02/04/2016

What!? I know your saying "I know how to sharpen a pencil!" but the reality is, some people do not do it correctly.

It is a simple task but when not done right you can risk breaking the lead, splintering or a mixture of both.

First and MOST important, don't use a cheap and nasty sharpener. Using one of those is a bad idea no matter how you actually sharpen it.

When sharpening your shiny new and expensive colored pencils make sure you turn the sharpener around the pencil and do not turn the pencil in the sharpener. This sounds like it would make no difference but try it next time. You will see the texture of the wood (or compound) has a vastly different texture compared to turning the pencil within the sharpener.

28/03/2016

Whether you are wanting to color Mandala pages/books or coloring books you will need a good set of pencils for the best result.

Pencils are certainly not all the same. There are many pencil brands with vastly different quality and price tag.

When starting out coloring, it’s best to start out with a relatively smaller set with a middle range quality and price tag to ensure it’s a hobby you will persist with. The price of the premium pencils will scare off anyone new to coloring but once addicted it’s easy to justify the price.

So which pencils can I buy?

Avoid the really cheap sets as they will always be pale, break and have poor color coverage. Good pencil brands to start with are Faber-Castell (not the cheap variants), Derwent, Lyra and Prismacolor.

So which pencils should I buy?

Prismacolor. No doubt I think these are the best value for money pencils you can buy. They are soft on the page, don't break easily, have great colors and coverage and don't splinter. You can pickup a set of 48 for $40 to $50 USD and you will not look back. Trust me!

15/03/2016

It will be of no surprise to anyone that in this day and age, switching off technology has become increasingly difficult. We have found our lives have become increasingly busy. Some of this can be attributed to technology making us constantly connected but we also have much more complicated lives than years gone by.

The time is now where we need to look after ourselves both physically and mentally. We can look after ourselves physically by eating the right foods, exercising and getting plenty of sleep. The physical ways to look after yourself seem obvious and drilled into us by todays media. Looking after yourself mentally seems much more complex, not so obvious and not talked about in the mainstream.

One of the best ways to look after yourself mentally is by checking out of the day-to-day struggles. You need to switch off your mind from that Facebook status, money troubles and what you're having for dinner. It sounds simple and obvious now it has been said, but very few people practice this in their daily routine.

One of the best ways we have found is coloring (or colouring in some places). We have found that by picking colors and concentrating on the task of completing something that the outside gets blocked out and forgotten, albeit temporarily. By checking out in your daily routine, we have found that someones mental health, happiness and mood can be greatly improved.