A glimpse of my Filofax Topaz mini as a wallet

If you want to see more posts about Filofaxes and planners please see the index to those topics in my blog to the left of this post, and also I highly recommend you visit Philofaxy.

I had been after  a Filofax in the mini size for a long time. I really wanted one to use as a wallet but Filofax does not appear to make the mini size anymore, with their smallest being the pocket. I finally discovered one that was not only new, but affordable, from Pen City So in December last year I ordered this gorgeous Filofax Topax mini, I think the colour is burgundy.

Beware there are a lot of photos in this post! I wanted to show you all how I use this Filofax and give you plenty of pictures that I am happy for you to 'Pinterest' or use for your own inspiration.

It is an ideal size for me to use as a wallet with the added advantage of having the rings for me to add clear plastic card holders and calendar and note pages. 

I added some sticky notes I purchased from Kikki K and stuck them to a piece of card which I then hole punched and added to the rings.

I bought some clear card holder plastic inserts that are meant for a personal sized business card binder and cut them to fit the mini. Putting my store cards, bank account cards and discount cards in here meant that I can easily flip through my wallet to find the one I want. Additionally with cards that have bar codes, I do not even have to take them out of the plastic sleeves as I just flip the sleeve over to show the reverse of the card for the retailer to scan. I did not get a ruler with this Filofax so I cut down one from a personal sized organiser.

I cut down a cardboard pocket meant for a pocket sized organiser to use to stash my postage stamps and a small magnifier sheet.

I have inserted a small plastic zip pouch that was made for a pocket sized but actually works well in the mini with only a slight over hang at the top. In there I stash receipts and sometimes a coin that I get in change that is not valid currency here and nobody else will accept it!

In the front pockets I have my Medicare card (in Australia we have Government supplied health insurance called Medicare), the bank account card I use most often and my public transport card. There is a double sided opening slot in the front with the Filofax model information on it, I use that to put a paperclip in case i need one.

There is a zip pocket at the back of the Topaz where I store coins, but it cannot take too many so the overflow goes into my lilac coloured piggy bank! I have a small pen in the pen loop as well so I can write down notes or shopping reminders.

There is an open pocket along the back of the Filofax where I put bank note currency, (as opposed to coin currency, as not sure how to describe it.... polymer dollars??? )

I have been using the Filofax Topaz mini as a wallet for six months, and I am really pleased with it. The size is just right for me, it has all the pockets and inserts I need, and it is sturdy.

The leather is like faux crocodile texture and has a mottled burgundy and black colour. The only thing that I think would make it perfect, is if it was purple.....

One Book July - Hobonichi Cousin - week day layout

Are you doing One Book July? Let me know how you are going and if you blog feel free to share your blog link in the comments.

As I mentioned in a post a few days ago I am attempting One Book July. Although I am maintaining the use of my purple A5 Filofax Malden as my work organiser, I am keeping everything else in a Hobonichi Techo Cousin A5.

That means that the Hobonichi needs to have my daily schedule, my to do lists, my memos and notes and my journal. How is it holding up?

Using washi tape I purchased from Chiyogami Designs, as well as Tombow pens, Papermate Flair, Uni Pin black pen and some stickers I think I have managed to get a layout for the day that will actually be able to fit in everything!

For me functional has to take precedence over pretty for a planner, so any aesthetic additions are added as part of or after my functional layout.

Have a look here I am happy with this page and think I can fit my Monday in here quite well!

Although I am thinking that layout is a bit busy - so maybe more how I have set out Tuesday or the more minimalist Wednesday

I will let you know how I go with these pages!

Meanwhile where is Little Purple, my favourite Filofax?

I am taking the time to sort out my purple Malden personal sized and getting rid of superfluous bits of paper and sections I do not use anymore.

Starting at the front pockets, there is so much junk in there! This may take some time!

Hope everyone has a great week.

One Book July - Hobonichi Cousin - shopping list

I use a lot of different planners, notebooks and filofaxes to keep track of everything I do and want to remember. I also need to keep a separate work notebook, which is an purple A5 Malden, but I do not need to have all my other things in different books, I just find it easier to stay organised that way. 

