Did you wait until the last minute to do anything for your Valentine this year? How about I help you out with this modern printable Valentines from Paper & Stitch? Just print these off onto cardstock, fold and trim, and put your favorite pen to work writing a special message. Add a candy bar, a bouquet of flowers or maybe a bunch brand new pencils to show your loved one you care.
(via Paper & Stitch)
While vacationing over the holidays, my friend Cecelia picked up a HEMA Vulpen fountain pen in Belgium for me. I had to do a bit of detective work about it before I could post a review about it. HEMA is a chain of department stores from the Netherlands. From their website it looks like a pretty nice shop, maybe upscale Target? They look to be scattered all over Europe.
Okay, back to the pen. It is exactly 5″ long capped in a matte black metal with silver trim and a brushed aluminum clip. The cap snaps on with friction, not a screw post. The cap can be posted on the pen for writing if you like the extra weight and length.
The nib is an iridium tipped steel nib and I would guess it to be just shy of a medium nib — like “fine-medium” by the European standards, not Japanese. Its a slender pen and not too long. I find it comfortable to hold in my small hands. It takes standard small European cartridges which provides lots of ink options including a refillable cartridge or syringe-filling an old cartridge. I used a Kaweco blue-black cartridge for my tests rather than the cartridge that came with the pen if only to have a known-quantity in regards to the ink.
In writing tests, the pen preformed admirably. I used it almost exclusively for a whole week for notes, planner entries, and letters and it worked well on lots of paper stocks. It had a little hesitancy first thing in the morning if it had sat all night but no worse than the Kaweco pens do. It writes very smoothly, silky even. I just love how it feels in my hand.
The amazing thing about this pen is the cost — a mere €3.25 (under $6). It kind of blows my mind that this pens performs in the same league with pens five times more expensive.
There are not a lot of reviews of this pen online though there are a few and the only place to get this pen appears to be at a HEMA store as I could not find it on their website. Unless you know someone traveling in Europe you could bribe to pick one up for you, this may be your holy grail of cheap fountain pens.
I’ve been thinking that I might like to have a personalized mug at work. Something that is clearly mine. When I found this tutorial on Beautiful Mess for using a Sharpie and an oven set to 350 degrees, I thought, “ah ha!”
This means I can use a mug scavenged from the office, doodle on it with a Sharpie from the supply closet and then pop it in the toaster oven for 30 minutes and voila! Office crafts!
(There is a note on Beautiful Mess that this technique may or may not last so I recommend trying it out on a cheap mug first. Probably best to make sure its clean too.)
(via A Beautiful Mess)
I’ll let you in on a little secret. When I’m not waxing poetic about office supplies, I’m drooling over yarn, patterns and handmade knitwear. One of my favorite knitwear designers is Jared Flood, AKA Brooklyn Tweed and his patterns and delicious tweed yarns. When his studio space was featured on Design Sponge this week, it was kismet.
Jared’s workspace combines natural colors and textures with the same elegant sensibility that he uses with his knits and yarns. Warm nubbly neutrals like a reclaimed wood worktable, plush velvety carpet, lots of natural light and of course, lots and lots of yarn.
(via Design Sponge)
Textile Designer John Robshaw combines his textile love with bold bright colors to create a a bright, inspiring workspace. The space has a Middle Eastern flair that I imagine would smell of chai spices.
(via Elle Decor)
Found while trolling the internet: a post on Wikipedia on Ruled Paper. The post goes into detail about ruled paper specifications for the US and some European countries and Japan. I notice dot-grid and Doane paper is not mentioned. Is it time to submit an addendum to the article?
Anyone ever actually seen Pittman Ruled paper? Photos please!
(via Wikipedia)
This video, from inside the White House, shows what a production it is to have the President sign a bill — including making him sign it using 22 different pens. Look closely, can you tell exactly what kind of pens he uses?
