Survey for my new project

I have been working very hard on a new project this weekend, writing pages and pages of ideas and inspiration, planning in my little mind some things to share with you all.

If you would be so kind as to complete this online survey for me (it will only take a few minutes), it would really help me a lot with my planning.

Click here to take survey

All is hush hush at the moment as I don't want to reveal my plans to anyone just yet, I am always quite a hasty person but not with this, I have a good feeling it will all work out if I am patient.

Thank you in advance if you do find the time to complete the survey!

My Week 30

I really like the pages I've decorated in my journal this week. I used a journaling card and some washi tape that Meredith sent to me, and what I found strange was, I always used to hate orange and yellow. I think my hatred is over!

Just looking at this page makes me happy :)

The photo is of some coral coloured gladioli (flowers) I have at the moment, they are the most beautiful, cheerful colour!

And here is my week in my personal size planner, using mustard and magenta colour scheme. Love these colours together, and yet again, more yellow! (What is happening to me?).

This week was quite exciting (towards the end... the beginning of the week was fairly uneventful). I ordered my beautiful purple satchel on Thursday as I got a bonus from work (it's an introductory fee they do if you introduce someone you know to the company, and they end up employing them).

So, I treated myself, and then I was very good and transferred the rest into savings. *Smug face*.

Here she is, from the Vintage Satchel Company. I got the 11" one as I'm very good at keeping the minimum essentials in my handbag. Is it wrong that I'm this excited about a satchel?!

Filofax Inserts - Free Downloads

I have made some free printables for you!! I also made them for me, to colour co-ordinate with my subsections in my planner. I may add some more in the future but this is to get us started.

Click here to download the inserts for free! (Including the font 'Lobster' used for the headings).

 

Subsections are as follows, with the inserts listed too. Each section is colour coded:

1. Wishlists & Shopping - my wishlist, 3 wishes a month, Pandora charms wishlist
2. WWW - online orders, favourite websites, favourite blogs
3. Contacts - my family contacts, my buddies, places to eat, places to drink
4. Money - bill due dates, bill renewal dates, savings plan, money tracker
5. Media - books to read, films to watch, music to listen to, games to play
6. Blog - post ideas, blog statistics, blog post planner
7. Food - favourite family meals, shopping list, meal planner
8. Home - cleaning schedule
9. Travel - holiday plans, world map
10. Health & wellbeing - weight tracker, health & wellbeing goals, exercise tracker, visits to the doctor
11. Special dates - January to December with space to write special dates
12. Work - annual leave, sickness record, overtime record
13. Filofax - FiloRAK record, secret swap record, postage record

I would like to add a 'car' tab but I've run out of tabs!! Might have to add that into the travel section.

Feel free to edit the inserts as you wish, for your own personal use, but please do not print and sell these as your own.

My Week 29

This has been the hottest week I can remember! The weather has been gorgeous, have been suffering a little though.

Apologies the weekend on my journal hasn't been filled out as it's only Saturday, going to my friend's tonight for mojitos so I've left space for a picture :D

Daily Planner

 

Journal

Finally, I just wanted to say thank you to Paula for her lovely note and gift she sent to me. She had seen my blog post on my July Wishes and Loves and sent me two MT pastel washi tapes! So very thoughtful, it really replaces my faith in people when others show so much kindness and loveliness.

Filofax Storage Solutions

I'm starting to get quite a hefty stash of things to decorate my Filofax, so I thought I would show you all how I store everything.

Stickers - I file my stickers in this clear box from Ikea - only £1 for the box, and I made sections so I can locate the stickers I need quickly.

 

 

Ink pads - I'm starting to buy more of these as I've realised how much I love rubber stamping! I keep them in this cute tin that I got from Paperchase (it's supposed to be a lunch box).

 

 

 

 

Larger/small wood mounted rubber stamps - are kept in a tin too. I have four sets of tiny alphabet stamps that I got from a cheap £ shop (or dollar store to you in the USA!)

 

 

 

 

Clear stamps - it took me ages to work out how to store these little guys. I have so many now. I mounted them all onto card with double-sided tape, slid them into CD sleeves and filed them in another Ikea box.

 

 

 

 

Journaling cards - in a cheap basket found in another pound shop.

