Web Finds - 30 June 2012

I went hunting for the very first Web Finds this morning, although it wasn't called Web Finds back in July 2009, they were random posts normally titled 'From the web' with all of two posts or more in it!

Whilst hunting for the first post I realised that last Saturday was the 3rd anniversary of me joining the Philofaxy team! And today... is Laurie's 3rd anniversary of being a full time member of the team, although if you look back through the archives Laurie had contributed some guest posts before then.


This week I'm pleased to say isn't as insane as the 50 odd links we had last week but still a respectable number!

I've also included a couple of GTD video's although not directly Filofax related, I'm sure the 43 folders idea could be adapted for a work Filofax.

We start with a very very special post that I insist you all read.....

1. Guest post- Esmé's Filofax - Rapunzel's World
2. Holborn - Familienzuwachs - Filo-Manie
3. London 2012 Filofax - Lancashire Cat
4. What's in my Filofax? - Deligted
5. Filofax Dividers with a guilt chaser... - The Crazy Suburban Mom
6. A tour of my Business A5 Filofax - My Life All in One Place
7. my filofax week #10 - Paper Lovestory
8. How to Create a Unique Dashboard for your Filofax | The Filofancy Way! - Filofancy
9. Zip Pockets for A5 - The Purple Pen of Doom
10. Pocket Malden Wallet Setup - The Purple Pen of Doom
11. My Reading/Movie Filofax in Progress!! - Filo Obsessed
12. My Malden at his worst... - Chaotic Perfectionist
13. Use a Mini-Saga to expand an idea - Filofax Sagas
14. Filo Sighting #1 - Honey & Filofaxes
15. Planner overkill (sometimes too much is simply too much!) - We really didn't need another Filofax blog
16. Is My Planner Failing...? And A Special Delivery To Make My Day!!! - LJ's Blog of Stuff
17. Finsbury update - Krista's Filo
18. Spoiled: A second Filofax meetup in less than a month - The Crazy Life of J
19. Let The Filofax Do All The Talking - Filofit
20. New Filofax Additions!! - Filo Obsessed
21. (Another) New Organiser - Paper Pens Ink
22. my current filofax set up - Paper Lovestory
23. What's in my Filofax Pocket Rio today? - The Crazy Suburban Mom
24. I did buy... but not a Filofax! - Pen to Paper
25. I must be jinxed! Defect A5 Aqua Chameleon from filofax.dk - Belzira's corner
26. A Sticky Note Wall - It's My Life
27. How do you organise? - Chain X Stationery
28. 101 Update, or should I say lack of an update!! - Filo Obsessed
29. Enabling 101 - The Crazy Suburban Mom
30. New diary day...... take two - You big eejit
31. My Filofax Birthday - Life... considered, planned, organised
32. The Pocket Baroque has arrived!! - The Wonderful Life of Alice
33. Filofax Blog of the Week: Lime Tree Fruits - My Life All in One Place
34. Oooooops, I did it again! - All Things Stationery
35. A question of holes... - The Crazy Suburban Mom
36. june; can't live withouts - Paper Lovestory
37. Leon, my Stay-at-home Filo  - Honey and Filofaxes
38. New dividers-ready made - Krista's Filo
39. Book Journal - It's My Life!
40. Geduldsprobe - Filomaniac
41. Friday's Filofax Poll #3 - Vanjilla
42. Untitled - From down the well

Enjoy

And some videos this week.

Free for All Friday No. 189

How often do you change your Filofax setup? Do you frequently do little tweaks, or one big housecleaning per year?

Of course, since it's Friday, we can talk about anything Filofax.

Another day, another Malden

Well, my three month trial of the A5 size is now over and I've moved back down to personal. As mentioned in my previous post, I had planned to finish it all off in a logical way, but a couple of things came up that brought it to a quicker and easier conclusion. I normally only use one of the penloops on my A5 Malden, but decided I wanted an extra pen one day and found it got stuck. I think part of the loop's lining had come unstuck and then re-stuck to itself, and I couldn't seem to fix it myself. Then I contacted City Organiser to ask if they might have the purple personal Maldens back in stock by the time I was visiting, and the surprise answer was that they had two available, but I'd have to ring the shop to purchase one. I'm not a religious person, but I just felt like the universe was trying to tell me something here! On the same day, I returned my A5 and rang up to purchase the personal size instead, with City Organiser putting the smoother version aside for me.

For ages, I've been telling myself I don't need a purple filofax. I know many people have multiple binders, but I want just one and suddenly I realised that it made sense to get the one I really want and be done with it. Despite enjoying the extra paper size of the A5, I'm relieved to be back to the personal size as I was able to carry my new filo around with me all day and still fit lots of other things in my bag.

It was love at first sight, I'm delighted to say.

It doesn't yet lay flat (like my other Maldens), but I'm willing to be patient as it's both a Malden and purple.

The leather has a much smoother grain than on my crimson one.

And it goes quite nicely with my satchel, which is an added bonus!

Filofax Holborn Personal - Review

[Full Disclosure: We would like to thank Claire at SlamPr for arranging the loan of this Filofax Organiser for us to review.]

This was the first time I had been able to handle and examine a Holborn in some detail and get beyond the first impression in a shop. In this review I'm comparing it alongside my own Filofax Malden personal organiser in Ochre.

The leather of the Holborn is very similar to that of the Malden, both being described as 'Buffalo Leather' But the Malden does feel more supple and soft. I think this is down to the differences in the interior design, which we will come to in a moment.

