PencilWraps, Pens, Pencils, Notebooks, and some day-to-day happenings and such as...
SO! I finally logged on to Staples Rewards to check and see how much I had racked up. I was surprised to see that I had $16.00 waiting for me on there. I didn’t know that I bought so much.
Anyway, I picked up a pack of Sharpie Pens, a pack of Zebra M-301 0.5mm mechanical pencils, and 3 packs of 0.5mm HB pencil lead and only had to shell out a little over $4 out of pocket. Sweet!
Things about stuff we enjoyed reading this week.
Pens/Pencils
Paper
Ink
When we walk into Target we always go through the $1 section. Sometimes we find pens, pencils or markers for the kids. Sometimes we find games. And, sometimes we find little notebooks like this one. Usually though, the one dollar notebooks are all spiral bound and wide ruled with about 40 to 60 pages and with some sort of kids cover on it. This one is attempting a “traveling” theme on the cover with the compass and faux passport stamps. The paper inside is blank…and very thin. I’m not sure exactly how thin but it’s thinner than my cheap Staples multipurpose paper that I use in my printer and that’s 20lb. (75gsm) It’s also not pocket sized at 7″ by 5″. (17.8cm x 12.6cm) But with only 60 thin pages, it’s 3/16″ (.5cm) “thick”!
You could try to use this as a traveling notebook but it’s larger than pocket size and the paper cover will protect nothing. Plus, you’ll only be able to use one side of each page because everything bleeds through. Right there you’re down to 30 pages of writing space. In fact, the echoing is so bad on the paper that you can see the writing through another page. (see below) It’s actually so thin, it could be used for tracing.
Writing Samples
Back of page and bleedthrough
Writing samples seen through previous page.
I think that this would be better as a sketching pad. It could be something that you whip out quick on the spot when you want to do a fast sketch of something. Even though the Niji 500 HB with the 0.5mm lead still echoes through the page, a lighter pencil like a 3H to 5H could work.
Basically, for a dollar you get a cheap scratch/sketch pad. And if you want to use all of the pages, use a 5H pencil and you’ll do fine. You could always transfer your weekend jaunt’s memories to a more permanent location and then dump this in the recycling bin.
A co-worker showed me Jennifer Maestre’s site today. Totally amazing. Totally pencils.
In her own words:
To make the pencil sculptures, I take hundreds of pencils, cut them into 1-inch sections, drill a hole in each section (to turn them into beads), sharpen them all and sew them together. The beading technique I rely on most is peyote stitch.
I don’t usually post about sale items. (Except for yesterday because the markers stood out since I had posted about them previously) It seems like Staples is trying to go through and clear out a lot of pen inventory. If you check out their Weekly Ad for 01/23/10-01/29/10, they have several “Buy One, Get One Free” selections including specifically calling out the Uni-balls.
30 most popular pens, pencils, markers, and more - Buy One Get One Free
Uni-Ball - Buy One Get One Free (Mix'n'Match)
Zebra Value Packs - Only $3 with coupon
Besides all the pens they’re “liquidating”, the Markings leatherette journals are on sale for $4. These are the ones with the Moleskine-like off-white paper. Not Fountain pen friendly, but good for gels, balls, and pencils.
Markings Leatherettes for only $4.
On top of all this, they have a “15% off your total purchase” coupon in the ad as well.
Like I said, I just thought some of these deals were great and wanted to pass along the info. I don’t plan on making sales - Staples, Office Depot, or whatever – a regular posting. (Unless a bunch of people comment here and really, really, really want me to). So, happy hunting!
Disc: I’m not affiliated with Staples and won’t get any credit for whatever you purchase when you click over to the Staples link that I posted here. I just did it so we all could feed our addictions.
This is just a heads up. I got an email from Staples saying that Monday January 24th the Bic Mark-It Permanent Markers, Fine and Ultra Fine, Assorted Colors 36 Pack will be 60% off. That comes out to a little over 22 cents per marker before tax.
Things about stuff we enjoyed reading this week.
Pens/Pencils
Paper
Ink
Here is one of my purchases from the “Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle” store in the Brea Mall. It’s a Pentel Slicci Gel Ink Pen 0.3mm in Blue. I like the feel of it as well as the .25mm Sliccis that I own. It’s just a little smoother than them but just “scratchy” enough for my taste. I like the feel of a pen gripping the page as I write. It makes me feel like I have more control. The grip feels good as well even though the barrel of the pen is pretty slender. But, it doesn’t feel like the pen would slip out of my hands easily. The fine tipped writing makes the blue look a little bright but if it was a 0.7mm I’m sure it would look darker. All in all, a fine writing utensil to add to my ever expanding arsenal.
Click for the "Hi-res" pic taken by my phone.
If you don’t have a Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle anywhere near you, you could always order it from where I got all of the 0.25mm that I have, JetPens!
Well, from Mexico anyway. In February Rad and Hungry will start shipping their STMT X Mexico kit. It will include “two pencils, one notebook, and one phat pack of labels”. When Hen from Rad and Hungry sent me an email and pic of what they are sending this month I immediately had flashbacks. When I was a kid and visiting family in Mexico, I used to walk down to the local book/stationery store and buy some of the Scribe notebooks and notepads. The notebooks that I bought looked a little different than the ones that RnH are sending out (it was about 25+ years ago – so you get an idea of about how long I’ve lived with this addiction), but I remember they always had headings on the pages. I would get them and write all kinds of nonsensical things in there. I would write just to write and fill them up, then get another.
In searching for ones that might look like the ones that I used to have, I found the Scribe commercial below called “World of Paper” (literal translation) which shows other notebooks that they offer at the end.
I’m definitely getting in on this STMT X Mexico kit. We shall just have to see how many I procure.
I had read on several blogs that Rhodia notebooks were available at Target and I finally saw some. I picked up an A4 (21cm x 29.7cm) staplebound lined notebook with black cover (they also had the orange cover in stock) and the No. 11 Notepad (7.4cm x 10.5cm) with grid lines. Both have the 80g paper that seems to be the Rhodia standard. Very nice. These are going into the review queue.