You can see a brief post about all of the different filofaxes I use over in the Philofaxy blog.

Despite a set up of books that works well for me, I am keen to try the One Book July challenge, and I have decided to use my Hobonichi Cousin A5 for this.

I usually do shopping lists in a separate filofax that has my budget and receipts in, however for One Book July I decided the shopping list can easily go in my Hobonichi.

We are shopping on the weekend, so I have used the Saturday page, which has ample room, to write down our grocery list. 

The Hobonichi Cousin has an abbreviation of the day of the week, but I prefer it more obvious, so I have used days of the week washi tape that I have bought from Chiyogami Designs to add the day name to the page.

I do not always decorate pages as to me a diary/planner is a tool to keep me organised. Sometimes though I may sketch on a page, and sometimes just because I feel I need the extra inspiration I will decorate a page with stickers and washi tape and other ephemera. On this page, for example, I have added star washi tape and a gold foil sticker to remind me to make time to relax this weekend!

I have not finished writing out our shopping list, but as you can see there is plenty of room left over on the page for a To Do list, notes, journalling and a brain dump.

Don't worry, Little Purple has not been forgotten, it is just having a little holiday on my desk!

A glimpse of my purple Malden personal filofax

This gorgeous Filofax has been used daily since 2012, it is the only one of my large collection of Filofaxes and notebooks that I have named. This is Little Purple. 

For more posts about filofax and other planners please see this page >> here << 

Whether I use it as my primary diary/organiser/planner, or whether I use it for lists and information (as in the old 'file of facts') it has been used every day. Thrown in bags, dropped on desks and working like the little amazing purple powerhouse it is. The cover just looks better and better with the slight scratches and stains it gathers on the way.

The rings are perfect and have stood up to the test of time, opening and closing and lots of paper stuffed in them! I have so many tabs and clips and all sorts of things stashed in Little Purple.

Currently I have a day to a page, and lots of lists, information and note pages crammed inside. For the diary section I use printables that are provided for free by Philofaxy and  I print these on Tomoe River paper. This paper is very thin, like paper in a traditional bible, and is fountain pen friendly and strong. What I like about this paper, other than it being ink friendly, is that as the paper is so thin I can fit heaps of pages in my organiser!

I have a page at the front after a clear plastic dashboard that uses Alice in Wonderland illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. This has no functional purpose other than I like it and it makes me happy!

I edged my day to a page pages in month groups, with Washi tape from local Aussie washi tape seller Chiyogami Designs.

Here is my Filofax Malden personal sized in purple in all its stuffed goodness.

I have a cute little maneki neko in gold  hanging from the bottom ring. It makes me smile to see it.

I use tabs both on the side and the top of pages to divide different sections. I use a silhouette machine to cut out tab shapes from adhesive paper. I made a tassel from lilac embroidery thread and a glass bead which I have attached to the clasp.

So many pages!  Here you can see the edges of my Malden pages: day to a page, shopping lists, volunteer information, pets and vets information, wish lists, measurement conversions, maps, ... a useful and aesthetically pleasing organiser - Little Purple!

See more about Little purple in this post >> here <<

Filofax love - Little Purple - my Purple Malden personal sized

I do a lot of things - fitting so much into every day! I stay organised by using a lot of different tools. One of my favourite organisation techniques involves using my purple Malden in personal size to keep a note of infomration, things I need to do, lists and brain dumps. I have decorated as you can see with a metal tag, a tassle and a cute little gold coloured maneki neko.

I make tabs and use them on the top as well as on the side of the pages! Yes, as you can see in one of the tabs, we have an N64 game system, and as we buy games for the console second hand I like to keep a note of what ones we have and what ones we are looking for.

Review: typo Taylor Satchel

I recently purchased a Taylor satchel from Typo, and I am very pleased with it. So that all of my lovely batling readers can have a look at this lovely bag, I thought I'd review it!

The Taylor satchel comes in six different colours/designs, and costs $39.95 AUD. It comes with a detachable shoulder strap and the bag is 28 cm * 35cm * 8cm. 

On to my purchase!

I decided on the vinyl tooled/engraved style brown Taylor satchel, a nice mix between professional looking briefcase, and gothic goodness!

I ordered online from Typo (also known as Cotton On), and it arrived within a week of purchase.  I found the customer service and reliability of ordering fro Typo online great!  Typo has many stores in the 'real world' but I do not like crowds and too much noise so I try to avoid shopping in 'bricks n mortar' stores!

My order arrived, nicely packaged in a box, and everything perfect!

The satchel!

The Taylor Satchel does not disappoint, strongly made, and quality product, the 'engraving' look of the scroll work on the surface is beautiful.

There is a handle attached to the top of the bag, as well as the adjustable and detachable shoulder strap.  (gratuitous shot of my funky nail polish as well...)

The bag is lined in matching fabric, and contains an internal zipped pocket.  

There are two pockets on the front big enough for a phone and a 7" tablet, or a small diary. (Another gratuitous shot of my funky nails!)

The front pockets have the same engrave/tooled leather look on the vinyl as the satchel flap does.

The bag has enough depth to carry files, a sandwich, wallet, small camera, phone, tablet device, small laptop computer, planner or diary, and whatever else you want to stash in it!

I am very happy with this purchase! Thanks Typo!

Please share your bag purchases!

Have you bought yourself a groovy bag? please share the info in the comments section below the post!

REVIEW: Kikki K 2015 TIME PLANNER LARGE: LILAC

Hello everyone! I thought it was about time I did another review! The last review I did  was about washi tape from Chiyogami Designs, back in March this year!

Last week I ordered some goodies from Kikki.K, and I have been (im)patiently waiting for them to arrive. I placed the order on Thursday evening 23.10.14, and it arrived today, Friday 31.10.14. They sent my order on the Friday 24.10.14, so it took five working days to reach me. Melbourne to the outskirts of Brisbane Qld delivery of 5 working days isn't too bad, and this is an Australia Post thing anyway, nothing to do with Kikki.k!

WARNING: this post has heaps of photos... I wanted to show you all what the planner looks like inside so please bear with me!

So, what did I order?

1. 2015 Time Planner in Lilac with Gold specs
2. PERSONAL PLANNER REFILL: UPPSALA
3. Adhesive dots

Opening the box

The excitement that welled up in me when I caught sight of this box on the door step had me almost jumping up and down in glee. Only other stationery aficionados could ever relate! 

Hooray the delivery from Kikki.K has arrived	An Aladdin's cave inside the box!

I opened the box, and the first thing I removed was the large plastic bag air cushions that Kikki.K use to protect packages. It would be great if they could maybe use recyclable/more environmentally friendly inserts to protect the package, but I am a wee bit too excited about getting to my order in the box to think too long about the future of our planet.

First glimpse of contents

I really love this little canvas drawstring bag my goodies arrived in!

Here you can see my planner, the Uppsala refills and the sticky dots I ordered! Sitting on the canvas drawstring bag, and on top of the Kikki.K wrapping paper!

2015 TIME PLANNER LARGE: LILAC 

I will review the Uppsala planner refills in another post, today I would like you all to see the wonderful lilac and gold Time Planner. (If you have been trying to decide whether you want to buy one or not, hopefully the pictures and my comments will help you make your decision either way!)

Still in its plastic bag, 'Arabella' my new planner is waiting to be unpacked! Yes I have named her Arabella...any objections??? 

The folder  of the Large Time Planner is slightly larger than my Filofax Metropol A5 (blogged about here, here, and here), and it takes the same refill size as an A5 Filofax. The cover is softer than my Metropol, but this does not mean it is in any way flimsy. The lilac is a lovely pastel lavenderish colour and the gold specs make it look fun as well as being useful!! 

There is an elasticised strap to hold the planner together which I prefer to a snap closure, as when i have a heap of documents in a planner I would prefer knowing they will stay there and not break the fastener!

Inside the Planner

Firstly I will share my not so happy thoughts of the inside of the planner. The we can speak at length of all the good parts of it!

The dividers are pink.. this for me is not a good thing, I dislike pink, and personally in a lilac planner I would have preferred purple dividers, or gold like the dots on the cover.  This is not a deal breaker for me, as I can decorate the dividers or make new ones anyway. But be warned if you don't like pink, you won't like these dividers!

There is a section for restaurants and shopping. This really isn't me.. but again this is not a deal breaker, i can rename the divider and i can give the restaurant and shopping pages (there aren't many) to someone who will use them!

What I love about this planner:

Firstly the ring mechanism is large and can hold heaps of paper! It is also well constructed and has no closure issues (the first thing I check with planner binders)

The cover of the planner is stylish, fun, and strong; I love the elasticised closure to hold all my papers in!

There is a zipped pocket, and flaps to put notes, stickers, receipts,  tickets and whatever else you can think of in, on the inside of the front cover. All very handy!

Inside the back cover is a slot where an A5 sized notepad sits, and there is a pen loop as well, which JUST fits my Parker pen.

The paper the planner comes with is slightly cream coloured (off white) and has a satin finish. It is quite strong and smooth to write on, but my Stabilo fine point felt pens do leech through the pages a bit, this is not an issue, I have other pens and pencils I can use.

VERDICT

I bought this particular planner to use as a project planner, I have a specific use in mind for it. I believe that its size, additional pockets and the fact it has an elasticised closure is ideal for the purpose.  

I am very happy with this planner and personally recommend it. You can find it in Kikki.K stores and also from their online shop. Like all their planners I believe it may be a limited edition so if you are wanting one, maybe buy one soon! 

personalising my filofax my way : Dividing to conquer

The filofax Metropol A5 binder is definitely impressive, it has two pen slots, a heavy duty snap fastening clasp, one large pocket and 10 small pockets inside the front cover, and one mesh pocket inside the back cover. The vinyl is tough and looks good and the stitching around the binder is impeccable. The colour is happy but not gaudy, and the ring binding mechanism is sturdy.

Do i have any complaints about my new filofax?
Oh yes indeedy I do.

Why oh why filofax people do you make such gorgeous and useful and strong binders, only to ruin the image with your hideous and unimaginative inserts?  The paper is thin, the printed address sheets, to do lists, and personal information pages are poorly designed, and do not get me started on the dividers!!!

the inserts the filofax came with

The main reason I wanted the filofax is for the superb binder, so this is ok. I can deal with the insert issue. I am creative, I have a computer, and i have a printer, and i know what i want!

First to decide how i want to organise my filofax, as this will determine what templates i need.

DIVIDERS!
I am thinking that five MAIN divisions will be the best option for me and i can make subdivisions within each main heading. I do not want my filofax to contain things about my day job, as this organiser is something for me to support my creativity, organisation, and self education.

The five main tabs dividing the filofax that work best for what i want are:

• Information: calenders, maps, train timetables, time conversions
• Study: information about the current course i am doing, additional and required reading, and notes
• Business: this is about my etsy store where i sell my handcrafted goodies; craft suppliers, and customers
• Home: grocery lists, budget, to do lists for home
• Ideas: where i will put sketch paper to draw designs, or stick swatches of fabric , or work on blog posts

I bought a pack of five A5 dividers from Marbig, they were $2.45 from Officeworks; the prepunched holes do not match up with the filofax' but that is just a matter of punching new holes in them which was easy and doesn't look silly. 

The A5 Marbig dividers in my filofax

The Marbig dividers have colourful plastic coated tabs, and come with a sturdy index page as well.

I can then use the A-Z and the numbered tabs that came with the filofax as subdividers (after I have decorated them to make them interesting!)


While I am talking about the dividers, I want to share this little tip with you: not all your to do lists need to be kept forever as an indelible part of your organiser, sometimes they are just quick notes to be thrown away as soon as the task is complete. This is why i made myself a laminated page to stick sticky notes on to, these can then be discarded when no longer needed!

sticky notes (new or with memos on them) can be stuck on this laminated page

So there you have it, dividers ready to go, and onto creating templates for my filofax!

Feel free to comment!

.

I have just created some #templates to use in my #filofax you can download them from my blog http://t.co/zDfYokPJy2
— empressbat (@empressbat) January 25, 2014

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............................................................................................................... Please visit me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat handcrafted gothic goodies at bargain prices. see me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat ...Please visit me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat handcrafted gothic goodies at bargain prices. see me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat