How to make personalized calendars...

Have you started on your Christmas present list yet? I accidentally started a tradition when Ebi-kun was born of making wall calendars for the grandparents and great grandparents, now I have to make them or I would have a load of angry grandparents beating down my door!

I think most people theses days use a digital camera of some sort so making a calendar couldn't be easier. I always use Vistaprint for my calendars, the one time I used a different company, the calendars arrived with that pages in the wrong order!

If you have never tried this before, I wanted to show you how I do it, you need to carve out a couple of hours but it is very straight forward.

First you need to sort your photos. I try and keep mine in folders for each month of the year, it makes finding specific images much easier! So, the first thing I do is go through each month and pick out a couple of images for each month. I use the 'flag' option in iPhoto and flag all the images that I think I want to use.

Next, I edit the pictures, I don't crop them because that is better done once you have uploaded them. Just teak the colours, light balance that for of thing. I use Photoshop but you can do the basics with a variety of free software or just in iPhoto if you are using a mac.

Next, click through to Vistaprint and decide which calendar option you like, I always go for the personalized calendar. You can choose 'theme' or 'photo', obviously you want the photo option. Even though you picked Photo, you can still choose from a massive variety of backgrounds. I personally opt for something plain and simple as not to detract from the photo.

Next, upload your photos and then add them to your pages. You can have just one big photo or an arrangement of smaller ones. The software is really easy to use, just drag and drop. I like to work in the months setting first so I can see that I have a good range of images and layouts. I love to include some silly pictures and some showing Ebi-kuns personality as well as some from important events from the year.


Once you have the basics sorted, click on each month and crop you image if it needs it. You can also add events such as family members birthdays or anything you have planned for the family the following year. I leave this blank because the calendars go to the Japanese side of the family too.

That is virtually it. Save and preview then check out. Simple isn't it? I do recommend getting this done sooner rather than later, firstly it is a easy gift and secondly you can pick the cheaper shipping option if you do it early! Vistaprint do have loads of other items you can print your images on such as mugs and key fobs - perfect for those 'difficult to buy for people'. That is 5 gifts I can strike off my Christmas present list already *phew*.

Villa Carton Review & Giveaway

A couple of weeks ago I discovered a great new (to me) site called, Villa Carton. If you love ideas to help your children grow their imagination, you will LOVE this site.

Dutch artists Manon and Ruud van den Broek set up Villa Carton with the intention to design toys that stimulate the imagination, have educational value and are fun to play with. So as you can see, they are right up my alley!

Manon kindly send us one of the great colouring costumes to try out and two others to give away!

Not only do they have great dress up outfits, there are also storage boxes (I am so in love with this kitchen set!), flip dolls and building blocks.

Ebi-kun has had a couple of days off sick this week so it was a great activity to keep him busy. I showed him the kits and said he could pick one, he got really excited and exclaimed that it was a brilliant idea! The costumes are printed on 100% cotton and come with 4 fabric markers. Ebi-kun chose the pirate outfit and got busy.

Ebi-kun said "I think these are really great because kids can pick their favourite colours and colour the outfit in their own design. You can still play in it, even if you don't finish colouring it in all in one day, then you can do some more colouring another day"

The outfits are multi-size aimed at kids from 3-8 years old, they fasten under the arms and at the neck with a ties so they are adjustable depending on the size of the child. There are lots of different styles to choose from, I will keep it a secret the two that I have to give away, that way it will be a nice surprise!

So, how would you like to win an outfit? They would make a perfect socking filler! All you have to do is go over to the Villa Carton website and take a look at their products then come back and tell me which specific item you think your child would like the most. Fill in the form below and I will pick two winners by random generator December 5th, 9am EST. Open worldwide.

If you would like to double you chance at winning, you can enter again over at My Organized Chaos.

This Years Travelling Advent...(tutorial)

We will be travelling around quite a bit the first part of December, so I decided to make a travelling advent again.

This year I have made it more like a book, the pages are envelopes which double as pockets. I thought that as he emptied the advent goodies he could then use the book for collecting bits and bobs from our travels. Much easier to gave them all in one place!

That is why is decided to leave the front white, then Ebi-kun can decorate it himself. It was simple to make, I did it one evening after he had gone to bed, so the pictures are a bit dark.

Supplies:
Envelopes - I use plain ones but you could use fancy ones
punch
Card for the cover (cereal boxes work well)
pens and MT tape for decorating
Thread and big needle
Ribbon (not shown)

First decorate your envelopes, or not, it is totally up to you!

Punch 5 holes, equally apart along the bottom edge of the envelopes, I marked one, punched the holes and then used that as a template for the rest.

Cut 2 pieces of card to be your cover, slightly bigger than your envelopes and punch holes in them too. Use Japanese binding to sew up the edge, if you don't know how to do it, it is dead easy and I have a step by step tutorial here.

Add some ribbon to the card covers, I made a slit and threaded the ribbon through then secured it with tape. Fill each pocket with goodies.

Ebi-kun really likes the My Daddy Is A Pretzel book so I was going to get the cards that go with the book but then I spotted a different set, made by the same people. I got Yoga Planet and it has yoga moves and different activities to do too, this would be a good set for a classroom as some of the activities are for groups. I also put in a really funny joke, OK that is a matter of opinion, and by request a math question again.

My Secret To Stress Free Holidays

As the holidays are approaching is your Christmas cheer replaced with Christmas fear?

Is the thought of all the shopping, cooking, cleaning, planning and organizing enough to make you run for the hills and stay there until it is all over?

Well, that used to be me but not any more! My secret is making use of several lists and planners and breaking everything down into bite sized pieces. I have saved myself a small fortune each year and saved my sanity and you can do it too. When you use the  My Organized Holidays epack

My Organized Holiday

The pack contains lots of planners, schedules and checklists designed to help you organize your holidays and bring down your stress levels. Click HERE to grab yours now.

7 fun weather experiments to do at home

Remember a couple of weeks ago I posted about the thunderstorm experiment? We I have put all the other experiment sheets together into one PDF, 7 in all. They are all easy, fun and use things that you have at home. You need to pop over to My Organized Chaos to download them (I can store the files myself over there).

If you think you know someone who would enjoy doing this with their kids then please share using Facebook, twitter, smoke signals...

Taking advantage of the Americans...

OK, not all Americans but as you probably know, this week is Thanksgiving then Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Until a few years ago, I had never heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday is a pretty new thing in itself. Anyway, this means that a lot of places have sales on over the weekend and I have just had an email through to say that all the Crafsty Classes are being offered at $19.99 or less. Whoo-hooo.

When I was asked to review one of their classes I had a really tough time choosing, I think I might go and pick up another one as an early birthday present to me! If you missed my review, I posted about it HERE.

So from the 23rd - 26th you can get a Craftsy class at a discount. The classes would make a great gift too, especially for people who 'dabble' and need help taking their hobby to the next level. If you do sign up for a class, let me know, we might even end up in the same one!

That'd not all folks... you know I am a Blurb fan, well you can get yourself a 25% discount using the code HOLIDAYTHANKS over the holiday weekend, great time to get some photo books made for Christmas presents. If you are short of time, use the Blurb bookify software and it basically does it all for you.

These are affiliate links which means it is a win-win situation for both of us, you get a bargain and I get cider money for England. Cheers to that :)

What do you do with your teeth?

Before I came to Japan I thought the Tooth Fairy visited every child that had lost a tooth, I was bemused to learn that in Japan a child throws a lower tooth over the roof of the house and the upper tooth under the house or bury it, this ensures that the teeth will grow in straight.

You see, yesterday we had a teacher/parent meeting, all good there, glowing reports all round. After that we went to the dentist, Ebi-kun's second tooth had come through behind his milk tooth and the milk tooth wasn't wiggly at all. This concerned me because I had the same problem with  my top teeth and ended up wearing braces for years, for as much good that they did, I still have wonky teeth! Which, oddly enough is a good thing in Japan, there has been a recent trend for women in Japan to get their teeth wonkified because this makes them more attractable to prospective husbands, who see the wonky teeth as a slight imperfection, thus making them perfect! Go figure.

Anyway, back to Ebi-kun, the dentist agreed that the tooth needed pulling and I was mightily impressed with the way it was all handled. Ebi-kun didn't feel a thing and wasn't in the slightest bit traumatised thankfully! Many foreigners in Japan complain about Japanese dentists but I have yet to see a bad one and will opt to see a Japanese dentist over a British one any day.

