My latest addition...

Oh wow it has been ages since I posted! Until this week, my planner usage was pretty consistent so there was not too much to talk about anyway. But last week I became the proud owner of my first Original Filofax - a Personal in Retro Brown! 

The leather is absolutely gorgeous, and I love how it looks. The only negative point I have found so far is that the pen loop is not very big and in my opinion poorly placed. My Filofax is not very full at all, but look how stretched she is!

See - bless her! This is one good looking Filofax though:

Anyway, on to the set-up. She was purchased to be used as my work planner for 2015, but I simply could not wait that long to use her, so I moved out of my Apex for the next few months.

These are my three funky tabs made with the paint chips Sheena sent me from the US - thanks girl! I have stuck to three tabs in here - people for penpals and Postcrossings, Business for Etsy and Create for blog and whatever else I decide - at the moment it is stuffed with lots of lined paper. I have a 2015 WO2P diary hiding at the back ready for next year.

I took the picture below before I realised the pen was too big, but I have gone simple yet smart for her opening look - thanks to my dashboard from www.tweetiepiecollage.etsy.com - go check her out!

See how perfect both the planner and the dashboard are for fall/autumn? I could not have put her away till next year!

In review, I LOVE this planner but am not happy with that pen loop - it is too small and means that the tabs I have stick out to far to work properly so may need to change them. It is lovely though and would not put me out buying another, especially if I manage to find one of the ones with the longer strap!

Thanks for persevering and waiting for this post - am going to think about what my next post will be! Thanks for reading.

Emma xx

Finally, my A5 Kikki.k Set-Up...

I know, I know - I have been away for way too long. That's because I was messing about with my setup and did not want to post it incomplete on here (slight OCD!). So here we finally are - hope you think it was worth the wait!

 I love how she looks with you open her with her fall dashboard. I have airmail stickers and customs labels in the zipped pocket, and some kikki.k stickies in the pocket behind.

I prefer my stickies on the back of my dashboard, and love having this selection ready to use! I have bought loads of stickies and have only just started to really use them, so thought that adding a selection here would encourage me to use more of them.

I've kept the paper flag that comes in the time planners and added it to the first tab with the ADORABLE magnetic page clips I ordered at the same time. The cute cat clip is from my sister and I believe was from ebay - but I could be wrong!

The tabs are really good quality but did not say what I wanted them to, so I washi taped the edges (thanks Sheena!) and labelled them myself. I have the following tabs:

1)Yearly
2)Monthly
3)Weekly
4)ACIB (banking exam)
5)Books
6)Food
7)Notes

I have kept the kikki.k inserts for next year, but as I wanted to use the planner straight away I have been trying out different diary inserts per month.

As you saw in my previous post, I have been using the DIYFish inserts for September, which I loved but are way too detailed for little ol' me, so I have changed for October. (Will be keeping the In Review section BTW but not sure how I will present that yet!) So, my October inserts are from Wendy (ms_wenduhh on Instagram I believe, but I couldn't find her yesterday so please correct me if I am wrong) and she emailed me the basic file so that I could adapt it for my purposes:

The biggest change is that I am using DO1P now, but I think that this should be more than sufficient as it has space for everything I need. Left the top box blank but as I now have a use I will add the title to the rest of the month when I print it.

Love this Project Life dog-themed cards - perfect for logging vets/groomers dates! Have one in my pocket Willow for the rest of this year but will make it part of my larger planner for the full year.

I won't bore you with showing you my Study section, but so far in my books section I have the list of books read so far this month, and the PL card with my library details on. Not sure how to expand this section yet - I may list series of books that I am reading so that I can tick them off as I go. Any other ideas?

My Food section will be for meal plans, groceries lists and my Food Diary but again, I won't be using this until next year. 

My final photo is of a laminated page that I use to keep all my pages straight - I guess it's a kind of page-lifter.

And that is my overview - please comment down below on what you would like to see from my future posts!

Thanks for reading!