The Holborn is a more matt finish than the Malden, I think the difference between the two shows up quite noticeable in these exterior photographs. 

The Holborn has uses a smaller clasp compared to the Malden, it is the same size and design as used in a Finsbury and other similar leather Filofax organisers. 

Whilst the design of the Holborn from certain angles looks plainer than the Malden, but overall they are balanced because of the way they have added the cover over the spine and the stitching details included.

When looked at from above you can see that the Holborn is slightly squarer in profile compared to the Malden. Both of the Holborn and Malden personal organisers are fitted with 23 mm (internal) diameter rings.

Internally the Holborn reminds me very much of the Cuban in it's internal design. It has the same number of card slots and the pocket layouts. 

There are slot pockets on the outside and inside on the left hand side. On the right hand side there is a slot pocket and a zip pocket as well.  The single pen loop is a leather and is elasticated 

If the need for multiple pockets for holding tickets and documents are you requirement then the Holborn Personal will not disappoint, although the converse will be 'now which pocket did I put my theatre tickets in' could be an issue!

One interesting observation, which might convince you I need to get out more... I could not find a quality control mark anywhere on the Holborn. If you have ever got your magnifying glass out and looked closely at your Filofax personal organiser,  you will normally find this on the inside of the leather clasp.

Here is the one on the Malden, 'SEW' in this particular case. I will one day list the codes on all of my Maldens, I will get my coat!

I enjoyed my short time with the Holborn, if it wasn't for the Malden I would certainly consider the Holborn as a suitable and comparable Filofax Organiser.

Amanda at Paper Pens and Ink also recently did a review about her Holborn.  And you can see pictures of Zoe's pair of Holborns on her blog 

Again thank you to Claire at Slam PR for arranging the loan of this Filofax personal organiser.

Filofax UK Free Shipping Offer

The latest offer from Filofax UK, free UK shipping on all orders, until 2nd July 2012...

Free For All Tuesday No 73

So once again we find ourselves here on Tuesday to ask and answer your Filofax questions.

Will it be another record FFAT like last weeks one with over a 100 comments!! Who knows... what I will say though is you are free to ask any Filofax question you like..

So fire away......

Nikki's home-made page marker - Guest Post

A big thank you to Nikki for sending this Guest Post in to us, you might recall her A5 Filofax that she shared with us a few months ago.

I am about to go to England for a couple of weeks, and have to move into my pocket for my travel, due to size and weight restrictions on my flight (my A5 weighs a ton!!)

But I cannot go with just ordinary pages in my pocket, I have to personalize it a bit, as much as my time will allow, or it will not feel like “home”

So whilst I was about it, I thought I would share a quick page marker I made today;

I went onto publisher, and set up an illustration I liked, and sized it to the same size as the regular pocket ruler/page marker, mirrored the image, and printed it out on ordinary A4 paper.

Then marked and cut out a piece of transparent flyleaf type acetate the same size as the page marker.

I place the acetate over the image and draw around with a pencil, and cut out my images to size as below

I then cut out the two images and l glue them onto the acetate with a glue stick. Then cut a piece of sticky back plastic , roughly the same size, and obviously double the width, mark up where the holes need to be (as I do not own a pocket hole punch so have to punch the holes individually) and proceed to ‘wrap’ the page marker in the sticky back plastic.

Then all that remains is to trim off the excess sticky film, hole punch, cut a line from the centre of the hole to the outside, trim off the corners, et voila!

A new pretty page marker

Hope you understand the instructions, I am off on holiday so any questions………..ask Steve ha ha ha

Only joking. Will be checking in. Could definitely not go 2 weeks without visiting Philofaxy, might miss something crucially important!!!!!!!

Thank you Nikki, so easy when you see it explained like that...I'm sure there will be a few people heading off now to create their own stylish page markers. 

Nan's 2012 Midyear Setup : Work

After sticking to a rather dull routine for a couple of years, I've started changing things again. For a long time, I used 3 Finsburys: Black A5 for work (DPP, supplemented by A5 spiral notebooks); Red Personal (also DPP) as my wallet and personal organizer; Turquoise Pocket (2DPP) for diet and exercise records. I've already tweaked things a couple times this year, but in keeping with my standard rule of only changing my system once every 6 months, I've settled on a setup that I will use for the 2nd half of 2012.

After all, July 1 is a new year of sorts, isn't it? It's when academic year planners typically begin!

Today I'll start with my Work A5:

I found I really wasn't making full use of the DPP business diary. Some days had nothing written on the page. Yet it was the DPP diary that was keeping me in the boring Black Finsbury with its 1.25" rings. I barely had room for the diary, A-Z tabs, and a few pages of notes. I switched to Wo2P (the vertical format for appointments) and could finally start using the beautiful Cherry Classic that I'd bought at the New York Meet Up in 2011 and I'd be able to organize my work better with tabs.

So far, this is working out really well. I have the diary first, with the following tabs:

Daily: The quick to-do list I jot down first thing in the morning after reviewing all my projects. These are things that really need to be done on that particular day; certain phone calls made; work handed in; forms filled out. I use salmon lined paper in this section.

Projects: One To-Do page labeled at the top for each project. Additional pages of notes and To-Do pages go behind it. The tasks I record here often have multiple steps; the Daily lists are where I break down the individual steps. For example, one Project step might be "get contract signed," a task that may involve several phone calls and emails, spread over a number of days.

Meetings: The notes I take during meetings. After a meeting, a spend a few minutes adding any tasks that come up during the meeting to my project lists. I still try to review my meeting notes a couple of times a week.

