All Things Blank and Beautiful

I have always been a bit of a geek. Whilst I was in primary school [year 1 -I was 6 going on 7] I got in trouble with my teacher for wasting paper - I used to collect bundles of blank pages and then staple them together to create 'books'. I never wrote in them just created 'book' after 'book' until I was about 12 when I figured it would be fun to fill them with stories. In my early teens I used to buy blank notebooks that would sit for years on my shelves without so much as a flick of ink. Although my budget does not stretch as far as it used to, as a student of a particularly 'bookish' subject I can often be found in the library or at my desk typing or jotting away. My love for all things paper was clearly never a 'phase'.

Once more its that time of year again. Hundreds of thousands of young people and children are back off to school, college, university or new jobs. There is never a better time of the year to post about all things paper related. So forgive me if you're not big into stationery but I'm about to unveil my top 10 for desk accessories and journals. They're not in any particular order as its all down to individual taste!

• Let's begin with Liberty London. Quintessentially British in design with quirky and classy  mixtures of leather and pretty print.
• Another fantastic British business is Smythson. Take a deep breath before shopping here as they are rather pricey leather goods but none the less beautiful.
• If you are looking for a more affordable range of leather notebooks and organises don't look further than Filofax. They're the 'go-to' for personal organisers but also produce plenty of other leather accessories. I have loved them for years as you can see from this post from 2009.
• Not long ago I discovered one of my friends is just as addicted to stationery as I am. He claims Muji is one of the best brands out there. If you like basics and you like them low-cost this is the place to shop.
• Papermash is perfect If you like simple feminine design. Along side beautiful chapter notebooks for the budding author you can find paper banners and hole punches that produce hearts instead of holes! Papermash's tape and string section is huge, pretty good idea for original and stylish gift-wrapping.
• Anyone whos mildly cares about stationery in the UK will have heard of Paperchase. Its a highstreet store that sells good value stationery ranging from basics to prints and themed collections. I must have spent a small fortune here in pocket money when I was younger!
• The Journal Shop - an online store that sells a range of different brands from Ciak to Midoiri.
• Aspinal of London - is very similar to Smythson mentioned above however they have created something quite unique in their Refillable Leather Journals. What a clever idea! Once more their Personal Recipe Binders look so dapper you almost expect the owner to be fabulously good in the kitchen. 
• Papernation sells a mixture of crafty products and prints similar to Papermash and Paperchase at similar prices. The World's Smallest Post Service is probably completely useless but none-the-less sweet!
• Finally for keepsakes and various pretty notebooks for general use and special occasions. Visit Ohsocherished. Oh and these are pretty cool too!

xoxo