In feature

Top Five Best (and Worst) Round-Up

Author AnaPosted on

@mrmikedudek the groove came to work. Contains an assortment of pens and my Wacom pen which would only fit upside down.

There’s been several new Top Five pen lists pop-up on the web in the past few weeks so I thought I’d share them here.

Alt.Haven’s Top 5 Pens. The list is fountain pens but its a great assortment. Brad’s collected Top 5 Pens list includes his top five fountain pens, micro gels, plastic-tipped, inks and more. These lists will keep you busy for awhile. The Pen Habit made a video of his favorite pens for his first year of using fountain pens. While we’re talking about videos, Goulet Pens did a Top Five Graduation Pens video.

And of course, Mr. Dowdy’s Worst Pens list. I was surprised by some of the pens that made his list. I got an Ohto Dude and did not have any problems with it. I found it to be a decent low-priced fountain pen but, in general, I think fountain pens in the $25 range tend to be hit-or-miss in terms of quality control. I concur with Brad’s opinions about the TUL ballpoint but I have also had major issues with the dry time on the TUL gel and rollerball pens. If you’re left-handed or prefer quick-drying inks, I’d give the whole TUL line a miss. As for the Sliccie Multi-pens, I haven’t had any of the issues that Brad had. I’ve used the Pilot Hi-Tec C, the Pentel Sliccie, the Uni Style Fit and the Zebra Prefill and all have worked well for me. They all orbit my desk at work and get used on-and-off for meetings. I’ve not had any issues with any of them. I have even had to replace cartridges in all of them. (I did notice that I have not written a review for the Sliccie singles or multi-pen so I’ll remedy that soon.) The other pens Brad mentioned, the Bic A1 Gel and the Caran D’Ache ballpoint I have not tried because I just can’t use 0.7mm or wider gel pens without making a smeary mess and ballpoints and I do not get along.

Should I do a Top Five list? Do you have a Top Five list of your own?

In photo

How Green is my Mailbox?

Author AnaPosted on

How green is my office?

My mailbox has been overflowing with green bounty. A handmade leather envelope for storing pens and pencils from my Australian pen pal (she made it herself!), an assortment of awesome green pencils from Johnny at Pencil Revolution and, of course, the beautiful but hotly-debated Field Notes Shelterwood. Reviews will be coming soon. In the meantime, enjoy the spring greens!

In photo

Wood You Look at That?

Author AnaPosted on

I’m loving reclaimed wood or deep stained wood desks lately. Whether the look is rustic, mid-century or ladylike, I love them all. Maybe its a desire to have a work surface that’s not made of MDF or faux wood veneer.

Click on the photos to link to the original posts.

(via An Open Sketchbook)
(via An Open Sketchbook)
(via aESTHETICa)
(via aESTHETICa)
(via Homedit)
(via Homedit)
(via My Old Country House)
(via My Old Country House)
(via Funky Junk Interiors)
(via Funky Junk Interiors)
(via Corey Russell on Etsy)
(via Corey Russell on Etsy)
(via Urban Wood Goods on Etsy)
(via Urban Wood Goods on Etsy)
(via Brunch At Saks)
(via Brunch At Saks)
(via Fashion Clue)
(via Fashion Clue)
(via Jen Serafini)
(via Jen Serafini)

Is your desk wood, metal or some other material? Are you thinking about upgrading?

In feature

Review: Copic CIAO Markers

Author AnaPosted on 6 Comments

Copic Ciao 6-pack color set

I recently bought the Sea colors 6-pack of the Copic CIAO markers. The set comes with four, watery colors plus black and a clear blender. Each marker uses an alcohol based permanent ink and features a brush tip on one end and a chisel tip on the other.

Untitled

In general, I think the Copic line of markers is popular with illustrators, particularly those in the comic book and/or animation business. When I was at the local comic book convention last month, I saw a lot of the artists had Copic markers in their kits. The CIAO is a smaller, less expensive version of the professional Copic Markers.

Writing Sample Copic Ciao

I absolutely love the springy quality of the brush tip. Its great for lettering. I’m a doofus with the wide chisel tip though. I blame my left-handedness.

Overall, the colors in the set were pretty though I never figured out quite how to use the blender pen. Because of the lightness of the colors, there was a little washiness in the colors that was not intentional.

After playing around with the Sai Watercolor markers, I was even less interested in the Copic CIAO markers but I suspect that these markers are not really made for the casual user. They reminded me a lot of the old DESIGN markers we were supposed to use in art school for “marker renderings” back in the day when digital photography and mock-ups were too expensive so artists would do a realistic drawing to show potential clients.

When dry, these inks were virtually waterproof which means that other water-based media, colored pencils or paint could be added to a drawing or calligraphy piece. On the right edge, I liberally applied water from a paint brush onto the markers after they were dry for a minute or so and the colors didn’t budge.

Reverse side of Copic Ciao Writing Sample

Then there was the bleed through issue. If you need markers like these for illustration purposes or for the waterproofiness, then the bleed through may not be an issue. For me, they bleed so much as to not be suitable for sketchbooks or even envelopes.

