Pimp my Filofax: The Giveaways!

Remember that previous post I had of the little box of goodies that arrived at my door? Many of you have probably guessed but yes, my winnings from the Filofax's latest challenge has arrived, and I'll be hosting giveaways for all 3 of them! And you can thank Nike from Filofax for telling me about the competition and giving me the chance to win some beautiful Filofaxes to giveaway! But of course, I wouldn't have been able to receive them if not for you lovely ladies who voted for me when the competition was running. So this post and giveaway is all for you. Now to get to the details:

The Details
I will be running three giveaways that will be starting on Monday, the 1st of September 2014 at 12am AEST. Each giveaway competition will last for 1 week and it may range from telling me why you want the particular Filofax so bad, to as simple as putting your name down and me picking a random winner - haven't quite decided on it yet. Details of each competition will be released on the day the competition opens. I will be running all three competitions on my blog and will be promoting it on Instagram as well (you can follow me on Instagram to get the updates: @lettersinnovember). The competition will end every Saturday at 11:59pm AEST, with winners announced on Sunday. New competition details will then be released again on the Monday. So don't despair if you didn't manage to win a Filofax the first time around, there'll be another to give away the week after. Not to mention, Mrs Brimbles and DIYFish will also have some lovely Filofaxes to giveaway on their blogs too, so check their blogs out!

The Filofax:

The Three Giveaway Filofaxes

I have been given three different Filofaxes that ranges in size and use, while also reflecting Filofax's new collection. These include:
1- Pocket Willow
2- Personal Original in Pillarbox Red
3- Pennybridge iPad Mini case in Blue

Before I state the details of each competition on Monday's post, I will be reviewing it so you can make up your mind over whether the item is for you.

The Dates:
To make things easier, I have listed the dates of the competition and the Filofax I will be giving away that week. Write it down on your calendar, diaries, Filofaxes, or your hand if you must because once the competition is over for that Filofax, there wont be a second chance. So here are the dates:
1- 1st - 6th September 2014: Pocket Willow
2- 8th - 13th September: Personal Original Pillarbox Red
3- 15th - 20th September: Pennybridge iPad Mini case in Blue

Items will be shipped on Monday after the competition closes so do remember to check my blog EVERY Sunday to see if you have won. And if you have (congratulations!), please use the contact form to tell me your name and address details so I can post it out to you ASAP. International mail will be posted out using regular International Air Mail, which unfortunately does not have tracking (sorry, but Australia Post does charge ridiculous prices for tracking and I'm unfortunately not all that rich), but I'll be sure to take a picture of it before posting it so you know that I have actually done so.

I hope you ladies will enjoy all the competition I have set out for you in the upcoming days and weeks and I wish you all the best of luck!!

EXCITING News On the Way!

To my dear readers, just a little heads up so you can mark your calendars, on Filofax Friday (29 September), I shall be announcing some very exciting news. And just to give you a hint, it involves the gifts inside this lovely box:

And it also involves 3 giveaways ;)
Much love,
Nadia.

To Pocket or not to Pocket?

I've been pretty content with my Personal and A5 planner collections for a while, and haven't owned a pocket sized planner in quite a while. Eversince the planner craze hit me like an oncoming train, I have only ever owned 2 pocket sized planners (black Malden and Red Finsbury) both of which has been sold. But for some reason, I've just been getting this little Pocket itch recently, and I feel like giving it another go.

I have my eye on a Pocket Malden (again) but this time, in Purple / Ochre / Vintage Pink. I know a store in Melbourne which also sells Finchley's soft jade, mustard, red, chocolate and vintage pink colours, but I don't quite like the fact that they don't have a full length back wallet slot for your cash, etc. The thing is, these organisers are pretty expensive - all around the $100+ mark, and for someone still unsure over whether or not a pocket size will be useful, this is a lot of money. I could always sell it if I don't like it later on, of course, but why take that risk, no?

My last option would be taking on the Kikki K small lilac planner. The one thing I don't particularly like about Kikki K's planner is their secretarial flap where the pockets are located. In my opinion, this is the reason why their organisers end up being absolutely bulky. You can read my full review for the Kikki K Lilac here. Not to mention, they too don't have the full length-back wallet too, and their ring size seems quite tiny.

One thing I've come to realise about buying planners though is that you should always get what you want, and not go halfway, because more often than not, you'll end up buying the one you initially wanted which would mean you've wasted more money than if you waited it out and bought what you wanted in the first place (if that makes sense). But then here comes the next problem: if I were to buy a pocket Malden, which colour would I go for?

