December 6, 2013

Red red red!

Ohhhh it’s time for a little red action. My favourite festive colour is red. I loooooove red. Apart from gingerbread people all of our decorations on our tree are red. Poor T, he doesn’t get much of a say!

1. Floating Specks – Merry Christmas polka dot card.
2. Concrete Lace – Falalalala Hand Crafted letterpress cards.
3. Steel Petal Press Letterpress Gift Tags – Merry Christmas Set of 9.
4. Whimsy Workshop – Paper straw Christmas wreath.
5. 3 Girls and a Goat – Red glitter sparkle mini tags.
6. Dill Pickle Picnic – Birch Print Paper Straws with Red or Green Glitter Flags .

December 4, 2013

Have yourself a merry (neon) Christmas

Perhaps a neon Christmas is a southern hemisphere thing? Do our friends up north like to celebrate with a splash of hot pink or iridescent yellow?

1. Bombina Studios – Nutcracker Mini Print.
2. Apple Door Studio – Paper Origami Christmas Bauble.
3. FS Screenprinting – Neon pink Christmas.
4. Natmaks – Set of 6 festive screen printed greeting cards for Christmas.
5. KM 2 – Creative Snowman Christmas Card.
6. Neon London – Neon Christmas Gift Wrap Pack.

December 2, 2013

Christmas tags – round-up one

Every present needs a tag. Here are four to get you started.

1. Santa Hat Christmas Tags – Scrap Bits.
2. Personalized Christmas Tags – PikakePress.
3. Gingerbread Man tags – Paper Wonder Shop.
4. Holiday Gift tags – Print Smitten.

November 30, 2013

Business card stamp from Emmadime

I saw the most beautiful stamped postcards on Pinterest the other day – I had to share them. It was designed by Emma from Emmadime and it is just gorgeous. I’ve been umming and ahhhing over getting a stamp made for my business Wordish – I think I have teetered over the edge now. I want a stamp like this!

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(All images used with permission)

November 28, 2013

2014 diary round-up #1

There’s only 33 days ’til the end of the year! 33!! Have you decided what diary to use? No? Neither have I!!
It’s not panic stations yet, dear reader (despite the over use of exclamation marks). I’ve assembled a few of my favourites for your perusal.

1. kikki.K – 2014 Daily A6 daily leather journal in fuchsia.
2. Smiggle – Kasia Diary.
3. CIAK Large 2013 Weekly Vertical Diary // Red from The Journal Shop.
4. Mi Goals – 2014 soft cover diary.
5. Moleskine 2014 Diary – Daily – Extra Small – Hard Cover from Notemaker.
6. 2014 Frankie diary.
7. 2014 Buffalo Diary from Typo.
8. Brightspot Avenue Large Debra from Kate Spade.

November 27, 2013

Packqueen – Christmas is all wrapped up

Hard core paper fiends like ourselves know that the most important part of a present isn’t the present inside – it’s the wrapping!

With Christmas coming up I’m sharing some inspiring packaging ideas. The following loveliness is from my November sponsor Packqueen!

Packqueen are not just about boxes – no siree – they also have spools of matching ribbon, tissue paper and the cutest wrapping paper. Here are some of my faves.

1. 2 Bottle Gable Top – Matt Silver
2. Nested Boxes Red/Gold Gloss.
3. Mini Hamper Tray – Gloss Red.
4. Satin Ribbon (25mm x 45metres) – Willow Green.
5. Round Window Tin Box – Large.
6. Tissue Paper – Dark Green (Bulk 480PK).
7. Tall Square Tin Box.
8. Round Window Tin Box – Large.
9. Packqueen has boxes of all sizes, ready for you to fill with festive cheer!

November 25, 2013

Swooning over Sugar Paper

Sugar Paper is just one of those stores where I could choose one of every single item they stock. It’s all Perfection (with a capital P of course).

