These Were My Grandfather's

Some old pencils that belonged to my grandfather..

Cretacolor Pencil Extender

So here's my new Cretacolor Pencil Extender that arrived today from Snapdeal.com.  Priced at Rs.165/= officially, snapdeal.com offered a bit of a discount. So now I can enjoy using my favourite pencils all the way!!  It's got a nice design and it's not heavy. I'm going to enjoy using it.

NavNeet Fun Fun Full Marks Pencils

Some years ago, NavNeet, known for its study-aid books, joined the bandwagon for stationery. They're doing a good job and their Fun Fun Full Marks pencils are really good. Light in weight, multiple colours in the pack, they help in encouraging young children to write. A decent dark lead, smooth writing and easy sharpening make it a good buy.
They also have a version of Fun Fun Stripes. Each box comes with 10 pencils and a free eraser and sharpener.

Drawing Pencils - Camlin and Apsara

In India, I don't know if other pencil companies make drawing pencils - pencils of different grades, but Camlin and Apsara are two born-in-India companies that do. Apsara has been making them for as long as I can remember; I don't recall when Camlin joined in.

Camlin has the advantage of packaging - 6 different grades HB, 2B, 3B, 4B, 6B and 8B - in a cute cardboard box. Now that Camlin has merged with Japan's Kokuyo, the combined name is visible, but that's about all the difference. Good quality remains.

Apsara drawing pencils have always been fabulous; we used them in school for art work 30 years ago too. I don't think the pattern or colour of the lacquer has changed in all these years. I've not seen different grades available in a box; we have to buy them loose or buy a box of the same grade. That's a slight negative.  I love writing with the 4B - smooth and dark.

Old Pencils and an Eraser

My husband's family had these in their collection. The Faber-Castell one with the brush is an eraser that my husband used in Architecture college. The others are pencils - look at the one with the Bombay Telephone Company's advertisement. Amazing.

Pure Graphite

I found this pure graphite pencil - no wood, no encasing.
Hmm, am I going to write with it? I don't know.

Dixon Ticonderoga My First tri-write

Fat and triangular - perfect grip for little hands.
That they write well is a bonus!
5 stars!

Here's the Amazon link:

Dixon Ticonderoga My First Tri-Write Triangular #2 Pencils, Primary Size, Wood-Cased, Black Writing, 36-Count (13082)

Let's Post-it

I remember my very first pack of yellow Post-its. A gift from a neighbour who's son lived in London. This was way back in time before Post-it Notes were freely available in India.
I used them sparingly and made them last!

Now, Post-it Notes, Flags, Prompts are available at every corner stationery and general store. So are a multitude of other brands of similar stationery. I love the different colours and shapes that are now coming into the market. Most of these 'other' brands are decent and do their job well. Post-its, being 'the' brand, is  more expensive.

Some Amazon links -

Post-it Notes, 3" x 3", Canary yellow   Post-it Notes, 3 x 3-Inches, Canary Yellow, 12-Pads/Pack

Highland Notes, 3" x 3", yellow    Highland Notes, 3 x 3-Inches, Yellow, 12-Pads/Pack

Post-it Notes cube    Post-it Notes Cube, 2 x 2-Inches, Bright Colors, 400-Sheets/Cube, 3-Cubes/Pack
 
Post-it Flags   Post-it Flags Value Pack, Assorted Colors, 280 Page Flags and 48 Arrows of 0.5 Inch per Pack (683-VAD1)

Post-it Page Markers   Post-it® Page Markers, 1/2-inch x 1-3/4 Inch, Ideal for Temporary Marking and Noting In Books, Assorted Ultra Colors, 500 per Pack

Post-it Tabs with On-the-Go Dispenser    Post-it Tabs with On-the-Go Dispenser, 1-Inch Solid, Pink, Green, and Orange, 22-Tabs/Color, 66-Tabs/Dispenser

And for those of us who spend a lot of time at the PC, here are some virtual Post-its!

Post-it Digital Notes - free for a 30 day trial, then $9.99 to buy.   

http://download.cnet.com/Post-it-Digital-Notes/3000-2351_4-10060027.html

To browse and choose, there's also Best Free Sticky Notes Utility at
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-sticky-notes-utility.htm 

Pencil Story

Something that seems so basic but has been at the start of almost every artistic or creative endeavour - the pencil.

This article narrates a wonderful story about pencils -

http://www.pencils.com/blog/the-story-of-pencils/

My Grandfather's Nibs

Weren't too large for the shelf

Didn't stand 90 years on the floor

They were prized very much

By the ol' man himself....     

          
                            

                                                                                                                                

 

Maped Eraser Caps

Eraser caps are somewhat hard to come by here in India. After I caught the eraser-cap-bug, I hunted high and low for them. Finally, found a pack of Maped eraser caps.

Nice and colourful with a peculiar shape. They look strong enough too.  But, I won't say they're great. Decent but not great. They erase all right, but are not stable enough on the pencil. There is a bit of a wobble and they tend to crack very soon.

Hmm, they'll get a rating of 3 on 5.

Pencil lead? Where's the lead?

So! We all grew up talking about the lead in pencils. At some point in school, we learnt that it wasn't 'lead', but graphite. Now, I learn that it's a mix of graphite and clay.

So where did the word 'lead' get into pencils?

Here's a lovely article that answers this question and gives us some more interesting pencil trivia!

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/11/why-pencil-lead-is-called-lead/

Apart from this article, the website http://www.todayifoundout.com/ itself sounds interesting. Something new to learn every single day!

Pencil History

Who made the first pencils? How were pencils made centuries ago? With what were they made?
Find some interesting pencil history at

http://www.pencils.com/blog/pencil-history/

The Birth of Pencils

We use a pencil almost everyday. Writing, doodling, scratching our heads, winding loose tape back into a cassette (though we don't use cassettes anymore)... lots of uses! Different types of pens come and go but pencils live on. Millions of pencils are made daily. Have you given a thought to how pencils are made nowadays?

Here's an interesting post from the pencils.com blog!

http://www.pencils.com/blog/pencil-making-today/

BILT Matrix Notepads

Some years ago, I'd discovered the BILT Matrix Conference Pads - wonderful paper, excellent quality - a pleasure to write on.

Two weekends back, I got reunited with BILT Matrix - this time, with their A4 sized single lined notepads. Ahhh, the joys of owning good stationery! Since then, I've gone and got myself their Youth series of A4 pads and some of their Premium A4 and A5 notepads. The Youth series have the same smoothness, but have thinner paper - good for writing letters internationally where the weight counts. The Premium series have 70 gsm paper - perfect.

The pricing is excellent too, with the Youth series A4 sized 100 page notepads at Rs.29/= and the similar Premium one priced at Rs.42/=

Only drawback - not many stationers in the area seem to stock it - apparently BILT has very poor marketing and their salesmen hardly ever drop in to the stores. This is most unfortunate because I would rate BILT as having the best quality around. What we need is also a good online stationery store, like Office Depot. Ballarpur Industries Limited, are you listening?

For old times' sake

A nib, nib-holder and a good ol' ink-pot!

Paper Mate Eraser Caps

Write something... erase. Write more... erase. I love writing with pencils, and find eraser caps very convenient, either when the original eraser tips of the pencils have worn off or for pencils that don't have an eraser in the first place. After reading plenty of reviews on Amazon.com, I settled on Paper Mate Arrowhead Eraser Caps. I must say, I'm very satisfied.

They're much better than the Office Depot ones I'd used earlier. The Office Depot ones were thinner and hence wobbled every time while erasing something. They slipped off the pencil and split after a while.

Paper Mate Arrowhead Eraser Caps

The Paper Mate ones are standard pink in colour, are made thicker, hence they are firmer, don't wobble and are more stable while erasing. Initially I felt as though the eraser might slip off the pencil, so I used to hold the eraser onto the pencil while erasing the matter. But now I find that it's not needed - the eraser cap does not slip off! These eraser caps erase well and last long. They're priced well at less than $8 for a box of 144. One box will last a long time, but just make sure you store it in a Ziploc bag so that the erasers don't get dry.

Highly recommended!! I give them 5 stars!

Amazon.com has the best price, here's the link!

Paper Mate Arrowhead Pink Cap Erasers (73015), Pack of 144

Apsara Pop & Apsara Joi Extra Dark Pencils

We grew up in India with Nataraj and Apsara pencils which were two of the few pencil brands in the market between 1970-1990. Only after liberalisation of the economy in the early 90s, did stationery begin to boom in India and consumers had more of a choice.

Apsara Joi

I learnt only recently that Nataraj and Apsara are both brands made by Hindustan Pencils Pvt. Ltd. Not only do they have a huge market share of pencils in India, but they also export their products to over 30 countries. Their products conform to European safety norms, all their ingredients are non-toxic, and they continue to make the effort to develop plantations to ensure renewal of the wood they use. This makes me happy to support them!

In recent years, Apsara has been coming out with beautiful pencils!! Apsara Pop and Apsara Joi are two of their many different series. Hexagonal pencils with a smooth lacquer finish, extra dark smooth lead and the wood sharpens very well.

Apsara Pop

The box of Apsara Joi pencils has pencils with different coloured lacquers, but each pencil has primarily one colour with alternate thin stripes of a different colour. Each pencil of Apsara Pop has two colours separated by white thin stripes. Each box comes with a free eraser and a long point sharpener.

I highly recommend these series of pencils!!
For ratings, I give Apsara Joi 4.5 on 5 and Apsara Pop gets a 5 on 5.

Pencil Facts!

I love pencils, but just realised I didn't know all these pencil facts!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil

My First Ticonderoga

I picked up a blister pack of 4 'My First Ticonderoga' in 2009 on a trip to the US. The blister pack has 4 pencils and a sharpener.

They're fat pencils, in the trademark green and yellow Ticonderoga colors. Absolutely perfect for little hands who're just beginning to write. However, I'm mad about stationery so I started using these myself.

I absolutely love them!

Compare the thickness with a regular pencil

I enjoy the control that the fat pencils give. Smooth core with a neat eraser. The pencil weight is just enough for little hands to manage conveniently.

The hardness of the pencil is a standard US #2 which is the worldwide HB. I personally prefer softer pencils, but for children, HB is possibly more suitable since they tend to use more pressure while writing.

To understand pencil grading, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil

Unfortunately these Ticonderoga pencils aren't available in India; however, you can buy them from Amazon.com with ease. If you have someone traveling to India from the US, you can buy them off Amazon, have it shipped to the person in the US who can then bring it to you! I plan on ordering a bigger pack soon!

I give them a rating of 4.5 on 5.  (Just because I'm a wee bit finicky)

Here's the Amazon link for the bigger pack of 12 (much more economical than the blister pack of 4) :

Ticonderoga My First Ticonderoga Primary Size 2 Beginner Pencils, Box of 12, Yellow (33312)