s t a t i o n a r y ...

I have a real penchant for stationary. Ok, anything even slightly related to stationary does it for me. I admit I spend far too much time looking at the stuff be it in shops, online on blogs etc, but it is ohhh so pleasurable. I am sure there are more than a few of you out there who can relate...you know who you are!

Occasionally I may treat myself to a special piece and will find myself strangely obsessing over it like I'm Charlie and it's a Willy Wonka Chocolate Bar or something. 

So, as the end of 2013 was fast approaching, I found myself getting rather anxious about my new 2014 diary. This Grafika one below in the pink and yellow was my special find for last year. I purchased it from Howkapow when they had their pop-up shop Bristol. I loved the graphics of all of the designs, but loved the pink one the most. It's a perfect size being between A5 & A6. It fit in my handbag perfectly and had plenty of diary room as well as an address book section and a plentiful notebook section. All this without being big and clumsy. I definitely wanted to invest in another for this follwing year, however to my extreme sadness I was more than disappointed to see that the makers, 1973 hadn't produced any new diary's for 2014, only a selection of notebooks in these same snazzy designs. 

 
So, frantically trying to find a good as replacement, I was beside myself when I came across this beauty in my locally owned store Something Else owned by the very lovely Sidonie & Kyle. Their wonderous shop sells a niche and very specifically selected collection of unique paper goods including stationary, books, magazines, maps and much more.

Stationary from Something Else

I have my eye on this - from Something Else

Among their plethora of goods I came across this 'Another Project' weekly planner by Seeso Graphics and highly recommended by Sid as her personal planner. On flicking through the pages I could see why. So much detail on the weekly/yearly planning you could go wild. Plus lots of space for notes on pretty pastel lined/gridded paper. The planner comes with stickers-o-plenty to so you can be creative with those I guess. I just love the colour, simplicity and endless ways of planning that can be done! The removable plastic jacket is great to make the thing last, but also doubles up as a pocket on the inside sleeves for those special looses bits of paper one tends to collect like gig stubs and the like.

Another find I made recently on Etsy was this. I love simplicity and combined with recycling, these cute little 'Matchbook Notepads' by One Fine Dae are great. Handmade using paper recycled from security envelopes. Perforated edges allow for ease of tearing pages out if needs be. This little notepad is pocket sized, ethically aware and cool.

Matchbook Notepad from One Fine Dae

Matchbook Notepad from One Fine Dae

Matchbook Notepad from One Fine Dae

Matchbook Notepad from One Fine Dae

d e c l u t t e r ...

For those of you who know me, you will know the the word declutter isn't one that belongs in my vocabulary! However, after a recent trip to Berlin (my 3rd time) for work, rest & play, spending 2 days doing hotel reviews and 3 in our own rented 3rd floor apartment, which Mr Red Bird and I immediately fell in love with, I come home with a certain pang of need to declutter my home!

Now I am a certified hoarder and have been since birth pretty much. I think my mother has a lot to answer for when I talk about hoarding (she has an entire garage which has no room to house a car because it is floor to ceiling full of crap memories. Okay, a lot of this is 'said' crap belonging to me and my siblings that we all guilt my mum into not chucking away, but a lot of it it definitely hers!
I blame my messy hoarders house to the fact that I don't have enough storage to hide my endless bits and pieces away in. When infact, I need to just bite the bullet and clear out my junk pre-loved items and give them to a new home. Oh, I can see Mr Red Bird's face lighting up as he reads this!

Here's some snaps of our Berlin apartment!

....gorgeous huh! I highly recommend using Airbnb instead of perhaps booking a hotel as it's much more personal and has a lot more charm!

I also came across this blog this afternoon - Life Thru A Lens. It's written by a Finnish graphic designer and mother, and is full of bright inspiring photos of her loves. I can't but adore her taste in home decor. Those pops of Neon are just my thing & I love the yellow kitchen wall!

This has definitely given me the drive to make a start on my new decluttered lifestlye...