CGS Online Stationery Store {An Update}

Dear readers,

I have mentioned on various social media platforms that I will soon be launching my new website, and my new stationery store. I have had a few hiccups along the way, the main one being the postal system in South Africa. I want to make sure that I have an absolute sure way of getting you your lovely goodies before I launch.

Please bear with me while I do my best to figure out all the nitty gritty logistics on this exciting new venture.

In the mean time, I am leaving you with some images to get you excited for what is to come soon.

P.S As a thank you for being so patient, I will soon be hosting a giveaway next week of some of these delightful goodies! So keep your eyes peeled!

x

{South Korea} Pretty Packaging

Everything here in Korea is packaged beautifully. Skin care products, stationery, hair care products, nail care...even the milk! I am going to have to devote a whole blog post to the stationery here (I have done a few before, click here for drool worthy letter sets, notepads and stickers!).  

Snail Mail and my new PenPal from Malaysia

There are so many wonderful people to meet on Instagram (come say hello to me too @roxypearce). While perusing for pretty bits of stationery, I stumbled across the lovely @win_naa who is from Malaysia.

I instantly started following her feed and every day I am able to get my stationery fix from her lovely images. 

We have since become pen pals, and the images below are from my very first pen pal snail mail package from her. I can't wait to put together all the pretty pieces I have for her (I am after all in stationery heaven here in South Korea) pop on over to my Facebook page if you don't believe me. Everything she sent me was so thoughtfully put together, including a whole bunch of interesting facts about Malaysia.

There is something very special about receiving something in the post, isn't there?

Thank you so much for the wonderful package Win Naa, I so look forward to the many letters we will be sending across the seas to each other.

x

Would you buy Korean stationery from me? {A short survey}

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderfully relaxing weekend and that your Monday has been off to a good start so far.

After lots of requests from readers, friends and even family I have decided to seriously look into a new business venture. I have been doing lots of brainstorming and researching, and am wanting to start a small business in sending some of the gorgeous bits of Korean stationery we have over here to you, wherever you may be in the world.

I have created a little survey with 10 short questions to help me gain a better understanding of what is is you would be interested in buying, how much you would spend and how much you would be willing to spend on shipping etc. Please click the following link to take the survey:

Click here to take the survey

I am also trying to work out where to host the shop, whether it should have its own blog, whether I should go onto Etsy, or whether to open up a whole online store. If you have any experience from owning your own online store and want to give me any advice, please leave a comment below or do drop me a line citygirlsearchinggmailcom. I'd love to hear from you.

So, this is all very exciting and I hope it's exciting for you too! There is so much gorgeousness here that it's criminal not to share it with all of you.

I'm looking forward to sharing more of this project with you all soon!

x

Hosting a Giveaway using Punchtab

Recently I hosted a giveaway here on the blog with the sweet Sarah of Polkadot & Stripes. It was wildly successful. Why? Part of the reason was the wonderful goodies up for grabs, but I think what made it so successful was my choice of giveaway platform.

I tried out PunchTab, which I found to be super easy (and free!) to set up, and even easier for my readers to enter. You can upgrade on the site by paying a fee, but I found my basic account to be more than adequate.

There are a number of other platforms out there which offer a similar service (such as Rafflecopter and Wildfire). I haven'r tried out these two platforms, but from the research I did, PunchTab seems to have impressed a lot of people. 

Unlike the traditional method of people commenting on your blog post to enter, with PunchTab, users have a variety of methods with which to enter. The more ways they enter, the more entries they get. You get to customize exaclty what you would like your readers to do (tweet about the giveaway, answer a question, like you on facebook etc). And the best part, you don't have to manually count and enter each entry into another server like RandomOrg to choose a winner. As soon as the giveaway is over, with the click of one button, PunchTab automatically picks a random winner. Its so easy! You can also choose to download a list of emails that your readers used to enter your giveaway to add to your monthly newsletter or to send out thank you emails etc. 

Here are some stats I thought would be worth mentioning about the giveaway I ran a little while ago:

For my little blog, my readers churned out a total of 631 entries. Ok, the total number of people who entered was 112 but that means that they each must have entered at least 2 or 3 times. The reason they were able to was because I made it easy for them. 

There's nothing more frustrating than a complicated list of instructions for entering a giveaway. Help your readers out and make it easy for them. And save yourself a lot of time in tallying up all the entries too!

Have you tried PunchTab before? Can you recommend any other platforms that have worked well for you in the past? Drop me a line below, I'd love to hear from you!

Giveaway {Winner}

Oh my goodness! 

I was completely overwhelmed at the response for the WashiTape Giveaway

held last week with Sarah from Polkadot Stripes. For those of you who took the time to enter, thank you. Thank you for the tremendous support you've shown this little ol' blog of mine. 

The winner of 5 rolls of lovely washi tape and a gorgeous wooden washi tape dispenser is....

Well done lovely lady! I will be popping you an email shortly, and Sarah will be in touch with you soon to get these goodies sent to you.

