You Know It's The End Of The School Year When...

... The kids bombard you with artwork! All of the wall displays are taken down from the classes and the pictures are sent home. Most arrive ripped, covered in twisted staples or slightly crumpled after being rammed into their bags, but it's always lovely to see how creative they have been.

Minxy has so far this week returned home with quite a collection!

A cat carrying flowers...

Smiggle - Where a Smile Meets a Giggle

I'm slightly obsessed with pretty stationery and I have quite a collection of notebooks, pens and pencils hidden away at home. Anything that makes writing letters and work related tasks that little bit more exciting is certainly a bonus in my eyes! Plus who doesn't want brightly coloured goodies in their pencil case or school bag?!

Smiggle, an Australian based company, sent the Mini Mes a lovely variety of fun and funky stationery supplies to unleash their creative potential. Although the products are primarily aimed at children I was thrilled to un-box such a wonderful collection of items (and possibly a little green with envy) knowing that the kids were keen for me to get artistic with them! I obviously jumped at the chance and they helped to unpack the beautiful supplies in lightening speed.

What we received

Bubble Hardtop Spot Pencil Case

12 Scented Twin Tip Markers

12 Double Sided Pencils

2 Whammy Sharpeners

Giant Twisted Eraser

2 Maze Pens

Animal Pencil

Treats Rainbow Pen

Book Lite

Scratch Book

Sketch Book

Stencil Book 

Minxy was keen to take everything to school that day to show her friends as she was that impressed by the unique and quirky pieces. I have to admit I was really pleased with the quality and I loved the fact that the attractiveness of the stationery was encouraging the children to draw and colour! 

After school we placed all of the items onto the table, grabbed some coloured paper and got stuck in...

We all had a great time being creative and talking about some of our favourite movies and games (can you guess what the kids drew?).

The pens with their own case was ideal for storage but being double sided, similar to the pencils, meant they didn't take up much space in the pencil case anyway, especially with its different internal sections.

I'm hoping the Mr treats me to some stationery of my own from Smiggle as they have some great value things that I love... especially the strawberry gift set below! Well, it is nearly my birthday after all.

 OPENING IN THE UK

The first of the Smiggle stores to open in the UK is at Westfield, Stratford on 20th February 2014 followed by launches in Reading, Brighton and Kingston.

You can find out more about their stores and products here:
www.smiggle.co.uk



*We received a collection of products from Smiggle for the purpose of this review. The opinions given are honest and our own*

Shoplet Stationery *Review and Giveaway*

I hadn't heard of Shoplet.co.uk until I was approached by them, but having had a look at the website and product range I wish I had sooner - they provide great value stationery for the whole family and small businesses at competitive prices. 

We were sent a few items to try...

Bic Kids Washable Water-Based Felt Tip Pens

With water-based colour you don't need to worry as much about clothing as apparently the ink comes straight out in the wash! Hands were cleaned easily too so mums and dad need not panic when the kids want to be creative. The set of 12 pens with transparent lids have medium sized tips suitable for both detailed doodles and larger pictures too. 

The tips seem strong too and weren't ruined when a little pressure was applied by Jamster drawing dogs and turtles!

Bic Kids Sharpenable Crayons

These crayons are not only great value at £2.54* for a set of 24, but they are sharpenable and a lot more robust than a standard crayon. We began doodling on some paper and soon discovered that the coloured crayons can be rubbed out just like a pencil - great for any errors. 

They come without paper wrappers and won't make your children's hands messy. A great buy for home or school pencil cases.

Silvine Exercise Books (10)

With the return of school little ones may need somewhere to practise times tables and spellings at home and instead of using bits of paper, which often get lost or binned, these exercise books are ideal.

The A4 sized books are similar to those used within schools and the lined pages keep work tidy and organised with ease. The space on the front allows you to fill in your child's details and with 10 in a set you can use a few yourself for any shopping lists or work you may need to write down too.

Derwent Academy Colouring Pencils

This set of 24 pencils comes in a tin for storage and with high quality pigments they are perfect for a budding artist and even parents to use for their own drawings. These are more suited to older children than toddlers and pre-schoolers but they are still strong enough to be used by someone heavier handed!

*** WIN ***

For your chance to win a set of each of the above items you can enter via the Rafflecopter entry form below.

The giveaway closes on 25th October 2013.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**We received some stationery for the purpose of this review. The opinions given are honest and our own**

*Before VAT

Fun with chalk

The Mini Mes have been out in the garden after school the past two days. Chalk tub in hand, they head out the back door and spend the early evening doodling away on the walls and patio until dinner.

Their latest creations are actually quite good (well I think so).  They have used parts of the wall in their masterpieces as body parts...

A funky owl by Minxy

Spongebobs baby brother by Jamster

Move over Banksy ;)

Do your little ones like to draw? What tools are their favourite?

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