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Raisie Bay

stationary

The Home Office

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I used to have a corner of the living room as my home office. I had everything I needed, a desk, chair, pc and complete filing system including my luxury branded ringbinders.

Then I got sick and rarely used my work station so it was passed on to Star. She now has everything in her bedroom and my living room was reclaimed  became a dumping corner for toy boxes.

I’ve decided now that I’d like it back as a home office. It just felt different having a space to work in. I seemed to get so much more done, I was more productive without distractions. 

The Little Man’s bedroom should really be a home office, it has so many plug sockets and it’s just the perfect size. But I’d have to kick him out and he’s only eight so I don’t think I’d get away with that. Maybe in the future there will be a bedroom shuffle, because I’m sure if one of the other bedrooms became free there would be a rush to move around. The Little Man is happy in his little room for the time being though, so I will have to settle for my living room.

My Ideal Office.

I’m lucky enough to have quite a large living room so I can easily spare a corner. I do think my needs have changed since the last time though. For one, I’d need a very comfortable chair to sit in. I would be using my laptop so the desk would not have to house a pc. I’d like lots of storage for all my paperwork. 

But, it’s not just work, there is also play involved. I like to do a bit of papercraft, so it would be nice to have the desk to use for that. And I really love stationary and pretty things, so it would probably be less office like than before. 

And when I’m not working, I’d love to be able to store everything neatly away.

Inspiration

It will be after Christmas before I can set up my new office because that’s when we’ll be re-decorating. But I’ve been looking on Pinterest for some inspiration. I’m a long way from making up my mind though.

a simple white desk and matching chair against a grey painted wall with a wire bookcase
Maybe if we went for grey, but I’d need more storage
a dark wooden bench beneath a large bookshelf full of books and plants
A bit too cluttered, but I do love bookshelves
An old wooden desk with a a floral chair topped with a painting and a lamp and set against a handpainted mural on the wall
I love the wooden desk
two white cabinets with a plank of wood across the top to make a desk
Or maybe I should have something made to suit. This is a plank of wood over two filing cabinets.

Do you have a home office? 

Stationary Week – Tokidoki

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It’s Stationary week and we were lucky to receive a parcel of stationary from GMC Group.
The girls were so excited opening the parcel.

Tokidoki is a fusion of Japanese popular culture and trendy European design. It’s loved by fans of manga (Japanese style comic books) and kawaii (cute things in popular Japanese culture.) Tokidoki means ‘sometimes’ in Japanese and the designer, Simone Legno, chose the word because he feels “everyone waits for moments that change ones destiny, by chance or by meeting a new person.”

We instantly fell in love with the larger than life characters adorning this stationary. There is the gorgeous Donutella and her sweet friends, who came to earth in their donut shaped UFOs. Then there is the Cactus friends who adorn cactus shaped suits to keep them safe. The Unicornos spend their time between earth and a magical world where they were transformed from ponies to Unicorns by a magic waterfall. The Moofia were formed to take on school bullies! Milk is power, milk is protection.
The lovely new stationary features all these characters and more. It would be hard to choose a favourite they are all so cute.

Author : Tokidoki
ISBN13 : 9781454921813
Binding : PB
Pages : 64
Photographs : N/a
Series Title : Tokidoki
Quick Find Code : 27567
Price: £7.99
available from GMC group

The colouring book was a big favourite as we love colouring in this house, that’s all of us, me included. It features so many of the characters and beyond cute. I love that the pages are one sided so you can use ink and not worry about it bleeding through and spoiling the next page. The book has 32 pages to colour.

Author : Tokidoki
ISBN13 : 9781454921837
Binding : PB
Pages : 120
Photographs : N/a
Series Title : Tokidoki
Quick Find Code : 27568
Price: £9.99
available from GMC group

Also in the pack was the larger Colouring Pad. Again featuring all the lovely Tokidori characters the pad is a generous A4 poster size pad with a hard back to make it easier to colour anywhere. Each poster is one sided and can be coloured and pulled out for display. There are 60 posters to colour.

Author : Tokidoki
ISBN13 : 9781454921882
Binding : PB
Pages : 80
Photographs : N/a
Series Title : Tokidoki
Quick Find Code : 27570
Price: £7.99
available from GMC Group

The Postcard book is fabulous. You can send either a coloured in card or colour one in, or even send one for your friend to colour in. Each coloured card has a matching black and white one to colour. They are good quality cards with spaces for address and messages on the back. Each card is perforated for easy removal. There are 40 designs in total.

We also received some lovely notebooks in the package, both hard back and flexi. The girls snapped these up as they love their books as much as I do. Boo also snapped up the 365 days journal called ‘My Inspired Life’ If you’ve ever had a journal and not known what to write in it then this is book for you. Each of the 365 pages has a question for you to answer about your personal life.
Star grabbed the spiral bound sketch book for her drawings.

