Ok then...That was a bust

Well, the first winner I announced never replied to me and I had no other way of contacting her. So without further ado, I announce the second winner of my first ever giveaway.

Number 2--Crystal Charles

Crystal I will be trying to email you to let you know, but if you see this first please message me so we can make arrangements.

Congrats and again thank you to everyone who participated. I hope to have another one soon.

Steph

AND THE WINNER IS.....

Thank you so much to everyone that entered my first ever giveaway. I had great fun reading all the accessories that everyone choses to use. A lot of sticky note users. We are all in good company it seems.

I used the random generator on RANDOM.ORG and the number that came up was:

Number 11- Angie Frick

Congrats Angie, I will attempt to find a way to pm you or email you to let you know but if you see this first, please message me.

I will give it until Monday December 17. If I can't get in contact with Angie, I will select another winner.


Disclaimer: I purchased all prizes with my husbands money, this giveaway was not sponsored in any other way.

My First One

Sorry for not posting on Thursday of last week. I was busy planning this post. My very first........

GIVEAWAY!!!

I am so excited. I am so pleased that I finally have blog followers. People actually read what I write, and I wanted to say thank you.

The prizes are:

An adhesive pen loop
A 2 pack of favorite felt tip pens
A selection of post-it notes


Sorry it isn't much, but it is my first giveaway and I wanted to make sure I could send it internationally. I hope you all will join in.

The rules are simple:

Please be a subscriber. That is the whole point of this giveaway, I want to thank my subscribers.
In the comments section below please leave a comment letting me know what your favorite "binder planner" (filofax or otherwise) related accessory is

You must be 18 years or older and be willing to provide me with your mailing address should your comment be chosen as the winner.

I will be using random.org to select a winner.
(Pictures of the prizes to follow...I broke my camera this past weekend. But I still wanted to get the giveaway up)

That Thing Thursday #2

Hi everyone. Welcome to another installment of That Thing Thursday. This week I am going to vent about my Filofax failure.

Well it isn't actually my failure, but theirs. We have all experienced it I am sure at one point or another. Faulty rings, bad stitching, bottom of the barrel leather quality. Filofax just isn't what it used to be, and that is really disappointing.

EVERY single one of the Filofax binders I have or have had has had a problem with the exception of my compact blue Finsbury.

The strap on my personal aqua Chameleon is tearing, and the colour is fading. The personal Sketch my son uses has ring gaps, the personal Holborn my sister is borrowing has stitching issues.

I have decided to not invest anymore money into filofax until their quality control improves. I know I am not a big shot filofax blogger, and I have just a handful of amazing people that follow me, but I am still a customer who spends my hard earned money on something I expect to last longer than a month or two.

In closing this week I say this to Filofax...
I am sorry that at some point you decided that it was important to put out any product rather than putting out a quality product. I am just a mere customer however I will now be giving my business and loyalty to another company. If you ever decide to return to quality I may be back, but until then good luck in all your future endeavours.

That Thing Thursday

Well, this was supposed to launch last Thursday but I was completely tied up and couldn't get to it. In case you missed my post last week I have decided to do a weekly feature. I know a lot of other people do their week photo, but I usually do that on instagram, so I didn't really want to do it here too.

Thus, That Thing Thursday was born.

The first one I am going to do are the Self stick hot list notes by Daytimer. I absolutely love them. I got them with a daytimer I found at Winners. The planner itself was a bit awful, but the hot list is ahhh mazing.

This is what the hotlist looks like. The sticky bit is along the side where the check boxes are. I have never been a big chekcer-offer. I usually like to scratch off (see below lol) but I may get used to checking the box.

This is one in the front of my Filofax. I have a list of the things to get done around the house. It is getting a bit dog eared but it is still doing great. I have it stuck to a top opening envelope and it isn't leaving any residue behind like some (super sticky post-its come to mind)

 

I have decided to try and use these for a to-do list and I have stuck them to my clear today ruler. So far it is sticking really well. It even gives a small bit of writing room on the back side lol.

 

 

 

I am not sure how this 'feature' is going to go over. I am really excited about it, so I hope I can figure it out better lol.

