Paper-Ya on Granville Island - Beautiful Papers and Treasures from Around the World

Elegant & classy wax seal is a great way to make your letter/creation stand out. Here's how to make it [video]

The concept of using personal seals dates back to ancient Egypt, where seals were applied to documents using strips of material. Over the ages, seals have been composed of clay, bees wax, resin and more recently sealing wax.

Sealing an envelope with a wax seal is a great way to make your letter stand out from the rest as it adds a touch of elegance and class.

There are generally two methods to apply wax seals. In the first method, you can directly apply the melted wax to your document/envelope before applying the seal, as shown in the video below:

In the second method, you can choose to apply all your seals to non-stick craft paper (a.k.a. wax paper) first, as shown in the video below. After the seals hardens, peel off and apply to the original document or envelope with craft glue. This method ensures that every finished product has a perfect seal. We recommend practicing before applying your seals to your creations. 

The wax seal stamper should be oiled before each use. Baby, mineral & vegetable oil all work well.

   

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Who said you cannot find Zen in anything ephemeral? We beg to differ

Ever find yourself wanting to doodle just for doodling-sake without wasting papers? We found ourselves wanting to focus on our task, but sometimes a quick diversion to re-focus is just what we needed even if it lasts only for seconds. Doodling as an art of diversion can be extremely productive when channeled right and Buddha Board can help immensely.

Better have a camera handy though, because you never know, that Picasso within you might just be bubbling up to the surface as we've seen time and again:

       

Digital girl in an analogue world

The first word processor I'd ever seen was introduced to our grade three class. We were told we had to learn to type faster than we could hand write, and as I searched for the right letters, small hands stretched wide across a great expanse of keys upon keys, I wondered how anyone could possibly type faster than they could write on this clunking thing.

Today I type faster than I hand write. And my handwriting is atrocious.

Right now, I'm preparing for a month-long trip wherein electricity will be guarded and cherished as if it were a pile of precious kittens. Read: the laptop shall be used sparingly. I haven't written steadily with a pen on paper since I kept a diary with a lock on it. My grocery lists look like the cat wrote them. I sometimes question the worth of my opposable thumbs.

Enter graph paper, a friend of anyone who was brought up to type rather than hand write. Those neat little squares beg to be filled with perfectly legible handwriting. Also: yellow paper! I will sing the praises of these Rollbahn notebooks for all eternity. Or until I get back to the city to suck up as much electricity as I possibly can.

Along with the Rollbahns, I've armed myself with a couple Delfonics ballpoints—so sleek, so slidey—and some irresistible nautical clips. I count on being thoroughly inspired and struck by bolts of amazingness, since blank notebooks and full pens bring a certain ring of threat—er, promise, to a writer. Anchors aweigh!

Folks, don't try this at home or you'll risk creating excuses like "my dog ate my homework" :)

Yup, with a regular journal, your pages will fall apart when you roll it up, fold it back, open it wide & push it flat on the table. Sure you can use scotch tape to put everything back together (or risk losing the pages and use oft-cited "my dog ate my homework" excuse.) OR, you can simply use the Zequenz 360 Roll-Up Journal with its unique glue binding which allows for a complete 360 degree opening with perfect writing comfort in every movement & occasion. Roll it, fold it, open it wide & press it flat on the table, the pages in Roll-Up Journal will stay intact, guaranteed. Sorry, but you simply can't blame it on your dog any longer :)

           

Filed under  //   gifts to give & receive   journals   on the shelves   staff picks   stationery