Duly notecard

My other half has a theory. He reckons the main, fundamental difference between men and women is that women always have a stash blank cards and/or notelets, to use in emergencies. He thinks it’s because we all, inevitably, turn into our mums.

As far as I’m concerned though, it’s just being sensible. There’s always a birthday that sneaks up on you; or a friend who moves house or gets a new job; or someone who does something/gives you a gift out of the blue that you want to say thank you for.

Now I know I’ve picked out some brilliant notelets before (check out my post from 30 December 2011 – those cards are all still available), but I’ve found some fab new mini ones to share with you too.

They’re called Bright Stem notecards, and there are lots of different boxes to choose from, including graphic style birds, abstract retro shapes, photos of flowers, typographic birthday and thank you cards, plus mixed boxes containing several different designs (see above and below).

What’s particularly good about them is the price – they’re just £4-6 for a little box of 12 (with some designs on sale – 50 Thank You cards are currently £14) plus £2.75 postage from www.brightstemshop.com or from www.amazon.co.uk.

Oh, and if you buy some and want to thank me for recommending them, don’t worry, you don’t need to send a card!

All present and correct

My new obsession is an awesome online shopping site called http://www.presentandcorrect.com. It’s not just that they sell gorgeous stationery, cards, notelets, prints, stickers, stamps and other bits and bobs, but that they photograph and present them all so beautifully.

My top picks? The bright wooden ‘click’ pencils, £5.50 (above); the tag notebooks, £7.50 for three; the cunning tape measure calendar, £16 (each day is 1cm on the tape measure – genius!); the label notecards, £3.25; the old Czech matchbox labels, £6 for 25 and the pick’n’mix stamps, £3.95.

Note to self

It’s ‘Thank You’ letter time again. And that’s the perfect excuse to invest in some stylish new note cards.

There are some gorgeous designs around at the moment, that don’t cost a bomb, and that will serve you well all year. My favourites are  Polaroid notelets, £6.55 for 20, above, which each have a different arty pic in the style of a Polaroid photo on the front.

I also love Cath Kidston’s note card book, £7.35, below, which contains 24 cards of various designs including a couple of specific ‘thank you’ and ‘happy birthday’ cards. They come with matching spotty envelopes in a cute folding box.

Finally, take a look at The Natural World photographic cards, £4.99. With 30 cards each printed with a different glossy photo of nature/wildlife, it’s a a total bargain and there’s a card to suit even the trickiest of customers.

All are available from http://www.amazon.co.uk