I think I've recently been suffering from the well-known phenomenon of 'Filofax fail'. I haven't fallen out of love with them, but I think it's what you'd call user error! Some thing just hasn't been right, and consequently every thing is out of date and I've been solely using a couple of pieces of lined paper at the front and touching nothing else. I had no idea where to start, but strangely enough buying another filo started me down the right path.
When my Domino snake arrived, I immediately loved it, but thought, "I don't need this and no matter how lovely it is, it isn't a Malden!" (I am such a Malden fan-girl) I sold it to the lovely Lime Tree and one of the filos she offered to swap was a red A5 zipped Finsbury. I'd already had some thoughts that the personal size paper was too small for me and I rarely take my filo out and about, but hadn't considered trading up as I already had two perfectly decent ones (personal and A4 size). However the seed had been planted in my brain...
The purple A5 Malden obviously came to mind, but even though I loved the idea of the colour, I certainly didn't love the price! I've never paid full price for a filo and even though I'd be selling my other two, I still wanted a bargain. Pink, purple and red are all good colours in my opinion, so I started to search on the internet and trusty old Amazon UK came up with a vintage pink A5 at a great price.
A proper box, how exciting!
I don't think I'd fully appreciated the size difference between the A5 and personal, but as soon as I saw the paper inside, some thing inside of me went, "Aha!" and I knew it's just what I need. I've already managed to sell my A4 Strata and its hole punch, so will just have to find a good home for the personal one.
I know some people aren't too sure about the vintage pink colour, but I'm surprised to say that I now prefer it to crimson, as some how it's a more subtle and complex shade.
These are my extras that I've purchased for my new A5 - the KW Trio hole punch (from the Adspot page on Philofaxy), a cheap A5 notebook, Dodo Pad and cheap plastic wallets that I might try hole punching.
Oh, and my filo is German, even though purchased via Amazon UK and came with different inserts to what I would expect.
Once again thank you Anita for your guest post.... I am also heading in the direction of only using my A5 Malden!!!
It is beautiful! And look at those inserts! I have been looking for something just like this for ages! Didn't know the German FFs come with that.
ReplyDeleteVery vey nice! Congrats on your new baby!
I'm a complete A5 convert after combining 2 personals last year into one beautiful A5 imperial purple Finchley. It's the perfect size and I love the time management inserts.
ReplyDeleteI've only seen the vintage pink color online and it's always looked so... plastic. Is that the case irl? (And is that a Lamy Safari Fountain pen? :D )
ReplyDelete*it has... sorry. I'm way too tired right now...
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of an A5, but I know having tried one it just doesn't work for me. It is far too heavy. I love the pink though!
ReplyDeleteI loved the A5 for the paper size but I found myself making excuses to not take it out due to the sheer heaviness! I have since converted to personal and must say I haven't looked back but I really hope it works for you, Yu I have the vintage pink and in reality it is a stunning colour that doesn't look plasticky at all it has a certain sophistication about it unlike some of the other pink shades I have seen you can't mistake the genuine leather look and feel with the Malden.
ReplyDeleteEverything = Fabulous.
ReplyDeleteFantastic!!! Thank you for this post. I enjoyed reading about your A5. xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Anita,
ReplyDeleteA5 v Personal must be the most longstanding and discussed topic on Philofaxy! There was even a video about it on Saturday's round-up!
(OK! Yes, I accept that the current top topic is the sheer beauty - or otherwise - of the Purple Malden - but then loads of you were drooling over Vintage Pink and Ochre this time last year!).
I must find time to write a post on creating a compact A5, as this has worked well for me and may (or may not!) be of interest to others still tormented by this conundrum!
A5 doesn't have to look like and weigh-in like a telephone directory!
Tim, I'd love to read about your compact A5 and how to create one!
DeleteAs would I!
DeleteTim I've been begging Filofax for years to create a slimline/ compact A5, so I would be extremely interested in reading about how you've created yours!
DeleteI'm also interested in hearing more! :)
DeleteOh dear! It's not THAT radical or exciting - but I'll try!
DeleteTim, pics, please.
DeleteA Compact A5 Malden? Heaven!
DeleteLovely post! Glad you have found something that appears to be the answer! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteThank for all your lovely comments! I really enjoyed writing the post & it's very kind of Steve to put it on the site.
ReplyDelete@Lime Tree: I didn't expect those inserts either!
@Yu: The leather isn't at all plasticky & is much smoother than that on my personal size one. It did smell a bit strange straight out of the box, but it now has the normal leathery smell I'd expect & love.
@Tim: A compact A5 does sound good, even though I'm quickly filling mine up! I'd also be very interested to hear about it.
Hm. I might have to consider getting one in vintage pink then. :) I first thought "ick, old meat!" when I saw photos, mainly becuase it was so plastic-looking, but the color has slowly grown on me and now I kind of like it. ^^
DeleteAnd is that a Safari? :) (I'm wondering because I'm going to buy new ink for my Vista, but it is kind of unnecessary if the ink will just bleed through the pages.)
I also wasn't too sure about the colour, but it's definitely grown on me!
DeleteYes, that is a Lamy Safari & I use Quink ink which doesn't suffer from much bleed through at all :)
I love the vintage pink - it's a dusty gentle pink. Not twee baby pink or bright shocking pink but a nice in between shade. Still, I can't get the thought of raw meat out of my head when I see it so I have stuck to grey!
ReplyDelete