In Pen Review

Review: Retro 51 Bouquet (compliments of Anderson Pens)

Author AnaPosted on 165 Comments

Retro 51 Bouquet

I never thought I’d be a collector of Retro 51s. However, in the last couple of years, I’ve acquired a variety of different Poppers and a Classic Lacquer and, I must admit, I have a collection now. So, I now keep an eye out for the regular seasonal releases in the Popper series.

Retro 51 Bouquet

Just prior to the Atlanta Pen Show, Retro 51 released their spring design, Bouquet, and I scrambled to find a retailer who didn’t sell out in a minute. Luckily, the fine folks at Anderson Pens set not one but TWO pens aside for me and, as a result, one lucky reader will get claim this beauty as their own – or to give to their loved one, their mom, or their favorite person who deserves an everlasting bouquet of flowers.

Retro 51 Bouquet

The Bouquet is a smooth, watercolor floral printed on an ivory background. The flowers definitely have a tropical feel. The graphics are some of the most complex I’ve seen on a Retro 51 and they turned out really well. The colors are clean and rich. And the printing is flawless.

Retro 51 Bouquet end cap

The hardware is a soft, brushed gold. I’d almost call is rose gold but its not pinky nor is it brassy. The end cap is a rosy pink dot to match the flowers.

Of all the “Mother’s Day” releases that Retro 51 has done, this is by far the best one yet.

Retro 51 Bouquet

GIVEAWAY: See that one in the photo above still wrapped in shrinkwrap? That is #0288/1000 and it can be your. All you need to do is leave a comment below and tell me who in your life deserves a beautiful bouquet of flowers. AND… read the FINE PRINT. Big thanks to Anderson Pens for providing the giveaway pen!

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Monday, April 25, 2016. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Tuesday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your real 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 30 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 delivery addresses only please this time. Apologies to our international readers!

In Link Love

Link Love: Pen Show Hangover Edition

Author AnaPosted on 4 Comments

rp_link-anaPen Show Recaps:

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In news

Atlanta Pen Show 2016: Recap

Author AnaPosted on 8 Comments
Atlanta Pen Show 2016 - 2
Photo credits, clockwise from top left: Me being a cheesball by The Gentleman Stationer, recording episode 200 of The Pen Addict podcast with Brad and Myke photo by Julia Skott, Brian Goulet, Kara (AKA boho.berry) and me (squeee!!) photo by Rachel Goulet, and me sampling inks at the Vanness ink sampling station photo by @skylabletterpress.

I cannot believe how quickly four days passed. The Atlanta Pen Show 2016 was four action-packed days of making tons of new friends, seeing old friends, and, of course, looking at all sorts of wallet-emptying pens, inks, paper and other wonderful goodies!

To give a quick timeline, we arrived in Atlanta on Thursday afternoon and got to mingle and hang out with all the early arrivers in the evening. I get the impression that the hotel bar staff doesn’t quite know what to do with us but they tolerate the inevitably ink-tinged water goblets without complaint. We ate, drank and chatted a good deal so I hope the wait staff tipped out well at the end of the night.

Friday, I got to walk around the show floor a little bit in the morning and then the wonderful folks at Goulet Pens asked if I would do an interview for their Q&A series live and in-person. It was both incredibly exciting and incredibly nerve-wracking but the best part was meeting Brian and Rachel and their wonderful videographer and video editor, Jenni. After the video, I got to visit with more folks and wander a bit more before the show closed and the evening carousing kicked into gear again. Friday night was the traditional Atlanta Pen Show hamburger cookout which was fun and filling even if the burgers were still mooing.

Saturday, I got to spend the morning testing out inks at the Vanness ink testing station and then the afternoon helping out at the NockCo booth with Myke (yes, they let us run the show for awhile!) before the big moment: the recording of the 200th episode of The Pen Addict podcast recorded in front of a live audience at the show! I cannot believe how epic it was to record a podcast (not in my pajamas) in front of 60+ people. I am so grateful to all the Kickstarter backers and Brad and Myke and the celebrity crew from Relay.FM for making it all happen and letting me be a part of such a historic event. Sitting here typing this, I have to pull that pack of tissues out again because I’m getting all verklempt again.

However, the one thing I forgot to do in all the excitement was TAKE PICTURES! So, I’m leaning on all the wonderful folks on Instagram who used the hashtag #ATLPenShow2016 and #AtlantaPenShow2016 to find some of my favorite moments from the show and share them with you. I hope the original photographer don’t mind that I’ve included their photos here (please let me know if you do, I’ll swap them out but I hope you know that I’m sharing them with love and best intentions!) Please go through all the awesome photos on Instagram and see all the great stuff people found, all the happy faces and I hope to see your face in Atlanta next year!

