Link Love: Onward to 2020!

As the previous decade ends and the new decade and year is welcomed, pen and stationery fans celebrate with lists, new notebooks, planners and journals and plans to make this the best year ever. I love starting new planners and journals at the start of the year. While I think “resolutions” in the traditional sense create unrealistic expectations, I love planning for the new year with goals and plans, be they big or small. I choose my reading challenge for the year (Goodreads) and pick new projects I want to complete (knitting, sewing and art). I can write down my projects and goals in my new planner while I still feel like I have a chance to pause and consider before the rush of my day-to-day steamrolls me. Do you make plans or resolutions for the new year?

This is also when we officially say good-bye to the Letter Writers Alliance as they close up shop and move on to new adventures of their own. Did the end of 2019 lead you to say good-bye to any projects, activities or commitments?

 I like Kelly Rae Roberts (and others’) habit of selecting a word for the year. She chose “ease.” If you were to pick a word for the year for yourself, what would it be?

Pens:

• Uni EMOTT Sign Pen Review  (via The Pen Addict)
• Opus 88 Omar (via The Pencilcase Blog)
• The 36 Best Pens for 2020: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens (via JetPens Blog)
• Omas Paragon (Old) Arco Bronze (via Flex & Other Follies )
• Review: FPR Himalaya V2 fountain pen with EF flexible nib (via Parka Blogs)

Ink:

• PenBBS 367 Clay (via Mountain of Ink)

Notebooks & Paper:

• Édouard Manet’s Notebook (via Notebook Stories)
• Week 49: The Correct Way to Bullet Journal (The Bullet Journal Method Book Club) (via Tiny Ray of Sunshine)
• 8 to 1: semi-final 1 – Leuchtturm 1917 v Poach My Lobster (via Nero’s Notes Blog)

Art & Creativity:

• New York City By Martin Lewis: In The 1930s An Australian Emigree Captured The Essence Of The City (via Design You Trust)
• Review: Cretacolor Aqua Brique (watersoluble colour blocks) (via Parka Blogs)
• Winter 2020 Minimalism Challenge Begins (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee )
• Review: Koh-i-Noor 5340 Clutch with Magic Leads (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)
• Book Review: Calligraphy and Lettering: A Maker’s Guide (via Parka Blogs)

Other Interesting Things:

• The Fate of Office Depot (via Original Content Books)
• My 2019 in Review (via TooManyPelikans)
• Tokyo Pen Trends 2019 (via Crónicas Estilográficas)
• Letter Writers Alliance: Sincerely Yours, the LWA  (via Letter Writers Alliance)
• My 2020 word of the year. Hello, Ease! (via Kelly Rae Roberts)
• The Best of the Best-of-the-Decade Lists  (via Kottke.org)
• What Fruits And Vegetables Would Do If They Were Alive (30 Pics By Alex Solis) (via Bored Panda)