Wednesday 31 July 2013

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!!!

Tuesday 30 July 2013

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 :)

Sunday 28 July 2013

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

Monday 22 July 2013

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! :)


Sunday 7 July 2013

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!


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! :)