The Well-Appointed Desk

More Stellar Goods from The Desk & Skylab!

I am so excited to share with you more of the products we’ve been creating. We wanted to have them ready so that we could launch them at the San Francisco Pen Show. First, we have a new coaster set which has been in our brains for years but the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing finally launched this project into orbit.

It’s our Lunar Landing Pad Coaster Set — our tribute to all the Apollo Missions (yes, we know the lunar lander was not part of the Apollo 11 mission!). This set features four unique designs (2 of each designs in a pack of 8) for $10.

This set will be available starting Friday at the San Francisco Pen Show.

The coasters will be available on Etsy and Big Cartel upon our return.

In news

Not to Miss: Cal-o-ring at the SF Pen Show

AnaAugust 19, 2019August 19, 2019Leave a comment

Col-o-ring Cal-o-ring Edition

We couldn’t resist doing another special edition Col-o-ring for the San Francisco Pen Show. This year Bob and I went all out. First, we punned like we did with the Chicag-o-ring. This is the Cal-o-ring! It features a bright orange California orange in the background and Bob hit it out of the park by adding a blind emboss, wood grain texture to the covers to really give this Col-o-ring books, I mean Cal-o-ring books the feeling of vintage fruit crates. The lettering was inspired by vintage travel postcards to continue the feeling of pen show adventures.

Pick-up your Cal-o-ring at the San Francisco Pen Show for $10 starting Friday, August 23 at The Well-Appointed Desk/Skylab Letterpress table or have a friend mule one back for you. These will only be available in San Francisco. Very limited supply available! Get them before they are all sold out.

There are more new products coming from Skylab and the Well-Appointed Desk but the ink isn’t dry yet so keep an eye on our Instagram feeds for updates. We are so excited to share all our new products. And these will be available in our shop after the show so if you can’t make it to SF, don’t worry, you will be able to purchase these soon!

Col-o-ring Oversize

We will also have our new Col-o-ring “Oversize” available for purchase in San Francisco. It’s the perfect companion to your Col-o-ring or Col-o-dex. Test multiple inks, draw, letter, sketch or write to your heart’s content on 40-sheets of our of 100lb/160gsm sheen-showing, no-bleed, no-show through paper. On sale only at our table for $15 each, or available on our online shop. Supplies of this size are limited as we want to hear from you — do you like this size and format? Do you want bigger or smaller options for your sketch and doodle needs? Let us know so we can add an official OVERSIZE to our regular stock. Thanks!

In Ink Review

Preview: Papier Plume Marina Green (SF Pen Show 2019)

AnaAugust 19, 2019August 19, 2019Leave a comment

With the San Francisco Pen Show just around the corner, its time to discuss all the goodies that will debut and/or only be available at the show. First on the list is Papier Plume‘s Marina Green ink ($10).

This ink is a bright, grassy green and is said to have UV protective in the ink making it less likely to fade which can be an issue with bright green inks.

I didn’t notice any sheening in the ink but there is some shading in the color. With a fine nib, the color is light and almost lime in color. Wider nibs and dip pens make the color more grassy and kelly green.

Compared to other bright, vivid greens, Marina Green is pretty similar to Akkerman #28 Hofkwartier Groen. Robert Oster’s new Vine Leaf is also a bit similar. Niether of these colors contain the UV protectant that Papier Plume is using. Since I received the ink just a few days ago, I have not had time to test and compare the UV protectant to these inks but I will certainly try to test this out in the coming weeks.

I hope this preview gives you a quick look at this color and helps you decide if you need to add this ink to your “must haves” for the SF Pen Show or if you need to get a friend to mule a bottle back for you. I suspect this ink will be a limited run as Papier Plume has done with the Chicago Show inks in the past though they have listed any leftover bottles on their web site after the show, IF there are any left. Don’t be left empty handed!

In photo, Tools

Eye Candy Friday – Galen Leather Co. Zippered 10 Slot Pen Case

Laura CameronAugust 16, 2019August 16, 20192 Comments

We don’t need to tell you how wonderful Galen Leather Co. pen cases and writing accessories are. We’ve done it a million times before: the 40-pen case, the 1917 A5 Notebook folio, the Note Board, the Leather Flap Case for Three Pens and the Zippered 6 Slot Pen Case, and the Zippered 5 Slot Pen Case.

What we DO need to tell you is that:

Galen Leather Co. pen cases and writing accessories are now available in the US through Vanness Pen Shop!

Galen Leather Co. will be attending the San Francisco Pen Show – if you’re planning on attending you can browse their wares and meet them in person next weekend!

Happy shopping!

In feature

Giveaway: Back to School with JetPens!

Laura CameronAugust 15, 2019August 14, 2019225 Comments

Each year when back to school rolled around, I was most excited to stock up on school supplies. Trapper Keepers, fun graphic folders, mechanical pencils, new highlighters….

Well back to school is here and we want to help all of you celebrate so we’re giving away a $50 gift certificate to JetPens.com! Also because this is a gift card we’re opening it up to our international audience!

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me what you would order with your gift card! 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, August 20, 2019. 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 7 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner.

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

In news

Giveaway Winner: Opus88 Koloro

AnaAugust 14, 2019August 14, 20192 Comments

I enjoyed reading all the comments for the giveaway this week. Lots of people reminisced about school memories like covering school books with paper, buying school supplies and backpacks and seeing friends after a long summer. Some folks dreaded going back to school because they were freckly or the new kid (I can totally relate) but the school supplies made it a little better.

So, now it’s time for the winner of the Opus88 Koloro in yellow, generously donated by Appelboom.

Congrats to Tony. Hopefully, the Koloro will not bring back any school pen memories.

In Link Love

Link Love: Vertex Vortex

AnaAugust 14, 2019August 14, 2019Leave a comment

This week is the public unveiling of the Karas Vertex Fountain Pen and the new Blackwing Volumes 42. Ferris Wheel Press also unveiled new ink colors. Pantone also released 112 new colors in its palette though those are more “virtual” color as they are formulas and digital chips.

I guess the summer lull is over and the push to the end of the year had officially started. Next stop, planner mayhem!

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things: