My ADHD brain in blog form.
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.
Posted in Fountain Pens
Tomorrow starts Pride Month, and as a proud pen collector, I couldn’t let it go by without a pen rainbow. It was hard to narrow down a single pen for each color, and even harder to stick to pens that are primarily one color — I didn’t fully succeed there. Maybe I’ll do another one of these later in the month with the Bi flag. We’ll see.
There are plenty of pen pictures, so this one could count as a pen porn post, too. To include more pens, I cheated a bit and added brown, black, and white. I know they aren’t actually part of the rainbow, but I doubt anyone will complain.
If you want to have some extra fun, try to guess what pens are in the “rainbow.”
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 had an incredibly difficult time putting this post together. I desperately wanted to do the pen, and the book, justice. If you’ve been following my blog for long enough, you may know how much Little Women means to me. But, if you haven’t, suffice to say that it was a favorite of both my mom and I, which has earned it a special place in my heart.
Part of why I requested this commission from Stanford Pen Studio was as a reminder of all the good times my mom and I had related to Little Women. I knew Hanna would do it justice since she did such an amazing job with my Pride and Prejudice pen.
With some of the purchasing decisions I’ve made over the past year (e.g. no more pretty ink sticks), I’ve decided to start from scratch with my wish list. But, before I jump in, allow me to at least mention what I crossed off of last year’s list.
I picked up an 18111 snowflake pen, the Gravitas Universe, and a Pens by Pasquale “ribbon” pen. Considering the number of pens I bought last year, it’s kind of sad that I didn’t clear more off my list.
Posted in Fountain Pens
Once again, I’m sharing my current top pens. Last year’s approach to my top tens worked well, making me actually stick to lists of 10. I swear, this post gets harder every year. The nibs aren’t too hard, but the pens! It takes me more and more time to narrow down to ten, and then actually figure out the order.
Since I’m keeping to the same format as last year, I’ll compare my lists
But without further preamble, enjoy my top tens of 2023.
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 where to start with the Sketched Fashion. This is my first pen from artist Val Myburgh, one of Stanford Pen Studio‘s artist collaborators. Like all but one of my Stanford Pen Studio purchases, this was a commissioned piece.
Before I dive into the pen porn, allow me to say that I refer to the art on this pen as “sketches” and various versions of that several times in this post. I don’t mean that the work is rough or unfinished. I’m referring to the linework style and the fact that there isn’t any color fill. Sketch seems like the best word to describe the style, and I want to make sure no one thinks I mean anything insulting.
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 wracked my brain for a while trying to figure out what to request for a Stanford Pen Studio pen painted by artist Hanna Farmer. That I wanted one, there was never any doubt. The intricate work she does is as amazing as it is beautiful.
When I finally decided on requesting a Pride & Prejudice themed pen, I couldn’t have dreamed of such a beautiful result.
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. 😉
Before I get started, I need to say that this isn’t my pen. I’m borrowing it from Jim because it deserves a pen porn post.
He’d wanted one of these “sea urchin” pens since Stanford Pen Studio first posted one. These dotted pens are painted by Di herself. Jim just happened to be lucky enough to scoop this one up when it posted.
Now, onto the photos!
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.
Posted in Fountain Pens
Once again, I’m sharing my current top pens. I took a somewhat different approach this year, so that I actually choose a top 10. I’m judging my pens based on appearance and the way they write. So I have two different top ten lists. Because of this, I won’t be comparing to last year’s top pens, which ended up being a top 28.
This was just as hard as I expected it to be. I’m fortunate enough to have an absolutely fabulous pen collection, so narrowing it down to my favorites grows increasingly difficult each year.
But without further preamble, enjoy my top 10 pens of 2022 by appearance and by nibs.
Posted in Fountain Pens, and Non-Fountain Pens
While it was difficult to do last year, ranking my pen purchases was a useful exercise. So, I decided to do it again. I have to say, I’m embarrassed by the long list of pens I purchased this year. I was hoping to buy less pens this year, not more. But I’ll discuss that in another post.
I realize that this is a long block of text. But, if I added a photo of each pen, it would take absolutely forever to get through. So, for pens that I’ve already discussed in a dedicated post, I’ve linked to that post (and the photos contained therein). For the rest, where possible, I linked to an Instagram photo from the pen maker or store they collaborated with. When that wasn’t possible, I linked to a good photo on Instagram (consider following those fine folks) or one of my own Instagram posts.
Posted in Fountain Pens, Ink, and Non-Fountain Pens
I had fun with this tag last year, so I decided to do it again. This idea was originally based on the “New Makeup Releases | THE TAG” video from Angelica Nyqvist.
This tag is about evaluating the releases — in this case pens & inks — from the past year.
Posted in Fountain Pens
While I didn’t quite buy from 15 new-to-me brands like last year, I did purchase from 9. Now, when I say new-to-me, I don’t mean I’ve never heard of them, just that I’d never before purchased a pen made by that brand.
Nearly all of them are indie brands, which makes me happy as I like supporting indie brands. And my interest continues to be piqued by indie brands more than mainstream brands.
Anyway, let’s start with mainstream brands to get that out of the way, then jump into the indie brands. FYI: The lists are in alphabetical order.
Posted in Fountain Pens
Part of what I like about indie-made pens is finding models, materials, etc. that are unique to a maker. Obviously, I don’t know every maker. Nor do I even come close to purchasing from every maker I know of. However, I want to dedicate this post to pens I know of that are unique to their respective makers. I’m listing these alphabetically by maker.
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 hardly know where to start with this treasure. I suppose it makes sense to begin at the beginning.
Posted in Fountain Pens
I’m back with Part 3! I meant to include my “always inked” pens in this post, but it’s already so long, I don’t want to make it longer. So, I guess there will be a part 4.
As with my other pens, I keep my indie pens in rainbow order. The exceptions being my two urushi pens and my Permies.World pens. Those three live in the pen display box, as I don’t want to run the risk of ruining them with the elastic bands.
Once again, please use the form at the end of this post to vote for pens you want to see “pen porn” posts about.
If you missed my review of Stanford Wood Studios (SWS) and their commission process, I suggest you go read it, as it provides the backstory to the African Miyuki Magic. But if you’re only here for the pen porn, then I hope this satisfies your voyeuristic desires. Click on an image to view it larger. Enjoy!
When I failed to check Stanford Wood Studio (SWS) off my 2021 wish list, I vowed to ensure I ordered from them in 2022. To that end, as I mentioned in my 2022 wish list post, I reserved a commission right at the beginning of January. But, before I dive into that, allow me to say that SWS was fabulous to work with. I believe I mostly, if not only, communicated with Di — she’s lovely. I appreciated the updates on my commission and her suggestions for making it better. And, once my pens arrived, I could — and can — see what fantastic work they — Di and Dave — do.
Well, it’s time to revisit my wish list. I’ve bought some pens, decided against others, and found new pens I want. My wish list still isn’t the longest it’s ever been, so I suppose that’s a good thing.
I’ve split my list into two: the “Tier One” that I’m actively looking to acquire, and “Tier Two” that I’d pick up if there’s a good deal, or if the stars align perfectly.
Posted in Fountain Pens
For a very short while earlier this year, I had a very minor pen wish list. But, I’m acquisitive by nature — I try to temper it, but the crow-brain is strong with this one — so, lo and behold, I have a significant wish list again. It’s not as long as it could be — or has been in the past — so at least there’s that.
I’m going to share my current wish list, and maybe revisit it a couple of times a year to see what I buy and what I ultimately decide against. Maybe you’ll find some pens to add to your wish list. Muahahaha — erm, *cough cough*. Sorry about that.
Note: I’ve listed these in alphabetical order by company name.
