31 July 2014

Reboot Your Filofax

Is it time to reboot your Filofax? No I am not going to go all technical on you.

I have been meaning to do this with my personal size organiser ever since Alison and I got back from the UK over a month ago.

So what does this involve? OK give yourself an hour or so to sit down at your desk or table.

Remove all the pages from your personal organiser. Separate the pages in to the different sections you already have.


Now go through each section and decide on the contents as follows:
  • Keep: Pages you continue to need every day that isn't available elsewhere; 
  • Archive: Pages that can now be archived; 
  • Transfer: Pages that contain information you want to say transfer to your home organiser and that you don't need to carry with you all the time. 
  • Update: Pages that you need to update, refresh. 
In my case I was able to archive the first 6 months of the year diary pages. I discovered I had two year planners! I also transferred out my UK maps which I don't need here in France. I'm also considering dropping the need to carry a full set of names and addresses with me all the time, I would prefer to have that information at home and may be a smaller number of pages with just names and phone numbers on them.

The end result is that I've slimmed down the number of pages sufficiently to be able to try out using a Compact size organiser, including the De-Villiers that I received/swapped from Anita and Amanda.


I also think that having less pages will be more effective in the long term. Having more relevant information to hand will definitely mean that 'less is more' and I will spend less time looking for a particular page with information on it!

I realise over time the number of pages will gradually increase again, but at least with this system of maintenance I will be able to rationalise things easier in future.

How many months or weeks of diary inserts do you carry at any one time?

30 July 2014

A date for your diary - 3 August 2014

We are going to run another conference round-table voice chat using Skype. And the 'morning' session returns so our friends in the Far East and Pacific can join in again.

I'm sure we are gradually getting to know each other's voices, but I will make a point of going 'around the table' to get everyone to introduce themselves this time.

So...When, Where, What, Who and How?

When? - Sunday 3 August from 9:30am London time, 10:30am Paris time, 6:30pm Sydney time and 8:30pm Wellington time.

Additionally I will be on line at 7:00am Anchorage, 8:00am San Francisco 10:00am Chicago, 11:00noon New York, 4:00pm London time, 5:00pm Paris time etc.  See the World Clock to make sure you have the right time.

The timing of these two sessions have been chosen to hopefully allow as many people to join in compared to previous round-tables. The timing of future ones will be varied to suit everyone if need be.

Where? - an on-line chat using Skype.

What do I need? - just a micro-phone and some head phones(in ear phones work fine) and a free Skype account. Using headphones or earphone reduces 'echo' on the call. If you have a webcam then you can join in on video as well, but this is optional!

Who - All of you... connect up with Philofaxy and we will attempt to get as many of us linked in to the audio conference as possible. Come and listen if you don't want to chat.  What do we talk about? Filofax stuff... but anything else as well. It's like long lost friends meeting up for coffee and a catch up.. but don't worry if you have never joined in before... you are an old friend too!

If you have any questions you want to ask then please let us know in the group or before we start.

How -
  1. Connect to Philofaxy by firstly searching for Philofaxy in Skype, I will then add you as a contact.
  2. Then  'Send Contact Request',  I will then add you in to the chat room. 
  3. Then if you request it, I can add you to the audio conference as well. But if you just want to chat via keyboard that's fine. That way it's slightly less hectic for me! 
Come and join in the fun, even if you only pop in to say hello... but don't be afraid to join in the discussion.

As with previous round-tables there will also be a parallel text chat room going at the same time as the voice conference, so you can listen to the voice chat and type if you wish.

If you need any assistance setting up Skype, please pop a comment in this post and I will try and help you get one line. Skype is free for computer to computer calls....

Here is my post on how to improve your Skype audio with headphones or a headset.

Hope to be chatting with you on Sunday 3 August 2014.

The result of the Van der Spek competition

Thank you for all your lovely entries and the messages you included with them! The competition was very well supported and you nearly all got the right answers too!

