In feature

Ana’s St. Louis Pen Show Recap

Author AnaPosted on 7 Comments
Ana’s St. Louis Pen Show Recap

Laura posted her impressions and photos from the St. Louis Pen Show yesterday. For me, as a staff member for Team Dromgoole’s, the show is a much different experience. I don’t get time to take classes or shop. I am up and out the door several hours before the show opens to set up the table and make sure we are ready to greet customers or the curious. I am on the show floor all day and have to clean up and shut down the tables after the show closes.

In the time in between, I am ready (I hope) to answer any questions or provide advice and direction to anyone who asks. Most of the time, I have an answer or a recommendation to where someone might look. But every now and again, someone will ask a question that throws me for a loop. You can never be prepared enough!

A view from behind the Dromgoole’s table

During these long days, I do have moments of sheer delight. I met a woman who had been staying in the hotel and had a couple hours before her flight so she decided to walk around the show, knowing nothing about fountain pens. I showed her a Pilot Vanishing Point. I inked it up and handed it to her to try writing with it. Watching her eyes widen and her mouth fall open in sheer delight was why I continue to work shows. She didn’t buy anything from us but I think she will definitely consider one in the future. Either way, I hope she walked away thinking the fountain pens are amazing and the pen community is generous and kind.

Marty (@AVLMarty) was the boss of the Retro 51 and Tactile Turn tables.

I did get to have an amazing dinner at my favorite restaurant near the hotel, Bombay Food Junkies and was able to convince a whole slew of people to join me in eating 100% vegan Indian cuisine and tasty oatmilk milkshakes.

Our group enjoying all the delicious food at Bombay Food Junkies.
Falooda (Rose Flavored Milkshake) with poppyseeds (like boba pearls but smaller) and topped with cashews! Delicious!

As I said earlier, I don’t get much time to wander around the show but I do get a few minutes, even if its just on my way to get water or a snack. Which is how I ended up with a few wonderful items.

It’s not everyday that you go to a pen show and leave with a magic wand but, in St Louis, you can! Wand by T. Wyitt Carlile, notebook from The Creeping Moon available in our shop.
A few of the little treats I was able to pick up: stickers from Inky Converters, a vintage Lady Sheaffer Skripsert and a Unemploed Philospher’s Guild Alchemy pouch from Notegeist.

The St. Louis Show is still not as large or well-attended as some of the more established shows. This year, the list of available classes and workshops was much better than previous years including paid-for classes which means better quality classes with more dedicated students than a free workshop.

Many of the attendees are attending their very first pen show so, as a vendor, I spend a lot of my time teaching newbies how to fill a pen, or the difference between a cartridge and a converter and such. Its always a joy when someone gleefully grips their new pen to their chest.

This year, the show felt busier and better attended than last year or 2022. So, the show is growing but it has a way to go before it is in the realm as the bigger shows.

Did you attend the St. Louis Show? Would you?

In news

Laura’s St. Louis Pen Show Recap

Author Laura CameronPosted on 2 Comments

This past weekend I was delighted to attend the St. Louis Pen Show. I attended the inaugural show there in 2018, and hadn’t been back since. There was the pandemic, and then the last two years I had travel conflicts. Actually, this was the first pen show I’ve been back to since the pandemic!

The St. Louis Pen Show is our closest “local” pen show. It’s about a 3.5-4 hours drive from my house. If you haven’t been, it’s a good small to mid-sized show. It has a nice variety of vendors, the hotel is lovely (and well air-conditioned –  a must during midwest summers!) and overall, it’s a fun event. This year I didn’t go specifically to work for a vendor. I tagged along with Ana and helped out a little bit in the Dromgoole’s booth, but primarily went as a visitor which means I got to take advantage of fun things like taking classes, socializing, and browsing the vendor tables leisurely. I ran into an old friend who I hadn’t seen in at least 10 years, and we got lunch while catching up and chatting about our purchases. It truly was a lovely weekend.

Today’s post will be about a few new vendors I found at the show and, of course, the spoils. Tune in next week to hear more about the class I took and how it relates to my journaling for the year!

So I drove over to St. Louis late Friday afternoon, which means I missed the first day of the show. I heard it was busy on Friday, and full of the die-hard pen fans. Saturday is normally a busier day, but also with more varied visitors. There were lots of folks new to fountain pens, as well as some experts! Saturday morning I started browsing as the show opened. I didn’t go with a specific budget, or list of purchases in mind. I had one pen I would have bought if I saw one there, but I didn’t. However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t shop. But first, a few new vendors I saw and loved.

