Thanks to everyone who entered our giveaway this week.
Now, for the winner of our Owl Paper Co. A5 Undated Planner:
I hope this A5 planner convinces you to give them another shot!
Stay tuned for more giveaways soon!
The Dallas Pen Show was a great experience this year. Despite an extra day and a half of show which was tiring, the attendees, vendors and organizers were all a delight.
Not only did people share their love of pens and stationery with us but also with each other. I’m always tickled to watch one attendee help another by recommending their favorite ink, helping someone find something on the ink racks or just make new friends simply flipping through the ink swatch books and ooh-ing and ahh-ing together over the colors.
Thanks to the Dromgoole’s for continuing to allow me to be a part of their team. Every show with them is a true joy even if I have to alphabetize inks, lift heavy boxes and crawl around on the floor looking for something I put under the table for “safe keeping”.
Thanks to Ardwolf Ink for answering all my questions about their fascinating new ink line but of course I forgot to ask the most important question which was “How can people buy your inks after the show?!?!” because I forgot to pick some up during the show.
Thanks to Josh John of Precision Writing Works for making my Kaweco Sport actually an EF nib.
There was more kindness and joy throughout the weekend as well. On Friday night there was a Pelikan Hub event hosted by Hubmaster Mike (sing that like the Beastie Boys please, “Hub D in da House.. say hey now!”) and everyone who wanted to attend were invited so I was able to go. Mike put together a history of Pelikan slide show and had folks in the audience share their Pelikan stories. Then hosted an Ink Crawl that was so much fun and introduced folks to new ink colors, new brands and new ink makers.
Big thanks to others who brought me gifts and kindness throughout the weekend like a mini Traveler’s notebook (you didn’t tell me your name! Leave a comment below if this was you since I want to send you more business!), a tiny magnifying glass (Natalie), chocolates and snacks (Kimberly), stickers and washi (Danielle) and probably a bunch of other things I am forgetting but will remember the moment I hit post. For those folks, consider this your full page ad in Variety after the Oscars. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Pen people really are the best sorts of people. Thanks to everyone for making the Dallas Pen Show awesome this year.
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I was browsing for stationery news headlines this week when I found an article in Publisher’s Weekly announcing that Barnes & Noble has acquired Levenger. Levenger is a lifestyle brand known for its stationery products, writing instruments and office and desk decor. So I thought it merited a mention on a blog dedicated to desk space.
I don’t know what my reaction is though. On the plus side, Barnes & Noble has always had a nice selection of journals and planners in its physical stores. I don’t recall seeing a large selection of pens there before, but I’m not opposed to it. I’m also in favor of sharing more delightful analog tools and products with audiences everywhere, and it sounds like a selection of products will be introduced fairly soon. Plus they are keeping the Levenger headquarters and employees in place and are continuing to sell through the Levenger website. This seems like a great opportunity for Levenger.
However, I can’t help but be a little wary of the large company purchasing the smaller one. B&N has announced it will sell select items in its own stores and in the future will add some items through Paper Source, which it acquired in 2021. I don’t know if you remember that Paper Source declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021 (likely how it led to the B&N acquisition) but that whole incident left a bad taste in my mouth. Again, I want to see small and medium-size stationery brands succeed in the marketplace, but I’m also not sure how to feel about large corporations entering the space.
Do you have thoughts?
So, this month I changed my planner set-up, added new notebooks and temporarily retired others. Chaos reigns supreme for October! Check out the video for all the details.
DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this post were provided free of charge by JetPens and others for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
I have a beautiful planner from Owl Paper Co. to give away today. I reviewed another Owl Paper Co. planner last week that uses the same 80 gsm Delphina paper and a similar layout if you’d like to see pen tests and ink swatches.
The Owl Paper A5 Undated Bullet Journal features a Caramel Macchiato leatherette cover. It is a 6-month, undated bullet journal. For each month, there is:
There are also 50 additional pages in the back for additional notes. This planner also features Delphina 80gsm paper and has a total of 384 pages. The cover is a camel leatherette.
The planner feature a very light grid printed on the pages, a two-page monthly calendar and a vertical weekly calendar spread.
(There is a slight ding in the upper corner but it will not effect the binding or usability. Thanks, USPS!)
GIVEAWAY: We have ONE Owl Paper Co. A5 Undated Planner in camel leatherette to giveaway to one lucky winner.
TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and let me know what size planner or journal you usually use OR if you’ve tried or heard of Owl Paper Co.? Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.
If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the monkeys some time.
FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Tuesday, September 29, 2026. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Wednesday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.
I’m headed off to Dallas for the pen show tomorrow. If you’re attending the show, please come by the Dromgoole’s corner in the main ballroom and say hi. I’d love to see you!
In Link Love news, its a very arty week and art markers get some serious love. USPS provides shipping guidelines for the upcoming holiday season and there’s some tips for reusing old planner inserts from Philofaxy. Enjoy!
In case you’re curious, I build each Link Love illustration from bits and pieces of vintage artwork collected or purchased through reputable stock illustration sites. No AI is used in making the art or building our curated list of links each week.
If you love Link Love, you’ll love our Patreon where you can get inspiration, gossip and free printables plus a biweekly podcast and more. Your patronage supports this site. Without our Patrons, and without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!
A few weeks ago when I was preparing a yarn and ink palette I realized that I didn’t have any mint or sage green in my ink stash. I’ve got bright grassy greens, kelly greens, greeny teals and forest greens. But nothing muted or minty. I immediately went to JetPens and remedied that; I purchased a bottle of Sailor Manyo Ayame ($24 for 50mL).
Ayame is a dual shading ink. It starts as a muted darker green (more of the sage) and then shades into violet and pink tones. I can also see bits of a brighter green there in closeups.
This ink is gorgeous! I don’t know that it’s my original intended, but I feel like I want to put it in every pen now. Obviously it shows up darker in my splotches and brushing, but I do think in a medium nib it would be dark enough for decent writing.
As far as comparisons go, I don’t have anything that’s even close. Ukikusa is bright green and not close at all. Styx Valley Forest Green picks up the darker tones in Amaye, but is way too dark. I love that I’ve filled a whole in my color options!
DISCLAIMER: Special thanks to Jet Pens who sent us the ink sample for the purposes of review. Other items may have been received for review, or purchased with our own funds. Please see the About page for more details.
