Free For All Friday No 211

As some of you might know, I'm a real fan of the Maldens. However, I think I've changed my thinking now from 'this is what I've purchased, so I have to stick to it' to a slightly more flexible way of thinking which means I'm allowing myself to sample ones I may not have considered before.

So, how about if you could have a Filofax which isn't just limited to one finish?? I don't often visit the Filofax website, but having a recent nose I came across this: Filofax Classic Mashup and I think it's a great way to update the Classic. And discuss...

And as always, please feel free to discuss anything Filofax or ring bound planner related, and I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Which of your Filofax Organisers have you slept with?

Yes you read that right... Which of your Filofax organisers have you slept with... or do you sleep with on a regular basis....???

The question came up at a recent Philofaxy meet up, so I quickly got out my Filofax and pen and wrote it down, because I thought why not ask our readers.... !!!! No subject is taboo here you know...

All I will say about this myself is that I can't sleep with any of my Malden's on the bed side table the aroma keeps me awake!

And before you ask I will not reveal the name of the person who asked the question!!!

A5 Boston Filofax

Our cries for a slimmer A5 Filofax have been heard!  Behold, the Boston A5!!

The A5 Boston has 20 mm rings, and most of Filofax's A5 binders have 30 mm rings so this one is significantly slimmer. It's also not as wide as some of the A5 binders. I could definitely carry this one in my bag with me everywhere! And, I can switch out the A5 pages with my Mother Ship A5 Finsbury that stays on my desk.

So here is the A5 Boston compared to my A5 Finsbury. Here you can see how much wider the Finsbury is:

Not a great photo, but you can kind of see how much bigger the Finsbury is (bottom) with its 30 mm rings as opposed to the Boston's 20 mm rings:

Below you can really see the size difference, Finsbury on top and Boston on bottom:

I tried to get a shot comparing the rings on the Finsbury (top) and Boston (bottom):

Anyway, you get the idea: the Boston A5 is significantly slimmer, narrower and less bulky than a Finsbury A5.

The Boston is made from soft Nappa leather.

Here's a view of the inside cover. There is a full-length pocket, and several card pockets. The top pockets are smaller than the bottom ones so larger cards can fit in the bottom pockets.

I was surprised to find, at this price, that the inside where the rings touch is fabric, not leather. I'm assuming that is to reduce weight.

At the back of the binder is a notepad. I took it out to see how much slimmer and lighter the binder would be without it.

CHECK OUT THE BACK POCKET!!! That, my friends, is a wonderfully functional pocket for sticking in papers, tickets, and anything you want. Hooray!!

With its classic design, the Boston looks great.  And its super-smooth leather feels great in your hands (which is very important to those of us who are tactile like I am).

The A5 Boston organizer is available in the US on PensAndLeather.com and in the UK from CityOrganiser.co.uk. (I am not affiliated with either of these websites.)

Many huge enormous thanks to Filofax USA for sending me this binder as a sample to review. This is the A5 Filofax I've been searching for!!

Web Finds - 27 November 2012

Here are the latest Filofax blog posts from around the internet.

1. 2013 Plannerisms Planners Are Here!! - Plannerisms
2. More Filofax stuff ....LOTS OF PICS!!! - AppleHead Threads
3. Magenta temptation - Filofaximile
4. Filofaxiness - Stash Control - Filofax Style!!! - Marigolds' Loft
5. Guest Post - Maria's Travelfax - Imysworld
6. My favourite filofax divider - Anita Lim
7. fleeting fancies - Paperplane Thinking 
8. Diary summary inserts for my on-the-go ‘fax - Planning with Printed Portal
9. Planner Grazing - The Storage Studio
10. Duplex Filofax – the British Army version - Musings of Max
11. Filofax Adventures Part. 2 - Behind my Purpley Life
12. Day-Timer Coastlines Inside My Filofax - Kiwi Paper Addict
13. Free Download: Diary Summary 2013 (in Purple) - Planning with Printed Portal 
14. Filofax Spot! - Imysworld
15. my filofax week #32 - Paper Lovestory
16. Filofax Update… - Katie Louise Halsall
17. Rosa - Cloudberry Musings
18. A bitter sweet farewell to my Filofax Topaz - Monica Luis  
19. Malden update and Franklin Covey DPP attempt #2 - Plannerisms 
20. Magpie Monday - Filofax 'Urban' mini - nyssapod 
21. Homemade Dividers - Lady Elizabeth's Life
22. Rosa - Weight Loss Programme - Cloudberry Musings
23. Stalker Mode - Lady Elizabeth's Life 
24. Festive feelings - Filofaximile
25. Writing real estate in Kendal - I love my stationery 
26. using two filofax binders at the same time - Paper Lovestory
27. Filofax College - How to make Dividers by Picture - Imysworld
28. Neue Umfrage: Steht Filofax auf Eurem Wunschzettel... - Filomaniac
29. Alternative Filofax Markers - Whimsicality 
30. My Filofax Broke :( - The Wonderful Life of Alice
31. New inserts!  - The Wonderful Life of Alice
32. My Filofax Week 9 - Glossette 
33. How to: Tart up a Filofax with nail polish…! - Stephanie Pomfrett
34. Finding a Pocket Rio on eBay - The Crazy Suburban Mom
35. Filofax-Farben (2): Rot, Lila und Pink - Filomaniac
36. First week back in a Filofax - Falling back in Love with Filofax - Imysworld
37. Filofax advice for Beginners :) - The Life of The Perpetual Student
38. Collins card holders - Filofaximile
39. Filofax Mini Experiments #1 - Lime Tree
40. Going Vintage part 2; Arrival of my new Personal Portland in Brown - My Filo World
41. tips tuesday #3 - choosing your filofax tabs - Paperplane Thinking
42. mini mini mini mini mini chameeeeeeleeeeoonnnn - and then she read
43. On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me... a Filofax iPad case - Inspect-a-Gadget 
44. Temperley London for Filofax 'The Affair' - Style Bistro

Please note I'm travelling today (Tuesday) and tomorrow so it's possible your post might not be in the list above. I will add them to Saturdays post once I get back home and back on-line again. 

And here are the latest Filofax videos:














Enjoy

Free For All Tuesday No. 95

Tuesdays are your chance to ask any Filofax related questions you might have.

So fire away and we will collectively try to answer your questions or offer opinions.

Philofaxy London Meet Up - November 2012

Well it is two years since we started our meet up's in London. This was the 7th meet up in London, they have all tended to follow a similar formula, different people but the same sort of friendly exchanges.

The main difference with this one was the weather... it rained and it rained and it rained... non-stop! We have been fortunate on all our previous London meet ups in that we have had dry weather. Just good luck really. 

I went up on the train from Kent to London, we have been staying on a farm in Kent this last week, once again as luck would have it for me this week... there were delays on the trains, but I was still at the venue about an hour before the place even opened!

So we all met up at Vapiano near to Tate Modern and enjoyed a great meal and lots of chatting and sharing our Filofax organisers around the table. There was just the 9 of us this time, but quite a few new people, and a few people that had been before, but it was great to see everyone.

During lunch there was a lot of talk about things people wanted to look at and possibly buy at City Organiser. I have learnt from my previous mistakes, I always make a list in my Filofax to ensure I don't forget to look at something or to buy something.... with so many things to look at the shop it is easy to forget something critical. In my case postage can become quite expensive on small value mail order purchases. 

We made our way to City Organiser after lunch, taking the shortest route with our umbrellas and raincoats! It was great to see Bernard and Aline at the shop. As usual we wandered in and all the chatter stopped..... eyes went like saucers and people started looking at all the different things in the shop. We managed to stay out of the stock room this time, although there was still a fair bit of comparisons going on by looking at the total stock of purple Maldens.  

We did a few group photos indoors because it was still raining... and it was dark outside!  We all made our home, happy but a little damp!


If you missed the meet up... then don't forget the current promo code for City Organiser, details are as follows: 

With Christmas on the horizon, we thought we would get everyone in the Christmas mood by sending a festive 10% discount voucher to all our loyal customers to use when spending over £30. As you know, our everyday prices are already reduced from most manufacturers rrps so this is a chance to save something worthwhile on your Christmas spending, *The code expires on Monday Dec 4th and can be applied to all our products except Montblanc.

To redeem the discount simply use the code xmas during the checkout process.

And of course some photos.....

I hope everyone enjoyed the day as much as I did, I can now look forward to planning the next one some time in spring 2013. Thank you to everyone who came along today, and also a big thank you to City Organiser for their help and assistance and their support for our group this year. 

A Date For Your Filofax - 2 December 2012

New York	Sao Paulo	London	Paris

We are going to run another conference round-table voice chat using Skype, this is slightly later in the month because I wanted to avoid the weekend when the clocks change in the US!

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 2 December from 10am (US East Coast time), 3pm London time, 4 pm Paris time etc.  See the clocks at the top of this post to see roughly what time you should be on line.

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 reduces 'echo' on the call.

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.

