Link Love: The Sad News Edition

This week has been full of stationery melancholy following a stream of news from around the community.

First, CW Pencils held a sidewalk sale over the weekend as a final farewell to their brick and mortar days. The website is still up so if there was ever a pencil you wanted, now is the time to buy. Items are selling out fast.

Then, I received an email from Patrick at Papier Plume informing me that there was an issue with some of their inks. He was able to quickly identify which inks have issues and when they were produced and is offering to replace any bottles. This will be a sizable expense for a small business and I worry how much of a burden this will be to Papier Plume’s finances. Most small businesses have little expendable income. Please, if you have a bottle of this ink you would like replaced, try to pool your request with friends to cut down on the shipping charges (especially since we have entered the USPS’s increased shipping rate season). If you can wait, find out if Papier Plume will be attending a pen show near you soon and exchange your ink then — and also make a new purchase or two.

Next, a blog post from Pencil Talk appeared letting the stationery community know that long-time pencil blog Contrapuntalism created by Sean Malone is gone.

Finally, I received an email on Monday that NockCo was closing. While I know that Brad has many other projects in the works, the products developed at NockCo created a new category of pen and stationery cases that other makers will continue to refine and develop. So, while NockCo will no longer exist as a business entity, the influence that they had on the stationery community will live on.

On the heels of hearing that these stationery businesses are closing or are dealing with product difficulties, I am more committed than ever to try to save the ones we have left. If you believe in these businesses and shops like them, please continue to support them. (Side note: Jeff Bezos does not need anymore of your money.)

And, now for our regularly scheduled Link Love….

Pens:

•  The Good Blue Co. R615 Fountain Pen with Steel Flex Nib (plastic feed & ebonite feed) (via Gourmet Pens)
• Pelikan Jazz Ballpoint Pen Review (via The Pen Addict)
• ST Dupont Line D Guilloche Large Fountain Pens! (via Inkdependence!)
• Unity Day And Pelikan’s “Rebirth Of A New Germany” Commemorative M800 (via The Pelikan’s Perch)
• Workhorse Pens: Opus 88 Fountain Pens Offer Maximum Versatility (via The Gentleman Stationer)
• Swapping Fountain Pen Nibs: From Easy to Expert (via The Gentleman Stationer)
•  Short (via Crónicas Estilográficas)
• Monami 153 Neo Fountain Pen Review (via The Pen Addict)

Ink:

• Diamine Writer’s Blood Ink Review (via The Pen Addict)
• Colorverse Eye on the Universe Season 7: eXtreme Deep Field and NGC 1850 Review (via The Pen Addict)
• Color Traveler Fukuyama Rose Pink (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist)
• Lapis Bard Inks – Everything you always wanted to know (via Inked Happiness)
• Van Dieman’s Midnight Sky (via Mountain of Ink)
• Birmingham Mountain Laurel on Life Schöpfer (via Inkcredible Colours)
• Krishna Halloween Orange Ink Review (via Pen Chalet Blog)

Pencils:

•  Vintage Colored Pencils: Alco Coloring Pencils (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)

Notebooks & Paper:

• Plotter USA Launch (via Notebook Stories)
• Leuchtturm1917 Notebook Guide (via JetPens Blog)
• The Best Pens & Inks for Tomoe River Paper (Plus Paper Alternatives) (via JetPens Blog)
• Montblanc notebooks: a real luxury experience (via UK fountain pens)
• Moleskine Studio Notebook (or Cult Pens Paper Box Part 1) (via Writing at Large)
• Art & Creativity:

  Alternatives to Adobe drawing and painting software (via Parka Blogs)

• My favourite green watercolour pencils (via Liz Steel)
• Deep Deep Light Watercolours (via Liz Steel)
• New and recommended books for illustrators (via Creative Boom)

Other Interesting Things:

• The Post Pen Show Post: London Autumn 2021. (via Fountain pen blog)
•  Bellroy “Transit” Workpack (via Tools and Toys)
• Finally, The 2022 Fat Cat Art Calendar Is Here! (via Design You Trust)
• Star Wars Oil Paintings (via Kottke.org)
• Maya Angelou First Featured on U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters (via My Modern Met)

We need each other. Please support our sponsors and affiliates. Your patronage will let them know you appreciate their support of the pen community. Without them, and without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!