{"id":4741,"date":"2021-05-07T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=4741"},"modified":"2024-04-03T08:32:27","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T12:32:27","slug":"dia-de-muertos-pen3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/dia-de-muertos-pen3\/","title":{"rendered":"D\u00eda de Muertos, Pen Realized"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

I’m back with post three, so you know what that means. My pen arrived! If you have read my previous posts (1<\/a>, 2<\/a>), I suggest you do so to know how this pen came to be. Be forewarned, there is A LOT of pen porn in this post. And you can click\/tap any image to view it larger. I take no responsibility for pen envy, pen lust, or pen purchases resulting from the content in this post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Notification<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, April 27, Mr. Cypress<\/a> sent me a message on Instagram to let me know my pen was ready. And OH. MY. GOD. The photos they included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Photo<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Photo<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Photo<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Photo<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Photo<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Photo<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Cypress sent me a link I could use to pay, which I did, and by the next morning, I had a photo of the shipping label. It was a very easy process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shipping<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

FedEx’s tracking projected my pen would arrive on Monday, May 3, but they outdid themselves and got it to me by Friday, April 30. You can probably imagine my excitement when I checked my tracking app for a different package, only to discover that FedEx had stealthily delivered my d\u00eda de muertos pen. I didn’t waste a moment to hurry downstairs and grab it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Unboxing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I poked my head into Jim’s office to tell him “It’s here,” once I’d brought it inside. He helped me film an unboxing; although, sadly, my phone literally couldn’t handle the beauty of raden. If you want to watch the video, you can find it on my Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pen came very well packaged. There was the outer, cardboard box; a layer of bubble wrap; the inner, bamboo box \u2014 with a magnetic lid; a layer of bubble wrap; a hard plastic pen tube; and a drawstring bag all protecting it. Nothing was happening to it during transit.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"All<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Once I had the pen out, I was astonished. It’s gorgeous. Truly stunning. It absolutely blows my greatest expectations out of the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Dia<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dia<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dia<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dia<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Critique<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As much as I love my pen, I want to be completely transparent. There are flaws. However, I would say most, if not all, seem to be in the finishing stages. Granted, I am certainly no lacquer work expert. Although it could be argued whether or not this would affect the final result, I think it’s worth noting that this is the first pen that Mr. Cypress has completed that isn’t based on Asian imagery, styling, and iconography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The section suffered the most, looking almost as though the final layer of lacquer\/urushi was forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Dia<\/a>
See that matte area around each diamond?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The body has a few oddities, either areas that didn’t get polished enough, or that didn’t quite get filled in enough. Also on the body is an area that seems to not have enough lacquer, as you can see markings underneath. Finally, the candles at the end of the body have some slight placement issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Dia<\/a>
Notice the rectangular markings seen above the pennants.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dia<\/a>
Again, you can see the unpolished area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dia<\/a>
Look closely at the middle pennant on the top row.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dia<\/a>
Slightly mispositioned candles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The cap has minor placement issues as well, and a couple of spots where the lacquer overlays the shell. I think the biggest misplacement issue on the pen is the flower on the cap. However, seeing as part of d\u00eda de muertos revolves around marigold petals, perhaps the petal is merely getting plucked. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Dia<\/a>
See the lacquer overlapping the shell?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dia<\/a>
Probably the biggest misplacement issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dia<\/a>
Slight misalignment of the diamonds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Of these flaws, only the section actually bothers me at all, and that’s because it’s in front of my face, and under my fingers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall Thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Because I paid half \u2014 or less \u2014 that I would pay from most of the big companies that do urishi\/raden pens, I can’t be particularly bothered. I got an absolutely stunning work of art custom made for me. And not just any custom work, it’s raden work the likes of which I’ve never seen done before.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Dia<\/a>
Look at all those colors!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I also feel like the slight positioning flaws give my pen a more “human” feel, like a real person made it. I can picture someone working hard on it, putting their time and love into the art. While I admire the perfection of the work on the lacquer-based pens from Platinum and Pelikan, among others, it’s harder for me to picture someone working on them. The perfection is unreal, almost mechanical, to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Dia<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dia<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dia<\/a><\/figure>\n
I can’t get over how “colorful” this pen is thanks to the ever-shifting colors of the shell.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I’m really happy with my d\u00eda de muertos pen. Despite Mr. Cypress’ original warning, it’s not “one color” at all. The iridescence of the shell gives it nearly all the colors of the holiday. It’s one of my “always inked” pens, and I know it’s going to bring me joy for many years. If I had to rate it, I think I’d give it an 8.5\/10. And I 100% would recommend Mr. Cypress to anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So What Did I Ink it With?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I currently have Platinum Mixables Sunny Yellow in it. However, I’ll be ordering some ink samples to find a good marigold petal colored ink. I’ve got to keep the d\u00eda de muertos theme going.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Mr.<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