Thank you again to everyone who entered. I have some more exciting things in the pipeline as far as stationery goes (follow my Instagram feed for more lovely stationery inspiration!) so stay tuned.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

x

Washi Tape {Giveaway} CLOSED

As hinted last week, I am very excited to be hosting a giveaway today of lovely washi tape goodies from Sarah at Polkadot & Stripe. 

There are literally hundreds of different ways to use washi tape, and here is your chance to get crafty with your own supply of 5 pretty rolls of washi tape and a lovely wooden washi tape dispenser.

To enter, use the giveaway button below. You can enter through a variety of methods to make things easy for you, and each method is another entry. Good luck!

{I am using trying out a new giveaway platform called Punchtab for this giveaway. Please let me know if you are having any problems with it. There are many ways to gain extra entries ie leaving a comment/following me on facebook/sharing with your friends. It should walk you through each step and be very user friendly. Please do let me know if you have any problems!)

Good luck!

x

Competition closes Friday 30th August. 

{Please note this giveaway is only open to South African readers}

1. Cake Bunting // 2. Power Adaptor // 3. Journals // 4. Glass decal // 5. Tea light candles // 6. Cookies

{DIY} Washi Tape your computer cord

I'm feeling rather inspired with my latest washi tape collection, and after reading this lovely post by Design Love Fest I thought I'd try something similar with the power supply part of my computer cable. 

View fullsize

The white parts of the MAC cables look really spiffy, but being white in colour they aren't very practical. The washi tape should keep the power house clean now.

It was really easy, and took literally 3 minutes to do. Let me know if you try something similar, or better yet, upload a picture to the blog Facebook page  to share with all my readers. 

Have a lovely Sunday everyone.

x

Washi Tape {Giveaway} coming soon!

Just a little snippet of what's to come up here on the blog next week...

Watercolour Inspiration...

Lately, I have been feeling very inspired by local South African blogger Fathima over at {HappiessIs}. Her illustrations are beautiful, her freelance design work is oogle worthy, and her doodles are just so gosh darn cute. You should pop on over to her blog and say hi!

Here are a few of my Pinterest pins from my {inspiration} board. I am in a crafty mood, and seeing as South Korea seems to be the heart of all things stationery, I am contemplating getting myself a set of watercolour paints and just going bananas. 

Well, until something starts to resemble art :) 

Do you like watercolour paintings/drawings/illustrations? Ever tried to paint anything yourself?

{sources}

Stationary Giveaway {WINNER}

And the winner of a gorgeous collection of South Korean stationery bits and pieces hand picked by me is...

Well done Nicola! Please drop me a tweet/email/comment below with your postal address and I will get your goodies off to you right away!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered!

xxx

{I'm back!}

Farmboy and I arrived back in KZN late yesterday afternoon after a wonderful road trip through the Western and Eastern Cape. Here is a little glimpse into the beauty we past along the way...

I'm going to be picking a winner for the {stationery giveaway} I'm running! All you have to do is like RoxyPictures & CityGirlSearching

on Facebook, and then tweet me (@RoxyPearce) to let me you have done so...

Good luck!

x

Stationery *Giveaway!* {CLOSED}

As promised on Facebook & Twitter last week I am opening up a giveaway of some very special and lovely pieces of stationery from South Korea. Farmboy and I are planning on heading back there later this year (if all goes according to plan) so I am having to be ruthless with all the stuff we have. So, I thought a giveaway would be the best way to deal with some of the stationery I have left over. 

Every single item was handpicked by me in Korea, and I'm sure the winner will love using it.

I will be choosing a winner on Sunday 12 May so make sure to get your 'likes' and shares in before then!

So, to enter, like CityGirlSearching on Facebook RoxyPictures on Facebook

& tweet (@roxypearce) /blog about this giveaway to gain more entries

Good luck everyone!

xxx

{giveaway only open to SA residents}

Letters from across the sea...

This parcel arrived for me from a very dear friend in South Korea. Claire and I first met while waiting to board our plan for the start of our Teaching English in South Korea Adventure. That was in 2010. 

We have been friends ever since, and even though vast amounts of oceans separate us, whenever we do chat over Skype, we pick up right where we left off every time. I miss you Clairebear. Thank you for the wonderful package!

Valentines Day DIY Lesson Idea

So, as of 4 weeks ago, I was offered a teaching post at a lovely Primary school here in Pietermaritzburg. I can't believe just how suddenly everything has happened! I am the new Grade 3 teacher and I am loving every second of it. Its crazy hard work, lots of admin, lots of listening to lots of kiddies tell you about their latest pencil case or their mommy's favourite type of chocolate, but at the end of the day I can happily say that look forward to the next day. I worry that my kids aren't learning enough language skills or Afrikaans, but I know we make up for it in computers (all my 8 year olds can now use PowerPoint!) and in English where we have been writing all sorts of weird and fascinating stories about what happens when the electricity goes off.

Here is what I made my little ones for Valentines Day. So easy, looks great and promotes reading...what a win!