Tea for Twelve

I recently had my 21st birthday, and wanted to do something a wee bit out of the ordinary with just my closest friends. I pondered the many possibilities until it came to me, the perfect idea- a Birthday Tea Party!

I invited about 20 friends expecting that about half of those people would be able to make it, however the final number was eventually a nice neat twelve! 
Being a student, funds were an issue, so I had to think creatively to bring my vision to life. I originally wanted to hire beautiful china for everyone to drink their bubbly from, matching vases and a jug for lemonade, and cupcakes made professionally from a cupcake boutique which would sit on a gorgeous cupcake stand... but INSTEAD, fearing breakages of the china, I just brought two sets of six plain glasses for half price (bargain! which looked amazing with the light pink bubbly inside. I also just used an assortment of vessels from my flat, including a teapot, a blue jug, and two vases generously lent by flatmates to hold the beautiful roses in- they looked really sweet, and it kind of added to the charm that they were mismatched. Instead of buying cupcakes, I decided to hand-make them. My friends brought me various cupcake decorating equipment for my birthday, which was very handy in the decorating stage (the best bit!) However, I did splurge and buy a cupcake stand and they looked GORGEOUS all set up on the day!

I also handmade the snacks with the help of the wonderful Miss Scarlett Moody. They included scrumptious delights such as caramel slice, yo yoes, salmon treats (salmon and cream cheese on French bread), crackers, carrots and chips with dips and hummus, and a rather disastrous coconut ice. 

One of my favourite features on the table were the goodie bags from kikki.K which I filled with lollies and fastened with mini wooden pegs (also from kikki.K) and used as place settings- cute!!

To top it all off, the day was amazing, the sun was shining, and everything went without a hitch! My idea of a perfect party!

New Year, New Direction

Just a quick note to my loyal fans and avid readers (you know who you are!)- I have made some rather life-changing decisions over the past couple of days after thinking carefully about what I want to do with my life. As you who know me know, I just finished my Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Art History at the end of last year, and for the first time in a long time, the year ahead was not planned out for me. I had the choice of either doing honours in history or trying something new- exciting!! That something is interior design, or something of the sort anyway. 

So how does this relate to the blog, you may ask. Well, I have decided that instead of focusing solely on stationery, I might branch out a bit more to include other interior/ general 'living' ideas and showcase some of my own creations. Never fear, however, stationery will still be a huge part of my blog- how could it not be? I'm obsessed!

Dream a little dream...

I know exactly what I want my office to look like when I'm old enough to own a house (and have enough money to fulfill my wildest office dreams.) Now the word 'office' really does not do what I have in mind justice. What I am imagining is more of a stationery/book heaven. 

Picture this if you will:

A room that is longer than it is wide, but not too big. It is painted white all over with light wooden floors and a big window at the other end (possibly with a window seat with blue and white cushions?) Bookshelves span from the roof to floor on the entire left side of the room and there is one of those awesome ladders to reach the books on the upper shelves. On the other side there is a white kikki.K trestle table (you were wondering when kikki.K was going to come into it, weren't you!) and there are a couple of shelves with no sides above it for some blue storage boxes, folders and magazine holders. The desk is beautifully arranged with kikki.K stationery and I have a wooden chair to sit at the desk with as well as a wicker armchair in the room. Oh, and there will always be flowers on my desk! Doesn't it sound amazing?? Admittedly it does sound a wee bit selfish, but I think everybody needs their own little space to be surrounded by things that make them happy.

This desk is so gorgeous and I love the look of the white wood (maybe not on the floor though- pretty, but imagine how grubby it would get!) I also think the chair is very cute, looks like a vintage version of a swivel chair! (This image is courtesy of http://www.homeofficedesignblog.com/)

Ahhh! Is this not the cutest little desk space you have ever seen?! I love the personal touches this person has added to make this desk truly their own! (Image courtesy of http://bastienbeauty.wordpress.com/)

I think the best desks/ office spaces are those that manage to look like somebody actually owns them, with cute touches that distinguish them from any other ordinary office, but still manage to make the room look clutter-free, neat and bright. I can't wait to design my own!

Keep it clean, kids!

When organizing your desk and shopping around for new and beautiful products, some excellent advice is to keep it clean, fresh, and simple. One colour that will suit almost any environment is white, a classic colour that is the epitome of style. Not only is white associated with light, goodness, innocence and purity, but it is considered to be the colour of perfection. White means safety, cleanliness, and can represent a successful beginning. So if you are struggling to get organized, white could be the perfect colour for you!

This beautiful shelf is owned by a very good friend, Samantha. As those of you who know Samantha are well aware, she is not exactly the tidiest little cookie in the cookie jar. HOWEVER, she does have an exceptionally organised and gorgeous shelf here. This shelf not only expresses Samantha's personal style (an important part of creating your workspace, it has to reflect you as a person in able for you to work successfully in it- or at least it is much nicer to work in anyway!) but it keeps all of her important bits and pieces from University and other documents together in places that are easily accessible and clearly labelled. Personal touches here and there take this shelf from blah to beautiful!

(White storage boxes  and 2D folders from kikki.K, magazine holder from Smiggle)

Hello stationery lovers!

I am obsessed with stationery. To the point of actually considering starting up a 'stationery lovers anonymous' club, except for the simple fact that I love it too much to ever get round to starting said club. In fact, to make matters worse, I work in a stationery shop which is the equivalent of an alcoholic working in a Liquor Land I tell you! 

This photo is of my beloved (and apparently infamous?) desk and most of these gorgeous bits and pieces are from kikki.K. I am a student at the moment and so my current desk is a watered-down version of what I am dreaming of having in the future (considering the minuscule size and ugliness of the actual desk itself, which in no way does the stationery justice). This blog will feature some of the most beautiful desks around, creative ideas and inspiration, and of course a whole lot of irresistible stationery that is not only practical, but oh so fashionable.