Months ago I order the book Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the Worldto give to him when the big day came. It is a GREAT book, it has traditions from all round the world, we were surprised to find that Japan isn't the only place that throws the tooth on the roof. Some of the places are quite odd, he was thankful that he didn't live in Costa Rica because they plate the tooth in gold and made into an earring for the child to wear.

get it from Amazon or the Book Depository

The dentist gave Ebi-kun his tooth and put it this cuuuute little tooth case. The tooth fairy came and left him ¥100 plus a special 50p bonus for it being the first tooth and a letter - you can see it in the tooth case....

Of course, the Tooth Fairy is very small so her writing was teeny, so small in fact that he needed his magnifying glass to read it. All in all she was very happy to get the tooth and she will be using it to make birthday wishes.

I am wondering what is going to happen when he tells his friends that he gets money for his teeth - bedlam in the wobbly tooth kingdom may ensue. The conversation this morning..

Me: Will you tell your friends that you got money for your tooth?

Ebi-kun: Yes

Me: What if they want to know why they don't get money?

Ebi-kun: *laughing* I will say it's because they don't put their tooth under their pillow

smart ass!

Now, it's your turn, what do you do when your teeth fall out where you are? I would love to add to the traditions listed in the book.

Handmade gifts

There is something special about giving and receiving handmade gifts don't you think? You know that the person giving has taken extra time and effort to make that gift for you or even if it isn't handmade by them, they have taken the time to find something special. 

If you sew, then don't forget that I have a collection of great sewing patterns, most of them are for beginner/intermediate level stitchers and you know your kids will love it even more if you have made it for them. The patterns are available as PDF's so as soon as you buy it, it goes whizzing from my end to your end in a matter of seconds. 

You can grab your patterns from the My Organized Chaos website, Craftsy or Etsy, with Etsy I have to email the pattern to you, so not quite instant.

Can't Sew. Won't Sew?

How about brewing up some natural lip balms, tonics, creams and ointments? The new issue of Action Pack is out and this issue is all about Family Apothecary. If you are looking to go greener this Christmas, then all the recipes you need are in here!

How to send small packages overseas...

OK, this is a post for those IN Japan, as you can imagine, with having the shop I have sent a LOT of packages overseas. Especially as 99% of my customers are actually overseas. I thought I would share what I have learnt over the last few years and hopefully it will save you some money.

The following applies of packages that are under 2kg in weight...

First of all you should bookmark this post office International rates page. It will come in handy for future reference.

Assuming you have a small package with some Christmas gifts in it. Once you have packaged it up, check the weight - you can do it on your home scales. It won't be totally accurate but will give you a good idea, if it is hovering around the 2kg weight then you might have to send it EMS or international mail.

Assuming that the weight is good, time to check the measurements, use this page to make sure if fits with the minimum and maximum requirements. It is good to note that sending Christmas cards can cost you an arm and a leg if they are not standard Japanese letter size, worth checking before you buy!

If you have time to play with, then I recommend using SAL, it is cheap and I have found it very reliable in the past. Although it often says delivery is 2-3 weeks, which sometimes it does take, I have had parcels arrive in Europe in 5 days! Although Japan doesn't get the Christmas backlog when it comes to delivery remember that the country you are sending it to might, so keep that in mind with your posting dates.

The next option is Airmail, again it usually says 7 days, my record is again to Europe in 4!

Now, this bit is IMPORTANT. You need to write either SAL or AIRMAIL in red and bold on the top of your envelope/package. Also write SMALL PACKAGE.

Sometime the clerks in the post office are not very with it when it comes to sending things overseas. You need to educate them! Make sure you point out and ask for SMALL PACKAGE rate or you will be paying silly money for basically the same service. If they even murmur International parcel, put them straight, you want SMALL PACKAGE.

As a random example... a parcel I recently sent form Saitama

A small parcel weighing 456g going to Denmark

Airmail Small package rate ¥960 takes 4 days

Airmail International parcel rate ¥2,500 takes 4 days

SAL small package rate ¥580 takes 2 weeks

SAL International parcel rate ¥2,700 takes 2 weeks

See what I mean? Use that international parcel rate and your wallet is going to take a beating!

Two more things you need to add are, the mailing address and your own address plus the green CN22 customs form. Your package is less likely to get opened by customs if you have this on it. They will give you one at the post office to fill in. When you come to pay, you are also likely to be asked if the parcel contains electronics or explosives (this always makes me laugh, the thought of a terrorist admitting filling his jiffy envelope with Semtex!) Certain countries have specific restrictions, it is worth checking if you are sending food, seeds or anything out of the ordinary.
You might get asked if there is a letter inside, just say no, if you say yes the rate will go up - don't ask me why, one of those obscure rules!

If your package contains something valuable then I would opt for EMS, it is more expensive but it is traceable and insured. You can also apparently print out the EMS label via the net, although I have never done so.

If your parcel is over 2KG then you have to choose between EMS and International parcel rate. It might be worth splitting the parcel into 2 smaller packages rather than pay the higher fees. Play around with what you are sending and the scales, inputting the info on this page if you are counting the yennies.

I think that is it, I hope it is of help, I wish someone had explained all this when I first started out, it would have saved me a truck load of money and a lot of headaches!

Autumn Poetry Basket

I think poetry is an important part of language and it is something Ebi-kun won't get taught in English at school, that means it is down to me to do it. What I like to do, it to find a poem and make it into some kind of fun activity, have a prepared page for writing his own poem, a few objects to inspire him and a picture of some kind. I keep them all in a basket.

He started off with the poem strips, I read the poem first so he had an idea of what it was about and I split the poem into the 2 verses to make it a bit easier. He put the verse together then I re-read the verse and he checked that he had got it right, he had to make a couple of corrections. This is the poem we used this time.

We talked about the poem and what it meant and I got him to give me some other examples, after he had done he said he didn't feel like writing his own poem but then on a whim he sat down a couple of days later and wrote this...

Do you study poetry with your kids? Have you got a favourite poem, book or other resource, please share in the comments.

Surviving the witching hours....

Yes, I am doing more than stepping out of my comfort zone, I am jumping out without a parachute! I am going to do my first webinar! And you can be there to witness it - yeehaa!

I am going to share some tips and tricks to help you get through the witching hours, you know, that awful time from about 4pm until bedtime. When everyone is tired and grumpy, you have to wrangle moody kids through dinner and the bath and bed routine and often single handed.

To register (it's free) you just need to sign up here

If you have never attended a webinar before, don't panic, it is very easy.

1. Register here.

2. You will be taken to a new page where you can add the meeting details to your calendar.

3. You will be sent a confirmation email with the meeting details, this email also has a link so you can test out the computer settings before you start.

4. You will receive and email reminder before the meeting.

5. 10 minutes or so before the meeting is due to start, click on the link provided and you should be able to access the meeting without problem,  once in all you have to do is listen, you can interact if you are feeling brave!

6. This is the first time I have attempted a webinar, so be prepared for some 'comedy' moments.

I will try and record the event but keep number 6 in mind! If you can make it you will be able to ask questions too! You will still need to register if you want to listen to the recording at a later date.

Hopefully I will see some of you there and I won't be sat there talking to myself!

I leave you with a question to get going with, please answer in the comments....

What do you find the most difficult/stressful when it comes to 'The Witching Hours'?

Surprise! - a day off school!

So, the day before yesterday I find out Ebi-kun was to have the day off school yesterday! Apparently it was 'Saitama Day' and it appears I was the only one clueless about this. I had to reschedule a couple of meetings and re-juggle the other things I had planned for the day. Ebi-kun kept himself busy for the first couple of hours so that I could get through my emails, sort out orders and do some coding to fix an issue on my website.

Then it was the laundry, changing the bed sheets and dusting then, off to the supermarket. The route I take to the supermarket means cutting through the park so we decided to stop and go acorn hunting. We picked up a bag of acorns and leaves and continued on our shopping mission. Got home, had lunch, watched Puss In Boots which was great and then we got out all the craft supplies for a big session.

We started with leaf rubbings and then went onto doodling and sticking. I was inspired for leaf doodling by The Artful Parents Autumn Crafts e-book.

We didn't have any metallic markers (they are now on my shopping list) so we just tried the different pens that we had to see what would work.

Ebi-kun designed Mr Leaf, a salaryman leaf and then he went on to make...

The Autumn Man, he used white glue to stick the acorns on and I was surprised that they were still there in the morning.

But my favourite it his rock band 'The Acorn Blues' There is a punk with a green mohican playing lead guitar, a lead singer, drummer and two backing singers/banner wavers. I love how he put this together, he used the glue gun to stick it all together. What fun! He announced when he was finished that when he grows up he is going to be an acorn rock band designer and have a shop selling acorn rock bands!

