News: Sponsors, Notebooks & Keyboard

New Sponsors:

I’m touched that so many new sponsors have joined the ranks here at The Well-Appointed Desk in the last couple weeks. Please welcome The Stationer, Sapori and Say Nice Things.

You may recognize The Stationer as the retail business of All Things Stationery. The Stationer is currently hosting a sale so you may want to pop over and check out the deals.

Sapori is an independent stationery shop specializing in a product called VersaNotes. VersaNotes are colorful notecards that can be customized with stickers for specific occasions. Sapori also stocks  range of other products including sketchbooks & journals, gift wrap and an awesome Orla Kiely line.

Say Nice Things has just launched a new line of pocket notebooks called the FlipFlop pocket notebooks. The pages are lined on one side and dot grid on the other so depending on how you “flip” it, the pages will be left hand side or the right. Hence, FlipFlop!

Thanks to all my sponsors, new and returning. Without their support, and in return your support, this blog would have a lot harder time staying afloat. Server space, postage, computers, camera equipment, as well as the actual products I review, are supported in part by the sponsors They continue to support the blog because you, the readers, continue to support them!

House Industries Linen Notebooks:

House Industries has introduced two, linen-covered notebooks featuring their font-based pattern designs on the covers. Inside the specs remain decent though lacking in a few notable details like paper weight.  Notebooks retail for $20 and are available for sale on their web site.

• 160 pages
• Dot-grid (copper cover) or graph paper (indigo cover)
• 7.25″ × 9.25″ (185 × 235 mm)
• “Motivational artist statement on the back page in case you forgot why you bought it”

Penna: Retro Bluetooth Keyboard:

There is an Indiegogo pre-order (from the previous Kickstarter campaign) for the Penna/NEWTRO retro-styled typewriter bluetooth keyboard. The funding for the original Kickstarter went so well that they moved additional pre-order sales to Indiegogo to allow additional early sales to continue. If you have a typewriter fetish or are looking for a good bluetooth ketboard with long battery life that features a strong mechanical typing feeling, this may be a good option. The aesthetics alone might be worth it and the keyboard is available in four colors including pastel pink, retro mint green, black and white and a wood grain. That sure beats “space grey”.

The Penna/NEWTRO works with Windows/Android/iOS and can be paired with up to five devices, battery lasts for up to six months and runs on AA batteries, and will be available in five European language layouts to start. Then there’s the macro bar that can be programmed to store frequently used keys or phrases and accessed by pressing down on the bar like a return on a typewriter or modernize it with some regularly used boilerplate copy.

It is still possible to place an order for a keyboard for shipment estimated in September starting at $119 (33% off future retail pricing) for the standard colors without a case. With the traveling case, the price starts at $159 (30% off). The wood finish starts at $319 with pouch as a pre-order which is a 47%  savings off the retail price.

I’m seriously considering ordering one…