Pens Paper Inks...Whatever!

Letters and Journals Swag

2012-01-25T11:41:00.000-05:00

If you are not familiar with Letters & Journals it is the website for the startup Letters & Journals Magazine from Jackie Flaherty. Although, the actual publication of the magazine is still somewhere in our future the website and the Letters & Journals blog are a great source of information about letters, journals and writing.

Letters & Journals has been having a monthly giveaway since August 2010, in fact, I was the winner of the first giveaway. The December 2011 giveaway, is the last that will be held for a while (Jackie has a new business and those commitments restrict her time), so I was thrilled when I discovered that I was the winner of the last giveaway (for the time being).

Jackie has done a wonderful job obtaining wonderful products from vendors for these great giveaways. This giveaway was no different and contained an amazing variety of products.

You can see a full description of all the items I received on the Letters & Journals site.

One of the items (group of items) I received are these adorable poodle note cards from Haley's Handmades. I used one of these cards for a penpal who owes a standard Poodle. These cards are great and they are Fountain Pen friendly.

I really love trying out new stationery and stuff. Thanks, Jackie.

DeAtramentis Black Edition Inks

2012-01-18T11:30:00.000-05:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

Sometime in December, Goulet Pens began carrying the DeAtramentis ink brand. I really did not need any more bottles of ink (the current count is 95), but I was interested in the Black Edition, so I ordered samples. Unfortunately, they were out of the Blue Black when I ordered them.

I am always hesitant to do ink reviews, because the choice of ink can be so subjective. So I've completed the standard review page and will let you judge for yourself. Keep in mind that the inks may appear different from monitor to monitor.

Oh, I also went crazy when Goulet had their recent Samplepalooza sale and have 20 more samples on the way, including the Waterproof Blacks. So perhaps you'll see more reviews.

Featured Pen - Hakumin Koboku Shiage

2012-01-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

My most recent acquisition is a Hakumin Koboku Shiage on an Edision Pearl. Now what does all of this mean?

From the Hakumin Urushi Kobo website

Brian at Edison Pens formed a collaboration with Ernest Shinn of Hakumin Urushi Kobo to produce several limited edition Urushi pens. I had the good fortune to see a number of Ernest's beautiful pens at the NYC Pen Show in 2010. But at that time I was not in the position to acquire one of these beauties. So I watched and waited and drooled over the pens on Ernest's website.

You really need to take some time to explore the website. He has applied his beautiful work to a number of Edision models, but in addition he has applied his talents to a number of well known and recognizable pen models from Parker 51 to Sheaffer Touchdown and Snorkel.

From the Hakumin Urushi Kobo website:

Koboku Shiage, also known as Sumiko Shiage, uses charcoal powder along with urushi to create a matte finish reminiscent of the texture and color of the traditional molded inksticks known as sumi or koboku.

The website also provides a wonderful explanation of what Urushi is:

Urushi is to many, a miraculous substance. It is the sap from the lacquer tree, Toxicodendron vernicifluum, a plant closely related to poison ivy, and as such, considerably toxic. As with its better known cousins, the poison ivies, oaks and sumacs, contact with the tree can cause an unbearable affliction of rashes and blisters. Yet somehow, in some ancient time, someone realized that this liquid—the life-blood of this wondrous tree—holds a hidden potential.

Urushi, as it has come to be known by its Japanese name, naturally cures through a process of oxidation and polymerization into a material with remarkable properties for a natural substance. Once hardened, urushi forms a tough and scratch resistant surface impervious to water, alcohol, minor heat, acids and bases. Because of these properties, as well as its characteristics in application, urushi has an incredible versatility in use from architectural elements and utilitarian wares to fine arts and crafts renown for their beauty and intricacy.

With proper care and skill, urushi creates a wonderful luster that, when combined with countless different decorative techniques, can create objects that are as functional as they are beautiful. Metal powders, nacre, and eggshells, or even substances such as albumen, tofu and flour can all be used in conjunction with urushi to create exquisite patterns and designs derived sometimes from the skill of intellect and craft and sometimes from the whim of chance and serendipity.
Regardless of the technique, the end results capable of urushi are nothing short of miraculous. Yet in this modern time and age, where meticulous crafts of the hand are being threatened by industrialized mass production, the use of urushi has slowly been at a decline. When once Japanware was considered at the pinnacle of the functional arts, it is now little known outside of Asia and specialized circles.

Nevertheless, the craft of using urushi has not yet died out, and there are still many discoveries to be made as craftsmen continue test new techniques and combine modern materials with ancient knowledge. And so, hopefully, the beauty of this wonderful craft will be passed on through many more generations to come.

With that, I present to you my pen.

The nib is 18k ground to an extra fine and the kanji on the section is the kanji for wolf (O-kami). It is also a homophone forthe phrase, great spirit (大神).

Welcome to 2012!

2012-01-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

Since 2012 is a short year, remember the calendar ends on December 21, we only have 355 days to talk Pens, Paper and Ink. So we had better get started.

I thought that I would start the year with a kind of a reference post. Whether you are new to fountain pens or an old hand, I think that you will find something of use here.

Blogs. I am not even going to begin to try to list all of the wonderful and awesome pen, paper and ink blogs which are out there. I am going to refer you to my blogroll with the caveat that I come across wonderful new blogs everyday and cannot keep up with all of them. I don't even begin to think that my blogroll covers them. If you have a pen, paper, ink blog that's not listed, please shoot me an email so that I can add you.

Communities and Forums.

Fountain Pen Network - the grandaddy
Pentrace - articles, forums, marketplace
FP Geeks - the new kid and arguarbly the most active and engaging pen forum around. Home of the FPGeeks podcast
Fountain Pen Board
Fountain Pen Classifieds - if you are looking to buy or sell fountain pens, this is the place
Fountain Pen.it Forum - this is an Italian forum and it is in Italian
Southeast Pen Collectors Club - I just discovered this group and forum (Jan 20, 2012)
The Zoss List - I failed to include this in my original post, this is a rather unique format which uses email messaging to communicate with the group, check it out

All of the above can provide you with a connection to other fountain pen enthusiasts and help to further your knowledge of pens, paper and ink, whether you are a diehard vintage connoisseur or a lover off all things modern.

Organizations.

Pen Collectors of America

PCA Mission

Our organization exists to foster and maintain the integrity of pen collecting, promote the use of fountain pens, encourage and promote effective education, communications and understanding between all collectors, and define pen collecting as an international hobby. Members are interested in the history, manufacture and use of writing instruments. We strive to develop a spirit of camaraderie among the pen collecting community.

Well worth joining. Membership benefits: extensive reference library; The Pennant, published 3 times a year.

Writing Equipment Society

If you are interested in the collection, conservation, study or use of writing equipment – old or new – then you should be interested in our website. Based in the United Kingdom.

Pen Clubs.

The London Pen Club (Ontario)

Philadelphia Pen Collectors Group

Arkansas Pen Club

DC Metro Pen Club

Chicago Pen Club

Dallas Pen Collectors

Florida Fountain Pen Fan-Addicts

Pen Club of India
Singapore Fountain Pen Lovers
International Fountain Pen Society

There are numerous other groups which do not have have individual webpages or FaceBook pages - check the groups page at the Fountain Pen Network and if you cannot find one, put up a post and start your own.

Pen Shows.

Pen shows are a great way to meet other pen people and to learn about pens. The 2012 US calendar is as follows, some of these are links to the 2011 shows since the 2012 shows are still in the planning process.

Philadelphia - January 20-22

Los Angeles - February 16-18

Baltimore - March 2-4

Long Island - March 10-11

Little Rock - March 30-April 1

Atlanta - April 13-15

Chicago - May 3-6

Raleigh - May 31-June 3

Miami - July 13-15 - WOW - when to this link and Bert has used me as a spokesperson - COOL!!

DC Supershow - August 9-12

Dallas - September 21-22

Columbus (OH) - November 8-11

International Calendar.

Southwest Pen Show - Bristol, England - February 12

Eastern Pen Show - Cambridge - March 21
Northern Pen Show - Lytham - April 22
Midland Pen Show - Guildhall Lichfield - June 24
Northeast Pen Show - Newcastle upon Tyne - September 2

Lastly Google fountain pens, fountain pen groups and if you still can't find what you are looking for send me an email, I may be able to help.

Swingline SmartTouch™ Stapler - Shoplet.com Review

2011-12-28T11:30:00.000-05:00

Let me go over some information and disclosures first.

I recently volunteered to become a product reviewer for Shoplet.com. I do not receive payment for these reviews but I am allowed to keep the product.

For this first review, I received a Swingline SmartTouch Stapler and a box of Swingline S.F.4 Premium Staples from Shoplet.com's vast range of office supplies.

Stapler and staples enjoying the December Florida sunshine.

My first thought when I pulled this stapler from the box was that it's broken. I mean, look at it, there shouldn't be that much space between the top handle and the staple chamber. But it's not broken, it's just designed very differently from your everyday desktop stapler and this is what makes it unique. But before I go on with how it is unique lets talk about some basics.

I tried for about 2 minutes to open this stapler, to put staples in, in the fashion that I am used to...lift the top and stick in the staples. I guess reading the back of the box (can you say "duh"?), where it says "QuickLoad™ feature for easy front loading" might have moved things along a little quicker. That button you see on the back releases the filling chamber and you drop in the staples. I did have some problems getting this to release, and to close, but after the initial problems all worked smoothly.

The first, very nice, feature of this stapler is the fact that it takes a full strip of staples, 210 per strip. No more breaking the strip and ending up with little pieces rattling around in the box.

The next outstanding feature is that although this is a desk stapler it is designed much like the little compact staplers that I have always used. I like these staplers because they are small and are designed for one handed stapling, they don't require that you put them on the desktop and apply all your weight the get them to work.

Even though this stapler follows the compact design closely, it also sits very stably on the desk and can be used just like any desk stapler.

Lastly, and most importantly, performance. The package and the product details, state that the stapler has a 25 sheet capacity. I assumed that it would work well on 25 sheets, but not easily. I was very pleasantly surprised. The stapler worked on 25 sheets easily and without effort AND with one hand, so I decided to test it's limits. I doubled over my 25 sheets and stapled. Wow - the 25 sheet limit is an underestimate, it handled 46 sheets of paper easily, the only thing that made it not acceptable is that the staples are too short.

This stapler is available in three color combinations. The black and gray that I received, and combinations of blue or yellow with white. It is also available in the compact style (I have to admit I would purchase the compact over the desktop).

Final conclusion? If you need a reasonably priced, good performing stapler this is the one to get. For me, the only drawback of this stapler is the size.

Staples. Honestly, how do you review staples? These worked well.

ah hem - and this review was going so well - the only way to test staples is to compare them to other staples and the only way to do that is to put different staples in the stapler, right? Well, the stapler now will not work - it is hopelessly jammed and I cannot even open it to get the staples out. Sorry folks, I now have a stapler shaped paperweight.

The staples that I used are standard staples that I have been using in every other stapler in the house, these particular staples are made by Reliable and are fairly old, but that really should not be an issue. It seems to be the release on the back of the stapler which is the issue, it just will not release the the piece that holds the staples. I do not know if this is a design flaw or specific to this stapler, but the stapler simply will not work.

So I have to modify my conclusion. I might be a little hesitant to buy this stapler, however it does have a one year warranty so I would probably give it another chance, but I would give the filling system a real workout the minute that I received it.

Banditapple Carnets 2.0

2011-12-21T12:00:00.000-05:00

I hope that you remember the review of the Banditapple Carnets that I posted here back in June.

I am extremely pleased to let you know that Banditapple has recently released their 2nd edition of the carnet with 3 new colors: Finland Pine, Manuka Honey and Gingerbread; and 2 additional formats: squared and 52-weekly plus blank.

They are available as before in the 3 sizes: Tablet, Handy and PeeWee (you can see the measurements in the photo above.

This 52-weekly plus blank format is really cool. You can enter the month and week on each page and there is plenty of room for notes on the right hand blank page. I am planning to use this one for work in 2012.

As expected, the paper performs wonderfully with fountain pens and ink. I had absolutely no feathering, show through or bleed through. The paper is in-between stark white and cream, I find the color very pleasant to use. The paper is not quite as smooth as Rhodia or Clairefontaine, but it is smooth and it handles the ink very well. If you can't tell, I really like these notebooks.

Arnie, you have produced more wonderful notebooks. Thank you!! Now we just need to get a US distributor.

The Banditapple notebooks are now available in Europe from PaperandCo (1st Generation) and you can always contact Arnie at owner@banditapple.com. My experience is that he is very responsive to emails and I'm sure that he can arrange to get you the notebooks that you desire. You won't be disappointed.

New Iroshizuku Inks

2011-12-18T15:39:00.000-05:00

I received three of the four new Iroshizuku ink colors this past week. The only one that I did not get is ina-ho which is a brown.

I'm a little ambivalent about these inks, they are not quite as intense and saturated as some of the other Iroshizuku inks, but I do like them.

I did not think that I was going to like the kosumosu, which is a light pink, but the more I use it the more I like it. The green is truly a bamboo color and also a nice writer, but my favorite of this group is the mirasaki-shikibu, which is a luscious purple. They call it a bluish purple but I do not detect the blue.

These inks are currently available in the US from Jetpens or on eBay from Engeika, I'm sure Goulet Pens will have these inks soon also.

Journal Bandolier

2011-12-14T12:00:00.000-05:00

About a month ago a Twitter friend alerted me to a shop on Etsy called Clever Hands. Emily, the creative mind, behind this shop has designed and developed a line of what she calls "Journal Bandoliers".

Her definition and story:

[jour.nal ban.do.lier n.] a strap fitted with small loops for carrying pens, pencils, and other handy tools wrapped around a journal, planner, or other book.

Broken pencil points and lost pens drive me mad so I made myself the first journal bandolier. People kept asking where I had gotten it - it occurred to me other people wanted a good solution to the same problems I had been having. So here's the journal bandolier! Your pens and pencils at your fingertips and with your journal. Travel light - draw often.

The bandoliers come in a variety of sizes: mini which will fit a pocket size Moleskine; regular which fits a 5.25" wide Moleskine and large. In addition, there are two adjustable bandoliers, with velcro (that's what I got) or a D-ring closure.

She even has one which will hold your smartphone.

This bandolier has space for 6 writing instruments or a waterbrush and will easily encompass several journals, books or sketchbooks. It is a handy tool for keeping everything together.

This would be a very handy gift for kids to bind their school books and pens and pencils together, oh, wait....do kids still use books and pens and pencils?

Well, if not, I'll use it for mine.

Never Ending Project and DayCraft Winners!

2011-12-11T12:15:00.000-05:00

If you did not see Wednesday's post A Never Ending Project, you might want to take a peak.Then you'll understand these photos.

Yes, I cleaned my desks.

Are they spotless? Heck, no! This is a workspace, but I sure threw out a ton of stuff and I can actually find things now (unless they got put away and I don't remember where).

On with what you are really interested in, the drawing for the DayCraft Notebooks. Let me explain my methodology. There were 42 comments, however 2 were duplicates and 1 did not want to enter, that leave us with 39. Using the infamous, random number generator I chose 6 winners, numbered 1 - 39 based on the order of the comments. I also ordered the journals and the chose a number 1-6, 1-5, 1-4, etc until they were assigned to the winners.

So the winners are:

Slab Journal - Economy Pens

Doodling Prohibited - Claire

White Gutenberg Notebook - Arleigh

Illusions Notebook - pupton

Make My Day Notebook -Azizah

Signature Notebook - Suzanne

CONGRATULATIONS!

I have sent an email to all the winners, please respond with your mailing address so that I can send you your notebooks and thank you for reading!!

Daycraft Giveaway News!

2011-12-08T22:33:00.001-05:00

If you read my most recent post, you will know that I am attempting to reorganize my office space. That being said, I have discovered that I have 4 additional DayCraft notebooks, which are just begging to be used. So there will be six winners for the giveaway which closes Saturday, December 10.

I will draw six winners and then I will do a separate drawing to match notebooks to winners. If you would like to enter (and have not already) DO NOT COMMENT ON THIS POST .

Please go here to my original post and leave your comment.

Two of the new additions are The Signature Sketchbook, top center, and the Doodling Prohibited Notebook, bottom right.

The Make My Day Notebook on the right

and

the small Illusions notebook on the left.

Again, leave your comments on my original post

and don't forget to read the rules.

Keep in mind that all these notebooks have some writing in them which I did for testing purposes. Usually on the first or last page.

A Never Ending Project

2011-12-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

I thought that I would share with you a project that has become an unending process from which no improvement is seen, even though I undertake it with enthusiasm (not) 2-3 days a week, every week.

So, you say, what is this project??

uh hem, cleaning my desk

If you read my blog regularly, then you know that the job that pays for the pens is as a tax accountant. I often work from home and have 4 monitors at the office, hence the need for at least three here. They take up a lot of real estate, but that's real estate that would just get cluttered with other stuff.

I also have two desks, one that holds the computers and STUFF, and one that I use as a workspace.

The workspace holds everything else, journals, letters, art, art supplies, pens - you name it, it's probably there.

As we continue around the room, you can see that the desk space has been extended with a laptop table - and I still need more deskspace.

In addition to the regular job, I am the treasurer for a couple of non profit organizations, so I also have their records, plus lots of books to read. The books on the top shelf above are artbooks, the right side of the next two shelves are books that I have not read yet. The left two shelves are a mixture of blank skectchbooks, filled sketchbooks, magazines and more art/design books.

The final leg of our journey reveals the pen and paper book case. Here resides the ink, pen repair stuff and more journals than you can shake a stick at (as my grandmother would say, what does that really mean and why would I want to shake a stick at it?) I just had to go look that up (I love the Internet) and here is what I found, from Wiktionary.com : Just to let you know I have a cabinet (this one) which holds most of the art supplies, it's not even in these photos.

Etymology

Unknown. In use since about 1800.

[edit] Adjective

more than one can shake a stick at (not comparable)

occurring in abundance; of a large quantity; many
Any English High Street has more Indian Restaurants than you can shake a stick at.

I guess that is an appropriate term in this case. So let me wrap up with a couple of things - first, you should know that these photos are AFTER shots, meaning AFTER I cleaned up this morning. I could not find anything on my desk this morning so I started to put things away, which means, yes, I still can't find anything on my desk. I will tell you that this has to be cleaned up by January when busy season begins and I'm working from home more. Secondly, what does your desk/workspace look like? Do you have any suggestions for keeping it cleared, once you manage to clear it??

Have a great day!

The December Carnival is Open!!

2011-12-06T13:14:00.001-05:00

Be sure to head over to Pocket Blonde to check out the offerings at this month's Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper. A big thanks to Diane for hosting and to Nifty of Notebook Stories for starting this Blog Carnival.

Announcing the winner of a JetPens Gift Card!!

2011-12-04T10:05:00.001-05:00

Sarah said...: I'm especially thankful for my extended family this year.

scribblingsarah at gmail dot com

I have one gift suggestion, it's not pens, paper or ink, but it is a great accessory for them. I received this lap type desk as a gift:

http://acornonline.com/english-campaign-desk/p/15497/

And have really enjoyed using it for letter writing.

Congratulations, Sarah!!!

Daycraft Journals Again!!

2011-11-30T14:00:00.000-05:00

I swear! One day soon these DayCraft Notebooks will be available from a U.S. Distributor. At this point I'm not really sure what the hold up is, but not being involved in the logistics of international shipping and trade, I guess that is no surprise.

I have previously reviewed the DayCraft offerings on two separate occasions, Originally in February of 2010 and again in June of this year.

This time Mr. Foreal Lee, graciously sent me four journals to review. I am going to use DayCrafts photos, because I have had a terrible time taking good photos of journals (plus I ran out of time).

This first notebook is from the Gutenburg Signature Line. It has a White, fine Italian PU cover, with the alphabet shown in Times New Roman font, it measures 151mm x 212 mm (A5) and contains 176 pages. The cover is a soft dou-tone, the paper is 6.5mm lined cream color and the edges are inkjet printed.

The next is also from the Gutenberg Signature Line. It has a Black cover with the alphabet shown in Gutenberg Bibel font. It measures 108mm x 146mm (A6) and contains 128 6.5mm lined cream color pages.

This notebook is from the Slab Collection and comes in two options, Gold and Wood. It measures 108mm x 157mm and contains 360 pages of 80 gsm paper. The pages are 6.5mm lined cream color. The cover is also paper.

This last notebook is unique and is from the Astrology Collection. This particular notebook is Scorpio, my star sign. The Stars imbedded on the front of the notebook Swarovski crystal. This notebook measures 148mm x 102mm and contains 176 pages of white paper. The paper is not lined but marked with little crosses. You could use this notebook in a landscape or reporter style format.

None of the notebooks have elastic closures and only the Gutenburg series has ribbon markers. Non have rear pockets.

Writing Tests

The best performer was the Astrology notebook, with no feathering, show through or bleed through. The Gutenberg also performed very well, with slight feathering, and some show through and bleed through. The Slab Notebook had the poorest performance with both show through and bleed through. I am sure that you or whoever you were to buy one of these notebooks for would be thrilled, they are lovely and unique.

All ink tests were done with fountain pens so if you are not a fountain pen user you will have no issues at all.

Even with some of these issues, I really love the Gutenberg series and am going to use the small black version, I also plan to use my Astrology series. So, I have two notebooks to give away.

The White Gutenberg is unopened. I figured that testing the small version was good enough and the Slab notebook only has my test writing in the back of the book.

So, I'll choose two names from the comments, give me your preference of notebook. If you both want the same notebook, the first one to contact me will get first choice.

The Rules

1. You must be a regular follower of my blog, either through Google, email or an RSS feed. Please just be honest and don't enter if you are not a regular follower.

2. Please leave an email address in your comment, I need a way to notify you if you are the winner. If I don't know how to reach you, you will have 7 days from the announcement of the winner to contact me.

3. You do NOT need to be a U.S. resident, I am thrilled to recognize my International readers as well and will ship worldwide.

This giveaway will close on Saturday, December 10.

Need a Gift Idea for the Holidays?

2011-11-23T12:00:00.000-05:00

Okay - do you have any idea how difficult it is to write a post like this? There are so many wonderful products and awesome vendors out there.

All of the items on this list (unless otherwise noted) fall into one of the following categories, I own it and use it or I have tried it. Many of the links are to reviews that I have done, other links are to the vendor or manufacturer website.

I have tried not to influence your decision regarding the vendor from which to buy the product, but in some cases the product is not mass produced and is only available from the manufacturer or from limited vendors, in all cases I have attempted to provide you with purchase options.

Pens

Edison Collier

I reviewed the Collier for Goldspot Pens in October.

What more can I say? I am a big fan of Brian Gray and the Edison Pen Company and I currently own two of his pens, with a third scheduled to arrive very soon.

The Collier has the distinguished honor of having been selected as the Goldspot Pen of the Year for 2011, a distinction which is well deserved. This pen is priced from $150 to $275, depending upon the nib option.

You cannot go wrong if you chose this or one of the other Edison production line pens as a gift for the fountain pen person in your life (or for yourself). You could also be more daring, and spend a little more, if you want to have a custom pen made.

Visconti Homo Sapiens

I had to include this pen, as it continues to be one of my all time favorites.

The Homo Sapiens has been one of the most talked about pens around since it first came on the scene in 2010. I reviewed this pen shortly after I acquired it and it continues to grace my pen case and desk as an almost daily user.

Just type Visconti Homo Sapiens into your search engine and you will find a wealth of information and sellers. Search well for the best price (but don't JUST opt for the lowest price, the seller is important) you might also find a used pen on Fountain Pen Classified.

Journals, Notebooks and Paper

In my humble opinion, you can NEVER go wrong if you choose a journal or notebook from Rhodia or QuoVadis. There are numerous retailers to choose from, pick your favorite and grab up Habanas or Webnotebooks and your paper loving person will be thrilled. If you want something different take a look at the reviews that I have done over the past year or so.

There are a few other notebooks and journals which I would highly recommend.

Renaissance Art Leather Journals - you cannot go wrong with the gift of one of these glorious handmade leather books, this is a gift that will be treasured forever

Banditapple Carnets - these little notebooks are wonderful! They are extremely fountain pen friendly. You may purchase them directly by emailing Arnie Kim (company founder). Because they are so reasonable priced to start with even with shipping they are still a bargain. There is currently no U.S. distributor but I did find one seller on eBay (no guarantee that they are still there by the time you read this). In Europe, you may purchase them from Paper and Co. (I'll let you in on a secret, Arnie has emailed me that a package is on the way with the 2nd edition of the carnet - so stay tuned).

