About Pencilify Custom Pencils | USA Made Custom Personalized Pencils

Pencilify Custom Pencil Boxes | USA Made Custom Personalized Pencils

OUR STORY

We’ll be honest, being left to our own devices for a few months during a pandemic was how Pencilify was born in 2020. Not that making awesome custom pencils wasn’t on our to-do list already, but the Coronavirus “lock-down” cleared our calendar just enough to help make it happen! Like any normal person, you might be asking – “Why Pencils?” Well, I guess this is the part where I’m supposed to definitively answer that for both of us..

We saw a really cool video on YouTube once about a woodworker making their own pencils and I guess ever since then I’ve just had pencils on the brain (Exciting, I know..). With a vintage Kingsley M-75 and Kwikprint Model 55 hot foil stamping machines idling on the table, we set out to put them to work. Truth be told, Pencilify was born out of the perfect storm of boredom and having access to the right tools from a collection of other hobbies – like leather crafting!

MEET THE TEAM – Well, this is sort of awkward because when we said “we” all those times earlier, I was really just referring to myself, Steve Moser, and my dog Annie. If you want to learn more about us – check out the Team.

OUR MISSION & VALUES

Proudly Made in the United States

It’s getting harder and harder to find goods that were made in the United States – so we are pretty happy to be able to say that the pencils we offer were made right here in America. While we don’t make the pencils from raw material ourselves, we work directly with a supplier who does, so we can share in their pride of providing a high quality item. Our search for American made goods doesn’t stop at the pencils – so we will always try to support US companies first when offering items in our shop – even if it means a slightly higher price.

Supporting Important Causes

The Environment, Civil Liberties and Digital Rights are just a few of the many things that are important to us. So for every pencil we sell, we will set aside 10¢ to make a donation to a one of the following organizations to show support. That means for every pack of 10 pencils we sell, we could plant a tree or help make a difference for the future.

Nature Conservancy | American Civil Liberties Union | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Protecting the Environment

Our planet is important – so we do our best to stay conscious of what materials we are using, where they came from and where they are going. Not only do we want to make sure we are using less then we need to, but we want to make sure that when we are done with what we need it ends up in the right place so it causes the least impact to the environment. We encourage all of our customers to do the same!

Nature Conservation | Pencilify - Custom Personalized Pencils

OUR PROCESS

Pencilify Custom Pencil Letters | USA Made Custom Personalized Pencils

Your Customization - One Letter at a Time

For each small order of personalized pencils placed at Pencilify, we start the process by opening our small oak box of individual 10-Point, handset foundry type letters.

After we’ve located our handy pair of tweezers, we meticulously pick through the wooden box of letters like a chicken, hunting for the letters to make up your requested phrase. Not only does this give us the opportunity to sing the alphabet song on a regular basis, but more importantly – we can inspect each letter for quality and wear, ensuring a great impression on your personalized pencil. The letters are then carefully placed into the (often hot) type holder for the most exciting part of the process!

Individually Hand Pressed to Perfection

At Pencilify, there are no “robots” or automatic machines to make your custom pencil order – just one man (and two dogs) and vintage Kingsley and Kwikprint arm-powered hot stamping machines.

Once our hot stamping machine has reached a blistering 250° F, we carefully insert a high quality, American made, blank cedar pencil. Selected foil color in place and the pencil squarely aligned, we gently pull the handle with just enough pressure to cleanly imprint your custom pencil without smashing it to smithereens! Once completed, your small set of personalized pencils is inspected to ensure an even foil impression and then carefully placed into it’s hand made packaging for it’s journey to your door!

Now you might be asking yourself, “Why would they share all of their secrets, they barely know me?” Well, we just wanted to make sure you know that when you buy your teacher appreciation gifts, back to school and graduation gifts, or small event pencils from Pencilify, we take great pride in making sure they look great.