Oooooops, I did it again!

WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY POST!


Filofaxes for sale . . . read on . . .


Ok ok so I said I'd finally found my perfect Filofax in the damson (purple) slimline Adelphi here. Well, I really did. I love the fact that I have enough room to write everything on the personal sized inserts, but the sleek, slimline design isn't too bulky and doesn't take up too much room in my bag. And I've actually found that I like not having a clasp. I can slip things into it when it's in my bag with ease (receipts, letters to post etc), and I can flick it open very quickly using one hand when it's on my desk at work.  :-)

In fact, I love my new slimline so much that I've bought it in another colour! Well, a girl's gotta have options right??? I mean, how many women do you know with one pair of shoes? Or one handbag? What was that?  None?? Exactly!!!

As you'll know, slimlines in colours other than black and brown are few and far between. So after my recent purple purchase on eBay, I was really chuffed that I'd managed to find a slimline in such a lovely colour. Then I spotted a magenta slimline Adelphi on Amazon! What was I to do? Leave it there and wait for somebody else to buy it? I don't think so!

So, I snapped it up and it arrived yesterday. And here is my little beauty . . .

Front of box

Back of box

Front of the Adelphi.  Gorgeous colour!

Inside front

Inside front with the purse section open

Inside back showing the (tiny) pen clip loop

And the back

Isn't she beautiful??? She's quite . . . stiff . . . though. Training is definitely required. But at least I know that she will lay flat at some point because I bought my damson slimline Adelphi second hand and that lays very flat, and is quite supple. I'll just have to get using her straight away!

As a result of this purchase (and another impending one, LOL!), I've decided to recoup some money and sell three of my Filofaxes: my pink zipped personal Finsbury, my raspberry compact Finsbury and my aqua mini Finsbury. Obviously, I've decided that slimline is the size for me. The pink zipped Finsbury is just way too big for me. I have a raspberry compact Chameleon which is my 'stay at home' diary storage Filofax and I'm definitely going to keep that (love love love), so I don't need the compact Finsbury. The aqua mini Finsbury is so adorable and cute and I'm really not looking forward to letting that go at all because the colour's so rich and beautiful and it's sooooooo cute, but it's simply not big enough for me. I admit I could use it as a purse, but I have a purse that I'm perfectly happy with and it's quite a bit smaller than the mini. I'm perpetually on a mission to have absolutely everything I need in my bag, but by using the smallest options available to me.

So, without further ado, here are my Filos for sale:

1. [SOLD] Pink personal zipped Finsbury (leather): No longer available. Used - has slight damage (see pictures). Comes with address papers. If you need a diary, I'm sure I could dig one out for you. £20 plus £3.50 Recorded Delivery (UK only).
2. Raspberry compact Finsbury (leather): Used but only for about 6/8 weeks. Good condition. Comes with box.Slight nick on the elastic pen loop (see picture) and minute wear on the front of the clasp (again, see picture). Was £48 new. £25 plus £3.50 Recorded Delivery (UK only).
3. Aqua mini Finsbury (leather): Discontinued colour. Brand new in box. Free pencil with eraser. Comes with lots of inserts: 2012 year planner, WO2P diary, plain paper, lined paper, to dos, blank tabs, sticky note pad and plastic envelope with a slit made in the top to make it useable! Was £37 new. £25 plus £3.50 Recorded Delivery (UK only).

Here come the pictures!

1. Front

1. Inside front

1. Inside back

1. Top of slip pocket where leather has slightly come away.

1. Top of slip pocket with the leather tucked back in.

1. Back

2. Box

2. Front

2. Minute wear on clasp (hardly noticeable)

2. Small nick to elastic pen loop

2. Back

2. Inside

3. Front of box

3. Back of box

3. Front

3. Inside front

3. Inside showing year planner

3. Inside showing diary

3. Inside showing to dos (also has plain & lined paper behind next tabs)

3. Zipped envelope

3. Free matching pencil with eraser

3. Full length wallet pocket

So, if anyone would like to buy one (or more!) of my Filofaxes, please email me at: lucylocketcontacts dash blogspot at yahoo dot co dot uk.

WANTED:

I am now after a red slimline Amazona (very classy looking for work you understand). If you have one that needs a new home, please also contact me on the above email address, or comment on here!

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Oh glorious purple slimline, come to thee . . .

Friday 8^th June 2012, 3:45pm - when it all started . . .

 

Oh my goodness!  My heart is pounding . . . my brow is sweating . . . how can anyone have such an extreme reaction to something as simple as a Filofax?!

 

I feel I must explain myself. Some of you may know that I’ve been after a slimline Filofax for a while now, but I REFUSE to use a black one. And I’m positively allergic to brown. So that rules out approximately 75% (if not more!) of all available slimlines!

 

So, when I was doing my usual trawl of the internet a couple of weeks ago and I spotted a positively tropical one in the form of a purple (damson) Adelphi in 'immaculate condition', my laptop nearly short-circuited from all the drool that dribbled off my chin!!! A 13mm slimline in PURPLE!!! OMG!!! Ok. Keep calm Mrs Lastic. It’s only a Filofax. And breathe.

