The Well-Appointed Desk

A big shout out to everyone who shared their favorite sea creature in order to enter our giveaway for the Enigma Blanks Limited Edition Striped Jellyfish Fountain Pen.

Lots of praise for octopus, whales, dolphins, a whole school of fish, crabs, jellys and even a lot of praise for sea otters, walrus and penguins. Maybe Enigma Blanks will use these ideas for their next pen collab.

And now, for our winner:

Congrats, Jorge! I will be emailing you directly to arrange delivery!

Thanks again and we will have more giveaways in the future so stay tuned.

In photo

Did you miss me?

Laura CameronAugust 23, 2022August 23, 20221 Comment

Apologies for one more non-stationery recap, but hopefully I’ll make up for it with gorgeous pictures. I got back about 1am last night (this morning?) from a 12-day trip to Norway. It was in a single word: amazing.

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a more beautiful country. Every day we were surrounded by forests, waterfalls, fjords, lakes, sheep and too many beautiful sights to document. There was a lot of running and walking, enjoying being outdoors, sampling new cuisine (surprise: not as much fish as I thought there would be), and meeting new people. There was also a little drinking, some journaling, and lots of making memories that will last a lifetime. You can find my full Flickr album here, but I’ve added a few of the highlights below:

Waterfalls everywhere (this one in Lillehammer)

Maihaugen “open air” museum Lillehammer – featuring traditional Norwegian houses dating back to the 1400s and 1500s

Ronadane Nasjonal Park

Lots of sheep!

Gjendesheim Lake

Reindeer sighting!

Geiranger Fjord and waterfall

Salty licorice anyone?

Running the Atlantic Ocean Road – an archipelago at the western-most point of Norway. Also featured in the most recent Bond movie!

Traditional Norwegian cuisine (and coffee) on top of a mountain!

The final run – not pictured rocky paths, SO MUCH MUD, boggy marshes.

Galdhoppigen – the tallest peak in Norway (and glacier sighting!)

More new toys and reviews next week!

In Paper Review

Product Review: Nebula Guide Sheet Set

AnaAugust 22, 2022August 21, 20225 Comments

Nebula is the notebook/stationery brand for Colorverse. Many folks may have tried the Nebula notebooks but did you know they created a set of Guide Sheets?

The Nebula Guide Sheet set includes five pages, printed on cardstock with guides printed on both sides of the sheets. The sheets fit into A5 notebooks. This set is unique in that it features swatch style guides a well as various grids, lines and cursive angled lines.

Surprisingly, the only online shops I could find carrying the sets were in Australia and Italy. When I googled Atlas Stationers came up but the link was “404”. Weird.

What I found surprising is that the insert sheets in the set that provide the front and back sheets in the cello bag are bright white, matte finish cardstock.

In a tear test, the cover sheets appear to be Yupo or similar tear proof paper. When I initially saw the set I thought “How genius!” Of course, you’d make guide sheets on a plasticized paper so ink or water could be wiped off and the tear-proof quality would make it more durable for long term use than traditional paper.

However, the actual guide sheets are printed on a soft white, textured, uncoated cardstock. It’s lovely paper and I bet it would take ink beautifully but that’s NOT THE POINT of a guide sheet!

In a perfect world, Nebula would read this post and follow my recommendation to print all the guide sheets on Yupo paper as they would be much more durable.

As the guidesheets are right now, they are 100% functional and the variety of page layouts provide lots of standard options as well as some great ink sampling layouts. The line weights are dark enough to show through Tomoe River paper just fine. Some thicker papers may be more difficult to see the guide lines but in most situtaions, these sheets will probably work just fine.

Please email your favorite pen shops and ask that they start carrying this nifty little product. Otherwise, I might have to stock it in our shop.

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by Luxury Brands USA for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Art of the Day, Tools

Product Review: Ink Lover’s Soap

AnaAugust 19, 2022August 14, 20226 Comments

I set up this post before I realized that this product is no longer available. So, please don’t be mad at me. Instead, let this inspire you to seek out locally produced soap makers and ask if they can craft a soap for artists and other folks who end up with a lot of ink and paint on their hands. There are also a lot of handmade soaps available on etsy so you might just find something you love there.

This bar, called The Original Ink Lover’s Premium All-Natural Soap has a light scent and a waffly texture on both sides which helps with scrubbing ink off your hands (or wherever you end up getting ink on you).

Yes, my bathroom is PINK. Is anyone surprised? Focus! Look how lovely and sudsy the soap is.

Ah, the joys of being a lefty. Ink all over my knuckles.

Ignore the chipped polish and notice how much cleaner my hands are!

I won’t go into too much detail into this soap since it’s not available any longer. It was a gift but it did bring up the joy of handmade soaps. My skin felt clean but not dry after using it. It definitely made me want to seek out more handmade soaps both for inky hands and for general use. I know a lot of people favor liquid or foaming hand soaps for their convenience but I like being able to use up the whole bar and have no additional plastic waste like a bottle or refill container.

Is this me turning into the old “back in my day” lady? Whatever… I want to save this planet and I’d be happy to do it, one handmade bar of soap at time if I have to.

In feature

Giveaway: Enigma Blanks Limited Edition Purple Striped Jellyfish Fountain Pen

AnaAugust 18, 2022August 24, 2022152 Comments

If you read the epically long review of the Enigma Blanks x Shawn Newton x Custom Nib Studios Purple Striped Jellyfish Eastman Fountain Pen with Reverse Architect Nib, then you know what this post is all about. Yep, Enigma Blanks is letting us give this gem of a pen away. So… for all you folks who might not make it to the San Francisco Pen Show to have a chance to purchase one of the 23 of these pens left to buy, this giveaway is for you!

This giveaway is for the PEN only. The ink and notebook that would be included in the set will not be included in the giveaway. Pen includes converter, packaging, stickers and certificate of authenticity.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me your favorite sea creature. Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.

If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the monkeys some time.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Monday, July 22, 2. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual 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. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. 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. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.

In Link Love

Link Love: Live Vicariously

AnaAugust 17, 2022August 17, 20222 Comments

This week, anyone who attended the DC Show and has a blog, wrote a recap. Or at least that’s how it feels to me — as someone who didn’t get to go this year. I have chosen to live vicariously through the many posts, photos and recaps that are available to me.

Of course, for all the wonderful pen shopping and meeting up and such, there was also some folks who came home with COVID. The risks of getting together in large groups is still strong and what we jokingly called “con funk” before the pandemic is now considerably worse.

If you are preparing to attend any of the other shows this year (SF, Dallas, Denver, Columbus, et al) remember to protect yourself and others. And remember to post photos for those of us who will be living vicariously.

We need each other. Please support our sponsors, affiliates or join our Patreon. Your patronage supports this site. Without them, and without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!

In Desk Set, Fountain Pen Review

What’s on my desk? August 2022

Laura CameronAugust 16, 2022August 14, 20223 Comments

I know it sounds hokey, but in the last few years, since I haven’t attended pen shows that much, I’ve been concentrating on what I already have in my collection and trying to use it more. That doesn’t mean I haven’t bought new things (I surely have!) but I’m also focusing on what my favorites are turning out to be in everyday usage.

This is the current lineup of pens on my desk. From left to right:

Meister By Point Pocket Felt Tip Marker: I’m generally not a huge fine liner or felt tip aficionado, but somehow I’ve been enjoying this one. I filled it with a fountain pen ink cartridge, which makes it THAT much more fun and it’s on the small side which means it fits my hand really nicely. I find it perfect for marking up my daily calendar. I expect this one will be in rotation for a while.
Platinum 3776 Shape of a Heart: The newest entry to the desk set, the Platinum 3776 is a really nice writing experience. I suspect I may have the nib tuned or ground just a bit at the next show I attend, because it occasionally catches a bit, and I’d like to get it set for my left-handed use. But the pen itself is gorgeous and I’m really glad I picked it up!
Kaweco AL Sport: These are kind of my latest addiction. I currently have three and I have my eye on a few more colors. I actually do like the metal a bit better than the regular plastic Sport. The Kaweco is the perfect pocket pen – it always writes when I open it, it’s easily cartridge-filled, it’s inexpensive enough to own different colors and nibs, and there’s always at least one on my desk!
Schon DSGN Pocket Six: I picked up my first Pocket Six in April of 2021 after eying them for a while. I love Ian’s fun color combinations – there are so many that are tempting – and this pen is pure fun. It’s currently loaded with a cartridge that came with it, but I can’t wait to refill the cartridges with the inks of my choice. My only complaint on this one is it’s perfectly smooth and round so it sometimes rolls away from me.

What are you using most these days? Anything special live on your desk?

Links of the Week — DC Pen Show Recaps:

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things: