15
Jun
Shopping for your home office, back to school, or returning to the office stationery? We’ve made it easy with our latest stationery packs
1: The home stationery pack
3: Home office stationery pack
4: Office Stationery Mega pack
11
Dec
Of all the gifts we receive at this time of year, the ones most treasured are the ones made by hand. Homemade greeting cards are carefully thought out, the messages are written are personalised by the card maker, and the words are especially for the receiver. A lot of great thought is put into these cards, and the time spent making the cards is a reflection on the memories made with that special person.
In preparation of the card making affair, we gather up all the supplies from the craft cupboard. We layout the cardboard, the paint and brushes are set up for use. Glue, glitter and other small decorations are collected and set out on the craft table, all is ready for the making of the special cards for the ones we hold dear.
Not only is this a time for making gifts, but it is also a time to share. Gathered around together and crafting, we get to make a new set of memories with our family and friends. During these card making experiences, we laugh and share our hopes and dreams. It is a time of bonding and sometimes when someone new has been introduced to the family, this is a time to get to know them.
Homemade greeting cards are not just about saving money, the making and presenting of the cards is the act of giving a piece of who you in a message filled with love and hope.
06
Dec
With the festive season holiday’s kicking off today all across South Africa, all eyes are on the day we all call Christmas. With a newfound focus centred around what we gift to each other, especially the gifts we give to the children! Not so many years ago, family and friends alike would gift sweets, chocolates and toys. In recent years the popularity of practical and useful gifts has increased.
Being that the gifts from extended family and friends are usually small, the gift-givers are now giving arts and craft supplies, and these are splendid stocking fillers.
Top 12 Stocking Filler Gift Ideas:Shop wisely and enjoy being a part of the smart stocking filler movement! Enjoy your festive celebration!
25
Nov
For decades, we have been using arts and crafts to unlock the creativity within ourselves and our children. Children tell stories through their creations. Whether they are drawing with crayons, painting on board, using boxes to make houses and swords or using clay to shape out animals, children are showing us what interests them and where they are emotionally and mentally. And adults have been known to do the same.
Using various mediums is what is so enticing about the items in an arts and crafts cupboard. Because there are very few boundaries set in place with regards to arts and crafts and its vast potential, you find that creativity expands from one understanding to another. There are always new ways to present a particular subject. Across different fields, you find it has been incorporated into science, biology, maths, geography, history, even languages and drama make use of the broadness of arts and crafts. It is a personal touch added to the presentation of ideas, the use of visual aid to bring life to what could have been quite flat.
When we are allowed to explore our favoured medium, it has been found that people identify with their passions using art as a form of expression. Arts and crafts induce thinking, collaboration, conversation and research. As people, we are drawn to that which is beautiful and creative, as well as that which is unique. In homes, it has become almost a norm to see pieces created by the people who live there. Everyone adding something that leaves a trace of who they were in the moment they created something.
Embrace your inner artist and allow yourself to use what is around you to create a portrait of who you are inside.
15
Nov
Winding down during November is never truly winding down. During November we are busied by the preparation for year-end and the needs of the new year. We really want our December to be focused around spending time with our families and friends. And so, thus begins the November Rush. There are office supplies to replenish, papers to reorganize, stationery to hunt for, gifts to buy and of course everything needs to be delivered before the world slows down for a very merry time of year.
Thankfully with the help of technology, we can online shop for most of the office and stationery supplies. Online shopping is definitely a fast-growing norm in today’s world. Not only does it save you time and more than likely a ton of money. You are saving the planet by reducing the number of car trips you are taking to hunt for the ever needed “Stationery”.
No School, Home School, Learning Center, Home Office or Corporate Office can completely function without the use of pens, pencils, paper, clipboards, sticky notes, markers, paint or even files.
The list of stationery needs grows at a rapid pace and the time is now to get a jump on it.
13
Nov
Considering the level of colour required to continuously engage children, it makes sense that stationery is produced in so many bold and beautiful colours and designs.
Colour helps us to remember facts, add fun to what we are learning and bring new light to the world of black and white. Not even 30 years ago, most textbooks were set in the ever-economical print of black, white and greyscale. However today, we see a massive change in this practice. Today’s textbooks, readers and learning materials are becoming bolder, more outspoken and definitely more fun to read and use. All of a sudden, a dull picture is brought to life with picture-perfect illustrations jumping out of books. Children’s books are written using exciting texts to highlight special, new or interesting words. This is a new spin on the way we learn, and it is done with a new colourful and engaging twist.
