The Well-Appointed Desk

Yesterday was Hobonichi day! And, while I don’t partake, the final third of the year has encouraged me to take stock of where I am planning and journal-wise and where I want to go. Let’s review what I’m using and what I love.

For weekly and daily work planning:

I have to say it: I love my Effin’ Birds planners. While the humor may not appeal to some (I get you, I really do), the format is what works best for me. I’ve got my month-at-a-glance up front, and then my weekly days along with a new Monday pick-me-up illustration each week. The paper is excellent and fountain pen friendly, and the price is extremely reasonably (I got a 2026 version for $16.73 at Bookshop.org)

For work meeting notes:

I’m still chugging along on my Odyssey A5 Cosmo Air Light notebook that I bought when I started my job over two and a half years ago. The dot grid is perfect for me – light enough not to distract from my notes, but enough of a guide that I don’t write all over the place. The paper is fountain pen friendly and I’m only 70 pages in (with 230 more to go – it started as a 300 numbered page book!)

For journaling:

I can’t say enough how much I love my Notebook Therapy Tsuki Bullet Journal. The pages are thick enough to withstand lots of ephemera and writing in fountain pens, and the book itself is beautiful. I have this idea that one day I’ll have a bookshelf lined with journals. And, as much as I love this one, it’s the one I seem to struggle to use sometimes. Sure I’m collecting notecards and things I’ve received in the mail, but two weeks go by with no entries sometimes. I want to record more, and more artistically in form (I love looking at Ana’s notebooks), but that just doesn’t appear to be my style. I will likely finish out the book’s pages this year, as a record of 2024 and 2025 combined, so I need to order another one to start 2026.

So those are my plans for 2026 sorted. What are yours?

In Planners & Organizers

Happy Hobonichi Day!

AnaSeptember 1, 2025August 25, 2025Leave a comment

For some, today is Labor Day, the last official day of summer but, for stationery nerds, its Hobonichi Day or the official start of 2026 planner season.

Whether you have been clicking reload on the Hobonichi web site for the last month or have been waiting for the release of your favorite planner brand for the new year,

For US Hobonichi fans, I recommend purchasing your new planner from one of the US importers like JetPens, Yoseka or Dromgoole’s. They will have already handled all the potential tariffs so your new planner will be delivered domestically without additional stops with customs agents.

For more information about the tariff situation and the price increases, check out this video: Hobonichi Just Got Pricier: What US Buyers Must Know

Looks a bit like a Hobonichi but filled with Midori MD Paper: the Midori Hibino 2026 Diary A6

If you are looking for a Hobonichi alternative, don’t forget to check one of the many other planner brands on the market that will be released in the next month or so like:

Wonderland222 B6 2026 Edition Grid Notebook, 368 pages

There are so many other brands out there. What is your favorite planner? Are you planning to use the same planner in 2026 so switch it up?

In Friday Friends

Friday Friends: Loving the Pen Community (JoyDesign.us)

AnaAugust 29, 2025August 18, 2025Leave a comment

Welcome to the first post in our “Friday Friends” series.

© Joydesign.us https://www.instagram.com/p/DNf2i6yubWl/?img_index=1

Laura and I had an idea a couple weeks ago to start featuring some of our favorite folks from the pen community. Every so often, we’ll have a post of someone amazing we’ve found on YouTube, Instargam, TikTok or wherever we find them on the internet.

To kick off our new series, I want to introduce Jenn Smith, an artist, designer and fountain pen and ink enthusiast. She has creating a woodworked sample vial holder with Nagomi Woodworking and fills her Instagram feed with beautiful swatches of ink in her lovely penmanship.

© Joydesign.us https://www.instagram.com/p/DNGSjrIxF5B/

© Joydesign.us https://www.instagram.com/p/DNA-2NkRvI9/

For more information about her projects, check out her linktree.

In feature

Ink Review: Murky Purples (Grey Purples)

AnaAugust 28, 2025August 25, 2025Leave a comment

It was actually cool this morning. Like, I needed a sweater and socks! I immediately went out and bought some Pumpkin Spice Coffee because in my heart, Autumn is coming and I’m ready to embrace it with two hands — one with a steamy mug and the other with fresh muffin. Hello, Autumn! We missed you.

That makes me want to get out my moody, misty, darker colors in pens and inks. I have always loved grey inks and particularly purply greyish inks. I discovered that I have a few in my stash and have added a few others recently so I thought I’d compare them this week.

Sailor Chu Shu has been one of my favorite grey inks for years — its definitely a purply grey with a cool undertone. Last year, I discovered Diamine (Green Edition) Ghost which is lighter and a bit of a multichromatic purple-grey with an undertone of yellow (sort of). I have a teeny 15ml bottle of Colorverse Anti-Matter that came in a set with Matter which was a 60ml pigment black. I liked both inks but wished I could get a larger bottle of Anti-Matter. Though, at this point with Chu Shu and Ghost, I have plenty of greyish purple that looks very similar. In DC, I picked up a bottle of Diamine (Black Edition) Marley which is closest to Anti-Matter — a sort of purple-black. Finally, Kala Abstraction Pigment Ink in Mongolian Sandstorm which leans slightly more mauve and is water resistant.

