In Link Love

Link Love: Celebrate the Holidays

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Link Love: Celebrate the Holidays

We would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Yule, Happy New Year and/or whatever holiday you celebrate. Even if you don’t celebrate any holidays, I would like to take a moment to thank you for spending a little part of your day or year with us here at the Desk.

Hope all your stationery dreams come true in 2026!

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Planners, Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

You can make our holiday extra merry by becoming a member of our Patreon. It wil be a gift for you and for us. Patrons receive an exclusive podcast, newsletter, printables and more. Without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!

In feature

Planner Giveaways! (and Live video)

Author AnaPosted on 24 Comments

To celebrate my first-ever YouTube LIVE where I walk through my current planners and what I might use in 2026, decisions were made and the other planners are now up for grabs.

2026 Hobonichi WEEKS Planner

First, I have ONE never-been-used 2026 Hobonichi Weeks in Makoto Matsubayashi Dot which has a glossy black paper cardstock cover to giveaway.

Sterling Ink 2026 N1 Horizontal Common Planner

And second, I have ONE Sterling Ink 2026 N1 Horizontal Compact Common Planner. The planner is new but I did test pens on one of the blank pages in the back for the purpose of review. The Sterling Ink Planner fits into a standard Traveler’s Notebook cover. It’s larger than a Hobonichi Weeks, FYI.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and let us know which planner you prefer (and why if you’d like to share your opinion). Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.

If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the monkeys some time.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Instagram, BlueSky or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.

In Ink Review

Inkmas Day 11 – Robert Oster Santa’s Hangover and Elf’s Cap

Author Thien-Kim LamPosted on 1 Comment
Inkmas Day 11 – Robert Oster Santa’s Hangover and Elf’s Cap

For my final contribution to Inkmas I wanted to do something fun. When I spotted this duo of Robert Oster inks at Vanness I knew they needed to be an entry.

First off, I just love the names and how playful they are! Santa’s Hangover (50mL for $19) is an orangey red. If I’m honest I’m a bit disappointed in this one, only because it isn’t the rich luxurious red I think of when I think of Santa (and his suit and hat). On the other hand, maybe after criss-crossing the globe all night long, the man is tired and hungover, so he’s a little peaky?

Santa’s Hangover immediately made me link of Papier Plume Heart of Gold, but that is definitely more orange. I think it fits in with some of the more coral inks, and comes closest to either PenBBS #140 Bloom or Kobe Ink #12 Okamoto Pink.

Now Elf’s Cap (50mL for $19) I seriously love. It is a bright, cheerful green with a little bit of blue in it. And I don’t think it matches anything I have in the ink stash! Pennonia Almazold is too light, and Mont Blanc Irish Green and Papier Plume Ivy Green are too dark. I feel very Goldilocks about this ink – it’s JUST right and nothing quite compares to it (side note: Sailor Manyo Ukikusa from earlier Inkmas is WAY too yellow).

I guess when it comes down to it, this pair just means mischief?

In any case, Happy Holidays!

DISCLAIMER: These inks were purchased with my own funds. Please see the About page for more details.

In Ink Review

Inkmas Day 10: Robert Oster Sinner’s Weed

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Inkmas Day 10: Robert Oster Sinner’s Weed

I picked a bunch of different green inks for Inkmas  (Earth Green and Kelp Forest) this year because, in case you didn’t know, green is my favorite color, particularly mossy, yellow-y greens. So, I was excited to get a sample of Robert Oster Sinner’s Green. Its one of five inks in the Oster “Sinner” series which includes Sinner’s Blood, Sinner’s Heart, Sinner’s Poison and Sinner’s Dream which are all quite lovely colors and I may need to get samples of the rest of the collection.

Sinner’s Weed is a vivid green that reminds me of fresh clover fields. There is a little shading but no hint of sheen.

 

When compared to other inks, Sinner’s Weed is a little darker hued “grassy green” that bright, springy color that looks similar to Bungubox Sunlight Raindrops and Kobe #67 Oga Farm Green. The Birminghm Pen Co. Field Tourniquet is probably the most similar but is not currently available.

Of the three greens I selected for Inkmas this year, I am not sure which one I would pick as my favorite. I love Kelp Forest but it is quite light. Sinner’s Green, in comparison to Earth Green is a bit vivid and bright. I think if I had to pick just one, Earth Green would be my favorite. But I love seeing the three together.

