Pimp my Filofax*

I was recently contacted by the lovely people at Filofax, asking if I’d like to take part in a blogger challenge called ‘Pimp my Filofax.’ For anyone that knows me, you will know how much I love organising! I’m a massive fan of journals, organisers, lists – I could go on, and the thought of making my Filofax pretty obviously appealed. They very kindly sent me this gorgeous lilac Personal Filofax* to pimp and I was so excited to receive it.

I already have a Filofax for my day-to-day organisation, but thought I could perhaps use this one for organising my blogging schedule. It’s the perfect size for popping in my handbag and jotting down ideas in when I’m on the move. The inside cover has a large pocket for slipping in any notes you might gather during the day, then a couple of smaller pockets that you could maybe put some stamps or other small things in.

My first task was to find a pretty pen to use with the Filofax. I had a little rummage in my pen pot on my desk and found this gorgeous Cath Kidston-esq biro that I thought would be the perfect choice. I’m not quite sure where it came from as I think it was a gift, but I know I’ve seen similar pens in Wilkinsons and Home Bargains.

Next up was having a think about how to personalise the inside of the Filofax. The calendar that came with the organiser was for 2015, so I didn’t want to start filling it in, because I obviously don’t know what I’ve got planned for 2015 yet! But I thought I’d start to put together some ideas to show you how I plan to decorate it when the time comes. I’ve been a little obsessed with washi tapes recently, so I had a rummage through my collection to see if I could find some that complemented the lilac cover. I managed to find these three pretty tapes, all in different shades of purple, which I think will look great stuck across the tops of the calendar pages.

I’m pretty crazy about stickers, and I wanted to find some that I could decorate my pages with. I’d actually like to have found some cute calendar event stickers, but sadly wasn’t able to find what I wanted (if you know of any cute stickers for Filofax organisers please let me know in the comments!) However, a pen pal sent me these adorable French inspired stickers, which I thought would be great for decorating the pages of my calendar! I like to think that it could be me riding the bicycle with the little dog in the basket! I am, after all, on the search for a vintage style bicycle!

When I was thinking about personalising my Filofax I had a browse through some Filofax pages on Facebook and Instagram to try and get some inspiration. I noticed a lot of Filofax owners used pretty dividers to separate different parts of their planner, and knew I needed to look out some of my own. I checked out good old Etsy and eBay, where I found hundreds of different Personal size dividers, and decided to choose these pink and purple dividers, as I thought they would compliment the lilac exterior. I’m thinking of perhaps using my Dynamo Embosser label maker for labelling up the different dividers so I know what I’m looking for.

With my personal Filofax I have a little bookmark that came with it, which I use to keep track of where in the year I am. Unfortunately this Filofax didn’t come with a bookmark, but a friend sent me this gorgeous little fox paperclip, which I have decided to use as a page marker. It’s far more cute and exciting that a boring old bookmark!

Last but not least, I’m so excited to be able to start filling out the pages of the Filofax, and to do this I will be using a selection of coloured pens. I love that feeling you get at the beginning of a new year when you are presented with a whole year of blank pages. I think it’s incredibly exciting having a whole year of new possibilities, so I want to capture this excitement with pretty colours! I like to colour code things, so, for example, birthdays will be in pink, appointments in blue, blog posts in green and vlog posts in orange (or something along those lines!)

I’m having great fun pimping my Filofax and can’t wait to get it all set up and sorted for the beginning of 2015. If you’re a Filofax fan I would really recommend this lilac Filofax – it’s a great size and there are so many different inserts you can get for it (both official and unofficial from places like Etsy and Pinterest). Thank you to Filofax for giving me the opportunity to personalise this organiser – it’s been great fun!

Are you a fan of organising and using a planner or Filofax? Can you recommend any inserts or fun ways to personalise a Filofax? I’d love to discover more inserts and pretty ways to make my Filofax my own so please do comment about what you’ve found!

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