In feature

Hello 2013

Author AnaPosted on
Illustration by Sam Coldy
Illustration by Sam Coldy

My favorite holidays seem to be the ones about starting new. I love New Year’s because I can crack open a brand new planner and begin to plot my projects and goals for the coming year. I like Lunar New Year for a chance to re-boot those goals and plans a few weeks later. I love the Back-to-School season here in the US for the chance, after a long, hot summer, to get back to those plans I so carefully put into place back in January and give myself one more push to be successful before the end of the year. Clearly, my urge to plan and organize runs deep.

Let me first explain that I don’t set monumentally unachievable goals for my New Year’s resolutions. I like tasks I can actually accomplish so I pick things I’ve wanted to do or try but have put off or never gotten around to doing. Think more like a yearly bucket list.

For 2013 I’d like to:

  • Start a Well-Appointed Desk Shop. I want to sell some of my vintage office supplies, custom rubber stamps and grab bags of products I’ve tested and reviewed. I need to make room for new stuff!
  • I want to stick with one planner all year
  • I want to paint my studio and find a new desk
  • Improve my penmanship (ongoing struggle to slow down and use good tools)
  • Add a SSD to my laptop for faster everything

What’s on your New Year’s resolution list this year?

In link

Link Love: Good-Bye 2012

Author AnaPosted on
(via Stillman & Birn)
Two Color Wheels by Moses Harris (via Stillman & Birn)

Wearables and Accessories:

Pens and Ink:

Penmanship:

Doane news for 2013
Doane news for 2013

Misc:

 

In feature

Favorite Tools of 2012

Author AnaPosted on

Top 10 Favorites Part 1Top 10 Favorites Part 2

I’ve reviewed, purchased and drooled over hundreds of products in 2012 so I thought I’d share with you my favorites of the year, in no specific order:

  1. Tie for Favorite Fountain Pen: Kaweco Guilloch 1930 EF Fountain Pen
  2. Tie for Favorite Fountain Pen: TWSBI Diamond 540 EF Demonstrator
  3. Favorite Highlighter: Pilot Preppy Highlighter
  4. Favorite Lefty-centric Tool:  Lefty Sharpener
  5. Favorite Notebook: Quo Vadis Habana Notebook
  6. Most Useful Tools: Gel Multi-Pens (UniBall Style Fit, Zebra Sarasa Pre-Fill, Pilot Hi-Tec C Coleto Me)
  7. Biggest Surprise: UniBall Jetstream Ballpoint Pens (Jetstream F*Series Multi-Pen and the 0.5 Ash Green
  8. Best Mac Utility: Alfred App
  9. Favorite Ink: Scribal Workshop Cryptid series, especially Nessie and Leviathan
  10. Favorite Vintage Find: Arrow Plier-Style Hand Stapler

There are a few items I love but never got a review posted and a few things I’ve wanted to try but haven’t gotten yet so there will be more to love in 2013, I’m sure!

What are the best tools you found this year?

In feature

What Say Workspaces

Author AnaPosted on

old map and traditional desk   whole wall of inspiration

I am at home sick which leads to staring blankly at Pinterest, Tumblr and Google Reader wishing I could be doing something more productive. But I found more workspaces so I thought I’d share them.

small desk with mushroom colored wall and floral illustration wall hanging

tufted white office chair and glass topped desk

I found all these workspaces on the Tumblr site What Say Beauty which is mostly about fashion but occasionally posts a lovely workspace, office or desk.

trestle table desk and metal drawers

(Click on image image for a direct link to the original posts.)

In feature

The Perpetual Planner

Author AnaPosted on

letter ledger cover

I have been using a Paper & Type Letter Ledger for almost a year and I just love it. Its is designed to help keep track of letters received and letters sent. There is space to include notes about the incoming correspondence and your outgoing message like Aunt Jean sent a new pair of mittens and I replied back with a thank you card and include to dates. I am an active member of the Letter Writers Alliance and several of my pen pals live overseas so its often a month or more between letters and the ledger helps me keep track of when a letter was sent and what was the last event I wrote about.  Its a very simple, nicely designed product. Its a horizontal format 7″x5.25″, spiral-bound book with kraft paper cardstock covers and six squares per page to fill with your correspondence notes. The paper is adequately fountain pen friendly. Some black inks will show through the page but do not bleed. The only pens that bleed on the stock are the standard alcohol-based inks like Sharpie markers. After eleven months, I’m just halfway through the book and I’m a fairly prolific writer so its a good investment at $18.

letter ledger inside

perpetual planner cover

Following my success with the Letter Ledger, I feel confident in recommending another product from Paper & Type, the Perpetual Planner. It is an undated planner with a week-on-two-pages and room to add additional information like goals for the week and people, places, and things encountered. It’s 5.25″x7″ with the same kraft paper covers, spiral binding and paper used in the Letter Ledger. There are enough pages to track a year’s worth of activity whether you start on January 1 or April 11. Its currently on sale for $16 so order one soon.

perpetual planner inside

EDIT (2/9/14): New link to access the Letter Ledger and Perpetual Planner.