In Ink Review

Ink Review: Robert Oster Toffee

Author Laura CameronPosted on 4 Comments

Review by Laura Cameron

Earlier this year I had occasion to look for a warm brown to match a pen (of course!) and I stumbled on Robert Oster’s Toffee (50mL, $17.00).

Toffee is a warm, rich, golden brown that shades beautifully. I picked it up because it reminded me of toasted marshmallows and matched a white and brown Shawn Newton pen that came home with me from the Arkansas Pen Show.

When I arrived home, I was pleasantly surprised that Toffee wasn’t really like anything else I have in my ink stash. Noodler’s Rome Burning is much greener, Monteverde Brown Sugar and Diamine Chocolate Brown are much darker, and Pilot Iroshizuku Tsukushi is an entirely different tone.

Of course I can see lots of shading and variation in my sampling, but I was excited to see that there is some shading in the course of regular writing as well. As you can see it varies between a rich golden brown, and a a darker, nuttier brown. This one isn’t a sheener, but delivers a dark brown punch in the ink drops.

Overall I’ve been really happy with this ink. Not only is it the perfect match for my pen, it’s a lovely addition to my collection!

Tools:

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.

In Paper Review

Notebook Review: Lett’s Notes Legacy Notebook

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Notebook Review: Lett’s Notes Legacy Notebook

The Lett’s of London Legacy Notebook in Purple (£20) is one of the most luxurious notebooks to cross  my desk in some time. The embossed, leather-look cover and gilt edges with the gold foil logo embossed on the cover is the height of elegance and sophistication.

Lett's Note

The notebook is 202mm x 133mm (approx. 8″x5.25″, a little smaller than A5) with deeply rounded corners and includes an ivory,  satin ribbon bookmark. There are 240 numbered pages with sewn binding.

Lett's Note

The edge gilding absolutely gleams!

Even the spine is embossed with the gold foil logo. It’s a pleasing detail.

Lett's Note

Inside the cover, on the end papers, is a bit of the history of Lett’s.

Lett's Note

Inside the back cover is a secretary pocket to hold miscellaneous paper. It’s not gusseted so it won’t hold a ton of things but will hold a few.

Lett's Note

The next page is a table of contents.

Lett's Note

It turns out the 90gsm acid-free, cream colored paper is a pleasure to write on. True to their word on the web site, the paper really is fountain pen-friendly. It did great with ballpoint, felt tip and rollerball too.

The lined paper features classic, light blue lines with the double header lines in light red. I could totally embrace this book. It feels good in the hand, writes beautifully and looks classic.

Lett's Note

Pencils had a lovely feel on the paper in the Lett’s Notes as well. In this close-up, you can see there’s no feathering with fountain pen ink either.

Lett's Note

There’s no fountain pen bleed through on the reverse side of the paper either.

The Lett’s Notes Legacy notebook should soon be available in the US, but even through the UK site, the price is competitive with the average Moleskine and is leaps and bounds better in terms of quality and presentation. It would be worth paying the shipping premium to get it from the UK. It’s a far superior product to most notebooks currently available, even if lined paper isn’t usually your bag.

(In case anyone is curious, the pen is a Pilot Decimo with a new stub nib ($140)

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

In Fashionable Friday

Fashionable Friday: One Small Step

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Fashionable Friday: One Small Step

July 20th is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Here at the house of NASA love we’ve been celebrating for the last 50 years, so I decided it was high time to celebrate the occassion as an official Fashionable Friday. Thankfully, the fountain pen community has also embraced this momentous occasion with some amazing special editions. It’s easy to be inspired by the visions of a future greater than ourselves… when we believed that we could go beyond the stars. And then we did.

  • Colorverse Moon Landing Ink Set $100 (via Pen Chalet)
  • Lamy Safari USA Independence Fountain Pen $36 (via Vanness Pen Shop)
  • Leuchtturm 1917 1969 (I took creative liberties with the cover wrap) A5 Dot Grid Notebook in Metallic Silver $25.50 (via Anderson Pens)
  • Diamine 150th Anniversary in Silver Fox Ink $15.50 for 40 ml Bottle (via JetPens)
  • Retro 51 Tornado Fountain Pen – Apollo Limited Edition, pre-order $120 (via Vanness Pen Shop)
  • Montegrappa Moon Landing Fountain pen €326.45 or $395USD (via Appelboom or Goldspot Pens)
  • One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission That Flew Us to the Moon $19.25 (via Amazon)
  • Apollo 11 from The Giant Leaps in Space Print Series $55 (via Chop Shop)
  • Moon Globe $85.25 (via Amazon)
  • The Coop NASA Apollo Moon Landing Film Canister Lunch Tins $20.97 (via Amazon)
  • Field Notes Three Missions Notebook $12.95 (via Pen Chalet)
  • Leather tote bag in silver $150.00+ (via LaraKlass on Etsy)
  • Caran d’Ache 849 fountain pen white €55 (via Fontoplumo)
  • Diamine Shimmering Moon Dust Fountain Pen Ink $20 for 50ml bottle (via Goldspot Pens)
  • MT Thick Thin Black Stripe Washi Tape $3.50 per roll (via CuteTape)

For more information about exhibitions and festivities planned for the anniversary, check out these links:

DISCLAIMER: The item in this review include affiliate links. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.

