Category: Stationery

Pen Porn: SPS Delft Cats

Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Delft Cats

November 1, 2024

Rachel

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Pen Porn: SPS Delft Cats

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. 😉

As with my other two pens by Yulia Glas, this was not a commission. But, somehow, she was able to create a pen that seems like it’s made specifically for me. And I snagged it within seconds of it posting.

To start, I’ve wanted a pen to represent my Dutch heritage for a while. While my family wasn’t from Delft, Delft Blue is certainly a famous Dutch export.

Then, she included four cats — Jim and I have four cats. And she even managed to paint personalities that match my kitties’ personalities. It’s amazing!

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SPS Series: Spotlight on Val Myburgh

October 30, 2024

Rachel

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SPS Series: Spotlight on Val Myburgh

Posted in Fountain Pens

Welcome, or welcome back, to my Stanford Pen Studio (SPS) series. If you haven’t seen my previous posts, I suggest you check them out to see the amazing work the SPS collective produces. This entry is spotlighting Val Myburgh who you can find on her website, Facebook, Instagram, and X/Twitter.

Val is the second SPS artist I commissioned a pen from, but she bears the distinction of being the first SPS partner artist. She specializes in educational, medical and scientific illustrations, with an amazingly diverse portfolio of work. Val works both traditionally and digitally, and it looks like there aren’t many techniques she hasn’t tackled.

One of Val's non-pen artworks, digital renderings of various animal skeletons overlaid on their bodies — Photos from Val’s Facebook page, click on a photo to view the post.

One of Val's non-pen artworks, a mixed media monarch butterfly — Photos from Val’s Facebook page, click on a photo to view the post.

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SPS Series: Spotlight on Hanna Farmer

October 28, 2024

Rachel

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SPS Series: Spotlight on Hanna Farmer

Posted in Fountain Pens

Welcome, or welcome back, to my Stanford Pen Studio (SPS) series. If you haven’t seen my previous posts, I suggest you check them out to see the amazing work the SPS collective produces. This entry is spotlighting Hanna Farmer who you can find on Facebook and Instagram

Hanna Farmer is the third SPS artist I commissioned a pen from — in this case, pens, plural. Her specialty, both in traditional and pen art, is nature-inspired zendoodles, an incredibly intricate craft, as can be seen in the photos below. Hanna’s tools of choice include Sakura Pigment Micron pens of various sizes, and that carried over into her pen art.

A zen-doodle portrait, one of Hanna's recent non-pen works of art. — Photos from Hanna’s Instagram feed, click on a photo to view the post.

One of Hanna's recent non-pen artworks in progress, a bird sitting on a branch with blue watercolor doodles behind it — Photos from Hanna’s Instagram feed, click on a photo to view the post.

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Pen Porn: SPS Cats and Books

Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Cats and Books

October 25, 2024

Rachel

5 Comments

Pen Porn: SPS Cats and Books

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 fell in love with this pen when Yulia Glas posted her first preview of it to her stories. Then, when I saw the second preview, I knew I needed to have it. Cats AND books?! Literally two of my favorite things! I turned on alerts for Stanford Pen Studio (SPS), and pounced (pun intended) as soon as they posted the pen for sale. Before you continue reading my post, I suggest watching Di’s video — it’s only 90 seconds — where she reads each book title.

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Spotlight on Stanford Pen Studio

October 23, 2024

Rachel

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Spotlight on Stanford Pen Studio

Posted in Fountain Pens

My love of Stanford Pen Studio (SPS) started with the first pen I commissioned from them back in 2022. This was when they were still Stanford Wood Studio, and before they began collaborating with other artists. But even then, Di and Dave Möhr were making gorgeous works of art.

photo from Stanford Pen Studio's Instagram feed. Click to go to the post — Photos from SPS’ Instagram feed, click on a photo to view the post.

Since then, SPS has carved out a large name for themselves in the pen world and my pen collection. I own more pens from them than from any other indie maker — 10, and soon to be 11! I only own 6 from the next most prevalent indie brand in my collection.

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Ink Battle: Bungubox, Robert Oster, Sailor, and Sailor

October 18, 2024

Rachel

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Ink Battle: Bungubox, Robert Oster, Sailor, and Sailor

Posted in Ink

This is a four-way ink battle is between Bungubox The Ink of Witch, Robert Oster Black Violet, Sailor Ink Studio 752, and Sailor x Tinterías Blue Corn. The ink splat battle is on Canson recycled bristol and the water battle is on Fluid hot press watercolor paper.

Today, while it’s a battle between four inks, it’s a traditional ink battle. I own a bottle of all four inks. When writing, and in my ink swatch book, they look similar enough to be considered dupes, and I wanted to test that.

With the exception of Blue Corn, which is a limited edition of 300 bottles, these are all part of their respective brand’s standard ink lineup.

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.

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Pen Porn: Engraved Sleeve

Pen Porn Country Made Pens Engraved Sleeve

October 11, 2024

Rachel

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Pen Porn: Engraved Sleeve

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 spotted this pen on Country Made Pens‘ Instagram feed back in 2020. This was before engraved and painted pens jumped in popularity — and availability — among indie makers. I can’t remember how long I’d been following Troy at that point, but I hadn’t seen a pen like this before, and I wanted it.

What looked great on Instagram looked even better in person, and I’ve done my best to give you a good, close look at this gorgeous engraving.

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Ink Battle: Diamine and Diamine

October 4, 2024

Rachel

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Ink Battle: Diamine and Diamine

Posted in Ink

This ink battle is between Diamine One More Sleep and Diamine x Cult Pens Platinum Jubilee. The inks weren’t in any pens, but I did use a Sailor Hocoro dip pen with an F nib. The paper is Canson recycled bristol.

For those unfamiliar with these inks, One More Sleep is an ink from Diamine’s Inkvent Green edition (2022). Platinum Jubilee is a Cult Pens exclusive developed for — as the name implies — Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee in 2022. It has shimmer, but Diamine shimmers settle completely, which I let happen for this battle so I can just compare the colors.

Today’s ink battle is definitely also an ink dupe. So, I decided to have fun with another battle inspired by Azizah‘s Inky Messes and Candace‘s Doodling with Fountain Pens classes.

Ink Battles Explained

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

Rachel

Am I a Weirdo?

Posted in Fountain Pens, Ink, and Stationery

Well, yes, definitely, but perhaps I should explain better.

I’ve had this post on my “idea list” for quite a while. It was time to buckle down and finally write it. I know I think differently than many others. I get reminded of that fairly often. That’s what inspired this post. I’m curious to see if I’m basically alone in these feelings, opinions, and actions, or if others agree and/or do the same.

Pen Care

Cleaning pens each week

Let’s start with an easy one. I know there are people out there who do this.

With rare exceptions, I clean out my pens within a week of finishing their rotation. And I ALWAYS clean my pens before putting them away. I also don’t mind cleaning out my pens. It’s not the best part of pen ownership, but it’s not onerous.

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Pen Porn: Journey in Space

September 27, 2024

Rachel

6 Comments

Pen Porn: Journey in Space

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 pen images to view them larger. I do my best to provide you with high-quality pen porn. 😉

I first saw this pen as a story on Yulia Glas‘ Instagram account. I thought she was planning a bubble pen. Clearly, I was very wrong. I believe I next saw it on Stanford Pen Studio‘s stories, and knew I had to have it.

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I Like Mechanical Pencils, Too

September 18, 2024

Rachel

3 Comments

I Like Mechanical Pencils, Too

Posted in Stationery

I’ve got something a little different for you today. Rather than pens, I’m devoting a post to pencils. Mechanical pencils, to be specific. NOTE: I’m not affiliated with JetPens in any way, they simply have a lot of useful information and carry a lot of cool stuff.

My Pencil History

Through middle and high school — grades/years 6-12 of my education — I used mechanical pencils as my primary writing implements. Then in college/university, I continued using mechanical pencils fairly often.

My favorite was a 0.5mm Pilot Dr. Grip Ltd in pale blue. I don’t have it anymore — it finally fell apart a few years ago — but it was the same as the one in this review.

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Ink Battle: Robert Oster and Lamy

September 13, 2024

Rachel

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Ink Battle: Robert Oster and Lamy

Posted in Ink

This ink battle is between Robert Oster Velvet Storm and Lamy Petrol — Lamy’s Safari-matching ink from 2017. The inks weren’t in any pens, but I did use a Sailor Hocoro dip pen with an F nib. The paper is Kokuyo KB loose leaf.

Today’s ink battle is also an ink dupe with two “off-black” inks. Since they’re so dark, I decided to play with them so you can truly see their potential. Inspired by Azizah‘s Inky Messes and Candace‘s Doodling with Fountain Pens classes, I have a truly inky battle.

Ink Battles Explained

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

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Keeping Nibs Straight

September 11, 2024

Rachel

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Keeping Nibs Straight

Posted in Fountain Pens

If you’ve been here a while, you already know I have a lot of altered nibs. If you’re fairly new here, then my recent nib overview post likely gave you a clue.

I have 32 altered nibs from 9 different nib customizers/meisters. About 10-15 nibs ago, I realized I need a foolproof way to keep track of them. I settled on a two-part system involving marking the nibs and storing them.

