In Link Love

Link Love: DC Recovery Zone

Author AnaPosted on
Link Love: DC Recovery Zone

I’ve been home for a little over 36 hours from DC and I am still a zombie. I was one of the many people who had delayed and cancelled flights and didn’t arrive in DC until about midnight Thursday night/Friday morning. I worked at the Vanness tables most of the time and then I taught four workshops in-between. The show is so big now that I could not make it to TWO of the four ballrooms. I was able to see the main ballroom, one additional ballroom and the vendors in the hallways around the main ballroom. I don’t know how attendees manage to make it to all the vendors before they hit overwhelm, exhaustion or financial ruin. Since I am working most of the time at the show, I don’t have the time or the energy to shop. I did make a little time to say hello to some friends.

 

And of course, things get a little goofy after hours:

Do you recognize these pen fanatics?

 

I’m going to rest up and get my feet back under me so I’ll be ready for the insanity that will be SF Pen Show. Will I see you there?

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

Come join our Patreon where you not only support this site but you also get an exclusive podcast, free printables and much more. The Link Love art this month is inspired by the printables available to Patrons (FYI). Your patronage supports this site. Without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Big shout to all our current Patrons! You rock! Thank you!

In feature

USPS x Pantone = What ink color is that?

Author Laura CameronPosted on
USPS x Pantone = What ink color is that?

Early last week a knitting friend and fountain pen enthusiast sent me a link to the post below with a note: “I NEED THESE IN INK.”

You know I love a good collab and coming up with ink palettes so here’s my best shot. The USPS x Pantone collaboration boasts 7 new Pantone Colors:

For ease, I put them all in one collage so we’re looking at things together. I sorted through all my inks and I found what I think are the best matches. Your monitor and mileage may vary (and I’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments!)

  1. USPS Blue: If I’m honest, Diamine Florida Blue is just a shade too aqua for this, but I couldn’t find anything that was that much closer. I should look at more Robert Oster colors (they have monopolies on every shade of blue right?) but this one was pretty close.
  2. USPS Gold Seal: I knew immediately that Robert Oster Honey Bee was a lock! I had thought about Franklin Christoph Honeycomb but it’s definitely too dark. If you don’t have Honey Bee, Robert Oster Aussie Gold is a close second.
  3. USPS Carrier Red: I dithered for a bit over this one but I think Robert Oster Astorquiza Rot is pretty close. Monteverde Mercury Noir was the other one I was debating with.
  4. USPS Airmail Red: When I showed these to Ana, her first comment was maybe a coral would work there? J. Herbin Corail de Tropiques is very close. There may be another red, but I didn’t find it. I also tried Iroshizuku Fuyugaki but that was way too orange.
  5. USPS Mr. Zip Orange: Is there an orange that’s both neon but also a little duller/more matte? I thought Lucky Orange might be good but it’s too dark if that makes sense. J. Herbin Orange Indien sort of worked here.
  6. USPS Pony Express: This reminds of of a milk chocolate but none of the Mocha Mousse colors fit, and many of my browns were either too yellow or red. I finally settled on Pilot Iroshizuku Tsukushi. There’s also the fun fact that Tsukushi means horse tail. Perfect right?

You may notice that I didn’t find a swatch for USPS Parchment White. While there are white inks out there, I don’t have any in the stash. Ana offered instead a paper suggestion: Midori MD!

What do you think?

In Ink Review

Ink Review: Wearinguel Wayfarer

Author AnaPosted on
Ink Review: Wearinguel Wayfarer

I confess I’ve had Wearinguel ink samples but never a full bottle of ink and now that I have Wayfarer, I get the fuss.

Wayfarer is a shading, shimmer ink —  the base color is a turquoise/teal with purple shimmer. The shimmer particles can be seen in the bottom of the bottle. So pretty.

The base ink is a darker, turquoise blue with purply shimmer.

If you need a nail polish to match you ink, I recommend Mooncat’s Root of All Evil over a blue creme. Perfect match!

Depending on the line width and pressure, the Wayfarer ink base color can be a deeper teal to a light turquoise. My initial inclination was to compare Wayfarer to Robert Oster’s ocean-y blues like Fire & Ice but Wayfarer is not a sheening ink so its an unfair comparison. Also, Fire & Ice is much greener.

What I did end up comparing Wayfarer with were a few other bluish inks with shimmer but those shimmer particles can shift the overall quality of a color. I had some blue inks with silver shimmer but those inks look so  different because of the silver shimmer. So I compared Wayfarer with Diamine Jack Frost and Birminghan Pen Co. Ohio River Steamboat Twinkle (no longer available) though neither is a close comparison. Shimmer inks definitely are hard to find comps. The closest I found was a non-shimmer, Robert Oster Australis Hydra.

Overall, I am a Wearinguel convert. The colors are beautiful, I knew that but I hadn’t done more than swatch them in the past. Now, I’m sold. Dammit, I don’t need anymore ink.

Tools:

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.

In Ink Review

Ink Review: Oblation Papers Oregon Marionberry (2025 PNW Pen Show Exclusive 2025)

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Ink Review: Oblation Papers Oregon Marionberry (2025 PNW Pen Show Exclusive 2025)

Oblation Papers & Press in Portland, OR released a custom ink for the Pacific Northwest Pen Show in collaboration with Anderillium Inks called Oregon Marionberry. Each bottle comes in a small 15ml brown glass bottle with beautiful letterpress labels.

The ink is a burgundy, red-purple with a tiny bit of shading, no sheening and no shimmer.

When writing with a fine dip nib, I saw little-to-no shading and instead got a fairly dark reddish purple, almost red-black color.

I found a few inks in my stash which are in a similar color range: Birmingham Pen Co. Pittsburgh Symphony Framboise (discontinued), J. Herbin Rouge Grenat ($13.81 for 30ml) and 3 Oysters Delicious Red Wine ($16 for 38ml). Both Rouge Grenat and Red Wine are a little bit lighter and show a bit more shading. Rouge Grenat leans a little more red however, while Red Wine is a little more pink than Marionberry. If you had Framboise and need a replacement, I do think Marionberry is quite similar.

At $14 for a 15ml bottle, no matter how pretty, the cost per ml is a bit high but both the ink and the packaging some from small makers who are based in the US so keep that in mind when comparing the prices.

Overall, I found the color a little dark and flat overall with minimal shading but I’m not a huge fan of reddish inks, even burgundy-ish colors so I am definitely biased. The bottles are beautiful and the labels are lovely so even knowing the color isn’t 100% me, I probably still would have picked up a bottle just because its pretty.

Tools:

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Some items were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

In Paper Review

Notebook Review: Midori MD A5 Thick Blank

Author AnaPosted on
Notebook Review: Midori MD A5 Thick Blank

I have always been a fan of Midori MD products so when I saw the new MD A5 Notebook featuring Paper Thick ($23.50), I knew I needed to try it out. The MD Paper Thick is listed as 141gsm which puts it into the same category as a lot of the 120gsm (and up) bullet journaling notebooks that are quite popular right now.

I could not find specific information about the paper weight of the standard MD paper or the MD Light but they are both much thinner than the MD Thick.

The Thick notebook include 48 sheets/96 pages which is half the number of pages included in the the standard MD notebook ($15.50)(96 sheets/192 pages).

The binding and covers are the same as the standard notebooks from Midori MD with exposed stitching on the binding and simple, unadorned ivory covers. The only branding is a blind emboss on the cover with the Midori branding information. All other information is included on a slipsheet wrap included in the packaging. The covers are ivory cardstock and designed to fit into a Midori cover.

The paper is a similar creamy, ivory color like the other Midori notebooks. The MD Thick is only available in blank right now but can be purchased in A5 and A5-Square (which is actually 5.7″ square so its not really A5 anything, but I let it go).