I love how a bunch of free leaves and acorns could fill a good 3 hours of creative fun.

Donations wanted for the coast..

Do you remember Joni who lives in Iwate? Well, she is still collecting donations for the Earthquake and Tsunami survivors. Here is a list of things that she is looking for, if you have anything suitable then please send it her way. You will have to pay for the postage but I have found that in the past it has been very reasonable.

From Joni...

Here are some things that are still needed, but please feel free to drop me an email if you have other  things available or other thoughts. Many of you have done this in the past and your ideas and the things that you shared have been fabulous, and ones that I hadn't thought of! You never know if something you have and are not using could be shared with those that have lost everything!

Some examples of things that have been donated that I never would have thought of (these are just as few, there have been many more)

** a gal working at a company that had a marathon every year, had new t-shirts that were leftover that she sent.

**items like those sold at school bazaars (gift sets etc) (no need to keep them in their boxes)

**wedding and funeral presents (out of their boxes is fine)

**food bags with various things in them

**Curry sets from Hokkaido (ingredients to make a full curry meal)for each household

**Very fancy woman's clothing from a woman and her relatives ( I have to fess up that I was doubtful that the ladies wanted or needed these...I was so very wrong. The ladies all had so much fun choosing pretty things to wear and every single item was claimed)

**womans handbags and mens backpack things

**jewelry and pretty woman's things

**fresh veggies from Hokkaido. They sent them in big boxes and we divided them here. We had enough for 100 temp houses and also for every home on the coast too (carrots, daikon, potatoes, onion, negi etc with some bags of fruit)

Some things that are still needed (clothing does not have to be new, just in nice condition)

++ Men's track suits size S, M, L and XL

++ Long sleeved t-shirts and shirts (all sizes) both men and woman

++ Small appliances and kitchen things

++ Small electric space heaters (new added item)

++ Food seems to be always welcome whether it be canned, dried or fresh.(If fresh I just need to know beforehand so that it would arrive right before we go to the coast.)

++ Laundry detergent, kitchen staples (miso, shoyu, etc)

++ Rice - Many have commented how sad they were that they werent able to plant rice last year or this year. All tractors and rice planters were washed away. The ground where the tsunami passed is too hard to do by hand now.

++Sheets, towelkettes, blankets, bath towels

++Young(er) women's/girls nice clothing.(shirts, skirts etc) (Sizes S-XL) JHS age and H.S. 

++JHS, SHS boys clothing M,L,XL 

++JHS age beads, craft things

If you have something that you think would be of use but want to check with Joni first you can email her. It is also a good idea to drop her a quick line to say you are sending a box.

Joni Owada email sistermomy 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

Shimo Arisu, 

Aza Nakakami 334-4

Sumita cho, Kesen gun, 

Iwate Ken

029-2502

T: 0192-49-5700

12 hours to go....

The My Organized Chaos Home Study Pack early bird special only lasts for another 12 hours.

Grab it now for $49 or wait and pay the full price of $99.

That's right, get for less than half price right now!

What you waiting for? Go check it out.

Our Big Kids Collaboration

I have impatiently been waiting for a special delivery after hearing that the latest batch of magazines had been mailed out. Finally, it arrived yesterday evening! The new Big Kids Magazine. Big Kids is a clever concept dreamt up by Australian artists, Jo Pollitt and Lilly Blue. The idea is that of a magazine where children and artists work side by side and the finished result is for both children and adults. BIG stands for Bravery Imagination and Generosity and it encourages creativity and curiosity, as you know, this is right up my street!

We are excited to have our memory game in the magazine this time round, in fact the whole magazine is full of games as this issues theme is Game On. Ebi-kun has already had me playing one of the board games 3 times, and the dinner nearly got burnt because of it! Plus it sparked his imagination to make another game of his own. Our memory game has been played many times since we made it and would be a fun addition to any games drawer.

If you would like to grab yourself a copy, you can do so HERE and also pre-order the next issue.

Possibly the easiest recipe ever!

Ebi-kun has recently got a think for coconut and I managed to find a big bag of it in a new shop in town, so he has been trying it on anything and everything. The other day someone on Facebook posted this recipe for coconut macaroons. It is the easiest thing going and I am sure any budding toddler chefs could get in on the act.

