Versatility is the key with most printers these days; most manufacturers want you to start using their machines for a wide variety of projects, so that you receive the best benefit from the printer and to try and make sure it really does answer all your needs.  This way, you will stay loyal to the product you have bought.  This is a good thing because it may also encourage you to try some fun projects with the printer, rather than just mundane office tasks.  With it being the start of the New Year, we thought you might like to see some of the ideas we have and the first item we have started with is a staple you will need right through the year:

Calendars:  Most people need a calendar on the wall in the office or at home to help make sure appointments and important dates are not forgotten.  It is very easy to go online and find templates which will allow you to customise the calendar with your own photographs.  HP Creative Studio has a range of calendars; some preformatted and others allowing you to add in your favourite photographic images.  These would make lovely gifts to other family members.  Ideally, select the best photographic paper you can afford to get the best look and finish or if you want to make it sturdier, why not select cardstock or coloured card.  Check your printer manual to see the highest paperweight your printer can handle.

Business Cards:  Often at the beginning of the year, people start thinking about re-branding and analysing where their company is going.  This is a good time to use your company for a number of marketing materials including business cards.  This can be very easily printed on many of the current printers today and they offer a cheaper solution than using an external print company.  Look for dedicated business card paper which is specifically created for the job in-hand and this will give a decent and professional looking finish.

Postcards:  These are another useful marketing tool and for short batches to a targeted audience, these are often easier to run off on a printer in the office.  Once again, it is easier to buy dedicated postcard paper but it is also easy enough to guillotine a sheet of paper with multiple images on it.

Wedding Invitations:  With the current combinations of decent papers and fantastic printer inks and printer toners, it is entirely feasible to print beautiful bespoke wedding invitations for your big day.

Christmas and Birthday Cards:  Although Christmas has just passed, it is possible you are smarting at the amount of money you spent in the shop to buy individual cards for your loved ones.  The solution is clearly to move this task onto a printer and create cards with images made specifically for the recipients.

Do have a look at our website as we offer wide selection of office supplies, card, papers, toner and ink for a huge range of printers.  If you cannot find what you are looking for, do give us a call and we are always happy to try and source them for you.  Happy printing!

It is barely Autumn but here at The Supplies Group we feel it is timely to write about some items we stock which may keep you organised at the beginning of next year.  For those of us, who like to have things well prepped in advance, there are a number of essential tools we need to purchase for the coming 2013.  Of course, the doom bringers would have you believe there is no need to purchase anything with the word 2013 embossed on it, as they predict the end of the World but here at The Supplies Group we are a little more optimistic and like to mark our birthdays and up-coming events on the calendar!

Here are the items we would recommend:

Day Planners:  These are extremely useful for busy offices with many projects on the go; students who need to prioritise their workloads and even busy parents who have multiple family members taking part in many activities.  If you find yourself needing some help to remember deadlines, this is definitely the tool for you.  We offer a large wall mounted Sasco day planner, with space for 40 staff or projects and symbol stickers and pen.

Calendars:  This is where it is possible to fill your boots with delight as we have an absolute plethora of calendars to offer to you.  We appreciate some people like to get their hands on desk top affairs, slowly ripping off each day in a countdown to a new year and then there are others who like to have something more A4 sized, with the ability to handle notes.  Of course the total seriously calendar aficionado will total dig this offering here, which comes equipped with 2 markers and 3 magnets on this calendar.

For the traditionalist, here is a wall hanging calendar.

Finally here is one of the many desktop calendars we offer.

Appointment Books:  Every organised person or busy business needs to have an appointment book they can look at and update on a regular basis. Here we have an appointment book which has spaces for every fifteen minutes and has been bound in such a way to allow for it fall flat when open.

Why not have a look around the rest of our site, as we offer printer toner and inks, catering items and more pens than your average Sixth Form student.  Please do give us a call on 0800 783 5839 if you need any further advice or cannot find something you are looking for.  We will always do everything we can to help the customer.

All classrooms go through a large number of supplies over the academic year and we would like to help our customers who are teachers to be able to stock up in an economical way.  We have gone through our wide range of inventory we now stock and have listed the five most essential items for any busy classroom.

Whiteboards:  This item is a mainstay of any classroom and overtime they can become marked and stained.  We do stock a variety of sizes to fit your needs.  Have a look at this one here or try this easel whiteboard version here.

Markers:  These are something needed in abundance and The Supplies Group stock a range of different types to match handwriting and colour preference styles.

These also work on overhead projectors and flipcharts.  These markers offer four basic colours and are economically priced.

Pens/Pencils: All teachers need a quality stock of pens and pencils for both themselves and students.  Try this pack of 60 slimline ballpoint pens or these 20 economical ballpoint pens.

Pencils are available in automatic pencil style or a standard HB pencil in a pack of 12.

Erasers: These go hand-in-hand with marking and students working.  We have a few varieties including these erasers in a pack of 10.

Paper:  This product is needed for school projects, letters and general work.  Take a look at our marbled paper.

We also offer specialised paper, such as this pack of 30 certificates.

We also offer a range of photo papers too.

These are just a few of the items we can supply any school with.  Take a look around our site, as we also offer catering products, printer and toner supplies, diaries, personal organisers and planners.  Do let us know if you are looking for a product and cannot find it, by giving us a call on 0800 783 5839 and we will do our best to help you.

Raising children in a healthy way can be a challenge with soaring food prices and restricted wages but we have some ideas here to help you make the most of the food arriving into your fridge and kitchen.  Hopefully some of these ideas will also stop the children complaining about eating the same food and some of these ideas are designed to get the children involved in the cooking, which is always a bonus for parents.

Leftover roast sandwiches:  Buy a slightly larger joint of meat and then use the leftovers for sandwich fillings.  Add in different vegetables or condiments as to your child’s liking.

Homemade soup:  Take advantage of any bones or carcasses left over from a Sunday or mid-week roast, to make a delicious broth.  This can be cooked overnight with just an onion, a couple of carrots and a bay leaf.  Skim off any scum as it arises initially and in the morning you have a lovely flavoured, cheap and nutritious treat.  Add any other vegetables, beans or rice; pop it into a flask and feel good about using every part of the roast you could.

Water:  An essential for growing children, as dehydration can lead to poor concentration and tiredness.  Buying bottled water in bulk is one way to save money.

Hummus and vegetable batons:  Kids just love to get messy and involved.  Hummus is deeply satisfying to a child, as they get to dig around in the food and experience different textures at the same time.  Plus it is not like regular eating (read ‘boring’), so it appeals on that level too.

Homemade energy bars and biscuits:  These can be used as a desert and within them it is possible to sneak in seeds, fruit and vegetables.  Sometimes children need the odd naughty treat and biscuits are a great way of satisfying that need.  We have a wide selection of energy bars and biscuits here.

Salmon or Tuna cakes:  Keeping on a virtuous theme and if you are looking to use up any leftover mashed potato; then crack open a tin of salmon or tuna and make small fishcakes for their lunchboxes.

Mini quiches and muffins:  Muffin trays are extremely useful when it comes to small people.  Make a batch of savoury muffins with ham and cheese and then use it to make perfect sized small mini quiches with sneaked in vegetables.  These both freeze extremely well and allow hassle free lunch box packing in the week.

Boiled eggs:  leave in their shells for children to delight in cracking open and serve with homemade flatbreads, salad and vegetables.

Deserts:  It is easy to whip up individual egg custards, made from milk, cream, eggs and honey. Other options are yogurt, fruit and homemade muffins.

Of course for really economical parents out there, growing your own vegetables and fruit will keep the cost down even further.  We would love to hear your suggestions, so feel free to email us at The Supplies Group with pictures or recipes.

After an academic year of trudging children backwards and forwards to school, manic rushes in the morning and school projects finished at the midnight hour; the magical summer holidays suddenly present themselves.  These holidays conjure up images of languorous days spent in hazy sunshine and eating ice creams.  In reality, the holidays fly by and then all too soon autumn is on our door-step and a new school year is upon them.

Parents who enjoy leading a relatively stress-free life understand organisation is their friend when getting back into the swing of things.  This is where The Supplies Group can help.  We believe there are a number of tools you can use with success to make everything run a little smoother.

Calendars:  This is an essential.  One parent probably has a good idea in their heads about what is happening over the course of the next few months but the other may have less of a handle on when appointments and holidays are happening.  To keep the family aware of when they need to be somewhere, make a note of school holidays, dentist/doctor appointments, staff training days and parent teacher evenings.

White boards:  These are lovely tools for the whole family to get involved in.  Make notes in the morning to act as reminders for the children to take their PE kits or to remember to take important school letters.  They can also be used to write funny messages to start the day on a positive note.  Let the little ones write comments back and get them practising their writing and spelling.

Dry markers are available here:

Try this white board here:

Day Planners:  For those parents who work part or full-time, a day planner in the office or kitchen can really help the day run seamlessly and allow for meetings planned around the children’s needs.

Notebooks:  Instead of scrabbling around for a bit of paper, make the most of a notebook for shopping lists and any other to-do list.  The children may also want to take these out and about with them when they are exploring the world.

We also sell a wide range of pens, printer toners, inks and paper, to help with printing out documentation and projects.  You can find more at our recently enhanced website: www.suppliesgroup.co.uk

With all the talk about the fantastic 2012 Olympic event taking place in the UK this summer, our products also wanted to contribute and hold some kind of competitive event themselves.  Of course, stating our products can speak might sound a little bonkers but this is what sets us apart from other office suppliers …we pay close attention and listen to what they have to say!  It appears our office supplies have a whole reward scheme for others goods to aspire to and some of the examples are listed below.  So, on your marks, get set …… go!!

Most Useful Desk Accessory:  This section was a close run thing and we ended up with a sulking tape dispenser, which felt it should hold the title of most useful.  We however, concurred with the pens, as life in an office without a pen, can be pretty hard going.

We like to use Pilot pens for clear writing and signing.

Most Needed Office Supply: Once again this section swung between pens and paper, with standard office paper coming up trumps, due to the sheer amount of printing going on in offices today.  We offer a wide range of different papers and this marbled paper is compatible with all types of printers and copiers.

Most Innovative Supply: This little gizmo has revolutionised our lives and it appears the colleagues of the Flash Drive USB drive agree.

This product is 2 GB Flash Drive and has a handy clip-it feature, where it can be used as a paper clip too.

Most Sensible Office Product: The personal organiser came in streets ahead of any of the competition on sensible office product.  The Filofax Metropol is definitely a classic and smart choice. Although if you like things slightly more on the jazzy side, this Filofax Songbird Organiser could be the one for you.

Most Creative Office Supply:  Finally, after much discussion it was felt there should be a category for those people who like to do beautiful and creative things and are paid for it; then this Rotring Designer Drawing Board should appeal.

So, as you can see, our supplies feel we have a few clear winners on our website.  These are just a small selection of amazing items we have on offer.  Please visit www.suppliesgroup.co.uk to have a look around and see if you can receive a talking package!

Do you find yourself in a dilemma, trying to stay focused on your work projects but instead finding your mind wandering off to other realms?  You are not alone as it is so easy these days to find yourself sidetracked due to the advent of on-line technology and hand-held devices.  Of course, to anyone who values their job, they will want to find ways to stop this happening and increase their productivity instead.  Here are my tips for getting through those pesky boring patches and annoying times with ease:

Carrot and stick:  Give yourself permission to do the things you want to do but make sure it is after you have completed a designated task.  Allow yourself time away from your desk to break the routine your brain may find itself in.  A feeling of apathy can often be averted if you know you can spend some time doing things which are more creative.

Be energised:  Without wishing to sound preachy, the old adage about getting enough sleep works wonders.  Rolling into work, already feeling exhausted is a sure way of your brain tricking you into wasting time flicking through brochures, scrolling through emails and rifling through your in-tray, whilst achieving very little.  If you do feel tired in the mornings (for those who have young children or have hectic schedules), consider exercise, yoga, meditation or just some plain breathing exercises.  It is incredible how the chemicals produced in the brain and body when exercising and breathing consciously, help to wake up the area of the mind needed for productivity.

Timings: I find I have a massive slump around 3pm and I now use that time to do things which are not mentally challenging and try to take a break, eat a healthy snack and change my focus.  Try and establish when your productive times are and get stuck into those tasks you are finding slightly daunting and leave the routine tasks for when you are less stimulated.  Remember to drink plenty of water if you are feeling tired, as dehydration can really slow the brain down and might be contributing to those periods of inertia.

Love your environment:  Clear the clutter and jazz up your working area to make it a place you want stay in and turn it into somewhere where you feel inspired.  Filing your paperwork and placing a couple of beautiful items into your work area, can make the working day feel more unique and motivating.