I will definitely use the black for calligraphy with the brush tip and the chisel end for labeling boxes (like a Sharpie Marker), but the other colors might not get a ton of use for my purposes. If I stumble across an illustrator or a young would-be illustrator, I will gift them the set.

Bottom-line: These are not for the casual user but more valuable to the artist, illustrator, animator or art student using heavy duty illustration board, specialty “marker paper” or the like.

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

In link

Link Love: All Caught Up!

Author AnaPosted on

Link Love Link Mascot

It took an age but my RSS reader is officially at ZERO. Below is a mess of links stretching back almost a month. I’ve decided that the new “things that should not be named” (per The Pen Addict Podcast) are the Baron Fig Confidant notebook and Pelikan M2XX pens, but I’ve included a few reviews below anyway.

I think “cursive is dead” and “postage is SO expensive” are also comments-non-gratis.

Pens:

 

Ink:

 

Pencils:

 

Paper & Notebooks:

 

Penmanship:

 

Letter writing:

 

Other:

If I’m not including your blog in the Link Love, leave me a link in the comments and I’ll make sure to add you to my feed reader.

In feature

Kickstarter: Leafcutter Designs’ World’s Smallest Post Service Kit

Author AnaPosted on

As a diehard mail enthusiast, I could not possibly resist the new and improved Smallest Post Service Kit from Leafcutter Designs. This might look a bit familiar to you because several years ago Chronicle Books published a version of the kit but this new, Kickstarter version will be exactly the way Leafcutter Designs wanted the original kit to be, with all the bells and whistles including tiny stationery, tiny stamps, tiny envelopes, a tiny newspaper and a super-fine tipped pen for writing your letter. If you purchase the deluxe kit, you’ll also receive tiny rubber stamps, stamp pads and glassine envelopes to mail your tiny mail through the big postal service.

I went ahead and purchased the deluxe option because I always want the rubber stamps. Lea is super cute in the video above so, if for no other reason, make a contribution to her Kickstarter just to see her sweet, happy smile.

Leafcutter Mini Post Office

(via Make Everyday A Good Mail Day)

In feature

The “Upstairs” Typewriters

Author AnaPosted on 25 Comments
Manual Typewriter Army
1. Olivetti-Underwood Lettera 22, 2. Smith-Corona Empire, 3. Royal Royalite, 4. Hermes Rocket, 5. Adler Tippa, 6. Brother/Webster XL-747

I admit it. I have a typewriter collection. All my machines are manual typewriters, no power needed other than my fingers bashing about on the keys and a good ribbon.

When one must describe a portion of the collection and the  “upstairs” typewriters, clearly there’s some typewriter hoarding going on here. The “upstairs” typewriters are mostly functional, though the Royal Royalite is being moved downstairs until I can get it fixed, or at least looked at by a professional to see if its worth fixing. The others are diamonds, or at least diamonds in the rough.

The "Upstairs" Typewriters

After getting my new Lettera 22, I just had to see how much overlap there is in the collection and was pleasantly surprised to discover there isn’t any. Okay, technically, there is a “spare” super-wonky Hermes Rocket in the basement that needs to be repaired but that’s the only case where I have two of the same machine. But, seriously, no self-respecting typewriter collector would ever walk away from an Hermes Rocket. Nope. Not a chance.

So, would you like to see how these all type?

Royal Royalite Typing sample

This is the wonkiest of the bunch, the Royal Royalite but I love the typeface so much I’m willing to see what it would take to fix it up. Besides, it has one of the most beautiful shapes of all my manual typewriters. I bet Mary Tyler Moore, or maybe Rhoda would have typed on a machine like this.

Olivetti-Underwood Lettera 22 typing sample

This is my newest acquisition, the Lettera 22. It needs a new ribbon but it has instantly made it into my top three typewriters. It requires a pretty light touch for a manual typewriter and has no noticeable flaws in performance. What a score this was!

Hermes Rocket typing sample

I want to love this Hermes Rocket, I really do but it has a wonky ribbon advance and it cuts off the ink on uppercase letters. The ribbon might be too big for the machine or something but its been nothing but frustrating.

Adler Tippa typins sample

Oh, Adler Tippa, how I love you! This is my coup de gras of typewriters. It was in pristine condition when I bought it on Craig’s List and the cursive script face was a total bonus. This is one of those items I’d be sure to grab if there was a fire/tornado/etc.

Smith-Corona Empire typing sample

I think the only flaw of the Empire by Smith-Corona is that it was never really used and could use some oil. Otherwise, its a little trooper with some sticky keys.

Webster Brother XL-747 typing sample

My Brother/Webster is not the prettiest machine in the house, even with its shiny blue paint, but it has been a workhorse. I found it at a thrift store and paid $20 at the time which my dear husband thought was ludicrous. Poor delusional boy. The red ink is running dry on the ribbon but this machine stills gets used more than any other.

Do you have a typewriter? Or several?