In feature

The Standard Memorandum

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment

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Word Notebooks partnered with hand lettering guru Jon Contino to create a historically-inspired agenda called the Standard Memorandum. Its a slim volume at just  2.35″ x 5.25″ to easily slide into a pocket. The black cardstock cover is foil stamped in decorative lettering, “The Standard Memorandum” with the branding on the back in foil as well. Jon chose beautifully classic typography for dates and information. Word offers the notebook with its plain paper covers for $11 or purchase it with a sturdy leather cover in black, tan or brown (free monogramming available) for $45.

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In feature

My European Paper Holiday Wish List

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For the most part, stationery and office supplies are not super expensive and perfect for gift-giving. Unfortunately, non-paper geeks have no idea what do buy for the paper-and-pen geek.

Here are a few things I think would love to find under the tree this Christmas:

1. I love high-quality fountain pen inks. Both J. Herbin and Noodler’s make great inks and have lots of colors to choose from. I particularly like the icy aqua blue Noodler’s Navajo Turquoise Ink ($12.50)»

2. The amusing Cavallini Oops Eraser ($3.50) would make a perfect stocking stuffer.

3. I’ve been on the lookout for a great dry highlighters and the Moleskine Highlighter Pencil Set ($16.50) with its matte black casing and cool carpenter-style shape make this an appealing option.

4. I’m always looking for good-quality stationery and the G. Lalo Medium Tablet & EP Set ($23) in mint green looks like the luxury option. Wrapped with a red bow, it’s holiday-ready. And those lazy post-Christmas days are a great time to catch up on all my correspondence.

5. So many wonderful things have been said about the Apica Premium A6 CD Notebook ($14.70) but I’ve yet to buy a pad. I think the plain paper pad with the black cover would be a great way to try it out.

6. Anything by Midori is a welcome gift. Their products are high quality and have great classic looks. The Midori B7 Spiralbound Envelope Notebook ($8.35) would be a great catch-all for receipts, stamps or travel ephemera.

7. Finally, in preparation for 2014, I will definitely need a new calendar for my desk. The Cavallini Around The World Desk Calendar ($12.95) is just the right sort of retro cool for me to dream of my next vacation while sitting in the office.

Maybe I need to fill my own stocking this year?

(This is a cross-post from European Paper who has asked me to occasionally write about products for their site. This is my first post. The folks at European Paper also put together another collage of images from my Pinterest boards last week featuring the Leuchtturm 1917 notebook line.)

In feature

Link Love: Notebooks, Scanners and Places to Go

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Notebooks:

Places to Visit:

Pens:

 

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Pencils:

Ink:

Misc:

In feature

Disc World

Author AnaPosted on 14 Comments

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The Circa system. Its been around for awhile and I’ve even made a foray into the “disc world” myself in the past but the Circa system had sort of fallen off my radar as of late so I thought I’d reconsider it.

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If you’ve not familiar with it, its a series of plastic discs and a customized die cut or hole punch that creates divots in the edge of the paper to accommodate adding or removing sheets easily to the disc binding system. While Levenger’s Circa system is the most well-known, there are other options available like the Rollabind and the Arc system from Staples. They all look interchangeable which is appealing if you want to customize a system to your specific tastes and budget.

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The Circa system has relationships with popular notebook companies like Rhodia and Behance while Staples’ Arc system beats out in the pricing and convenience arena. Pre-printed and punched sheets are available for meeting notes, recipes, agendas and planners and many other task specific activities. All three bands offer a range of paper but the real appeal to me is being able to select my own paper and then use the custom hole punch to fit it into a notebook. While I like Rhodia paper, I’d prefer dot grid or blank sheets rather than the customized meeting notes style available at Leveneger. Because of the way the disc system works, smaller sheets of paper can be inserted into a larger system and they stay in place. So, other pieces of paper, from 3x5s to photocopies, can be punched and inserted into the right spot in your notebook.

Lots of cover options are available from simple poly-plastic to leather zip cases. And of course, there are some unique discs that make the possibility of sitting in a long meeting, a little more tolerable.

Does anyone use a Circa-style disc notebook? How do you like it?

In feature

NPR talks to Daly’s Pen Shop

Author AnaPosted on 7 Comments

Entry Level Fountain Pen Showdown

As we all know here, “The reports of my (pen) death have been greatly exaggerated.” However, NPR decided to report on the demise of the pen market. The story featured Milwaukee’s Daly’s Pen Shop, in business since 1924. The story isn’t as gloom-and-doom as I thought it would be though it did startle some folks in the comments with the prices for a decent fountain pen (prices mentioned in the story included a $295 Visconti and talk of a Montblanc for $1000). Also mentioned is a $40 Cross pen and a $150 Pilot Vanishing Point.

I was not familiar with Daly’s Pen Shop prior to the story. The customers seem to make the trek to Daly’s because it has such a cool vintage vibe. I definitely have to take a trip up to Milwaukee to visit Daly’s Pen Shop. Sounds like my kind of place.

Have a listen to the story and then read all the comments that listeners have left. Would you rather have a great fountain pen or a new iPhone? I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive but right now, I’d rather have a new pen.

In feature, Ink Review

My Own Little Ink Drop

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Ink from Friends

Over the last few months, kind friends and readers of the blog have offered to send me ink samples which I have gleefully accepted. But I have been so busy I haven’t had time to test them or share them. So I thought I’d at least share these colors and hopefully be able to do a more thorough review in the future. I think of it as my own personal ink drop!

All the colors seems to be on the cool sides: blue-blacks and greens which suit me just fine. In the photo above, the top color appears a bit brown in the photo but I swear its blue-black. All the other colors appear pretty true to life. Clearly, a weird photo trick.

I received samples of Montblanc Ink Midnight Blue which is a smooth blue-black despite the squidgy writing (I had an errant hair caught in my pen tines).  Once I got my pen issues sorted out, it seems to be a silky and dark blue-black. Next up is the Stipula Verde Musciato (AKA Musk Green), which is an almost indescribable yellowish, green-brown. Like a cool brown, if that’s even a color. It has an old world vibe, that reminds me of burnt sienna paint.

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Noodler’s Sequoia is a deep green-black that has a definite deep evergreen color to it. In fine nibs, even this flex pen, it looks almost black. Diamine Green Black is similar to the Noodler’s Sequoia but with a bit less black in it and a bit more blue in the overall color feel.

The biggest surprises for me were the Pilot Iroshizuku colors. I know everyone loves PI inks and the colors are amazing but until you see them in person, the range in the colors cannot be fully appreciated. I received samples of Tsuki-Yo which translates to Moonlit Night and and Shin Ryoku (Deep Green). The Tsuki-Yo is a vibrant blue-black more comparable to Noodler’s Navy than to the Montblanc Midnight Blue I received at the same time. The Shin Ryoku is a beautiful color but I wouldn’t describe it as deep green as the name states. I see more as a a bluish kelly green. It really is a lovely color. It was the most surprising as the name made me expect a color closer to the Sequoia or the Green Black and the Shin Ryoku is much brighter and more vivid.

Until I can post more thorough reviews of these colors, check out of some of these reviews:

(Tip o’ the hat to Karen P. for most of the ink samples though I am sure one or two colors came from other folks and I thank you as well)