Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway for the Yak Leather Pen Cases from Pen Boutique.
The RNG picked lucky winners James & Leah:
Believe it or not, we still have more pen cases for giveaways, so stay tuned for the next few weeks!
Papers and Planners: Nock Co. Weekly Calendar and DotDash Gigante Note Cards
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thank You!
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!
Giveaway: Yak Leather Pen Cases from Pen Boutique
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.
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.
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).
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).
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.
Follow-Up: Make Art Everyday Planner Hack
Review by Tina Koyama
If you read my review of the Make Art Every Day planner, you’ll recall that I really liked almost everything about it – the charming art, the visual variety, the tips and prompts. But for a planner to be useable, especially when drawing or doodling as well as writing, the book must stay open flat on my desk. This planner’s glued, perfect binding was a deal-breaker for me – I had difficulty keeping pages open long enough even to photograph them, and I knew using it would be a problem. It was disappointing.
When Ana read my review, she had a brilliant yet simple idea: Why not have the book rebound with a spiral? I popped myself upside the head, wondering why I didn’t think of it myself, and took it to my neighborhood FedEx Kinko’s. For 6 bucks and change, a 1/8-inch slice of the binding was cut off and replaced with a smooth, round spiral binding.
Now every page spread opens completely and stays open on my desk. If I want to save space, I can also easily flip the side I’m not using to the back.
It was an easy solution to make the book useable. Boo to planner publishers who don’t think of usability, but yay for hacks!
So now the question is: What kinds of media can be used in it? I threw my usual media tests on a page, including some juicy brush pens, paint markers and a Derwent Graphik that had a messy meltdown.
The broader nibs and brushes ghosted a bit, but the only products that bled through (and only slightly) were a Kuretake brush pen filled with Platinum Carbon Black ink, a Zig Painty Fx paint marker and a Krink paint marker. Even the blorps from the Graphik meltdown didn’t bleed.
I also tried watercolor pencils with a light wash, watercolor paint on dry paper and watercolor wet-on-wet. As you might guess, the text-weight paper is not intended for wet media, so the spot where I applied water heavily buckled badly (and stayed that way after drying). A light wash applied on dry paper, though, wasn’t too bad. In my apple sketch made with watercolor pencil, I activated the shadow with a light wash, which didn’t blend well on the unsized paper.
Overall, I think this planner would be best with pens, brush pens, markers and pencils of all types.
Link Love: Pen Case Still Fits in the Overhead Compartment
Pens:
- Is there Anything New to Say About the Pilot Metropolitan? (via Writing for Pain & Pleasure)
- Quick Look: Lamy Safari All Black & AL-Star Vibrant Pink Special Editions! (via The Pencilcase Blog)
- One Pen Wonder: The Minimalist Fountain Pen Loadout (via Nibspotter)
- Pilot Custom 823 (via Hand Over That Pen)
- Weighing up the Namisu Ixion (via UK Fountain Pens)
- PenBBS 309 (via Winter Sharks)
- Video: Pilot Capless & Décimo (via Scrively)
- Classic M205 Demonstrator Special Edition (via Pelikan’s Perch)
- How to Diassemble and Reassemble TWSBI Fountain Pens (via JetPens Blog)
Ink:
- Seitz Kreuznach Swatch Tested (via Fountain Pen Inks & Bleach)
- Diamine Skull and Roses (via Fountain Pen Inks & Bleach)
- Sailor Shumibun Writing Time Jasper Green (via Macchiato Man)
- Diamine Earl Grey (via Alt. Haven)
- Diamine Calligraphy Passion (via Fountain Pen Inks & Bleach)
- Pen Chalet’s Top Sheening Inks! (via Pen Chalet Blog)
Pencils:
- ystudio Mechanical Pencil (via Pen Addict)
- The Geography of Pencil History: Japan (via CW Pencils Blog)
Paper & notebooks:
- Field Notes Signature Sketch Book (via Pen Addict)
- Start Bay TN-size notebook cover (via United Inkdom)
- Delfonics Rollbahn Memo Pad (via The Looped Square)
- On Using Field Notebooks (via Notebook Stories)
- Delfonics Rollbahn Memo Pad (via The Looped Square)
- On It (via Field Notes Brand Blog)
- What to keep (via Austin Kleon)
- Daily Journaling Prompts for May 2018 (via Quo Vadis Blog)
Art Supplies and Creativity:
- Tactile Hoop Art Inspired by the Colorful Beauty of Floating Gardens (via Brown Paper Bag)
- 8 Surprisingly Useful Art + Calligraphy Supplies (via The Postman’s Knock)
- Vintage Colored Pencils, Part 11: Rexel Cumberland Derwent (via Fueled by Clouds and Coffee)
- Some Inspiration for Drawing (via Flow Magazine)
Other Interesting Things:
- Introducing the Puget Sound Correspondence Society (via Letter Writers Alliance)
- Atlanta Pen Show 2018 Recap! And Lamy Vibrant Pink Al-Star + Ink Giveaway! (via Squishy Ink)
- Yak Leather Pen Case (via East West Everywhere)
Ink Review: Robert Oster Soda Pop Blue
Robert Oster’s blues are pretty notorious but some are more noteworthy than others. Unfortuntately, he often releases so many ink colors at once that some get lost in the shuffle. Last year, in the melée of Fire & Ice and River of Fire and Lake of Fire and all the other fiery ink madness, Soda Pop Blue ($17for 50ml bottle) was released and largely overlooked.
Many people are still skeptical about the plastic bottles that Oster uses. Yes, they are a bit tall and slender but for someone like myself with a large ink collection, they are easy to store in a drawer and easy to identify from the top. The plastic means they don’t break if tipped over and I have been able to fill almost any pen all the way down to the bottom of the bottle because of the wide opening. It’s only the last inch or so that require that the ink be transferred to a different container or be syphoned out with a syringe to fill a converter rather directly through the nib.
As for the color of Soda Pop Blue, it is a vivid cool blue with a distinct red violet halo/sheen. How that relates to soda pop, I’m not exactly sure but the color is excellent and if sheen appeals to you, this color is excellent.
In writing, the sheen and halo is visible, even with a fine nib pen. The ink is vibrant but not the least nit water resistant. And I realized that the color is the same as Gummi Sharks candy (1lb. bulk bag)
There are several inks that are similar in hue but not as vivid. The closest is probably Colorverse Crystal Planet which is considerably more expensive so if you’ve been waiting for it to be restocked at your favorite retailer, Soda Pop Blue may be a good alternative at half the cost. Bookbinders Snake Ink Blue Coral is close but not as vibrant and Lamy Pacific Blue (Turquoise) and Waterman Inspired Blue/Obsession Blue ($9.60 for a 50ml bottle) is a little bit lighter but in the same color spectrum.
- Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 16 with 6mm guide sheet
- Pens: Midori bullet pencil modified dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15), Shawn Newton Esterbrook Nib Holder with #9556 nib
- Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Cards and Col-o-dex Rotary Cards
- Brush: Blick Synthetic Round #0
- Ink: Robert Oster Soda Pop Blue ($17 for 50ml bottle)
DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided free of charge by Vanness Pen Shop for the purpose of review. Other 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. Please see the About page for more details.