In Ink Review

Ink Sneak Peek: Papier Plume Chicago Pen Show 2018 Exclusives Da Blue & Bootlegger’s Sacrament

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Ink Sneak Peek: Papier Plume Chicago Pen Show 2018 Exclusives Da Blue & Bootlegger’s Sacrament

At this weekend’s Chicago Pen Show, Papier Plume is offering two limited edition inks: Bootlegger’s Sacrament and Da Blue. Both inks are limited to 120 bottles of each and will sell for $10 each. Papier Plume will be selling them at their table starting on Friday morning on a first-come, first-serve basis and once these bottles are gone, they are gone!

Bootlegger’s Sacrament is wine colored and based on how Catholic priests were essentially bootleggers during prohibition in an effort to keep sacramental wine for services. Chicago, being populated by Irish, Polish, Mexican and many more of the Catholic faith, it stands to reason there were probably quite a few bootlegging priests. I think our good friend, Father Kyle would have made a good bootlegging priest back in the day.

And Da Blue was inspired by the classic SNL sketch of the most famous Bears fans of them all. But mostly, the deep navy blue of da Bears jerseys. Its a classic blue-black ink that will make you crave a Portillo’s Italian Beef wit extra giardiniera peppers, dipped. Crap, now I’m hungry.

I like the consistency of these colors much better than the House of the Rising Sun color that was released in time for the Atlanta Show. I love the Bootlegger’s Sacrament color and I’m pretty much a softie for anything named after something named for my hometown, even if its just another in a long line of blue-blacks.

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

In Link Love

Link Love: Chicago or Bust

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment

Link LoveLaura and I are hitting the road for Chicago this morning so think road tunes, podcasts and crappy truck stop coffee for us. We’ll peel into the parking lot in scenic Hoffman Estates around 5pm tonight in time for dinner with my dad and mom and then drinks at the bar later. Keep the home (Malört) fires burning.

Pens:

Ink:

Paper & Notebooks:

Other Interesting Things:

In Pencil Review

Pencil Review: Koh-i-Noor Diamond Lead Holder Drawing Pencils

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Pencil Review: Koh-i-Noor Diamond Lead Holder Drawing Pencils

Review by Tina Koyama

While woodcased colored pencils are commonplace (a quick search on Amazon resulted in 20,000 products!), colored leads for mechanical pencils or clutches are much harder to come by. They seem like they should be a promising idea – compact, refillable, no need for sharpening – and yet they generally aren’t. I’ve tried several, including the Uni NanoDia (0.5mm), the Pentel Multi 8 (2mm), and a really inexpensive 2mm set from Daiso. (Ana reviewed the Pilot Color Eno, which I haven’t tried.) While some are better than others, they all fall short of their woodcased sisters in critical ways: the leads are more fragile, and the pigment is paler. They are also harder (probably by necessity), which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the first two flaws are usually deal-breakers for me.

With that as my background, I tried the KOH-I-NOOR Mechanical Pencils (Set of 6) ($30) with some skepticism. A set of clutches in six colors, the Diamond pencils (Versatil #5217) come in a tin box that also includes an L&C Hardtmuth eraser.

Although the barrels are narrower than I prefer, the Diamonds have the classic look of mechanical pencils used by engineers. A textured metal knock opens the clutch “claws” and advances the lead.

To refresh my memory of some colored leads I’d used before, I gave the Pentel Multi 8 and Daiso leads a few scribbles – yup, they were as hard and pale as I remembered them. Then I gave the Koh-i-Noors a try, and I was pleasantly surprised by their relative softness. Also surprising was that the hues are more vibrant.

Mind you, these aren’t comparable to woodcased; maybe it’s just not possible to make leads that are as soft and pigmented as medium-quality woodcased colored pencils and still be sturdy enough to be handled and used without a wood support. Still, I found the swatches to be bright enough that they were worth attempting a sketch. On smooth Stillman & Birn Epsilon paper, the colors applied smoothly and blended well in my apple sketch. Compared to woodcased pencils, I would still put the leads on the hard end of the scale, but they are not at all scratchy, so they are pleasant to use.

