MAKING FATHER’S DAY FABULOUS // tech gifts that are full of heart

 ‘Behind every great daughter is a truly amazing dad.’

Hubby was working last weekend, so this year we celebrated Father’s Day after I got back from BritMums instead.

The girls had something extra special for Daddy this year – during half term we’d visited one of those pottery cafes and made him a hand-painted plant pot, so he could put it on his desk at work and ‘remember how much we love you!‘.

The girls worked on the pot together, each painting one side with rainbows and hearts for Daddy. To me, anyone can go out and buy a gift, but to sit down and make something, and put all your effort into it, makes it more special than anything money can buy.

That’s also why I usually get the girls to make their own cards – I keep a stash of blank ones at home so they can make personal creations for all their friends and family. Then I found out about the cool WACOM BAMBOO SPARK, which is a digital sketchbook that converts drawings and handwriting into digital images.

When we were asked if we wanted to try one out as part of a cute Father’s Day project, I knew we could make the perfect card for OH. The task was simple: get the girls to write down what makes their Daddy a superhero, then let the Bamboo Spark do its thing!

Now, this technology is kinda amazing. Basically, the Bamboo Spark Digital sketchbook looks like a folder, with a drawing pad on one side, and a space for your iPad or smartphone (not included) on the other. In the middle is what appears to be a ballpoint pen in a snazzy metal casing.

Using it is SO simple – you download the Bamboo Spark app, then draw an image on the pad provided (or any piece of paper, if you run out) using the provided ballpoint pen. Then, with a simple click of a button, all the writing, doodles, notes and drawings get converted into a digital file that appears on your iPad or smartphone. Magic!

From there, you can email the images, print them on to cards, or even convert your handwritten notes into text (where was this tech when I was a journalist? I could have saved WEEKS wasted trying to decipher my terrible shorthand!).

So, these are the messages the girls came up with:

Nawwwwwwwww! 

Then – a lovely surprise – the Wacom team at Ranieri Communications had our images made into bespoke Father’s Day cards, which we duly presented to Daddy yesterday.

Not only is this a gift with real thought, but you can upload your kids’ most adorable doodles and messages, and keep them forever.

But it’s not just the kids who will love this. You can use the pad to jot down anything – notes, random thoughts, blog post ideas – then either save the pages is in JPG or PDF format, or convert your scribbling into text. It’s compatible with iOS and Android, and you can save or share these notes via email, sync them with most note-taking apps, or store them using softward such as Dropbox or Evernote.

You can even use it offline, as up to 100 pages can be stored in the Bamboo Spark until you can connect back to Wacom Cloud, or your own online storage.

How does the digital sketchbook work?

It’s the folder itself that makes the magic happen – the special board is able to sense the location of the tip of the ballpoint pen and record all its strokes, then exactly recreate them as a digital image.

Clever, right? 

The Bamboo Spark digital sketchbook will set you back around £119 – which I thought was really reasonable, considering you can use any A5 paper with the device (FYI: this model is ideal for note taking and light sketching – if you’re a serious artist, you need to invest in the super-duper professional Wacom Intuos tablet).

Check it out in action here: 

• our Wacom Bamboo Spark digital sketchbook was provided for the purpose of this review

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