tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26526015584520512272024-03-14T03:35:40.213+00:00The Life of The Perpetual StudentThis blog is about being a student, and being organised, and hopefully being an organised student!KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.comBlogger180125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-83743196543522373812014-07-22T21:29:00.003+01:002014-07-22T21:29:56.928+01:00New planner... new chapter in your life?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm a great believer in improving yourself. Learning new things, improving your skills, changing your habits for the better.<br />
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It's best to start these things ASAP, so that the improvement kicks in soon. But I used to find myself thinking, "Oh, I'll do it that way next time." Next time WHAT? In my next life? When I'm reincarnated?? (Something I personally don't believe in).<br />
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I do think of my life as divided into chapters. I guess it comes from moving around the country so much- you can easily leave your old life behind, and kind of reinvent yourself in the new place, as no-one knows you there- so it's a new life, effectively. I think my life can be divided into chapters- Childhood, Studenthood, Adulthood, Parenthood, Retireehood... So I guess my "next time" is in the next chapters of my life, established adulthood and parenthood. Although, now I realise I need to seize the moment and improve myself now.<br />
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Anyway, today I was thinking about needing to improve the way I do certain things, and I found myself thinking, "I'll do it soon", which felt exactly like I was saying "I'll do it next time", as though a new chapter in my life is starting (which it isn't)... but it kind of feels like it is.<br />
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Why? Because I'm about to switch to a new planner. These things I want to do, which should improve aspects of my life considerably, involve quite a degree of planning, and I can't plan these things in my current planner (it's just not a flexible enough system to plan them). Therefore, I feel as though when this new planner arrives in a few weeks, it will suddenly open up a whole new world of planning ability.<br />
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It's as though an entirely new planner system enables you to make such a distinct change in planning your life, which enables you organise and improve your life considerably, that it feels like getting a new planner starts a <b>new chapter in your life. </b>Because you <b>know</b> that this will be the start of your new, productive, well-organised daily life. All hail the new planner feeling.<br />
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-53203237289756834862014-07-11T21:40:00.000+01:002014-07-11T22:39:41.494+01:00A discussion on journalling and creativity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Recently on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/132642456932203/">Midori Traveler's Notebook Resources</a> Facebook group, <a href="http://rhomany.org.uk/">Rhomany</a> made a post regarding 'Journalling Inspiration for 'I'm Not Creative' People', which I would like to share and reply to today :)<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 28px;"> </span><br />
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Here is the text:<br />
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"I want to share this because since so many people consider their MTN a journal, I think it's important to gain perspective of what you want from your journal and what you can achieve. </div>
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So many people say they're not creative enough to have a perfect journal and blah blah blah. 3 things:</div>
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<b>1. Perfection is BORING. You hit perfection, you stop learning. You stop learning, you don't grow, so you become stagnant. And did I mention boring.</b></div>
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<b>2. Creativity is not some innate thing like having blonde hair. It's a SKILL and it's a skill you can LEARN.</b></div>
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<b>3. It's just paper. There's more in the shops!</b></div>
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For anyone who doubts this, go check out Courtney Brook's amazing 'Journal Keeper' series on YouTube. You can see the transformation over just a couple of years from mostly writing to the incredible stuff she does now.</div>
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It's proof positive that all you need is patience. Not the perfect book, or lovely handwriting (I happen to love hers but she hates it!), not all the expensive materials or hours a day to pursue your art. Just you, your book and a determination to DO IT, regardless of where you consider yourself to be on the ladder of who's better than who - which is also ridiculous but that's a whole other post.</div>
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<b>The Journal Keeper:</b></div>
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<li>Part 1 - <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2F1gxlF6XdarI&h=dAQGCzhrn&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/1gxlF6XdarI</a></li>
<li>Part 2 - <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2Fbiq9fK25TFM&h=WAQGgwzzQ&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/biq9fK25TFM</a></li>
<li>Part 3 - <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2Fxufy5UOU7oo&h=yAQH8LAlq&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/xufy5UOU7oo</a></li>
<li>Part 4 - <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FczRzOtgqYvk&h=XAQHICWwp&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/czRzOtgqYvk</a>"</li>
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In the comments below the post Rhomany asked me to share my views as in the past 6 months or so I have gone on <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 28px;">a 'journalling journey', changing my perceptions and views of what a journal is supposed to be. I wanted to add some some statements to Rhomany's. So here is my reply! I would like to divide it into two parts: 1) Journalling and 2) Creativity</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 28px;"><b>Journalling</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 28px;">Here, in this video, you can see how my perceptions of diaries/journals have changed over time, as I used to think journalling was only of the 'Dear Diary' type, and why it has therefore been hard to get my head around different types of journalling.</span><br />
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Now I understand that there are innumerable different types of journals, from the what-happened-today ones, emotional ones, bullet journals, art journals, one for a specific area of your life, etc etc. But also, people call their notebook a 'journal', as if you write a lot down everyday, after a while your notebook can reflect the journey of your life and you can see your thoughts, passions, ideas, projects, obsessions and emotions. From those journals I have seen online, I can see that they are all different. And this is the point of today's post.<br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyone's journals are different. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your life and skills are unique; so d</span><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">on't compare your journal (or planner) to others'; but do draw inspiration from them.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no right, and no wrong.</span></div>
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Just looking at some photos, or watching a youtube video, it's so easy to see someone else's journal and think that it's beautiful, interesting, cool. And then, looking at your own journal, or notebook, or planner, seeing it everyday, maybe getting bored of seeing the same page layout or handwriting or something, and overanalysing what you see, it's so easy to think that other people's journals are MORE beautiful and MORE interesting than yours, and that yours 'should' look this way. And then when you try to make your journal look exactly the same, it usually won't, because you don't have the same creative skills etc. It is so easy to criticise your own journal because it doesn't look 'perfect'.</div>
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There's no easy solution, but maybe I can suggest that you stop looking at other people's photos or videos of their journals until you are comfortable, or even happy, with your own style. But, if like me you really enjoy watching videos etc, you think of these as inspiration, take note of ideas to implement in your journal- maybe try a different handwriting style, draw some doodles, stick in some photos, or go all out and decorate every page. But do it your way, and develop your own creative skills.</div>
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<b>Creativity</b></div>
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Creativity is unique to the individual, and you have some, even if you don't realise it! You just have to find it. There are many different types. Here are a couple of the main ones I have seen expressed in the journals I have seen: Art and Writing. Some people are excellent at drawing/sketching/painting. Some people's skills lie in choosing the perfect colour combinations and putting down a gorgeous arrangement of ephemera on the page. Some just splash colour on the page and write over it, and it looks brilliant. But others have skills in writing; reflecting their thoughts, notes, or literature on paper. In my opinion, this is as much a creative skill as art. But most of us don't have these skills naturally.</div>
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Embrace the creativity that you are good at; but at the same time practice the skills you want to become good at. Don't compare yourself to others; if you are just starting out at a new creative hobby, these people probably have dozens of hours of practice more than you, and may be more naturally skilled than you are to start with. So don't compare yourself to them.</div>
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And as Rhomany says, it doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, it just has to be YOURS.</div>
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-31672542552206858972014-06-22T14:52:00.000+01:002014-06-22T14:52:12.444+01:00The Filofax Want-Need-Buy-Dismiss Cycle and how to break it.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi guys!<br />
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Sorry I've had an unplanned blog hiatus, but I just couldn't think of anything to write about!<br />
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Anyway, this one started out as a post on the Facebook Midori TN Resources group, but it was so long I decided to make it into an actual blog post!!<br />
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When I started out in the Philofaxy community over 3 years ago, I was caught up in the 'I need to buy X Filofax because it will change my life'. Nearly everyone in that community goes through a stage when they think that buying a particular Filofax with a different pocket layout etc will solve all of their organisational problems, because they think that their life wasn't perfect when they were using their previous Filofax, and everything will change now with a different one. Looking back a few years later, I see how silly this stage of my Filofax voyage was. OK, some binder changes will help- upsizing or downsizing as best suits your needs, or getting one with bigger or smaller rings- these changes are practical and sensible. But really all a binder is is 2 sides of a cover and a set of rings. What they look like and how their pockets are set out shouldn't change how you enable the key purpose of a Filofax- to organise your life- and that happens on the rings with your organisational set up. Really, all we need is something as simple as a cardboard or plastic cover and a decent set of rings. Then set up the actual pages and sections as YOU need. But it's easy to get caught up in this whirlwind of planner buying, and thinking a new one will change your life is part of a largely unavoidable cycle; after a few weeks or a couple of months, if the user's life hasn't miraculously improved, they think it's the binder's fault and look for yet another one with a different pocket layout etc, thinking that will solve all of their problems. It's so easy to forget that with all of the binder configurations out there, it's more important to work on the inside set-up of your sections etc and how you use them, than to worry about the actual binder they're in! You could spend £10 or £300, but really, it's what's inside (i.e. the set-up) that counts.<br />
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Since I've been using my Midoris and Fauxdoris I've found planner peace. The beauty of Midori Traveler's Notebooks and Fauxdoris is that they're so simple. Because they all (well, most) start out as only a rectangle of leather and some elastics- no pockets, no zips- it really is up to you how you customise it to your own needs. There's no need to buy another one because this one doesn't have the pockets you need, because you can just buy the Midori pocket inserts, or make your own file folder insert. In a Filofax, if you want something with the Holborn pocket layout, you have to buy a Holborn. In a -dori, all you have to do is make a folder insert with the same pocket configuration out of an old file folder. I did it last night for my new A5 one; it took me a couple of hours and cost 80p for the file folder, instead of £70 for a new Filofax. It's so easy to make things yourself that it is possible to customise your -dori almost to perfection. No need to buy a brand new one because your current one isn't working, just modify the insides to your needs. And because they are all basically the same, you don't think 'this rectangle of leather with elastic bands isn't working for me, I need to buy another rectangle of leather with elastic bands to change my life'. There just isn't the same market out there with all of the options like there is in the binder market, so if you want your -dori to be a certain way, you are forced (in a good way) to do it yourself. This helps you achieve planner peace on the superficial level (i.e. the 'pockets and pen loops' level) so much quicker, and in a way so much more perfect for YOU, because the Midoris and Fauxdoris are simple objects with the ability to be moulded to your life. OK, there are some fauxdoris made with custom options, like ones with different elastic configurations and ones with pockets built in, but in essence the majority are the same, they are just made with superficial changes like a different colour leather. Unlike the buying binders frenzy of the Philofaxy world, the only way that I can think that buying a new one would improve the way you plan and organise your life is that getting one in your favourite colour would make you use it more, or buying (or making) one with 4 elastics instead of 2 would let you fit more books in, enabling you to fit everything you need in there. So once you have customised all of the pockets etc to your needs, you can stop worrying about it, and get on with the important thing: creating a set-up that is ideal for your life and helps you stay organised. Instead of the stress of thinking "I need to buy a different binder", you now have the focus and concentration to perfect your set-up, and find planner peace.<br />
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I'm not trying to say that Midoris are better than Filofaxes, or trying to insult the Philofaxy community. I love this world, and the Philofaxy community is full of wonderful, helpful people. It's just that I recently read a post by someone who I know is still going through all of this stress with trying to find the perfect binder even years after she started looking, and I wanted to write something that could maybe help some people realise the binder isn't the important thing, it's literally what's inside that counts. I've used Filofaxes and Midoris as my two examples, but you could say the same thing about other types of planners too. I'm not saying you need to buy a Midori or Fauxdori to find planner peace; you can do this with the planner you already have. Basically, for a couple of months, try this experiment. Sit down and really think of what you really need from a planner. Pick up the planner you are currently using. Does it have the pockets you need? No? Well, get some card and make a pocket insert that sits on your rings. Does it have a second pen loop that you need? No? Make one out of washi tape or duct tape and stick it on to a divider. Make other modifications as you need. Now it has everything you need on a superficial and practical level, you can give out a sigh of relief and concentrate on your set-up. Then, just USE it. If ,after a couple of months, you still really need something with different pockets, consider buying it. But hopefully this experiment will help to break the want-need-buy-dismiss cycle.</div>
KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-47363466708612750112014-01-18T12:50:00.000+00:002014-01-18T12:50:49.499+00:00Waffle about my A5 Fauxdori for hobbies and my Midori TN planner!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This blog post is dedicated to my friends over at the facebook<span style="color: magenta;"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/132642456932203/"><span style="color: magenta;">Midori Traveler's Notebook Resources group!</span></a></span><br />
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I'm very happily using my Midori Traveler's Notebook as my planner! It contains a diary (calendar) of 12 months of WO2P and MO2P spliced, an Organisation insert for my 'Current' lists and other lists (to-dos etc), and my journal. Here's my January MTN video if you want more info on my set-up!<br />
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I'm still using my Filofaxes for some key things: my Egyptology research (A5 Ochre Malden) and my Art Journal (I'll switch between my A5 Aqua Malden and A5 Espresso Siena). I think I'll also use my Mulberry Agenda to store my important information in the A-Z dividers, and my compact Raspberry Chameleon as my craft/art inventory so when I go shopping I don't buy duplicates of what I already have!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOZlaMg8UmzIH2dmIAFlqsFTzN61z1VGSdyvZYA8eTpyV4fe76uNdkZBTukdPOmvzt6tKVNaaVLYepQ_66fNIuDxylNTR3DcgVOlwChhv88t5WU4Ifrma1qPAvQjsNt1QtI9AwSIaWDEA/s1600/20140118_123252.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOZlaMg8UmzIH2dmIAFlqsFTzN61z1VGSdyvZYA8eTpyV4fe76uNdkZBTukdPOmvzt6tKVNaaVLYepQ_66fNIuDxylNTR3DcgVOlwChhv88t5WU4Ifrma1qPAvQjsNt1QtI9AwSIaWDEA/s1600/20140118_123252.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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However, I have Filofaxes that have purposes for my other hobbies, but since I've been working full-time, I don't have the free time to do all of these hobbies, and I've found that I haven't been using these Filofaxes. I feel a bit of regret that those Filofaxes are sitting on the shelf not being touched for weeks or months, or in some cases, completely empty, because although I know what I want to use them for, I haven't set them up yet after a year! The problem is that I don't have the time or energy to do all of these hobbies, such as researching Tudor history, or if I do find the time to do them, I don't have enough to put in these Filos (maybe a few pages of writing per week) to justify using a whole Filofax for each of them.<br />
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Also, another problem is that these Filofaxes are 'stored' on my shelf, and I don't carry them around the house with me. Over the past few weeks when I've been using my notebook (an A5 Oxford Signature notebook, just for random notes, lists, etc- see <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xizYiQYnKvQ"><span style="color: magenta;">this video</span></a>), I've noticed that I've been using it all the time because I've been carrying it around the house everywhere!! So I really need to use something for my hobbies that has everything in one cover, and that I can carry around the house everywhere! True, I could use a Filofax with different sections for each hobby, but you guys know how paranoid I am about damaging my Filos, and I <b>really</b> love the Midori TN format- so I'm going to use an A5 Fauxdori instead!<br />
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A Fauxdori is like a Midori TN, but not made by Midori- it's a 'fake' (in the good sense of the word), made by a crafter for sale (e.g. <a href="http://www.mylifeallinoneplace.com/"><span style="color: magenta;">Ray Blake</span></a>'s 'Raydori', <a href="http://en.dawanda.com/shop/MorganLeFaesTrinkets"><span style="color: magenta;">Monique</span></a>, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/molsmum"><span style="color: magenta;">Tracy</span></a>) or by yourself- there are some great tutorials on Youtube, for example <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCYAnmQnn6w&list=PLIM4U1_y1bQfBwLrvRqBHO7wWHDaAfLYM&index=3"><span style="color: magenta;">this one</span></a> by Ray.<br />
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I intend to set up an A5 Fauxdori for all of these hobby things etc. I want to buy a leather one eventually, but I can't decide which colour to choose, so I'm going to use some stiffened felt to make one in the meantime while I decide. I want it to be A5 because that's my ideal size; while I have a couple of Raydoris I could use instead, these are based on Midori standard size, and I really want the width of the A5 page. I haven't figured out the set-up yet, but I think I'm going to put in my A5 Oxford notebook, and make my own A5 thin notebooks out of A4 paper! I've already made some pocket inserts for it during my tutorial in this Youtube video:<br />
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I'll make a video, and possibly write a blog post, when I've finished setting it up!<br />
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Therefore this fauxdori is going to be my fun-dori! It will be for my hobbies, fun projects, sketching, etc etc. I will play with it and use it in the evenings and during the weekends after I've done my chores, to-dos, and finished getting prepared for work the next day (e.g. making my packed lunch).<br />
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<span style="color: purple;">But you may be asking, why can't I have this hobby stuff inside the Midori I also use as my planner?</span><br />
Firstly, I will be writing so much in this fauxdori, I'd run through a 64 page insert in a couple of weeks (I write a lot), and also I wouldn't be able to hold any information in there for long-term! But mainly, I know I need to keep them separate.<br />
My planner is great for keeping myself organised, and I love playing with it, using it, and just looking at its gorgeousness during the morning, while travelling to and from work on the bus and during my lunch break (when I subconsciously feel the need to be organised), but during the evening, when I'm trying to feel relaxed and do fun things, I don't actually like opening it that much! I realised that's because when I'm trying to relax, I subconsciously don't want to look at something that has a big list of Things I Must Do- for a while, I was annoyed and disappointed that I never looked at my Midori planner when I'm at home, but now I know why, I know it's ok as long as I've memorised my to-dos and get them done, and write down any more to-dos I think, I'm allowed to leave my Midori on my bed or desk to use the next morning, and just pick up my fauxdori and have fun and relax!</div>
KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-20997666217794931542013-12-02T13:32:00.000+00:002013-12-02T14:00:54.673+00:00December update! Philofaxy Meet-up and Planners- Midori TN and Filofax!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi guys!! Long time no see!!<br />
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I've not posted for 3 months, I'm sorry about that!<br />
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!<br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Philofaxy meet-up!!</span></div>
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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!!!<br />
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!!<br />
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!<br />
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!!!<br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Planner update!</span></div>
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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!<br />
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<span style="color: magenta;"> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xBJX27W82s"><b>here</b></a></span>) 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!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1186294_10151918459131273_1676873701_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1186294_10151918459131273_1676873701_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Midori on my messy desk a couple of months ago</td></tr>
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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...<br />
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.<br />
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!<br />
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!<br />
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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! :)</div>
KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-45277704087069771312013-09-02T22:34:00.000+01:002013-09-02T22:34:30.091+01:00Task Prioritisation System 1.0<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi guys!<br />
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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!<br />
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<b>Task Prioritisation System 1.0 </b><br />
(It's only a coincidence that it matches my internet handle's initials 'TPS'!!)<br />
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Basically it's a system to prioritise tasks and keep them in perspective, for time management and organisation.<br />
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:<br />
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<li><span style="color: #0b5394;">Now, Important/Urgent</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394;">Now, Un</span><span style="color: #0b5394;">important</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394;">Ongoing, Important</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394;">Ongoing, Unimportant</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394;">Not now/Later, Important</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394;">Not now/Later, Unimportant</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394;">Other, Important</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394;">Other, Unimportant</span></li>
</ul>
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*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.</div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Step 1-</span></div>
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Basically, you<b> file</b> all of your tasks under one of these sections, by deciding how important it is and when it needs to be started/be done!</div>
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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.</div>
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Here are some examples:</div>
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Find a job- Now, Important!!</div>
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Organise my bedroom- Ongoing (because it won't be done in one day), Important (because it needs doing!)</div>
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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)</div>
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Things on my Someday/Maybe list- go into the Not now/Later, Unimportant section</div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;">Step 2-</span></div>
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<b>Schedule</b> these tasks into your diary/calendar/planner.</div>
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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 --></div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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).</div>
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Pheww!! I hope you guys followed that!</div>
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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! </div>
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Anyway, let me know what you think of the system :)</div>
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-47858357722366449032013-08-30T18:40:00.001+01:002013-08-30T19:51:00.126+01:00How I'm using my Midori Traveler's Notebook!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi guys!<br />
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Today's post is all about my Midori Traveler's Notebook!<br />
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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 <a href="http://mylifeallinoneplace.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="color: magenta;">My Life All in One Place</span></a>!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyydcaovwH9hf57taTE7ncgIqmyFEAwNgdglMJ4GPlIReSSRK6sTDS01e4AyZHfRhRcb7j4QrYWXzwPXn_vnKKar_iYYie_G7ml4QE2Tjnxp7ivD3vYeXj8973ah9Q9418hsApa4F9s1E/s1600/20130830_183854.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyydcaovwH9hf57taTE7ncgIqmyFEAwNgdglMJ4GPlIReSSRK6sTDS01e4AyZHfRhRcb7j4QrYWXzwPXn_vnKKar_iYYie_G7ml4QE2Tjnxp7ivD3vYeXj8973ah9Q9418hsApa4F9s1E/s320/20130830_183854.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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L-R: Maru, Mido, and my Raydori</div>
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In this video, I show you the set-up of my Midori for August 2013...<br />
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... before I change it all up again!!<br />
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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!<br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79;"><u>So why am I changing my set-up?</u></span><br />
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Well, actually, I'm changing quite a bit in my planning system tools.<br />
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<br />
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 :)<br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79;"><u>What will I be using my Midori for?</u></span><br />
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><u><br /></u></span>
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!)<br />
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:<br />
1) Hobbies/projects/goals journal- where I record what I've done in my hobbies etc<br />
2) Random nice lists notebook- maybe with some sketching and a bit of scrapbooking too<br />
3) Commonplace notebook- I already have this in my current Midori set-up<br />
plus my credit card pocket insert and ziplock pocket insert.<br />
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 :)<br />
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I'll be making this up this weekend, and I'll do a blog post on it soon :D<br />
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Speak to you soonly!!<br />
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-65598397401987320742013-08-16T02:38:00.000+01:002013-08-16T02:39:07.053+01:00A5 Aqua Malden- Winner!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Drum roll please...<br />
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<i>And the winner is...</i></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;">Natalyn Bradshaw!!!</span></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
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She left this insightful comment: </div>
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<span style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">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.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div>
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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!</div>
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I love this comment, but random.org picked her too!</div>
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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!!</div>
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-60837757594915769752013-08-01T08:00:00.000+01:002013-08-16T02:34:21.689+01:00Competition!!! A5 Aqua Malden! CLOSED<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hiiii!!!<br />
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Today I have a very special post for you... I'm launching a COMPETITION!!!<br />
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In <a href="http://thelifeoftheperpetualstudent.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/introduction-to-my-a5-aqua-malden-with.html"><span style="color: magenta;">yesterday's post</span></a>, I told you all about my A5 Aqua Malden!! They are now for sale at <a href="http://www.filofax.co.uk/"><span style="color: magenta;">www.filofax.co.uk</span></a> in <a href="http://www.filofax.co.uk/store/organiserdetails.asp?rangeId=150&sizeId=2&dsizeId=2&spId=1058#1058"><span style="color: magenta;">Pocket</span></a>, <a href="http://www.filofax.co.uk/store/organiserdetails.asp?rangeid=150&sizeid=3&dsizeid=3"><span style="color: magenta;">Personal</span></a> and <a href="http://www.filofax.co.uk/store/organiserdetails.asp?rangeid=150&sizeid=5&dsizeid=5"><span style="color: magenta;">A5</span></a><span id="goog_795570619"></span><span id="goog_795570620"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a>!<br />
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<a href="http://www.filofax.co.uk/images/products/organisers/large_new/Malden%20Personal%20Aqua%20Large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Malden, Personal Organisers" border="0" height="243" src="http://www.filofax.co.uk/images/products/organisers/large_new/Malden%20Personal%20Aqua%20Large.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Personal </div>
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A5<br />
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If you read my post <a href="http://thelifeoftheperpetualstudent.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/introduction-to-my-a5-aqua-malden-with.html"><span style="color: magenta;">Introduction to my A5 Aqua Malden...</span></a> you'll know that I accidentally got sent two A5 Aqua Maldens from Filofax UK!<br />
I've been in contact with Filofax, who have agreed that I could give away one of them as the prize in a competition!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: lime;">***</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> COMPETITION!!! </span><span style="color: lime;">***</span></b></span></div>
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So today I'm giving you the chance to <b>win</b> this gorgeous Filofax!!<br />
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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!<br />
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The binder you would receive if you win is the one you can see me unboxing in this video!<br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">To enter:</span></div>
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Leave a comment on this blog post to answer this question:<br />
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<b>What is your best piece of organisation/time management advice for using your Filofax personal organiser?</b></div>
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<span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">Rules:</span><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The competition runs from 1st August 2013 (today) to 15th August 2013.</li>
<li>1 entry per person. Any additional entries will be ignored and won't count.</li>
<li>This competition is open worldwide.</li>
<li><span style="color: magenta;">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. </span>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. </li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: magenta;"><br /></span></div>
Good luck!</div>
KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com133tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-55076446738653147762013-07-31T17:00:00.000+01:002013-07-31T17:00:05.456+01:00Introduction to my A5 Aqua Malden... with an interesting twist!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi guys!!<br />
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If you are part of the Facebook Philofaxy group, or if you've watched my unboxing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNdwIBtbOlQ"><span style="color: magenta;">video on youtube</span></a>, you will have seen my A5 Aqua Malden! If you haven't, there are lots of juicy photos here!!<br />
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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!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7S3eMtqNoDqnrlIYFiVdyjUKVrti-bB-KJZpqjewkGEN9dZi2ZmqPShHITQqMw7fp8fLICpcd8K3bAtYEkXdvpQKLFxt6tvolstJmHrUjCmL9JZ1pw-wR3ron2JkSaWzAPDIXsAjGbnU/s1600/FB_IMG_13746846929629965.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7S3eMtqNoDqnrlIYFiVdyjUKVrti-bB-KJZpqjewkGEN9dZi2ZmqPShHITQqMw7fp8fLICpcd8K3bAtYEkXdvpQKLFxt6tvolstJmHrUjCmL9JZ1pw-wR3ron2JkSaWzAPDIXsAjGbnU/s320/FB_IMG_13746846929629965.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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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? :)<br />
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 <a href="http://www.writeathome.co.uk/"><span style="color: magenta;">Write at Home</span></a> 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!!<br />
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!!!!<br />
I knew you guys were as excited as me to see an Aqua Malden, so I filmed an unboxing video...<br />
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And loaded lots of photos onto the facebook Philofaxy group!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7YyqoRHB6r3cdrgrsThKxrm0JTxoLdwcDja81hIJ7AhJMfaUqF9ddI3IsIq9r7RLGgwMfM5xzgVu3mvuH6xrhE2OB0Y1onAsAysE8dyOMABwzhEH_H69xEp0YYoxHxOy99rIdpbTurvA/s1600/FB_IMG_13746846929629965.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7YyqoRHB6r3cdrgrsThKxrm0JTxoLdwcDja81hIJ7AhJMfaUqF9ddI3IsIq9r7RLGgwMfM5xzgVu3mvuH6xrhE2OB0Y1onAsAysE8dyOMABwzhEH_H69xEp0YYoxHxOy99rIdpbTurvA/s320/FB_IMG_13746846929629965.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWTc9A2XIb-77yaDDdiNCyNAEo6hgzJdrMzGRGtNf8mQu8W0URPfRE5THM83rdR__p9fpCmrpiezw0NirOp0E8bFDqkbbWcUsssoAN1KNq1rJdDr-1OWzT2zO_ksRO2TovO5cCEZXcaM/s1600/FB_IMG_13746889541630331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWTc9A2XIb-77yaDDdiNCyNAEo6hgzJdrMzGRGtNf8mQu8W0URPfRE5THM83rdR__p9fpCmrpiezw0NirOp0E8bFDqkbbWcUsssoAN1KNq1rJdDr-1OWzT2zO_ksRO2TovO5cCEZXcaM/s320/FB_IMG_13746889541630331.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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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!<br />
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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!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjDZJJjBg4ORkax4g_4eUDJXQ1XfI6X2-_8lIKMiscooqwIC06nKVvBG9D7IxkdAuAwECqj2flDyktnEfnlyD8qTM2aKjCKztys8wYSNO606eSqWYvcYI7f3PuVSYFPzpFYhJWS8c_hY/s1600/P1160582.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjDZJJjBg4ORkax4g_4eUDJXQ1XfI6X2-_8lIKMiscooqwIC06nKVvBG9D7IxkdAuAwECqj2flDyktnEfnlyD8qTM2aKjCKztys8wYSNO606eSqWYvcYI7f3PuVSYFPzpFYhJWS8c_hY/s320/P1160582.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Closer to the true colour, although this photo doesn't show the depth of the colour.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjbDkxh_j3Mxk64MHcrTaPK8OLyoHwz4z_p_ISvBnoB-wt-hd7xoW4Nb8yaFGKEyumSomMgTImwIuruNTTrm9xDTEiXFcXnj3_cj14RKyxxCE1UNtrjCbpqvBDcYw22nsNJL2Ce9QcHY/s1600/P1160589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjbDkxh_j3Mxk64MHcrTaPK8OLyoHwz4z_p_ISvBnoB-wt-hd7xoW4Nb8yaFGKEyumSomMgTImwIuruNTTrm9xDTEiXFcXnj3_cj14RKyxxCE1UNtrjCbpqvBDcYw22nsNJL2Ce9QcHY/s320/P1160589.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
We had to bribe Chloe to take this photo, by putting cat biscuits on top on my Filofax!<br />
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That evening I set up my Aqua Malden by moving the contents of my A5 Raspberry Chameleon over. Fortunately, the dividers match perfectly!<br />
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...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;">Further to my recent email I am pleased to advise you that </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;">we have today sent you an A5 Malden aqua organiser by </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; line-height: 18px;">Royal Mail Recorded Signed For delivery."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">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!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">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!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 18px;">When the 2nd Aqua Malden arrived, I was pleasantly surprised!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCHuls_5b6dWsDGZxK6BoNVibSnLdad2mGg6ZiNaS_bs_VHJh1tw-unNBjH4y2Azyt17CZa_VcRtZSPMxxMEDn5Sbu6uNfUfaMukOJfyUUOb3hFuYujjenX0vsaLdKSZKx0mu_RBo9Mho/s1600/20130727_185334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCHuls_5b6dWsDGZxK6BoNVibSnLdad2mGg6ZiNaS_bs_VHJh1tw-unNBjH4y2Azyt17CZa_VcRtZSPMxxMEDn5Sbu6uNfUfaMukOJfyUUOb3hFuYujjenX0vsaLdKSZKx0mu_RBo9Mho/s320/20130727_185334.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZP60FHQytaMvjJJGqyolykcWxm0YPBK7E85U76OBRnOyTFyxmAl4o0-B9AdPreJvvSPZfGXsw9vfYJys5anS1oA4BPQhOR_Ik_nc0ueReUU7njTVAxkIu_IA8o3SmIrJ0_0D8bmhobTU/s1600/20130727_185442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZP60FHQytaMvjJJGqyolykcWxm0YPBK7E85U76OBRnOyTFyxmAl4o0-B9AdPreJvvSPZfGXsw9vfYJys5anS1oA4BPQhOR_Ik_nc0ueReUU7njTVAxkIu_IA8o3SmIrJ0_0D8bmhobTU/s320/20130727_185442.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 18px;">1st Malden on the left, 2nd Malden on the right!</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 18px;">The 2nd Aqua Malden is much smoother than the 1st! </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">Everyone on facebook agreed how much better the 2nd Malden looks!!</span><br />
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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!<br />
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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!!! <b>So TOMORROW I'll be launching my competition to win the A5 Aqua Malden!! Stay tuned!!!</b><br />
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-88781437418769585692013-07-30T17:00:00.000+01:002013-07-30T17:00:05.221+01:00July video update: My recent videos!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi guys!!<br />
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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!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMHxXfSvKfQ4md-ZEAS6QongcGOmWdrq4FF6VObYrZSiGTRZ41DdgsuOLmYCdoEpKYW-cNThZ2zFNkR2gHq3OJfWq9tTYXEIDGMdHecKNSHHa3pkeoh1ilfl1cRBvhjWsjDGzFyv8gjd4/s1600/20130715_170424.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMHxXfSvKfQ4md-ZEAS6QongcGOmWdrq4FF6VObYrZSiGTRZ41DdgsuOLmYCdoEpKYW-cNThZ2zFNkR2gHq3OJfWq9tTYXEIDGMdHecKNSHHa3pkeoh1ilfl1cRBvhjWsjDGzFyv8gjd4/s200/20130715_170424.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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Here are the videos I've made recently!<br />
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Artbox haul!<br />
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July set-up of my Filofax: A5 Raspberry Chameleon!<br />
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How to dissect a notebook for your Filofax (although this might be updated at some point!)<br />
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My set-up of the notebook/diary I use on-the-go/around the house!<br />
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And finally: Unboxing of my A5 Aqua Malden!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/lNdwIBtbOlQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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I will be telling you about my Aqua Malden in my next post on Wednesday :)<br />
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-72932440306904198472013-07-28T22:03:00.000+01:002013-07-28T22:14:31.917+01:00365/30 Filo Lists- August!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here is August's 365/30 List!<br />
<br />
Thanks so much to Jennifer who came to my rescue to write this list with very little notice!! :D<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">1)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Goals for the month<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">2)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List your favorite games to
play<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">3)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List memorable things you did
as a kid for a stranger<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">4)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List your guilty pleasures<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">5)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List pets you’ve had and their
names<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">6)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">What are 3 things most people
probably don’t know about you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">7)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">What are 3 of your greatest
fears<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">8)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">What are the 3 best things
about you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">9)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">What have been your fashion
trends over the years<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">10)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List your most embarrassing
moments or habits- how could you change/stop them?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">11)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List desirable qualities to
find in friends<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">12)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List miraculous or supernatural
experiences you would love to have<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">13)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List cuisines to taste<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">14)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">What are some things to be less
lazy about<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">15)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">What changes do you wish for
the world?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">16)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">What are moments in music you
will never forget?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">17)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">What are your favorite songs
from the 70’s?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">18)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List your favorite music videos<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">19)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">What cities do you plan to
visit?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">20)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List the saddest songs in the
world<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">21)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">What performers would you bring
back to life?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">22)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">What songs would you strip to?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">23)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List the things you would save
if your home was on fire?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">24)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List the people from history
you’d like to have a conversation with<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">25)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">What were your biggest acts of
kindness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">26)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List the times you have had an
audience<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">27)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List the things you like to do
on your day off<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">28)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List the people you have lost
contact with<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">29)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List people you dislike and one
kind thing you would say to them<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">30)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">List the things you wish you
had a second chance to do<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US">31)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-US">Review of the month</span></div>
KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-7011298302259600062013-07-22T00:38:00.001+01:002013-07-22T00:38:57.131+01:00Cute notebook and new video: How to dissect a notebook for your Filofax!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hiho!!<br />
<br />
<br />
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!<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51P8oP63xpL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51P8oP63xpL.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>
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Photo: Amazon</div>
<br />
Here's the amazon link with lots more photos! <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Julia-Rothman-Typewriter-Eco-journal/dp/0811879453"><span style="color: magenta;">http://www.amazon.co.uk/Julia-Rothman-Typewriter-Eco-journal/dp/0811879453</span></a><br />
<br />
It's A5 size, 100% recycled, really cute, and only £7.99, but even cheaper <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=isbn+978-0-8118-7945-3&hl=en&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=ZFXsUZbvEKKk0QXxzoD4Dg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAA&biw=1366&bih=643#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=julia+rothman+typewriter&oq=julia+rothman+typewriter&gs_l=serp.3..0l3j0i22i30.337.4396.1.6704.11.8.0.3.3.3.821.5608.5-3j5.8.0....0.0..1c.1.20.psy-ab.TeUOyjF2WtQ&pbx=1&fp=f193b17f13198816&biw=1366&bih=643&cad=b&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=pv.xjs.s.en_US.c75bKy5EQ0A.O"><span style="color: magenta;">online</span></a>! All of the pages are hand-drawn with really cute designs by an artist called <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=julia+rothman&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=K1rsUbfOLuea0AW4_oD4DQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=643"><span style="color: magenta;">Julia Rothman</span></a>- you can see the individual pages in the photos on the amazon page.<br />
<br />
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! :)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/1oIbXa1m6Is?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-27712674062558426512013-07-07T20:47:00.000+01:002013-07-12T20:56:48.938+01:00How I organise Filofax videos in my Youtube playlists!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
Hi guys!!<br />
<br />
<br />
Today's post is how I organise my youtube playlists- mainly the Filofax ones!!<br />
<br />
<br />
I <b>love</b> 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!<br />
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<a href="http://greencitizen.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/VHS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://greencitizen.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/VHS.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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From <a href="http://greencitizen.com/blog/?p=325" style="text-align: left;">http://greencitizen.com/blog/?p=325</a></div>
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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.</div>
<br />
You can see some of my playlists here:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73oD0faPI1eI4uEFbE-GdQ/videos?view=1"><span style="color: magenta;">http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73oD0faPI1eI4uEFbE-GdQ/videos?view=1</span></a><br />
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.<br />
These are the playlists I have:<br />
Public- Filofaxes, Filofaxes 2, Filofaxes 3, Crafting.<br />
Private- Filofaxes Videos- to sort, Favourite videos (default youtube playlist)<br />
Also: Watch Later list<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
Ok, now here's what I wanted to talk to you about: How I organise my Filofax videos!!!<br />
<br />
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! :)<br />
<br />
Links to my Filofax playlists:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBFF1EB6B42A42253"><span style="color: magenta;">'Filofaxes' playlist</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIM4U1_y1bQf5VGy7Z7u_LTyL8hkAd2Dt"><span style="color: magenta;">'Filofaxes 2' playlist</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIM4U1_y1bQeHv9TP5aazasLNzCvOJhi-"><span style="color: magenta;">'Filofaxes 3' playlist</span></a><br />
<br />
How do I find and add so many videos?<br />
<br />
I find most of my videos from<a href="http://philofaxy.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Video%20Web"> <span style="color: magenta;">Philofaxy Video Web Finds</span></a>! 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!!...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jrs3GXDEr3s?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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... 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.<br />
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!<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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!!<br />
<br />
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!! :)<br />
<br />
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!<br />
<br />
So after a very long blog post, the moral to this story is...<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: magenta;">I make these Filofax playlists so you don't have to!! Please feel free to use them as resources to watch Filofax videos!!</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: magenta;">Follow the links I posted above and save them to your favourites in your web browser! :)</span></b></div>
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<br />
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-62000451194562984742013-06-30T00:15:00.002+01:002013-06-30T00:15:06.582+01:00365/30 July list :)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi!! Here's the 365/30 list for July by Ingvill-Susann!!<br />
<br />
1. Goal for this month?<br />
2. Which goals did you accomplish for the previous month?<br />
3. What are your long term goals for the next six months?<br />
4. Best summer memories ever?<br />
5. What were the #1 hits of the month (your birth month) in the year you was born?<br />
6. Favorite things to do on a lazy sunny day?<br />
7. Do you have a favorite poem or quote? Write it here!<br />
8. If your life was a movie – who would play the roles of your closest family members (passed away or living)?<br />
9. What would be the title of the movie?<br />
10. 3 people you'd like to be stuck in a lift/elevator with?<br />
11. Do you have a seasonal “dress-up” for your Filofax? Changing the dividers and such?<br />
12. Favorite magazines to read this month?<br />
13. Design YOUR perfect Filofax!<br />
14. If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life… What would it be?<br />
15. Name 3 things you believe in.<br />
16. Today was prefect/crap because….?<br />
17. Who were your childhood heroes?<br />
18. Did something special happen on your way to work, school?<br />
19. Name 3 things you absolutely can’t live without?<br />
20. Breakfast today was….?<br />
21. 3 favorite items of clothing?<br />
22. Best way to spend your summer holidays<br />
23. Favorite dishes/recipes<br />
24. What freaks you out?<br />
25. What should it be less of in this world?<br />
26. What should it be more of in this world?<br />
27. Today’s weather was? And the temperature was?<br />
28. Favorite movies?<br />
29. Favorite books to read?<br />
30. Favorite night snacks?<br />
31. Review of this month?</div>
KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-76471657019275245092013-06-19T22:36:00.000+01:002013-06-19T22:36:15.951+01:00Giveaway!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi guys!!<br />
<br />
I'm doing a giveaway on my youtube channel!!<br />
<br />
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!!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oaVpYoY9kXU">http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oaVpYoY9kXU</a><br />
<br />
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Gooooood luck!!!!!</div>
KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-12082958254959857942013-06-14T22:27:00.001+01:002013-06-14T22:27:56.606+01:00What's in my Filofax June 2013 :)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today I made a video to show you 'What's in my Filofax' in June 2013 :)<br />
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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 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbkhKxWa7cE"><span style="color: magenta;">here</span></a>! 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 :)<br />
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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!<br />
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!!<br />
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Enjoy!! xx<br />
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-4697984025566333392013-06-12T01:02:00.000+01:002013-06-12T01:02:15.658+01:00Kawaii stationery and stickers ordering- Artbox and RikyandNina!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi guys!!<br /><br />
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 :)<br />I bought things from <a href="http://www.artbox.co.uk/"><span style="color: magenta;">Artbox</span></a> and <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/rikyandnina?ref=pr_faveshops"><span style="color: magenta;">RikyandNina</span></a> 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!!<br />
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Here's what I ordered :)<br />
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Artbox-<br />
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<a href="http://www.artbox.co.uk/hello-kitty-stamp-p-9737.html"><span style="color: magenta;">Hello Kitty stamp</span></a><br />
<img alt="Hello Kitty Stamp: HK" height="200" src="http://www.artbox.co.uk/product_thumb.php?img=images/7179918a.jpg&w=300&h=300" width="200" /><br />
This is a really cute stamp, which is self-inking- so no mess!!<br />
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<a href="https://www.artbox.co.uk/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=rilakkuma+tape&search_in_description=1&x=-603&y=-49"><span style="color: magenta;">Rilakkuma Deco Tape</span></a><br />
<img alt="San-X Tape: Forest Rilakkuma" height="200" src="http://www.artbox.co.uk/product_thumb.php?img=images/3583091a.jpg&w=300&h=300" width="200" /><img alt="San-X Tape: Picnic Rilakkuma" height="200" src="http://www.artbox.co.uk/product_thumb.php?img=images/3583077a.jpg&w=300&h=300" width="200" /><br />
Forest Rilakkuma and Picnic Rilakkuma<br />
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!<br />
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<a href="http://www.artbox.co.uk/stickerworld-stickers-diary-deco-sticker-p-9607.html"><span style="color: magenta;">Korean diary deco stickers</span></a><br />
<img alt="Stickerworld Stickers: Diary Deco Sticker" src="http://www.artbox.co.uk/product_thumb.php?img=images/8037771a.jpg&w=300&h=300" /><br />
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!<br />
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<a href="https://www.artbox.co.uk/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=stickerworld+story&search_in_description=1&x=-603&y=-49"><span style="color: magenta;">Fairy tale stickers</span></a> :)<br />
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<img alt="Stickerworld Stickers: Alice Wonderland Story" src="http://www.artbox.co.uk/product_thumb.php?img=images/8031465a.jpg&w=300&h=300" /><img alt="Stickerworld Stickers: Cinderellas Story" src="http://www.artbox.co.uk/product_thumb.php?img=images/8031472a.jpg&w=300&h=300" /><br />
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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!<br />
