This Mama Plans

I’m deep in the throes of motherhood at the moment. Our daughter is now 11 months old and she is soon to be unexpectedly joined by a little brother in a couple of months time!

We got rid of everything newborn after a couple of months of having Amber so we have pretty much had to think about Moses baskets and newborn clothes and next to me cribs (with my daughter I co-slept but I’d like to let our little boy have his own space and have a little more space for myself this time around… or at least have the option! If he is wriggly as he is right now in my belly I’ll be truly grateful of my own space haha).

Once again I’ve been diagnosed with the dreaded Gestational Diabetes and as of last week I’ve begun injecting slow release overnight insulin. For everyone that has to inject themselves or test their blood sugars I salute you; it’s not easy. It’s even harder when you’re sleep deprived due to baby teething and have pregnancy brain fog. Just remembering to test an hour after food and injecting the insulin at the same time each night when our daughter comes first and is demanding bedtime or a bottle (or both) is a challenge! But with only 8 weeks to go now, I am confident only 56 days of finger pricking and injections will pass quite quickly.

When I had Amber, I recall leading up to her birth and especially just afterwards wishing I’d got a planner setup ready and being utilised. The amount of appointments leading up to and after birth is crazy. And that’s in between family and friends wanting to meet new baby… and life stuff. Hindsight is a wonderful thing; but having been there before, I decided to start organising a new planner set up.

Before this decision (and perhaps an influencing factor), we had been researching double prams… because you know… 2 under 14months… practicality wins hands down haha! We decided on a Bugaboo Donkey but damn they look so boring, dark and flimsy! Luckily I found someone on Etsy that does custom work and anyone who knows me, knows I like to put my own stamp on things. So I set to work designing my own hoods, liners and footmuffs with gusto. But when it came, my buldging, battered pram bag looked far too shabby for the new pretty pram… so I decided to look for a new, slightly more glam way of toting around all of my daughters things (and although people say you carry less as they get older I have found I’m carrying more – the usual bottles, change of clothing, muslin cloths, extra dummies, calpol, gripe water, changing facilities, blankets etc… but now we are also carrying toys, food, sippy cups, cutlery, silicone bibs and snacks as she’s now on solids alongside bottles). As well as my daughters items, I’ll be shortly be taking my newborn sons bits and pieces around too. So I needed a new and larger bag. Something organised too; as I’ve found quite quickly that nappy bags can get disorganised very quickly!

I’m not normally one for backpacks so I pulled out my old sturdy LV Neverfull tote and at the moment I’ve got it stuffed to the brim with Ambers items. As well as that, a Speedy 30 is serving as a “Pram Caddy”, holding all of mine and my partners essentials as well as a couple of milk bottles in the felt liner and anything we think might be handy.

Putting the Donkey into double mode removes my “bag basket” so I’m looking to consolidate everything into 1 bag. Side Note: Ambers toys are not in the bag on this photo

However… the lure of the practical backpack was overpowering and I can feel myself giving in to an LV Palm Springs bag; especially as we will not have the (oh so handy) side basket on the pram for much longer and the thought of sacrificing under basket storage and putting the tote bag on its side (of course, I can just see everything spilling out everywhere) and being splashed by mud constantly is too painful for me to imagine.

Anyway; huge digression there! With my love of the LV monogram bags in full force, I have purchased an LV Monogram MM size agenda from DHGate (I mean, Maternity Pay sucks and I have enough to pay out in the preparation for this little lad so real luxury items are unfortunately on the back burner for the next 18 years… am I right?!). When it arrived I was actually so disappointed because the ring diameter was 16mm!

I wound up purchasing a gold 30mm ring size clear plastic binder from Amazon and then de-ringing the planner and getting my partner Tony to drill holes for the 30mm rings to fit in.

I then purchased inserts from Cute Organising on Etsy and I had some custom tabs created from appleblushdesigns on Etsy which I’m super happy with!

