In Ink Review

Ink Review: Private Reserve Ink, Infinity Blue

Author Laura CameronPosted on 6 Comments

Ana always comes back from pen shows with goodies for me to try and review, and this time was no exception. When she handed me a bottle of Private Reserve Ink, Infinity Blue (60mL for $25 from Yafa Brands), I was intrigued. This new ink bears the Infinity name because it is developed to virtually never run dry.

We all have pens we fill and then use intermittently. Depending on a variety of factors (the pen, the cap tightness, the specific ink, the climate) that pen may or may not write fluidly the next time you pick it up. Infinity ink has been formulated so that intermittent use, or going “virtually capless” shouldn’t result in hard starts.

This was going to be fun I thought. I filled up my Estie with the Infinity Blue and started my test. Then I did something that felt incredibly wrong: I left the cap off overnight.

When I came back the next morning, I expected the pen to start, right? Well it didn’t exactly. As you can see, after less than 24 hours capless, the pen did not write fluidly to start. I will say that I touched the back of the nib, and the feed to a tissue, and allowed ink to collect there for a few moments. After that, the pen began to write well again. So it didn’t need the full water treatment, but it definitely wasn’t quite ready for capless.

For my next test, I left the cap on, but a little loose (not fully screwed on). When I came back a few days later, I had the same experience.

My final test was leaving the pen uncapped during a meeting (so approximately an hour or so). This was the only time the pen wrote fluidly with no coaxing.

My test is obviously not exhaustive since I only used one pen, but I’d say my results with that one pen are fair to middling. I didn’t have to get up and run water over the nib to get it started, but it didn’t just write the second I picked it up. I expect that it would work well in a pen that you use intermittently that you keep capped, regardless of if the seal were super tight, but I’m not sure I’m ready to go with “it can be virtually cap-off ‘forever’.”

Have you tried this ink? What are your thoughts?

DISCLAIMER: Thanks to Yafa Brands for providing us a bottle of Private Reserve Ink in Infinity Blue for review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Review: Rubato Fountain Pen

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Fountain Pen Review: Rubato Fountain Pen

One of the best things about pen shows is discovering a new-to-me creator. At the California Pen Show, I was able to walk around a bit on Sunday and stumbled across Rubato Pen Studio.

Her handcrafted mini pens were displayed on vintage cake stands like the candy-colored confections they are. Some of the pens featured charms on rings on the cap ends, others featured botanical embedded in the resin. There were pastel colors and glitter as well as shimmery tones.

She uses Schmidt nibs specifically because it allows the nibs to be interchangeable with a dip nib (specifically a Zebra G or similar). There is even mention on her web site that a brush pen unit can fit into the grip but I am a little vague about which specific model fits.

Her prices for these pens, made entirely by the creator — from the resins to the finished pens, was incredibly reasonable too. Like so much so I basically said, “Here, take my money!”

Each pen purchased at the show came in a cute little neoprene case (she let customers pick their own color so I picked lime green, of course!). Inside, she included some extra o-rings to eyedropper the pen, an empty cartridge and a full cartridge plus a syringe to fill cartridges. Since the pen is very small, a full sized converter will not fit but I think a Kaweco mini converter might fit. I will probably end up eyedropper filling mine after the cartridge I used is empty.

The pen I ended up purchasing has a shimmery pink grip section, a barrel that looks like strawberry ice cream melted into the base and a sprinkles cap. With the pink pompom on top like a cherry, the whole pen reminds me of a strawberry ice cream sundae. Or a birthday cupcake.  It just made me so happy the moment I saw it.

The cap is a golden translucent material with gold shimmer and the big metallic sprinkles embedded in the resin. It looks like magic in a pen.

The barrel section, shown above shows the same translucent golden shimmer but is layered towards the end with an array of pinky opaque colors.

The end of the barrel is threaded to accommodate the cap to make the pen a similar length to a Kaweco Sport but the Rubato Pen is a little shorter.

The Rubato Pen as the melted ice cream filling to two strawberry Kaweco cookies. The Rubato is ever-so-slightly shorter than the Kawecos.
When posted, the length of the Rubato pen is slightly shorter but very comparable to the Kaweco. The Rubato is a little weightier which makes up for the different in length, IMHO.

By the time I met up with friends for dinner on Sunday night, we discovered that all four of us had purchased a Rubato Pen independently of one another and wanted to show them off (we had all pocketed our little cases to do show-and-tell at dinner and had a good giggle when we all showed off Rubato Pen Studio pens!)

Three of the four Rubato Pen Studio pens that were purchased by me and friends at the CA Pen Show (photo credit to Diane!)

While I know Schmidt nibs aren’t everyone’s favorite, I think the reasoning behind Rubato choosing the Schmidt nib unit is a solid one. If you are someone who likes to play around with eye dropper mini pens or dip nibs and like a good sparkly pen, I highly recommend Rubato Pen Studio. It sounds like she will have a table at the SF Pen Show in August and hopefully, she will be restocking her online shop soon.

DISCLAIMER:  Some items included in this review were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog (and keep me in ridiculous pink, pompom pens) by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature

Giveaway: Monteverde Color Changing Ink Set

Author AnaPosted on 26 Comments
Giveaway: Monteverde Color Changing Ink Set

Several months ago, we reviewed the new Monteverde Color Changing Inks. We’d liked these inks so much we wanted to share the fun of these color changing inks with one lucky reader.

We will select one winner who will receive the full box set (brand new!) including 9 inks and one bottle of color changer in a magnetic closure box.

Image from Jesi’s full review

Thanks to the whole gang at Yafa Brands for providing this prize pack.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell us what you plan to do with these color changing inks. Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.

If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give themonkeys some time.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.

In Link Love

Link Love: Oscar-Worthy?

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Link Love: Oscar-Worthy?

( I had an image of John Cena from the Oscars ceremony as the Link Love featured image but I was worried that Getty Images would sue me for usage rights so envision Cena holding up the envelope with “Link Love” printed on it. Funny, right?)

I confess I was too busy knitting with my friends on Sunday night to watch The Oscars but I did follow the red carpet through live feeds and even some of the winners through out the evening. I confess, the red carpet is my favorite part. I love to see what all the actors and film folks choose to wear. I was just excited to see Jack Quaid on the red carpet (“Lower Decks! Lower Decks!”) I wondered about the red pins that celebrities wore at the Oscars (via My Modern Met) I oooh and aaah over the dresses and the tuxedos. I even caught myself saying “The Rock really brought it this year” when I saw his suit.

If you missed the spectacle, check out the Vogue red carpet recap. Vanity Fair featured post-Oscar party portraits which have a relaxed confidence to them, as only winners can have. One of my favorite articles about the Oscars was about whether the Oscars need to add a category for Best Titles (via It’s Nice That). I say, yes. Hell, yes but its always been my favorite part of all movies, especially when they set the tone and mood of the film. And the closing credits too! Now, the question for the future is which of the Oscar-winning films will receive Criterion treatment (via Casual Optimist)

Are you a fan of the Oscars? Did your favorite film win its category?

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Let’s roll out the red carpet for pens, pencils, ink and paper! Please support our sponsors, affiliates or join our Patreon. Your patronage supports this site. Without them, and without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!

In quote

“The only thing constant in life is change.”

Author Laura CameronPosted on 6 Comments

I’ve been thinking about this adage a lot in the last week, particularly in light of the discussion surrounding Lamy’s reintroduction of Dark Lilac.

As a knitter, I’m familiar with colors that aren’t quite replicable. For instance, when buying yarn for a project, crafters are always encouraged to purchase enough (extra) skeins at the front end of a project to ensure that the colors match. This is because yarn is dyed in batches, referred to as dye lots. When yarn tags are printed, particularly for commercial yarns (versus independent smaller sellers) the dye lot is often included along with the colorway. And when using skeins from smaller, independent producers we’re often encouraged to alternate skeins every few rows or rounds to prevent stark differences showing up in the finished piece.

The reasons for these differences are many. First, there can be differences in the dyes that are used to apply color to yarn. Chemicals can change over time, or be removed due to health concerns. Even dyes derived from natural elements, like cochineal, can vary over time due to differences in diet or environment. Most dyes are set on fabric and yarns using water. Did you know that the pH level of the water can change how the colors appear? (One of my favorite color expression tricks is that you can change the color of your hydrangeas but adjusting the pH level of the soil!)

Photo from this Reddit thread!

But let’s talk about an inky example. What color is sepia? Ana has joked for years that anyone who comes up to her at a pen show looking for sepia ink has a slightly different color in mind. Sepia ink is created by cuttlefish and squid, in their ink sacs. (The pigment can also be made from dried ink sacs.) But variations in species, environment and diet can create anything from a warm browns, to violet-tinged black brown. There is no one true sepia ink, even you have your own preferred version.

So back to Lamy Dark Lilac, where I started with this. According to @fountainpenmemes on Instagram, Lamy has noted that the red dye they used in the original Dark Lilac is no longer available, so they had to substitute another. There’s also been discussion that the sheen is slightly different as well. This could be due to refraction from the inks, or it may be that other components have changed as well.

So maybe it’s worth thinking of our favorite inks as products of their time, and in “dye lots.” There may be subtle variations from batch to batch, but each may bring their own lovely attributes to the table.

In feature

Pen Show Recap: Baltimore Pen Show

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Pen Show Recap: Baltimore Pen Show

(I flew back from Baltimore on Sunday night last week. It turned into an epic journey of flight delays. I didn’t land in KC until 2:30am on Monday morning which put my sleep deficit at an all-time high — at least since college. Apologies for the delay in getting a post-show recap published.)

Overall, this year’s Baltimore Washington International Pen Show (BWIPS) was a great show. There were lots of great vendors, friendly faces and, from what I gathered from other vendors, the sales were good.

Friday was a good steady stream of East Coast, die-hard, pen-and-ink collectors. What felt different on Friday in Baltimore compared with LA two weeks previously was that Friday attendees in Baltimore were more seasoned pen show attendees. In LA, there were a lot more newbies or “this is my first pen show” attendees. Since the California Pen Show is only two years old, this seems to make sense. But it was interesting.

Saturday, the weather turned rainy and there were some issues early in the day with parking but I think after noon, when other hotel guests had left, the parking issues improved. For future shows, I do recommend carpooling with friends or parking along the street (this was an option on the opposite of the street from the hotel though it might be a bit of a hike so plan accordingly). There were more “new to pen show” folks on Saturday but that is usually the case.

Sunday was a nice mix of 3-day pass holders and local residents who decided to avoid the rain on Saturday and come on Sunday instead. As a result we were busy up until closing time which is unusual. Most shows tend to slow down on Sundays around lunchtime.

The Baltimore Show is held at a hotel near the airport and there is a hotel shuttle from the airport to the hotel for folks coming in from out of town making it a pretty easy show to attend for travelers. For locals, the parking issue is a bit concerning but it did seem to diminish throughout the day on Saturday so I think, as long as you are prepared for a walk from on-street parking or doing a few loop-de-loops through the parking lot, its not terrible.

Locals, if you took public transport or have other transport recommendations, please put them in the comments.

The overall atmosphere of the Baltimore show is good. Folks were friendly and everyone seemed to have a good time.

I heard the classes and workshops were well-attended though there were some questions about where classes were being held so hopefully that gets sorted out for next year. Best recommendation would be to check with the front desk 10-15 minutes before your class to verify the location.

I’m trying a gallery of images this time so if there’s something you want to see in more detail, click on the image for a larger view.

Friday morning view of the Dromgoole’s tables
Our view of the show’s main ballroom
Highlight of the show for me: catching up with old friends!
Marty & Kimberly at the Retro51/Rickshaw tables
Delicious array of vintage pens
Jonathan Brooks at Carolina Pen Company
Those Taccia pens!
Cary from Kenro and Jimmy from Total Office Products
Brian at the Edison Pens table
Some beauitful engraving work at Ironfeather Creative
Hardy Penwrights table
Darail Penz from Columbus!
Mayfair Pens
3D skull pen holders at the Linocln’s Leathers table
The gang at the Write Stuff table
Me and Les hamming it up at his booth — Stylosuite, the place for custom flex nibs!
OMG! Is this the new power girl group of the pen world? We like to think so! Jesi, Azizah of Gourmet Pens and me. Such fun to see old friends!