Emma xx

DIYFish Inserts in My Large Kikki.k

It's been too long! Sorry about the lack of posts - I have been so busy lately I have barely had time to do anything, let alone updating this blog! Anyway, today's post is a review of the DIYFish diary inserts that I downloaded on trial for September.

I'm not going to inundate you with too many pictures as you can go look at them on DIYFish's Etsy shop (I believe the link is diyfish.etsy.com ), but basically she calls this her Life Mapping System. For every month that you download, and you can do this in 1 month, 6 month or 12 month packs, you will receive a monthly chart as above, then a weekly chart and a choice of DO1P or DO2P, which is what I chose to use.

The monthly chart above is great for those chores that you know you need to do at least once in the month, but you are not really sure when - I have things like mowing the lawn on there, which needs to be done twice a month but is dependent on whether I am going out or the weather.

This is how each week looks - I love the flap over the side that you can see with every day. There is a weekly chart that matches the monthly, but I didn't think I needed that so did not bother printing. I use the inside of the weekly print for my meal planning. I love the back of the weekly page too:

I did a week in review in my personal Apex, so loved that this was included. The bottom section is titled notes but I wanted it to record my weekly exercise.

And this is the DO2P spread - the other sheet is just grid paper, which if I wasn't trying to use up a notebook I would have used for my food diary. I love all the space, and I didn't even mind the printing, but I do not think that me, as a single woman, needs all this space with the monthly and weekly charts that are a bit repetitive. If you have a family however, or two jobs, then I think you should definitely look into using these. I, however, will revert back to using a weekly layout and then the DO2P layout from Winter Victorian on Facebook, as I love them in my Pocket.

Thanks for reading, and I will try to come back with an update on my Kikki.k large planner soon!

Emma x

My Kikki.k order...

It's here, it's here, it's finally here! It may have taken just over two weeks and cost £38 in import tax but it is here. I had a moment of disappointment when I thought the large planner had an ink dot on it, but it was just glue and came off.

How beautiful is this pile?

I will reveal the extra goodies I got later on, but the sticky notes and two of those pens are just the beginning!

The small one is exactly the same size as my pocket Willow, but it does have smaller rings. The medium is the same as my personal Apex, but again the rings seem smaller. I don't own an A5 Filofax to compare with the large planner, but let's have a look at that one in more detail!

The feel of the leather on this is gorgeous - really soft and plush. I love the number of card holders and pockets - a zip and a flap here. Along with this funky card that came in all three planners and will be staying in this one all year! The rings on this are nice and large (and gold - ooh!), although the setting does seem slightly loose in the leather - I'm hoping that once she is stuffed and in use they will be okay!

The dividers are really good quality, and I like the paper in the diary and sections - I think it is better than the Filofax paper tbh. Good close up of the pen I chose for this planner - probably going to add a pen loop once she is in use I think to gain some extra storage but I love this one.

The pretty peachy-pink of the dividers is even repeated on the ruler - it's really good quality and the font on the inserts is nice and clean.

And how cute are these magnetic bookmarks? Had to get two sets as I know my sister will be stealing them... I also got a pack of sticky notes that I think I will be using more than any others - brightly coloured and useful!

Originally the plan was to sell at least one of the smaller planners, but now I have them I don't think I want to! Think I will sit on the decision for a couple of days!

On a closing note, I only had one bag at work that was big enough to bring home the kikki.k box in - and it was a perfect fit! Irony right there...

Thanks for reading - will update again once I have set up the large planner and made up my mind on the other two!

Emma x

Planner Wish List

I have been so busy that I just haven't had a chance to publish this post! I thought that I had better finish it today as tomorrow my kikki.k order is (finally) arriving - albeit after having to pay customs charges of £38 - not happy!

I wrote down my planner wish list in case the kikki.k is not my unicorn. And the top 5 are...

I don't think I really need to explain any of my comments. WHilst I love the look of the new kikki.k planners, I REALLY love the mint ones - so if anyone wants to swap...

I do like the look of the Erin Condrens but there are quite a few negatives - price and shipping, not being able to add and move pages around, possible customs fees (once bitten)...

I do like the look of the Originals, and I really like the look of the Monochrome one. The metallic ones are gorgeous but I am not sure how practical. 

The Malden - now, this is a lovely soft leather. I looked at this in John Lewis last week, and felt it was TOO soft in the A5. It was SO nice in the pocket size, so I have added this to the list!

Tomorrow I will more than likely post a kind of unboxing of my order, so more then! Thanks for reading!

Emma x

My Planner Case

Welcome back!

It's been a while I know, but life seems to have kept me busy so realistically, I do not think I will be able to do more than one or two updates a week. However, I will try to make sure that you get a decent length update to keep you busy!

In this post, I want to introduce you to my planner case, bought via a coupon from wish.com for a total of one pound P&P from China - cannot go wrong really!

It is actually a travel/passport wallet, but I have seen loads of people on IG using them so thought I had better jump on the bandwagon. Some of you may recognise the stickers I have in the front pocket as appearing in my Linky Box last week (visit www.linkysdream.co.uk to get your own!) The Hello Kitty is one I made to match my dashboard, and will be on sale in my Etsy shop (emmaplannernewbie.etsy.com )in the next day or so.

So, let's delve inside...

As you can see, it is quite packed out! If we start on the left hand side, I have some masking stickers, a pile of Project Life cards, and a hole punching guide for my personal pages. Tucked behind that are some funky push pin and London Underground stickers:

Now to the right (great, that's the Time Warp going round in my head now!):

More Project Life cards - bigger ones this time, with Martha Stewart dew drops (not worked out how to use them yet but saw everyone else had them so of course I had to!), neon hole reinforcers and some pretty and cute sticky notes. You can also see my Fiskars hole punch poking out the side here too, alongside a photo marker that writes on ANYTHING. I've had this about ten years from my scrapbooking days and it still works - it's from Zig I believe.

Forgot these Paperchase stickies were tucked away too! As you can tell, I like owls and cats...

And that is my planner case! Hope you enjoyed the post - I will try my best to write another one before the week is out! Thanks for reading,

Emma x

My Linky Box Unboxing!

I am so excited that my Linky Box is here - thank you so much Leah it looks great! I am blogging as I open it so you guys can see my first impressions. And although she has sold out of her Linky Boxes until next year, there are so many cool things on her page! www.linkysdream.co.uk is the link you need, and although I was not happy to see that the Xmas boxes sold out the day I was going to put an order in (!!!!) I will (hopefully) be one of the first to order in the New Year!

From the second you receive it, it is like a gorgeous Pass the Parcel - a layer of gift wrap, then a beautiful ribbon-tied box, then a layer of pink tissue paper with a blast of sequins and pom-poms:

And now you can see all the goodies within! Lots of the items are wrapped in lilac tissue, and I spy lollies!!!! And can I just say - "IT'S SO FLUFFY I COULD DIE!!!!" (I saw Despicable Me for the first time on Saturday. New. Favourite. Movie).

I'm going to pick out the top layer and show you those first:

So here we have some of the extras - the pom-poms, feather and th lolly I had my eye on, as well as a fluffy pen (it's like you knew I had watched that movie!!!), an orange highlighter, an "E" rubber (spotted in the IG pic Leah @ Linky's took to tell me it was on its way!), some washi that is highly reminiscent of Cath Kidston), a Hello Kitty ruler and a funky paperclip. All hand-picked by Leah, and so far 100% on track!

So the next layer of treats:

It is like this woman is psychic - how did she know that I needed to make tabs for my Pocket Willow and how did she know I needed 5?!?!? They are going to look perfect in her!

And the dashboard below, with some more funky washi, will add look great in my personal Apex (or the medium Kikki.k if I keep her...)And that notepaper is so pretty too.

Okay, onto the unwrapping of the last (deep) layer... Firstly some pretty notepads that I will be putting to use at work tomorrow:

Always nice to be called a Princess, especially when you find these teeny tiny stickers inside - I love them!

