In photo

Arkansas Pen Show Recap 2019

Author Laura CameronPosted on 7 Comments

Review by Laura Cameron

Last weekend I had the great fortune to get to accompany Ana to the Arkansas Pen Show. I went to help her work her booth, and help other vendors out in general, and of course to look and shop!

We drove down to Arkansas on Thursday and arrived late in the afternoon. First destination: pen mecca, Vanness Pens! I had never gotten to see the store in person and it was so much fun! I immediately started a shopping basket (ooops!)

Although not fountain pen related exactly, one of the first things we did was get ourselves outfitted with Pen Show water bottles!

We also got to meet the Vanness shop dog!

After spending several delightful hours at the store, we grabbed dinner with friends and then went to bed early to prepare for pen show mayhem!

Friday dawned early, and with the aid of Starbucks, we had the Well-Appointed Desk booth up and ready to go fairly quickly.

Of course that left us a bit of time for hijinks!

Friday passed fairly quickly, but I did have time to poke around the show floor and see a few of the vendors. We were just down the way from Shawn Newton from Newton Pens. Arkansas is Shawn’s home town show, so he brought the goods! I managed to hold off until Saturday afternoon before I bought a pen, but I went back over to his table multiple times to check out all the lovely colors.

Patrick from Papier Plume also took a couple of tables at the Arkansas Pen Show. I really enjoy their ink, but I LOVE looking at all their wax stamping and sealing supplies.

Patrick also brought along their new Limited Edition Mardi Gras “The Mystic Krewe of Voodoo” pen. This 12 pen run with barrels created by The Herbert Pen Company, Sequel Nibs by Regalia Writing Labs, and gorgeous coconut shell details (and a coconut shell box!)

 

Friday Ana and I closed up shop early (oops!) and headed over to Vanness Pens for an open house evening. In truth, I was honorary store staff, running to get ink samples from the back room all night, so I didn’t get to enjoy the whole party, but it was a great time! The highlight of the evening was that Michael Sull, who was giving classes at the Pen Show, joined us. He talked about paper and gave demonstrations and was absolutely lovely.

Another fun part of the evening were the prize draws, including a new Esterbrook Estie donated by Kenro!

The party was great, but by the time it was over we needed a late dinner and BED!

Saturday came too early again, but we got ourselves up and armed with more Starbucks headed in for a full day at the show. Traffic was steady, but I still had time to wander some more.

I discovered a new-to-me pen maker, Hinze Pen Company, who had a stunning array of handmade pens. I didn’t manage to shop with them this time, but I see a Hinze pen in my future.

Next to the Hinze Pen Company booth, was the Kenro booth and Cary Yeager, Mr. Fountain Pen Day himself! In addition to picking up my show button, I also got a gander at the Montegrappa Montegrappa!

You always find a few curious sights at a pen show. This Medieval Toxic Walnut ink was an oddity that Nathaniel Cerf from The Pen Market had to share on his table. Stay tuned for an upcoming review!

The highlight of Saturday afternoon was getting to chat with lots of vendors as traffic slowed down. We even got to see an adorably tiny pen from our booth neighbor!

Well ok, maybe the highlight of the day was my fountain pen purchase – my first Shawn Newton pen! I went back and forth on whether I wanted teal or purple, but when all was said and done this one that reminds me of toasted marshmallows followed me home. I love the pen sleeve too – designed by Liz Newton. And I found the perfect ink – Robert Oster Toffee Brown!

Saturday night was a more relaxed gathering at Vanness – just a few of us and some barbeque with our new pens and inks!

Sunday was the slowest day at the show, and it was pretty slow. I went around to visit all the vendors again, and the one I’m sorry I didn’t get a photograph of was Dan Smith from The Nibsmith! Dan was fully booked up doing nibwork at the show, but he had a lovely selection of Sailors that I ogled more than once. One of those is going to follow me home soon!

Sunday night we tore down the booth, packed the mini and collapsed into bed. We drove home Monday and began reintegration to life after a pen show. I have to say it was a great weekend and I’d totally do it again! When’s the next show?

In Paper Review

Notebook Review: NAVA Design Haiku Notes – A5 Notebook

Author Laura CameronPosted on 1 Comment

Review by Laura Cameron

One of the items Ana brought home from the LA Pen Show for me to review was a new offering from NAVA, the NAVA Design Haiku Notes – A5 Notebook (240 pgs, $12.00). At first glance these notebooks are simply stunning. Ana brought me the Amethyst color, but the Haiku also comes in Blue and Black.

But the cover isn’t the only thing that’s eye-catching – the paper inside is a gradient as well. The paper starts at a deep pinky purple at the center spine and fades out to white at the edge of the page. On each and EVERY page.

