Norma & Dorothy - The Best Place for Personalised Stationery & Gifts

*This is a sponsored post*

When it comes to stationery, I'm obsessed with all things pretty. I love to look at pretty cards, stationery, prints and gifts that I can buy for every occasion - and just for myself and my home. I love those independent shops and boutiques that seem to carry the most beautiful products that you just won't find anywhere else and one of my newest online discoveries for this was Norma & Dorothy.

Baker Days - Cake By Post

Cake. I love cake.

The way to my heart is through cake. I'm not one of these people who goes crazy for chocolate or sweets - I'm the person who goes for cake every time. It's justly preference but if I'm feeling that sweet craving coming my way, then I'm going to be reaching for cake of some variety.

Knock Knock - Who Will You Buy for?

When it comes to stationery, you all know how much of a fan I am.

Okay, fan would be an understatement. I'm a full blown stationery addict! Having been on the hunt for lots of new stationery to ask Santa for, I've found some amazing brands, but one that I already knew of, one that has been a firm favourite for years is Knock Knock..

I first found out about Knock Knock when I was looking for a way to tell my best friend how much I loved her for her birthday a few years ago. On the hunt for something that was sentimental, I stumbled upon the 'Fill In The Love Journals' and since then I've bought them for all my nearest and dearest friends and family.

The 'Fill In The Love Journals' are these beautiful mini books, which are hardbound and brightly coloured and come in so many variations that there will be one for almost everyone in your life that you could think of. The idea with a 'Fill In The Love Journal' is that this little book is designed to tell the person who's receiving it, just how much you love them. It does this by giving you 50 prompts to write something in the book.

My most recent 'Fill In The Love Journal' is called 'What I Love About Mum' and has prompts like 'I love how I got your ___' and 'I wish I had known you when ___'. All 50 prompts are wonderful at getting you to write answers that are touching and thoughtful, and so as a result creating a really heartfelt gift to give. I know for a fact that my mum will shed a tear when she reads hers - we're both the emotional type when it comes to sentimentality!

These books are only £7.95 each and there are journals for mums, sisters, grandma's and dads as well as journals for celebrating your love for your partner, for telling your best friend how much they mean to you - and many more. There isn't a single person in your life who wouldn't be covered by one of the 'Fill in The Love' journals and at such a brilliant price you can understand why I buy these as unique gifts regularly.

My second Knock Knock item to tell you about is my Inner Truth Journal. These are amazing journals that are completely personal and you can pick from all sorts of topics - mine is the 'I'm Kind of Awesome' journal which is designed to encourage and boost confidence. But there are loads to pick from including the 'I'm Doing My Best', the 'I Gotta Be Me' and the 'I Need To Unplug' as well as many more.

The journals themselves are full of amazing quotes and prompts to help inspire and motivate based around your journal topic. In fact, in each journal there are over 70 of these, and all of them are full page size, so really powerful and full of impact when you read them.

 My chosen 'I'm Kind of Awesome' journal features amazingly encouraging and motivating quotes which are all about boosting confidence and feeling good about yourself. As a woman, the quotes really stand out to me and I haven't read one which doesn't make me think deeply - which is always the aim of a good quote!

The Inner Truth Journals are priced at only £11.95 - which considering it's a really good size and very chunky, and an excellent quality product makes it a brilliant purchase! I'm going to use mine as an everyday notebook to jot down my ideas and lightbulb moments. I always have these ideas and thoughts but rarely have anything to store them in and this feels like the perfect place to do that.

I am a HUGE fan of Knock Knock products because somehow they've taken basic stationery ideas and created these unique and quirky products with a penchant for being heartfelt and thoughtful. While combining practical products to help you keep organised as well as many other things, their products bring fun and more than just a hint of laughter!

Their products are so distinctive, I've yet to find anything like them elsewhere, which I think is why time after time when it comes to buying gifts, Knock Knock are one of my go-to brands. And with every new range they release I fall a little bit more in love with their designs!

Make sure you're checking Knock Knock out and adding one of their 'Fill In The Love' journals and 'Inner truth' Journals to your Christmas buying list - your friends and family will love you for it!

Website: www.knockknockstuff.com
Twitter: @knockknock
Facebook: Knock Knock
Instagram: knockknock

Festive Fingers

One thing I've made a ritual in my life, is having my nails painted. I either paint them myself, wear wraps, or a friend of mine with a nail salon will give me a gel manicure. It's the one thing I guarantee to do for myself, to make me feel less mumsy and add a touch of girlie glamour to my fingers. Little things - like having your nails painted, can make all the difference in making you feel good about yourself. Those little bottles are more than varnish - they're like mini shots of confidence!

I used to always stick to the same colours, I never varied that too much - mostly because I whimped out, and not for any other reason! Nowadays though, if I like the colour, I'll have it, and pah to whether it's acceptable to wear neon pink to work!

