DIY Midori Traveler's Notebook Insert

So I recently brought a Midori Traveller's Notebook, after I got it, I saw you could buy a craft paper type notebook for it and after looking at the notebooks I got with it, I realised it would be very easy to make my own.

While in Paperchase I saw this craft paper.  50 sheets for £4 which is quite a bargain compared to the £6 price tag you would pay for a 64 page notebook from Midori. So you are going to get two 50 page books or three 33 page books.  (I've gone for two 30 page books and one 40 page book).

Here is what I used.

Cutter
Ruler,
Pencil
Paper clips
Bone folder
Long reach Stapler
Craft Paper







Take 15 sheets from your pack, this will make a 30 page booklet.

Turn your paper so it's landscape and measure 21.5cm from the left edge and draw a line.

Using the cutter, slice along the line you have just drawn.

You are left with almost a square.  If you look closely there are fine lines on the paper, I have turned the paper so I can use these lines as a writing guide.  You can see the lines more clearly,  further down this tutorial.

Next fold each sheet in half.

Use a bone folder if you have one, it really makes those creases sharp and reduces the bulk.  A big difference huh!

Next, open the pages up and put one on top of the other, line all the centres up and clip them altogether.  Make sure you have the middle crease ridge on the top, so when you staple the pages, the flat edge of the staple is on the outside.

Using your long reach Stapler, staple approx 2cm from the top down the centre crease.  

Repeat at the other end and in the middle.

Fold your booklet together and try opening it up again, does it feel okay? You might be able to see those lines I was on about earlier, in the first picture.

Insert your craft paper notebook into your Traveler's notebook.

Looks as good as any shop bought one.

Top View:                    

Bottom View:

I've opted not to put a cover on this notebook but you could easily use some card stock, I don't want the Organiser to be too bulky so I left the cover off.  You could use any sort of paper to make one of these notebooks, coloured, lined, grid, wallpaper even!  All you need is A4 paper. I might even have a go at making this DIY Pocket I used in my Filofax.  

Alternatively, with different measurements, you could make these to fit into a Filofax or the Filofax Flex.



Hope you enjoyed this tutorial, please leave comments. Thanks x

Midori Traveler's Notebook

I have wondered and pondered on it for ages, but after reading Ray Blake's, My Life All In One Place blog, I finally took delivery of the Midori Traveler's Notebook.  It costs £40 for the leather cover which includes one plain papered notebook, it seems a lot for a piece of leather and a bit of elastic, but I am soooo going to enjoy using this and I'm sure it's going to be worth every penny!

It comes very well wrapped, first a cellophane bag, then a clear plastic wrap, next is a card type wrap with elastic on it, this comes in handy to hold extra inserts.

I didn't know how much it would hold so I only ordered a couple of extra items with it.  I ordered from The Journal Shop, they do free delivery and it came the next day.  How's that for service!

Lightweight paper (013) and  Lined Paper (001)

Zipper Pocket (008)  and  Connecting Bands (021)

Under all that wrapping is a muslin bag with the Notebook inside.  You also get a spare orange elastic, should the one on the Notebook break or you fancy a change.  I've left the original brown one on mine, I'm not a fan of orange and I do like the look of the brown one.

The notebook is slimline and does not come with a pen holder, unless you want to tuck your pen in the middle elastic and this would quite easily work, but I have gone for the Leuchtturm Pen Holder which I got from Rymans for £2.99 and stuck it to the back cover.  Wish they did it in a Brown, but it's not so bad.

My Kingsley Pen is quite chunky and fits in the pen loop well.

So out the cloth bag is this beautiful piece of leather.  But oh my goodness! The smell was pretty horrendous, almost like Turps (the worst smell in the world in my opinion) and it had this powdery white residue, but after handling it for a while the residue disappeared, the smell was still there though. 24 hours later, it's not so bad, smells like......shoe polish!  I think with time, it will fade completely though, I don't want to go messing with it just yet.

As you can see, I added a little charm to the book mark string.  I did have another charm on here, but took it off after realising it can mark the leather quite easily.  I'm looking for a tumbled piece of Amethyst with a hole drilled through...if anyone can advise where to get one from, please could you let me know. Thanks!

So that's my Midori Traveler's Notebook set up, I am going to use it as a journal, I've found some great paper to use, can you see the brown craft paper in the middle, well that's what I will be using. (It's very similar to what you wrap parcels in.) You can buy the craft paper notebook from The Journal shop....but I've made my own....BUT that's another story!

If anyone out there is still undecided on whether to get one of these, my advice is go for it, you will not be sorry.  It is beautiful and the notebooks are very easily made if you don't want to fork out for Midori ones.  Watch this space!

Regency Filofax

Look what arrived this morning in the post...... a Filofax Personal Regency in Brown.  How beautiful is she!

Some inserts along with it!

Inside, a brown ruler...never seen these before!

The inside is very similar to the Holborn, with its vertical side pockets on either side of the credit card slots. (A feature that I love in a Filofax!)

Touch wood!  The 23mm rings seem to be in top condition too!  It's lying quite flat when the pages are open up on it.

The contents are on Cotton Cream Paper, it has a far more superior quality to it.

A week on 2 pages.....in lots of languages....takes up a bit of writing space though.

Lined and plain paper:

Lined Alphabet tabs:

To Do Sheets:

Another three pockets are at the back with an elasticated pen loop.  I've inserted some bits to show exactly where these pockets are!

Just look at that Italian leather, it smells great and feels fantastic.  The little bumps remind me of the Ostrich (The only Filofax left on my wish list now! lol)

I ADORE this Filofax and it come as a big surprise to me, that it has the internal vertical pockets like my Holborn.  I never thought I would be swayed away from my Holborns but this one has done it!  

Thanks for reading, leave me a comment if you could!

My Life Journal Filofax

Hello again everyone, following on from yesterday's blog, I mentioned I was using my A5 Malden Filofax for something else, so this is what I am using it for.... My Life Journal.
Pic taken with flash on                                                                     Pic taken with flash off                                                                   

My life journal is full of memories of my life, my childhood, my school years, my work life, marriage, my children, my family and what ever else I can remember.

Inside the front, I keep a few bits, that might come in useful, I also have pictures that are dear to me.

The two photos on the left were given to me just this year.  I was a bridesmaid for my cousin 33 years ago and I only got to see a photo of myself this year.  I love these pics.... I'm the one in the middle on the top picture.  On the right are my Bon Jovi tickets, I went to see them for the first time in August 2000.  I have being a huge fan for 27 years, so was ecstatic when I got to see them.  I promised myself I would see them again if they ever came back to the North of England.......last month I read they were coming back in June 2013....I was almost  first in line for those tickets, this time I am taking my boys with me.

101 Reasons To Write A Journal  This is a really good read.

Some journaling prompts.

I work in this journal a couple of times a month, I'm not strict with it, but when I suddenly recall something from years ago, I will jot it down then write it up when I get a chance.  For example, this morning, I recalled a job I had when I left school, it got me thinking about the others jobs I had then, so I've made a note of it and will write about it in more detail at a later date. 

I think this will be a wonderful journal to read in the future.  I can remember a fair bit from 20-30 years ago, but I guess in 20-30 years time, my memory will not be so good,  this is going to make for an interesting read.

Thanks for reading, please feel free to comment, I love comments. x

Bold type are clickable links.

My Household Filofax

Hello everyone, I'm back!  Nearly 2 months since I last blogged, but  I've being busy with my other hobby...Crochet!  Anyhow, here we go......

My household Filofax!  Some of you may recognise a lot of the contents from this blog I did back in September, but I've switched organisers, I am using my A5 Malden for something else (blog to follow soon).  I am now using my A5 Zipped Wine Holborn.  It's a lovely Filofax, I only wish it came with bigger rings like the Malden, this one only as 25mm rings, but saying that, it does hold a fair bit.

So this is the inside. Lots going on as you can see.  The bottom pocket is ideal to hold a calculator and as I use this Filofax to manage our finances, it's ideal to have a calculator in there without having to use valuable ring space with Filofax's own calculator.

On the right is a  Martha Stewart Dry Erase Label, I have an erasable pen so I can write quick notes on this, then wipe them off.  It's stuck on a clear plastic flyleaf and is removable too.

I use 2 lots of A-Z tabs and covered them with stickers so each tab as it's own letter.

This is my Christmas section, I have used another Avery Pocket Tab to hold Christmas present Receipts.

I love the free Diary inserts from Philofaxy. 

I also had a monthly fold out calendar to help with my planning.  You can find my 2013 version here.

There is a lot more in this Filofax, but I've reviewed it on my Malden Review, so you can see more on the video should you wish to.

My A5 Zipped Holborn in wine, beautiful isn't it.

Thanks everyone for reading, more blog posts coming up soon, still have lots to write about!