1. Recipe Box.
2. Sassy Note Set.
3. Gold Cabana Coasters.
4. Je T’aime card.
5. 2014 Kate Desk Calendar, raspberry refill.
6. Ampersand print.
7. Polka Dot Kraft Journal.

November 19, 2013

What are you reading this Christmas? Win a book pack worth $150!

I have a shameful amount of books on my to-read pile. It certainly gives my to-read magazine pile a run for its money! One book that I’m going to be adding to the collection is Tim Winton’s Eyrie.

I watched a Jennifer Byrne Presents: Tim Winton piece a few weeks ago and hearing Winton talk about the setting of Eyrie reminded me of the Johnston Court apartment building in the centre of Fremantle.

I don’t know, perhaps it’s just me but that place has a weird vibe. I remember viewing a pokey little apartment with a friend about 20 years ago. When I told Mum the address of the apartment she was shocked because she’d lived in the exact same apartment years before. It’s like the building has tendrils that weave their way through the community. It seems like everyone I know has a Johnston Court story.

I don’t know if Winton’s Eyrie setting was Johnston Court or an amalgamation of a whole bunch of different places. Either way I can’t wait to read it.

You can grab a copy of Eyrie here or have a look through Bookworld’s super handy gift catalogue.

Win! Win! Win!
Want to win a mega-amazing Bookworld bookpack worth $150? Of course you do! All you have to do is head over to the Bookworld Giftshop and leave me a comment telling me what book is #1 on your to-read pile! Aussie’s only (sorry). Entries close MONDAY 2ND DECEMBER at 11:59PM AWST!.

November 18, 2013

A little comment about sponsorship

When I started Pretty Paper Things way back in 2011 I wanted to blog about my stationery obsession. I’d been blogging about it for many years at my old blog tooaskew.com (established in 2001!) but I decided to give it a life of its own. In this new space I wanted to discover new artists and products. Yeah, it was a fan blog I guess. A fan blog that celebrated people that put their art out into the world.

Anyone who blogs knows how long it takes to research, write, style, photograph and promote their blog posts. It’s not an easy task and it takes between 10 – 15 hours a week easily. There are so many associated tasks – it’s not like the old Live Journal days when you spewed something out onto the screen and hit publish. My blog posts are carefully curated and that is important to me.

Every update I post is a labour of love – it’s my gift to you. I take pride in it.

I am a freelance writer. It is absolutely paramount that I bring in some cashola. I do corporate writing on the side but I’ve started to work on ways to monetise the blog. I know that some people turn their noses up at the idea of this but it’s a personal decision I’ve made and it’s one that I’m very comfortable with.

Over the last month I’ve started working with companies I love and have established some exciting sponsorship opportunities. I may receive some money from different campaigns, other times I will choose to defer payment for myself and roll it into a prize pack for the readers and supporters of this blog. I don’t see it as selling out. I see it as a logical step.

Pretty Paper Things is less of a hobby these days, it’s an extension of a personal brand. I still love it, it is my gorgeous little paper baby – the sponsorships are going to help me bring more of what I love to you. That’s got to be good right?

I am always happy to hear from readers about anything to do with PPT so if you have any questions, comments etc I’d love to read them.

Thanks for visiting,
KB

November 15, 2013

I heart you Smiggle

My nieces and I share a lot of things; our good looks, our off-the-cuff, witty repartee and our disturbing obsession with Smiggle. If you have never been into a Smiggle store you are missing out big time. It’s a religious experience. It’s like nirvana for kawaii stationery freaks.

With Christmas only 6 weeks away (!!!) I wanted to show you some sweet stocking stuffers Smiggle-style. Stay tuned next week too – I’m going to be sharing my favourite Smiggle gift packs! Yay for Smiggle!

1. Sound reaction clock.
2. Treats scented stickers.
3. Penguin electric sharpener.
4. Treeats pop-out pencil case.
5. Retro graphic headphones.
6. Treats memo sheet pad.