With Christmas coming up fast (too fast - I'm not ready!) I've been looking at all the different nail options for festive fingers. I'm probably going to try loads of variations, colours and designs but here are some of my favourites for this year...

Leighton Denny Dazzle Duo Set - £17.00
A gorgeous set of two different nail varnishes in a cute Christmas box. Both can be used alone to create festive colours - a pearly looking white, or a dark and mysterious looking sparkly varnish. I love this set because there's the option of wearing them individually or, wearing the white as an undercoat, with the sparkle on top for an extra pop. There's also the option to use the white as the all over colour and do the tips in the sparkle colour and make it fade away the closer to the cuticles it got. I love the sparkle dipped look, and this set would be perfect for that!

 New Globe Walk Snow Globe Nail Polish by Nails Inc - £15.00
A limited edition nail polish for Christmas 2015, this gorgeous glittery varnish is supposed to be reminiscent of a childhood snow globe. The idea being that the glitter settles at the bottom of the bottle, and is only 'activated' when shaken. A gorgeous light gold shimmer, if you shake the bottle a lot, you get a much higher concentration of glitter for a stronger colour when worn. And if you only shake the bottle slightly, the shade is a lot less prominent - depending on which look you're going for. Anything glittery is a winner for me at this time of year, so this one being named after a snow globe means that I'm already a fan!

Paperchase Christmas Nail Wraps - £5
An absolute bargain at a fiver, not only are these super cute but they would make a fab stocking filler too. The set comes with ten wraps (so don't accidentally rip one!) each showing cute festive characters. The background shade is a pale grey, which would look more like a pale white when worn. I think the idea is that the characters jump out to make the statement, more than the colour. A bargain for festive nail fans.

OPI All Stars 4 Pack - £14.50
OPI's christmas range for 2015 is called 'Starlight' and features 18 limited edition shades. They have several sets available featuring different shades in different sizes, but my personal favourite is this four pack of mini size lacquers (3.75ml) called 'All Stars'. It features a signature festive red shade with a deep plum red too, with two different metallic shades to complete the set. I feel like you could make some awesome ombre styles with this set and all four colours individually are wearable too. It's not like some sets where you get a couple of decent shades and then the others are so horrific that even your nan wouldn't wear them to bingo. No, this set is a doozie with four wearable shades = love.

House of Holland Nails - £9
Henry Holland teamed up with Elegant Touch and now produces some of the most striking fake nails that you'll ever see! So I was super excited when the Christmas designs started hitting the shops. My personal favourites are the 'Tis The Season' set which features bright and colourful designs on each nail, and the 'Santa Baby' set featuring Santa and his reindeer. Each pack has ten nails and includes nail glue to apply the nails. These are a personal favourite of mine and are absolutely sure to catch the attention of everyone and anyone this year!

So those are my picks for Christmas nails this year, which is your favourite?

Imperial Candles - Scents and Sparkles

I'm really, really excited to tell you all about Imperial Candles. If you haven't heard of them before, don't be duped into thinking that they are just another scented candle brand - they aren't! They are so much more than that...

I'm THE biggest scented candle fan. I have them all over my house as I'm a bit obsessive about my house smelling nice. I've tried room sprays, oils, all sorts in my time, but nothing does it like a good scented candle. The ambience of a burning candle is also just so relaxing and homely, that sprays just don't cut it.

Imperial Candles are in a whole different league to other well known brands though because they are like the adult version of a Kinder Egg! Confused? Well, Imperial Candles come with a jewel inside every candle. Yep, not only do you get an amazing candle, you also get a piece of jewellery hidden inside too. Scents and sparkles all in one!

The candles themselves are hand poured and made of soy wax, and no additional additives are used - which is one of the big points for me. I suffer from awful migraines and some scented candles have been known to set one off. When I realised this was a trigger I decided to only use brands that steer clear of the nasties - so that's a big pro for me from Imperial.

When mine arrived I was so excited! I could smell the lovely scent coming through the box - Black Raspberry Vanilla. Vanilla and Raspberry are two of my favourite scents individually, so when I saw this scent on the website, I knew exactly which candle I wanted. The scent didn't disappoint, it's lovely and fresh and has a really nice musky smell to it - which is exactly my style, and great for scenting my whole house.

The candle itself is a really good size too. So it's brilliant value for money as I know I'm going to get so many burning hours from it. In fact, I've had it burning every evening and weekend since it arrived and it's not even hit the mid point yet. It's a 21oz candle and cost £28.99, so considering you get the jewel inside too, it's a fab price.

The candle has two wicks and I was intrigued to see if the depth of scent would match up to bigger brands - let me say this, it's better! It's strong, but not overpowering and once it's been burning for even a few minutes you can start to smell it right away. It's not like some candles that take a while to release the scent - once this gets going, you can smell it almost straight away. The strength is great too, it's strong enough that it will scent my whole house in a short time - which is exactly what I wanted. Massive tick.

