Inspiration on Instagram | Collected Items by Ja Soon Kim

A very pleasing collection of colourful organised items, found by New Mexico based yoga teacher + artist Ja Soon Kim. Follow her inspiring account on Instagram here.

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Store Visit...Present & Correct

Present & Correct, London.

If you wander away from Islington's busy high street you will find the holy grail of stationery and ephemera shops. Present & Correct have been plying their trade online since 2008 and have recently opened a small but perfectly curated store in one of London's busiest districts. Over the past few years P&C have single-handedly made collecting office goods and educational aids cool again. They were "pinable" before it even existed.

The two graphic designers behind P&C are constantly sourcing well made, eye-catching products from all around the world. Some one-offs/vintage and others made by little companies who stick to a winning formula. The guys do it out of the love of nice looking, fun and interesting products and their enthusiasm rubs off on you as soon as you step through the door. You'll want to buy everything!

If you like what you see here then I recommend following them on Pinterest here. Better still, if you're in the area pop in and have a gander. Present & Correct, 23 Arlington Way, London, EC1R 1UY.

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Record Collection

Between us we have quite a few records. Well, Hollie would claim they're all hers, however I prefer to say we share them. Either way they're all in our possession and ready to be busted out and played on the Crosley at the drop of a hat. Some old, some new, lots borrowed and loads of blues!

Hollie's dad is big into music, he was even a pop star back in the day. So over time he acquired many records and even had the genius idea of actually keeping hold of them! I say genius but you know what I mean, most people got rid once CDs became popular. I'm glad he did as we've ended up with several original records by David Bowie, The Beatles and some Johnny Cash stuff too. I've only been back from London for a few days but I'm already planning on visiting again (before March), for Hello, My Name Is Paul Smith at the Design Museum. There's plenty of London Music Events* going on too.

Anyone else into vinyl or do you have memories of your parents playing them when you were younger?

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#whatmattersmost with John Lewis - Collectables

Vinylmation Urban Series 6 by Maria Clapsis

What matters most to me? This question popped into my inbox this morning. This week John Lewis are running a competition across  their social networks to find out about the stuff that really matters to each of us. Friends and family are the first thought but that's too obvious; that got me thinking about what I really love. As a few of you may know, over the past couple of months I've made a conscious decision to take Buckets & Spades on full time, because it's what matters the most to me. The easy answer from a blogger's perspective would be laptop and camera, these are of course high priority but what makes sitting in front of a computer screen all day much more enjoyable is being surrounded by all the ace collectables and oddments I've accumulated over the years. See my other Vinylmation figure here. So, #whatmattersmost to you?

As part of the campaign, John Lewis are asking the public to join in and share the things that mean a lot, by creating a short videos on Vine and sharing it on Twitter using the hashtag #whatmattersmost. Everyone that does this will be entered into the #whatmattersmost competition to win either £1000 John Lewis Vouchers or one of three Canon 700D (Best purchases I've ever made, other than Hollie's engagement ring that is!).

If you would like to enter the John Lewis #whatmattersmost competition* you'll have to get your skates on, it ends this Sunday 8th September! 

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A Casual Man Pin Badge Set

Fellow menswear and lifestyle blogger Craig from A Casual Man has taken matters into his own hands by creating this nice collectors set, for fans of this site and badge enthusiasts out there.

The ACM Enamel Pin Badge Set comes with two 1" badges, designed by Craig himself, limited to 100  sets and Made in the UK. I was lucky enough to be sent a set, doing a bit of a trade-off for one of our Northern Goods Co. Key Clips. Good deal. It's great to see people wanting to enhance their blogs by creating unique content and product which they believe in. I've been toying with the idea of creating a product for Buckets & Spades for a while now.

Visit the A Casual Man store here.

We're in Brighton Monday to Wednesday this week, via Thorpe Park on the way! So apologies if I don't reply to any of your comments or emails, I'll be on that when I get back.

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American Stamp Collection

Ever since I saw a large collection of old stamps on someone's blog (who was it, does anyone recall?) a couple of months back I've been scouring ebay in the hope of starting my own collection. There's certainly a lot on there so I decided to buy a couple of large unwanted collections. If you search right  stamps are going seriously cheap on ebay, I picked up 200 (some used, stamped and dated, other in original condition) for around £1.50 with p+p. Some of them even have their original stamping dates on them, a few date back from before 1920 which is quite something. Best quid and a half I've spent this year.

I'm planning on picking my favourites out and framing them, they're just too good to be shoved in a photo album, never to be seen by anyone. When me and Hollie finally get around to sorting out a proper place together this is the first thing that's going up on the wall.

People would say stamps are the classic boring thing to collect but I don't agree, just look at them! They're fascinating. Big fan of the "Fire Pumper".

Sorry about the lack of posts of late, I'm pretty sure we're all in the same boat though right?

A View From A Laptop

Two decent staplers, the closest one is from Marks and Sparks

Christmas present from Hollie, pretty sweet.

One of the most bonkers Christmas presents I received, from my mum. A Manopoly pinball pen.

Over bits and bobs on my desk. These fellas keep me calm.

Seeing that I am working on my laptop every day I don't take a major amount of notice what's in front of me. I'm a collector I'd say, I get it from my Grandad. But nothing specific(though I do have 3 staplers now, so that might be my "things"), just anything that takes my fancy. Out of view is also some lego figures, jewerly box, watches and a mega heavy metal/leather paperweight.

What weird and wonderful things do you collect and what is on your desk? That is the question.