The Well-Appointed Desk

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.

In Paper Review

Notebook Review: Stifflexible V.2 Notebooks

AnaAugust 20, 2018August 20, 20183 Comments

A couple of years ago, I got a copy of the Stifflexible notebook from Pen Chalet. Stifflexible is an Italian notebook that, according to its web site, has been around for decades but has recently been relaunched and has been trying to make in-roads in the upscale notebook landscape in the last couple years.

The re-launch of Stifflexible offered an interesting, little pocket notebook. I was curious about the design with the bendable hard cover and three types of paper in one notebook but the initial paper offering was not up to snuff for fountain pens so I did not review the notebook.

This new, improved version of the Stifflexible notebook has introduced much-improved paper and new cover designs. I received two sizes: an XL (19x25cm or 7.5×9.8′) London Underground Map and a medium (13x21cm or 5×8.25″) Coconut from the New Fruits.

Unfortunately, in transit from the Atlanta Pen Show, the London Underground Map notebook came into contact with water and the lower righthand water took on water like the Titanic hitting an iceberg. Still being wrapped in cellophane only exacerbated the problem. So now I have one swollen, bulgy corner, to no fault of the distributor or the manufacturer. I blame myself, the airline, the airport or the baggage handlers for leaving my poor R2 unit out in the rain.

Two of the most distinguishing features of the Stifflexible notes are the deep grooves in the cover to create the “flexibility”. I type that in quotes because the grooves give the cover large scores that allow it to bend more readily but I don’t know that it makes it flexible. It does provide a nice slot to rest the vertical elastic in, however.

The other feature is the three types of paper included in one notebook: lined, blank and graph. Of the 192 pages (144 in the smallest, pocket-sized edition) over half (144 pages or 96 in the pocket edition) are dedicated to lined paper. There are just 32 pages of blank paper and 16 pages of graph paper.

The graph paper is a bit odd in that it is only printed on one side of the paper and its the only section of the book that is perforated.

On the reverse side of the bookmark included with each notebook is information about how the company envisions you might use the envelope in the back of the book and the long flap pocket. Clever.

But, of course, what you are actually waiting to see is if the paper has actually been improved. And indeed it has been. The paper is a soft white 85gsm. While lined paper isn’t always my favorite and the line spacing is a bit wider than I initially thought I would like, the light grey lines fell to the background quickly and I was able to ignore them easily. The paper has a slight tooth to it but nothing too distracting. It was just enough to let my inks dry in a reasonable amount of time so as not to smudge (lefty-concern) and not so much that I had any feathering or bleeding issues.

I tested a wide variety of everyday pens from fountain to rollerball and gel as well as a ballpoint and some pencils and everything performed as expected. I did not drown the paper with anything ridiculous, I just used what was already in my pens.

From the reverse side, there is a tiny bit of show through but I would easily write on this side of the paper.

The most show through is in the lower left which is the water-damaged corner and the section I hit with the wettest and widest fountain pens. It was also the part of the paper that wasn’t laying flat so its getting some light from underneath.

So, overall, I think the Stifflexible notebooks are a pretty interesting notebook line. My biggest complaints are the graph lines are not printed on both sides and I was disappointed to discover that the circle on the cover of the coconut notebook that says “Coconut” was not a sticker on the cellophane packaging. I was hoping the cover was just the swirly lines. Which makes me sad to realize that the whole New Fresh Fruit line is the same way. They would all be really fun without the sticker on them. At present, the New Fresh Fruit and the Underground Line are the only collections with the new 85gsm paper. The other notebook collections still feature the 80gsm paper which is fine for ballpoint and pencil but frowns at liquid ink.

Many of your favorite online and brick and mortar retailers currently stock the Stifflexible notebooks. The prices range from about $10-$30.

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

In Fashionable Friday

Eye Candy: Baron Fig Vanguard Guardian in Rose Quartz

AnaAugust 17, 2018August 17, 20183 Comments

Baron Fig sent me the Guardian Vanguard in Rose Quartz ($45) back in February and I immediately started using it as a wallet. Its the perfect shade of soft, pastel pink in a touchable leather. There is a pocket in the back to slide a notebook into and two slots in the cover for credit cards and IDs. Behind the card pockets is another slot that could be used for cash or receipts, hence, making the Gaurdian the perfect minimal wallet.