I’ve switched out the 16mm rings for 30mm rings: perhaps 25mm rings would be a better fit for this binder as the press-stud is pulling

Beautiful tabs from appleblushdesigns on Etsy!

Planner pages from Cute Organising on Etsy

Planner pages from Cute Organising on Etsy

My super happy daughter at 3 months old

If anyone has any suggestions on how to get about stylishly with a newborn and a 1 year old of different genders – please let me know as the bag situation has got me flummoxed right now!

All the best

Kel

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Kate Spade?

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

I confess, I’ve been out of the planner world for a time. I moved in with my partner during lockdown, changed jobs to a part time role just down the road and ended up using a *gasp* wall calendar in our kitchen.

Then I got pregnant. I should have probably utilised the planner because I was so busy with the amount of appointments I had I could hardly tell what way was up most of the time let alone when my next appointment with the community midwife was or next scan or blood test… and inching into the 3rd trimester, gestational diabetes with even more appointments and eventually insulin. I did try utilising a moleskins but I just couldn’t make it work. I bought a beautiful vintage pink personal Finchley thinking I would start over in a personal size after being in a pocket size for so so so long. But nothing seemed to work for me. I JUST wasn’t interested.

Then once I gave birth, we had more appointments to check her over and we were re-admitted for jaundice. So again, I could have done with a planner.

But still, in my new mummy haze, I just didn’t have the time to spend on setting a planner up in the way that I’d like.

My daughter is now 3 and a half months old and I’m just coming out of the sleep deprived fog now, and I’m at the point where she doesn’t need me every minute of the day so I will be able to get my craftiness on whilst she sleeps in her Moses basket next to me.

So I think I’d like to try something a little outside of the Filofax community for a little while. I’m looking for a Kate Spade Wellesley zip around in either pink or black. I know I’m late to the party on these and I’ve been searching the Facebook groups but nothing so far. Anyone around selling one at all?

Pocket Filofax Malden in Kingfisher Blue

Hi Everyone!

WARNING – PICTURE HEAVY POST! 😉

After an agonising 5 day wait, today I finally received my Pocket Malden in Kingfisher Blue. Oh my. It’s a beauty.

All over the bank holiday weekend I worked on inserts for it and, inspired by the colour, I decided to stay vibrant and go for a mermaid type of theme. You know my Filofaxes always seem to have themes!

I’ve used a lot of papers from “Hunkydory’s Twilight Under The Sea” collection and also the “First Edition Beyond The Shore” to create these dividers, markers note papers etc.

It’s by no means finished yet, but I just couldn’t wait for you to see it!And so, without further ado, please meet my latest addition 🙂

When I took it out of the box, I did my new favourite thing to do with the lived in Malden range – I massaged it with Coconut Oil so that it became buttery and soft and aged.

In the pockets I have an In Case of Emergency card that I created on Excel and stuck onto one of the scrapbook cards. In the pocket behind is a sticky notes section full of little tiny sticky notes – from Dovecraft. The Dashboard is an absolutely beautiful piece of art I just had to print out from Pinterest. It’s perhaps my favourite mermaid illustration ever. It’s so vibrant and mystical!

Behind the dashboard, another Pinterest find which is again, sublime! Then I have a credit card pocket with a die cut or topper from the Twilight Under the Sea range.

My tabs were all created using the “We R Memory Keepers” Bracket Tab and the labels were simply created in Excel, cut out very roughly and stuck onto the tabs with packing tape. I’ve used no laminate in this filofax.

The Today Bookmark was made with the “Twilight Inder The Sea” Cardstock and again, the labels were created on Excel, cut out very roughly and stuck onto the card.

Lastly I created this credit card holder with side pocket which I’m still not sure about… I don’t know if I’ll be keeping it in here just yet!

And that’s it! Like I say, I’m still setting things up and things are likely to move around as I find what works for me – it’s been a VERY long time since I was in a Pocket Filofax!

Pocket users – how do you utilise yours!? Any ideas will be great fully received 🙂

Until next time – carry on planning!

