Hey there, beauts! 👋🏼

So I am back with more updates. 😀

The “cham-craze” has been around for a while and finally I’m here to show you the real juiciness of this binder.

You might know that since I drank the Filofax Kool-Aid I have been a little unsettled about my set-up.

I talked all about it on Filofax Swap 1 and then I did a follow up on what I called  The Filofax Swap 2 – The attempt!

⭐️And the saga continues right here on that very blog post in front of you⭐️

Today I present you……

✨Filofax Swap 3 – The “Chamomile” Attempt!🤩

Juicy, huh? 😀

Here it is the Raspberry “Chamomile” Chameleon on the very first weeks.

I stayed true to her “compact” nature. I did not overstuff her. {yay me! 😀 }

Gorgeous Color and Texture!

Ok, now let’s back up a bit and talk about how/why/when this set up came about.

My previous plan didn’t work out well because the A5 Filofax is not as portable {obviously, huh?}.

My main goal was to separate work life from personal life.

The first condition was easily fixable, right? Just get a different Filofax for personal stuff. Great! Cross that out as “problem solved”.

The second condition thou was harder.

I have three other personal sized Filofaxes and although very portable,  I knew that wasn’t what I wanted because…. the rings! Always on my way!

I am totally fine writing on the right page, but on the left one …. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I can barely pass the middle of the page and my handwriting gets awful as the pen gets out of control because my hand is sitting on top of the rings. Yeah, silly, but I really  struggle to write on that left side.

I knew that if I stuffed up with sheets, it would get more “leveled” and the rings wouldn’t be so prominent, but the WEIGHT! oh boy.

So off I went to browse some options.

Reading posts here and there l I found a jewel write up all about COMPACT Chameleon Filofax!

{cue my eyes dazzled here 🤩}

No time wasted and I quickly went to check colors available at Filofaxusa.com.

And there it was! Pink! Red!

“That’s it!” I thought. I rushed over to Pens&Leather and the deal was closed! Not only one, but two! {I got the red one as well, HA!}

Sooo….

Let’s get started with that review, shall we?

First a comparison of thickness with a Personal size:

Rolling to the inside, I will make a list of pros and cons of this gorgeous Compact Chameleon.

So, the very first con – you can clearly see, it doesn’t lie flat out of the box.

I believe with training it will. I don’t think it is it’s nature thou. Like a Domino that may come out of the box not totally flat but easily adaptable to it.

Then, comes the second big con – that insanely crazy pen loop!

Look at that!

It falls right on top of everything! It doesn’t “naturally” stay on the side of it – “out-of-the-way” per say.
That pen loop can’t possibly hold a pen without squeezing everything else. 😑
Nope. If you just close the organizer without thinking, and then the pen sits on top of the tabs.
I used a Bic 4 colors for this pic but got the same result using a single color, skinnier regular Bic:

So to be able to close the organizer without fighting the pen, I just hang it like this:

It makes easier to move out of the way when needed but it is not very secure and moves around a lot.

Anyways, moving on.

Since I got my Baroque {that I love with all my dear heart regardless 💖} I knew that those vertical card slots wouldn’t work for me.

Note that my excitement reading blog posts about Compact Filofaxes AND the fact that for a brief moment I owned a Chameleon PERSONAL {ended up returning because it was defective} made me not even bother thinking about the card slots. The sad realization was:

• The personal Chameleon has horizontal card slots.
• The A5 Chameleon has horizontal slots.

Why would a compact of the same style have the card slots vertical?

Because it is compact, duh! 😀

Yup, yup, as a  Compact ‘first-time buyer’ it didn’t even cross my mind!

Now, can you follow all the excuses my brain is finding for new Filofax purchases? 😁Or better saying the reasons to NOT buy any more Filofaxes that my brain keeps ignoring? 😎

Although the vertical slots ARE a big deal for me {more about it in an upcoming post!}, I deliberately denied seeing those vertical slots.

Embarrassing.

Ok, ok, so far what do we have?

• Doesn’t lie flat out of the box = CON
• Nonsense penloop = CON
• Vertical card slots = CON

Do I still have her? YES! 😍

“Why on earth {I hear you ask} did you stick with her and did not return her right away if you found so many cons?”

Because of this, my dear readers, THIS:

 
Those RINGS!!!

They are just amazing to write on! Feels like a notebook; as if they are not even there.

See how close to the rings I got to write on the left side? ✨Heaven!✨
One more shot of those gorgeous rings: