filofax is perfect for this, which I can't achieve with a bound notebook or even my Midori, and the A5 size is ideal- and it will be a perfect companion to my Midori. They won't overlap, so I won't get confused. My Midori will hold things I need with me all of the time, and things I want with me too, whereas my Filofax will stay at home and hold things I don't need with me when I'm out. Every Sunday evening, I'll flick through my Filofax, and find things that I need to do that upcoming week, or things that I want to, or should, try to fit in that week; then I'll write it into the diary in my Midori!


So there's my update! I'll be setting up my Filofax and my Midori over the next couple of weeks, and I'll try to do a video on them soon! :)

Task Prioritisation System 1.0

Hi guys!

A quick post this evening to share something I came up with in my Filofax over the weekend. I've not 100% finished setting it up, but I wanted to show you it in its infancy!

Task Prioritisation System 1.0 
(It's only a coincidence that it matches my internet handle's initials 'TPS'!!)

Basically it's a system to prioritise tasks and keep them in perspective, for time management and organisation.
It's comprised of 8 sections (although you may need fewer), characterised by a) degree of importance and b) when it needs to be done, in which you 'file' your tasks:

• Now, Important/Urgent
• Now, Unimportant
• Ongoing, Important
• Ongoing, Unimportant
• Not now/Later, Important
• Not now/Later, Unimportant
• Other, Important
• Other, Unimportant

*The above order arranges the sections more by Time; you can also arrange the sections by Importance= 1) Important, Now; Important, Ongoing; Important, Later; Important, Other; Unimportant, Now; Unimportant, Ongoing; Unimportant, Later; Unimportant, Other.

Step 1-

Basically, you file all of your tasks under one of these sections, by deciding how important it is and when it needs to be started/be done!

    So for me, I take my several, scattered to-do lists, and re-organise my tasks in this way. I have a paper divider (no tab) for each section, then at the start of that section I have a to-do sheet with my lists of tasks under that section, and I cross off those taks when completed; some tasks have accompanying pages with notes/lists to break down/give more info, behind the to-do list inside that section.

    Here are some examples:

Find a job- Now, Important!!

Organise my bedroom- Ongoing (because it won't be done in one day), Important (because it needs doing!)

Decorate my Filofax- Later and Unimportant (although I WANT to do it, I don't NEED to, and I should do it when I have the time, not now. However, I can schedule it in my diary for when I have time soon, e.g. this evening/this weekend)

Things on my Someday/Maybe list- go into the Not now/Later, Unimportant section

Step 2-

Schedule these tasks into your diary/calendar/planner.

    For me, this means I can flick through the to-do lists in the sections described above, and schedule them into my weekly diary, according to how they are prioritised -->

    Because the point of these sections is prioritisation, this system helps you schedule your tasks more sensibly (I would schedule all of the 'fun' tasks first if I could!). By breaking tasks down by both importance and when they need to be done, you can see easily which tasks to schedule above others. Prioritise the Important ones and the Now ones, and try to do something towards the Ongoing tasks every week.

    So first I look at the Now, Important list, and try to schedule as many of those into my weekly pages as possible. However, some I know I don't have to do immediately, so I can look at those again when I know how much free time I have later in the week. Then I look at the Now, Unimportant list- even though the things on here aren't important, many them have deadlines, and I should try to do them this week anyway. Then I look at the Ongoing, Important tasks, and try to make progress with these ongoing projects, which may have many steps, and possibly a deadline which is further away. Then I look at the Not now/Later, Important list- although it isn't the time to do these tasks yet, it is important to keep them in perspective and in my mind. Then, if I have some spare time, I can try to schedule the Unimportant tasks.

    You can also break these lists down into your filo in other ways, e.g. this month's to-dos, this week's to-dos; even tasks to finish by the end of this year (e.g. for scheduling the not now/later tasks).

Pheww!! I hope you guys followed that!

I think this is a good system, and I'm proud of it, but personally I think it's a bit dry and boring. It's not fun like how I want my Filofax to be! So I'm going to try to make it a bit more fun! I think I might develop a colour-coding system with highlighters, and instead of having tasks on separate to-do lists, in separate sections, I will have them on one to-do list, prioritised using the highlighters, so all of my tasks are viewable in one glance, and are prettier because of the colours! 

Anyway, let me know what you think of the system :)

How I'm using my Midori Traveler's Notebook!!

Hi guys!

Today's post is all about my Midori Traveler's Notebook!

I love this thing! ... well, actually, it's 3 things- Maru, my first Midori, which I got when I swapped my personal orange Osterley with Sara, and is now being used as my journal; Mido, my second, which is currently on vacation (waiting until I move back into him), and my as yet unnamed 'Raydori', which isn't actually a Midori TN, but a Midori-esque leather notebook holder made for me by the amazing Ray Blake of My Life All in One Place!!

L-R: Maru, Mido, and my Raydori

In this video, I show you the set-up of my Midori for August 2013...