DayCraft Notebooks - this is another company with no current U.S. distributor but their products are available from VeraChan (in Australia). I also have several of the new 2012 line to review. I will be doing that very soon.

Monsieur Notebooks - Again there is no current U.S. distributor, but they are available from Papernation in the UK. The sketchbooks are wonderful for all media, including a watercolor, and they have a fountain pen friendly edition of their notebooks.

French Paper Company Memo Books - hey guess what??? These notebooks are available in the U.S. These little memo books are pocket sized and the paper is wonderfully fountain pen friendly.

Ecosytem Notebooks - this company provides a wonderful range of eco friendly notebooks and sketchbooks which are fountain pen friendly.

Pen Cases and Holders

Penvelope from Franklin-Christoph - a wonderfully thoughtful gift for that fountain pen lover who wants a stylish and safe way to carry their favorite pens, it is also available in a 13 pen case

Quiver Pen Holders - single pen and double pen holders for those Webbies and Habanas that you bought earlier

Book Bandi - these are wonderful, especially if the journal you are using does not have an elastic to hold it closed

Journal Bandoliers - I just got one of these and I really like it. Ideal for the student or if you carry multiple notebooks

Bags

This section will be short. I own two bags which I adore. I alternate using them. They both hold a ton of stuff, my journals, sketch book, iPad, art supplies, pretty much anything that I might want to take with me.

Tom Bihn Imago - link to review

Tom Bihn large Cafe - I have not reviewed yet, mine is in Linen/Olive

The Tom Bihn bags are extremely high quality and there are so many designs that I am sure you will find one to meet your needs.

Other stuff

If you have a vintage pen lover I can only recommend one place to go: Pendemonium. You will find all the vintage repair supplies and accessories that your vintage pen person might need. If you are not sure what they need just call Sam or Frank, I'm sure that they will be able to help.

I want to share some of my favorite products from JetPens. If you are not familiar with JetPens, well - WHERE THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN?? UNDER A ROCK?

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen - this pen is a delight to use and because it is completely refillable I can use whatever ink I like

Nomadic PE-09 Flap Type Pencil Case - I really like this pencil case, it holds a ton of stuff, all my sketching pens and pencils and even a small notebook

While I was writing this and looking through the JetPens site, I found several items that I would really like to try.

Guess I'll have to put them on my wish list and try to get my family to read my blog.

Kokuyo Security Roller Stamp - I don't own a shredder, so I take everything to my office to shred, but I really like this idea. $25 may seem expensive but a good shredder is a LOT more, even cheap shredders are this much or more, and they really do not last very long.

Midori Animal Shape Paper Clips - Dog (of course)

Moleskine Reading Stand for e-Readers or Books

Kuretake No. 40 Fountain Hair Brush Pen

Finally just a few other cool items (at least I think they are cool)

Rosetta Pencil Extenders from iPenStore. I acquired this when I accidently broke one of my drawing pencils, it allows me to continue to use the pencil, even if it is only a small stub.

Do you know a real pen ~~hoarder~~ collector? If so you might consider a pen cabinet from Geoff Morris at Pen Case UK. Even with shipping from the U.K. these all wood cabinets are very reasonably priced.

Give a holiday gift every month for the next year (or longer) with a Lost Crates subscription.

Do you have an artist or aspiring artist in the family? Consider gift cards or items from Daniel Smith or Dick Blick.

Is your resident pen person/artist a collector of stuff? If so I highly recommend this cabinet from IKEA. I have this cabinet and it takes up minimal floor space while providing a huge amount of storage space, I absolutely love it.

Would your artist in residence or resident letter writer like to sign their artwork and letters with a personalized chop? You may order it for them or yourself from Sealstones.

After all that I would like to take minute to share with you my recommendation for vendors for many of the products, pens, notebooks, etc which are on this list. I'm listing them alphabetically because I love all of these people and have purchased from all of them at one time or another.

The vendors listed sell a variety or products and are not limited to one or two of the specialty products which I have featured in this post. I am in no way affiliated with any of them and you will receive excellent service from any of them.

European Paper Company

I am affiliated with Renaissance Art, Daniel Smith and Dick Blick and will receive a small commission if you order from them via any of the links on my website. Your use of those links is greatly appreciated.

Ok, you stuck it out and read all of this really LOOOONG post. So I have a reward for you. Brad aka The Pen Addict has offered, to you my wonderful followers and commenters, a $10 gift card from.... you got it .... JetPens!!

Let me remind you of the rules:

1. You must be a regular follower of my blog, either through Google, email or an RSS feed. Please just be honest and don't enter if you are not a regular follower.

2. Please include in your comment what you are most thankful for this year as 2011 comes to a close, and if you have any additional suggestions for great pens, paper and ink gifts let me know.

3. The deadline for comments in Saturday December 3, midnight US Eastern time. The winner will be chosen using the great Random Number Generator and will be announced on Sunday December 4.

4. Please leave an email address in your comment, I need a way to notify you if you are the winner. If I don't know how to reach you, you will have 24 hours to respond, this is a time sensitive giveaway coming directly from JetPens.

3. You do NOT need to be a U.S. resident, I am thrilled to recognize my International readers as well and will ship worldwide.

By the way, if you are in the U.S. - Happy Thanksgiving!!

Lost Crates November

2011-11-15T12:00:00.000-05:00

Don't you think that this Lost Crate has a fall look??

So, let's go through what I received this month.

Platinum Preppy 03 fountain pen and to extra refill cartridges. I love the Platinum Preppy, they are wonderful, inexpensive fountain pens and I use them regularly for my art. I convert them it eyedroppers and fill them with Carbon pigmented ink, which I don't want to put into a good fountain pen. Because they are inexpensive I don't worry about them being damaged or lost (although I have to admit to getting upset the one time that I lost one).

Ecosystem Author Journal. I previously reviewed the Ecosystem Sketchbook and I love them so much that I have two currently being used and two sitting unopened. The Ecosystem journals have lots of good things going for them, just one of which is the wonderful colors that they come it. This one is Clementine, which happens to be a color that I did not have. The Sketchbooks I have are Black, Watermelon (2) and Lagoon. So this color is a nice addition. This is a hardcover notebook with a marker ribbon and a pocket inside the back cover. The paper is 100% post-consumer recycled, 240 pages and totally fountain pen friendly. I had no problem with feathering, showthrough or bleedthrough.

Two 3" x 5", Pop Ink Memo Books Jax & Chill + Op-Tickle.The unlined paper is very good quality and is fountain pen friendly. The paper manufactured with 100% green hydropower and no petroleum products by the French Paper Company in Niles, Michigan, USA.

Field Notes "County Fair" Florida Edition. These notebooks have interesting factual information about the State on the back cover. Did you know that Floirda's State Soil is Myakka? I didn't even know that Myakka was a soil, I thought it was a town and a river. Heck, I didn't know that there was such a thing as a "State Soil". I have always really wanted to like the Field Notes books, but like the Moleskine I have always been disappointed with the performance of the paper with fountain pens. The paper is Finch Opaque Smooth 50#. The size of these notebooks is really great for pocket or purse, so they would be wonderful gifts for your non fountain pen using friends and family or for the glovebox (although for me the Rhodia #11 generally serves that purpose).

Lastly, my favorite part of this Crate. The Eco Staple Free Stapler. My office (the job that pays for the pens) went (mostly) paperless a number of years ago and because we scan everything we are not allowed to use staples. I have since gotten into the habit of using paper clips on everything, which I hate. They get thrown away and I'm always hunting for one, so this little stapler is wonderful and I have already used it at least a dozen times since it arrived. I am happy to have and use this product.

That's the Crate for this month, I'll take a look at the December Crate when it arrives, sometime around the 10th of December.

Franklin-Christoph Penvelope 6

2011-11-08T23:57:00.000-05:00

From the Franklin-Christoph Website

I always learn a lot when I do research for a blogpost. Sometimes I am simply educated, other times I am amazed or stunned. This was one of the times I was amazed.

I am familiar with the Franklin-Christoph line of pens and accessories, and I have even participated in their poetry contests (just for the fun of it). But I learned some rather amazing things about this company when I started the research for this post.

The first of those things is that Franklin-Christoph is a sister company of Pen City, which is located in Blairsville, Georgia.

I've always been amused by the fact that Pen City is located in Blairsville. We used to rent a cabin and vacation in the Blairsville area with The Akitas, Round 1. Blairsville, is a small (population: 715 in 2009) rural town in Union County, Georgia, in the heart of the Chattahoochee National Forest and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is located approximately 100 miles north of Atlanta. Back when we used to visit I had no idea that Pen City was here.

But I digress. Franklin-Christoph, which dates back to 1901, is currently located in North Carolina and headed by S.C. Franklin, the son of L.H. Franklin II, who is the head of Pen City. The other piece of noteworthy information is that the Franklins are descendents of John Franklin I, the brother of Benjamin Franklin. You can read the entire history of the company on their website, I had no idea that this company had such a long and colorful lineage.

Recently I have been using a wonderful leather pen wrap made by Libelle. But it only holds 5 pens. I have 5 that I always carry (plus the other 50 or so which reside in my pen cabinet) but I have a new acquisition which will arrive in early December, so I really wanted a case that would hold 6. In addition, the pen wrap has a tendency to sink to the bottom of my bag and lay sideways or get turned upside down.

I had previously seen the Lucky 13 Penvelope, so I trotted on over to the website and BEHOLD...

The P6.

Front


Back with Franklin-Christoph logo tastefully displayed

Lovely red cloth interior

The color I chose is Boot Brown. I specifically chose this leather for the "damage" that you see to it's surface. This leather is matte and get's scuffed with use, in my opinion this adds a ton of character to the case. But if you do not like the idea of scuffs and scratches, the P6 is also available in Croc Print Brown, Classic Black and Burgundy.

As I said, I carry 5 pens all the time. If you can't figure out what they are, from left to right, Visconti Homo Sapiens, Edison Huron, (currently holding the open slot - Stipula Vedo), Edison Pearl, Nakaya Piccolo and Danitrio Densho. I'll do a feature on the new pen that will fill that empty spot when it arrives.

I love this case for a number of reasons, may of which may be obvious. It's beautiful. Each pen has an individual, very well padded slot. The entire case is well padded, so the pens are very well protected. The magnetic snap is very secure. It holds large pens, like the Danitrio very well. It fits nicely into my Tom Bihn bag and remains upright.

Lastly, the way it is constructed, I can slip my Danitrio polishing cloth into the front of the case, so I always have it with be and I always know where it is.

Renaissance Art's Creative Genius Patch Design Journal

2011-11-02T12:00:00.000-04:00

I have been to the Renaissance Arts website many, many times over the years, always drooling over the beautiful journals and lovely leathers. But I never quite convinced myself to purchase one, what a big mistake on my part.

I absolutely adore this "kid's" journal that Arthur sent to me for review and I carry it will me every day. Believe me when I tell you that kids and adults alike, will love this journal or any of the others available on the website (on yeah, the holidays are coming soon, aren't they?)

If you read my blog regularly, you will remember my review a few weeks ago about the paper which is available.Be sure to check it out, before you place your order (because I know that you will and you should).

This particular journal is called the Patch Design Kids Refillable Journal and actually contains three, 40 page journal refills, for a total of 120 pages. This journal is very unique in that each 40 page section is individually removable so that you can replace them separately, use each section for a unique purpose or whatever other combination you might have in mind. Each section also has it's own bookmark, with a very cool little bead at the end.

The sections are held by a cord, the same material as the bookmark, which tightens by pulling on the bead which decorates the loose end.

This journal has a patchwork cover, the pieces of which is firmly stitched to a solid piece of leather to form the cover. The cover also has pockets inside the front and the back to hold those all important notes and other pieces of ephemera that you collect during the day.

The journal measures 7 by 5-1/2 and the refills measure 6-1/2 by 4-3/4. The pages lay fairly flat when the journal is open, but if you prefer the pages perfectly flat you can pull the refill out and write, sketch, paint in it out of the cover.

The refill paper is Arches Text Wove and it takes all fountain pen it, pen, pencil and even watercolor with ease. There is no feathering, no bleedthrough and no showthrough. The paper also takes watercolor was very well with little or no buckling.

When you decide to order a journal, please click on the badge in my sidebar. I will receive a small commission if you order using it, thanks. You won't regret the purchase.

Featured Pen - Edison Collier

2011-10-26T11:50:00.000-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

I really want to send a big THANK YOU!! out to Tom Oddo over at Goldspot Pens for giving me the opportunity to check out and test the new Edison Collier.

