My week #26

I went with a purple and black theme for my pages this week.

My week in my Filofax #26

My Original Filofax in yellow arrived on Tuesday!  The perfect shade of sunny yellow, I can't help smiling when I look at her!  I haven't moved in yet but as soon as I have I will write a post and take lots of photos for you. 

                                

Close up

I've had a really nice weekend, my in laws came to Birmingham to watch the Who on Friday.  They arrived early and surprised the children by collecting them from school at home time and then came for a visit on Saturday. 

                                

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I am really excited for next week, Carla at Friday, I'm in Love has created a new photo-a-day challenge for July that I will be taking part in!  I will be posting my photos onto Instagram (the link to my profile is on the right) with the hashtag #fflovephotoaday, but I will also do a weekly round up post on here too to show you the pics I take.  If you would like to take part please visit Carla's blog for the details.

 
  

Join me on Bloglovin

Hi everyone I just wanted to remind you that Google reader is closing on the 31st July.  I have imported all the blogs I follow onto Bloglovin, it was really easy.  If you would like to do the same just go to http://www.bloglovin.com/import/reader or you can follow this blog by email using the widget on the right.

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My little trick with a paper clamp and a notepad slot

I don't like to over stuff my Filofax but I do have a lot of paperwork that I need to keep track of.  I could punch the pages and add them onto the rings but it is usually things that I don't need to keep in there for very long.  It could be bills that I need to pay or letters from school etc that once dealt with shouldn't be taking up valuable space.  

Notepad slot at the back of my Apex

What I do with this paperwork is to clip it all together with a paper clamp like this one.

Clamped letters etc

And hook the back of the clamp into the notepad slot.

Clipped and hooked

Doing this keeps all the paperwork secure in the back of my Filofax.

Everything held in place

I write the date in my diary that the bill needs to be paid or that the school event is and that the paperwork is clipped in the back of the Filofax.  Once it is completed I can remove it from the clamp.

My Filofax with the clamp in the back

Because everything is clipped together if I want to take my Filofax out with me I can easily remove the paperwork without having to search for it and opening up the rings.  This makes my binder a lot lighter!

Light and skinny again

Does anyone else do this?

My week #25

Here are my pages for this week, I am really happy with them.  I love the yellow washi tape as it puts me in the mood for summer!  It also reminds me of pineapple rock.

My week in my Filofax #25

Tuesday was a fantastic day for me.  My husband took his finale exam and passed his course with a distinction!  I am so proud of him and all the hard work that he has done the past three years to qualify.  He really is the best!

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Friday was another good day as I got 50 followers on this blog!  It really made me happy.  I also found out last week that I have email subscribers, how did I not know this before!?  I expected some kind of fanfare from the blogger Gods on high announcing that people had signed up for my posts or at least an email but no I was completely unaware!  Thank you Fierybeverley for telling me you had subscribed.  I figured out how to check those stats after you did and found I had 18 subscribers which is pretty neat.

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Thanks for reading this and have a wonderful week! 

Filofax dilemma

Ok so I am not buying a personal size Filofax, repeat I am not buying a personal size Filofax.  Just because I have been selling some of my perfume collection on eBay, saving the money in my PayPal account and referring to it as my Filofax fund does not mean I am going to buy a personal size Filofax.  However I am obsessed with The Original in yellow and the aqua Malden, I am in love with them both!  I have been putting a lot of thought into which one I should buy, theoretically of course.  I love the outside look of both binders so I think I would have to base my decision on the insides.

Inside the Original there is a slot on the right for a notepad.  On the left there are two slots for cards and the large elastic strip for pens and maybe your phone or anything else that would fit.  Two card slots isn't a deal breaker for me, I could add the credit card holder insert onto the rings and still be a happy bunny.  The lack of a standard pen loop or loops isn't either, I wouldn't mind popping a couple of pens into the elastic section and I think my Coleto pen would fit easily.  I don't like the nude/beige colour of the elastic in the yellow Original, I would have preferred black but I guess it matches the underside of the leather.

Inside the Malden there is also a notepad slot on the right.  There is a leather pen loop which I doubt my Coleto would fit into (it doesn't fit into the leather loops on my other Filofaxes).  On the left there are four credit card slots and a zipped pocket.  I really like the zipped pocket, I imagine it would be quite handy for keeping little bits and bobs in.  You can buy zipped pocket inserts though so again I could add one to the Original.  There isn't anything that I don't like about the inside of the Malden.

Does this mean I should go with the Malden?  The inside is more pleasing to my eye and I would need to add a couple more inserts into the Original to make it work for me that I wouldn't need in the Malden.  I have also heard that the aqua Malden is going on sale later this week!

Of course the real problem is that I don't want to choose between them, I want them both! 

Anyway this is all purely hypothetical because I am not buying a personal size Filofax...... even though my Filofax fund is tantalisingly close to its target!

*photos in this post are taken from the Filofax UK website.

My week #24/52

These are my pages for this week, it was another busy one!

My week in my Filofax

Tuesday and Wednesday were Sports Days at school so I spent two afternoons in a field getting blown around and drizzled on while cheering for my eldest two but it was still fun.  We had to follow our children's classes around the field to each activity so I got a bit of a workout too!

