Last week I was intrigued by Ana’s You Can Only Keep One post, and then saw several others in the Pen Addict’s weekly roundup. So I decided to dive into my own today! Let’s start with pens in my favorite color: TEAL! L to R: Kaweco AL Sport, Blue Iguana – It is insanely hard… The … | Continue reading
My phase two of my Ink 100 destash project is not going AT ALL according to plan. I needed to pull swatches for every color ink I own from my numerous Col-o-rings and sort them by color in an effort to streamline the sorting process. This was a slow process which required pulling … | Continue reading
I feel like I am still feeling the lingering effects of the eclipse. The magic of doing something with hundreds of thousands of other people, witnessing a cosmic wonder, and just playing hooky from work or school to do so has really fueled my last week. I hope you are still feeli … | Continue reading
A few weeks ago I was browsing through JetPens and came across a notebook I hadn’t tried. I’m always up for testing new paper so I ordered a Sakae TP Iroful Notebook ($9.75). This slim volume is composed of 96 pages of 75 gsm white paper with a 5mm dot grid in Indigo (it also… Th … | Continue reading
The concept and tag, You Can Only Keep One (#youcanonlykeepone), was sent to me by Rachel from Rachel’s Reflections. The idea is to go through your collection of pens and choose just one example from each brand. My list is going to be a completely theoretical game because their a … | Continue reading
For some absurd reason I got it in my head that I’d like to pare down my ink collection to 100 bottles or fewer. This random number, 100, seems like more ink that I could ever use in my lifetime or need, right? Thinking about the ROYGBIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo … | Continue reading
I’ve found that bright red inks on the market seem to contain too much of a cool undertone and lean too far towards the blue side of red. Occasionally I can find a red that is bright but ends up look too orange. When I first saw this ink, though, I knew I found a… The post Ink Re … | Continue reading
My friends and I had a grand time watching the eclipse on Monday. We met in my pal’s backyard and we ooo-ed and ahhh-ed over the eclipse. In the Kansas City area, we were able to see 89.3% of the full eclipse. It was totally worth it to not drive anywhere, and get to see… The pos … | Continue reading
I have always been a fan of Opus 88 pens for their look/style. Unfortunately, they’re also often quite large pens which makes them not as comfortable for me to use. So I was thrilled a few weeks ago to find out about Goldspot’s Opus 88 Mini Fountain Pen in Sakura Cherry Blossoms … | Continue reading
After humming and hawing for months about getting a Plotter, one magically appeared in my mailbox. (The Plotter fairy knows who they are and I am eternally grateful!) The binder came in a bright orange, paperboard box with glossy black foil logo and branding. The box is sturdy an … | Continue reading
Last week, I wrote reviews about the new Ajoto Pocket Paper Notebooks and the newly updated Endless Recorder Regalia notebooks. Having written these while I was ill I was not as thorough in my reviews as I normally try to be. Luckily, kind readers requested some additional detail … | Continue reading
My favorite part of the fountain pen hobby isn’t the pens, it’s the ink. While fountain pens aren’t required in order to enjoy ink, paper is necessary. Typically my ink reviews will use several types of paper – I believe that gives a more in depth understanding of how the ink wil … | Continue reading
With just days left at my jobby-job, I see both adventure and (a little) terror in my future. I have been making lists of projects big and small to tackle in the coming weeks and months. Some would say that I am starting a new chapter, but it feels like I am opening the first… Th … | Continue reading
I feel like Ana and I are sort of running on the same wavelength. Each month she prepares for a new month by pulling out her best supplies, and making small changes based on what worked the previous month. I decided that since we’re just past April 1 (no fooling!) that I’d check … | Continue reading
I have enjoyed sharing my monthly planning set up and tools with you. I hope you find it inspiring or enlightening too. I have been starting each month with a “color of the month”. March was purples which I enjoyed so much. I got to experiment with new brush pens and some gel pen … | Continue reading
Ajoto created a Kickstarter to produce and release three notebooks featuring great paper for writing and drawing as well as notebook covers. I only backed the Pocket Paper notebook portion because I don’t need anymore notebook covers but I can always use more paper. The notebooks … | Continue reading
While in Baltimore, I was able to speak to Bryce at Luxury Brands, the US Distributor for Endless products about the Endless Recorder notebook (A5, $24.99) featuring the Regalia paper. He mentioned that the manufacturer had retooled the paper to try to address some of the issues … | Continue reading
While recovering from my awful cold last week, I also turned my life upside down. I put in my notice to quit my real jobby-job to do focus on being a pen nerd, freelance designer and general layabout full-time. I will have completed my transition sometime in Mid-April. Being a fu … | Continue reading
As I continue to stroll my way though peach inks, this week’s review is De Atramentis Peach (45ml, $14.00). Now I don’t know how I missed it, but this is one of their fragrance inks. Normally that would be a detractor for me, but this one smelled very lightly of peaches. It remin … | Continue reading
I was so happy to be introduced to the new Girologio Denim line of pen cases. I am always excited to see materials, other than leather, used for pen cases. Leather is a great option for a lot of people but having a non-leather option available is also great. The denim 12-pen case … | Continue reading
Thanks to everyone who entered the Monteverde Color Changing Ink Set Giveaway. Big applause to our winner: Jackie has been contacted directly via email so check your inbox. We will have more giveaways and reviews soon so stay tuned! The post Giveaway Winner: Monteverde Color Chan … | Continue reading
This week, I spent a lot of time googling things no one wants to search for: Cold or Flu: How to tell the difference? Bronchitis Symptoms Will my insurance cover…? Etc. So, if you haven’t guessed, I picked up a virus. Or a bacterial infection. Either way, I have felt like crap al … | Continue reading
Ana always comes back from pen shows with goodies for me to try and review, and this time was no exception. When she handed me a bottle of Private Reserve Ink, Infinity Blue (60mL for $25 from Yafa Brands), I was intrigued. This new ink bears the Infinity name because it is devel … | Continue reading
One of the best things about pen shows is discovering a new-to-me creator. At the California Pen Show, I was able to walk around a bit on Sunday and stumbled across Rubato Pen Studio. Her handcrafted mini pens were displayed on vintage cake stands like the candy-colored confectio … | Continue reading
Several months ago, we reviewed the new Monteverde Color Changing Inks. We’d liked these inks so much we wanted to share the fun of these color changing inks with one lucky reader. We will select one winner who will receive the full box set (brand new!) including 9 inks and one b … | Continue reading
If you can’t tell by the title of this week’s Link Love, Gift Guide season is upon us. Check out all the cool ideas for gifts and add them to your wish list. Then hopefully, on Friday, you can buy, buy, buy! On the topic of Gift Guides, keep an eye out for every pen… The post Lin … | Continue reading
Sometimes, the best pen is the one you already have. But maybe, it just needs a little “something something”? In this case, the pen in question is the Pilot Custom 912 ($240) which originally shipped with the FA/Falcon nib — its considered one of the softest Japanese nibs straigh … | Continue reading
I will spare you any off-topic observations this week and take you straight to the links. I also spared you the freakish bounty of links about Harry Styles that came acorss my path this week. You’re welcome. Pens: Studio Neat Mark One Review (via The Poor Penman) News: M205 Rose … | Continue reading
While working at the Dromgoole’s table in St. Louis, I was able to score both of the Sailor Manyo Limited Edition Dual Shading sets (4 each with 20ml bottles, $60). Set #1 is a brighter assortment and includes Haha, Nekoyanagi, Sakura, Nadeshiko. I swatched each bottle on Col-o- … | Continue reading
The Rainforest Retro51 ($59) is an exclusive Retro51 design from Luxury Brands of America. Limited to just 500 units, the pen is a partnership with the Rainforest Trust, a leading rainforest and endangered species conservation organization. With each purchase of the Rainforest Re … | Continue reading
As we head into July, stationery and pen fans tend take a moment to rest, enjoy the summer holidays and then re-evaluate their planner or other analog set-up. It’s just how we roll. This week, several posts feature reviews and reflections on goals and stationery plans that were s … | Continue reading
Pilot Iroshizuku inks are now available in cartridges ($14 for 6 cartridges). Is this something we wanted as a pen community? I am not sure. If I said yes, I don’t thin I would have imagined each cartridge to cost $2.33 each. I mean I love Ku-Jaku but I like being able to put the … | Continue reading
Review by Tina Koyama Many cardboard boxes and cartons appear at our door. I tend to use a basic box cutter to slice them open – but gingerly. Although I haven’t cut myself yet, I have almost cut myself a few times – maybe in my eagerness to get the box open. That’s why one… The … | Continue reading
Inspired by a tag challenge I found on TarotTube (yes, that’s a thing), I decided to modify the questions a bit and turn it in to a pen community tag. If you would like to participate as well, copy and paste the questions at the bottom of the post and add your answers into the… T … | Continue reading