I was entranced by the No Junk Mail Club starter kit from the Kabine, a “curated slow stationery package via sloth mail.” The adorable elephant is Lucy Letterwriter, and the club includes a few packages a year, giving you supplies to fill your friends’ mailboxes with real mail rather than junk mail and bills! The Kabine is a tiny shop inspired by travel and design, and has products from Japan, Europe and other stationery-loving places around the world.

At most shows, you find new-to-you makers who turn pens themselves. I was particularly impressed with Specialty Turned Designs, with all the interesting pens of Michael Hughes. My favorites were the Whisky Collection (above) and the geometric wood turned pens (below), but he had several tables of pens made from ephemera and collectibles in all sorts of genres (sports, historical – with real bits of historical items!, nature, music, special occasion and more). His card indicates a lifetime warranty on his one of a kind pens, and also suggests lessons are available!

The wand, and fountain pen, choose the wizard!

Timothy Wyitt Carlile, Wandmaker and Penturner, created a stir in his booth each day! He had a variety of magic wands, combination wand+pen (both fountain and rollerball), aged paper, free writing prompts, and more!

Travelers Company and Plotter aren’t new to me, but I’d never visited a show that they attended so of course I had to get some fun stamps!

Of course an essential part of any pen show is purchasing things from my a variety of makers! Some of these items will be the subject of further reviews, but here’s a few of the spoils:

  • A journaling kit from my class with Tom from Sugar Turtle Studio
  • An analog leaning stand from Keith from RandomThinks (hello better photos – I hope!)
  • Wearingul Robinson Crusoe ink from Dromgoole’s (which matches my new pen!)
  • A Sailor show special: the Line Friends collaboration in Sally the Duck
  • Perhaps my favorite purchase, a turquoise sparkly pen that matches my nails and a turquoise nib (more photos coming soon) from Hinze Pens
  • Not pictured: new notebooks from Notegeist and stickers and pins from Inky Converters

The true mark of any good pen show, aside from a wicked Monday “pen show hangover,” is a lack of photos with friends because we were having too much fun chatting, swapping pens and enjoying each other’s company. So here’s a photo of Ana and I, sweaty and tired, late Sunday afternoon, after we finished packing up the Dromgoole’s booth!

Until next year, St. Louis!

In Art Supplies

Art Supply Review: Kokuyo Pasta Solid Markers

Author AnaPosted on
Art Supply Review: Kokuyo Pasta Solid Markers

Review by Tina Koyama

I’m always curious about art materials with unique properties, and Kokuyo Pasta Solid Markers (30/$82.50; smaller sets available) certainly fill the bill on many counts. (And Pasta – what a curious name!)

First, let’s talk about the packaging and design – both of the product set and the product itself. The clamshell box comes with a colorful sleeve.

Opened, the box reveals a lovely tray of markers with a color chart showing where each marker belongs (according to Kokuyo’s spectrum arrangement).

Also included is a sheet of color labels to be applied to the marker barrels by the user.

Wondering if the tray would stand up as a handy holder during use (I have a small desk, so I’m always looking for compact ways to use sets of pencils or pens), I stood it up on end. Unfortunately, the “tray” has no individual slots, so the whole thing collapsed all over my desk. Buh-bye, Kokuyo’s color arrangement.

It’s kind of like getting the first ding on a new car: Initially annoyed by the collapse and disarray, I could then relax and enjoy using them from the pile instead of fussing over keeping them neatly arranged.

I saw immediately, however, that using the markers is inconvenient without applying the color labels to the barrels because the only color indicator is on the cap. I applied a label to one barrel and set it aside while doing some photography. A few minutes later, the label was already un-adhering itself. I stuck it down again, but it peeled itself off again. I decided not to bother with the rest of the labels.

Let’s get to the markers themselves. A color indicator and color number are on the end of the postable cap. Unless I’m using materials that dry out quickly, I tend to leave the caps off of a few colors at a time while I’m working. Since the color indicator is on the cap and not the end, it could be an easy problem getting the caps of similar colors mixed up afterwards – another reason to apply the barrel labels (that don’t stay on) immediately.

The rectangular barrel, a unique shape among art materials in stick form (usually round), has a twisting mechanism to extend and retract the stick. Instructions on the box as well as a label on each stick indicates this operation and turning direction. Unlike lipstick-like twisting mechanisms on some other retractable art materials I’ve tried, these are smooth, and the material extends and retracts flawlessly. The rectangular shape is a bit awkward to hold, however.