Try to remember work is only a small part of your day and you can still find plenty of time to get out and do the hobbies you want to do once you are free of your responsibilities.  Creating a positive mindset to the routine of working and using the tips above to help you through the day, should see your to-do list decreasing easily.

With the pressures of work, we can often fall into a trap of feeling exhausted, eating badly and then crawling into bed tired, only to repeat the pattern again the next day.  To get out of that rut sometimes takes a bit work.  We have listed some tips below to give you a starting point and allow you to wave good-bye to those previously stressful days.

1) Walk to work:  I understand this point is not strictly in the office, however starting the day with good momentum, sets the tone for the rest of it.  Walking to work will allow you to gain some fresh air and exercise but will also allow you, if you so desire, to use the time to relax and clear your mind.  Try focusing on your surroundings, rather than your two o’clock meeting and you will hopefully arrive at the office in an excellent mood.

2) Healthy breakfast: Avoid that mid morning slump by eating something decent in the morning.  If you skipped breakfast at home, make sure you have something you can eat when you first get into the office.  You could pack a breakfast to take with you to avoid eating something convenient from a local shop, which may not be as healthy.

3) Take your own food:  Some people need to eat little and often and taking your own snacks into the office are an ideal way of controlling what you eat and making sure you do not succumb to a bar of chocolate or packet of crisps.  Nuts and home made healthy energy bars are a good way of controlling blood sugar levels.  Continuing on this theme, taking your own lunch into the office is one way to make sure you stick to eating nutritious food throughout the day.

4) Get out and about: It would be a waste to remain sat at your desk with all that delicious food.  Once again, getting outside or changing your environment does wonders for the soul and when the weather is beautiful, there is nothing nicer than sitting outside with your packed lunch.  You may even make some new friends or contacts at the same time.

5) Keep hydrated:  This is a common cause of stress headaches and general fatigue and one easily rectified by simply making sure you drink enough water throughout the day.  This is especially important if you drink copious quantities of coffee or tea.

6) Exercise:  Enrol in some physical activity during your lunch break.  Decide on something you feel you can stick too.  Some people prefer a relaxing activity like yoga; others need to burn off their frustrations with intense cardio activity in the gym.  Either way, the benefits to your overall health is enormous.

7) Maintain your goals:  If you visualise where you want to be with these healthy choices in a few months time, you are far more likely to stick to your goals.  It can be difficult when your colleagues are eating doughnuts during a tea break but ultimately the long term benefits out weight any temptation you may be feeling.

8) Cleanliness: Have a good scrub of your desk and wash your hands on a regular basis.  Offices can be a breeding ground for germs, as communal areas can become pretty grubby.  Make sure you ventilate your office on a regular basis by opening the windows to get a blast of fresh air into the stuffy environment.

After a while, adhering to the choices you have made to get fitter and healthier will start showing and in a few weeks not only will you look better physically, you will also feel better. Your colleagues may even want to put down the doughnuts and join you in your campaign!

Have a good look at your desk.  What does it say to you?  Same old boring office supplies, with nothing to do but sit there and wait for their usual uses?  Well, we say let’s get a little creative here; after all, if you are reading this you are probably looking for something to take your mind off your business tasks!  Here is a list of 10 items we have considered in a different light.  Some of these ideas have been taken to a new level by other people and have actually made them some money.

1)     Paper Clips:  This item has the biggest offering out of all of them.  Plenty of frustration has been vented whilst twisting and bending an innocent paper clip into a variety of new shapes.  Some people even calm down enough to make pretty people or animal shapes.  How about this as an idea: using them to make a faux beaded curtain and of course this could either be in the standard metal colour or the multi-coloured plastic coated type.  Stretch them out and you could make a metal ‘wicker’ basket around a standard frame.  A very modern take on a traditional idea.

2)     Toner Cartridges: Of course sending them back to the manufacturer to recycle them is one option but how about getting a little bit more open minded?  Dependent upon size, they could be cleaned (carefully) and then decorated using plastic covering paint and used as a paper weight.  Another suggestion is to use the toner casings to make desk lamps or hanging lamps.  It depends on the type of toner you have access to but if part of it is white or light plastic, this can work really well, as they are used to high temperatures within the printer and will therefore cope with the heat of the lightbulb.  It also looks totally cool.

3)     Duct Tape:  All jokes about keeping people quiet aside, duct tape is remarkably strong and flexible, so there are a wide range of mediums it can be used for.  People have created the most amazing clothing using duct tape and have evolved it into mundane items like a wallet, furniture.  Of course it can also be dedicated to practical solutions like mending a tear in tent fabric or temporarily seal areas shut.

4)     Sellotape:  Duct tapes younger cousin can be used to clean your keyboard, along with excelling at removing fluff from your clothes when you are in hurry to go to a meeting and the cat has attacked you on your way out the door.  Some actresses and singers swear by it, as an aid to make them look more youthful by pulling their skin tighter.  We can, in no way, confirm the effectiveness of this!

5)     Paper:  This has fairly obvious child friendly uses and can be kept in a rainy day box along with a pack of paper mache glue and then crafted into something new and exciting.  Paint it and then make the decision to keep or destroy it i.e. think along the lines of a piñata!  You could even use more paper to make confetti to fill it with.  Then of course if you are bored in the office, there is always the chance of a sneaky bit of origami.  Just what you need when trying to relax … complicated Japanese folding patterns but hey, each to their own!

6)     Binder Clips: If you are lucky enough to own a plastic slotted fridge shelf rather than a solid glass one, then this could be the tip for you.  Sick of your cans or bottles rolling around and not stacking properly?  Attach a clip at the side of the bottom row and they will no longer be able to move, allowing you the ability to stack on top.  Binder clips also work equally well in the kitchen as recipe card holders.  Just tap a nail into the wall or glue a magnet to the clip and you have an easy to read holder.

7)     Mouse Mats:  Non-plastic coated ones can be used at the dinner table or in the kitchen as trivets.  They could look equally funky as placemats around the dinner table.  This might require purloining a few extra ones from your colleagues to get enough.

8)     Cardboard Tubes:  These can be used in the garden.  If they are large cut them down to size and plant seedlings in them.  Biodegradable and free!  If you are a crafty person in your spare time, you could use them to house your knitting or crochet needles.

9)     Post-It Notes:  The scourge of many a desk until you think about using the sticky bit to get the remnants of those ciabatta crumbs stopping your letter ‘s’ from working properly.  Other uses: bookmarks, shopping lists and to label food in the fridge.

10)  Old CD’s: Knock up a mobile on a grand scale and hang it in the conservatory or outside.  If you have vegetables growing in the garden, hang them around on posts to deter birds and consider using them as kitsch party invitations.  You can use the cases to scrape off ice from your windscreen in the wintertime.

Well there we have our take on a few items within your office which could be used in your life elsewhere.  If you have any suggestions, we would love to hear them and please email us on blog@suppliesgroup.co.uk.

Often we get into a rut with our printing.  We send our invoices and routine paperwork over to it day in, day out without a thought about some of the skills it could be put to, with a little bit of creativity.  Here at the Supplies Group, we thought it would be a fun exercise to print out images and text using T-Shirt transfer paper and see how else we could use this unique product.

The beauty with this type of printer paper is it works on a regular inkjet printer using standard inks.  There is a ‘wrong’ and a ‘right’ side with this paper and the image will come out reversed. The instructions with the type of paper you specifically pick to suit your printer will let you know which side to use to place the application of heat.  The heat source is simply an iron and you just need to make sure you can pick a sturdy and solid surface to iron upon.  You will also need a piece of fabric like a tea towel or muslin in between the paper and the iron.  It is as simple as that but the magic of this paper comes alive, when we explore non-traditional sources to iron onto.  Here are a few to consider:

1)     Tablecloths and napkins

2)     Children’s cloth nappies

3)     Bags

4)     Mouse mats

5)     Hats

6)     Scarves

7)     Bedding

8)     Wood

9)     Underpants

10)  Children’s Dolls Clothing

As you can see there are probably limitless options, with all clothing so long as it can be stretched as flat as possible.  There is of course a definite wow factor when it comes to making a project with a family member at the weekend and one achieved with relative ease.  Most fabrics are applicable, just be wary of anything which cannot tolerate the necessary hot iron.  We have been racking our brains for a sensible wood item we could iron the image onto we thought using plain wood to make coasters and then treating with varnish on top, would work well.

If any of you out there are inspired to give this printer paper a whirl; we would love you to email over the outcome of your endeavours.  Happy printing!