A-Z tabs: My primary work contacts. These are people for whom I need to know multiple phone numbers and their mailing addresses, not those whom I work with by email only. Those don't need to exist anywhere outside my computer's address book. I also keep reference information behind the tabs. For example, a page of insurance information might go behind the IJ tab.

The A5 also holds a white ruled notepad in the back, a sticky notes card (the same one that also fits into a Personal organizer), a business card holder, and a pocket for receipts for business related expenses.

I have a metal punch for the A5, so I can move pages from an A5 notebook into the organizer, which I don't do as often as I used to. But it's really nice to have the option.

Filofax Holiday Essentials Challenge

Filofax UK (SlamPR) have set several bloggers a Holiday Essentials Challenge.  I have entered the challenge on behalf of Philofaxy.

In the post this week came my briefing document and three shiny new Filofax personal organisers. A Metropol, a Domino and a Swift.

With these three Filofax personal organisers I've been set the task of creating three 'mood boards' with a 'holiday essentials' theme in mind.

I've never done anything quite like this before, so there was a bit of head scratching and deep thought required as to what other items to choose to go with each organiser.

With a bit of help from Alison (the hand of Philofaxy!) we managed to make a suitable list and gather things together for me to photograph them on a suitable plain background.

I then spent most Saturday afternoon cropping the photos and assembling the three images that I need to send off to Slam PR this week. Once they have received all of the images they will be uploading them from 3rd July - 16th July on to the Filofax Facebook page for all Filofax fans to see and enjoy.

When mine are posted on Facebook, I will of course share them with you here as well... I know not everyone has a Facebook account..

And some time in the week beginning 16th July I will run a small quiz/competition to win one of the Filofax personal organisers I've used for the photo shoot. They are back in their original packing and have a full set of inserts untouched in each one.

Filofax Pocket Size Week Per View to download

Ray recently posted a new layout in Personal size that was inspired by Filofax's Cotton Cream Week-on-two-pages.  He is now releasing a version in Pocket size.

Weekend days are afforded as much respect as those in the working week, while each week's layout begins with a 'This Week' space for notes and all-week items (for tracking habits perhaps?)

You can download this layout as a prepared set or you can download the source files to adapt the design for yourself.

Pre-prepared sets

You can download and print finished versions for this year from our diary inserts page.

Print this double-sided. If you have a duplex printer, set it to flip on the short edge. If you don't then you'll have to print odd-numbered pages and then refeed to print the even-numbered pages on the reverse. You might have to experiment to find out how to refeed the paper.

On one side of each sheet you'll find crop marks. Use a craft knife and a steel ruler to release the Pocket pages and punch them. The templates are set up with mirrored gutters to accommodate the holes.

If using the PDF be sure to set it to print at full size as explained here.

Source files

You can also roll your own using our source files. You'll need this Word file and this Excel file.

If you want to know how to go about using the source files, this post will help you.

3rd New York Meet Up - Full Report

Thanks to Susan's organizational skills, philofaxers from New York (and Boston) met for a 3rd time on 3rd Avenue in Manhattan's Midtown East. We had a good mix of old faithfuls and brand-new faces: Susan, Sheila, Pat, Jenna, Michele, Raquel, and Nan.

We spent an hour or so in Sam Flax, checking out not only Filofax organizers and Flex by Filofax, but also Kate Spade organizers and lots of cool gift items. The Personal, Compact, and Pocket were the popular sizes of the day, and everyone was captivated by colors, notably a bright orange Metropol (I think) that Pat took home for her daughter. Susan and Michelle were pining for the Osterley, but there were none in stock.

I was looking for a change from the red Finsbury I've been using for a few years, and found a stunning steel-blue* Cuban that, once I had in my hands, I could not bear to put back in the display case.

Then we retreated to our usual restaurant, Le Pain Quotidien, for their delicious sandwiches, baked goods, and other light dishes. After dinner, I brought out some Blue Bear items that someone sent me a few years ago when she decided to stop using 6-ring organizers. Happily, some of them have found new homes. There'll be more next time!

Yes, we did make a pile. I didn't take photos myself, but we had plenty of photographers, including a professional one, so I expect we'll see some pictures soon!

Here's a link to Susan's blog entry about the meet up (with pictures!).

*According to www.filofax.co.uk, the color is called Ink.

Web Finds - 23 June 2012

So it is now time to grab some light refreshment of your choice including plenty of liquid refreshment and sit and enjoy for an hour or so..... yes a long list, you can blame Gromit for that!

