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Category: Stationery

Pen Show Planning

Pen Show Planning

Pen Show Planning

Posted in Pen Shows

Somehow — seriously, how??? — the DC Pen Show is a week away!!!! I’m so far behind in terms of getting ready.

I missed quite a bit of the show last year with my haphazard way of dashing from one person I know to the next. I don’t want to do that again. So I need to plan.

Schedule

First up is to figure out my schedule. Everything revolves around the show. What time do I want to arrive on Friday? What classes am I taking? What times are the classes I’m teaching? What scheduled plans do I have? And so on and so forth.

Never Buying These Again

Never Buying These Again

Never Buying These Again

Posted in Fountain Pens

If you’ve been here for a while, you know I like to keep this space as positive as possible. But, every once in a while, I let in some snark. Today is one of those posts, which you probably already knew from the title.

I’m sure some, or all, of these will be unpopular opinions. However, I have valid-to-me reasons for my opinions. So, I hope you enjoy the honesty and sprinkles of snark I chose to indulge in for this post.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s most of it.

Aurora

Aurora 100° Anniversario — Beautiful, yes, fantastic writing experience… not so much.

Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Intwana Kitten

Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Intwana Kitten

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Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Intwana Kitten

Posted in Fountain Pens

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

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

When we backed the Stanford Pen Studio (SPS) crowdfunder last year, I ordered two pens, and Jim ordered one. Imagine my surprise when Jim’s pen arrived with a stowaway! I’m honored to have been gifted one of the Intwana Kitten models with Brandon Lodewyk‘s art on it. Thank you so much to Di, Dave, and Brandon.

Not only is it a great fit for me — as a cat-themed pen — but it also means I have a pen with Brandon’s art now, putting me one step closer to having a pen with each partner artist’s work.

Stanford Pen Studio Intwana Kitten

Before I get started, I want to make sure you know 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.

2025 Mid-Year Check-In

Mid-Year Check-In

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2025 Mid-Year Check-In

Posted in Fountain Pens

After how slowly the first quarter of the year went by, it’s almost incomprehensible to me that we’re already half-way through 2025. But, here we are on day 183 of 2025, and that means it’s time for a mid-year check-in on my purchasing resolutions and wish list.

Purchasing

My rules for this year are:

Pens
- Add 30 pens max to my collection (including non-fountain pens and gifts).
- Limit mainstream brand acquisitions to 14.
- Don’t buy pretty ink sticks unless it’s a friend’s collaboration.
- Save up for pens rather than buying on credit and paying them off.
- Sell at least 10 pens.
Inks
- Don’t buy any bottles without trying a sample first, or at least seeing a swatch in person when it’s not possible to get a sample.
- Get rid of inks I’m not using.
- Use every “for use” ink sample at least once.

So, how am I doing?

Ink Dupes #16: Sailor, Platinum, and Pilot

Ink Dupes

Ink Dupes #16: Sailor, Platinum, and Pilot

Posted in Ink

As a reminder, this is my new format for ink dupes posts. Where, previously, my ink dupes posts were more like double reviews, now they’re 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.

Today’s post features Sailor x Disney Belle Yellow, Platinum Mixable Sunny Yellow, and Pilot Iroshizuku Daikokuten.

These three inks are all incredibly similar. While there may be minute differences in how they shade, unless you’re using them side by side in pens, I don’t think you’d notice the difference.

Stationery For Your Worst Enemy

Stationery for your worst enemy

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Stationery For Your Worst Enemy

Posted in Fountain Pens

This post is inspired by Angelica Nyqvist‘s video Products I Would Recommend To My WORST ENEMY… 😈. In that video, they credit Kelly Gooch and Kackie Reviews Beauty with coming up with the idea.

In looking through my notes on blog post ideas, I almost discounted this one because I was certain I’d already written it. But, there wasn’t a post on my blog, and I couldn’t find notes anywhere in my binders or a draft post. So, I’m finally writing this post I’ve been planning on for at least a year.

This is, of course, all in fun. I thought it would be a good laugh. If you love any of the products mentioned, that’s great. It means you didn’t waste money like I did.

Fountain Pen Rainbow 2025, Bi Edition

Fountain Pen Rainbow 2025 Bi Flag edition

Fountain Pen Rainbow 2025, Bi Edition

Posted in Fountain Pens

I hope you’re enjoying Pride Month! Since I didn’t get to a bisexual (bi) pride flag rainbow last year, I’m making sure to do one this year. Depending on which definitions you go with, bi and pansexual could both apply to me, but the bi flag has prettier colors.

I’ve done my best to not include any pens that were in either of my previous pen rainbows.

Pen Porn: Cypress Maki-e Goldfish

Pen Porn: Cypress Maki-e Goldfish

Pen Porn: Cypress Maki-e Goldfish

Posted in Fountain Pens

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

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

I don’t know if the first post I saw of the Maki-e Goldfish was the first time Cypress posted it, but I knew, instantly, I needed it, and left a comment to that effect. I received a message with an offer to hold one for me, at which point I discovered it wasn’t as expensive as I thought, and bought it. I have zero regrets.

Cypress Maki-e Goldfish

Stanford Pen Studio Model Comparison

Stanford pen studio model comparison

Stanford Pen Studio Model Comparison

Posted in Fountain Pens

Today’s post is a bit different for me, but I’ve been planning it since my first Intwana pens arrived in mid-March. Since the size of the Intwana surprised me, I wanted to share a comparison between Stanford Pen Studio‘s (SPS) original painted pen model, the Jabulani, and their new painted pen offering, the Intwana. But, life got in the way, like it does. Better late than never, though, right?

The models

For those completely unfamiliar with SPS’s pen models the two I’m comparing today are the Jabulani and the Intwana. They are the two models SPS offers with hand-painted and/or hand-drawn art on them. Allow me to share SPS’ own words on each model.

Fountain Pen Rainbow 2025

Fountain Pen Rainbow 2025

Fountain Pen Rainbow 2025

Posted in Fountain Pens

Happy Pride Month! It’s time for another pen rainbow. I made sure to only choose pens that weren’t in last year’s pen rainbow, which was difficult for the black pen. Would you be interested in seeing another post later in the month with the Bi flag colors? I didn’t get to that last year, but I could do it this year.

Proud pen addict button/pin

Like last year, I’ve included plenty of pen pictures, so this is a bit of a pen porn post, too. I kept the brown, black, and white pens, because who doesn’t want more pen pictures?

An Instant Burst of Happiness

An Instant Burst of Happiness

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An Instant Burst of Happiness

Posted in Stationery

Brad Dowdy — AKA The Pen Addict — posed an interesting question in last week’s member newsletter: Do you have any pens, pencils, or other stationery that gives you that instant burst of happiness, or a sneaky grin just for yourself? It was intriguing enough that I want to answer it in a post.

Honestly, this is precisely what I want my entire collection to be, both pens and ink. My goal is to get to a point where any pen I ink up gives me a burst of happiness. Of course, I’m still a ways away from that goal, especially with my inks.

That said, I do have a couple of general things in my collection that give me extra joy.

Ink Battle: Taccia and Colorverse

Ink Battle

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Ink Battle: Taccia and Colorverse

Posted in Ink

This ink battle is between Taccia Light Washed Jeans and Colorverse αCnc. Both inks are in a pens fitted with a Jowo #6 M nib. The paper is Muji loose leaf dot grid A5 paper.

Today’s ink battle is another bout of bottle versus sample. It determined if my sample of αCnC got to stay in use, or get relegated to the “for dupes” baskets. Were I to keep it in use and go through the whole sample, then I’d consider getting a bottle.

I love pale, desaturated blue inks, but they have to be bright/dark enough to read easily, even in F and EF nibs.

Ink Battles Explained

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 Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Intwana Seahorse

Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Intwana Seahorse

Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Intwana Seahorse

Posted in Fountain Pens

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

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

And now it’s time to share the second Intwana pen I ordered, Lisa Strachan‘s Seahorse.

Before I get started, I want to make sure you know 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.

SPS Intwana Seahorse

A Quick Reflection

A Quick Reflection

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A Quick Reflection

Posted in Fountain Pens

Work has been intense lately, leaving me without much brain power to work on my blog in the evenings. I’m hoping that will change soon. But, for now, I give you this quick look back at the pens I’ve owned the longest.

Lamy Safari Dark Lilac

Lamy Safari Dark Lilac

Of the pens still in my possession, the Lamy Safari Dark Lilac — Lamy’s 2016 special edition — is the one I’ve owned the longest.

Paper Systems and their Uses

Paper Systems and their Uses

Paper Systems and their Uses

Posted in Paper

I’m sure most of you have experienced either being known as, or knowing someone as, the “[insert item here]” person at work. I’m the pen person to many who have worked with me. Some of my closer colleagues have thought of me more as the stationery person.

Because of that, I’ve recently had several conversations with my colleagues about paper systems. Perhaps because the world is so crazy right now, there seems to be a greater desire to “get organized,” to have better control over your own little corner of the world.

And Now For Something Completely Different

And now for something completely different

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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.

Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Intwana Chameleon

Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Intwana Chameleon

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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

Inky Madness – Colorverse

Inky Madness Colorverse

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.

Ink Dupes #15: Diamine and Stipula

Ink Dupes

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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!

Tag Questions Revisited

Tag Questions Revisited

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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?