Friday 29 June 2012

Filofax Blog of the Week: Lime Tree Fruits

It's Blog of the Week time again, where each week a different blogger walks us through their Filofax blog.  
This week, it's Lime Tree who introduces Lime Tree Fruits.


When did you start your blog?

The last day of December, 2011.

What were your reasons for starting it?

I first just wanted to share my new year’s resolution of being more organized. That really became a journey-resolution of a more mindful me throughout those first few months. I knew that going back to paper and pen would be the main part of that journey and Filofax played a crucial role on that. My blog although short has been an amazing rewarding experience.

Which post has enjoyed the most pageviews?

The New Filofax is here! post. No wonder, it is such a beautiful Filofax! .

Which post is the one you’re most proud of?

The Filofax Effects post. It is a very honest post that reflects a tiny bit of that transition from just being organized to actually impacting and changing my life. It barely scratches the surface of how important that transition into paper has been for me but I really enjoyed writing it. 

What has surprised you since you started blogging?

How people are really open to hearing what you have to say and there always seems to be someone that had the same experience you are describing. It is a very different world that online one; it is surprisingly very tight knit, meaningful and connected.

In one sentence, how would you describe your blog to a Filofax user who hadn’t seen it?

It is a blog about finding yourself thru paper and pen starring Filofaxes!

Finally, what one piece of advice would you offer to other Filofax bloggers, based on your own experience?

Pictures, pictures, pictures! People love them! Put lots of pictures out there of your set up! Even if you have to blur the parts that have something personal written down. Pictures make your blog inviting, easy to understand, and fun!

My thanks to Lime Tree for participating.

If you own a Filofax blog and would like it to be featured in this series, please complete the questionnaire.


Sunday 24 June 2012

A tour of my Business A5 Filofax

I've posted about my business setup before, but not in any detail, so I thought I'd provide a brief tour.

This is my business Filofax. It's a Kensington leather A5. And, yes, it is black. Very, very black.


It's important to point out that I don't use this as my day-to-day Filofax. Most of the time I just carry a Personal (currently a brown Holborn), but I dust off this A5 when I'm off to see or work for a client and need to have lots of information to hand. Typically, it will be full but not bulging.


OK, then. Let's open her up.



For business, I think it is important that the setup should look professional. Consequently, my dividers are plain white card with some laminated tabs that I've pre-printed (details and template can be seen in this post.) Here is the view from the front of the binder...


... and from the back:


Turning to content, my diary section contains my Two-Page-Per-Day layout for the duration of the project. Here is an example day.


That was the day I met the Premier of Bermuda, quite a memorable day.

Most of the Filofax is filled with papers that are relevant to the client I'm working with. These documents were originally created in A4 or Letter format, so I just have to print them in booklet format on regular A4 paper, then use a guillotine to reduce them to A5 pages.

Here is an example from the 'Reports' section.



And here is a spread from 'Analysis'.


This is from the 'Tools' section.


I hope you enjoyed this tour of my business Filofax. I'd be very interested in leaning what other business users put in theirs.

New Week-on-Two-Pages Pocket Filofax diary to download


I recently posted a new layout in Personal size that was inspired by Filofax's Cotton Cream Week-on-two-pages. I'm now releasing a version in Pocket size.

Weekend days are afforded as much respect as those in the working week, while each week's layout begins with a 'This Week' space for notes and all-week items (for tracking habits perhaps?)

You can download this layout as a prepared set or you can download the source files to adapt the design for yourself.

Click to enlarge

Pre-prepared sets

You can download the 2012 set as a Word file or as a PDF file.

You can download the 2013 set as a Word file or as a PDF file.

Print this double-sided. If you have a duplex printer, set it to flip on the short edge. If you don't then you'll have to print odd-numbered pages and then refeed to print the even-numbered pages on the reverse. You might have to experiment to find out how to refeed the paper.

On one side of each sheet you'll find crop marks. Use a craft knife and a steel ruler to release the Pocket pages and punch them. The templates are set up with mirrored gutters to accommodate the holes.

If using the PDF be sure to set it to print at full size as explained here.


Source files

You can also roll your own using our source files. You'll need this Word file and this Excel file.

If you want to know how to go about using the source files, this post will help you.

Friday 22 June 2012

Filofax Blog of the Week: Filo-Manie


Since I began the 'Blog of the Week' feature I've learned an awful lot about how and why people write about their Filofaxes. The variety of approaches is very wide and I love them all.  

This week, Renate introduces us to Filo-Manie.



When did you start your blog?

On April the first in 2012..

What were your reasons for starting it?

I´ve been looking and reading around so many blogs concerning Filofax-topics for many weeks. I´ve profitted so much from all the people sharing their ideas. That´s why I started to share my ideas or questions.

Which post has enjoyed the most pageviews?

The post about my Mini Malden, Addition to the Family.

Which post is the one you’re most proud of?

These are the posts about my Work-Filofax At Work and Update: At Work, because they show its set-up including selfmade inserts. I learned this from you, Ray - that´s why I tried to create own pages... :-D

What has surprised you since you started blogging?

It´s surprising and exciting to see, how many people round the whole world not just use their organisers, but live in it!

In one sentence, how would you describe your blog to a Filofax user who hadn’t seen it?

It´s mostly about my obsession with Filofax and a little bit about other obsessions, e.g. reading.

Finally, what one piece of advice would you offer to other Filofax bloggers, based on your own experience?

Just post about what´s on your mind concerning your Filofax, what your ideas are, what your questions are... share everything about your Filofax-life!

My thanks to Renate for participating.

If you own a Filofax blog and would like it to be featured in this series, please complete the questionnaire.


Wednesday 20 June 2012

Making photographic dividers at home for your Filofax

When I posted recently about my new dividers, I received a lot of positive feedback through comments and via Twitter. I was also asked for a tutorial. I made mine using the methods I outlined in my post on quick and easy Filofax dividers, but I thought it might be useful to provide a bit more help in the way of a template people can download and use to make the whole process easier.

So, here it is, my new divider template which is built in Word:

Click to enlarge

Each page will end up being printed on A4 card and contain two different Personal-size dividers, with crop marks to make cutting them out easy. All you need to do is add your pictures, and delete the tabs you don't need. Each template has six, evenly-spaced tabs but you could easily alter the template to cater for - say - ten tabs if that better meets your needs.

When you add pictures, you'll need to position, size and crop them. This will be hard if you don't know how to make pictures 'float' in a Word document. To do this, once your picture is in the document, right-click on the picture and from the pop-up menu, select 'text wrapping', then 'behind text'. You can then drag the picture around at will.

Study the illustration below to see what all the marks and shapes in the template are for:

Click to enlarge

If you've done everything right, you'll end up with a document that looks like this:

Click to enlarge

Print this on card, crop using the marks, taking care around the tabs, then punch as usual. You can wrap some clear plastic film around the tabs and cut off the excess if you want the dividers to last longer. If you look at the dividers that came with your Filofax, you'll notice this is what they do with the standard dividers.

Anyway, if you have that creative feeling you can download the Word file and get started.

Monday 18 June 2012

My new set of Filofax dividers

For a while I have wanted to make dividers from some nice photographs, so I sat down with Google images to find some nice architecturally-themed ones. I wanted some dividers that were a little more masculine than the home-made ones you often see, but you could use any pictures at all.

I printed them on card and cut them to size with tabs, using the method I recently shared here. I added a little longevity to the tabs by wrapping them in clear adhesive film and removing the excess with a knife. If you look at the standard Filofax dividers you'll notice they do exactly the same thing.

Then it was simply a matter of getting the label machine out. I use the 'box' setting on my labels, which makes them easy to then cut down to size, as explained in this post.

And here is the finished set:



Sunday 17 June 2012

New Filofax A5 Week Per Page layout


This one is based on a Philofaxy reader request which Steve created fairly quickly from one of our existing templates.

Click to enlarge

You can download this layout as a prepared set or you can download the source files to adapt the design for yourself.

Pre-prepared sets
Print this double-sided. If you have a duplex printer, set it to flip on the short edge. If you don't then you'll have to print odd-numbered pages and then refeed to print the even-numbered pages on the reverse. You might have to experiment to find out how to re-feed the paper.

The templates are set up with mirrored gutters to accommodate the holes.

If using the PDF be sure to set it to print at full size as explained here.

Source files


You can also roll your own using our source files. You'll need thisWord file and thisExcel file.

If you want to know how to go about using the source files, this post will help you.

Friday 15 June 2012

Print your own Filofax Travel Journal - now in Pocket size


I recently created a Travel Journal for the Personal Filofax you could print at home. No sooner was it online than the clamour began for a Pocket size version. Today I am releasing one.

As before, at the heart of the journal is a two-page spread. You can use one of these for each day of the trip.