 

‘I must win said Filofax,’ I said to myself. This is the only colour that would be more-than acceptable to me out of the choice available for slimlines. (Well ok, an Amazona in red or Classic in Cherry or Pink would have done I suppose.) Behold, much to my horror, the auction was scheduled to finish during a time that I would be at work! OH HELL! And breathe.

 

So, I wrote two notes in separate sections in my Filofax. I put three reminders on my Outlook at work and two on my mobile phone (one visible only and one audible only). I rescheduled a meeting. I was ready.

 

3 minutes to go.

 

Relax. It’s ok. You’re quiet at work. Meeting rescheduled. Nothing that can’t wait a few minutes. Nobody’s watching.

 

2 minutes to go. Oh gosh. Mustn’t get distracted and find myself actually WORKING, then forget to bid!

 

1 minute to go. Concentrate. Eyes glued to my minimised screen. Still nobody watching or demanding my attention.

 

30 seconds to go. Input bid. Heart beating 10 to the dozen . . .

 

10 seconds to go. Confirm bid . . . sweat dripping . . .

 

And . . .

 

YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I won it by 2p. HOLY COW!!! *Jumps up and down with excitement*

 

Then remembers, ‘At work.  Sit down.  Shut mouth.’

 

Oooooops.


Thursday 14th June 2012, 5:30pm.


Home from work to find a red card from the Postman on doormat saying they'd tried to deliver a parcel. NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! It's a slimline! PUT IT THROUGH THE LETTERBOX! And breathe . . .


Friday 15th June 2012, 8:45am.

 

Whizz straight to the Post Office before work at 9:30am. OK so they didn't put it through the letterbox because I had to sign for it. Fair dos. Anyway, I'VE GOT IT!!! I couldn't actually wait until I got home so here's a picture of the parcel in my car . . . just in case you don't know what a parcel looks like . . .

The parcel in my car before I RIPPED it open!

And get ready to stroke your screens . . . wait for it . . . NOW!!!

Ooooooooo!

Aaahhhhhhh!!!

Mmmmmmmm . . .

I can't tell you how many times I took it out of my bag at work and stroked it. It's sooooo soft and flexible . . . I'm really surprised because I've never handled one before and I thought they looked a bit tough and plasticky online. Oooo! Think I just invented a new word there. Go me.


Now from my experience, this particular model of Filofax in this colour is actually a fairly rare find on eBay. Has anyone ever seen another purple slimline before? I've only seen a purple (amethyst) Deco on the Filofax site (never eBay). I've been looking for this Filofax in this colour for ages and I'm so pleased I managed to get it. To say they hardly ever come up on eBay is an understatement. I think I paid a fair price, especially since it's as rare as hens' teeth!


So of course the second I got home, I began to 'move in'. I had been using my compact raspberry Chameleon and that will be my main 'at home' Filofax. My slimline will be my 'satellite' Filofax and live in my bag. And I have to say that I've noticed a big difference in the weight of my bag already - it's lighter!  Plus, with it being so slim, it takes up very little room and is lot less bulky than my compact pocket even.


The pen loop is really really tiny but this actually works surprisingly well. You just slot the clip of your pen into it and hey presto! It's as solid as a rock. (I'm using the barrel of a purple 0.5 Frixion with a 0.7 refill in it by the way.)

Only a pen clip will fit in the tiny loop.

When you want to use the pen, you can just pull it out of the clip (one-handed) and it's as easy as that.

Just pull the pen off the clip and away you go!

It lays flat no problem and I've managed to fill it up with all my tabbed sections, apart from my 'Projects' one which just contains a few to do lists that can realistically stay at home. My other tabs are Notes, Information, Financial and Addresses and I have a 'week on one page with notes' diary from 11 June until the end of the year. There's also a clear top-opening envelope at the front for receipts that I may need.


As well as the above, I'm also using the following DIY self-made templates that I've previously blogged about here:

• Telephone numbers;
• Passwords;
• Work holidays;
• Petrol usage;
• Overtime;
• Card/jewellery sale log;
• Payments made (a new one); and
• Sat Nav postcodes.

I also have some WH Smith financial pages in the Financial section to keep a track of my spending.


More pictures . . .

My shopping list on the front top-opening envelope.

Inside of the purse section with a few business cards and my stamps.

The card section with my library cards, driving licence and business cards.

The back with a few dot stickers and some papers slotted into the slip pocket.

Here it is fully loaded and laying flat.

(The eagle-eyed of you will have spotted that I'm going to see Michael McIntyre tonight . . . OMG! Sooooooo excited!!!)

A top view of the contents.

And here it is compared to my personal Domino and compact Chameleon. (Bear in mind they don't have any cards or bits and bobs in the card holders or zipped/slip pockets and the slimline does.) Excuse my knees.

So you can see that I have everything I actually need in my slimline, including my driving licence, library cards, business cards and stamps etc in the purse section and two folded A4 forms and a receipt in the slip pocket at the back. I have actually had to remove very little to downsize from my compact, which I'm very pleased about.


Tuesday 18th June 2012


I've been using it for a few days now and I have to say, I think I've found my perfect Filofax. I absolutely ADORE it! The 13mm slimline is definitely for me. Now to begin the one-woman mission of persuading Filofax to make more feminine-looking slimlines!


That's it now, no more Filofax purchases for me. Unless a magenta one comes up on eBay of course. Or a red Amazona. Or even black really 'cos the Amazona in black still looks classy and a bit feminine. A Classic in cherry or even in pink would be nice too . . . sorry! I'm rambling . . .

******

A big thanks goes out to Alison at Filo Obsessed who bought my Teal Finchley and funded this purchase!!!

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Mini longing . . .

*sigh*

Rummaging through my Filofax drawer in the office, I came upon my (almost) first ever Filofax.  Oh the memories!

My actual first ever Filofax was a present from my Mum when I started temping at age 19.  What a wonderful gift that was.  I have no idea what model it was, but it was definitely a personal (way too big for me at the time unfortunately) and it was navy blue around the edges with some form of pinky/browny swirly pattern in fabric in the centre.  Whilst it wasn't one I would have chosen for myself, it was a wonderful idea and opened my eyes to the world of the Filofax.  I only wish I knew what happened to it.  I've moved house twice since then and I suspect it got thrown out.  Oh the horror!  Gutted.

Anyway, shortly afterwards (perhaps in the late 90s), I bought myself this black leather mini:

My black leather mini, with lavender mini Domino and aqua mini Finsbury

I used it relentlessly for years and years, until about 2008 when I got myself a pocket Domino in aqua.  I was looking through the diary entries from years ago and it took me back to a time where I had few commitments and a very 'free', laid-back life.  I worked 9 to 5 every day and had the odd social commitment here and there and so I only needed a mini to keep me organised.  I even had a lot of note paper in it as well as a full year's worth of diary pages and I actually used the address section as well; how I managed to fit it all in I'll never know!

My absolutely stuffed black leather mini!

The inside of my mini

The lining of my mini

Just the thought of going back to a mini makes me feel almost 'liberated' and free.  No great big heavy bag to lug around and barely any commitments or things to remember.

While I'm very tempted to try a mini out again, I just can't imagine how I'll fit in everything that I'll need when I'm out and about, and it would mean resizing all my DIY templates to the mini size (oh I so can't be bothered doing that).  The pocket size is my minimum realistically.

Oh well.  Maybe when I retire.  *sigh*


** I received a 'red card' from the Postman today.  Could that be another Filofax to collect tomorrow from the delivery office I wonder???  Watch this space . . .


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CiAK Duo diary/planner review

Hello all!


I'd had my eye on this diary for a while but it was just tooooo expensive.  At the time I was looking at it, it was £17.99 plus P&P, which was an awful lot of money for a diary that, let's be honest, I'd probably use for a very short while and then revert back to my Filofax . . .


So when it came up in the sale a couple of months ago at £6.99, I couldn't resist.  I chose the 70s Pink & Acid Green pocket sized version and got it through eBay from The Journal Shop here.  (There are other colours and sizes available.)  I had to see it in the flesh for myself!  I've never seen a diary like this one before and I thought the concept was really intriguing.


Here we go . . .

Front cover of the diary

Personal details page

Year planners for 2012 and 2013

Monthly planners

Time zones

International dialling codes

Weights & measures

International sizes & world temperatures

2012 holidays

Diary page

Centre pocket for bits & bobs

Then flip the whole thing over and . . .

128 pages of lined note paper!

Basically, the first half of this diary is just that - a diary.  The centre houses the pocket for bits and bobs, then you flip the whole thing over and the remainder of the diary is a notebook with 128 lined pages.


It's a lovely soft leather and the paper is pH neutral and acid/chlorine free.  Each section of the book has a page marker ribbon that corresponds to the colour of the front of the section - so the diary section cover is pink and has a pink ribbon, while the notes section cover is green and has a green ribbon.  It also has an elastic to bind the whole thing together.


The diary pages are lined and are split into two halves - the first for 9am until 12 and the second from 2pm until 5pm.  Saturday and Sunday have equal amount of space (hurrah!) and there is also a 'notes' box after Sunday, which contains the familiar monthly dates view and week number.


One of the reviews I've read for this diary was quite a negative one, simply because the date in the top right hand corner isn't in English, so when you're flicking through to find a date, it's really difficult to do.  Whilst I do agree with this to a certain extent, this is easily fixable.  The next day down (Saturday rather than Friday) is in English, so when you're flicking through, all you have to do is look down a day.  Easy!


Overall, a compact diary that actually has quite a lot of space for writing in it.  In my opinion, the only things that need to be remedied are the top right hand date should be in English and it needs a pen loop, although you can just buy one here for about £4.50 to stick on if you like.


But what shall I use it for???  I could use it for scheduling my blog posts and writing notes and ideas for posts I suppose.  Watch this space!










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