So we asked you the following questions:
  1. How many years has Van der Spek been active in the leather industry? 
  2. In which country are Van der Spek planners made? 
  3. What colour numbers of Nappa leather were used to make the Standard size Van der Spek organiser that was reviewed?
And the answers are: 
  1. More than 85 years, in fact I think it's 87 years and counting! 
  2. Netherlands although I accepted Holland as well.
  3. Nero (6235) on the outside and Acacia (6204) on the inside, straight from the review!
Each correct entry was numbered as they arrived and on Monday we used Random.org to pick the winner.........

And the winner is Barbara Simonds congratulations to Barbara and a big thank you to everyone at Van der Spek for supporting this great competition. 

After reading the reviews and you are still undecided about buying a Van der Spek organiser, please consider joining the Facebook group, you will find a wealth of information there as well as lots of photos of ones people have already ordered. Petra Van der Spek responds to lots of questions on there too, she's wonderful! 

Filofax organiser as a wallet

Using your Filofax personal organiser as a wallet it seems is not exactly a new idea! One of our readers John B sent in the scans of a post card he has had since the 1990's. Unfortunately there's no date on the post card.




However I did some detective work on the company and they were around in the late 1920's
Ludgate Co of 76 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. Telephone: Edinburgh 25597. Cables: "Ludgate, Edinburgh"
1929 Advert as Loose Leaf Book Manufacturers. Also Postape, Scotia, Hanover and Lockfast Ledgers, Dunsol and Eclipse Thong Transfers. Pro. and Non-Projecting Post Binders. Prong, and Ring Binders, Memo, and Price Books. The "Aristocrat" of Loose Leaf Books. (Stationery Section - Stand No. R.106)
By 1942, they appear to have moved to a different address in Edinburgh.


Once again thank you to John B for sharing this with us.

29 July 2014

Web Finds - 29th July 2014

I hope you had a good weekend? Time to enjoy a great collection of blog posts and videos from around the internet.

So here are the latest Filofax blog posts from around the Internet:
  1. The Voluptuous Lady Godiva - Well Planned Life
  2. Doodle with Month-On-1-Page - DiYfish
  3. Filofax Flex Setup for Work - Pretty Little Pocket
  4. Weekly Planning – The Sunday Sessions - The Peaceful Parent
  5. The Phenomenon of Bullet Journaling - In love with journals
  6. Scheduling In A Planner - Giftie Etcetera
  7. Monthly Planner Supply Kits - Itsaplannerthing
  8. 3 Simple Planner DIYs - Strange & Charmed
  9. Choices choices... - a ska loving geek
  10. ❤New Item!❤ Paisley Dividers for the Personal Size - Filofax Love
  11. Video – due compact a confronto: Van der Spek vs Filofax Calipso - GeekSpritz
  • We monitor over 500 blogs and sites, your Filofax/Organiser blog posts could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 
  • We can not guarantee people will read your posts, but we know there is a higher chance of people reading your posts and returning to read other posts if you make them interesting with pictures and good hints and tips. Do not forget to give your posts a title... 
  • For some general tips on Filofax Blogging, please see this post
And here are a selection of the latest Filofax videos for your enjoyment.
  1. Van der Spek compact vs Filofax Calipso -  GeekSpritz
  2. How I use my planner for blogging. - Patty Gardner
  3. Personal Filofax Malden Review - Palestblue
  4. Decorating My Filofax - Summer Geometric Theme - My Purpley Life
  5. Work Setup and Forward Planning - Lady Elizabeth
  6. Menu Planning in my Filofax - Sonia S
  7. Ask OATTblog: Mid 2014 Planner Favourites! - OATTblog
  8. Direct Sales Business Filofax setup and My Thirty-One Arc Party binder - Made with love crafter
  9. Gillio Mia Cara Purple Medium&A5 Unboxing - Ye Browning
  10. (2) Van Der Spek Personal Planner Set Up, July 2014 - SingleMomWitCruiz
  11. Filofax Week 29 Decoration Tutorial - Sugarpandax3
  • For tips on how to improve your videos, please see this post.  Also this video too Webfinds 
  • Your Filofax/Organiser Videos could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 
We are on the look out for more people to take part in Reader Under the Spotlight. If you would like to appear in this feature then please contact Steve : philofaxy at gmail dot com  Thank you.

My Week Posts
  1. My week #119 - blog four year anniversary! - Paper Lovestory
  2. The Weekly Recap (#27) - Student Spy Glass
  3. My Week #30 - Life of Kitty
  4. My week #30 - She's Eclectic
  5. My Week #30 - Joanny White
  6. My week 82 - Sabina
  7. #onebookjuly2014 – Week 4 Update - Carie Harling
  8. #OneBookJuly2014 Week 4 Update! - MakeUp'N All
  9. Week 27's Finished & Decorated Pages - Sugarpandax3
  10. Week 28's Finished & Decorated Pages - Sugarpandax3
Enjoy

Free For All Tuesday No 182

28 July 2014

PRESS RELEASE ::: Gillio leathers awarded with ’Certificato di Garanzia’

Gillio is proud to announce that as of today, all Gillio products are officially labeled with the 'Certificato de Garanzia - pelle conciata al vegetale in Toscana' label: guaranteed vegetable tanned Tuscan leathers. Gillio earned this label after meeting the most stringent requirements for authenticity of leather processing, imposed by the strict specifications of the Consortium, an independent organization that carries out regular (unannounced) spot checks on quality and production.


Every leather product will come, from today on, with its own certificate and serial number. It is common knowledge that Gillio only produces naturally treated, high quality products, but the certificate adds the extra guarantee for customers that they are indeed receiving a 100% natural, vegetable tanned Tuscan leather.



As with all natural products, vegetable tanned leathers are unique, and subject to colour, texture and surface differences - every animal is unique, just as every person is. You will never find two identical products in the Gillio collection: instead of offering perfectly (artificially) smoothened, thirteen-in-a-dozen products, Gillio firmly believes in creating unique pieces of true craftsmanship that will grow even more beautiful with age - true heirlooms.

Gillio products distinguish themselves by their uniqueness: a batch of leather can be pebbly or smooth, or a little of both - one hide can be more receptive to the natural dying process than the one before... The natural variations (creases, imperfections, scars, variations in the colour or the grain) in the leathers are inherent to the Gillio products - they were in the past and will remain as such in the future collections.

Discover our entire collection of handmade, naturally tanned Tuscan leather products on our website: www.gillio.be

Thank you to Ben and the team at Gillio for sharing this excellent news with us here at Philofaxy.

Filofax Cataloge 1996 1997

We go back to 1996 1997 for this weeks look at the old catalogues, but a big thank you to GMax for scanning these in for us and sharing them with us. Another gap filled in the sequence of catalogues.













And there are higher resolution versions of all the pages here.

As always the pictorial content of this post is the intellectual property of Filofax Group Ltd. The scans are reproduced here with the full permission of Filofax Group Ltd. for educational and non-commercial usage.

27 July 2014

Reader Under The Spotlight - Triona

Today I would like to introduce you to Triona

My name is Triona, I'm an Irish mamma of two small boys, working in financial services, with a serious habit for stationery, paper, organisers, sewing and fabric. I have blown hot and cold with Filofax over the years but since having kids I'm finding I use one all the time now just because my memory is so bad.

I only discovered Philofaxy this year though, and have learned a lot since then. I enjoy the interaction on the Facebook page and the info on the website but am trying not to be tempted into buying any more Filofaxes as I am saving for a Van der Spek.

1. When did you buy your first organiser and what was it? 

In 1999 before I took off on my travels to Canada and Australia, I bought it in Dublin, it was a pocket Filofax, zipped with quite a sturdy almost sports type zip, it was red PU with black trim and a filofax logo down the front at the side, I WISH I knew the model now cause it's bugging me that I can't be specific :)

2. What other brands have you used or considered using? 

I have two pockets from Akiko, and I am definitely going to get a VdS but I have to think long and hard about it because I want to adore the VdS and be 100% happy with colours etc

3. Out of the organisers you own which is your current favourite (Style and Size)? 

I'm definitely a personal person but much to my surprise my favourite is an Akiko pocket in a turquoise and black snake skin effect, I usually dislike anything that looks reptilian but the colour on this one is amazing and the craftsmanship is wonderful , I use it as a notebook and carry it in my bag every day.

My favourite practical diary planner is a purple malden, really smooth and a perfect shade

4. How many Filofax or other brands of organisers do you own? 

Mmm, this is highly classified : currently own 2 Akiko and 7 Filofaxes, one Filofax is A5 for work - purple patent original; the rest are personal - ochre malden, purple malden, red finsbury, brown zip holborn, an indie which is navy orange and white patterned fabric, and a grey Osterley.

I also have an older brown leather one branded 'Moores of London' which was made for a bank, I worked in banks so used to sometimes collect bank memorabilia. I have a blue Buckingham on the way too....

I also have a specific family health organiser which I got for recording all the medical details of the kids and us, if I had thought about it I would have used a leather A5 and bought the inserts !! Oh and I have a pink clipbook, does that count...

5. What is the oldest organiser in your collection? 

Probably the Moores bank one although I don't know the year.

6. What do you use your organisers for? 

One for diary/recording everyday appointments and info re my kids or house, they have a different coloured pen each which works for me.

One for work for note taking and noting deadlines etc, I use outlook at work for meetings but the FF is for my own deadlines or small notes regarding ad hoc stuff.

One as a notebook, one as a commonplace book and the rest as storage for old diary and insert spares etc.

7. What was the feature about Filofax you like most? 

The variety of styles, the interchangeability of sections and pages, the fact I can keep a much loved outside and change the inside anytime I like. Or conversely swap outer covers and keep same diary. Also their feel, I love leather and fabric and they are more practical for me than having a big handbag collection.

8. If you could design your own Filofax what would it feature? 

Slightly bigger rings but not much, say 28mm, amazing colours, either turquoise or purple , a more surprising inside (like the rio has ) and lots of slots, a mesh pocket like a finchley has and a leather fly leaf with a zip pocket in it. Not sure that flyleaf is exactly practical but I like the idea of it.

9. How do you carry your Filofax? 

The work one comes each day in my lunch bag, I never leave it at work overnight in case the building burns down! The Akiko stays in a tiny pocket in my handbag and the rest stay at home.

10. Which Filofax in the current range do you like the most? Are you going to buy it? 

I'm rather liking the electric blue Finsbury even though that model wouldn't be my favourite normally, but I love the colour. Also love the Charleston but I don't want a compact so I won't buy that. The patents put me off a bit because of finger prints and they don't have that leather feel I love, so I probably won't buy one from current range right now. I think I would prefer another Akiko or a VdS

11. What is the most you have ever spent on a Filofax or other brand of organiser? Which model? 

My goodness, a bishop wouldn't ask me that :) Oh well, we're all friends and enablers here right? The Akiko ones were most expensive, they work out around €115, I like to buy for her because they are unique and hand made and I feel she is a real artisan. I got my Osterley half price and the rest were reduced in various places.

12. What's your favourite Filofax tip or hack? 

Mmm, don't know if I have any tips really, something I do is to punch things like fancy tags to make page finders or I punch cards people have given me to make flyleaves or dividers that are of sentimental value. I also sometimes punch fancy envelopes and use them for holding bits and bobs instead of the FF clear zipped envelopes.

13. Turning to Philofaxy, what do you like the most? 

The fact that any model you want to research is on there somewhere, usually pictured to within an inch of its life and reviewed in detail, it's an amazing resource.

Also that it has behind it a wonderful community of people who are very generous with their knowledge and time , people criticise social media but the Facebook group attached to Philofaxy is very generous and a lovely place to hang out sometimes.

14. And what do you not like about Philofaxy? 

Nothing comes to mind, maybe just the fact that all the meet ups are a flight away from me :)

15. What was the last music track you downloaded or bought? 

Ed Sheerans album, we're big fans of his in my house

16. Have you ever attended a Philofaxy meet-up? if not do you intend to one day? 

I probably would if there was one in Ireland but I probably wouldn't fly for one.