The Tokidoki Stationary items are sure to be a big hit with the kids (And adults) especially if they like anything at all cute and useful.


Disclosure: We received a pack of Tokidori stationary in return for our honest review. 

Twin Mummy and Daddy
Lucy At Home

Smiggle in Town

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Last week we went to visit the new Smiggle Shop which has opened in the Bullring Birmingham.

I’m a big lover of stationary and I think Boo is too, she often goes to bed scribbling away in a notebook.

Smiggle is a children’s stationary shop which originated in Australia. They have just started opening shops in the UK and plan to have 200 stores by next year. Smiggle is all about inspiring their customers creativity with fun, colourful and original stationary. Their shops are full of sensory excitement and the staff passionate and friendly.

The first thing that struck me was the lovely arrangement inside the stall. I will admit that I am more than a tad obsessive compulsive and I was delighted with the order of the shop, it was very pleasing.

Now that’s what I call colour co-ordination.

The products are bright and fun and there is something to suit all tastes, including grown-ups. I loved that they had some fabulous boys products too. I was told that the stock is changed regularly so their is always something new to see.

Not only are you taken in by the beautiful colours there are also many textures to enjoy and even smells.

When I mentioned that I’d visited the shop on my social media a couple of my friends said they had thought the shop was nice, but over priced. As a fan of stationary I know that you can buy cheaper stationary on the high street, but there is not as much to choose from and it’s not as nice. There are also a couple of shops I like to browse where I don’t buy anything because I cannot justify paying so much..those are the expensive shops. I believe that  Smiggle lies in between. In fact I found them pretty good value. I bought gifts for four of my children that worked out less than £10 each and they were all really happy. I’m sure they would make great Christmas stocking fillers.
One daughter had a konnichiwa pencil case and some scented macaroon erasers which she loved, another had a light up snap band and my son loved his stencil book and spy pen.
Boo, my stationary loving little girl had asked me to get her a new notebook. Well, as she loves to take a notebook to bed I was thrilled to find a furry notebook. I chose a blue bunny one (blue is her favourite colour) and also bought her a new multi-coloured pen. Now she can fall asleep cuddling her furry bunny once she’s finished her writing. She absolutely loves it.

I’m sure we will be popping in to Smiggle every time we visit the Bullring. There are so many things I saw that I’d like to buy. I’m also looking forward to opening my Smiggle Advent Calender with a little piece of stationary behind every door.

You can shop at Smiggle online, but I’d thoroughly recommend a trip to one of their shops as it really is a lovely experience. Check the website for a shop near you. I’m lucky as I currently live in the middle of two of them.

The Reading Residence

Disclaimer: I was invited to the Smiggle shop opening and received a goody bag. I was not asked specifically to write anything about them and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Back To School – Review

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It’s that time of year again, everyone is thinking of going back to school. We have a bit of a predicament this year as we still don’t have a school for the girls to go to. I am forever hopeful that things will come together once we have moved house and I’ve been to see the schools myself. I already know that there will be places for Star and the Little Man has lots of nurseries to choose from. I just need to find a place for Boo but that hopefully won’t take long (fingers tightly crossed)

I’ve normally got everything I need for the return to school by now but as things are so different this year I was so grateful to receive a whole parcel of back to school stuff from The West Orchards shopping center in Coventry.

West Orchards opened in Coventry City Center in 1991 and has over 40 retail outlets which offer a wide choice of both major high street names and independent outlets. They boast a food court with over 700 seats, and a big car park. They are open 7 days a week and are perfect for your one stop shopping experience.

For my back to school items I received a lovely pack of two kilt skirts from Debenhams. They are a great bargain at just £8 for the pack and fit Boo, aged 6 yrs, perfectly.

The blouses were a pack of two short sleeved from Marks and Spencers, at just £4 also a bargain.

Here is Boo, looking very nice. The clothes were a great fit and she was very happy with them. The skirts have adjustable waistbands too.

Star received a selection of bramble wood stationary from WH Smith. She recieved a Bramble Wood  Pencil Case (£8.99) which is filled with coloured pencils, felt tip pens, pen, pencil, ruler, rubber and pencil sharpener. She also received a Bramble Wood A4 Project Book (£4.79) and a Bramble Wood 12 part organiser (£5.59) A lovely design that she will be happy to use for her school projects.

Finally, the Little Man received a lovely Angry Birds lunch box (£6.99) and a matching aluminium sports bottle (£3.99) also from WH Smith.

So whatever you need for your back to school shopping it’s always a bonus if you can get it all under one roof, with easy parking all the necessary facilities and even a wide range of places to grab some lunch.