My favourite magazines.

Hi everyone <3

Yesterday me and my boyfriend went into London for a day out. We browsed the shops and went to The Wallace Collection; an amazing (free!) museum which is just beautiful.

(picture from online)

I loved it there, it is so beautiful and each room was different. I couldn't choose my favourite room but I really loved the smoking room. If you have the chance to go, you must! It was just sooooo beautiful. Even just look on the website if you want, there's lots of pictures and information on there. :)

I picked up some goodies, of course. ;)

My 3 favourite magazines, Revlon just bitten kissable balm stain in lovesick (I've been wanting this shade for weeks!!) and Maybelline falsies.

My love for magazines came at a young age. I've always really liked settling down with a magazine and collecting them. I discovered Oh comely a few years ago and filled with happiness, it's a magazine which I always dreamed of reading and owning. I found it through an independent magazine subscription service called Stack, which sends you a surprise independent magazine through the mail every month. I highly recommend it! I have found some hidden gems through stack :)

If you live in London, there are some fantastic news agents in Soho that stock hundreds of independent magazines - I find myself in there for ages just browsing at all of them wondering which ones to buy. It's a great way to discover magazines that you've never heard of. I also sometimes come across Oh comely in WH smiths and I saw the recent issue of Frankie in a WH smiths store over christmas in Sheffield. Some months I can never find either in any shops on the high street though, I find it's hit and miss; I will probably end up subscribing online so I don't miss out on an issue!

I have a huge collection of magazines mostly through Stack and new agents like these, but I always find myself repurchasing 3: Oh comely, Lionheart magazine (which is new), and Frankie.

 Some missing issues. :(

 

I love the front page of Oh comely and their quote "keep your curiosity sacred" <3

I always love the contents page in Oh comely which has beautiful photography and I love the layout, and the special deliveries pages which show letters and cards from readers. I could never put into words how much I love this magazine.

"It is a magazine that makes people smile, full of quiet moments and stories. Read it with a cup of tea or a toddy. It inspires people to be creative, talk to their neighbours and explore new things. There are adventures that capture the feeling of being free, stories from people with tales to tell, recipes to warm your heart, and crafty things to make. All these things, wrapped up in beautiful words, illustration and photography. " http://www.ohcomely.co.uk/about.php

Oh comely features a mix of everything from recipes, interviews with artists and musicians., art, giveaways, creative hobbies like knitting, crafting and sewing, illustrations, and more. Reading Oh comely for me is like reading what I always think about and imagine what my mind would look like if it was made into the pages of this magazine. It's visually stunning as well as entertaining and I always discover something new from it, whether it's a artist that I never knew of, an etsy store, a band or a hobbie that I might consider taking up. It's really inspiring and whenever I'm feeling down in the dumps and bored I pick up one of my old issues and sometimes I don't even get far before I'm so inspired I put it down to write, read, draw or research something online. :)
The stories are similar to the content in Frankie and Lionheart, they're random topic and very inspiring. I love how in this magazine there are some really short stories that are just a couple of paragraphs long, the layout of these pages are really lovely and it's a burst of inspiration. I love going back through old issues to find these.
This magazine is delightful. I just love the whole style and layout, it feels so pretty and the white pages make the magazine really bright and cheers me up when I'm reading it. I love how everything is spread out through the magazine and the basic feel to it; it's relaxing and doesn't feel chaotic, whereas magazines such as Frankie are brimming to burst with content and can feel quite overwhelming.

Their website is lovely and I love reading the archive which has stories from previous issues, check it out here: http://www.ohcomely.co.uk/archive.php.

It is always filled with gorgeous photography which reminds me of browsing pinterest or tumblr. I never know what to expect in each issue, and I spread my reading over a few days because I'm always sad when I've finished it! It's only £4 which is definitely worth the money, you get a lot of content and even if you just flick through it to get some inspiration, they're a joy to own as a piece of art as itself :)

Another favourite is Lionheart magazine which is only on it's 3 issue, I remember buying the first issue not too long ago so it's a new magazine. I love the size and design of it which is what made me purchase it the first time. It's very pretty and reminds me of a handmade zine. It's visually pretty and has lovely pages inside, it contains a lot of photography and some of the pages are just pictures with a quote; so cute and inspiring! I would cut these out and stick them on the walls if I had the guts to cut the magazine up... it would make a perfect collage.

Roaring bits & bobs; one of my favourite features in Lionheart.

Lionheart magazine always feels like it could have been made by your best friend. One of the first things I loved about this magazine when I got the first issue is how arty it is. The pages are card and there is lots of photography, pages of shapes and textures at the front and back, quotes, and the fonts used as always lovely (I'm a font nerd!!).

Lionheart features art, fashion, crafts, interviews, illustrations and writing. Each issue has a theme and issue 3's theme was adventure, so there will be articles and stories inside about adventures and photographs of travelling, etc., I love the theme idea and I think it's really unique :)

I love the stories in this magazine, the subjects are always random and could be anything. For example in this issue there was an article called "Il doce for niente" which was about the writers Pa and his life, a gorgeous piece of prose which I really enjoyed, and an article about jam! The writers are so talented; they're usually written by freelance writers so it's a great way to discover new talent as most of them have blogs or websites which you can look into if you enjoy.

Their website is also great because it features some of the writers and explains more about the articles they have written. This is a great way to discover new blogs! I found Lottie from Oyster and Pearl from issue 3, read more about her on the Lionheart website and now I follow her blog which is beautiful. 

Lionheart magazine is £5 which is worth the money because you get a lot of content and a heavy magazine full of joy! I really hope this magazine sticks around.

Frankie is an Australian art, fashion and lifestyle magazine. Even though this isn't a mainstream magazine, you may have heard of it because it's kind of popular. This issue was issue 50 and the cover was gorgeous; it was tapestry and had sewings all over the front cover! Beautiful, it's really a joy to own this issue. :)

Frankie is full of articles about fashion, lifestyle, travel, music, stories and it contains lots of lovely photography. In issue 50 I also got a free poster. :) You can read a lot of columns on their website: http://www.frankie.com.au/ which mirrors the magazine so if you check it out you can tell what you'd be getting if you buy the magazine. They have a shop online where you can order the magazine and past issues, I would love to build up my collection of Frankie!

Frankie has lots of advertisements inside, unlike Oh comely and Lionheart. It feels more upmarket and professional, less independent and unique, but I still really enjoy it and it's always lovely to read. Their issues are usually huge and the magazine itself bulky and quite heavy, so it lasts a long time if you read a little at a time. 

It's £6.99 which is more expensive than Lionheart and Oh comely, but you get more content.

I hope you enjoyed this post, I wanted to do something a little different and talk about one of my favourite things to do, I think more people should know about magazines like Oh comely and if you try any of them out, I hope you enjoy!

Love,