Guest Blog: How stationery is getting me through the pandemic

Guest Blog: How stationery is getting me through the pandemic

Euroffice is a favourite of many stationery fans, and among these is Jasmine who’s written a blog post about how her love of stationery is getting her through the pandemic. Read it below!

My name is Jasmine, I’m 11 and this lockdown has been tough. I’ve been at home a long time and I miss my friends, however one of the things which has been keeping me joyful and entertained is stationery.

Before the pandemic

I started to like stationery and collect it roughly a year ago. I started to gain interest in it after watching many Amanda Rach Lee videos that I found on YouTube. I would watch her vlogs for hours, discuss them with my friends and try to recreate some of her doodles and spreads. I buy stationery from all over the world, obviously from shops and online in the UK, but also online from the USA, Japan and China. Over this year, I have developed a passion for calligraphy, washi tape (I even covered my laptop in it) and journaling. A few friends and I started a competition – who can collect the most stationery before we meet/call each other next and it is fun. It’s a shame we are limited on the amount of money we can spend on stationery, as otherwise we would soon spend all of our parents’ money too!

During the pandemic

I’ve been using stationery to pass the time by decorating pages in my journal and making pages of inspirational quotes using my calligraphy skills with Pentel pens like these (I prefer to use a flexible tip rather than a fixed tip because it gives better line variations). I have also been making the weekly/monthly planners for my school timetable but making them more beautiful than the ones the school provides! To make these I have been using Staedtler fineliners, washi tape and brush pens. When it comes to brush pens make sure the tip is firm but flexible, because this gives you more control over the brush, especially when you’re a beginner like me. When I’ve had a bit more practice, I’ll try out some more flexible tips as they do look better but require quite a bit of skill. Doing this has helped to keep me entertained and it makes me happy (even if I don’t use planner spreads as much as I did before the pandemic).

For inspiration I have been using the internet, especially Pinterest, to see how other people have been using stationery to customise their journals. This has been something my friends and I have been able to share and talk about over Zoom. It has been tough not seeing my friends during lockdown, however being able to share stationery vlogs with my friends has been a great way to spend a few hours of my day.

With the additional spare time, I have been spending more time doing art. I have learnt a lot about the difference in lead grades and how they can create different textures and shading effects. I prefer using a ‘normal’ pencil for shading to a mechanical pencil, as a mechanical one has a permanent fine point and so these are better for outlines and details As well as drawing, I have been printing ideas, so much so that I broke my old printer and we had to buy a new one!

I also love my school stationery. I like to have products which make school fun and being at home means I have my entire collection to hand. Normally I can’t take all my stationery to school, so being at home has meant I’ve had the pleasure of all my stationery like my correction roller, Frixion pens and a rainbow of Stabilo highlighters.

Hopes for the future

I’m really looking forward to getting back to school, because next year I’m starting secondary school, and the school has some transition sessions planned which I really want to go to. Hopefully, they will make the move less stressful. With secondary school needing a greater variety of writing instruments, it will give me the chance to expand my stationery collection even more (even though that seems impossible!).

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