The Well-Appointed Desk

I’m a little late to the party with the reveal of the January Ink Drop from Goulet Pens but you’ll forgive me, won’t you? The more I think about this set, the more I like it. The theme for January was the Aurora Borealis which I think is a great idea for January — to think of the bright color-shifting skies on those long dark nights. But the more I delve into these colors, the more I am just pleased with the mix of colors and how unusual they are.

As you all know, I am always looking for the perfect shade of green and the DeAtramentis Moss Green has an awful lot to recommend it. Its in the yellow-green side of the spectrum which I prefer and its not so light that it would be unreadable. Its a perky springy green.

The Diamine Majestic Purple is quite a royal purple — more purple than violet. I’m not inclined to choose a vivid purple ink but this is one I might use.

The Noodler’s Rome Burning is the most unusual ink color I’ve seen. Its not brown, sepia or yellow. It has a sort of mustard hue which I keep looking at, trying to discern its hue. The closest ink comparison I could make is the DeAtramentis Gold in the July 2012 Ink Drop: Olympics Edition. According to Noodler’s, Rome Burning is a bulletproof ink that turns purple when submerged in water. Check out the video on the Noodler’s site to see how it works and amuse yourself with the Indiana Jones-style epic soundtrack. Talk about a crazy ink!

Noodler’s Borealis Black is a very deep black, the blackest of black. According to Noodler’s site, this is a 1950s-formulation and it is water-resistant but not bulletproof. It is a wet ink so I put it into my Pilot Prera which is very fine nib and worked fine.

Now, can I wax rhapsodic about the Diamine Eau de Nil? The name translates to Water of the Nile and its a teal blue with a little black in it. This is a color in my wheelhouse. The closest comparison I can make is to DeAtramentis Pigeon Blue but its more turquoise while Eau de Nil is leaning more towards a blue black.

Needless to say that Eau de Nil was my favorite color in this collection though I am amused with the wild color-changing properties of Noodler’s Rome Burning.

See larger photos of each ink test in my Flickr Set.

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Word Notebooks

AnaMarch 4, 2013Leave a comment

Word Notebooks do something with the concept of the pocket notebook that is a little different than the rest. These notebooks are lined with a dot/circle along the left margin specifically to aid the list-maker. Color in the small dot for a bullet point or use the larger circle to check off all those to-do lists.

The Word Notebooks are the same size as a Field Notes at 5.5″ tall x 3.5″ wide but just a tiny bit thicker which I believe is due to a slightly weightier paper stock (60# white text vs Field Notes 50# text). The paper is a bright white with pale, warm gray lines and circles in the margin which are unobtrusive.

In the writing tests, the paper performed acceptably. There was a little bit of show-through with the fountain pen inks from the Platinum Preppy, Pilot Petit and TWSBI Mini but the finer lined pens, the gel-based and rollerballs all did fine. Since the lines on the paper are light, using lighter colored inks is a pleasant experience and will limit the likelihood of show-through. The Pilot Hi-Tec C Coletos worked great and would pair well with this notebook for jotting grocery lists.

Three-packs are available for $9.99

I have one orange and one tan camo book to give away. I will draw two names and send one book to each winner. Tell me which color you prefer in the comments. First number chosen by the random number generator will get their choice and the second selected will get whichever is left.

FINE PRINT: Giveaway ends at 10pm on Thursday, March 7, 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.

In link

Print Your Own Post-It Notes

AnaMarch 4, 2013Leave a comment

If you ever wanted to have better looking post-it notes, How About Orange has a DIY waste-time-in-the-office project for you! Download the template, adhere your own post-it notes to the template and then run it back through your printer. Be sure you know how your printer feeds so you don’t jam it up. Nothing gets you busted for goofing around at work like gluing post-its to the inside of your printer.

Go forth and while away your Monday morning!

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Thumbtack Upgrade

AnaMarch 3, 2013Leave a comment

diy-colorful-thumbtacks

You never know where inspiration might strike. Modcloth had a great idea for jazzing up those plain silver or brass thumbtacks. Grab some old nail polish colors and paint those caps to be something that you want to see rather than something you’re trying to ignore.

A tip for paint thumb tacks is to pierce them into a piece of corrugated cardboard so you don’t have to hold them or balance them as they dry. Paint them solid, stripey or with dots. Voila! Crafty project that makes your office look fancy or so you know when someone steals your supplies.

(via Modcloth)

In feature

Redress Your Desktop

AnaMarch 2, 2013Leave a comment

Whether you spend all day staring at a computer or a mobile device, eventually the urge to “redecorate” hits. I’ve found some lovely wallpaper patterns for both.

For your desktop, check out the array of wallpapers from Design Love Fest.

From Fellow Fellow are some lovely iPhone (and various mobile devices) wallpapers like these:

(click on each pattern above to find more from Fellow Fellow)

For other GUI goodies, check out:

Pheist Monochrom on Deviant Art for grungy papers
The Fox Is Black Desktop Project for an array of patterns for both desktop and iPhone

Got a good source for great wallpapers or do you make your own? Leave a note in the comments. Thanks!

In feature

Hyper-organize with A Bowl Full of Lemons

AnaMarch 1, 2013Leave a comment

A Bowl Full of Lemons shows off her hyper-organized home office and even offers details of the steps she took to get her office and her clutter in order. She’s got great tips and lots of inspiring photos. Oh, to be this organized!

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What’s new in the TWSBI Diamond 580?

AnaFebruary 28, 2013Leave a comment

FPGeeks did a comprehensive write-up about the changes and improvements in the TWSBI Diamond 580, the successor to the wildly popular Diamond 540 which was discontinued.

If you already own a 540, are you going to buy a 580?

(via FPGeeks)