The Well-Appointed Desk

Notebook Review: Floor 9 Cloth Cover Daily Notebooks

Floor 9 is a home decor and gifts line from a certain company that might sign my paychecks (full transparency here) and I found these lovely, cloth-covered journals (similar notebooks can be found here) recently. Both notebooks feature two ribbon bookmarks and the internal pages have different left- and right-hand page designs.

On the lefthand side, the top of the page features the days of the week, the months and the days which can be circled, highlighted of designated as needed. Then the page is divided into blank and dot grid about halfway down the page. The righthand page has a set of slashes at the top to be the date or some other indication and says “Today’s Notes” and is then lined down the rest of the page.

This 2-page layout seems like it would lend itself well to being used as a travel journal allotting one side to drawings, maps or pasting in tickets, photos or ephemera and then writing thoughts, activities and such on the other. The paper is a soft white and the printing is brown.

In writing test, there was no feathering issues with the assortment of tools I tried and enough tooth that pencils performed well. The flex fountain pens I tested did show some bleed through so I’m not sure these books will be the best for heavy fountain pen coverage. Fine nibs seemed fine and other pens worked well though there was a little showthrough.

I was still listening to The Beastie Boys audiobook while writing this review , hence what I was writing.

I would like to share the bounty of notebooks I’ve acquired this year so I am giving away the cream and green notebook. (It is new and has not been used). The foil lettering on the cover says “Dream Big”. If you would like to win this, please read the info below to enter our giveaway.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me what or where you would “Dream Big”. You can say “Poughkeepsie” or “McDonald’s” if that’s your dream big but put something in your entry. It makes reading through them 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 moneys some time.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Thursday. Winners 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 (where it say “email address”) 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. Shipping via USPS first class only. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.

In photo

Eye Candy: Hippocampus Zine

AnaJanuary 25, 2019January 20, 20191 Comment

The folks at Paper Seahorse sent over their zine Hippocampus ($10) for me to check out and its quite a treat. It’s full of paper-related pieces printed on thick, high-quality paper.

Inside, are lovely enclosures like an origami pencil, a quote card, and stickers.

There’s even a tutorial or two and a piece by Michael Sull.

I don’t know of many other paper-centric zines out there so I hope folks will support projects like these.

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 feature, Ink Review, Pen Review

Pen Review: Franklin-Christoph SIG nib from Audrey!

Jessica ColesJanuary 24, 2019January 24, 201913 Comments

By Jessica Coles

Last week, I showed the Philadelphia Pen Show through the eyes of a vendor. Hopefully, this was a different viewpoint for some people, but I did end up leaving out some great times. Daytime during a show is often a blur for me, but there is one table that I always make the time to visit. That would be the Franklin-Christoph table.

The Philly pen show is not only the first pen show of the year, but it is also the show where Franklin-Christoph debuts their new color of the year (including a special ink, shown throughout this post) along with an occasional new product. This year, they even introduced a new pen – the 46! (The 46 can be seen in the photo above – the purple swirly patterned pens on the right tray)

In my opinion, though, the highlight of this year’s show was the reintroduction of the beloved SIG nib grind.

Background of the SIG

The SIG nib was brought about by the late Jim Rouse as an in-house specialty from Franklin-Christoph. SIG stands for Stub-Italic-Gradient, a nib that falls in-between a stub nib and an italic nib. The result is a smooth writing experience that has the smooth feel of a stub with the crispness of an italic.

I’ve been a huge fan of the SIG nib for several years. My first SIG nib came from the Colorado Pen show in 2014 – I was amazed that I could select my favorite nib from the testers laid out on the table (I chose a medium steel SIG nib) and pair it with the pen I wanted (an antique glass pocket 66). The most amazing part of the experience, however, was getting to sit down with the nibmeister Jim who wouldn’t allow me to leave until he was sure the pen fit me perfectly. I had never before experienced that level of interaction with a pen, having only purchased them online. I was absolutely hooked. Maybe obsessed is a better word!

The Changing of the Guard

Jim Rouse was taken from the world suddenly and much too soon in July of 2018. Because the SIG nibs were only made by his hand, the grind was removed from the Franklin-Christoph nib selections and the remaining SIG nibs were raffled and auctioned to raise money for his young grandchildren. A beautiful chapter had ended.

Unbeknownst to most of the pen world, however, Jim had taken an apprentice under his wing. Dr. Audrey Matteson, who also worked with Franklin-Christoph, began learning the SIG grind from Jim as a way to expand her skill in the craft.

Although Jim’s passing was a terrible blow to Audrey personally, she kept on with her work, developing her skill and comfort level with the SIG grind. At the Philadelphia Pen Show 2019, the triumphant return of the SIG nib was announced, with Audrey as the nib grinder.

Comparison of SIG to non-SIG

As stated before, the SIG grind is a blend of a stub and an italic nib. What does this do for writing?

I used two Model 45 pens, one with a gold broad nib and one with a gold broad SIG nib, ground by Audrey at the Philly show. Let me introduce to you Purple pen (broad nib) and Captain Sparkles (broad SIG nib), above.

A close-up of the nibs shows the difference in the shape of the tipping material (the color on Captain Sparkle’s nib is ink, not from the grind). The SIG nib has most of the tipping material removed from the top side of the nib and is somewhat squared off.

Another photo, this one taking advantage of the shadow from the nibs. The shape can be seen even more clearly here.

Above is the writing from the Purple pen, using J. Herbin Lierre de Sauvage. Purple and green are always wonderful together.

Above is the writing from Captain Sparkles usingInk ’19 (the 2019 Philadelphia Pen Show ink from Franklin-Christoph). The line variation can be seen clearly along with the crisp edges. The biggest difference can’t be seen. The smoothness of the nib is one thing that I haven’t figured out how to show through a screen yet.

I know the big question in the minds of Franklin-Christoph fans — “How does this SIG nib by Audrey compare to the SIG nibs that were made by Jim?” When I first decided to write about the new SIG nib, it was my full intention to compare the two. But the more I wrote for this article with each pen, I realized that this is a comparison that shouldn’t be done. It wouldn’t be fair to the memory of Jim, nor would it be a service to Audrey. A question you don’t ask a parent, “Which child is your favorite?” is the same that applies here.

The SIG nib by Audrey is an incredible nib and an incredible value. So were those made by Jim. More than just the shape of the nib goes into this grind; the personal attention to individual writing styles, the dedication to getting the nib just right, and the memories of the person talking and laughing with you through the process. My advice is to cherish each opportunity when you get the chance to buy one of these incredible pens and nibs.

Disclosure: All items in this post were purchased by myself and all opinions are mine. I was not compensated in any way for this article.

In Paper Review

Paper Review: Blank Slate Paper Co.

AnaJanuary 23, 2019January 21, 20197 Comments

Blank Slate Paper Co. has been in the works for some time and I had the chance to try it out back in August at the DC Pen Show. What is unique about what Blank Slate Paper Co. is doing is that they are letting individual users build and customize their notepads on the fly. So, using digital printing and an online interface, you can pick dots, lines or reticle in a dizzying array of options: size, distance from each other and color. Plus there are two paper options to choose from. If this is way too many options to consider without feeling it in your hands, Blank Slate offers a sampler pack so you can see for yourself.

My sample included a massive array of possibilities. Choosing just one is probably the hardest part. However, most of us have said at some point, “I just want XX grid/ruled/reticle in _____ color! Why is that so hard to find?” So my advice is to go with that as your first pad of paper. For me, that would be pale lime green, very fine, tiny grid (5mm or so).

While listening to the audiobook version of the new Beastie Boys Book (side note: the audiobook is read by a whole slew of famous people from Spike Jonze and LL Cool J to Rosie Perez, Will Ferrell, Jon Stewart, and Rachel Maddow — it’s riveting!) I tried out all various papers: the 28# Domtar and the HP 32# Premium. I used a variety of fountain pens from a Pilot Parallel to Faber-Castell Grip EF. There were two flex nib pens as well to try a variety of ink-depositing volumes from fire hose to diminutive dribble.

Neither paper showed signs of bleeding or feathering and only the slightest bit of showthrough where the heaviest concentrations of ink were applied.