I don’t have a lead pointer for 2mm leads, but they are easy enough to sharpen with a knife. (Ed. note: In the silver cap is a claw-like lead pointer. Check out TJ’s Wood & Graphite Lead Holders video around the 0:55 marker for how they work.) They didn’t snap on me at all while making this sketch, even with fairly firm pressure.

While I was coloring the apple’s right side, I started to lose some of the highlight from the paper’s reflection, so it gave me an opportunity to try erasing the Koh-i-Noor leads. The Hardtmuth eraser that came with the pencils made a smeary mess, so I stopped immediately and switched to my electric Seed Sun Dolphin (winner of my Eraser Rub-Off), which took the pigment off satisfactorily. Color swatches above show erasures done with the Sun Dolphin. Shown below is an erasing comparison.

Final Impressions

Encouraged by the softness and vividness of the leads, I then had to get over the thin engineer-pencil barrel, which is not my favorite form factor. Then I had my “duh” moment: They are 2mm leads, which fit in the Pentel Multi 8! I immediately swapped out six of the leads in the Pentel with the Koh-i-Noor leads (which are twice as long as the Pentel leads, so they need to be broken in half). Now I have a very compact way to carry a small range of pencil colors (which was my intention in buying the Pentel in the first place). Win! (Koh-i-noor 2mm Colored Leads (Assorted Set of 6) are available on Amazon.)

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, Planners & Organizers

Papers and Planners: Nock Co. Weekly Calendar and DotDash Gigante Note Cards

Author Laura CameronPosted on Leave a comment

Review by Laura Cameron

I am the queen of making lists.  It’s an excellent day when I can make a big list and start checking off the items as I go.  So I was thrilled to get to test out Nock Co.’s Weekly Calendar Gigante Note Cards ($8.00 for a pack of 52) and the DotDash Gigante Note Cards ($8.00 for a pack of 25)

Nock Co Cards

First let’s talk about the similarities between the cards.  All cards are:

  • 3.5″ (8.75 cm) x 5.5″ (13.75 cm) in size
  • Printed on 80lb Bright White card stock
  • Lined with Nock Co.’s DotDash grid

First let’s look at the Weekly Calendar cards.  The front side of each Weekly Calendar card is divided into sections for each day of the week.  The cards are undated, so you can date them yourselves, or just start a new card for each week.  The back of the Weekly Calendar cards are printed in a light DotDash grid for overflow notes or to do lists.

Nock Co Cards

I tested a variety of pens (gel ink, rollerball and fountain pen) on my test card and found them all to work well with the paper.  I didn’t have any bleeding or feathering.   I found the cards useful for memorializing appointments and a few key deadlines.   Overall, I found the product itself to be high quality.

Nock Co Cards

However, the issue I ran into use of the cards is that the space wasn’t big enough for my personal use.  I write fairly large, and the 4 grid rows  per day just weren’t enough for me to get everything I needed to do on paper.  I could easily flip the card over and continue on the back, but the system wasn’t perfect for my use.  If you write very small, or just have a few items to note for the day, then this system might work well for you.

The second product I tried were the DotDash note cards.  These are actually double size note cards [7″ (17.5 cm) x 5.5″ (13.75 cm)], but folded in half for ease of use and storage.  Although these cards had less pre-printed structure (they just bear Nock Co.’s signature DotDash grid), I found these worked so much better for my use.  Here I had 4 surfaces to write on, which I could easily divide into sections as needed (home, The Desk, work, blog, etc.) and I could make my lists until I ran out of things to write down.  The drawback to these cards is that they don’t provide the daily scheduling structure that the Weekly Calendar cards do, but then again you could divide these cards into 7 half-card increments (with one leftover!) and take it from there.

Nock Co Cards

Nock Co Cards

Both the Weekly Calendar and DotDash Cards were designed for pocket use.  However, women’s clothing doesn’t often have shirt pockets (or pants pockets… don’t get me started) so I stuck mine in my personal size Chic Sparrow cover along with my other travel notebooks.  This kept the cards safe from any wear around the edges, although I think the card stock would hold up pretty well over the course of any given week.

Nock Co Cards

Overall, I have to say that I think the Nock Co. cards are a good tool if you like a highly portable, small-but-not-to-small, lightweight calendar or list. I think I’d tend towards the DotDash cards for my personal use, but I can see where the Weekly Calendar cards also have their uses!

Laura is a tech editor, podcaster, knitter, spinner and recent pen addict. You can learn more about her knitting and tea adventures on her website, The Corner of Knit & Tea and can find her on Instagram as Fluffykira.

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

In news

Thank You!

Author AnaPosted on 4 Comments

OMG, Desk readers and pen community! I cannot thank you enough! Thanks to your generous pledges, we raised over $2000 for AIDS Walk KC this year — way beyond my initial goal and all my expectations. You all are amazing and I cannot thank you enough.

I walked my little silver rainbow sneakers off and then collapsed in heap afterwards and watched Star Wars: The Last Jedi while knitting a new rainbow shawl. I think I will donate it to one of the local hospice charities in all your names. You are all the absolute best. Thank you thank you thank you!

In news

Giveaway: Yak Leather Pen Cases from Pen Boutique

Author Laura CameronPosted on 97 Comments

Today we have a pen case giveaway for two lucky readers of The Desk.

Pen Boutique generously sent us two pen cases to share with you. The first is the Yak Leather Premium 24-Pen Case, Black (Reg $80.00, Sale $49.99). As the name implies, this black buffalo leather case was designed to hold 24 of your most precious pens.

Yak 24 pen case

The case is divided into two sides, each with 12 pen loops. The loops themselves are interesting; they are double loops with leather loops on top and elastic loops underneath, to hold your pens securely in place.

Yak Leather

Yak 24 pen case

The divider between the sides is removable (it is held in place by velcro) so this case can function either as a travel case or to display your pens. The case closes with a sturdy zipper, and there are even slots where you can lock the case closed with a small travel lock. Closed, the case measures 13″ x 9.25″ (32.5 cm x 23 cm).

Yak 24 pen case

Yak 24 pen case

In general I was impressed by this pen case. It seems sturdy and well made, and the leather is nice and soft. My only complaint is that the soft black velvet inside seems to attract lots of dust and fuzz – it was crazy difficult to photograph without all those little motes showing.

The second case we received from Pen Boutique is the Yak Leather Premium One Pen Pouch, Brown ($20.00).  This is a brown leather case, with a classic look and a flap that folds over. It is perfect for holding a pen in your pocket with style.  When closed the case is approximately 7″ x 1.5″ (17.5 cm x 3.75 cm).

Pen Boutique Single Pen Case

Pen Boutique Single Pen Case

Pen Boutique Single Pen Case

This is a nice case as well and held most of my pens comfortably.  My only complaint about this case is that it is somewhat stiff.  This might be the point of the case (to provide a more rigid case for your pen), though I expect it the leather might break in and soften a bit over time.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment ON THIS POST ON THE BLOG and tell us which pen case you would like to win! Only one of each model is available so in drawing a winner, we will select the first name and they will win the pen case they have chosen. The second name selected will win the pen case they have chosen, assuming it is not the same model selected by winner #1. If they picked the same model, we will select another name until we have selected someone who has chosen a different pen case… and so on, until we have given away both cases. Make sense?

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Sunday, April 29, 2018. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday, April 30. 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.

Laura is a tech editor, podcaster, knitter, spinner and recent pen addict. You can learn more about her knitting and tea adventures on her website, The Corner of Knit & Tea and can find her on Instagram as Fluffykira.

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