ipad Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

Lets Go Paperless

August 23, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

With how much more focused we are on the environment these days, being green and going paperless is not a new concept. My HSBC bank account is green by name, something I opted into almost ten years ago, meaning it would be paperless completely. I don’t get bank statements or letters (unless important), everything is done with secure online messages. In fact, the other day I was contacted to say that the account would no longer be called green, since all their accounts these days are green.

While I love getting post, I hate getting bills and I have to admit that these are largely limited these days. Most online accounts and bills I have, message me via email and then I pay online – meaning no need for statements and bills in the post. In fact, even some of the people I buy things from on Ebay, opt to send receipts and invoices via email, rather than print and enclose with the actual item.

Sadly I don’t believe I could go completely paperless in my office, but I do know that I limit it a lot more than I used to. My printer is even set to a 50 page limit each month (I use HP instant ink). Also with things like laptops, tablets and smart phones, being paperless is so much easier these days. In collaboration with IDBS and their electronic laboratory notebook, I wanted to share my top 5 tips for going paperless in the workplace.

Track the amount of pages you print. For me, having my HP instant ink set to 50 pages, is a great way to know how much I’m printing each month. I get a warning when I get close to my usage and any unused pages get carried over to the following month. I always try to stay under 50 pages as this also keeps my monthly cost down.
Request paperless statements from banks, online store, catalogue accounts etc. Every month you are sent something on paper that you can easily see by logging in online and viewing your account. Save both paper and space in your recycle bin, by ticking the button for paperless in as many places as you can find.
Connected to the one above, pay bills online wherever possible – reducing the need for cheque books, paying-in slips and envelopes, etc. Pay friends and family via direct bank payments and use cards in stores. You can even say you don’t need a receipt (if you don’t!) and save a little more there.
Recycle any non-confidential paperwork and envelopes. Need to write a note for the kids, or perhaps a shopping list? Use the back of a used envelope or bill. Kids looking for paper to draw on? Nearly all letters and bills are only printed on one side so be sure to use the other.
Many of us find ourselves having ideas or thoughts outside of the house, outside of work etc. This means that often we carry notepads and pens to jot them down. Consider opening up a note on your phone or tablet and jotting it there. It’s quick and easy to do, often saves searching in the bottom of your bag for a pen and if you sync it up well, often transfers to your computer or email program automatically.

The truth is, I love reading proper paper books, way more than I enjoy reading ebooks on my kindle. I like to write down my orders and cross them out, to keep track on them. I scan and print the cover of each pattern I use, filing it in a poly pocket and then a binder. Although I try my best to be paperless, I don’t think I can go all the way. However with the use of my iPad, iPhone and Laptop, I definitely give it a good go.

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My Top Electrical Appliances

April 7, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

In this day and age, we take a lot of tech for granted. My phone is pretty much an extension of my hand and watching TV, playing on a console or even making a cup of tea, are all often taken for granted. As a celebration of all things electrical, I wanted to share my top 5 appliances that I use pretty much every day.

My Phone

As I mentioned, this is really an extension of me most days. While I hardly ever make or receive calls on it, I use it to text, check social media, play games and keep up to date with my Etsy Store (amoungst other things). I use it as my every day camera to take pictures of my work, the girls or even video the odd thing here and there. While I can’t always keep up to date with the latest iPhone make, I do try to. I’m currently on an iPhone 6 Plus.

My iPad and Laptop

Its a bit of a cheat lumping these together, though I actually put them all together with my phone anyway. I use my laptop to blog, to browse the internet, to fiddle around with photos and to update my listings on Etsy. Although all of those things are also possible on my iPad, I don’t tend to do them there. However I do use my iPad to browse Ebay, Etsy and Amazon as I like the apps. I also play games and stream TV pretty much constantly while I’m working.

The Kettle

There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t use the kettle (unless I’m not at home obviously). I don’t function well without my cup of tea first thing in the morning and to be honest if I’m around the house in the day, I drink tea every few hours. I recently got a new red kettle and it glows blue when its on. I think its the most favourite kettle I’ve ever owned.

