The Well-Appointed Desk

Ink Preview: Exclusive St. Louis Pen Show 2026 x KWZ “MOBOT”

The full name of the ink for the St. Louis Pen Show this year is KWZ 2026 “Meet Me in S.t Louis” MOBOT. It is a warm reddish pink, sort of dusty shading color. No shimmer and no sheen.

As a classic KWZ ink, MOBOT does have the slightly vanilla-y smell that all KWZ inks have. Some people love it, others don’t. Just be aware.

MOBOT is an acronym for the “Missouri Botanical Gardens”. The color is inspired by the iris which is the city flower because it is shaped like the Fleur de Lis featured on the city flag. And the color comes from the Tall Bearded Iris which is also called the “Missouri Rose”.

When compared with some of the colors in my library, there are some similar shades — some a little more saturated, some sheenier, and some that lean more pink or purple.

If you like the MODOT color but prefer sheen, Iroshizuku Yama-Budo is a good option. J. Herbin Larmes de Cassis is a close match, maybe a tiny bit brighter, more saturated and slightly more purple. Robert Oster Cherry Blossom is a little more pinky but quite close. Colorverse Miss Baker is slightly more red. Miss Baker, and Larmes de Cassis are the closest in normal lighting, even Yama-Budo looks quite similar in non-photoshoot lighting.

I really appreciate that St. Louis Pen Show is branching out in the colors they offer but I already have so many colors similar to MODOT that I’m not sure I’m going to be compelled to purchase a whole bottle. Someone try to talk me into it.

Top to bottom: J. Herbin Larmes de Cassis, Colorverse Miss Baker, Robert Oster Cherry Blossom, KWZ MOBOT and Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Budo

There will be 200 (60ml) bottles and will be on sale at the show exclusively for $20 each (limit 2 per person), while supplies last. If there are any leftover bottles, they will be sold on site towards the end of the show. I’ve been advised that the limited edition ink often sells out before the show closes so if you are interested, be sure to try to acquire a bottle before the how ends.

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by St. Louis Pen Show for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Paper Review

Notebook Review: SIX Japanese Notebooks from JetPens (Tsubame, Teranishi, Tomoe River, Kukuyo, Yamamoto, & Nuoto)

AnaJune 12, 2026June 11, 20265 Comments

There are several that the community has been talking about recently like the Canopus and the new Teranishi notebooks but I dug deeper and found a few others worth considering. I went through the whole inventory on JetPens and purchased every A5 Japanese paper-filled notebook I could find. I found six notebooks that I had not tested and some had paper I was not familiar with so this was quite an adventure.

All six of the notebooks are A5-sized, all feature some variation on a soft cover and all are designed to be fountain pen friendly. (There are some details that I left out of this review for brevity, like if you want to know about the color and texture of the end papers, drop a comment below).

What I wanted to do is see what the differences are, what features might be a make-or-break for you, and what the cost breakdown was for each of them. I’ve seen other breakdown the cost per ml for fountain pen ink, today I’m going to give you the cost per sheet for these six notebooks.

To start, let’s run down what these notebooks are:

Nouto Nombre Notebook (available in 8 different cover colors)
Tsubame Fools Cream Notebook (available in A5 or B5, cover colors relate to ruling/grid)
Teranishi Guitar Taisho Roman Haikara Notebook (cover colors align with ruling/grid)
JetPens Kanso Noto Notebook (five different cover colors available)
KOKUYO Century Edition THIN Paper Notebook (only one size/style available but offer ruling/grid options)
Yamamoto Paper CANOPUS NOTE Notebook (only one size/style available)

Notebook	Price	Sheets	Pages	Price/sheet	Available formats	Paper Weight	Paper Information	Paper Color	Construction
Nouto Nombre Notebook	$24.00	94	188	$0.25	Grid	58.1 gsm	Siebundo Paper	Natural White	Exposed spine
Tsubame Fools Cream	$7.00	32	64	$0.26	Graph, Blank, Lined	81.4 gsm	foolscap paper	Cream	Taped spine
Guitar Taisho Roman Haikara	$17.00	64	128	$0.26	Dot Grid, Blank, Graph	95 gsm	No add’l info	Natural White	Taped spine
Kanso Noto	$20.00	160	320	$0.13	Dot Grid	52 gsm	Tomoe River Sanzen	Natural White	Taped spine
KOKUYO Century Edition THIN Paper	$24.00	184	368	$0.13	Blank, Dot Grid, Lined	52 gsm	same THIN PAPER as the KOKUYO Jibun Techo	Natural White	Wrapped cover
Yamamoto Paper Canopus Note	$25.00	88	176	$0.28	Blank (includes guide sheet)	73 gsm	“Inspired by the discontinued Cosmo Air Light “	Bright White	Taped spine

(* formats used in this review are in BOLD)

This review is long so I’m putting in a break here….

