Filofax Pocket Willow Review and Giveaway!

As promised, the first round of giveaways starts today! I will first review the item (in this case, the adorable little Pocket Willow) before giving you the deets for this week's giveaway. You can read about the details of all the giveaways I'm holding this month here. So here we go:

Pocket Willow:

What can I say? It's adorable, and may have even changed my views on the Willow Filofax now that I can actually hold one! I must admit, I did look for this item on the market once upon a time, but because it wasn't leather (and because I know all I'll end up doing is sell it), I didn't go through with the purchase, and admittedly, I'm glad I didn't. Not to mention, isn't it funny how a few days ago, I wanted to try out a Pocket size Filofax again and well, now I actually can? And my verdict of whether I should get a pocket Filofax or not would definitely be a no. The size is just too small! Maybe it's just Willow (and the fact that it isn't leather), but I would definitely not bond with it whatsoever!

But before I get all opinionated on the item, let's just give a quick picture overview of the Willow:

Front with plastic covering

Back

Without plastic

The cover is actually squishy, much to my surprise. The strap isn't, mind you, because I didn't find out about its squishiness until I felt the cover hiding behind the plastic it came in.

The inside is baby pink with 4 card slots and one full-length vertical slot on the left and one phone / mini notepad / stickers / sticky note holder on the right:

Inside: doesn't lay completely flat yet but probably will with some training

Elastic Pen Loop!

It has a pink elastic pen strap which matches with the inside colour too.

It has the usual 6 rings which are 19mm, and for this Filofax, mostly gap-free except for rings 4 with a tiny gap and 5 which are slightly misaligned, but nothing that would cause any hassle or catch the papers in any way:

And now to a more detailed (and opinionated) review of the item. I will review the cover, pockets, and give my general opinions on it.

The first thing I will focus on is the material of the Pocket Willow:

Pros:

The colour inside and out is probably every girl's dream (even for a not-so-girly girl like me). The cover is comprised of tiny leaves of different colours (beige, light pink, pink, blue, purple) with a green backing, while the inside is just a plain baby pink colour, which matches quite nicely. I've read that some people might prefer the insides to match the green outer, but I think that would just create a green overload and wouldn't be as pretty as it currently is.

Cons:

It's not leather. This may appeal to some of you, but I'm a leather girl and I don't think I'll be able to live with a non-leather Filofax. And these are the reasons why:

1- It won't last. Maybe I'm wrong, but I always have this thought that it won't be as durable as a leather Filofax (though it does depends on the type of leather Filofax). But I've never had any fears with my Malden and it has lasted through all the times I've thrown it in my backpack (without any case whatsoever), thrown my backpack around with it inside, or thrown it around

2- It doesn't age like I want all my Filofax to do

3- It doesn't have that lovely leather smell!

But in particular to the Pocket Willow, it shows dents easily and scratches. Just a little press in with my nails and a little mark can be seen on the Willow. Maybe it's just the material it's made of, but I probably would never throw the Willow in my bag without a cover or something protecting it.

And one more thing that relates to the cover: the button on the strap seems to have super powers because it's actually pretty hard to unbutton it. When you do decide to unbutton it, the strap button pulls on the cover so much I was actually afraid that the button might pull away part of the cover material! And because it's so tight, I'm wondering if trying to open the button might cause a crease in the strap because of the force required to pull it backwards. Here's a little demonstration to make more sense of what I just said:

The Pockets:

This is not specific to the Willow nor a non-leather Filofax, I've seen this in the Cuban, Adelphi, Aston and probably a lot others, but I don't actually like these pockets:

I prefer pockets seen in the Holborn or Malden. I prefer the 'complete' pockets - those that are actually separated properly with stitching and not just a slit in the material. 

Because once you've slotted your cards in, stored it for a while and remove it, you can tell that it has expanded (even if a little) which can be unsightly. But that's just me

General Opinions:

Despite everything, it's still a nice product if you disregard everything I've said. It's nicely made and would be a great buy if you don't put too much thought into it (and if you can get it cheap, or free!)

The Giveaway:

So, if you absolutely do not care about my opinions and still hunger for a Pocket Willow or if you didn't read my review altogether and just went straight for the prize, here's the part where you've all been waiting for: the giveaway details

This week's giveaway was meant to be simple but because of a widget glitch I am forced to change this week's competition. All you have to do is email me with these details:
1- Your name
2- Why you want to win!
3- Put the subject as: Letters in November's Pocket Willow Giveaway!
My email: lettersinnovember@gmail.com

Once all those requirements have been done, you're officially in the draw of winning a brand spankin' new Pocket Willow. That's it! Couldn't be easier than that. Competition closes Saturday, 6th of September at 11:59PM. One winner will be chosen randomly and I will announce it on Sunday, 7th of September. A new competition will be held on the 8th of September, 2014.

Good luck to all!

COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

NB. I was not paid for this review. The lovely Nike from Filofax sent me this pretty little Willow as my winnings on the recent Pimp My Filofax challenge, but as you can see from my review, the fact that I got the item for free definitely did not influence my opinions in any way.