17. What was the last movie you watched? 

'Ted' which my husband put on the DVD player the other night, it wasn't my favourite to be honest

18. What was the last book you read? 

Siblings without rivalry ... My kids are 4 and 1 so toddler and child behaviour are topics of the moment :)

19. George Clooney or Brad Pitt? 

Clooney by a country mile!

Thank you Triona for your contribution to this popular feature. And if you would like to appear on 'Reader Under the Spotlight' please email philofaxy at gmail dot com 




26 July 2014

Web Finds - 26 July 2014

I hope you had a good week? Time to enjoy a great collection of blog posts and videos from around the internet.

So here are the latest Filofax blog posts from around the Internet:
  1. Wordless Wednesday - Anita Lim
  2. Van Der Spek Unboxing - The Peaceful Parent
  3. Planner Fatigue - Break of Light
  4. Tag . . . your it! - Kent from Oz - Filofaxuations
  5. 07.22.14 - My Finance Log (featuring my RAIKA planner) - Innocent + Twisted
  6. Filofax: Pimp My Filofax challenge. - Life of Kitty
  7. How to Use Your Daily Planner for Blogging - Homemakers Daily
  8. A5 going strong - Looking through a frosty window
  9. My Filofax Wishlist - Addicted to Stationery
  10. And they call it FILO-LOVE ♩♪♫♬ - Kent from Oz - Filofaxuations
  11. Moving Into My New Van Der Spek - The Peaceful Parent  
  12. Filofax Friday! - Filosophical
  13. A - Z List Section in Personal Filofax - Organise your Life & Mind
  14. It’s A Planner Thing: Recap of Virtual Planning Session - It's A Planner Thing
  15. Top Ten Fun Things You Can Do With Your Planner - The Storage Studio
  16. Prepping for the Month Ahead - The Peaceful Parent 
  17. Can't stand your to do lists in your Filofax, Midori, Smartphone? Here is the solution - My Summer Touch
  18. Jekyll and Hydewriting - Kent from Oz - Filofaxuations
  19. The Demise Of The Pen Has Been Greatly Exaggerated - The Pen Addict
  20. My current Malden setup - PaperCutterz
  21. Serendipity - GillB
  22. New Filofaxes {unboxing} - Filofax Friday - Mrs Brimbles
  23. How to Back Up Your Paper Planner - Strange and Charmed
  24. Color-Coding, Categories and Other Words That Begin With "C" - Modular Lifestyle Design
  25. Personalising your Filofax cover - Joanny White
  26. it's a filofax affair - being erica
  27. Filofax? What on Earth is a Filofax? - Well Planned Creativity
  28. Filofax Blogger Challenge! - Filosophical
  • We monitor over 500 blogs and sites, your Filofax/Organiser blog posts could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 
  • We can not guarantee people will read your posts, but we know there is a higher chance of people reading your posts and returning to read other posts if you make them interesting with pictures and good hints and tips. Do not forget to give your posts a title... 
  • For some general tips on Filofax Blogging, please see this post
And here are a selection of the latest Filofax videos for your enjoyment.
  1. Malden Pocket Setup with DIYs - organised lifestyle
  2. DIYFish v2.2 in my FC Compact (Filofax, Day-Timer, Franklin Covey  - Life:Planned
  3. I have a planner- now what? Getting started with your new Filofax or other planner - Life:Planned
  4. Basic Budget Planner Setup - OATTblog 
  5. Decorating My Filofax - Summer Geometric Theme - My Purpley Life
  6. Filofax: University Set-Up as part of Pimp my Filofax. - Katie Louise Halsall
  7. Filofax Finsbury Setup - My Planner
  • For tips on how to improve your videos, please see this post.  Also this video too Webfinds 
  • Your Filofax/Organiser Videos could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 
Enjoy

25 July 2014

Free for All Friday No. 297 by Nan

It's Friday! Time to comment on anything that strikes your fancy, no matter how random or weird.

Speaking of which, has anyone ever told you your interest in Filofaxes is weird?

(For example, upon seeing a picture of a Filofax tower from a meet-up, my brother said "There's something wrong with you.")

24 July 2014

Win a Van der Spek Organiser..

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR ENTRIES.

So you have read how they make the Van der Spek Standard size and A5 size organisers. You have read the reviews of the Standard and A5 organisers...

Now is your chance to win a Van der Spek Standard organiser of your own.

Please answer all of the following questions
  1. How many years has Van der Spek been active in the leather industry? 
  2. In which country are Van der Spek planners made? 
  3. What colour numbers of Nappa leather were used to make the Standard size Van der Spek organiser that was reviewed? 
Please send in your answers by email to steve at philofaxy dot com  marking the Subject/Title of your email Van de Spek Competition. The closing date for answers is 12 noon (UK time) on Monday 28 July 2014.

You will find the answers in the reviews or on the Van der Spek website. Please do not post the answers in the comments to this post!

Good luck to everyone that takes part.

Notes:
1. This competition is a world wide competition run on behalf of Van der Spek.
2. By entering you are consenting for your name and email address to be passed to Van der Spek for the purpose of the competition only. Your email address will not be sold or used for any marketing purposes.
3. The winner will be able to choose which colour planner they get from the range of colours available at the time that the winner is announced.
4. No cash alternatives will be allowed.
5. With your permission Van der Spek will use your name in publicity on their Facebook page.
6. Answers received after the closing date/time will not be entered.
7. The winner will be announced on the Van der Spek Facebook page on Wednesday 30th July 2014.
8. The judges decision is final.

Van der Spek A5 organiser - review

So we are approaching the end of our big Van der Spek feature during the last two weeks. We have been holding back with the release of these posts so that Petra at Van der Spek could get their new Web-Shop up and running.

It was back in March this year that Petra and I started to discuss reviewing her wonderful products and the two you have seen being made and reviewed are the result of that co-operation and discussion.

Yesterday we showed you how this was particular A5 organiser was made by Van der Spek in their own workshops in Holland.

So today we are looking at the A5 Van der Spek Custom model which comes fitted with 35mm Krause rings. The leather colours are 6202 (Ciocolatio) on the outside and 6208 (Cuoio) on the inside. These are both Italian nappa leathers, which is very soft to the touch and very supple.

The overall external design is the same as the Standard size Van der Spek, the design has been scaled up in proportions.


The rear cover is also the same as the Standard size Van der Spek.


Moving to the internal layout this is were it does differ to the Standard.  Starting with the front inside cover. There are two columns of card holders holding 10 cards in total, There is a further two at the bottom of the cover and a slip pocket behind these two card pockets.

There is a full height vertical slip pocket behind this card section this can take folded A4 sheets easily.

The rings on this model are 35 mm Krause rings and we will come on to how these work later on in the review.

The back inside cover has a zip pocket as well as another full height slip pocket behind this zip pocket, this one is gusseted so it can take more papers.

There is an elasticated pen loop also fitted on the back inside cover. It is possible to also specify a 2nd pen loop fitted on the inside front cover at extra cost.


The quality of the stitching is excellent it is both consistent and of high quality. Again contrasting thread have been used on the inside and outside of the organiser.


Like the standard it is possible to order a leather fly leaf, this is quite thin and comes in the contrasting colours of the organiser.


Like on the standard, the flyleaf adds to the appearance of the organiser and also smooths out the writing surface when writing on the left hand side of the organiser when you have various cards in the slots.


Yes they really are 35mm internal diameter.


The inside back cover pocket can neatly take my Kindle eReader.


Looking end on to the rings you can see they are more or less circular in profile so they have quite a large capacity for holding a lot of paper.


The Standard and the A5 have been in use since I received them back in April, I've hardly had any desire to move out of them really they just work so well for me.


In Use: 
The A5 Van der Spek has been the main organiser in my pair of organisers I use on a daily basis. It is mainly sat open on my desk, but during our recent visit to UK it was often carried in a bag or rucksack during the many events and visits I made around UK.

When I first started using the A5 Van der Spek one of the first things I noticed was that the big 35 mm rings can be a bit of a hurdle to get over in terms of writing in my diary, which is where most of my time is spent in the organiser. I might look information up in other sections, but most of my writing activity is in the diary section.

Traditionally, the diary section was one of the first sections in my A5 organiser set up. But with the 35mm rings there was quite a large 'step' between one side of my week view and the other side with the rings forming a 'hurdle' in the middle. This isn't so noticeable with 25 or 30mm rings. So to over come this I moved my entire A-Z contacts section from the back of the organiser to the front and that solved the issue for me.

I would like to thank Petra Van der Spek for supplying the review sample featured in this post and especially her patience when we were trying to decide what colours to make it in!

The Van der Spek website now has a new web-shop which makes it a lot easier to order an organiser from them. There is also a very friendly Facebook group devoted to Van der Spek organisers.

Here is their publicity video, but it shows the people themselves crafting these lovely organisers. There were no stand-ins for the making of this video!


And finally... there will be a chance later today to win a Van der Spek organiser here on Philofaxy, the competition will be open to all our readers.

23 July 2014

How to make a Van der Spek A5 Organiser.

So today I'm going to show you the making of a Van der Spek A5 Manager custom made organiser, this one is with nappa leather a dark brown exterior (Chiocolatto - 6202) and light brown interior (Cuoio - 6208)

The method of construction is very similar to the Standard size we showed last week, but with some differences to the internal layout and the pockets.

Again a big thank you to Petra Van der Spek for sharing this series of photographs with us. Some of the processes are shared with the Standard size, but only shown in one post or the other, so in a way there is an overlap between the posts. Revisit the 'How to make a Van der Spek Standard organiser' to fill in the gaps as it were.

Picking the precise part of the leather to cut the single piece outside cover.

Mr Van der Spek hand cutting the leather with a template. 

The components for the A5, dark brown on the outside, golden brown on the inside.

The press is used with the metal template to cut out the individual parts and in this case cut the slots.

The credit card slots interior leather, the metal assembly is the cutter used in conjunction with the press to accurately cut out these complicated parts of the interior.  

By using this sort of machine cutting you get repeatably parts 

The inside rear cover with the slot where the zip will be. 

Thinning the edges of the leather for gluing and later sewing

The interior components and the closure strap. 

The liners for the pockets and credit card slots. 

The zip is inserted.

Held with some glue before it is then stitched.

Gluing the pocket liner below the zip. 

Creating the other credit card pockets 

Hand cutting the liners. 

Adding the liner for the lower pocket

Assembling the card slot liners

Adding the liners to the credit card section. 

All of the liners have been added to the credit card section. 

Applying glue to the edge of the stiffener

Lining up the stiffener and the foam liner. 

Folding the leather edge over on to the inner liner

Applying glue to the edge before the interior is assembled

Joining the rear inside cover to the spine component. 

Joining the front inside cover to the spine component.

Stitching the credit card slot pockets. 

Stitching in the zip, as well as the stitching of the other pockets. 

The internal components are all stitched with the dark brown thread that matches the external leather colour. 

Adding the lower pocket to the upper credit card slot pocket section. 

Adding the Van der Spek 'tag'

Stitching the edges of the credit card pockets section

Preparing the outside cover

Positioning the clasp on the outside cover, using a template to align it accurately. 

Sewing the clasp to the outside cover, the outside uses thread colour that matches the internal leather colour.

The interior is complete and the 35 mm rings are there to be added too. 

Placing the interior parts on to the external cover. 

Applying some glue to hold the two sections in correct registration before sewing. 

Carefully lining up the interior assembly over the outer of the organiser. 

Applying glue to the edge before folding the outer edge over the interior before it is stitched.

Applying glue to the edge before folding the outer edge over the interior before it is stitched. 

Stitching the front and the back together. 

The closure is stitched the back cover and edge stitching is continues.

The organiser is finally stitched together. 

The finished organiser. 


And if you too would like a customised Van der Spek organiser made for you, you can find out more details on the Van der Spek website and also in the fans Facebook group.

Again thank you to Petra for all of the photographs.

Coming up tomorrow a review of this particular organiser and the chance to enter a competition to win your own Van der Spek Standard organiser.