Jewellery wise, I was like a kid at Christmas waiting to see the foil packaging with my surprise peaking through the wax. I kept sneaking a look to see if I could see anything, and when I began to, I used the candle at every opportunity to get to it faster...not one to be patient! When I opened it, I was so pleased. I got the most beautiful and sparkly ring, which by fate is exactly the style of ring that I love and I've worn it every day since I got it out of the candle. Check it out...

Every Imperial Candle comes with a guaranteed jewel worth between £10 right up to £2000. So when I say it's like an adult Kinder Egg - I mean it! Some of their candles can include earrings and  necklaces etc. but you can chose the option of a guaranteed ring in your candle, and you give your ring size when ordering too - so you know it will fit. How amazing is that?! It's made just for you.

As well as the candles, Imperial also offer a range of bath bombs - which also have jewellery in them too which is so fun - not that I need any encouragement to enjoy a bubble bath! And as it's approaching Christmas, Imperial have now released some amazing sounding Christmas scents - again with the bonus of jewellery inside - it would be like Christmas came early when you got your jewel. I was looking at their Christmas scents and they have things like Santa's Cookies and Apple & Cinnamon as well as loads more. I love having Christmas scents in my house throughout the festive period, so these sound amazing.

Now I've had my candle for a few weeks, I can say I'm thoroughly converted to Imperial Candles. Strong scent, sweet and musky - exactly as I like, additive free, great value AND jewellery too? This is a win/win. It's my birthday next week and on my wishlist next is the White Jasmine candle - it even sounds lovely!

Make sure you add an Imperial Candle to your Christmas list this year - you're going to love it!

Follow Imperial Candles here:
Website: www.imperialcandles.co.uk
Twitter: @ImperialCandles
Facebook: Imperial Candles 
Instagram: imperialcandles 

Ssasa Designs - Cocktails & Calendars

Working in marketing (online) and spending my spare time blogging, I feel that I'm so fortunate to spend a large portion of time discovering new 'things' - whether it's brands, inspiring people or something that just generally interests me. You do have to sift through a lot, but every so often you stumble upon an absolute gem and find something that blows you away...

I wouldn't say I'm an art guru or anything like that, but I appreciate pretty things and things that look good, and the more girlie - the better! I did have enough of an art education in my younger years to be able to fully recognise talent when I see it. So when I found Ssasa Designs I knew I'd found something special...

Behind Ssasa Designs is the wonderfully talented Parissa, a fashion illustrator and artist who's work is now decorating my office walls - and I'm sure you'll agree it's worth it. She's got years of experience and has spent time experimenting with lots of different mediums and types of work, until she settled on this style with is uniquely her own.

I love fashion and her style is so authentic and captures the girlie, fun side of fashion that I love. Illustration is one type of art I also really like and her prints make you feel like you've got a work of art in your home - which is why I've got three! Her work is so pretty and appeals to my inner fashionista - and my outward home decor addict.

So, when Ssasa Designs released a 2016 desk calendar, I couldn't resist. I buy a desk calendar for my office every year and this one comes with it's own cute easel, which isn't a style I've had before, but I'm now so excited I've got. Each month itself has it's own illustrated fashionista decorating the display, along with the days of the month at the bottom.

The EXTRA special thing that I love about this calendar though, is that it's cocktail themed! Each month, the fashionista is holding a cocktail - who doesn't love a good cocktail?! And on the first of every month Parissa herself will share the cocktail recipe of the month on her Instagram account @ssasadesigns - so you get pretty illustrations, fashionistas, cocktail recipes and the practicality of a desktop calendar too. I don't think I could ask for anything more 'me' in a calendar than this! And at only $24 including the stand (works out at £16 approx here in the UK) it's also so well priced.

I get compliments on my Ssasa Design prints whenever friends come into my office and I already have a list of things to buy from her shop as Christmas gifts this year. I know can't wait for 2016 to begin so I can start using my desktop calendar too!

So, if you want to buy something special for Christmas, check out the prints in her shop. And likewise when you buy your desk calendar for next year, make sure you check hers out first.

Follow Ssasa Designs here:
Instagram: @ssasadesigns
www.ssasadesigns.com

Lady Writes Christmas Gift Swap

It's that time of year again, and who doesn't love opening those special little packages of happiness that we call gifts?!

So, after seeing Jasmine, one of my American blogger friends over at Classy, Sassy And a Bit Smart Assy running something like this over in the States, I thought it was such an excellent idea that I would run one for us Brits!

So without further ado, I introduce you to....

Lady Writes Christmas Gift Swap!

