Colour Me Happy

In the rolling hills of Pyes Pa, Amanda Gilbertson (pictured above) and husband Roger have transformed their property into a blooming flower emporium, bespoke event space and thriving crayon business.

If you look further afield, there are buzzing hubs in the nearby developing areas, but her home
is a haven surrounded by kiwifruit and avocado orchards, and a gully of native trees.

Amanda’s rural life wasn’t always on the cards. “We lived in Pillans Point, where our boys went to school, in a house we painstakingly renovated. One day, I was just browsing Trademe and stumbled across this beautiful lifestyle property overlooking native trees with a nice house and cottage, which all seemed really idyllic; but what really got my attention was the shed, as I had a few old caravans that I had been wanting to restore, so the space was perfect for that,” she says.

“We moved in December 2019, renovated the cottage, had a party in February and then went into lockdown in March,” says Amanda. Faced with the ongoing restrictions of lockdown, she geared herself up to return to the corporate world, where she’d previously built a successful career working for corporates as a growth and innovation advisor.

“I remember thinking about going back to work one morning as I was sitting in the spa, overlooking native forest, listening to the tūī, and I was reminded about the fact that so many people I’d worked with over the years had been working towards a point where they could buy a house on a big piece
of land that overlooks a gully of trees… It was a lightbulb moment — I realised I had everything
I’d worked really hard for, for so many years. So my mind went from dreading to go back and find
a job, to thinking of ways that I could make this place work for us.” 

The property had old orchid tunnels that served as the perfect place for Amanda’s first business,
Miss Mandy’s Flower Emporium. For six weeks a year, from mid-December to end of January, the public is welcome to visit the farm and pick a bouquet of flowers (perhaps hydrangeas, callas, zinnas and even towering sunflowers) to enjoy fresh or to dry at home. The space also has a bespoke event area for hosting kitchen teas, kids’ parties or even small weddings, which Amanda can officiate as
a certified celebrant.

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The seasons dictate the availability of fresh blooms of course, so after one growing season,
the Gilbertsons decided to buy another business to run out of the large adjacent shed. “I found
NZ Crayons for sale on Trademe and we bought it in 2021. I’m the crayon maker, head up the
strategy and design, and Roger works part-time around his consulting business doing the logistics and admin,” says Amanda. “We now do wholesale educational and industrial crayons in the
tens of thousands.”

The crayons are packaged under two brands, Retsol and Spectrum. Spectrum offers industrial crayons, generally in the giant size. The crayons are often found on building sites, roads, timber manufacturing plants and steel plants. “Due to their waterproof nature, our marking crayons have found different applications in timber and forestry, on plastic, glass, tyres, concrete, leather, steel
and more,” says Amanda. The range is also available in fluorescent colours, offering high visibility and easy readability, making them suitable for sensor recognition in a timbermill grade reader. 

The Retsol brand is an acronym of ‘RETurned SOLdiers’, as the disabled soldiers from World War II made them after returning home. “It’s a 60-year-old brand and I remember vividly using a green Retsol crayon as a kid. It has such a huge history and so we’re very proud to now be custodians
of the brand.” 

The Retsol crayons are a standard size and mainly go into schools and hardware stores. Since
buying the business, the Gilbertsons have added their own stamp on the business by expanding to include a new retail range with a diverse colour palette, including shades inspired by New Zealand’s flora and fauna. They also recently released bundles of shorter, fatter hexagonal crayons that are perfect for little hands to grip on to. “Crayons are great to develop fine motor skills and to learn the right grip that’s needed to control the hand,“ Amanda says. “I would love to eventually start running kids’ crayon making workshops in our area too.”

The crayons are made from paraffin wax and food-grade pigments. The wax is sourced from China and Egypt as it offers a good medium for the pigment, meaning the crayon is more vibrant and long lasting. “This is an important factor in industrial applications, but also means we provide them at a competitive price point for schools and pre-schools who want to buy New Zealand-made products.” 

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NZ Crayons are hand-poured and often hand-wrapped, and recycled paper is used for packaging and labels. Amanda refers to “Betty”, one of the original machines that she uses to individually wrap crayons — Betty can wrap 1400 crayons an hour. “When she’s working,” clarifies Amanda. It seems that although there’s a beauty in artisanal crayon making, the challenges it throws up can also warrant an additional half hour spent calming down in the spa pool. “But we have about 25,000 crayons that go out every month, in different colours, so it’s pretty exciting.”

To help them meet the demand, Amanda says she has a few local working mothers who can help
out during the week. “They’re able to come in around the kids’ school times or part-time so it’s a really good option for them to just be able to take crayons to bundle up at home — it’s a bit more flexible.”  

While it’s a mammoth task to take on the logistics of such a prolific business, Amanda says there
are more plans to grow. A creative at heart, she enjoys playing with the machines and moulds to experiment with different shapes and sizes, and loves coming up with new ideas. “We found the first year a huge learning curve, especially as many of our raw material costs increased dramatically. However, we now have some lovely new packaging, a new retail range and plans to grow over the next two years into new markets and products. And all from a shed in Pyes Pa!”

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At the heart of NZ Crayons is a love of art and a desire to inspire creativity. “Crayons are a tool for self-expression and exploration, and also an essential practical tool. It’s a pleasure to be able to share the magic and explore the possibilities to make it safe, more accessible and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of age or ability.”

nzcrayons.co.nz 

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Story by Clarissa van Emmenes
Photography by Adrienne Pitts

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