04 May 2014

Reader Under The Spotlight - Chen 琛

Today I would like to introduce you all to Chen 

Hello Philofaxers!
My Internet name is “fish” or “DIYfish” and my behind the scenes name is Chen 琛 which means treasure. I am from Shanghai and have been living in Singapore the Garden City for more than 10 years with my husband and 2 kids, 3 and 8.

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

I can’t remember when I bought my first Filofax. I placed the order through Ebay and received my very first Filofax – the lovely Pink Finsbury Personal on 22 Feb, 2012.

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

Wow, that won’t be a short list. If I can include non-binders, I have used Midori Travelers Notebooks, Midori Paper Notebooks (for sketches), HOBONICHIs, Hello Kitty Binder. And on my wish list, for now, I have Gillio, Van der Spek, Mulberry, Franklin Covey, kikosattic’s leather binders.

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

Malden. Always Malden. I am transferring from Personal to Pocket size. I love Pocket size so much. But Malden is a bit too soft when I have to hold it with one hand and write. I am considering a holborn pocket size too because of the pockets.

4. How many Filofax organisers do you own?

I have 6 for now. They are A5: Chameleon Sprint Green; Personal: Malden Aqua, Finsbury Pink, Deco Ivory; Pocket: Malden Aqua, Amazona Red

5. What is the oldest Filofax in your collection?

I believe it should be my first buy, the Pink Finsbury Personal.

6. What do you use your Filofax for?

Wow, I use my Filofax for everything that can be written down or stuck on paper. It’s my planner, journal book, notebook.

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

I like the flexibility of the rings. I can always add-in, take out or re-order my pagers.

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

Big ring (especially for pocket size); HOBONICHI style pockets; 2 pen loops if possible; huge pen loop; the position of the pen loop can be moved up a bit for pocket size; full length pockets for personal size.

9. How do you carry your Filofax?

I put my Pocket size Filofax in my bag. No dust bag for it.

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

I am not sure yet. So far none of the new models can attract me.

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

I can’t remember if it is my Deco.

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

Kent from OZ’s “How to expend the pen loop”. Although my pen loop is still not big enough after expending but it really works.

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

LOL, can I say Adspot? And I love Web Finds.

14. And what do you not like about Philofaxy?

I like everything Philofaxy. But maybe the search and archive function can be improved a bit. I still remember I have dug at least an hour to find out when Steve published his 1st post on Philofaxy. LOL

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

Buzzcut Season - Single

16.  Mark Darcy or Daniel Cleaver? 

Mark Darcy

Thank you Steve!

And thank you Chen 琛  Don't forget to check out Chen's own planner inserts from her website.    If you would like to appear on Reader Under the Spotlight, please contact Steve philofaxy at gmail dot com

03 May 2014

Web Finds - 3 May 2014

It is a holiday weekend for most people I think this weekend, so take some time to relax, and enjoy a great collection of blog posts and videos from around the internet.