Storage

The storage is the simpler part, and likely isn’t unique to me. I store the nibs in a bead storage box. I’ve done this for a while, but recently downsized for portability. I store the rest of my unaltered nibs in the previous, larger container.

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Pen Porn: Aurora 100° Anniversario

September 6, 2024

Rachel

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Pen Porn: Aurora 100° Anniversario

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. 😉

To be completely transparent, I’ve been feeling a bit disenchanted with the 100° Anniversario since Aurora released the Duca. I don’t like that a pen as special as this one — developed as the company’s signature 100th anniversary pen — has been “copied-and-pasted” in blue for a regular release. I’m hoping this post will rekindle my love for it.

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Ink Battle: Kyo No Oto and Colorverse

August 30, 2024

Rachel

7 Comments

Ink Battle: Kyo No Oto and Colorverse

Posted in Ink

This ink battle is between Kyo No Oto Yamabukiiro and Colorverse Adobe. Both inks are in a pen fitted with a #6 Jowo M nib. The paper is Muji loose leaf plain.

Today’s ink battle is another bout of bottle versus sample. It determined if I keep my sample of Yamabukiiro in use, or relegate it to the “for dupes” baskets. If I keep it and go through the whole sample, then I’ll consider getting a bottle.

Ink Battles Explained

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

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Pen Show Nibs Overviews

August 23, 2024

Rachel

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Pen Show Nibs Overviews

Posted in Fountain Pens

As promised, I give you a post dedicated to the five nibs I bought at the DC Pen Show this year. This post is part showing off — sorry, but at least I admit it — because the nibs are awesome, and part review.

This is absolutely not a rating or ranking post. I’m sharing these alphabetically by nibmeister then by nib grind name. You can click on any picture to view it larger.

Rachel

Displaying My Pens

Posted in Fountain Pens

As I’ve said before, I have a lot of pens, too many, really. I can’t use them as much as I’d like, which means they spend far too much time put away in pen cases. Most of my pens are in use for only a week at a time. That means none of them, and especially my special pens, don’t get the appreciation they deserve.

When my pen collection first expanded to include pens that couldn’t go in a standard pen case — mainly urushi pens — I kept them in pen sleeves. After a while, I decided to get a pen box. It didn’t take me long to move the pen box to one of the display cases I’d purchased years before for my Pop Figure collection.

Rachel

2024 DC Pen Show

Posted in Pen Shows

I’m alive! Mostly. I’m still sick as I write this. Someone dropped a free case of COVID in my DC Pen Show shopping bag. And, since I don’t know who did it, I can’t even return it. *sigh* So, please forgive how long it took me to get this written and posted.

That said, I had a blast at the DC Pen Show this year. As I mentioned in my pen show prep post, I had an initial shopping list to get me started:

2 broad Jowo nibs
For my nibmeister appointments
3-pen case
Diamine Sailor’s Warning
I needed this after the Wistful Watermelon/Sailor’s Warning battle. And I was hoping to get a bottle with the Sailor’s Warning label (rather than the new Red Sky label).

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Defining “Pretty Ink Stick”

July 31, 2024

Rachel

3 Comments

Defining “Pretty Ink Stick”

Posted in Fountain Pens

As I’ve mentioned a few times now, one of my rules for this year is to not purchase any “pretty ink sticks” — which I’ve broken. As the DC Pen Show has approached, “pretty ink sticks” have come to mind more, since I know I’ll see lots of them. But, recently, I’ve been considering, what qualifies as a “pretty ink stick?”

Before I really get into this post, I want to make clear that I don’t consider “pretty ink stick” derogatory in any way. It’s a classification of pen — along the lines of urushi, black pen, and painted — one which many people love. I feel like many people, though, use “pretty ink stick” as an alternate term for “indie pen.” And that, to me, is derogatory. So I want a better definition.

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Prepping for a Pen Show

July 29, 2024

Rachel

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Prepping for a Pen Show

Posted in Pen Shows

Attribution: I could not for the life of me find my overview images of the DC Pen Show, so I took to Google. The background image I used in the share images for Instagram and Facebook is from The Looped Square‘s DC Pen Show Recap – 2022 post.

We’re in the final countdown to the DC Pen Show. While I always look forward to pen shows, I also look forward to the return to normalcy after. The closer a show gets, the more brain power and higher percentage of my thoughts it claims. This week, I’ll be working hard to think of, and accomplish, something other than preparing for the show.

Since I haven’t really shared my pen show prep schedule before, I thought I’d give it a go and see if it will help to get my thoughts out of my head.

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