TLDR: A few flaws, but 8.5\/10. Love this pen, would recommend Mr. Cypress<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00ab Read the first post in this series<\/a> | \u00ab Read the previous post in this series<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve wanted a D\u00eda de Muertos fountain pen for several years now. Read the third and final entry in the chronicle of my custom fountain pen.<\/p>\n

Keep ReadingD\u00eda de Muertos, Pen Realized<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[376,261,137,198,43],"class_list":["post-4741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fountain-pens","tag-commission","tag-mr-cypress","tag-fountain-pen-reviews","tag-pen-porn","tag-story","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/20210503_201736.jpg?fit=810%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Z77k-1et","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6520,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/mr-cypress-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":4741,"position":0},"title":"Mr. Cypress \u2013 Pushing Boundaries","author":"Rachel","date":"January 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"With both of my Mr. Cypress pens having skull-themed designs, I'm in the unique position of being able to compare the two for you.","rel":"","context":"In "Fountain Pens"","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Macro photo showing the \"sketchy\" quality of the linework.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/20211223_145458.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/20211223_145458.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/20211223_145458.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4309,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/dia-de-muertos-pen\/","url_meta":{"origin":4741,"position":1},"title":"D\u00eda de Muertos, But Make it Pen","author":"Rachel","date":"February 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I've wanted a D\u00eda de Muertos fountain pen for several years now. Read the first entry in the chronicle of my custom fountain pen.","rel":"","context":"In "Fountain Pens"","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4418,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/dia-de-muertos-pen2\/","url_meta":{"origin":4741,"position":2},"title":"D\u00eda de Muertos, Making of the Pen","author":"Rachel","date":"March 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I've wanted a D\u00eda de Muertos fountain pen for several years now. Read the second entry in the chronicle of my custom fountain pen.","rel":"","context":"In "Fountain Pens"","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"dia de muertos sugar skull image found through Google.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ddmPenSugarSkullRef.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8399,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/pen-porn-cypress-dandelion\/","url_meta":{"origin":4741,"position":3},"title":"Pen Porn: Cypress Eggshell Series Dandelion","author":"Rachel","date":"October 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This gorgeous dandelion pen is just begging for a pen porn post. I hope you enjoy this beauty as much as I do.","rel":"","context":"In "Fountain Pens"","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"360 degree view of the Dandelion barrel design","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/360View-dandelion.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/360View-dandelion.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/360View-dandelion.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/360View-dandelion.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/360View-dandelion.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15313,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/fp-rainbow-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":4741,"position":4},"title":"Fountain Pen Rainbow 2025","author":"Rachel","date":"June 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy Pride Month! In celebration, I've once again pulled together a fun pen rainbow from my collection.","rel":"","context":"In "Fountain Pens"","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tailored Pen Co Trekker in Bees Knees","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/trailoredPenCo-Trekker-cutout.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/trailoredPenCo-Trekker-cutout.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/trailoredPenCo-Trekker-cutout.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/trailoredPenCo-Trekker-cutout.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7363,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/modern-raden\/","url_meta":{"origin":4741,"position":5},"title":"Pen Porn: Mr. Cypress Modern Raden Colorful Geometry","author":"Rachel","date":"April 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"No one can say this beautiful pen doesn't deserve a pen porn post. I hope you enjoy my overview of all the fabulous details.","rel":"","context":"In "Fountain Pens"","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"showing the raden fade of the modern raden pen","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/20220424_152742.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/20220424_152742.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/20220424_152742.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/20220424_152742.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/20220424_152742.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4741"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12793,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4741\/revisions\/12793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}