Have you heard about the Karas Kustoms EDK yet? The EDK is the latest machined pen from Karas Kustoms. As the name implies, this is pen designed to be your next everyday carry (or would that be “karry”?).
This is Karas Kustoms’ smallest pen to date. It uses the same whisper-quiet retracting mechanism as the RETRAKT. The EDK is just over 5” and the pen is just under 0.5″ wide (not including the clip). When held with the clip up, the pen is quite comfortable in the hand. The grooves in the body provide extra grip and give the EDK a unique look when compared to other pens in the Karas Kustoms line-up. The most notable difference is the pre-weathered, tumbled finish is the EDK. It looks like its been in your pocket or in the bottom of your bag for years from the minute it arrives.
The EDK will be available in Aluminum, Brass and Copper combinations with prices ranging from $55-$105 depending on materials. The brass and copper models are a smoother finish, the aluminum is the only model that’s tumbled (or if there are aluminum sections in the model you choose).
The EDK compared with (from left): Karas Kustom 2-Tone RETRAKT, Karas Kustom INK, Karas Kustoms Render K, the EDK, Kaweco Sport in aluminum and a Kaweco Liliput
The EDK ships with a Schmidt P8126 refill, a standard Parker-Style refill and capable of taking most G2-style refills if they are trimmed down to fit which gives you a whole slew of refill options.
The EDK will be available through MassDrop on Oct. 26. You can vote now and be notified the moment these become available.
In the meantime, if you’d like a chance to win this EDK, leave a comment below and tell me where the EDK will go with you.
FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Sunday, October 25, 2015. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. 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 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 Residents only.
DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Massdrop for the purpose of preview. Please see the About page for more details.
After my love affair with the large set of Staedtler Triplus Fineliners I decided I needed more! So I decided to grab the Stadetler Triplus Fineliner Pastel 6-color set ($7.50). The set comes in a clear plastic case like the larger sets and are the same triangular shape and 0.3mm tips as all the other Staedtler Fineliners. The colors are water-soluble so plan accordingly.
In this set was a Light Carmine (pink), Peach (orange), Lime Green, Delft Blue (blue grey), Lavender (lilac purple), and Silver Gray. The only color that was a duplicate of the previous set was the grey which I was particularly disappointed about since the grey was so light in the original set. To clarify, the grey included in both of my sets was the silver grey not the standard grey pen (which is presently sold out on JetPens). The other colors can also be purchased individually for $1.30 per pen on JetPens if you want to pick and choose your colors.
However, the other colors more than made up for my disappointment in the grey. Particularly, the Lavender and Delft Blue colors. The Lavender is a smoky plum orchid color and is just lovely. The Delft Blue is a blue grey color and totally usable for writing or drawing. The Lime is a tiny bit too light for writing but would be fun for coloring in or underlining. The Peach is actually a punchy orange color and the Light Carmine is a soft dusty pink that is quite pleasing and not too My Little Pony pink.
Overall, I’m pleased with the set. The Delft blue and Lavender colors made me giddy because the colors were so unique in the world of colored markers. All the other colors in the set are fun pastels with the exception of the grey as well. I have a feeling I’ll just pull the grey out and replace it with a black Fineliner and then this set will make a great little travel pack.
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.
There are a bunch of planner-focused, paper goods subscription services available to help you fill your planner, notebook, or journal with colorful additions. I thought I’d give a quick round-up of the options I’ve found. I’m sure there are many others but these are the ones I either subscribe to or know someone else who does.
The thing with kit subscriptions is that you will either have to check back regularly to sign up for the kit (there’s usually a specific window when you can initially subscribe) and/or you will need to make a minimum commitment of 3- or 6-months. In exchange for this enthusiasm and/or loyalty, you can receive a variety of products from planner inserts to stickers, rubber stamps, dashboards, washi tape and more, often at prices discounted below regular retail.
Studio Calico: Studio Calico is a scrapbooking company that is now offering planner subscriptions. You can purchase a month-to-month ($24.99/mo) or commit to a 6-month ($22.99/mo) or 12-month ($19.99/mo) subscription for better per kit pricing. They list out all the items that will be included in the kit. I ordered this kit but only received one of the two mini rolls of tape. I don’t know if it was a packing oversight or if I ordered so late in the month that they ran out of one of the rolls of tape. The tab stickers included this month were a perfect match for my dark aqua Filofax Original. The kit also came is a nice little zip pouch that can be reused for toting supplies to and from work. Overall, it seems like a reasonable deal but its definitely a better deal if you’re willing to commit to a full year.
Get your first month’s subscription for $1 + FREE shipping!. Use promo code: WINK1DOLLAR (only valid for 6-month or one-year subscriptions)
Planner Addict Box: The Planner Addict Box is an assorted box with a reasonable price — $15/mo plus shipping. Each kit comes with an assortment of stickers, sticky notes, clips, pens and washi. The upcoming November box is already sold out but you could probably get on the list for the December box. There is no time requirement as long as you cancel the subscription within their time frame so you can essentially subscribe for one month. For a wider representation of the products in each kit, check out their Instagram to see previous kits.
Brimbles Box: This kit comes from another well-known YouTube planner celeb, Mrs. Brimbles. The kit includes a variety of products that would appeal to anyone who enjoys decorating their journal, planner or other memory keeping book. Past kits have included cards, stickers, washi tape, pens, rubber stamps, etc. These kits ship from the UK £15.00 / month plus shipping. Mrs Brimbles also offers a Happy Mail Box for letter writers and postcrossers and custom themed boxes like the upcoming Geek Box and an Advent Washi Tape box. There are several unboxing videos available if you’d like to see the types of products that have come in previous boxes.
Happie Planner Kit: The Happie Planner Kit comes from the Happie Scrappie web site and is the cutest of all the kits– as in Kawaii, cute overload sort of way. If you want cute, fun, silly, kawaii, then this is the kit for you. Personal-sized kits start at $12.99 plus shipping and A5 and Fauxdori kits are $15.99 each per month plus shipping.
The Planner Society Kit Club: This kit was developed by indie multi-media artist Christy Tomlinson (AKA Scarlet Lime). Kits are designed to accommodate personal- and A5-sized planners. Kits include a selection of decorative papers, clips, washi tape, stickers and embellishments. There is a specific window in which you can subscribe to be a member of the kit club in order for orders to be fulfilled. Many of the items are custom designed for the kits. Planner Society will be open for new subscriptions starting Nov. 1 for December kits. There is an email sign-up list to be reminded when subscriptions are open again. The standard Planner Kit Club costs $24.95 plus shipping per month and this month they introduced a new Sticker Club. Sticker Kit Club is $13.95 per month plus shipping for just the Sticker Kit or $11.95/mo with free shipping for Planner Kit Club members.
Cocoa Daisy Planner Kit: Cocoa Daisy is another scrapbook company that has moved into planners and planner kits. They offer three options: the standard planner kit ($25.99, available in A5-, Personal-, or regular Midori/Fauxdori-sized), an Add-On kit ($15/mo) for those who can’t get enough paper goodies and a Planner Pages Only Kit ($8.50/mo). The Planner Pages Only Kits are available in all three sizes as well. The nice thing with the Cocoa Daisy planner kits is that each month, you will receive fresh week-on-two pages planner pages that are printed in full color on good quality paper. If you get the full kit, it will include a variety of embellishment items that coordinate with the pages. With the A5-sized inserts, you can choose 6- or 7-hole punched or no holes. With the Personal pages, you can choose standard 6-hole punch or no holes as well so if you are retrofitting the pages to a different system, you are not locked into holes you don’t want or need. The DaisyDori kit includes a monthly bound booklet to kit a standard Midori/Fauxdori notebook plus embellishments. Passport sized inserts are available as a printable.
Reset Girl Listers Gotta List: While the Listers Gotta List Kits aren’t specifically for planners. The Reset Girl developed the kits to compliment her monthly list-a-day challenge often done in Midori or Fauxdori notebooks. The contents of the kits include rubber stamps, stickers, decorative papers and washi tape that all work great for journals and planners. This kit does not require a subscription but there is a limited number of kits available. Current kit sells for $36.
Mister Ghost’s Highly Enviable Monthly Parcel of Simple Yet Amazing Wonderments: A Monthly Parcel of Evil Paper Goods: Each kit includes a 9″ x 12″ art print, two 32-page, pocket notebooks, two and two small stickers. Kits are available as a subscription or as a single purchase. The current kif is #007 and is available for purchase through October 31. The kit will ship out in late October or early November. And while not specifically a “planner” kit, the elements included are perfect for the planner with a humorously dark side.
Ali Edwards Story Kit: The Story kit is not specifically planner-related but more like a scrapbooking or Project Life-style memory keeping kit. However, the products included in The Story Kit ($24.99 for month-to-month, $21.99/mo for 6-month subscription and $19.99/mo for a year’s subscription) include many of the same items found in planner kits and are beautifully designed. There are small decorative cards, stamps, stickers, clips and embellishments — all things found in most planner kits. Story Kits include free shipping in the US and a $2 surcharge for international shipping). Themes are revealed on the 15th of the month.
If having new things to embellish and decorate your planner or journal will help you stay excited to fill in that next entry or new month, then it may be a small price to pay to join one of these kit clubs. Please be sure to read all the fine print before you sign up and verify that shipping is available to your country and just how much it will be.
So far I’ve signed up for three different kit clubs but I’ve only received materials from one of them. While I don’t feel like any of these are necessarily a big discount from buying proudcts individually, they offer a nicely, curated collection of themed materials and a little bit of joy in my mailbox each month. And with some of the kits, the materials in the kits are exclusive to the kits.
Just got myself a new Retro 51 Tornado (Nine Lives edition) but I am a bit overwhelmed by potential refills. I like a fine black line, and ideally ink that won’t run when highlighted. Can you help narrow down my options? This may be heresy, but I’m not sure if I prefer ballpoint or rollerball, so suggestions for either or both would be good 🙂
I followed up with Daisy to determine exactly what size nib she preferred and she confirmed that she likes the Uni Jetstream in 0.5 and the Uni Style Fit in 0.4 and 0.5.
If you want to stick with a rollerball, the Schmidt P8126 Capless Rollerball in fine would be a good option. Or you could follow Mike Rohde’s technique and just cut down a Pilot Juice or Pilot G2 refill or Mike’s favorite, the Pentel Energel. You can either buy a regular pen with one of these refills in it, or purchase a refill from your favorite retailer. My best recommendation is to open up some of the pens laying around your workspace and see if they might fit. If I find a pen I like, I always try to open it up to see if it will fit into my favorite pens. I hope that helps!
I just wanted to let you know I cleaned up my Links page. I added a bunch of new links and removed a few that hadn’t been updated in over a year. If you are currently blogging about pens, paper, ink or planners and are not on the list, use the Ask The Desk link at the top of the page to send me a link to your site.
Also, it was brought to my attention that my Instagram link was crap so I fixed it. If you want to follow me on Instagram, give that link over there on the right a try. Its under the “Follow The Desk” header — lots of cute little icons so you can stalk me just about anywhere.
You can blame thank my good pal Kasey for this week’s theme idea. We started talking coffee yesterday and POOF! the idea got stuck in my head. It feels appropriately fall-ish too because who doesn’t love a good cup of coffee and/or a good bit of chocolate when the air turns cool?
Leuchtturm1917 Medium A5 Notebook in Chocolate with Dot Grid $18.95 (via Goulet Pens)
Karas Pen Co Standard Notebooks $3.33 each (via Karas Kustoms)
Zebra Limited Edition Sarasa Clip Chupa Chups Chocolate Vanilla Scented Gel Pen in 0.5 mm with black ink $3 (via JetPens)
Conklin All American Fountain Pen in Tortoiseshell with 1.1mm Stub $76 (via Goulet Pens)
The coffee mug featured this week is my favorite mug and comes from our local coffee shop The Filling Station. If you’re even in Kansas City, stop by one of their locations and grab yourself a cup of their fabulous coffee (roasted right here in KC at Messenger Coffee) and one of their perfectly appropriate mugs. I also love the “Your Mom Drinks Decaf” mug but they are always sold out when I go in!
I’ve been thinking lately about all this “stuff” that we collect, the pens, art tools, drawing tools, notebooks, sketchbooks — all the mark-making, list-making and note-taking tools and I had to ask myself, what purpose do they serve?
I believe that these tools inspire us and ignite our individual urges to create. They free our creativity and sometimes even fuel them. Each pen, ink, notebook, pencil or scrap of paper gives us an excuse to tuck ourselves into our little paper world and spend some time with our thoughts and ideas. Sometimes, they make the icky tasks more palatable — why not turn your grocery list into a place to practice your calligraphy or drawing skills?
I believe that all these tools should bring you joy (Don’t write with a crappy pen! Don’t draw on crappy paper!). I believe that these tools and toys should inspire each of us to take out of the busy, hectic or mundane moments of our lives to make something — whether its as simple as a note or letter to someone, or as epic as writing on opera.
If buying a new pen, a new bottle of ink or some other doodad will compel you to sit down for 15 minutes and coax out an idea, a doodle, a story or a memory, then do it. Buy that pen. You DO need that notebook. Just don’t let shopping for that “perfect” whatever get in the way of actually doing/making/writing/composing/planning something.
Carve out time to paint, doodle, color, stitch, sketch, write, make lists, whatever. Because, in the end, we all meet our end. Let’s take this precious time we have to leave our mark. That why this matters.
(Shout out to all those folks who write about being passionate, inspired and creative above all else. Big thanks to Elizabeth Gilbert and her new book Big Magic. Love and hugs to everyone else. You know who you are.)