1. Competition for all Philofaxy readers - Filofax Sagas.  
2. I designed my own diary for 2013 - Paper Pens Ink
3. review: filofax amazona almond personal - Paper Lovestory
4. My Flex-able Friends!! - Filo Obsessed
5. Filofax: Am I ready to go Pocket? - Vanjilla
6. Hubby's Filofax Ranger - It's My Life 
7. Wouldn't a collaboration between Filofax and Cath Kidston be great.... - Angel Jem's City Cottage
8. DIY Filofax Diary Refill - Bunnies in Blazers
9. The Thing With The Chameleon... - Vanjilla
10. Sorry - My life in words
11. Passport dilemma solved! - Krista's Filo
12. your filofax week! (week #8) - Paper Lovestory
13. The Virtual Filofax - Filomaniac
14. My new set of Filofax dividers - My Life All in One Place
15. A5 Zipped Holborn - The Purple Pen of Doom
16. Finsbury Compact review and set-up - My Once Upon the Moon
17. How To Make A Divider Pocket. - It's My Life
18. Changes and Additions to my Mini! - Kirsten Becoming
19. Filofax Makeup Refills - Bunnies in Blazers
20. Oh glorious purple slimline, come to thee . . . - All Things Stationery
21. An Embarrassment of Riches - Filebox of Filofax Inserts - Sense of Gravity
22. Filofax and Goals/Planning!! - Filo Obsessed
23. Flex by Filofax (First Edition) - Janas Book Look
24. The Creativity of Getting Things Done - GTD Times 
25. Big decisions, help! - Krista's Filo
26. Filofax Capri Mini: Class act to be sure. - The Crazy Suburban Mom
27. To buy or not to buy... that is the question? Pen to Paper
28. News on the Baroque and reviews of random stationery! - Belzira's corner
29. Filofax or it didn’t happen - Josanne
30. Filofax Week #25 - It's Just Hazel
31. Philofaxy Web Finds for 16 June 2012 - Joseph David Quinton
32. It started with a kiss... - Paper Pens Ink
33. Innere Werte (2) - Filomaniac
34. GTD sucks for creative work. Here’s an alternative system - Dave Lee
35. Low-Key Passion: The Third Philofaxy NYC Meet-Up - Well Planned Life
36. Mid-Year Tweak (You Knew it Was Coming…) - The Zeitgeist of Zoe
37. Review of Keel's Simple Diary - We really didn't need another filofax blog!
38. Making photographic dividers at home for your Filofax - My Life All in One Place
39. The Envelope System - Filofax Style - Lady Tamlynn
40. Neuheiten 2012 (12): Boston - Filomaniac
41. A very special gift :) - Filo Obsessed
42. Jazzing Up My Filofax - Lady Tamlynn
43. i love my filofax! - La BelleVita
44. L is for… Lamys, Letters and Luckiness. - Four Words, Four Worlds
45. A5 Chameleon - It's My Life!
46. My ‘New’ Filofax - The PostGrad Mama
47. making filofax notepaper pretty - Paper Lovestory
48. Filofax – as a Personal Diary - Filofit
49. Filofax Sale! (now for real) - Lime Tree
50. Filofax Blog of the Week: Filo-Manie - My Life All in One Place
51. Filofax Dilemma!!! - Filo Obsessed
52. What is coming out when? - City Organiser (pdf file) 
53. What’s the first thing you see when you open your Filofax? - Filofax Love
54. Tune in to the Midwest Filofax Meetup! - The Crazy World of J
55. Finishing while filofaxing - Girl in Maths
56. Playing Musical Filofaxes - The Crazy Suburban Mom

• Your blog post could appear here next week if we missed you this time around. Email us the details and we will include it if we can. 
• We can't 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. Don't forget to give your posts a title...

And here is this weeks Video Finds

This weeks web finds have been brought to you with the assistance of my sophisticated machine that I call Gromit. He's slightly more up to date than the character you see in the following videos...

Enjoy

Free For All Friday No. 188

Solstice was this week, with the longest days in the northern hemisphere and the shortest days in the southern hemisphere. I love the changing daylight hours, and I appreciate them that much more after spending more than a year in the tropics with no seasonal variation in daylight hours at all--just 12 and 12 year round.  I love the looooooong summer days!

Speaking of changes, how has your Filofax usage changed lately? Have you recently changed sizes, formats or tabbed sections?

And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything Filofax-related!

Philofaxy London Meet Up - September 2012

So this is a 'calling notice' for people who would like to attend the next Philofaxy Meet Up in London. This is not the Conference/Convention mentioned in my post earlier this week.

Please read all of the post before you apply for a place on the meet up. Places are limited in numbers.

When and Where

The date of the meet up is  Saturday 22nd September 2012 and we will meet initially at 12 noon at Tate Modern which is at Bankside on the South Bank of the Thames.

We will be eating at Cafe 2 which is at the western end of the building (See map at foot of this post)

The menu for Cafe2 is quite varied and in the past we have found it quite reasonably priced. It is easier for us if you bring cash for the meal, generally we just split the bill by the number of people eating, although it will be possible to pay for exactly what you ordered plus your share of the service charge.

During the meal there will be plenty of time for chatting and sharing Filofax organisers...

Then we will take a walk across the river to City Organiser who have kindly agreed to open their shop for us on the Saturday afternoon... in fact Andy will be joining us for lunch at Tate Modern. 

Our meet up will finish at about 5:30pm

How to book a place on the meet up

To get a place on the meet up you need to email: steve[at]philofaxy[dot]com and mark your email September 2012 London Meetup but not before 9am (UK time) tomorrow Friday 22 June 2012. Please only request a place if you are 99% certain that you will be able to attend on the 22nd  I'm hoping this time to have full attendance.

Once all ten places are assigned additional names will be added to a reserve list, in case anyone has to drop out of the meet up between the 12th and 22nd September.

As places are allocated you will receive an email back again confirming your place on the meet up.

Please do not book travel tickets etc until you have a confirmed place. I will attempt to confirm places within 2-3 hours of receiving your email.

Should you be unsuccessful in booking a place on this particular meet up in September there is a strong likelihood that there will be another meet up in November the date is as yet to be confirmed.

Additional Information

If you aren't familiar with London or how to get to Tate Modern from the station you are arriving at then use the Transport for London Journey Planner, it's generally quite good. 

Once we have our full list of people, we will exchange email addresses and if you aren't familiar with London you might be able to get someone to meet you at the station you are arriving at.

Your safety on the day and your enjoyment on the day is of paramount importance to me, so don't be afraid to ask any questions by email, I want everyone who attends to get the most from the day.

I'm going to be staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Southwark Street, just behind Tate Modern. If you are going to be staying over night in London either on the Friday night or Saturday night then I'm sure we can meet up for dinner or a drink somewhere.

Thank you... any questions?

[Update] All places are now allocated for this meet up, but I'm still adding to the reserve list


View Larger Map

Size matters

I recently went away for a long week end, and as I was going around collecting up the last bits and pieces to pack, I picked up my A5 Malden in one hand and realised just how big it is.

My personal Malden wasn't available as it was waiting to be sold

Somehow, it seemed a bit ridiculous to take away such a large binder with me for three nights, so I left it behind. And boy, did I miss it. I don't know about you, but my filofax is normally within easy reach when I'm at home, so it was very strange to be without it. I went away for a week last Christmas and my personal was in my bag straightaway without any thought. 

So, a little doubt has crept in... and it's that old chestnut of what is the perfect size? I purchased an A5 for the extra space and at the time very rarely took my personal out and about with me. However, it seems that now I've decided on A5 I can see more opportunities for when I'd like to have a filo with me. For example, I'm going to London to attend the Dalai Lama's talk at the Royal Albert Hall (yay), and fancy using mine on the train journeys and to take the odd note in. I'm just not so sure I want to carry my A5 around with me the whole day. Also, I'm visiting Malaysia for three weeks next year and I really can't see myself taking this size away either.  

Maybe I'm asking a lot, but I want one filofax that does it all! I think I'll write down the pros and cons of each size, and maybe set a deadline to review how I've found the A5 size. Maybe it's good that I didn't sell my personal Malden and for the time being, I'm going to put it away until I make a final decision. Alternatively, visiting City Organiser on the same day as the talk will be a good opportunity to maybe consider a purple pocket Malden or imperial purple Finchley as a wallet. 

I have a suspicion that personal may be the happy medium between portability and paper size with owning just the one binder, but I could also now see myself owning two for the best of both worlds. I'm sure many of you more experienced owners have experienced this, but I suppose I didn't expect this to happen so soon after deciding to upgrade from personal to A5. Oh, choices, choices!   

Free For All Tuesday No. 72

This is the point in the week when you get to ask and answer questions.


Fire away with your questions.

Philofaxy Conference/Convention

Thank you for all your lovely comments about last months Philofaxy Meet Up it was a great day, I love looking back on these very special days, especially if it's raining outside... it brings some sunshine in to my life and makes me smile remembering the comments and things we enjoyed talking about on the day.

So looking to the future.... I still want to do these sort of meet ups with up to about 12 people, they are very personal and great fun, so if you haven't been to one yet, don't despair I'm not thinking of stopping doing the small meet ups, there is already one planned for September 2012 and the possibility of another in November.

However, my original idea back in 2010 of a convention for a larger group of people now looks like something we could do, if there enough people interested in such a bigger event. In total about 26 different people have attended the London meet ups, with new people attending each one so far.

So I have had some discussion with a few people about a convention/conference idea, so here are my notes.

• Event to be open to everyone, may be up to 100 people, likely to be held in London, but I'm open to other suggestions. Ideally it will be somewhere where we can do a complete package of the conference and accommodation as well. Ideally it needs to be accessible from most parts of UK, Europe and even further afield... yes that means you readers in the USA and Canada and South America. 
• People would pay to attend the event, but discount would be given for early booking.  I have no idea yet on what the cost per person would be. This is something I'm actively working on at the moment.
• However it is intended that the fee would include lunch and refreshments, conference bag or similar with notes etc. etc. 
• Sessions to include guest presentations, open discussion session, Filofax focus group session, social meet up sessions. The social side of this conference is very important, putting faces to names (comment name, twitter name, Skype name etc) 
• We would be seeking sponsorship from companies such as City Organiser, DodoPad, The Pen Shop, Filofax UK with them being able to sell stock at the conference and add publicity material/goodies to the conference packs etc. And these companies would also be encouraged to take part in the conference with presentations etc.
  
• Possible target date early 2013

The above is a very basic outline of the idea, if there is sufficient interest (and I hope there is) then we can get in to the details of what the event will include.

I'm happy to take comments by email or in the comments on this post.

Diary Insert to print and use - A4/A5 Week per Page

This one is based on a Philofaxy reader request which I created fairly quickly from one of our existing templates.

You can download this layout as a prepared set or you can download the source files to adapt the design for yourself.

You can download finished versions for this year from our diary inserts page. 
Print this double-sided. If you have a duplex printer, set it to flip on the short edge. If you don't then you'll have to print odd-numbered pages and then re-feed to print the even-numbered pages on the reverse. You might have to experiment to find out how to re-feed the paper.

The templates are set up with mirrored gutters to accommodate the holes.

If using the PDF be sure to set it to print at full size as explained here.

Source files

You can also roll your own using our source files. You'll need this Word file and this Excel file.

If you want to know how to go about using the source files, this post will help you.

Itinerary for USA Midwest Meetup 6/23/12

Our friends in New York are meeting up today... but next week there is a Mid-West meet up in Chicago here is the itinerary for the event.

• Noon - 1:30 p.m.: Meet at Mancini's Pizza, Pasta, Cafe @ 1111 Lake Street in Oak Park. That gives us a bit of time if anyone is late, I've also added more time because I'm sure we'll need it with all of the Filo sharing!
  
