Monday 21 May 2012

My Malden Tour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AffZXNNUk0

Tuesday 3 April 2012

My new Filofax Malden

I am soooo excited to being sharing this post! After a lot of thought and consideration I am now an official owner of a Filofax Malden!

Before my purchase I had never seen the Malden in person so it was quite a risk. But a one that has definitely paid off! There were so many fantastic reviews on this FF I knew it would be worth it.

I have the personal size Malden in Vintage pink, after my previous A5 FF I wasn't sure if downsizing to a personal would be suited to me. But after much needed space in my bag I decided to give it a go! How did I live without it? The A5 was not at all practical, first off it was very heavy! I could not carry it around with me when I was out due to the weight and size. Secondly whenever I took it out to write in it took up a large amount of space and in total I just found it more of an inconvenience than a useful companion. At first I was doubtful about downsizing as I thought the page size in the personal was far to small for me to fit all the info I needed. So after a two month battle weighing the pros against the cons and viewing numerous blogs and Youtube videos I finally took the leap. Anyone who is debating whether to downsize I would definitely recommend it, I don't find the size of the paper an issue at all!

My Malden arrived yesterday, it came with the week on two page diary and all the other standard inserts you get with a new FF. Of course I had to go a little crazy and purchase some extra goodies;



On top of the standard inserts I bought; Year planner - vertical, zipped envelope, credit card holder, a top opening envelope and a pack of white plain paper.

Usually my FF purchases have been for work only, after browsing the internet I found FF had so much more to offer than being a work diary! I was so inspired how people had customised their own to meet their needs I knew I had to do the same!

I wrote down everything I wanted my FF to do, different sections, layout formats etc. Finally I was content at how I wanted it to be. Of course more supplies were required....

Forever Friends Stickers



Me to you stickers







The me to you and forever friends stickers are from WHSmith, the others are just various sorts from small stationery shops. I think the M2U and Forever friends are actually card toppers but they work great for sticking onto FF paper.


I also bought these handy little magnetic bookmarks from Waterstones.

As below you can see the size difference between my A5 Metropol and Personal Malden;


Sorry about the lighting the photos were taken from my Iphone so there not the best, the picture makes the Malden a brighter pink it's not actually this light.

Now for the fun part, after six hours of total revamping my beautiful Malden I am very pleased with the result;


My top opening envelope with a picture of me and my boyfriend.


In the zipped section I keep my handy magnetic book markers.


A inspirational poem that I like to be reminded of on a daily basis.

My credit card holder with some keep safe cards from other people. Save the date card, my driving instructors business card etc.


A few of my favourite poems
Along with some magazine cuttings


My personal goals when I see them everyday I keep them in mind and it helps me to stay focused.


A beautiful poem by E.E Cummings I Carry your heart - I absolutely love this poem!


Another poem ( As you can probably tell I love poetry) this poem is by Catherine Pulsifer and it's called Today you can. Its a very motivational poem that reminds us every day we make the choices we want and determine the outcome. Very positive and uplifting!
The second page is my divider which came with from FF I have just customised it as I find they are very plain and boring! This section is for everything positive. I am starting a happiness project which I intend to follow through with my Malden.

The next section is my Plans Divider, again all my dividers are from Filofax and are just the plain tabbed ones. I customised them with sticky notes to which I just put sellotape around them to give them that laminated feel. It works for me and adds a bit of colour in the process.

In this section I plan to add all the things I want to do and the places I want to visit.


This is my writing section, which includes my journal, character creations and various bits and bobs to do with my writing.


My work section, this section includes all of my ongoing/future projects. Any work related incidents I need to keep note of for meetings, reviews etc.


This is my Ideas section and is very random, usually I find myself daydreaming about ideas for work, new business ideas etc so I decided to keep a note of them as and when they crop up. You never know when they may come in handy!


Lastly my Misc tab, this includes anything from recipes I want to try to my shopping lists. Anything that doesn't fit in with my other tabs really.


I then have my diary section with the week on two pages along with the black FF ruler which came with my Malden. I like this layout and at the moment it is working for me, the only thing I dislike is Saturday and Sunday have limited space as I work on weekends I find my weekends are more busier in my diary. For now I am managing with a to do list in between each diary page. This gives me the extra room that I need, I was going to buy the day per page diary but felt the lines were very restricting. Filofax please give us blank day per page inserts!!


After my diary section I have my vertical planner which I like because I can have a quick glance over the year to see any important events. Then I have the coloured paper and the address pages which at the moment I don't use but maybe in the future I will. The A-Z dividers you get for the address section have always been an eye sore for me. I personally cut off the letters on the dividers and add my own with my sticky notes as above. This gives me extra dividers should I need them.

At the back of my Malden I have my sealed envelope which holds my Me to you and forever friends stickers. As these have a 3D effect with the foam they are quite bulky, I separated them with my other flat stickers which are stored in the back pocket of my Malden.





So this is my layout of my beautiful Malden, I am in total utter love with it! The leather is so soft and lovely to touch. It is also very flexible so you can add as much as you want and it handles the bulk very well without any damage to the leather. I would like to apologise for the quality of the photos you can't see what each page offers but I will make a Youtube video soon and add the link so everyone can see the photos better.






I'm interested in every ones opinion about Filofaxes and how they organise theirs so feel free to leave me a comment.

Much love to all the FF fans!!

Thursday 23 February 2012

My Filofax

As you are all probably aware I have a really bad obsession with filofaxes! I currently have a black metropol A5 filofax and I love it! Soon I am hoping to own the Malden personnal, can I cope with the size difference? I guess I will find out! If anyone has downsized let me know how you got on?

First Page Layout

At the front of my filofax I have bits and pieces stored in the slot behind the card holders. (bus timetable, my pocket life coach and bits of randon paper) I have four business card holders at the very front; an insert which came with my filofax, I find it very handy. I have my driving lesson appt card, save the date card, and my little challenging unhelpful thoughts card which I keep just in case I slip back into negative thinking (we all have our moments!). The fourth one is currently blank, I'm waiting to fill it with a positive card (words of wisdom etc) I just haven't found the right one yet Maybe I will make my own?


The Filofax came with numbered dividers which I found really boring and dull I decided to spruce these up by sticking post it notes over them with selotape. It worked a treat for me as I could write on each note to create a section I needed in my Filofax.


After the personal information section I have my diary week on two pages. I find this is just enough room to write all my day to day events, appts etc. Although the days in five languages is a bit annoying and room consuming I decided to just live with it.



I have zoomed out becuase I use my Filofax for work and personal there is some confidential info in there. But you get the idea, this layout does work considerably well for me. I didn't like the idea of a day per page insert as I found the lines very restricting.

After my diary I have 6 tabs divided into the below ;

  1. Writing - Because I love to write I have this tab for any ideas plot/characters that may arise throughout the day
  2. My Space - This is a tab I devoted to myself, after reading Gala Darling on the Radical Self love Bible I decided I had to pursue this. Sorry don't have a link at present! 
  3. Ideas - Any ideas I have work/personal
  4. Positive - This is a tab filled with inspirational quotes, inspiring people etc
  5. Goals - I think it's very important to have your goals written down, they make them more realistic and sub conciously you make the right  steps to make them happen (my theory anyway)
  6. Misc - Here I have just general information, favourite websites, passwords, etc
In the back of my Filofax, there is the handy notepad which again came with my Filofax, I use this for scribbles mainly useless information I only need for a nano second.

And there you have it, my own extendable brain, I would be truly lost without it. I have just received some more inspiration - making collages on my dividers, sounds good. I will let you know how I get on.....