I really love fairy tales at the moment as I'm watching Once Upon a Time, and these are so cute!!<br />
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<a href="http://www.artbox.co.uk/hello-kitty-sticky-notes-monkey-p-9038.html"><span style="color: magenta;">Hello Kitty monkey sticky notes</span></a> :)<br />
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<img alt="Hello Kitty Sticky Notes: Monkey KT" height="200" src="http://www.artbox.co.uk/product_thumb.php?img=images/38759-2c_a.jpg&w=300&h=300" width="200" /><br />
<br />
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!<br />
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<br />
RikyandNina on Etsy:<br />
<br />
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!<br />
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<a href="http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/121735890/ssba-cute-cats-mini-cartoon-diary-stamps?ref=shop_home_active&ga_search_query=cat%2Bstamps"><span style="color: magenta;">Cat stamps</span></a>!<br />
<img alt="SSBA Cute CATS mini cartoon diary stamps set" src="http://img0.etsystatic.com/013/0/5705834/il_570xN.420557688_r21g.jpg" /><br />
I love cats, and I actually prefer stamps to stickers as they will never run out!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/98674798/study-girl-cartoon-seasons-scrapbooking?ref=shop_home_active&ga_search_query=study%2Bgirl"><span style="color: magenta;">Study girl Korean diary stickers</span></a><br />
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<img alt="Study Girl cartoon seasons scrapbooking diary stickers" src="http://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5705834/il_570xN.332759765.jpg" /><br />
<br />
I love these as I'm a geek, and I'm always carrying a book!! :D<br />
<br />
<br />
Voila!! I'll do a blog post or video as soon as my orders come in :D<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1725309808"></span><span id="goog_1725309809"></span><br /></div>
KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-71385834508825374332013-05-30T21:24:00.002+01:002013-05-30T21:24:29.654+01:00365/30 Lists- June!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Hellooooo!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Here is June's 365/30 list for your delectation, courtesy of Jane (Butanben) of </span></span><a href="http://butanben.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="color: magenta;">http://butanben.blogspot.co.uk/</span></a></div>
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<li>Goals for the Month </li>
<li>My good deeds of the day are/were………? </li>
<li>My favourite poem is…………….? (Write it out!) </li>
<li>My favourite periods in history are…………? </li>
<li>The best gifts I ever gave were………..? </li>
<li>The best gifts I ever received were…………..? </li>
<li>Complete this phrase in less than 30 words. My life is……….?</li>
<li>The best sandwich fillings ever are………………?</li>
<li>The best Summer picnic location in the world must surely be……..? Which foods?</li>
<li>I am thankful for…………………….?</li>
<li>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…………….?</li>
<li>My personal role models are……..?</li>
<li>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.</li>
<li>Today I am taking a blissful shining hour out of the day, just for me. I am going to……..</li>
<li>My earliest happy memory is………?</li>
<li>The best musicals of all time must surely be……?</li>
<li>The most comforting meal for me is………..? (Now make it today!)</li>
<li>A piece of music I always dance to is…….?</li>
<li>A piece of music I always sing along to is……..?</li>
<li>A piece of music which always relaxes and de- stresses me is……..?</li>
<li>One free thing I can do just for me today is……..?</li>
<li>My favourite things in my Filofax are….…?</li>
<li>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.</li>
<li>The best inventions by mankind, in my opinion are………?</li>
<li>My best qualities as a person are…………………..?</li>
<li>The best things about summer are………?</li>
<li>The biggest lesson life has taught me is……..?</li>
<li>My favourite piece of wisdom, or wise saying is……..?</li>
<li>My favourite Shakespearian quote of all time is………?</li>
<li>Review of the month!</li>
</ol>
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-59101230233803039012013-05-26T16:18:00.000+01:002013-05-26T16:29:10.098+01:00Liebster Blog Award Nominations and my 5 favourite blogs!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award!<br />
They are:<br />
Clara at <a href="http://mysummertouch.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="color: magenta;">My Summer Touch</span></a><br />
Angela at <a href="http://www.liveloveorganize.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: magenta;">LiveLoveOrganize</span></a><br />
Andrea at<span style="color: magenta;"> <a href="http://littlelifeofandrea.com/"><span style="color: magenta;">Little Life of Andrea</span></a></span><br />
Mzelle at <a href="http://mzellesworld.blogspot.fr/"><span style="color: magenta;">Mzelle's World</span></a><br />
Ella at <a href="http://nerdzilla.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: magenta;">Nerdzilla</span></a><br />
Joseph at <a href="http://josephdavidquinton.typepad.com/"><span style="color: magenta;">Joseph David Quinton</span></a><br />
Lori V at <a href="http://www.purpleismyhappy.com/"><span style="color: magenta;">Purple is my Happy</span></a><br />
Hetty at <a href="http://hetty-stratton.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="color: magenta;">Hetty Stratton</span></a><br />
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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!<br />
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!!!)<br />
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<a href="http://philofaxy.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="color: magenta;">Philofaxy</span></a>- courtesy of Steve, Laurie, Nan and Anita<br />
<a href="http://www.plannerisms.com/"><span style="color: magenta;">Plannerisms</span></a>- Laurie<br />
<a href="http://www.crazysuburbanmom.com/"><span style="color: magenta;">Crazy Suburban Mom</span></a>- Tracy<br />
<a href="http://imysworld.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="color: magenta;">Imysworld</span></a>- Imy<br />
<a href="http://www.paperlovestory.com/"><span style="color: magenta;">Paperlovestory</span></a>- Angela<br />
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-57862503529641859112013-05-26T15:21:00.000+01:002013-05-26T15:22:14.173+01:00New videos May 2013 :)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi everyone!<br />
<br />
I've just uploaded a couple of videos to youtube! I filmed them on Friday but it has taken me ages to upload them!<br />
The first video is to show you what I got for my birthday which was a few weeks ago!<br />
The second video shows what I got in my swap from the lovely Tracy from <a href="http://www.crazysuburbanmom.com/">http://www.crazysuburbanmom.com/</a>, and also a few bits which I bought in Paperchase earlier this week!<br />
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Sorry I wasn't able to embed the videos into this post, but blogger wasn't behaving!<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFFnDfth-Y0"><span style="color: magenta;">Video 1</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbET91DrdQA"><span style="color: magenta;">Video 2</span></a></div>
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Enjoy!!<br />
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<span id="goog_1513912396"></span><span id="goog_1513912397"></span><br />
<br /></div>
KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-9555552573638111202013-05-14T23:04:00.001+01:002013-05-14T23:17:31.320+01:00Review: Filofax 'The Original' A5 Yellow<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi guys!<br />
Another review for you all!!<br />
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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! <span style="font-size: x-small;">P.S. All opinions are my own, and I wasn't paid to do this review!</span><br />
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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!!<br />
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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!<br />
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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!<br />
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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 <a href="http://the.leathersatchel.co/">The Leather Satchel Company</a>, a UK satchel company, so you know if should be great quality leather! You could even get a satchel to match your Original Filofax!<br />
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.<br />
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The leather is so supple that this Filofax lays perfectly flat... not only that, but...<br />
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... it practically bends back on itself without any effort!<br />
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The Outside:</div>
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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!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWDVyJbkMGRal1Z6Y_3WSGOQaiUxMf3P_c_pjLivK94UNe1B2Da83PFbeyBUG1jrE90eqryABF1DVkgkn13iQ9BqNhR-7E_5T8zia7BBr1wKcqURLFz4DC5Ub5Gt2UR2ssABm0LOwqKs/s1600/20130514_180242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWDVyJbkMGRal1Z6Y_3WSGOQaiUxMf3P_c_pjLivK94UNe1B2Da83PFbeyBUG1jrE90eqryABF1DVkgkn13iQ9BqNhR-7E_5T8zia7BBr1wKcqURLFz4DC5Ub5Gt2UR2ssABm0LOwqKs/s320/20130514_180242.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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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.<br />
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Down the spine you can see the rivets of the ring mechanism, similar to on the Domino.<br />
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The Interior:<br />
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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.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6KRuCXPsBRlXNYENLj0XRMXRUX8_Mmuny914g_Yk4FLLLz6ZjUvs_Ei0KEepgE1ZhcjCilBxgKCEBPR9Zye8jzXWfNqgazC4-edXKD-o9XIIc2tHu3FmFf89PDgNOLOyTsGpxl_rJbc/s1600/20130514_175035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6KRuCXPsBRlXNYENLj0XRMXRUX8_Mmuny914g_Yk4FLLLz6ZjUvs_Ei0KEepgE1ZhcjCilBxgKCEBPR9Zye8jzXWfNqgazC4-edXKD-o9XIIc2tHu3FmFf89PDgNOLOyTsGpxl_rJbc/s320/20130514_175035.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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.<br />
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.<br />
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.<br />
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I love this stamped area, which also attests to being 'Made in the UK'.<br />
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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!<br />
There's no zip pocket on this Filofax, however in the inserts of this binder, Filofax have included a zip-lock pocket insert.<br />
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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!<br />
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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!<br />
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The Inserts:<br />
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There are some very interesting inserts in this Filofax!<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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The paper inserts in this Filofax are different than inserts available in previous organisers.<br />
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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.</div>
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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!</div>
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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.<br />
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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! </div>
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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!</div>
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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.</div>
