This week is National Stationery Week and for stationery obsessives like me, that is very exciting. I love stationery whether it is pens, pencils or notebooks and journals and I can find uses for everything. I am also in the process of cultivating three younger stationery addicts too as all of my children like their notebooks and pencil cases.
The aim of National Stationery Week isn’t just to celebrate stationery, the wider aim is to get people writing, which in today’s digital age, is an important message. Earlier in the year, inspired by National Stationery Week, I wrote a post about getting children writing with lots of great ideas to encourage your children off the computer and to use a pen and paper.
So it was only fitting that this month’s round-up should be stationery themed and we have been enjoying some amazing brands this month and I am also giving a sneak peek at a few of my personal favourite stationery brands.
Dodo
I love Dodo pads. Designed for busy people in mind, the Dodo pad is the perfect solution for busy families. It is a weekly planner with a grid to keep track of everything everyone is doing. There are a whole range of Dodo pads of different sizes and accessories and a calendar which is perfect for families who need to keep track of busy lives. For students who need to be more organised there are the mid year Acad-Pads.
Dodo also have a range of themed Dodo planners and organisers and I particularly like the Dodo Book for Cooks and the Dodo Travel Log but the Christmas Organiser is on my shopping list as I love the idea of a special book to keep all of my festive planning organised.
Find out more about Dodo Pads on their website.
Sheaffer
There is something about having a nice pen to write with, I notice the difference when I am using quality pens and my 11-year-old son was trying out one of the Sheaffer pens that we were sent and he declared that his writing was much neater with it. This made me smile as although we have a huge range of pens in our house I do have a small number that I choose as I know that it feels nicer to use and my writing is so much better too.
Sheaffer pens are amazing, they come beautifully packaged in proper boxes and I think they are a great gift idea. Oh and they make your writing really neat too.
Zebra
Zebra pens are funky bright and fun and perfect for adults and children. My children love using them as the colours are unusual, the bright patterns are appealing and they like the comfort z-grip which makes them easy and comfortable to use.
Zebra do a huge range of pens, pencils, markers and more. Check out their website for more information.
nu:
Everyone loves a good notebook don’t they? I certainly do and I was more than happy to add a few more nu: notebooks to my collection. nu: offer a wide range of practical notebooks for every occasion.
Smiggle
I was lucky enough to visit two new Smiggle stores last year and we are all firm fans of the brand in this house with its brightly coloured ranges and innovative products, it really is an appealing and exciting shop to spend time in. Smiggle have recently added online shopping to their UK website which I was particularly pleased to discover and I know that as far as stationery for children, I would always look at Smuggle first as all three of my younger children love the ideas and colours.
Paperchase
Paperchase will always have a place in my heart as well as on my desk, many of my earliest stationery items came from Paperchase and I still love wandering around their stores and cannot physically leave without buying something. Here are a few of my favourites from their current collection.
My favourites have to be their notebooks and quite a few of my vast collection come from Paperchase, I particularly like the fabric hand-stitched journals and they also make lovely gifts too. More recently, I have bought a few scrapbooks from there, the wire bound Kraft scrapbooks are brilliant as the pages and cover are all light brown and you can decorate it as you want to. We used one of these to make a summer scrapbook last year and we have another to keep a record of this years adventures.
Maped Helix
Maped Helix have a great range of stationery products for children. The Oxford Maths Set from Helix took me right back to my school days with the traditional tin containing everything a budding mathematician needs.
With R moving to secondary school last year, this was perfectly timed as he has been asking about a maths set and he is thrilled with it as not only does he have everything he needs, he loves the tin too.
For A, her favourite product of all was the Maped Bunny Sharpener which is hilarious. It is a bunny shaped pencil sharpener which looks cute, but when you sharpen, the teeth move up and down as if he is literally nibbling the pencil. She loves it and it is clever as it teaches her which way she has to sharpen and she is currently sharpening every pencil in the house, so she is getting lots of practice (and I have done a few too.)
If you want to find out more about National Stationery Week, take a look at the website to find out more or look out for the hashtags on social media. 
