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. 😉
Rachel's Reflections Posts
2023 DC Pen Show, Part 3
Posted in Pen Shows
The Joy of Community
I’ve said in previous posts that the fountain pen community is amazing. The DC Pen Show was an excellent reminder of this. For both Jim and I, the focus — and highlight — of the show was socializing with pen friends.
It’s been easy, for the past few years, to forget what a great community the pen world is. In general, members are welcoming and helpful. The experienced members tend to be generous in sharing their knowledge, and sometimes inks or even pens for testing.
2023 DC Pen Show, Part 2
Posted in Pen Shows
How to Make it Even Better
I want to start this post by ensuring any reader knows that I’m not writing this to denigrate the DC Pen Show, the show organizers, or the venue. This post is going to seem negative since I’m writing about issues I had with the show and venue. But, nothing is perfect, and you can’t improve without input. So, that’s what I’m trying to do: provide input and suggestions for improvement.
I also want to acknowledge that Barbara and her team have improved the DC Pen Show by leaps and bounds. Their work to better the show for vendors and attendees deserves recognition. I want to help the show organizers continue to make the DC Pen Show even better.
Now, with my purpose explained, let’s dive into the few issues I had with and at the DC Pen Show and some possible ideas for mitigation.
2023 DC Pen Show, Part 1
Posted in Pen Shows
General Show Experience
While absolutely exhausting, I have to say that this year’s DC Pen Show has been my favorite by far of all the ones I have attended. I got to chat with so many pen friends, meet new people, strengthen relationships, and reconnect with older friends.
For those who didn’t attend the DC Pen Show last year, and/or who didn’t read my blog posts, the show hotel underwent a major renovation — it was in progress during last year’s show — so multiple areas were seriously altered in comparison to previous years.
I have a lot to say for my show review this year, so check out my post about it later this week.
A Fulfilling Micro Collection
Posted in Fountain Pens
The Goulet Pen Company posted a Q&A Slice video on YouTube Can These 5 Pens Cover ALL of Your Needs?, with the answer to a question from user Adams1030.
If you had to curate a standard 5-pen collection that in theory would cover almost all of a person’s fountain pen needs, what would that collection be?
The question is interesting, and Drew’s answer was fun. While I wouldn’t be happy with just the five pens I list below — I enjoy variety — I think they would satisfy most of the general pen desires. So, allow me to share my version of the 5-pen collection. My goal was to provide a wide range of writing experiences without breaking the bank on any one pen.
Athena: Life After FIP
Posted in Cat
This post is a continuation of my series on her treatment and integration into the household. If you haven’t already, I suggest reading my previous posts on her. You can find them on her tag page.
Let’s get the big news out of the way: we are officially considering Athena cured. *Cue applause*
Because of this, I’m changing a couple of aspects of these posts, including the frequency. Unless anything catastrophic happens, I’ll be switching to posting about Athena every other month. If I don’t have enough to share, I may increase time between posts.
Second, as we are now considering Athena cured, I’m restarting the counts to “Post Cured.” I’m not going to count days anymore, I’m just going to count months — e.g. July 3rd is 0-Day post cured, August 3rd will be 1 month post cured, and so on.
21 Pen Questions
Posted in Fountain Pens
I know, I know, I’m jumping on this bandwagon super late. But, Tom Oddo included his responses in issue 392 of Ink Journal, and this most recent entry for this trend finally made decide to follow suit. If you haven’t seen this tag yet, it originates with Ana from The Well Appointed Desk.
1: What is the pen they’ll have to pry out of your cold dead hands?
There are many, but I think the most precious is my Bumbledore pen from Stanford Pen Studio.
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. 😉
The History
The Sailor Professional Gear Sakura Nagare is a rather special pen. I came across the design while looking up photos for my out of reach pens post. The one I saw then was the new, 19111 King of Pen model. It was so pretty, I did a quick Google search to learn more.
Dethroned Favorites
Posted in Fountain Pens, and Ink
This post is inspired by Glitter Fallout‘s video FAVORITES THAT HAVE BEEN DETHRONED 💔 Make way for the new! | GlitterFallout. In that video, they credit Samantha March with coming up with the idea.
In working on this post, I surprised myself with how few favorites I’ve abandoned. I expected to have plenty to choose from, but I struggled to get enough for a full post. Whether I’m highly loyal to my favorites, or I’m super picky about what makes it to “favorite” status, I’m not sure, but they equal out to the same thing: a short list.
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. 😉
Ink Battle: Colorverse and Diamine
Posted in Ink
No matter how much I try to sample or test an ink before buying it, sometimes that isn’t possible. Because of this, I have some inks that are incredibly similar in color. That’s where “ink battles” come in.
You can assume I have no problems with any ink that appears in an ink battle. I may decide, when using the inks side-by-side, that one performs better, but the point of the battle is to choose a favorite color. I use a pair of similar inks in pens with the same nib, then test them out to see which I like better.
Or, I may find out that, when used with the same nib, they’re sufficiently different to keep them both. Depending on how these “battles” turn out, I may tag some of the posts as ink dupes as well. You can find all of the ink battles posts on the tag page.
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. 😉
Back in November last year, Stanford Pen Studio posted a giraffe pen in a stunning color palette. I’ve never been a giraffe fanatic, so I held off buying it. When I finally decided to get it anyway, I found out I was too late, it had already sold. But, that left me with an opportunity. I asked Di if it would be possible to get the same color palette, but with a hummingbird as the subject. She took my request to Marian Binder, the artist who painted the giraffe pen, who agreed to the commission.
Fast forward a few months, and this beauty, and its accompanying bright packaging, made it to my door. Of course, with something this awesome, I have to share it with you.
Don’t Pay the Pen Tax
Posted in Fountain Pens
There are several pen maintenance supplies that have been repurposed from other walks of life. As sometimes happens, these items are subject to a markup when sold as pen items — let’s call it a pen tax.
So, I want to walk you through some items that you should purchase in their original form/under their original uses.
Note: I’m including Amazon links for the “original” form because it’s easy and available to everyone. I’m sure there are many other locations you can buy these.
2023 Mid-Year Check-In
Posted in Fountain Pens
When I wrote about my previous month’s purchases in January and February, I intended it to be a monthly post, but life derailed that idea. Now that we’ve made it halfway through the year, it seems like a good time for a check-in on my 36 pens maximum for the year.
I’m only counting the fountain pens I purchased. Gifts don’t count, and neither do rollerball or ballpoint pens.
St. Louis Pen Show Haul
Posted in Fountain Pens, Non-Fountain Pens, Paper, and Pen Shows
I typically share my pen show haul after each show I attend. I see no reason to diverge from that for this show. However, be prepared, because my haul is not pen heavy this time. Shocking, I know.
Let’s start with the pens, shall we?
Athena: Is She Cured?
Posted in Cat
This post is a continuation of my series on her treatment and integration into the household. If you haven’t already, I suggest reading my previous posts on her. You can find them on her tag page.
Like the previous posts, this one is in a journal-esque format. I’m covering major/important events and updates, rather than what happens each day.
2023 St. Louis Pen Show
Posted in Pen Shows
Jim and I needed a vacation after all of the Athena stress, but we had trouble figuring out where to go. We ended up deciding on a long weekend trip to the St. Louis Pen Show. We weren’t really sure what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised.
The entrance/registration desk was at the same level as the hotel lobby, with the show itself one floor below. Thankfully, there were both two elevators and a stairway, so there wasn’t a bottleneck — at least not that I saw.
The space allotted for the show was rather large. There were two adjoining rooms, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say there was a large conference/ballroom with an anteroom. However, you want to look at it, both areas were used as show floor.
Ink Battle: Diamine and Monarca
Posted in Ink
As I mentioned in my first ink battle post I do my best to purchase inks I’ve already tested, but that isn’t always possible. And so, more often than I would like, I end up with a couple — or more — inks that are very similar.
Based on the comments that I received on my last post, I need to clarify a couple of things. An ink battle — unlike ink dupes — is between two inks I like. I enjoy using them enough to have them both in my ink collection. If one of the inks performed poorly or caused problems, I wouldn’t keep it. And, if that were the case, an ink battle would be unnecessary.
Bottom line: you can assume I have no problems with any ink that appears in an ink battle. I may decide, when using the inks side-by-side, that one performs better, but the point of the battle is to choose a favorite color. I use a pair of similar inks in pens with the same nib, then test them out to see which I like better.
Ink Rainbow
Posted in Ink
I’ve got another tag post today, but it actually originates in the fountain pen world this time! Issue 338 of Ink Journal (6/11/23) featured Ginger Peachy Pens‘ YouTube video, A Rainbow of Ink Faves TAG #InkRainbow23.
An ink rainbow seems especially apropos given that it’s pride month. I’m following Sarah’s rule of going with the first ink to come to mind in each color category, but I’m adjusting the color categories somewhat.
I don’t have enough pink inks to need a magenta-specific category, but I do have enough gray inks to warrant their own category. I also have enough blues and purples to add blue-black and blurple.
Fountain Pen Cosplay
Posted in Fountain Pens, and Personal
If you’re a member of Goulet Nation, or if you follow me on Instagram, there’s a good chance you know about my Makeup Monday posts. On any Monday that I have the time to do so, I match my makeup to a pen. Usually a pen I own, occasionally a pen I want, sometimes one of NibsAndFlourishes beautiful photos.
At some point, someone on Goulet Nation called it fountain pen cosplay. While I still wish people a happy Makeup Monday, I tend to think of the matching by that term. Over the years that I’ve been “cosplaying” as fountain pens, I can’t count the number of times someone has requested that I teach a class or write a post. So, I’m finally doing so. Having said that, I’ve tried to write this post so many times. Never have I started a post as many times as I have this one. But, I think I’ve got it figured out now.
Be aware, this post is really long. I’ve added links so you can pop straight down to any section that interests you if you don’t want to read the whole thing.