About a week ago I received a really exciting email. Daniel and Linda from Gumnut Hill Stationery introduced themselves and offered to send me some products to review from their range. This prompted me to ask if the brother-sister team would mind doing an interview for StationeryReview.com, and they happily obliged my curiosity!
Not only is their stationery really cool, great for the environment and hand-made, but they are based in Brisbane, Australia (about a 30 minute drive from where I live). Just to whet your appetite, here are a few pictures from their website:
The interview
Andrew: Tell us about yourselves
D&L: Gumnut Hill is a home-grown Australian brand of classic-style stationery made exclusively from recycled materials and using eco-friendly printing processes. The range is the ongoing artistic creation of an idea and style we (Brisbane-based brother & sister team Daniel & Linda) wanted to use ourselves and couldn’t find. Think vintage-inspired notebooks and parchment-styled pads reminiscent of past eras and simpler times.
Andrew: How long have you been interested in Stationery?
D&L: Pre-birth? Certainly for as long as I can remember the process of writing has been vital in self-expression…and the freedom/release that comes from allowing thoughts to be focused in words. The writing materials then become significant because they enhance the creative flow – they seem to draw you into the moment, the now. You know, the scratch of the nib on paper, the flow of ink etc.
Andrew: What made you want to start your own business?
D&L: We were on the search for quality writing/sketching paper made from recycled materials for our own use and couldn’t find anything. So we started to make our own, got feedback from others that our stationery inspired them to write – for themselves and letters to others – and realised that this needed to be shared.
Andrew: Why is Eco-Friendly such a large part of your business?
D&L: It’s essentially the reason why we started it. The paper-industry is a massive player in the destruction of the worlds forests and natural environments, which ultimately impacts human life. Obviously it’s happening all over the world. But closer to home, native forests within Australia are being logged for timber to make photocopy paper. As consumers we each exercise the power every time we buy a product to either support or destroy our environments.
The best paper is made from 100% post-consumer recycled waste. All Gumnut Hill paper stationery is made from this (with the exception being two products made from 100% recycled material). Not only does it mean less trees are cut down, but it reduces the amount of paper dumped in landfills or incinerated; less energy is involved in the process when compared to making paper from virgin fibre; fewer greenhouse gases are produced and less water and air pollution are created as well.
Andrew: Has it been hard getting in to the stationery market in Queensland, or Australia as a whole?
D&L: Yes. In terms of sourcing high quality materials for our stationery and making products locally, this has been hard. Not that we knew this before starting. It has been an intense journey of discovery.
In regards the stationery market as a whole: it has been difficult when you’re up against mass-produced mainstream stationery products manufactured cheaply overseas. But the people who use our products are looking for something special that they wouldn’t find everywhere, so our stationery has quite a distinct unique appeal.
Andrew: What do you see in the future for Gumnut Hill?
D&L: Continuing to find creative inspiration in our local roots, sustainable community, eco-conscious ways of living – more ideas and design, offering exciting and new sustainable paper materials.
Andrew: Where can we buy your products?
D&L: In our Gumnut Hill Online Stationery Shop on our website, or at our stall at Northey Street Market* every fortnight (check our website for current dates)
* corner of Northey and Victoria Streets, Windsor, QLD Australia
6am-11.30am, every Sunday
Andrew: And as a final fun question, what is your favourite, or most used piece of stationery?
D&L: Mmm… equally loved and used is a Memo Book for jotting down lists, notes etc, and Fountain Pen for transforming the everyday writing experience into pure pleasurable art.
Thanks a lot guys for the opportunity to interview you both. Personally, I love the look of their products, and am really looking forward to reviewing some of them shortly. Please have a look at their Website and Store, and subscribe to their newsletter while you are at it! They ship internationally, and you would be supporting local (to me!) Australian stationers!
My first ever fountain pen was a Lama Safari (As reviewed here) and so I feel an attachment with the brand. They are a German company, who makes writing instruments from low-budget ($10 or so) ballpoint pens, to the high-end luxury fountain pens. I recently contacted the Australian Lamy distributor and they offered to send me some pens to try out, so here is the Lamy Nexx, in the brand new limited edition Citron colour!
The Nexx is a pen which Lamy have developed and marketed to early teenagers, or children who are a little too old for their “ABC” range. It’s priced at $39 (depending on the retailer), which is a little cheaper than a Safari. The body is made from anodised aluminium, which tapers from circular at the grip, to triangular at the end of the pen. Unfortunately this means you can’t post the cap.
One thing I did notice is the body can be dented fairly easily, so care should be taken so you don’t drop the pen. Then again, some people like the “Beat up” look of worn in stationery.
One thing I love about this pen is the nib. I don’t know if it is because my Safari has the dark-coloured nib, or if it was just luck, but this Nexx writes much smoother. It still suffers from a fair bit of Nib Creep though, just like all the Lamy nibs I have used.
For the writing test I have used the standard blue Lamy cartride that came with the pen. While I’m not reviewing the ink, it is a nice blue, a little on the light side, but has some nice shading.
The medium nib gives a very smooth, wet line, and has some variation when you press a bit harder. It didn’t skip until I drew really quickly.
Personally, I don’t think the Nexx is for me. My hands are too big, leaving the shorter body and the fairly small grip uncomfortable for more than a few lines of writing. But for smaller hands (the target audience) I think Lamy have done a great job. The cap is vibrant, the nib is great, and the overall look is fairly “hip”. I would definitely recommend it for any younger writers!
Hey Everyone! Firstly, I would like to appologise for the lack of posts in the last few weeks. Patrice and I have taken a holiday, and I came back to a new job which I have been concentrating on. I am heading back to my normal position next week, and am planning to get back on schedule ASAP. Thanks for hanging in there!
You may have noticed some other changes around the site. I have updated my “Links we Love” section to include all the blogs which I subscribe to currently. I know there are more out there, and I will keep updating it periodically. If you want to get your blog there, feel free to contact me!
On the “business” side of things, I have signed up with a new advertiser who has much better beliefs, and makes things easier with their ads. You can check them out Here.
Now as a little tease, I have recieved some stationery which I need to review including the new Lamy Nexx Citron, an amazing Visconti fountain pen, the Rhodia R-Pad, a few new inks from Noodler’s and Diamine, and various other supplies. It’s getting exciting all up in here!