My Sewing Machine

Considering I sew pretty much every day, it’s probably not too much of a surprise that I use my sewing machine a lot. Though there are days when it isn’t used, I often feel like I spend more time in the dining room than I do in any other room of my house (even my bedroom!). I bought a new sewing machine in the last year and it’s been an absolute dream to use. I often choose to sew, even when I don’t have any orders, just because I actually find it incredibly relaxing.

The Printer

Though many might have assumed the TV would be on my list, my printer definitely comes in ahead of the TV (partially because I watch a lot of programs on my iPad as I mentioned before). However I use my printer for so many things in every day life, from printing out tickets, murder mystery parties, homework, sewing ideas, holiday planning and so much more. I bought my printer about 2 years ago from PC World and to be quite honest I was just looking for the cheapest “all-in-one” printer I could find. I settled on a HP Envy 4500 Series, partly because of its price but also because of HP Instant Ink.

HP Instant Ink has been an absolute lifesaver for me. I always used to run out of ink cartridges at the worst possible times and I’ve had endless trips out at ridiculous times of day, just to buy the essential cartridges. That said I was also the person buying cheap replacement ink, as full price branded cartridges can work out so expensive. However not any more! Since getting my new printer, I signed up to HP Instant Ink. There are various plans and I tend to switch between £1.99 per month for 50 pages and £3.49 for 100 pages, depending on how much printing I have to do. When my cartridges get low, HP ship out cartridges for me in plenty of time and I can hand on heart say I have never run out of ink. Each month you can change your plan, or you can even just pay per 10 pages if you go over. Unused pages roll over to the next month and it really is a great system. If you’d like to know more, you can watch the video below or click here for more information.

The House of Twits – App review

October 31, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

I was recently asked to review the “House of Twits” app for iPad and iPhone. As Lily is really into Roald Dahl at the moment, I jumped at the chance. Having read the BFG at school, Lily and I read together; James and the Giant Peach, Danny the Champion of the World and we are currently reading Matilda. We own the complete collection so I imagine we’ll be making our way through them all.

If you’re familiar with the story of “The Twits”, then you probably won’t be too shocked by the nature of this game. However if not then you should maybe look it up before downloading this app! The Twits are a husband and wife who are basically awful to each other. They play tricks on each other and are basically pretty mean. In the app you start off with Mrs Twit. You are taught how to poke her, take out her glass eye and tip her upside down. After that you play games with her whereby you make her eat awful things, wake her up and place her in the cupboard with mean parcels you receive in the hallway. With each act of trickery, you gain points and the more points you earn goes towards completing the level. At certain levels you gain access to different rooms and also to Mr Twit.

The app is aimed at 6-8 year olds and my youngest daughter Lily is 7. There was definitely a level of enjoyment for her and the games help with memory and speed, however as a parent I would be a little dubious as to the nature of the game. I do understand that it’s based on the Twits and their mean nature, but is it a good idea to be teaching our kids that being mean gains points and completes levels?

Week 42 – Monday Round-up

October 19, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Another round up post, but again not much going on. The girls were off school Monday-Wednesday as they’d been ill, but were back at school Thursday and Friday (though Lily wasn’t 100%). There was parent’s evening on Wednesday night, whereby the girls both did great, and Thursday evening Megan and I filled in her Secondary School applications. Chris was at work all week but off at the weekend, he’s on regular shifts for four weeks so that’s really nice.

The rest of the week, was just normal to be honest. I felt pretty rough myself still on Monday and yet I still had loads of orders to complete and finish. In fact they still flooded in all week. I worked out today that since the beginning of September I’ve had 56 orders through Closet Geek and 35 of those have been handmade dresses. Majority of those have been in the last two weeks as well so it’s been really busy. Anyway I got the orders all completed, along with two adult dresses I had to do as well.

Our monthly delivery of Tsum Tsums

As well as all those things, I’ve been watching a series called Switched at Birth, which I’ve now watched up to date (almost 4 series). I also caught up on all my British TV on my iPad via various apps, OUAT as well. I’m looking forward to a calmer week this coming week so I can catch up with TV with Chris – including Arrow, The Flash and The Walking Dead.

Windows 10!!

