In news

Giveaway: Compocco Notebooks and more!

Author Laura CameronPosted on 141 Comments

It’s time for another giveaway! Today’s package includes a variety of items from Compoco.  We love Compoco for their beautiful journals (Ana reviewed one here).

Compoco generously sent us a whole mess of goodies to share with you. So one lucky reader will win the following:

TO ENTER: Leave a comment ON THIS POST ON THE BLOG and tell us what your favorite Compoco collection is!

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Friday, October 5, 2018. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Saturday, October 6. Winner 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 so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear – just email you if you win. If winner does not respond within 7 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US residents and APO/FPO only please.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in giveaway were provided free of charge by Compoco. Please see the About page for more details.

In Fashionable Friday

Fashionable Friday Flashback: Inktober Challenge!

Author AnaPosted on 4 Comments

(find links to products shown above here)

Inktober is just around the corner. I mean JUST around the corner. If you are not familiar with this draw-along event, check out our previous post.

I have enjoyed creating my own rules and prompts each year and challenging myself to learn new skills and stick to specific tools and palettes. Limiting my tools and my palette and forcing myself to use one sketchbook and a select group of tools really helped to keep me on track. Also, pre-selecting my prompts, theme and finding resource images in advance also helped to make working on my drawings each day a bit less daunting.

I have been waffling and waffling and waffling about participating in the 31 day challenge again this year. I am traveling this year in the middle of Inktober to Canada and New York for the last leg of the RelayCon event as well as trying to stay on top of work, the blog and life in general (you know, laundry and stuff?) so I’m concerned about burning my proverbial candle on both ends and from the middle as well.

Flipping through the images from my last two Inktober challenges though fills me with a lot of pride and excitement and really makes me want to try again.

Are you going to try it this year? What is your theme or goal?

In Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Review: Monteverde Monza

Author Jessica ColesPosted on 1 Comment

Review by Jessica Coles

Monteverde has recently come out with several new nibs for their Monza line.  The Monteverde flex nib ($16.00 at Pen Chalet) is one of these.

The Monza flex comes in a light green plastic box — somewhat like a small pencil box where the pen, two cartridges, and the included converter are packed in a dense foam. As with the rest of the Monza line, the feed is clear with a steel nib, the cigar-shaped pen is made of a lightweight transparent plastic.  Green is the only color option for the flex pen.

 

Out of the box, the flex nib was quite scratchy, not at all unusual for an inexpensive steel nib pen.  A few minutes of smoothing fixed it.

As for flexibility: the steel nib has a cutout on either side.  Typically these cutouts are added to allow the tines to separate as the writer applies greater pressure while writing (rather than simply bending).  This causes more ink to reach the page creating a thicker line.  When the nib cutouts are paired with a feed that can accommodate a higher rate of flow, the results can be dramatic.

The cutouts on the Monza flex try to imitate those of modern “flex” pens but are located too far back on the nib to affect the flexing.  The feed does not seem to have been altered significantly either.  The result is a nib that provides a small degree of line variation, but only with noticeable pressure from the user.  Since the feed has not been modified, the pen is on the dry side.  I experienced a few hard starts, although never railroading. The dryness of the pen actually does help to show off shading inks.  This is because the ink can dry quickly rather than spreading out evenly.

 

My overall impression of the Monza flex pen: the Monza line is an inexpensive pen that writes well, feels good in the hand and includes some fun extras like the matching reusable box, included converter, and a clear feed, but fall short of “flex” in the name.  I do enjoy using the pen and will continue to use it in the future, especially with highly shading inks.  But when reaching for a flexible pen, the Monza will not be one of my choices.

Tools:

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

In Link Love

Link Love: Southbound & Downy Fresh

Author AnaPosted on
Link Love: Southbound & Downy Fresh

I’m headed for the Dallas Pen Show tomorrow and I cannot wait to get there! R2 and I are packed with April Fresh dresses and ink swatches galore. Maybe even a few extra flasks for the thirsty…

This week, there are some news inks to check out. Nick Stewart has released his ink mixing set which can be ordered directly from him. Read his post for details. Kellie at Mountain of Ink delves into the Pen Saijiki inks. There’s a mess of reviews but I’ve only included one, so delve deep into these reviews on her site.

There are lots of creativity and art links this week including an interview with the above mentioned Nick Stewart on Art Supply Posse. Austin Kleon continues to fill me with joy and inspiration every week so I hope he delights you too.

Be sure to congratulate Notebook Stories on TEN amazing years of collecting our shared obsession with paper.

