Well, everyone, it’s that time of year again. I know you’ve all been trying to ignore it, procrastinating preparing for it, and overall wishing very desperately that it didn’t apply to you, but it’s here at last! That’s right: it’s Back to School season! . After shopping (was it shopping or treasure hunt? Iam still hunting the exact dimension of a storage box that the school wants ) the typical school needs from the usual war zones such as Wal*Mart, Target and Costco ,just to name a few,now relax and shop at the comfort of your home by shopping at our online store. (Of course if you like the excitement of the hunt you can stop by one of our stores in
Columbia and Montgomery.)
Lets see how Pen Boutique can compliment your usual school supplies with some high quality paper and pens that will improve your kids calligraphy skills.
It’s a universal truth that excluding clothes (and perhaps a backpack), the first things you will buy to prepare for the school year are notebooks. Let us begin with the
Rhodia Company, for it would be impossible to talk about notebooks and not mention them. One of the leading manufactures in all stationery concerning paper, notebooks, organizers and binders, the quality of their products is practically unparalleled. One of their bestselling notebooks is the
Rhodia LD 5 Webnotebook, an economical choice that is a favorite among artists and writers alike. It’s made of smooth black and orange Italian leather and possesses 90 g ivory, acid-free pages. It has been designed to give you an unbelievably peaceful and warm feeling when you open the cover, hear the gentle crinkle of freshly stapled paper and lay your hand on the crisp, cool pages. Why, it’s like heaven in book form.
For something a little smaller and more compact, Rhodia also offers the
Staplebound Lined Notebook that has the same features as the
Webnotebook but with only 48 sheets. It’s perfect for a lab journal, a writing journal, a sketchbook or just something convenient and fashionable to take notes in. With a lined notebook that’s properly labeled all your notes, thoughts and ideas for that class are kept in a neat, organized and secure place so studying will be a breeze. Speaking of organization, you will most likely be doing a lot of it in the upcoming school year. Between homework, afterschool activities, clubs, sports, family, jobs, friends, and ‘me time’, you’re bound to be extraordinarily busy. You’re going to have a lot of things to do and very little time to do it, so the traditional laissez-faire feelings of “Well, I
do need to get started on that final paper, but I have
two days to get it done... and I
do need to beat that last mission on the new Call of Duty” that we’ve all experienced must come to an end. Remember, procrastination is not your friend, but
Filofax is here to give you a trustworthy one:
the Flex. The Flex is a three-part leatherette notebook series that is available in three sizes:
A5,
slim and
pocket. They are customizable personal organizers that contain credit card slots, large pockets, a jot pad, a pen loop and an extra writing booklet that can be changed in and out of the notebook. From plain
notebook paper, a
contacts list, a
year-long diary, a
year-long planner in over four languages and an assortment of other combinations, you will be as organized as if you had a personal secretary. The days of, “What!? The project’s due next period?” and “Wait, the test is
today?” will all be in the past.
Now let us move on to the meat and bones of the matter: pens and pencils. Perhaps you’re thinking,
why do I even need a pen? Anything I don’t need a pencil for I can do on the computer. A reasonable argument in most cases, but there will always be that
one teacher, or that
one assignment that requires the use of a pen that you don’t have. (Then begins the unanimous, aggravated sigh of your entire class and you asking five or more people around you if they have a pen, and of course they don’t. No one ever does.) For those of you who just
‘want a pen that works’, products by the
Lamy Company will be your best bet.
