The Well-Appointed Desk

I spent hours this morning trying to find the web site link that I found showing the most amazing use for the Midori P-51 Clips ) but I couldn’t find it. I think it came from Modern Daily Knitting but I could not find the original post. I am going to give them credit for it anyway.

I use Midori P-51 clips ($5.50 for a pack of 18, available in 10 different designs. I bought the bunny rabbits as they seemed the most “fibery”) to tame my circular knitting needles. When I am done knitting for the day, I slide a bunny clip over the cord of the circular needles. If the project is small enough, both ends of the cord can be slipped into one clip. If the project is larger or getting a bit difficult to tame, slide a clip on each end of the needle where the flexible cord meets the needle. This will keep your yarn from sliding off the needles as well as keep all your stitch markers in place. You can find other, fancy needle tip covers but a pack of 18 of these darling little clips which come in an array of colors tames half a dozen projects currently on the needles with clips to spare (or share!).

This is just one of many off-label uses I’ve found for office supplies. I also use binder clips to seal bags of snack foods and I keep a hand stapler in my tea drawer to close my fill-it-yourself tea bags. I’m sure I have other unusual uses for office supplies that I can’t remember at this moment. What are your life hacks with office supplies?

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

In Tools

GIVEAWAY: Saki Roll Pen Case

Laura CameronJanuary 24, 2022January 24, 202267 Comments

How do you store your pens? I love trying out new pen cases almost as much as I love buying new pens! While in the past I’ve collected cases from Galen, Rickshaw and the sadly-closed Nock Co., I came across the Saki Pen Rolls ($16+) while on Jetpens a few weeks ago, and wanted to give them a try.

These Japanese-made pen rolls are made with traditional Japanese prints on the outside, and plain black fabric on the inside. They aren’t padded (just a few layers of fabric), and have a sturdy black cotton cord that can wrap around twice to hold them shut. Inside there are three slots for pens. Each slot can hold more than one pen, if you’re comfortable with your pens touching, or you can keep three pens relatively separated within the case. With these cases, what you see is what you get. They’re simple and perfect for dropping a few pens into a purse or bag, or carrying along with your favorite notebook.

The reason I ordered these cases is because a case from Galen or Rickshaw that will accommodate 3-6 pens will set you back more than $16. I do think they have other bonuses (more variety on prints, extra padding, etc.) but if you’re just starting out and looking for a way to carry a few pens, these Saki rolls will serve you well!

I mentioned a giveaway right? We’ll select two winners who will each win one of the Saki Pen Rolls pictured above (Purple and Maccha Green) plus some ink samples and swag. The pen cases are brand new, only used for the photos above!

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below telling me about your favorite pen case! If you don’t have one yet, let me know which color Saki Roll you’d like to win. (Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay?) One entry per person.

If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the monkeys some time.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Sunday, January 30, 2022. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. ONE winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.

DISCLAIMER: These cases were provided to us by Jetpens (a lovely sponsor) for the purposes of review and this giveaway!

In Tools

Product Review: Jam Studio Sticker Albums

AnaJanuary 21, 2022January 25, 20223 Comments

I try hard not to be the cute-pens-and-stickers kind of person but with companies like Midori making super fun sitckers and JetPens selling these delightful sheets of joy, even I get weak. What I realized at the start of 2022 is I’ve clearly fallen for quite a lot of stickers in the last few years (I blame WFH-itis). I’ve developed an unwieldy stack of stickers and no good way to store them. Leave it to the Japanese stationery market to step in and rescue me from my personal chaos.

Enter, the Jam Studio Sticker Albums (starting at $15). This was a total impulse purchase. I wasn’t even sure it would fit all the random sticker sheets I owned but it was aqua and sparkly so honestly, how was I to resist?

I was surprised to discover that all those sticker sheets from Midori, Sautelier, etc all fit just fine. Even the sheets of stickers I got ages ago from Pip Sticks fit into the sleeves. I left the backer cards on most of the sticker sheets as a lot of them are translucent and the back card made it easier to clearly see the stickers on each page. There are pockets on each side of the page to slot in sticker sheets. I removed all the cellophane sleeves from the stickers so its now much faster to find a sticker then slide out the sheet and use a sticker off the sheet.

The King Jim Kitta Line of stickers fit 3-up in a sleeve as I have more Kitta tape stickers than will fit in my specially sized Kitta Sticker Album.

In the back were several slick white sheets to either attach stray stickers onto or to place between pages where you might need a backer card. There’s also a zipper pouch in the back for flake stickers (i.e. small, random die cut stickers).

Both the front and the back covers are translucent jelly-look with suspended bits of glitter. Inside the cover is a secretary pocket for more miscellaneous stickers AND a heavy white pocket that makes it possible to slide a decorated page between the cover and pocket to personalize or hide the contents.

