If you are sitting at a desk reading this right now, do me a favor please; take a quick inventory of your pens. I’m betting at least one of them is a Pentel. Personally, I have loved Pentel products most of my life because my Mom, a busy account manager, used their pens almost exclusively.  That’s why I was happy to work with #Shopletreviews who provided me with complementary Pentel products to share my thoughts with you. All opinions are my own.

Happy 50^th Pentel! 

Pentel of America sold its first pen in 1965. That’s the same year the Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 space capsules conducted the first Earth orbit rendezvous in history.  And, here’s a little known fact, each astronaut carried a Pentel Sign Pen in their sleeve pocket!  

The Pentel Sign Pen made another famous appearance in 1965 when then United States President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed his “Great Society” during his State of the Union Address. He signed the Address with a Pentel.

Admittedly, I’m not signing anything as important as a former President, and I’m certainly never going to be an astronaut – but I still sign and write some pretty important pieces of paper her in my little corner of the world. 

My family and I love Pentel’s new Vicuna line of low viscosity fine ballpoint pens. They come in a rainbow of ink colors and write ultra smooth while drying fast on the page. Perfect for quick notes and homework, these pens are already migrating into other parts of our home. 

Equally easy to use is the Twist –Erase III fine point automatic pencil with a jumbo eraser. My daughters prefer mechanical pencils for school work and found the ergonomic comfort grip a huge plus.

My personal favorite of all the Pentel products sent to me for review is hands down the Pentel EnerGel Alloy medium point roller ball pen. 

It has the style and feel of a much more expensive pen. The quality of ink makes it a superb writing pen that I will keep handy for signing important papers that need a smooth, quick dry- no smear signature. 

You can shop and save on these Pentel products and other office supplies by visiting the links found on each product above and by visiting Shoplet.com. 

Please share in comments: What color of ink is in the pen you are using today?

As any small business owner will attest, keeping track of all the moving parts of a business can be daunting. As a WAHM with two small businesses to manage, I’m here to tell you that the most valued tool in my home office is a working pen. Yes, the lowly, highly under-rated and often sought after pen. 

When Shoplet.com sent out an email to their review bloggers asking if we’d like to receive a complimentary set of Pilot pens and highlighters to review, I think I broke some sort of response speed record letting them know I’d be happy to share my thoughts on the new Pilot products. All opinions and doodles shared below are completely my own.

Pens and highlighters are essential tools in any office or home, but my stash seems to dwindle as family members pick them up and forget to return them. Now that I’ve handed each person living here a brand new Pilot B2P pen, I’m hopeful my pens will stay on my desk and kitchen message station. 

We received these Pilot products:

I love all the Pilot products sent to me. I have fun writing my daughters notes using the various colored pens and erasable highlighter, but my favorite pen of all has got to be the Frixion clicker erasable gel pen !

I love how smoothly this pen glides over the paper. I love the feel of it in my hand. I love that the ink dries quickly so I don’t make smudges as I write.  This is a very important feature for a leftie! And I love that if I do make a mistake, I can simply erase it without ripping the paper.

Well done Pilot!

If you need to re-stock your pen supply, I invite you to head on over to Shoplet.com and check out their office supplies and other promotional items they offer. You can learn more about each type of Pilot pen by clicking on their linked names above.

I love office supplies and trying out new ones but I never saw a need for a tablet stand because I don’t use a tablet often. However, my daughters use their tablets all the time, so when Shoplet.com asked if I wanted to try a tablet stand free of charge, I said sure. I’m very glad I did.  

One of the things I noticed right away was how small the tablet stand was. It folds down for easy storage which is a huge plus for me. Whether I keep it in my office, or one of the girls takes it to their room, it will fit in a drawer or cubby easily.

Another nice feature of this tablet stand is that you can use your tablet in portrait or landscape mode and rotates 360 degrees.

The hands free design makes playing games, pinning, following recipes (both on and offline) a breeze. I even found it holds paperwork to ease viewing and entering information on spreadsheets.

All in all, we really like this tablet stand and find it is a good value for the price. I invite you to go to Shoplet.com to learn more about all the Kantek products.

Please share with me in comments: do you use a tablet often? If yes, do you use your tablet more for work or fun? 

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

It is the end of the year my friends and I can’t think of a better way to end a great year of reviews than with 3 product reviews! Shoplet.com was kind enough to send me 3 office supply products shown below free of charge in the hopes I would share my thoughts with you. All opinions are 100% in own and may differ from yours.

Product 1: Rolling Wrist Rest:

The rolling wrist rest is ergonomically designed to help reduce joint stress. Independent 360 degree wheel rotation makes it easy to work with your mouse or keyboard without lifting your wrist.

My Review:

Old methods die hard, so even though I have used the rolling wrist rest for a few days, I still find myself lifting my wrist more often than not. In time I may get used to utilizing it. I do find my wrist feels less fatigued just resting it on the wrist rest while I read online, so I do recommend this product for those of us that work a lot online, or on a computer. You can learn more about this product here.

Product 2: Smarter Dual Action Gloves:

Microfiber, dual action Smarter Gloves are a smartphone users dream come true. No longer do you have to take off your glove to answer a call. These gloves provide any finger activation, touchscreen cleaning and are washable & reusable. Perfect for your tablets, readers, music, Navigation systems and more.

My Review:

I was excited to give these gloves a try during our last cold snap. I’m happy to report they really do work! I kept my gloves on to answer calls, clean my screen and share pictures on Instragram. I did have to take my glove off to text though because I grew frustrated with my misspelled words. As with the wrist roller, I think there is a learning curve and the more I use these gloves the more proficient at texting with them I’ll become. I like them and think you will too! You can learn more about this product here.

Product 3: ReStor-It Furniture Touch-up Kit:

For use on wood and wood laminates pieces like cabinets, doors, frames and more.  This set of 3 filler sticks and 5 touch-up markers fills and stains to restore beauty to furniture.

My Review:

I couldn’t wait to try this out on a few new dings our Cherry Entertainment center took over Christmas. Since my husband is a custom furniture and cabinet maker, I let him do the honors. He was very pleased with this set saying it is the most comprehensive touch-up kit he’s seen short of a professional one and he liked the way the product did what it was supposed to do quickly and easily. I loved the fact that I can no longer see scratches in my entertainment center. We do highly recommend this product! You can learn more about it here.

That’s it folks- my last reviews of 2013. Thanks so much for reading them. I hope you found them helpful in making a purchasing decision. That is why I do what I do here on my little blog that could.

Please share in comments if you have used any of these kinds of products before.

Stay tuned for more reviews and giveaways coming soon in 2014. I think it’s going to be a great year!

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."