This is the Collier in Persimmon Swirl.

(If you are unfamiliar with Brian Gray and the Edison Pen Company, please check out the website).

After testing is out and using it for a week, I have to say that I am very impressed with this pen.

Of course, I really expected nothing less from Brian over at Edison Pens. All his pens are impressive.

This material is just gorgeous. Warm and WOW!!

Can you see the iridescence in the photo below??

I was really very sad to have to send this pen back to Tom. Thanks again, Tom.

And Brian... another awesome pen!

Oh, the ink above is Noodler's Ottoman Azure, which Tom so kindly provided to me when I agreed to review this pen.

Ink Review - Diamine Twilight

2011-10-19T11:50:00.000-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

Thank you, Brad aka The Pen Addict and JetPens for the opportunity to review one of the new colors from the Diamine Ink line.

I have become very fond of the Diamine inks, the colors, the consistent quality. I have no doubt that I will be ordering some of the new colors as they become available. Plus there are several of the old colors that are standards for me - I am really fond of the Claret and Amaranth.

Please keep in mind that the true color of this ink may differ from what you see on your screen due to the vagaries of the scanner used and the monitor on which you are viewing it.

Oh, I also did not realize that the water test did not scan - I did do one but the ink virtually washed away.

365 Things to Write About Winner!!

2011-10-15T15:39:00.000-04:00

Ok - I just couldn't get that silly random number generator thingy (that's a technical term) to copy correctly!!

Anyway, the winner is.......Drumroll please!!

MOLOSSUS!!

Molossussaid...
: Hmmm. I would have sworn I'd already commented. How early in life the mind begins to go.

Now, if I have commented already, thus disqualifying myself by commenting again, I'll really be confooosed!

Renaissance Arts - Leather and Paper Options

2011-10-12T11:00:00.000-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

If you are new to pens and paper, you may not have heard of Renaissance Arts, so let me give you a little bit of information.

Renaissance Art is a maker of Handcrafted Leather Books. The idea began with Arthur Scharf about 12 years ago, and the result is Renaissance Art.

From the Renaissance Art Website:

Every journal, book, photo album, portfolio - every product you will find on this website is the result of our life’s passions, interests, the places we have been and the people we have met in our travels.

I am Arthur. It all started nearly twelve years ago when....I decided to restart writing my thoughts, ideas, adventures and visualizations in a journal. Not just any journal would do, though I thought my requirements fairly simple…rustic, unique-looking, truly handmade, easy to write or draw in, with great paper. So, I scoured the city and surrounding areas for the perfect book, to no avail. I looked everywhere and found nothing!

In complete frustration, I began to read about how to make books. I remember many months of evenings, sitting in the aisles of bookstores for hours, reading about books, papers and boxes. This frustration was the seed that sprouted and grew into Renaissance Art.

I gave the first book I made to a friend who took it to Spain for a student exchange. I gave other books to more friends and then began being asked to make them for other people. Over the next couple of years I built my initial product line, which I sold at summer art festivals. I interacted with customers about their ideas and what they would like to see in a line of leather books. Renaissance Art today has a continually growing line of leather bound journals, photo albums, portfolios and stationery items.

I no longer exhibit at the summer fairs but supply stores across the U.S. with the products I once looked for but could not find. It is our hope that those with an uncompromising taste and desire for quality will at last find what they have been looking for at Renaissance Art.

Never Write in an Ordinary Book Again

Arthur asked me if I would be interested in reviewing one of the journals, and of course, there was no way for me to say no. I currently have and am using that journal, which I will be reviewing very soon. But, rather that overwhelm you with all the information at once, I thought that I would start with the basics - available leather and paper choices.

The folowing are photos of all the leathers and colors which are available (Arthur so kindly sent me samples). You can request your own samples of both leathers and papers for a small fee which is fully recoverable against your order.

My favorite leather is the distressed Rustic Brown, although I'm rather fond of the Charcoal also.

From top left clockwise: Distressed Rustic Brown, Rustic Brown, British Tan, Cranberry, Molasses and Flight Jacket

From top left clockwise: Charcoal, Rustic Black, Merlot, Sunflower, Rust and Black

From top left clockwise: Avacado, Wintergreen, Ocean Blue and Twilight Blue

When you go to the website to order you may not see what you want it the leather you want, don't despair. Just click on the 'Tweak My Item' button and send them as email to find out if you can find out if the item is available in another leather or with another type of paper, or if they can make it with the leather and paper you want, most likely they can.

You can clickon the photos to enlarge

I tested these papers with fountain pens and ink. None of them showed ANY sign of feathering, bleedthrough or showthrough. They do have very different textures though and you will probably want to choose the texture for your use and/or personal preference.

All are good for writing, but the Zerkall Book and the Bamboo are very smooth and would be my choices for daily writing use.

The Arches Textwook is textured but handles pen and ink well and also handles watercolor extremely well. This piece was done on the Arches Textwove in the journal that I received.

The Frankfurt is not quite as smooth as the Zerkall or Bamboo but it is less textured than the Textwove, it also is a lovely paper. Hmmm, might just have to order some of all of them to really try them out.

If you do decide to order a journal , please click on the badge in my sidebar. I will receive a small commission if you order using it, thanks. Plus, don't forget to stay tuned for the review of the journal that I received.

October Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper

2011-10-06T23:25:00.001-04:00

Come one, come all!! The October Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper is now open over at Economy Pens!!

Don't be shy, there is something for everyone at this months carnival - hurry in and have fun!

Lost Crates

2011-10-05T11:00:00.000-04:00

So just what is Lost Crates?

I've been reading lots of posts about them and I contacted them and asked if I might review one of the "crates". Pocket Blonde has reviewed a couple of these "crates" and I was very much intrigued by her reviews.

It really is a very simple concept, you take a basic "personality" quiz, sign up and by the 15th of the next month you receive your "crate" containing various office supply goodies. Notebooks, pens, accessories.

The hook is that you're never really sure what you might receive, which is really the fun of it. It's like Christmas comes every month.

The cost is $38 per month, which seems a little steep, at first, but the total cost of what was contained in my crate would have been $45 - $50 USD before shipping, so you really are getting a deal.

Also, there is no long term committment, if you don't like what you are getting, you can redo your quiz or just cancel your membership at any time. You really don't have anything to lose.

The crate comes via AIR MAIL (aka UPS) and mine contained the following:

Pressed Ink Letters - Thank You notecards - which is perfect, since I just ran out of Thank Yous
One red LePen from Marvy
A set of 4 SusyJack Magnet Clips, and
One Sigel Conceptum hardcover notebook in an argyle design

All of these items are available online (or potentially at local retailers) with the exception of the Conceptum Notebook. I found only one North American source (in Canada) and they only seemed to have the black cover notebook. This notebook measures 130 x 200 mm, approximately 5-1/4" by 7-3/4".

This notebook has a lot of great features: archive compartment inside frontcover and a pocket in the back cover, a table of contents, two ribbon markers, numbered pages and the last 20 pages are perforated for tear out.

The paper is fairly fountain pen friendly, a lot of show through but the only bleedthrough was with the XF nib.

I'm going to defer over to NoteBookLovesPen for a more detailed review, since she used a Conceptum Notebook for almost a year, I'll revisit this one when it is more "used" to give you better feedback.

In the meantime, I have signed up for Lost Crates monthly service and I suggest that you do the same. This would be a wonderful Christmas present for the office supplies lover in the family, just sign up by the 15th of November to receive the first Crate before Christmas.

365 Things to Write About!

2011-10-02T10:30:00.000-04:00

My sincerest apologies to Allegra Newman and Peter Trauth, for my tardiness with this post. Allegra contacted me in August and sent me this book for review. Unfortunately, it ended up buried under a pile of papers on my desk and I proceeded about my business - for that I am very sorry.

Once of the cool things about this book is that from August 1,2011 through October 31,2011, 100% of the authors' royalties from the sales will be donated to the Los Angeles Fund for Public Education, I know that you know someone who might like this book and you'll be helping kids just by buying it. Since this is just the first part of October, if you buy your copy before October 31, you still have plenty of time assist with the generosity of the authors. (Get your Christmas shopping done early).

The format of this book is very simple, and the book itself is very low-key. It is softcover and measures 9.2 by 7.5 inches. Big enough that you shouldn't misplace it (a-hem) and small enough to throw in a backpack, messenger bag or briefcase.

It contains 368 blank, lined pages with a word or short phrase at the top of each page. And that is it! So, what's the point you ask - well it is a writing, creativity tool and the words (phrases) are prompts. There is one for every day of the year and they are in alphabetical order beginning with 24-hour diner, Abundance and an Airplane and progressing through to a Crush, Leprechaun, Paris and a Zoo.

There is a blog: 365ThingsToWriteAbout.com and there is a Facebook Page:365 Things to Write About. So using this book can be a simple as just writing in it, or you can join the community of this book and share how you are using it and also see what others are doing. Start your own blog and post your daily writing for the next year or your child's (now that sounds cool, please let me know if you do that).

But how you use this book is really up to you. You could start at page one and progress in a orderly manner or just open to a random page. Write a poem, prose, history or fiction about the topic or incorporate the word or term into your story. Write a news story or an ad - check out some of the posts on the blog for some of the things that have been written using the prompts.

Personally, I envision this book as a gift to a young writer to encourage their imagination.

About the authors: (from the Media Release included with the book):

Allegra Newman is currently a production coordinator at the HUB network in Burbank, CA. before crossing over to live-action and animation, she was a story producer on prime-time reality shows, including FOX's Trading Spouses and Kitchen Nightmares, and NBC's hit game show Deal or No Deal.

Peter Trauth is the President of Nirvana Home Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based company that specializes in design, installation and service of home entertainment systems. He is also a member of the band, Mavin, which recently had a song featured in the move Soul Surfer.

The list price of this book is $14.95 but it is available at Amazon for $10.76 and don't forget - you'll be supporting education. Or pick it up with free shipping (worldwide) from Better World Books for $13.98 and support world literacy at the same time (I really want to encourage you to buy from Better World Books when you buy books online, it's a wonderful way to help).

I write, in my journal, but I'm not very good at creative writing and I would love to see this book in the hands of a child or writer who is looking for a good creative writing workbook. So, I'm giving away this copy to one of you, my wonderful readers.

Please read the rules:

1. You must be a regular follower of myblog, either through Google, email or an RSS feed. Please just be honest and don't enter if you are not a regular follower. You may be a new follower but I'm trusting you on this (no Blog Police will be involved).

2. Please leave an email address in your comment, I need a way to notifyyou if you are the winner. If I don'tknow how to reach you, you will have 7 days from the announcement of the winnerto contact me.

3. You do NOT need to be a U.S. resident, I am thrilled to recognize myInternational readers as well and will ship worldwide.

Leave a comment no later that midnight on Friday, October 14, and tell me now you envision using this book. Are you going to use it yourself and you going to give it to your spouse, a child? Prose, poetry? I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas about using it.

Good Luck!

Minor change - A New Name!

2011-09-30T17:06:00.000-04:00

No, I'm not changing the URL or making any major change - very minor really. Whatever is still part of the name, I have just changed it to... are you ready??

Pens Paper Inks...Whatever!

I may still post here and there about other stuff, that's the whatever part. But truly this blog is a pen and paper blog, with just a little bit of the "whatever" thrown in.

I want to thank all of you who follow my blog, it's been around for over two years now, and I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy trying to figure out what to write about.

If you have requests or suggestion, please let me know and please, please leave comments. I do ask one thing if you leave a comment. If you are not signed up with Blogger, or some other way for me to know how to contact you, and you ask a question, please leave me an email address. I'm happy to answer questions, but it's difficult to do so if I do not know how to contact you.

So have a great weekend, I've got several new things to review over the next few weeks, and enjoy!!

Featured Pen - Danitrio Densho

2011-09-28T11:00:00.000-04:00

Danitrio fountain pens are are made by Dani International, which was founded in 1974, as a privately-held independent corporation. What many people may not know is that Danitrio is a U.S. company, not a Japanese company (this was a fact that I did not know). In addition toUrushi and Maki-e pens, Danitrio also produces some marvelous pens using Italian Celluloid.

My purchase is a Densho model in kuro-keshi. Kuro-keshi is a basic ebonite pen painted with black Urushi to protect the ebonite from tarnishing. Go to the Danitrio site and click on "Basic Urushi Paintings" on side bar.

When I opened the box, I was met by a very nice black box embossed with the Danitrio name.