In some instances, there was a little bit of ink resistance over the larger printed dots (similar to what happens with some Baron Fig notebooks) so if this is something that might bother you, I would recommend lighter coverage of printed ink with smaller dots or lines.

I am glossing over the brilliance of the online “designer” application that allows you to visualize, on-screen, the paper of your dreams. I say that only because it works really well and only takes a couple tries to master it. It’s the kind of technology programming that I can only imagine creating. It’s like those ice skaters at the Olympics… they make it look easy and that’s when you know it’s hard.

Blank Slate Paper Co. is a passion project from one of the pen community’s own (David Rea and his family) and, as such, was made with all the same factors taken into consideration that you or I would consider. The paper is definitely fountain pen-friendly. Every attempt has been made to provide ways to make all sorts of lined, grid, dot grid, engineering paper and more that will meet our demanding standards. At the moment, the paper is only available in letter-sized, glue-top pads but I know that Blank Slate is plotting other options in the future. The only way for them to get there, however, is for us to support the early efforts.

Congrats on a great first step and I can’t wait to see what comes next!

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 Link Love

Link Love: Cheesecake Clip

AnaJanuary 23, 2019January 21, 20192 Comments

Frank Underwater’s post about the Philly Pen Show is excellent, complete with videos of the pen mixer. Hoe includes quick snippets of Dandon’s hands drawing, Paul Erano talking, Ralph’s completely ink-stained hands and more. Quite a thorough review and a different perspective from our dear Jesi’s post last week. The Letter Writers Alliance once again keeps us up to date on changes in postal rates.

The Pen Place broke the news of the upcoming Visconti “value priced” Ocean Breeze line which I will inevitably botch the name and call it Sea Breeze like a cheap cocktail. Don’t hold it against me, my mind works in mysterious ways. The new ~~Sea~~ Ocean Breeze still keeps Visconti’s signature scimitar clip design which I have never been crazy about — especially since I discovered that it looks exactly like the door handles at The Cheesecake Factory. Once you see it, you cannot unsee it. Great, now I have a title for this week’s Link Love: Cheesecake Clip. This is going to haunt me, for sure.

Lots of grey ink reviews this week with a smattering of Montblanc. My Supply Room shows off some of his Hallmark pen collection. And Austin Kleon provides an alternative perspective to tidying up. All hail, Austin!

Planner Review: The Knitting Planner

Laura CameronJanuary 22, 2019January 16, 20193 Comments

Review by Laura Cameron

Last year I had the pleasure of previewing the Strickplaner (€18.90, review here) which was a planner designed with knitters in mind. I confess that I didn’t use it much last year, but I really did like the way creator Martina Behm included different trackers and layouts so you could brainstorm for projects, do quarterly planning and sprints, and store all your project notes as well as calendar items in one place. Sadly, I realized that I do better with long lists of items, and less well with a traditional calendar format. I also found some of the calendar spaces limiting – sometimes I have more than 5 things to do in a day!

So I was excited to see that there was a new entry into the knitting and planning world, The Knitting Planner ($38.00). The Knitting Planner is a 240-page softcover planner that includes monthly and weekly calendar spreads in addition to project planning, brainstorming, notes, sizing and sketching pages (including graph paper!). The Knitting Planner measures 6″ x 9″ (15.5cm x 23cm) so it is a non-standard size, but for overall size comparison is close to an A5. The book is approximately 1/2″ (1.5cm) thick.

While the bulk of the journal is in black and white, a few knitting related photos and yellow pops are included when you least expect them, as well as a few quotes related to knitting or project planning. Pictured below is the inside cover.

The book begins the monthly and weekly layouts. Each month has a cover page and knitting related image.

Following that is the monthly spread, a quick glance at the month. I do like that there’s lots of white space in this calendar – plenty of room to note appointments or deadlines and the like.

Following the monthly spread are the undated weekly spreads (5 for each month). I’m torn as to whether I like pages undated or not. On one hand it gives you the ultimate flexibility – even if you pick up the book partway through the year. That said, since the monthly spreads are dated, this is clearly a 2019 edition.

But aside from that I do love the weekly spreads. I love that you get the full spread for the week, and that each day has its own generous, unstructured box allowing for maximal writing space. I also love that Saturday and Sunday each have their own boxes (I don’t know about you but I’ve got lots of stuff to do over the weekend). I also think the box on the upper left, where you note the week’s starting date, would work really well to note events for the week that may not be confined to a certain day, or reminders of weekly tasks.

