In feature, Ink Review

June Ink Drop Reveal?

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This month, Goulet Pens decided to trip up the Ink Drop subscribers with a “What’s in a Name?” theme. In other words, they send unlabelled vials and its our chance to guess the colors. If you guess correctly and enter your guess into the contest on Ink Nouveau, you could win a bottle of the ink. I must confess, I am absolutely clueless. None of the inks had a distinctive odor so that ruled out scented inks… after that… hmmm…?

I thought I might know a couple but, upon closer inspection, I am pretty sure my guesses are wrong. Inkdependence didn’t provide any clues in his write-up and I haven’t seen anyone else post about the colors yet. Any guesses?

Inks were tested on my new Quo Vadis Habana blank bright white notebook using a Noodlers Creaper flex pen.

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Link Love: Book It, Dan-o

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Word Notebooks have four new cover designs that can be mixed and matched with their existing designs to make your own pack of 3.
Word Notebooks have four new cover designs that can be mixed and matched with their existing designs to make your own pack of 3.

Pens, Pencils and Inks

Notebooks

Scout Books just released a new, larger sized notebooks. At 5x7, it includes the same kraft cardstock covers as its little brother but with more room to write. Available in grid, dot, lined or blank. Two-pack for $10
Scout Books just released a new, larger sized notebooks, the Scout Books Mega. At 5×7, it includes the same kraft cardstock covers as its little brother but with more room to write. Available in grid, dot, lined or blank. Two-pack for $10

Misc:

In feature

Ink Inventory

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While testing out my new Quo Vadis Habana notebook with bright white paper, I decided to do swab tests of every single bottle of ink I currently own. To be fair, most of my ink was a recent acquisition thanks to Julie at Pens Paper Inks…Whatever. I won her giveaway for a mystery box of inks. What I thought would be maybe three bottles of ink turned out to be somewhere in the neighborhood of two dozen bottles, mostly full, of top-end inks, some sample bottles of ink (not shown), some notebooks and a colored pencil set. I was speechless, for weeks.

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I added in my paltry collection of maybe half a dozen inks to create almost two full pages of swab samples. As I ink up a pen with the color, I am adding a small handwritten sample with the swab. I plan to do individual reviews of each color over the next couple months. If there are any that you are particularly curious about, leave a note in the comments and I’ll move it to the top of the list.

I tried to color correct these photos to the best of my ability but some of the colors were so vibrant that some of them got a bit blown out and I am discovering the challenge of color correcting for white paper. I will be experimenting with the best ways to photograph my writing samples so hopefully they will get better and more accurate.

In feature

Review: Quo Vadis Habana Bright White Notebook

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment

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I was getting to the end of my 300 page Miquelrius grid book so I went on the hunt for the perfect ink and pen testing notebook. This time, I wanted to have a blank book, rather than grid, with paper designed to stand up to fountain pen ink without feathering. I wanted bright white paper so I would not obscure the colors of the inks. I prefer an A5-ish size and if it could be green, well, then it would be perfect.

Both Goulet Pens and WritersBloc made it pretty easy for me to narrow to my key features and compare my options. Then I spotted the bright white Quo Vadis Habana and its was love at first sight. I have a lined, ivory Habana with the Anis green cover and its one of my favorite notebooks so it seemed like a clear winner. At $16.80, it was also a great price.

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When compared to my ivory Habana, you can see in the sample above how different the De Atramentis Pigeon Blue ink looks from the bright white to the ivory paper.  Using a book without lines also keeps from obscuring the color or overpowering really light colors.

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In a larger writing sample, I chose to focus on fountain pens and liquidy inks that may feather or have longer drying times. I had no feathering issues but the Pelikan purple cartridge refused to dry in any reasonable amount of time and left a messy smudge on my samples (damn lefty!). All the other inks took a bit longer to dry than on more absorbent paper but overall the wait was not too bad. Since this is a book specifically for ink testing, I’m willing to wait when needed to get the inks to dry. The wider the nib, the more ink is laid down and the longer it took to dry. The Muji fountain pen with the medium nib took awhile to dry but it did dry, unlike the Pelikan purple.

 

 

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When viewed from the reverse side of the paper, there is a tiny bit of show through but both sides of this paper could easily be used. The couple spots were actually from me (still more of the Pelikan purple stuck to my hand and not bleed through).

This is excellent quality paper and if you prefer a bright white stock over a warm white or ivory colored paper, this is an excellent option.

I’ll certainly go through the Habana a lot faster than the Miquelrius bloc but I think I’ll get a better experience with fountain pen inks and less distraction without any lines.

In DIY, feature

Customizing a Midori Traveler Notebook

Author AnaPosted on 9 Comments
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Pictured with my large Pelle Journal for size and color comparison

Since unboxing my new Midori Traveler Notebook  (MTN) last week, I’ve been on the hunt for accessories and ways to customize it. There seems to be a lot of debate on whether to buy the Midori brand accessories or make your own. Every site I find that stocks MTNs and accessories tend to sell out of the accessories and notebook inserts fast so clearly they are popular. Being sold out may mean you have to make your own inserts or accessories.

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Because the MTN do not have any built-in pockets for loose paper and business cards, the first thing I wanted to do was to find a folder or zipper pocket insert to catch those loose bits. I went to Baum-Kitchen first because they carry a wide variety of MTN products but the shop is closed until July 1– the family that runs the business just had a new baby. Then I hopped over to Goulet Pens to see if they had any in stock but they were sold out of the folder insert. Finally, I searched the internet to see if anyone had instructions or an image of what the folder looked like so I could make my own. That’s when I came across the My Life All in One Place and their tutorial to make a folder using a file folder. I winged it with an office folder and its a little shorter than I meant it to be and a touch wider but I measured it by holding one of the notebook inserts up to the folder and drawing some lines and doing a lot of lazy guess-timating so I’m just happy it turned out okay.

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I wasn’t quite ready to invest in a set of four rubber bands for over $4 so I improvised with some produce rubber bands I found in my kitchen drawer. I found a blue one and a purple one and they seem to be working great and let me attach a second lined notebook to my blank book and then attaches my new folder to the lined notebook.

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Leather Traveler's Notebook Charm from Baum-Kitchen
Leather Traveler’s Notebook Charm from Baum-Kitchen

I’m still considering adding other personalization like charms, stickers or stamps but I haven’t decided what I want yet. So, as it is right now, the book is fully functional albeit a little plain.

I found lots of videos of people waxing poetic about their MTN and showing off the ways they are using their MTN and the customizations they’ve done. Here’s a few if to inspire you: