On the run up to Christmas we’re doing our bit at Office 365 to come up with the perfect gift ideas for a range of different people in your life. For example, are you looking for token presents for the staff, or maybe small gift ideas for office Secret Santa presents? Maybe you’re after something with more of a wow factor as the main present for one of your kids? Alternatively you’re stuck for ideas of stocking fillers and this year you’d like to find little treats that are a bit different to the norm?

An idea that simply cannot fail is pens! How many of us waste precious minutes every day searching for a pen. This is so true in both the office and the home and even when we purchase bulk packs, within a month, they still manage to disappear; I mean, where can a pack of 25 pens disappear to in just one house?! In the office it makes more sense; pens will make their way into various draws, pockets, briefcases and so on, the home on the other hand can only be explained with fairies!

Vibrant gel pens would make unique stocking fillers, bulking out those giant Christmas socks with a wallet of colourful exciting looking pens. Our Stabilo Point Visco Assorted Rollerball Pens would be perfect for the budding designer! But then again, they would be ideal for encouraging writing skills as their selection of different colours makes the prospect of handwriting much more appealing! The pens boast smudge proof ink so that young hands can concentrate on technique without the concern of making a mess along the way.

• New technology gel rollerball from STABILO
• Low viscosity ink means longer lasting and quicker drying ink than most standard gel rollerball pens
• Smudge-proof and blot-proof
• Non-slip grip zone
• Line width 0.5mm
• Assorted wallet of 10 contains black, blue, red, green, leaf green, brown, turquoise, orange, pink and lilac ink colours
• 25% off‼ – Now just £10.24!

Office 365 has various different gel pens so you don’t have to buy then in assorted packs! Choose from black gel pens, red gel pens, green gel pens and blue gel pens, plus a further choice of assorted gel pens too.

Many individuals and industries now use computers in areas where we used to depend on our own artistic and creative skills; the computer and many other computerised gadgets have very much taken over, however there are still certain areas and professions who will remain dedicated to the personal touch. Artists, pupils, teachers, designers, cartoonists, architects and more will allow tools such as the trusty fineliner to live on! The thing about fineliner pens is that they can be used by people of all ages and abilities for every possible type of writing or drawing job! And the reason we continue to rely on them is thanks to the ease of use and perfect results they deliver us each time.

Many people choose fineliners for their children as their artistic skills develop and improve. The stereotypical wax crayon or felt tipped pen will soon be outgrown as youngsters strive to create better detail and finer accuracy in their art and design work. The fineliner is limited by colour, you’ll always find a fantastic selection of bright and bold colours available for vivid artwork. They are simply ideal in school or college for standard tasks such as writing thanks to their smooth action which enables students to take notes on lessons with speed and accuracy.

Many artists and graphic designers use ink for their designs, drawing and sketching and opt for the fineliners thanks to its ability to create fine, detailed work. They are often used to create caricatures and fashion designs as well as adding detail to watercolour paintings! Thanks to the extra fine nib, a fineliner will produce an accurate, even line, with bold consistent coverage as the ink tends to flow onto the page with more ease than say a rollerball or ballpoint pen, plus these alternative pens do not have anywhere near the same selection of different colours available.

Our fineliner pens black variety is certainly the most popular among our customers. A great example of a quality black fineliner is the Stabilo Point 88 Fineliner featured.

• Ideal for details, sketching and scribbling
• Water-based, odourless ink with high degree of luminosity
• 0.8 tip gives line width of 0.4mm
• Black
• Packed 10
• 23% off – Just £7.36!

STABILO GREEN

Stabilo want to preserve nature and the environment for subsequent generations. That’s why they continually optimise their production and working conditions. Stabilo pencils are continually adapted to the latest product requirements and are often pioneering for the entire industry. As a logical consequence of their environmentally aware approach, Stabilo have developed a dedicated product line: STABILO GREEN pencils are made from renewable woods, obtained from controlled, environmentally responsible forestry operations. By introducing their own range of sustainable, high-quality pencils made from renewable woods they are making an important step towards increasing environmental protection. In this, Stabilo works closely together with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which certifies the pencils in the STABILO GREEN line.

