In Pen Review

Pen Review: ZIG Clean Color Dot Metallic (6-color set)

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Pen Review: ZIG Clean Color Dot Metallic (6-color set)

I was so excited to see the new Kuretake ZIG Clean Color Dot Metallic Double-Sided Marker – 6 Color Set ($26) while I was working at the Dallas Pen Show. I like using Zig Clean Color Dot markers for adding bullets to my notebooks. So, a set of metallics? Yes, please!

The set comes with silver, gold, red, blue, green and violet with dual tips — a standard 1.0mm marker tip and the other end is the puffy, little, q-tip-style end that makes it easy to make dots. Depending on your pressure the dots can be big or small. The package suggests that the dot size can vary between 1 and 5mm depending on how hard you press.

The inks are water-based so its easy to clean up but the designs are not permanent or water-resistant so I recommend using them as your top layer if you blend tools in a mixed media technique.

The unique upside of metallic markers is the colors are often more opaque which makes the colors pop on darker paper stocks. So, if you have journals or notebooks with kraft paper or black paper, these metallic markers may be useful and fun to use for you.

I found that, on white or light colored papers, the metallic quality and brightness is not as noticeable as when I tried a dark paper stock. I also found that the silver and gold dot end was more visible and opaque than the marker tip end on light papers. Silver and gold were more apparent and opaque on the darker paper.

On 68gsm Tomoe River, there was absolutely no showthrough on the back of the page so that’s a pleasant bonus.

Overall, these markers are fun and unique. I think I prefer them on darker papers overall but everything but the silver pen worked well on light paper too, just not as sparkly as I hoped they would be.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Chartpak/Kuretake US for the purpose of review. To purchase, visit Dromgoole’s. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Pens & Quilts = JOY

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Link Love: Pens & Quilts = JOY

Laura, in an act of selfless kindness, found some fabric that she said was “so me” and then bought it and made me a whole freakin’ quilt! It’s huge and beautiful and covered in a bright, fun assortment of stationery-related prints. She quilted it with loopy stitches that are reminiscent of calligraphy swirls. So well-planned! So cool! So cozy!

Some of the individual squares that Laura made for the Pen Quilt. You can see some of the pens in the fabric pattern.

Post of the Week:

Pens:

Ink:

Planners, Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

Patrons make me happy. I make them extra special treats, record a bi-weekly podcast and keep them up to date with newsletters and more. If you’d like to  join our Patreon, it would make my day! Patrons are the best! Thank you to all our Patrons and to you, for reading all the way to the end of this post!

In Planners & Organizers

GIVEAWAY: Goby Design Leather Notebook Cover

Author Laura CameronPosted on 55 Comments

Today we have a special treat for you, the perfect accompaniment to starting a new journal or planner! This lovely leather notebook cover was donated as a giveaway by Goby Design.

Goby Design boasts handcrafted leather notebook covers made in Berkeley, CA in a rainbow of gorgeous colors! They source both American and Italian leather There are three sizes available:

  • Pocket Size Moleskine Cahier or Field Notes (90mm x 140mm or 3.5″ x 5.5″)

  • Large Size  Moleskine Cahier (130mm x 210mm or 5.1” x 8.25”)

  • A5 Size any single signature notebook (149mm x 210mm or 5.8” x 8.25”)

Each leather notebook cover comes with a Clairefontaine Triomphe Notebook inside, held in place by a somewhat flexible, but sturdy, center wire. When you’ve finished the notebook, simply slide it out of the cover, and add your own! This is a fairly skinny cover, but I do think some of the thinner A5 cardstock cover planners would fit very well in there.

So, without further ado, let’s get to the Giveaway:

You are entering to win 1 A5 Goby Design notebook, as pictured above in the color Wheat, with the included Clairefontaine Triomphe Notebook.

You’ll also receive a few goodies from me (Well-Appointed Guest stickers, ink samples and the like).

TO ENTER: Head on over to Goby Design to check them out. Then leave a comment below and tell me your favorite color/size they make. 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 Sunday, October 19, 2025. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr 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.

A special thank you to Goby Design who provided us with the leather notebook cover for giveaway!

In Friday Friends

Friday Friends: PensiveCandy

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Friday Friends: PensiveCandy
© Candace Milner @pensivecandy 2025. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Candace Milner (@pensivecandy) is a creative and a long-time fountain-pen-and-ink enthusiast, based in Perth, Western Australia. She was first introduced to fountain pens in primary school (many, many, many years ago). Today, she uses her pens and ink to make art. Her explorations in ink typically result in intricate patterns, detailed line-work and the use of expressive ink combinations.

© Candace Milner @pensivecandy 2025. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

I absolutely love what Candace does with her fountain pen inks and how her focus has changed from acquiring new items to creatively using the inks and pens she owns.

© Candace Milner @pensivecandy 2025. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Be sure to check our her instagram to see videos of her creating her patterns. It’s both mesmerizing and inspiring!

In Paper Review

Notebook Review: Wonderland 222 Tomoe River Tomoegawa B6 (& Giveaway)

Author AnaPosted on 44 Comments
Notebook Review: Wonderland 222 Tomoe River Tomoegawa B6 (& Giveaway)

I met the creative team behind Wonderland 222 while I was in Portland this summer and was absolutely delighted to be able to put faces to this amazing product line. Wonderland 222 is best known for their Tomoe River-based planners — simple, minimal planners in loads of formats.

While talking with Liisa, I discovered that Wonderland 222 still has some notebooks that use the classic Tomoegawa (original) Tomoe River paper.

I purchased the B6 368page Grid Edition ($24) from 2023 in Lichen (which is a very minty green). The notebook has a softcover, similar to the materials used for Stalogy and other flexy cover. And the big news of course is that these notebooks still contain 52gsm Tomoe River Paper by Tomoegawa. Yep, you read that correctly, Wonderland 222 still has old school Tomoe River Tomegawa paper notebooks still in back stock.

Inside, there is a page for a key and an index (just one page for each) and then simple pages for the remainder of the book.

The pages have numbers down the side for use as a time tracking/time blocking and at the top, there is a place to write in the date. The numbers start at 5 (am assumably) and goes to 24:00 (or midnight).

Each page is numbered which makes indexing easier.

It was fun to pen test on this classic stock and results were exactly what I expect from old school Tomoe River.

I definitely want to stock up on a few more of these notebooks especially since they are available with this delicious classic Tomoe River paper and available in an array of sizes (A5, A6 and B6) and page count (96, 192 and 368pp).

I also grabbed one to giveaway to one lucky reader. It’s a B6, 96-page softcover notebook ($10) in the Perfect Pinecone colorway which is sort of a shimmery copper color. It would make a perfect project notebook.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me your favorite notebook size. 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 Sunday, October 12, 2025. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr 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 Link Love

Link Love: Finding Comfort

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Link Love: Finding Comfort

I have been curious about some of the trends I’m seeing in the pen community and in the world in general. Folks are going back to their starter pens, diving into their notebooks and paperlife with renewed fervor and everyone seems to be embracing the vibes of October with cozy sweaters, blankets and pumpkin spice everything.

Even with our media consumption, I am noticing a continuing trend towards “comfort reads” and cozy mysteries and general inclination for joyous escapism. I think this is all in direct contrast to the ongoing stress and turmoil in the world. Our news cycle has become even more ferocious and more scary and escaping for an evening with a British mystery series or reading a cozy fantasy is a great way to find joy and wonder in the world again. So, go ahead, rewatch all your favorite Ghibli films, fire up your favorite tv series from childhood or re-read a favorite book.

If you’re looking for some good escapes, I recommend the Impossible Creatures series by Katherine Rundell. I just finished reading the second book, The Poisoned King and I think I enjoyed it more than the first. These are listed as middle grade books the same way The Chronicles of Narnia are often listed as children’s books so don’t let that throw you. Instead, enjoy the wonderful illustrations in the book and let yourself be transported to another world — a rift between our mundane world and a magical world. You deserve a comfort read.

Link of the Week:

Pens:

Ink:

Planners, Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Pen Shows:

Other Interesting Things:

A big thank you and shout-out to our Patrons this week. Can’t thank you enough for your on-going support.  If you’d like to  join our Patreon, and get our exclusive podcast, free printables and more, I’d be honored to have you join. Without the support or our Patrons, we would not be able to continue to do what we do here. Y’all are the best!