... before I change it all up again!!

As you can see in the video above, for the whole of August I've been using my Midori as my diary (agenda, not journal), ideas notebook, and other stuff like that. It's a pretty simple set-up, especially compared to the complex set-ups you can get in Filofaxes, where people can have dozens of sections! In a Midori, you can have 1, 2, 3, 4 or even 5 sections, made of notebook inserts, plus some plastic pocket inserts, so it's easy to keep the set-up simple. And I do love how free that makes you feel- no over-complication like a Filofax can achieve, with millions (ok, that's over-exaggeration!) of dividers, lists, sections, etc etc. I just love how rugged and handsome Midoris can be too!

So why am I changing my set-up?

Well, actually, I'm changing quite a bit in my planning system tools.
When I've tried to use my Midori as my planner, in August and earlier this year too, it works well to an extent, but I still can only achieve a medium degree of planning. My Midori set-up is simple; but really it's too simple, and so most of the time I actually need the ability to add pages, move pages, make new sections, take old sections out, which I have only been able to achieve with my Filofax. I have had my A5 Aqua Malden Filofax set-up (almost finished) as my in-depth planner alongside my Midori- my Midori has my WO2P diary and ideas notebook, and my Filofax has all proper planning, lists, projects etc- but unfortunately I haven't been using my Filofax properly. It seems that when I split my planning between my Midori and my Filofax, I ignore my Filofax because I love my Midori so much, and carry that around more! And because I'm ignoring my Filofax, I'm forgetting about all of the important things I've planned out in there :S
So I'm going to not be using my Midori as my planner any more (don't worry, it will have another purpose!). Instead, I'm going to be using my Filofax (A5 Aqua Malden), and a diary/agenda made from a notebook (as I need a bound diary, not a loose-leaf diary in my Filofax, because I'm rubbish at archiving Filofax diary pages!), alongside each other. These two will work together as perfect partners! I'll do a blog post when I've finished setting these up :)

What will I be using my Midori for?

I'm still going to be using my Midori every day! It's going to be more of a 'nice things journal' (It's hard to describe!)
I'm planning on using 3 notebooks in here because I find that's the perfect amount to fit in a Midori. I've decided to have:
     1) Hobbies/projects/goals journal- where I record what I've done in my hobbies etc
     2) Random nice lists notebook- maybe with some sketching and a bit of scrapbooking too
     3) Commonplace notebook- I already have this in my current Midori set-up
plus my credit card pocket insert and ziplock pocket insert.
Basically, this is going to be for nice things I want to keep and look at often. I'm not a daily journal person, but I like writing down nice things in list form (my preferred way of writing things, I have a very linear brain!) and looking back at them when I'm bored. I'm excited to use my Midori for this because it's a lovely notebook holder, and like I said, I'm rubbish at archiving, and if I did these on Filofax paper I'm sure I'd lose them! So I love that I can keep safe them in my Midori, and I can carry it around the house or pop in my handbag! I'll be using it everyday, writing in it, decorating it and reading it when I'm bored, and I love that it will be fun and pretty and self-reflective :)

I'll be making this up this weekend, and I'll do a blog post on it soon :D

Speak to you soonly!!

A5 Aqua Malden- Winner!!

Drum roll please...

And the winner is...

Natalyn Bradshaw!!!

She left this insightful comment: 

Open your planner every day. Even during those times when you feel stressed or feel like you don't have anything going on. When you get bogged down with life or stressful times and you don't feel motivated to use your planner, still use it. You can re-purpose it for a moment to write things or save things that are encouraging and uplifting, or write good memories that can help you regroup and re-focus. There are many great uses for a planner, not just for scheduling appointments.

This is such a perfect piece of advice for me, and I'm sure many others will find it useful too! I sometimes find it difficult to actually use my planner when I'm over-busy, or tired, grumpy, or feeling lazy! Or sometimes I feel like I just don't have anything to write in it! So this advice is great, and will help me use my planner more, and better!

I love this comment, but random.org picked her too!

Thanks to everyone who entered! You left loads of inspiring and useful tips, which I'm sure will be really helpful to loads of people! I'll definitely be using lots of them to help make me more productive! Thanks for taking part!!

Competition!!! A5 Aqua Malden! CLOSED

Hiiii!!!

Today I have a very special post for you... I'm launching a COMPETITION!!!


In yesterday's post, I told you all about my A5 Aqua Malden!! They are now for sale at www.filofax.co.uk in Pocket, Personal and A5!

Pocket

             Personal          

                                                                             A5


If you read my post Introduction to my A5 Aqua Malden... you'll know that I accidentally got sent two A5 Aqua Maldens from Filofax UK!
I've been in contact with Filofax, who have agreed that I could give away one of them as the prize in a competition!

*** COMPETITION!!! ***

So today I'm giving you the chance to win this gorgeous Filofax!!

The A5 Aqua Malden is made of antiqued buffalo leather, has 2 pen loops, 30mm rings, on the left a zip pocket, 3 credit card pockets and 3 larger pockets and a full length slip pocket, and on the right a notepad pocket. The A5 Malden is worth £105!

The binder you would receive if you win is the one you can see me unboxing in this video!

To enter:

Leave a comment on this blog post to answer this question:

What is your best piece of organisation/time management advice for using your Filofax personal organiser?

Rules:

• The competition runs from 1st August 2013 (today) to 15th August 2013.
• 1 entry per person. Any additional entries will be ignored and won't count.
• This competition is open worldwide.
• If you would like your piece of advice to be featured on Filofax's Facebook or Twitter page in their organisation advice series, please write (Yes) at the end of your comment. If you DON'T want your piece of advice to be featured, write (No) at the end of your comment. Filofax and Ideas Network have the right to choose which Filofax tips they wish to post on Facebook and/or Twitter, and may not publish all of them. 

Good luck!

Introduction to my A5 Aqua Malden... with an interesting twist!!

Hi guys!!

If you are part of the Facebook Philofaxy group, or if you've watched my unboxing video on youtube, you will have seen my A5 Aqua Malden! If you haven't, there are lots of juicy photos here!!

I think this one's really special because I believe it's the first Aqua Malden to be released in the UK- read below why!

Since I learned last year that Filofax were going to be making an Aqua Malden, I knew I had to have it! I love the Malden range, and in the past I've had quite a few, although my collection has decreased a lot recently! How would I get my hands on one? :)
    For the last few months I have been in contact with some people from Filofax UK about replacing a couple of faulty Filofaxes. I swapped one for my A5 Wine Holborn I picked up from the Filofax shop in March at the Philofaxy meet-up! I asked for the replacement for the other faulty Filofax to be the Aqua Malden, and they said they would send me one as soon as they are released! The original release date was mid-June, but in the end it was delayed until 24th July. I heard from Margaret Rennie at Write at Home that she would be sending her stock to their new owners (bought through pre-order) on the 24th, so I guessed mine would be sent from Filofax HQ then. Actually, it was sent from Filofax HQ early, even earlier than the retailers were allowed to dispatch theirs, so I guess I was the first person to receive an Aqua Malden! The post man came earlier than I thought, at lunch time on the 24th... the only time that week that no-one had been at home!!
    I had received one of the dreaded "You were out" cards from the post man! My long awaited-for Filofax had been sent to a local Post Office! And, even worse, it said I had to wait 24 hours to pick up my parcel!! Well, I couldn't wait, knowing it was only a few streets away!!! I phoned up the post office, and the lovely lady there said I could pick it up that afternoon!!! I walked there with my dad and my dog, and finally the box was in my hands!!!!
    I knew you guys were as excited as me to see an Aqua Malden, so I filmed an unboxing video...

And loaded lots of photos onto the facebook Philofaxy group!!

I got lots of comments, questions and likes! Most people said it was lovely and they couldn't wait to get theirs, some people said they actually didn't like it now they've seen one, lots of people saying the creases are too wrinkly, and some comments on the colour!

The colour is very difficult to capture on camera! It looks MUCH bluer on the camera/monitor than it does in person! Actually, I would describe the true colour to be a spearmint or jade green!

Closer to the true colour, although this photo doesn't show the depth of the colour.

We had to bribe Chloe to take this photo, by putting cat biscuits on top on my Filofax!

That evening I set up my Aqua Malden by moving the contents of my A5 Raspberry Chameleon over. Fortunately, the dividers match perfectly!
I was busy at work last week, so I wasn't able to play with it much :( But then on Friday (2 days after I received the Filofax), I got an interesting email from someone at Filofax with whom I have been in contact...

"Further to my recent email I am pleased to advise you that 

we have today sent you an A5 Malden aqua organiser by  

Royal Mail Recorded Signed For delivery."

At first I was confused, and then I laughed... they had accidentally sent me 2!! I had been in contact with 1 person about my replacement Filofaxes, and then I think my case was handed over to a second person, who didn't realise that the first person had already placed an order for an Aqua Malden, so she unknowingly sent a 2nd one!
I knew I would have to reply and send one back, but I realised something... when I received the 2nd one, I could open it up and compare the two Filofaxes, and keep the one I preferred and send the other one back! The leather on Maldens tends to vary between different binders- some are more crinkly, some are smoother- so I was glad I had the opportunity to compare them!

When the 2nd Aqua Malden arrived, I was pleasantly surprised!

1st Malden on the left, 2nd Malden on the right!


The 2nd Aqua Malden is much smoother than the 1st! Everyone on facebook agreed how much better the 2nd Malden looks!!


I'm happily setting up my Aqua Malden, adding new sections and striving to improve my time management and organisation techniques. As soon as I'm happy with the set-up I'll make a video and/or do a blog post!

So what will I do with the Malden I'm not keeping? Well, I was happy to send it back to Filofax, but I thought that I could ask them if they would let me keep it to give away as a prize in a competition on my blog... and they agreed!!! So TOMORROW I'll be launching my competition to win the A5 Aqua Malden!! Stay tuned!!!

July video update: My recent videos!

Hi guys!!

Sorry I've been neglecting my blog in the past few weeks, but I've been making some videos! Finally I bought myself a tripod for my camera!! Previously I tried to make videos using my webcam- poor sound quality- or my phone- very wobbly- so now I'm happy that I can make better quality and steadier videos!

Here are the videos I've made recently!


Artbox haul!

July set-up of my Filofax: A5 Raspberry Chameleon!

How to dissect a notebook for your Filofax (although this might be updated at some point!)

My set-up of the notebook/diary I use on-the-go/around the house!

And finally: Unboxing of my A5 Aqua Malden!

I will be telling you about my Aqua Malden in my next post on Wednesday :)

365/30 Filo Lists- August!

Here is August's 365/30 List!

Thanks so much to Jennifer who came to my rescue to write this list with very little notice!! :D

1)      Goals for the month

2)      List your favorite games to play

3)      List memorable things you did as a kid for a stranger

4)      List your guilty pleasures

5)      List pets you’ve had and their names

6)      What are 3 things most people probably don’t know about you

7)      What are 3 of your greatest fears

8)      What are the 3 best things about you

9)      What have been your fashion trends over the years

10)   List your most embarrassing moments or habits- how could you change/stop them?

11)   List desirable qualities to find in friends

12)   List miraculous or supernatural experiences you would love to have

13)   List cuisines to taste

14)   What are some things to be less lazy about

15)   What changes do you wish for the world?

16)   What are moments in music you will never forget?

17)   What are your favorite songs from the 70’s?

18)   List your favorite music videos

19)   What cities do you plan to visit?

20)   List the saddest songs in the world

21)   What performers would you bring back to life?

22)   What songs would you strip to?

23)   List the things you would save if your home was on fire?

24)   List the people from history you’d like to have a conversation with

25)   What were your biggest acts of kindness

26)   List the times you have had an audience

27)   List the things you like to do on your day off

28)   List the people you have lost contact with

29)   List people you dislike and one kind thing you would say to them

30)   List the things you wish you had a second chance to do

31)   Review of the month

Cute notebook and new video: How to dissect a notebook for your Filofax!!

Hiho!!


Today I found a really cute notebook in Waterstones and the pages are PERFECT to go in my novel-writing Filofax, my new A5 Patent Fuschia Original!

Photo: Amazon

Here's the amazon link with lots more photos! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Julia-Rothman-Typewriter-Eco-journal/dp/0811879453

It's A5 size, 100% recycled, really cute, and only £7.99, but even cheaper online! All of the pages are hand-drawn with really cute designs by an artist called Julia Rothman- you can see the individual pages in the photos on the amazon page.

I'm really into how-to and creative solution/hack videos at the moment, so I decided to share with you how I dissected this notebook to put inside my Filofax! Here is my video below! :)

How I organise Filofax videos in my Youtube playlists!

Hi guys!!


Today's post is how I organise my youtube playlists- mainly the Filofax ones!!


I love watching youtube videos! About fountain pen advice, Sims 3 house building and game tricks, scrapbooking techniques... and FILOFAXES!!! I watch them all the time, and in the last few months I've been watching them more and more, even instead of watching TV! I like to keep a 'collection' of the youtube videos I like- just like people collect matchbook cards or postage stamps, I like to add to my collection of videos! And it can all be done so easily nowadays with youtube, I don't have to have a bookcase full of homemade VHS video tapes!

From http://greencitizen.com/blog/?p=325

I use Youtube's playlist function to organise my videos. It isn't as customisable as I would like- I wish I could organise sections within each playlist, but this isn't possible. One day I might figure out a way to organise them better, or I might dedicate several pages to them in my Filofax, but for now I'm focussing on adding videos to my playlists rather than searching for a particular video, so at the moment I'm not concerned if they're not so organised within the playlist.

You can see some of my playlists here:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73oD0faPI1eI4uEFbE-GdQ/videos?view=1
You can't see all of them because several are private- e.g. the playlists I am currently sorting out and not ready to make public yet.
These are the playlists I have:
Public- Filofaxes, Filofaxes 2, Filofaxes 3, Crafting.
Private- Filofaxes Videos- to sort, Favourite videos (default youtube playlist)
Also: Watch Later list

I have playlists for my main hobbies- Filofaxes (obviously!!), and crafting- this is a new playlist, with only 14 videos in it, mainly scrapbooking techniques, but soon I will add videos about knitting, crochet and cross-stitch. I'm also thinking of making a playlist for fountain pens etc. Any videos I like which don't fit into these categories mainly go into my Favourite videos playlist.


Ok, now here's what I wanted to talk to you about: How I organise my Filofax videos!!!

I have 3 playlists of Filofax videos- Why? Because youtube limits each playlist to hold only 200 videos, so when that playlist fills up I have to make a new playlist. So in total, those 3 playlists hold... 590 Filofax videos and counting!!! Well, actually some of them are Midori Traveler's Notebook and Franklin Covey/Day Timer videos, but you get the point! These playlists are growing everyday and soon I'm going to have to make a 4th playlist! I made my playlists public so anyone can look at them and watch videos from them! :)

Links to my Filofax playlists:
'Filofaxes' playlist
'Filofaxes 2' playlist
'Filofaxes 3' playlist

How do I find and add so many videos?

I find most of my videos from Philofaxy Video Web Finds! Twice a week Steve posts a list of the most recent Filofax videos. He doesn't add some of them- vertical videos are a big no no!!...

... and he doesn't usually include many unboxing videos, hauls or decorating videos. Mainly he includes videos which you can learn something from, or which show you something you may not have seen before.
I also get links to videos from facebook and twitter, people's blog posts and suggested videos on youtube. Occasionally I search for 'Filofax' on youtube, arranging the search results by 'most recent' etc to make sure I haven't missed any new videos!

I click on each link and press the 'Watch Later' button at the bottom of each video. This adds the video to my 'Watch Later' list.

With all of these videos added to my Watch Later list (which can also only hold 200 videos, and they can quickly add up to this number!), I start watching them!! This is the fun part :) I love most Filofax videos, but I generally don't watch unboxing videos, because I already know what the Filofaxes look like from photos etc. I know some people like unboxing videos, it feels to them like they are unboxing a new filofax themselves, but as I have so many videos to watch, I have to narrow it down somehow! I also don't watch many hauls or RAK (Random Act of Kindness) videos, because most of these videos come from the US, and they have amazing craft shops over there with stationery bits I can't buy here, so I get really jealous!!

After I have finished watching a video, then I have to sort it into a playlist. If I know I haven't watched it before, I add it to my latest Filofax playlist. These playlists are my vaults for my Filofax videos!! :)

When I made my playlists a few months ago I added videos to them randomly, with no organisation. When I looked through them I realised I had dozens of duplicates- it took me hours to sort through and delete the duplicates! To ensure that I don't create any more duplicates within the playlists (and with 3 separate playlists, this is easy to do!), I have to take precautions- this is why I have my private playlist 'Filofax Videos- to sort' playlist. If I think I might have watched a video before (I watch so many it's hard to remember!), or if it's older than a couple of weeks, I add it to this playlist. When this playlist gets quite full (100 videos or more), I first sort through the playlist to make sure I don't have duplicates within it- I rearrange them by name or length etc, so that duplicates go together, and then delete any duplicates that I find. Then I open up my 3 Filofax playlists in different tabs on my internet browser, and do ctrl+f to search for the name of each video from my 'To Sort' playlist. If I find that I have a video in one of my playlists already, I delete it from my 'To Sort' playlist; if I find that I don't already have it in a playlist, I add it to my current Filofaxes playlists, then I delete it from the 'To Sort' playlist! It takes quite a long time to do this, but it's fine by me if it works in the end!! I love having my collection of Filofax videos!

So after a very long blog post, the moral to this story is...

I make these Filofax playlists so you don't have to!! Please feel free to use them as resources to watch Filofax videos!!

Follow the links I posted above and save them to your favourites in your web browser! :)

365/30 July list :)

Hi!! Here's the 365/30 list for July by Ingvill-Susann!!

1. Goal for this month?
2. Which goals did you accomplish for the previous month?
3. What are your long term goals for the next six months?
4. Best summer memories ever?
5. What were the #1 hits of the month (your birth month) in the year you was born?
6. Favorite things to do on a lazy sunny day?
7. Do you have a favorite poem or quote? Write it here!
8. If your life was a movie – who would play the roles of your closest family members (passed away or living)?
9. What would be the title of the movie?
10. 3 people you'd like to be stuck in a lift/elevator with?
11. Do you have a seasonal “dress-up” for your Filofax? Changing the dividers and such?
12. Favorite magazines to read this month?
13. Design YOUR perfect Filofax!
14. If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life… What would it be?
15. Name 3 things you believe in.
16. Today was prefect/crap because….?
17. Who were your childhood heroes?
18. Did something special happen on your way to work, school?
19. Name 3 things you absolutely can’t live without?
20. Breakfast today was….?
21. 3 favorite items of clothing?
22. Best way to spend your summer holidays
23. Favorite dishes/recipes
24. What freaks you out?
25. What should it be less of in this world?
26. What should it be more of in this world?
27. Today’s weather was? And the temperature was?
28. Favorite movies?
29. Favorite books to read?
30. Favorite night snacks?
31. Review of this month?

Giveaway!!!

Hi guys!!

I'm doing a giveaway on my youtube channel!!

Follow the link below to get to the video where I give you all of the instructions and show you the goodies you will get if you win!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oaVpYoY9kXU


Gooooood luck!!!!!

What's in my Filofax June 2013 :)

Today I made a video to show you 'What's in my Filofax' in June 2013 :)

It's a little bit different to my other 'What's in my filo' videos- in the past, these videos have been on my planner (day-to-day lists, diary, to-dos etc), but now I'm not using a Filofax as a planner; instead, I'm using my Midori Traveler's Notebook as my planner- see my new Midori video here! I am still using my filofaxes, but for different things, for example, my A5 Ochre Malden is my Egyptology research filo and my yellow Original A5 is my hieroglyphs and Egyptian language filo, but the Filofax I show in my video today is the only one I use on a daily basis- it's like my brain :)

This is my 'notebook' Filofax- but it's hard to explain, this filo is more than a 'notebook'. It does have a basic notebook section, but also specific sections for notes for projects; notes and lists for hobbies which I actively do throughout the week; and a 'storage' section for the lists and notes for lots of random things and hobbies which I don't need all the time. I'm also playing with keeping a DodoPad diary in here for planning out what I need to do in my projects and hobbies throughout the week!
I asked people on facebook what I could call it and some great suggestions included 'Genius Book', 'HQ' and 'Companion Book', but my favourite I think is 'Command Central', suggested by Lori, which is great because I can shorten it to CeeCee!!

Enjoy!! xx

Kawaii stationery and stickers ordering- Artbox and RikyandNina!!

Hi guys!!

I've had a bit of a frustrating evening, so I decided to cheer myself up by buying some things that I have been wanting for MONTHS but didn't feel like I could splurge on yet! Well, it was payday yesterday, and I have been saving up (i.e. not spending) lately, so I thought I deserved it :)
I bought things from Artbox and RikyandNina on Etsy :) I have never bought anything from either of these online before, although I've shopped in Artbox in London which was AMAZING, and I've heard very good things from RikyandNina, and they are based in Plymouth, which I'm excited about!!

Here's what I ordered :)

Artbox-

Hello Kitty stamp

This is a really cute stamp, which is self-inking- so no mess!!

Rilakkuma Deco Tape

Forest Rilakkuma and Picnic Rilakkuma
This is great tape, more plasticky than washi tape but really cute, and it's 25m long so I think it's excellent value for £1.60 per roll!

Korean diary deco stickers

I saw these in London but didn't look too closely at them so I didn't buy them, but now I see them in so many videos I really regret not buying them!

Fairy tale stickers :)



Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland! I also ordered Snow White but I can't find it on the website now, so I guess I bought the last pack!
I really love fairy tales at the moment as I'm watching Once Upon a Time, and these are so cute!!

Hello Kitty monkey sticky notes :)



I love this so much, there is also a blue panda version but I prefer the monkey. I think they are a bit expensive for what they are, just 50 sheets, but it's so cute... although I probably won't use many of them! I remember when there were other shapes, I wish I had bought them when they were in stock just for my collection!


RikyandNina on Etsy:

I filled my basket here and slowly emptied out the things I really shouldn't buy, because I didn't want my totals for Artbox and Etsy to exceed £30- so I only bought 2 things from here!

Cat stamps!

I love cats, and I actually prefer stamps to stickers as they will never run out!

Study girl Korean diary stickers



I love these as I'm a geek, and I'm always carrying a book!! :D


Voila!! I'll do a blog post or video as soon as my orders come in :D

365/30 Lists- June!!

Hellooooo!!

Here is June's 365/30 list for your delectation, courtesy of Jane (Butanben) of http://butanben.blogspot.co.uk/

1. Goals for the Month 
2. My good deeds of the day are/were………? 
3. My favourite poem is…………….? (Write it out!) 
4. My favourite periods in history are…………? 
5. The best gifts I ever gave were………..? 
6. The best gifts I ever received were…………..? 
7. Complete this phrase in less than 30 words. My life is……….?
8. The best sandwich fillings ever are………………?
9. The best Summer picnic location in the world must surely be……..? Which foods?
10. I am thankful for…………………….?
11. SIT STILL. STILL YOURSELF FOR 5 MINUTES. Calm and be-calm your chattering mind and let go of all else except this moment. Now ask….. if my soul were whispering to me now, it would be saying…………….?
12. My personal role models are……..?
13. My favourite flowers are….? If you can afford it treat yourself to a bunch today. If not download the loveliest photograph/painting of those flowers and pin that picture nearby, to give yourself a boost.
14. Today I am taking a blissful shining hour out of the day, just for me. I am going to……..
15. My earliest happy memory is………?
16. The best musicals of all time must surely be……?
17. The most comforting meal for me is………..? (Now make it today!)
18. A piece of music I always dance to is…….?
19. A piece of music I always sing along to is……..?
20. A piece of music which always relaxes and de- stresses me is……..?
21. One free thing I can do just for me today is……..?
22. My favourite things in my Filofax are….…?
23. Midsummer’s Day: My one mid-year resolution is……….? Whatever your one resolution… it is yours to know and stick to. Make it achievable 1 step at a time.
24. The best inventions by mankind, in my opinion are………?
25. My best qualities as a person are…………………..?
26. The best things about summer are………?
27. The biggest lesson life has taught me is……..?
28. My favourite piece of wisdom, or wise saying is……..?
29. My favourite Shakespearian quote of all time is………?
30. Review of the month!

Liebster Blog Award Nominations and my 5 favourite blogs!!

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award!
They are:
Clara at My Summer Touch
Angela at LiveLoveOrganize
Andrea at Little Life of Andrea
Mzelle at Mzelle's World
Ella at Nerdzilla
Joseph at Joseph David Quinton
Lori V at Purple is my Happy
Hetty at Hetty Stratton

I know you are supposed to answer the questions the nominators set, but that would be a lot of questions and I really don't like sharing personal things on the internet!
I haven't really been following the Liebster award thing, so I won't be sending out my own nominations, but here are my Top 5 favourite blogs/bloggers (and it was VERY difficult to narrow it  down to 5, there are a lot more blogs that I LOVE!!!)

Philofaxy- courtesy of Steve, Laurie, Nan and Anita
Plannerisms- Laurie
Crazy Suburban Mom- Tracy
Imysworld- Imy
Paperlovestory- Angela

New videos May 2013 :)

Hi everyone!

I've just uploaded a couple of videos to youtube! I filmed them on Friday but it has taken me ages to upload them!
The first video is to show you what I got for my birthday which was a few weeks ago!
The second video shows what I got in my swap from the lovely Tracy from http://www.crazysuburbanmom.com/, and also a few bits which I bought in Paperchase earlier this week!

Sorry I wasn't able to embed the videos into this post, but blogger wasn't behaving!

Video 1

Video 2

Enjoy!!

Review: Filofax 'The Original' A5 Yellow

Hi guys!
Another review for you all!!


I'd like to firstly say thank you to Jess from The Ideas Network for sending me this sample to review, and Steve for his support! P.S. All opinions are my own, and I wasn't paid to do this review!

It arrived in a box, wrapped in some lovely blue tissue paper, with a note. I must say I had already opened the package and unwrapped the Filofax, and then had to rush off to work, so I rewrapped it quickly- it was wrapped much more nicely than it is in this photo!!

I chose the 'Original Yellow' colour because I wanted something a bit different from all of my pink, red and brown Filofaxes! It is a lovely warm colour, very sunny!

The Filofax is wrapped in a plastic covering, as you can see above. This is a new type of Filofax cover which I haven't heard of for any other Filofax, and I don't know if Filofax intend to use this type of cover for all of their new Filofaxes, but I have to say I prefer the traditional boxes. I understand that this cover means that the Filofax can be handled in a shop without the leather being touched too much by people's hands, but I think that if this is the only cover being used to protect the Filofax when posted to you from Filofax directly or by Filofax online stockists, it wouldn't protect the Filofax and the ring mechanism as much as the traditional box!

With the cover off, the leather is gorgeous! It is very smooth and supple, a lot more so than I thought it would be, as I expected it to be stiff, similar to the Domino! There is no cardboard type 'stuffing' inside the leather as there is in other Filofax- just 100% leather! In fact, the leather is made by The Leather Satchel Company, a UK satchel company, so you know if should be great quality leather! You could even get a satchel to match your Original Filofax!
I'm excited by the fact that this Filofax was made in the UK, where the majority of Filofaxes were made in their heyday in the 1980s and 1990s! This is something people have been asking for for a while, so Filofax UK is listening to us, on this and a number of other features I'll talk about later.

The leather is so supple that this Filofax lays perfectly flat... not only that, but...

... it practically bends back on itself without any effort!

The Outside:

I think The Original binder has clean, classic looks. There is definitely a close resemblance between this style and the older Filofax binders of the 1980s and early 1990s, with the simple design, small clasp and button popper, as it is supposed to look like, being called 'The Original'! Many Filofax users love the 'vintage' binders of Filofax's heyday, and I think Filofax are trying to recreate that style to meet their users' desires. I hope that the quality of The Original is as good as the vintage binders!

I really like the button/popper- it has a very classic but cute design, and gold writing, which is a lovely touch to an otherwise plain exterior.

Down the spine you can see the rivets of the ring mechanism, similar to on the Domino.

The Interior:

I think this is the most controversial topic about this Filofax among the Philofaxy community. Many people haven't been impressed by the interior pocket layout, and I have to say I agree with them.

On the front inside cover, there are only two card slots- these are not pockets, because the card goes straight through to the underside of the yellow strip of leather, there's no fabric or leather lining or pocket that the card would sit in.
The elastic band in the middle is divided into three, with two pen loops and a wider 'loop' that is designed for a phone or something similar. In several of their products, Filofax is trying to sell to technology lovers by encouraging smartphone and tablet users to also use their paper products by making it possible to integrate their phone or iPad within a ring binder organiser, such as in the Pennybridge ipad case with ring binder attachment, or this strip in The Original to hold your phone. I'm not sure how effective this elastic strip is- once you insert your phone, you will have a big strip of elastic over your phone's screen/keyboard, so this feature must be designed for phone storage rather than being able to use the phone while in this holder. Also, I tried to insert my Samsung Galaxy S2 phone into the elastic band, but it wouldn't fit, as my phone is quite wide at 7cm, and trying to do this left the elastic almost out of shape- so I think this strap is designed for a narrower phone like the iPhone.
The placement of the pen 'loops' isn't well designed, in my opinion, as the loop on the left is too far inside the binder and the pen pushes down on the divider tabs when the divider is closed, and when a pen is in the right loop, it sits against the middle of the pages and creates a lump, which is especially annoying if trying to write on the left-hand pages when the pen is still in the loop. Moreover, it is difficult to get any cards out of the slots when a pen is in the right loop.

I love this stamped area, which also attests to being 'Made in the UK'.

The layout of the interior back cover is simple, with two slots into which the cover of a 'jot pad' can be slotted. There are two slots, so theoretically you can use the binder upside-down, with the pad on the left for left-handed users, as with the Domino. The slots aren't big enough for to insert a traditional A5 notepad that most A5 Filofaxes come with, however, with some cutting down of the backing card of this A5 notepad, it would be possible to insert an A5 pad!
There's no zip pocket on this Filofax, however in the inserts of this binder, Filofax have included a zip-lock pocket insert.

The cover of this Filofax is 100% leather, and besides the pocket area of the interior, the remainder of the interior is made up of the very smooth underside of the satchel leather. The photo above shows some marks in the leather of this binder, which are barely noticeable!

The ring mechanism on this binder isn't too bad, the 2nd and 3rd rings don't come together completely, but they don't snag on the paper, which is the important thing. I do wonder how the plastic cover will really protect the ring mechanism of The Original binder during transit and shipping!

The Inserts:

There are some very interesting inserts in this Filofax!

The first insert is the flyleaf, which on first glance looks like it has this partial Union Flag design on it, but on closer look it's a plain, regular flyleaf, with the Flag design printed onto paper underneath it.

The dividers are 1-6 blue and green dividers, similar to the ones available in the Chameleon range. Interestingly, there are no A-Z dividers in this Filofax.

The paper inserts in this Filofax are different than inserts available in previous organisers.

The organiser comes with lined white paper, which I suppose is intended to make up for the lack of the lined white notepad. Additionally, they have provided sheets of gridded paper- interestingly, this isn't squared paper like normal, but rectangles! The Filofax also comes with plain paper inserts.

The coloured paper inserts provided are three colours- dark blue, green and pink. I've never seen green coloured A5 paper made by Filofax before, so this is new! In fact, all of the inserts in this Filofax are dated 2013, so they are all new; Filofax isn't just using up its old stock, but making new inserts for us!

The To Do and Contacts pages are white, but are based on the design of the cotton cream personal pages. Members of the Philofaxy community have been asking for cotton cream inserts for the A5 size for ages, because the cotton cream paper is much better quality, and the layout of the cotton cream for personal size diaries are generally better designed than the white diary inserts.

The diary inserts provided in this Filofax are the WO2P horizontal 2013 July to December multilanguage format, and the 2014 WO2P vertical format. It's nice that Filofax would provide 18 months of diary, but I think it's a little strange that they provide two different types of diary! 

The vertical format is based on the cotton cream format with its fonts and non-capitalisation of the names of the days, again on white paper, which is interesting! I've tested this paper briefly with some inky fountain pens, and I must say that, on first look, it looks like it handles ink much better than existing white Filofax paper! I will be doing more paper tests on the inserts provided in this Filofax in another blog post. I would say that Filofax have been listening and trying to carry out Filofax users' wishes for future inserts!

I'm quite pleased that the Filofax comes with a frosted ruler and an ziplock pocket insert. Until recently, I had never seen a frosted ruler for A5, and had to buy two of them in the Conduit Street store because I had never seen them for sale anywhere else. Many people have complained that the black rulers that are typically provided with Filofaxes are annoying because they get in the way and you can't see through them, so it's great that Filofax have started to provide this ruler as standard! It does seem like Filofax are listening to their customers! Also I've never used a Filofax brand ziplock pocket, and as there is no zip pocket in the Filofax itself, it's a great touch that Filofax have provided one in here.

All in all, I really like The Original Filofax Organiser! Filofax have tried hard to listen to their customers and make positive changes, such as manufacturing this Filofax in the UK, using 100% quality leather, and making improvements to their inserts and the accessories they provide with it!

Thanks again to Jess for providing me with this sample of The Original!