*applause*

So, the idea is that both bloggers and non bloggers can get involved, and what you do is very simple - you buy a gift(s) for someone else and swap! You could buy one gift, a little box of bits and pieces - the choice is yours! Then, when you get your gift, you tweet/Instagram and Facebook a picture of your Christmas Happy Mail with the hashtag #LadyWritesChristmasSwap!

There is a form below to take your details, and you'll be matched with another person and given their details. But keep it secret, don't tell them! Then have a mooch round their Twitter/Instagram/Blog etc to get a feel for them and their style/tastes/likes/dislikes and off you pop to the shop...et voila!

Remember - it's all a secret!

This has a £20 maximum spend (excluding postage) and sorry for countries outside of the UK and Northern Ireland, but this is open to UK residents only (this year anyway).

So, lets spread some of that Christmas cheer between us ladies!

Details:

• Fill in your details via the form HERE or below
• Deadline for signing up is 23rd November
• I will email you with the details of your swap partner on Tuesday 24th November
• Maximum spend is £20 (excluding postage)
• I will pair you up with another lovely entrant
• Only myself and your swap will see your address
• Post the gift by Friday 4th December
• Once you receive your gift, post a picture of it with the hashtag #LadyWritesChristmasSwap and tag me in your posts (Twitter @LadyWrites_Blog and Instagram: Ladywritesblog)

Who's excited already?! ...Meeeeee!

UPDATE - NOW CLOSED FOR 2015

Make A Wish

Have you ever seen something you really liked but have struggled to find somewhere to actually buy it? Well that's what I was like with tiny bracelets - until I found WishStrings.co!

I'm a jewellery hoarder. I love it. All of it. Give me ALL the jewellery! When it comes to bracelets I've got really skinny wrists, so thick and chunky isn't a good everyday look for me. Thick is good for a night out or once in a while, but as a whole I tend to lean towards the dainty, feminine type of bracelets for everyday. My favourite are the string type, with a very small single charm or detail, so when I discovered WishStrings.co I was literally in my element.

WishStrings.co offer a selection of beautiful and handmade wish bracelets which are exactly my style - classic, dainty, understated and girlie. I've got four and I absolutely love them all. What's more is it's not just jewellery, it's much more than that...

The beauty of a WishString.co bracelet is that each and every one is handmade with a sentimental meaning behind it. The idea is that you make a wish, tie on the bracelet and when the thread wears thin and breaks away, your wish will come true. And because of the sentimental nature of the WishStrings.co brand, there is a bracelet for every occasion you could think of, many of which would make the perfect gift - their website has bracelets for new parents, friends, new opportunities etc. literally every occasion you could think of! And each bracelet only costs between £2.50 and £2.99 each which I think is an absolutely FANTASTIC price. You could give a WishString as a really thoughtful and lovely gift...and I fully intend to! (To all my friends reading this - please expect them for birthdays!)

As well as being excellent gifts, I love them because you can buy them for yourself too. With so many charms to choose from, the choice is endless and you can wear one on it's own, or you can make your own arm candy selection and stack them up - which is a really popular jewellery trend right now. And for the price, why not?!

Not only that, but they come in really cute and simple packaging, with a card that explains the meaning behind your WishString. This is my 'Good friends are like stars...' bracelet and on the front card was the quote, and inside, a second card with details about how tie the bracelet, and details about how the magic of a WishString bracelet, is seeing how long it takes to fall off - could it be months, or even years until your wish comes true? I love that, it gives it a really special little side element.

When you remove your bracelet from the packaging, you may need some help securing it on your wrist - or not if you're flexible! If you have small, medium or large wrists, it doesn't matter because the string is super long, so they will fit everyone. The suggestion is to tie three to five knots (and make a wish on each!) which will secure the bracelet in place. Once in place - you're good to go. As soon as I put mine on, it was so comfortable, I forgot I was wearing it. Unlike some jewellery that gets in the way, or weighs your wrist down, these are so wonderfully dainty that you forget they are there and then you get a nice little flash of the charm when it pokes out from underneath your sleeve. The material of the string doesn't catch on anything, or fray and it dries quickly when you get out of the shower, so it's never damp or uncomfortable to wear. The charms are really durable too and they don't chip or dull either which is great. And makes them well worth every penny.

As I said, I've currently got four in my collection and I know for a fact I will be adding to them on a very regular basis. I regularly check the WishString.co website, Instagram and Facebook to keep an eye on new designs, my favourite of which is the Christmas range! Including charms like a Christmas star (which is the one I've got), a candy cane, snowman, Christmas tree etc...I can see myself creating an entire Christmas arm candy just with my WishStrings!

You can order your own WishStrings from their website here and postage is only £1.50 (standard postage, other options available) so why not take a peek? I have a feeling you'll love them as much as I do..

Also, make sure you follow them on:
Instagram here
Facebook here
Twitter here

(They also offer wholesale, so if you own a boutique, shop or brand and would like to know more, please get in touch here.)