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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!<br />
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Thanks again to Jess for providing me with this sample of The Original!</div>
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-88491048203123157172013-05-12T17:20:00.000+01:002013-05-12T17:37:14.093+01:00Review: Life Canvas stationery and organisation products!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi guys!<br />
Today I'm reviewing some samples kindly sent to me by Emily at Parragon, from their new range of stationery called 'Life Canvas'!*<br />
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Life Canvas is a range of stationery and organisation products, designed to help you organise your life in style. They have many products, including A5 journals, A6 organiser notebooks, notebook organiser sets, notepads, sticky note sets in tins, more sticky note sets called 'Stickipedia', colourful notebooks, travel journals, family journals, drawing, doodling and scribbling books, and sentimental books, including 'The Story of me and My...' (Dad, Mum, Grandpa or Grandma), 'Memories From Your...' (Mother or Grandmother), and 'It's All About...' (Me or You)!<br />
Their designs are pretty and cute, with butterflies, birds, and even a Pop Art style!<br />
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<a href="http://www.parragon.com/lifecanvas/"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Check out their website </span><span style="color: purple;">here</span><span style="color: magenta;">! </span></b></a></div>
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Emily sent me an A6 organiser notebook, a notebook organiser set, and a colourful notebook!<br />
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Colour Notebook-<br />
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I really like this little notebook! It's called 'Purple Rain', I'm guessing after the Prince song! The other notebooks in this range are called 'Blue Sky', 'Silver Fox', 'Sunshine Yellow', 'Red Hot' and 'Acid Green', and their covers are the appropriate colour. I love the colour of this notebook, a true purple, darker than the above photo shows.<br />
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But what I really love about this notebook isn't the cover; it's the inside which counts! I've seen so many notebooks where it seems like the designers and manufacturers have concentrated on what the cover looks like, and just leave the inside pages looking boring! Life Canvas' notebooks are just beautiful in comparison!<br />
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The inside cover invites you to unleash your creativity...<br />
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And each page, with its lilac background, pale purple dotted lines and purple borders, has a quote or fact about the colour purple! Each page is different, no quote repeated, and the pages are well-designed so that the quotes aren't in the way of your writing, and don't distract you! I really love this attention to detail, it makes each page special even before you start writing on it!<br />
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Pen test:<br />
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The paper doesn't perform so well with some of my inkier pens, including fountain pen ink, rollerball ink and highlighters, and of course a Sharpie! So I would use a ball-point or gel pen in this notebook. However, I think the beautiful pages with the lilac pages and cute quotes make up for the poorer paper quality!<br />
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A6 Organiser Notebook-<br />
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I really like this little organiser. Like the colourful notebooks, it's really well designed, or even more so!</div>
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One of the best things about this notebook is that it's divided into sections and subsections with cut-out top-tabs and side-tabs!</div>
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The top-tabs are 'Notes', 'To do', 'Ideas', and a larger section 'The Best...'<br />
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... which sub-divides into 'Music', 'Books', 'Films' and 'Websites'. There are also 3 blank sections, which you can label to write more of your favourite things, following the pattern of the 'The Best' section, or you could make your own sections.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoM6mohu1R6rlaKjm-L_wJVntuz21ZshVbyPxE2l6xz33DEAc7otEh0LT5nWmzQAoYr-IGO622qAPpX7D2LouCUDr2duX47R2d8MlBXWVRabe3qeS5hbPAXDPXOzJsZkBcc2PqFKzraVw/s1600/20130512_151110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoM6mohu1R6rlaKjm-L_wJVntuz21ZshVbyPxE2l6xz33DEAc7otEh0LT5nWmzQAoYr-IGO622qAPpX7D2LouCUDr2duX47R2d8MlBXWVRabe3qeS5hbPAXDPXOzJsZkBcc2PqFKzraVw/s320/20130512_151110.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry for the blurryness!</td></tr>
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Each section has approx. 30 pages to write all of your notes, lists etc!<br />
My favourite thing about this notebook is how beautiful and detailed the pages are! Each page is different, with lovely butterfly designs and coloured backgrounds, including pink, lilac, blue, green and cream.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">In the notes section there are some lined and some blank pages, so that you can write, draw diagrams, draw pictures, etc.</span></div>
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The A6 Organiser Notebook retails for RRP £8.00<br />
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Last but not least, was:<br />
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The Notebook Organiser Set-<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PG4H-3d9NbZjjTJByX73mi3fq1Tu3AgmA_GRHVQuF1NbIvOTFZJaGjtqtRoSgTIWL6Lhk-It22v-kEWafot6F8mG7WjwF5bx-XdQXQHkoTFTQb-YhW15KDvpsWWKxoOkyGKvDOyl6WQ/s1600/20130512_151532.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PG4H-3d9NbZjjTJByX73mi3fq1Tu3AgmA_GRHVQuF1NbIvOTFZJaGjtqtRoSgTIWL6Lhk-It22v-kEWafot6F8mG7WjwF5bx-XdQXQHkoTFTQb-YhW15KDvpsWWKxoOkyGKvDOyl6WQ/s320/20130512_151532.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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This is so beautiful! My favourite of the bunch!!<br />
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The front cover has an elastic, although I don't really know how it is supposed to hold it closed, because it's not well designed...<br />
... but that's all made up for by the beautiful inside!!<br />
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It's made up of three sections:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicN-qg3JXJJI5WXvpic_i1qMEPKqMpgr3TGCkzCh_hCRt-ZI2PjL6wmw24WEZCn5s_GyRswkmIj6F9k-QhH4gwUlq-1hP9sV2X08PDOrM_IIHSh1Uh2W5_LQ-1q_3deffqGEM7GGdl-48/s1600/20130512_151603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicN-qg3JXJJI5WXvpic_i1qMEPKqMpgr3TGCkzCh_hCRt-ZI2PjL6wmw24WEZCn5s_GyRswkmIj6F9k-QhH4gwUlq-1hP9sV2X08PDOrM_IIHSh1Uh2W5_LQ-1q_3deffqGEM7GGdl-48/s320/20130512_151603.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
Sticky notes on the left<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghCt44gBkqau5RqkpQ1Gb1rxjkNeTqXe8jfcpQzYFjXCAeaSGibY4kurHl7KSLjbztEHDSkeCGdQngvYZEp9at36w4bP6pe-s42D6LAJRQIuEnij0tP3nh2dabhyphenhyphenVWpNBlj3INpzWo4Fc/s1600/20130512_151610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghCt44gBkqau5RqkpQ1Gb1rxjkNeTqXe8jfcpQzYFjXCAeaSGibY4kurHl7KSLjbztEHDSkeCGdQngvYZEp9at36w4bP6pe-s42D6LAJRQIuEnij0tP3nh2dabhyphenhyphenVWpNBlj3INpzWo4Fc/s320/20130512_151610.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
An A5 notepad in the middle, which is perforated at the top for easy removal of the papers<br />
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And an envelope on the right to hold all of your important bits of paper!<br />
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When closed, this set would be perfect to hold your important documents, tucked in between the closed flaps, to carry in your handbag, at work, and store on your desk. It's effectively like a desk on the go- you have everything you need except for a pen!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicN-qg3JXJJI5WXvpic_i1qMEPKqMpgr3TGCkzCh_hCRt-ZI2PjL6wmw24WEZCn5s_GyRswkmIj6F9k-QhH4gwUlq-1hP9sV2X08PDOrM_IIHSh1Uh2W5_LQ-1q_3deffqGEM7GGdl-48/s1600/20130512_151603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicN-qg3JXJJI5WXvpic_i1qMEPKqMpgr3TGCkzCh_hCRt-ZI2PjL6wmw24WEZCn5s_GyRswkmIj6F9k-QhH4gwUlq-1hP9sV2X08PDOrM_IIHSh1Uh2W5_LQ-1q_3deffqGEM7GGdl-48/s320/20130512_151603.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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The sticky notes are beautiful, and I did a little experiment with them: I removed a sticky note (the bigger purple one in the middle on the right), and stuck it into the purple notebook. As I was hoping, there was no sticky residue left on the sticky note below from the one I had taken off! I've experienced a lot of other brands' pretty sticky notes leaving residue, so I'm very happy that these don't!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQCiX5EW94dgNB76jllgP9Y_j5Kle_IZauBdWLOUjYKI7rjQc5IRiLk0QWW-4_vRbUnWswFaPiqSg6IICJ6T0syDZAbbiDlubdVdMJemQfTn9HLC1Jb4KMWQYgMBcQFKgdViQAZ_U2V4/s1600/20130512_152917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQCiX5EW94dgNB76jllgP9Y_j5Kle_IZauBdWLOUjYKI7rjQc5IRiLk0QWW-4_vRbUnWswFaPiqSg6IICJ6T0syDZAbbiDlubdVdMJemQfTn9HLC1Jb4KMWQYgMBcQFKgdViQAZ_U2V4/s320/20130512_152917.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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I then unstuck and restuck the sticky note five times on the page. When I restuck it for the final time, I tested to see how well-stuck it was to the paper- barely any lift-off!!<br />
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The Notebook Organiser Set retails for RRP £10.00<br />
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I really like these products, and I think the whole Life Canvas range is really beautiful, well-designed and creative! Thank you to Emily from Parragon for sending me these products to review!<br />
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*I was not paid to write this review, however the samples were sent to me to review free of charge; all opinions are my own.</div>
KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-57244127939825064122013-05-09T11:05:00.000+01:002013-05-09T11:05:30.005+01:00Brief Update! May 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hiiiii!!!<br />
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Today is my birthday! But it doesn't feel real yet- maybe later with cake and presents :D :D I know I'm getting some goodies I bought from Artbox with early birthday money, a Cath Kidston bag, and some <a href="http://thelifeoftheperpetualstudent.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/birthday-pre-haul-fountain-pen-inks.html"><span style="color: magenta;">fountain pen stuff</span></a>, but unfortunately no Filofaxes (that I know of at least!) :(<br />
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Today's is a brief post, but with lots of lovely pictures!! :D<br />
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Recently I bought a couple of new binders from ebay!<br />
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This is a 'De Villiers' binder, A5 in a beautiful brown leather of a similar hue to the Ochre Malden, which I think dates to the 1990s! I can't find out any more information about it! I'll do a review soon :D<br />
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I also bought a Mulberry agenda!! I won't tell you much about her because I will do a review and a set-up post soon, and hopefully a video too!<br />
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Filofaxes:<br />
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Although I've had a few problems with my Filofaxes over the past year and I told you I was going to stop using the personal-sized ones, I always intended to continue using the A5 ones for my hobbies and projects :) I love them so much!!<br />
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Mrs Purple Malden, a.k.a. 'Penelope'!! It's hard to describe briefly what I use her for, so I will do a post soon :D<br />
