Typecast

Sometimes a notebook is so special you just have to take your time deciding what you want to use it for. When my friend, Liz, told me that she had undertaken a new venture - Hope House Press - I squealed with delight even thought I felt slightly jealous that she now owned a stationery-related company . It's a huge leap of faith for her and the family and they are working day and night to make this a success. Whilst it is a learning curve for them all, it's also wonderful (and a bit nervewracking) to hear all the behind-the-scenes news. Essentially, Hope House Press make personalised and bespoke leather notebooks  which can be used as diaries or journals to document those important (and not so important) moments in your life. It's also probably the best present you can gift to any stationery lover or someone starting a new venture that needs documenting to look back over at a later date! My own leather notebook is caramel in colour (although I am also drooling ...

Many times I have wondered how people can find themselves so emotionally involved with a 'celebrity' that they participate in public grieving on social media channels.  I often think it is so that they can 'be seen to care' or to join in with a trend.  I usually comment on the passing, sometimes share a relevant news article and then wait until the next Deadpool newsletter . Hearing about the sudden and shocking passing of Victoria Wood was different.  I immediately understood why people feel the need to communicate their grief. And why they feel so completely and utterly bereft. Victoria Wood is someone who's comedic genius I have grown up with. Even before I was old enough to understand her observational humour, I remember her appearing on our family television. Then slowly, and surely, some of the jokes felt as though they made sense - the Northern intention, the strong women used in her sketches... but just the way in which she managed to cover almos...

Whilst looking for clothes for my impending holiday, I came across this great website - Eles Clothing . They are a wholesale clothing company stocking ex-chain store items at rock bottom prices with all garments being guaranteed at brand new Grade A perfect stock (unless otherwise noted). I've been in touch with Eles Clothing and they've happily agree to give one lucky reader from the Typecast blog a dress from their new arrivals section which changes on a daily basis.  It's really easy to enter - you just have to follow their Twitter account - @elesclothing - and let me know that you've done it via the Rafflecopter widget below.  I've also included some additional entries to make it a bit more fun!  Good luck!! a Rafflecopter giveaway TERMS AND CONDITIONS * This giveaway will begin at 00:01 on 21st April 2016 and will close at 23:59 on 29th May 2016 * This giveaway is open to any of my readers aged 18 or above who reside in the U...

My previous YouTube recommendation post was a HUGE hit, which was a bit of a surprise. The theme was picked up on by Kirsty who is also  sharing her fab five each month now. It's always intriguing to see what type of content other people watch, whether they actually subscribe to receive regular updates from one particular content creator and how much time they spend watching their chosen content. It's also interesting to see how YouTube take your viewing history and recommend more videos for you to watch. I've tried it with a few themes and the endorsed content is always from highly-subscribed channels and/or videos that already have a huge number of views - especially where they are all connected to a specific 'keyword' (i.e. What's In My Bag, The Best Friend Tag, My Boyfriend Does My Make-Up... meh). Where is the support for the channels looking to grow or those that cannot seem to break through this type of crap? Leading on from this, there is a fascin...

Exciting times as I'm off on my holidays soon and one thing I pride myself on is packing a good travel bag.  This year's travel bag is the Mia Tui Emma in Tan . It's such a fabulous size (it is cabin size compliant) and a gorgeous tan shade which, I think, is a timeless and classic colour (it also matches my shoes and is the colour I hope to be on my return...).  I have talked previously about how much I love the concept of the Mia Tui bags , especially the coordinating accessories that are included.  So let's see what I'm going to put in it. First in (and out) of the bag is my Filofax Flex.  I was never too enamoured with this as a notebook system however it makes the perfect travel document case. In here we keep our passports, all our travel documents, the airport parking information, our travel insurance and our EHIC (Eurpean Health Insurance Cards).  I always keep a pocket notebook in here too with emergency contact details jotted down and a pen. ...

We all know I'm a bit of a reality TV show junkie so when MoneySupermarket invited me to gather the family, have a bit of a party and view their latest advert during the first episode of the new series of Britain's Got Talent, I didn't hesitate. If you haven't already seen it then watch it here ...  Twitter went a bit mental over the #EPICDANCEOFF - and quite rightly so. We saw high-kicking Dave battling it out with pole-dancing Colin with a bit of body-popping Gary thrown in for extra awesome-sauce! The whole idea behind the advert is to show you how epic saving money can make you feel (I'm not sure it can make *me* walk in heels that high or do the splits after all these years) and you can vote for your favourite dancer on the MoneySupermarket website . Let me know who you vote for! This post is in collaboration with MoneySuperMarket, but all thoughts are my own. Please view my disclosure policy for more details. 

