Link love will be posted tomorrow because I cannot get WordPress to read markdown. Insert a whole lot of expletives here.
Please, please, please do not Simpsons comic book guy me right now with how easy it is to do it. Save that for another day when the van does not get a flat tire an hour outside of town, the cats don’t start howling at two in the morning and I don’t have six cards due on Friday.
Stress… its what’s for dinner.
Sometimes I hit the notebook jackpot and I have way too many awesome books all at once. This summer was one of those times. For my birthday, Bob surprised me with an awesome one. It was this one from Compoco. It’s the Good Luck Cat Journal ($13.50) and you all are in luck because its on sale. Don’t worry if cats aren’t your thing, they have you covered with other well-designed eclectic weirdness. But for me… c’mon! Cats, yarn and coffee! If there was a fountain pen in there, it would have been made for me.
Moving on from the absolutely ridiculously adorable cat design that looks like Lucy in the Sky with yarn eyes, the matte black cover with metallic gold foil is fabulous. Kudos on the nice production. Its so nice I could not blemish it with the black elastic and immediately tucked it around the back cover so as to not cover up any of the design.
Gold foil edging? Hell yeah! There’s also a gusseted pocket in the back and a ribbon bookmark with a sealed end so it doesn’t fray because they love me and they don’t want me to yell.
Paper? Dot grid, with the palest of dots for those with discerning taste. And the paper? It’s 80gsm light ivory that handles fountain pens with decent aplomb.
From the reverse of my pen test page, theres a tiny bit of bleed and some show through but not bad for a notebook that retails for less than $20 and is on sale for $13.50.
Look into my eyes… buy me now… get some stickers too….buy me now… get some stickers too…. no compensation was accepted for this brainwashing…. I jut really like shiny gold cats….
Review by Laura Cameron
At the St. Louis Pen Show, I was lucky enough to win a bottle of David Oscarson ink in what appeared to be a dark purple. The bottle wasn’t labeled other than with the brand, so I had no idea what I was looking at until I came home and Google’d it. It would appear that Bertram’s Inkwell (30mL for $14.95) is one of the exclusive distributors of a special ink produced in Europe to commemorate the 15th Anniversary of David Oscarson. The ink colorway is Royal Purple.
Royal Purple is pretty much what you would expect – a red-violet regal purple. The ink doesn’t appear to have much sheen, but has a ton of great shading.
I was pleased to see that Royal Purple came out dark enough using a thin nib. I was worried that it would end up shading lightly, but it is very readable even using the glass nib, the thinnest nib I have.
The only place I saw a tiny bit of green sheen was in my ink drops.
In terms of ink comparisons, I found Royal Purple to be closest to Monteverde’s Purple Reign. Even though they don’t quite appear so in this light, in natural light I found Purple Reign to be very close to the lighter tones of Royal Purple. Bungubox L’Amant was too pink, and Mont Blanc’s Psychedelic Purple was definitely too blue.
Overall, I’m pleased to be able to add this one to my collection!
I know it’s probably a little late to post this but with all the preparation for the San Francisco Pen Show, this is the first chance I’ve had to post this. These were the things I picked up in DC. And the funny thing, my biggest purchase, and the one purchase I truly set out to make in DC, didn’t even make it into the photo because it was in my bag. I’ll have to photograph it separately and tuck it in at the end of the post. You’ll just have to scroll all the way to the end of the post to see what it is.
But first, let me tell you about the other things because I’m super excited about them too!
First, there are the pens (and pencils!). A wonderful kind reader brought me two brand new NoBlot pencils she found in her office supply cupboard. I should have written her name down. She told me her name and then a thousand things happened between her handing me the pencils and me putting lovingly putting them in my bag at which point I couldn’t remember. So, please, if you’re reading this, leave a message in the comments so that I can thank you properly!
I “won” the lovely pink vintage fountain pen in the Black Pen Society auction but I think the auction was a bit rigged. No one really bid against me. Mike Matteson of Inkdependence put in a bid to make it look like a fair fight but after that, no one really bid. So, they pretty much let me have it. The nib needs a little tweaking but otherwise its in great shape.
Next is the lovely wood pen from Indian manufacturer Syahi. I got the Monarch model to test with a steel flex nib. It’s a larger pen than I usually use but the wood makes it lighter and warmer in the hand and who could resist the chance to try a new pen from a new manufacturer who is experimenting with steel flex nibs?
And finally, I accosted Brian Chu of Red Dragon Pen Company in the hallway in order to get a hold of one of his custom Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Pen barrels. I was able to score two of them.
Then there was the amazing Yenderings Sugar Beach 6-pen roll from YenYen who came all the way from Canada to sell her wares.The case is a combination of ultrasuede, cork and cotton fabrics and was inspired by a Toronto water park. I can’t wait to spend more time with the case and write a more thorough review.
