Greetings cards, books and all the art supplies – three things that make my heart sing. I adore shopping for paper goods, put me in a good stationary shop and I’ll happily browse around for hours. With the situation in recent times, I haven’t been able to get to many of my favourite type of shops, but that hasn’t stopped me and when I was looking at the lovely cards and bits and pieces that I have acquired over the past few months – I was so pleased that I couldn’t help but grab my camera and get writing all about them. So, I guess paper goods haul, here we go!
Let’s start with the biggest part of the haul and that is a selection of gorgeous greetings cards from the online independent shop, Oh Deer. Working with a huge range of masterful, creative and hilarious artists and designers, Oh Deer is stocked to the brim with greetings cards for every occassion and have long been one of my favourite places to buy cards from. I picked my selection up in their summer sale, making the cards less than one pound each and with their cards being plastic & glitter free, made from 100% recycled or sustainably sourced materials and 100% recycled gift wrap, these purchases were a no brainer. Here’s just some of the selection I chose:
Good Luck Charms | Jungle Bird | Complimentary Colours | Miss Your Stupid Face
Recently, I actually got to visit a -real life- craft market! I know! It has been so long since I’ve been able to make it to one of these with the current situation, but I was delighted when I managed to bob over to the Craft and Flea Market in Birmingham a few weeks ago. Boy was it worth the weight! I’ve already sent a few cards and gifts that I bought from the market, but there are still a few leftover to share with you in this haul. Firstly, this affirmation mini print from By Bella Designs will be the perfect pick me up to send in someone’s card or addition to a birthday present. I love that the inspiration for this series of mini prints came from her instagram followers and these are their actual words – so clever and meaningful. I also bought another mini print, this time for myself, from Tom Hardwick Draws. It is a lovely illustration of a seal in water and reminded me of my time with my friends visiting St Andrews in Scotland. Now all I need is a frame! I also bought several postcards from Tom, including the River Scene postcard (shown in the left image below) and also a postcard with Snoozing Red Pandas on it, which has already been sent to one of my lovely friends.
On a slightly different vein (but still made of paper), two books I have purchased recently are ‘Spring Cannot Be Cancelled ‘ by David Hockney & Martin Gayford, and ‘No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference’ by Greta Thunberg. I have read the former and thoroughly enjoyed it, a chatty book where two lifelong friends discuss Hockey’s work in the year of the pandemic, his exploration of spring and art history. I found it really enjoyable, as always with Martin Gayford’s books an highly recommend to any art lover (psst… it has pictures too!). My next read will be this collection of eleven of Greta Thunberg’s speeches on the climate crisis and global warming. I really admire Greta’s determination and goals and look forward to finding inspiration in the pages of this read.
Best Places to Buy Secondhand Books Online | World of Books | Abe Books | Ebay | Oxfam Online Bookshop
My final purchases are a slightly tenuous paper goods link, but I am so pleased with them that I wanted to include them here. I bought this sketchbook and two new paintbrushes from Artway and was so pleased to be able to find a sketchbook made from entierly recycled materials, right down to the paper. Their Enviro range is a great choice for anyone looking to make their art practice that bit more, well’ enviro-nment friendly.
So, there we have it – all the many paper goods I have accumulated across the last few months! I have so many of these cards already earmarked for people and I can’t wait to get reading my next book. Do you stockpile cards or buy as you need?
