Sharing the Filofax love!

Hi All

Another very different post today. I'm really enjoying writing blog posts for something a little more than just my crafting. It is great to grab a few minutes whilst baby is asleep to do something I enjoy :) It has been a bit of a mad week here and will write a post of why in a little while but I will get back to what my subject line suggests!

Anyone who knows me will know that I love to plan, organise and write an abundance of lists! A few years ago I was given an A5 red Domino Filofax which I currently use for work. Over the past year I have really tried to use it to organise myself a little better and I've enjoyed it immensely. However, with being on maternity leave I don't have the need for such a large, formal Filofax. I had been on the hunt for a smaller, more informal model for a little while and just after Christmas I found this little beauty in Tesco for £24...what a bargain! I fell in love with the design first of all, it makes me smile every time I look at it. It is the Retro Bloom Personal size Filofax. I decided this would be a good size for more personal use, the pocket size is far too small for all of the lists I like to write!

I will write another post about the inside of my Filofax and the inserts I have but one little purchase I made on the Filofax website was the cute pink pen you can see on top of my planner. Of course it is perfect size but it writes really smoothly and I am really pleased I purchased it.

As this Filofax is going to be used more for personal and project planning, I decided that I will have a go at decorating it, something that seems to be a real craze in the planner world at the moment! I haven't started yet but have been buying a few bits and bobs to help me along the way. Firstly, the following picture is of my current stash and the A5 folder that these accessories belong in at the moment. Here you will see I have a variety of 'owl' post-it notes! Some are from Paperchase and some were gifts. I also have some bargain rainbow pens from Tesco, as well as a variety of stickers, some from Wilkinsons, others from Paperchase once again. You will also be able to see three mini notebooks. Currently, I am using these as a Food/Exercise planner (which I will begin using once I've had my post-pregnancy check-up this week!), a Finances/Savings planner and finally a Goals/Projects planner. I have started to use these and will give you an update once I am in the swing of things. I'm hoping to have a go at decorating my March pages next week so will share anything I do with you in another post!

Hubby has been off work over the past week so we have had a few outings. Of course, if passing, I've had to go into some of my favourite shops and purchase a few bits that I thought would be good for my Filofaxing! We visited Staples the other day where I bought some really pretty pastel shade pens by Bic and some thin task pad sheets that go with Staples 'Arc' range but I am hoping I will be able to use them in my Filofax somehow as they would be really useful to have as 'To do' lists on the weekly pages.We also visited Hobbycraft yesterday and I bought some of the La-De-Dah sticky tags to brighten up my notes. I use these in my SMASH books/Scrapbook pages but am looking forward to using them for a slightly different purpose.

So, I feel like I am all ready to get started on using my Personal Filofax, decoration and all! Would love to see what you use when accessorising and decorating your Filofax. The next Filofax post I will do will go through the inserts and sections of my planner and how I use them. I'm hoping that I may have some decoration to show you too.

Would love to hear your recommendations of any cute accessories/necessities when using your Filofax/Planner.

Thanks for looking.
Hugs
Arline
xx

Book Review #2 (2014) - 'Cupcakes at Carringtons' by Alexandra Brown

Hi All


Well, another chick lit book read. This was one that I had been wanting to read since it was released! Hope you enjoy my review :)

Cupcakes at Carrington's

January 2013

Alexandra Brown

***

As I had downloaded this on the kindle, rather than see it in real life, I was probably under the wrong illusion that the book would have cupcakes at the centre of the story. However, this is a novel set in a department store (which made me think of Harrods every time the layout and departments were described!) with references made to a café upstairs that the protagonist's best friend runs and is sometimes used as a place to vent the troubles of the day. Even though I had greatly misinterpreted this detail, the book did not disappoint, in fact I couldn't put it down!

Georgie, our protagonist, works in the handbag department in Carrington's, the dream job of every girl who will probably read this book. Her life has the regular ups and downs of a chick lit novel and Brown creates a character that you instantly warm to and urge things to go right for her. Of course, love must play a part in the story and there are two special men in Georgie's life. However, for some reason, I didn't warm to either of the men who were interested in her. Not sure why...

Of course, the storyline resembles that of a classic chick lit novel and has predictable, but enjoyable, elements. However, there are some twists and turns along the way, I for one did not expect quite the ending that it does! As well as Georgie, her best friend Sam is a likeable character and Camille is an absolute legend! Definitely worth a go if you like a good girly read!

Hope you enjoyed my second review. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated....I'm writing this one quite late, trying to catch a few minutes while the baby is sleeping, so I apologise for any mistakes or if I've missed anything!

Thanks for reading.

Hugs

Arline

xx

** All opinions expressed in this review are my own, I have not received any compensation for my review and do not wish to offend in any way.