OLD ENGLISH COMPANY - COMPETITION & WISHLIST**

Hello everyone! Long time no post, I know. These past few months have been really busy - specifically at work and I have found myself unable to find the time to be able to write posts and I've kind of been lacking the motivation as a result as well. 

However, blogging has been a passion of mine for almost 5 years now so I'm not going to give it up anytime soon! We all have those dry spells in whatever we do and I think I've just been experiencing one of them but I'm back and ready to write again!

I've always been a fan of organising and planning, sometimes a little too much so. I can't really function at full capacity without a list of things I need to do and I've always got to have a diary and notebook close by. So when Old English Company contacted me and asked me if I'd like to write about their competition, I thought it would be a perfect piece of content for my blog. In this post, I'm going to tell you all about their competition and share with you some of my wishlist items from their website! Enjoy.

ABOUT OLD ENGLISH COMPANY

Old English Company are a English brand specialising in stationery and giftware items. Their focus is on creating, simple yet beautiful hand crafted designs with thoughtful messages that resonate with their customers.

The company create an abundance of different items such as planners, wall art, greeting cards and enamel pins. You can purchase their products on their website (they deliver worldwide) and they can also be found retailing in shops such as Paperchase, Waterstones and Urban Outfitters!

KEEPING ORGANISED WITH BAN.DO

I'm a sucker for organisation. I love planning and above all, I just love lists. Perhaps it's my tendency to worry that is so influential on my need to plan things but all I know is that I don't really feel like me if I'm not able to organise what I'm doing. One of the things I love that helps to keep me in check is my Ban.do diary. I first got a diary from Ban.do in 2016 when I spotted the one that my beautiful friend Tanith of ThingsTanithDid was using in University one day. She had shown me through hers and other than how beautiful it was to look at, I loved how it was laid out and organised and knew I wanted one. I swiftly went on to ASOS where I knew Ban.do organisers were sold and I bought myself the same one. I used my diary throughout 2016 and I absolutely loved it so I knew I'd want one for 2017 which is why I asked for one for Christmas! I was lucky enough to get one so in today's post I thought I'd show you through it and tell you why I like it so much.

Both the 2016 and 2017 versions of the diary are pretty much the same in terms of what they include internally. The only key differences that the 2017 version has is the size and layout of these sections. For starters, the 2017 diary is much wider and contains fewer pages. This does mean that the diary is a little bit on the bigger side so it isn't going to necessarily fit in a bag as easily as the narrower 2016 one did. I don't mind this too much however as I find it fits easily into near enough all the bags that I use including my current one. The diary also has a beautiful floral design just as last years did except this one is designed using more muted, pastel colours which I really love.

Inside of the diary there's a handy pocket for documents containing a cute little slip which details the diary's "Secret Code" - symbols that are scattered around the pages of the diary and which are encoded messages that you can decode in your spare time. The diary also has within in two full pages of adorable little stickers - I especially love this little novelty addition to the diary as it allows you to really personalise it.

As you enter the actual pages of the diary itself, you firstly find a layout of the year showing you all the days of each month from January 2017 on to December 2018. Then, there's also a page allowing you to write down some notes or "Reasons to Party" for each month of 2017 as well as a neat little list of the nation holidays of the year too.

As we get into the pages for every month, each section is divided with a handy side tab meaning you can easily flick between months to find a specific date or page. The first page of each month shows you a layout of each day of the said month giving you room to write down a small note or two. Whilst the 2016 Ban.do diary also had a section for each day of each week of every month, the 2017 version has downsized on this and decided to simply divide each bit of its pages into weekly sections. I like this change as when I finished University in particular, I didn't feel that I needed room for each day of the week for note taking and so that left a lot of blank space in my diary. Having sections for each week of the month rather than each day for me means i'm more likely to utilise all of the space in the diary - there is also a small notes section provided on each month page for any extra things that you may need to jot down too!

As well as novel little additions like the secret code on certain pages of the diary, there's also motivational sayings and messages of encouragement too. I think this is a lovely addition to the diary and it's nice to be able read a comforting and feel good message now and then! Finally, at the very end of the diary there's a super large section of pages for notes - always handy as you never know when you may need to write something down.

Overall, I think this is an awesome diary - from it's layout to its design, I'm really impressed with how it's been produced and I know I'll definitely get a lot of use out of it just as I did with last years. Organisation is something that is important for me and having such a useful, handy diary like this one means that planning is so much easier. If you're on the look out for a good planner, I'd certainly recommend this one!

As mentioned above, you can get Ban.do diaries from ASOS as well as from retails such as John Lewis and Selfridges. 

What's in My University Bag?

Hey guys! So, as you can see from the title this is going to be a 'What's In My Bag?' University Edition. 

My going out / non-Uni bag isn't too different from this with a few exceptions, but I will at some point probably do a post on that as well. Anyway, enjoy!

River Island Bag - £25.00

So, this is the bag that I will be using for University for now. It's from River Island and I got it as a Christmas present, as I chose it however, I know it was purchased for £25.00! 

What I really like about this bag is it's simple, classic design. I really like plain, black bags just because they pretty much go with anything. It's also surprisingly big so I can fit everything I need to in it easily which is important for me. I love shoulder bags as I find them the most comfortable to wear and I like the additional chain detail on this one.

CASTELLI 2015 Diary, WHSmith - £9.95

The first two things I'll be keeping in my bag are my diary and pencil case. I was looking around for a good, quality 2015 diary which had all the dates laid out within it and I found this one whilst in WHSmith. It has everything I need with room for notes under each date as well a whole page to jot stuff down. It also has a calendar within it, as well as other useful information!

 Second is my pencil case which I also received as a Christmas present. This is a Cath Kidston pencil case and is only the start of many other CK things you'll be seeing in my bag...

Vera Wang Princess - £39.50
Cath Kidston Makeup Bag - £12.00

Next off, I have a perfume and my makeup bag. The perfume is Vera Wang's Princess and it's one of my all time favourites. I keep this in my bag because it's such a cute, petite size and so it fits perfectly. It's handy for days when I perhaps have forgotten to put any perfume on or when I need freshen up! I got this in a recent haul from Debenhams for just £20 as part of a gift set!

Yeah, so I wasn't kidding when I said you'll be seeing more Cath Kidston in my bag - I'm pretty obsessed with the brand. This is my makeup / essentials bag that I carry all sorts of things in. I'll probably do a post about just what exactly is in it so stay tuned for that!

Pukka Pad 200 Page - £8.29
Cath Kidston Notebook (Part of a set) - £10.00

Of course, at University you take a lot of notes so a notepad is a necessity. I recently bought this massive Pukka Pad from Tesco and I really like it particularly because it has dividers in it as well as slots for spare bits of paper. This means I can keep myself organised which is something I love to be!

And what do we have here? Oh.. another Cath Kidston product. This is just a cute little notebook I bring with me for any Uni related notes I need to make; whether it be on assignments or things to remember!

River Island Purse - Old!
Cath Kidston Lanyard - £3.00
Cath Kidston Key Fob - £4.50
Cath Kidston Bus Pass Holder - £6.00

In my bag I also carry this super old wallet that I got a while back from River Island. It's just a purple purse with hearts stitched in it as well as some studding. It's a great size for carrying what I need with room for change, too!

I also have my bus pass and keys - the bus pass case and lanyard are both (shockingly) Cath Kidston purchased from Selfridges! I also have a cute little key fob from her and probably my favourite ever key chain: a little Thor's hammer!

Beats Solo HD's - £170.00

Bus journeys are long and I need something to wake me up in the morning. That's where music comes in and of course with that, comes headphones. I'd been debating over Beats for a long time and finally last year, I got some! I absolutely love them but don't wear them enough for the price so I've decided to make sure I always bring them with me so I will!

iPod Nano 4th Generation
Forever21 Compact Mirror - £3.00
Lint Brush - £4.09

Now we're getting into the last few things I keep in my bag... I firstly of course have my iPod to go with my headphones this is just the 4th or 5th generation Nano. I have had this for years and I've kept in mint condition. For me, it was the perfect size and I will be using it for many more years to come until it gives up on me!

I also carry a mirror because you know, I can be a little vain and like to check my makeup and hair now and then! I also carry a little lint roller just because I have animals and animals mean fur on my clothes!

Gloves - £7.00

And that brings us to the final item in my bag which are these cute, knitted gloves from Forever21. It's cold in the UK - need I say more?

That's everything in my bag - thanks for reading!