Tools:

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by Vanness Pen Shop for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Ink Review

Inkmas Day 9: Kobe Lampwork Museum Maroon

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Inkmas Day 9: Kobe Lampwork Museum Maroon

I love that Kobe Nagasawa has been creating inks inspired by places in Kobe like the Chocolate Museum and this most recent release: Kobe Lampwork Museum Maroon. Many of their ink colors are inspired by plants, places and other elements that are in the Kobe area. I think its a great way to create and theme inks and it let’s us as ink users to be desktop tourists every time we open a bottle and fill one of our pens.

Lampwork Museum Maroon is a low saturation burgundy color with shading. On Col-o-ring paper, there is evident of some yellow-green sheen so YMMV with the overall color. At its highest density, the Lampwork Museum Maroon can look almost like a deep brown. The ink may not always look the same since the paper and nib width will influence the final outcome.

 

 

On Tomoe River 68gsm paper, Lampwork Museum Maroon looks like a beautiful wine-y burgundy color and depending on pressure, nib width and density, the ink will sway between a lighter raspberry pink to a deep burgundy. I quite like the range.

When compared with other burgundy ink colors, Penlux Rouge is probably the closest but does feel a bit more red with less sheen. Bungubox Tears of a Clown has sheen too but is more reddish pink in the undertones. Oster Frankly Walnut is similarvalue but a little more magenta-purple as a base color.

So once again, I’ve found an ink that is unique in my collection. I like the low saturation quality of Lampwork Museum Maroon and the differing color depending on pen nib and how much ink goes down on the page. I do think this is another color that’s going to be regularly used in the coming year.

What’s your favorite burgundy ink color?

Tools:

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by Vanness Pen Shop for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Ink Review

Inkmas Day 8: Diamine Lady Grey (Reddit Edition)

Author Laura CameronPosted on 2 Comments
Inkmas Day 8: Diamine Lady Grey (Reddit Edition)

I was excited to get a suggestion to review the new Diamine Lady Grey (Reddit Edition). I love Diamine’s Earl Grey ink  (not to mention I love Earl Grey and Lady Grey tea too) so I was curious to see how different the Lady Grey ink would be.

Lady Grey ink is a more purple-y grey color and its also a multichromatic ink. It looks more bluish grey when wet and then dries to a more purple grey with a hint of pink. As a result of the multichromatic effect, Lady Grey can be a little light depending on pressure, nib width and density. This is more of a stylized, special ink. The color is lovely but as a user of fine Japanese nibs, this ink may be too light for long hand writing for me but I will definitely give it a try in 2026.

Comparisons:

When compared to Earl Grey the lightness of Lady Grey is more evident. Early Grey is a darker, richer bluish-purple grey. The similarity between Lady Grey and Early Grey is most evident in the swatch cards. On paper, Earl Grey is more dark grey while the purply hue of Lady Grey stand out more.

When compared to other grey inks, I didn’t have anything besides Earl Grey that was close in hue. I even browsed some of my more violet and purple category and there were no close matches. Sailor’s multichromatic inks are more vivid and bright so were not good comps.

Dominant Industry Allegory is a lighter grey but a much more neutral grey. Lamy Crystal Agate is more greenish grey. Colorverse Anti-Matter is probably the cosest in hue but is closer to Earl Grey than Lady Grey.

From the perspective of similar inks, I did not find a lot of close matches making Lady Grey feel like a unique addition. I am glad I grabbed a full bottle and will definitely use it more in the coming year.

Tools:

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were purchased at Dromgoole’s with funds provided by our Patrons. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: A Week Without Pens? NAH!!!

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Link Love: A Week Without Pens? NAH!!!

As we approach the end of the year, there are lots of wrap-ups and faves of the year but not a lot of new pen news or reviews. All the focus is on reflecting on the past and planning for the coming year. So check out the posts below about ideas for new planner and journal options as well as following along with the Inkvent unveilings around the internet. Thanks for reading!

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Year End Wrap-Ups:

Other Interesting Things:

If you enjoy Link Love, you might love TL:DR an exclusive podcast available to Patrons. Every other week, I talk about new releases news, and topics related to our pen hobbies. TL:DR is ad-free and is one of many extras Patrons have available. Thank you to all our current subscribers and welcome to new Patrons. We couldn’t do this without you.