Unique Pocket Finsbury

I could not resist this beauty.  It was offered on the Facebook Site for a very good price and the idea of having one that is unique in its beauty was irresistible!

I don't really go for Finsbury's but after downsizing into a mini I realised that although majorly cute, it was just not big enough and so I up-sized a little into a pocket Chameleon.  I love the leather, the layout and the flexibility of this planner but the rings are just too small.  I did a bit of research and found that the Finsbury had the biggest rings at 19mm and the back wallet pocket and the zip pocket. It does only have two card slots at the front but I am using a separate leather card holder for any that aren't used daily.

Pocket Chameleon in raspberry

Rich purple

More bronze looking!

Inside with the polar bear :)

I really really love the colour of this, in some light it is almost bronze and it has an overall metallic look to it.  The only one downside is that my beloved pen, a Frixion Slim, does not fit in the pen loop, it may with some gentle coaxing but I don't have time for that at the moment so it is living in the rings for now.  The pages still turn so it's fine.

I have no purse/wallet now in my bag, just my Finsbury.  I have been able to downsize my bag too which has been wonderful!!  I 'found' this one in my wardrobe in its dustbag complete with tags...oops!  I think I was saving it for an occasion but since I don't ever have any occasions I have decided that every day is worth using the best stuff for, it makes me feel good and that can never be a bad thing so no more am I going to save the best for best - I'm worth it!

This is my Biba Blair bowling bag, It's so nice having a smaller bag!

Until next time, take care xxx

Off the Planner Rails

The slimline lasted for about a day until I transferred everything into my personal Portland - including my purse.

That lasted about two days until I decided that I spend far too much time and effort on what essentially is just a diary.  Do I really need all this additional hassle?  It isn't even as if I have such a busy life that I need to schedule every minute detail.  I am not into decorating them or making lists for the sake of making lists, I know what books I've read and I know what films I've seen (well I usually do by the last five minutes anyway!) but these are not things that I feel the need to track - I don't have enough time to read or watch films anyway I am too busy switching up my system or researching the latest fad in total planner peace....really?!

It is NOT important.

What IS important is taking the time:

• to study
• to spend time with my family
• to spend quality time with my husband
• to enjoy time socialising with friends

It is NOT important to colour code when the bins are emptied or documenting when I have drank 8 glasses of water!

I just needed a swift reality check, I don't know why it has taken so long for me to realise what is essentially common sense, or should be!!

So absolute 'time out' for me - I have decided to scale it all down and get things into perspective.  I have too much other important stuff to be spending my time on so welcome the little one...

She came with all the inserts, including WO2P 2015 calendar, addresses, tabs and notepaper so it seemed silly to just pay virtually the same price for inserts to use with my mini chameleon, plus I quite like the simpleness of the Domino and I love the bright pink colour!

I am downsizing everything.  I am following the Marie Kondo - Magic of Tidying Up - and if you haven't heard of it I can absolutely recommend it but only if you are wanting to declutter your whole life...well this is the effect it is having on me anyway and from the following on Facebook I am most definitely not the only one!

This week end I have cleared so much stuff...clothing mainly.  Well actually only clothing but it did require a trip to the charity clothes bin with a completely full car and my wardrobe and drawers are breathing a huge sigh of relief!

I will admit that it felt so good this morning to open my wardrobe and be able to see exactly everything and not have to fight with coat hangers to retrieve something - that also was not creased to within an inch of it's life!  My drawers were equally as pleasant...it was just a wonderful experience :)

I have the whole house to do so I am hoping that the enthusiasm and motivation last the distance...I am documenting some of the changes and I will update the blog as and when I get the chance...and I will NOT be scheduling it in my planner!!  Lol.

Until next time, take care xxx

A change in Planner Peace!

I've fallen off the peace wagon.

I'm not sure how it happened but I got the urge to go back to a pocket.  I created and printed all my new inserts in pocket size and when I picked up my Pocket Aston to set it up I found that I had already done it!  I don't recall doing it but it was pretty up to date...spooky!  I didn't need to put anything in other than the knick-knacks you have...my polar bear and paw charm obviously (even still had the polar bear dashboard that decorates all my planners no matter what size!).

I wanted to go back and try my friends VDS Junior but she'd sold it so I couldn't.  I didn't really like it when I tried it before and I think it was the ring size, it's only 16mm which is just too small.  My Chameleon is even smaller though at 15mm and although this was successfully used as a planner AND a wallet for quite a long time, I just didn't feel the urge to pick this one again.

The Aston has the most generous rings at 19mm and compared to the 20mm rings in the VDS Senior it didn't seem like I was giving too much up.  Although I love the A6 insert size I could use in the Senior, it just weighs so much.  Infact my whole bag weighs so much!

Last week I was in Cyprus with just a little crossbody bag containing my phone and my lipgloss.  The money was in the zipped pocket and the bag had built in card slots.  It was fabulous!!  Small, light and held everything I seemed to need for the whole week, even had our passports, boarding pass and parking permit in it too.

So getting back to normal I picked up my handbag to go to work and oh. my. word.  What the hell have I got in there??  It weighed pretty much the same as my suitcase!!  By the end of the day my shoulder and back were aching.

Back to the Pocket Aston then with the WO2P layout, some to-do paper, notepaper, address sheets and finance sheets.  I took out all the divider tabs as I don't like how they squash up against the pen loop but I will make at least one more divider - in glitter of course - to mark the end of the calendar and start of the 'stuff'.

Now that I no longer have that huge back pocket I needed to get some zipped pockets to hold the stickers etc that I use - and I only use two sorts so that's no major issue.

I did all that and then changed my mind again.

I am now trying out the slimline Regency and I have redone all my inserts and I think it may work for me...the rings are so tiny but I have a years worth of WO2P and some notepaper which is all I really use anyway.

I have to admit that I do like the slimline and compacts as the rings don't tend to be an issue so maybe I should see this as a huge advantage! It also means that I can't fill it with unnecessary stuff.  It has everything I need it to have...

• Diary
• Notepaper
• Card slots
• Pen

I really don't need any more than that!  I do my personal planning in my A5's at home so so long as I have some notepaper or post it note I really don't need to have any more sections than two in my everyday carry. 

I'm not saving much space in my bag going from the senior to a personal size but the difference in weight is A LOT!!