So here are the latest Filofax blog posts from around the Internet:
  1. A Crocheted Chevron Filofax Cover - Tales from a happy house
  2. Inside Fudge - some changes - Cloudberry Musings
  3. Here We Go Again: New Insert Mock Up - The Crazy Life of J
  4. Very Vintage Filofax - Cloudberry Musings
  5. On the way to me – Part 1: Rare Mulberry ‘double binder’ - This Bugs Life
  6. Y is for… Yearly Goals (2014) - Planning with Printed Portal
  7. Paris Inspired May Month To View - Kel & Filofax
  8. Free For All Friday No. 33: Tidy or Messy? - Plannerisms
  9. Filofax Friday - Vlog Styleeeee! - Mrs Brimbles
  10. On the Way Part 2 – Filofax Fresco in Personal and Pocket - This Bugs Life
  11. When Planner Tweaking Goes Wrong - Homemakers Daily
  12. Random Planner Photo Fun - The Storage Studio
  13. Photo-a-Day May! - Filosophical
  14. Pocket and Personal Fresco Filofaxes - This Bugs Life
  15. Mulberry Agenda Duplex - "special made for Janet Carr" - Filo-Manie
  16. Z is for… Zodiac Signs - Planning with Printed Portal
  17. The Boho Lure… - Kel & Filofax
  18. Filofax Fresco Part 3 – description and where to find them - This Bugs Life
  19. Rusty - Medium Gigliodoro Mia Cara  - Filo-Manie
  20. The 12 week year. - Natalie Fergie
  21. Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover - Roses in December
  22. Filofaxes and Handbags – Orange - This Bugs Life
  23. I'm The Winner - Sweet and Calm
  24. I've gone planner crazy! - My Life Re-Organised
  25. Daydex tutorial for English speakers.  - My Last Eureka
  26. On the Way Part 3 – Medium Gillio Mia Cara in Purple - This Bugs Life
  27. A5 Ochre Malden — Back in Rotation for a New Journal - Clarifilo
  28. Filofax Friday, and a look at the Month of May - En Vogue Pogue
  29. Filofax Swaps…! - Kel & Filofax
  30. April Filofax photo-a-day challenge, week four - She's Eclectic
  31. How To Schedule During A Planner Power Through - Giftie Etcetera
  32. Filofaxes and Handbags – Aqua/Teal/Turquoise/Jade - This Bugs Life
  33. Filofax Focus - Steve Morton
  • We monitor over 500 blogs and sites, your Filofax/Organiser blog posts could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 
  • We can not 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. Do not forget to give your posts a title... 
  • For some general tips on Filofax Blogging, please see this post
And here are a selection of the latest Filofax videos for your enjoyment.
  1. How I Organise My A5 Filofax Classic - Indianraani
  2. Gillio Medium Compagna in epoca gold set-up 2014 - Nancy Zarroli
  3. How Janet Carr's Filofax Savannah is holding up - Mary Anne Moll
  4. FILOFAX DECOR WEEK 4 - Stamping Songbird
  5. Kate Spade Wellesley Planner with April 2014 set up - Nancy Zarroli
  6. Filofax Week 18 Decoration Tutorial - Sugarpandax3
  7. Reorganized Erin Condren and Filofax Malden - Elisi Gygeyui
  8. Flipping through my April 2014 2PPD - Mary Anne Moll
  • For tips on how to improve your videos, please see this post.  Also this video too Webfinds 
  • Your Filofax/Organiser Videos could appear in this list, just contact philofaxy at gmail dot com to be added to our monitoring list. 
And before I disappear... don't forget the Skype Roundtable on Sunday details in this post... I look forward to chatting and seeing you there.

Enjoy

02 May 2014

Free for All Friday No. 285

Have you every found yourself not wanting to write in your Filofax so you won't "mess it up"?

I was really like that when I was younger. The nicer a notebook or diary was, the more I hesitated to mess it up with my "bad" handwriting and "stupid" thoughts.

I've recently switched from a week-on-two-pages calendar to two-days-per-page precisely so I'd have more room to write. There's so much I could fit in a day now, and yet I'm seeing a lot of blank space instead. I need to work on filling those pages and using my organizer! That's what it's for!

Are you timid too? Or do you just grab your pen and get down?

01 May 2014

Filofax Tip No. 12

So today's tip.

'Where can I get.....?' is one of the most frequently asked questions that people ask me or I see on the net.

Well of course there is Ad-spot here on Philofaxy, we have items For Sale and we will also place Wanted adverts for you.

But here are some other places to go and look for your much wanted organisers!
And if none of those turns up what you want there is of course Ebay....

Until the next tip happy organising.  Check out other tips here.

Zip or Clasp?

I'm still experimenting with various organisers in pocket and personal size to use as a wallet/organiser. I've not really reached any conclusion yet as to which is my preferred option.

This experiment isn't just about what I like or what works for me. We all have different requirements, so the experiment is also looking at all possible options so we can highlight some of the issues/problems with different sizes and configurations.

I don't have many zipped organisers, most are clasp closure.

What is your preference Zip or Clasp? Please let us have your thoughts in the comments below.