Fun, fresh and girly - Willow Filofax review

If you regularly read my My Week posts you may have noticed I have been counting off the weeks since an email.  That email was about the possibility of me reviewing one of the new Spring releases and to say I was excited would be an understatement!  I would like to thank Nike from Filofax for sending me the Willow to review and Steve from Philofaxy for helping to arrange it.

The Filofax arrived in the now standard clear cover with perfect rings that fit snugly together.  I requested the personal size planner that has 23mm rings and costs £30.  It is also available in pocket size with 19mm rings for £28.    

In the cover

One of the first things I noticed when I opened the parcel was how beautiful the colours are.  The background is a sage green colour with a peach, green, purple, pink and baby pink leaf print.  The outside cover is padded so it has a nice squish to it.  I'm not the only one who likes to squish their planner right?  The inside is firmer providing you with a good surface to lean on while you write.  Filofax describe the material as "leather look".  I'm not sure I agree with this but that might be because I have been using my Malden filo for a while now and I am used to crinkly, vintage look leather.

Filofax Willow

The inside of the planner is baby pink.  When I first saw the press release I had assumed the interior would be green.  I was surprised when I was told it was pink and thought that I would have preferred if it had been green.  However now I have seen it in person I have been won over by the pink, I really like it!  

Inside view

There are six pockets on the left hand side for cards and a full length vertical pocket behind those.  I carry some cards wrapped with washi tape in my Malden which are quite thick.  I tried putting them into these slots, thinking they wouldn't fit but they do easily.  You also get a front page that matches the outside of the binder which is a nice touch.  

The Willow comes with: 

• A week on two page 18 month diary 
• 6 coloured dividers
• Contact and To Do pages
• A selection of note paper - lined, plain, quadrille and coloured
• Transparent flyleaf
• Top opening pocket
• Frosted ruler 

Inside the back cover

On the right hand side there is a large horizontal pocket.  You can use this for keeping letters or bits and pieces in or you could use it for adding a separate note pad to the planner.

A good length strap and the pen loop

The elasticated pen loop is behind the strap on the very edge of the Filofax.  I noticed that the strap seems to be longer so it can accommodate a bigger pen without making the binder hard to close.  It also keeps the pen far enough away from your pages and tabs/dividers so it won't crush them.  I think position of the loop and the length of the strap is brilliant and that the Willow would be great for someone who likes to stuff their Filofax.... like me.  

Here are some more photos, feel free to drool if the urge strikes you!

Filofax logo

The back cover 

The lining and outer pattern complement each other

Top view

Arty angled shot

I liked this Filofax the first time I saw it and now I have it in my hands I like it even more.  The symmetrical pattern and pastel colours are stylish and fun, perfect for this time of year but the main reason I like it is because it is incredibly pretty and I have always been a sucker for something pretty! 

If you have any questions about the Willow ask me in the comments and I will try and answer them.

*Disclaimer - this product was given to me free of charge for the purpose of this review.  I was not paid to write the post and all opinions are my own.

My week #10

My whole theme this week is based around these rainbow reinforcements.  They were so fun and colourful I just had to go rainbow crazy, I feel like I let my inner five year old out to play and she was high on sugar!

My week in my Filofax #10

The quote at the start of the week sums up exactly how I've been feeling, "Life is meant to be colourful".  Having bright, happy colours around me really effects my mood.  Every time I have opened my Filofax to look at this week I have smiled because it is so cheery.

Close up

Close up

I read a post a few months ago by Little Red Moose on how to make your own washi tape magnets.  I loved the idea and wanted to make some for myself but I couldn't remember where I had put an old promotional magnetic calender so I forgot about it.  During the week I came across the magnet in the back of a kitchen draw so I finally got to have a go at making my own.  I am really pleased with how they turned out and they are super easy to make.  You only need a magnetic sheet, plain paper, glue, scissors and washi tape.  If you fancy having a go yourself here is the link.   

My washi tape magnets

Have you heard that the new Spring Filofaxes will be on sale this Tuesday (the 11th March) on the UK site?  I have been drooling over the Willow one since I saw it, it is green with a pretty pastel leaf print.  I think it would go perfectly with my collection, I have been saying for ages that I need a green or blue filo so I was really happy to see this one.  This is the press release if you haven't seen it yet, does anything take your fancy? 

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Say hello to my Patent Filofax!

I don't know why there aren't many blog posts about the Patent, it is a really nice compact Filofax.  If you google it most of the results are actually about the Original organiser which came in a few patent colours as well as the standard leather finish.  Filofax announced yesterday that they are releasing some new colours in the Patent range this Spring so I thought I would tell you about mine.  

My Patent Filofax

First of all I will say how I ended up with a compact size organiser.  It wasn't another downsizing experiment, I am still very happy in personal size.  Just before Christmas Filofax ran a photo competition on their Facebook page, they wanted photos of people's filos with their Christmas trees.  I submitted this picture of my Ochre Malden nestled in the branches of my tree and won!  The prize was the Patent organiser.

My winning entry

I was really surprised when it arrived two days later.  I thought with it being Christmas Filofax would have taken a lot longer to post the prize but it was sent the same day as I won (thank you to the powers that be!).

Inside the Patent

It comes with the usual contents:

* week on two page diary

* Flyleaf

* white note paper - plain, lined and quardrille 

* coloured lined paper

* contacts

* to do lists

* top opening envelope 

* frosted ruler/page marker

* six dividers (I took mine out and now can only find three of them when I wanted to put them back in for these photos)

You are also supposed to get a nice front page in the same colour as your binder but mine didn't have one.  I think it looks great with the cover but I will probably make my own anyway so I didn't mind.

On the left

On the left there are two card slots, a flap pocket and a pen loop.  The loop is made from elastic in the same colour as the organiser, great for those chunky pens!  It is also lined in a nice matching fabric.   

On the right

On the right there is a full length vertical pocket.  As you can see from my photos the binder doesn't lay flat yet.  I haven't tried training it but I think it might get there over time with continued use.  It is better when you have pages on both sides of the rings as the weight of the paper helps push the sides down.

The view from above

The 15mm rings mean the Patent is a skinny girl and the PU leather look material doesn't add much bulk to her size.  Now I know "PU leather look" does not sound appealing but the material is quite soft and gives nicely under your touch.  It is not hard and does not feel like plastic, it's feels a little padded is quite tactile.  It reminds me of the patent black shoes I used to beg my mom for when I was little.  I loved how shiny and pretty they were and always felt great when I wore them, until I scuffed them at any rate and then there was tears.  This filo seems a little more hard wearing than those shoes, it has been carried around in my handbag for the last 5-6 weeks with no special care taken and there are no major scratches and certainly no scuffs! 

Look at that shine!

I love this shade of red and when Filofax described these organisers as "high gloss" and "high impact" they were right.  The shine on the Patent is pretty amazing!  I have never really been a red kind of girl but this Filofax has converted me.  I think of my yellow Original as a little piece of Summer that I carry around with me, this Patent has become my little piece of Christmas because the red makes me feel festive... yes even in February!  Carrying on with that theme I have just realised my ochre Malden could be my piece of Autumn so all I need now is a Spring organiser, maybe I should go and take another look at that press release I was talking about at the start of this post and see what I can find!