Hema Haul!

Well, I managed to waste spend quite a while on the Hema site the other day, and this is my haul:

• Some C6 stripy envelopes
• Some self-inking stamps
• A5 notebook with ziplock
• Stickers of cartoon jungle animals
• A 2015-16 academic diary
• Some stick-on envelopes
• Storage tin

[but no, Steve, it did not include a selfie-stick...]

I'm not going to review each of these in detail (because I haven't had time to play with them all yet!) but I'll show you each of them and also give a bit of feedback about using the site.

Feedback about the site:
There's a lot of stuff on the site and it's easy to spend HOURS on there! A lot of things are pretty cheap and there is a danger that you then chuck a load of things in the basket that you don't really need (I know - is that phrase actually applicable to stationery??). There is also a slight oddity in that some items have a minimum order of two (or three) of the item. This doesn't seem to be related to price - there are some things that are £1 on there and you can order one of them; there are things that are £2.50 and you have to order at least two. For many things, that's all fine but on some of them I was thinking that I didn't really need two of them and was a bit irritated by being forced into getting two.
When the parcel arrived, the items were bundled into a carrier bag which then rattled around inside the much larger cardboard box which wasn't the best packing in the world.

1. Stripy C6 envelopes:

Stripy envelopes.
With hindsight, should have bought some address labels too!

For those who aren't used to the sizing of envelopes, C6 takes an A4 sheet folded in half, then half again (i.e. takes A6 paper). I write zillions of letters and so am always in search of envelopes and these were a bit different from the plain white ones you can generally get. I probably should have bought some labels for writing the address on.

2. Self-inking stamps:

Self-inking stamps

I only really wanted the lower one but they came as a two-pack and were only £2.50 so I ended up with both of them. I'll stamp envelopes with the other one probably. I've been using the lower one to stamp my home-made week + notes to note my 'two most important things to do today'.

3. A5 notebook with ziplock:

A5 notebook with ziplock
(Sorry about the shadows!)

I've seen much more expensive versions of this (Mark's Tokyo for example) but this was a pretty reasonable price. In essence, it is an A5 notebook in a plastic/polyethylene cover and the back cover has a zip-lock pocket, card slots and a pen holder. The front cover has slip pockets too. The idea is that you carry this around and slip things into the pocket as you collect them. I'm not sure if I will use it quite like that as I would use my Traveller's Journal instead, but if I was off to do research on something and wanted something cheap and cheerful and useful I would give it a go. I've yet to try the paper out in the notebook but I'm not expecting anything good. The bonus is that you can slip any A5 notebook in it if it's slim enough so you're not restricted to the one that comes with it.

4. Stickers of cartoon jungle animals:

Jungle animal stickers

There are two pages of stickers - the other page has different ones but I only took pictures of one lot - sorry! These were one of the 'you must buy two' items but I can always use cartoon jungle animals stickers and they were only 75p per pack. The chameleons alone will always make me smile!

5. 2015-2016 academic diary:

Cover of the 2015-16 academic diary

Layout (plus LURID page marker)

Okay. This was only £1. The size of the diary is 12.5cm x 18cm which is a nice size. It's a school diary so there are several pages of class schedule and some pages for recording grades. Considering the page size is fairly small, the layout isn't bad, though Saturday and Sunday are, as ever, squashed into a smaller space and there is that pointless month summary taking up some of Sunday. I don't know what the numbering of 1-9 is for on each day - things to do? It's obviously not for recording appointments, even given some students' semi-nocturnal lifestyle. Anyway, I quite liked the clean font and size but I'm not sure, now I've got it, that I will use it. But it was only £1 so I don't feel too bad!

6. 6-pack sticky envelopes:

Stick-on envelopes

Another item that had a minimum purchase of two but again, I didn't mind (and they weren't horrendously expensive). I got them so that I could stick them on the home-made diary in my Traveller's Journal or in notebooks I use for writing. There are three of each size: 10cm x 6cm (holds a card 9cm x 5.5cm) and 16cm x 11cm (holds a card 14.5cm x 10.3cm). As you can see from the picture, the backings are a bit lurid (pink, orange and red) but bearable.

7. Storage tin:

Storage tin

I just liked this. I got it for putting ink cartridges in but it's a useful size at 7cm x 9.8cm. It also has a very positive click when it closes. Some other tins can have quite a loose lid that easily comes off, but this tin could rattle around in your bag without the lid coming off.

Anyway, there we go - that was my haul. I could probably have bought a LOT more stuff but I managed (just) to restrain myself.