July 29, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Yep, that’s right… I’m one of the millions of people to be downloading Windows 10 today! I started the process at around 4pm when I downloaded the files necessary – then they installed – and then Windows 10 updated. 3 hours later, Windows 10 is installed and its lovely! <3

My laptop was installed with Windows 7 and so when I was offered a free upgrade to Windows 10, I was pretty excited. As I was growing up, I was always the one who dragged my heels when it came to upgrading OS. Windows 95, to Windows 98, to Windows ME, to Windows XP and so on. Everyone else in the household had the new version while I kicked and screamed and stayed with the old one – until there was something I couldn’t do and then I’d upgrade.

Now I’m the only one in the household who has upgraded to Windows 10 and I love it!

Curry’s recently posted about the Top 5 Innovations in Windows 10 and I want to honestly say that I haven’t tried any of these functions yet. Chris is desperate for me to try Cortana though. I have opened up the “Edge” and had a poke around but as I write this post, I’m still using Firefox.

So what’s new? To be honest since I didn’t come from Windows 9 (or even 8), I’m not entirely sure what I’m comparing it to. What I will say is that for the most part my desktop looks the same as it did before, except for the taskbar along the bottom.

Now that I can see this one, I don’t entirely remember what it looked like before, but I do know it wasn’t quite like this. On the right-hand side, majority of the icons look different, but are actually the same. On the left-hand side, some new icons have appeared that I didn’t have before.

There is a “windows” icon that opens the menu, a search, task view, Edge and Store. These are of course alongside my original icons such as Firefox and Paint Shop Pro. I haven’t really looked at them much yet, but the Store is basically comprised of apps, which at the moment seems weird to me as I’m only used to having those on my iPad and iPhone, not my computer. The Edge is of course the new browser, task view shows all the open applications and as I mentioned, the windows icon opens the menu.

This brings me onto the next thing that’s new and that’s the menu. Again I must clarify that I came from Windows 7 and nothing more recent, but the menu looks very different to how it was before and I think that might take some getting used to. I have had some working knowledge of the Windows 8/9 interface so luckily I’m not too daunted but either way it looks pretty and I’m looking forward to using it all.

So it’s 10pm and its really late to be playing around, but as of day one, so far so good. My laptop, where a little slow and grindy before, now seems to be coping well with the new OS and a lot faster than before. I look forward to spending a full day on my computer tomorrow and really testing it out but at this moment in time, Windows 10 has a big thumbs up from me!

No more weeks! Florida here we come!! (Disney Countdown – Days 9 to 1)

April 1, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Yep, that’s right! No more days till holiday! In fact, we’re on holiday right now. Not technically in Florida, but away from home at least!

This morning we set off from home, just before 10am. We headed to my mum’s, where we would swap all of our stuff over to her car and then head off down to London. Since I was up till 2am last night, sewing Megan’s final dress, I was exhausted and actually managed to sleep for some of the journey. We stopped not long after midday though, for the toilet and to eat lunch. After that we headed to a car park where we’d parked once before (for LFCC) and headed into London on the tube. We made our way to Leicester Square where there was a “pop-up” Cinderella Exhibition, that I’d booked us tickets for.

Though we did have to queue for about 20 minutes, in almost rain, we got inside fairly easily and wandered around the exhibit. It was relatively simple but lovely nonetheless. We bought a souvenir programme and were given some Cinderella postcards for free. I took loads of pictures and it was so nice to see the props and costumes up close. The highlight was most definitely walking into the side of a pumpkin and coming out of a carriage! All in all, the Exhibition took about half an hour to go round but I’m really glad we took the extra time to do so.

After Cinderella, we took a walk to Covent Garden and the Disney Store but sadly it was closed due to an underground fire nearby. Instead we took a wander around nearby, doing some shopping using the money off vouchers we’d found at www.voucherbin.co.uk. When it got near to dinner time, we caught the tube to ASK Italian, where we enjoyed a lovely dinner, using up some ASK vouchers I’d gotten from Tesco ages ago.

