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!!!!

In feature, Ink Review

Ink Review: Montblanc Origin Collection

Author Jessica ColesPosted on 1 Comment
Ink Review: Montblanc Origin Collection

I can’t say no to Montblanc ink, especially new special edition colors.

Montblanc’s newest line is The Origin Collection and was released as a celebration of 100 years of the Meisterstück collection. The boxes are foiled with gold or silver in a design inspired by pen designs from the beginning of the collection.

The three colors in this release are colors insipired by the pens in the Origin collection – blue, coral, and green.

Coral was the color in this group that I was most excited to see. I was hoping it would be close to my favorite ink from Montblanc – Red Chalk. But Coral turned out to be slightly darker and more red. It does have a very pleasant copper brown sheen, however.

Coral is very close to Diamine Blood Orange and Montblanc James Dean (although not so close to James Dean that I would call it a duplicate).

Green is a dark forest green with a slight dark red sheen. In writing, the green does show – it’s not so dark that it appears black.

Again, Green does come close to another Montblanc special edition color – If – but isn’t a duplicate of the color. Green is darker and doesn’t have the dusty finish seen in If.

Blue turned out to be my favorite ink of this collection which was surprising to me. I’m not a fan of many mid blue inks. Blue has just a hint of a reddish sheen but I found it difficult to get it to show.

Origins Blue is a close match to J. Herbin Eclat de Saphir in color and tone. In writing it shows as a lighter blue than most standard ink so it will stand out while still being office-safe.

The Montblanc Origin Collection on Cosmo Air Light paper:

The Montblanc Origin Collection on Tomoe River 52gsm (TR7) paper:

The Montblanc Origin Collection on MD Light paper:

Overall I was a bit underwhelmed by these inks meant to represent the start of a 100 year line of pens. While they have an Art Deco feel to them, they didn’t seem to inspire the history of the company. However, they are great color matches for the Origins pens and can be found at Montblanc boutiques or at Montblanc retail locations and are priced at $40 for a 50mL bottle. Do you have a favorite in the collection?

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by me for personal use. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.