Thanks to our sponsors for providing some of the images I use for Fashionable Friday. Please consider making your next purchase from one of the shops that support this blog and let them know you heard about them here.

Thanks for reading and for supporting the shops that help keep it running.

In Link Love

Link Love: Crazy Days of Summer

Author AnaPosted on
Link Love: Crazy Days of Summer

This week, there are ballpoint pen reviews and witty crosstitch designs. Is this the end-of-times edition? No, it’s just the wild-and-crazy days of summer. Nick Stewart shows off a giant calligraphy brush and Mono paints a city bus to loon like their iconic eraser and packaging.

In more normal posts, there are also reviews of Kyo-no-oto ink reviews and Azizah reviews an Aurora 88 Urano fountain pen.

Enjoy the lazy, crazy days of summer!

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Artist Katerina Lukashina Makes Brilliant And Hilarious Cross Stitches (via Design You Trust)

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

In Ink Review

Ink Review: Waterman Harmonious Green

Author Laura CameronPosted on 3 Comments

Review by Laura Cameron

Every so often I pick up a bottle of a classic ink and decide to review it here. I have a few vintage pens, so I’m always looking for good colors of tried and true inks. This time it’s Waterman Harmonious Green and, as always, I’m impressed with it!

Waterman Harmonious Green is a beautiful blue green. In many lights it appears very green, but then I compare it to truer greens and it appears more like a blue fir color.

When I flip through my Col-o-dex, the closest color I find is my Robert Oster Spearmint. Monteverde California Teal is close, but just a shade too blue. And Rohrer & Klingner Smaragdgrun is too light, though similarly toned.

Harmonius Green shades beautifully and do you see what I see? Down there on the ink splotches? That’s red-purple sheen!

Yes that’s right. These  tried and true inks do sheen! I’m excited to spend some time writing with this beautiful ink!

Tools:

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

In Paper Review

Notebook Review: Lett’s Travel Journal

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Notebook Review: Lett’s Travel Journal

The Lett’s Travel Journal (£20, soon to be released in US) is a petite, pocketable notebook that feels both elegant and personal. The paper is just 147x69mm (approx. 5.78″x2.7″). The whole book is closer to 3.5″ across, when measured from the spine. The cover is a textured leather with embossed logo, centered on the cover. It’s very understated.

Lett's Travel Journal

The Lett’s Travel notebook has a lovely satin ribbon bookmark and gold metallic edge painted pages. This book feels very posh.

Lett's Travel Journal

Down the spine is a thin, gold fluted pen, hidden in the seam of the spine. It’s a slender ballpoint pen which is not always my tool of choice but the fact that it fits perfectly, and invisibly down the spine means that you always have a pen with the book, even if it’s not your favorite. It comes with a medium point refill which seems a bit chunky for the delicacy of the notebook and the pen itself. I really want to replace it with a fine refill. I think it would better suit the whole set-up.

Lett's Travel Journal

Inside the book are lightweight 45gsm, soft ivory pages that have been printed with all sorts of sections related to travel. The book starts with a set of contents pages and then moves to several pages for specifc locales.

Lett's Travel Journal

The pages are numbered and feature a spot at the top for date and location. These pages make up the majority of the book.

Lett's Travel Journal

Lett's Travel Journal

Towards the back of the book is a section for planning out your year and listing favorite restaurants.

Lett's Travel Journal

There is also some top level city information for major cities across the world that includes time zones, airports and a few hotels. I have no idea how the hotels were selected. The one city included that I am most familiar with is Chicago and even if the criteria was poshest hotels, I’m not sure the hotel they chose were the ones I would have picked. But I am not old world money, so what do I know?

Lett's Travel Journal

As I mentioned earlier, the paper in the notebook is quite thin, in order to make this notebook small and pocketable. As a result, ballpoint pens, gel pens and pencils are really the best option with this book. Wet liquid-y inks are going to show and bleed through.

The more I tested this little notebook, the more I started to appreciate it. When I first got it, it seemed like something for someone much fancier than myself. But the more I played with it, the more I realized, I’m someone who travels a lot. Having a small notebook to keep track of what hotels I stay in, which restaurants I like and don’t like, what various adventures (both good and bad) occur on a given trip might be nice to document. This book is no more of a luxury than all my fancy pens, right?

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