After a week in the sun, I am having a hard transition back to my beige cubicle and windowless view. So I was hunting for some accessories to brighten up my workspace. Here’s what I found:
Find more inspiration at Rue Magazine art director Maia MacDonald Smith‘s Office Space Pinterest board. Or visit the Well-Appointed Desk Pinterest board.
(click on the photos to visit the sources)
Who wouldn’t feel more creative working in this treehouse in the woods? This is (or was) Neil Gaiman’s writing shed. It was featured in a book called Shedworking. I think its fabulous.
(via Shedworking)
A necklace pencil sharpener in a lovely red enamel heart? What’s not to love? It’s on sale. $14.99
(via Modcloth)
While on the road this week, we got to make another stop. This time, we got to visit the legendary Daly’s Pen Shop in Milwaukee, WI. Daly’s has been in business since 1924. The location has changed but its one of the oldest pen shops in the US. Its a lovely shop filled with all the lots of great stuff including a wide variety of pens, inks and paper. The owner Brad Bodart was friendly, helpful and patient with all my questions.
The first thing I gravitated toward was this vintage Sheaffer case. The bottom row are mostly vintage Esterbrooks. The beautiful Parker Duofold on the right on the middle shelf is actually a reproduction with a ballpoint from the 70s. It explained the $35 price!
Across the back wall of the shop was a fabulous vintage Parker Duofold clock with 1920s-style tortoiseshell celluloid frame and framed original trolley car advertisements.
Sheaffer custom-built this glass and aluminum display case for Daly’s with grooves to hold pens and a secret cubby to store inks (Skrip, of course!). When the shop relocated over the years, this is one of the items that they always made sure was moved to the new location. They also moved a wooden case that runs the length of one wall full or narrow drawers to hold pens, ink and accessories.
The Daly’s advertising calendar behind the cash register is fabulous and I was tickled that it hadn’t been changed since my birthday. Brad said that he always knocked it off the wall while trying to change out the date cards so he had stopped chainging it. He promised to leave it my birthday for awhile so if you go in, check and see if its still up.
In the front corner of the store was a case full of vintage ink bottles. I love the labels! I particularly like the box of vintage Quink “reproduces best for V-Mail” box. Amazing.
The billboard was actually a framed photo but I like to pretend that we passed it on our way in to Milwaukee. Of course, now most of Daly’s business in online. I got a peek in the backroom with shelves of pens and accessories for their massive online shop.
If you didn’t see it, there was an audio interview with Daly’s Pens on NPR in November 2013. Its worth a listen.
Thanks, Daly’s Pen Shop! We’ll be back to visit soon!
Yesterday, Bryan at Field Notes/Coudal Partners kindly toured us around the world headquarters (AKA their offices in Chicago). We had great time and got to take a peek at the inner workings of Field Notes. It was an all-access pass and I am so thankful that Bryan took time out of his busy schedule to humor me.
Ready for some pictures?
Bryan greeted us at the door, ready to show off all the fabulousness that is Coudal and Field Notes.
Behind the door, was the front desk and sales counter for walk-in customers and pick-up orders. Its a really pretty work space.
Bob peruses some of the leather covers available from Field Notes while I just ogle.
We got to see some of the uncut press sheets from the Arts & Sciences edition. It’s so good to see how much attention to detail they take to get the Field Notes Colors Editions just right.
In the stockroom are piles and piles of the County Fair editions which are some of my favorites. I have sets from every state I’ve lived in.
In the shipping area are bins filled with individual County Fair books for the Road Trip kit.
The packing area is efficient and well-organized and the team was busy packing up orders.
Bins filled with the Arts & Sciences edition buttons sat prominently on the counter in Well-Appointed Desk-approved green bins.
Totally industrial looking stenciled boxed lined the walls.
I had a great time and Bryan was to ally patient with us. Thanks for a great tour!
Expect to find a thank you note in THIS mailbox soon!
This week’s Link of the Week has to be the handwritten text messages. The link was sent to me by my friend Chris P. and has me wondering if I should challenge myself to text or tweet all handwritten this week. Are you with me?
I Sent All My Text Messages in Calligraphy for a Week (via The Atlantic)
Pens & Ink:
Pencils:
Paper:
Everything Else:
And don’t forget:
Pen Chalet is offering a 10% off for Well-Appointed Desk readers. Enter the code wellappointeddesk at checkout to get this added discount.
Please support the shops that help support this blog. Thanks!
Stephanie Fishwick posted some loose but lovely envelopes with her tips and techniques for creating fun envelopes for non-calligraphers. She recommends using watercolors but ink samples would also work and i a great way to use up all those samples you’ve accumulated.
Her best tip is that imperfections make it more awesome. Use a limited color palette and repetition to pull it together. No one will complain if they got a hand lettered envelope in the mail ever. It will make their day. So, start playing.
She recommends good quality envelopes like Original Crown Mill cotton or Crane. Big box office supply shops usually carry 100% cotton envelopes in the section with invitations and resume stationery.
Maybe your kids will want to make some of their own envelopes too and send a letter to Grandma? That would be a fun, rainy day activity this summer.
If you do want to improve your writing, Stephanie also has some recommendations for getting started with calligraphy and the tools, web sites and books she uses for great calligraphy.
Most of all have fun and be inspired!
(via Stephanie Fishwick)
