Thanks to a wonderful Redditor, Ana and I were able to update the Pen Show Calendar with a few new offerings, mostly under the paper and planner category (scroll down below the first list which is all Fountain Pen Shows.)
As always, if we’ve missed your event, hit us up and we’ll get a link on the page!
Happy travels!
Thank you all for entering the Daigo Tea & Diary Time giveaway. I’ve been making note of funny quotes or things that happen every day since I started with the weekly/weekend version and I’m loving it. But without further ado…
The winner of the morning version is Paula:
And the winner of the evening is Marjorie:
I’ve already contacted both under separate cover and will mail those out this week!
I picked up the Kuretake Ink-Cafe Meiji No Iro Bottled Ink in Ebicha (20ml bottle for $19.30) last year and have been meaning to post a review. I had been waiting to get all six colors but I can never find all in stock at the same time.
The “MEIJI NO IRO” series of inks is nspired by popular colors from the Meiji era of Japanese history that occurred between 1868 to 1912, the Japanese equivalent of the Edwardian period. The full collection includes 6 colors.
Ebicha is a deep reddish purple. In full coverage, it looks almost like a purple-brown. The color was purposely “sort of purple”. In the Meiji era, purple was considered a noble color used by the aristocracy. This was similar to how purple was seen in Europe as well until about 1865 when William Perkin started his experiments with coal tar and quinine to create a commercially viable mauve color (which was still expensive but started the trend of commerical dyes). Since Japanese people were afraid of using purple for home and clothing, “EBICHA” was often used instead of traditional Purple. EBICHA had become a popular color for Hakama (Japanese traditional pants) that female students wore. EBICHA is “shrimp tea”.
The swatch looks like a warm reddish brown with a hint of reddish-purple in the warm tone. Its a very deeply saturated ink color so it shades a little bit and also can sheen just a bit too, depending on nib and paper choices.
On Iroful paper, Ebicha is a little bit more reddish. While on Cosmo Air Light, the ink appears a little more brown. Tomoe River shows off the most red shading than Iroful or Cosmo Air Light.
On Tomoe River, I thought the color had a bit of that Strawberry Chocolate vibe that people like so much but its much darker brown than Kobe Strawberry Chocolate which is more of a dusty pink. But I think if you have Strawberry Chocolate and feels too light, Ebicha might be a good alternative.
Ebicha is definitely in my sweet spot for a warm chocolatey color compared to Kaweco Caramel Brown (one of my all time favorites), Monteverde MP1Collection Mocha Mousse or Ferris Wheel Press Beaver Dam Brown. Mocha Mouse and BEaver Dam Brown are no longer available so Ebicha feels like a good alternative.
I included Robert Oster Claret which is a brown/burgundy that sits about halfway between Ebicha and Strawberry Chocolate.
I am a big fan of Kuretake Ebicha. I’m tickled that its named “shrimp tea” which I imagine this to be an ink drink that shrimp prefer. If you’ve read Maya’s Blogs series, you’ll know which shrimp I am thinking of. Its a solid warm brown color with a reddish-purple undertone. It definitely makes me want to get my hands on some of the other Kuretake Ink-Cafe colors soon.
(Notes: some color information from The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair a book that our Patrons read as part of our bookclub and video chat.)
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Dromgoole’s for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
I found a magical package on my door step this week, filled with the sweet Moomin stationery in celebration of The Summer of Moomin, an event at the New York Botanical Gardens. This summer, NYBG has filled their gardens with the creatures of Moominland and of course produced an array of goods to celebrate the event.
If you’re not familiar with Moomin, they are the characters from Moominland created by Tove Jansson. The stories were first published in the 1950s and continued into the 1970s as novels, comic strips, animated series and so much more. Considered a national treasure in Finland, Moominland and all the books continue to delight nature-lovers of all ages.
Its an unusual collaboration for Esterbrook as the collection does not include any pens, just notebooks and stationery goods.
The products available in this collection are:
As adorable as I think Moomin are, I of course want to know how well the notebooks and stationery perform. So, let’s get started.
I’m going to go ahead and give away the big reveal, the Moomin A6 Journal and Tote Set is my favorite in this whole collection. At first, I was a little skeptical about the tote bag. Its a canvas-style tote with just one strap and an orange grosgrain ribbon but I put everything from the collection in the bag and it all fit. The tote is a fine option for that “home purse/analog tote” for moving your journal and pens back and forth from your desk to the couch to the coffeeshop.
I wish the ribbon had been sealed or cut at an angle to prevent fraying and I’d also have loved for the tote to be a wide, short bag rather than the tall, vertical design but it works and the A5 notebooks fits so I appreciate the desire to do something different but a Moomin mini Trader Joe’s tote would be epic.
Okay, on to the A6 journal…
The A6 Journal features a soft, matte vinyl cover with graphics screen printed onto the cover.
When the cover is removed the journal has a simple, linen textured PU material cover with two grosgrain ribbon bookmarks and a light 5mm grid inside.
The only branding without the clear cover is a small mark for NYBG x Moomin and Esterbrook on the inside front page. So, if you like the A6 journal, you can use the notebook in an another cover or without the cover altogether. And if you love Moomin, you can reuse the cover on another A6 notebook.
I couldn’t find any info on the page count so I manually counted them. It appears to be about 216 pages in the A6 Journal. You’re welcome.
So, now for the big reveal:
Esterbrook claimed the paper was fountain pen friendly and guess what? It is! The paper is a warm white and relatively smooth. I’d compare it to the texture on Midori MD, smooth but not slippery. I like the paper.
I normally find A6 to be too small for me but this A6 Journal feels good in the hand, has nice paper and a good amount of pages.
The website lists the A6 Journal is a “refillable” notebook so I am hoping that Esterbrook will offer the refills soon.
I grabbed a handful of Sailor Studio Inks at the Portland PNW Pen Show. Some of the colors I grabbed are being discontinued so I wanted to be able to see if I can find some dupes* for the discontinued colors as well as just share the joy of finding a new favorite color.
*Dupe is a term used in the cosmetics community to describe a very similar color of a product that is less expensive or not a limited edition.
Overall, I love Sailor inks. The quality is excellent and the color range is excellent. I thought the Sailor Studio Inks line with 100 colors was almost perfect from the standpoint of people looking for a specific color. It was the closest I could find to the wall of paint colors at Lowe’s for fountain pen inks. That is all about to change so I wanted to grab colors I might not be able to get later and bring the collection to your attention if you haven’t tried it.
Sailor does not sell shimmer fountain pen inks (they do have a few shimmer inks for dip pens only called “Dipton”) but they do sell multichromatic and sheening colors and all of these were available in the Sailor Studio Ink collection.
So let’s dive in to the few I picked up.
I wanted to find more colors that I would use regularly so I went for a mid-saturation shading inks in blues, greens and purples — my favorite ink colors.
On all the papers I tested, the inks were all legible and shades well. I probably would have used all three for my Mermaid month so be prepared to see these inks again next July.
I assumed I would have a match for the blue-violet #343 but the closest I found was Robert Oster Sydney Lavender and Vinta Maskara. Maskara is bright and more saturated while the Sydney Lavender is a bit darker and duskier. But both are pretty close. But since #343 is staying in the Sailor Studio Ink line you can just purchase this one if you prefer it.
For #564, Robert Oster Peppermint feels really similar in person and Diamine Aurora Borealis is slightly more blue but also felt quite close. Everything else in my collection was brighter, green, or more turquoise so it is a particularly unique shade.
Finally, #341 is quite similar to the Sailor California ink from the 50 States Collection. And Pelikan Edelstein Aquamarine hovers between #341 and #564. If you already own Aquamarine, you probably don’t need either #341 and #564.
I really like the aquas, greens and purples from the original Sailor Studio Inks. Honestly, I like most of the colors. I’m sad to see even one of the colors leaving the line because I think a lot of the colors were overlooked in our “shimmer ink era” and are just now getting some traction. I’m sure it was difficult for retailers to keep all 100 colors in stock especially when some colors sell super fast (hello, #123!) when others are more slow movers but dammit, we need ALL the COLORS!
I have about eight bottles of Sailor Studio Ink in my collection. I may try to get a bottle of warm brown from the Sailor Studio Ink line to “complete” my personal ink collection. What are your go-to ink colors or your favorite Studio Ink color? Am I missing something?
More of the pen community has taken on the “Only Ten Pens” Challenge. I love these community challenges and the chance to see what other people love. Sometimes its $10 pens and sometimes its $1000+ pens… and sometimes both. I’ve continued to think on this project and if it would inspire me to remove some pens from my collection and possibly add more of what I love most? Do you like these challenges? Did you try to pick your 10 forever pens?
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A few weeks ago when I was browsing JetPens, my attention was captured by the Daigo Tea & Diary Time diaries ($11.50-12.50). These looked like the perfect little books in which to record a few simple thoughts of the day. Since I’ve written many times about how I struggle with daily journaling, I wondered if this might be the key!
I ordered three versions: a Morning Diary, an Evening Diary and a Weekend Diary. I chose to test out the Weekend version for myself.
All the books are A6 size which translates to 5.75″ x 4″ (15cm x 10.5cm) which makes them somewhat pocketable, and definitely purse friendly. The covers are cardstock. They come encased in a thin plastic which may just be for packaging, but I decided to sticker mine up and leave it on to protect the cardstock. Inside the books are filled with Daigo Diary Paper which is ivory and lined. While I can’t find a GSM for the paper, it is thicker than Tomoe River, but lighter than most of my preferred papers. Page amounts vary – for the weekend there are 110 sheets (for 2 years worth of weeks), and for the morning/evening there are 192 sheets (for approximately 6 months of days).
How is the paper? I enjoyed writing on it. I was using a Pelikan M205 Fine, which is a wetter writer. I didn’t see any bleeding or feathering. The writing did show through the opposite side more than I would like, but that could be fixed with a lighter touch and a slightly finer nib. Or it would likely be perfect for gel pens.
I’m kind of charmed by the fact that the writing spaces are so small that I really only have time for a few important thoughts. Like knitting with friends is super fun, but sometimes you will make mistakes and have to rip out your work later. Or being seated at a table next to a couple loudly breaking up next to you in Panera is quite awkward. Or that early voting has opened in your state, and it’s time to go! Clearly the deepest thoughts!
Ok it’s too far down the page and I haven’t even mentioned the giveaway. Let’s do this!
THE GIVEAWAY: You are entering to win a Tea & Diary Time Diary. I have one of each: Tea & Diary Time Evening Cafe Au Lait/Calming and Tea & Diary Time Morning Coffee/Blue. I will select two winners; each will win one journal plus a few SWAG items from me and The Desk.
TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell us whether you’re a morning pages or a night owl journaler? 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 Sunday, July 26, 2026. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Instagram, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday, June 1. 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.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review and giveaway were purchased from JetPens using my own funds. Please see the About page for more details.
