One of my favorite things about pen shows is that even if I don’t get to go, Ana always brings home fun stuff to review. This week I’m checking out OEDA Letterpress Two (and 5) Color Paper Notebooks ($15-24.00 via Dromgoole’s)
If you love testing fun new paper, wouldn’t you love it if there were multiple papers in a single notebook? These Traveler-sized OEDA notebooks contain blank paper in 2 or 5 different colors. In the two color books, paper alternates between white and natural every five pages, for a total of 50 pages. The five color books contain 5 different types of paper (8 sheets each 40 in total): Buff Paper, Tracing Paper, Half Air Paper, Wax Paper and Bumpel Paper. What is Bunpel paper? A quick google search suggests that it is a type of craft paper that feels textured. The covers on all the books are board paper, available in beige, craft or brown (2 color) or navy/tan (5 color).
So how does the paper handle fountain pen ink? The answer is pretty darn well. The paper is highly textured, but doesn’t feather or bleed with different inks. The one thing I will say is that the paper is fairly thin (not quite Hobonichi Tomoe) and there is quite a bit of show through. If you’re someone who likes using the front and the back of the page, this may be a concern. But it may not!
Now for the most important part: the GIVEWAY!
Two lucky winners will each receive an OEDA Letterpress Two Color Paper notebook PLUS a gorgeous calendar designed by Ana and printed by Skylab Letterpress, plus a big of swag from us.
TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me, what is your favorite paper? 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 Friday, March 1, 2024. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. 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: The items included in this giveaway were provided to us free of charge by Dromgoole’s and Skylab. Please see the About page for more details.
I can’t believe March is just around the corner! Since I will be in Baltimore for the Pen Show on March 1, I spent Sunday reviewing my planning/journal set-up and deciding what I want to do for the month of March.
I enjoyed my red/pink color scheme for February. Leading up to Valentine’s Day, it felt celebratory and afterwards, the bright happy colors helped make February a little less grey.
In the time I was in LA, I was able to add a few tip-in tidbits that made up for a lack of time to write. I included a petal from a lovely tree, some receipts and luggage tags and some paper samples from various vendors at the show.
While I wish I had had more time to write and keep track of events throughout the month, I do like the overall look and feel as I get to the end of the month.
I definitely feel like I have a formula to keep me writing and reaching for my planner. I add a few stickers, my date washi sticker and then write the date with a brush pen or marker. Then I write around the stickers. I try to put the stickers/date in different places on the page each day so that the book doesn’t get too thick in one spot. This also makes the page more interesting. If I don’t write much, I will add additional stickers, washi tape or bits of paper afterwards to make the page feel full. Sometimes, I leave a gap. No one really sees my book but me (and you).
Moving into March, I’ve decided to focus on purple as my color theme. March is another month that can be grey and cold and rainy and I am racing to hit a deadline at work so I need some cheery colors to keep me engaged and taking time to write.
I really didn’t have any purple washi tape. I have one roll with unicorns from Heather Ross (from 2021) and a decorative gemstone collage roll from MT. I’ve added in grey, yellow and aqua for some variety and the Bande Masking Tape Temari ($7). I also pulled from floral and nature stickers from my collection of sticker books that coordinated.
If you’re curious, the total tally for my markers was $24.60. I don’t think it’s necessary to buy $25 in pens every month. In fact, after testing, I think I’ll probably carry two brush pens, a felt tip or two and the Sarasa Nano in Bordeaux Purple and that will give me enough variation without having to carry too much with me day-to-day. Hopefully, in subsequent months, I’ll be selecting pens from my collection.
Sometimes, when you want to work on a crafty project you grab all the colors to see what works well together. And sometimes you never know until you start knitting. In this week’s chicken knitting chronicles, my boss handed me a skein of some WILD yarn and asked me to knit it up so she could decide if it was a mess or the next big thing. Seemed like a perfect time for an ink palette no?
Another pen show is now in the past – the California/LA pen show. Last week I joined the Dromgooles and Ana “Well-Appointed Desk” Reinert for several days in LA surrounded by pens, ink, paper, and an amazing group of people.
However, California wasn’t as sunny as I thought it would be…
Inside the hotel, however, I found Ana’s sunny face!
Of course, we had to dress alike. It’s important to pick a dress with pockets.
Ink. Everywhere. It’s hard to believe that the two and a half shelves of Wearingeul ink were eventually reduced to barely half of a single shelf.
Ink shelves are so beautifully neat and tidy just before the start of a pen show!
Stay tuned – the Baltimore show is the next stop over on the opposite coast starting March 1. Who will be joining us?
My question for everyone here – I have stood much new ink to fit into one single post. What should I review first? Wearingeul Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Anna Karenina, or Persephone? Ferris Wheel Press Sugar and Spite, ColorVerse Blue Dragon, Dominant Industry Old Man and the Sea, or Lamy Blackberry?
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(This week’s Link Love illustration was created by artist Chris Purcell in Adobe Illustrator)
(Re-entry after a pen show weekend is tough. You’ve got the Pen Show weekend hangover and you don’t know what day it is. All that is to say, apologies your Link Love is a day late! XOXO)
After my post last week about the thicker paper journals, there were a lot questions and curiosity about how similar the journals with Olive & Archer and other brands. All About Planners did a comprehensive comparison of the 160gsm (or higher) complete with a spreadsheet. Hopefully, that post will answer some of the other questions about this hefty paper journals.
Thanks for being awesome. If you want to be even more awesome, support our sponsors or join our Patreon. Your patronage supports this site. Without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thanks! And pat your awesome self on the back. You deserve it!
Spectacular view of the mountains as I flew into California on Thursday morning.
On Sunday night over dinner, we were talking about how, prior to actually attending pen shows, we’d heard people say, “I go to pen shows for the people.” As an introvert, I never quite believed it until I started attending shows. The California Pen Show is definitely a pen show all about the people.
As the second pen show on the annual US pen show circuit, it is often the first opportunity for regular pen show attendees and vendors to see each other since last year. As a result, there is lots of catching up that occurs. And lots of opportunity to see new acquisitions and products.
The new location: The Marriott in Torrance
As this is only the second year for the California Pen Show, its also interesting to note the changes and improvements in how the show was run. First, the event moved to a new hotel in Torrance, across the street from a shopping center that included lots of food and drink options for attendees and vendors. For locals, I think the location was easier to access than last year’s hotel which was adjacent to the airport.
Overall, the space to navigate through the main ballroom seemed good. The aisles for both attendees and vendors were wide enough to provide easy passing for multiple people at once making Saturday, often the busiest day of the show, to feel busy but not claustrophobic.
There were new classes and workshops offered this year. Regarding the classes, I think there were some issues with the classes being overbooked so I hope that in 2025 there will be a way for people to sign up for classes in advance so that they don’t exceed capacity. Also, I think, for the instructors, a sign up would allow them to provide additional information prior to the class so students know what they need to bring ahead of time. I also believe that most classes should have a fee. Instructors should be paid something for the time and preparation it takes to organize a good class. San Francisco has one of the best pen show systems for their classes and workshops so I hope that the California Pen Show will adopt a similar system in the future.
A sneak peek of the space on Thursday night.The entry hall on Thursday night before set up was completed.
This year, Jesi and I worked with the Dromgoole’s for the show. We had six tables and two large ink displays. We were allowed to bring in our ink racks on Thursday night but couldn’t set up until Friday morning. Due to the early admission of VIP pass holders, we were not completely set up when people were allowed in. I think they were a bit lax about the rules about when the VIPs were allowed in which was frustrating for vendors, particularly on Friday morning since many of us were knee deep in boxes when people started to swarm. In the future, on Friday particularly, if vendors cannot set up on Thursday night, we need the full three hours to set up.
A view of one side of the Dromgoole’s tables on Friday morningThe view from the other side of the Dromgoole’s table after set-up was complete.
Other than stressing out over the set up time, Friday was a really good day. Like many pen shows, Fridays tend to be the die hard pen enthusiasts. They are the people who travelled some distance to attend the show or folks who took the day off from work specifically to attend the show. As a result, many people on Friday know exactly what they are looking for and what they want. Often times, its just to see or touch something they have seen online. For others, its their chance to get an early appointment with a nib grinder or first dibs on a small maker’s one-of-a-kind pens. For Jesi and I, it’s the ink lovers who want to make sure they have first dibs on a coveted ink and extra time to peruse the giant ink swatch tome that we bring with us.
By the time the show closed at 6pm on Friday, Jesi and I were exhausted and could barely drag ourselves across the street for a bite to eat before collapsing back into bed so we were rested and ready for Saturday.
photo by Jon Szanto
Jesi and I have jokingly embraced “Stripey Saturday” after we coincidentally wore matching dresses at one show last year. So now, we just plan for it.
A photo of Francisco Durán and me without shoes. It was a long day but we still had fun!
Saturday was an absolute blur. Sooooo many people! We worked hard to sell lots of ink, paper, and pens. There were many happy faces leaving the Dromgoole’s table with smiles. I think we were pretty successful.
Busy view of Saturday from our corner of the pen showSOOOO many people!
By Sunday, particularly first thing in the morning, there is time for us to wonder around and even make a few purchases. I get to see other folks’ tables and get a better sense of the show as a whole.
Jose Munuera, Nib Scientist. Check out his work at nib.lab on Instagram.Kirk Speer from Pen Realm working hard to make nib magic!More pens and goodies on the Pen Realm tables.Kanilea Pen Co — another family business! John Corwin of Flexxies — always known for his silver balloon!Our good friend Stephen and his chock-full pockets of pens.Plotter came all the way from Japan to custom build binders for folks.Stamping fun at the Traveler’s Company table.My favorite new vendor: Rubato Pens. There will be a review coming soon.
Once everything was packed up Sunday evening, we were taken to dinner by our very favorite LA hostesses, Kim and Diane. We went to Din Tai Fung, an amazing Taiwanese Dim Sum restaurant that just happens to be in the mall across from the hotel. We were too busy eating to get photos of the epic amounts of food we ate but I highly recommend making a reservation if you plan on being at the show next year.
Diane, Kim, Jesi and I pre-food coma.
Overall, the California Pen Show is quickly moving up in my favorite pen show list. If you have been considering attending this show, it’s worth the trip.
As you’ve seen, Ana and I have tumbled headlong into the world of journaling. So I was tickled to see an item in Austin Kleon’s Friday Newsletter giving me a whole new perspective!
Austin referenced an article about the Zibaldone, a type of commonplace book that dates back to the 13th century. (Zibaldone is the Italian word for “heap of things”). If you ever wanted to see the inner minds and stream of consciousness of folks like Walt Whitman or Lewis Carroll or Thomas Jefferson, the article above shows fabulous shots of their books. A zibaldone was sort of a 14th century tumblr?