My ink purchases weren’t extensive this trip but I did find some goodies. I got three bottles of Penlux ink, the special edition Monteverde DC Supershow Blue and right before I was leaving I was gifted the remainder of a bottle of 2014 Diamine 2014 DC Supsershow Blue.
I don’t know much about the Penlux ink yet though the box says its made by Sailor and the inks were described as being traditional Japanese colors. I bought all the colors available in the square bottles and these origami folded boxes. The only other colors available were a standard blue and black in the squat Sailor bottles.
This is what I truly set out to purchase at the DC Supershow this year. I have been eyeing the craftsmanship of Yoshi Nakama at 18111 for well over a year. I didn’t know he had a table at the show last year because I was so busy working that I didn’t hear about it until Sunday night after the show was closed and was told he had sold everything. Then in San Francisco a few weeks later, I was able to hold Leigh Reyes’s beautiful custom 18111 creations in my hands. Then I knew for sure that one day I wanted to own one of my own. So, I quietly watched his Instagram feed and Etsy shop debating and trying to decide. They are all so beautiful and unique. Eventually, I waited until the show in hopes that seeing them in person would help me make a decision.
I decided on this beautiful pink swirl with white and pink sakura blossoms and a twig roll stop.
Best of all, the Regalia Writing Labs nib that Laura bought me for my birthday fits perfectly and I can think of no better pen with which to pair it.
So, as I start the day at the SF Pen Show, I can think of no better to celebrate one pen show than to remember another.
As always, though, as much as we love the objects, pen shows are as much about the people we meet, the friends me make, the makers who create theses wonderful things and the memories we make at these events (and later, the things we create WITH these things) as they are about the actual objects.
Review by Laura Cameron
When I was working at the Vanness table at the Chicago Pen Show, I noticed that the Pilot Metropolitans ($18.50) had an additional nib option that I hadn’t seen before, the calligraphy nib. I resolved to order one to try and write up for the desk, since I do love my Metro Pops.
The Pilot Calligraphy Medium nib (marked CM on the nib itself) is a 1.0 mm stub nib that is a bit thinner than the typical 1.1 or 1.5 mm stub nibs. It provides for some nice line variation without being too unwieldy. Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that Pilot makes a nice nib and the Pilot Metropolitans are very affordable, so you get a experiment with a fun nib at a reasonable price.
I found the calligraphy nib took a bit of getting used to. It was a bit scratchier than the F and M nibs that I have from Pilot, and I haven’t used much in the way of stub nibs, so adapting my writing so I could make use of the line variation was an interesting experience. I have lots of practicing to do!
That said, I had fun writing the alphabet, trying to do a wee bit of illustration (my art skills are definitely not up to snuff!) and just playing with the nib in general and I’m going to be adding this one into my EDC for a bit so I can get more practice.
In summary, if you like Pilot Metropolitans and want to experience a slightly wider nib, I’d give this one two thumbs up.
The biggest news (in my world) is that Art Supply Posse relaunched this week. I very shakily turned over the reigns to Marcus, Ana, Kim and the gang so now its your turn to join Artsupia and join in too.
Add to that, the start of the San Francisco Pen Show and my head is about to explode!
Even if you’re not going to the show, there’s plenty of fun to be had online with the first sightings of the new TWSBI GO making its way into the market. And, much to my relief, I was able to find out where Winter Sharks went — he renamed his blog Inksharks! Joy!
If you’ve been following our Instagram feed, you may have seen our special Col-o-ring edition that we created for the San Francisco Pen Show. The books will only be available in San Francisco and once they sell out, we will not reprint these covers. If you’re interested in this edition, be sure to grab one in SF or ask a friend to pick one up for you. They will sell for $10, just like the regular Col-o-ring books. We will also have our regular Col-o-ring Ink Testing Books, Col-o-dex cards, tabs and much, much more.
A couple weeks ago, after a successful St. Louis Pen Show adventure, Bob decided it would be worth it to trek out to SF and try to sell our wares on the west coast. So, thanks to the kindness and dedication of the Vanness team, we are hitching a ride out to SF in the PENMAN van.
Bob, Mr. Well-Appointed Desk AKA Skylab Letterpress, we be riding shotgun with Mike Vanness on the cross-country trek. He’s all packed up and ready to head out. But it’s not just us on this epic trip….
Our good pal, Jessica Coles, the duchess of Esterbrook is also coming out to SF and she’ll be at the table right next to The Well-Appointed Desk! So, convenient! And what is a Vanness Pen Shop table without Lisa Vanness? And in a strange twist of fate, I am actually helping the Vanness table so Mr. Well-Appointed Desk is in charge of our table. And who is this other handsome fellow….? Might he also be making an appearance at the SF show? Now you definitely won’t want to miss this event.
We are up to our eyeballs in ink, as usual.
And rumor has it that Mr. Vanness has expanded his legendary suit collection…. come to the SF Pen Show to see them for yourself! Best get a weekend pass to see them all.