Inside this box is a lovely heavy wooden box, the box is held closed by magnetic closures. I did not take a photo but this box was cocooned in a protective wrapper that it can be slipped back into for storage or for shipping.

Now into the depths of that lovely box: the pen, an eyedropper and a polishing cloth. All beautifully displayed on a royal blue velvet background (yes, the velvet is blue although I know it looks black, blame the photographer).

The Densho is almost 6-1/4" long capped, 5-5/8" uncapped and is rather stout.

The nib is an extra fine flexible. I'm not very good with the flex part but I am very happy with the extra fine. If you are a regular reader you will know that most of my nibs are stub or italic but have been showing up in the stable rather regularly lately.

and lastly the required writing sample.

If you are ever interested in purchasing this pen or one of the other Danitrio offerings, I highly recommend that you contact Kevin Cheng at Internet Pens. If you do not see what you want just shoot him an email, this pen is not shown on his website but he had two in stock.

Quiver Double Pen Holder

2011-09-21T11:00:00.000-04:00

Almost a year ago, I reviewed the Quiver single pen holder. Now I have the very good fortune to review the Double-Pen Quiver for Large Notebooks.

From the Quiver Global website:

Product Description

Genuine leather, hand-made Double-Pen Quivers wrap around the front cover of your hard cover notebook to offer a simple solution to carry more than one writing instrument. Available in brown, black or our new black with red stitching for a small price premium.

Fits Large Notebooks - A5 size

The elastic band allows a Quiver to fit notebooks 8" - 9.25" tall. (20.3cm - 23.5cm)

Fits Hard Cover Notebook Brands

Moleskine    Moleskine Folio Watercolor
ecosystems     Rhodia
Piccadilly     Black n' Red
Leuchtturm1917
teNeues CoolNotes
Mnemosyne (requires adapter for soft cover)
U.S. Government 'Book, Memorandum'
Green cover NSN: 7530-00-222-3521

Here you can see the Quiver on my Monsieur Sketchbook.

The Quiver easily slips over the cover of any notebooks.

Here is the Quiver with the two pens that I normally carry, a Namiki Falcon and a Platinum Preppy, installed on my Dot Webbie.

The two pen Quiver easily fits both of these notebooks. The cover of the Monsieur Sketchbook is somewhat softer than the hardbacked Webbie and would probably work better with the Quiver adapter for soft covers, but I have found that it works very well as is.

I have had this Quiver installed on my Monsieur notebook for almost a month and have been very pleased with it's performance and I love having the pens that I use the most with my sketchbook always handy.

In my opinion, the Quiver is a reasonably priced accessory that is a must have for any pen and notebook user, also a wonderful stocking stuffer. The holidays are approaching very rapidly.

I'm afraid this is just a teaser

2011-09-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

This is the newest addition to my stable. Unfortunately, due to a heavy load at the job that pays for the toys, I just have not had time to compose a proper post. Also, since I've just received it I'm still breaking it in.

A little info, this is a Densho Kuro Keshi model with an EF flex nib - or Recession Urushi. Kuro means black, but I do not know what the translation of keshi would be (maybe someone can help).

The pen was acquired from Kevin Cheng aka Winedoc of Internet Pens. Kevin is also OperaDoc on eBay. The transaction was smooth and professional and Kevin is a joy to work with.

It's Carnival Time Again

2011-09-09T09:16:00.001-04:00

Once again it is Carnival time - so head on over and visit with Heather at a Penchant for Paper. Oh, and don't forget to have fun.

Monsieur Notebook - Sketch

2011-09-07T11:00:00.000-04:00

I first saw and heard of the Monsieur Notebooks over at the Letters & Journals blog. Unfortunately I did not win Jackie's giveaway, so I was thrilled with Tom from Hide Stationery contacted me and asked if I would be interested in reviewing and receiving (the only compensation) one of their notebooks.

The original notebook I received, was an A5 containing 192 pages of plain 90 gsm paper. But before I reviewed the notebook I ran into a couple of issues which I contacted Tom about. He was immediately apologetic and asked that I send the notebook back, the issue was one that they had not had before, and they wanted to take steps to prevent future occurrences. So off the notebook went. He later advised me that they stopped an entire production run to inspect all of the notebooks. I was like, WOW, that's QC and concern for the product that the customer is receiving.

Anyway, it took a little while, after all the notebooks are made in India and Hide Stationery is located in England, but I finally received this lovely Sketchbook. The timing was perfect.

The leather on these books in vegetable tanned and rather than the rolled finished edges of many journals, the edges are raw cut. I rather like it, it gives the notebook a rugged feel and appearance. The covers are firm and semi-flexible not completely rigid.

Yes, that's a Quiver pen holder on the front, but that is another post

This sketchbooks is and A5 size and contains 92 pages of 140 gsm Cartridge paper. Now being American I had no idea what Cartridge paper was, so off to Google it. I found this explanation on eHow to be the best. But basically it is a heavy paper used in illustration, it was also once used in the manufacture of weaponry cartridges, hence the name.

My favorite feature - the monocle and mustache on the back cover.

I had found that after a little breaking in this notebook lays completely flat. The first and last pages had to be carefully separated to do this, but it was not a big issue.

So now to the heart of the beast, the paper and it's performance. First, this paper has some tooth, so if you like perfectly smooth paper, you may not like this sketchbook. However, with the exception of the Rapidograph, which was just too fine, this paper performs wonderfully. Feathering, is all but unnoticeable and the showthrough, bleedthrough is non existent. There is one thing I would like to see added to this sketchbook, and that is a back pocket. I actually use my pocket, especially in a sketchbook.

Now since this is a sketchbook, here are a couple of the sketches that I have done in it. You may see more if you like, on my other blog, In Pursuit of a Hidden Artist, or on my Flickr site.

This paper takes a light watercolor wash very well with very little buckling. I did not think that I was going to like the tooth of this paper, but after using is I really do like it.

The sketchbooks come in A4, A5 and A6 sizes and both portrait and landscape formats. The prices run
£9.99 for the A6, £12.99 for A5 and £21.99 for the A4.

In the US that converts to approximately $16.10, $20.93 and $35.43

A4 is approximately 8 x 11 inches
A5 is approximately 6 x 8 inches
A6 is approximately 4 x 6 inches

I also know that there are hopes that the Monsieur line will be available at US retailers soon.

Featured Pen - Kaweco AC Sport

2011-08-31T07:57:00.000-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

I am supposed to be under a self imposed pen purchasing moratorium and attempting to thin the herd, (due to a couple of large pen purchases, more about that in future posts) but have allowed myself two additions outside of the splurge.

Total count right now is about 65 - not counting the 16 that I am planning on trying to rehome *SIGH* - they are like unwanted puppies and kittens. So cute, but you just can keep them all. Ok, enough of that.

This is supposed to be a review, so let's get to it.

I purchased this Kaweco AC Sport from JetPens about a week ago and have been using it daily since I acquired it. Now, the difference is, I'm not using this pen for writing, but for drawing. You can see my drawings over on my other blog, In Pursuit of a Hidden Artist.

First a history lesson. All of the following information is from the Kaweco homepage.

Kaweco has a long history dating back to 1883 and the launch of the Heidelberger Federhalterfabrik (dip pen factory) by the gentlemen Luce and Enßlen. The name "Kaweco" does not appear until 1889.
In 1908, the first safety fountain pen is patented by Kaweco.
In 1912, the Kaweco catalog first mentions the pocket fountain pen for ladies, officers and sportsmen. This is the date of the founding of the Kaweco Sport.
You can read all about the history of the Sport in a 33 page pdf which shows all models of the pens and pencils going back to 1912.
I had no idea that this company had such a long history, all the details are available in the History section of the website.

The AC Sport is made of solid matte finished aluminum comined with genuine carbon and is available in 3 colors. Red, which is a limited edition; black and silver.

I have owned a Sport Classic White mechanical pencil for a number of years. I don't use it a lot because it is a little bulky, but because it is also small and comes in a nifty little plastic case it is perfect for carrying in my purse. My new pen fits perfectly in the case beside that pencil.

I purchased this pen based upon two things. First, a wonderful blog post by Brian Goulet over at Ink Nouveau. If only he carried the AC Sport, I would have purchased it from him. Second, fellow blogger Gentian, has highly praised her Kaweco Lilliput, so I dove in and am very please that I did.

This pen is extremely well constructed. It measures just under 4-1/4" long capped and just under 5-1/4" long posted. I purchased this pen with an EF nib, since I planned to use it for drawing. If I have one complaint about the pen, it is that is will only accept cartridges. Even the little Monteverde converter will not fit this pen. But that's ok, I just refill the cartridges with ink.

Just in case, you didn't visit my other blog, here is a drawing done with the Kaweco. Oh, the ink above and below is Platinum Carbon Black.

New storage for letters and postcards

2011-08-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

I stopped by Total Wine & More the other day and while I was checking out I noticed that they were selling all their wooden wine crates. Price - $4.99.

Well, you can beat that price so after I checked out I went over to look at them. This one immediately caught my eye - it's imprinted on all sides and even on the inside of the cover. Not or the others were as well made. It even still has the wooden holders for the wine bottles inside.

So I brought it home, sanded down the rough spots, stained and polished it and now it is being used to store all the letters and postcards that I keep.

Featured Pen - Stipula Passaporto Transparent

2011-08-17T11:01:00.003-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

This pen belongs to my good friend @fntnpencrazy. When it arrived she could not get it to write at all so she asked me to take a look at it. I don't know if this is a recurring issue with these pens but it seems to be not all that unusual an issue (thread on FPN here).

This is the newer version of the Passaporto. The biggest difference in this pen and the one that I purchased at the Miami Pen Show last year, is that there are no longer any threads to screw the cap on to the end of the barrel when posting. It is now just handled by friction.

Another interesting feature, which I do not know if it is new or just not on my pen, is the rubber gasket which isolates the nib unit with the pen is capped. If you look closely you can see this in the top photo. I assume that this feature is to help prevent the nib from drying out.

I have to be honest, this pen, with this transparent material amuses me. I am reminded to the plastic balls that have prizes in them in the old gumball machines. I really like the way that every part of this pen is visible and seeing the ink slosh around inside of it when I am using it makes me smile.

Like my Passaporto @fntnpencrazy chose this pen with an italic nib.

Google translator translation: All done in Tuscan Florence.

So what about that writing issue. Well, the nib flow was just completely non existent. I filled the pen with Noodlers Tienanmen and have been using it for about 5 days. I used a piece of mylar (this one came with the Pilot Parallel pen and is provided as a nib cleaner) to make sure that the nib gap is not too tight. The gap is very tight, but I did not want to get too large a gap, so I just used the mylar until it did not feel like I was having to force it too much. This seemed to work, for a while. The next day the pen would not start again. So I took it apart and flushed the nib section, the pen has been working just fine since (until Friday). It started acting up again, so I've now pulled it apart and am flushing it completely and will try a different ink. One word of warning the ink tends to accumulate in the barrel around the rubber gasket and also in the nib section around the threads and it does not seem to want to come off.

All that being said, this pen finally seems to be working the way that it should. Hopefully it will continue without difficultly and I won't receive and texts from @fntnpencrazy telling me that it has stopped writing.

Editors note: The pen has stopped writing again and is being returned. Also, please do not judge all Passaportos or all Stipulas based upon this pen. My Passaporto Miami Sunset writes like a dream and I have never had any problems with it. Also @fntnpencrazy has already ordered a new Passaporto to replace this one. So please, give this great little pen a chance.

BookJournals

2011-08-09T23:03:00.016-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

If you want a unique, one-of-a-kind, journal then BookJournals is the place to go. Each of these books is made from recycled book covers and pages. The journals contain some of the original pages in addition to about 75 sheets of 24/60#, acid free, BLANK paper.

From the BookJournals website:

Book Journals

It should be noted that EACH JOURNAL IS UNIQUE, as in one of a kind. they are all made from recycled book covers and because of it each one is a different size. but please know that we do our best to only put up journals that are of an average or reasonable size. if you have questions about how big a journal is please email me, i'd love to give you more information.

The journals are filled with about 75 sheets of 24/60#, acid free, BLANK paper, which is a nice journaling or sketching paper. inside the front cover and throughout every book we retain any beautiful cover pages, illustrations, library cards, maps, inscriptions, or what-have-you found in the book (we find all kinds of beautiful stuff in these old books). and it's all held together with a black plastic spiral.

I chose this journal for a several of reasons. First, I have been looking at these journals for a while, ever since I saw them mentioned on another blog, somewhere in cyberspace. Second, I've always had a soft spot for werewolves and wolves in general. Third, I just love the title.

When I placed my order, I did something wrong. I added this book to my cart and started to check out. Then I decided to look some more and see if another journal caught my eye. When I backed up, some how my original book had disappeared, so I decided to wait a few days and see if it reappeared.

About 4 days later, a mystery package showed up in my mailbox. When I opened it, it contained the journal. I knew that I had not paid for it, so I immediately got on the phone and called Jacob Deatherage. He new exactly which book I had ordered, checked his records, said oops, yes he had shipped it without payment and that I should just keep the journal and not worry about it. I thanked him profusely and promised to do this review.

This particular book was originally published in 1938 and the journal contains about 30 of the original pages interspersed with the blank pages added for journaling.

The added paper is very nice. I experienced some minor feathering with one or two of the fountain pen inks that I tried.

There was no bleedthrough and just minor ghosting on the back side of the paper.

Thanks to the spiral binding this journal lays very flat.

In addition to the book journals, like this one, which run about 5" by 8". They also offer Little Golden Books, which are about the same size; large format books are about 8" by 10" and they also have Cookbooks, Dr. Suess, Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys and smaller journals.

If you just don't see what you want, they will even bind your own book for a $10 fee. There really is something for everyone here.

In addition to the website you can Like BookJournals (ExLibrisAnonymous) on Facebook, visit their Etsy shop and/or follow them on Twitter.

Time for the monthly trip to the Carnival!!

2011-08-09T08:49:00.001-04:00

This month's carnival is graciously being hosted by JDE over at Peaceable Writer. Be sure to visit and check out the wonderful posts and equally wonderful blogs and bloggers who contribute to make the Carnival a success. Have fun!!

Platinum Mix Free Ink

2011-08-03T14:26:00.001-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

The following two photos are from Platinum Pens website.

Back in February, when I first read Bruno Taut's post on CRÓNICAS ESTILOGRÁFICAS about the new Platinum Mix-Free inks, I was intrigued but not really all that interested. After all, I have almost 90 bottles of ink that I need to wade through.

As a result, when they were actually released a few weeks ago, I did not purchase the set and do not know that I ever will (those 90 bottles are leering at me from their shelf).

However, I can't say that I did not want to try them out for myself. After all, two of my fav inks, Carbon Black and Pigment Brun Sepia.

Recently I have been playing Pear Tree Pens Thursday Morning trivia game on Facebook (when I remember) and I won a sample of ink carts and then won a second time. The second prize was the same as the first, so Ryan asked if I had tried the Mix-Free inks yet and if not would I be interested? Heck yeah!! Only condition, I needed to write this blog post. (hey, Ryan, twist my arm, why don't you?)

The set consist of nine basic inks. I'm not a big fan/user of blue or black so I would probably never buy the Aurora Blue or Smoky Black (I thought that the black might be a good ink for art, but although the ink is water resistant it is NOT waterproof). The Sunny Yellow and Fiery Red are my next least favorites, although I think both might make really good highlighting inks for my new Pelikan M205 Duo. Let me tell you, this red is radioactive. I'm normally a fan of red inks but this one is too much for me on it's own. Much like the Sailor Irori, it's just too red. Although, I'm sure that I can make a really cool orange from these. (note to self, add that to the "to do" list).

I absolutely love the other colors as standalone inks - Aqua Blue, Cyclamen Pink, Leafy Green, Earthy Brown and Silky Purple. But then I got to thinking, a friend in London has been struggling to find a decent replacement for MontyB Racing Green, since it has been discontinued.

The results aren't perfect but I think that they aren't too bad. This could be a solution for all the Racing Green fans out there.

MB Racing Green is the one with the connecting sepia line, the others are my test mixes

Keep in mind that this was trial and error - so you might want to do your mix a little differently from mine.

6 parts Leafy Green
3 parts Earthy Brown
3 parts Sunny Yellow
2 parts Aurora Blue
2 parts Smoky Black
1 part reducer

MontyB is a little grayer than my result, but hey it's close. Let me know if you come up with something closer.

So to get your own set of these lovely inks - head on over to the Pear Tree Pen Company and tell them that O-kami sent you.

I am not being compensated for this review and I have no relationship to the Pear Tree Pen Company, other that the provision of the samples used in this review.

This is a test

2011-08-02T10:55:00.001-04:00

This was taken with my iPad and is just a test of BlogPress

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Moleskine Passions Dog Journal

2011-07-27T11:05:00.057-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

Above photo from the Moleskine website

Okay, I admit it - I have a passion for pens, notebooks and animals - or in this case, our dogs. So when Moleskine introduced their Passions line I had to have the Dog Journal, although I don't know that I'll ever write in it. Perhaps if we ever get another dog, or if a friend acquires a new dog perhaps I'll pass it along as a gift.
I love the cover of this notebook, with all the dogs embossed onto it. I wish that I could get a plain journal with this cover. The journal is very well organized and laid out, but it really is designed for your dog's life from beginning to end. Our Akitas are 7 and 8, a little late to start a baby book for them, because that is truly what this is.

From the Moleskine website:

Inside are 240 pages split into 10 tabbed sections to record and recall useful information about your furry friends. The first 5 sections are themed: Getting Ready, Personality, Dog Log, Travelling and Care. These themed sections are pre-formatted to help quickly record and locate important information on topics, such as a particular veterinarian, grooming schedule, breeder, and lots more! The second 5 tabs have been left blank to customize. In addition, 202 adhesive stickers are located in the two accordion pockets attached to the rear of the book to assist with personalizing the journal.

The first part of the journal contains a listing of common dog breeds, these are organized based upon dog groups, i.e. hounds, terriers, working, utility, etc.

The next portion of the journal is divided into five sections: Getting Ready, Personality, Dog Log, Travelling and Care.

Getting Ready contains space for book references, breeders, websites, choosing a name, checklist for needed puppy supplies and other useful names and addresses; i.e. vets, trainers.

Personality has a place for your puppy's date of birth, name, gender, breed, pedigree information, distinctive features and lots of notes on everything from behavior and habits to friends (so you can plan those playdates). In addition, there is a section for Special Moments which includes a place for a photo or drawing and room to record your notes (in the case of an Akita that might be when the ears go up).

Dog Log provides space to record weight, eating habits, food likes and dislikes, walk recording and expenses.

Travelling provides a space for a checklist of items you will need if you travel with your furry buddy and also reminders of things, like she gets car sick if you put her alone in the back seat (my mom's dog, she has to sit in mom's lap) or he has to have that special squeaky toy. There is also a place to plan an itinerary with dog friendly places along the way.

Lastly Care provides space to record all vaccination records and separate space to make not of any illnesses.

This journal has three ribbons since you will most likely be recording items in a number of sections at once.

This journal has four unnamed tabbed sections for you to make notes, save photos, drawings, you could create your own categories or use some of the supplied labels.

Last but not least the expected back pocket, but in this case a divided pocket. I can think of many uses for this.

I acquired my Passions Journal from Journaling Arts, Cynthia is always a pleasure to deal with. The paper in this journal is typical of a regular Moleskine journal. Thin and probably not very fountain pen friendly so I would probably use a good ball point or roller ball.

There are currently twelve different Passions Journals available covering everything from babies to wine, I'm sure that there is one out there for you or for a gift.

Handmade Journal by Curnow

2011-07-20T10:58:00.005-04:00

While I was in Davis, California a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting and dining with an FPN postcard swapper and his wife and daughter. He has recently retired and taken up the hobby of bookbinding.

I had the opportunity to look at and purchase one of his beautiful journals, with the promise of first dibs on the leather covered journals that he will be working on this summer and fall.

This journal is wonderful. The cover is hard and extremely well made. It has nine sigatures with 10 pages each, for a total of 90 pages, 180 front and back.

The paper in this journal is a lovely soft speckled grey which takes fountain pen ink exceptionally well.

There is some minor show through and a small amount of bleedthrough, mainly from the super saturated inks and the notorious Noodler's Bad Green Gator. If you will be attending the San Francisco Pen Show, look for his table and pick up a few, otherwise you can find him below or on the Fountain Pen Network.

Dot Webbie

2011-07-13T10:59:00.002-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

From the Rhodia website - click on the photo to go to the site

There are tons and tons of posts out there about the Dot Webbie (DW) and the Rhodia Webnotebook in general, this version is available in the same orange or black style with the Rhodia logo on the front and has the same essential pocket inside the back cover. I am limiting this post to a discussion of the paper which is the big change in this version. I will provide you with links to some of the general reviews later at the end.

In the following photo you can see the difference in the paper in the Dot Webbie and the DotPad that is available. The DW is only available with the off white paper that all the Webnotebooks come with, unlike the Rhodia Pads which are white. The paper is the same high quality Clairefontaine brushed vellum 90g that we have come to expect from Rhodia.

Here you can see a comparison of the DW with the white paper of the old version of the Quo Vadis Habana.

In natural light the DW pages are more cream colored than they appear under the florescent light inside. They are a very soothing off white and although I generally prefer white paper when writing I find this paper very pleasurable to use.

The dots are very light and unobtrusive on the page which is wonderful. This is one step from blank paper, which is also a personal preference.

The Clairefontaine paper performs as expected in the DW, excellently. It is smooth and wonderful with no feathering.

There is some slight bleedthrough with Noodler's Bad Green Gator, I love this color but it feathers and bleeds on almost every kind of paper, it's a miracle that it did not feather on this.

Although I really like this cream colored paper I would love to see the DW offered with the option of white paper. That being said, I cannot wait to finish using my lined Habana with the white paper, and begin using this on a daily basis, I think that I will be very, very happy.

As promised some links to wonderful reviews of the Rhodia Webnotebook:

If those aren't enough, just Google Rhodia Webnotebook.

Note: The last two photos are much truer to color - the first, under a florescent light, make the paper look much yellower that is actually is.

Pen Collectors of America

2011-07-06T10:52:00.000-04:00

Who exactly are the Pen Collectors of America and why should you join?
You have recently discovered the world and wonder of fountain pens, you've joined the Fountain Pen Network and have immersed yourself in fountain pens and ink. You ask, now what?
IMHO, the answer is the Pen Collectors of America. What better next step than to learn about the history of those writing instruments that we so love and become part of an organization dedicated to the use of writing instruments? This is also a wonderful way to promote your new love to others.

PCA Mission
Our organization exists to foster and maintain the integrity of pen collecting, promote the use of fountain pens, encourage and promote effective education, communications and understanding between all collectors, and define pen collecting as an international hobby. Members are interested in the history, manufacture and use of writing instruments. We strive to develop a spirit of camaraderie among the pen collecting community.

So why should you become a member? Here are the reasons sited on the PCA website:

The Pennant

As a member, you receive our highly acclaimed magazine, the PENNANT, published three times a year and featuring in-depth articles about the history and restoration of pens, about modern pens, information about Internet sites, letters to the editor, reviews of pen reference books, information about local clubs and more.

The PCA Library

The PCA maintains the world's largest library of pen company catalogues, repair manuals, articles, advertising materials, and other ephemera. A listing of the archived material is sent to all members, who may then order reprints at a nominal charge.

Pens for Kids

A few years ago, the PCA Board decided to investigate how to get fountain pens into the hands of children. If fountain pens are to survive in today's high tech world, it will be because we have taken the time to share our love of pens with young writers. Pens for young users are available at all pen shows.

____________________________________________________________________

Let me add a few observations. The Pennant and the PCA Library are great and everything can be downloaded from the website, if you are a member (which I am). The resource materials are invaluable if you would like to research a particular pen or perhaps a particular filling system. I have used the Library many times when doing posts for this blog.

Pens for Kids is a educational program designed to get kids involved. With the decline in the use of writing instruments and more and more schools terminating the teaching of handwriting, it is up to us to engage young people and hopefully teach them the importance of writing by hand.

The workshops are designed to engage the kids on their level, fostering an interest in pens and pen collecting in the next generation. The PFK workshops also stress the importance of handwriting and personal expression in communication. Each child is given a fountain pen to use during the workshop and then to take home. If you are a PCA member and are attending a show and would like to facilitate, please contact Allan Quiat. Remember, that kids are the future and pens have no future if there is no one out there to use them.

PCA also has a prominent role in the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum. I have not had a chance to visit DC and the new Postal Museum yet but I hope to get there in the near future. Who knows, mayble I'll even be able to schedule it around the DC Supershow.

