Gillio Siblings

The stars smiled on me and I was able to adopt a medium Gillio Compagna in dark brown. Although I already have one in dark blue and the size and layout are the same, there are some differences between the two.

The dark blue has textured pebbled leather; the dark brown has smooth buttery leather.

The dark blue has gold rings and popper; the dark brown has silver rings and popper.

The dark blue is marked "Gigliodoro Compagna" on the inside left, "Agenda Organizer" on the flyleaf, and "Genuine Calf Leather Made in Italy" on the inside right; the dark brown is marked "Gillio Ferenze" on the inside left.

I purchased the dark brown Compagna from a fellow Gillio Facebook member, Deborah, on December 22 and it was quickly shipped 2-day priority on the following day. The expected delivery date was December 26. However, it decided to take an excursion to San Juan, Puerto Rico for two additional days. Deborah joked that the planner was working on its tan.

At first I thought I would swap between the blue and brown planners, such as I would with purses depending on my preference at the time. But now I think I will use both of them concurrently. The blue will continue to hold important information and the brown will hold my calendar and tasks.

Every Day

I own so many Filofax organizers, so it may be surprising to know that my every day planner isn't a Filofax. I am more of a collector when it comes to the Filofax brand. 

Since August 2013, the only planner I have used is a medium Gillio Compagna in dark blue. It has lovely gold rings and popper. I adore it.

Disappointment

I ran into some disappointment only days after my last post so I decided to step away until the end of the year. I had learned that I was banned, without any mention, from a Facebook group. It knocked the wind out of me to say the least. I try to treat others with kindness and empathy, so the experience was hurtful to me. I had put myself out there and participated, which isn't at all easy for me since I'm an introvert and am wary of vulnerability. I still don't know what happened and truly don't think I did anything wrong. It had to be a misunderstanding, but the group administrator never would reply to my private messages. It's as though I don't matter.  Well, all I can do is take a deep breath, take two steps back and one step forward.



UPDATE March 2014: Funny thing, I was talking with a friend on an unrelated topic and I mentioned that I had been removed from this other FB group. Come to find out, he became an administrator of that group earlier this year and was surprised that I had been removed. No one seems to know why it happened. So, we chalked it up to some mysterious mistake and I'm once again a member.  Two steps forward!

Compact Brown Regency as a Wallet

I recently set up a compact brown Regency as a wallet and it's working perfectly for me. I'm impressed with the durability of the Regency.  I throw it in my bag with my keys without worry.  I also like that it lays flat when I open it and the smaller ring size is less cumbersome on the go.

I'm keeping it simple with three divided sections: 

1) Receipt holder, calculator, and finance sheets; 
2) Card holder inserts for store, gift, library, and voter cards; and 
3) Notepaper

I use the notepaper section for shopping lists and to jot down things I don't want to forget before I can get them into my main planner.  

My most-used cards and cash are kept in the front pockets and my medical cards and contacts are placed in the back pocket.

The only drawback for me is that the Regency doesn't have a zipper pocket for change and loose bits.  However, I usually empty my coins into jars at home because I don't like the extra bulk and weight.

I added a cute piggy bank charm that has a Lincoln penny with the words, "penny saved…penny earned."  It hangs from an adhesive pen loop attached to one of the card holders in the middle section.

I'm very happy with how it turned out!


UPDATE: In January, 2014, I received and moved into a compact Cavendish in black.

Filofax Deco

The Deco is rich with color. Here it is in Ruby, Ivory, and Amethyst. I believe it also came in Ebony, but I haven't come across one in that color. They're made from Italian calf leather and are lined inside with cream suede. They are stunning to me.

The clasp reminds me of the lock-and-key diaries I had as a young girl, so I inserted some lovely journaling cards and keep them on my side table.

Sharing Common Interests

One of the reasons why I enjoy collecting Filofax planners is the opportunity I've had to interact with people in Europe, Australia, Canada, and the States. The planners that I've received have been posted from Belgium, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, planners have arrived from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New York, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. I've found everyone to be so courteous and gracious. Many packages include hand-written notes and small tokens of friendship.

We post messages on Facebook groups to encourage each other and offer ideas in our everyday lives. Many share wonderful videos, blogs, and photos. I'm thankful for this community of people who make the world seem smaller and who I'm able to share common interests.

Favorite Personals in Black

These are my favorite personal Filofax planners in black (in order of the picture):

          Amazona

          Balmoral

          Belmont

          Cavendish

          Dundee

          Finchley

          Guildford

The Balmoral is my favorite personal in black.  It's in new condition and, for whatever reason, the seller didn't mention that it has a full length pocket along the width of the planner.  These wallet-type pockets usually only come on the pocket and mini size Balmorals.  I've seen pictures of these two times on A5 sizes, but never on a personal size.  I was happily surprised when it arrived in the mail and am very lucky to have this one in my collection!

The Belmont has the loveliest leather of them all!  Smooth and luxurious, and still smells wonderful!

The Cavendish is special because it has 30 mm rings!  It is often sought after for the larger rings because, with few exceptions, personal size Filofax planners come with 23 mm rings.

The Dundee was made in the USA.

The Finchley was borrowed from my Finchley collection.

I'm hoping to add to my personal black collection, but trying to choose them intentionally rather than on impulse.

UPDATE:  In November 2013, I added a Buckingham in black.
UPDATE:  In April 2014, I added a Savannah in black

Amazona Collection

Here's my Filofax Amazona collection in pocket size.  They are brown, almond, red, and black.  These gorgeous planners traveled from the Netherlands, New York, and Sweden.  Thanks to Judith, Marianna, Susanne, and Ling!

I absolutely love the richness of the colors, the crocodile texture of the leather, and the inner layout.  They each have the full width bill pocket, three credit card slots and a secretarial flap on the left inside, and a zipper compartment and pen loop on the right inside.  My favorite is the red.

These Amazonas are definite keepers!

Finchley Collection

My collection of Filofax Finchleys:

Chocolate 

Imperial Purple 

Black

Caramel

Red

Teal 

Vintage Rose 

Soft Jade 

Mustard

The Teal Finchley in personal size was my first ever Filofax. It started my journey to find one in each color. At first, I would only consider the personal size but they are hard to find, especially in the Imperial Purple, Soft Jade, and Mustard colors. 

Then, one day I questioned myself why they all had to be in the personal size. The only answer was for uniformity. I'm a very linear thinker and so I decided to challenge myself to be more creative and think outside of the box. Slowly, the colors came together in adding A5 and pocket sizes. I found that this rainbow of colors in different sizes was better than I had imagined. I'm really happy and fortunate to have this collection. 

Funny thing...along the way, I somehow purchased two of the same color/size so I'll need to re-home one of them in the near future.  I think the reasoning was to swap it for a color I didn't already have in my collection.

Random Start

Hello. 

I've wanted to begin a blog for quite some time now, but I kept getting frustrated with my inexperience and indecisiveness.  That's gotten me nowhere except stalled. I finally told myself that I would have to jump in with both feet and end my search for perfection. So, this morning, I chose a random blog name ('this silly bee') and I played around with the template settings (honeycomb).  I'm happy with the whimsical feel of the blog, which is important since I'll hopefully be logging in fairly often.

First hurdle cleared!