Click to enlarge

I've also built Pocket size end pages. If you want to see how these are used, have a look at the original post.

You can download the pages either as editable Word files or as PDF files. If using the PDF versions remember to set your printer settings so as not to shrink the pages.

Download the main pages as a Word file or a PDF file.

Download the end pages as a Word file or a PDF file.

Each file should be printed double-sided with the duplex set to flip along the short edge. You can then cut out and punch individual pages as outlined in this post.

Happy travels!

Filofax Blog of the Week: LJ's Blog of Stuff


My 'Blog of the Week' feature introduces a different Filofax blog each week. 

This week, Lindsay guides us through LJ's Blog of Stuff.



When did you start your blog?

October 23rd 2011.

What were your reasons for starting it?

I started the blog mainly because I decided to take the 101 Things in 1001 Days challenge and needed to be accountable - you can see more about the full reasons in this post.

Which post has enjoyed the most pageviews?

All the ones that involve my filofaxes have had more pageviews than any others (thanks to Philofaxy and Steve and all the wonderful filo fans who visit). But the clear winner is this one when I was having a bit of an issue with my new setup.

Which post is the one you’re most proud of?

It just took me a lot of thinking to decide, but then I remembered this post. It's not so much that I am proud of anything that I did in this post, but am so proud of my little chap so intently playing with his Filofax - which, by the way, is next to his bed most nights and no doubt he will be needing more paper soon to go in it as he'll be running out of space :o)

What has surprised you since you started blogging?

The number of people who have visited from Philofaxy and left comments - I really love getting comments on my posts. They give me more ideas for things I can try in my filos, and encourage me to carry on blogging as we all know that most friends and family just don't get it, so it is nice to know that there are all these other amazing filo fans out there.

In one sentence, how would you describe your blog to a Filofax user who hadn’t seen it?

It's just a bit of random FF stuff with pics, cries for help and filo worship :o)

Finally, what one piece of advice would you offer to other Filofax bloggers, based on your own experience?

To someone who is unsure about whether to start blogging because they're worried that friends and family may see it, or because they don't feel confident enough for other people to see their thoughts - go for it!!! I felt like that when I started and now as soon as I have done a post I link it on my Facebook status. Most people don't even look, but I haven't had any negative feedback and everyone now knows that I am obsessed with my filos and stationery, and there is nothing wrong with that.

My thanks to Lyndsay for participating.

If you own a Filofax blog and would like it to be featured in this series, please complete the questionnaire.


Friday 8 June 2012

Filofax Blog of the Week: Paper Lovestory

It's that time again. 'Blog of the Week' looks at a different Filofax blog each week in the company of the blog's owner.

This week, Angela walks us through Paper Lovestory.



When did you start your blog?

27th of July 2010.

What were your reasons for starting it?

I've had blogs before from ones about fashion (briefly!) to a personal one but I felt the one I currently have is the most accurate representation of my interests. I am a geek and so blogging about stationery, GTD, organisation, Filofaxes, etc. comes naturally but the blog also gives me an outlet to occasionally blog about fashion too (but linking it into stationery, such as a post I did last month about the sorbet trend where I incorporated Filofaxes!). Also, I love engaging with people and a blog allows me to do that.

Which post has enjoyed the most pageviews?

My post about how I organise my lecture notes but it's closely followed by my filofax week #2. With the latter being a very new thing I've introduced (and I don't think any other blog does this so this is a unique thing - maybe why there are so many views??) so it's very surprising that it's only a few page views behind the one on lecture notes.

Which post is the one you’re most proud of?

I think my best posts are the one where I use more pictures to illustrate my point than words. And because I did love my Affair when I had it, it has to be this post where I showed how I set up my Affair. It is a Compact size too which is very different to the larger rings of the Finchleys I have so it was a challenge for me to set up in the first place and it was delightful to share the finalised set up with my readers.

What has surprised you since you started blogging?

Just that people are reading it! I'm just your average geek who is still learning the ropes of life, organisation and everything else and the fact that some of the things I say interest people enough to come back and visit and also read what I have to say surprises me a lot! Also, how sometimes blogger's block can take over my mentality so that I don't have anything to write for ages. Hence another reason why I started the 'my filofax week' feature as that gives me something to blog about once a week. However, I usually have a few posts scheduled for at least the next three weeks so having a bout of blogger's block isn't too much of a problem usually.

In one sentence, how would you describe your blog to a Filofax user who hadn’t seen it?

A blog from a girl who loves stationery, fashion and organisation.

Finally, what one piece of advice would you offer to other Filofax bloggers, based on your own experience?

Customise your layout! A custom header gives readers something visual to associate with your blog and I use my layout, header and colour scheme used to reflect my own personality. Obviously, make sure the colours and layout are easy on the eye too as bright red on a black background may seem a genius idea after a few glasses of wine but it really isn't when sober (which is the usual state when reading blog posts!)

My thanks to Angela for participating.

If you own a Filofax blog and would like it to be featured in this series, please complete the questionnaire.


Monday 4 June 2012

My hybrid business card index cards

It's often necessary to pass on my business contact details to people I meet, and I used to use professionally-printed business cards to do that. Sometimes I still do. But I have discovered a better way, and one that allows me to leave a more memorable impression on my contacts.

I print my own 3x5 index cards bearing my contact details. They look like this:

My business contacts get my contact details, but they also get a handwritten note above them. To make sure I always have something to write, I've omitted my mobile phone number from the printed details.

You could print these straight onto index cards, but I make mine on A4 paper, three to a sheet, using Microsoft Publisher. A printed sheet looks like this:


The printed crop marks make it very easy to cut these out, and a supply of them lives in one of the full-length pockets in my Filofax.

Sunday 3 June 2012

Free Filofax Pocket day-on-two-pages diary to download


This one is based on a Philofaxy reader request which Steve passed on to me to produce a Pocket version of this popular layout.

Click to enlarge

You can download this layout as a prepared set or you can download the source files to adapt the design for yourself.


Pre-prepared sets

You can download the 2012 set as a Word file or as a PDF file.

You can download the 2013 set as a Word file or as a PDF file.

Print this double-sided. If you have a duplex printer, set it to flip on the short edge. If you don't then you'll have to print odd-numbered pages and then refeed to print the even-numbered pages on the reverse. You might have to experiment to find out how to refeed the paper.

On one side of each sheet you'll find crop marks. Use a craft knife and a steel ruler to release the Personal pages and punch them. The templates are set up with mirrored gutters to accommodate the holes.

If using the PDF be sure to set it to print at full size as explained here.


Source files

You can also roll your own using our source files. You'll need this Word file and this Excel file.

If you want to know how to go about using the source files, this post will help you.

Friday 1 June 2012

Filofax Blog of the Week: Joshua Buffum LaPorte


What I really enjoy about preparing 'Blog of the Week' is getting the opportunity to look in depth at such a wide range of blogs all devoted to Filofax.  

This week, Josh introduces us to the Joshua Buffum LaPorte blog.



When did you start your blog?

I joined Tumblr a couple of years ago, and have gone through fits of posting between long pauses.

What were your reasons for starting it?

I started using Tumblr to share photos and give myself an outlet for my various interests. As I became focused on time management and planning, largely due to changes at work, I found it helpful to write about it and summarize what I was learning in the blog format. Then I found that short videos work well when I want to demonstrate something. While Filofax seems to be marketing its product as a fashion accessory, I use mine first and foremost as a tool, and I like to speak to that in my blog and video posts. As you can see by visiting, I also comment on non-filofax stuff and or share images and video and such that strikes my fancy.

Which post has enjoyed the most pageviews?

I've no idea! Tumblr doesn't do a page counter "out of the box," and I've never felt the need to add a widget. I was interested in Steve Morton's post of tips for filofax blogs, which seemed to point to tips to build and sustain a readership. I've not concerned myself with this, but it does certainly feel nice when people complement me on a post or video!.

Which post is the one you’re most proud of?

I think that my early Filofax Love post is my favorite. I think that putting my process of landing on a portable looseleaf binder type system helped me process through the advantages of this type of system.

What has surprised you since you started blogging?

That people are interested in what I have to say! I've really learned so much, and I love how sometimes when I demonstrate a problem with a specific insert or process, someone chimes in a comment explaining the work around or what have you to solve it!

In one sentence, how would you describe your blog to a Filofax user who hadn’t seen it?

A highly personal blog detailing my interests and how I've made paper planners work for my needs. (cheesy beyond belief. Sorry!)

Finally, what one piece of advice would you offer to other Filofax bloggers, based on your own experience?

If you are interested in more than just filofaxes, just go ahead and talk about what interests you!

My thanks to Josh for participating.

If you own a Filofax blog and would like it to be featured in this series, please complete the questionnaire.


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