Kel

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Filofax Personal Malden Ochre

These Malden’s are the same age. I know, crazy isn’t it! They were both taken out of the box the weekend and yet the one to the right looks really worn in and the patina looks supple and shiny through years of use.

I have to admit, I’m kind of in love with the one on the right, a lot!

I’m going to tell you the tale of the 2 Personal Malden’s in Ochre:

Firstly, I’ve been away from my Filofaxes for a good 18 months or so. I’ve felt that I didn’t really need to be planning at work so much and I promised I could keep it all in my head… and what ended up happening was a lot of agreeing to go somewhere or do something only to be contacted weeks or months later asking where I was as I’d organised something and forgotten about it!

I figured I needed something. So I tried my Travelers Notebook and then a Moleskine, and then a “normal” diary from Laura Ashley. All with very little success.

So I decided before the weekend I would go back to my trusty old Filofax, or rather, a new, trusty Filofax hehe. I had seen on one of the Filofax Facebook groups that a few people had gotten their Kingfisher Blue Malden’s and I kind of really wanted one: a lot (spoiler, I ordered one…!). But I also spotted the Ochres on sale on Amazon, and I had always been one foot in the Ochre camp; whenever I went into WHSmiths to feel then though, they felt quite… plasticky and not as soft as I thought they’d be. But in my moment of weakness, it didn’t stop me as I ordered from Amazon and received the very next day.

When it arrived, I was so excited I opened it up but to discover that there were 2017 diary inserts (which was fine, but I thought I would let Amazon know just in case they had any issues with any other customers etc) and they told me I needed to return the Filofax and get a replacement. I told them I didn’t want to return it, and I just wanted to get the correct inserts instead. After too-ing and fro-ing I eventually agreed to return and they would send a replacement the next day.

The next day, the replacement arrived and again, it was the 2017 inserts, so now I had 2 Ochre Malden’s, but both with 2017 inserts. I got onto Amazon to let them know that I had still received 2017 inserts, and they credited me £5 to my account so I could purchase 2019 inserts.

The collection of the original was supposed to happen today however they never turned up, and I ended up on the phone to Amazon and even offered to deliver it to their branch, which is opposite my workplace.

Amazon turned around and told me that they didn’t want the Filofax back, and I could dispose of it or do what I like with it. So effectively, I have 2 Ochre Malden’s that I’ve only paid for 1 and it was in a sale as it was!

Anyway…! The one on the right was the replacement and when I took it out of the box it felt a little plasticky, so I decided I would try my normal method of moisturising it, but with coconut oil instead of normal moisturiser. After rubbing the oil onto the surface of the empty binder, I noticed it getting darker in places and I initially panicked, wondering if it was taking the colour off the leather. But it suddenly felt so soft, buttery and luxurious, I had to keep on going! The colour you see above is after 2 attempts of coconut oil, and I think it looks beautifully aged and rustic and very loved.

Even the grain looks better and more moisturised.

I have to say, it’s even much more pliable than the untouched one!

What do you prefer? A brand spanking new Malden that looks absolutely pristine, or so you prefer one that looks a little more weathered and aged?

Until next time keep planning!

Kel

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Bohemian Filofax!

G’day folks!

I’ve been living it up lately in my vests and gauzy indian print skirts, 70’s print maxi dresses and bohemian smock tunics so that I could brave this wonderful British heatwave we’ve been having.  Those of you who know me know that I generally like to change my style dramatically – a lot!  So it comes as no surprise that I usually need to match my Filofax to my mood and style.

My girly pink overload was so time consuming to do and fun to look at etc, but no matter how much I adore pink, sometimes my bohemian style just HAS to take over and unfortunately I can’t squash it down.  I had to extend my personal style (as per) over to my Filofax.

A few months ago I purchased “Desert Blooms” and “Boho Chic” 8 x 8 Premium Paper Pads which I’d made a couple of Today Bookmarks from when I first purchased them.  Since then the cardstock sat in my cupboard earning me a lot of puzzled faces, not quite knowing what I ought to use them for again… until now.