 

Sorry I had to post the pictures from my Iphone blogger app. I still don't know how that thing works. Please leave me a comment below and tell me the sorts of things you would like reviews or opinions on. I can't promise I can get my hands on them, but I can certainly try my hardest.

 



My first weekly feature...THAT THING THURSDAY

I have seen many blogs and vlogs that feature a regular weekly feature, and I thought I would try to start my own. I was thinking of different ideas. A few people do 'my filofax week' type of thing, but I do something like that already on my instagram, so I didn't want to do that here as well. I saw a youtube video titled Thursday Thing (I think) so I thought I would do my own take on that one. So now behold...lol

THAT THING THURSDAY

Each Thursday (I hope) I will feature some product on my blog, whether it is something I already own that I am totally loving at the moment, or something I recently got. Most things will be stationary related, but I may feature other things. I haven't decided yet.

I hope this feature is something that you will all enjoy. All your feedback is always heard and appreciated. So please stay tuned and check back in, this Thursday for the very first That Thing Thursday.

Thanks for stopping by,
Steph

How do you make goals again?

Hi everyone. It has been a bit of a struggle in the recent past, so I apologize for my absence. I just wanted to start of with that.

Recently I have been watching a whack of videos on youtube, and it seems like everyone and their brother has lists of goals. I feel left out.

The problem is I can't remember how to make goals. How does one forget that? Isn't it like riding a bike? In grade one your teacher asks you to make a list of goals for that particular school year, that was super easy. Now I am 32 years old and I want to make a list of goals particularly since I feel my life is in a bit of shambles lately. I need personal priorities and achievements I guess.

I know taking care of my family, and my home are both wonderful achievements, but I want some goals for me. My personal growth, and spirit.

I think I am going to find a place in my Filofax [either in my personal(which I know I have to post about...I am so far behind..see right there I am sure there is a blog goal in there somewhere) or my A5] to create a few lists and 'scribble' sections to hatch some stuff out.

Do you have a goals list or section in your Filofax? I and desperate for ideas on how to do it, and most importantly what constitutes a goal.

I apologize immensely for the discombobulation of this post. It is about as muddled as my brain is right now. Thank you so much for sticking with me. It means the world.

Steph

A small update

Hi everyone. Sorry for my lengthy absence. I just truly haven't known what to blog about. I have been having terrible creative block in a lot of aspects of my life right now. Thank you for sticking with me!

Currently I am using my new personal Chameleon in Aqua as my main Filofax. Switching to a personal for my #1 has been a lot easier than I thought it would be. I must say the colour is amazing, however I have noticed it doesn't necessarily hold up well. There are a few fading spots around the edges, but it still smells like a fine leather boot shop.

I am also using my A5 Chameleon in Red as a work/home filofax. I have made a few changes to it and taken a few sections out. I no longer have any of the pen pal or postal things in it, in the same capacity I had before. I have relocated them to my 'project filopal' filofax. I think all postal related things are better kept together, especially for my scatter-brained self.

Sorry no pictures as of right now, my camera is on the fritz. I am however working on making a new Youtube video of my Aqua.

Thanks again for hanging around. I appreciate each of you immensely.

Steph

Project Filo-Pal Update

Hey guys, sorry it has been a while since I posted something. So many Filofax things going on in my house right now, wasn't sure which one to start with.

I am going to do a small sort of show-and-tell on my A5 Sketch Filofax that I am using for my Project Filo-Pal.  I think I am going to try and do a more in-depth video on it as well.

I have had a few people express interest in sharing their addresses with other people involved in Project Filo-Pal. If anyone is willing/wanting to reach out to other participants please email me directly and I will compile a list of addresses for those wishing to write to other members.
stephanie(dot)doidge(at)gmail.com

The A5 Sketch (no longer being used as a SMASHfax..really wasn't working out for me at all)

Inside front cover. I have some jotpad sheets, return address labels, outgoing address labels, some personal sized filofax paper, a letter I need to finish, a note card from a Filo-pal

A printed page of addresses of Filo-Pal members

I use the index tabs to organize the letters. It is in order of first name. 

This is an Avery page protector with some larger coloured envelops in it

Coloured A5 paper at the front of the book to respond to letters (or write first ones lol)

A pad of Filofax paper in the notepad slot, for more letter writing. 

Thanks for checking out my post and as always if you like what you see, I would love to have you as a follower. 

Its here, it's here

An update on my post from yesterday about my Holborn. It finally came in this morning. I am really not sure why things take sibling to get to me sometimes. I think a new habit I shall try to form is patience.

Seriously?!?!?!?!?!?

I ordered the Black Holborn personal on the 15th. It still isn't here. Why is it that I have to wait ages for my filofax orders and it seems everyone else gets theirs in amazing time. So frustrating. Here is hoping it is here tomorrow.

Sorry for complaining, but thanks for 'listening'

A quick update...

Sorry I haven't really been blogging lately. It is summer so I have been doing a few things here and there with my family. Camps and holidays and the likes.

But I thought it was time to at least do a little update.

The sticker-fax has gone by the wayside. I stopped using it rather quickly which is why I haven't posted on it. I was using the compact Chameleon for this, but that binder and I are no longer speaking. Currently I have my stickers in a pouch. That is working for the most part. I have made two new inserts for both my A5 Malden and my compact Finsbury.

The clear zip pouch filled with stickopotomus stickers, and others.

This is the front of the first new insert. I received an order from PamperedChef and it came with a plastic backing, so I cut it up and made three separate inserts. This is the first one. It has some fun stickers on the front....

And on the back it has a selection of Washi tapes just to jazz up some pages.

On the second insert in the A5 I have just put some of the 'all the time' stickers and things I use. I have some Martha Stewart by Avery tear drop dots (no clue what they are really called), some colour-code dots, and some Avery colour-code strips that I just write stuff on, to add colour lol....

In the compact Finsbury I used the insert in a similar fashion. I placed some of my more used stickers and things on it so I don't always have to go flipping through the binder to find them.

And on the backside of the compact one I just have some stickers from Moleskine journals.


I am waiting for my personal Holborn in black to come in. I am super excited for it. I love my compact Finsbury, but it needs to be ever so much bigger. I realize that the Holborn's rings are fairly large in comparison but I am hoping I can still keep it pared down. I will be doing a post on the Holborn when it comes in and I 'move in' to it.

I made a YouTube video on my Malden. It was a process. With much encouragement from Ray. It was a goal I had and I completed it. I would love to be able to make more I think. I am still too camera shy, but bird's eye views of my filofaxes and what not, aren't so bad. Thanks again Ray.


Well, That's it for now I think....As always if you like this post or any of my others, I would be honoured if you would subscribe and follow along on this little journey with me...

Project FILO-PAL in full swing

Hello everyone. I just want to update everyone on my previous post about pen pals using Filofax paper. Well u had an astounding response of 10 people interested in participating. I am amazed. I never even thought anyone would want to be a part of it. Well I have written 8 of the 10 outgoing letters and I will be writing the last two this coming week. I was hoping to have had them mailed out by now but life had other plans.
If anyone else in interested in participating please feel free to email me.
stephanie(dot)doidge@gmail(dot)com

Now to pick the perfect Filofax to house all of these wonderful letters I hope to receive. Any ideas.

Disclaimer: this is being sent using my iPhone when I get back my computer I am hoping to be able to link to my previous post. Also please excuse any typing errors or autocorrect disasters.

An idea....

I love getting a letter in the mail from someone telling me about their day and lives. I have had pen pals off an on now since I was 12. I have 4 right now. But I am always looking for more.

I love Filofax. This blog is mostly posts about my filofaxes. I love watching peoples Filofax youtube videos. Paper and organizing...two of my favorite things.

My idea is this...since I love letters and mail, and I love my Filofax, and (creeping at everyone elses) why not try and find another pen pal and correspond using filofax paper....Sounds good to me, now I just need to find other people with a similar obsession with Filofax and letters/mail...I wonder what my chances are....

ETA: A wonderful suggestions from Steve (thank you)...If anyone is interested in partcipating in this idea, please feel free to email me and we can exchange addresses. stephanie[dot]doidge[at]gmail[dot]com

My version of a SMASHfax

I saw a post by vintage giraffe awhile back about creating a SMASH book in an unused Filofax. I thought I would try and do the same thing. I do have a real SMASH book but they are insanely expensive here in Canada so this just might be a good alternative.