LIVING RESPONSIBLY

Every company bears a heavy responsibility – towards people and the environment. Because modern production processes use precious resources. That’s why Stabilo converted early on to environmentally friendly solutions. And they’re proud of the figures and results. At their international production sites, Stabilo pay painstaking attention to ensuring that they handle natural resources such as water and wood in a responsible way, save energy or consistently increase their recycling rates. They employ state-of-the-art technology to minimise the effects on the environment.

Pens, available in a ridiculous amount of different varieties, colours, line widths, inks and brands, so which one do you go for? We don’t say, “Does anyone have a rollerball pen please” or “Ugh, my ball point pens run out”, that would be obscene and frankly a waste of time! We refer to all pens as simply, a “pen” and that is how it should be! But again, we are still faced with the same dilemma, which type do we opt for? For me the answers very simple, it’s a ball point all the way.

The ballpoint pen variety we’ve most of us come to know as the Biro, another brand name which has become a household name. The Biro ball point pen was invented by László Bíró and has since become the most popular, modern writing instrument. The ballpoint pen has an internal chamber which is filled with a viscous ink that is dispensed at the tip during use by the rolling action of a small metal sphere (0.7 mm to 1.2 mm in diameter) of brass, steel or tungsten carbide. When pressure is applied (when the tip is applied to paper), ink is released and dries almost immediately after contact. The pens are generally inexpensive, completely reliable and involve no maintenance whatsoever.

Personally I choose the ball point pen due to its ability to write so smoothly. There’s nothing worse when writing than getting that ‘prickly’ feeling, something which simply does not exist when using a ‘biro’.

We recommend the Bic Cristal Ball Pens featured; a pen that can be found in pretty much every home, shop, school, office or business across Europe! This pen has never let me know. Guaranteed to write smoothly from the ‘go’ and consistently perform well, this variety is also cheap as chips. We’ve opted for the black option, yes, many of us prefer the blue, but whenever you stock up on blue ones you end up with one of those forms that requires black ink only!

• Lightweight hexagonal barrel that provides comfortable and controlled writing
• Durable tungsten carbide ball writes consistently, will not skip or blob
• Medium point, clear barrel
• 1.0mm Tip
• Line width: 0.4mm
• Black
• Packed 50
• 48% off the RRP!
• Now just £8.76 for 50! That’s just £0.18p each!

The Green Bit

The BIC® product philosophy has always been focused on simplicity, functionality, quality and the best price/quality tradeoff. Since the launch of the BIC® Cristal® pen, the style and design of BIC® products, and the materials that go into them, have had but one purpose: perfect harmony between their form and the use they are designed for. There has never been any place for the superfluous. Faithful to its “just what’s necessary” philosophy, BIC tries to find the perfect harmony between product quality and the quantity of materials used in manufacturing. For this reason, BIC has an ecodesign approach for all products. This approach means integrating environmental considerations, starting at the product design phase. They progressively integrate ecodesign into their Research & Development processes.

They recognize that nearly every aspect of a manufacturing business, including the production, distribution, and end disposal of a product and its packaging, has the potential to impact the environment, human health or safety. It is clearly their responsibility to minimize those impacts. The challenge is to develop solutions that protect people and the environment while allowing them to maintain the product quality and value that consumers demand. BIC accepts this responsibility and this challenge. Their approach is to collaborate with their employees, suppliers, customers and consumers to identify, assess and minimize the environmental, health and safety impacts resulting from their manufacturing operations, their products, and their product packaging.

The BIC Group has directed all BIC factories to establish an Environmental Management System compliant with an internal Group standard. Individual factories are free to exceed this Group standard, where appropriate, as long as they maintain a focus on continuous improvement of environmental performance. ISO 14001 certification is not implemented in the whole Group but only for selected factories that have chosen this way of making progress. However, they do not promote nor forbid the usage of this certification.

The fineliner pen is designed for many areas with a huge range suitable for users such as the professional, children and then of course the standard pen. One way to decipher which pen is best for your own personal need is to take a look at its nib and line widths. Line widths include 0.3mm, 0.4mm, 0.5mm, 0.6mm, 0.7mm, 0.8mm & 2mm line widths, so you’ll need to think about what style of writing or design work you’d like to create or for teachers and parents, you’ll need to decide which would be best for a child learning to write and draw.

