The Time Has Come...

I think I mentioned in my previous post that the Left & Write shop was closing. Well the time has come, and the shop has now closed.

Drawn using Paper for the iPad. 

It's sad times, but hopefully I'll find another creative outlet here in Hong Kong and will be able to share it with you.

Let the craft times roll!

New Year, Another Fresh Start

Hands up if you're all set for 2013? 

Me? Kind of.

Let's recap... at the beginning of 2012 I wrote a similarly titled post about a New Year, Fresh Start. I rambled on about all the new things and adventures that this year would hold and whatnot, and I must say the year did not disappoint. 

I did some freelancing, got to work in new industries, tried making my own rubber stamps (but haven't blogged about it yet as I'm not very good at it and need more practice) as well as lots of other stuff; all in all I had a fun year. 

I must admit, the thing that I've neglected this year has been this blog and the Left & Write shop - tut tut to me. I did have big plans to do more stuff, but you know - stuff happens.

So, what's in store for 2013 for Left & Write?

For starters, the Left & Write shop will be closing [insert sad face here]. 

As sad as I am about doing this, it's for a good reason - I'm moving to Hong Kong. So whilst I'm getting settled there, I need to put the shop on hiatus... for now.

In the meantime, I'll try and keep the blog updated as much as possible and be sure to keep you posted on any stationery adventures I may have in HK.

To commemorate our move to Hong Kong and to remind us of home, I bought these prints from Fade Out Design which we plan on putting up in our new apartment. 

All that's left to say is, Hong Kong here we come, and...

HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL. 

MAY 2013 BRING YOU ALL THAT YOU WANT & MORE! 

The Peak, Hong Kong (Photo taken by The Husband - Isn't he good!) 

P.S Keep an eye out for the upcoming Left & Write mega-sale. Details to follow. 

Rainbow Bright

This is what happens when I get bored and have some creative energy that needs to go somewhere. The result is rainbow(ish) tips. Not very well done as you can see, but I'm quite pleased with result.

What do you do when you get bored or itchy fingers?

 

On This Day...

On this day - Monday April 2nd, 2012 I made a card.
A card for my friends who have just had a baby.

It was also a good reason to stop doing my boring chores and get a quick creative fix.

I got out my alphabet stamps, some baby blue ink (y'know, just to conform to stereotype since they had a baby boy) and got stamping.

So this is what I made...

I didn't want to make a 'Congrats it's a boy card' as I've already made one of them. Instead I wanted to make a card that would celebrate the momentous occasion, one that could not only be used for baby births but other significant days or even used to make the insignificant days into something special.

Basically it can be used for any day, of any year, for any occasion.

It needs some tweaking spacing wise - but considering it was all hand-stamped, I don't think it came out too badly.

I will definitely be putting this one in the Left & Write Shop with the text available in a variety of colours.

Let me know what you think and if you want me to make you one - just send me a message.
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p.s. You can now Follow my blog with Bloglovin'

Put in on Paper

I love my iPad and technology, but still nothing beats the joy of doodling, sketching, and making lists on actual paper.

I've always been a sucker for a notebook, be it Little Twin Stars when I was younger to the classic Moleskine, and more recently the leather bound beauty that is a Smythson.

The other day the husband told me about a new iPad app called Paper. My initial thought was, why do I need another app where I can make notes, lists, jot down ideas? I've already got all the apps I could need help me. In fact I probably spend more time making lists and documenting all my ideas and activities, than actually doing them.

Anyway, the name alone - Paper, intrigued me. Could it really be like paper? So I went to the Fifty Three website and also the iTunes app store to read up on it, and before I knew it I was downloading it.
Not only was the interface beautiful and easy to use, it gave me that lovely familiar feeling of writing and drawing on paper. The effects of the pens as I wrote and the way the colours blended, as if I were using watercolours, filled me with a stationery geek glee.

Image from: Fifty Three

The app itself is free and it comes with the 'fountain pen'. Each of the other 'pens' can be bought in-app individually or you can buy them as a bundle. Of course, I had to get all of them at once.
To see more examples of how people are using the app and what they are creating, have a look at the Fifty Three blog.

Not long after having a play, I had set up lots of different 'notebooks' ready for me to virtually scribble and jot down my thoughts.

Another bonus of the Paper app, everything you write/draw/sketch can be easily shared, and in this age of being social - that's surely a bonus. You can email it or share it to those old chestnuts - Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

So far I am loving the Paper app. I don't know if it's just novelty value right now or if it will be a long term thing. There's lots of room for updates, so who knows how this app will develop, but for now I would say - get it!

P.S On another tech related note, I am currently trying out Blogsy for iPad and am actually using it to write this post. I'll do a quick update once I've published this post.