If you are going to go down the well of planner stickers and fun goofy stickers, might as well have a nice place to store them so they are easy to access, sort and use.

As I get more involved in maintaining a personal bullet journal, the more appeal being able to embellish a particularly dull page with something fun. It makes my inner 9-year-old EXTREMELY happy.

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

In feature, Ink Review

Ink Review: Vinta Holiday Inks

AnaJanuary 20, 2022January 20, 2022Leave a comment

Although the holidays are over, I am showing a couple of inks today – Vinta Carol and Vinta Parol from the Vinta inks Holiday Collection 2021. I purchased a sample of each from Vanness before Christmas where you can buy a 4mL sample for $3.10 or a full 30mL bottle for $14.99. You can still find these inks at many stores although they are limited editions.

Vinta Parol is a deep green with blue undertones, bright reddish-purple sheen and gold glitter. It almost reminds me of Emerald of Chivor but the underlying ink color (if you can see it!) is not as blue as Emerald.

The photo below is the same card as shown above – this is a very directional sheen.

Vinta Carol is a deep red with a green-gold sheen and gold sparkle. It is a bit calmer than Parol but is quite flashy.

Parol is quite close to Diamine Holly from the 2019 Inkvent calendar with added sparkle.

Cinta Carol is quite close to Sailor Virginia with added sparkle.

With such flashy, sparkly ink, I decided Pilot Parallel pens were the way to go! I used a 6mm nib for Carol and a 3.8mm nib for Parol.

This photo is Cosmo Air Light paper:

This is Tomoe River paper:

Cosmo Air Light paper, tilted to show sheen and sparkle:

Tomoe River paper tilted to show sheen and sparkle:

The next two images are my favorite up close photos on Cosmo Air Light paper.

The purple sheen is my favorite!

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by me. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Letterlocking

AnaJanuary 19, 2022January 19, 20222 Comments

Thanks to readers, I have even MORE links this week than ever, if you can believe it! So, this week is chock-a-block with links. In the Art & Creativity section has a few journal and sketchbook links that might appeal to every stationery fan. And of course, I couldn’t resist including a few cat-related posts in Other Interesting Things. ENJOY!

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!

In Desk Set

Desk Accessories: Artful Organizer Vintage Camera

Laura CameronJanuary 18, 2022January 21, 20223 Comments

A few weeks ago I was perusing JetPens and I came across the Artful Organizer Vintage Camera ($14.95). I immediately thought of Ana, but I was charmed by this paperboard desk organizer.

The package arrives in a slim cardboard envelope and the pieces are easily separated along the perforations. Just 60 seconds of assembly and you’re ready to load it up with your desk tools. I thought it would be fun to shoot a time lapse video of it to show you sizing, ease of assembly and of course, the finished product!

(Editor’s Note: It was brought to our attention that not everyone could see Laura’s original video post on Instagram so we’ve added a YouTube link above. Hopefully, that will make watching her time lapse a little easier to access.)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Laura Cameron (@fluffykira)

I will say that picking up and moving the camera once it is fully loaded is a bit precarious. It seems like sturdy paperboard, but without gluing it I wouldn’t move it over great distances. However, it’s a fun desk accessory and I always like adding something new to the rotation!

In Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Review: PenBBS 469 Double Nib Fountain Pen

AnaJanuary 17, 2022January 17, 20225 Comments

What do you do when you see a DOUBLE NIB fountain pen? You buy it, of course. The PenBBS 469 Double Nib Fountain Pen ($49) is just such a pen. The pen features the super smooth fine and medium nibs with an eyedropper filling system. There are rubber gaskets along the threads to eliminate any leaks of need for silicone grease. The pen also includes a rollerball adapter! Seriously, at the price, you are getting THREE pens.

The pen ships with an eyedropper and the rollerball conversion nib unit.

The gold tone nib is the medium nib though its labelled “F”. The bend the tines up slightly to make a wider writing surface and a super smooth nib.

Pictured above filled with ink and the “F” and rollerball nib units.

This is definitely a pen you’ll want to store flat.

The color I received is no longer listed on the site but there are several other fabulous options.

I would write a longer post but really, what else is there to say? It’s a lovely pen, good nibs, lots of options and all in one barrel. So, go forth and buy this amazingly unusual pen while you still can. PenBBS pens have a tendency to go fast and then its several months until they are available again. (Two thumbs up. Way up.)

Tools:

Paper: Elia Note A5 black notebook (68gsm Tomoe River ) (RM145.00 MYR) with 5mm guide sheet
Pens: PenBBS 469 Double Nib Fountain Pen ($49)
Ink: Robert Oster Australis Tea ($18 for 50ml bottle) and Lennon Tool Bar Atmospheric Firmament ($22 for 30ml Glass Bottle)

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

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

Tools: