Since listening to a certain monumental 500th episode back in February and watching many friends return to in-person pen shows I’ve been reflecting on the state of my stationery collection. I’ve shared a lot online about my favorite and most-used items over the years, but less about my most meaningful items. So today I’m sharing…
I visited Wonder Fair in Lawrence, KS this weekend and was delighted to find the new Zebra Zensations 2mm mechanical colored pencils. Wonder Fair stocks the set of 12 ($11.76) as well as individual pencils ($0.90 each). The cost for these softly-rounded triangular, plastic, click-advance colored pencils was too good to pass up. I know…
Review by Tina Koyama In addition to high-end, limited-edition, collectible pencils, Blackwing makes a few unique pencil accessories, including the Blackwing Point Guard ($10 each). Available in matte black, gold, silver, and a set of one of each color, the point guard is made in Taiwan of lightweight, machined aluminum. I chose matte black to…
Review by Tina Koyama Although I’ve long been a fan of Blackwing pencils for both drawing and writing, I have no love for the erasers attached to them with their iconic ferrules. In fact, I find them so mediocre that they prompted me to go on a Blackwing eraser hack-a-thon a few years ago. After…
Of course, people who love analog tools would find a way to use analog channels to tell their stories. In the past, I’ve mentioned Plumbago and the Pen Post but today, I have two more pencil zines that landed in my inbox this week. Johnny Gamber of Pencil Revolution has taken his love of pencils…
Do you know the joy of finding a paper tube printed to look like a pencil in your mail box? Sheer and complete bliss. The tube is the new Musgrave Heritage Collection “one dozen of our favorite pencils” ($12.75). Inside the pencil tube, is an assortment of Musgrave classics like the The Bugle and the…
Review by Tina Koyam\ Whenever I see a lovely, handcrafted pencil roll, it evokes fantasies: Seated at a sidewalk table in a Venetian or Parisian café, sipping an espresso, I sketch – my colored pencil roll, charmingly patina-ed with years of travel, casually opened next to my sketchbook. Despite the fantasies, I didn’t think a…