The cover is white cardstock, with matte lamination and an embossed Haiku logo. My notebook is A5 (although B5 and pocket sizes are also available), and measures 5.9 x 8.3″ (15 x 21 cm) with 240 pages of 100 gr/m paper. So let’s talk about this paper.

Of course, one of my first questions is always whether the paper is fountain pen friendly. The answer, in this case, is mostly. I qualify with mostly, because near the center of the book, where the gradient color is the deepest, the paper doesn’t seem to take the ink quite as well as elsewhere. It feels like the fountain pen ink is sitting on top of the printed ink on the paper and I notice a bit of spotty coverage, as if you were trying to write with fountain pen ink on a glossy surface. I did let the ink dry, however, and it did seem to dry fairly quickly and didn’t smear on the opposite page when I closed the book. So I’d say you can use fountain pens in this book, but you may wish to stop a bit shorter of the center.

The remainder of my testing was with a variety of fine liners, gel pens, and of course a Sharpie!

I will say that there was no bleed through on anything except the Sharpie. Even the ink on the bottom right, Robert Oster Fire & Ice in a medium nib, didn’t bleed through. There is a bit of ghosting, but the camera didn’t even pick it up.

This journal is eye-catching and fun, and a great price for a thick notebook with some wow factor. I enjoyed using it and will be incorporating this beauty into my daily musings. If you’re interested check out Amethyst and the other colors (and other sizes) at Vanness!

DISCLAIMER: The notebook included in this review was provided to us free of charge by Vanness for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Review: Aurora Optima Fine Flex LE

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Fountain Pen Review: Aurora Optima Fine Flex LE

I was so honored to receive an Aurora Optima Fine Flex LE as a gift in New York from the fine folks at Fountain Pen Hospital. It is a beautiful candy apple red which looks lovely with my favorite make-up from Bésame (no, I am not getting kickbacks for endorsing them. I just really like their products).

I did not include any images of the packaging for the Optima Flex as it is the same as the regular Optima (Turns out, I didn’t include the packaging in that review either. It’s a big box).

Aurora Optima Flex in Lipstick Red capped

Over the course of 2018, Aurora released a wide array of colors of the Flex LE pens which made the limited edition-ness of this pen a bit less limited feeling. Rather than staggering the release of each color over several years, they came out one month after another which meant that the colors towards the end of the release cycle ended up being less coveted as many people decided whether of not they liked (or didn’t like) Aurora’s flex nib. The red model was one of the very last to be released and it is one of the colors that would probably have been the most popular if Aurora had chosen to release the pens all at once.

Aurora Optima Flex in Lipstick Red uncapped

I love the combination of red and silver tone rhodium  hardware. It’s classic and elegant.

Aurora Optima Flex in Lipstick Red nib close-up

The nib is 14K gold and rhodium-plated to aesthetically match the rest of the pen.

Aurora Optima Flex in Lipstick Red writing sample

When I was writing with the pen, I had some issues with hard starting that I finally decided to take to a professional I waited to post this review until I could put this pen into Dan Smith of The Nibsmith’s hands. He looked at it and did some very light smoothing and recommended that I try a wetter ink to avoid the hard starts. I switched the KWZ that I got in Toronto on the same trip to DeAtramentis, some of the wettest ink I could think of, and hoped that would help. If I don’t try to push the nib for flex writing, it seems to write quite well but if I try to really flex it, it starts to hard start and railroad. It also requires a great deal of pressure to get it to flex and I actually write with a fairly light hand.

I might have the nib ground down a bit finer and just treat it as an extra fine fountain pen.

Honestly, I like to think of this pen as more of a soft fine rather than a flex nib. I think it would make me feel a lot less frustrated. It’s a beautiful pen with a beautiful nib but it is not a flexible nib in the way that I think of flexible nibs.

Tools:

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

In Tools

Review: Lihit Lab Smart Fit Carrying Pouch A6

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment

Back in February, you may have read about how I misjudged the size of the Lihit Lab Smart Fit Mobile Pouch – it’s too small for my Samsung Galaxy S9. But I still need a replacement for my little bag that I use only for bare essentials when I’m fitness walking. This time I read the specs carefully before ordering the Lihit Lab Smart Fit Carrying Pouch in the A6 size ($16).

Made of water-resistant (essential in these parts) Cordura, the Smart Fit pouch is available in black, olive, navy, orange, camo and houndstooth. I chose the cute houndstooth pattern, which looks just a bit dressy (you know, in case I decide to pop in at a Michelin-rated restaurant for lunch after fitness-walking around Green Lake). The pouch does not come with a strap. In the photo below, I’ve attached the strap that I took off my old bag that’s being replaced. It clips onto the pouch’s rings easily.

Lihit Lab A6 pouch with strap

The back of the pouch has two snapped loops that can be attached to a belt and worn fanny-pack style. You can also omit a strap altogether and toss the pouch into a larger bag as an accessory organizer.

Lihit Lab pouch back view

Opening the flap reveals a Velcro closure and two compartments – one large enough for my phone and a skinny one for a couple of writing instruments. Behind these is one flat pocket large enough for a pocket-size notebook or two. And behind that is one large compartment.

Lihit Lab A6 pouch open view

Here’s the stuff I consider my bare essentials that I would not leave the house without: my phone (shown here is my spouse guy’s Galaxy S7 so that I could take the photo with my S9; it’s the same size as my S9), keys, wallet, glasses, two Field Notes notebooks, a Zebra disposable brush pen, a Uni Jetstream 4+1 multi pen and a white Sakura Gelly Roll gel pen (yes, of course, it’s essential. . . how else would I sketch in a Field Notes with orange paper?).

All of that fits comfortably without making the pouch bulge or being so tight that I have to struggle to get things out.

Lihit Lab pouch filled, view from top

I took it out for a walk over the weekend, and it offers a bonus I hadn’t considered: The Smart Fit pouch’s vertical format seems to hang with a better balance than my previous bag, which had a more squarish format. Even though the strap is the same length, the vertical shape doesn’t bounce against my hip with every step the way the other one used to. A winner!

DISCLAIMER: Some of 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.

tina-koyamaTina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

In feature, Ink Review

Ink Review: Sailor Studio 150

Author Jessica ColesPosted on 2 Comments
Ink Review: Sailor Studio 150

Review by Jessica Coles

Ah, purple inks.  If I had to choose only one color of ink to use for the rest of my life, it would be purple.  I love that purple spans from nearly pink or red all the way to dark blurples.  I love how purple inks have experienced a renaissance lately as evidenced by Montblanc’s special edition, Psychedelic Purple and Lamy’s Dark Lilac.  The Pantone color of the year for 2018 was Ultra Violet!  What a great time for purples.

I have found pastel purple inks very difficult to find, however.  Not that they don’t exist, but the exact shade that I crave seems to be hard to find.  Robert Oster has a beautiful variety of purple inks, but nothing quite right.  Sheaffer had a beautiful shade of lavender ink, but it was discontinued in the late 80s or early 90s and the bottles of lavender are coveted by those who can find them.

I was delighted when I found Sailor Studio 150!  This ink is very close to Sheaffer Lavender but is still easily legible in writing.

Studio 150 also has the bonus characteristic of colors that separate slightly, showing unusual shading at times.  The ink also varies in color based on the paper being used.

Sailor Studio is somewhere between Diamine Amazing Amethyst and Toucan Violet (another difficult-to-find ink that has been nearly discontinued) in color but shows the complexity seen in Robert Oster Viola (an ink that can be difficult to read since it is so pale.

Tucan Violet is the ink that I have historically seen as a replacement for Sheaffer Lavender.  Of course, it also has now become quite difficult to find.  It seems I was doomed to be always searching for my perfect lavender until I found 150!

Disclaimer: All items in this review were purchased by me.  For more information, visit our About page.

In Link Love

Link Love: Beards and Bronzer?

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment

Laura and I are back from Little Rock and trying to get caught up on our “real lives” while trying to download all our purchases and fun stuff. Laura is planning a recap of the Arkansas Pen Show and I will try to post a purchase dump soon.

This week we are getting peeks at the release of the not-so-bronze Lamy AL-Star pen and ink and more of the Lamy gemstone inks are washing up on US shores.

There are two reviews of the Fa Vo notebook from the UK and a peek at the new Baron Fig pencil release. Make some ink splatters, getting your fountain pen mojo back, what makes watercolor paper what it is and drawing beard stubble. We’ve got it all!

Letter Writers Alliance have information about writing condolence letters and sending letters of support to Christchurch you might want to check out.

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

In Pen Review

Pen Review: Jet Pens Coral Pen Sampler

Author Laura CameronPosted on 2 Comments

Review by Laura Cameron

I’ve always wanted to buy a JetPens pen sampler, but I haven’t had a good excuse until this year when JetPens developed a Coral Pen Sampler (10 pens for $20.00)!

The nice thing about JetPens’ samplers is that they include a variety of fine liners, brush pens, gel pens, and others so not only do you get pens in the color of your choice, but you get to try new types of pens!

Of the pens I received, the only one I had tried before was the Marvy Le Pen.

The pens came in a variety of shades of coral; some more red and some more pink, and a few in NEON bright.

I learned I have no idea how to use brush pens!

I think my favorites of the batch were the Pilot Juice and the Pilot Frixion Colors. Both had a pinky red color, but they were smooth and lovely to write with.

The Zebra Bold had an amazing grapefruit color, but again, I am not deft with brushes!

The neons were fun, but I’m not sure how well they’d fit in my day to day uses.

Nonetheless, this was a fun sampler to try and I would totally recommend it if you’re looking for something fun in your favorite colors!

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