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

In news

News: New Releases from Field Notes, Sailor and Blackwing

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments

Field Notes: Endpaper Edition

Oh, Coudal and Partners, you are two-for-two with me this year. First, a space edition to end all space editions and now a marbled End Papers edition that warms my frustrated librarian heart? Using the format from the Dime Store edition with book-like bound edge, lined pages, and heavier paper, End Papers will be the perfect edition for keeping track of your favorite books, quotes, writing poetry or starting your next great novel. Or your grocery lists will look really spiffy this quarter. This edition only comes with two books, rather than the standard three-book set but each book has a substantial 68 pages to the average 48-pages in a Kraft edition.

Blackwing Volumes: 33 1/3

Seriously? What took you so long, Blackwing? The new Blackwing Volumes is inspired by the the classic 33 1/3, 12″ black vinyl record. This is the coup de gras of Blackwing Volumes. It will certainly rival the Steinbeck for a favorite Volume. Black-on-black-on-black with the Pearl, balanced graphite. While not the firm core of the Steinbeck core, its darn close. That’s okay… you have time to do a 45RPM… maybe even a 78RPM. It’s all good and it will make up for some of the misses this year (I’m looking at you, weird greige round pencil!).

Sailor 1911 Key Lime

Sailor released the latest in the 1911 line, the Key Lime this week to its exclusive North American retailers. Its available in the regular and large models and in all seven standard nib sizes. The color is absolutely Well-Appointed Desk-approved with a metallic, lime green sheen. Holy mojitos!

Currently available from our pals at Anderson Pens: $196 for the Standard, $288 for the Large

In Paper Review

Notebook Review: Curnow Coptic-Bound Notebooks

Author Laura CameronPosted on 1 Comment

Review by Laura Cameron

A few weeks ago Ana and Jesi sung the praises of Curnow Bookbinding and Leatherwork, specifically their leather notebook covers.  I, on the other hand, fell in love with one of their coptic bound  notebooks.  I don’t have a thing for sakura, why do you ask?

While the notebook I purchased was ready-made, Curnow offers a wide variety of cover selections, and produces hand bound, one of a kind notebooks upon order.  My notebook has the Sakura print on the outside, and a pink polka dot pattern on the inside.  It measures 5″ x 8″, and the paper inside is slightly smaller.  The paper itself is HP Premium 28, and white dot-grid. If you custom order your own notebook they’ll make it up with Tomoe River paper if you wish!

 

I’ll be honest, when I purchased the book, even though Curnow insisted that it was fountain pen friendly paper, I was a bit skeptical. I am thrilled to say that they weren’t lying – the paper, even though it isn’t Tomoe River, is delightful!  It is smooth, and I didn’t notice any feathering when I tested.  I tried everything I had: gel pens, fine liners, fountain pen nibs of various sizes.  There was a bit of show through when I used the really wide nibs, or put down fat lines, but not much. The only bleed through is where I colored in the moon, and there I was adding lots of ink to the same spot.

I confess that I can’t remember exactly what I paid for my notebook (I believe it was $20), but a price list on the Facebook page shows that you can order a custom notebook for between $19 and $33. Given the level of customization and handwork that goes into each journal, I’d say those prices are a steal.

Curnow Bookbinding and Leatherwork accepts orders through their Facebook page or via the email in the logo stamp above.

DISCLAIMER: I purchased everything in this review with my own money. I was not compensated in any way for this review other than the sheer joy of using these products.

In Ink Review

Ink Review: Pilot Iroshizuku Tsukushi

Author Laura CameronPosted on 1 Comment

Review by Laura Cameron

I don’t have a lot of browns in my ink collection, and I’m still working through the motherlode that I purchased from Jesi at the St. Louis Pen Show.  So today I’ll talk about Pilot Iroshizuku Tsukushi ($9.90 for 15ml).

Tsukushi, or Horsetail Plant, is a nice medium brown with a touch of red in it. I saw the red more as I was writing with it than after it dried, but in some of the applications (like in the Crossfield on the Tomoe River paper) it did appear slightly reddish.

Tsukushi performs well like the other Pilot Inks. It goes down a bit on the dry side, and dries quickly without smearing.  This colorway has a decent amount of shading, as well as some greenish-yellowish sheen when in the darkest ink droplet applications.

Compared to other brown inks I have samples of, I would say Tsukushi was probably closest to Caroube de Chypre, glitter and sheen notwithstanding.  It was also a bit similar to Monteverde Brown Sugar, though much lighter than Diamine Chocolate Brown.

Aside from my woeful drawing skills, I enjoyed playing with Tsukushi and I think it makes a nice addition to my ink collection.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by me. Please see the About page for more details.