Mustard's T-errifyingly T-rrific T-Rex stationery collection

Are you looking for the perfect back to school stationery or just wanting to add a splash of colour to your personal collection?  Well then, let me introduce you to Mustard!  I came across this brand during National Stationery Week a couple of years ago and if you are a long time reader of this blog you will definitely have seen some of their products in my posts before like rainbow sticky notes and pug page markers.  Their style is so iconic once you are familiar with the brand it is easy to spot their designs!

One of their newest collections is T-rex and it is full of bold, clashing colours, pop art style elements and features the coolest dino in town.  He appears on a range of products from notebooks to dinosaur shaped highlighters and Mustard sent me a few different things to show you!

The T-Rex collection

The magenta T-Rex notebook is perfect for bullet journalling, drawing and notes as the paper has a light dotted grid pattern on it which is enough to give you a guideline to work with but wont intrude on anything you write or draw over it. 

Size wise it fits nicely in all of my bags and it doesn't weigh very much either so it's perfect for toting too and from work or school.  It doesn't take up a lot of room on my desk either which is definitely another plus point for it!

Stained edges

The edges of the paper are stained pink to match the dinosaur illustration, elastic enclosure and pen loop, adding an extra pop of colour to the book and if you don't like pink (I hear you, but I disagree!) then it also comes in blue too.

Peeking dinos

You can pair your notebook with some matching page markers, I think they look so cute peeking out over the top of the cover!  The sticky ends are alternated so you can also have little pairs of feet sticking out the bottom of your notebook and they are repositionable if you need to move them from page to page.

Dino-mite highlighters

The pink and lime highlighters are super fun, I received one in my National Stationery Week box a few months back and thought it was brilliant!  T-Rex is carrying all his essentials in his backpack and looks all set for his new adventure wherever it may take him.

The round barrel makes them comfortable to hold

The highlighters are a great way to brighten up your desk and you can play with them like toys if you feel inclined (hands up, I totally do that with full on roaring sounds too!) but they are also easy to use and comfortable to hold once you open them up.

Mini pencil case

The last thing I want to show you is this handy mini pencil case.  It has an elasticated loop attached to the top and bottom ends so you can place it over the notebook to keep your pens safe and readily available.  It holds around five or six pens or pencils easily and along with the pen loop on the notebook you should have enough space for your supplies for when you are struck by inspiration!  The case should fit most standard size notebooks too if you are eyeing it up and think it's a great idea!

I took a few of my T-Rex products with me when I went to celebrate World Calligraphy Day a couple of weeks ago and what did I spot?  A dinosaur trail around the city centre and the stop I found was the T-Rex!  So I dug my notebook and highlighters out of my bag and snapped a couple of pics with it because it felt so serendipitous!  Or should that be seren-dippy-tous?  Sorry, is that one too many dinosaur puns?

Snap!

A terror of T-Rex

If you have taken a look at the Mustard website and spotted something you love or fallen for the charming Mr T-Rex then you are in luck as I have been given a discount code for you to use!  Enter this code at the checkout for 30% off an order of £35 or more.

Amanda30

The code is case sensitive and expires on the 7th September 2018.

Happy shopping!

Introducing Openquote Designs - practical planner printables

Hello!  Today I want to tell you about a shop called Openquote Designs and show you some of their lovely products.  Alicia, the lady behind the scenes, is a big fan of paper planning just like me and she creates a wide range of pretty, practical, planner printables.

The inserts are sold as PDF files so you don't have wait for them to arrive in the mail (so no need to stalk your post person!), there's no P&P charges to pay and you can print off as many copies as you need which makes them even more amazing value!  I also have a discount code for you if you spot anything you would like to buy, it is at the bottom of this post.

One of my favourite products is this weekly docket.  It gives you an overview of your week and lets you see everything important in one quick glance.  Each section is a separate colour which makes it nice and easy to use too.  The red area is for your weekly priorities, dark blue is for your tasks, light blue is your week, orange is a tracker with the days Monday through to Sunday and finally purple is for any notes you need to make.

Weekly docket

I used the docket last week and it really is very handy!  I had a lot of things to sort out and do because it was my eldest daughter's birthday weekend (yes, that's a thing in our house!) and Sunday was Mothers Day too.  I had to buy cards, presents, food, decorations and tidy the house for a birthday party on top of my usual weekly routine and this insert helped me keep on top of everything.  

I used the tracker section to record whether or not I hit my step goals, my stand goals (standing and walking around for at least one minute every hour for 12 hours a day) and for drinking 8 glasses of water each day.  I also used it for tracking my eye drops so I wouldn't miss a dose and for colouring in my year in pixels in my journal.

The weekly docket is only £1.50 so if you printed off 52 copies, one for each week of the year, they would have cost you less than 3p each!

Weekly docket in use

As well as individual inserts Alicia also sells planner kits which contain all kinds of practical pages!  Her basic planner kit comes with 10 different inserts and costs £5.  Instead of me listing the inserts I have photographed them for you, as you can see they all have the same matching border so you won't have to get your washi tape out as they are pre decorated!  If this blue and purple pattern isn't your thing there are different sets with floral, spots, triangles and stripes to choose from too.

