Fabulous Flamingo Filofax (and inside my bag)

How gorgeous is this Flamingo design Filofax?
The Flamingo is the winning design from the Filofax ‘Cover Story’ graduate design competition.

The eye-catching and elegant design, created by Rebecca Mountain, inspired by the poise, colour and grace of flamingos, beat off a tidal-wave of talent from other design graduates.  Rebecca has recently been enjoying a paid work-placement with Filofax so that she could see her print being brought to life on the popular cotton twill canvas personal organisers which will be sold around the world.

The Flamingo is available in two colourways – blue and sage – as well as in two sizes – Pocket (£28) and Personal (£35). A pen loop keeps your pen secure, while a practical elastic closure will keep your Flamingo organiser safely closed when you’re on the move.    

Filofax is supporting fresh design talent again this year with a new ‘Cover Story’ graduate design competition.  Details will be announced shortly on the Filofax website.


I was lucky enough to be sent one of the stunning organisers- I have used a Filofax for years and my tired old one welcome getting a break.

I love how the colour theme of this new design goes perfectly with my Brit-Stitch satchel and I thought I’d use this post to hop on the “what’s in my bag” bandwagon,
although as you can see, my bag is not nearly as organised as most and only contains the usual wallet, keys, phone, lipbalm, sweets, glasses/sunnies and tissues combo (with about twenty pens thrown in for luck). One of these days I’ll be super organised and carry round perfectly pretty notebooks and all manner of other gorgeous things but for now my chaos works for me and well, I don’t think I’m a tidy person by nature.

What’s in your bag? What do you think of the new Filofax designs?

xxx 

Summer Loving: the perfect bag

Not that a girl ever really needs a reason to buy a new bag, but how perfect is this Batik Bag from Flights of Nancy? At a bargain £17.50 this screams festival AND beach holiday…the ultimate multi-tasker, especially if you are lucky enough to be heading to both!

What’s your go-to Summer bag? Mine must be my Flights of Nancy leather holdall, perfect for on the plane or for a cheeky couple of nights away.

xxx

Handbags at Dawn *giveaway*

Fellow bag lovers, this is the post and giveaway for you! Newly launched website Handbags at Dawn have teamed up with adaisychaindream to offer a brand new handbag to one lucky reader.

Handbags-at-dawn.com is an exciting new boutique for handbags. Our vision is to bring our customers quality leather handbags in classic styles, which hold a timeless quality.  We are proud of our bags and each bag is carefully selected by our team to ensure that it will be a coveted addition to your wardrobe.
In 2012 we will be launching our limited edition collection, a unique range of stunning new bags by young designers and our fabulous auction room. Please sign up so we can keep you informed”

Up for grabs is the classic black leather Hobo bag which retails at £60. An elegant, simple piece it is spacious and practical coming with two interchangeable straps, detachable tassel, plenty of pockets and it’s own dustbag to keep it safe in storage.

To enter this giveaway all you have to do is be a follower of this here blog and pop along to Handbags at Dawn to choose your favourite bag/purse from the site. Leave a comment on this post telling me your favourite and leave a way for me to contact you if you win.
Giveaway is open to all UK readers (sorry, but postage is expensive these days!) and will be open for one week, closing at 7pm on Friday 29th June.

Good luck!

xxx

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Okay, so I am now super-excited about the Quidco Cashback Boutique popping up on Rathbone Place, just off Oxford Circus, next Thursday. From between 9am-1pm they’ll be giving away free cash to everyone who walks in – you can get up to £100! Money for nothing – what could be better ahead of the weekend?

Smarten up your Style with Concrete Cases

Concrete Cases, makers of hand crafted laptop computer cases and accessories; today announced its first line of designer cases in EMEA. Concrete’s new series of laptop cases are made from the finest Italian leather and handcrafted by artisans making each one unique. In addition, all the cases are protected by a 4 year warranty.

Tony VandenBerg is a Creative Director at Concrete and he designed the Hook Case and the Original
Case. As a top designer he is involved in the selection of all aspects of the cases such as stitching, the industrial design of the corners carbines and choice of materials and manufacturers. Tony’s Hook Case is a vision of style and protection. The result is a multifunctional design, protected by a design patent.
“Concrete Cases understands the need for bags and accessories that protect valuable assets yet also allow people to express their personal style,” said Axel Lucassen, CEO at Concrete Cases. “Our new range demonstrates our obsession with excellent design, our desire to use high quality materials throughout the product development, but also by incorporating practical functionality across the range to help protect valuable laptops and resources.”

The Concrete range of cases comes in styles and colours to suit you:

Hook Case– The cases have incredible leather exterior made using the finest Italian materials and superb padded suede lining in colours that compliment the exterior. The four unique colour combinations include:

Forest Green Grey Hook Case with purple blue lining

Antelope Brown Hook Case with Cobalt blue lining

Red Brown Hook Case with black lining

Charcoal black Hook Case with orange lining

The combination of aluminum and chrome makes each Hook Case a unique item. The fasteners and refined stitching are very durable. There are three types of handles available in various lengths that can easily be attached to the chrome corners with specially manufactured carbine hooks that can be detached. One standard handle is included small, medium or long and additional handles can be purchased separately. Hook Case from only £149

Original Case– The Original Case is handmade from Italian leather on the outside and soft, padded suede on the inside. Beautiful colour combinations and stunning design make this irresistible.
Two pockets on the inside provide space for your mobile, other small accessories and a pouch for your mouse or adapter. What really makes the Original Case stand out is the flexible handle. Tony wanted it to look stylish but also be comfortable to carry. The leather top handles are designed to ergonomically fit each other perfectly. The top handles can be adjusted so that you can decide to use the case as a sleeve or stow the case into a bigger case or your backpack. Original Case from £89

Your Case Your Way – Bespoke solution – If you really want to express your own style we offer a bespoke service. A perfect present or simply a treat for yourself we can design a bag to suit your specific requirements. Send us the external measurements of your laptop or notebook and choose your color combination. We will custom-make your Hook or Original Case. Tailor Made Hook Case £234 or Tailor Made Original Case £174

All of the cases fit 11” to 17″ laptop computers and Mac Books and include generous user friendly pockets specially designed for stowing items. Backed by a two year warranty and the option to extend to four years for free, Concrete Cases new laptop cases will be available worldwide from February 2012.

For the full range please visit www.ConcreteCases.com

As a blogger who (very occasionally) travels with her technology, I really see the appeal of these, and if I were a richer girl I would be investing!

Do you carry your laptop in a case? Would you consider one of these, or what is your go-to?

xx

Jump from Paper

JumpFromPaper™ is a playful and innovative line of handbags created by Taipei-based design duo, Chay Su and Rika Lin.
One cozy afternoon, the two girls were chatting, when they got to sketching their dream designer handbag. A surprising idea popped up – “How amazing it would be if a two-dimensional hand-drawn illustration could come to life as a real bag!” They explored every possibility, rendering fantasy handbags in perspective, and giving birth to JumpFromPaper™.
Cartoon-like outlines and bright and cheerful colors add a brisk yet funky flavor. And despite the slim appearance, each JumpFromPaper™ bag has a roomy interior to accommodate personal belongings and even a laptop.
JumpFromPaper™ takes handbag design on a new journey, ready to twist people’s view!


As soon as I found out about JumpFromPaper I was captivated…the concept seemed so…new and so impossible to achieve. The photos on the website were so cartoon like that I wondered how they could possibly translate in to real life, so when the lovely (and I mean lovely) Michelle offered to send me a bag so I could see for myself I wasn’t sure what to expect…a print? A piece of plastic that hooked over my arm?

What arrived was a decidedly flat canvas bowling bag. Wonderfully bright, brilliantly made and just as promised, surprisingly roomy. You wouldn’t be able to cart your entire life around in there…but daily essentials, a laptop, some magazines…that’d be no problem. This isn’t a bag for the shy. It’s so out there that it’s going to attract some attention; especially if like me, you are a small town girl, but nevertheless, I am impressed that such an out there idea can be made real, and I think the designers, Rika and Chay have a promising future ahead.

For more information, stockists, an online shop and more visit the JumpFromPaper website and prepare to have your mind blown.

What do you think? Plain crazy or a work of genius? Despite thinking the former, you’ll now find me firmly behind this brand and excitedly awaiting more. Let me know if you’d like to see the bag in action.

xxx