Atlanta Pen Show 2016 1
Instagram photo credits, clockwise from top left: Leigh Reyes and Thomas Hall from @dandon, Mike Masuyama and Brian Goulet from @GouletPens, Folded nib calligraphy by @heymatthew for the Carolina Pen Co. photo by Murberdraws, and Mr. WellApptDesk (AKA @skylablettterpress) and @designconcussion in conversation about creativity and design at the Karas Kustoms table.

I’ll be doing another post with all the goodies I acquired and, of course, more in-depth reviews of inks and pens in the coming weeks so stay tuned!

In Paper Review

Notebook Review: Seawhite Artist’s Travel Journal A5

Author AnaPosted on 7 Comments

Seawhite Travel Journal A5

After my positive experience with the Seawhite of Brighton Starter Sketchbook, I decided to take the Seawhite Artist’s Travel Journal out for a test drive. This is their best effort to replicate a better Moleskine Artist’s Sketchbook and they did it. First of all, its a true A5 size. Second, on Amazon, its priced at $12.50. Third, the paper is 130 gsm cartridge paper. And it has 128 pages.

While the Moleskine Artist’s Sketchbook claims to have heavier weight paper, it repels most liquid media making it entirely unusable for me since I like to add watercolor to my sketches. So… after quite liking the 140 gsm paper in the Starter Sketchbook, I was willing to accept a slightly lighter “cartridge paper” to have a light water-receptive paper for sketching at a reasonable price.

The Seawhite Artist’s Travel Journal cover is a slightly flexible hard cover like the Moleskines and the rounded corners too. Its not a stiff cover which makes it firm enough to support your writing or drawing but not overly stiff. I have other sketchbooks with stiff covers and square corners that could double as weapons. The Seawhite Artist’s Travel Journal also has a sewn binding and will lay flat with a little training.

Seawhite Travel Journal A5

The paper in the Artist’s Travel Journal is a warm white which is quite pleasant compared to the bright white of the Starter Sketchbook. I immediately went to it with pen and ink and watercolor and while the paper did waffle a little bit, it did not resist the paint nor did it pill. WIN.

Seawhite Travel Journal A5

I tested an assortment of fountain pens with good luck as well, though the paper did absorb the ink a bit more than Rhodia or other paper more specifically designed for writing. I didn’t have any issues with splining or feathering except with a rollerball and then only very minorly. Felt tip and fine tipped fountain pens behaved well on the paper making it a good book for art journaling, mixed media and dry sketching with light wash or ink.  Its definitely not watercolor paper but it can withstand a little bit of water and wet media. Enough to be a big step up from the Moleskine Sketchbook.

Seawhite Travel Journal A5

The Seawhite Artist’s Travel Journal includes a ribbon bookmark and a gusseted pocket in the back for scraps and momentos as well so all the details are still there. And there’s the vertical elastic. To the untrained eye, no one will know its not a Moleskine unless you tell them. And I would because this book is just better.

Seawhite Travel Journal A5

I did a second round of testing because I was feeling it… and with ink, watercolor and colored pencil, I was still thrilled with the overall performance of the paper. Yes, I got a little waffle after it dried but nothing terrible, all things considered. I slapped the elastic around the cover after everything was dry and hopefully that will help flatten things out over time.

Seawhite Travel Journal A5

And in my second round of pen tests, I added in more everyday pens like Fineliners, a Pilot G2, some gel pens and a Pilot Precise. I guess I was worried I was feeling too cocky about the sketchbook being good for me but maybe not right for someone else.

Now, I feel fairly confident that if you’re looking for something MORE than just writing paper — that you want more than a Leuchtturm 1917 or Rhodia Webbie because you want to sketch or do some pen and ink or markers or watercolor, the Seawhite Artist’s Travel Journal is a good option. Its not the top tier. Its the everyday sketcher. Its a notebook that  doesn’t make me feel like I’m messing up the “good notebook”. Its a “work” book. It good enough to get the bones of a sketch or idea down, capture my everyday adventures and get banged around in my bag. Does that make any kind of sense?

In Pen Review

Pen Review: Uni Signo Angelics 0.7mm Gel Pens

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments

Uni Signo Angelics

Since I started doing the #rockyourhandwriting challenge this month in my Field Notes Sweet Tooth editions, I’ve been having fun experimenting with all sorts of opaque gel pens. The Uni Signo Angelics ($2 each) are some of the best opaque gel pens available. The tips are 0.7mm and the pens dry to a matte finish which look great on white paper, black paper or colored stock.

Uni Signo Angelics

I got a several of the colors available to add some pop and flair to my coming #rockyourhandwriting posts. I’m particularly excited to add some of the white gel pen to the colored stock. It just looks so cool!

Uni Signo Angelics

Be warned, these opaque colors do take a bit longer to dry than regular gel pens and are only available in the 0.7mm tip size so they are not as fine as some of the Uni Signos I’ve come to know and love. But for creating some fun artwork and decorative details, these are definitely a nice addition to the pen collection!

Uni Signo Angelics Water Resistant Test

Addendum (4/23/2016): Following Rusty’s comment below, I did a water test to verify if the Angelics were water resistant. I used a water brush over the text I wrote two weeks prior so it was very much dry. Some of the color did bleed but the overall lettering stayed in place. I’d rate the pens “water resistant” but not waterproof. The color faded as a result of the water and some of the luminance was lost. So, if you were to address an envelope with these pens and the envelope got wet, the address would not vanish as a result of the rain but the color would no longer be as vibrant as it originally was. I hope that helps!

DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In news

Live From Atlanta! Pen Addict Episode #200

Author AnaPosted on


Saturday, April 16th, 6:00 pm (Doors at 5:30): The Pen Addict Podcast, Episode #200 LIVE

Brad and Myke are recording episode #200 of the Pen Addict podcast and I have the honor of sitting third chair beside two of the best guys in the pen community.

If you are in Atlanta AND attending the Pens Show AND backed the RelayCon Kickstarter, you can still sign up to be a tickeetd member of the audience for the live recording at the NockCo booth on Saturday but we are limited by the size of the room so it’s first come, first serve.

Once we get all the backers in the room, we will try our best to get anyone else in the room that wants to watch. Hopefully everyone gets in but there is a mximum capapcity on the room size. The event will be livestreaming on Relay.fm/live starting around 6pm EST as well if you are NOT in the Atlanta area if you want to listen and feel like you’re hanging out with us here.

For more details about the event and the after party, check out the post over on The Pen Addict. Thanks for all your support and if you’re at the show, please say hello!

In Ink Review

Ink Review: Sailor Bungbox Blue Black

Author AnaPosted on 5 Comments

Bung Box Blue-Black ink

Sailor Bung Box Blue Black is also called “4B” and boy, is it another one of those colors I just love. Its a rich indigo blue with a halo of red that gives it such a pop. I decided to test it in the teeny, tiniest pen I own, my Kaweco Liliput with an EF nib — maybe I’m just channeliing the vibe of the teeny tiny Bung Box shop in Tokyo Hamamatsu, Japan (Thanks to Mel for setting me straight!)?

Bung Box Blue-Black ink

The advantage of testing BB BB (Ah, there’s the four Bs!) in a small, fine nibbed pen is that the dark indigo blue-black is dark enough to show even in a fine nibbed pen and the red halo even adds some shading and character to small, fine writing. If you, too, write small or like fine nibs, this blue-black has enough character and shading to be interesting even in such a delicate line. Quite exciting.

Bung Box Blue-Black ink

I put the quarter in the photo above to show how small the writing is, just for scale. But also to show this ink is not waterproof which means it will easily clean out of your most delicate pens. Just don’t sign your mortgage papers with it.

Bung Box Blue-Black ink

And finally, it was hard to narrow down to just a few blue-black ink comparisons because I literally have a dozen to choose from! But I picked the ones that were the closest in hue. Diamine 1864 150th Blue Black and Sheaffer Blue Black both had the same sort of red halo but the actual shade of blue was different. Diamine 1864 is a bit more violet and Sheaffer is a little more on the green side. I included a couple more common blue black inks like Lamy and  Kaweco and they both feel flat compared to the sheen and halo on the 4B. The MontBlanc Midnight Blue is much darker overall and the Caran d’Ache Magnetic Blue has a sheen too but is more denim-y.

So there you have it. Another in a long line of options in the hunt for the perfect blue-black. I think 4B is pretty darn close to perfect. But Sailor really does make delicious inks. Pricey, but delicious. So if you have a chance to pick up a bottle of this rarity, and you like blue-black inks, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Big thanks to Junee at Alt. Haven for sending me this sample of ink. I love the pen community!