In feature

Support Your Favorite Stationery People

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments

There are lots of pen, pencil and stationery blogs and podcasts that are finding ways to generate funds to support their passions through subscription services. By contributing $2, $5 or more each month, we as readers or listeners can help keep our favorite blogs and podcasts going. Subscribers get little extras like handwritten thank you notes, a special podcast episode or discount coupons and the stationery blogger/podcaster earns a bit more money each month.

Some of the funds generated are used to pay for hosting fees, improving equipment (computers, microphones, cameras, etc) or maintenance (like internet services, hosting fees, etc). Other funds help to pay for products to review.

I know we all  feel like every thing costs a $3-$5 a month now from our streaming tv to our newspaper subscriptions to the blogs we read but isn’t it worth supporting the projects we value?

The nice thing about Patreon and other services like it is that ,should your financial situation or interests change, you can reduce or cancel your support, even temporarily. You can shift your limited funds from one worthy cause to another throughout the year. When I lost my job last year, I cancelled all my subscriptions and various support to conserve funds but once I got a new job, I have been adding subscriptions back one by one. Some I pay in yearly chunks, others are month to month.

If you are a fan of any of the following blogs or podcasts, consider showing your support to these fine folks:

Many creators also have shops where they sell merchandise so check their sites for links as another way to support their ventures and get cool stuff in the process.

Let me know if we missed any of your favorite stationery content creators.

And, of course, not to sell our own snake oil, but we also have a Patreon. We offer several backer levels with various perks.

In Ink Review

Ink Overview: Papier Plume Cloud Gate (Chicago Pen Show Exclusive 2021)

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments
Ink Overview: Papier Plume Cloud Gate (Chicago Pen Show Exclusive 2021)

Papier Plume created an extra special ink for the Chicago Pen Show 2021. The ink was named after an icon of the Chicago skyline, the Cloud Gate sculpture, AKA the Bean. In designing the Cloud Gate ink, Papier Plume chose a color that is a multi-color grey ink with hints of blue and purple. Then Papier Plume introduced fine, gold shimmer particles to the ink. This combination simulates the sunlight and blue sky (or twilight or cloudy sky) reflecting off the metallic surface of the Bean. The dark grey that shades in some areas  simulates the shadow colors from the underside.

Papier Plume Cloud Gate Ink

On Col-o-Ring paper:

Papier Plume Cloud Gate Ink

I did several samples with the new Cloud Gate ink. On Col-o-Ring cards and the Oversize notebook, the ink is a very cool grey with a lot of evidence of the gold shimmer particles. When the ink was wet, the shimmer particles weren’t as noticeable as when the ink dried. Once dry, the shimmer particles were very easy to see especially on Col-o-Ring and Tomoe River paper.

Papier Plume Cloud Gate Ink

Papier Plume Cloud Gate Ink

When the ink pools in any way, the shimmer is much more visible.

Papier Plume Cloud Gate Ink

I love how the shimmer looks when the light hits the ink.

On Tomoe River Paper:

Papier Plume Cloud Gate Ink

On Tomoe River paper, the ink still shades a lot but is a little more neutral grey, the evidence of the blues and purples was not as evident.

Papier Plume Cloud Gate Ink

Papier Plume Cloud Gate Ink

Again, when the ink pools, the shimmer is really evident.

Ink Color Comparison:

Papier Plume Cloud Gate Ink

When compared to other shimmer inks, the closest comparison would probably be J. Herbin 1670 Stormy Grey though Stormy Grey doesn’t have the multi-color range that Cloud Gate has. Diamine Snowstorm is  lighter and has silver shimmer rather than gold and Diamine Solstice is darker and features multi-chroma shimmer. On the furthest ends of the photo above is Starry Ink Lunar Halo which ends up looking much more brown (warmer dark) grey and features gold shimmer too while the Colorverse Glistening Anti-Matter is much more purply pink.

Final Thoughts:

The fact that Cloud Gate is (I think) Papier Plume’s first shimmer ink, and it’s a multi-chroma and a limited edition if you are an ink collector, this is a must-have. If you are new to shimmer inks, since this is Papier Plume’s first foray, the shimmer volume and particle size has not been thoroughly tested for flow and cleaning so it may not be the best place to start though I’ve not had issues with any of Papier Plume’s non-shimmer inks. However, I recommend new-to-shimmer to proceed with caution.

How Can I Buy This Ink?

The Cloud Gate ink will premiere at the pen show on Friday, October 1 and available at the Papier Plume booth. Any bottles left over after the show closes will be available for purchase online the following Monday, October 4, 2021.

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

In Link Love

Link Love: AMA with AOC

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Link Love: AMA with AOC

Thanks to reader @prettypreciouspumpkin for tipping us off to the AMA (ask me anything) with AOC (US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez). She showed off her three favorite pens and as a fellow lefty, we couldn’t agree more with her selections. All three pens have, at some point, made my top 5 lists. I just have WAY more top five lists when it comes to pens than she does.

Pens:

Inks:

Pencils:

Paper + Notebooks:

Art + Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

We need each other. Please support our Patreon (link in the sidebar) and our sponsors and affiliates. Your patronage will let them know you appreciate their support of the pen community. Without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!

In Paper Review

Notebook Review: Stalogy 365 Days Notebook Editor’s Series A5

Author Laura CameronPosted on 6 Comments

‘Tis the season to buy a new planner and you know we here at the Desk LOVE planners. Well ok, we love trying and reviewing new planners, but we’re always talking about which ones do and don’t work for us.

If I’m being truly honest with you all (you won’t tell anyone will you?) very few planners work for me. It’s not that I have such refined tastes or particular needs, it’s rather that I don’t. And I can go for weeks without looking at a calendar. (Thanks 2020 – no more of that please!)

The only thing I’ve found that I use consistently is a desk calendar that stays ON MY DESK. It’s basically my weekly  bible and my ritual on Friday afternoons is to fill out the following week so I can empty my head of things to do before I wrap up for the weekend.

At this point the introduction is long and you’re probably wishing this were like a recipe online where you could skip the story and get straight to the point. It’s coming up, I promise.

So when I was browsing Jet Pens a few weeks ago, I was intrigued by the Stalogy 365 Days Notebook Editor’s Series A5 ($25). There are enough pages for every single day to have it’s own page, and yet they’re not numbered so who cares if you skip a day or twelve?

Let’s start with the basics. The 018 Editor’s Series A5 measures approximately 5 7/8″ x 8 1/4″ (148 mm x 210 mm) and is a slim volume coming in at 1/2″ (12 mm) thick. The cover is a softcover cardstock, with a slight texturing. It is available in a variety of colors, but I selected Blue.

The book is stitched and contains 184 pages of 52 gsm white paper featuring a 5mm dot grid or gridline. The volume weighs in at 12oz or approximately 343g. The paper is advertised as bleed-resistant and fountain pen friendly.

Basically this is a blank book with enough pages for a year. I realize that seems kind of silly to bill it as a 365-day planner or journal, but my mind sort of took off. I could order date stickers or sweet-talk my favorite rubber stamp creator into creating a set of fun number stamps to mark my days! I could jot down funny stories that happened, big events, notes to myself. This book could be anything!

So let’s check out the paper. It turns out that the paper is, as advertised, free from bleeding and it takes all my fountain pen inks, gel pens, ball points and roller balls quite nicely. However, I’m fairly heavy handed and I’m less thrilled that the super thin paper not only shows the writing through the other side as well as some indentation marks. Which means now my book doesn’t work as well for 365 pages, but rather half those. BUT that is me and my writing. If you love super thin paper like the Tomoe River in Hobinichi planners, then this might work really well for you.

Overall, I’d say this is a pretty nice notebook and I’m still charmed by the idea of having it for a year and then purchasing a new volume. While the price is not inexpensive, when I compare it to other notebooks like the Rhodia Webnotebook ($20) or the Leuchtturm1917 Hardcover Notebook in A5 (19.95) sizes it’s only slightly more, and you get more pages that either the Rhodia or Leucchtturm, still in a slim-line notebook that fits easily into a bag or portfolio.

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items in this post were sent to us for free for the purposes of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In photo

Yarn + Ink: A Case of the Mondays

Author Laura CameronPosted on 7 Comments

We took a poll and we’d all rather be back in bed with the covers over our heads this Monday. So I give you one of my favorite knits: a blanket that I made in honor of our wedding that’s on our bed every night!

The Pattern: Paintbox Log Cabin Blanket by Katherine Keyes

The Yarn: Noro Kureyon in 19 different colors (the 20th blanket square is bits and bobs of all the other colors!)