Ok, so what am I asking?

Two things -

#1 become a member, it really is very inexpensive, $40 for one year or $105 for three years. The group depends upon your membership.

#2 get involved, write an article, facilitate a PFK workshop, share your love of writing instruments with others.

It's summertime and the living is easy....

2011-07-05T09:59:00.002-04:00

What would summer without a Carnival?? Well, here it is the July Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper is now open for your enjoyment.

Davis California - did you know?

2011-06-29T11:10:00.000-04:00

I recently spent a week in Davis California attending a class at the University of California, Home of the Aggies.

Some quick facts:

15 miles west of Sacramento, 72 miles northeast of San Francisco in the Sacramento Valley
Population - 65,622 in 2010
Second most educated city in the US (2006 CNN Money Magazine) by percentage of residents with graduate degrees
Home of the University of California, Davis
First city to paint bicycle lanes on a street, in the 1960s
America's first Platinum Bike city
Home of the US Bicycling Hall of Fame
Home of the UC Davis Arboretum
Home of the Toad Tunnel

Davis is a lovely city to visit and this is the second time that I have been. There are several highlights (for me).

First and foremost is the arboretum. Because of the location of my class, at the Law School's King Hall, and where I was staying, the Aggie Inn, I had the pleasure of walking to and from class each day on the arboretum's trails.

I even took a conference call one morning sitting on a bench overlooking Lake Spofford. I could really get used to working in this setting.

The view during my conference call

Next, the Farmer's Market. What a blast! I only wish that I had some way to transport all the lovely lush fresh produce. Cherries and peaches and apricots and nectarines and strawberries!! The strawberries were HUGE!! Plus there was wine and vinegar and breads, just too many good things to list.

There was also live music from local artists, the night I was there it was SLICE—R&B/Latin Fusion, they were very good and I had the pleasure of seeing the Davis Dynamites perform, they are a jump rope team from the Davis Waldorf school.

Even art - check out this print that I got from an artist named Stuart Ractliff. I fell in love with the texture.

Then there is Thursday Night. Thursday night means the weekly meeting of the Fire University.

Lastly, there is the proximity to the Napa Valley and the wineries. This year's winery tour was to the Artesa Vineyards & Winery. I did not attend (I did on my prior visit) because I really wanted to go to the Farmer's Market which was the same evening, plus it's a 70 mile trip by bus.
Conclusion? If you are in northern central California, you really should plan to visit this wonderful university town. Oh, I forgot to mention that Davis has tons of great restaurants and wonderfully friendly residents.

Banditapple Carnet Winners!

2011-06-24T09:07:00.007-04:00

Heather said...These look like interesting notebooks... I'd love to win one.

Bridgett said...The ruled handy would be awesome! I'm not an artist so I almost never have a need for a blank page.

Stephanie said...watercolor! :D I love notebooks of all kinds. btw, I need to send you my new address... perhaps this afternoon will find me at a post office, picking up cool "I've moved" postcards. If they even have them. If this comment wins I would prefer the blank one, in fact.

______________________________________________________________

Stephanie will receive the blank notebook, Bridgett will recieve the ruled Handy size and Heather the ruled Peewee size. I've sent you all emails so you have 3 days to get back to me with your addresses.

Trece asked about the quotes that I had written in my notebook for the review, so here you go, Trece.

The list of How to Be An Explorer of the World is from the book of the same name by Keri Smith.

33 Ways to Stay Creative can be found all over the internet, I could note find anything to attribute it to an original author.

The final quote about nightmares and dreams can be found here at The Elusive Muse. I again do not know the origination but assume that it is by the young lady who created the design.

Heron Dance Notecards

2011-06-22T11:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks to a wonderful post, by Jackie, over at Letters and Journals, I discovered Heron Dance notecards. I adore dragonflies and although I did not find the exact card in her post I did discover the Dragonfly of Happiness.

To me there is something ethereal about dragonflies, I love to watch them play and land and just do dragonfly things. I think that Mr. MacIver has done a wonderful job catching the essence of the dragonfly.

And then there is this amazing butterfly called Deep Purple. His use of color is just wonderful and these photos do not do these cards justice. The icing on the cake is that both sets of cards are very fountain pen friendly and although I noticed that the Deep Purple cards are not currently listed on the site, the Dragonfly of Happiness is available (as of the date this was posted), set of 10 - 5"x7" cards and envelopes for $15. These cards truly are frame worthy.

While you are there be sure to browse the rest of the site as there is much to see. Additionaly, I purchased the book Art as a Way of Life edited by Roderick MacIver and gorgeously illustrated with his watercolors.

I noticed that it is not listed on the Heron Dance website at this time, but it can be purchased here at North Atlantic Books. You may also find a selection of his books at Better World Books and books and notecards at Amazon.

Banditapple Carnet Notebooks

2011-06-15T10:46:00.177-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

This post is going to be a little photo heavy, but you'll see why in a minute. Also, although it is a long post, you will not regret reading all of it.

Sometime towards the end of March, I received an email from Arnie Kim of Banditapple, asking me if I would like to review his Carnet notebooks. I said yes (was there ever any doubt?) and he said that they would be shipped out that Monday, April 4. Since this was during my busy season, I promptly forgot about it until I received another email about 3 weeks later reminding me that they should be arriving very soon. Now it is mid-May and I emailed him to let him know that they still had not arrived, we agreed to give it a little more time, especially after the turmoil of the Japanese earthquake. Fast forward to the end of May and still no package. So Arnie decided to mail me a new set of his notebooks.

Quo Vadis Habana, Handy (red), Peewee (black)

Two days later, the first package arrived. Isn't that always the case?? Then, less than two weeks after that the second package arrived. I guess the first one took the long way around to get from Korea to the US.

I asked Arnie a few questions about the notebooks in preparation for this post:

1. Will distribution be coming to the US anytime soon?

Not yet. I am looking for a partner or distributors to sell in US.

2. If not, is there an online seller from whom people may order?

by E-mail ( krarnie@gmail.com ), people overseas hear of my carnet by mouth to mouth or on-line reviews and order some samples from me and I send them via airmail.

3. What is the pricing?

Peewee (small) is 1,800 krw (1.67 usd)Handy (Semi-large) is 2,800 krw (2.59 usd)Tablet (large) is 3,300 krw (3.06 usd)

Plus shipping

Oh, also see this post at Bleistift for more information.

Handy (blank), Peewee (lined)

Ok, a little about these notebooks. There are three sizes, all containing 64 pages of slightly off-white 80 gsm paper, each size comes in blank or ruled:

Peewee, 9x14 cm

Handy, 11x21 cm

Tablet, 13x21 cm

Handy (left), Peewee (right)

The covers are heavy weight paper in either Hanoi Red or Saigon Black. If you have not yet guessed, they are made in Vietnam. I compared the Peewee notebooks in size to the Field Notes and the Moleskine Cahier, and they are exactly the same. Like the Moleskine Cahier, they consist of a single signature which is stitched the entire length of the notebook spine, unlike the Field Notes which are stapled. The covers are also similar to these two brands. I would like to suggest the addition of a simple pocket to the back cover, like the Cahier.

Namiki Falcon, R & K Smaragdgrun

But this is a true case of the similarities being only skin deep. For it is between those unassuming covers that these notebooks truly shine. Oh, Arnie also advised me in his emails that the paper used is acid free and will stand up to any and all inks. (I took him at his word)

Fountain pen ink - Noodlers Violet Vote, Sumi brush

Noodlers Violet Vote, Sumi brush

Noodlers Violet Vote, Sumi brush (left); Watercolor pencils (right)

Parallel pen, Rembrandt Rollerball (left); Aquabrush filled with Sumi ink (right)

Aquabrush filled with Sumi ink

Ok, so you have seen the pictures, did you notice what you don't see? No? Go back and look at the pictures really closely. Enlarge them and look three times.

You will find none of the following: feathering, bleedthrough or even show through. None, nada, nyet. This paper handled absolutely everything that I threw at it, with dignity and aplomb, including the watercolor pencils, with water applied. Yes, there is some buckling with the watercolor, but this is not watercolor paper so that is to be expected.

Now, return to the questions that I asked Arnie - specifically #3. Would you pay this for a notebook that performs as well as these do?? My answer, "hell, yeah!" By comparison, the pricing for the Field Notes is $3.32 per notebook and the Moleskine Cahier can be found for about the same price as the PeeWee, but if you are going to use fountain pens your are going to be unhappy with those products (IMHO).

So, what are you waiting for? - send Arnie an email - NOW!!

Oh, wait - I ended up with extra notebooks in this deal - so, I tell you what - I'm going to give you a chance to testdrive one of these puppies. Yup, now aren't you glad that you hung in until the end of this post? Yes, that's right - a GIVEAWAY!!! [I still expect you to email Arnie and order some of these]

I have the following notebooks to giveaway to three (3) readers: a ruled Handy, a blank Peewee and a ruled Peewee. Tell me if you have a preference in your comment.

Same rules as usual, but I'll remind you of them for any newcomers (please read them):

1. You must bea regular follower of my blog, either through Google, email or an RSSfeed. Please just be honest and don't enter if you are not aregular follower.

2. You MUST leave an email address inyour comment, I need a way to notify you if you are the winner. If Idon't know how to reach you, you will have 7 days from theannouncement of the winner to contact me.

3. You do NOTneed to be a U.S. resident, I am thrilled to recognize myInternational readers as well and will ship worldwide.

So, leave a comment on this post, no later than midnight on Wednesday, June 22 and I will pick three winners and announce them on Friday, June 24.

Good luck!

2011 Raleigh Pen Show Vid

2011-06-11T11:07:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Andi for directing me to this video. You can read Andi's recap of the show on her website, Andi Newton.

June Carnival of Pen, Pencil, and Paper

2011-06-08T17:00:00.006-04:00

Another Carnival already?? You bet!! The June Carnival of Pen, Pencil, and Paper is now open over at Note
Booker, Esq.

Please visit and have fun.

New Edison Huron

2011-06-08T11:13:00.011-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

I have written about Brian Gray and the Edison Pen Company several times, once very recently, so I will refer you to my previous post for information about Brian.

I have recently acquired my third Edison and my second Huron Bulb filler. This was not a purchase that I planned but a friend had to give up this beautiful pen and I could not stand the thought of it being lost to her forever, I hope that one day I will be able to return it to her.

As I stated, this is a Huron Model. The material is acrylic, my other Huron is ebonite and this particular pen does not have an ink window. However, the material is fairly translucent and if you hold it up to a bright light you can see the level of the ink in the pen. I believe the color is called Cappuccino Swirl.

This pen has an 18kt gold rhodium plated stub nib on it currently and came with an extra steel nib.

Daycraft: New Additions!!

2011-06-01T11:00:00.002-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

Daycraft has just launched two new series called "Illusion" and "Skinz". It is unfortunate that they are not listed on their website yet, however they provided me with a print copy of their 2012 catalog, so I will try to give you all the pertinent info.

First up are the Illusion notebooks. These notebooks come in two sizes (A5 and A4) and each size comes in 4 different optical illusion designs. They contain 176 pages of lined white 100g paper, have a flexible paper cover and a back pocket.

The paper performed very well with every pen that I threw at it, there was no feathering and show through only with a couple of the fountain pens.

I really like the covers on the new "Skinz" notebooks. These notebooks only come in one size, 102mm x 146mm. The cover is fine Italian PU, which I discovered is leather coated with polyurethane. They both contain 128 pages of 100 gsm lined paper, the notebook on the left has white paper, while the one on the right has cream.

This paper did not do as well in the fountain pen test, no feathering but quite a bit of show through. But you know, that's ok, not every notebook has to stand up to these tests, because not everyone uses fountain pens. Both of these notebooks come with tattoo stickers.

These notebooks are a great size and I really like the covers. With the tattoo designs, I'm sure that the target market is a little younger, so they probably will not be as concerned with fountain pen friendliness.

In addition to these, the 2012 catalog has a couple of great looking notebooks that I have not seen before: the Signature Gutenberg Notebook which is the same as their Signature Notebook except that the cover has cool embossing of the alphabet and numbers; the Astrology Notebook, which has the constellation corresponding to the signs of the Zodiac on the front in Swarovski crystals - this is a really neat looking notebook, that I would LOVE to see in person (ahem, I'm a Scorpio, BTW).

Lastly, although you will NOT find Daycraft products in the local stationary or bookstore, they do have a US distributor now. So if you are interested in purchasing any of their products contact Mr. Andrew Oentojo at Star Imports: starimport[dot]andrew[at]gmail[dot]com.

