On his most recent trip to London, Adrian brought me back a gift that combines two of my favourite things – hand embossed Smythson stationery and fancy cupcakes on cake cake stands. Now I have some lovely new correspondence cards with which to correspond, complete with tissue-lined envelopes. Thank-you Adrian.

Flying can be exhausting, especially when trapped in an airport for a stop-over. There are a few airports however that are almost a pleasure to visit.

Firstly, there is Terminal 5 in London Heathrow. Not only do they have a quiet zone, a post-office, and an Accessorize store, they also have the only place to buy duty-free Smythson stationery. Sadly no free Wi-Fi though.

I also like Amsterdam Schiphol airport. One can nap in the reclining lounges, then eat tiny pancakes (poffertjes) at the Dutch Kitchen while sitting in a giant teacup, and then afterwards go to see a satellite exhibition organised by the rijksmuseum. Last time I was there, I saw an excellent collection of Dutch Cows. I had to tear myself away to get to the gate in time.

I arrived back to my desk after lunch to find this delicious looking box sitting on my desk.A colleague asked me about it, but the more I explained that I had writing paper shipped all the way from England, the more confused he looked. I stared at it hungrily all day, but I wanted to do a proper private and documented unboxing at home. So it sat there for hours, unopened, wrapped up in blue cord. I carefully hoisted it home on the metro and then on the train. I didn’t want to accidentally leave my stationery behind, like the last time I visited Smythson. Finally, I was at home, and the unboxing process began.

I had just cut the cord and I was about to open the box when I heard a knock at the door. The agent had decided to come and show some people in, completely without notice. I really should have just flat out denied them entry, but instead I let them come in and they picked their way through our messy apartment. I was very cranky at the agent for (1) breaking all the rules of privacy and prior notice and (2) for interrupting my moment. So I made pesto, mozzarella, and tomato sandwiches as I waited for them to leave, pointing out all the problems with the apartment when the viewers asked me questions. Finally, they left, and I was able to pull back the bubble wrap to reveal a cluster of blue boxes.

I carefully opened up the boxes, pealed back the layers of tissue paper, and there was my personalised writing paper, sealed with a Nile blue band. I ran my finger gently across the letterhead to feel it raised against my fingers, and I turned it over to see the slight bruising made by the copperplate die on the back. Each envelope was expertly hand lined in purple tissue paper before folding, with a blind-embossed “Smythson” mark just beneath the diamond flap. I held it up to the light to see the subtle “Glen Clova” watermark. The photos don’t really capture the fresh pale green and vibrant violet, and I have removed my surname from the images in some sort of vague attempt at privacy.

Now I can’t wait to start writing – email me your address to and I may post you a letter.

Another extraordinary experience in London was my visit to the Smythson bespoke stationery office on New Bond Street. For our one year wedding anniversary, Adrian bought me a hand-engraved copper die of my full name written in Saint Germain, and commissioned a set of social cards on Mayfair Smooth White with Deep Purple ink. On the weekend I was lucky enough to visit the flagship store to discuss my options of using the same die to commission some personalised writing paper with my favourite stationery company.

We were ushered to the back room, and sat down with a gentleman called Christopher who placed an extraordinarily large and thick book filled with hundreds of samples on the mahogany desk in front of us. I was lucky enough to have my friend Shyla by my side, an expert in both paper and design. She was an excellent consultant and a great source of support and enthusiasm through the difficult decision making process. I told her that I would like to have a splash of purple, perhaps purple tissue lining and a violet ink colour for the letterhead.

Then, of course, there was the choice of paper. Nile Blue, Bond St Blue, and Park Avenue Pink did not work well with violet. So we were left with the choice between Mayfair Smooth White, White Wove, Ermine White Laid, Cream Wove, the pale brown Marston Mill, or the pale green-grey Three Crowns. None of them seemed to stand out above the crowd. Then we turned the page and caught sight of the daring peppermint coloured Glen Clova. Our assistant told us that this paper had been designed for the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday, but warned us that it was now at very limited stocks and would not be renewed. It has a unique watermark that reads “Smythson Glen Clova” when held up to the light. It was inspired by the area near her childhood home of Glamis Castle (also the setting for Macbeth).  He told us that there would be enough for one order, but no refills. The co-ordinating correspondence cards were already unavailable.

With Shyla’s encouragement, I decided to take the plunge and choose the bright and vibrant colour combination of green Glen Clova paper with Violet accents for my set. Our assistant then revealed that he had chosen the exact same colour combination for his personalised stationery, and pulled it out to demonstrate. I am not sure that Miss Manners would approve of such unconventional colours, but I am excited to see the result. The last decision was the size of the paper, and we decided on Kings (203mm x 159mm), slightly larger than Dukes and smaller than Imperial. The paper is milled in Scotland, and then is cut, pressed, and folded by hand in Wiltshire. The boxes should arrive by courier in three weeks.

All photos from Smythson