The Well-Appointed Desk

Another California Pen Show is in the books. I flew out last Thursday on a very bumpy ride. I taught classes on Friday and Saturday and flew home on Sunday. I don’t normally leave a show on Sunday but airline ticket prices were much less expensive to fly out on Sunday then to wait until Monday so I missed one day of the show.

I taught Secrets from the Ink Collector: How to swatch and catalog your inks on Saturday afternoon and we had a great time. We used all sorts of tools and methods, made messes and found inky bliss. If you are attending the Chicago Stationery Fest, I am teaching this workshop again so you can get inky there too.

Friday evening, Lisa from Vanness Pen Shop hosted an event to learn a little bit about the pen community and give folks a chance to meet new friends, play with pens and hang out for a bit. Cheryl from Rickshaw Bagworks showed how designs are made and printed on a pen coozy and then how the pieces are assembled. Then I spoke about how the Col-o-ring came to be. Kimberly from All The Hobbies, talked through different types of nib shapes and we answered questions before we all just sat around and played with various pens and made new friends.

Saturday morning I taught Sigils: Make Magic with Pens & Ink with a group happy for a little coolness and calm in the Saturday mayhem. Several people who were maybe a little skeptical left the class with a little optimism and hope that something as simple as intentional doodling might help them on their life path. I’m so glad I was able to be part of their journey.

In between classes, I pinch-hit the ink towers at the Dromgoole’s booth. Many bottles of Wearinguel, Sailor, Pilot and Colorverse (as well as many others) went to the right and proper homes. I had lots of fun conversations and reconnections and even helped some folks find just the right ink for their new pen purchase. Around me was the rest of the Dromgoole’s team including Marty and Kimberly with all the Retro 51s and Rickshaw cases.

I’m kicking myself for not picking up one of the Year of the Snake designs:

I made just one purchase all weekend and I’ll share it soon. It wasn’t a big deal this year but I was happy to have one shiny new trinket.

On Saturday night, my fabulous friends arranged for us to have dinner at the Din Tai Fung dumpling restaurant across the street. We went last year and it was amazing so it was something I was looking forward to with wild excitement. We even had dessert buns! So good. Its a highlight of the new California PEn Show location — within walking distance of Din Tai Fung.

My departure form LA ended up being quite pleasant. I had ample legroom and a much calmer flight than the bumpy ride on the way in.