In Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Review: Faber-Castell Grip

Author Laura CameronPosted on 4 Comments

Sometimes I like to go back and check out pens that I may have missed along the way. This is particularly the case for introductory pens, and often when I need to fill my cart for free shipping at JetPens! So this past week I ordered myself a Faber-Castell Grip Fountain Pen in Glam Violet (JetPens, $24).

At first look, the Faber-Castell Grip appears to be quite similar in body type to the Lamy Safari and the Pilot Explorer. All have similar plastic barrel shapes, slightly wider at the cap end, and slightly more tapered at the other end. All have clips, though those vary in style. All feature steel nibs. The grip sections are different. The Lamy Safari has that trademark triangular grip; the Pilot Explorer has a rounded, tapered grip; and the Faber-Castell Grip is somewhere in between. The Pilot Explorer retails for $25 and the basic Lamy Safari for $29.60. The other aesthetic difference in the Faber-Castell Grip are the raised dots on the body.

You can see that the weights between the three are comparable, and the lengths are similar as well (I don’t have a Safari in the collection, but I’ve added the Pilot Explorer and a TWSBI Eco here for comparison.)

Pen Weights

My experience with the Faber-Castell Grip was ok. I had what I wouldn’t consider an a-typical experience, although it might not be 100% perfect for a person brand new to fountain pens. The pen comes with an ink cartridge (you can use short or long, or opt for a converter). I went ahead and swapped that out for a purple one, but popped it in and got ready to write. As it turns out the tines were a little tight on this particular F nib, and needed to be loosened a bit to let the ink flow. The nib is a bit scratchy, and would benefit from just a touch of micro-mesh. As I said, I don’t consider this a bad new pen experience (all of these things can be fixed easily), but if I was a brand new beginner I might be frustrated at having trouble getting the pen started writing.

All that said, once it started, it writes well. The ink flows smoothly, and it’s easy to hold and write with. The pen is lightweight, and fun to look at, while being nicely balanced. I know I could write with this one for a while and not suffer hand fatigue.

I think the Faber-Castell Grip makes a pretty good starter pen. I like the aesthetic of the dots, and I think it’s a relatively inexpensive way to experiment with fountain pens and cartridges or inks!

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 Planners & Organizers

August Planner Set-Up: Lions & Sunflowers

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
August Planner Set-Up: Lions & Sunflowers

For the month of August, I decided to go with the theme “Leo” since August in the birth month for Leo. I was able to integrate yellows, oranges and other hot, late summer colors as well as sunflowers and lions, of course. I’m excited to play with these colors which I don’t use often.

Pens for August:

Fountain Pens for August:

Assorted supplies:

Not everything shown is listed below. Some items are so old I don’t remember where I got them and as a result are probably no longer available. So, dig into your own stash and show some love to those supplies buried in the back of your stationery cupboard.

And now for the full-video set-up with cats, babbling and a bit of that “plan with me” vibe! Enjoy!

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

In Fashionable Friday

Fashionable Friday: Island Adventure

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Fashionable Friday: Island Adventure

I admit it. I’ve spent my summer inside, pretending to be a little, big-eyed kitty running around on a fantasy island swimming like a mermaid, baking pastries and scavenging for shells, lemons and pineapples. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’ve fallen victim to the delights of Hello Kitty Island Adventure. It’s a video game currently exclusive to the Apple Arcade platform but it has been announced that in 2025, it will be available for the Nintendo Switch (and with lots of speculation that it might be available on Steam and other platforms soon afterwards).

If you loved Animal Crossing during the pandemic, Hello Kitty Island Adventure may be your next video game love. There are some elements that fans of Animal Crossing will find familiar like decorating cabins. But there’s other elements that are uniquely cozy additions to Hello Kitty’s Friendship Island: like being able to swim in the sea (complete with a mermaid tail!)

While I am not inclined to decorate my office in full Hello Kitty products (well, maybe a little bit!), I like the idea of blending in some elements from the game like fruits, mermaids, shells and the like with a few dashes of Hello Kitty cuteness like notebooks, sticky notes and a couple pens. We all have the right to be delighted with our surroundings and our tools and Sanrio has been my favorite cute pick-me-up since I was about 7 years old.

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 Paper Review

Sticky Note Day: Midori MD A7 Sticky Memo Pad (Blank)

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments

Our Sticky Note Day series ha ventured into playful and unique styles of sticky notes but today, we are going to discuss the “cadillac of sticky notes” — the Midori MD A7 size Sticky Memo Pad ($11). I purchased the blank style as that feel most like a classic sticky note but with premium Midori MD paper stock. Midori also offers these little treasures in dot grid, graph, lined and frame (blank with a line around the edge). Each pad has 80 sheets which is considerably more than most (30, 40 or 50 sheets at most) so that helps defray a little bit of its premium price.

The memo pad comes with a wraparound paperboard cover to protect the paper. It’s a nice touch, especially if you put your sticky notes in a pouch or slide it in and out of a bag.

And what is nest about the Midori MD sticky memo? The paper, of course! All my daily pens– brush pens, fountain pens and gel pens– work beautifully.

The A7 size (2.9″ x 4.1″) is a little longer than the standard Post-It note size (3″ x 3″) so instead of square, they are oblong. The extra space is not dramatically large but its worth noting.

Viewing the back… no bleed through and minimal show through so of course, I’m thrilled.

Yes, the Midori MD Sticky Memo Pads are pricey but there is a good amount of paper, a nice protective cover and, most importantly, paper worthy of a paper snob like me.

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 Link Love

Link Love: Is Your Pen Chaotic Evil?

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Link Love: Is Your Pen Chaotic Evil?

I am delighted with the idea of categorizing our pens based on D&D character classes. Is my Sailor Starburst Galaxy Chaotic Good or True Neutral? Its such a classic, tried-and-true pen but in a slightly flashy package. Chaotic Good.

Oh, of course!  My Benu Skull & Roses is definitely Chaotic Evil with its wickedly sharp Richard Binder needlepoint nib and crazy engaving.

The Sailor Starburst Galaxy is on the far left.
My Carolina Pen Co Urushi Lamy AL-Star

I think my Carolina Pen Co. Urushi Lamy is definitely Chaotic Neutral. Its such a classic pen but dressed up in finery.

Its a fun mental game to try to categorize my pens. Do you have any clear ideas about your pen collection?  Share your favorites in the comments

Link of the Week:

Pens:

Ink:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

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In Ink Review

Ink Review: Van Dieman Tassie Seasons Salmon

Author Laura CameronPosted on 4 Comments

In today’s post I’ll share another ink that I thought might be orangey-peach, but didn’t end up that way. I’m talking about Van Dieman’s Tassie Seasons Salmon (30mL for $17.00). I found this one while I was looking for peachy ink samples this spring and well, I digress.

Tassie Salmon is a beautiful red ink with a touch of pink shading. It reminds me of watermelon, or the color of the freshly caught salmon that the bears munch on during Fat Bear Week in October in Alaska, as they bulk up before winter hibernation. While it leans a bit orange, I found it to be quite red. Definitely not a peachy salmon (like I think of when I think of cooked fish).

The ink shades beautifully, with no sheen or shimmer (the sample label had shimmer on it, but I think that was an error!)

In terms of what I have in the collection that would compare, I think it’s closest to PenBBS #220, Watermelon Red. It’s similar to Pilot Iroshizuku Momiji, but that ink is a shade more pink. Banmi’s Red isn’t quite right, and PenBBS #140 Bloom would be quite close, except that it has gold shimmer that makes it look more orangey overall.

I have to say, as I continued to make my samples this ink grew on me quite a bit. It’s somewhere between red and pink and I really like it. (Even if it’s definitely not peach!)

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 feature

Giveaway Winner: Pacific Northwest Pen Show Swag!

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Giveaway Winner: Pacific Northwest Pen Show Swag!

Thanks to everyone who entered our Pacific Northwest Pen Show Swag Kit giveaway!

Congrats to Kate B, the winner of our Pacific Northwest Pen Show Swag Kit with Ink-A-Pet Penguin with goggles and floaty ring, Ink-A-Pet Coloring Book, Rickshaw Portland Flag Pen Sleeve/Lanyard and sticker set. I hope this will give you some pen show joy vicariously through these fun bits.

I think a mouse friend would be a great addition to the Ink-A-Pen line-up! It would be so cute!!!!