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04 March 2012

Reader Review - Filofax Malden - Doris

Thank you to Doris for sending in this review of her Filofax Pocket Malden organiser which she calls Emma...

Meet Emma
(Disclaimer: Please excuse the quality of the pictures. Photography is not one of my strong suits.)

Emma is my Pocket Malden. I bought her in November from Pens and Leather at a lower price vs. Filofax USA. Living in Manila, I can only order online. I needed another one after my Chocolate Pocket Domino, which has remained nameless its entire life, was on its way to retirement. I hadn’t used that Domino for a while and after months of disuse in a drawer, its suede interior was starting to peel away. It now serves as storage for my inserts.


My Filo History.

I started with a Personal size in the mid-90s, first with a non-Filofax one I got locally. It was a black sturdy leather version from Fino that served me for years. It still looks very good. I moved on to a Pocket Portobello with a PDA slot when Palms were in vogue. I used that for years as well, but after I retired from my 9-5 Marketing job, I needed (read: wanted) another one. My Domino was my next Filo. It didn’t get the love and attention it deserved as I moved on to other things like Interior Design school, enjoying unemployment, and exactly a year ago (anniversary!), my own home décor business.

Enter Philofaxy.

After browsing online for the Domino’s replacement, I chanced upon Philofaxy, and an obsession was born. I see-sawed between the Finsbury and the Malden because I wanted a leather one. I chose the Malden, but couldn’t decide on the color. It was a toss-up between the Ochre and the Vintage Pink. The Vintage Pink won out. (I eventually got a Mini Ochre because I loved the color so much.)

Emma is now decked out like no other Filofax I’ve had. I’ve borrowed (stolen, really) lots of ideas from other Filo fans on the web. I have top tabs, side tabs, a dashboard, a DIY swing pad, etc., etc.
 

I love her. She’s as fat as she can get, with a full year of WO2P and tabbed MO2P. She contains my life, really, and I have all the information I need in one place. I carry her around, doodle in her, set appointments (not that many) and let her manage my life. I tried to make her pretty and fun. My card-making hobby came in handy for that. I color code like a maniac with my 2 Pilot 5-Barrel Coletos.


Emma has siblings. A Mini Malden is a food diary, a Mini Portobello is a wallet (purse to you), and a Mini Baroque and Pocket Baroque are on their way to me (the Baroque has arrived since the writing of this post). I plan to find uses for them all, or rotate using them depending on my mood. They deserve love and attention, and their leather needs to be handled.


The Setup.
This is how Emma’s set up. It’s pretty straight-forward -- my personal data up front, Tabs for different needs, Lists, a MO2P and WO2P Diary with a home-made transparent flyleaf as dashboard serving as my weekly to-do list, top-opening envelopes for receipts, cards, photos, and a DIY swing pad finally perfected after three tries. My major To-do and Shopping lists are in the Portobello.   




I’m now hankering after a Mini Amazona in Almond or Brown, it looks so grown-up.

So, that’s Emma. She’s loved and cherished, and I don’t need to be precious with her, she’s sturdy and doesn’t show wear. I love her size, pockets, and color, and 19 mm rings. She’s stuffed to the gills but she can handle it. She serves me well.



Thank you Doris you are certainly using your pocket to its full capacity! 

29 comments:

  1. Doris, I love your filofax(es) and your setup! I am so impressed with everyone's colorful planners! Mine is so plain! Nice to "meet" you too!

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    1. Thanks Josh! The color just 'happened'. I'm just not ready to grow up yet (:

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  2. Outstanding, detailed write-up--thank you for sharing your Malden and other Filofax love here with us! I have not gone for a mini Malden...yet. ;)

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    1. Thanks Sandra! I never even considered a Mini until I found this great community!

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  3. Emma is beautiful and clearly so loved! Thanks for sharing her set-up and cuteness!
    BTW pleeeeease do a post on your baroques! They ate so beautiful and there aren't many posts about them.

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    1. You're welcome Lime Tree! It was a pleasure to do a post on Philofaxy. And I would love to do a Baroque post. You think Steve will let me? (:

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  4. Doris,
    thank you so much for sharing your Emma-Malden-Story!
    Yesterday arrived my Pocket Malden Vintage Pink from City Organiser and I instantly moved into it - it´s gorgeous!
    There are so many ideas in your post which I will have to think over...
    Especially the name inspired me. ;-)

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    1. @Maus: You're most welcome! I hope you find the review helpful. Only this wonderful group of people understand that our Filofaxes have personalities, and deserve a name. (: Enjoy your new Malden!

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  5. Wow! Thanks so much.

    I too have a pocket Malden (in Ochre) but recently bought an A5 Cuban which is now solely for my work stuff. Hence the Malden is now all about me!! Mine is looking a little empty; but now I've loads of ideas of how to fill her up. Who knew a Malden would hold so much?

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    1. Hi Windymiller. I love the ochre color so much! But I wanted a girly pocket size after blacks and browns, so Vintage Pink it was for me. Your pocket will be the perfect size for a "ME" binder! Enjoy!

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    2. Thank Emma - I was concerned that the pocket Malden might be too small but Doris has proved that it isn't! I love the pink colour - it was so hard to choose between the two for me! Maybe I'll get a pink Malden one day :-)

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  6. I love this review, and Emma is so pretty and colourful! I can see this becoming one of Philofaxy's most popular posts!!

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  7. I love Emma and all your others, love the colors and how organized it is. And I loved how you wrote everything, detailed but fun!

    Tracy

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  8. Such a cute little filofax!I love her. The set up is great too. Best of all is how personalised it is for you. You could never do that with an electronic planner.
    Love it!!

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    1. Thanks CP! I love Filos for exactly that reason!

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  9. Great post! Thank you for sharing, Doris! I love it when posts have a lot of detailed pictures of the set-up! Your Emma looks fabulous! I think its fantastic that she is so full...there's just something about a FF that is full to almost bursting!

    Seeing your post has inspired me to reexamine my set up in my Personal and to also pull out my Pocket and Mini and get them working again!

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    1. Hi DEM! I have to be careful not to stuff her too much or she won't close (:

      Have fun with the re-tweaking of your binders!

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  10. Just wondering, but what kind of pen is that? I love it! It must keep your filofax looking even more colorful and organized! Ah! I have malden envy! I love the color of Emma, she is as beautiful as they come!

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    1. Hi Caroline! Those are Pilot Coleto 5-barrel multi-pens, don't know if you've heard about them. They write really well and I can carry around 8 colors, plus a pencil and eraser, in just 2 pens. Another great multi-pen is the Uni-ball Style Fit because the ink is waterproof, but they don't make an eraser component. Hope that helps.

      The Malden pink is very unique color, but it's not for everyone.

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  11. Thank you for the detailed post. It is always fun to read how others set up and use their FFs. I look forward to read about the new additions. And thanks for the pen tips, I have added them to my wishlist.

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  12. I have never seen a mini in person. Can you do a post about yours? It seems so smaller than a pocket. How do you use it?

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    1. I have since stopped using minis and am using pockets as wallets instead. You're right, it's really small. I have also written a blog about all my other planning tools over at thestoragestudio.blogspot.com. Hope that helps. And thanks.

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  13. Emma is packed full of goodness!
    Mine is almost there.....

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  14. I love this post :) Any chance of a follow-up post?

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    1. Thanks Mariel! I've started a blog since this post. It's thestoragestudio.blogspot.com. Lots of planner and journaling posts over there. Hope that helps.

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    2. Thank you Doris! I enjoy reading your blog and have already picked up a lot of ideas :)

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    3. You're very welcome Mariel! I'm glad. Happy to help.

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