In Paper Review

Paper Review: Midori Yuru B6 Log Notebook (Watercolor)

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Paper Review: Midori Yuru B6 Log Notebook (Watercolor)

I love B6-sized notebooks. I seek them out at every pen show, stationery shop and web site looking for more. There are not a lot of options available in the US so when I find one, I go all-in. That is 100% with the Midori Yuru Log Notebook. The B6 notebooks come in a variety of styles and there is even a fabric cover for the notebooks. YES!

The Notebook Cover

I am a sucker for a good notebook cover. I have so many leather covers in various sizes that I’m always delighted to find covers made from other materials. The Midori Yuru Log Zipper Pouch Notebook Cover ($42) is available in “Light Blue” and “Beige”. I think the Light Blue is actually much more a soft blue green.The fabric looked textural but its actually soft, more wool-ish blanket than burlap sack. Thumbs up!

It’s 100% cottage core with its button-and-string closure and a bunch of pockets including a zipper pouch in the back cover. The interior nylon fabric is a deep brown, the button is a cloth-covered natural color and the string is a thin leather-like cord.

There is also a pen loop in the back cover. The loop is a bit large so a pen with a clip is recommended to keep it from accidentally sliding out.

The leather-like string seems quite thin and considering how much stuff I’m planning to cram into this cover, I’m worried that it will stand up to the abuse though the cord feels strong.

The pocket on the front will fit a cell phone and the additional slots and pockets can easily allow this cover to be a wallet/notebook combo which would work great at school, conferences or on a large office campus.

The brochure

Inside both notebooks was a brochure style document showing techniques for using the Yuru notebooks. The document is all in Japanese but I enjoyed looking at the photos. I tried using a translation app to discover that the copy was mostly what you would expect: “Use for travel notes”, “fill in blank spaces with stickers or washi tape”, etc.

he back panel of the brochure show the three coordination sticker packs that are available as well as a 2mm gird notebook. I didn’t order that one because, that’s a lot of grid lines!

The notebooks

There were five potential styles available for the Yuru Log Notebook ($14.50 each): Cats, Forest Animals, Scandinavia, My Life and the edition I got, Watercolor.

Inside the front cover is a golf foil-stamped logo and place to write your name and contact info on dark brown end papers.

Inside, the paper is classic Midori MD cream paper but with dot grid and washi tape looking graphics decorating the top or bottom of the page. There are four different page spread designs and the colors are light pastels. I like this design best as it is decorative without being specific to anything. The other designs are super cute but I’m not sure I’d want 80 pages of any specific cuteness, you know?

The paper performance will be consistent with all other Midori MD notebooks like the Owl Diary from earlier this week.

The Free Diary ($14.50) is extra special because it uses “extra thick” Midori MD paper. The pre-printed, undated monthly calendars provide space for 18 months then there are 12 pages of 2mm grid paper for extra notes and doodling.

The cover is textured to look and feel like fabric in a warm grey color. The end papers in the Free Diary is a minty blue green that matches the fabric cover very well.

The paper in the Free Diary is a bit smoother than the standard MD paper so it should be good with fountain pens.

My Quibble

My only complaint with the notebook is that the covers were only glued along the open edge. It means that when the covers are folded back, there’s a little bubble of space between the two sides of the cover. I don’t know if this was intentional or happened accidentally but both notebooks have this issue. I tried to re-glue the covers but it required slicing the pieces apart in order to re-glue. I don’t recommend. Just live with the bubble.

Overall, I’m really happy with the new Yuru series from Midori. I do hope they continue to support this product line with additional covers, inserts and accessories.

In photo

Other Uses for Pen Cases, Part II

Author Laura CameronPosted on 6 Comments

Sometimes you look at your collection of gorgeous pen cases, some of which sit empty at times, and wonder what else you could do with them. Just me?

Where it started: Leigh Reyes/Vanness/Rickshaw limited edition pen roll, a set of crochet hooks:

What happened next: Independence/Rickshaw limited edition pen roll, Double Pointed Needles (DPNs) for knitting

This is ridiculous right?: Special edition Paco-Tray Pen Cases in the Peanuts gang and a set of interchangeable knitting needle tips and cords.

So obviously pens and art supplies, but why not makeup brushes (Rickshaw makes nylon interiors if you don’t want the plush ones getting makeup on them)? Sewing supplies? What other things could I store in my pen cases?

If you’re unsure why this is Part II, Part I happened here.

DISCLAIMER: All of the items included here were purchased with my own funds for my personal use. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Pen Show Panic

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Link Love: Pen Show Panic

Tomorrow, I head to San Francisco for the SF Pen Show and I’m both excited and a little terrified. I’ll be teaching two classes and hosting a seminar for left-handed fountain pen users plus working at the Vanness Pen Shop booth and trying to visit and explore and participate on some level. But the more pen shows I attend, the more activities I add to my list and the less time and energy I seem to have for after hours socializing and just hanging out. I will try to drink a late afternoon coffee and get charged up to spend some time with friends new and familiar.

If you will be at the show, don’t forget that there are a lot of really unique and interesting classes and some still have spaces available. Check the SF Class Schedule or might I recommend my good friend (and occasional contributor to the blog) Julia van der Wyk’s classes?

Yarnies, there are rumors that we will be attempting to organize an impromptu knitting meet-up in the lobby but I am not sure which evening. I suspect, if you see someone in the lobby knitting or crocheting, just plop down and the knitting meet-up will commence.

If you play Hello Kitty Island and need more friends to visit, find me and we can swap info. I can also link you up with a few other Islanders. Yes, I am THAT nerdy. If you are not going to the show but also play Hello Kitty Island, send me an email chair (“a” symbol thingie +) wellappointeddesk.com and we can make plans.

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Other Interesting Things:

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In Paper Review

Notebook Review: Midori Diary with Embroidered bookmark Owl

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Notebook Review: Midori Diary with Embroidered bookmark Owl

Midori has a line of A6 diary notebooks with a flexible bookcloth cover and an adhesive ribbon bookmark with an embroidered animal icon at the bottom. There are four design options: The Owl, The Whale Shark, The Cat and The Bird ($32 each).

The covers are flexible but not floppy. It is a happy medium of durable but bendy enough to open flat. The book is stitched so its durable enough to “crack the spine” if you wanted to fold it back while writing. IT’s a sturdy, pocketable design.

The embroidered bookmark is adhesive at the top so that you can attach it to the top edge of the spine of the diary on the outside or tucked inside if you prefer.

I attached my bookmark on the outside as the stitch work is the same color as the book cloth and won’t cause a bulge in the cover if I stuck it on the inside.

Each book includes 192 pre-printed pages with designs around the edges that compliment the color on the cover and bookmark. There are four different page spread designs with each style.

Above are the four page layout designs in the Owl Diary. The designs are casual illustrations printed in ochre yellow and deep blue. I like the illustration style. Its like a “pre-decorated” page. It would make it perfect for daily journaling while traveling — fun art without having to bring stickers or washi or anything else to jazz up the pages.

The dot grid is in the deep blue color. The paper is definitely Midori-quality in the soft ivory color that Midori paper frequently uses.

I think the Owl Diary is prefect for the colder months of the year and may be the book I use for the months of November, December and such.

In the writing samples, the paper performed like I expected. Perfectly fabulous Midori paper with fountain pens, gel, felt or brush pens.

From the back of the page, the only show through was the leaky rubber stamp ink. All the regular written text is invisible on the back.

My only complaint is that I wished that they had used the gold color for the dots instead of the dark blue to make them a little less vivid and distracting. They would still have been visible but it would make it easier to use a variety of lighter inks without the dots impeding on legibility.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Vanness Pen Shop for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Pen Review

Pen Review: Anterique Mach Ball “Brass Edition” Ballpoint Pen

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Pen Review: Anterique Mach Ball “Brass Edition” Ballpoint Pen

I am not a big ballpoint pen fan. As a lefty, I always feel like ballpoint pens were made to annoy me. They don’t write smoothly when you push your pen, not pull it. This issue is part of why I fell in love with fountain pens. But there are always moments when I need a ballpoint. I need to write on glossy paper stock like a receipt or I just need a pen I can leave in a bag for those grocery lists or other quick notes. That’s where the Anterique Mach Ball “Brass Edition” Ballpoint Pen ($29) comes in. I have used other ballpoints with various level of success but I’ve been using the Anterique for a couple weeks and the weight of the brass barrel along with a really nice refill make this a genuinely usable ballpoint pen, even for a lefty.

The Brass version of the Anterique Mach Ballpoint ships in a test tube container which is a fun packaging option. I can see reusing the tube for storing other items.

I tested the pen, in high humidity/heat advisory Midwest so dry times may be affected by the weather as well as the overhanded lefty writer. I used (from left to right) Midori MD, Cosmo Air Light and 52gsm Tomoe River.

Surprisingly, Cosmo Air Light had the most smudging issues but the toothy nature of the paper helped to slow the gel ink down a little.

With Tomoe River, I had just one smudge towards the top but otherwise I had no issues with the Anterique ink on Tomoe. If you’re looking for a classic look ballpoint to pair with a Hobonichi, this is definitely a good combo. Lefties, be warned about dry time issues but otherwise, go forth!

The last paper I tried was my favorite paper, Midori MD which worked splendily with the B6 Grain Notebook. This is a notebook I’ve been keeping next to my computer for jotting random tidbits and combining it with the Anterique Brass Ballpoint is a great pair. And there was no smudging issues even for this sloppy overwriting lefty.

Overall, I love the classic look of this pen and the brass definitely makes it feel more luxe. IF you want to try an Anterique ballpoint but are on a tight budget, there are simple plastic models ($5.50 each)  also available in an array of colors and now there is a mini version as well!

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Gentleman Stationer for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature, Pen Review

Pen Review: Retro 51 Rollerball Conversion Kit

Author Jessica ColesPosted on 2 Comments
Pen Review: Retro 51 Rollerball Conversion Kit

I’ve always been a big fan of rollerball pens that use fountain pen ink. I wrote about them a while back and showed a small sample of my personal rollerball-fountain-pen-ink collection. Since that time, my collection has grown.

The most recent addition to that collection isn’t actually a pen itself but a conversion kit. Retro 51 recently introduced a rollerball conversion kit that converts a Retro 51 fountain pen into a rollerball that uses fountain pen ink.

* Photo from Dromgooles.com

The kit comes with a rollerball “nib”, a collar to fit the fountain pen, and a converter – the assembled set is shown below. Please note that the cap piece is not included in the set.

I chose my favorite Retro 51 fountain pen for this conversion – one with sparkles, unicorns, and rainbows. But the important part here is the rollerball conversion.

I have fit this into several Retro 51 fountain pens of varying ages and it has fit perfectly in all of them. The only annoyance was that the collar in the kit is only available in silver so it does clash a bit with fountain pens with gold or rose gold fittings.

The conversion kit works perfectly with the aesthetic of the pen overall and I was able to cap the pen with no issue.

Looking at the rollerball and the fountain pen sections next to each other show how close the two are to each other in size and shape. The only real difference is in the type of nib each can hold.

The nib itself is a 0.5 mm width (see my previous review mentioned at the beginning of this post for a more in-depth discussion of nib widths on this kind of pen) and I’ve had no problems with it in the three weeks I’ve owned it. When I first inked up the pen, the ink did take a bit of patience before it wanted to write. But once the ink started flowing, I had no further issues.

The Retro 51 rollerball conversion kit can be found at Dromgoole’s and other retailers that carry Retro 51 products. It is listed for $26. While the price surprised me when I first came across the kit, I’m not surprised now that I’ve used it. The collar is metal rather than the plastic I would have expected and the rollerball insert is a heavier build than I’ve found in other conversion pens.

I’m incredibly happy to see Retro 51 branching out into products like this and taking a chance in a new area. I look forward to what they have coming out in the future!

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided at a discount by Dromgoole’s for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Crickets & Bookworms

Author AnaPosted on 5 Comments
Link Love: Crickets & Bookworms

This week, the Desk HQ has been filled with the sounds of crickets (and a few cicadas) and the sounds of school buses and kids on the playground (yep, Desk HQ is situated across the street from an elementary school). What do the sounds mean? It’s back-to-school time and the summer is coming to an end. But for the pen community, it means shopping for fun (or silly) back-to-school supplies and getting in touch with our inner grade schooler.

I think I’m going to find a cool pencil box and fill it with some gel pens, some fun shaped erasers and a box of crayons because they smell good! Maybe add some stickers, and few mini toys because I am secretly nine years old. Oh! And maybe I’ll visit the library for some new books to read to relive the feeling of a Scholastic Book Fair. Didn’t you love them?!?! How do you celebrate back-to-school season (even if you aren’t actually going back to school)?

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

Do you like this week’s illustration? I made it by collaging vintage images together digitally. No AI. This type of work takes time and thought and Patrons of The Well-Appointed Desk receive a packet of my favorite collage designs as postcards when they sign up. Your support helps keep this site running and helps to keep me running (do you how much coffee it take to make the perfect “book worm”????) Please consider joining our Patreon — just don’t use Apple App Store to do. If you subscribe, you’ll hear me rant about Patreon in the most recent member’s only podcast. See??? Win-win! Thank you!