How -

1. Connect to Philofaxy by firstly searching for Philofaxy in Skype, I will then add you as a contact.
2. Then  'Start Chat',  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...

As with previous round-tables there will also be a parallel text chat room going at the same time as the voice conference.

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 2 December 2012. 

Web Finds - 24th November 2012

Here are the latest Filofax blog posts from around the internet:

1. Go Big or Go Home - The Zeitgeist of Zoe
2. Doing a Week In Review - Life is Crafted
3. Punching and cutting, getting ready for new arrivals  - I love my stationery
4. Filofax Right Pen Loop - It's Just Hazel
5. Setup of my Filofax Chameleon A5 @ November 2012 - Life is Crafted
6. Filofax Inserts I Use The Most - Filofit
7. My Filofax Rotation System; Regency, Malden & Chameleon - My Filo World
8. Love Your Filofax? Love Your Organizer? In Sydney? - Life is Crafted
9. Filofax sigh, exam and the start of a new course - Belzira's Corner
10. My first filoFAX - Smart Sparkles 
11. Filofax - Personalised front page - Monica Luis
12. Filofax - Change is inevitable
13. Confessions of a stationery nerd - Joanne the Coach
14. A Peek at Percy the Personal Portland - Filofaximile
15. Job seeking using a Filofax? - Paper Lovestory
16. How to Retrieve Information in Your Planner Quickly & Easily - Homemakers Daily
17. Storage of past diaries/pages - Honey & Filofaxes
18. Designer deliberations - Filofaximile
19. Filofax Christmas list - Mamma StressfilofaxATA
20. Royal Blue Ascot - Cloudberry Musings
21. Planner fantasies - Plannerisms
22. Weirdo Wednesday's late night shuffle - Filofaximile
23. A Thanksgiving Giveaway for my Filofax Pals... - The Crazy Suburban Mom 
24. Falling back in Love with Filofax.....Part 2....The Declaration  - Imysworld
25. Filofax update; Chameleon Personal in Raspberry Tour - My Filo World
26. That Thing Thursday #2 - My Once Upon the Moon 
27. What’s purple, leather and tickles my fancy? - Blundermum
28. Soundtrack To My Life - Steve - Typecast
29. Filofax Collection of the Week - Jana - Imysworld
30. looking back at journal and diary pages - Paper Lovestory
31. The Mystery Binder of Batiste - Filofaximile
32. Do it Yourself! - Verwendet euer eigenes Filofax - Chaotic Perfectionist
33. Where I lose a little love for my Filofax - Rosie Scribble 
34. Ready to offer CUTE Month On Two Pages! - Filofax Love

Here are the latest Filofax videos from around the internet:














Enjoy

Free For All Friday No 210

A question for you today.... What sort of reaction do you generally get from people when they see you using a Filofax organiser? Is it surprise or do they ask why are you using it, or what?

But as it's a Friday you are of course free to discuss anything Filofax (or ring bound planner) related.

Stockist Under the Spotlight - Write at Home

Today I would like to introduce you to Margaret from 'Write at Home'  they are a new Filofax stockist based in Scotland, but they have a growing website and Margaret and her husband, David, are both keen users of Filofax personal organisers.

When did you start Write at Home?

Write at Home was started in 2010, it grew from my childhood love of stationery.   I originally started by selling the Organised Mum range and a beautiful range of journals that are handmade in Nepal from lokta paper.

My range of stationery has increased steadily ever since, as I discovered that there was no-one selling stationery independently in this area (Tayside, Scotland)  David (my husband) joined me this year and is still a work in progress re stationery addiction!

I initially sold at small local events but have now progressed to larger events such as Living North in Newcastle and Country Living in Glasgow and Harrogate.

How long have you personally been a Filofax user?

I was given my first Filofax in the mid 80’s  which was a black personal (no idea of the make!) but got out of the habit and rediscovered my love of them this year when I came across a Kendal A5 in Staples but was escorted from the premises by David before I could get my credit card out!!  Unbeknown to David, I then started to search the internet on a regular basis until I found my Kendal and then my obsession started!!

David is now the proud owner of a vintage Richmond.  His interest in using paper began a couple of years ago at university where he was a mature student.  He found it easier to organise his coursework on paper than it was on the various online organisers, thus bewildering his fellow students!!  When I presented him with the Richmond it proved to be a fait accompli!!!!  His Richmond is now his constant companion (apart from me!)

What do you use Filofax for?

I have 2 separate Filofaxes, my beloved Kendal and a red personal classic. My Kendal is my main organiser, for both business and personal use and my Classic is used solely for all things related to my work as a SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association) Caseworker.