 

 

 

Washi tape is stored in another small cute tin... may have to rehome these guys soon!

 

 

Spare papers - another Ikea £1 box, filed by size and type.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Moodboard 20: Wanderlust

Moodboard 19: Aqua Daydream

July Wishes & Loves

New feature! *woop*

Seeing as you guys love my moodboards so much, I thought I'd do one each month of my monthly loves and wishes.

Loves = things I have been using this month that I love
Wishes = things I want to buy this month

Here is the first one for July:

1. Freshly cut flowers. Nothing makes me feel more cheerful, they are so lovely to look at and smell pretty! We've started doing our food shopping on a Friday night so there are always reduced flowers in the supermarket, and they still last for 10+ days!

2. The Civil Wars' new single. Not sure if any of you are familiar with The Civil Wars - they are a duo, I would call them somewhere between the genres of country and soft rock.
I got their first album last year, we were supposed to see them live but they cancelled 5 days before due to 'personal differences of interest'. Apparently, the duo have had their own Civil War and are now barely talking... but their new single is amazing. New album out August 6th, it's going on the wish list!

3. Skater dresses. I have a dark blue velvet one but I would love some jersey fabric, plain skater dresses just for pottering about town. They're simple and feminine, and don't cost much either.

4. Iced tea. I love Whittards instant teas, and they are just as good as iced tea. We filled up an empty glass bottle from Ikea with the instant tea, let it cool and then put it in the fridge. Heaven!

5. Summer jewellery. I have a LOT of jewellery, but some of it I have just fallen out of love with. I am going to search for some fresh pieces in colours that match things I wear often.

6. Magicool/cooling spray. A life saver in this 30 degrees summer we are having over here in the UK. I really suffer from the heat and it is as hot in our home as it is outside, plus the stuffiness of it being enclosed in well-insulated walls. This produces a fine mist of water on your skin and cools you down a treat.

7. Stabilo 88 fineliners. As mentioned in my previous 'My Week' post, I have 12 Stabilo pens and have discovered they do even more colours!! You can buy them individually at CultPens. *Kaching* checkout. :D

8. My Minds Eye Chalk Studio paper collection. My Minds Eye are a fresh and cute scrapbooking paper company, and have just bought out a new collection called Chalk Studio. I love the rich black and soft white chalk lines on the designs, I think this is going on the wishlist to decorate my journal pages!

9. MT washi tape. I think everyone I know wants this set of pastel washi tapes from MT. They look so cute and pretty together, really fresh colours. I'm not sure I'd use the whole of each roll though.

10. Paperchase Frame Academy sticky tabs. A new collection from Paperchase, again in lovely summery pastel colours. I never used to be a pastel girl, I guess I've changed!

11. Mojitos!! Cool and refreshing, one of my favourite alcoholic summer drinks.

12. Purple satchel. I have been staring at the web page for this, for months. No joke. And this month I may actually be able to afford her! Isn't she beautiful?

13. Filofax Original in Purple. Ok, this one, I'm torn. I've heard some nice reviews, I've heard some terrible reviews. The strap is too short, the front gets scratched, and what the hell is with the elastic weird bits in the front cover? But... look how well she goes with the satchel...

14. Hamsa hand necklace. I really love this motif at the moment, I don't know why. I think the eye in the middle of the hand is something to do with protection?

15. Elizabeth Arden Cherry Blossom. I found this tonight while browsing perfumes. I have EA's Green Tea perfume and it's definitely my favourite in this weather. I would rather like to smell it. :)

16. Basic Grey Capsule collection. Another scrapbook paper company, they have just released a 'Smash*' knockoff range. Really cute embellishments, and lovely and colourful!

17. Blackcurrant and Elderflower Pimms. Oh golly. If you're anything like me, it's always Pimms o'clock (please drink responsibly...). And now they've made a purple version? Must... try. I've been trying to find the little sampler tins but can't find them anywhere!

Hope this has been an exciting ride for you, what's on your wishlist?

My Week 28

This week the weather has been really beautiful! Again I'm going to show you both my planner week and my journal week. We've been out and about a lot, having 2 days off at the beginning of the week so I've done a lot more to write about.