The Inks:

In Ink Review

Ink Review: Private Reserve Old vs New Part 2

Author Jessica ColesPosted on 6 Comments
Ink Review: Private Reserve Old vs New Part 2

Last week I presented the first group of the new ink line from Private Reserve inks under the Yafa brand.  This week I will finish the PR inks that were sent out and just like last week, I have the old versions of each ink save one – Avocado.

This group consists of 7 inks – Daphne Blue, Blue Suede, Avocado, Buttercup, Orange Crush, Copper Burst, and Chocolate.

The new Private Reserve Daphne Blue is a great match for Monteverde Caribbean Blue. A touch of shading with this one but not much of it in writing.

The older version of Daphne Blue was a bit more even in tone – there was less variation in the shading. The new Daphne Blue is a a nearly perfect match.

Blue Suede is the next ink. it’s a bit darker than Noodler’s Turquoise and has some great shading! There was just a tiny touch of sheen in some letters as well.

The new Blue Suede is definitely darker. The color and shading variations here make it tough to compare the underlying color, but they are close. This is another great update.

Avocado is now being spelled correctly! Don’t worry – I know why it was misspelled in the first place. Something about a guitar…

The new Avocado ink is close to Birmingham Schenley Park Thicket Green although considerably darker. Again, there is a bit of sheen on this one. a beautiful black sheen.

Good yellow inks that are legible and still yellow are so hard to find. The original Private Reserve Buttercup was a great ink for this requirement. The new Private Reserve Buttercup is also great – close to the yellow ink from the Pineider Alchemy ink mix kit.

Comparing the new and old Buttercup inks, it is easier to see the change. The new Buttercup ink is darker with a touch of orange. I did see feathering in this ink but I need to test it further on various papers to see how it behaves on those.

The new Private Reserve Orange Crush is beautiful. A dark pumpkin orange with plenty of red mixed in. Orange Crush is close to Robert Oster Orange Zest – another great orange.

This color received quite the update. The old version of Orange Crush was a much lighter orange and was much closer to yellow than red. I’m not sure these two should go by the same name! I will miss the old Orange Crush tone, but the new Orange Crush is definitely one to check out.

Copper Burst is close to Monteverde Canyon Rust – a great color. Copper Burst has a bit less red than Canyon Rustand more extreme shading. There’s a bit of black sheen that shows up in writing, at least in wider nibs.

The color change between the new and old versions of Copper Burst isn’t quite as extreme as the change with Orange Crush. However, these are completely different colors as well. Copper Burst was originally lighter and closer to orange. The new Copper Burst has some dark halo effects in writing and lots of shading.

The final color in this week’s post is Private Reserve Chocolate. I realized my ink smudge looked like I had left a bit of chocolate on the swatch card – I’m sure it was on purpose! Chocolate is darker than Lamy Topaz but similar in color. It has dramatic shading in wide nibs, going from almost black to a milk chocolate shade of brown very quickly.

The new and old Chocolate inks are a fairly good match. Once again, the new ink is darker and the shading more pronounced.

I’ve lined the new Private Reserve inks up on the bottom row and the matching old version on the top. Each ink has more shading and is darker. Buttercup is the ink that stands out in this comparison.

Orange Crush and Copper Burst – these inks I would definitely refer to which generation you are using. These two colors are the biggest change I have seen in Yafa’s change.

Once again I am overall quite happy with the updates to the Private Reserve ink line. Each color is darker and shades more dramatically. Other than the elevated levels of red in Buttercup, Orange Crush, and Copper Burst, the changeover has been quite successful at color matching.

Private Reserve inks have increased slightly in price but are still an amazing deal. Any of the bottles above retail for $15 and are sold in 60mL bottles. That comes in at $0.25/mL, slightly less than the $8 for a 30mL bottle of Diamine.

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Squirrels in my ink

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments

I can’t tell you how tickled I was when I saw the story about the young girl who rescued the baby squirrels after Hurricane Ida (below in “Other Interesting Things). It had to be the thing that brought me the most delight this week. That, and the re-broadcast of an episode of Every Little Thing podcast about astronauts when they return to earth. Even if you’re not a space nerd, the pure joy emanating from this episode is palpable.

In other news, I am finally taking my laptop to Apple on Sunday after living with aa janky keyboard since I bought it 3 years ago. If you have had issues with keys repeating randomly like I have, check to see if your laptop is covered by the recall. This might make posting next week a little challenging. I’ll keep you posted or borrow my office laptop. (I had to correct at least FOUR cases of repeating aaaaaa’s in this paragraph alone. And a double O where I didn’t need it.)

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

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!