• 1:30 - 2:15 p.m.: Walk over to Paper Source @ 1109 Lake Street in Oak Park. Proceed to restrain me from buying the entire store! I've slotted 45 minutes here- we might not need all of this time, but I'd rather put too much than be rushing around!
  
• 2:15 - 3 p.m.: Walk down to Fitzgerald's Fine Stationery @ 1100 W. Lake Street in Oak Park. Again, I'm not sure if we'll need a full 45 minutes, but between walking there and browsing the Filo selection, it should be a good starting point!

That should be it! These three places are all literally within 200 feet of each other, so we'll only have to park once which is good since parking downtown Oak Park can be a bit of a hassle. 

If there are any questions, or if any of this doesn't work, let me know. Otherwise, I'm super excited!!!

 All the Best,

 Jordan (and Sandra)

Web Finds 16th June 2012

Thank you for the great feedback on last weeks web finds about the change to a numbered format, they will be this format from now on.

So it is now time to grab some light refreshment of your choice and sit and enjoy for an hour or so.....

1. I climb on board the Magic Roundabout…. - Angel Jem's City Cottage
2. 'Pimping' your Filofax - Krista's Filo
3. Mini Filofax Love - Kirsten Becoming
4. Well, the batteries never run out - MacPsych
5. Filofax Design Competition - Origami Chicken
6. More filofax news and pictures! - Krista's Filo
7. Finally, a Baroque! - Lancashire Cat
8. Filofolios: Make your own Portable Portfolio using Business Cards and Filofax - Filofancy
9. iPad, iPod Touch and Planner: The Optimum Planning Combination - Well Planned Life
10. my filofax week #8 - Paper Lovestory
11. Does size matter!! - Filo Obsessed
12. The does-it-all Malden - The Crazy Life of J
13. Filofax 11-6-2012 - My life in words
14. Seeking Filofaxian Nirvana - The Crazy Suburban Mom
15. Filofax Fail :( - The Wonderful Life of Alice
16. Design Your Own Stickers for Your Filofax - Filofancy
17. Filofax SALE (almost!) - Lime Tree
18. My Filofax! - The New Closet Romantic
19. A Filofax Moodboard Like Temperley's - Filofancy
20. I can't contain my excitement!! - Filo Obsessed
21. filofax spot: in Gossip Girl (again!) - Paper Lovestory
22. Filofax… A Fashion Brand on the Rise or an Endangered Species? - Essence Design
23. Derby Girls Use Filofaxes! - Filofax Fixation
24. OK here goes first post - It's My Life!
25. Filofax Blog of the Week: LJ's Blog of Stuff - My Life All in One Place
26. 101 List Progress Check - Jun 14th 2012 - LJ's Blog of Stuff
27. My B-day (French letters, Goddess Circle and Filofax) - Lime Tree
28. Mini longing . . . - All Things Stationery
29. Print your own Filofax Travel Journal - now in Pocket size - My Life All in One Place
30. Filofax Planner Fail - Rapunzel's World
31. Filofax Planner Fail-Part 2 - Rapunzel's World
32. The Filofax planner fail-part 3 - Rapunzel's World
33. Purple - Fresh American
34. Welcome - Belzira's corner

• Your blog post could appear here next week if we missed you this time around. Email us the details and we will include it if we can. 
• We can't 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. Don't forget to give your posts a title...

And here is this weeks Video Finds











Enjoy

Free For All Friday No 187

Happy early Father's Day!
I gave my Dad a burgundy Winchester for his birthday, and wasn't too sure how keen he would be as he's a great fan of his Blackberry. Luckily, he loved it and posted this picture on Facebook with the comment 'Dad the Filofax Man'!

  

Do any of your Dads or relatives use filofaxes?

As usual, please feel free to discuss anything filofax related or ask any questions you may have.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Folded To-Do page between Weekly pages

I'm setting up my Orchid Aston as my new Life In Scotland Filofax. The heather-purple color reminds me of the Scottish hillsides in August!

While setting things up, I had an idea to fold a lined page lengthwise so I could use it for my weekly lists without obscuring my view of the rest of the week:

My apologies to anyone who has already posted about this, I'm only just now figuring it out!

The reason I normally don't put a page between my weekly pages is I need to see my entire week at once. This way I can have a weekly list, and still see the entire week. By folding the page over, I can still have the entire page for my lists, and use the back of the page to record notes, expenditures, etc.  When the week is over, I can unfold the page to reduce bulk and leave it between the week's pages as a record of what I did.

The photo above and below show a Cotton Cream lined page between Cotton Cream weekly pages. The only problem with this setup is that the holidays in the Cotton Cream weekly pages are printed at the middle of the book, so they are covered up by the half-page.

I also happen to have this year's weekly insert in the white pages, which prints the holidays on the outside of the page, under the day names:

This allows holidays to be visible all week and not covered up by the half page.

I can still easily access the back of the lined page. I could even fold it over the other way for access to that side of the page in the second half of the week.

I'm really liking this setup!

1500 not out...

1500 published posts in just under seven years, it's quite a mile stone really.

The 1500th was the post this morning about the Alice Temperley announcement.  However, we are not sitting back, there are plenty more posts in the pipeline and other ideas to expand our community and share our knowledge amongst you all.

On behalf of the team, thank you all for your continued support, without that we wouldn't have written so many posts I don't think! 

Here's to the next 1500 !

