Filofax Pretties: Week 34 Decoration

This week features some beautiful HEMA tape which I didn't even buy! It's my friends, but good friends share their washi and this was the result. It's just so lovely, I'll have to go back and buy some for myself! 

August Playlist: Relaxing...

I haven't shared a playlist with you guys in forever. So here is one from this month featuring songs I have been listening to a lot. It's a bit of a depressing one but don't think of it as depressing, think of it as relaxing! 

Enjoy! I'll be back with a more upbeat playlist later this month! 

Filofax Pretties: Planner Essentials

Today I'll be sharing with you some of my planner essentials. I don't know about you, but if I don't make time to decorate my planner then I don't really take time to look at it either. If I make an effort with my planner I'm much more likely to not forget that I have to go to the doctor or something else that is very important to my life (like shopping!). 

So let me run through some of my planner essentials with you! 

1. Probably the most important thing is a pen! You can never have too many pens, whoever told you that is probably your husband who doesn't understand what we go through and the fact that we really do need this many pens and this many planners and this many rolls of washi tape. Thankfully I don't have one of those husband types yet so let the spending and useful pen buying continue!

• I think it best if you have a pencil to quickly scribble things in that might need confirming at a later date. For example, you have a biiiig group of friends because you're very popular (Go You!) and you plan to have a girls night maybe some time next week and some people have confirmed they can do a date and some people still need to check that they can make it. You grab your pencil and quickly write it in because that date might change but now at least you won't make plans and then be double booked! Clever! 
• Another handy pen to have are these fancy new erasable pens which write like real pens do but you can erase them like you would erase a pencil! Even cleverer! You can find them almost anywhere with big brands like Signo and Pilot making them. I prefer these ones from Muji because I like their price and they come in a whole range of colours and have refills available in all the colours. 
• Lastly, you need a pen that you can write on washi with so I present the Stabilo Write-4-All Fine. A snazzy pen for all your washi tape writing needs. Like the name suggests, it writes on most surfaces which is especially handy as washi tapes can come in all sorts of textures. A definite firm favourite with me. This brings me to my next essential, washi tape! 

2. Washi, glorious washi! If ever there was a planner supply I loved, this is it. It makes everything so much easier. As mentioned in my previous post, you can write things on there and you don't have to commit like when you write things straight onto the paper! In pen!! Sacrilege! You can find washi for really good prices and they come in so many different designs. They can be found at fancy retailers like eBay, Paperchase, Hema and so on.

3. This is a real handy nugget of information that has saved me so many times. After you get some washi, it is handy to roll off some bits onto a rectangular bit of plastic or card. That way you can store it in your planner for then you're out and about. Then if you need a bit, it's right there and it takes up hardly any room! Once I was at the post office and I'd forgotten to tape up a package but there was no need for panic because I just whipped out my portable washi and the day was saved, even though my sister was laughing at me because she thought I was ridiculous. Jokes on her.

4. Paper clips! I probably don't use paper clips as much as some people, but I'm so glad I have them for when I do need them. They're so useful for clipping things into your planner like vouchers to use on a specific day, receipts, inspirational quotes etc. You can also use them just to pretty up pages and with the huge range of paper clips there is no shortage of pretty, trust me! Recently I have become addicted to magnetic bookmarks because they are so pretty and don't take up as much space as normal paper clips so your planner doesn't become that bulky. Hooray for paper clips!

5. And finally, sticky notes. Again, you need to trust me when I say you can never have too many of these. Once you start buying them, you won't be able to stop because you'll suddenly see them everywhere in cute little designs, drawing you in with their cuteness! It's all good though, they are excellent for lists, for placing on dashboards, and for writing things down that you might not necessarily want to keep in your planner forever. They are also excellent for making pages look pretty and also hiding things you don't want nosy people to see.

Well that's all I think you need. I hope you found this helpful! If you know of any other things that you think are essential in your planners, please leave a comment below!