Finally we headed back to the car and then drove to the Travelodge we were staying at. That’s where I’m typing this from, winding down and getting ready to call it a night. Tomorrow we head off to the airport and fly away to Florida – I can’t wait. My scheduled posts begin tomorrow too, but I’ll hopefully find time to check in now and again. I’ve left Saturday, Sunday and Monday free for impromptu posts!

Today is the last of my Countdown posts, all the way from 120 where we started to day 1 (yesterday). I skipped doing it on Sunday as there were only 2 more days left after that and instead have combined all 9 days into this post.

Monday (9) – March 23rd – Make or Draw Disney
Tuesday (8) – March 24th – Play a Disney game
Wednesday (8) – March 25th – Watch Hercules
Thursday (6) – March 26th – Read Disney
Friday (5) – March 27th – Dress Up Disney
Saturday (4) – March 28th – Watch a random Disney movie – Cinderella (motion picture)
Sunday (3) – March 29th – Make Disney food
Monday (2) – March 30th – Read Disney
Tuesday (1) – March 31th – Make or Draw Disney

On Monday the girls had a long day and didn’t have time to make or draw (they both had homework and a class to prepare). Instead I took over the task as I’d been making loads of Disney clothes anyway. I completed my favourite dress to date which is the Queen of Hearts one for Lily. On Tuesday it was play a disney game and both girls got this done but not with Tsum Tsum for a change. I think Megan played on Disney Infinity while Lily was on Frozen Theater. Wednesday was watch Hercules but we actually completely forgot because we were planning a class about Harry Potter for Lily to teach the following day. Instead we caught up on Thursday, watching Hercules AND reading chapters 7 & 8 of the Never Girls book. Friday was dress up Disney and Lily was feeling too ill to dress up so Megan just wore her dress that I’d completed that day. I was pretty pleased with her Ariel mermaid dress too. On Saturday we were set to watch a random movie and luckily I’d booked tickets for the new Cinderella at the cinema. We all thoroughly enjoyed it, as well as the Frozen Fever short. On Sunday the girls headed off to their dad’s and we just didn’t have time to make any Disney food – or the inclination to be honest. For the first time ever we just skipped it completely but I can assure you that none of us had a Disney shortage. On Monday it was read Disney and we finally finished off book 4 of the Never Girls. I’m looking forward to purchasing and reading some more when we get home. Tuesday was the last one and it was Make or Draw Disney. Megan persuaded me into making her another dress so we classed that as our task. We also watched Pocahontas though!

Disney Countdown – Days 44 to 38

February 22, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Monday (44) – Feb 16th – Make or Draw Disney
Tuesday (43) – Feb 17th – Play a Disney game
Wednesday (42) – Feb 18th – Dress up Disney
Thursday (41) – Feb 19th – Paint Merida peg-doll
Friday (40) – Feb 20th – Watch random Disney movie – Belle’s Magical World
Saturday (39) – Feb 21st – Make Disney inspired food
Sunday (38) – Feb 22nd – Watch Monsters Inc.

On Monday the girls were with their dad as they’d stopped over Sunday night and were doing so again on Monday night. They both drew something Disney and then sent pictures of it back for me to put on Instagram. On Tuesday I picked them up and they both played Disney Infinity in the car on the way home, though I’m sure they both played on Tsum Tsum later in the day as well. On Wednesday, Amy and Olivia were with us and so all three girls dressed up. Lily and Liv were both Sofia, while Megan went for Elsa in her Coronation outfit. On Thursday we painted Merida the pegdoll, now giving us quite a good collection of peg dolls. We also caught up on Hunchback of Notre Dame from the week before, as we’d not managed to squeeze it in until then. On Friday we had to watch a random movie and the girls and I picked Beauty and the Beast’s – Belle’s Magical World as none of us had seen it before. On Saturday we were going out for lunch so we baked cupcakes in the morning and decorated them in the evening. We made Princess carriages which was basically a packet mix I’d picked up from Tesco and honestly they didn’t look much like carriages! Finally on Sunday we watched Monsters Inc on dvd. This was meant to follow on from watching Monsters University a couple of weeks ago but unfortunately we didn’t actually do that and had watched Bolt instead. Perhaps we’ll have time to catch Monsters University before we go anyway!

