My week #8/52

I am taking part in Paper Lovestory's My Week posts (click the button on the right if you would like to check it out) so these are my pages from last week.

It was a very lucky week for me as I won a couple of competitions and was selected to do some product tests and reviews too through a company called Toluna.  I have been a member of Toluna for years now and I love doing product tests for them as you get to keep what you test afterwards and who doesn't love a freebie?

On Sunday we decided to celebrate Mothers Day early and went out for a family meal as the restaurants were crazy busy last year and that kind of ruined the day.  I love the salad bar at the Harvester and the blue cheese dressing which, as my hubby likes to tease me, is odd because I hate blue cheese.  

After the meal I popped into WH Smiths to fondle the Filofaxes which I think is quite a nice way to while away a Sunday afternoon!

The wants

I have a very bad case of the wants this week.  Usually some online window shopping satisfies the longing but this time it has made it worse!  I was talking to another blogger about her mini filofax and she told me she used to use a smaller binder along side her A5 and that set the wheels in motion.  I know you can get filofaxes with the full width pocket on the exterior for your notes and a zipped compartment for your coins to use as a purse or wallet and I really like that idea.  I have been looking online at the pocket Chameleon and mini Finsbury.

Chameleon in raspberry

Finsbury in yellow

Finsbury in blue

Aren't they beautiful? I was doing a fantasy basket on the Filofax UK site but obviously I didn't check out and a couple of hours later I received an email from them offering me a discount code for 20% off my next order..... oh the temptation! I think the blue one is my favourite out of the three and it is the one that is still sitting in my cart whispering my name.  But there it will stay, for a while at least.  I know I don't need it but oh my I want it!

My week #7/52

I thought I would show you last week's pages once they were all filled in.  I got a bit highlighter happy as you can see..... 

It was a pretty quiet week but I like being able to jot things down each day just to keep track of them.  Once it is on paper I feel like I don't need to remember it anymore so my pages might get cluttered but my mind is more peaceful.   

When I started this blog I didn't really know where I wanted to take it, the only thing I knew was I didn't want it to be a mummy blog.  I am a full time mum to three fantastic children but I wanted to do something that was just for me and gave me a chance to be myself again and not the edited mum version I am day to day.  The response to my Filofax posts has been really positive so I think I will be writing a lot about my Filofax/planning/stationery obsession in the future.  My blog might not be as eclectic as I envisioned but it will be very me!

I LOVE my new Filofax! - Part two

So taking up from where we left off last week.... I am using dodo pad inserts in my filofax. This is a photo of how the week is set out. It is a grid format like a school timetable.  The sections along the top of the grid are blank so you can label them yourself.

Mine are Notes, Am, Pm, Hubby and Kids. The clear layout for the week means I can see where all of us are supposed to be easily.  I use the Notes column for birthdays, holidays and anniversaries etc.  Am and Pm are for my day and any appointments to do with our home and Hubby and Kids help me keep track of their week too.  Another thing I love about Dodo Pads is that each week has a different theme and there are funny little drawings and quotes to entertain you on the page opposite the weekly diary while giving you plenty of space to make notes or to doodle.  

The stickers I have used in this photo are also from JapanCorner, they say Birthday, Travel, Happy, Eat and Shopping and some are blank so you can write your own underneath the cute girl characters.

As I said last week I am also using the diary that came with my filofax.  The Dodo Pad tells me our family's week at a glance and then I use this diary to go into more detail.  There is enough room to do this in the Dodo Pad but I thought I may as well use this diary too as it is a bit of a waste not to.  It is a simple week over two pages set up but I am enjoying using it as I have been decorating it with stamps and washi tape.

This is a close up of my favourite stamp, it is a Russian doll and I am a bit obsessed with them.     My friend brought me an umbrella with them all over it for Christmas and now when it rains I'm happy because I get to use it. I also got some hand warmers made with Russian doll fabric from my sister inlaw so I guess people know my secret!

At the back of my filofax I have a large pocket that is full of stickers and the care instructions for my dividers.

Lastly this is my pen, I got it from ebay as I thought it went well with everything else in my organiser.  It says on it "If we do a green thing, the earth can be better!" and while I can argue with the grammar I can't with the logic! 

I LOVE my new Filofax! - Part one

So as part of my getting organised kick I invested in this lovely pink A5 Apex Filofax when it was in the post Christmas sales.  I know A5 is quite big but I felt I needed the extra space on the page as I hated trying to squish everything in when I have used smaller diaries in the past and I don't usually take it out of the house so it doesn't need to fit into my bag (though my bag is pretty big anyway!).  I use the calender on my mobile when I'm out and about and just transfer things across once I'm home. So this is it....

I have always loved stationery.  I can remember being excited during the summer holidays as I got to buy all the new bits and bobs for going back to school in September.  Pens, pencil cases, folders, colouring pencils, notebooks, I loved them all and yes I realise I was and still am a bit of a geek. Anyway I managed to find some really cute handmade dividers from a seller on Esty called JapanCorner.  She personalises them so you can choose what you would like on each tab.  Mine are Diary, This Week, To Do, Ideas and Contacts. Diary and Contacts are self explanatory and This Week takes me to the current week in the diary.  At the moment I am writing simple to do things in the diary on the day I need to complete them and using the To Do section for bigger goals that might take some time to finish.  Ideas is for my blog planning (yes I do put some thought into these) and anything else that I think might be worth while jotting down.
I do love everything in the JapanCorner store and I also enjoy reading her blog too.  I would like to buy a set of contact pages from her next as they are much prettier than the standard ones that came with my binder.

You can see the personalised cover of my dividers in this photo, each divider has one of these kawaii characters on them and I think they are really fun. The contact pages I am lusting after match the dividers too.

On the inside of the front cover there are three pockets, I have some post it notes in the smallest and a loyalty card for a free coffee (I must keep it in a safe place as I'm only one sticker away from my freebie!)  I also have some business cards and ephemera from different companies that I thought were too nice to throw away.  I guess I am treating my filofax as a kind of scrapbook as well as an organiser but having things like these in it makes me happy when I open the binder so I shall keep them in here.

A close up of the tabs... 

At the moment I am using two diaries in it.  I have been a fan of Dodo pads for the past five years so I HAD to have a dodo pad insert as I really can't live without one of their diaries anymore.  This one is an Acad-Pad which means it starts at the beginning of the school year in September instead of starting in January.  It also has some student related humor and even though it has been a long time since I was a student I still find it very funny.  The second diary I am using is the one that came with the filofax, it has a week over two pages and this is where I am writing my easy "to do" lists.  The Dodo Pad is the diary for me to organise the whole family whereas the 2nd diary is just for me for things that I need to do and remember etc.

I will write a bit more about Dodo pads and show you the rest of my filofax in part two, hopefully on Monday as I have a very busy weekend planned. Thanks for reading this!