Reader Under the Spotlight - Ashlene

Hello Philofaxers!

My name is Ashlene and I blog under the name of Lady Tamlynn. I'm a 25 year old English teacher from Northern Ireland and I'm obsessed with reading, stationery, gadgets and Benedict Cumberbatch. I've been seeing my lovely boyfriend, Andrew, for almost six years but I would still marry my Kindle if it was legal to. I love Philofaxy and I'm honoured to be a Reader Under the Spotlight.


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

I was obsessed with ring bound planners as a child and had umpteen FunFaxes (none of which I can find now, sadly) but my first Filofax was a personal sized Mode in Mint/Pink which I purchased in August 2010. I had just qualified as a teacher and had gotten my first teaching job (a year long maternity post at my old grammar school). I knew it was going to be a long and busy year and I was looking for a new diary in my local Easons. I spotted the Mode on the Filofax stand and the rest, as they say, is history.

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

This is a very apt question as I have only just started to be tempted by other brands of ring bound planners. I have recently acquired the Day-Timer Malibu in three colours. It's a beautiful binder, very soft and with a great interior layout. I have also decided on Day-Timer inserts for my 2013 setup as I crave colour but don't always have time to decorate my diary pages with pretty stickers and washi tape much as I'd like to :-(.

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

My current favourite binder is the Wine coloured Holborn Zip in Personal size. I love all those pockets, the beautiful wine colour and the security of the zip.

4. How many Filofax organisers do you own?

A scary question. I would not like to count up how many Filofax organisers I have bought in the last two years. At the minute, however, I own four actual Filofaxes. I realised I was spending far too much time buying Filofax binders and not enough time actually using them for their purpose - planning. So I have been utterly ruthless and sold (almost) my entire collection of Filofaxes (you can still find some of them on Adspot ;-)). I have kept my personal Mode because it was my first Filofax, a personal Urban in Olive to use as a storage binder, my personal Holborn in Wine and my personal Holborn Zip also in Wine. On top of this I also have my three Day-Timer Malibu binders.

5. What is the oldest Filofax in your collection?

I guess that would be my Mode but its only two years old so its still a baby. I have never seen a vintage Filofax in the flesh so I have never been tempted by them.

6. What do you use your Filofax for?

I use my Filofax as my daily planner and catch-all. It helps me to keep track of all my work and personal to dos and appointments and keeps me sane. I use daily pages to plan out my days and keep track of to dos while my Dodo Pad and monthly pages are used for forward planning and appointments. I also use my Filofax to keep track of my finances and the books I read.

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

I love the flexibility of Filofax because I can change my tabs as often as I like and move sections and pages around as I need to. I also love that you don't have to stick to Filofax's inserts but can use Day-Timer, Franklin Covey, etc or print your own.

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

My perfect Filofax would be the colour and texture of the Crimson Malden, but would have the pocket layout of the Holborn and be zipped. It would have 25mm rings and have a zipped pocket on the outside back cover like the Urban. One of the credit card pockets would also have a clear ID window so I could put a picture of my lovely boyfriend inside it :-) and it would have two pen loops (absolutely essential!)

9. How do you carry your Filofax?

My Filofax  is always either in my handbag or my teaching bag. I always use Kipling bags which are very spacious so I always have plenty of room for my precious Filo.

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

At the minute my favourite Filofax is the Holborn Zip which I already own. It's buttery soft and has so many secret pockets. I just love it! However, if Filofax release the Malden in that beautiful Aqua colour I've seen in their iPad and Kindle covers, I might just be tempted. Failing that, if they ever made a personal sized zipped Malden I'd be all over that like butter on hot toast!

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

My first A5 was a purple Finchley which cost me £110 from the Filofax UK website. I had only been using a Filofax for a few months and I hadn't yet discovered Philofaxy at this point so I didn't know there were cheaper options. I don't think I've paid full price for a Filofax since. I always wait for the sales.

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

For me personally, my favourite tip is using a Filofax Flex pen loop to keep two pens in my Holborn Zip. I think I saw it on a guest post here on Philofaxy (possibly a post by Erin?) and I thought it was ingenious. I always keep two Bic 4 colour pens with me at all times and I hate it that most personal organisers only have one pen loop.

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

I love how friendly all of the people on Philofaxy are. Everyone is so helpful and nice and any question I've ever had has been answered. The blog is a wealth of information and I especially love Web Finds where I can find lots of great ideas for tweaking my Filofax setup.

14. And what do you not like about Philofaxy?

The impact all this enabling has on my poor bank balance ;-).

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

I think it was the soundtrack to the Les Miserables movie (I'm a big musical theatre fan). Although I did recently pre-order Josh Groban's new album. Does that count?

16.  Mark Darcy or Daniel Cleaver?

Love this question! Mr Darcy all the way, especially if he fancies taking a swim in a white shirt ;-).

Thank you Ashlene for agreeing to stand under our spot light as Mr Darcy emerged from the lake soaking wet in his white dress shirt and approached you with open arms.... !!!!!