In feature

Eye Candy: Baron Fig Squire Experiment

Author AnaPosted on 6 Comments
Eye Candy: Baron Fig Squire Experiment

Baron Fig released the Squire Experiment several months ago as part of its quarterly subscription and it sold out almost immediately. What was so amusing was that almost everyone who knows me and my love of green assumed I bought one and/or would love it. However, I must have had my head down for a split second because I completely missed my chance to order one because by the time I got wind of it, they were all gone. So, I’ve kept my eyes peeled for someone selling one online to no avail. Then, my very own Secret Santa mailed me the Experiment!

The Experiment, like the Squire that shipped with the Kickstarter bags (now available as Fig Wine), the colors is very jewel tone and vivid, and the Erlenmeyer Florence (I stand corrected!) flask is nerdy cool!

Secret Santa, you know who you are, and I am eternally grateful for my little mad scientist jewel. Hope your holidays rock.

 

In news

Giveaway Winner: Octaveo Stationery Collection from Milligram

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment

Octaevo

Thanks to Milligram for providing the wonderful array of Octaveo stationery products for us to review and giveaway on the blog.

Our lucky winner is:

Seth! He’ll be receiving his very own set of Marble Notes along with the Lobster bookmark, Creative Notes and Cinema Voyage Notes.

We have more giveaways coming soon so hold tight!

In Ink Review

12 Days of Inkmas: Robert Oster Peppermint

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
12 Days of Inkmas: Robert Oster Peppermint

On the third day of Inkmas, this ink nerd couldn’t resist breaking out the holiday appropriate Robert Oster Peppermint ($17 for 50ml bottle)!

When I first started reviewing Robert Oster inks I worried about the tall skinny bottle being difficult to use as it got used up but I have one bottle that has gotten down to the bottom quarter (I have been sharing it among friends) and the mouth of the bottle is really wide enough to get most full-sized pens with a full-sized converter or a piston mechanism all the way to the bottom without too much trouble. You may need to rest your fingers on the lip of the bottle for stability so you may end up with inky fingers but we are used to the by now, right?

Now, about this holiday appropriate Peppermint ink! Who doesn’t love a little bit of peppermint at the holidays? Wouldn’t it be lovely if it was peppermint scented? Oster Peppermint captures the deep green hue with just a hint of blue undertone AND a reddish sheen. What could be more holiday than that? The ink has a good deal of shading too. As I dipped my testing pen, I was able to get a range of colors which demonstrated the array of shading possibilities from a fine nib which would skew darker to a wider pen which would show more shading variation.

In my swatch comparison, Oster Peppermint is very similar to Waterman Harmonious Green ($11.30 for 50ml), even the sheen is there. So, if you have a vintage pen you’d like to use a holiday-inspired ink, you could easily substitute Waterman. DeAtramentis Sandalwood (scented) ($13 for 35ml) might add a little Wise Men to your festivities. Private Reserve Spearmint ($11 for 66ml bottle) and Avacado (sic) seemed too dark to be festive but might be appropriate in a business setting.

Tools:

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

In Ink Review

12 Days of Inkmas: MontBlanc Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
12 Days of Inkmas: MontBlanc Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

On the second day of Inkmas, the true nerd brought to you:

An ink from the author of The Little Prince! Honestly, that is all I knew about Antoine de Saint-Exupéry which I’m sure makes me poorly educated about the author so I read his wikipedia page. So now I know that besides being the recipient of a limited edition MontBlanc ink, I also know that he was a pilot and a hero to the French. So, let’s talk about the ink.

The MontBlanc Anotine de Saint-Exupéry ink ($43) is in my favorite faceted 50ml square glass bottle.  It’s really a lovely,distinctive bottle.

The box mentioned that the color was “desert” but obviously the color is more reddish burgundy than brown which is what I would associate with a desert. To be honest, this is the color I wanted to see in the Shakespeare ink that was released by MontBlanc earlier this year.

The ink shows some nice shading and color variation and the rich burgundy, plummy color is lovely.

Compared with other inks in the same color family, Diamine Syrah ($14.95 for 80ml) and Callifolio Grenat are probably the closest in color. Syrah is slightly more red and Grenat is slightly more purple. Robert Oster Claret is not as vibrant. As you can see the Shakespeare Velvet Red is not really red at all but a red black.

In conclusion, the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is a very expensive ink in comparison to other options in the same color family but if you are looking for a good gift ink for someone who loves The Little Prince or who is a fan of little luxuries like a bottle of burgundy ink in a fancy bottle, then this might be the perfect holiday gift. If you’re on a budget though, you might consider one of the other inks above as an alternative and a copy of The Little Prince instead.

Tools:

In Link Love

Link Love: The One with All the Planners

Author AnaPosted on

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Paper & Notebooks:

Planners & Organizers:

Other Interesting Things:

In feature

Eye Candy: Karas Pen Co. Decograph 1703 Wintergreen Fountain Pen

Author AnaPosted on
Eye Candy: Karas Pen Co. Decograph 1703 Wintergreen Fountain Pen

The Karas Pen Co. 1703 Special Edition Decograph “Winter’s Tale” (starting at $165) in wintergreen is the most recent addition to the new line of thermoplastic-based fountain pens. This limited edition color is just in time for the holidays with its crisp, refreshing evergreen with a glittery frosty white streak shot through it beside a black trail.

The 1703 maintains all the same features of the original Decograph fountain pens.

The only change is the color which has been limited to a run of 60 which is laser etched below the threads after the “1703-XXX”.

Have you been naughty or nice?

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

In feature, Ink Review

12 days of Inkmas: Robert Oster Darkstar Blue

Author AnaPosted on 4 Comments
12 days of Inkmas: Robert Oster Darkstar Blue

Welcome to the first day of Inkmas! Its a tradition I started but have not been as good at keeping up as I had hoped so I am bringing it back this year. For me, its a great way to share some long overdue ink reviews and hopefully, for you its a chance for a stationery blog to do it’s best to feel a little bit seasonally appropriate.

So today, I start with a rare bird indeed though not a partridge. It’s Robert Oster DarkStar Blue (£9.99 per bottle). It’s a color made especially for DarkStar Collection in the UK known for their notebooks.

This color is a solid blue black ink. Unlike many of Robert Oster’s inks known for their sheening properties, DarkStar Blue is a classic blue black that is reserved. It does shade nicely with wider nibs to create some nice contrasts.  Overall, its a “nightsky” blue as stated in their description. One might even say “It came upon a midnight clear”?

Compared with other notable blue black inks in my collection, I would say that DarkStar Blue was closest to Parker Quink Blue Black and Kyo-No-Oto #5 Aonibi with Parker being ever so slightly more vivid and Kyo-no-oto being slightly more muted. Pricewise that seems about right too with Parker being a bit less expensive, Oster being the mid-range and Kyo-no-oto being the most expensive of the three. The Sheaffer was darker overall as was the Caran d’Ache.

If you are looking for an ink that is not in regular rotation and harder to acquire than most (whether for yourself or as a gift), then DarkStar Blue is definitely something to pick up. It’s also a good solid blue black if you like a good classic color. If you are looking for another super-sheeny Oster ink, then this is not for you. Parker Quink Blue Black actually has more sheen.

Tools: