There’s a lot going on behind the scenes at The Well-Appointed Desk Shop right now. We have all sorts of things in the work that I am dying to share with you. I also have the urge, as the pandemic stretches on, to connect with people. As an introvert, this is a new sensation. When…
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Ink Review: Sailor Studio 224, 252, 280
By Jessica Coles Sailor Studio inks are a collection from Sailor covering 100 ink mixtures from pastel, multi-chromatic to saturated and highly sheening. Over the summer, Sailor announced that they would be retiring three inks from the lineup (543, 531, 864) and adding another three inks – 224, 252, and 280. The first number of…

Ink Review: Sailor Virginia and Sailor Illinois
By Jessica Coles Sailor started releasing a new lineup – the 50 States collection – early in 2019 with California and Colorado inks. Recently New York and Texas followed. I was surprised when Virginia and Illinois joined the set so quickly with only about 2 months between releases. Thank you to Dromgoole’s for sending over…

Alternative Ink Tools: Hits & Misses
I’ve been spending a lot of time swabbing inks recently. Maybe it’s because it’s a good creative break from writing my dissertation or because I’ve been inspired by InkyRocks videos about the “ink swamp” or “ink fever” phenomenon in Japan. Maybe it’s because there are some new nib stamps on the block that I can’t…

Pen Review: Stipula Adagio Seaglass
By Jessica Coles I recently fell in love at first sight with a pen – the Stipula Adagio and specifically the Seaglass variety. I fell in love with it just from the photo but then I started looking into the details a bit. Stipula, in my mind, is a rather expensive pen manufacturer – one…
Notebook Review: Field Notes United States of Letterpress
Review by Tina Koyama Popular pocket-notebook maker Field Notes Brand got together with 10 indie letterpress shops across the country, and the result is United States of Letterpress (three 48-page notebooks for $12.95). The limited-edition run is the 48th edition in the company’s series of quarterly notebook releases. Each of three packs includes cover designs…

Ink Line Review: Van Dieman’s Wilderness Series
By Jessica Coles Earlier in October, I kicked off the first review of a new ink line (at least to the Well-Appointed Desk group!), Van Dieman’s. These inks come from far away Australia with colors that are inspired by various aspects of the region. There are so many inks from Van Dieman’s! Ana and I…