Category Archives: News

a return to the blogging…

6 months have now passed and I have decided that it is time to return to blogging Full Force (or as full force as I can manage with my busy schedule). This means I will be attempting to bring all my blogs back at the same time:

I have been pleasantly surprised at how active they have been in my absence over the last 6 months. Now that I finally have a computer again I hope that there will be an increase once again in blog posts.

Blogfest: first loves

Today is Alex’s “first loves” Blogfest which I found thanks to the a to z challenge.

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So here goes:

first movie
Gone with the wind: Truly epic and longest movie ever but it is a fantastic love story set against a great historical backdrop. I watch it every year at Christmas time with my parents… still. Not my favourite movie, but gone with the wind is definitely the first I fell in love with and watch on a regular basis.

first band/song:
Being Hard-of-Hearing I was late to embrace the music scene, and even now, while I enjoy listening to the tunes, and noise of music. It still gives me a certain amount of frustration, I cannot hear the words, cannot sing along, and I am usually left humming quietly to myself. Tunes tend to be recognised from movie soundtracks, and only get introduced to “what everyone else is listening” which I somehow pick up by osmosis. However one of my favourite songs is Tom Diner by Suzanne Vega. Clear, distinct voice washing over you and full of emotion. Beautiful.a song introduced to me by my father who was determined to find me a song to love.

first book:
The Narnia books by C.S.Lewis were the first proper series that I read as a child. I had the books, the tapes and the videos of the tv series (much better than the recent movies). My favourite book is the first in the series: the magicians nephew (the prequel to the much more famous/popular book the lion, the witch and the wardrobe). Ironically I never read them since. But rewatch, rewatch and rewatch – clearly I’ve got lazy.

first person:
The first person I “loved” in a purely childish (crush) sense was my best friend from my childhood. Why? They understood me. Nothing more, nothing less. Only the ideal romanticism that it was possible to fall in love with the kid down the street and that it would “last”. In the end, it was the mother that got in the way.

Thanks for stopping by.

More Union Jack Notebooks (from pukka pads)

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pukka pads newsletter:

“Introducing the limited edition Union Jack notepads from Pukka Pads (6170-UJF, 6171-UJF). This new design really portrays the unique and wonderful ‘mash-up’ of British cultures within our small island home – represented by a modern, artistic take on the Union Jack flag.

The Union Jack range is available in Jotta Notepad A4/A5 formats, and will proudly feature high quality 80gsm.”

Blogging from A to Z

Blogging unfortunately has taken a back seat lately. So I’ve been looking for a way to get re-inspired and get back into a routine. With only days to go I’ve decided to join in with the Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2012.

The concept?

26 blog posts during the month of  April – one for each letter of the alphabet.

A very hard challenge, but I am looking forward to it.

Check out the other blogs involved or sign up yourself.

The March Carnival of Pen Pencil & Paper

Welcome to the latest edition of the Carnival of Pen Pencil & Paper. Let’s get stuck straight in with some great posts to read with your pancakes (Happy Pancake Day!!)

Pancakes!Pancakes! by kevinliuzzo, on Flickr

I love spending some time on the weekend with my brunch catching up with what everyone has been blogging about. I also enjoy reading the monthly carnivals with a nice cup of tea – so thank you to nifty for allowing me to host this month’s edition.

Editor’s Choices:

First up are a couple of posts that have caught my eye over the past couple of weeks (and also to help boost the notebook selection of posts this month):

Laurie at Plannerisms shares (as always) her enthusiasm for her new 2011/2012 Extra Large Moleskine Weekly Notebook – which has gone on my “Must Buy list” straightaway. The post is great not just because it looks at the notebook but because of the suggestion to help brighten up your moleskine (if you are not a big fan of the plain black). (Talking about covers/brightening up your notebooks – you should also take a look at these cute Handmade Leather Cases for your No.10 Bloc Rhodia)

A different sort of notebook also caught my eye – Leigh Reyes blogs about Muji’s Weekly Magazine Notebook, which despite the bleed through I think sounds great. It apparently looks and feels like a magazine – and I get the impression you won’t mind writing in it and actually using it.

and finally: an excellent post from Philofaxy. I am not a big fan of the filofax, but I may be tempted now after reading this post about all the Time Management Diary Options (that I didn’t know were available)(and they would also be great inspiration for anyone attempting a DIY Planner).

Notebooks:

Inspired by the previous post and thinking about attempting your own DIY planner? Make sure you check out this month’s submission from Current Addictions on their excellent homemade DIY Planner. Photographs and detailed descriptions of a job well done.

Reverse books seem to be making a come back in the shops and I have my eye on a couple, which is why Pocket Blonde’s submission made an interesting read. Diane has made her own dotReverse notebook with a Rhodia DotPad.

Pens & Ink:

As nifty at Notebook Stories noted last month – the pen bloggers are currently dominating the stage. As always there are some great submissions this month.

Cheryl at Writers’ Bloc Blog tells us about the experience of writing in “If Fountain Pens were Cars” and if this was not enough to get those of us who favour notebooks over pens to jump on the bandwagon Millie (MsLogica) tempts us with a review of the Sailor Fountain Pen which is a beautiful addition to anyone’s collection and again is a serious contender to go on my “must buy” list. The extra fine nib is beautiful.

More totally drool worthy pens come in the form of Wahl Oxford Fountain Pens which Julie (Peaceable writer) writes about in great detail (very informative and interesting post). Another great through review (this time of ink) comes from Dave (Seize the Dave) who writes an informative (and pretty) review of Noodler’s Baystate Blue Ink.

Misc:

To round-up this month’s Carnival are a couple of submissions for the more practically minded among us. From Goldspot Pens comes a 4-in-1 review of a series of products that work well together reminding us all that although we all usually favour one product (pen, pencil or paper) it is nice to sample (and obsess) about them all every once in a while (and to do the unexpected and use brown ink). Not only that we all love our tools of the trade – Julie (Okami) at Whatever presents a great post on one such tool the Tom Bihn Imago Bag. We rarely get posts about accessories – and this looks like the perfect bag for carrying round your writing kit – so make the most of it.

Thank you all for reading I hope you have enjoyed this post.

Next Month’s Carnival will be hosted by Rants of the Archer – Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of pen, pencil and paper using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.