Colors were swatched in a Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook. Pasta markers (not at all like markers, actually) feel like slippery lipstick to apply. Reading the product description, I thought they might be similar to wax pastels or water-soluble crayons, but they are not opaque like those products. In fact, they are disappointingly transparent on dark paper – barely visible.

I swiped a waterbrush through each swatch to test water-solubility, and I also mixed a primary triad to test for layering and mixing qualities. The transparent colors glaze well; in fact, I liked the triad mix before I applied water, which tended to muddy the mix. Unlike watercolor pencils and crayons that I am more accustomed to using, Pasta markers tend to become less saturated when water is applied rather than more intense.

Finally, I used my own reference photo to make a test sketch. Blending some areas without applying water, I liked those areas better than places where I added water, which diminished the intensity.

The attractive product design has some flaws, like the unsticky labels and the tray that must remain flat on the table. But I can tolerate design flaws if I love the material. The deal breaker for me is the material itself. I found it curious that JetPens’ description mentioned that Pasta markers could be used as an alternative to a highlighter. While the bright, transparent colors would highlight text well, this product remained sticky for a long time – not just hours, but days. It’s not the kind of thing I’d want on a book or notebook page.

The fun of smearing a lipstick-like substance on a page did remind me, though, that I do enjoy using such products. I’m going to get out my wax pastels.

tina-koyamaTina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

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

In feature

I’m off to St. Louis!

Author AnaPosted on 4 Comments
I’m off to St. Louis!

Today, with my trusty Mini Cooper packed solid with Dromgoole’s ink and pens, I am driving from one side of Missouri to the other to go to the St. Louis Pen Show. With the help of Retro 51 legend Marty and his family, we are representing Dromgoole’s at the show. We will have lots of ink, Retro 51s, Rickshaw Bagworks pen cases and, of course, a smattering of Well-Appointed Desk merchandise.

Laura will be joining us on Saturday to walk the show, take a couple workshops, help us out at the table and generally keep me company. She will even get a chance to experience my food nirvana, Bombay Food Junkies. They make the most amazing non-dairy milkshakes. I’ve been dreaming about them for a whole year!

The class schedule for the show looks amazing with journaling classes, calligraphy classes, pen repair classes and even a letterpress printing class.

Don’t forget to check out their Pen Show Tips. The info is applicable to any pen show and I’m delighted they included it. My favorite tips are about carrying snacks, cash and a notebook. Also, the tip about not carrying a backpack is a great one. A sling bag, messenger or tote is much more crowd-friendly and can be kept closer to your body so you don’t hit anyone in the head with your bag or knock over a whole shelf of products. (Ask me how I know).

In Link Love

Link Love: Have Pens, Will Travel

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Link Love: Have Pens, Will Travel

It’s vacation time in most of the US. Many are planning getaways with friends and family. Others are looking to work remotely from the local coffeeshop or park. And some of us are hitting the Pen Show circuit. So it’s a perfect time to think about what pens and stationery options you might pack to take with you.

I just purchased a new backpack large enough to hold my laptop and various supplies since I’ll be traveling to at least four pen show in the next two months or so. So I thought I’d share a quick snapshot of my pack and some of the contents:

I’ll probably also tuck my ipad and a knitting project into the backpack for some late night chill out time. What do you pack when you travel?

Traveling with your Stationery Supplies:

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

Did you know we have a Patreon? Yep. And Patrons get special deals, an exclusive podcast and options to participate in our monthly book club and pen chat.  Joining our Patreon helps keep this blog funded and our beasties fed. Thank you!

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this post were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Some item in this post include affiliate links. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.

In Desk Set

Do you need blotter paper?

Author Laura CameronPosted on 6 Comments

A few weeks ago, when I ordered the Esterbrook x Bungubox Kachofugetsu Flower Fountain Pen, Esterbrook included a set of their Esterbrook Nature Blotter Paper ($13.95) as a free gift with purchase. Since blotter paper isn’t altogether a commonly used item these days, I thought today I’d talk a little about blotter paper in general.

First off, what is blotter paper? Blotter paper is a super absorbent sheet of paper. It is commonly used to “blot” up extra ink or hand oils that may get on your page as you write. You could use a piece of blotter paper to remove excess ink, or put it between the pages of an notebook to prevent transfer to the back of the previous sheet. You could also use it as a protective sheet behind your paper in case of bleed through.

Do you need any specific paper? No! As a rule, you want something that’s more absorbent than the paper you’re writing on. That super thin Tomoe River is not the droid paper you’re looking for. The Esterbrook pages feel like porous cardstock. Ana has some swanky Vintage Blotter Paper ($5 per set of 5 sheets) in the shop. And if it’s easier to raid the kids’ craft supplies a piece of regular old construction paper will do!

Do you have to use blotter paper? Absolutely not. Mostly I think about blotter paper harkening back to a time where folks were using ink pots and quills and there could be a lot of splotches or areas of excess ink. Today’s modern fountain pen inks dry fairly quickly, particularly if you’re using smaller nibs. Honestly it’s something to think about if you find your inks smearing on your paper, or you need to close the notebook fairly quickly and you’re getting transfer at the back of your pages.

The single biggest place where I use blotter paper is in my Crossfield Journal ($24.00). That’s one of the notebooks that I use for my ink swatching, and when I use the eyedropper to lay down those big inkblots, I place a blotter sheet behind the page so I don’t bleed through to the next one. It keeps the next page shiny and ready to go for any subsequent ink swatches.

So that’s a little about blotter paper!

(P.S. For those who were interested in what color I chose for the new pen, it was KWZ Raspberry!)

In feature

Stationery Haul: STICKII Sticker Kits & More

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Stationery Haul: STICKII Sticker Kits & More

I don’t remember where or how I stumbled across Stickii, the sticker subscription club, but boy, am I glad I did. Over the Memorial Day week, they had a big, blow-out sale and I was able to purchase a metric ton (okay, a slight exaggeration but a lot of stickers just the same). or individual sticker sheets as well as pick up several of there previous sticker club sets.

I do have to warn you that it took almost 3 weeks to get my order. I understand that I placed a rather large order and I was probably not the only person who took advantage of their generous sale. However, waiting over 2 weeks to receive a shipping notification is  a bit extreme. If there had been clear information about shipping delays or a follow-up email, I would be less grumpy but as someone who ships on a daily basis, I get up early to make sure orders are filled and out the door since I don’t have much control once the orders leave my hands. Is it too much to hope that other small businesses do the same?

If you go into your purchase knowing order fulfillment and shipping is slow, then you won’t be disappointed. I think if you participate in their monthly subscription programs ($12 per month plus shipping per style), then the shipping expectations would be very different and less annoying since everyone probably gets their monthly orders at the same time.

All of that aside, the designs, quality and packaging was top notch.

I purchased loose sticker sheets ($3.50 per sheet), die cut vinyl stickers (approx. $2 each) and a few clear polymer stamps ($2.50 each). I also purchased several of the packaged “past subscription” kits ($17.95 each set). I clearly favored the POP style packs as that was all the past kits that I purchased. The other kit styles are VINTAGE and CUTE.

Each kit comes in an envelope and includes an A5 binder sheet with all the pieces from the kit tucked into the front and back pockets. Each kit includes several sticker sheets (most of the kits I purchased had 6 different sheets) and a small notepad. Kits included a polymer rubber stamp, a diecut vinyl sticker and/or a greeting card in addition to the sticker sheets. I was tickled that these extras were all included into the 6-hole A5 binder sleeves. There is also a small triangular sticker set to add to your binder sleeve corner to label the collection making it easier to find just the right sticker assortment.

One binder sleeve could easily be tucked into the back of an A5 Filofax or other binder so that you had quick access to your favorite collection on a daily basis. Stickii does sell extra binder sheets in sets of 5 sheets ($4 per set) which I might order to store the extra sticker sheets I purchased and some of the stickers I’ve acquired from other makers.

The collection shown above is the Coffee with Friends Kit ($17.95).

I particularly like the die cut coffee cup-shaped notepad. Today, all projects require skull-levels of coffee. I did not test any of the notepads for fountain pen friendliness. Just touching the paper, I could tell it was pretty thin and is unlikely to be fountain pen friendly. That’s okay, I have a drawer full of gel pens and such that don’t get a lot of use these days and now I have an excuse to use those.

I added the individual past kits that I purchased into the clear A5 binder I purchased a few weeks ago (It’s like I knew I was going to need it!).  I have attached the corner stickers to label each kit:

Even as “past kits” the value of the sets is much better than purchasing items individually. Subscriptions are the absolute best way to go, pricewise,  if you think you’ll like all or most of the sticker sheets included in each kit.

I did buy a few extra sheets of stickers included in the kits because I knew I would use them up quickly and I don’t want to hoard them. I will use them!!!

I can’t believe how happy these stickers and kits have made me. The art is fantastic, there is such a wonderful variety or sticker materials: some have gold foil, some are washi paper, some are clear and others die cut to look like postage stamps.

Despite slow shipping, I can’t help but highly recommend Stickii stickers. I might even invest in a subscription or two as these are such wonderful mailbox delights. And my planner is gonna look so cool next month!