Pens and Pencils:
Paper:
Follow-up about Google Reader:
Poolga offers beautiful iPhone and iPad wallpapers created by illustrators from around the world. They are free and a chance to look at something lovely every time you turn your device on. I, of course, gravitated to all the illustrations that featured pencils and various office supplies but visit the site and peruse because there is all sorts of fabulousness to be had.
From left to right, top to bottom:
Stuff on White by Andrea Manzati, Pen by Denis Carrier, Pencil Gold by Thom Lambert, Letter by Louis Reith, Toolbox by Christopher Monro DeLorenzo, Workaday by Luke Séguin-Magee, Draw by themeekshall, Enforcer by Dale Edwin Murray, ¡Uops! by Júlia Solans, 009 by Kitchen, Brainstorm by Dan Gneiding, American Typewriter by Tom Davie, Moleskine by Luis Mendo, Having it All by Matthew Walkerdine, Mobile Office by Rainer Berg
I almost forgot one of my favorites:
Paper by Frank Chimero
(via Poolga)
This stunning lucite ruler features large Helvetica numbers screenprinted in alternating white and black and is 13″ long instead of the more common 12″ or 18″ lengths. Quite a unique piece.
(via Type In Use with permission from the owner/photographer, Chris Purcell)
Jewelry made from paperclips and masking tape? Of course, I’d be interested. How About Orange provides links and ideas for making your own. Look out, office supply cabinet! I’ve got plans!
(via How About Orange)
My friend, fellow pen lover and mail art/postal princess, Carolee, of Make Everyday a Good Mail Day offered to take a second look and test drive of the J. Herbin Rollerball pen which allows the user to use any cartridge-based fountain pen ink. She is also a left-handed writer so she was skeptical that she would have any success with the pen. She had also just ordered her own pen so I offered to send her the pen I had to try before she opened hers so that if she had bad luck with mine she could choose to send hers back unused.
Alternately, this also meant that Carolee was able to test more than one pen and compare the different pens and various inks. Her discovery is that some of the pens felt smoother. Was this a result of the ink or the actual rollerball in the pen? I suspect that it remains to be determined with future writing and some trial and error.
One other thing to note is that Carolee is what is known as an underwriting left-hander. This is considered a preferable method for writing but some lefties have had the unfortunate luck to be what’s called overwriters (that would be me), who hold the pen at a twisted angle from above the line they are writing. This tends to cause more smudging and other writing challenges. One of those challenges may be getting the J Herbin rollerball to work properly. Or it could just be me.
Finally, I would like to give you a chance to try the J. Herbin rollerball. I am giving away TWO J. Herbin rollerball pens, thanks to the generous support of Jet Pens. Let me know what inks you’d like to try in the J. Herbin Rollerball to be officially entered.
FINE PRINT: Giveaway ends at 10pm on Thursday, March 21, 2013 (US Central Time). All comment must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Friday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your 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. 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.
(All photos by Carolee.)
The fabric designer Marimekko offers a free calendar wallpaper each month. Bright and funky fruits will make a gray March feel a little more sunny.
(via Marimekko)
There is a fabulous article on Lifehacker this morning on keeping a notebook in the digital age which, I’m sure we can all agree, is a fabulous idea.
(via Lifehacker, quote via Pencil Revolution)