In feature

Pen Show & Stationery Fest Calendar UPDATED!

AnaJune 11, 2026June 11, 2026Leave a comment

Just wanted to let you all know we continue to regularly add events, new dates and any updates to our Pen Show Schedule. Most recently, we have added two new Stationery-related events: the Northwest Stationery Fest (NWSF, which looks like Not Safe For Work to me because I keep inverting the letters) and a new Little Craft Fest, the Fall Market + Spooky Little Craft Fest.

Thanks to an eagle-eyed Patron for tipping us off to these events. If you know of an event in your area, drop info in the comments. We will continue to keep the Pen Show Schedule updated.

In Link Love

Link Love: World Cup Fever

AnaJune 10, 2026June 9, 20263 Comments

I mentioned last week about the tendency in the stationery community to end up talking about the same things around the same time. Do we influence one another? Maybe its a new release? And sometimes, its just kismet like the two reviews about the Pentel Multi 8 Lead Holder that I recently reviewed as well.

In other news, the World Cup (for better or worse) is coming to America and I live in one of the host cities (Kansas City, if you’re curious) and I’ve been seeing the Fan Festival areas being set up on the lawn of the WWI Museum and World Cup merch in every shop imaginable. I don’t do well with crowds so I think friends will gather at various homes to watch a few games. Besides, tickets and venue food stalls are crazy expensive this year! Are you going to watch any of the games?

Check out our Patreon where you can get inspiration, gossip and free printables plus our exclusive biweekly podcast and more. Your patronage supports this site. Without our Patrons, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!

In photo

Inkspiration: Happy Pride!

Laura CameronJune 9, 2026June 8, 20262 Comments

When looking for inspiration today, I decided it was time to go RAINBOW for Pride Month. So I gathered all my pens and my favorite rainbow of inks.

What colors would be in your rainbow?

Robert Oster Astorquiza Rot
Robert Oster Peach
Robert Oster Aussie Gold
Papier de Plume Ivy Green
Diamine Florida Blue
Waterman Tender Purple

L to R: Pelikan M205 Ruby Star, Kaweco AL Sport Mercury Orange, Red Dragon Pen Co., Ink Joy Gel Yellow, Jinhao Shark Pen, Pilot Metropolitan Green Marble, Sailor Mizutama, Esterbook Estie Blueberry Ice, Jinhao 82, TWSBI Diamond AL Mini Grape, Kara’s Kustoms Fountain K Violet

Also I guess I need a yellow fountain pen?

In feature

Customizing a Soolla Pouch

AnaJune 8, 2026June 8, 20264 Comments

When I started stocking the Soolla Pouches in the shop, I received one that had a tear in the side. I was able to get a replacement from Soolla but I didn’t just want to throw away a pouch that was 98% completely usable. So, I decided to embrace the kintsugi vibe and do some visible mending to make the case completely usable. Kintsugi is the Japanese tradition of making repairs visible and embracing flaws and imperfection.

I grabbed some gradient colored embroidery floss in a contrasting color so that the repair is recognized and acknowledged — part of its journey through life. I started calling it my “FrankenSoolla” because I stitched the repair on the lavender lilac pouch with green thread, like Frankenstien’s monster.

Surprisingly, this repair made me love the pouch even more so this weekend, I decided that the pouch needed even more customization. I’ve been wanting to get better at embroidery — I’ve only ever really done a couple stitch samplers in my life — so I thought I’d take a chance and stitch my astrological sign onto the pocket. Stitching on an already-assembled object is tricky and definitely challenging.

I used a free embroidery pattern from DMC (available on Lovecrafts) and plain black floss. The design was a little quirky and imperfect to begin with so the fact that my skills are just so-so aren’t as noticeable. The design is supposed to look a little wonky.

Now, I’m wondering if I should do more embroidery or sew some patches on as well? What would you do?

Do you like to customize or personalize your stationery items too? Do you stick stickers on notebooks, recover the outside or add other embellishments to make your stuff “yours”? Let me know in the comments!

In feature

Giveaway Winner: Diamine Deadly Nightshade Ink

AnaJune 8, 2026June 8, 2026Leave a comment

Thanks to everyone who entered our giveaway for the rare, elusive and slightly dangerous Cult Pens UK x Diamine Deadly Nightshade Ink.

Our winner is:

I love the idea of venomous animals for inks! And a little octopus in the bottle? Yes, please!

I have reached out to the winner via email. If this is you, check your spam filter. If I have not heard back from the winner within 7 days, a new winner will be selected.

Thanks to everyone who read the blog and enter our giveaways. Stay tuned for more!

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