my book challenge

Ever since getting my Kindle back in July, I've been thinking about reading as much as I can. As a kid and to an extent, a teenager, I loved reading. However, when I got into Photoshop, web design, etc at the of 14, reading took a bit of a backseat and never really re-emerged until a Kindle caught my eye!

So, enter my own book challenge for 2013.

To read 52 books in 52 weeks. 

Am I crazy? Possibly. To read a book a week is pretty hard work and to find the time is also another problem. 

But, I figured that if I just read for an hour every day (e.g. an hour before bed), I could probably finish a book or two in a week! I read quite quickly (I demolished the 1Q84 trilogy in 10 days - books 1 and 2 took me 7 days and book 3 took me 3) so it should be doable.

So my own personal rules for this are:

- to read books spanning different genres - non-fiction, romance, thriller, fantasy, young adult (I hope I still qualify for this even though I turn 22 next month...?), etc.

- to record my progress in my own homemade inserts:

I designed these (badly) on Photoshop: a grey background with pink lines to separate
each section and a blue coloured rule. There is space for the book title, author and a
rating that I would give the book, in marks out of 10.

Now, you might ask, why would a reading challenge be a good idea? Well, reading, for me, is a way to enhance my vocabulary. My English has always been good but ever since concentrating on science subjects at the age of 17, I've found myself using less and less 'extravagant' vocabulary. Furthermore, it means that I would also spend less time in front of a screen.

Before 2013 arrives, I will be re-assessing this challenge to see how viable it could be and I may decide to change it to 26 books in 52 weeks instead, but then again, it won't be such a challenge? 

I recently found a site called Good Reads where you can make your own challenge and use it to keep track of your progress. For me, I think that would be a bit counter-productive because one of the reasons for me doing this challenge is to decrease the amount of time I spend on the internet and on my laptop!

How many of you out there are eager readers? How long does it take for you to demolish a book?

review: paperchase refills

When I was in London a few weeks ago, I *accidentally* wandered into Paperchase and purchased these refills. I've taken to making my own refills recently but somehow, I found it futile to resist this purchase anyway!

Here is a review of the price, design and quality of the inserts I bought.

First up, the 'to do list organiser refill'. For £1.75 and 50 sheets, the pricing is very competitive. More on the paper later though!

Next up is the 'coloured ruled organiser refill'. This time, the price was £2.00 for 50 sheets; which again, is very competitive when you compare it to the Filofax brand ones. The included colours are pink, blue, green, purple and orange. Here is an example of them in use and to be honest, it is one of the best and most creative uses I have ever seen!

The 'ruled organiser refill' was priced at £1.75 for 50 sheets. The paper colour is a bog standard white.

Now, a logo I noticed at the bottom. Truth be told, I've not had the best experience with recycled paper... so how did I fare with these Paperchase refills?

Better than expected it turns out! See for yourself:

And overleaf. Not as much show-through as I thought there would be (in comparison to other recycled paper I've used) but still not perfect.

One thing I do like about the design is the multicolour-horizonal-stripe design down the side. It adds something extra to a, what would otherwise be a, boring design. The paper does feel a bit weird though? As in, not as smooth as the Filofax notepaper refills.

And finally, the '2 organiser zip wallets'. £1.75 for two! Two of these bad boys! At less than £1 each! Useful for loose change if you wish to use your Filofax as a wallet, useful for storing spare loose stickers and also useful for storing train tickets/other tickets.

They are quite floppy but the quality is still decent. I don't anticipate them breaking anytime soon. The zip lock is sturdy and I have no complaints about it.

From what I saw, they also do a selection for 'pocket' sized Filofax organisers too. Nothing for the A5 unless I missed it, and likewise for the mini.

Overall, I'm impressed by this 'budget' range and it will definitely appeal to those who want something alternative (and cheaper!) than the bog-standard Filofax range available.

september "can't live withouts"

Another month, another post about the things I couldn't have lived without and why!

Top of the list - my slimline Deco and my personal Osterley. I've been using them together as I'm still sorting out the big Deco move-in. I love both though and they have come in useful for blog planning, day planning and for many, many other reasons. I found myself depending a lot more on my Filofax organisers than usual.

Job interviews, seeing friends and travelling for leisure (however minimal that last one was!) meant that my railcard came in very handy. I get it free with my student account (now graduate account, sob!) at Natwest and even if I hadn't, I think I still would have bought one as I have saved so much with it. I've linked it to my Oyster so it's been doubly useful for me.

With many appointments and plans changing, my Muji Erasables pen has been a lifesaver. I'm a bit of a neat-freak when it comes to organising; I dislike crossing things out and I like to have everything as neat as possible but also have everything looking vibrant too (which is why I use stickers, washi tape and colour).

Another stationery item (oh, how exciting my September might now sound to you!). I bought these Rilakkuma stamps a few months ago and I love them. No lie. Cross my heart and hope to die. I've been going a bit stamp crazy this month and here is just one occasion where I used one of the stamps:

And this is the set of stamps themselves. There are two ink pads on the right but I found having only red and pink a bit restricting so I found 8 ink pads for £1.98 altogether and now have other colour options too.

Finally, September has been a MEGA month of organising. This 'to-do' list is useful for planning my October to December events. It is probably more reflective of October to mid-November though as I don't anticipate much travelling from mid-November til the New Year. Most of it to do with friends and people I am close to from my university days as my bestest (I don't think that's a word but I don't care, my blog, my choice of words ;) ) friends were made there.

There you have it. Quite a boring month to be honest as it mainly involved planning and organising the next few months (I'm on a bit of a mini-gap-year) so many lists and my Erasable pens from Muji are seeing a lot of use as a result of all the planning and chopping and changing of pre-arranged events.

How was your September?

my september 30 filo lists

I took part in September's 30 Filo Lists and thought it was a total success. It gave me a reason to allow some 'me-time' and it also meant I could try and be creative with how I displayed my lists. Here is a slideshow of a selection (note: not all of them!) of the lists.

Before I show you the slideshow, here is my personal favourite:

11. Places I would like to live.

Enjoy! x

P.S. Some of you may have noticed the wrong date for the Philofaxy meet up, I meant 2013! Doh.