Filofax Pretties: How Useful is a Monthly Planner?

I currently use a monthly planner and also a weekly planner. I know there are some people who find that using both renders one of them obsolete but I find it so handy to have both. I use my monthly planner to write down plans that are happening well into the future and to keep track of birthdays and special dates. I also get my work hours for the month so it's nice to have them written down in one place where I can just look at it in one go. Hence why it's called month at a glance!

I almost never write anything directly on the page. There's this wonderful thing called washi tape and it's re-positionable so if a plan changes I can just lift it up and move it to where it needs to be. If a shift at work gets changed, I can just peel it off, chuck it in the bin and write a new one. It's so much nicer than crossing things out or using correction tape. It makes my heart happy because everything looks so much neater.

 It's also cool because you can do so much lovely colour coordinating and who doesn't love that. I love my monthly planner probably more than my weeklies because it lets me see into the future. Don't give up on monthly planners, just learn to love them!

Filofax Pretties: Week 32 and 33

I don't really know where week 33 has gone because as you can see I haven't written anything in it. I have lots of catching up to do. Thankfully I have my trusty Saffiano which has everything that I've done this week written down. It's excellent because I don't have to rely on my rubbish memory. If I had to do that, this wonderful layout would stay blank. I can't even remember what I had for breakfast. Did I even have breakfast? Hmm...

SoJoey: New Fabric for New Projects!

There are times when I have extreme moments of self doubt and I say to myself:  'I can't do this.' That only happens in the moments of great frustration when I'm unpicking something a million times. Then I think about how far I've come and how my abilities are much improved and that's when I know that I can do these things. I wouldn't be where I am now if I didn't try things and if I didn't make mistakes. I have a dream that my planner covers will be a great success and I can't move forward if I don't take risks.

So the best way to move forward is to keep trying even though it might not work out. At least I will know that I gave it my best shot. I like doing what I'm doing, so I'm going to keep doing it. I don't think that all the crafty people I look upto got to where they are without making a few mistakes.

I have big plans for my sewing and as a result I spent a lot of time buying maybe more fabric than I need at the moment but they're so pretty and I will use them so it's justified!

Aren't they exquisite? I hope to make many new things with my fabric. These will soon be going up on Etsy for planner covers and a few pencil cases so please keep an eye out. In the mean time, the planner covers that are already up on my Etsy are on sale now and there is also free shipping with the code FREESHIP.

Filofax Pretties: Using HEMA for Week 32 + SoJoey Inserts

This morning when I was thinking about decorating my Filofax, I had a thought that I didn't want to use my new things on Filofax pages. I wanted to use them on my pages. I haven't made personal pages for myself so I quickly rustled these up and printed them and then got to work! I really like my own pages so I should probably do some more for the following weeks! The only thing that sways me to do my own pages is the quality of the paper. I can't deal with not being able to use any pen on the Filofax paper. It drives me crazy! 

How nice is the washi!? I really like the text one! They're going to make my letters look extra special!
You can click here to see some other HEMA goodies that I bought. 

HEMA Haul

Words can not express how happy I am that a HEMA store has opened in the UK. Not only that, but it's in Bromley which is easily accessible and that fills me with as much happiness as a room without a roof. Back in the day when I used to have summer trips to Holland, I used to love going into HEMA so much! It's a store that does literally everything and everything is always so pretty!

I decided beforehand that I would control myself and wouldn't go crazy when I got there. I had to have so much restraint!!!! I really did want everything. Their stationery is just so so nice and I wanted to buy it all! Thankfully I managed to not put everything in my basket, but I did still come out with quite a lot of things.

Are you just exploding with how pretty it is?! And it's all good value for money too. I got all these goodies and a couple of extra things for less than £20. It's unheard of really! I will definitely be going back after the next pay day...maybe even before!

Click here to see how I've used my new goodies to decorate my Filofax for this week!