You can also find DayCraft at VeraChan.

Edison Pearl

2011-05-25T10:18:00.002-04:00

[You can click on any of the photos to enlarge for more detail]

Edision Pen Company photo

This Edison Pearl is my second pen made by Brian Gray of the Edison Pen Company. I have found this pen to be difficult to photo, so I borrowed a few of Brian's in addition to my own. My other is an Edison Huron Bulb Filler, which I previously reviewed on this blog.

A few things have changed since I purchased that Huron so many ~~years~~ months ago. Brian now has some pens in "inventory" so if you see one you like or prefer not to wait for a custom pen, you may order any "in stock" model.

I had been testing out his new Mina models and although I really like them, I met Brian in NYC and checked out the Pearl while I was there. That was the model that I really liked, next to my Huron, of course.

Edison Pen Company Photo

I checked out Brian's inventory and saw this pen. I was intrigued by the engraving in the cap and the body, it was just so, well, different. I emailed Brian for the price, then I debated and looked at the photo some more and finally I caved in and ordered it. I have no regrets, I have come to adore this pen.

Here are the specifications for the Edison Pearl from the Edison Pen Company website:

Specifications
Weight w/ Cap	22g
Weight w/o Cap	16g
Cap Diameter	.610"
Body Diamater	.610"
Length Capped	5 3/8"
Length Uncapped	5"

As you know, I generally like to give you background on the company that makes the pens that I feature here, but when I went to the Edison Pen Company website I discovered that Brian doesn't have an "about" page (Brian, you really need to fix that). Anyway, I emailed him with a few questions, here they are with his answers:

When did you start the company?

I've been making pens off and on for 12 years. I got serious about it probably 7-8 years ago. I've been full time for the last 3-4.

How did you get into fountain pens?

I used to make pens from kits. These kits had options for fountain nibs. The nibs were not good quality, but they still got me interested. I bought a Pilot Vanishing Point, and a Lamy Studio, and those nibs were much better, but not perfect out of the box.. I started reading online about how to better tune nibs, and once I got the VP and Studio tuned to perfection, I was hooked.

How did you get into making fountain pens?

The kit pens were kind of boring for me. They were all the same, and no real way to make something that was truly different from everyone else that was making kit pens. You can have some variability here and there, but using any part from a kit pen still keeps you within the limits of the diameter, length, or specifications of that part or set of parts. I couldn't create what was really in my head. So I decided that if I couldn't manufacture my own parts, then I wouldn't bother. I set my mind to it, and it all went from there.

What was the first model you offered?

The first models that I offered were the Beaumont and Menlo. These were basically pens made from a few kit parts. When I introduced the Pearl, this pen was made with no parts that were not manufactured by me except the nib and feed. So when this happened, I discontinued the Beaumont and Menlo, and started adding other pens where I was manufacturing everything (Herald, Glenmont, #76, etc). The Beaumont and Menlo might re-appear someday, but it will be a variation of the originals, and I'll be manufacturing every part.

Thanks, Brian, for sharing this background.

I know that it is a little difficult to tell in this photo, but this pen has a nib that is a little unique. It is an 18kt dual tone F nib. Brian does not generally offer the dual tone nib in 18kt, but at the time I ordered this pen he did not have any in rhodium nibs available, so I got a dual tone.

I love this F nib. My Huron has an 18kt stub, which I also love but it's really nice to have an different nib option and I find that I really like the F. It's funny, my nib preference seems to run to F or stub, italic - no M's and no B's.

Here is a writing sample with this nib and a comparison with the nibs in some other pens.

Megabolt!!

2011-05-18T09:09:00.003-04:00

I first heard about MegaBolt over at PencilWrap.

From the Megabolt website:

In late 2009, Megabolt started as nothing more than an idea to do something good rather than just talk about it. Around the same time, the father of a close friend passed away from brain cancer. We took this opportunity to begin raising money to help with hospital bills. Thus Megabolt had its founding.

More and more people got behind the idea and Megabolt continued to grow, and in the spring of 2010, Megabolt began to focus on raising money for kids in hospitals. Through the creation of art, Megabolt is empowering kids to find strength to keep fighting through their illness.
The driving idea behind Megabolt is to create an original, tangible way for people to give back to the community. Through different projects, we hope to inspire others to help.

When you buy a sketchbook, you're not only getting one for yourself, you're also giving one to a child in a hospital. But we're not stopping there. Every sketchbook is individually numbered which will allow you to see exactly whom you are giving the book to. Once the child has completed his or her book, their

artwork will be uploaded onto Megabolt.org where you will be able to interactively flip through the pages of the book*.

*Due to a variety of reasons artwork may not be published to megabolt.org.

It took a little while for the sketchbooks to arrive. I received an email from the company advising me that they were a little backed up, they had sold 200 sketchbooks in just 14 days!! What a great response to a worthwhile project.

The sketchbooks really are very good quality, they are made by Scout Books. Scout Books is also making the sketchbooks for the 2012 Sketchbook Project. They accepted all types of ink from brush pen to fountain pen and even watercolor without complaint.

I really like this little sketchbook and at 3.5 x 5 inches it is the perfect size for carrying everywhere. Plus MegaBolt is an awesome cause.

You can also check out a review of the MegaBolt sketchbook over at No Pen Intended.

Edit for update - I received this email from MegaBolt on Thursday:

Hello!

I wanted to take a second and explain to everyone the typical life of a Megabolt Sketchbook so everyone can have a better understanding of what is all entailed! So at this point we have sold just over 500 sketchbooks. 500 sketchbooks sold means 500 sketchbooks to kids! Pretty great right? Now we know that everyone is very excited about their sketchbook being given out and we are working everyday to get more sketchbooks into the hands of kids. The process can take a bit longer than one might think though.

Basically this is how it works:

Once the sketchbook is purchased we have to wait until the hospitals that we are working with request more books. When they do we send out a new batch. Inside the package is anywhere from 20-100 sketchbooks (usually on the lower end) The sketchbooks are then given out to the kids and their parents get information about returning their artwork to us (via photo, scan, or sending the sketchbook back). At this point we have to play the waiting game. After this is done we will then be posting the books to our website. It's important to understand that there are a very large amount of variables in which a child may not ever finish their book or they simply just don't want to share their artwork.

However! This post isn't meant to get you down. Kids are offered to give us a simple sketch or their entire book. All it really comes down to is that it takes time. Just as you probably haven't filled your book they will take a while to fill theirs. The good news is the Megabolt Sketchbook is a double whammy donation. At the least you are making a child's day and giving them a gift. Then if all goes well you get a return on your donation in the form of art.

If anyone has any questions or wants to know more please never hesitate to contact us at info@megabolt.org
Thanks everyone!

Couple side notes: If you have not received your sketchbook yet PLEASE email us. We have had a handful of sketchbooks get lost in the mail and never returned to us (or not yet at least) If you order a sketchbook it shouldn't take longer than 1-1.5 weeks to get it. And that's on the really long end of the time line. Most people get their books in 3 days. Please please please email me if you haven't received your book and I will send out one that same day.

Second, If you or anyone you know works in a hospital and want Megabolt books to be donated at your hospital please email us with some contact information and we will make it happen!
--
Steven Kasprzyk
Founder www.megabolt.org

‘TRIBUTE TO THE MONT BLANC’ GLOBAL LAUNCH EXCLUSIVELY AT SAKS FIFTH AVENUE

2011-05-13T13:55:00.001-04:00

I just received this press release - if you are in NYC next week....

New York, NY (May 4, 2011) — This May, Saks Fifth Avenue and Montblanc celebrate the highest mountain in the Alps with the exclusive global launch of ‘Tribute to the Mont Blanc’. This new collection pays homage to the summit and icy peaks of the brand’s namesake with all-white writing instruments, leather accessories and jewelry.

“We’re thrilled to be part of Montblanc’s worldwide launch of the ‘Tribute to the Mont Blanc’ collection,” said Tom Ott, SVP GMM Menswear, Home, Food & Gifts. “The design details and intricate craftsmanship offer a beautiful interpretation of the mountain and offer our customers another elegant option from Montblanc.”

Saks Fifth Avenue will exclusively feature the collection at the flagship New York store from Monday, May 16 to Sunday, May 29. This will be accompanied by a window display and white-themed Montblanc shop décor.

About Saks Fifth Avenue

Saks Fifth Avenue, one of the world’s preeminent specialty retailers, is renowned for its superlative American and international designer collections, its expertly edited assortment of handbags, shoes, jewellery, cosmetics and gifts, and the first-rate fashion expertise and exemplary client service of its Associates. Today, Saks operates 46 full-line stores in 22 states, 5 licensed stores in the Middle East and 2 licensed stores in Mexico City, 57 Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH stores and saks.com, the company’s online store.

Nakaya Piccolo heki tamenuri

2011-05-11T09:00:00.004-04:00

From the Nakaya website:
Welcome to Nakaya, your handmade fountain pen shop introducing some of the finest Japanese nib craftsmen in the world.

Each one of our craftsmen worked for Platinum Pen Company for more than 40 years and is now retired.
All are masters of the fountain pen manufacturing process.

For years the great Platinum factory craftsmen have put on "traveling clinics"at many large department stores and fountain pen shops all over Japan.
Their pens were available only through mail order.

After years of planning and conducting pen shows, we decided to launch our website and show the world our handmade fountain pen craftsmanship.

As for the name of ' NAKAYA FOUNTAIN PEN',
The name NAKAYA is the original name given to
Platinum Pen Company when it was founded in 1919.
The name NAKAYA represents the utmost in quality.

Our mission is to design a perfect pen
for your hand and for your hand only.
Each person writes differently and
with our site we hope to enlighten you to the
wonders and glories of fountain pen writing,
and personalized designing.

Yes, you've seen this pen on the blog previously, but at that time I had just acquired it and all I really did was show you it's beautiful face. With this post I will try to provide a little more.
What is the appeal of a Nakaya and is it worth the cost? The short answer? Nakaya is a handmade pen and yes!
The pen masters at Nakaya are all veterans from the Platinum pen company and have tons of years (40+ each) of experience.
Also from the Nakaya website:

What is a handmade fountain pen?

There are at least 150 steps in the creation process of a handmade fountain pen.
If we add the surface finishing and decorating processes such as iron plate and armite it goes up to over 300 steps. Fountain pens are made through all these steps and when the final adjustment of nib is done by hand of the master, they are called "handmade fountain pens".

NAKAYA's HANDMADE FOUNTAIN PEN

At NAKAYA we do not call it "handmade" if only the nib is adjusted.
It is true that adjustment of the nib is the most important part of the process for perfect writing quality, however, this adjustment of the nib will cause a slight change in the total form of the nib and the fitting balance with the nib feed.

There are a wide variety of styles available and every pen lover will most certainly find one that fits them. This pen has retained a permanent place in my pen rotation since I acquired it this past fall and I do not see that changing anytime in the near future.

Book Bandi

2011-05-04T09:21:00.031-04:00

Ok, so just exactly what is a Book Bandi??

Well, the Book Bandi is an ingenious set of elastic bands that can serve as bookmark, pen holder and hold your book or journal closed all in one simple product. Additionally, it can be as generic or as individual as you are: check out their available designs and colors.

Book Bandi sent me two sizes to test out, medium (blue) and large (PawPrint). They comfortably fit my hard back book and my sketchbook. You can also hold a slim pen with the label sewn on the Bandi. My Pitt pens and my Pentel Brush pen fit nicely.

Lastly the Book Bandi is reasonably priced. $5.99 for XS, S and M. $6.99 for L and XL. I would really love to see these readily available at my local bookstore. They will make great stocking stuffers come Christmas.

I highly recommend that you buy several and share them with your friends.

EDIT: I have come to like these so much that I just purchased five to share with family and friends. You'll never need another bookmark!!

The May Carnival of Pen, Pencil & Paper Has Arrived!

2011-05-03T13:12:00.000-04:00

The May Carnival is now open over at Economy Pens. Be sure to visit.

The Pentel Winners are.....

2011-05-01T15:13:00.000-04:00

Jackie Flaherty said...

HyperG Fineline for me, please! Love those fine lines. Thanks, Julie and Pentel!

JoniB said...

Slicci for me! Black, red, blue, or green if color is a choice. Thanks for the giveaway! joni dot bowers at gmail dot com

Congrats to Jackie and JoniB

Your prizes will be shipped directly from Pentel.