Which are your most popular products?

Would you believe it is a red quill!!!  This has proved to be a very popular gift particularly to young people (gosh that makes me sound old!!)

Our other best sellers include our own Catriona Mary range of notebooks and the Organised Mum range.

What does the future hold for Write at Home?

We have just started to stock Filofax and are working on developing our own range of diaries and notebooks.  David is constantly surprised at how many stationery aficionados’ there are out there but this is no surprise to me whatsoever.  We are permanently adding to our range on-line and hope to be stocking Moleskine, amongst others, before too long.

Thank you Margaret for that insight and I'm sure there will be plenty of our readers heading over to your website to take a look at your stock at http://writeathome.co.uk

Philofaxy Meet Up - Sydney 2013

Photo: © Philip Morton

Following a series of discussions and exchanges on one of the Facebook groups, a bunch of people in the Southern Hemisphere realised they were closer geographically than they originally thought! I of course chipped in with the idea of them meeting up Philofaxy style.... 

Arienne of Life is Crafted fame has kindly offered to be the point of contact/co-ordinate the meet up in Sydney.

Arienne is thinking that there could potentially be a meet up in a bookstore in the Sydney Central Business District in February or March 2012 if there is enough interest.

Perhaps a Saturday afternoon. Flexible with dates really depending on when interested people might be free.

She is also thinking next year because we are going into the silly season/holiday time.

So if you would like to register your interest and be part of this meet up, please contact Arienne  hello [at] lifeiscrafted [dot] com

Photo: © Philip Morton

Web Finds - 20 November 2012

Here are the latest Filofax blog posts from the internet:

1. It's Movember, time for another filofax competition - Anita Lim
2. My mommy favorites - Filofax A5 Chameleon (red) - Haitian Girl
3. Farewell to the Filofax(es) - MacPsych
4. Handmade CUTE monthly calendar refills for 2013 :) - Filofax Love 
5. Filofax Adventures Part.1- Swain's - Behind my Purpley Life
6. Heart-Shaped Paper Clips For My Filofax - Typecast
7. Get Femke a Scholarship to the Blogcademy - Deligted
8. My First Filofax - Dishguts
9. WIN ANOTHER FILOFAX - Anita Lim
10. Five and half hours later and a few pounds lighter... - The Crazy Suburban Mom
11. Filofax spotted in the wild! - All Things Stationery
12. Eure Meinung ist gefragt! - Filomaniac
13. Blick in die Zukunft - Filomaniac
14. A very special offer arrived! :) - Lime Tree
15. my filofax week #31 - Paper Lovestory
16. Using Filofax for Design - Jagged Little Thoughts
17. a question for a5 filofax users - Paperplane Thinking
18. All change for 2013....it's a Filofax diary revamp.. - Modern Musings
19. Sprinting Back to Paper - Well Planned Life
20. Compact Filofax Dilemma: Malden vs. Holborn - The Storage Studio
21. About my current Filofaxes - My Filo World 
22. Meet Bond, A5 Bond... - I love my stationery
23. Bond is ready to go to work - I love my stationery
24. I'm finally a member of the Malden club! - Plannerisms
25. Philofaxy Edinburgh meetup, and my journey to Malden - Plannerisms
26. 365/30: Filofax inserts I use the most - Filomaniac
27. Letts Baroque! - Cloudberry Musings
28. My Filofax Week 8 - Glossette
29. Consistency, Christmas and a Cuban surprise! - In Hope Of An Organised Life
30. My new on-the-go ‘fax (Slimline Filofax) - Planning With Printed Portal
31. Old School Filofax Love - Mummy Tips
32. Hot, Malden love... - The Crazy Suburban Mom

And here are the latest Filofax videos from the internet:


















Enjoy

Free For All Tuesday No. 94

Tuesdays are your chance to ask any Filofax related questions you might have.

So fire away and we will collectively try to answer your questions or offer opinions.

Philofaxy Edinburgh Meet Up November 2012

I love attending Philofaxy meet ups... If you have never attended one then putting in to words the experience of a meet up is quite difficult. I've been trying to define what the magic of a meet up is for the last couple of years, but I've yet to find the right words...

So Edinburgh... Saturday 17th November.. Another new location, another group of people and another new city for me to visit. Although I had visited Edinburgh once before I didn't get to the city centre in the short time I was in Scotland so I don't really count that as a true visit.

I arrived by train late on Friday afternoon and after a bit of minor confusion on my part I found my way to my hotel in the old part of the city. I hadn't realised how hilly the centre of Edinburgh is, up and down you go like a roller coaster! It's a lovely city even at this time of year. I would love to come back in the Spring or Summer to see the place a bit more.

On Saturday morning we met up in a small cafe adjacent to the station, it was great to put faces to names, and importantly to meet Laurie again... it had been two and a half years since we last met up in London back in April 2010. I suppose having the two of us there was spoiling our meet up group attendees, but they deserved it!

As usual it didn't take long before various Filofax organisers appeared out of bags and rucksacks, and then they started to do the rounds of the table. There was quite a mixture of new and old, which was great to see. We even attempted a 'stack' although it was a little shaky and needed some careful balancing to prevent it from toppling over!

After lunch we made our way to Jenners department store, where the Pen Shop store manager Laura was expecting our small party and enjoyed hearing about the blog and what we get up to. It was pleasing to see she is a Filofax Malden user herself. She was given a stack of Philofaxy cards... to spread the word of course! Although their area in the store isn't very large, the range of stock they had on display was quite impressive, from Temperleys at one end of the scale to the Apex at the other. They also carry a full range of inserts for all sizes too.

Laurie had taken a fancy to my Ochre Personal Malden at lunchtime, sadly I didn't have the Compact Zip Malden with me to compare it with. But we used a Pennybridge to compare the interior and discussed the pros and cons of each one. Laurie thought she was out of luck, but she then discovered at the back of the display a Ochre Personal Malden.... her grip on it was firm.... she wasn't going to let it go or put it back... after some further discussion and consideration, she stepped to the counter and purchased her first Malden.... welcome to the club Laurie!!

We also got to look at some Mont Blanc organisers, these aren't cheap £325 for the personal size I think, but they do ooze quality and the inserts are very nice. We all liked the very large pen loop, naturally big enough to hold a Mont Blanc fountain pen. The Pen Shop have a full range of Mont Blanc products.

We then made our way to the Paperchase store, although it only has a small frontage I was surprised how big the store was inside and also the number of people in there and the queues at the tills. We all had a good look around and it was fun spotting things like sticky notes and stationery we had seem in different You Tube videos and blog posts!

We made our way back to the station to say our good byes and it snowed on the way! But it was the end of a brilliant day and everyone agreed we must do it again.

Thank you to everyone that came along and a thank you to the staff at The Pen Shop for answering all of our questions and letting us rifle through their 'Sales Box' 

And finally some pictures of the day.

Jenners, the home of The Pen Shop

'The Stack'

Natalie and Gavin

Morag and Margaret

L-R Steve, Morag, Margaret, Natalie, Gavin

Just on loan from Steve, he won't miss one from his huge Malden collection?

This Malden is mine... says Laurie...

The terrible expression says it all.... How Much!?

Reader Under the Spotlight - Cherry

Today I would like to introduce you to another one of our readers Cherry.

Hi, I'm Cherry. I'm from the UK and I'm addicted to stationary. There, I said it. I'm a mother, designer and a firm lover of everything vintage.

I have a blog where I sometimes talk about my Filofaxes amongst other things

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

I had a Funfax addiction as a kid! I had several of them and all I wanted for my birthday each year was some more inserts. As an adult I brought a cherry red Metropol in personal size in 2008/9 whilst in my last year of Uni and it changed my life.

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

I've never really used any other brand of ring organiser like this, I just went straight for Filofax!

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

My favourite at the moment is my Swift Personal. It's pretty, but am toying with trying to move to my slimline.

4. How many Filofax organisers do you own?

At last count - seven. It's possible I have one or two more than that in storage! I've a Flex A5, Flex Slim, Metropol Personal in red, Hearts Personal, Swift Personal, Metropol Slimline in Black & Songbird Pocket in Purple.

5. What do you use your Filofax for?

How I use it has changed dramatically since I brought my first. Back then I was in my final year of Uni and very disorganised with many many exams and deadlines. Thankfully my Filofax kept me in control of it all and I graduated without incident.

These days I'm a mum, and in-between that I've used it to organise meetings for work. Right now I use the Organised Mum Pick n Mix inserts along with a Filofax diary and use it all to keep on top of family life. I really wish Filofax would sell the Family Organiser Pack in the UK as it'd be the ultimate answer for me!

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

The ability to customise. I just couldn't use any other organiser as I'd never have the flexibility I have now to add/ take away pages and swap them between organisers.

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

I always lust after the more expensive Filofax ranges sadly. I love the look of the Deco and the Malden, but I'm vegan so all the leather organisers are off limits for me. If I could design my own it'd be something that shared some of those ranges lovely features but in a gorgeous textured faux leather.

8. How do you carry your Filofax?

I just throw it in my handbag/ satchel / nappy bag!

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

I'm lusting after a Pennybridge Compact in red. I'm trying not to buy it as I'm sure my better half would tell me I don't need any more, but I probably will!

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

Around £30 on my Swift, but I've spent far more on what goes inside it!

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

I love the reader spotlights! It's really inspiring to see how others use their organisers and i'm always getting new ideas.

12. And what do you not like about Philofaxy?

Well, that's tough. I'm pretty sure that there isn't anything I dislike. I guess the only downside is that I spend far too much time reading it!

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

I love music. The last album was The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten.

Thank you Cherry for offering to go under our spot light.  And if any one else would like to feature in a Reader Under The Spotlight of their own them please contact us at philofaxy at gmail dot com

Web Finds 17 November 2012

Here are the latest Filofax blog posts from around the internet, bought to you whilst I'm on a train speeding north to Edinburgh on Friday afternoon!

1. Ask Jeff - Tip for Using Outlook with Paper Planner? - Day-Timer Blog
2. Das DpP Professional als Scrapbook - Filomaniac
3. guest post from Alice :) - Paper Lovestory
4. Going ‘vintage’; Arrival of my new Filofax Personal Windsor! - My Filo World
5. Printing Tutorial for Personal Size Filofax Inserts - Lime Tree
6. My Filofax Week 7 - Glossette 
7. Pre-Punched Inserts: Reinforcement Rings - Planning with Printed Portal 
8. Perfect punching for A5s - All Things Stationery
9. New Dividers - Jagged Little Thoughts
10. Filofax frustrations!@#$%^&* - Behind my Purpley Life 
11. Old planner page storage dilemma with a side order of enabling  - The Crazy Suburban Mom
12. Big is beautiful - Filomaniac
13. Being more Flex(able) !! - Filo Obsessed
14. Day Per Page Inserts - JarFM
15. 3-in-1 Post: Personal Ochre Malden Filofax - The Storage Studio
16. A Quick Overview... - LJ's Blog of Stuff
17. Planner Sighting: Hidden in the Library - Well Planned Life
18. Big honking boo-hoo.... - The Crazy Suburban Mom
19. 365/30: If you were a Filofax... - Filomaniac
20. Finding the Love for Filofax again...... - Imysworld
21. Old Filofax inserts - Cloudberry Musings
22. Vintage Navy Blue Winchester - Cloudberry Musings
23. Spicing up my Filofax; Filofax decorating My Filo World
24. Colour Combinations Filofax - Jagged Little Thoughts
25. Journals, Planners and Lists…Oh My!  - The Zeitgeist of Zoe
26. Filofax 2 – a look inside my FF. The Yarn Yard
27. A Week With Ms. Holborn - Friday, I'm in Love
28. GTD - bleurgh!!! - LJ's Blog of Stuff
29. Spread It All Out  - LJ's Blog of Stuff
30. Personal Organisation Binder Setup - And Failure..... - LJ's Blog of Stuff
31. Filofax Blog of the Week: Jarfm.com - My Life All in One Place
32. North West (Manchester) Meet Up - details - Filo Obsessed
33. That Thing Thursday - My Once Upon the Moon
34. Eliminate Overwhelm With a Task List - Homemakers Daily
35. New A-Z Inserts for my Telephone Numbers - Planning with Printed Portal
36. custom notepaper inserts (4 different designs!) - Paper Lovestory 
37. A5 Printing Tips for Filofax Inserts - Lime Tree

News Announcements

• Whilst the gathering of these posts is mainly automatic, their inclusion in each post does require my presence, if I'm not present as was the case on Tuesday, posts not included in one web finds post will be included in the next one.
• Can all bloggers please include a 'Recent Posts' widget in your side bar if you don't already have one... it is a big help to me when it comes to adding your posts to these lists. Thank you!
• Places still available for next Saturdays London Meet Up, we have a surprise guest coming to the meet up. Please contact Steve asap if you would like to attend steve [at] philofaxy [dot] com 

Here are the latest Filofax videos from the internet:


















Enjoy....

2nd Philofaxy North - West Meet Up - 1st December 2012

Just to confirm the North West (Manchester) Meet Up is going ahead on Saturday 1st December 2012.  We will meet at BHS Coffee Bar, Market Street, Manchester, M1 1WN at anytime from 9-10am,

I'm hoping to arrive by 9am so long as my train is on time.  I would appreciate if I don't already have your mobile no that you email it to me so we can communicate should you not be able to make it or are running late etc alisoncarroll5(at)btinternet(dot)com.