At the end of each month is a 2-page Project Planning spread including an area for listing projects, notes, start and end dates, and checklists of items. There’s even a small box of graph in case you need to make any drawings (many knitting projects include schematics indicating garment measurements or geometric designs which can be charted).

The final section of the book is devoted to brainstorming, sketching, and capturing what projects you’d like to knit throughout the year. Graph pages measuring 6″ x 9″ are included here for working out larger patterns while on the go. I also think this section would be useful for shopping lists. When knitters to go knitting events (vendor shows, conventions – replace Pen Show with Knitting Show and you’ll understand), it’s useful to note what projects you want to knit in the future, and how much yarn you’ll need to buy to be able to knit them successfully!

The year is only just starting, and I’ve only had the planner for the last 2 weeks, so I don’t have a lot to show or tell you in terms of how it would fit into my lifestyle or how I might use it during the year. But I can show you one important thing: the paper! As far as I know the designer isn’t part of the pen and stationary community, but her paper is fountain pen friendly!!! (it requires several exclamation points). I tested my Knitting Planner with a variety of fountain pens, gel pens and fine liners and with one exception (a Retro 51 Medium nib with Robert Oster Fire & Ice) there was absolutely no bleed through. There is some ghosting, but I don’t know think it’s enough to bother me in my personal use.

Overall, I think this is a pretty good contribution to the knitting & planning world. My biggest reservation so far is that the book is a non-traditional size and soft cover, so I worry about how beat up it would get with daily use and that there isn’t a ready made cover for purchase. I did find this cover at Franklin Covey that might work, but again, options would be limited. The other option I found was more of a classic vinyl cover from MochiThings.

All of that said, if you’re a knitter in search of wide open white spaces and room to plan your projects, this might be a planner for you!

This product was purchased with my own money. All opinions are my own.

DISCLAIMER: The item in this review includes 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 Planners & Organizers

Review: 2019 Traveler’s Notebook Diary Inserts

AnaJanuary 21, 2019January 20, 2019

Every year, the Traveler’s Company releases monthly ($11.50) and weekly refills ($26) for their leather covers (both regular-sized and passport-sized). The weekly refills come in two notebooks with six months in each book and the monthly calendar is one book. But along with the calendar refills, they also release a new set of calendar stickers ($11.50) and a new Shitajiki (writing) board ($5.25). Each year has a theme. This year’s theme is music.

Inside each set of notebooks was a sheet with two big round stickers and a 2019 Guide. The Shitajaki board has a print of musical instruments, radios and tapes on one side and a traditional grid on the other side. If you are heavy handed, it will keep your writing from leaving indentions. It will protect pages from ink bleeding through (though with the MD paper, the likelihood is pretty slim).

The Traveler’s weekly layouts is one of my favorite planner layouts. On the lefthand page is the week divided evenly starting with Monday and the righthand page is graph paper for notes.

I forgot how awesome the set of stickers are. The set comes with six pages. A page of rub-on letters (stunning!), a sheet of translucent dots to use on calendar dates, a sheet of event-specific stickers (not the best designs but useful), a sheet of calendar tabs for regular- and passport-sized books, and a sheet of decorative music-themed stickers.

I put the matching tab stickers on the notebooks — the monthly book tabs were placed down the long edge and weekly notebook tabs were placed along the tab edge.

On the cover, I used the rub-on letters to add “2019” to the front of the weekly book, plus some stickers, of course.

Once properly decorated, I started adding upcoming events, including birthdays and upcoming trips. The paper is MD Cream so it takes fountain pen ink very well.

Weekly pages are perfect for getting a bird’s eye view of my week. I include work and blog and personal events. It helps me keep track of everything because I can’t keep it all straight if it isn’t all in one place.

I do love the Traveler’s Notebook set up and for some reason, I always love the regular size. Whether you need both the monthly and weekly calendar, or just want some cool stickers or never had a shitajaki board, the 2019 Traveler’s Company inserts are worth considering.

DISCLAIMER: 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.

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