Unfortunately. I’m not a particularly minimal human. So I had to improvise a little to make the Vanguard work as a not-so-minimal wallet. And I did my best to pare down what I carried, I promise!

As you can see, my Vanguard is a bit overstuffed and modified to accommodate a good deal more stuff than it was designed to hold.

I don’t carry many rewards cards (I use an app on my phone called Cardstar for most frequent flyer, frequent buyer and even my library cards) and I only have a one debit and one credit card. However, there are a few cards that cannot be stored in Cardstar: my health insurance, Panera (for some strange reason), Barnes & Noble, and our local museum card. There’s also a few local coffee shops that still use punch cards and I carry a few business cards in my wallet as well.

To accommodate the extra items, I added a Plastic Zipper Case & Kraft Folder Refill Inserts for Passport Size Travelers Notebook (2-Pack for $7.95). I attached them to the Baron Fig Pocket Vangaurd notebook (3-pack for $9) that I slipped into the back cover with a rubber band from the bundle of vegetables from the grocery store. I think the rubber band was holding the stalks of broccoli together. (We joke at our house that we save everything like the its the Great Depression. Does anyone need 37 quart-sized yogurt containers?)

The plastic sleeve for cards includes a zipper pouch to store loose change and arcane things like CASH. I use the paper folder for receipts, postage stamps and bits of paper ephemera.

So, while the wallet/Gaurdian is a little overstuffed its mostly the result of having more cash and change in it than normal. This is “worst case scenario”. I am definitely going to do a purge of receipts, change and other detritus. I probably can take another look through the cards and whatnot and determine exactly what I do and don’t need. But overall, if you can trim down your wallet needs, this is a lovely case that can keep your ID, cards and a notebook handy for grocery lists and other to-dos.

I was worried that the light-colored leather would soil but, after almost six months, there is only a little darkening of the leather around the edges. Mostly, it just looks lived in, not dirty.

If you’ve been considering one of these leather covers, I recommend them, just keep in mind they are designed to hold Baron Fig Vanguard (3.5×5″) notebooks or Traveler’s Passport sized books. Field Notes are larger and will not fit — they are 5.5″ tall.

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

In Ink Review

Ink Review: ColorVerse #45 Strelka, #46 JFK’s Dog Pushinka

Jessica ColesAugust 16, 2018June 3, 2020Leave a comment

Review by Jessica Coles

ColorVerse has been just amazing in the last year with the number and variety of their new inks. And there’s no end in sight!

Season 4 of ColorVerse includes 5 ink sets made up of two different inks. The inks come in a 65mL bottle and a cute little 15mL bottle which cost $36 for the set. This season pay homage to pioneers from the early stages of space exploration. For this review, I’ve looked into #45 and #46, Strelka and JFK’s Dog Pushinka.

Strelka (the name translates into Little Arrow) was one of a pair of dogs who were the first dogs to go into space and return alive. Dogs Belka and Strelka spent a full day in space along with an ark full of other creatures. After returning to Earth, Strelka had a litter of 6 puppies, one of which was watched carefully to see if there were any effects from his mother’s trip in space. Another puppy, Pushinka (this translates into English as Fluffy), was gifted to President Kennedy after his wife asked Nikita Khrushchev about the puppies during a state dinner. A puppy arrived shortly after with no explanation. Years later, Pushinka’s puppies were jokingly referred to as “pupniks”.

I deeply appreciate that each of these inks has such a story behind them! These are details of the space race that I have never would have learned otherwise.

This set first caught my eye because the smaller bottle, Pushinka, is a grey-brown shade that I don’t often see in inks.

The shading is beautiful with this ink! I’ve been obsessed with inks in this strange grey-brown-green area. I would compare it to a bottle of vintage Sheaffer Skrip Brown that I found in the corner of an antique shop (of course I use this vintage ink! Otherwise, the ink would be sad at having wasted its life). This ink isn’t the best shader ever, but it can absolutely hold its own in that department. I wish this was the larger bottle of the set. The 15mL bottle won’t last long with me!

LT1917 cream paper, Franklin Christoph broad steel nib

LT1917 cream paper, Regalia Writing Labs EF Semiflex steel nib

On to the Strelka ink. Now here is a heavily shading ink! The color is a wonderful aqua blue but quickly changes to a dark turquoise as it shades. It almost looks like I am writing with two separate inks rather than one, although it may be that I am writing with a nib that flexes very easily. Perhaps the nib is exaggerating the heavier downstrokes, but it also doesn’t seem to behave like other shading inks. This is blue is either light or dark with no in-between shades.

This is one of the best ink sets I have seen from ColorVerse yet. Hopefully, I’ll be able to pick up the set next week at the San Fransisco Pen Show!

Paper: Seven Seas Writer Journal ($26.00) and Leuchtturm1917 Dot Grid ($19.95)
Pens: Franklin Christoph Amber Ice 45 with a broad steel nib, Frank.in Christoph Neon Pink Prototype Pocket 66 with a Regalia Writing Labs Semiflex steel nib
Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10)
Inks: ColorVerse #45 Strelka and #46 JFK’s Dog Pushinka (65mL and 15mL for $36)

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

In Link Love

Link Love: Lefty 365 Days a Year

AnaAugust 15, 2018August 15, 20181 Comment

I seem to forget about it every year, but Monday was International Left Hander’s Day. Since 75% of the staff here at The Well-Appointed Desk is left-handed, pretty much everyday is left-handed day here so I think its easy for us to forget about it. Luckily, my pals over at Letter Writers Alliance remembered so there’s a link in Other Interesting Things.

And I’m so happy to be able to share a bit of the exhibition from this year’s Barbara Marshall award winner’s Andy Newcom and Marn Jenson for Wishes for the World, also in Other Interest Things. It is a scholarship fund at Hallmark awarded for a personal creative project and Marn and Andy created one of the most amazing, touching, uplifting bodies of work I have seen in my years at Hallmark. Check out the video interviews and the images, its amazing!

Review: Hermit Shell Pen Case

AnaAugust 14, 2018February 3, 20206 Comments

I don’t want to speak out of turn but I suspect I am like most pen and pencil collectors in that I am constantly on the hunt for the perfect case, bag, container or pouch in which to carry my favorite tools with me. In the case (pardon the pun) of my daily drawing tools, I wanted something that would lay open or would be easy to access and see my tools and also help to limit exactly how many items I carry with me. The fewer the items, the less likely I am to get hung up on what I’m using and the more likely I am to just draw and not waffle about which tool to use.

When I found the Hard EVA Travel Case for Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils Fits up to 40 Slots By Hermitshell ($12.99) I thought I might have found the perfect case. The exterior of the case is a soft material but the case itself is rigid and zips closed with double zippers (lefty/righty-friendly!)

The case opens flat with a center flap with small elastics to hold slender pens or pencils that can be flipped back and forth to reveal items on the front and back. On the inside of front of the case is an elastic and the lower area has a mesh section to hold smaller items like an eraser, small sharpener, etc. I also keep my felt tip pens and a small water mister in the front. I also throw in a Tile because I have been known to misplace or forget my things (Franz, can attest to this).

The flip panel contains my favorite red and blue pencils plus two white gel pens on one side and on the reverse are my daily use red mechanical pencils, my Mono Zero eraser and my Platinum Carbon Desk Pen that was trimmed down to fit (shout out to Ian at Pens! Paper! Pencils! for the idea).

In the back section, there are just two elastics to contain items. I use it for a small selection of Copic markers, a small ruler and some additional colored pencils.

The kit is compact and sturdy and the hard case limits how much I can carry. Having four red pencils is already more than I need so I can remove a couple and add in a few more watercolor pencils instead to create a more balanced kit. I still have some trouble pulling the pencils out of the elastics and sliding them back in easily if I’m outside. I tend to go back to a simple zipper pouch which is a bit more “hunt and peck” for items but I’m less likely to have pencils rolling down the sidewalk in a zipper case if I’m outside that way. If I’m at our weekly sketch group, the Hermit Shell is a pretty good option though.

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.

In Paper Review

Paper Review: Composition Notebooks

AnaAugust 13, 2018August 13, 201810 Comments

Partially inspired by Les’ Composition Book posts and her conversation a few weeks ago with Brad and my own back-to-school nostalgia, I purchased a handful of composition books and decided to test drive them myself.

I stopped at CVS and grabbed a full-sized UStyle Colllection ($3.49) and a smaller pocket-sized version as well ($1.99, not shown) and then went to Target and got a couple Green Room composition books, Gartner brand and Mead (fancy with gold foil) composition books. Unfortunately, I misplaced my reciept from Target but the prices for the composition books from Target ranged between $1.75 and $3.99 if I remember correctly, obviously prices will vary depending on sales. These were not the $0.50 a piece versions, so my expectations were pretty high.

All the ones I chose had fancy foil on the cover and modern designs — no simple, black splotchy covers!

UStyle Collections Composition Book

First up is the UStyle Collections from CVS. To be honest, my expectations for this one was the lowest. I purchased it at a drugstore in the aisle between the bulk candy and the sunscreen so I wasn’t expecting much. I like the gold metallic tape and the color block design on the cover was nice. The ruling inside was college but a bit wider and darker than I prefer but I hoped for the best.

I went ahead and hit it with my Sailor music nib first. I figured I’d hit it with the widest pen I had first and get it out of the way. Lo and behold, it didn’t feather! So I kept going. And going….

Even after all the pens and pencils, there was no bleed through and very little show through. This paper was quite the champ!

So I hit it with my favorite modified Pilot Parallel folded nib pen and had no issues. The lines resisted a bit of ink but not too badly. This would be fine practice paper for calligraphy.

There’s a little show through but nothing terrible. I would give the UStyle Collections Composition Book an A-! I’m only marking it down for the dark lines.

Mead (Fancy) Composition Book

Next up is the Mead (fancy) Composition Book that I bought at Target. It featured gold foil details on the cover and light blue college ruling. The cover artwork was a little preppy but not the worst I’ve seen. I liked some of the other covers better but it could have been worse.

The paper inside though more than made up for the blah covers. The light lines and great quality paper got big thumbs up from me.

There was no bleed or show through with any of my fountain pens.

I also tested a whole array of rollerball, felt tip and miscellaneous pens as well with equally good results.

I did some preliminary pencil tests for my Baron Fig pencil review here as well and the Mead is great for pencil too. The Mead (fancy) composition book also rates an A- from me and the mark down is only for the meh cover.

Gartner Composition Book

The Gartner Composition Book was also purchased at Target. The bright paint splotched cover is quite appealing. Inside, the book has blue college-rule and a red margin rule.

This paper has almost NOTHING to recommend itself if you use any kind of liquid ink. Fountain pens, felt tip, and rollerball ink all bled and feathered on this paper. If you strictly use ballpoint or pencil, then go crazy. But otherwise, take a hard pass.

This is a fright show.

Gartner paper even made a Precise V5 feather. However, a Field Notes Ballpoint felt right at home. And graphite performed well.

My rating for the Gartner Composition Book? C-. The cover is cute and if you are a pencil loyalist, this is a fine notebook but it should come with a warning: “ink is not welcome.”

Greenroom Composition Book

The Greenroom brand composition books from Target get me everytime. I want them to be awesome because they have the warm white paper and a cool, recycled vibe. I fall for it every. Single. Time. You see where this is going, don’t you?

Yep. Not fountain pen friendly paper. It’s not even very liquid ink-friendly paper. So, like the Gartner composition book, the Greenroom composition book is really only good for ballpoint and pencil.

Look at that bleed through! For shame! Don’t fall for it. Rating for the Greenroom Comp book? D. Marked down for selling “recycled lifestyle” with a non-recyclable cover. Foil is not recyclable. Ask me how I know?

The moral of my composition expedition? Schlep yourself to your local CVS and buy some UStyle Ccollections composition books. Stand between the bulk candy and sunblock and let people stare as you decide between the gold flamingos, gold elephants and gold paint splatters. Or fight those back-to-school crowds and buy the last gold anchor Mead book. You deserve it.

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

UStyle Collections Composition Book

Mead (Fancy) Composition Book

Gartner Composition Book

Greenroom Composition Book