For National Stationery Week, I was asked why I believe writing matters so I picked these three reasons. Handwriting Handwriting fascinates me. We all have a hand and a writing implement and have been taught how to form letters and numbers however, the way in which we connect our hand to our pen and make the swirls and shapes on the paper creates a style of handwriting that is as individual as our DNA. My handwriting is part of me... part of my personality and it's probably the reason that I enjoy analogue note-taking rather than using a digital method. I also find that writing something down makes it feel more permanent and helps me to remember it.  I don't have the neatest handwriting in the world but it's legible and I would love to learn calligraphy one day. Planning As I just touched on, I'm very much an analogue note-taker and fill notebook after notebook of rambling thoughts and jottings. At work I have lists of contacts and I always make a littl...

While most of us are only interested in whether house prices will go up or down, it appears that the UK property market will have several other issues to contend with in 2016. The recent budget introduced several factors which will impact the property market, particularly for second-home buyers and buy-to-let landlords. However, despite the fact that the country is suffering a major housing crisis, in terms of supply, the budget had nothing to address this shortage, or anything that gave hope that house price inflation would be brought down to a more manageable level. So let's take a look at what we predict will happen to the UK property market in 2016. A rush to buy buy-to-let properties before the deadline Following the announcement that stamp duty is set to rise in the new financial year, some people may have rushed to make a purchase prior to the higher stamp duty rates taking effect. Although this will have led to a temporary rise in property prices, th...

March has been and gone and it's been a busy and emotional month for me.  Here are some of the things I learnt over the past 31 days or so. A possible cancer scare can make you re-evaluate your life.  I can also make you want to curl up into a tight little ball and want to block the world out for a few days even though you have to carry on as normal. It wasn't cancer (see below) but that thought was in the back of my mind a lot. The NHS moves fast... very fast. I've had reason to utilise our bloody fantastic National Health Service over the past six weeks or so for two completely different reasons. On both occasions a referral for treatment was required and, despite being told there may be a waiting list of a few weeks, I was treated as an urgent case within a week for the first referral and received an appointment for assessment in under two weeks for the second. No matter what is written in the media about our health service, you can't deny that it's ...

I was brought up in a Victorian seaside town. We had a traditional ‘square’ where all the shops were housed (including one that was very much like the department store in the British sitcom, Are You Being Served ), a boating lake, beach huts and a pier. It was a great treat to visit the pier as we knew that we were going to have a walk along the rickety wooden slats, with the wind whipping at our hair and our face, we would probably have an ice cream and a ride on the dodgems and then be given a bag of 1p and 2p pieces to play on the slot machines - you know the ones… the push and shove game-of-chance ones where you ended up putting in all your money - even your winnings! But the thrill of watching that precariously balanced pile of coins, just waiting to topple off the edge and into your winning tray was worth it. Even after growing up and moving away from the seaside town, I took my children - and now even my grandchildren - to the same pier and watch the excitement in...

What makes men from all over the world want to have a Russian bride? That’s actually the question that haunts many today. The reason for such an interest is probably the constantly growing number of international marriage agencies available online. If you have ever delved into this topic, you know that many of dating websites are scams. Along with that, there are still reliable ones that truly offer their unique services with the only aim – to unite lonely hearts. For those who are interested, one of them can be found here: https://www.marriageagency-nataly.net . However, that’s not really the point right now, as the main question is why Russian girls? Surely, most of them are fashion-conscious, beautiful, and looking great even in the grocery store, but there are also lots of attractive women in the U.S. and Western Europe. Are Russian women great personalities? Most likely, they are, as well as plenty of other women throughout the world. So why are some men looking for a Russian brid...

One of the great aspects of living in England is the proximity to other European Countries and cultures. Whether it’s a weekend away to a lively beach resort or a week long holiday to explore an entirely different culture and maybe brush up on second language skills, the short distance and affordability of international travel from England make it all possible. As an experienced traveller, I decided to highlight some of my top tips that I have learned to help make your next travel experience a pleasant one. Don't Be Late! If you are late to the Bus, you scream at the top of your (internal) voice and then wait for the next one. When you arrive late to work, you simply give your Boss an excuse and then sit down to start your daily tasks. Do you know what happens if you are late for your flight? “Sorry Ma’am, your flight has already boarded, and you will have to buy another ticket.” If your airline of choice has advised you to arrive three hours before your scheduled departure, do...