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I finished Guilt by Jonathan Kellerman this week and I really enjoyed it.  I have read all of his Alex Delaware novels and get quite excited when a new one is released!  If you like crime thrillers then I highly recommend this series.  

One of the things I wrote about back in January was wanting to read more for pleasure and I have managed to do this so far.  I have read six books since then so I'm averaging a book a month which isn't anywhere near what I used to read but it is a lot better than last year so I am happy.

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It is Father's Day today so I am going to go and let the kids loose on their dad with his presents!  I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend and thanks for reading.

Combining my loves - Filofaxes and photography

I love taking photos and of course I love my Filofaxes so I really enjoy taking photos of my filofaxes!  I thought I would share with you some of the photos I have added to Instagram so far this month.

Apex inspired nails

My Japan Corner diary

Things growing in my garden!

My top tabs

Russian doll stationery

In the garden again

My Russian doll week

Where did we go today?

Supplies!

I will be posting my weekly pages at some point over the weekend, have a great Friday!

My pocket Chameleon Filofax - the tour

I have been using a pocket size Filofax as a purse for a few months now and it is working out really well for me.  I am still using my A5 Apex as my main planner as you can see in my weekly posts but I am considering moving down to a personal size.  I think my main issue with downsizing would mean I wouldn't need to use a pocket size anymore which would make the two I have redundant and I love them too much to leave them both sat in their boxes.  This post is about my pocket size Chameleon in raspberry.  

Here she is, my pocket size Chameleon

Is it weird that I think of my Filofaxes as she's?  I really can't help it, they just feel like girls to me and I dislike calling them it!  Anyway I adore the raspberry colour of this Filofax and the pattern too.  She looks like she is covered in lots of tiny hearts.  The leather is quite soft but still firm and has kept the lovely leathery smell well.   

The top view of my Filofax

Unlike my Apex this Chameleon is a skinny girl!  I do not have a big diary in here, only a month on two pages which barely takes up any room.

The pen loop is on the left along with five card slots

Getting coins out of the zipped section is really easy.  I had worried that it might be a tight squeeze but it isn't and I haven't had any trouble.  The pen loop is on the left on the Chameleon which means it is out of the way so I do not have to remove my pen before I can get to my money which is a big plus for me!

My month on two pages diary

My diary and page markers are both from Japan Corner on Etsy, like the dividers in my Apex which I wrote about here.  I really like how cute they are!

I also have a section of To Do list pages

I keep some To Do list pages in this section and behind those some note paper in case I think of something I need to remember while I am out and about.

Finance pages

The next section is for my finance pages.  I use them to keep track of my spending and what is coming in and going out.  I find these pages really useful.

How she looks today

Behind the card slots is a secretarial pocket which is where I am keeping my vouchers to use while shopping.  I also stick my shopping list onto the fly leaf at the front of the Filofax.  I use long sticky post it notes to write my lists in my Apex and then transfer it over on the day I do the weekly shop.

My other pocket size Filofax is an Amazona in black.  I will be writing about her soon but here is a peek inside for now.

My pocket size Amazona

It was love at first sight for me with both of these Filofaxes which is why I am having such a hard time trying to decide if I should move into a personal size.  I could set the A5 Apex up as somewhere to keep my bills and important paperwork so it would still be in use but I wouldn't carry around a personal and a pocket size Filofax in my bag at the same time.  I think I would put my cards in the slots in a personal size and use a small coin purse alongside it.  I have had my eye on the yellow Original and the aqua Malden in personal sizes since I first saw them on Philofaxy earlier this year but I don't know if I could love either of them more than my Chameleon or Amazona?  Hmmm I'm not sure if I will be reaching a conclusion any time soon!

My week #23/52

Here are my pages for this week.  I was a bit busier than last week and I'm sure I wouldn't have got half as much done if I hadn't been using my Filofax! 

My week in m Filofax #23/52

On Tuesday I booked our holiday.  I am so excited, I can't wait to go!  I have started writing some lists already, they are what I need to do before we go away, what I need to buy and what I need to pack.  I have just over seven weeks until we go so I am giving myself six weeks to get everything done and sorted so I don't have to rush around in the last few days. 

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Today I got my 200th follower on Instagram!  I try to post at least one photo a day on there and it is a great way to see other people's planners and pages.  I have made lots of new friends on Instagram who all share my Filofax and stationery addictions and I love to take photos so it really is a great app.  I have added a link to my account on the right hand side of this blog if you want to take a look at my pictures.  I also got my 80th follower on my Filofax Love board on Pinterest so I have been feeling the love this week!

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Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

My week #22/52

This week was relatively quiet for me because there was no school but I did have a couple of lists to complete in time for my daughter's 2nd birthday at the weekend.  It was also my 13th anniversary with my husband.  We didn't do anything special to celebrate as we were focused on Summer's birthday and her party but it will be our 10th wedding anniversary next month so we will do something then instead.

My week in my Filofax #22/52

The party was yesterday and we had a great time.  I love the Hello Kitty cake, I've not seen one wearing a Union Jack dress before but that made it even cooler!

Finally tall enough to reach the table, no cake was safe!

I hope you had a good weekend too, it feels quite odd writing this on a Monday instead of Sunday but I just didn't get the chance yesterday!