If you can't make it there for 10am but would like to attend you can drop me a text and we can arrange to meet later.

I'm really looking forward to this Meet Up and look forward to meeting you all again, we had a great time at the last meet up and hopefully some newbies will attend this time - everybody welcome!!!

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Alison

Free for All Friday No. 209

At some points in all of our lives, we turn inwards. We feel the need to get away from all of the noise and clutter and take a look at what's most important to us.

Do you find that your Filofax helps you focus your priorities?

I think that a Filofax, by its very nature, encourages us to slow down, think, and prioritize, even as it helps us gain control over all of the activity and clutter.

My FiloPal Filofax

A few weeks ago one of our readers Steph set up an interesting project on her blog My Once Upon the Moon called FiloPal. I signed up for the project because I liked the idea and also l like to support all new projects, if I can.  The project initially was about people writing to Steph. But as it got under way Steph suggested people might like to write to each other in the group.

At first I just kept the odd letter I had received in the front pocket of my main planner. When Steph showed off her Filofax that she is using for the project it got me thinking of doing something similar.

So I picked out one of my grey A5 Maldens and decided what I was going to put in it. When I looked at what I would need for this organiser it came down to just writing paper, information (addresses) and the received correspondence. I also store some stamps for European post as well.

I've also produced a 'Letter' A5 template which I just did in Word and ran off a few sheets, they have my address details on one side and they are blank on the other side.  I find unruled A5 easier for me to be able to hand write on compared to ruled or ruled personal pages.

Sorry about having to obscure my address details... but it's for obvious reasons!

Not everyone is using A5, but personal pages fit in to the A5, you just have to bend up the bottom corner on the side of the rings to avoid the clash with the rings.

One of the main advantages of having a separate organiser for this project is I can just grab it off of my desk and go and sit elsewhere around the house and I have all I need with me.

Why not join the project? Contact Steph and get added to the list of correspondents, you don't have to write to everyone on the list. There are some people on there who I'm in regular electronic contact, so I have been picking out people I've not come across on the net so far.  But if you write to me.... you will get a reply I promise.

Must dash... got to catch the post!

All Change!

Having printed my A5 inserts for next year, I decided to have a session sorting through my A5 inserts and A5 organisers to get them in to order properly. It's quite therapeutic and I now understand the enjoyment some of you get from this sort of task.

Top Left to Right, Spare inserts in box, Filo Pal Malden , Archive Diary Finsbury
Bottom Left to Right, Work Holborn, Main Malden

So what changed.... first up I wanted to turn my A5 Finsbury into my Diary Archive binder, with big 30mm rings I figured it will hold at least a couple of years worth of diary inserts. So I removed all the pages. I then gave it a little clean up.

Here's a tip on the cloth interior of the Finsbury you often get paper dust sticking to the cloth. Take a length of sticky tape (scotch tape) press it sticky side down on to the cloth, then rip it off and the paper dust sticks to the tape and you get a nice clean and dust free surface. You might need to do this a couple of times, but it works! Also great for getting dust out of the turn ups in your trousers!

So with this years archived pages moved in to the Finsbury I put that back in the cupboard. Next up I got down my Holborn Zip. It had come with a standard fill with the exception of the diary. So I removed all the pages put them to one side and then slotted in the pages and dividers from the Finsbury. The Holborn is now my Property Search organiser, the content is the same as described here, so I won't repeat myself, but what I like about the Holborn with it being a zip organiser I will be able to keep a better check on house description sheets, business cards etc that sometimes slip out if they haven't been punched.

I also emptied my two grey Malden A5's they were just carrying spare pages. I was then able to sort though all my spare pages and inserts in A5 size and get those in order. I don't have too many inserts for A5 as I tend to print what I need when I need them.

The smaller ring grey A5 Malden I've now turned in to my Filo Pal organiser, which I will tell you about in another post. The larger ring or standard 30 mm ring grey A5 is now empty and on standby should I wish to swap out of my orchre A5 Malden which is my current main planner. Like a good pair of leather shoes it is good to give them a rest every so often!

So how often do you sort through the contents of your Filofax, what ever size it is, or shuffle the contents from one organiser to another?

Web Finds - 13 November 2012

Here are the latest Filofax blog posts from around the internet:

1. Card arrived for my Filofax dividers! - Jagged Little Thoughts
2. My Filofax Regency Compact used as a wallet! - My Filo World
3. Mein Filofax Jahreskalender 2013 - Month on 2 Page... - Chaotic Perfectionist
4. Blogging Schedule Insert: Revisited - Planning with Printed Portal
5. Budget pages for your Filofax for free download - My Life All in One Place
6. Filofax Arrival; Personal Adelphi Purple Review - My Filo World
7. Colors, Colors, Colors! My Colorful Filofaxes Malden, Adelphi and Amazona - My Filoworld
8. 13.5 lists - Bits of Me
9. A Virgin Planner - Bits of Me
10. What was your first filofax? - Paperplane Thinking 
11. Filofax 365/30: What colours should they add to the existing Filofax range?  - Planning with Printed Portal
12. A spot of Filofaxing ready for 2013... All Things Stationery
13. my filofax week #30 - Paper Lovestory 
14. Organizing: Filofax - Diary girl 
15. Another Filofax To Add To The Collection - Typecast
16. My Bargain Filofax !! - Filo Obsessed
17. Filofax Pen Loop hack with the Leuchtturm 1917 - My Filo World
18. Getting ready for Christmas - Cloudberry Musings
19. Filofax - Puddytat Purr
20. What I write and keep in my Filofax :) - Filofax Love
21. In which we discuss Planner Fail and Downsizing -  Honey and Filofaxes
22. Tutorial! And something my Momma gave me - AppleHead Threads
23. The Secret Language of Planning - Daily Thoughts and Random Ideas 

And here are the latest Filofax videos from around the internet.












Enjoy

Free For All Tuesday No. 93

Tuesdays are your chance to ask any Filofax related questions you might have.

So fire away and we will collectively try to answer your questions or offer opinions.

Reader Under the Spotlight - Coralie

Hi everyone, I'm Coralie and I am delighted to participate in Philofaxy's Reader under the Spotlight.  I am based in the UK and have an addiction (or rather passion) for notebooks, Filofaxes, stationery and organisation.

I have recently started 2 new blogs called Printed Portal and Planning with Printed Portal. For all you Filofax lovers planning with Printed Portal contains all my filo ramblings while printed portal is focused on organisational notebooks.

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

As a kid I had all of the funfax range (they are probably still knocking around in my parents attic somewhere). My first "adult" purchase was a pink personal sized Metropol which I bought last November.

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

I have toyed with purchasing a paperchase own brand binder, as some of the patterns are so     pretty, but I have yet to make the plunge.

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

I love them all, but my current favourite it my personal cross in chocolate. It is providing much amusement as I am still perfecting my set-up.

4. How many Filofax organisers do you own?

I own 5. Two personal metropols (one in pink, one in lavender), personal cross in chocolate, personal London 2012 sporting icons and Malden mini (vintage pink).

5. What do you use your Filofax for?

I have a different set-up in each of my Filofaxes.

• Personal metropol (lavender): this is my diary (wo2p inserts) and contains my after work schedule notebook and to-do list.
• Personal metropol (pink): this contains my lists and key information. I am still working on turning this into a proper stay at home fax as my bag can't take it anymore.
• Personal Cross: this is my blog/notebook filofax. It contains a planner, ideas list, blog post info/drafts and time recording among other things - I am still perfecting/experimenting with this set-up.
• Mini Malden: this is my wallet and financial Filofax.
• London 2012: my Filofax lists 365/30.

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

I can personalise my pages to suit my needs and the fact that I can add and remove pages - and most importantly - experiment.

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

A larger pouch/pockets for notebooks - I already comfortable carry a6 and pocket sized notebooks in my personals but it would be nice to slot them in securely/neatly.

Other than that I am more about customising my inserts rather than the binder.

8. How do you carry your Filofax?
The mini malden, both personal metropols and personal cross currently get carried about in my bag. Yes - it is heavy.

I am looking to change my pink metropol into a complete stay at home fax (the two metropols used to be one binder before I ran out of space) and/or get a slimline for my diary...

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

I am currently eyeing up a Cuban slimline (currently in the sale at WH Smiths) Although I would happily purchase a Filofax personal Classic in Pink or Holborn in Wine.

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

The most expensive was my mini Malden which I bought from City Organiser. Can't remember now how much I paid for it.

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

Everything: it is a great community and I love the way everyone shares tips and ideas.

12. And what do you not like about Philofaxy?

Nothing not to like - other than the fact I have time blocked out in my schedule for web finds and general catching up with Philofaxy.

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

 I don't listen to a lot of music, I tend to enjoy the radio more. I have currently stolen my partners "take that progress" cd for the car to listen to when the radio is boring.

Thank you Coralie for agreeing to go under our spot light. 

If you would like to to be a future 'Reader Under The Spotlight' please get in touch with us at philofaxy [at] gmail [dot] com