If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know I’m mad keen on vintage homewares, fashion and jewellery! If you want to check out my latest bargains, follow my Instagram feed @cathryncook or see my profile at http://followgram.me/cathryncook/
Here’s a few of my recent finds – vintage wine glasses, amber and plastic jewellery and my FAB new (old) deck chair!
Well it’s been a while since I last updated you with my Filofax news, so here it is! As you know, I’ve been using a slimline Amazona (you can read about it here) and I’ve been loving it, BUT although I’ve really tried to be frugal with my pages, it’s just really not quite big enough. Pair that with the fact that my beloved Mulberry purse (which you can see on Imysworld here) is massively heavy and you have a dilemma.
My solution? To use my Filofax as a wallet as well! So I headed off to WHSmith on a lunch break and picked up a couple of card holder inserts to increase my 6 card slots to 12. Then I popped into the charity shop next door and found another vintage English-made Filofax from the 80s! Priced at 99p, I snapped it up and I’ve spent the past couple of weeks getting the setup just right! Here’s the binder:
In the back cover it says ‘Filofax Made in England Real Calf 2CLF 7/8′ and in the front, company name ‘Serco’ is stamped so I guess they were made for a company time management initiative? You can just about make out the logo in the bottom left of the picture below:
No slots for cards, so I’ve stuck them in the cover for now, they seem to be holding up ok! Sadly the leather is old and stiff and the first time I put inserts in, it cracked the whole way down where the rings attach 
I don’t think it will last very long, but I have a plan B (more on that later!). Today I popped to Paperchase and spotted the gorgeous postcard you see here in the front, so I snapped it up and added it as a cover page!
How was I able to do that? Thanks to a very generous friend and ex-colleague who spotted on the blog that I was after a personal sized hole punch! He had one from the 80s, which is adaptable for use in a Time Manager system – not only did he give me this (thank you thank you thank you!), he also gave me his Time Manager binder and inserts!! That deserves a whole post another time, but for now, back to the setup…
As I mentioned, I bought two sets of credit card inserts, so these are at the front, followed by a plastic envelope, which holds my shopping vouchers! Then I have my maps, diary and birthdays sections – then notes. Notes are basically lists – to do, finances, xmas pressies, things to fix in the new house, things to buy for the new house, etc! I’ve marked my three most used pages with some very cute owl marker stickers, also purchased in Paperchase today (see 3rd pic above – click the image to see it full size). I’ve also hole-punched the first set of these, and put two more in the back pocket with my stamps (see last pic above).
I’m using a freebie pen I got at a conference, because it’s the only one I could fit in the teeny pen loop – were pens smaller in the 80s?! Anyway, I’m loving the setup like this and am looking forward to adding more to it, which I can do now that I have the space and also the hole punch – yay!
I mentioned that the spine is about to give way, but now I’ve got my setup right, I really want to keep using it and not go back to the slimline. So the plan B I mentioned earlier? Yeah, I finally gave in and ordered a MALDEN! There, I said it, I blame you guys over at Philofaxy! The personal in crimson is currently on sale on Filofax UK here - how could I resist? It has a coin pocket and everything 
I have to wait for Christmas for it though, but not long to wait!! So what do you think, did I make the right choice?
Cat
When I left school and went to study Art & Design at college, I discovered a passion for clothing and accessories. I wanted to stand out from the crowd and show off my creativity! The only problem was, of course, that I only had a part time job at Mark One (MK One as it is now) and most of my cash was spent on bus fare or driving lessons! So I discovered charity shops…
I remember my first purchase being a vintage faux-fur coat, which was fantastic value and kept me warm at the bus stop too! From then on, a friend and I would raid the high street charity shops near our college once a week and try to find unusual, vintage and designer items at bargain prices. Nothing amazing to report, but we certainly had enough clothing and accessories to keep us looking funky for two years of art college!
The pattern continued into University, where my most memorable find was a 70s red leather biker jacket that’s still in my cupboard today! When I came home from Uni and finally got my drivers license, I started to visit local car boot sales and built up a fantastic collection of vintage handbags, necklaces and bracelets! My trophy find being a beautiful genuine Mulberry handbag at the bargain price of £10 – I nearly passed out with the excitement!!
Even though it’s been several years since I stopped being a student, I still can’t resist the lure of the secondhand bargain! I work in a creative Marketing role, where I am lucky enough to still be able to dress in a creative manner (although no more fur coats!) – shopping secondhand allows me to keep a bigger wardrobe at a lower cost, so I can afford to be versatile. Not only that, I love that it means I’m unlikely to bump into someone else wearing the same or similar items of clothing!
Recent charity shop finds include a Chanel silk scarf and a Radley handbag! Of course, nowadays it’s become popular to shop vintage and there’s less out there from the 60s, 70s and 80s – but half the fun is in the thrill of the hunt!
Here are some of my treasured finds:
Last weekend was my birthday and I am happy to report that I was totally spoilt rotten!! I finally got my hands on those yummy Vivienne Westwood Anglomania Melissa Shoes (brown bow flats) – thank you hubby :O) I was also treated to two Trollbeads from my Dad – black armadillo and 3rd eye chakra – which looks stunning on my black/gold/purple combo! A friend also sent me a beautiful artisan bead, a reddy purple armadillo that is just gorgeous and my Mum gave me a rather scrummy iPod shuffle in a lovely aqua colour! Very spoilt indeed…
My birthday celebrations included a LOT of eating, seeing Toy Story 3 in 3D, visiting Lord Snowdon’s ‘In Camera’ photography exhibition and spending a day up in London. I visited the Neal Street stores of Crocs and Filofax and bought a beautiful vintage laboradite and silver ring in the Covent Garden antiques market! I will blog reviews of the two stores and my fabulous new shoes in the near future – keep an eye out!