It's funny though, since I started a journal I've been doing more with my life because I realised how boring and uneventful it was before. We've been out with friends a lot more, that may just be because of the nice weather. Not sure what the reason is, but it's nice to go out.

My Planner Week

This week I decided to use some leftover scrapbooking paper to decorate my pages. I like using washi tape, but I only have about five or six rolls and have already done them all to death!

I chose a few co-ordinating papers from the same collection and used a patterned dot one for the fake washi at the top of the page. All I did was just cut a strip the right width, stuck double-sided tape on the back, and fake washi was made.

With the other sheet of co-ordinating papers, I cut out some flowers and leaves, and placed them on the page to add a bit more interest.

I've also used a green pen which matches with the green in the paper - I write all my very important things to remember in a coloured pen so they're easier to spot on the page.

You will also see that I've changed my pen setup - I was using a black Uniball Fine Eye pen in my pen loop, but for some reason after a lot of use these go very thick and gloopy. I've slotted in a black Stabilo pen and a co-ordinating one for my weekly important notes, and they fit nicely in the pen loop together as they are very thin pens.

My Journal Week

Balloons!! I used the same technique with scrapbooking paper as I used on my weekly pages, just with a different collection. I loved this layout so much I've done a similar version for next week's planner pages. Here they are together, my personal at the front and the A5 underneath it:

 

I love this paper collection, it's called What's Up by Basic Grey. I also really like this technique of using scrapbooking paper to decorate pages - you get a really unified look and all of the colours match.

 

No photographs this week yet, I do have some in mind that I want to add but I am going to have to order them to be printed somewhere. Our printer at home is quite good for pictures, but my boyfriend is currently studying for a course and printer ink is not cheap. I will add a journaling card or something to it later on though.

 

I always try and write a wish list for my next pay day - sometimes this is a good idea, so I know to keep some money aside for me, sometimes it's a bad idea as the list is very long! But on next month's list I'm going to write 'rest of the Stabilo colour pens'! I bought a pack of 12 different coloured ones, the basics like all of the primary and tertiary colours, black, and brown. And then I found this picture! Lilac, burgundy, peach, violet, navy, aqua, turquoise, two more greens, a lighter brown and two greys! I must have these to finish off my collection. They're really nice to write with.

 

                                        

That's all from me today peeps, I'm going to sit on my sofa and pretend I'm in a garden... we don't have one :,(

Moodboard 18: Steampunk

Domino Hacks: Ribbon & Heat Embossing

A few of you have asked how I made my Domino A5 into something a little more 'me', so I thought I'd do a little blog post to show you how.

Here is my journal, heat embossed with a ribbon to replace the elastic.

 

Hack 1: Ribbon instead of elastic

Step 1: Choose your ribbon. Choose something that is preferably not prone to fraying, not too thick and not too weedy and thin. I chose quite a thick, grey ribbon for mine. Remember this technique makes it easy to chop and change if you get bored of the colour of your ribbon.

 

Step 2: Remove the elastic. Underneath the ring mechanism there are two holes. You need to chop the elastic band and remove it through the holes and discard.

Step 3: Thread your ribbon. Scrunch up one end of the ribbon so it's easier to thread through, and thread through one of the holes from the inside of the binder out. Do the same with the other end of the ribbon, again threading from the inside out.

 

 

 

Step 4: Admire your handiwork. Pull the ribbons all the way through so there is no loop under the ring mechanism on the inside. This will keep the ribbon in place. Then you can tie your ribbon around. If it's too long you can trim it. You can also add charms and beads if you want to. 

 

Hack 2: Heat Embossing that plain cover

You Will Need:

- Heat embossing tool (UK stockist - click here; USA stockist - click here)

- Rubber or clear stamp of your choice

- A good quality ink pad (I used Colorbox Cats Eye in Dragonfly Black) (US stockist - click here; UK stockist - click here) Tip: Whatever ink pad you choose to use, test it out first to make sure the ink gets into all the nooks of your rubber stamp, or the design won't come through properly. Make sure it's an ink that doesn't dry too fast.

- An unloved, boring Filofax.

- Heat embossing powder - there is a lot of this on the market. I have used Blonde Moments Suet Ruby Lustre (it glistens). Click here to see the variety of colours available from Blonde Moments.

- A4 paper folded in half to make a crease. You'll see why.

- Baby wipes or face wipes to clean up.

 

 

Step 1: Mount your rubber/clear stamp and ink it up. Stamp the image onto the front of your Filofax. Might be an idea to plan where you want to stamp it.

 

 

Step 2: Pile on the fairy dust. (Ah-hum, I mean embossing powder). Leave it for 30 seconds to a minute to really work its' magic.

 

 

Step 3: Grab your A4 paper and tip the excess onto the crease in the opened out paper. This collects all of the excess powder...

 

 

And it makes it much easier to put back in the powder pot.

 

 

 

Step 4: Wipe off remaining excess. Some embossing powders have a clingy lustre to them so when you shake off the excess there will still be a dusty residue around your stamp. To avoid the heat gun picking up on it, use a baby wipe or face wipe to carefully wipe around the embossed image. DO NOT TOUCH YOUR STAMPED IMAGE OR YOU WILL RUIN IT!

 

 

Step 5: Let the heat magic commence. Turn on the heat gun, hold it about 4/5cm away from your image and carefully heat up the embossing powder. You will see it change colour when you have heat it up.



 

 

Step 6: Leave the powder to cool. This will avoid smudging. You only need to leave it for a few minutes.

 

Step 7: Wipe your image with a baby wipe. You'll notice on the stamp I used there are lots of parts where the embossing powder has left a dust, inside the image which would have been really difficult and hazardous to remove before I heated the powder. Now the image is sealed you can go ahead and wipe the image with a baby wipe to get rid of the remaining excess.

 

Step 8: Admire your handiwork. (Best Identity I've ever seen... what'cha think?!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moodboard 17: Seafront Chalkboard

Moodboard 16: Urban Moustache

Moodboard 15 - Woodland

My Week 27

I have two different layouts to show you this week, as I am now using my A5 Domino as a journal. So I thought I'd put it all in one post.

Here is week 27 in my personal Domino, which is my daily planner. I decided to use stamping this week rather than washi tape, as I'm trying to save my washi tape for my journal. I will archive both diaries at the end of the year but I'm more likely to save the journal pages as they are more sentimental.

The butterfly was stamped onto paper, cut out and I used a glue stick to adhere it to the page.

 

 

And here is my week in my A5 journal, I've used the same purple colour scheme but a different theme... baking!

 



 

As some of you who are members of the Facebook group will know, I've had some issues with a Polaroid Pogo photo printer I purchased on eBay. The listing said it didn't come with a charger, so I thought that would be okay, because I can just buy one second hand from somewhere.

No, I can't. The Pogo has been discontinued, and in Polaroid's words, 'all stock of batteries and chargers is exhausted.' Good. So that was a waste of time and money, and the Pogo is going back on eBay.

On the plus side, I did print out some pictures on my normal printer this morning and they've come out quite well, so all in all the outcome isn't so bad. I wish I had just tried my normal printer before I wasted my money though!

Here are some pictures I added to last week's pages - a custom made journaling card of a photo I took of some flowers on our window sill - (the sky was an amazing colour), and a small picture of the lush milkshake I had and the fact that I wanted my hair cut really badly!!

 

Do you think my printer does my pages justice?

 

 

Philofaxy Awards 2013 - I have been nominated!

I'm so chuffed, I've been nominated for the Philofaxy Awards 2013, for Most Artistic Filofax/Blog. It's a really lovely gesture from all of the people who nominated me! And it gets better, the prize is a purple saffiano, and purple is my favourite colour!

So, why should you vote for me? Take a peek round my blog and you will see:

• creative ways of using a Filofax, including Filo-hacks (using something for a different purpose than it was meant to be used for)

• decorated Filofax covers using heat embossing

 

• an eye for colour and design in all of my weekly pages

 

• super-neat handwriting

 

• moodboards designed around different Filofax models

 

 

• custom-made Filofax templates and handmade dividers

 

• my journal using Smash* items and scrapbooking suppliers

 

I am sure all of the nominees feel the same, but it would mean so much to me and my little blog to win this competition!

I will be doing a giveaway if I am the lucky one, just to show my appreciation for being nominated.

 

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read my blog :)