In feature

New Year’s Resolutions: Tina

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments

by Tina Koyama

Tina's cleanout

I have only one resolution for 2019, and it’s the same as the one I made (and kept – at least halfway) a year ago: Clear out my studio of all unneeded art and craft materials, office supplies and stationery items. Yes, I still hoard use art and craft materials, office supplies and stationery items, but my needs and interests change. Last year I filled many bins with books and craft supplies that I hadn’t used in a long time and hauled them all to appropriate charities and nonprofit organizations. I felt so much lighter, and I made space for current collections and other interests. After doing the job on half my studio, though, I ran out of steam, so I’m looking forward to finishing the job on the other side of the room in early 2019.

In Link Love

Link Love: Boxing Day Edition

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Link Love: Boxing Day Edition

I spent the morning researching the origin of the term Boxing Day. Thank you, Wikipedia.

If you’re not doing Boxing Day shopping, maybe you are ready for some of the year-end round-ups?

Year-End Round-Ups and Lists:

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

In feature

My Goals for 2019: Laura

Author Laura CameronPosted on 3 Comments

By Laura Cameron

Each year I waffle on whether to make resolutions, mostly because I can’t always anticipate the way the year will go and if I’ll even want to continue what I started by the time I’m halfway through the year. So rather than call them resolutions, let’s just call them goals.

This year I decided to use my St. Belford Curation 2019 Diary to help me organize my goals for the year (my earlier review is here). I haven’t used their pages exactly as prescribed, but I have filled in some goals and habits with a few details.

Goal 1: Publish 4 knitting pattern designs in 2019.

One of the things I do is design a few knitting patterns here and there. I usually only design if the mood strikes me, and then I self-publish my designs on Ravelry. For the past few years I’ve done a couple of patterns per year, but I’d like to double that in 2019. For now, I’ll start by creating mood boards on Pinterest, swatching stitch patterns with yarns I like, and dreaming of warm wooly things!

Goal 2: #Spin15aday

Since knitting isn’t weird enough, I also spin my own yarn using fiber and a spinning wheel. This year I’m joining the #spin15aday challenge which is to spin at least 15 minutes per day. I already spin most days so it’s not too much of a challenge, but they also have fun prompts for each month that I’d like to follow along with. I’ve added those challenges to the diary!

Goal 3: Around the Year in 52 Books.

Each year I set a reading goal for myself on Goodreads. This year I joined the Around the Year in 52 Books group. Basically, each week the group has a prompt for what kind of book to read. Examples include a book that has won an award in 2018, a book with who/what/where/why/how in the title, etc. The prompts are there for you if you want them to help you read outside your comfort zone, but the main goal is just to read a book a week. I have read 50+ books in a year in the past, so this seems doable. I also like the idea of tracking what I read during the year. Although I do already track that on Goodreads, I like the idea of planning my reads and having a list in my diary as well.

Goal 4: Prepare for Ireland.

My husband is kind of a fitness nut. (Hey I have my pens and my knitting!) He’s been running half-marathons in the past few years and is gearing up to train for an Iron Man in 2020. He’s been trying to get me interested in exercising more and last year he convinced me to sign up for Race 2 Adventure’s Ireland trip this coming summer. Basically I need to be able to walk/jog anywhere between 5k and 12k (3.1-7 miles) each day, over the course of a week as we tour Ireland. So this is the fitness and exercise portion of my resolutions. Truly, I just don’t want to hold the group up by coming in later than everyone else, and I don’t want to be miserable the entire trip. So I’ve got some exercise goals to gear up for that.

Goal 5: Use what I have stashed.

I have a lovely collection of pens and inks and I want to use them more! My goal is to place them strategically around the house so I’m always grabbing a fountain pen. I also want to rotate through my inks more since I have a whole drawer full. I won’t guarantee I won’t buy more things (all in the name of reviewing for you!).

I also have a pretty large stash of yarns to knit and fibers to spin. This year I’d like to buy less and spend more time with the lovely materials I already own!

So there you have it, my goals for 2019. Maybe this year I”ll check in mid-year and we’ll see where I’m at!

In Ink Review

Inkmas Day 11: 3 Oysters Red Wine

Author AnaPosted on
Inkmas Day 11: 3 Oysters Red Wine

12 days of Inkmas

While I do not drink red wine (it makes me sneezy! Who is so foolish as to be allergic to wine?) I do appreciate the rich colors of red wine. 3 Oysters Red Wine ($18 for 38ml bottle)  is probably a good approximation to the color of some red wines without looking like dried blood (I’m looking at you Montblanc Shakespeare Red Velvet, you big liar!).

Red Wine is a warm, deep red with some purple undertones giving it that “squeezed from a grape” vibe of red wine.

Unlike a lot of reds which tend to lean to bright, vibrant red or red-orange-y or a maroon with black undertones, 3 Oysters Red Wine is reddish but also touched with a little purple making it a bit subdued. I found it to be a great accompaniment to the Platinum 3776 Shungyo. In the past, I’ve filled it with brighter red and then found myself not using the pen because the ink was too bright. This is a more subtle, grown-up red. I feel like writing about Venice or other Italian cities with my inky wine.

It even made me want to write neater. Inkmas has definitely brought it to my attention that I’ve been neglecting writing and practicing my calligraphy for over a month. I was very rusty this week. Hopefully the holidays will give me time to practice.

When compared to other reds in my collection, you can see that Red Wine (top swatch)  shades but does not sheen. That honor goes to Sailor Jentle Grenade (bottom swatch). I included two swatches from Birmingham Pen Co. — Fort Pitt Blockhouse and Ebenezer Penny Carmine ($7.99) — those boys over at Birmingham love deep, dark colors! I include Callifolio Grenat ($12 for 40ml bottle) which I’d thought of as a wine color but it is definitely more pink than 3 Oysters Red Wine.

The Birmingham inks lean more brick-y or brown than Red Wine. Though Blockhouse is probably pretty close. The Sailor Jentle Grenade is a popular red for its sheen but if sheen is not your thing, I’d give Grenade a hard pass. It has a gold green sheen.

So, with all those comparisons, I think it’s easy to see that, in the wine category of colors, there are as many options as there are bottles of wine in the world. I think 3 Oysters offers a great red wine color with Red Wine.

Tools:

DISCLAIMER: 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 Ink Review

Inkmas Day 10: 3 Oysters Doldam

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Inkmas Day 10: 3 Oysters Doldam

12 days of Inkmas

Okay, after four ho-hum reviews, this one is the rave review. Sort of.

The minute I saw 3 Oysters Doldam on paper, I knew I had to buy a bottle. I love grey ink and this ink is a blue-grey with a yellowish sheen. It has a lot of shading and ranges from a dove grey to almost a blue-black in saturated spots. Then there’s the sheen which is sometimes yellowish and sometimes bluish. Let me state or the record that this ink does not sheen like an Organics Studio ink, but it does possess some tricks.

I did find this ink a little light when writing with a fine nib pen. When it’s dry, its completely legible but it goes down a little light. However, if you put Doldam in a wide nib pen… LOOKOUT! The results are stunning.

Such color variety and shading. By far, Doldam is one of my favorite ink colors this year.

When lined up with other greys in my collection, you can see the range of hues — some are blue grey, some are a warmer reddish-grey. When stacked next to other greys, Doldam (at the top) is definitely more blue-violet than the others.

Birmingham Pen Co. Enterprise Tower Aluminum ($7.99 for 30ml bottle) and Callifolio Gris de Payne ($12 for 40ml bottle) are definitely more bluish. Krishna Pencil ($6 for 20ml) is a warmer red-grey (YMMV with this particular color) and Diamine Earl Grey ($16 for 80ml bottle) has lavender undertones though, in person, it looks to be the most neutral grey.

With those comparisons, it’s evident that Doldam is a unique ink color with some unusual color properties. This, in my magpie nature, makes it entirely worth purchasing. See? I’m not the Inkmas scrooge.

Tools:

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

In Ink Review

Inkmas Day 9: 3 Oysters Hanuel

Author AnaPosted on
Inkmas Day 9: 3 Oysters Hanuel

12 days of Inkmas

 

I admit it. I’m a sucker for a vivid blue ink. There is something luminous and soothing about the swimming pool/Caribbean sea blue colors that can be created with fountain pen ink. They are translucent like watercolors and show a range of shading like rippling waves on a crystal blue waters. 3 Oysters Hanuel ($18 for 38ml bottle) is one of those ink colors.

Its hard to effuse about this ink as I feel like the photos speak for themselves. The color is eye searingly bright blue — a light cerulean sky blue.

blue color dictionary

(I confess I had to check online sources to verify its a cerulean blue not azure. Thank you, Mental Floss! Or maybe more Arctic? That would be fitting for this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere.)

What made me realize my penchant for this particular shade of blue was when I went in search of comparison inks. I eventually just cut myself off because as you can see above, I have amassed quite a collection. The Hanuel swatch is at the top with Diamine Turquoise (though Beau Blue is probably another option from Diamine, $15 for 80ml bottle), vintage Montblanc Turquoise, Pen BBS #275 Claude Monet ($20 for 60ml bottle), Sailor Jentle Yuki Akari (20 for 50ml bottle), and Waterman Obsession Blue (AKA Inspired Blue, $9.60 for 50ml bottle).

With so many bright turquoise ink options, there is no real reason to choose the 3 Oysters version over another brand. Waterman is half the price essentially and can be used in any fountain — modern or vintage. It also has a wicked sheen. The 3 Oysters Haneul has a little bit of sheen but its only visible in the large swatch and a tiny bit around the edges of the dip pen writing. If you like sheen, I’d recommend the Waterman. The Pen BBS Claude Monet is a bit cooler blue and also has a lovely sheen. The Sailor and Montblanc are almost identical in color and I suspect the Montblanc Turquoise is very close in color to the Montblanc UNICEF Turquoise ($43 for a 50ml bottle) that was released last year. And there’s also Lamy Pacific ($12 for 50ml bottle) which is a dead ringer for the Montblanc UNICEF Turquoise and not that far from the Haneul.

So, while I’m definitely a fan of this ink and color, if you already have a couple bright turquoise inks in your arsenal, there’s no real reason to purchase this one. And pricewise, if you want to get Turquoise-y, the Waterman is a much better deal with Lamy Pacific (previously known as Lamy Turquoise) coming a close second.

I feel like all my Inkmas reviews have been ho-hum about the ink colors. I am not an Inkmas scrooge, I promise.

Tools:

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