I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Field Notes has released their summer Colors Editions, the 35th quarterly edition, Campfire Edition. If you don’t subscribe yet, there’s still time. I just want the patch! Hopefully, mine will arrive soon. I just got shipping update info that said the package left Chicago but it often travels to Milwaukee first before it gets routed to Kansas City which means with the holiday weekend, I won’t see it until sometime after the 4th. Boo.
Crayola:
Crayola and Sally Hansen created a line of nail polish inspired by your favorite crayon colors. There are twelve shades including the recently retired Dandelion yellow. They should be available on July 1. (via AltPress)
I guess I’ll paint my nails while I wait for my Field Notes.
Deals:
Our pals over a Karas Kustoms/Karas Pen Co. are taking a little summer vacation. Their shop will be closed from July 1st through July 9th. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still place orders on their online site and save few bucks in the process. From Friday, June 30th through July 10th, use the coupon code USA2017 to receive 15% off your entire purchase. That’s darn right patriotic of them, isn’t it? Orders will ship out when they return, sunburned with a little sand still in the shoes.
I’ve never owned a leather pen sleeve that wasn’t something that came with a pen purchase. So when I was offered the opportunity to try a “nice” pen sleeve from Dee Charles to carry my Aurora Optima, I leapt at the chance. The Dee Charles single pen sleeve in Midnight Gold ($19.80) is a thick black leather with a warm yellow-white stitching. It’s definitely not floppy leather!
The Aurora Optima is not a huge pen and it fits comfortably in the sleeve. If anything, I’d describe it as an average sized fountain pen. I image most regular fountain pens will fit the sleeve. Lengthwise, there is plenty more room. I suspect that if you had a particularly large pen, you may have issues.
By squeezing the sides, it was easy to slide the pen in and out of the sleeve but I had no concerns that once in the sleeve, my pen would come out unintentionally. The suede definitely is grippy enough inside to keep the pen from moving around.
I hope I don’t sound too ridiculous writing up a review of a pen sleeve but this is honestly my first experience with one and I was pleasantly surprised with how effective it was. It also made me feel a lot more comfortable about taking my most precious pens out and about in the world which I don’t often do because I didn’t have a good way to carry it that felt secure and protected from scratches.
I like that the leather is clean and simple and understated. Its not flashy and doesn’t say “there’s something expensive in here”. If you’re looking for a reasonably priced option to protect your pen investments but not looking to carry your whole collection, the Dee Charles single pen sleeve or the double pen sleeve ($25.50) might be an option for you.
DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Pen Chalet for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
When I first visited Paper-Oh’s site, I was immediately struck by the beauty of its products. The notebook designs all have an elegant Japanese look – refined and understated, even when bold colors and elements are used. (Their promotional information does refer to Japanese gift-wrapping and paper-folding inspiration.) Although they’re just ephemeral softcover notebooks like so many others, they are about as different as any I’ve seen. Unlike stapled stacks of paper, they look like “real” books.
While poking around the site, picking out my favorite products, I found a video talking about their story, and then it all made sense. The designers see themselves as bookbinders – not notebook producers – and their love for the art of bookbinding shows. As a dabbler in book arts myself, I was intrigued by the spark of something different in Paper-Oh.
Although I wasn’t able to find out where the binding is done, the books are designed in Berlin and Vancouver and printed in China.
Paper-Oh (a division of Hartley & Marks) offers seven distinct lines of notebooks in various sizes, colors and binding styles. I chose an A6 Puro (suggested retail $8.95) in Fuchsia, A5 Cahier (two for $12.95) in the Circulo version in black on red, and an A5 Circulo ($12.95) in red on black, all with blank pages. All styles offer the option of blank or ruled, and the Cahier is available in graph, too. As someone who prefers unruled pages for both sketching and writing, I give bonus points to any notebook maker that offers blank as an option.
Before I describe the individual styles I tested, I’ll mention a couple of things about the collection in general. Books in all styles come with a multi-purpose flexi page marker that matches the book’s cover. Rather than an attached ribbon (that many hardbound journals come with), the multi-purpose marker is loose and can be used like a traditional bookmark. It has adhesive on one end with scoring, so it can also be attached permanently to a cover and folded over, allowing for flexibility in use.
You’ve all seen the small accordion-folded booklet that comes in the pocket of every Moleskine, telling of its Bruce Chatwin legacy, etc. Paper-Oh’s insert similarly tells of the company’s design philosophy – but instead of being conventionally accordion-folded, it is irreverently folded asymmetrically, as if tossed in casually to crease on its own. This little insert expressed an insouciance that delighted me no end.
Bonus: The site includes instructions for an origami pencil holder! (OK, so I’m easily amused.)
Does the Preppy handle the Carbon ink? Are there others or only the desk pen that can handle Carbon ink?