In pen testing, I tested a page with my everyday fountain pens, a page with all sorts of felt tip, gel, rollerballs and brush pens and finally some of my highlighters and all of them performs beautifully. There was no feathering or bleeding. I can see the appeal of this paper for anyone who uses a lot of different types of tools and who may want to add lots of brush pens, maybe light ink washes and such.

From the Back:

Back of fountain pen testing page

When I turned the pages, there is almost NO showthrough at all– as I hoped. Which means you can easily use both the front and packs of every page. This means the book really does have 96 pages and not just 48 sheets since you can use both sides efficiently.

Back of gel, rollerball, felt tip, etc writing sample page
Back side of the highlighter page testing

This paper is fascinating and extremely functional. It is Thick but that’s what it says “on the tin” so it lives up to its name. It is more expensive than the standard Midori MD notebook of the same size. Is it worth the extra cost? If you like doing 2-page spread layouts and other decorative treatments in  a bullet journal or are inclined to add paint or other artistic tools, than it may be worth it to you.

Would you purchase a notebook with this paper? Are you curious?

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Strange New Worlds

Author AnaPosted on
Link Love: Strange New Worlds

This month Paramount+ dropped season 3 of Star Trek Strange New Worlds which I have anxiously been awaiting and then followed it up with an announcement about an episode of Season 4 where the characters will appear as Muppets. First, they did a crossover episode with Lower Decks, then an all-musical episode, now Muppets?!?! THIS. This is why I love ST: SNW. 100%.

Then a story dropped in the NY Times about the set design of Sesame Street (full article, gift link here). They mention a Muppet scholar in the article. Who knew that was even a job!??! It’s a muppet-astic week!

Drop a note in the comments and tell me your favorite Sesame Street or Muppet character. I love Beaker, Animal, The Count and Snuffleupagus (that’s how you spell it! I had to Google it to be sure!).

Muppet Links of the Week:

Pens:

Ink:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

Please consider joining our Patreon. Your patronage supports this site and you get cool extras like an exclusive podcast, downloadable calendars, and more. Without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you! I can’t thank you enough for reading my pleas.

In Fountain Pen Review

Pelikan Style Fountain Pen

Author Laura CameronPosted on

I’m always game to try a lower-end introductory fountain pen, particularly if I’m familiar with the higher end models the brand produces. All that is to say that when I saw the Pelikan Style Fountain Pen ($34) over at Jet Pens I was in.

I’m a child of the 80’s and I get a kick out of the 5 colors offered – 4 neon and 1 white combined with black. They give the pen a futuristic Tron-like vibe.

The pen body, snap cap and clip are all sturdy plastic, with the bonus of a black textured slightly rubberized grip. The only detractor on this one that I can find is it’s only available in a medium nib – no choices there. The pen comes with one standard international long cartridge, but you can also use short cartridges or converters. It also has two ink windows so you can keep tabs on when you’re running low.

In terms of sizing, this pen is not small, nor is it large. (How Goldilocks of me!) I compared it to other Pelikans I own. It’s somewhere between the Pelikan Twist models (old and new) and I think it fits in there well. It is somewhat bigger than my M205. Lengthwise it comes in at 14cm/5.5″ in length and it’s lightweight at 16g.

Here’s a quick comparison with my other birds:

L to R: Pelikan M205 Apatite, Pelikan Style, Pelikan Twist (vintage), Pelikan Twist (new edition)

In terms of writing experience, I enjoyed this one. The medium steel nib is stiff, but juicy in terms of writing. If you like a broader line and a slightly wetter experience, this one would work well for you. I have to say that it felt quite a bit like the Twist pens, but the addition of the rubberized grip and the fact that it’s not angled like the newer Twist made it much more comfortable to hold in my hand. I definitely prefer this one to the new angular Twist, but I think it might even be a bit more comfortable and substantive than the retro Twist, which I did enjoy.

You’re definitely not getting the fine tuned experience of the more expensive Pelikan models, but I think the Style is perfectly comparable to the TWSBI Eco and the Lamy Safari.

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.