The Well-Appointed Desk

One of my favorite local KC artists is Maiko of Decoylab. She makes amazing pieces like laser wood and acrylic clocks, laser brooches and necklaces (of which I own a bazillion!) and other beautiful crafted goods. The fact that such world-class talent is right here in my town often tickles me.

She showed me her large wall calendar $26 and I said it would be an awesome piece to have here on The Desk and then time got away from us and here it is the end of January! So, we decided, since not everyone is as prompt about getting organized for the new year, we could host a giveaway so the next 11 months could be beautiful and organized.

Maiko has kindly offered to giveaway one of her 2017 Wall Calendars. It is a simple, functional calendar that features large dates that can be read from across the room.

Full moon stickers and a large bulldog clips are optional. Calendar starts from October 2016 to December 2017.

Features:
• Size 11×17
• Large dates visible from afar (Date height 1.37″)
• Plenty of space underneath the dates to jot down important dates ( 1 inch height)
• Ships flat
• Printed on 70lb text weight paper – same as copy paper weight
• 100% post consumer waste paper
• The paper color is slightly off white
Optionals:
• 15 full moon stickers (full moon dates included)
• 3 inch chrome bull dog clip

If you don’t want to wait to see if you win the giveaway, you can order one today. I did because I still have a sorry-looking free calendar hanging on my wall from LAST YEAR and I needed to remedy the situation ASAP. While you’re there, you might want to consider one of her amazing clocks. I’m partial to the Cuckoo Style A because it has squirrels on it. One of the most popular items is the DIY Western Auto sign which is a beacon on our downtown skyline that Decoylab turned into a desktop 3D bamboo kit you can assemble, paint and build yourself.

TO ENTER: Leave a message in the comments and tell me what New Year’s task you’ve procrastinated or if you are hyper-organized what Decoy Lab item you’re dreaming of owning. One entry per person.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Saturday, January 28, 2017. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Saturday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your 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. If winner does not respond within 10 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. 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 Only.

In Fountain Pen Review

Pen Review: Pilot Custom 912 Waverly Nib

AnaJanuary 23, 2017December 29, 201710 Comments

Pilot Custom 912 Waverly

The Pilot Custom 912 Waverly ($224) is a most unusual fountain pen. And its not unsual for its exterior. From the outside, it looks like what the Brits might call a “saloon car”. Not in a bad way. It’s an upscale 4-door black sedan in the nicest possible way but no one would look at the outside of this pen and ogle. It’s understated and refined. It has simple silver hardware withe very little ornamentation or flash. It’s not fancy.

Pilot Custom 912 Waverly nib close up

When the cap is removed, you see beautiful etching on the 14K gold nib, a razor fine point and the letter “WA” etched on the nib. “WA”?

Pilot Custom 912 Waverly nib close up

When turned to the side is when you see, this is not ordinary nib. Did it get dropped? Nope. It is meant to be bent at an angle like this with the tip flared up ever so slightly. According to Pen-Info.jp, it is designed this way to allow any writer to write at any angle. For a left-hander, this means that some of the issues that can sometimes confound a left handed writer with softer gold nibs, extra fine nibs or writing overhanded or at odd angles, can be avoided with a nib like this.

Pilot Custom 912 Waverly

Pilot Custom 912 Waverly writing sample

So, do my writing results prove it? Indeed they do. I have been writing consistently with the 912 since before Christmas (Merry Christmas to me!) and the pen performs flawlessly. My previous experience with a Pilot Custom 74 F was not as successful partially because of the softness of the nib and the angle of my writing. This is clearly a vast improvement. Do I wish I could put the beautiful nib in a sports car package? Yes. But I’m okay driving around in the saloon car sometimes too.

Check out fellow lefty and Desk-contributor Tina Koyama’s review of the Custom 912 Waverly as well.

Included an affiliate link but I purchased this pen with my own money and all opinions are my own.

In news

National Handwriting Day

AnaJanuary 23, 2017January 23, 2017Leave a comment

Actual handwriting from Hallmark lettering artist Sarah Cole

Every year, National Handwriting Day sneaks up on me. Luckily, I have a whole bunch of writing samples from previous National Handwriting Days.

Hand written by Madeline Tompkins of TagTeam Tompkins

Hope you get to put pen or pencil to paper today and use your handwriting.

Handdrawn lettering by Hallmark designer/illustrator Lauren Tobaben

In Fashionable Friday

Fashionable Friday: Marble Madness

AnaJanuary 22, 2017January 22, 20171 Comment

I spent two days this week marbling paper for a project for work so I am in the “marbling zone”. It’s definitely a trend right now and fountain pens have always utilized marbled resins and plastics so this was an easy crossover. Hope you enjoy your own Marble Madness this week.

Genuine Ingenuity Sleeveless Top in Indigo Swirl $49.99 (via Modcloth)
Aurora Optima Nerla Perla Fountain Pen $445 (via Anderson Pens)
Palomino Blue Eraser-Tipped HB Pencil $13 per dozen (via Fresh Stock Japan)
E+M Marble Nib Holder – Silver-Black $1.80 (via JetPens)
Paperblanks Mini Blank Journal in Rococo Revival Crystal Chandelier $12.95 (via Anderson Pens)
Pelikan Classic M200 fountain pen marbled green € 119 (via Fontoplumo)
Monteverde Prima Fountain Pen in Black Swirl $37.50 (via Pen Chalet)
Bookbinder’s Blue Coral Snake Ink (30ml Bottle) $12.50 (via Anderson Pens)
Delta Matte Journal Fountain Pen in Ivory $120 (via Pen Chalet)
Franklin-Christoph Model 03 Anderson Pens Special Edition $165 (via Anderson Pens)
Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun Ink (Old Man Winter) – 15 ml Bottle $13 (via JetPens)
Kaweco AL Sport fountain pen in Grey / Gunmetal aluminum € 65 (via Fontoplumo)
Hand marbled original artwork marble case – iPhone 7 PLUS – Aqueous Orbit in Silver & Turquoise – by Roo Bannister $57.14 (via Marbleous Roo on Etsy)

Thanks to my sponsors for providing some of the images I use for Fashionable Friday. Please consider making your next purchase from one of the shops that support this blog and let them know you heard about them here. Thanks for your support and for supporting the shops that help keep it running.

In Book Review

Book Review: A Year of Living Danishly

AnaJanuary 21, 2017January 16, 20171 Comment

A Year of Living Danishly

After reading the article in the NYTimes about hygge and creating my New Year’s Hygge-themed Fashionable Friday, I decided to get more familiar with the concept of hygge and what might make the Danes so happy and well-adjusted. So I decided to read The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country by Helen Russell. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from the book. Was it going to be a self-help book like Marie Kondo’s Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up book?

Well, it turned out to be more of a memoir of Russell’s year of living in Denmark having relocated there after her husband got hired on to work at Lego. Each chapter is one month of their year with an aspect of the Danish culture revealed in that month. She discusses politics, taxes, trust, sex, childcare, healthcare, traditions, pastries and family to name a few things. And while she finds many things to recommend the Danish way of life, there are also many things that perplex her as well. In the best way, the book is not rose-colored glasses. I found it very interesting and enlightening in the way that any book about someone immersing themselves in a new way of life discovers what is really important and what they can easily live without.

Russell is British so, while the book is witty, the humor is quite dry. Some parts I laughed out loud though but I do lean to the dry humor.

So, if you’re looking for a book to make you reconsider how you see your place in the world, and whether you have it good where you are, this might be a book you would enjoy. I certainly found parts that made me think that I have it quote good where I am and parts where I thought “Why can’t we do thing more like the Danish?”

This book isn’t specifically pen- and paper-related but I do think anyone who wants to think about how to slow down, get hygge or simplify their life might appreciate the ideas offered in this book. We tend to be a literary lot in general and I know we all appreciate a good cup of coffee and a snegle.

In feature, news

An Administration Remembered, Stationery-Style

AnaJanuary 20, 20179 Comments

(Photo credits: in order clockwise from top left: A reporter takes notes while President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom speak to the press in the Oval Office, March 3, 2009, Photo by Pete Souza;Pens to be used by President Barack Obama are set on the signing table with the bill prior to the signing of H.R. 803, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building South Court Auditorium, July 22, 2014, Photo by Amanda Lucidon; The place-setting for attendees of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet meeting to discuss the economic recovery effort in the State Dining Room of the White House, June 8, 2009, Photo by Samantha Appleton; resident Barack Obama’s place is set at the table prior to the State Dinner for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan in the East Room of the White House, April 28, 2015, Photo by Chuck Kennedy. )

Over the years, I’ve frequently used photos of President Barack Obama writing as examples of an overwriting lefthander because of the tireless work of the staff photographer (usually Pete Souza) in the White House who has spent the last eight years photographing just about every time President Obama signed anything. And thankfully, the photos have been available for use by the press on the White House Flickr feed, now archived as the Obama White House feed.

I thought I’d share a few of my favorite pen related photo over the years. I’ve spent much time trying to figure out exactly what pens are used for the signing of legislation (I’m assuming either Parker or Sheaffer) and admiring the occasional photos of the handlettered place cards for luncheons and state dinners.

And that photo at the top left of the reporter who still writes in shorthand?!? That was back in 2009 but still! Pretty cool. I always like to see how other people work and live especially in such a world in which they meet foreign leaders, visit other countries and still occasionally dig in dirt, go for burgers and play basketball and manage to do it all under a microscope and smile through it all. I don’t think I pull that off. But I guess if I got all those pens, I’d sure try.

(Photo credits: in order clockwise from top left: Close-up detail of President Obama’s signature on a bill, and a pen used for the signing, aboard Air Force One on a flight from Buckley Air Force Base, Denver, Col. to Phoenix, Ariz., Feb. 17, 2009, Photo by Pete Souza; President Barack Obama signs a United States name plate at the conclusion of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2014, Photo by Pete Souza; President Barack Obama writes a response to one of the ten letters he receives each day from the White House Correspondence office on Saturday, July 25, 2009, Photo By Pete Souza; A copy of the menu sits on a table following the Congressional Spouses Luncheon, May 20, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton).

These photos are official White House photographs and are made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way or used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.

In Art of the Day

Art of the Day: Unlikely Airline Art

AnaJanuary 19, 20174 Comments

I just had to share this video of my pal Amanda and her awesome habit of embellishing the sick bags in the seatbacks on flights to and from LA on Southwest. So if you ever happen to be on a Southwest flight, check the seatback pocket…

To see some of her previous work, check out the instagram hashtag #barfbaglettering. All her lettering is done with her trusty Sharpie markers and a kind heart.

If you want to try it yourself, there is also a #spewbagchallenge hashtag where other people have also submitted there lettering and artwork (may not be suitable for all audiences… you have been warned!).