Fineliner pens are commonly used for writing, sketching, drawing, caricaturist, cartoon, architectural plans, watercolour fine details and all general sketching. The selection must be extensive to cover all these areas as professional users will need to find specific qualities for their individual needs. For this reason, here you will find a huge selection from many quality and budget brands such as 5 Star, Artline, Berol, Bic, Papermate, Pentel, Pilot, Stabilo and of course Staedtler – this is naming just a few!

Take a look at our Edding 55 Fineliner Pen for example.

• Ideal for detailed writing and drawing
• 0.4mm nib set in metal casing to protect and support
• Long write out length
• Water-based ink
• Line width: 0.4mm
• Black
• Packed 10
• With 30% off, this is now just £7.83!

This is a great example of a professional fineliner pen perfect for the designer or the artist and yet is affordable for most budgets. However there are plenty more fineliner pens where that came from here at Office 365, so why not take a browse for yourself!

The Green Bit

At Edding and Legamaster, responsibility for the environment is an enshrined part of company philosophy. When they plan their products, packaging and materials they also take into account the environmental aspects. This is a commitment that goes far beyond the statutory limits imposed. One consequence of this, for example, is that Edding markers and writing implements contain the “kindest” solvent possible. Most of their products are refillable. By offering cartridges and replaceable nibs, they can extend the life of their markers and so offer an attractive financial gain into the bargain. Refill it, don’t bin it: that’s their motto.

It is also the company’s principle to reduce the amount of packaging to the absolute minimum and to use standardised ISO multi-purpose packaging made of recyclable materials with a high waste-paper content. And it goes without saying that they avoid PVC, polystyrene and foam CFCs whenever they can. In 1995, Edding AG were awarded the much coveted B.A.U.M prize for the environment in recognition of their efforts.

On 1st January 2008 Edding became even ‘greener’. From this day on the Headquarters in Ahrensburg as well as the distribution centre in Wunstorf are consuming “green” energy by Greenpeace Energy. The decision was supported by the Management Board – only with the consequent use of environmental friendly energy the environment can be protected and preserved. Within this context all employees at Ahrensburg and Wunstorf were informed on this step were encouraged to make this step in private, too.

The highlighter, where would we be without it? We use highlighters everyday to help in the home and in the office. Some people call it a lazy person’s tool; I call it an intelligent person’s tool! The highlighter can be used for a variety of different purposes, however is most commonly used to mark useful information in documents and books. The bright ink contained in highlighters is translucent but extremely visible due to its vibrant fluorescent or neon pigmentation. Most if not all highlighter ink is water-based and so can easily be washed out of materials and wiped clean from surfaces. Important information is highlighted in order to indicate key points, this can be beneficial recital reasons, study purposes or for highlighting information for other people’s reference.

The highlighter is a truly irreplaceable office, home and school item used to mark information on text, graphs, or charts that are reviewed in one to ones, meetings and to mark text that will be needed as reference for a later project. The editors ‘must have’ tool; there are too many times when it isn’t convenient to wade through an entire text to find pieces of relevant information, an editor will highlight essential text for emphasis saving much time and effort. Our highlighters are available in a wide variety of vibrant fluorescent colours, such as blue, green, pink, yellow and orange.

But which brand do we see first when we think of highlighters? Stabilo of course with the red swan inside a circle; Stabilo have become a household name recognised across the globe! Stabilo have been in production for more than 150 years, founded back in 1855, their name standing for colourful, ergonomic and ground-breaking products which offer not only superior quality, but innovative ideas and desirable products. Take for example the traditional Stabilo Boss Highlighters featured to the right. With its chisel tip and 2-5mm line width, it is the original highlighter with the distinctive non-roll shape and high fluorescence ink which goes on and on and on….

At Office 365 we have a huge variety of different highlighters are most popular at the moment being the blue highlighters and the green highlighters, why not take a look and discover which your favourite is!

STABILO GREEN

Stabilo want to preserve nature and the environment for subsequent generations. That’s why they continually optimise their production and working conditions. Stabilo pencils are continually adapted to the latest product requirements and are often pioneering for the entire industry. As a logical consequence of their environmentally aware approach, Stabilo have developed a dedicated product line: STABILO GREEN pencils are made from renewable woods, obtained from controlled, environmentally responsible forestry operations. By introducing their own range of sustainable, high-quality pencils made from renewable woods they are making an important step towards increasing environmental protection. In this, Stabilo works closely together with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which certifies the pencils in the STABILO GREEN line.

LIVING RESPONSIBLY

Every company bears a heavy responsibility – towards people and the environment. Because modern production processes use precious resources. That’s why Stabilo converted early on to environmentally friendly solutions. And they’re proud of the figures and results. At their international production sites, Stabilo pay painstaking attention to ensuring that they handle natural resources such as water and wood in a responsible way, save energy or consistently increase their recycling rates. They employ state-of-the-art technology to minimise the effects on the environment.

Sharpie permanent markers where invented in 1964 by the Sandford brand and almost overnight became a worldwide success, so much so in fact that in some areas of America, a permanent marker is referred to as a Sharpie – another example of a brand becoming a household name, just like Hoover and Sellotape. The Sharpie writes on almost any surface from glass, wood, fabric and stone, to plastic, metal, leather and of course, paper. Did you know that David Beckham is now one of their top celebrity endorsers? Sharpie pens are now available in 24 different bold colours and inks, line widths and styles; we have a great range of those wonderful varieties available here.

Featured are our Sharpie Permanent Marker assorted pack 12 and our Sharpie Permanent Marker assorted pack 4. The 12 pack comes in colours black, blue, red, green, aqua, berry, brown, lime, orange, purple, turquoise and yellow, while the 4 pack comes in colours black, blue, red and green. Featuring:

• Permanent on most hard to mark surfaces
• Durable fine fibre tip
• Line Width: 1mm
• Assorted wallet of 12 or 4
• 12 pack – 39% off and just £6.99!
• 4 pack – 44% off and just £2.21!

We can safely say that these prices are the cheapest you’ll find in the UK, unless of course you go to a car boot sale! And if you’re looking to buy a few packs, you could save yourself even more with free delivery on all orders over £40.

Sharpie Tip of the Day

Got Sharpie ink somewhere it’s not supposed to be? Spray WD-40 on a rag and then apply it to the stain in a circular motion softly scrubbing the marker ink. Next get a clean rag and continue to wipe away the marker until it is all gone. It really works!

Did You Know?

Sharpie is the brand of permanent marker chosen by celebrities globally as the autograph tool of choice.

Currently, more than 400 million Sharpies are made each year. That’s enough for 4 Sharpies per household in the US.

After reading this last article in the Daily Mail, I’m beginning to think the world really has gone Gaga…After her last attention grabbing ‘meat dress’ which I can only interpret to be making a statement of equality, will Lady Gaga go for this bizzar design? Hmmmm…

In celebration of BIC Crystal’s 60^th year anniversary, designer Annette Carey has…configured a dress made using a staggering 1,200 biro’s! I only wish she’d ordered them in from us, missed an opportunity there! The modern looking size 10 design weighs a hefty 8lbs which is over half a stone, although the designer claims that it is completely wearable. With some rather controversial reviews and comments, this dress is a definite ‘Marmite’, you either love it or hate it! But would Lady Gaga like it? I have a feeling that having taken 13 hours a day, and 35 minutes per biro Ms Carey may be slightly offended if Lady Gaga gives a thumbs down to this, Ink-redible dress.

Back to reality and on a serious note, we do all need a constant supply of pens and biro’s or rather ball point pens, tend to be the preferred choice. Here at Office 365 we have quite a choice including assorted, black, blue, general, green, grip, red, refills, retractable, steel and more. However BIC have to remain the number one choice, and why not on their 60^th anniversary, go for the Crystal?

Did you know?

• The hole in the barrel of a Bic Crystal pen balances the pressure inside and outside the pen, pushing the ink towards the tip and preventing leaks.
• The Ink in a Bic Crystal is water-resistant, dries in less than two seconds and writes smoothly.
• Bic Crystal pens are designed by BIC in it’s own factories with machinery designed by Bic. The ink that fills a Bic Crystal pen has even been designed and manufactured by Bic to ensure that perfect smooth writing experience.
• Each Bic Crystal pen will write for at least 125 miles!

Does this scenario sound familiar to you?

“Kids, wash your hands and sit up the table, its dinner time!”

“Ooh what’s for dinner mummy?”

“Wait and see, hurry up, I’m dishing up now”

Ring Ring, Ring Ring, Ring Ring

“Oh! Timing – Hello?”

“Hello Madam, this is Michelle from the (doctors surgery/dentist/recruitment agency/bank/school/accounts – you get the idea), I’m calling to change our appointment date if possible, can you make it next Wednesday, say 11:00?”

“Ummm, ok, let me just get a pen and paper and right this down…ok, Wednesday did you say, hang on…my pens not working…no, it’s no use, hold on a moment while I get another…right then, oh hang on, this one’s dried up too!”

“Mum! What’s that smell?”

“Oh no! The dinners burning! Darling could you open the back door…Hello, yes, sorry about this, ok, I have another pen, so Wednesday at what time?…No! This pen doesn’t work either…look it’s no good I have to go, but its fine I’ll remember, ok, goodbye”

Why is it we never have a pen when we need one? Well that’s a lie, I normally have several, but the problem is none of them work. We all use pens, in the office, school, out and about, at home, and so keeping a good supply is essential. There will surely be a moment in every day where we all use a pen, especially in the home or office. However in some environments it’s more important than in others like at work. There really is no excuse for allowing your pen stock to dry up (if you’ll excuse the pun), it would be almost impossible to keep an office running smoothly without them.

At Office 365, we have a fantastic selection of pens pencil and writing supplies including a selection of ball point pen which was invented in 1938 by a Laszlo Josef Biro. We have brands such as 5 Star, Bic, Berol, Century, Cross, Ecolabel, Paper Mate, Parker, Pentel, Pilot, Remarkable, Staedtler, Uni-Ball and Uno.

Our dry markers are available in assorted, black, blue, green, red, orange, white and yellow and are available from brands Uni, Sharpie, Pilot, Pentel, 5 Star, Artline, Bic, Ecolabel, Edding, Nobo, Staedtler and Uno.

Our fineliner pens are available in assorted black, blue, green and red and in various diameter nibs, as well as handwriting type pens. Technical pens can be notoriously difficult to maintain, but we have a range of brands that have developed sophisticated constructions which give a consistent, clog-free ink flow. Choose from brands 5 Star, Artline, Berol, Bic, Papermate, Pentel, Pilot, Stabilo and of course Staedtler.

Our flipchart pens are available in assorted, black, blue, green, red, chisel tip, bullet tip, assorted and general and are used in conjunction with a flipchart pad. Choose from brands including 5 Star, Berol, Ecolabel, Edding, Nobo, Staedtler, Sharpie and Uno.

Our fountain pens are available in black, blue and red ink from standard to high quality brands Bic, Cross, Parker, Pentel, Pilot and Waterman.

Choose from gel pens in black, blue, green, red, metallic, assorted and grip options and from nib sizes from 0.3 mm to 1.0 mm and line width from 0.2mm to 0.8mm. We have brands including 5 Star, Bic, Parker, Paper Mate, Pentel, Pilot, Post-it, Stabilo and Uniball.

Grip pens are useful when grip is difficult and when learning to write. Our are available in assorted, black, blue, green, red and soft grip options and from brands 5 Star, Artline, Bic, Pentel, Pilot, Stabilo and Uni-Ball.

With many more pens to offer including Italic Pens, OHP Pens, Permanent Markers, Retractable Pens, Rollerball Pens, Steel Pens, Water Based Markers, Whiteboard Pens and Highlighters, Office 365 are the UK’s number one online supplier of all your writing supplies.

Are you looking to replenish your art supplies? Do you work in a school and your art and graphics supplies are running low? Are you out of chalk for the chalk board, maybe the guillotines seen better days, or maybe the pencils are down to stubs or have been dropped one too many times? Or maybe you work in a graphics studio and your graphics pens have dried up, you’re all out of covering film or you need a new way to store your work? Alternatively if you’re a professional artist and the tools you’re working with just aren’t up to the job; you need new knives, cutting mats, or maybe some quality pastels? Alternatively, you’re sat at your computer right now just looking for a pack of crayons for the children to keep them amused this half term. Whatever the requirement and whoever you are Office 365 are here to help.

Our range of crayons chalk and charcoal are available in many varieties; we have Stephens Superline Chalk, Bic Kids Plastidecor crayons, Staedtler Lumocolour Omnigraph Marking Crayons, Derwent Academy Oil Pastels and more. With brands such as these, you can’t go wrong.

Our cutting mats are available in A1 – A4 size and also replacement mats for trimmers, plus self healing, anti slip mats too. Used to protect your knife and your table top or surface, our selection of Linex cutting mats are also a useful measuring guide.

Our selection of drawing aids includes items such as compasses for mathematics, drafting, and navigation, for drawing circles and arcs and for measuring on maps. We also have drawing boards and stands made by Rotring in A2 and A3 sizes, sketch pads, geometry supplies including protractors, templates, set squares, rulers, school sets, compasses, stencils and transfers and a selection of miscellaneous items for specialist drawing.

We have a beautiful range of fine art pencils including Derwent Academy Colouring Pencils, Derwent Graphitint Pencils, Derwent Pastel Pencils, Lakeland Colouring Pencils, Lakeland Colourthin Pencils, Lakeland Painting Pencils, Derwent Academy Sketching Pencils, Derwent Graphic Pencils and Derwent Watercolour Pencils.

Also choose from our selection of other graphics supplies with items such as architects and drafters trolleys, clamps, drop mount wall brackets, front load binders, front load wall racks, Quickfile binders and more all made by Hang-a-Plan. We also have Linex drawing tubes, Pelltech suspension tape, R-Kive stands for rolled documents and API Tenza covering film for covering books, maps and documents.

Choose from our quality range of cutters by Avery, Linex and Scotch, guillotines from Avery, Dahle, HSM and Rexel and trimmers by Avery, HSM and Rexel most available with spare parts too.

Are selection of knives are available in blade, disposable and knives & cutters options. Our blades are made by our quality yet budget brand 5 Star, plus other brands including Stanley and Swordfish. Our disposable variety is made by Stanley and Swordfish and our knives and cutters are by 5 Star, Stanley and Swordfish.

Lastly is our range of technical pens which are used by engineers, architects, or drafts people, to make lines of constant width for architectural, engineering, or technical drawings. Our range is by the prestigious brands Edding and Rotring.

A teacher without a whiteboard pen is like a doctor without a stethoscope. The same could be said for those holding meetings and running a business. Most businesses wait until the New Year before they replenish their stocks, finding it an unnecessary chore before Christmas. Up until this time companies can find themselves running on air, beading their last pens, markers, tea supplies and paper supplies dry so that they can have the luxury of a holiday from making new orders. Well give yourselves a pat on the pack for seeing your company through it, however now you’ve used every last morsel, you’ll need to stock up for the year ahead, plus you’ll need it fast seeing as you’re all out. Thankfully Office 365 offer generous savings on bulk orders, free delivery on orders over £30, plus super fast next day delivery!

Take our Pentel EasyFlo Whiteboard Pens and Eraser Kit featured to your right.

• Liquid ink marker with unique ‘tip and go’ mechanism
• Point nib downwards for quick ink reviving action
• 800m writing distance
• Refillable ink for economical use
• Ink colours black, red, blue and green
• For white or porcelain boards
• Visible ink reservoir
• Bullet point gives approx 2.0mm line width
• Takes MWR1 refill
• Part of the Recycology range
• Made from 81% recycled content
• Eraser Kit
• Markers fit neatly onto eraser
• Supplied complete with one black and one blue marker

Whether you’re an office worker, a school teacher or a hitchhiker, our range of whiteboard pens are suitable for use by everyone and at an affordable price too. The above pens now have 22% off making them just £3.94! Plus being refillable means that it’s an expense you won’t have to think about again. By the way; when your pens do run out, don’t panic. You’ll have a couple of days to organise their refill if you give them a temporary boost. Just dip them in nail varnish remover and pop the cap back on for a few minutes. You should have a wonderfully vibrant marker in no time. Alternatively, if their water based, dip the tip in water instead. Another tip we’ve been given by our blog fans is to pop them in the fridge, this too should revive them.