My Little Box – Box 1 (September)

October 21, 2014 by Bel Leave a Comment

So when I last posted one of my subscription box posts, I mentioned that I was looking for a new box to try. That very day I found one I wanted to try and that was My Little Box. The first thing that appealed to me, was that it was a new box, meaning if I signed up there and then, I’d actually be getting the first ever box of that kind. Not only that, but clever advertising on someone’s behalf, told me in a Facebook advert that it was a popular new box amoung bloggers! I’m easily sold I know…

Anyway, I did sign up and I didn’t really look that closely into what I would get or even what it was about. I sort of assumed it was a beauty box subscription and I knew the first box was themed with “Paris”. Unfortunately it did take a little while to come and actually within a few days of ordering, payment for my second box was also taken – as that was the beginning of October. The long and short of it is, that both my boxes ended up arriving at the same time! But I’m going to review them separately.

The first thing that struck me, was just how beautiful the packaging was and how much effort had gone into the appearance. Right from opening the initial packaging, you knew you were getting something special. I absolutely love the artwork style too, so at this point I knew we were off to a good start.

Inside the packaged was all bound up neatly. It continued the good first impression. When you undid the ribbon, the top item was actually a postcard/sign type thing, that is actually a quote. I genuinely love it and will be displaying it in my bedroom.

Next up came stickers and while I’m not entirely sure what I’ll use them for, I’m sure I’ll find something. I have a very soft spot for Paris so really with a Paris themed box, it was unlikely I’d dislike anything anyway!

Next up was a notebook. I was a little baffled as to why it said “My Little Carnet” and so I ended up googling it. Apparently Carnet is a sort of document passport and as these little boxes are coming all the way from France, that actually makes sense. While the majority of the notebook is blank, the first few pages does contain a cute little story about how My Little Box came about, a long with more information about the items to be expected in the box. I didn’t want to spoil it for anyone so I didn’t take too many pictures of the inside!

Having taken out all the aforementioned items, I was left with what you can see in the picture above. While I was curious to know what was in the bag, I was more curious to know what was underneath it – especially as I could read “Geek is the new sexy” on it.

To my surprise, it was actually a notebook/ipad/laptop case. Its really great quality and has the same amazing artwork as everything else. Sadly it won’t fit my laptop and I don’t use my notebook any more, but I am determined to find a use for it – even if its for my iPad.

Finally I got around to opening up the little bag and seeing what was inside. There are three fabulous products and a really quaint little leaflet to go with it – explaining each item.

I have to admit I was really really surprised with the contents of “My Little Box” but I was genuinely really pleased. Even though I’m not entirely sure I’ll use everything, for some reason it definitely felt like the box I’d most enjoyed receiving so far!

Keep an eye out later this week as I’ll be reviewing box number 2 – October’s box. Here is a sneak peek…

My Portable Office

February 27, 2014 by Bel Leave a Comment

I was recently contacted about entering a fantastic competition, being run by Currys. The competition is to blog about your Portable Office and two lucky winners can win a Surface Pro 2! For details about entering the competition yourself, visit this link.

Our family, is pretty much the poster child for Portable Office. Without trying to sound like I’m bragging, our portable tech includes; an iPod touch, an iPad Mini, an iPad 1, two iPad 2s, an iPad 4, two netbooks, four laptops, an iPhone 4, an iPhone 4s and an iPhone 5s. We love our portable tech in this house (though I hope I haven’t just set our household up for the next neighbourhood robbery!). The guys even tried to argue that their DSs were portable offices!

Some of our tech

The iPod touch belongs to my youngest daughter, who turns 6 next week. It came second hand from her sister, who originally had it new at the age of 7. My eldest daughter, who is now 9, moved from her iPod Touch onto an iPad Mini – her joint birthday and Christmas present last year (as they are only 2 weeks apart). My brother, who lodges with us, owns the iPhone 4 and one of the iPad 2s. My partner owns an iPad 1, an iPad 2 (his birthday is this coming month and this is his gift, so he’s inbetween iPads!) and the iPhone 4s. Mine is the iPad 4 and the iPhone 5s (anyone notice I have the most up to date tech? Geek!).

