Getting Organised

One of my goals for the year was to be more organised, both in life in general and for my career. When you're self-employed you rely heavily on being organised and laying out a schedule, and often planning ahead. If you get sick, it's best having backup work already done so that you don't miss out. Sometimes this can't be prevented and you end up behind with your tasks and it's a bit of a nightmare. To help combat this, for Christmas I was bought the Ban.Do 2018 Agenda to use for both life admin and my self-employed work.

The agenda includes a year overview, day by day view, weekly view and a huge notes section in the back. So far I'm yet to use the two pages of stickers at the front but maybe one day soon I will. It's strange to me combining things like admin, birthdays, events and deadlines all in one place, but only 17 days into 2018 and it's already helping out in such a big way. I mean it's pretty big and it's not something I'll be carrying around with me, but here comes the second addition to my organisational tools for the new year. I got a new phone! I've had my iPhone 6s since March 2016 and I was definitely in need of an upgrade.

Having a larger screen means that typing is easier, and I'm using the notes section when I'm out and then writing out my notes on my pad when I'm home. Another thing I needed to really get organised with was Instagram. Having an iPhone 8 Plus means that the camera is far superior, with modes like Portrait mode giving you an aperture of  1.8 giving you the perfect blurry background when desired. It detects colour really well and I've actually been able to start using it for blog photos which is so new to me since I've always used my Olympus Pen. I'm so happy with it and I'm hoping by Jan 1st 2019, there will have been 365 posts, for the first time ever in one year.

Read more

Kate Spade Stationery At Rooi

I'm someone who can be totally besotted by pretty stationery. I've always wandered past Kate Spade items thinking they were well out of my budget so there wasn't much falling in love with things I couldn't afford. I didn't realise that their stationery was beautiful and affordable over on Rooi.com along with other well-known brands such as Ban.do, Liberty of London and many more. I want to share with you two of my favourite items that they stock; the Kate Spade Gold Strike Pen Set (£19.95)* and the Kate Spade Floral Spiral Notepad (£11.95 but now £9.56)*.

The Gold Strike Pen Set is a box filled with 6 black ink pens that can jazz up your pen pot or add a metallic touch to your Instagram photos. They look luxurious and I did feel posher than I would care to admit when using them and feel like I should save them until I'm writing out wedding invitations because they're just so pretty. I actually used one pen to show in a demonstration below and then put it back in the packaging as I don't want to scratch them. It got me thinking, this would make a lovely present to someone whether it be for a new job, a wedding gift or a birthday present. Even the outer packaging is more expensive-looking than the regular plastic bag you get with regular pens.

The Floral Spiral Notebook has gold binding and with a pink floral design on the front. It's filled with 160 lined pages so you could turn it into a diary, bullet journal, to do list or a notepad for jotting down your thoughts. I prefer notebooks to traditional diary formatting so I can customise the book myself with no limits. The paper seems high quality from when I've used it and is thick enough to ensure that any ink you use doesn't seep through. The gold spiral running throughout is a lovely touch and shows the attention to detail that the brand Kate Spade brings. The flower and leaves on the front add a feminine touch and I can tell it will be popular amongst Pinterest fans. 

I'm absolutely in love with these products and think I'll be turning the notebook into a personal thoughts diary to help me with anxiety, especially with the front cover being distracting in a positive way. Whilst I could talk about Kate Spade items all day, I wanted to share a bit more about the online store Rooi who have worked with me today. Not only do they sell stationery, the sell home items for your bedroom, bathroom, dining room and accessories, they have a pet section and a scarf section too, meaning there is something for everyone. They also have items that would be great for Mother's Day, with free gift wrapping on all orders and free delivery on orders over £50. They pride themselves in only stocking high-quality items which is exactly what I look for when I'm looking to buy gifts or to treat myself. So, will you be picking anything up from Rooi? 

Read more