A couple of weeks ago we were sent the Rocketbook Everlast for review. An almost everlasting intelligent notebook which can be used, scanned, erased and reused for years. Combined with a clever app. which includes Optical Character Recognition, you can save or send your scan, and convert handwriting to typed print instantly.


We were all excited about receiving the Rocketbook because we use a lot of paper. My household includes myself, an I.T. Man and 3 University students who all makes lists and notes constantly and rely on notebooks every day.


In the Rocketbook Everlast Executive pack are the Rocketbook itself, plus a soft cloth to wipe pages clean and the Pilot Frixion pen, which you do have to use, but they are a gorgeous pen to write with.


The pages in the Rocketbook are made from a special hardwearing but thin plastic coated material, which feels pretty much like regular paper when you write and wipes completely clean afterwards. I've found if you press on hard then the pen leaves a slight indent which scared me at first, but so far even this has actually vanished after cleaning and resting for 5 minutes.


The clever stuff comes with the app. Each of the 32 pages has a QR Code and very faint symbols across the base of the page, which can be read when you scan into the app. You can really easily associate those symbols with cloud services or email addresses, so when you mark over the symbol and scan a page, it is automatically sent to the folder you want.


I was a bit daunted before I started because it seemed like it would be complicated, but it took seconds to work my way around the app. and decide where I wanted everything to go - all to my own email address as default - I jot, doodle and work mainly alone.


There are lots of cloud services the Rocketbook app. can link to, and you can also choose to 'share' in the same way as you can share any images or documents from your phone, so sending to multiple people or places is again, really easy, intuitive and familiar.


Still in Beta, but working exceptionally well, is the OCR - Optical Character Recognition. The software 'reads' what you've written and converts it to typed text. When you scan and send a page, you can choose to also include a printed text version, and you can even search your notes.


You can give a page of written text a title using double hashtags, which is a really handy feature. I didn't make any effort to tidy up my writing because I wanted a real test of how well it read when I was behaving normally. I'm really impressed. For notes the transcription is perfectly good enough, and when I've made only a tiny bit of effort it's been perfect.

My partner has also found that the Rocketbook app. can read his writing, and I can't, so bonus! You can see it in action and hear what we all thought of our Rocketbook Everlast in this 3 minute video:


I mainly use my Rocketbook for lists and notes - my job list, weekly job list, daily to-do lists. Shopping lists, household chore lists and for noting down points for reviews as they come to me. I've found it ridiculously handy because I can delete and add to my lists or notes at will, and a clean page is a job well done.

I genuinely didn't realise how much paper I was using each week and it's a great bonus for my uni students, who have reams of notes from lectures. We like Rocketbook Everlast - two of us have already swapped from paper to Rocketbook.


Rocketbook is available in different sizes. 'Letter' is similar to A4 costing £34.99rrp and 'Executive' is similar to A5 at £32.99rrp. You only need plain water to wipe it clean and replacement Pilot Frixion Pens are available at most stationers in a variety of colours and thicknesses.


I also have a Rocketbook Executive Everlast to give away to one of you. Entry to the giveaway is via the Gleam form below and open to UK entrants only. Your details are only used to administer this giveaway and not shared with anyone else. The giveaway will end at midnight Sunday 28th July 2019. Full terms and conditions are at the bottom of the Gleam form.

You can find a link to help if you are new to Gleam and see my other UK giveaways here...

Rocketbook Everlast - Almost Everlasting Notebook Giveaway (paid collaboration)

If you are anything like me, it was around 3rd January when you realised you hadn't even got a calendar, let alone anything sensible to keep a diary in! My daughter loved the Stigu planner I got from BlogOn last year and had bought herself another this year, so I was more than happy to review for them.


We've had several different Stigu Stationery products over the last few years and they're nice because they are a bit quirky, but they're designed to be attractive, effective and helpful on top of doing the intended job. They have simple wellbeing tips on each page that aren't condescending or twee, they are just reminders that you should relax and play as well as work...

Stationery is always popular at Christmas. Every stocking should contain a special pen or pencil from Father Christmas, for you to write a thank you. Bic have recently released an awesome range of Star Wars stationery and this Christmas they're giving one of my readers a big bundle. Not only that, but the giveaway winner will also receive a tin of their excellent Conte Drawing Pencils and a pack of 20 Intensity Fineliners.


