I had a total fan girl moment at the San Francisco Pen Show when I saw Mark Dwight of Rickshaw Bags walking the show floor. I wanted to run up to him and tell him how I’d followed his company since he first launched it in 2007 and I had a very early Moleskine notebook…
Review by Tina Koyama If you’re a fan of either pencils or John Steinbeck or both, you are probably familiar with the “Steinbeck length” – the length at which the American author would stop using a wood-cased pencil because the eraser end could no longer be supported by the crook between his thumb and forefinger.…
I don’t do a lot of art supply reviews these days but after I read Les’s review of the Jane Davenport Petite Palette Watercolor Set in Brights ($31.99), I couldn’t resist trying them out. First thing to note is that since these are sold through a big box craft supply store, always try to get…
Galen Leather has become a well-known leather goods maker from Turkey specializing in stationery-related products. They recently sent me two of their newest products to try out: the 3-pen zippered pen case in Crazy Horse ($39) and the 5-Pen Zipper case in Chocolate Brown ($49) . The 3-Pen case opens with the pen loops on…
Review by Tina Koyama Last winter I took a class in colored pencil drawing. On the first day, when students started pulling out their materials, I saw that everyone had brought their pencils in the flat metal tins that they had come in. I have so many colored pencils that I had difficulty choosing a…
I received my Blackwing Point Guard in the mail last week. As a subscriber to the Blackwing Editions, I only had to pay shipping to receive it so I was willing to try it out, even though I had already heard through the blog phone tree that it wasn’t worth it. Curiosity killed the cat…
Guest review by Tina Koyama When I travel, I always pack for a carry-on only – a roller bag that goes in the overhead bin and a standard-size backpack that shoves under the seat. (Yes, I do this even for three-week trips!) Especially for intercontinental flights but even for much shorter ones, I must have…
