Goodbye Mini Malden

I could not justify keeping the cute mini Malden, I tried, really I did but it was just too small and quite frankly even as cute as it was I could not abandon my VDS. 

So back to the shop mini Malden went and I exchanged it for a beautiful bunny soft throw that Mr Malden and I are going to spend some snuggle time together with and I think he approves...

All we are waiting for now is for it to get cold enough to warrant lighting the fire and we are set!  Happy times ahead...unless of course the pussy cats get hold of the throw first in which case we've had it!

On the run up to Christmas and the new year we will have lots of snuggling down to plan sessions, lots of creative moments and lots of reflection to do so busy getting the room and necessary accessories (such as snugly throws obviously) ready and I can't wait for it all to start!!

So just having a bit of a test run - just to make sure all is working as it should....

Until next time, take care xxx

Weekly Layout in VDS

I hate this type of layout, it does not work for me at all!  A total waste of space on the right hand page...I thought I would love it as it gave me the space for lots of to-do's for the week but I ended up just using a post it note anyway!

So bearing in mind that there isn't much of the year left I thought I would quickly design some new pages to get me to the end of December before my new diary starts and so here it is...


This paper is cut up from an A5 sketchbook that was 110gsm paper and £1.39 for 30 pages so works out at 60 pages of A6 and I am so happy that it is thick enough so that my stamps don't bleed through to the other side :)

It's working well and I am loving this creative streak I have found, love it!

Until next time, take care xxx

Planner guilt

I tried it, I took everything out of my purse and put it in the Mini Malden.  I got out a smaller bag that I thought would work better, put in the malden and my keys etc...I felt sad.  I looked at my beautiful VDS sat there looking forlorn and just couldn't do it.  I took everything out, put it all back into my purse and retrieved my bigger bag and result, big smile again!  The Malden is being returned to the shop so someone else can enjoy him.

So to make the idyllic VDS happy, I have made him some new calendar inserts for 2015 so he knows that I wont even consider deserting him again, not even for five minutes!

The yearly overview for 2015 & 2016

Made an error with the hole punching so washi to the rescue!

Knew I'd missed something - rounded off the corners!

If I could only have two planner tools these would most definitely be it, the perfect hole punch and the corner rounder thingy...I love how classy this little thing makes the whole planner look.  I can't remember how much I paid for it, I'm thinking maybe £6 or so, I know it wasn't expensive but it really does take the whole thing up a notch when it comes to looking professional.  Could not be without it!  

Before anyone asks, these inserts were from an A6 diary that I bought from Tesco for £1.75 and ripped apart - I dread to think how much these would be from an official source, they are true A6 size so I'm thinking that I would only be able to get these from somewhere like Mulberry....and not at their prices!

I also did the same thing with a notebook and I am annoyed at myself now for not keeping the outer cover as I can't remember where I got it and it is such lovely paper in a soft ivory/cream colour - suits the chocolate VDS perfectly and that was only a few pounds.  That also didn't have rounded corners but does now!

I love that postcards also fit this planner perfectly and I keep seeing such awesome ones that I can't resist and I am going to end up filling it up too much just with postcards!  But this one that starts my Notes Section was too good to leave out...

Lots of playing, lots of creating but not a great deal of actual planning going on!!

That said, I don't have a great deal to plan as I am intending on becoming a free spirit in my free time and there's little point in scheduling my 'going to work' as that happens regardless!  With that in mind I will continue to use my planner for what I have always done, for notes and musings with the addition of the occasional appointment for the important stuff like hairdressers or vet visits!  Life doesn't need to be complicated and that's my plan going forward :)

Until next time, take care xxx

What uses for a mini Malden?

I am such a sucker for cute! I didn't even need this little guy but found myself buying him anyway just because he matched his big brother...I most definitely have issues but I acknowledge and accept them so that's ok :)

It's been a funny old week, I have had some revelations in my personal life following a conversation on Thursday with my Life Coach and I am feeling a bit odd about it all to be honest.  What I discovered after lengthy conversations and thinking time is that after all this, after all the time I have spent stressing out because I didn't know what I wanted out of life and berating myself for not 'trying harder' to accomplish the 'something' that I had no idea what the 'something' actually was...I have discovered that the 'something' wasn't actually anything at all! I am very happy with my life as it stands, I have a wonderful husband of almost 18 years, I have two wonderful kids that are happy and confident and getting on with their own lives and I have a wonderful home that I feel safe and comfortable with.  Even my job is quite a notable and I like the people I work with. I am very very fortunate and I am very very grateful for all I have. Now I feel a bit guilty for all the time I have wasted feeling as though there should be more...