The Star Wars range includes Bic Ball Pen, Bic 4 Colours Ball Pen (and Bic 4 Colours Shine Ball Pen), Bic Evolution Graphite Pencil, Bic Glue Stick and Tipp-Ex Mini Pocket Mouse Correction Tape. Each has great easy to spot Darth Vader packaging and the products inside are printed with characters from Star Wars.

We've worked with STABILO a few times before and today they return with an end-of-Summer giveaway. A firm favourite with most of my family, when we were asked if there was anything in particular we'd like to review and give away, STABILO pointMax Fineliners were top of the list.


STABILO sent us a pack of 12 fineliners and also included one of their new beYou! rollerball pens, and one of my readers can win this handy bundle for themselves.

Sambro are a very well-known supplier of licensed products, mainly for children. They're responsible for loads of the smaller bits and pieces that fill stockings, as well as larger items featuring favourites from TV and movies. We've been sent some of their new range to review, including Paw Patrol, Miffy, Shimmer & Shine, Despicable Me 3 and Disney Princess.

The Bic Ballpoint is a time-served staple found in every office, but it doesn't give you any idea of the huge range of stationery products Bic are now offering. The quality is excellent and if you want something a bit different, you really can find it here...


We've got 4 College and Uni student grown-up children and they've been sent a selection of Bic's latest stationery to review. They're already arguing debating over who has what! Bic have kindly offered an identical bundle as a giveaway prize for one of my readers.



Bic Evolution Ecolution Black Graphite Pencils (pack of 4, around £2). Wood-free and made from 55% recycled materials, with an extra hard graphite core. They're definitely striking.

Bic make a huge range of stationery products for kids and it goes far beyond the fabulous felt tipped pen sets and the all-time classic 4-colour pen. The quality is excellent, they're reliable and every Bic product is designed to last for longest possible use.


This Summer Bic have a competition with Mumsnet for any budding artists aged 5-11 to email in a photo of their best drawing for a chance to win £50 of Bic Goodies AND have their artwork displayed on a local billboard! There's also a bonus prize of £300 Tesco vouchers. Entries HAVE TO BE IN BY 6th August - so get your skates on! More information is on the Mumsnet website.




Bic Kids Colour And Erase Pens (Pack of 12, prices vary, around £2). 10 colourful felt tipped pens and 2 eraser pens. My boys think it's magic...

Exam season is once again upon us and BIC, the company made famous in 1950 with the release of their ever-popular BIC Crystal Ballpoint Pen, have sent across some of their top tips for studying, as well as some of their stationery for my hardworking students here.



BIC Evolution Pencils - wood-free for no splinters. Made from 55% recycled plastic.
BICKids Evolution Ecolution Coloured Pencils - wood-free and chew-resistant with extra vibrant colours.
BIC 4Colour Shine Pen - every child wants one. The classic 4 colour pen.
BIC intensity Fineliner Pens - really bright and a good range of colours.

STABILO make great stationery for all members of the family, so when I said we'd be getting a handful of new products to look at, 4 different people here immediately got excited. We've been sent the new STABILO BOSS Original Pastel Highlighters, a beYou! Ballpoint Pen and EASYstart Colouring Pencils.


The STABILO BOSS Original Pastel Highlighters are that very familiar shape and style which we've all used, but now available in pastels! Reliable and long-lasting, they really haven't needed to change since before I was a student.

Young Honey Tree is a postal subscription service whereby your child is sent a very carefully crafted box of beautiful stationery each month. The emphasis is on quality and care, with each box contents costing £30 or more if you were to buy the items individually.


This is bespoke stationery, and each monthly shipment will contain fun, beautifully designed exclusive items from the UK’s leading illustrated bespoke stationers. The post box contents include items such as greeting cards, postcards, notecards, gift tags and stickers, and is designed to fit through your letterbox, so you don't need to be home to accept delivery.


In my box we have a theme of wild birds, in a variety of styles to suit different tastes and occasions, but all fairly delicate and well matched, and excellent quality thick papers and cards with beautiful printing.

If you haven't heard of Smiggle then somewhat unusually I'm well ahead of you. The Australian-based stationery company have recently opened a branch in the Manchester Arndale, and now they're spreading out further with branches in Bury, Bolton and Bradford opening in early June.


Smiggle is dedicated to creating original, fun and affordable stationery. The products are focused on bold colour, quirky graphics, good value, innovation and most of all – giving fans the tools they need to have fun. A pencil at Smiggle is not 'just a pencil'. It might be smelly or furry or liquid chalk or disguised as a wild animal, but it isn't 'just' anything.