While April weather is a crap shoot — one day warm and sunny, the next day is frost warnings and grey, spitting rain, it seems like plants and gardening have been on my mind. Lots of the flowering shrubs are blooming bring vibrant pinks and yellows to our neighborhood after months of grey and it…
I love pencils but I love books even more. This will become clear when I tell you I had every intention of posting this review this morning but I was so wrapped up in the book that I’ve been reading that I completely lost track of time this morning and had to toss my book…
It has been quite a while since Pilot has added new colors to their Iroshizuku line. The addition this year is bittersweet – three inks will be added but another three (Ina-Ho, Tsuyu-kusa, and Tsukushi) have been retired. I was able to find a small box of 15mL bottles of the three new inks –…
Several products reviewed this week reminded me thatI heard quite a bit of “insider” news while at the pen show last week. First, a legal issue has arisen with TWSBI. Just prior to the Atlanta Pen Show, online pen shops received a letter from TWSBI telling them they had until May 1 to remove Narwhal…
Review by Tina Koyama Musgrave Pencil Co. of Shelbyville, Tennessee, is one of very few remaining pencil manufacturers in the US. Operating since 1916, it’s still family-owned. As such, I feel an affinity for the company’s history and heritage, though not always its products. For example, the gorgeous Tennessee Red pencils in their cedar box…
Sometimes the best part of travel is coming home. Traveling to Atlanta this past week for my first pen show in two was thrilling (FRIENDS!!!! Pretty ink! Pretty Pens!!!) and sometimes a little scary (Should I take my mask off? Should I hug my friends?) but coming home and having my cats genuinely miss me,…
This weekend was the Atlanta Pen Show, the first pen show I’ve attended in over two years. The last two years have been challenging for so many people that the thought of going to a pen show felt like a mixed blessing. There have still been concerns about the pandemic but the desire to see…