The Lamy Safari Aquamarine, the
Pico and the
Lamy Noto are all good choices that don’t sacrifice style for economics. Their unique, innovative designs are eye-catching and will earn you a few envious looks from those who are more used to seeing typical, disposable ballpoints. If you’re one of those who like to write with style, then
Pelikan,
Namiki and
Faber-Castell each have products that cater to every indulgence. They offer an assortment of rollerball and ballpoints, but their fountain pens are where the real treasures lie. If you’re new to the fountain pen game, you can always try out Pelikan’s
Pelikano series that’s specifically created for first-time users. Its structure is designed to show you the proper way to hold the barrel to optimize the pen’s performance. (And if you want something a little more colorful and whimsical, there is always the
Pelikano Junior.) For veterans or those who simply want to jump into the thick of things, the Namiki
Vanishing Point Series is a good place to start. Their pens have smooth, free-flowing ink, the distinguished beauty of fountain pens and the functionality and convenience of clickable ballpoint pens. With elegant yet executively subtle designs, the pens in these series are gems in their own rights. (For the latest in this revolutionary pen style, you should probably consider the 2011 Pink Limited Edition whose beauty and sensibility is uncontested.) Faber-Castell offers the
Ambition and the
Ambition Rhombus, both nicely weighted fountain pens that offer the perfect balance of classical and modernism. Their barrels are made of soft finishes to add comfort when writing and possess resin and chrome trims. Each of these pens has their own distinct style, technique and design, but they are all indisputably stunning and are bound to make you the center of attention. (If you’re looking for inks to compliment your fountain pen, I would suggest Montblanc’s newest “
Ink of…” line. They’re absolutely amazing and I just adore them.)
Speaking of attention, have you ever sat back and paid attention to your penmanship? This may not apply to the 10% of the human population with heartbreakingly beautiful handwriting, but the rest of us have to deal with winces of embarrassment when someone looks at our writing. (It hurts, I know, I’ve been there.) These painful looks and feelings can be easily forgotten by adding a
Calligraphy fountain pen to your literary entourage. Traditionally, fountain pens have a small metallic ball at the end of their nibs, but the tip of a calligraphy pen nib is cut straight across. Available in hundreds of designs and colors, these pens are designed to improve handwriting so that even the most unintelligible chicken scratch becomes passable, and in most cases even admirable. (There’s really no point in doing all that writing in class if your teacher won’t even accept the work because they can’t read it; again, I’ve been there.)
Lamy offers an excellent selection, specifically the Lamy
Joy which is offered by itself or as
a set. It is a beautiful pen that manages to be elegant and efficient without being flashy or gaudy. It’s the Dark Knight of calligraphy pens: mysterious, deadly, and totally awesome. (Not deadly for real, of course. It’s just, I still can’t get over how awesome that movie was.)
Now onto the subject of pencils! In this day and age traditional wooden pencils are quickly falling out of favor – even though we have a
nice selection of them for you traditionalists – to be replaced with
mechanical pencils. Everyone always gets those dozen pack mechanical pencils with the cheap erasers – you know the ones; erasers that don’t actually erase, they just spread the lead around. These writing tools are so inconspicuous and uninteresting that they’re lost just as frequently as they’re bought. With that in mind, why be boring? Why be predictable? Why not take a shot at a mechanical pencil whose beauty, quality and superior sophistication will quickly make it a favorite writing tool that you’re sure to hold on to? Personally, I like my pens to have a “Men in Black” air about them, so products such as the
Aurora Ipsilon Deluxe, the
Etoile de Montblanc, and the
Waterman Charleston are right up my alley. They’re reliable, beautiful, and have a subtle sophistication that’s hard to beat. Nevertheless, perhaps you like the brighter side of the color spectrum and want pencils that are so vivid and stunning they put sunflowers to shame. If you’re looking for something a little less animated about its individuality – but no less impressive or unique – the
Pelikan Pura D40 and the Retro 51 Tornado Lollipop Grape are prime choices. (And they’re economical to boot; always a plus in this day and age.)
We are living at the height of the information age in this brave new world of ours. Where programs such as Wikipedia, CNN (and BBC), Twitter, Facebook (and perhaps even Myspace if you’re one of the few people who still use it) and the internet in general are the leading forces behind everything we see, read, believe and process. They’re the masters of this age and with each passing day the electronic world gets bigger and the written world gets smaller. The importance of the written word isn’t expressed nearly as much as it should be, but this battle against electronic modernization is being valiantly combated by the creative designs of the world’s pen
manufacturers and their
dealers. Ballpoint pens, rollerball pens and fountain pens are unique treasures that aren’t antiques, but misunderstood and sometimes unappreciated necessities. So this school year don’t think of supply shopping as a tedious, uninteresting chore, but think of it as an exciting adventure to purchase the descendants of an exclusive order that stretches back to the dawn of civilization. I mean, you have to get these supplies anyway, so why not pick ones that make you happy just by holding them? If you don’t want your kids to take tablets and laptops to school,act up now and perhaps its time that we invest in pens,writing accessories that interests them.
Look for the add-on
school supplies here .
