These multifunctional pencils were created Trevor Duncan as Pencil Works. They were on display this week at NYC’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Each pencil included an alternate tool including a handsaw, magnifying glass, protractor, paintbrush and others. Quite clever and beautifully constructed.
(via Gizmodo)
A couple weeks ago I mention the book Quiet: The power of introverts by Susan Cain. This is about a 15-minute presentation of the key points of the book in a brilliant TedTalks video.
“Speak softly” — Susan Cain
Have I got a giveaway for you this month! I want to giveaway one of my favorite pens: a brand-new Kaweco Classic Sport Fountain pen! This giveaway is generously sponsored by JetPens.
Just leave a comment here on The Well-Appointed Desk (comments in Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook will not be valid) between now and Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 at 10pm central time. Let me know what you would do with your very own Kaweco Sport? Would you embellish it with a clip? Provide it with the finest of inks? Write the next great novel? Or jot down the best looking grocery list ever?
THE FINE PRINT
Winner will get to select a body color and nib width from the available stock at JetPens. Winner will be select by random number generator. 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, international shipping or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money.
You may recall the megaton of vintage office supplies I got last week? Well… that wasn’t everything. In my opinion, I saved the best for last. In the bounty was not one but eight different advertising mechanical pencils all from Autopoint. Yep, the same company that is still in business making the beloved Twinpoint.
These little gems were all in mint condition and came from the same collection so they all feature Midwestern businesses. Each pencil advertises a bank, farm co-op or machinery company, much to my delight.
There are two sizes of pencil as well, the regular sized which is comparable in diameter to a hexagonal pencil and the jumbo which is a bit thicker and more similar to the size of a “manly” fountain pen.
Both sizes of pencil are still available through the Autopoint web site and cost $4.50 each. Replacement leads and erasers are also available if you happen upon any of these vintage gems that need a refill.
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Shout outs to all my Twitter contacts for keeping me posted about reviews, products and all sorts of fun goodies. Follow me or keep in the loop at @wellapptdesk.
This clearly qualifies as pen porn: the Kaweco Special AL is an aluminum barreled, hexagonal-shaped, and longer-length (than the more common Kaweco Sport) to allow for standard international short converter cartridges. It is gorgeous. So far, my pen purchases have never exceeded $50 price mark but I might make an exception for this beauty. $118 and available in several nib sizes.
After finding the amazing, little Uni travel red stamp pad, I started nosing around a bit more looking for more information about Asian seals and chops. In China, stamps of all sorts were used to mark documents official, especially if they had to do with paying taxes or to validate a document like a signature. These sorts of stamps are also used for art and printmaking and in Asian calligraphy. There’s some decent informatio on wikipedia if you’re curious.
Once I started thinking about the stamps and seals, I remembered that I had other stamps and another stamp pad. Both of my other chops were gifts from China from friends and family carved into marble (notice they are both supposed to be my name but use completely different characters?). I also discovered that I had another stamp pad that came in a ceramic dish. The stamp ink turned out to be more of a paste and created a wonderful, deep rich red color. I tested both the paste and the Uni travel pad with all of my chops as well as a rubber stamp, just to see how they performed. I prefer the color of the paste as it is so vivid but the container was designed to accommodate the size of a chop and nothing more. The paste was also not designed to travel as the lid just sits on top of it. The Uni travel pad is slightly convex so you can tap along the surface of the pad so you are not limited in the size of stamp you can use.
I was able to Google “red paste calligraphy” or “seal paste red” and find a variety of options under $5. Some of them were called “Yinni” so if you are curious about this, that might be a good place to start. So, for travel, find a Uni or other stamp pad that can be sealed tightly. For sheer color, find a more paste-like “pad”.