Providing tools to bring colour to a child’s world is not just to keep them excited it is to equip them with the means to bring life to what knowledge they are absorbing.
11
Nov
Sticky notes are the cutest and most effective of all note-taking inventions. They come in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colours. As you have guessed, they stick, not like glue, but definitely like sticky. Professionals, housewives, students and everyone in-between will tell you they have used and will continue to use a large number of sticky notes for the foreseeable future.
It is easy to understand why, they remind us of what to do! We use them to pass on notes and messages to each other. They make collaboration simple and effective. They are bright and memorable, and who is going to disagree with their ability to brighten and streamline our daily processes? We write our shopping lists on them. Sticky notes are used to take notes in class and lectures, even in meetings and during presentations. They get stuck to our mirrors with affirmations written on them. Contracts are signed using these little flags with “Yes, here I am” written all over them. Sticky notes are a breath of fresh air when it comes to passing a message along.
Today we say thank you to the inventors of the sticky note and the people who love to use them.
04
Nov
Today we are truly blessed to be able to purchase a variety of different types of paints and colours however, this was not always the case. Paint is one of mankind’s earliest inventions. It began with cave paintings dating back as far as 40 000 years but some believe that paint may have been created way before that. Humans have made use of hematite, charcoal, yellow and red ochre and even manganese oxide as painting mediums. There were 6 basic colours used by early painters these being green, yellow, blue, black, red and white.
Early paintings discovered within the tribal grounds of Europe, Australia, Africa and Indonesia depict images of hunters and early farmers/herders as well as images of families, community gatherings and other important moments regarding life at the dawn of humanity. Painting has been used to capture the lives of humans, to document our progress and experiences and still to this day holds value in the way we express ourselves today.
As paint evolved humans began using dried plants, minerals ground roots, berries and even blood to pigment their paint and bring new life to the colours they were using in their art. Iron oxide was a leap into longevity and durability as well as adding vibrancy to art. Artists had to resort to mixing their pigments with anything from saliva, egg and even animal fats to ensure they achieved optimal results. The Romans and Greeks created “oils paints” by combining pigments with plant oils, revolutionizing paint for millennia to come. For application, earlier painters used hollow bones (resembling the earliest methods of airbrushing), their fingers and brushes made of animal hair
We still use a lot of the original methods today, however, we have been blessed with people who have made accessibility to a variety of painting mediums as easy as 1-2-3.
28
Oct
Paper has been used for thousands of years, there are stories of the Chinese using it as far back as 105AD and the Egyptian’s have been using it since around 2500BC. The Chinese used plant fibres and the bark of mulberry trees to produce sheets of paper, it is said that the Chinese successfully governed their people as a result of paper. The Egyptians used parchments (dried animal skins) and papyrus (a plant used for its fibres) as a means of documenting their history and controlling production, accounting documentation and for storytelling.
In the 11th Century, paper production was brought to Europe and by the 13th Century, the Spanish had refined the production of paper using waterwheels. By the 19th Century, wood-based papers had come into full production and were the most widely used.
With the production of paper, printing books became easier and the ability to share knowledge, produce technical designs, document history and finances became increasingly popular with scholars, businessmen and writers.
Today we use paper to write down our thoughts, print presentations, create art and spread the news. The use of paper may have begun as a form of knowledge transfer only used by the educated but today we use paper in all aspects of our lives.
25
Oct
Pens were used in ancient Egypt (around 3000BC) by scribes who invented pens made of reed, they were invented to replace styluses and the writing on clay. In the 7thCentury quills (pens made using the flight feathers of birds) made their way into use by the writers of the middle ages. Modern day pens came about in the 18th Century and cooper tip pens have been found in the remnants of Pompeii.
In 1822 John Mitchel began the mass production of metal tip pens, with improvements made to the original steel tips and dipping pens over time. The pen evolved from pens being dipped into ink wells to pens that had ink reservoirs which no longer needed to be dipped which made writing quicker and easier. Even though the pen had evolved over the years, pens with reservoirs only became popular in the 19th Century when the fountain pen was invented. Over the years many inventors changed the designs of the pen and soon there were a variety of pens available to users across the globe by writers and inventors alike.
Pens can be found in all shapes, forms and colours. Everything from rollerball pens, felt tip pens and even ceramic tips are used today. The ink is no longer limited to just ink, they use gels and liquids in our pens today.
We use pens for writing, signing documents, taking notes in class and at the office, to doodle, to create and to make our mark.