What you need:

330g of shredded coconut

395g (1 tin) of sweetened condensed milk

2tsp vanilla essence

1tsp almond essence

I actually halved the recipe since there are only 3 of us.

Throw everything into a big bowl and mix until well combined.

Drop dollops of the mix onto greaseproof paper on a baking tray.

Pop on the pre-heated oven 180∘c for 8 to 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them because they do brown really quickly. Cool. Eat. Repeat!

Do you have a super easy, toddler/kiddie friendly recipe? Please share in the comments section.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT - The Home Study Pack

Hurrah! The My Organized Chaos Home Study Pack is out!

Designed so you can print and go. Get started on organizing your chaos before the ink is even dry!

The Early Bird offer is on until November 14th so grab it quick!

ALSO

If you haven't already signed up for the newsletter, I have a great 3 part video training to help with your clutter, presenting new projects and ideas to your children and coping with 'the witching hour'.

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The day I decided to wield a hook...

I have mentioned Craftsy before on here, I sell my patterns over there and they have loads of great resources, if you are crafty in an way at all you should get yourself over there!

Anyway, Craftsy got in touch and asked if I would like to try out one of their online courses and review it, I am all for learning something new so I jumped at the chance. Then I had to try and decide which course to take, that was the tough part! It was a close call between Sewing With Knits, Artisan Cheese Making Class or Crochet Class. I decided on crochet because although I have tried it a couple of times before, I have never had much success, same goes with knitting. I was also concerned that the measurements for sewing and cooking would be using American standards only. Although I have no problem working in imperial or metric I only have metric equipment, so that is something I would have to ask about before taking the class.

I figured that since I was a complete newbie I would be able to review the product better, I think if you already know a bit about the subject it is easy not to notice if the instructor skips important bits. 

As soon as you have signed up you can get started. There is an intro video telling you what you are going to make and what you need in your supplies to make it.

The lessons are graded so you can start off with something super simple and build up to the more difficult pattern. The videos are really clear and include lots of close up shots, one thing I really like is the 30 second repeat button and the video notes section.

You can also ask questions and either the instructor or another class member will help you out. As I was a complete newbie, I was asking, what felt like completely dumb questions but they all got answered - things like 'Are Japanese hooks graded by size in the same way as US ones?' and 'What is worsted weight?' 

It took me several attempts to get Birdy going, that was mainly because I kept losing count and then couldn't figure out where I was up to and ended up pulling it all out and starting again! This ended up being a great evening project. I like to sew or craft at the end of the day and watch a bit of TV, I was able to watch a section of the video on my iPhone then work on my bird. The instructor, (Stacey Trock in this case), goes through everything step-by-step so it is really easy to follow along. Plus once you sign up for the class you have unlimited access to it, so you can go back to it again and again.

So, three evenings after my hook wielding adventure started, I have this...

Not bad, even if I do say so myself! I didn't have any of the proper eyes so I just used buttons and one wing is a fair bit bigger than the other, but let's not get picky hey! I think that was because I hadn't figured out the counting properly when I did the first one.

So, I give Craftsy online classes a big thumbs up. Birdy is finished, and last night I started on Bear, I really want to make the reindeer but I need to learn to appropriate skills first! Oh yes, you get all 4 patterns as part of the class.

Disclaimer: The review is my honest option. I received the class free of charge and the links are affiliate links 

My new favourite gadget...

You know I love a gadget! I have had my eye on this in Muji for a while. Last time I was in there they had one out to use, this meant I could try before I buy - LOVE that! It is a punch but it doesn't punch a whole hole it cuts a flap for want of a better word.

I have a notebook that I use for writing guest posts and blog posts, I had been using cute little postit notes but found they would often fall off in my bag, not an efficient system! With this gadget I can make little flaps. I have them punched on every page then when I have finished writing the first draft, I turn the flap up.

Then when the article/post has been published I turn the flap down again. This way I can keep track of where I am up to and not lose posts that I have drafted then forgotten about. I always carry a notebook with me when ever I leave the house, you never know when inspiration will hit or when you are going to be stuck waiting somewhere with nothing to do.

I have, on occasion forgotten my purse but not my notebook! Oh yes, and carry 2 pens just in case one runs out! Do you have a handbag essential that most people don't carry?