Thoughts on a Fresh Fall Start (+ a Back to School Giveaway)

Fall is my favourite time of the year. Spring is also nice, it’s stretching again after a long winter’s hibernation, but there is nothing quite like fall. It’s fresh and the air smells clean and crisp and you can feel the wind in your hair. Everything is great about fall, the leaves, the weather, the back to school excitement. I even love fall colours! Brown! Diamine Ochre and Ancient Copper, Kiowa Pecan, Lie de The, Oku-Yama, Alt-Goldgrun.

You can get hot apple cider and savour every sip as the weather gets chillier. People are returning to the city after their long summer vacations and cottage stays, and everything is bustling again.

Every year, Jon and I talk about driving up to Kingston and seeing some of that fall foliage and reliving the old memories, walking by the lake, and maybe this will be the year!
Did you know? When Jon and I were in school and he was “wooing” me, he made a kite out of old shirts from both of us cut up and hand-stitched together, not following one manual of instruction on kite-building. After it was all put together, we brought it down to the lake to see it fly! Unfortunately, it was unable to take flight… 

Back to School!

The unseasonably cool days in Toronto these past few weeks has brought back some not-so-distant back-to-school feelings! I’m a little sad not to be going back to school with the other teachers and students, but the shop is pretty exciting, too, especially as we gear up for some new products and lines coming in.

Even if you’re not actually heading back to school, the cooler weather and crisp air always brings back memories – childhood’s ingrained memories with the smell of fall. September always seems like a new year, a fresh start.

Here are some ideas to help you keep newly inspired at work or school, or treats for those little guys heading back.

While iPhones and your digital appointment trackers are lovely, for some people, organization needs to come in a paper agenda. You know who you are if you are someone who just needs to write things down and see it across a weekly page. We have a few available in a couple of different formats for the academic year (August 2013-July 2014), and we also have beautiful Rhodia agendas!

And for all your pens and erasers and emergency coffee money and notes from class, here are a few of our pencil cases!

We had been running low on stock with these canvas pencil cases by Delfonics, but they’re back in stock! We’re hoping to get some double-fastener ones in any day, too – so check back on the website if you’re looking for a case with more storage.

We’ve been loving these Clairefontaine notebooks – many colours and designs, but all kind of vintage looking and with the incomparable Clairefontaine paper. A new notebook is sometimes daunting – what to fill it with! But at these prices, they are perfect for your imagination and doodles and notes, and to throw around in your bag.

And finally, the pencils. A brand new box of pencils? Long and smooth and luscious Palomino pencils? Freshly sharpened and bits of wood shavings? What else could inspire, at any time of year.
The matte black Blackwings are the softest lead, and the grey 602s are the hardest, with the new Palomino Pearls right in the middle.