In Link Love

Link Love: Thinking on Paper

Author AnaPosted on 4 Comments
Link Love: Thinking on Paper

There seems to be a focus on the paper part of our stationery adventures over the last few weeks. We are all trying to find the best ways to use our paper and notebooks with all the fabulous pens and inks we’ve acquired over the years. Notebooks Stories just reviewed the book The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper which feels timely for us all and especially our Patrons (Inktellectual tier and up) since we’ve chosen the book to discuss in our book club for March. So, three cheers for community kismet. Go forth and notebook!

Post of the Week:

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

Please support our sponsors and maybe consider joining our Patreon. Your patronage supports this site. Without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!

In Ink Review

Ink Review: Octopus Write & Draw Brown Penguin

Author Laura CameronPosted on Leave a comment

Today I’m carrying on Ana’s theme of wine, roses and chocolate for February with a yummy brown ink. This is still part of my quest to find some Pantone color of the year appropriate inks. Spoiler alert: this isn’t that brown, but it is lovely just the same!

Octopus Write & Draw Ink Brown Penguin (40mL for $19) is a lovely shading brown ink. The lighter parts of the ink remind me of milk chocolate, and the darker parts look more fudgey brown. Are you hungry for chocolate yet?

While I’m not super familiar with this ink brand, it is German made and performs well. My writing samples were dry fairly quickly, aside from those big ink splotches I love to make. The ink is easy legible in a variety of nib sizes.

In terms of comparisons, Diamine Gingerbread is yellower, and Robert Oster Toffee is redder. Brown Penguin is probably closest to Iroshizuku Tsukuski. Diamine Espresso is still quite a bit blacker than Brown Penguin.

Are there brown penguins? There are!

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

February Planner/Journal Set-Up: My Days of Wine & Roses

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
February Planner/Journal Set-Up: My Days of Wine & Roses

(Insert a laundry list of swear words here) Can you believe that Saturday is February 1? I realize a lot has happened in the world in the past 27 days but also, where the (more swear words) did January go?

Many of my, dare I say it, ambitious goals for the new year kind of got waylaid by the annual winter cold, the (insert more swear words) amount of snow dumped on us here in the Midwest and a whole lot of worrying about the rest of the country and world as they battled their own severe weather and political turmoil.

But what is the start of a new month but a chance to get back on track, make a fresh start and jump in with  a renewed sense of possibility? So join me as I restart my new year and my goals, plans and journal efforts.

My theme for February is set in the happiness of the icons of Valentine’s Day — roses, flowers, chocolates, wine and lots of red and pink. I know its obvious, corny and a little saccharine sweet but I need a little paper joy this month.

I hope this brightens your day and inspires you to pick your planner back up and start 2025 fresh again!

Paper:

Inks:

Pens:

Stickers & Washi:

Other Items:

Items not included I either don’t remember where I got it or it is no longer available. Don’t forget if you want to get the free printables that are shown in my planner set-up, consider joining our Patreon.

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

Shop Updates: Rickshaw “Inky Dreams” Re-stock & More!

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Shop Updates: Rickshaw “Inky Dreams” Re-stock & More!

We have added new products to the shop as well as some re-stocked some of our favorite products. More is added to the shop weekly!

First, we just added the delightfully whimsical A Jar of Pickles products to our shop. We have fun new washi including the Lunar New Year washi tape with gold foil icons on a lucky red tape. Be sure to order it quickly as this is a limited release product! We also have Taco (Tuesday) stickers to add to your planner and Donut (Everyday) Stickers! So fun!

So excited to announce the re-stocking of our original and exclusive (to Well-Appointed Desk and Vanness Pen Shop) “Inky Dreams” Rickshaw Bagworks pen cases and bags. These are hand-drawn illustrations created by me of some of my favorite ink bottles and then watercolor painted in a rainbow of colors. Get your favorite case in this unique and exclusive design today.

And finally, we’ve added some new stickers and our new spooktastic Webweaver Notepad to our product line-up. For anyone participating in a “Gamify Your Life” planner project, we have created two styles of our D20 dice stickers: Neutrals and Brights to best fit your aesthetic. Use them in your planner to mark an upcoming Game Night or, like I’m doing, when you are trying to “Gamify Your Life”.  And we still have our monthly mini-calendars available. Each month is highlighted with a seasonal array of color. Mini-Calendar sticker sheets are available in a set of 2 (full 12 months) or buy just one sheet (Jan-Jun or Jul-Dec).

Some of the new products created by The Desk & Skylab will also be available on Etsy but our curated products are only available in our Shop.

Little Side Note: Our Patrons get access to really cool content like a bi-weekly podcast, free printables and more. If you want more details about my Gamify My Life Project, consider becoming a Patron!

In Link Love

Link Love: Hang In There, Friend!

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Link Love: Hang In There, Friend!

It’s been a few crazy weeks so far in 2025. Politics, weather, and more weather. I hope, wherever you are, you are safe and doing something to relax, stay warm (or cool), surrounded by people (or critters) that love you. If not, know that my thoughts go out to you and I know I am not alone.

Pens:

Ink:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

Help keep this site alive and well and join our Patreon. We would greatly appreciate it.

In photo

Quilt + Ink: A crafty palette

Author Laura CameronPosted on 4 Comments
Quilt + Ink: A crafty palette

Approximately two years ago I started working with a quilt company. And since I’m already in love with knitting, it’s no surprise to anyone that I ended up quilting. Fabric, like yarn, comes in such a lovely array of colors and each collection I find has fun color palettes. So this week, inspired by a scrappy quilt I just finished, is a new ink palette:

  • Pilot Iroshizuku Yama Budo – the pink is perfect, and the quilt has bits of green as well!
  • Robert Oster Dark Star Blue – gotta love those navy colors.
  • Kaweco Paradise Blue – that light turquoise contrast against the navy is everything
  • J. Herbin Vert Olive – got love a bright green. This one hits the darker notes in the green fabric.
  • Robert Oster Signature Viola – the purple is hard to see, but it accents some of the pink floral blocks, as well as the buds and green vines.

In Tools

Product Review: Shachihata Daily Log Stamp – Weather and Days of the Week

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Product Review: Shachihata Daily Log Stamp – Weather and Days of the Week

I was really curious about the Shachihata Daily Log Stamps. I grabbed the Weather and Days of the Week ($26.50) as I was hoping that it might make a fun, new way to add the date and the weather info to my daily page spreads. The stamp includes an assortment of weather icons, a line for a key note or observation, the days of the week listed to be circled or highlighted and space for the date which can be written in by hand or can be added using the built in rolling date stamper which is hidden in the handle.

There is a rolling date stamp embedded in the handle that can be rolled to add the day, month and year above the weather icons. The instructions re in Japanese so I followed along with the photos until I figured out what I needed to do.

The rolling mechanisms are small and a bit fidgety but they are neatly hidden in the handle. To access them, twist the handle and then pull up on the handle to slide the tub away from the stamp area and reveal the turning gears to rotate the stamping wheels.

Once the date is set, the black screw in the end cap under the plastic lens must be turned using a coin or a screwdriver in order to lower the date stamp in line with the the icons.

This is SUPER fidgety so its definitely something you probably want to decide if you want to use or not as it is not easy to change the date part on the fly.

Also, the date shows up as DAY then MONTH then YEAR which is more common in Europe and Asia so know that going into to trying to set the date.

It turns out I prefer the stamp without the rolling date. I prefer to write it in myself. The numbers are not as aesthetic and the date in the reverse order for me is disorienting. If the month was written out it wouldn’t bother me as much but with it being all numbers I lost the plot a bit.

After trying the rolling date a few times, I got my coin back out and moved the rolling date stamp back up so it wouldn’t print when stamping. It makes for a rather expensive weather stamp when you choose not to use the rolling date stamp part.

Also, be aware, this is not a self-inking stamp like the Midori Paintable Stamps so you’ll need to have a stamp pad handy to use this style stamp. The advantage is being able to choose a color other than black for the stamping but if you are planning to color in the weather icon with fountain pen or marker, be sure to use an archival or waterproof stamping ink or you will end up with a smeary mess.

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.