Visconti Bakelite-Like Ink Cartridge Case

photo ©Choosing Keeping
photo ©Choosing Keeping

Last week, I got a tip about the Visconti Bakelite-like ink cartridge holders available on Choosing Keeping. Each sells for £4 and holds seven short European standard ink cartridge refills in a coordinating color to the case. Upon further research my friends found a US vendor selling the same item for $6.90 via Amazon.The prices are pretty comparable whether you order domestically or abroad.

I have a decent collection of fountain pens that use these short cartridges so I am always looking for a good option to carry a few extra cartridges with me for those “just in case” moments. The Kaweco cartridge dispenser is super cool and I load mine randomly with various ink colors for a little ink roulette but I love the vintage classic look of these Visconti cases that would coordinate perfectly with my Kaweco Guilloch 1930 fountain pen.

photo ©Choosing Keeping
photo ©Choosing Keeping

Can you tell I like the green one?

Video: Lloyd Reynolds Calligraphy Lessons

Lloyd Reynold’s recorded twenty 30-minute instructional videos in 1968 and again eight years later in color to demonstrate and instruct on italic calligraphy and handwriting. At the 5-minute mark of the first episode, the demonstrations begin. Its a little slow but its over 8.5 hours of free calligraphy lessons, if its something you are interested in learning.

(via Reed College)

Link Love: Write it down now

This is what happens when I don’t do a Link Love for over two weeks: it becomes epic! Sorry its so long but I didn’t want anything to get overlooked or skipped.

Artwork by Donovan Beeson
Artwork by Donovan Beeson

Handwriting Month:

Pilot Petball (AKA B2P or BeGreen) pensin various colors coming out soon. Photo by Patrick Ng.
Pilot Petball (AKA B2P or BeGreen) pensin various colors coming out soon. Photo by Patrick Ng.

Pens:

photo by Lamy 2000
photo by Lamy 2000
Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Paper:

Field-StampsForever-Stamps

Digital:

Miscellaneous:

Penpalling Around

show and mail
photo by Hipstercurious

As many of you know, I love to write letters. I am a card-carrying member of the Letter Writers Alliance and have accumulated a couple dozen pen pals over the past couple years. If one of your New Year’s Resolutions was to “write more” or “write more letters” or “improve your penmanship”, letter writing may be a great way to accomplish these goals. February is the Second Annual Month of Letters, a project started by author Mary Robinette Kowal and is a great jumping-off point if you’d like to write more letters this year.

There are several places online to find new pen pals and letter-writing resources:

This is just a small assortment of the resources and options for writing letters. If you explore these sites, lots more possibilities will turn up. You could write to a soldier, your grandmother or an old friend – or finally write those thank you notes you’ve been promising to do. And put that new fountain pen to good use!