National Stationery Week

I love stationery. If I really have to admit it – I am a stationery addict… I have drawers FULL of felt tip pens and pencils and biros, and fun and quirky notelets and post-it notes, the list goes on… I am sure enough to open a small stationery shop.

However, amongst the quantity there are some particular quality items I would be lost without… really! Some are old timers that I have had a long time, some are new additions that I now can’t be without – but here, for National Stationery Week are my cherished items!

National Stationery Week runs from April 27th – 3rd May 2015.

http://www.nationalstationeryweek.com/

1. So, to start with – we have my ‘The Crafty Lass’ notebook from a beautiful shop in Sri Lanka. ‘Barefoot’ is full of hand woven fabric products, you name it, it is in there made out of fabric. But despite wanting to bring back the whole shop – the covered notebooks I was particularly drawn to, full of lovely cream recycled paper. It has my notes, ideas, to-do lists for setting up The Crafty Lass. It doesn’t leave my side!

2. My Cath Kidston pencil case. How many adults do you know that take their own pencil case to work….? Well, I do. When I was about 11 years old, I took my Mum, Dad and Auntie on a shopping trip while on holiday in Perth, Scotland to find THE perfect pencil case for the new school term. It is still talked about to this day that it took MANY shops, MANY hours to get the right one… It was important! Recently my fountain pen leaked in the case, so there is now a large blue stain inside, and you can just see that through one of the cream spots – so, it’s not perfect, but it is still my lovely pencil case.

3. My Parker fountain pen. This was a gift 2 years ago from my brother and sister for my birthday. I have always wanted a lovely proper ink pen, and now it is pretty much all I use! I love ordering extra ink cartridges to ensure it never runs out… sounds sad! But, I love that my handwriting always looks better in this pen, and it is very ‘traditional’ to put proper ink to paper.

4. When not using my fountain pen, I mainly use my pink fineliner – I was always taught in school that I should only ever write in Black, or Blue. Red was strictly reserved for teachers. However, now that I am an adult – I happily write in every colour and whatever colour suits me that day! But I consistently go back to this pink fineliner… it is starting to run out – so, soon I will need to find a new favourite, but until then, I will continue to write in whatever colour I want…!

5. The old traditional highlighter. I am abit of a ‘list’ person – for what I need to get achieved that day, week, year, lists on my fridge of long term life plans, lists of shopping for whatever is needed in the supermarket, lists of lists… A highlighter is my friend as I can highlight stuff off my to-do list only when it is DONE.

6. Car and truck rubber bands. These, are actually my husband’s, but they have conveniently ended up in The Crafty Lass office. Fun! When being used, they obviously don’t keep their shape! But, I know that they are shaped like a car…

7. Birdie paperclips. These are a very recent addition to my stationery collection – a gift from my lovely sister. Just how great are they! They certainly brighten up bundles of paperwork…

8. Giant pushpins. These, are also a new addition, again a gift. I love that they are so bright, and huge! I need to buy a corkboard simply just to use them!

9. Read, urgent, later clips. Bright, helpful, organising stationery! These will be much needed in the coming weeks once I no doubt have more paperwork to be organising…

10. ‘LOVE’ Washi Tape. What is not to love about this?! I have this design in three colours (pink, green, black) and are all from IKEA. Some Washi tape – although all beautiful can be rather expensive. IKEA has jumped on the bandwagon and gone all out with fun and quirky designs, but at traditionally low IKEA prices! Why use cellotape when you can use something as beautiful as this!

11. Vanilla smelling cupcake rubber. Yes, that is exactly what it is. It looks like a sweet, it smells like a sweet – but it is for rubbing out pencil errors! 🙂

12. Cartoon post it notes. These really get the message across!

13. Star pencil sharpener. This came from a Christmas cracker about 5 years ago – but it is pink, sparkly, and actually works pretty well! I love it, as it is the sort of thing I would have loved just as much when I was 5 years old – but I love it just as much as an adult!

14. Old, but beautiful scissors. These, used to be my grandma’s. When she sadly passed away – I was given her sewing box – full of lovely old silk threads, needles, little unfinished projects – and many pairs of scissors. Although rusty, they do still work. I owe them some TLC with some WD40 and a clean up – but I love them just as they are.

What are your favourite and cherished stationery items?