Perry Pencil & Paper: A Little Background Info

     Welcome! This inaugural post has been a long time coming. The origins Perry Pencil & Paper officially began December of 2017 when I was looking for a gift for a gift for a friend. She's the kind of friend that is smart and would enjoy a cheeky gift so I bought her a custom notepad off Etsy ( wish I could remember the name of the shop to share with you all) and a set of engraved pencils. The pencils were made by Smarty Pants Paper Company and purchased at Five In One Social Club in Memphis, TN. While I wrapped her gift I stared at the pencils, wondering how they were made, which quickly turned into - I bet I could do this. As with anything, it's not that simple. It took many months and lots of rabbit holes to figure out how to imprint on pencils, what machine to use, where to get the machine, how to use the machine, where to get the pencils and how to get them to sell to me (this took so long), and so many other things that I can't even remember. 

     The unofficial origins of the shop are in the childhood desk drawers full of Hallmark stationery, notecards, notebooks, pencils, stickers and the legendary Trapper Keeper of the 1980s. I have a vivid memory of staring at a wall of notecards at Hallmark Store or wanting everything at our local stationery shop, Just Write. 

     As you can see in my "About Us" paragraph, life took me on to college and grad school with jobs in advertising, legal marketing, nonprofit fundraising (which I was HORRIBLE at), and teaching Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st. As the child of two entrepreneurs, I have the restless spirit of someone who wants to do it on their own so when the opportunity presented itself, I took the leap into being a full time small business owner in the fall of 2020. 

     When I decided to expand the shop I knew I wanted to add Japanese pens, pencils and erasers, as well as paper products from the US, England and France. Some people might call it curated but I see it as just stocking things I want to buy, myself. 

     While I still struggle with what exactly to call the shop. Whenever someone asks, I tell them I have a stationery shop but I know that doesn't quite cover it. I'm in this biz for the long haul so I'll figure it out one of these days.