The Well-Appointed Desk

Fashionable Friday: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We are getting in the festive holiday spirit. We want candy canes and cocoa, snuggly sweaters and all the glittery, holiday inks. Hope you enjoy them too!

Retro 51 Tornado Rollerball Lionel Trains – Christmas Light Express ($77 limited edition)
Cozy Christmas Sticker Sheet ($3 each)
Santaland Sticker Sheet ($3 each)
BOBBY Coffee Mug by Tai Prints (starting at $12)
Festive Yoke Pullover pattern by Skeindeer Knits (£7.00 GBP)
Peppermint Leaves ($21 per box)
Letters to Santa card ($7)
Kaweco Collection Olivine fountain pen ($92)
Diamine Purple Edition Shimmer Tinsel ($22 for 50ml bottle)
Diamine Purple Edition Shimmer Merry & Bright ($22 for 50ml bottle)
Girl of ALL WORK Wreaths Washi tape – 15mm ($3.75 per roll)
Sun-Star Dot é Pen Square Marker – Green ($2.45 each)
The Arsonist Nail Polish ($15)
Hermitage 510 | Thin Red (set of 12 for $9.25)

Thanks to my sponsors for providing some of the images I use for Fashionable Friday. Please consider making your next purchase from one of these shops and let them know you heard about them here. Thanks for your support and for supporting the shops that help keep it running.

In Link Love

Link Love: Pen Addict Podcast Day!

AnaDecember 4, 2024December 4, 20241 Comment

After an unusually long time, I was asked to pop on to the latest episode of the Pen Addict podcast to talk about my new life and, of course, our annual Gift Guide. If you want to find ALL the previous episodes (over 30!!!) of Pen Addict that I’ve appeared on, check this out!

If you want to listen to me meander on a more regular basis, you can always join our Patreon and hear me every two weeks on our exclusive podcast.

Thanks for reading our blog. If you love our content, consider joining our Patreon. Over on Patreon, we have an exclusive podcast, free downloadables and lots of special goodies. Thank you!

In photo

‘Tis the season to be STICKII

Laura CameronDecember 3, 2024December 3, 2024Leave a comment

While many folks are enjoying various ink advent calendars, this year I opted for a sticker advent calendar from Stickii. For those who haven’t checked out Stickii before, its primary product is a monthly subscription club, where you receive a selection of fun stickers monthly. Stickii offers three general thematic options and all their stickers fall into these categories: vintage, pop and cute.

What makes Stickii so much fun, in my opinion, is that they work with lots of different artists to create sticker sheets. Those sheets bear the name of the designer, so you always know who’s designing the stickers you adore. While the club price is going to be the best price you’ll get per sheet, Stickii also offers sheets for sale individually so you can find more from your favorite artists, or shop one treat at a time (though I’ve never managed to order just ONE sticker sheet). Ana is a devoted fan of the club. While I haven’t signed up for the club, I have hit up the sales and have lots of individual sheets in my collection.

All that is to say, this year when Stickii offered their advent calendars, I was eager to sign up. The promise was a hardcover binder, filled with individual envelopes (one for each day) and a sticker sheet in each. You choose the theme you want (or all three?) and this time around I chose Pop. The calendars shipped starting in late October/early November so they arrived in plenty of time. I won’t spoil anything for you by sharing today’s sheet, but I’ve included shots of Days 1 and 2 below.

And just so you can see the beautiful details included, check out those envelopes. I’m loving the art and it’s a fun thing open each day!

Stickii‘s 2024 Advent calendar cost $42 per calendar + $5 for shipping, for a total of $47. I purchased this product with my own funds. All photos and opinions are my own.

In Planners & Organizers

December Journal/Planner Set-Up: Phase 1

AnaDecember 2, 2024December 2, 20242 Comments

With Thanksgiving celebrations and requisite Black Friday sals and shopping occupying much of last week, I woke up this morning and realized it was December already. I mean, I knew it was December but I had that realization that I hadn’t set-up my December planner/journal pages and knew I needed to hop to it ASAP!

So, it will come as no surprise that my theme for Decemeber is holiday and Christmas related. While I keep my home interior decorations to a minimum, I tend to go all out with festive holiday and seasonal looks in my journal and planner. It helps me feel like I am “in” the season.

The links below follow along with the video but you ca also just enjoy the photos. Stay tuned for a post later this month where I will share some actual page layouts.

