My diary

Ok, so it's not a Filo post! But it should hopefully be interesting.

I love reading other people's stationery blogs, especially when they post how they're using their tools to organise their life. Most people seem to use a Filofax but as per my previous post you guys know that currently, I don't!

Instead, I use this beauty:

It's from Paperchase, and was a birthday present from my gorgeous sister!

During the holidays, it didn't get much use... I think this was my busiest day...

However, take a look at the last three weeks, in which I've done freshers and started year three of my Psychology degree (eek!)

Phew! It's been hectic here! As you can see, there's not a massive amount of space in my diary for writing things down each day. So I have to use post it notes stuck on the divider to make sure I can see clearly where I'm going and at what time! The first 'checked' page shows my little key for my diary, I stuck to that about a week... The trouble is, the pens I used to colour code it with don't fit in my pencil case and I can't carry them round with me!

I suppose the biggest advantage of this diary is I have an in-built to do list on the checkered side of the page. The biggest disadvantage is that I'm used to using day per page diaries and the day slots are just so damn tiny! It is however pretty and I've got space at the back to write up a detailed blow by blow account of my (for this semester) three assignments and one exam. It also has address pages and a zip pocket at the back. It's very practical!

I'm hoping this will become a weekly slot, but who knows!

Crafty bits: Making your own washi tape

Most people love bright and colourful new ways to spice up their organisers, planners and other stationery bits and bobs. Washi tape is a great way to do that! However it can be expensive to buy and to be honest, when I looked I didn't like a lot of the designs that were out there - so I set about figuring out how to make my own. Luckily, someone had already done that for me over here at CraftPassion. It's a wonderful tutorial but I adapted it slightly for my needs.

My method is really simple and requires even less materials... all you need is:

A pair of scissors, some double sided tape and some pretty tissue paper!

The basic method is the same as the one from Craft Passion, just skipping the steps where you emboss the tissue paper. I thought a step by step pictorial might be useful to some.

Step 1 - Place your tissue paper on the sticky side of your double sided tape. In the middle works best but if you have a specific pattern you want to see more, just make sure that that bit of the tissue paper is stuck down.

Step 2 - Turn the double sided tape over and either cut off the excess or (as I find easier) tear it off. If you turn the tape over so that the sticky bit is down it'll be easier for you to make sure you don't pull the tissue paper off the tape!

Step 3 - Decorate with it!

Ahh. I love it. I love the tissue paper I used - it's from Paperchase. I bought it in the sales last January and this is the perfect use for it! You get different effects based on whether you place the tissue paper shiny side up or down. Down makes a more muted washi tape which would be better for writing on I guess.

Total cost? £1 for three rolls of sticky tape from poundland, £1.50 for the Paperchase tissue paper, £1.50 for the plain tissue paper (from Tesco). Bargainous!