On the Peter's of Kensington site, they currently have both the pocket Malden ochre and purple for $126 + $5.50 shipping, which isn't too bad. I was always leaning towards the purple (for some weird reason), but if I were to get myself the ochre, once my A5 Malden arrives from Amazon (if it ever does!), I will have a complete family of Ochre Malden (minus the Mini)! But then again, this too would apply to the Kikki K Lilac collection as I currently have both the Large and Medium planners. But then again, do these families really matter to me? Not quite.

So we're back to square one with the Malden pocket organisers. So guys, should I go with the purple / ochre / vintage pink?

A Little Filofax Update!

Oh my, it's been a while, hasn't it? I'm so sorry for leaving my dear readers out to dry, but it's been a busy (as usual) couple of weeks now that I'm working 9 - 5! But never fear, this won't last. Come September and I'll be back on the usual blogging as I'll be having a (hopefully) lighter schedule. But just a little update for today:

1) Filofax Blogger Challenge
This is obviously a very very delayed post, but yes, I am one of the winners of the Filofax Blogger Challenge! Although I came in third place, I will still be getting three brand new Filofaxes to give away to one of you lovely readers! These Filofax should be currently on its way to me now from Filofax UK, so when it has arrived, I will be sure to announce it on my blog (including the usual reviews and multiple photos!)

I probably should have posted these pictures earlier, but here's a little closer look into my customised Filofax page for the Pimp My Filofax challenge:

Thanks again to all those who voted for me!

2) My Bigcartel shop is closing!
Because uni has started and I can't possibly juggle a whole lot of crafting and studying at the same time, I have to unfortunately close my shop for the time being. And because of that, my shop is of course, going on a little sale. Prices has been reduced, so come check it out when you can. You can be directed to my shop by clicking here

3) I have been working on new divider sets for my new Lilac Kikki K planner, and I will definitely be giving a whole post on its set-up, but here's a little sneak peak of how it looks:

Till next time (and hopefully soon)!

Kikki K Lilac Planner Review

NB. I have changed my blog address, so what was previously known as Filosophical is now Letters in November! Also, don't forget to like my picture on Facebook! You can find the link here

Kikki K's new set of planners have finally been released (which has started a whole new craze in the planner community, naturally!) and this season's colours are lilac, gold and black.

I purchased Kikki K's Lilac Medium planner initially, but got my hands on the Large planner a week after that for dear Mummy. (I think I've somewhat converted her into liking planners now.. hah). Their planners are all made of leather (except for the one fabric planner which is yet to be released). There a number of different planners Kikki K has this year, with sizes ranging from small to large for the lilac with gold diamonds, and the Large Personal Planner in plain gold (yes, gold!), black textured and lilac.

Before I get into the review let me clarify one thing about Kikki K's planners:
1- Time Planners = elastic range. They contain 2015 monthly and weekly diary inserts, to-do lists, expenses, addresses, restaurants, and birthdays and anniversaries as their tabs
2- Personal Planners = snap closure range. They contain undated monthly inserts, meeting notes, to-do lists and a whole lot of lined paper that will last you a lifetime.

So here comes the set of pictures that many of you will want to see. But first and foremost, the planner is definitely more on the purple side of life. The colour represented on the Kikki K website is definitely not how it looks like in reality. It's much prettier.

Elastic

On the inside:

Insides

Initially, the planner will not stay flat, however, it's nowhere near as bad as the Finsbury's inability to lay flat, of course. With a little training, this baby will lay flat as a bat.

Their front cover contains 3 pockets and one full length flap pocket. It doesn't have a zipped pocket like the large planner has:

Front pockets

Although Kikki K boasts on the fact that their organisers are full leather, what I didn't realise was their sneaky fabric lining on the back of their full length pocket. The fabric does match the planner though, so I'm not too fussed about it.

Sneaky fabric backing

Remember what I noted at the beginning of this post? Time planners have different tabs and inserts to the Personal planners. Here's a look of the Time planner tabs:

Time Planner Tabs

2015 Monthly Diary

On the back is the usual notepad holder:

Elastic pen holder. Yes.

It has an elastic pen holder, which I think is a great plus as it can hold even my fattest pens. I know Filofax tries to make their organisers uniform with leather pen holders, but I reckon they'd be used a little bit more by many if they were elastic, or even half elastic as some are.

The only problem I had with my Medium planner were the rings. There was a slight gap in the third ring, but as I had no troubles turning the page with it, it didn't really matter to me:

Now comparing the medium to the large planner:

The only difference between the two (other than their size), would be the amount of pockets they have in their front cover. The large / A5 Kikki k has an extra full length pocket and a zippered pocket as seen:

Not to mention, you could fit an iPad Mini in the back notepad slot (and yes, I've tried!)