Looking at all the colors on a single page shows a little bit more variation in the colors. Marley looks a bit more raspberry to Ghost which is more blackberry and Chu Shu looks almost like grape juice and Anti-Matter looks like plum.

I like all of these and I’m curious which shade will rise to the top of my most-used list. Which one is your favorite?

Tools:

Paper: Odyssey Notebooks A5 Grid 68gsm Tomoe River and Ink Swatching Guidesheets
Pens: Dominant Industry Ink Muddler, Sailor Hocoro Dip Pens, Zebra G Dip Nib and Tachikawa T-40 Nib Holder
Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)

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

In Link Love

Link Love: Planner Season is coming!

AnaAugust 27, 2025August 25, 2025Leave a comment

I am off to San Francisco today but I am getting so excited for Autumn and 2026 planner season. Next Monday is the official launch day for Hobonichi and, for us stationery folks, the official start of Autumn. To get prepared, check out some of these posts:

All Set Up for Hobonichi Preview Party at Yoseka – Till September 7 (via Yoseka Stationery)
Hobonichi 2026 Lineup Takeaways (via Ask a Planner Nerd)
Best Planners That Come in Both Digital and Paper Versions (via All About Planners)

If you love Link Love and The Well-Appointed Desk, we’d love it if you’d consider joining our Patreon. Your patronage supports this site. Without them, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!

In feature

A Tale of Two Mousses

Laura CameronAugust 26, 2025August 26, 2025Leave a comment

As Ana shared in her post last week, there’s another contender for Mocha Mousse ink! Monteverde is stepping into the ring with MP1 Mocha Mousse. The pen & ink will be debuting soon, but Yafa gave us a little bit of a sneak peek at the ink in giving Ana a few vials!

Monteverde’s Mocha Mousse is exactly what I think of when I think of Mocha Mousse. It’s rich, velvety chocolate brown with just a hint of red in there. I don’t know if it matches the Pantone color super closely, but it makes my mouth water!

The ink itself is a shader, with no sheen. Just lovely chocolately goodness. I did notice that in heavy ink droplet applications it feathered a bit on my Mnemosyne notebook paper, but I didn’t see the same result on my Crossfield Journal (old Tomoe River).

So how does it stack up? I put it right next to Endless Alchemy’s Mocha Mousse Delight and the two are pretty close. The lighter parts of the Monteverde version are close to the darker parts of Endless Alchemy’s version, although I do think Endless Alchemy’s version is a tad bit yellower.

Are you sick of Mocha Mousse yet? Or jamming along with it?

DISCLAIMER: Special thanks to Yafa Brands 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.

Paper: Crossfield Journal ($24.00) and Maruman Mnemosyne N182A Inspiration Notebook A5 ($10.50)
Pens: Pilot Iro-Utushi Dip Pen (F, M, $11 each), Komamono Lab Fonte Glass Body Pen ($7.50)
Swatches: Col-o-Dex Rotary Cards ($15)
Ink: MP1 Mocha Mousse

In feature

Review: Galen Leather Crazy Horse Havana Brown 10-Slot Zippered Case

AnaAugust 25, 2025August 25, 2025Leave a comment

While in DC, I was able to pick up a Galen Leather Zippered 10-Slot Pen Case in Crazy Horse Havana Brown ($68). The Havana Brown color is a limited edition color variant and is only available in the US at present.

I’ve loved my Galen Leather 3-Slot Pen Case that I’ve had for years (EIGHT YEARS!!!) so I was excited to compare the feel and color with a new Havana Brown case.

What I most noticed is that the color of the 3-Slot case has darkened significantly over the years. It is frequently handled and carried (YMMV). I think the Havana Brown case has a very similar color quality to my aged and patina-ed standard Crazy Horse case.

From left to right, Galen 40-Slot Zippered Pen Case in Crazy Horse Honey Ochre,Galen 10-Slot Zippered Pen Case in Crazy Horse Havana Brown and an almost 10-year old Galen 3-Slot Zipper Pen Case in Crazy Horse Brown (the color has darkened significantly over time)

One of the most notable differences between the two shades of Crazy Horse (Honey Ochre and Havana Brown) is the interior suede colors. The Honey Ochre has a very honey yellow colored suede interior while the Havana Brown interior is a warmer russet brown.

There are two suede flaps that cover the pens. I’m still inclined to think that one flap would be enough and that the two flaps is overkill. Though if you are concerned about the zipper touching the pens inside the case, the sueded flaps definitely provide some protection.

I own mostly smaller pens but I thought I’d fill the case with a wide assortment and include my larger models to test how well they all fit.

The larger Benu pens (two pens on the far right) were a bit difficult to squeeze under the elastics but all the other pens fit fine. Super long pens might not fit but I didn’t run into any issues with the other sizes. Super slim pens might fit loosely.

I have a Girologio 10-pen case (previously reviewed in denim) which is notably larger in size overall. The slim proportions of the Galen 10-Slot case make it less bulky and more portable but if you keep larger-than-average pens, could feel snug.

See all the Galen Leather Crazy Horse Havana Brown products while they are still available.

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

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