It’s no secret that I have a massive love affair with all things stationery, so today in my Top 10 Thursday list I am sharing my favorite places to buy stationery and stationery related products. These are in no particular order!
Top 10
Top 10 Places to Visit
Another Thursday and another Top 10! This time I’m sharing my Top 10 Places to Visit.
- The beach. Living where I do in South Wales I’m not too far away from some spectacular beaches and I think there is nothing better than beach walks any time of the year.
- Parks. I love being outdoors and going to the park, seeing the different coloured leaves on the trees and keeping an eye out for different animals that I may spot.
- St Fagans. I love visiting St Fagans, I try to go every few years and have a walk around. I love that you can go into the buildings and have a look around and get a feel for how life was in years past.
- Cardiff City Centre. There is so much to do in Cardiff…Independent shops, shopping arcades, a castle, museum, fab pubs…well worth a visit!
- Bath. I love Bath, again, so much to do from independent shops to Roman Baths, a spa and lovely places to eat too.
- Museums. There is something about visiting a museum that I really enjoy, not only do I learn things but the atmosphere has a really calming effect on me. Always worth a visit when its cold or raining!
- Tate Modern. I’ve been to the Tate twice, once to see a Damien Hirst exhibition and the other time to see the Shape of Light exhibition. I have not really ventured around any of the galleries yet but I really want to go again. Visiting art galleries can help with creative ideas and it’s always interesting to see the different types of mediums artists use.
- Book Shops. Wherever I go I usually end up in a book shop somewhere. There is something really lovely about spending time browsing in bookshops and I normally come away with a few to add to my collection!
- Markets. I love markets. There is such a selection of different items on show and available to purchase. And some markets hold special events, like craft markets or food market days which are really worth checking out.
- Abbeys – Tintern Abbey and Llanthony Priory in particular. I love heading to an abbey with my camera and a picnic in the summer months and having a leisurely walk around, taking in the architecture and atmosphere.
Top 10 Love Songs
Happy Valentine’s Day! Today, because if it being Valentine’s and all that, I thought I would share my Top 10 Love Songs. These are in no particular order…
- Take That – A Million Love Songs
- Queen – Crazy Little Thing Called Love
- The Cure – Friday I’m In Love
- Foo Fighters – Everlong
- Madness – It Must Be Love
- UB40 – Falling In Love With You
- Shania Twain – You’re Still The One
- The Beautiful South – A Little Time
- Savage Garden – I Knew I Loved You
- Donna Lewis – I Love You, Always, Forever.
Top 10 Drinks
- Twinings Chamomile and Honey tea.
- Strawberry Squash.
- Coffee, freshly brewed in a French Press.
- Bavaria Shandy.
- Rose Tea.
- Alpro Chocolate Milkshake.
- Brewdog – Punk IPA.
- Elderflower and Rose Presse.
- Aloe and Strawberry Juice.
- Rose wine. (Though to be honest, I will drink most wines except Chardonnay)
Top 10 Things I Should Be Doing…
Today’s Top 10 Thursday post is a list of things that I should be doing but keep putting off for one reason or another…I’m sure we have all got a list like that?
- Making an eye test appointment.
- Sorting out Spare Oom (aka Narnia).
- Dusting.
- Meal Planning.
- Sorting through all my make-up and cleaning out where it is stored.
- De-brambling the garden.
- Fixing my printer.
- Running a backup of all my laptop files and photos.
- Tidying my desk/”office space”.
- Shopping.
Instead, I’m making a list of these things whilst sitting in my pyjamas and blogging about it. And in a minute i intend to make myself a coffee and catch up on blogs whilst wrapped in my blanket!
Top 10 Bands and Albums
Another Thursday and you know what that means? Another Top 10 Thursday!!!! Today’s top 10 are my favorite bands and albums, in no particular order.
- Blur – Parklife
- Space – Spiders
- The Doves – Lost Souls
- Genesis – Calling All Stations
- Marilyn Manson – Mechanical Animals
- Eels – Daisies of the Galaxy
- Emerson, Lake and Palmer – Brain Salad Surgery
- Greenday – Dookie
- Gomez – Bring It On
- Radiohead – The Bends
Top 10 Stationery Items
Notebooks. I have hundreds of notebooks stashed all over the place, the only problem is that I can’t decide if I forget that I have bought them or if they are breeding? Still, you can never have too many notebooks in my opinion.
- Front to Back… Paperblanks Ananda Lined Moleskine Dispicable Me Lined Lechtturm 1917 Dotted
- Fountain Pens. I love my fountain pens, Lamy and Parker are my favorites. It’s just a bit sad that I don’t get to use them as much as I’d like because much of my work is p.c based, though I do use them for taking notes in my various notebooks and planners!
Lime Green – Lamy Safari Purple – Parker Grey – Parker - Highlighters. I have no idea how I came to have so many highlighters though I blame it on my student years. My favorites are the Zebra Mildliners and my Stabilo Boss mini ones which I use in my planners for colour coding everything!
- Felt Pens. These felt pens are by far my favorite at the moment (though I own a heck of a lot more than I want to admit to). I seem to have a love/hate relationship with felts but at the moment I’m really liking them for using in my doodling.
- Fine Liners. I own a load more than these ones…this is the set I tend to carry around with me all the time though, they are really good for writing really small and neat in my planners and journals as well as for drawing with.
- Coloured Pencils. These are from Paperchase and I love that from 12 pencils you get 24 colours! Such a genius thing to create and saves so much space in my pencil-case.
- Coloured ball/gel pens. Is there ever any need not to own pretty coloured ball and gel pens? They make shopping lists and chore lists look so much more appealing!
- Paperclips. In as many novel shapes as possible, these paperclips are used to mark pages in my planner that contain important information and keep paperwork together. They never cease to make me smile.
- Sticky Notes. I have a love for novel sticky notes, and they are super useful when I need to write something down to transfer to my home planner, leaving little reminders about things over the house and for keeping phone numbers safe.
- Pencil Case. I had this for Christmas from my little brither, its perfect for carting around the pens and pencils and other stationery items that I need on a day-to-day basis!
Top 10 Things to do When it’s Cold
I’m starting a new series on the blog…Top 10’s! This series will be a list of 10 things and will cover all manner of subjects and will be posted each thursday! To kick off the series today I’m posting a list of the top 10 things to do when it’s cold…
- Go for a walk. Bundle yourself up in your warmest clothes and coat and, so long as the weather is dry and cold, go for a walk somewhere.
- Visit a Cafe. Go to a local cafe and order a hot drink, sit in the window and people watch for an hour.
- Read a book. Make yourself cozy with a hot chocolate and a blanket, curl up on the sofa and read a good book.
- Take a long, hot bath. Run a lovely hot bath, use your favorite bath products and treat yourself to a lovely pamper session.
- Watch a film. Invite friends over, stock up on snacks and watch a feel good film.
- Stay in your pjs all day. Or better still, warm up nice fresh ones on the radiator and put them on.
- Catch up on your favorite shows. Or start watching a series you have been wanting to watch.
- Do some gardening. Put on some old clothes, layer up and get out into the garden and do some tidying and pruning if the day is dry.
- Start a Jigsaw. It’s a fab way to spend time, and there is a sense of accomplishment in finishing one too.
- Visit a local pub for food. Go out and treat yourself to dinner in a local pub (not a chain one though – a traditional village type pub!).
My Colourful Life 