But that's it for this Kikki K review. My thoughts on this planner? It's lovely, no doubt. Their colour range is beautiful (though I'm slightly regretting the fact that I didn't get the mint planner now. But never fear, for those who have the same regret as I do, apparently the mint colour is making a comeback.) I tried fitting all my inserts  from my current Malden into the medium planner and I now understand what they mean by the planner being too 'puffy'. However, for me, there are two meanings to the 'puffy' connotation and they include:

1- The leather planner has a little bit of padding in between the covers. I'm not too sure if it's similar to the mint version, but for me, it doesn't seem to be too puffy
2- The flap with the pockets on the front cover does make the organiser a little bulky - especially when you have as many pages in your planner as I do. This is the reason why I tend to keep my Malden pockets empty in the front. But without even putting things in Kikki K's front cover, it's flap pocket nature has already puffed the whole organiser out by itself. So because of that, I'm a little hesitant about using it... for now.

But of course, different people will have different opinions and different needs, so what may not work for me, may work for you. It's still a beautiful organiser nonetheless!

Pimpin' My Filofax

As mentioned previously in my post, I have taken part in Filofax's recent Blogger challenge. The due date for the competition was in fact on the 4th of August, which for me, was quite a big rush because of two main reasons:
1- My Filofax arrived a little late due to Australia Post's lazy postman
2- The uni load that I was swamped with from the start of semester

Nevertheless, on Saturday (two days before closing date!), I managed to sit down and finally get my creative juices going. I must admit, I did at least two other pages before the final submission but they both failed miserably. I was going head first into it, trying to mix colours and extract ideas from all over the place, without ever stopping to think about what I really wanted to do. So I decided to just stop, breathe and plan my pages out.

I got my box of washi out, some embellishments from my big box of goodies, laid it all out in front of me, and divided them into what I wanted my page to have. I've always been a great fan of photography and travelling, so I knew I wanted to revolve my pages around that theme. And since my Filofax was a nice fresh blue, I knew I couldn't head for the vintage travel theme of primarily browns, greys and blacks, which I'm always accustomed to. So instead, I mixed it up with colour.

And here's what I managed to come up with:

My submission for the Blogger Challenge

I didn't use too many different things in this page. The list of items include:
1- Kaisercraft Collectables from the Happy Snaps collection
2- Kaisercraft Happy Snaps themed journal cards
3- Studio Calico Wood Veneer Camera
4- Typo triangle stickers to form the banner
5- Washi from MT, Daiso and various other sources.

I didn't want to overdo my pages with too many embellishments because after all, I wanted to make my pages work for an everyday lifestyle and not just for the sake of the competition. It isn't much, but I reckon I've done it to the best of my abilities.

But now that I've done this, it's all up to you lovely readers to vote for your favourite submission! All of the submissions have been posted up on Filofax's Facbook pages with the link to my picture being  picture here. Remember, if I come in first, second or third place, I will be getting free Filofaxes to be given to you wonderful readers! All you have to do is like like like! Voting ends 13th of August so get to it!

Your votes / likes will be greatly appreciated!
Much Love,
Nadia.

Filofax Finsbury Electric Blue Review

NB. I have changed my blog address, so what was previously known as Filosophical is now Letters in November!

And here it is, the final review of the Electric Blue Finny. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, and I'm already swamped with uni work despite the fact that it's only week one! But I'm sur you're not here to hear me whine, so let's get to it!

The Electric blue colour is lovely. It may not exactly be the blue everyone's hoping for (like my dearly missed Blue Finny), but it still holds its own charm. It's definitely a lot more on the purpley side though. But let's start with the unpacking pictures first, shall we?

As mentioned in my previous post, the lovely Nike from Filofax had given me this lovely Finny for the Pimp My Filofax blogger challenge (which I still need to get doing!). I still can't believe that this Filofax is mine to keep! And I can't believe Australia Post just left it on my doorway without ringing my doorbell to let me know that it arrived! Who knows how long it's been sitting on my front porch?! Not happy Australia Post!

Unraveling the envelope:

It came in that now common plastic that Filofax has replaced from the black box, and although I'm not too happy about the fact that they've done that, it's free so I can't complain.

All the pictures have been showing quite accurate representations of the actual colour, and as you can see, it's quite purple.

On the inside:

As usual with all Finnys, it wouldn't lay flat when I first got it. I've been training it recently to get it to lay flat, and so far, it's working!

The rings were good and tight, but as usual, the strap was made from all leather, meaning it's going to be a tight fit!

I moved into the Finny to try it out, and it actually seems to be a little bit more... narrower than my Malden. It kinda has that compact feel to it even though it has the same size rings as the Malden

But that's it from the Finny!