I don’t have an actual desktop computer – everything I use for work, blogging, gaming etc. is portable. In fact, I think the last time I owned a desktop computer, my eldest daughter wasn’t even born! It must have been at least 10 years ago.

For the duration of the last 10 years, I’ve always had a laptop. In fact I’ve had several laptops. I don’t even want to add up exactly how many, but some have gone to laptop heaven via a broken screen, others via a broken charger port, some just a total hardware meltdown! Luckily I have always managed to afford a new laptop as an old one has broken, as I seriously don’t know how I would cope without one!

My current laptop

On my 30th birthday, I got an iPhone for the first time and while I actually sold it a few months later – a few years later I realised that was a mistake and bought another! I have been a die hard iPhone addict ever since and I’d need some serious persuading to try anything else.

In the last couple of years, I have also become an iPad owner. Really this just started as a need for feeling like I had up to date technology, but now its an everyday piece of equipment in my life. I started with an iPad 2 and when the new iPad 4 was released, I just couldn’t resist the temptation!

As a busy, working mum, I seriously wouldn’t want to live without any of the portable tech I own. My laptop is my main source for anything I want to do. Surf the web, shop, research, write my blog, play games – you name it, my laptop does it with me. However as I leave the house at 8am and don’t get home till 4pm, the iPhone and iPad are just invaluable to me. I also have a set of handy tools that I got from Ryker Hardware to make some easy fixes and save up on money. The decision has been faring well for me so far.

Whether it’s getting myself from A to B, with the use of my phone…

…or chilling out with Plants Vs Zombies (I’m sorry, I’m addicted!)

I genuinely don’t know where I’d be without all this equipment that gives me the ability to “do as I go”.

Sometimes I sit in the car after work, waiting for the kids to finish school, writing a list of all the blog articles I could write when I eventually find the time. Most nights, my partner and I head to bed early in order to read for a while, and the apps on my phone allow me to pick any number of books I might want to start. When I’m trying to decide whether to get some work done, or take a long leisurely bath – my portable office can come with me, allowing me to do both!

It doesn’t matter if I’m baking a cake in the kitchen and need a recipe, writing up my next blog post while sitting on the sofa, or saving time by checking my emails on the loo(!) – I’d honestly be quite lost without all this technology I’ve mentioned.

While all the other members of my family use their tech for different things than me and at different times, I’m pretty sure they’d feel the same way too though. In fact, I’m pretty sure my eldest daughter is well on the way to being a chip off the old block…

Megan’s Portable Office

Mr Nutcase iPad Case*

February 18, 2014 by Bel 1 Comment

I was recently lucky enough to get the chance to review a “Mr Nutcase iPhone or iPad case”.

Mr Nutcase is a website specifically for designing your own Phone or Tablet case. Its easy to use, nice on the eyes and relatively inexpensive for the service it offers!

As you can see from their website, they offer hundred of designs (or of course you can create your own) for any device!

First things first, you select your device. You do this from a list of drop down menus, picking first the manufacturer, then the device, followed by the type of case you’d like. After that come some layout options.

I personally went for the heart design, made up of multiple pictures. As it was close to Valentine’s I chose to make an iPad cover and give it to Chris (since I’d gone halves with him on an iPad 2 for his birthday in March). Again its really simple to customise your design, with options to upload images, add text, add clipart and change the background colour.

The case that I went for was only available in white, but that didn’t matter as I presumed the pictures would show up better on white anyway. It took me some time to upload each individual picture I wanted (though some of that was searching through all the pictures on my harddrive) but once they were uploaded, I could move them around and change the places as much as I wanted without having to re-upload each time.

This was my finished design, right before checking out. It was a combination of pictures from family holidays over the last year and pictures of us as a family, plus Chris and I as a couple. I was very pleased with the end result.

Check out was fast and easy too, barely needing any information in order to proceed and process the order. Even better, the iPad case was notified as dispatched within a day and arrived within only a few more.

The case itself is really good quality, though I have to admit the white is certainly a brilliant (bright) white. It came well packaged and with a compliments slip as well.

I have to admit that I was really pleased with the final product and the service I received. I would highly recommend Mr Nutcase for a personalised case for your device.