I decided to use my A5 Sketch in red I got on sale. In the inside front cover I have some journal tags and a few stickers. The first set of pages are transparents with some stickers on them. Next I just show a couple of the Amy Tangerine papers I chose.

Sorry if this turns out weird I am on my IPhone and new at this.

Pippa update

(If you are not sure of the beginning of this story please feel free to read the original post about it here)

Well I took DEM's (sorry I am not sure of your real name, or a website to link) advice and I went back to the location where I bought the handbag and spoke to the manager, who just happened to be the person that I have been on this entire 'Pippa Handbag Journey' with. We discussed options and the email response from Modalu (which I brought with me). After much thought we together decided that it would be best for me to continue to use the one I have with the 'damage' and she was going to order me a new one, in the same size and colour. When the new one comes in (expected in August) I will just do a straight exchange. She was so sweet and wonderful about it.

She simply said 'well that is your handbag you shouldn't be without it. I will just get a new one in for you'

She is an awesome person. Totally will buy more things from that store. And probably more specifically from her. Is that a bad thing?? To only want to purchase from a particular person? Hmmmm not sure.

OOh and another Filofax post is coming soon, and I am hoping to tape my first ever youtube video on my Malden in the next week or so, so I will try and link that here as well.

Have a great day!!!

My Modalu Pippa and what's inside....

Let me first start by saying I love this bag. It is perfect for me in so many ways. I saved up and was put on a waiting list to get this bag. Now it may not be that expensive to some but at almost $300 it was pricey for me. I am not very good a reviews but I will do my best.

The bag is gorgeous soft leather. The zips are sturdy and easy to open and close. The handles are soft and comfortable to hold. There are seashells on the ends of the zipper pulls, and the lining is a light colour with seashells on it. I am not totally sure I like the black around the zippers but I don't think I would want it to match the leather either. I like how the handles on this model are sort of cinched together whereas the newer ones are just basically looped and fastened around the rings. The rings are also nice and strong, there is no pull on the bag at all, and as you will see I have quite a bit in it.

I got the bag in Shark and it is a wonderful grey colour. I love it.  There are a couple of marks on my bag that I will post a picture of, mostly on the zipper pulls. I wrote to Modalu about it and they advised me to take it back to the point of purchase and seek a replacement. I am not sure if I will do that or not. I have been using my bag for about 3 months now and the leather has just gotten so soft and lovely, I don't know if I want to 'work-in' another one. Let me know what you think I should do in the comments below. 


On to the pictures

This is the front of the bag. The gold Modalu plaque and two great front zips

This is the back view. On some of the newer ones, and the different colours, the zip is covered by a piece of leather.

A side shot of the three zip compartments. My favourite feature I might add (the compartments, not the zips lol)

One of the 'damaged' zip pulls. It is smooth to the touch it is almost like the colour faded for one reason or another.

The other zip pull that is having the same issues. I don't know what to do...I am so conflicted

So here are the three compartments. Two taller ones and a shorter middle one.

In the front pocket that is closed I keep my blackberry in there, and the one that is open has my keys, altoid smalls in a playboy tin, and ruby red grapefruit sunkist mints

This is the front main compartment.

In there I keep my Matt & Nat pouch with a cover girl compact and a kabuki brush, my benadryl itch stick (I have mondo bad hives) Elizabeth Arden 8 hr. hand cream, Tino by Mikakuto apple candies, and my Dr. Dre monster beats designed by Vivienne Tam

This is the middle compartment

In there I keep a pouch with straws in it (ya I am that weird) a pack of band-aids/plasters because of the hive issue and I have kids, my Matt & Nat make up pouch, some tampons and my Kobo touch.

This is the back main compartment.

In there I keep my Filofax Finsbury compact, my wallet and a pouch with some crystal light, true lemon, true lime and the like.

In the very back zip I keep some loose papers, a coupon pouch, and my bus pass

Here is another shot of the white specks on the inside of the front handle

And some on the side of the bag.

It doesn't seem to be getting worse, so I am really torn as to what to do. I realize bags will age and wear, but is this normal or a design flaw? I don't know. Help is greatly appreciated.

As always if you like this post or any of my others please follow along so you don't miss out on the next one.

Finsbury Compact review and set-up

I will start off by apologizing for the lack of creativity in the title. I couldn't come up with a single thing. Total block.
I did tell a few people that I would review and post on my new Finsbury compact that I purchased at the same time as my Malden. So here it is.

I LOVE this binder.....for the most part. I love the colour, the feel, the size, and most of the layout. I am not a fan of the pen loop, though it is elasticized, it is up a bit too far for me. But I did manage to find a pen to fit that I think is a pretty decent one. I am using the Zebra F-301 BP retractable pen.

The leather is not as soft as the compact Chameleon. The leather on the Finsbury I find is more textured, but I feel it is more durable. There is a small 'tear' in the leather in my Chameleon.

The overall layout is basically the same though.

The main difference between the two is the zipper pull at the back. In the Chameleon the zipper is concealed, in the Finsbury the zipper is exposed, so pages and other inserts tend to get caught in the pull itself. I fixed this problem for the most part by inserting a business card holder, and putting in a couple of business card type things to give it a bit of structure.

So without further ado, the pictures.....

Not quite true to colour, but close

The pen loop. See it's up pretty high.

The inside front cover. It has some address labels, a Tim Horton's card, some notes, and a Roots tag

My 'dashboard' I used the flyleaf that came with the Chameleon for this. I took it out of my A5 and I don't really use much, except the tabs on occasion, which are Martha Stewart by Avery.

On the back I used some washi tape and attached a sheet of the Martha Stewart by Avery little tear-drop stickies.

My first sheet of stickers. These are stickopotamus binder stickers. They come pre-punched for the binder, I love them, can't wait to get some more.

On the back of that sheet I have some Avery transparent sticky notes in yellow. They are pretty good. You can write on them and then stick them over top of other writing. There is an example further on.

This is a Martha Stewart by Avery double pocket document protector, I cut it and punched it to fit.

Inside it I keep some more Martha Stewart by Avery stickies, and some colour-coding stickers from the buck store.

Just another shot.

On the back of that pocket I have some of the transparent stickies in pink

Here is my finances page. It is from Day Runner I believe.

The top tabs I am using right now.

Here is my blogs list.

Here is a list of ideas I have my own blog.

This is an invite list to my son's Victory party. He BEAT cancer, so we have to celebrate of course.

I took a today divider and cut it in half. I think I used an personal one, but I honestly can't remember.

Here are the filofax stickers. I love them.

Here are some more colour coding stickers.

And on the back, some moleskine stickers

Here is one of the transparent stickies in use. Not perfect, but it is a good space saver, and they are useful. I also interleave a pocket sized note sheet if I need more space since I use the WPP layout.

A very fuzzy picture of the other half of the divider marking my notes section.

More stickopotomas stickers

And some more...see told ya I love them

I am using the fashion colours lined paper pack and the mixed pack of 100 sheets. Love it.

I am using a top tab to mark the blank pages

And some blank sheets

Top opening envelope with some more Martha Stewart stuff...I really like her line, can ya tell?

This is the top-loading business card holder I am using. I have a picture of my dad on the other side. The Relay for Life card I got at the relay this year. The other two cards I am going to use as encouragement notes to leave behind for people who need them.

Here is the back zipper. On the Chameleon it is covered by a flap of leather. This one is exposed, so the papers get caught.

Inside the back zipper

More Martha Stewart stuff, some pictures my sons drew, and some stickers....I love stickers!!!

just to show you how tight the front pocket is right now. Hoping it will get loser with time and use. I just have some extra pocket sized note sheets in there.


As you can tell, I try to utilize as much space as I can in this binder. I LOVE it!!! Now if they made one in the Malden design without a zipper, I might just have to get it. The compact size is wonderful, it fits in my handbag, which is the Modalu Bristol/Pippa bag (did not get it because Pippa Middleton used it, but I did find out about Modalu because she used it. I can do a reveiw if any of you would like, just let me know in the comments.)

As always thank you for checking out my blog. If you like what you see, please follow along, so you don't miss a post.