I had a go at making my own dividers instead of using Filofax’s dividers or personal size Filofax paper as a starting surface.  Using the double sided papers I was able to create dividers with tabs still using original dividers to outline where I needed to cut etc.  Stick on tab names, laminate, hole punch and I’m good to go!  Here are the results:

This is how they all look together – the first page being the page that will show the organiser number.

These are the prints I’ve used – they’re all “double sided” so they have different prints on the back of the card.

And here is how it’s looking in my Malden.

With regards to my impending news, I’m afraid I’ve had to wait until tomorrow… all shall be revealed…!

Until then

Kel

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For the love of Filofax

Good Evening!

I’ve been ill the last week – last weekend I became a human Hermit and didn’t see the world beyond my front door from 5pm Friday afternoon until 9am Monday morning.  It began with a sore throat and then ended up in my ears (which I really hate!) – but anyway, it meant that I lay on my sofa feeling sorry for myself and drinking my bodyweight in weak milky coffee and watching ‘feel good films’.  That meant Legally Blonde, Legally Blonde 2, Clueless and The House Bunny.

I noticed in Legally Blonde 2, Elle Woods uses a Filofax to organise her extremely busy lifestyle (all of those manicure appointments must be a drag 😉 lol)

As I love all things pink and Elle-Woodsy, I decided to take a look at what the big deal was about filofaxes – all I know about them is that those “Yuppy’s” used them in the eighties.

It turns out Filofaxes have been in the background for a long time with quite a lot of enthusiasts.  And oh… the inspiration I got from them  is amazing.

Armed with the idea of buying a Filofax, Tuesday evening I pottered off to my local WHSmith and Ryman Stationery store…  and came out empty handed.  I had milled around toying with the idea of buying a Personal size but I really wanted a lilac cover.  There were no lilac filofaxes to be found.

Last night I popped to a local retail park that harboured my favourite store – TK Maxx – only to find in the clearance section a lilac Filofax!  It was a bargain at £10, however it was a Pocket size rather than the Personal size I’d been looking for.

I got home all excited and looked inside… hesitated and thought to myself – now, I’ve got my organiser, what do I do with it now?  I’d been so focused on getting the Filofax that I hadn’t thought about how I would use it.  I’m not entirely sure I’m too happy with the basic diary that is provided with the organiser at the moment.  I’ll have to see how I’ll get on.  Also, I’d seen how all these wonderfully creative people online around the world had created works of art within their Filofaxes, I was worried I’d disappoint myself with my lack of creativity.

So, after 1 day of purchasing my Filofax, allow my to present the Lilac Metropol Pocket!

Anyway, once I’d sat down last night I decided I wanted to completely personalise my Filofax to my own needs etc, after scouring blogposts relating to Filofaxes (I don’t care if you think I’m a sad git!) and realising a lot of people use their Filofax to store inspiration as well as organising their lifestyle (I’m sure the inspiration is probably there to give motivation to use their Filofax and organise their life.

First thing I think I want to do is personalise my ruler.  I’ve seen a few people using that funky pretty stickytape and stickers on their existing ruler… but I want a ruler to inspire me to open my Filofax once the novelty has work off.  And I’ve decided I want this bloke as my ruler:

Many won’t remember him, but he was the musical talent behind Savage Garden; Daniel Jones.  Having Daniel Jones as a ruler would certainly inspire me to open my Filofax at least 😉  Ideally he would be in front of an Australian flag… because I love all things Australian even though I’m in England.

Since I don’t have access to a printer or a pocket sized hole punch I can’t begin doctoring this.  Instead I’ve brought a bundle of things to cheer me up; a pull out planner, some more dividers (since then I’ve decided I want to do all of my own dividers but I guess the generic Filofax ones can serve their purpose until I get around to all of the ideas in my head) and some post it’s designed specially to fit into Pocket Filofaxes.

If you know of anyone that specialises in making personalised Filofax rulers let me know!

Do you use a Filofax?  If so, how have you planned yours out?

Til next time

Kel

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