Get stuff done - basic planner kit

Bill tracker - basic planner kit

Project planner - basic planner kit

Menu planner - basic planner kit

Recipe card - basic planner kit

Password log - basic planner kit

Daily planner - basic planner kit

Weekly planner - basic planner kit

Notes - basic planner kit

The basic kit also comes with a month in review insert but I must have missed it when I was taking these photos, you can see it here though.  I think this set has everything in it you would need to set up a planner and it is available in personal and A5 size.  In fact all the inserts are available in both sizes so yay!

Weekly planner (4 colours)

This weekly planner set comes in four colours so you can choose whether to print your inserts in your favourite one or print all four colours and alternate them through the weeks or print each months worth of inserts in the same colour so January in blue, February in pink etc and as they are undated they are even more versatile!  This set only costs £2 which I think is a pretty good bargain!

Menu planner - basic planner kit 2

To give you an idea of the other style of sets available this menu planner insert is from the basic planner kit 2 , it has the same inserts as the set I showed you but with this fun triangle boarder instead.

Have you spotted anything you like?  Yes?  Okay, well here is your discount code for 15% off all orders, there's no minimum spend amount!  The code is:

SHESECLECTIC15

Valid until 31st December 2017

Let me know if you order anything (because I am nosy!) and thanks for stopping by! 

* Disclaimer - I was given these products free of charge for the purpose of this review, I am not affiliated with Openquote Designs and I was not paid to write this post.  As always all opinions are honest and my own.

Fountain Pen Day - Lamy Al-Star review

When I heard it was Fountain Pen Day today I thought it would be a perfect time to review my Lamy Al-Star I purchased from Europens a little while ago.

Now the first thing I have to say is Europens were fantastic.  They happily answered my questions about engraving and the fonts available and were really lovely to deal with.  They offer a free engraving service so I just had to personalise my pen!

My aqua/blue/green colour crush!

The Al-Star is available in a wide range of colours but I went with the limited edition blue green pen.  I also brought an aqua pen case, which is an exclusive to Europens, to protect it.  

Making notes

The Al-Star is very similar in design to the popular Lamy Safari pen but the main difference is the Safari is made from plastic and the Al-Star is made from aluminium.  The Safari price starts at £12.99 and the Al-Star from £18.99 but the metal finish makes it look so much more expensive.

Medium size nib, turquoise ink and my
awful cursive writing!

Another difference between the Safari and the Al-Star is the bottom half (or is it the top half?) of the pen is translucent instead of a solid block of colour.  I think I prefer this look and like the barrel of the pen it is also squared so it is comfortable to hold, easy to grip and it wont roll when you put it down.

Yes my notepaper matches my pen!

The pen comes in a nice presentation box with a single cartridge in blue so you can use it straight away.  I would take a photo of the box but I took the pen out of it and put it into the leather case straight away and now I'm not sure where the box is.  I must have put it "somewhere safe"!

Pros:

• writes very smoothly, it doesn't skip at all
• the ink flows easily and at just the right speed
• looks expensive and stylish
• comes in a good range of colours, there's something for everyone
• lightweight but feels substantial in your hand
• a good starter fountain pen
• has a window so you can see how much ink is left
• affordable 
• wide range of coloured ink available
• stainless steel nib
• you can purchase a converter and use ink from a bottle
• well balanced - both posted and unposted

Cons:

• aluminium might scratch or dent though I've had mine for a few months and it still looks brand new 

Random things I write when trying out a pen 

If you want to join in with the fun today you can find the Fountain Pen Day team on Twitter and Facebook.  Europens are also running a couple of competitions on Twitter and their Facebook page if you want to enter or you can treat yourself or get a head start on some Christmas shopping with 10% off your order using the code:

 FPD10

The code is valid for today only

Have a great Fountain Pen Day!

*Disclaimer - I purchased this pen for myself and I was not paid to write this review.  As always all opinions are honest and my own.  I am not affiliated with Europens and will not receive commission on any orders placed using the links in this post.

My little Artbox haul and a discount code for you!

During National Stationery Week I decided to treat myself to a few things from Artbox.  I love browsing their website and I often do "fantasy baskets" where I add everything into my cart that I would like to buy if only I had a spare fifty quid to spend on stationery and kawaii goodies.

 

My Artbox goodies

I love Alice in Wonderland so I just HAD to buy these stickers and I thought the other two packets would be good for highlighting important dates on my diary pages.

Alice in Wonderland and planner stickers

I have also loved the Moomins since I used to watch the cartoon when I was little.  I thought I would punch one of these postcards and make it into a divider for my Filofax and I am sending the other one to a friend of mine who is a fan too.

Moomin postcards

The last couple of things I brought were this cute toadstool card and a roll of washi tape.  The toadstool is a magnet so you can take it off the card and keep it and the inside of the card is blank so you can use it for any occasion.  The Sugar Hotel washi tape is a nice bright stripy orange pattern and it was on special offer when I brought it.

Toadstool magnet card and Sugar Hotel washi tape

Speaking of special offers Artbox have a couple of promotions going on this Easter weekend.  They are offering free UK delivery with 2nd class shipping on orders placed over Easter (no code required just select the 2nd class postage option) AND they have given me a discount code to pass onto you for 10% off anything you order this Saturday (the 19th April).  You can combine these two offers so if you order on Saturday you will get free postage and 10% off with the code:

0V5HED

(the code starts with a zero and not an O)

If you click on the Artbox photo below it will direct you to the website and I would be paid a small commission fee on anything you order.  Think of me like an Avon lady for stationery!  

I'm pretty sure this will be my last post this week so I will wish you all a happy Easter now, I hope you have a nice time however you spend the holiday!