TEMPERLEY FOR FILOFAX RETURNS

British icons extend their partnership for another season 

Filofax have announced their continued collaboration with leading British designer Alice Temperley with a second range of accessible luxury organisers. Due to be unveiled in time for London Fashion Week S/S 2013, the new ‘Temperley for Filofax’ collection is set to stylishly organise your season.

“I’m so pleased to be partnering with Filofax again to create a second collection, especially following the amazing response we received from the limited edition styles earlier on in the year. A Filofax is much more than just a diary, for me it’s a place to collect inspiration, write my endless lists and juggle my life. I wanted to turn it into an accessory which can accompany you anywhere; from day meetings to nights out with friends. It’s a busy world and still so important to write things down” says Alice Temperley, MBE

The new collection, designed to provide users with a private space for creativity and ideas, introduces two new beautiful organisers: Violet and Ikat. As with any of Alice’s designs, she has looked at the way she uses a Filofax and taken inspiration from her forthcoming collections to create two exquisite organisers which combine style with functionality. The collection which effortlessly works with the looks of the season, incorporates two diverse and striking designs – from the bold print of the Ikat to the colourful luxury leather of the Violet, there is an organiser to help every fashionista capture the minutiae and inspirations of daily life.

 Gordon Presly, CEO of the Filofax Group, comments,

“At Filofax, we’re consistently looking to showcase our design capabilities and this new collection by Alice does just that. In this fast paced digital age, we’ve found that the importance and simple pleasure of making handwritten notes is very significant to our consumers, so we are looking forward to launching this collection of organisers that offers Temperley’s iconic British style at affordable price points.”

Temperley for Filofax, consisting of the Violet and Ikat, will be available nationwide and online from September 2012 in pocket and personal sizes, priced £45 - £165.

More information and product unveiling to follow in July 2012.

12^th June 2012, London

Free For All Tuesday No. 71

Tuesday is the day when you get to ask questions and we do our best to answer them... When I say 'we' that is all of the Philofaxy readers, they often beat me to answering some of the questions!  But that is the great thing about Philofaxy, we all help each other.

So what ever your question, no matter how obscure it is... Can I fit my Mini Filofax pages in my new A5 Filofax (yes you can!) or where can I buy xyz in purple in pocket size... then this is just the place to ask the question.

So don't hang back, fire away, and remember you can keep asking questions on this post even after Tuesday.

Pocket size, is coming alive again.

Oh yes, it's that time of year again, when the Pocket size seems to be 'the size' to use.

It's a trend we have noticed on Philofaxy before. At about this time of year we see an increase in interest in using the Pocket size Filofax organisers.

It happened in 2011, and in 2010 in August, but may be we are ahead of the game this year

So here are some of the posts we have noticed this year so far....

1. My Pocket Filofax Wallet - We really didn't need another Filofax Blog
2. My Filofax Pocket Chameleon - Rapunzel's World
3. What's in my Pocket Finchley? - Imysworld
4. My pocket top tabs - Rapunzel's World
5. Reader Review - Filofax Malden - Doris - Philofaxy
6. Filofax Pocket Review - Philofaxy
7. Stationery Goodies - Vintage Giraffe
8. Filofax Swap - Lime Tree
9. Pocket Filofax Print Yourself Inserts - My Life All in One Place
10. Small change in my filofax, big difference - Paper Pens Ink
11. What's in my Pocket Line Burst Filofax? - The Crazy Surburban Mom
12. My new Filofaxes - Vintage Giraffe
13. New Filofax arrived - Filofax Love
14. My first Filofax - Filofancy
15. What is this I have been using? - Imysworld

Take a look at the posts and also at the wide range of Pocket Filofax organisers for sale, there tends to be a wider range of colours available in this size compared to others.



Will you be trying the Pocket size again this summer? 

Philofaxy London Meet Up - September 2012

I'm pleased to be able to announce the date of the next Philofaxy London Meet Up.

Saturday 22 September 2012

The format of the day is going to be similar to previous London meet ups:

• Meet up at Tate Modern at 12:00 noon
• Lunch at Tate Modern Cafe 2
• A short walk to City Organiser - who are opening just for our party

Andy Morse from City Organiser will also be joining us for lunch, he has over 25 years of experience in retailing Filofax products.

Now before you all get excited about booking tickets etc.... Places for this meet up will have to be confirmed. But I will not be accepting requests to join the meet up until 22nd June, this is to avoid the situation where people reserve a place and then pull out at the last minute which then doesn't allow someone else the chance of a place at the meet up.

Hopefully by introducing this delay, you will be able to get the date cleared in your diary/planner and then when you request your place on or after the 22 June, you will know that you have a confirmed place and hopefully you will definitely be attending. Of course there might still be some form of family emergency or other on the day that might prevent your attendance I know.

I will send out a reminder closer to the 22 June for people to get their requests in after that date and which email address to send your requests to.

Once places have been assigned then I will send out full details about the arrangements for the day. If you have never attended a meet up before and you would like more information please email us and I will try to answer your questions philofaxy [at] gmail [dot] com

Looking forward to yet another great meet up in September.

Web Finds - 9 June 2012

Slight change this week...Does having these posts numbered make it easier for you to track where you got to reading them? 

So it is now time to grab some light refreshment of your choice and sit and enjoy for an hour or so.....