My eldest son put it all into a simple statement to his Dad the other day and what he said pretty much stopped me in my tracks and brought a lump to my throat.  I'm sure most of you are aware of the thing on Facebook at the moment of posting 5 photographs that make you smile, well my hubby couldn't choose just 5 and put quite a few more on to which eldest said he was cheating, hubby replied with he didn't realise he had so much to smile about (this makes him sound like a miserable coot but he isn't, far from it!) but eldest son responded with this 

"Life's good, whats there not to smile about? Good job, Great Wife, 2 Kids that are still in higher education, Not doping up on corners and a House to call your own, Pretty sure you nailed it"

I'm sure that this is the life most people dream about...it was fantastic to have it confirmed by our child, we have nailed it.  As a family we have nailed it. I am so very very proud!!

It makes you stop and think though. I no longer have to feel guilty for not accomplishing the 'something' because I already have! It has now released me from so much pressure that I put on myself that I feel I can actually stop with the stressing and get on with doing the things that I enjoy, so I have bought myself a Kraft folder and I am going to get creative! I enjoyed my colouring in session so much last week that I have also bought some watercolour pencils and some more stencils and I am going to spend time in my room with my filofaxes and art stuff and get creative!

I am also going to get outside more with my camera and get photographing some stuff, which is what I bought it for two years ago and have never done anything with it! I may even go on a few short courses to embrace my creativity!  Maybe I can use one of my larger filos as a photographic journal of sorts to capture the memories...I think my A5 Domino Snake would lend itself well to that!

I could use one of my others for drawings, I'm not much good at drawing but then neither were some of the greatest artists! I think maybe the A5 Cuban Zip may be good for that with its many pockets for pencils and such...I've been too scared to use it but what's the point of having lovely stuff if it's left unused on a shelf? A bit like the 'Christmas cutlery' that we bought many years ago and only ever comes out at Christmas - probably just so we know we'll have enough matching cutlery for the huge family Christmas Day meal we have always done!  But then we always have mismatched plates anyway...so what's the point?!

I've been watching you tube videos of tutorials on this embossing powder stuff, it looks amazing and with my love of steampunk I have a zillion ideas racing through my head on the things I can create, the first being the Kraft folder - isn't that just crying out to be steampunked!?!

So after all these ideas I'm having, I still have no idea what to use the mini for!

Oh well, until next time, take care xxx

Initial set up for A5 Malden

Sitting at my desk and looking at the stash of stuff I have accumulated over the year(s) and I guess it is time to either use it or dispose of it.  I came across some stamps that I bought and had a bit of a play...

Autumn Days - Seriously, how cute are these hedgehogs!

I love this cat's expression!

Wouldn't hurt as a gentle reminder!

VDS and Malden with the help of Philofaxy!

All work and no play....

Right so despite my mammoth colouring in session - which I immensely enjoyed and will definitely be doing it more as I wonder why I ever stopped.  I used to love colouring in as a child, guess the grown up got the better of me - I did manage to get some pages designed but as I was looking for art work to accompany my template I got a bit distracted, as you do!

But the templates are done, with the help of Philofaxy, and I will now have to look for some good paper to print them out on as I think I want to decorate this A5 with stamps so I need to make sure that I don't get bleed through (I have noted that the Memento Ink bleeds through quite bad but the Ink It Up stuff is ok).  It'd also be awesome to be able to use my fountain pens!!

Here's a quick screen shot of where I got up to..

Slightly tweaked with images and a change of font

I have thoroughly enjoyed sitting in my new place surrounded by filofax stuff and a bit of creativity, it's been very calming and most pleasant!  I intend on spending at least 30 minutes before bed in here every night, planning out tomorrow and emptying my head of today so hopefully I will feel a lot more organised and calm.  Now doesn't that sound like an awesome plan!!

I will update as each of my sections materialise but until then, take care xxx

Moving forward with filofax

It isn't even anywhere close to New Year yet but already I am feeling the urge to make plans for 2015 so I am intending on spending the day contemplating, templating and setting up the framework for how I want things to be going forward into the New Year with a New Me!

I need to plan, and for this I am using my new A5 Malden in delectable grey to guide and steer me to where I want to be. 

I kind of think I know possibly, maybe, the kind of templates I want...I admit that these will change and evolve as time goes on and that is what is great about designing and printing your own stuff and by using an A5 it makes that process a whole lot simpler! 

My everyday is my beloved VDS in senior size which takes A6 inserts, another one that is easy to design and print so I think my life with personal size is over. They are just too difficult for me to size and print so I have at least found two sizes I am at total peace with!  Result!  I also find the A6 size more user friendly, the pages are shorter in length but they just seem so much less cramped than the personal size, I'm not sure why, maybe it is just because they are more square to look at?  I don't know but they work better for me.  I love this VDS so much I can not see me ever changing it unless I go for a customised one but it would be the same size for sure!

So onward with the planning in the Malden.  It's exciting stuff! I want to be able to record the following:

• Quick recap of the day
• Courses at college
• Personal appointments
• Exercise done
• Nutrition information
• Exercise information
• Personal Goals and the steps required
• Personal Projects and the steps required

I have a room all of my very own now since my eldest son left for university and I have redecorated it to my own style - which is slightly steampunk/vintage/shabby chic as I wanted a place where I could reflect and recharge. It is a beautiful room and I am really pleased with how it turned out, what do you think?

My writing bureau

My chill out area

My unfinished area with colour change light ball

I still need curtains and the unfinished area will have vintage postcards on and be under a sheet of Perspex to protect them. I've also got to build a shelf for my filofaxes over my bureau but for now they are happy there. - there are a few strays that haven't made it to the collection which is the VDS that lives in my bag, the Malden which is under construction and a lost Daytimer that I just cannot find but is about somewhere!

Time for me to,get designing....I will return with results!

Until then, take care xxx

A5 Grey Malden to the rescue

It is that time of year again when plans are being made for the New Year.  Resolutions to ourselves of what we are going to do different next year so we don’t make the same mistakes as this year.  

I am not going to do that this time.  I am fed up with starting the New Year with so many good intentions that I am doomed to fail before I even get properly started.

I am making mine now but they aren’t resolutions, they are promises to myself that I am going to treat myself better, look after myself better and end 2015 on a better note than 2014.  I started out this year, as many years before, with such a long list of things that I guess I was feeling very overwhelmed by the time 1 January arrived.  It was not a good start.

2014 has been a pretty good year – much much better than 2013 and a hell of an improvement on 2012 which was just the darkest year of my life ever!!  But I have so much more in store for 2015 and I can’t wait to get started, which is why I have already.

The following 12 months are going to see a change in my outlook, a change in my inlook and a change of look altogether!!

I am looking into developing my knowledge and understanding of diet, fitness and nutrition too.  I think that this would be a great place to start my new lifestyle.  ‘We are what we eat’ is such an old saying but I want to find out exactly what that means.

I want to perhaps do a course on this to see where that leads.  Everyone needs help sometimes – or like me, all the time!  I like to help people.  

I am also booked onto a workshop to become a Life Coach, I am currently doing a course on this but for myself and it has changed my life so much in just a few weeks that I thought I would look into what is required to become one myself and if I could help someone else as much as this one has helped me then that’d be fantastic!

I’d always thought that Life Coaching was something that other people did and that for someone like me it wouldn’t have much effect as I don’t actually do much.  How wrong I was.  As I said, it has changed so much in such a short time that I am quite astounded.

Anyway, my vision is that by the end of next year I will know which path I will be travelling.  It could be that I decide to stay on the path I’m already on but at least I will know that it is the right path and I’m not just bumbling along for the sake of just bumbling along and not having the bravery to change anything or step a toe out of my comfort zone.  Something tells me that I will be changing completely…

To help me along in my quest for change I am going to need to plan things out a little better.  I have all the tools I need and I just have to sit and think for a while...

So with that it mind and my new quest I had to buy another trusty steed to help guide me along the way and here he is...an A5 Grey Malden!! 

Hello Handsome!!

I always regretted selling my Vintage Pink one so when I saw this one - and managed to walk away but then spent the next 24 hours thinking about him, I went back to the shop in the hope that someone had bought him but no, he was sat there waiting for me so I had to purchase him.  I had to.

I will be setting him up today, he came with the vertical column diary for 2015 but I'm just not feeling it so I will use the remainder of the Paperchase one till the end of the year and then see if that is working for me but I will update as I go, so stay tuned for that!

Until next time, take care xxx