There are two guarantees at any pen show. One: good times will be had. Two: I will pick up Con Crud. Both can be said about the Atlanta Pen Show this year. There was time spent with friends old and new, a bit too much revelry and, on the way home, the distinctive misery of a sore throat and sniffles.
Jesi and I had a great time. We worked at our respective tables (Dromgoole’s for Jesi and Vanness for me), stayed up late drinking and swatching inks and hanging out with folks. Basically, your average pen show. The crowd in Atlanta was still smaller than it was pre-pandemic. Whether this is specifically because people are still hesitant to mingle or because there was not a big Pen Addict podcast event, I cannot say. Could be a little of both.
Friday was a decent crowd but slowed down around 3:30 or so. Saturday had a good steady stream all day despite some particularly rainy weather in the first half of the day. Sunday was pretty slow all day and gave vendors an opportunity to wander a bit, much to the dismay of our wallets.
I felt I had been doing pretty well not buying all the things– until Sunday. Friday, I purchased a lovely double-ended dip pen/pencil from Myk Daigle and a Kaweco AL-Sport from Vanness and had Matthew Chen modify the nib to a Kodachi grind (which I called the “Foccacia” all weekend because I kept forgetting the name. Ask for it by name!) Then Sunday rolled around and we had time to shop and I collected a small pile of inks and notebooks. And then, a vendor walked into our small ballroom and said “Pat forgot he packed this and thought you might like to see it.” The “it” in this scenario is a shop display of Lady Sheaffer Skripserts in tact. Yes, thirteen beautiful pens in a pink flocked display. It’s gorgeous and I couldn’t pass it up. With a little help from a friend, I was able to scrape together enough cash to purchase it and then very carefully carried it on the plane with me for the journey home like the treasure it is. I’ll do a more in-depth post about all the stuff I got at the show at a later date.
Friends also brought us lovely treats throughout the weekend from snack bags with granola bars and candy to homemade jams to beverages to help us get through the last hours of the show each day. People always say that you go to a pen show for the pens but you keep coming back because of the people you meet. It is 100% true. Over the years, the pen community has become like family to me. We share life’s ups and downs, the pen scores and losses and many a laugh. I am delighted to be a part of this diverse, colorful community.
Now, on to the Link Love!
Pens:
- Review: Marvy Uchida Le Pen Flex Brush Pens (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)
- How to Get the Most Out of Your Pointed Pen Nibs (via The Postman’s Knock)
- Pilot Explorer Fountain Pen Review (via The Pen Addict)
Ink:
- Ink Samples Saved Me A Bundle (via An Inkophile’s Blog)
- Ink Review #762: Rohrer & Klingner Blue Mare (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist)
- Project Enjoy Collection 2023: Jan – March (via Dime Novel Raven)
- Caran d’Ache “Ultra Violet”: Ink Review (via Scrively )
- Inkebara Part 1 (via Mountain of Ink)
- #1065 STATIONERY STATION Hanagata (via HAPPY INK DAYS archives)
- Pure Pens John Frost on Midori MD (via Inkcredible Colours)
- Ink Review #2094: Vinta Mother of Pearl Nakar (via Mountain of Ink)
- Best Purple Ink: Battle of the Purples (March 2023 Edition) (via Pen Chalet)
- Ink of the Week – Montblanc Swan Illusion (via Fountain Pen Love)
- Blurple Inks Comparison #1 (via Penultimate Dave)
- Diamine City of London Ink Set (via FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART)
Pencils:
- In defense of the slow, inefficient read … and the long point pencil (via mnmlscholar)
- Pentel Orenz Nero 0.3 mm Mechanical Pencil Review (via The Pen Addict)
- How to fix a broken mechanical pencil (via The Pen Company Blog)
- How to distinguish the upcycled from the wood-cased Noris (via Bleistift)
Notebooks & Paper:
- The Commonplace Book as a Thinker’s Journal (via Bullet Journal)
- Habit and mood tracking in my Hobonichi Techo – cygnoir.net (via The Cramped)
- A journal is a magic space to hang out (via Austin Kleon)
- Dinky Dappers (via Nero’s Notes)
- My Favourite Correspondence Stationery: G. Lalo Blue (via Wonder Pens)
Art & Creativity:
- On My Table: Beginning of April 2023. (via Apple-Pine)
- Art journaling: A beginner’s guide (via The Pen Company Blog)
- When you don’t have the time or energy to sketch a complex scene… (via Liz Steel )
- Japan Trip: The journal comix update, so far (via Urban Adventure League)
- Using Colorwork Charts (via Modern Daily Knitting)
- Schmincke Horadam Aquarell Watercolor Review (via Doodlewash)
- How to prepare your watercolour palette for an overseas trip (via Parka Blogs)
Other Interesting Things:
- The Most Popular Song From Each Month Since January 1980 (via Kottke.org)
- Ode To A Desk // A.C. (via Baum-kuchen)
- Analog Office – Reader Question 2: Notes on Paper, Notes in Apps, Here, There, and Everywhere, Should I Just Give Up and Accept the Chaos? (via The Cramped)
- A few things I’ve learned from attending (a few) pen shows (via Rediscover Analog)
- Duct Tape and Dreams: The Wild History of SFMOMA’s Famous Soapbox Derby (via Colossal)
- France’s National Library’s 15-Year Makeover Revealed (via My Modern Met)
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