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Mr 'Indiana Jones' Malden- I use him for my Egyptology research :D He's my rugged adventurer, travelling through ancient history with me!!<br />
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Framboise, my A5 Raspberry Chameleon! I've set her up as my 'organisation' binder, but she's been a bit neglected since I've been setting up my Mulberry! I'll get back to using her soon!<br />
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My A5 red Amazona, in which I am slowly accumulating notes for my novel! :)<br />
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2652601558452051227.post-58898942038734460862013-05-06T16:50:00.002+01:002013-05-06T19:06:47.056+01:00Birthday pre-haul: Fountain pen inks!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's my birthday on Thursday and for the past few days I've been searching online for presents for myself from my family. I had a bit of a rush because I still hadn't decided what I wanted, and time was running out to get it delivered!<br />
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In my Filofax I have a wishlist of things I want, but shouldn't buy immediately. A few months ago I also made a list of things I'd like for my birthday. It's really interesting to come back to these lists a few months later and see how your desires have changed. Sometimes, you've changed your mind on something so completely that you are very happy you didn't buy that thing on impulse, because you know that if you haven't been missing not having something over the past few weeks, you didn't really want it badly enough, and if you now look back and think 'I really don't want it now', it would have been a waste of money if you had bought it on impulse!<br />
So I consulted my lists and transferred the things I still really want onto a new birthday list. I worked my way through the items on my new list- things like Sims 3 University Life and a Pilot Prera fountain pen- and worked out that if I wait, I can get them cheaper in a couple of months, and do I really need them for my birthday now anyway? Choosing to not get these things for my birthday opened up some money for other options for presents. For example, the Pilot Prera fountain pen would have cost me just over £40, plus I wanted some more things, but in the end all of my presents cost less than £40!! My mum (who was paying for my presents) doesn't give me a budget, but she and my dad have always taught us to be careful with our money, and I feel bad asking for too much money.<br />
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I had a few things I really wanted for my birthday: fountain pen stuff!! A new pen, a few inks, and an ink syringe to fill my converters and cartridges from the bottled inks. This is my new hobby, and I know I'm really going to enjoy it! However, I also know it's going to get really expensive! Although a bottle of ink can cost as low as £5.80 (much cheaper than buying a Filofax to get your stationery thrills!), it's difficult to stop at buying just one! I think I will have to put myself on a tight leash and permit myself to buy only 1 ink per month!<br />
I already knew where I would buy most of this from: <a href="http://www.cultpens.com/"><span style="color: magenta;">Cult Pens</span></a>. This is an excellent stationery online shop, with the most amazing customer service! I will be doing a review of this company soon in my Retail Recommendations series! The reason that buying from them was so brilliant is because I know that, even though I've placed my order only 3 days before my birthday and today is a Bank Holiday so Royal Mail isn't operating, I will get my order on my birthday! If you order before 3pm, Cult Pens will ship your order on the same day!, and they are based in Tiverton, which isn't far from where I live in Plymouth, so I know it will get to me even if they post tomorrow morning (when Royal Mail starts working again!). I recently bought a pen from them at 2pm, and received it before 9am the next day!!<br />
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So how to decide what to buy?<br />
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I decided to evaluate the inks and pens I already have, so I laid them out like this:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeM5awiB_nS9kXIPS1uGBkA7REWC5VMQpeYLazylP5C-KVC7DnTYNdXWDKfpy6BAmzcLsCsyeYsYlS-WgRjpmCdptFLxbRaa9rGcHXKHi858AbksGWbSs7rcytnypL_EJSY1Vrz3b5fQ/s1600/Photo+06-05-2013+15+59+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeM5awiB_nS9kXIPS1uGBkA7REWC5VMQpeYLazylP5C-KVC7DnTYNdXWDKfpy6BAmzcLsCsyeYsYlS-WgRjpmCdptFLxbRaa9rGcHXKHi858AbksGWbSs7rcytnypL_EJSY1Vrz3b5fQ/s320/Photo+06-05-2013+15+59+10.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L-R: Diamine Registrar's ink with Lamy Al-Star Raspberry; blue cartridges with Parker Urban; Parker Quink black, Herbin black and a little vial of black with a Waterman silver f-pen; Herbin Rose Cylamen cartridges with Kaweco Ink Roller; Waterman Havana Brown with Lamy Safari Aquamarine; Waterman Violet with Lamy Al-Star Purple; My 'Raspberry' ink made of a mix of Diamine Cerise and Waterman Violet with Lamy Safari Pink pen; Herbin Bleu Azure ink; Rosetta Magellan pen, Lamy Safari Apple Green pen and Lamy Vista pen.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I realised I have a lot of blacks (I don't know how that happened, since I've never bought any, and don't really use them!), and blue-black, brown, purple, turquoise and a raspberry colour. Therefore, I could see a few gaps in my colour palette. I consulted my wishlist of inks, and realised that they would slot into those gaps nicely!!<br />
I really love the colour of Diamine Ancient Copper, and I also wanted a vibrant pink, so I chose Diamine Deep Magenta. When I heard of Diamine Eau de Nil, I realised that as an Egyptologist I needed this ink as it's named after the Nile!<br />
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Then I set about working out which pen would be used for which ink. This was harder than it looked! Finally I decided on a sensible arrangement (the pens on the picture above show which pens are now assigned to which inks, and the 3 on the right are assigned to inks that I don't have yet, but will be coming from Cult Pens!). I realised that I don't have an ink that suits the gorgousness of my Rosetta Magellan, so I chose Diamine Red Dragon for it, which was another one to add to my order! Then I thought that Diamine Ancient Copper was such a gorgeous colour, that it deserved a wonderful pen- so I decided to get a Lamy Al-Star in Ruby Red as another birthday present specifically for that ink :)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Lamy AL-star Fountain Pen Ruby Red Special Edition" src="http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Lamy-AL-Star-fp-rb.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture from www.cultpens.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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List so far:<br />
Diamine Ancient Copper<br />
Diamine Deep Magenta<br />
Diamine Eau de Nil<br />
Diamine Red Dragon<br />
Lamy Al-Star Ruby Red<br />
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However, there were a few more things I had needed for ages, including the ink syringes with needles and a converter for one of my Lamys, and I decided to buy them out of my own money, as I have some money in my paypal. The only place I could find the ink syringes was <a href="http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/"><span style="color: magenta;">The Writing Desk</span></a><span style="color: blue;">, </span>which is another great stationery website. I decided to buy three, just in case I lose a couple, and I also wanted a waterproof ink because I've been having trouble with my Diamine Registrar's ink, so I consulted <a href="http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/reference.php?id=50"><span style="color: magenta;">The Writing Desk's list of permanent inks</span></a> and, after a lot of deliberation, decided to invest in De Atramentis Document Ink in blue! This would be one of my normal everyday inks, so would go in one of my favourite pens, my Lamy Safari Apple Green!<br />
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List so far:<br />
Birthday-<br />
Diamine Ancient Copper<br />
Diamine Deep Magenta<br />
Diamine Eau de Nil<br />
Diamine Red Dragon<br />
Lamy Al-Star Ruby Red<br />
Me-<br />
Ink syringe with needle x3<br />
De Atramentis Document Ink Blue<br />
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But the bug had bitten me and I wanted some more ink! Once you pop, you can't stop!! So I went back to Cult Pens, and shopped for some more things to buy myself (not for my birthday!).<br />
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I decided to get some more pretty inks, maybe not ones I would use all the time like the ones I had chosen for my birthday, but ones I could use when I felt in the mood :) I chose the gorgous Diamine Sunset, and Diamine Emerald!<br />
Unfortunately, I then didn't have enough pens to put these inks in, so I decided to buy some Platinum Preppys, which are cheap and cheerful fountain pens at £3.25 each, which I can use to hold my occasional inks by refilling their cartridges with my ink syringe needles. I bought a pink one for a handbag pen, 2 blues to hold Herbin Bleu Azure and Diamine Eau de Nil, a red one to hold Diamine Sunset and a green one to hold Diamine Emerald. I have assigned my Lamy Vista to be the pen I use to hold whichever of my occasional inks I love the most at any one time, to use instead of one of the Preppys, to just switch the ink out whenever I want!<br />
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Final shopping list:<br />
<br />
Birthday-<br />
Diamine Ancient Copper<br />
Diamine Deep Magenta<br />
Diamine Eau de Nil<br />
Diamine Red Dragon<br />
Lamy Al-Star Ruby Red<br />
Me-<br />
Ink syringe with needle x3<br />
De Atramentis Document Ink Blue<br />
Diamine Sunset<br />
Diamine Emerald<br />
Platinum Preppys<br />
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I noticed a pattern when I had finished choosing my inks.<br />
<img alt="Diamine Ancient Copper" src="http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/ink_cat/di_ancie.jpg" /><img alt="Diamine Deep Magenta" src="http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/ink_cat/di_magen.jpg" /><img alt="Diamine Eau de Nil" src="http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/ink_cat/di_eaude.jpg" /><img alt="Diamine Red Dragon" src="http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/ink_cat/di_reddr.jpg" /><img alt="Diamine Sunset" src="http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/ink_cat/di_sunse.jpg" /><img alt="Diamine Emerald" src="http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/ink_cat/di_emald.jpg" /><br />
Swatches from <a href="http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/">http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/</a><br />
L-R, U-D: Ancient Copper, Deep Magenta, Eau de Nil, Red Dragon, Sunset, Emerald (looks darker in writing)<br />
Swa<br />
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I love really deep, gorgeous, brooding colours. Ones that look like they would have been around hundreds of years ago, as if Shakespeare could have used them! Although I'm attracted to bright, fun colours, like lime green, I stop short of buying them. I like inks that look like they have a story to them, inks that I can use when I'm feeling in a certain mood. I'm attracted to Diamine Oxblood, and I saw that someone said it looked like you were writing in blood- well, if I'm feeling really melancholic one day, I might just buy it and pretend I'm writing in blood! I want a fountain pen inks to make me <b>feel</b>.<br />
I think writing is such a passionate thing. I love the process of a thought or idea shooting down your arm, out of a pen and onto paper. So I want my inks to feel like they are my thoughts and emotions in liquid form, coming out of your pen, the extension of your fingers, and to soak into the paper. It's almost as if the ink is your thoughts' essence, your emotions' blood. If I want my writing to be magenta pink, or Nile blue, then it will be. If I want it to actually look like blood, why not? Ink is the blood of your thoughts.<br />
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KateB TPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06939014609241304340noreply@blogger.com1