And they still have the Korean price label on the back - how cute?! Last, but by no means least is this fab set of travel sticky notes:

Can you believe that all of this was only £15? It is amazing value, and as soon as you put your order in Leah will email you a questionnaire so that she can tailor-make the box just for you. Leah, it was perfect and thank you so much!

Apologies for the very long post, but I felt like I had to do the unboxing justice! Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to update my planners with my new toys!!!

Emma x

I'm BAAAAAAAA-CKKKK!

I can't believe it's been over a week since I posted on here! If any of you have been checking for updates, I apologise!!!

Anyway, I'm kind of in the planner abyss at the moment. I have started using my Pocket Willow as my main diary. I basically carry it around and have my daily chores and errands listed in there, whilst my Personal Apex stays at home. The only difference with my Apex is that I no longer keep a daily diary, but I keep the week-to-view for future planning and use this to decorate. These are the sheets that I will archive and keep longer term. 

The pages I am using are DO2P from Winter Victorian on Facebook, and they are free printables. I started using them in the personal size, but she has adapted them to the pocket size and in my mind they are perfect!

See, how cute are they?! As you can see, I planned on updating my blog last week... 

I've just started to use a bit of decoration in her, with the addition of a Project Life card with my dog's vet appointments and treatments:

And yes, she does look like the sticker!

Really, this is as far as I got with moving in as I went and messed everything up and did a MASSIVE Kikki.K order at the weekend - which included the large lilac and gold planner (A5 equivalent). Oh, and the medium and small... well it was free postage and $50 US off when you spend $150 - it would have been mental to say no! I am more than likely going to sell at least one of the smaller two, but I do not want to commit to anything until they arrive! I am planning to use the large one as a home planner, including a food diary, exercise tracker, reading lists - basically the bulk of the stuff that is in my personal. I am then thinking of using my personal as my work diary as I like to keep all my appointments and work to do lists separate to my personal ones. I think that I will keep the pocket and use it as I am now, so that the large planner can stay at home. At least this is what I am thinking now, but all could change in the next 1-2 weeks. My package was despatched today, so let's just hope it arrives from Oz unheeded - I WILL detail the unboxing on here when my goodies arrive!

Anything, thank you for persevering, and I will make sure that I am back with another update soon! Thanks for reading, and please check out my Etsy shop if you get a chance - emmaplannernewbie.etsy.com

Emma x

My New Pocket Willow Filofax

I'm back, with my newest baby - my Pocket Willow is finally here, and isn't she gorgeous! For those of you who don't know, I won her in a giveaway on Instagram from the lovely @linkys - her shop is www.linkysdream.co.uk, and I really urge you to check her out - her monthly Linky Boxes are amazing, and when I receive mine I will do a detailed unpacking for you!

In the meanwhile, look at how wonderful she made my package!

How cute are those homemade journaling cards? They are SO going inside when I move into Willow.

As a lot of you know my other Filofax was preloved, so I did not know that Filofax put this pretty little dashboard behind the flyleaf - am going to put it to use somehow!

It even comes with a full June 2014 - January 2016 weekly diary, and I love the notes section at the top that my personal does not have.

I am now off to visit www.philofaxy.com to look for some DO2P inserts and then I need to find a cute pink pen - it's a hard life I have! Thanks again to +Linkys Dream - please do check out her shop and blog as she is fab!

Thanks all for reading!

Emma x

"Finance" and "Create" Tabs

How cute is my "Finance" tab?!? This one needs some extra work into it as it is a bit of a mess at the moment!

This was my no spend month (from 20th July) - as you can see I'm not doing that well!

The rest of this section is just outstanding orders, sales on ebay etc - nothing that I can really show!

My final tab is titled "Create", and this is really my go mad and do whatever I want section!

And that's the overview of my Filofax Personal! I'm hoping that my next post will be of my HappyMail - as long as it is here! Have a lovely weekend, and thanks for reading!

Emma x