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Rachel's Reflections Posts

And Now For Something Completely Different

Posted in Fountain Pens

OK, only partially different, but I couldn’t resist.

My new pen collection rotation starts on Sunday, and I’m doing something significantly different than my previous rotations.

In the past, I’ve used a randomizer to go through my entire active collection, inking five pens each week. It’s been a great way to use my pens, but as my collection has grown, I’ve been using each individual pen less and less. I’m down to only twice a year. And sometimes I don’t get to use my pens much, which can mean I ink a pen and only use it to record work tasks for the day.

Floofenstein: A Beautiful Sweetheart

Posted in Cat

Yes, this post is late. That’s because I messed up and Floofenstein got away from me and ran away on Monday (4/14/25). I’ll share a detailed account soon, but suffice to say that Jim and I were both doing poorly. But, we got a second miracle because Floofers was sitting calmly in the trap yesterday morning, having come home.

His misadventure has, and will, result in multiple setbacks regarding his wound and integration into the household. But, he’s home, and that’s all that truly matters. Now, onto the post.


If you’re new here, I’m sharing our newest family member’s story from how he joined us until he settles in. Last week, I left off at March 25, his second vet exam.

Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Intwana Chameleon

Posted in Fountain Pens

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for pen envy or impulse purchases resulting from viewing this post.

Per usual, with a couple of exceptions, you can click on the images to view them larger. I do my best to provide you with high-quality pen porn. 😉

You may recall that my wrap-up post of the Stanford Pen Studio (SPS) series featured the crowdfunder they had going at the time. Well, here we are at their promised delivery time and the pens Jim and I ordered have arrived!

I must mention that, while the Koi and Seahorse designs are not currently listed on the SPS website, the Chameleon, Dragon, Giraffe, Kitten, Llama, Penguins, and Phoenix designs are all still available.

Because I knew instantly that I wanted to get Carla Nel‘s Chameleon, I’m starting with it.

Stanford Pen Studio Intwanna Chameleon

Floofenstein: Mom’s Sweet Cuddlebug

Posted in Cat

Welcome back to Whisker Wednesday! There’s a good chance you’re here because you want to know more about Floofenstein. But, if you’re new, I’m sharing our newest family member’s story from how he joined us until he settles in. Last week, I left off at March 18, his first vet exam. This week’s title should tell you what we discovered after that.

I don’t want these posts to read like a diary, as, unlike the early posts for Athena, I’m not tracking an illness. So, going forward, I’ll include the time period I’m covering and provide highlights. I’ll only include dates for big events like vet visits.

Inky Madness – Colorverse

Posted in Ink

So, I just missed March with this post, but life decided to life, and, well, better late than never, right?

In this sequel to my Diamine Inky Madness post, I’m going through all of the Colorverse inks I own bottles of. To make this bracket a bit more fair than the Diamine bracket, I listed the bottles by number of uses, then looked for inks in the same color family with the closest number of uses possible. That way, as much as possible, I could avoid comparing an ink I love and use a lot to an ink I just got or have used significantly less. I’ve included the number of times I’ve used each ink in a pen in parentheses after the name in round 1.

Disclaimer: To have isolated photos of each bottle I pulled images from: Colorverse, Inky Inspirations, and Papier & Stift.

Floofenstein: Our Gorgeous Boy

Posted in Cat

Hi, welcome to Whisker Wednesday! Wednesdays will be dedicated to cat posts for the next few weeks, FYI.

I’ll do my best to keep this fairly brief, and the easiest way for me to do that is to go through what happened each day because it’s been A LOT! If you didn’t read my first post about Floofenstein, I suggest you do so. That post left off once I got him back in the bathroom after he orchestrated a sneaky escape the night he walked into our trap.

Sunday, March 16

The next morning, Floofers hissed at me when I first entered his bathroom. But, after a couple of gentle head pets — with gardening gloves on, just in case — he settled right down. Jim and I worked together — Jim distracting Floofenstein with head pets — to comb the, probably literal, crap out of Floofers’ tail with a flea comb. I also managed to get some of the Douxo S3 SEB mousse on his wound. I didn’t know if it would do any good, but, since the emergency vet had suggested we put it on Athena’s wounds, I didn’t think it would harm him any.

Ink Dupes #15: Diamine and Stipula

Posted in Ink

I’ve revamped ink dupes to bring them back. Where, previously, my ink dupes posts were more like double reviews, going forward they will be about art. I know that isn’t a perfect translation to writing with the ink, but I’m doing my best to include “wet” sections with a lot of ink and “dry” sections with less ink to simulate broader and finer nibs, respectively.

I have no set schedule for ink dupes, and they won’t replace my ink battles, but they will help me get rid of some inks.

I hope you enjoy the new ink dupes!

Floofenstein: The Injured Rockstar

Posted in Cat

So…I meant to just write one post about Floofenstein — pronounced Floof-in-stine — but this one got pretty long, and it really only covers the “prequel.” So, I’m going to break up this introduction into as many parts as necessary to keep any one part from getting too long. With that said, let’s dive in.


I didn’t think we’d be welcoming a new family member this soon after losing Bumbledore. However, he, apparently, had other ideas — more on that later.

So, allow me to introduce Floofenstein, AKA Floofs, or Floofers. We’re pretty sure he was a stray cat — because he certainly wasn’t feral — and is an absolute sweetheart. I call him a rockstar because he reminds me of an 80s hair band… or Rum Tum Tugger.

Floofenstein standing on our porch
Just look at that shiny coat and floofy tail!!

Tag Questions Revisited

Posted in Fountain Pens, and Ink

My original thought with this post was to revisit a single tag post and answer all of the questions a second time. But, as I looked through the various posts, I realized that many of my answers haven’t changed.

So, instead, I pulled out questions where my answers actually have changed from a variety of posts I hope you like this little redux.

The Fountain Pens Tag (9/14/21)

This post was based on The Eyeshadow Tag from the beauty side of YouTube.

1. What is your newest fountain pen?

BWIPS 2025 Recap

Posted in Pen Shows

For the first time since we started attending pen shows, Jim and I were uncertain of the extent of our attendance. With Ritz so sick, we had discussed Jim dropping me off in time for my 2 pm nib appointment on Friday, and returning to pick me up after my seminar on Sunday. I wasn’t looking forward to attending the show alone.

But, thankfully, last Sunday (3/2) Ritz started to rally. He improved rapidly, possibly aided by the antibiotics we started giving him on Monday evening. By Thursday, he was back to normal, and we were set to attend the full show as a mini vacation.

And now Ritz is sick

Posted in Cat

This has been the longest year of my life so far, and we’re only just finishing February.

You know I lost my beloved familiar, Bumbledore, in January. Then all of the horrible changes in the USA started with the new regime. Then, our HVAC system died and had to be replaced. I’ve never been hit with so many major expenses and emotionally fraught events in such quick succession.

And now, Ritz is sick.

He’s had an emergency vet visit, several diagnostic tests at our regular vet, and is currently in the hospital as we try to figure out what’s wrong with him.

Stationery Wishlist Tag

Posted in Fountain Pens, and Stationery

It’s been over a month since my last tag post, almost 2 months if you don’t count my resolutions post from January. Which means it’s definitely time for another. Per usual, I adapted this tag from the makeup world. This post is inspired by Angelica Nyqvist‘s video The Makeup Wishlist Tag | Indie Palettes & Boujee Gems. In that video, they credit Drea CN with creating the tag.


1. What is the next stationery item you’re planning to buy?

This is difficult. I currently have three commissions in the works, one pen on hold with a good friend, and a commission I want to get started. I don’t know when to expect any of the commissions to be ready. That said, BWIPS is only 2 weekends away, and I have 2 nib appointments already scheduled. So, I’m assuming my next purchased will be a nib grind, a nib to grind, or ink.

Ink Battle: Van Dieman’s and Wearingeul

Posted in Ink

This ink battle is between Van Dieman’s Feline Collection Catnip and Wearingeul Vayu. Both inks are in a pen fitted with an unaltered Jowo #6 Medium nib. The paper is blank Muji loose leaf A5 paper.

For this particular Ink Battle, I’m comparing two ink samples, trying to decide which to purchase. Catnip and Vayu are both seafoam green

Between myself and Jim buying inks, we own far too many. This means I have some inks that are incredibly similar in color. And, because of that, I need to figure out which inks to keep and which to dispose of. Sometimes, I have samples of two or more similar inks that I'm trying to decide which to buy, or if I should buy one ink when I already own a bottle of a similar one.

Enter ink battles. I put the similar inks into pens with the same nibs (two Jowo #6 M, two TWSBI F, etc.), or I create ink splats and doodles, to test them out to see which I like better. Or, I may find out that they’re sufficiently different to keep.

You can assume I have no problems with any ink that appears in an ink battle. I may find, when using the inks side-by-side, that there are performance differences, but the point of the battle is to choose a favorite ink, a "winner". These choices are often subjective, and you may disagree with me.

An ink battle — unlike ink dupes — is between inks I like. I enjoy using them enough to have them in my "for use" ink collection — as opposed to my repository of inks for testing dupes. If an ink performed poorly or caused problems, I wouldn’t keep it. And, if that were the case, an ink battle would be unnecessary.

Reminder: You can find all of the ink battle posts on the tag page.

Pen Rotation Changes

Posted in Fountain Pens

I mentioned in my Pen Resolutions Tag 2025 post that I’d “made some major changes this November,” referring to Nov. 2024. While I’m rather behind in sharing them, better late than never, right?

Standard Rotation Changes

The biggest change was to my standard pen rotation and storage. Remember less expensive, more expensive, and indie-made? Well, no more of that. While I still have 3 groupings, they are now:

What Makes a Good Ink Bottle?

Posted in Ink

This post is a response to UK Fountain Pens’ post, What Makes a Good Ink Bottle? Reading Anthony’s post got me thinking about what I think makes a good ink bottle. After all, I know I’m a bit odd with how I fill my pens.

From the original

While I highly suggest you take a couple of minutes to read Anthony’s post, as a recap, or if you don’t have time, he posits there are four main factors to a “good” ink bottle:

Long Live the King

Posted in Cat

When the time comes, the hardest part of being a pet parent is giving your furbaby a dignified exit. I feel it is our duty to gift them freedom from pain and suffering if at all possible. It is a small return for the gift of their love, their presence in our lives. Bumbledore gave me, us, so very much. He completely changed our lives and taught us just how much love can heal. So, we gave him peace, at the expense of our own.

My Current Pen Wish List – Jan. 2025

Posted in Fountain Pens

NOTE: This post closes out my 2024 end-of-year and 2025 start-of-year series, and I’m looking forward to a break. I will likely post once a week at most through the end of February.

I think my wish list this year is the smallest it has ever been. But, before I jump in, I will acknowledge that I didn’t, technically, cross anything off of last year’s list. I received the three pens I’d commissioned at the beginning of the year: the 3D scrollwork sleeve, the Eowyn, and the Pride and Prejudice pen. And I commissioned, but haven’t yet received, the Tailored Pen Co. Trekker.

Pen Resolutions Tag 2025

Posted in Fountain Pens, Ink, Paper, and Stationery

This is the fourth time I’m posting under this tag. You can see the previous years’ answers on the “start of year” tag page. This idea was originally adapted from Theresa is Dead’s video: OH 2021… | BEAUTY RESOLUTIONS TAG video. The Beauty Resolutions Tag originated with Mel Thompson.

With each year I’ve answered these questions, I’ve found some of them harder to answer. While I originally tried to stick as close to the original makeup version as possible, I need to make some drastic changes to some of these questions. I tried to choose questions that will work for many years moving forward so I don’t have to keep changing them.

1. What is something you do regularly in your pen routine that you will try to stop?

Answer from 2024: I’m pretty happy with my pen routine for now, especially after the changes I made in November. I think I need to come up with a new question for next year. Clearly, there’s nothing to comment on from last year’s answer. Funnily enough, though, I made some major changes this November, too. I’ll try to post about it soon.

Blog Review – 2024

Posted in Random Reflections

In my final look back at 2024, I’m looking at my blog performance and favorite posts again. You know that I love data, so this type of post is a lot of fun for me. If you enjoy data, too, take a look at the Data tag for posts you may have missed.

As I’ve said before, I’m well aware that the stats I have available to me are almost certainly tainted by bots, VPNs, etc. But, they’re still fun to look through. I know there are some other data nerds out there, so this post goes out to you.

Reviewing My 2024 Purchasing Habits

Posted in Fountain Pens

I’m not sure I’m going to continue this post in future years. I cover my purchases in my pen collection stats post, and I go over my purchasing goals in my pen resolutions post (coming Wednesday). That means the only truly unique information in this post is the purchases by month table. Is that enough to keep this post going?

Moving on… how did I do last year? If you saw my stats or collection posts, you know I actually came in under my 36-pen goal!! Go me!!!