Short answer: YES. I have put Platinum Carbon ink in the Preppy with no issues. You can even use the Platinum Carbon cartridges in the Preppy. Easy peasy!
I’ve also put Platinum Carbon and Platinum Pigment ink in Lamy Safaris. I am not Brad Dowdy and do not practice vigilant pen maintenance. I am slack beyond words about cleaning out many of my pens. Especially the ones that have Platinum ink in them because they tend to be daily carry tools for drawing and I don’t like to have them out of circulation for the cleaning, drying and refilling window. I even let Platinum Pigment Brown dry out in a Lamy Joy, just to see if I could clean it out. And I could. Took a bit of rinsing but because I could disassemble the whole pen ad nib unit it was not a big deal. So, I think you’re safe to go forth and torture that Preppy! Throw everything you’ve got at that $5 pen!
Samuele would like to find the best non-fountain pen for a student. His criteria is very specific:
1. not to expensive * (students are poor)
2. refillable with g2 standard ballpoint refill * (everybody love standards and disposable pens are a huge waste, standards also guaranteed fine size like 0.7 that are important if you do serious math with long apex and pedix etcetera)
3. it should be not to heavy, to reduce the fatigue *
4. a good comfortable design (like lamy) but that meet the comfort of the people who doesn’t write with in the good way (not like lamy safari or pelikan twist)
5. not too thick or too thin
6. a good grip possibly
7. happy color to contrast the grey of math (lamy safari rules here)
I have two recommendations for you, Samuele. Both of these are under $20 and are available in bright colors, accept Pilot G2 refills and are lightweight.
First up is the Lamy Tipo which is plastic with a rippled plastic grip. At $12.50 it’s a bargain priced pen and according to JetPens, it accepts around 100 different refills.
Next is the Pilot Metropolitan Rollerball. Bright colors? Check. Lightweight? Aluminum. Check! Pilot G2 refills? Check. Price? 13.50.
If you are in Kansas City, please come by the Maker Faire at Union Station. Not only is it tons of fun with all sorts of ‘bots and gizmos but there are also crafts and makers including Skylab Letterpress! There will all the wonderful Skylab goodies like posters, prints, coasters and some notepads you may recognize. I’ll be there helping out and we might even have some Col-o-rings squirreled away if you ask nicely. Don’t miss the epic experience including costumes, robots, 3D printing, crafts, food and more. Don’t forget sunscreen!
Blackwing 73: Lake Tahoe Edition
Blackwing unveiled its latest Volumes Edition this week, the #73 Lake Tahoe edition. This edition is a bright vivid blue with textural raised lines to mimic the topography of the lake. The number is the maximum depth of the lake in feet. The ferrule is plain silver and the eraser is white. The branding is white foil stamped. It’s a nice looking pencil overall but I see a striking California-centric trend following the John Muir, the Jade and now the Tahoe. I suppose that’s their focus with the California cedar as well. Maybe they are clustering their themes by year… this year California?
Baron Fig Archer Prismatic
Baron Fig also introduced its newest release of its pencil, The Archer Prismatic. This time the Archer comes in three bright colors: red, yellow and sky blue. Subscribers to the quarterly Archer subscriptions should be getting theirs in the post this week.
Retro51 Tornado Popper Play Ball!
Retro51 unveiled the latest Tornado Popper this past week. It’s the new Play Ball! edition and they are selling out fast. If you collect the Tornado Poppers and you like this one, you better hoop over to your favorite retailer quick and purchase it because they are selling out fast.
(photo from Anderson Pens)
Robert Oster Signature Inks:
Robert Oster has been releasing ink colors faster than I can keep up. At the Chicago Pen Show was the release of Ryde Green and Tangerine. A couple weeks ago he released the new Blue Water Ice and then Plumb Nut and Sublime. Somewhere along the way Marrone Mustard and River of Fire were also released. And this week there’s more with Eucalyptus Leaf, Red Clay and Golden Brown.
While I appreciate the constant influx of new inks, I think the flood of colors makes it hard for consumers to appreciate the colors and hard for retailers to sell and promote the new colors. I would like to see releases from Oster in a more targeted manner.– maybe four to six colors released quarterly? That would give both shop owners and consumers a chance to appreciate the inks they’ve purchased to appreciate what they have and crave new colors.
Also, in the midst of all of these new releases, the price for Oster inks also went up. I’m sure there’s a lot of reasons for the price increase
And more new sponsors!
Federalist Pens joins the ranks this week. All readers can use the coupon code “desk” at checkout to get an additional 5% off at checkout! Federalist Pens already discounts 20% or more and offers “Daily Deals” that are at least 20% off so the extra 5% on top sweetens the deal a little bit more. Federalist Pens also offers free shipping on all orders over $99.
Appelboom has also come on board as a sponsor to offer great service and products to our European (and global) readers. Appelboom has a huge array of brands of pens, inks, paper goods and more.
Pens:
This Weekend:
