Typecast

As many of us start to return to school, college or university over the next few weeks, I thought you'd like my top stationery picks to ease you into the new term. Notebooks and Diaries Depending on what your preference is, there are many great diaries that will see you through the academic year and beyond and I have a few favourites.  The first is from Moleskine and is an 18-month diary with a week to view - you can purchase this in either pocket size or large size.  The second is the Acad-Pad from Dodopad which is available in a variety of sizes and formats . For a luxury leather journal or personalised diary then take a look at Hope House Press (it's my friend's business and you can read about it here ) .  Finally, I love to stuff a small notebook into the back of my Filofax or the bottom of my bag so that I've always got paper to hand. The best place to buy pocket notebooks is... er... Pocket Notebooks as they've got tons in their range . ...

Britney gives good shade! Kudos points if you can name the video/song this still is from?! Y ou watch Carpool Karaoke , right? Simple but genius - and I imagine singers are queued up to appear on it to show that (a) they can actually sing and (b) they have a sense of humour.  Anyway, I just watched the most awkward episode. It was the one where Britney Spears forgets the words to all her own songs and mimes quite a bit . I feel it had been worked into her recent PR campaign with the producers of the show having to edit it heavily  and it shows . But I'm not here to analyse the video (that happened on Facebook) but I literally laughed out loud when  Ruth mentioned that James Corden sings Britney songs better that Britney does, which led to people sharing videos of famous people doing impressions of Britney. So, ever the public service, I decided that you needed to see these too and here are my top three. You're welcome. Feel free to share more in the co...

A few weeks ago I shared a picture of a matinee jacket I'd created out of 12 crocheted granny squares and lots of people asked for the pattern.  I made this after viewing a few variations I'd seen on Pinterest and on crafting blogs. I hope you enjoy this and scroll down for some mini hints and tips plus a one minute video tutorial if you prefer that type of thing. I have used double knit yarn in two contrasting colours Crochet 12 granny squares  Sew six granny squares together to make the back Sew three granny squares together to make the right hand front side Sew three granny squares together to make the left hand front side Sew the three sections together.  Start at the second group of stitches to create a collar opening Add a border by crocheting two rows of double crochet around all the open edges Create a button loop by chaining 7 and attaching to the border Add a button TA-DAAAAAAA Hints And Tips If you are a complete be...

Hello Soundtrack To My Life ... it's been a while, hasn't it? Anyway... before you proceed, please bear in mind that this is (a) not a definitive list - every girl has a right to change her mind and (b) I started with a list of twelve tracks and had to whittle it down, so the second I hit the 'publish' button, I'll probably want to put point 'a' into action. But it all stems from  this article  I read the other day which made me realise that even the most loyal of fans have different 'favourite' tracks, and they aren't necessarily the most popular or the ones that made it to the top of the charts. I'm not going to give a potted history of Duran Duran because, if you are reading this you are probaby a bit of a fan yourself, however many of their songs are fairly timeless and it's interesting to see that, even though they have been together (in various formats) for almost 40 years, they are still performing live and releasing alb...

I'll preface this by saying I've been using Twitter since November 2008. I've seen it develop and grow and it will always be the first place I turn to find peer conversations, to promote my blog posts and to find snippets of information or news that I can go and research. It has also developed into a place where I can live-stream my view on television programmes and interact with other viewers without leaving the comfort of my own couch.  The beauty of Twitter is that you can choose who to follow and, to some extent, you can choose who follows you. You can be educated, you can befriend a celebrity, you can watch the world go by through the eyes/tweets of others. But the whole concept of Twitter has changed.  It now feels like a boring broadcast channel with not very many conversations happening.  Of course, my crew - the old school bloggers - are very much feeling this at the moment and I truly believe that it is because social media...

I thought July was a bit of a quiet month but when I looked back I realised that I'd been up to more than I thought.   My blog (in it's current format) has been in existence for 7 years.  In that time I've written 1269 blog posts (and then some, as I've deleted the odd one here and there) and have had almost 1.5 million visitors to the blog. It's nowhere near as much as many of my blogging peers but I'm pretty proud of my little corner of t'internet because:  this is the first ever blog post on here - From Young Mum To Young Grandparent In 17 Years this is my most viewed post - What Can We Learn From Dance Scenes In Movies this is the most popular recipe post - Minestrone Soup this is the best picture-heavy post - David Beckham's Tattoos this is the surprise success post - How A 15-Year Old Uses Social Media Deep stuff... Do you have any favourites or is there a particular blog post that sticks out in your memory? I'd love to know...

When I'm out running I love to make sure that I'm wearing the comfortable clothing and that I'm easily noticed - and that's where Wild Bangarang hit the spot on both scores.  You might have caught a few snaps of me on Instagram sporting fancy leggings such as my  Anne Stokes Gothic Skulls  or my  WoW Felfire Infernal which I'm convinced make me run faster...  Wild Bangarang specialise in creative lifestyle wear that is perfect for running, roller derby, ice skating, working out at the gym or just making an impact in every day life with their designs available on leggings, dresses and skirts .  They work with licensed partners to create designs based on  World of Warcraft and Power Rangers and also with independent artists such as Anne Stokes .   Having fallen in love with the unique styles - and loving all the comments I receive when wearing them - I asked Wild Bangarang if they wanted to partner with me on a giveaway and the...