Here we go again! I’m setting off for St. Louis today with my my patient, kind husband who is spending his weekend standing on his feet, eating vegan food (he’s not a vegan, I am) and driving back and forth down I-70 (the sorriest strip of highway in America). What a good sport!
We will be at the St. Louis Pen Show for the weekend. I am teaching a bunch of classes and eating my weight in Bombay Food Junkies and hanging out with some of my favorite people: Jaclyn and Laura, Andrew, Alan and Alan, Brad and so many more!
Our table is at J-06, next to Kaleidocraft Prints. Come by and say hi! I can’t wait to see you all!
Side note:
Both our Esty shop and our Big Cartel shop are closed for the weekend while we are in St, Louis. I don’t want orders sitting, waiting to be shipped. If you want to place an order on our shops, they will be back open on Monday, June 29.
There’s a bunch of travel reports from folks visiting favorite shops around the world, mid-year reflections and lots of creative ideas this week. I think my interest in more collage-y, art journaling projects is that these can be created with things I already have — reuse and repurpose — in a time that making something beauitful on a budget is a great way to spend time.
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As someone who sometimes struggles to put multiple colors together in a cohesive way, I’m fascinated by fabric collections. As I delve into quilting, I find fabric collections of 18-20 different prints somehow designed to all go together. They also give me inspiration for fun ink palettes.
This fabric is called the Coastal Collection and was designed by Craig Conover of Sewing Down South and Southern Charm fame. He designed a collection that fits right into southern beach style – think a cottage at Myrtle Beach or the like.
So I found some shades of ink that might work with it. Many of them are super close in color, but just different enough that they are fun to work with. The only thing I was missing was a good navy – nothing I had was just right!
Wow! I have gotten so many new things in the shop this week and restocked a bunch of favorites.
Kitta Portable Decorative Tape Booklets
First, we are now stocking the Kitta Portable sticker/washi booklets. Some designs are on traditional washi paper, others on clear PET, craft paper and even some on fluorescent paper! Each Kitta booklet folds up like a matchbook to make the perfect portable selection of stickers for journaling and planning.
We brought in Archer & Olive earlier this month and have already restocked and added their Everyday Deluxe A5 Soft Cover Refill Notebook (Dot Grid) which is a great option if you have a favorite cover already or want a less expensive option to try their thick 160gsm paper. We also have some of Archer & Olive washi sets and clear stamps.
There’s so much more but I’ll share one more…
Stickii Sticker Sheets
We restocked Stickii stickers including new designs and old favorites. There’s lots of new spooky, witchy, goth stickers since Halloween is everyday here at The Desk but there are also lots of sea and ocean styles, cute animals and vintage deliciousness.
This week we have a lot of posts about technology — the kind of tech that analog people might be interested in like a university professor making students type papers on typewriters so they can’t use AI, a flip phone from Commodore (as in 64) and 40 rage-inducing problems in tech which made me laugh so hard I had tears rolling down my face and had to reach for my inhaler (asthmatics know… laughing can be life-threatening!)
Check out our Patreon where you can get inspiration, gossip and free printables that include a biweekly podcast and more. Your patronage supports this site. Without them, and without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!
What’s your favorite size notebook? I dig A5 and if we’re being choosy I like dot grid the best. So when Ana returned from the Chicago Pen Show and handed me the Endless Recorder Notebooks – Stealth Special Edition A5 ($26), I was pretty psyched.
The cover on this one is leatherette, and it’s got rounded corners, an elastic closure and two bookmarks. The outer edges of pages are printed black, as are the end pages and back pocket, but inside the paper is white/cream with gray dot grid. The paper itself is 80gsm and acid-free, Endless’ proprietary Regalia paper. The book has a table of contents, and 187 numbered pages (for a total of 192 pages). Finally, the sheets are perforated in case you need to remove them!
So what’s it like to write on? I’m going to go with mixed. I didn’t even get into too many pens, but I used a TWSBI Eco with a Fine Nib and if I added any extra ink I got a bit of feathering and bleedthrough. With regular writing, it was better with just slight show through because I was pushing harder than I ought to. (Gel pens are making me sloppy with the fountain pens!)
Overall this one is sleek and easy to carry but not my favorite paper given I tend to favor bigger nibs that put down more ink. Have you used one?
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.