Jinhao 82 Fountain Pens
Pen BBS Matcha Green Tea #342 Ink: No longer available
Diamine Matador Ink
Marvy LePens
Pentel Brush Sign Pen
Sailor ProColor Custom Pen: No longer available
Kaweco Caramel Brown Ink
UniBall Signo DX 0.38 Bordeaux Black

DISCLAIMER: The item in this review include affiliate links. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature

Black Friday Sale is here!

AnaNovember 29, 2024November 29, 2024Leave a comment

To celebrate Black Friday and you, I am offering a 15% off sale all weekend for ALL PRODUCTS including Rickshaw bags and cases, Col-o-ring FOLIO and everything else in the shop.

Use the code THANKS24 at checkout on all orders over $20. Offer good from Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 through Monday, Dec. 2, 2024.

For our international customers, some of our products will be available in our Etsy shop with the same discounts applied.

Have a great weekend, shop small and we will be back with another Fashionable Friday next week! xoxo!

In feature

Grateful for You!

AnaNovember 28, 2024November 26, 20242 Comments

Thank you readers, old and new, for coming to us for your pen, ink and stationery content. We love what we do but you have made this project a true joy and life calling.

May you have time today and this holiday season to be able to tell the people in your life how much their love and support means to you.

Best wishes, may you eat what you love and drink to your heart’s content surrounded by people (or creatures) you love.

In Link Love

Link Love: Gift Guides and Sales

AnaNovember 27, 2024November 27, 2024Leave a comment

This week we have a few gift guides and — be prepared — next week will be the (somewhat) annual Pen Addict Gift Guide podcast episode with an appearance from yours truly! I’ll have a link for you for it next week. Stay tuned!

Gift Guides:

2024 Holiday Gift Guide (via Yoseka Stationery)
The T.G.S. 2024 Holiday Gift Guide is Live! (via The Gentleman Stationer)
The Colossal Gift Guide is Here (via Colossal)
Pens:Pocket Pen Converters: Has Kaweco Solved the Mini-Converter Problem? (via The Gentleman Stationer)
Nahvalur Original Plus Matira Quartz Fountain Pen Review (via The Pen Addict)
Sailor Bespoke Pens Explained – Yoseka Stationery
You need an oblique nib? – Chronicles of a Fountain Pen
Everyone Wants This Leopard Print Highlighter (via Hyperallergic)

Ink:

Ink Review #2663: KWZ Jurassic Treasure (via Mountain of Ink)
Inky Madness – Diamine (via Rachel’s Reflections)
Diamine Inkvent Calendars – the perfect portal to a magical world of fountain pen ink (via Nick Stewart FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART)

Notebooks, Planners & Paper:

Digging back in to the archive: How many do you own? (via Philofaxy)
Diary inserts for 2025 (via Philofaxy)
Midori MD Cotton Notebook Review (via The Pen Addict)
Morning Notes Journal (via Nero’s Notes)
Dissolving Everyday Boundaries with Notebooking // José Naranja – Baum-kuchen
The Paper Plane – Iroful 75gsm paper (via inkxplorations)

Art & Creativity:

Doodle Your Knitting With These Illustrative “Doodle Decks” (via Brown Paper Bag)
Starting a New Journal (via RozWoundUp)
BOOK REVIEW: The Big Book of Watercolor: The Must-Have Guide to Painting by Mallery Jane (via Doodlewash)
REVIEW: Paul Rubens Floral Watercolor Palette (via Doodlewash)
Ranking All the Ways I’ve Stored Embroidery Thread (via Brown Paper Bag)

Books and Bookish Things:

The Best Reading Supplies for Book Lovers (via JetPens Blog)
Meet the artist behind the cover of this year’s Booker Prize winner (via Creative Boom)

Other Interesting Things:

Jamie Hewlett recreates Tank Girl for the 21st century (via Creative Boom)
10 Useful Things (via Olive Octopus)
U.S. Postal Service Provides Update On Peak Holiday Season Preparations and Readiness (via USPS Newsroom)
Tips to Overcome Hand Cramps with Fountain Pens (via Chronicles of a Fountain Pen)
CPC 2024: Authentically Me (via Dime Novel Raven)
Struggling to keep up with your habits? Try these tips and tools (via Rediscover Analog)
The Slow Communication Movement (via The Typewriter Revolution blog)
Souvenirs of gratitude (via Austin Kleon)

Thanks for making it to the end of another edition of Link Love. If you haven’t joined our Patreon, please consider joining. You will help support this site and get cool perks like printables, podcasts and even a book club/zoom meet-up. Thank you! And love to all our Patrons! You are awesome!!!

Link of The Week:

Pens:

Ink:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

Ink:

Notebooks, Planners & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Books and Bookish Things:

Other Interesting Things: