Hello, hello!
Nice to see you all, you see you nice, and all that :). How have you been? It’s been a while hasn’t it?
For the last 18 months or so, I’ve been in my pocket Malden’s (I have ochre, fuchsia and kingfisher blue now). I must admit when I think of a “planner”, I automatically think of the Malden. It’s such an iconic design, don’t you think?
I’ve also moved house (during Lockdown #1, buying and selling was sure fun!) and tried and failed to help an ex battle alcoholism. I’ve also been working constantly through lockdown, like many others, mostly from home. Taking part in the Thursday evening doorstep applauses for the Keyworkers and doing the double back to my car almost every time to grab my mask before entering a supermarket/convenience store. It’s been an interesting year for sure!
Coming slowly out of lockdown and starting to get a little life into my world other than work or decorating, I was forgetting things I needed to do or places I needed to be. I wasn’t utilising my planner. I wasn’t reaching out for my beloved Pocket Malden’s, I noticed.
Speaking with my best mate and fellow planner enthusiast (who has just bought a pocket Filofax croc and loving it), Carrie, she also felt that she associates certain planners with certain times in her life, as do I. Are there any planner people out there that do this too? I have filofaxes that remind me of happy times, and Filofaxes that remind me of down times in my life.
Anyway, I thought with things beginning to happen again (and just as we sailed into Lockdown 2.0!) I decided to change things up again and find a planner that would allow me to create a bit of a rock and roll/music vibe.
I did have a Croc in mind but I feel the Chameleon had a bit of a “glam rock” shimmer and texture to the leather.
The Chameleon is a discontinued model of Filofax therefore I took to EBay to find this beauty.
Firstly, I must admit, the leather feels sublime and as usual on all Filofax models, the planner feels sturdy and well made.
The clasp opens the planner to reveal a part leather-part elasticated pen loop to the left. It is leather throughout he interior also, with a full length back pocket like the Pocket Malden’s (however with much more structure). The left also boasts 5 vertical car slot holders and a full length pocket. The right hand side has a outward opening zip pocket.
The layout is so practical it is easy to see why many have opted to utilise this organiser as a purse/wallet.
But for me, I’ve tried and failed miserably to use my planners as a purse, so I’ve resigned myself to use the planner as I find easiest for myself at the moment… as a planner ;).
The card slots hold my “London” theme Starbucks card, Cartology paperclip, a few London flag sticky notes and a tartan card stock through the full length pocket detailing “In Case of Emergency” contacts and allergy information. The first page is a plastic transparent dashboard with yellow butterfly sticky notes I write down things I need when I am out and about.
Behind the dashboard, the back holds a project life card stuck with washi tape. My first divider is my “Info” – dividers made with 2 leopard print card stock stuck together and an Avery tab. I’ve used an embossing label maker to label the tab.
Behind the tab, I have my personal information: name, email address, phone number just in case it gets lost.
In the info tab, I have two top tabs, with a £ sign and a **** sign. The first details my bills: the supplier, amount and date it leaves my account. The 2nd is my passwords (all coded of course).
The next divider is my Calendar section. Divider made with 2 black sheets of card stock with an old flyer of a club I used to attend stuck on, and again, an Avery tab.
The back of the divider has another project life tab on affixed by washi tape. This section holds a pull out Filofax 2020 horizontal Year Planner which I haven’t used, due to lockdown! It also holds my monthly calendar, by NBPlanner:
All of the information is colour coded and transferred from this page, to the outer half pages of my weekly section.
This section is my Diary section. the divider is made of 2 tartan card stock sheets glued together, a project life card held by washi tape and another Avery tab, with the label being printed out from Excel, cut and glued onto the tab.
The diary section itself is Filofax Week on 2 Pages, I try to keep the events to the outer part of the page and any “to do’s” or “to check” on the rings half of the page. Anything that is happening throughout the week will be detailed at the top of the page in the “This Week” box. I use Sharpie Highlighters, and a Faber Castell Ballpoint Pen to plan. I reinforce the ring area with washi tape. The today marker is taken from Project Life, with a cut up Project Life Card help on by washi tape and labelled with an embossed label maker, and the highlighting key noted. On the back of the today marker I usually put a London flag sticky note detailing the Christmas purchases to be made that week.
My Lists section divider is red card stock with a record fair flyer stuck on, with an Avery tab and an excel label. The lists section has 2 top tab sections, Xmas and £. The Xmas tab details Christmas Eve box ideas, and gift ideas. I’ll likely add a Christmas card list shortly. The £ tab is a spending log, detailing date, item and price. I asterisk items that are Christmas items.
My notes section is again, cheetah card stock (2sheets back to back gullies together) with a project life card washi-d o and an Avery tab. This holds a few random note paper that my may wish to utilise in the lists section of the planner.
The final section is untabbed, zebra print card stock. It has a top loading pocket with film reel washi tape stuck to it, so that I can place the tape in the diary section of the planner to remind myself of upcoming films on TV I want to watch. This will be well used over Christmas! Inside the pocket holds a few “payday” stickers and the Avery tabs just in case I need to make more.
And that’s my current planner setup! Are there many pocket users still out there?
Until next time Rock and Rollers!
Kel xx
The Pocket Diaries 