Dear Santa

When you ask if I’ve been good or bad, how should I answer? I’ve been a very bad girl this year/ month for spending lots of money, but Santa I promise you it’s all good stuff! So surely Mr Claus, you’ll put me on your nice list?

In all honesty Santa, we both know I have just bought everything I wanted so it doesn’t matter if I’ve been good or bad because you won’t need to get me anything! You see Santa, I am an independant (and apparently every sassy) young lady and I don’t need a man to treat me if I’ve been good, because I can treat myself! hehe

So without further ado I present to you… you know what’s coming don’t you… yet another Haul!

[imagine a gif here with party poppers and balloons and all sorts of fun stuff] [question: are gifs still a thing?]

First stop Tiger store in Birmingham:

I found a tonne of cute stickers and a watercolour pad, so they went straight into my basket. I was actually searching for another DIY carve your own stamp kit, which I’d previously bought in Coventry. Sadly they were all sold out here, but a few days later I popped back into my local Coventry store and found that there was one left. The kits are only £2 and so much fun. I’ve carved out a few different designs now and tested them on self adhesive labels. I think they’ll be great for my snail mail antics.

Handmade stamps and self adhesive labels: the most fun you can have on your lunch break! #nerd #art #crafts #officelife #handmadestamps #tigerstores #stickers #snailmailideas #penpals #floral #goodies #happymail

A post shared by Sandy (@sandeepbeep) on Nov 18, 2016 at 6:43am PST

Next up I spotted the kikki.K pop up shop in Grand Central, Birmingham:

I picked up these two treats with 20% off! YAY! They are the 365 Journal and the Paper Book For Everyday Inspiration. They were a bit expensive but I adore them so much that I am far happier to have invested in something beautiful, than have spent just as much on lots of ok-ish cheap things.

Next I picked up my favourite lip gloss from Clarins in Debenhams. I always apply this twice a day after brushing my teeth and it just keeps my lips healthy and happy. I can hear you scream, “lip-gloss?! What is this, the 90s?” Trust me, it’s glossy, just it’s not sticky and nasty like the olden days. It’s actually really soft and silky. Definitely my favourite product at the moment.

Here’s another shock for you… Do you remember the Cereal Killer cafe in London that the whole world went crazy about? It’s literally a cafe which only serves cereal – all sorts of varieties and combinations are on offer. It’s a pretty clever idea. Anyway whether you love or hate it, they now have a branch in Birmingham! I haven’t tried it out yet but I think I’d like to.

Paperchase Birmingham:

I really wish we had a branch in Coventry because I love this shop. I found these goodies which are perfect for snail mail. I love the writing pad. It’s single sided which is a shame, but it doesn’t matter too much. This was £3.00 for 50 sheets! I think that’s a really good price compared to writing sets. The writing set was actually only £5, which is one of their cheapest options, but it so pretty! In fact there is post on it’s way to someone right now featuring that set.
I also picked up some postcards. I’ve realised that postcards get used up so quickly, so I need to find a cheaper solution. I had looked at buying a box of 100 Postcards with the Hungry Caterpillar theme. I’ll see if they’re still available to buy. They were only £8 for the box. That might seem like a lot but it works out a lot cheaper in the long run.
I’m just worried that I’m about to start stock piling lots of craft items here… opps!

John Lewis and Hema in Birmingham:

(Can you see why Santa might call me bad? This haul just keeps going!)
I’d been wanting to go back to film photography for a while and had hoped to replace the Praktika LTL3 body, which I broke a while back. I have a Diana F+ but that uses 120mm film and it’s just hard work. Getting the film processed is the biggest problem.
I decided to switch up my cameras and so I added this Instax Mini 8 to my collection. I plan to finish the roll of 120mm in my Diana, and then switch that to work with 35mm film (standard film.) I’m giving up on the old Praktica for the time being.

The camera itself is so cool! The set up took only a few minutes. I had a bit of trouble closing the back when I’d put the film in, but it eventually snapped shut. After that I was ready to rock and roll! I took a snap of myself and waited for it to sloooooooooooooowly develop. It took a few minutes for the full picture to come through, but when it did, I was so happy! Even though it was bed time and I was in my onesie, I still managed to capture a picture that I loved.

I won’t go into the whole story about my purchasing experience, but to sum it up, I bought the camera at John Lewis and ended up buying my film from HEMA, because it was cheaper there.

I had also ordered this bundle of goodies from HEMA, which arrived in the post just a day after my huge haul. The plain yet colourful washi was something I’d bought because a penpal had previously sent me some samples and I had loved it so much that I bought some too!

Hema links: Plain washi, patterned washi, envelopes, seal stamp wax

I could talk a whole lot more about any of the above (especially the cameras) but then this would go from a longread into a novel, so we’ll leave it at that!

P.S. Santa, all these things were bought to make me and also my penpals happy, so they’re not really classed as selfish purchases are they, so I should be on you nice list, right?