Stationery Q&A

Today I'm going to be doing a stationery Q&A on anything that relates to stationery because I am a self confessed stationery addict who could talk about stationery for years and years and not get bored.

What is your favourite notebook? 
It always changes as when I get a new notebook that new notebook is my favourite. However my favourite notebook of all time are the WHSmith B5 Neon Notebooks, which I have 2 of, but at the moment I'm also loving my Wilko A5 exercise book because it's slim and easy to write quick notes in.

What your favourite pen to use? 
Well it depends what for... For normal writing I use and prefer to use Tesco Retractable Ball Pens- they're super cheap but make my handwriting look nice and I prefer using retractable pens. For titles (and sometimes colouring) I love to use Sharpies as the colour is amazing and really stand out and finally for colourful writing biros I like to use the Bic Colour grip pens as they write nicely and the colour is amazing. 

How many Sharpies do you have? How do you store them and what do you use them for?
Ok I have a really bad Sharpie obsession and I need to be stopped from buying them so I do have a crazy number. I think I have over 80 as I have a pack of 12 in all of the main colours in my main pencil case, I have a whole separate pencil case with Sharpies in and there's about 23 in there, I have a pot of 28 and on my desk and another pot with a brand new 23 pack in there so that is a lot but when they're on special offer in WHSmith I just have to have them.
Storing them I keep them in 2 different pencil cases and I have 2 pen pots full of them on my desk. I use them for all different things: writing notes, writing titles and I even use them in my colouring book; I use them for anything and everything basically. 

How many notebooks do you have?
I have way too many and I can't even count them as they're all in different places around my room- I should do a notebook collection as there is so many (lol)

How did you get into journalling?
I was watching a YouTuber called PiinkSparkles like over 2 years ago and she was talking about journalling and done the occasional journal videos so I started then. I then forgot about that notebook and started occasionally making different random pages in my binder but I stopped that about a year ago but only recently I was watching a lot of crafty YouTubers and fell in love with journalling and now I've kinda gone all out.

Pros & Cons of a Ringed Planner?
Pros-
-Can take pages out and put your own things in like dashboards
-Make it personal to you with what sections you want.
-Only need to buy the actual planner once and then every year you only need to buy refills
Cons- 
-Rings can be annoying
-You don't get that enjoyment of buying a new planner every year

Best place to buy stationery?
It depends what stationery you want but for general stationery (pens, notebooks etc) I recommend Wilko but for more nicer stationery and more crafty stuff I would recommend Paperchase but you can get nice journalling stuff in Hobbycraft.

Show us your handwriting.
As my handwriting depends with what pens I decided to show you what it's like with lots of different pens.

Why did you start journalling?
I was bored and thought it would be a good hobby to have as I love stationery and wanted somewhere to stick in nice pictures.

Why did you start planning?
It was before year 9 started and I was juggling my blog and school so I wanted somewhere to organise everything so I got an academic planner really last minute and used that on and off until the start of the year when I moved into a 2016 planner which was pretty much the same but in June I bought a Paperchase planner and I don't think I'll go back to notebook planners.

How organised is your desk?
At the moment it's quite organised because I organised it last night. Here is my desk.

Do you prefer paper or digital planners?
Paper as I never look at digital planners and I like writing everything down as it helps me remind stuff. I also like how you can decorate paper planners and make them your own.

What can I journal about?
Anything- the sky's the limit. Anything you're interested about journal about whether that's cars, beauty, home decor, trains etc. Or you could journal about your life and kinda make it like a diary (like I kinda do).

That was my stationery Q&A. Hopefully you liked it as I haven't done a Q&A in a while and I definitely want to do more themed ones. Let me know in the comments for some topics or some questions.

My Paperchase Organiser

Recently I bought myself a Paperchase planner (I know it is the middle of the year) because it was 30% off and I love it so I wanted to do a post on it showing it off to you all. This is going to be like an how I get organised post as well because I wouldn't be as half organised than I am without my planner as otherwise nothing wouldn't be done.

This is the organizer before opening and as you can tell it was 30% off so originally it was £16 but I got it for £11 but it's still an amazing price for a planner which you can use year after year as you just need to change the inserts. The planner inside has an undated diary, meeting notes, to-do list pages and stickers.

This is the planner after taking it out of the packing and I love the print so much. I can't remember what it's name is but it's from the Zebra print collection and I love the print because I've loved different animal prints for ages and as it's black and white I will never get bored of it. 

So this is the first thing you see when you open up the planner and you get a mini to-do list pad (which isn't sticky) and pockets which you could put receipts or sticky notes in and there's also one big pocket. I doubt I'll use these much but they could be handy if you're on the go.

 

You then get one sticker sheet which is quite handy even though I will probably only use the tabs stickers as you get 4 blank tabs. There is also just random stickers to help you to remind stuff as they stick out if you only use pen in your planner.

The Tabs Stickers Are-

-Notes

-Work

-Addresses

-Birthdays & Anniversaries

-Websites & Emails

-Shops & Restaurants

-Recipes

-Favourites

-Agenda

-Expenses

-Calendar

-Personal

The Stickers Are- 

-6x Follow Up

-6x Reminder

-6x Due Date

-3x Read

-3x Prioritize

-6x Blank

Like with most planners you get a personal data page. I usually do fill them out however I don't look at it because I never really take my planner out and I think I know my own name and address. 

These are the tabs you get so firstly there is the diary section (which has an undated diary), next is the to-do list section which have to-do list pages in with is very handy, there's also a meeting section which is no use to me and has meeting notes pages and there's finally 4 blank tabs which you can you use the stickers for and in the sections there's lined note pages.

These are the diary pages and they were not how I was expecting them and I don't like them being completely honest. I have really big handwriting so I'm never going to fit it in the tiny boxes and I also like 1 week being spread on 2 pages so for me this is not good. I have bought my own new ones from WHSmith which I'll show you later.

The next section is the to-do lists which I didn't think I was going to use but I actually have started to use so this section will stay. I actually really like these to-do lists as they have check boxes and when I've finished I might end up buying a refill pack from Paperchase.

This is the section that is compelety useless to me as I'm 14 and don't go to meetings. This planner is definitely more for someone who works and goes to a lot of meetings (this seems like a good organiser for a YouTuber). What I'm going to do is take these pages out, put a sticker over the tab and put blank pages and use it for something else (maybe shopping lists).

In the last 4 pages you get blank notes pages which is handy. I've already planned all of my sections and I have made Notes (which is for anything which don't go in any other sections), Personal, Favourites (this is also good for my blog) and Work (which I'm using for my blog just because there is no other section; I don't get payed from this blog).

As I was talking about earlier I bought some refills from WHSmith because I didn't like the Paperchase diary pages so I bought some that I actually like and how I would set up my own planner if I could make my own ideal planner. I also bought some new blank note pages as I didn't think there was enough.

These are the WHSmith diary refill pages and this how I like my planner set up so it's easy to write my daily tasks in and I don't mind that there's not lines. The only thing I'm not too keen on my could get used to is that it starts on Sunday but I'm used to it starting on Monday so it's confusing but I'm getting used to it.

When I was in Paperchase I saw this cute sticky note book and I like using colours and sticky notes in my planner so I thought I could use these which I am for little weekly checklists with tasks I need to get done. This was £5

Another way I like to decorate in my planner is using stickers and washi tape. I use washi tape at the bottom of every pages and stickers all around every page just to add something extra and make it look cuter.

That is my first impressions on my new Paperchase organiser which I love and would totally one to anyone. This is a personal sized planner and I really like the size but I would like an A5 one but I cannot buy another planner and it doesn't matter how cute they are.

Journal 101 | Haul & Tips

Recently I have really been getting into journalling and found that it's a good hobby to have. As this blog is about everything I love I wanted to do a post on journalling as it's what I've been loving at the moment and as I said in my What To Do This Summer When Bored post you could start journalling so today I've thrown together a haul, a what you need list and tips to get started. 

Haul- WHSmith

-Bramble Wood 30cm Flexi Ruler £2.99

-Bramble Wood 6 Assorted Sticky Notes Book £3.49

-WHSmith 10 Colour Ballpen £3.49

-WHSmith Simply Style A4 Wide Ruled Notebook £3.99

-39 Zoo Stickers £1.99

-44 Flower Stickers £1.99

-56 Large Foil Heart Stickers £1.99

-25 Elephant Stickers £1.99

(The stickers were buy 1 get one free)

I love all of my purchases from WHSmith and they are all essentials for me in a journal. The notebook is my journal but I have since DIY-ed it because it was too plain for my liking so I drew on black polka dots with a Sharpie so when you see it in the other pictures it will look a bit different. I love using stickers in my journal because when there's a blank space it adds something and doesn't look as boring so that's why I got a variety of different designers. Last thing I'm going to talk about is the ball pen and this one is good because all the colours are in one place so it's good if you was to journal on the go (which I don't do)

Haul- Tesco

-Pritt Original Glue Stick 22g £1.75

-Hallmark Gallery Rose Tinted Card £1.50

-Go Create Craft Paper 9 Sheets £1.50

-Go Create 100 Sheets Coloured Paper £1.50

I went to Tesco in the hope of finding some colour paper and I also came out with some other journal supplies. Both packs of the colour paper look really great in my journal and I love using other paper in my journal as I like sticking stuff on top of it like images. I also bought a glue stick as there's a lot of sticking in my journal so I needed something and I got Pritt Stick as it's a good name. Lastly I bought a cute card just to stick in one of the pages for when I wanted to do a decoration page with stickers and washi tape.

Haul- Wilko

-Wilko 4 Chunky Highlighters 50p

-Wilko Geometry Set- 4 Piece Set 50p

-Wilko 2 Mechanical Pencils with Refills 75p

-Wilko 10 Wooden HB Pencils 50p

-Zebra Z-Grip Smooth 5 Pack Assorted £1.75

-Wilko Index Cards Multicoloured Pack 50p

-Wilko Micro Tape Roller £1.50

-Wilko Pink Clipboard Folder £1

-Wilko Let's Create 4 Glue Sticks- 2x21g 2x15g

-Wilko 16 I Love Cats Push Pins £1.50

As you can see I bought most of my supplies from Wilko because they are cheap so if you want to see if you like it buy a couple of things from Wilko like your journalling notebook and I also bought them in Wilko because they had the stuff I wanted. I bought some flashcards because in my journal I use them to write titles in and for extra information and I liked these ones as they had colourful borders. I bought some highlighters because I love neon stuff and I like colouring blank spaces with them so there's more colour. I also bought some Zebra colourful pens because I really like the colours and the pens are good pens which write smoothly.

What You Need-

-Notebook

-Pen/Pencil

-Colour biros

-Glue stick

-Washi tape for decoration

-Stickers

-Clipboard

-Colourful paper and card

-Cute flashcards/revision cards

-Somewhere to store all of this e.g. storage box

Tips- 

-You don't need everything that I talked about; it's just your personal style on how you like to decorate

-Keep everything so you know what you did on 7/6/16 in 47 years time. I like to keep receipts, bits from shopping bags, coupons and everything!

-Clipboards are handy if you like making stuff on other pieces of paper and then sticking them in- e.g. drawings if you have a lined notebook and you want to do it on plain paper

-You don't need to make a journal out of an A4 notebook you could make it out of a binder (which I used to do) or a refill pad (which I've also tried). You could also do it whatever size you want (A5, A4)

-Don't force yourself to journal everyday- I like to do it on free days so I can completely zone out and enjoy it not worrying about time.

-You could use your journal for inspiration, which I like to do sometimes, and stick in pictures of clothes that I really like.

-Stickers really add something to the page and are a good filler if you have blank space and don't know what to put

That's all of my tips and my 101 on journalling. Obviously you don't need everything I mentioned as it's about personal style and everyone's journals will be different at the end of the day but this what I like to use and how I journal in case you was wondering and hopefully it gave you some inspiration. 

What To Do This Summer When Bored

During the school summer holidays I do get very bored and I'm sure a lot of you will to so I've compiled a list of 6 new things you could try out so you're not bored. You also don't need to do all of these in the summer; remember them for other school holidays or weekends so you're never bored again.

Start a YouTube channel/blog about something you're passionate about- I'm sure most of you reading like YouTube and blogs so why not start you're own about something you're passionate about whether that's knitting, beauty, cars and the list is endless and you will enjoy it as you like what you're talking about.

Play a board/card game- Something old school and I think not many people blame board games anymore so why not crack them out and you will end up having a lot of fun. These are also good for rainy days as I think board games are made for rainy days. My favourite board game is Monopoly.

Experiment with different makeup and clothes what you normally wouldn't do- This is something you could do if you're into beauty like me. I'm sure you have that one bright lipstick that you never wear so why not try it out and see what clothes you can wear it with and maybe you could have an photoshoot and get some Instagrams

Try out a new hobby- If you find a hobby you like you can always do it and you will never be bored again. I don't really have a hobby (apart from blogging) but you could try out a new sport or start art or there's loads of things and soon you will find one thing that you enjoy and look forward to going to if it's a class.

Start journalling about your summer or your future and even decorate it- This is something I love to do and as I go all out on the decoration it takes me a while and I could probably spend a whole day doing it. Soon I will have blog posts on both journals so hopefully that will give you some inspiration. 

Have a photoshoot/film a music video with your friends- This is a great memory to have with your friends as you will always have fun pictures/videos with them and it's great to look back on and it's also a good way to have fun with your friends without going shopping like you normally might.

Hopefully this blog post has even you some inspiration on what you could do and if you're bored when reading this (like doing this to stop the boredness not because my blog is boring) why not try out something I've mentioned and I'm sure you will enjoy it as there has to be something you like.