1. The Stationery Cupboard - BBC Radio 4, something to listen to for a change
2. The Olympics: On Filofax - The Crazy Suburban Mom
3. How Do You To Do: Work vs. Personal - Well Planned Life
4. My Filofax Week #7 - Paper Lovestory 
5. A5 zipped Holborn ordered… - The Purple Pen of Doom
6. Going for the Professional Look...? - LJ's Blog of Stuff
7. Poll: Which Filofax arrangement?  - The Life of the Perpetual Student
8. chameleon aqua review - Paper Lovestory
9. My hybrid business card index cards - My Life All in One Place
10. My new Filofax from Denmark! - All Things Stationery
11. Filofax Swap 2 - The attempt! - Lime Tree
12. Pocket Filofax Insert Suggestions Please! - The Purple Pen of Doom
13. Breaking back... - Productive Living
14. The case for paper-based productivity - GTD Times
15. Moving into the Holborn - Paper Pens Ink
16. Purple Malden A5 Filofax - so disappointed - Dawnabella
17. Filofax Love! - Said the Cat
18. A Special Treat, Guest Post from Doris: MEET MY (CURRENT) FILOFAX TEAM - Vanjilla
19. I was bad, very very bad... - The Crazy Suburban Mom
20. why I think everyone should downsize to a 'compact' - Paperlove Story
21. the baroque... is here... (wait, what?) - Serendipity
22. I understand the fuss.... - My Once Upon the Moon
23. How I use my Flex by Filofax - Filofancy
24. Improving the Flex by Filofax - Filofancy
25. Filofax Blog of the Week: Paper Lovestory - My Life All in One Place
26. What is this I have been using? - Imysworld
27. Making my own stamps (So difficult!) - Filofax Love
28. Too Excited!!! - LJ's Blog of Stuff
29. Friday Filofax Poll! - Vanjilla
30. One True Filofax? - The Life of the Perpetual Student
31. Zip-lock bags for the Holborn - Paper Pens Ink
32. Making dividers as unique as what I am. - Angel Jem's City Cottage
33. Dearest beloved friend… - The Paper Blog
34. What do you get when you combine a Brit, two Chicagoans, and an Englishman residing in France? - The Crazy Life of J

• Your blog post could appear here next week if we missed you this time around. Email us the details and we will include it if we can. 
• We can't 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

And here is this weeks Video Finds







Enjoy

Free For All Friday No 186.

I was asked this week 'How big will Webfinds be on Saturday Steve' .....  I replied "Not as big as last week I don't think...." 

Of course I never know, these things just build and build during the week. It never stops surprising me that I keep finding new blogs to share with you, sometimes it's just the occasional post, but they all get logged and monitored on my growing blog list!  And then once it is published I start the whole process again... but you know I never get bored for looking at all the posts we find! Part of the love of Philofaxy.

So do you read all of the blog posts we find or are you selective based on the title?


Of course as it is a Friday you are free to discuss anything Filofax related.

Have a great weekend.

Reader Under the Spotlight - Kristin

Welcome Kristen to being stood under our spotlight this week... 

Hello! I am pleased to participate in Philofaxy's Readers Under the Spotlight!

Ever since I was a little kid I loved pens, notebooks, planners, and anything related to office supplies.

Going back to school in the fall was not fun, but shopping at Staples was SO exciting. I loved picking out my purple trapper keeper (what the "cool" kids were using back then) and folders to go inside of it- Lisa Frank's puppies, kittens, and dolphins, of course! Does anyone remember Lisa Frank?

Anyways, I live with my family in Massachusetts. I love the beach, going on hikes, travelling, and pulling out my Filofax to jot things down wherever I go.

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

My first Filofax was purchased a few years ago and I can't remember what it was. It was one with a cloth-like cover on clearance at Marshals. The next Filofax I purchased after that was last year, and it was a purple personal Finsbury.

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

I have used: Franklin Covey- three different binders with Jean Chatzky inserts, Moleskine planner, Staples planner, Mom agenda, Erin Condren Life Planner, Barnes and Noble planner, the dot.mine day planners family_time.mine and time_mine, Arc system by Staples, Lilly Pulitzer and many others that I just can't remember. I'm a total planner addict... seriously!

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

I love the Erin Condren planner for many reasons- the colors and amount of space, the stickers, and built-in goodies. I love the dot.mine family planner because it has lots of family related sections inside of it. But my favorite is my Filofax Malden. I love the Personal Malden. The ability to customize my Filofax in any way that I want is what keeps it at the top of my list. I always go back to it.

4. How many Filofax organisers do you own? 

Personal Domino in pink, Personal Finchley in purple, Personal Chameleon in raspberry, Personal Finsbury in raspberry, Personal Malden in black, and Pocket Malden in grey. So that's six. Wow!

5. What do you use your Filofax for? 

What don't I use it for? Appointments, notes, to-dos, card holder, receipt holder, sticker holder, schedules, grocery list, photos, stamps, my life!!!

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

The ability to customize it the way I want.

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

Nothing that I can think of, but I would like Filofax to offer more colors.

8. How do you carry your Filofax?

In my purse, or in my hands.

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

I LOVE the Maldens. Love. I'm waiting for the purple to be available in the US.

10. What is the most you have ever spent on a Filofax? Which model?

I purchased a Pocket Finchley in pink for $120 and then returned it. I wasn't happy with the pocket size and the price was very high.

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

Everything! I love this community of Filofax lovers. I have never met such a kind and sincere group of people, and you all started out as strangers. I really can't believe how generous everyone is

12. And what do you not like about Philofaxy?

Hmm.. maybe that there aren't enough Filofax posts? Is that a good answer? Because I can't get enough!

13. What was the last music album CD you bought or downloaded?

Adele 19 and 21- of course!

Thank you Kristen... more Filofax posts required indeed ;-)