In feature

Currently Inked

Author Laura CameronPosted on 6 Comments
Currently Inked

We’ve all got pens and ink we’re crushing on right? Here are mine right now:

Pelikan M205 Apatite – Colorverse Photon

This pen is a joy to write with. It’s smooth as butter and gives me lots of beautiful ink. The cap/seal are excellent because as long as it has ink it’s ready to write. And of course I love the teal pen and teal ink combo (can you tell it’s my favorite color?)

Jinhao 82 – Dominant Industry Periwinkle Twinkle

I know not everyone loves a knockoff, but this one is another amazing writer that I just can’t seem to put aside when it comes time for pen cleaning – it always gets a re-ink. Currently it’s inked with Dominant Industry Periwinkle Twinkle which is kind of a blue, but every so often I get a hint of that gorgeous pearl finish!

TWSBI Diamond Mini AL Grape – Robert Oster Berry D’Arche

This is another one of my favorite writers and who doesn’t love a purple ink? I might be ready for an ink change though… what should I choose next? I’ll tell you a secret though. As much as I love this one, it has an EF nib and I think I might have started to fall in love with bigger, wetter nibs (see the 2 pens above!)

Esterbrook Estie Cobalt Blueberry – Pilot Iroshizuku Ajisai

I pulled this one out and inked it up a few weeks ago and I’ve really enjoyed using it. One of the problems (is it really a problem?) with having lots of pens is that I can’t use them all at once. I’m always happy to return to one that has been dormant for a bit, ink it up and find I really enjoy it again!

What are your favorite writers (or currently inked pens?)

 

In Pen Review

Pen Review: UniBall ONE Metallics (and White) Set

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Pen Review: UniBall ONE Metallics (and White) Set

I was interested in trying yet another white gel pen and the Uni-ball One Gel Pen 3-Pen Set (White & Metallic, 0.5 mm, $7.50) was a great opportunity to try both the white gel pen in the Uni-Ball One series as well as the metallic gold and silver options.

Often metallic and white gel pens have only been available in larger tip sizes so finding a 0.5mm option is exciting.

The One Series gel pens are white overall and a wider barrel than most gel pens on the market.The clips are metal wires making them easy to clip onto a notebook cover though the likelihood of carrying these pens are a daily carry seem unlikely. This set of pens match the rest of the Uni-Ball One Series so I guess its okay.

On white or light colored paper, the gold and silver work well and have lots of shimmer. The white pen is obviously useless on light paper. On Kraft paper, the white was visible but the gold and silver are not as usable. The silver is more usable on the Kraft sticky notes but both are more visible when angled back and forth in the light. I wouldn’t recommend the metallic pens on medium toned paper overall though.

On black paper or very dark paper, all three pens are excellent. I do really like the white gel pen. It was smooth and opaque. The gold and silver showed the most shimmery-ness on the black paper.

If you’re looking for a good white gel pen for highlights, dark paper and other uses, I would definitely recommend the Uni-Ball One white gel. The 0.5mm makes it great for adding highlights and eyelights to sketches. The gold and silver will be fun for adding a little sparkle.

The set is quite reasonably priced so it’s definitely a good way to try a few of these more unusual Uni-Ball One specialty gel pens.

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 Fashionable Friday

Fashionable Friday: A Bit O’ the Green

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Fashionable Friday: A Bit O’ the Green

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day and the Luck of the Irish (not to mention my favorite color) we thought we’d celebrate all the greens the week for Fashionable Friday. May you find a bit of luck with these beautiful green goodies.

Fashionable Friday: A Bit o' the Green

Thanks to my sponsors for providing some of the images I use for Fashionable Friday. Please consider making your next purchase from one of the shops that support this blog and let them know you heard about them here. Thanks for your support and for supporting the shops that help keep it running.

In Pen Review

Another Batch of Marvy LePen Flex Brush Markers

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Another Batch of Marvy LePen Flex Brush Markers

I have always loved Marvy LePens. They were one of my gateway pens when I was a kid. So I was tickled when the Marvy LePen Flex markers ($2.10 each) became available. Over the years, I’ve acquired one or two and finally wrote a review about the ones I purchased. But I knew I needed to acquire ALL THE LEPENS! So, I got 14 out of the available 17 colors. I skipped plain red, blue and black because I never use those colors. But I now have all the other colors.

The tips are small and a little flexible. They are finer than most of the more popular flex or brush tip markers (like the Tombow Brush Markers or the Pentel Sign Brush Pens) so they are great for headers in a small journal or planner.

Applying a lot of pressure to the tips will give a beautiful thick-and-thin style and with a light touch will write similarly to a bullet tip pen so they are quite useful.

I tend to use one or two of these each month in my planner set up so I now have more than enough colors for each month for the rest of the year.

The value for these pens is great and the quality is excellent. What’s your favorite brush marker?

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: Post-Pen Show Crud

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Link Love: Post-Pen Show Crud

While I had a good time visiting Baltimore and the BWI Pen Show, I came home with the crud. I am so bummed because I have so much to do in preparation for the upcoming Chicago Stationery Fest next week. Send me healthy vibes and NyQuil. Thanks.

Pens:

Ink:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

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(Illustration from Adobe Stock)

In Paper Review, photo

Nanami Seven Seas – Old and New Tomoe River Paper Side by Side

Author Laura CameronPosted on 5 Comments

I know that comparisons of old Tomoe River paper and new Tome River paper have sort of been beaten to death, but I found myself with an interesting opportunity to share, so here we go. Since I started with my first ink review on the blog way back in 2017, I have been swatching new inks faithfully in my Nanami Seven Seas Crossfield notebook. As it was purchased in 2017 it of course was comprised of old Tomoe River paper (the journal was marked 2nd edition).

In the year 2025, I find I’m only 20 or so pages from the end of the book, meaning I need to order a new one! I have really loved the first one so I decided to order the new version, the 7th edition of the Crossfield and this one has had new paper for the last few editions. (As a side note, I paid $24 for the notebook back in 2017, and today’s is $28. Not bad right?)

So I did what anyone would do, I re-swatched an ink I’ve swatched before on the new paper to see how the two would compare. I picked Dominant Industry Autumn Forest because it’s a Pearlized ink with all kinds of sheen and I wanted to see what the paper would do!

NEW Nanami Journal on the left, OLD Nanami journal on the right

These swatches were done about 3 years apart. On the left is the new paper, and on the right is the older paper. Here’s where I see the differences:

  • the big swatch on the upper right – I did a somewhat smaller swatch last time around and it appears a bit darker in color.
  • the text – really I don’t see much difference at all here – I keep looking, but I don’t see it!
  • the splotches at the bottom – both have a pink sheen to them. I notice that the color seems to have separated more into light/dark on the new paper, and the pink tone seems a little brighter on new (left) vs. old (right.

Here’s some detail shots.

NEW:

OLD:

Clearly this isn’t super scientific because I haven’t created the exact same conditions, but I do think it’s interesting. I’d have to do more samples to check (and I’d be happy to if you’re interested – drop a comment and let me know!) but I’d say the new might show color variation even a little bit better than the old in heavy applications? However in regular old every day writing, I think it looks pretty much the same.

One more:

This time OLD on the left and NEW on the right.
In feature

Pen Show Season!

Author Laura CameronPosted on 2 Comments
Pen Show Season!

It’s Pen Show season! If you’re a fountain pen aficionado and stationery enthusiast, attending a pen show can be great fun. Did you know we’ve got a list of all the pen shows we know about? And I’ve just updated that list today with all the 2025 dates that I can find. As always, if we’ve missed a show that you know of, please leave us a comment and we’ll add it to the compendium.

If you’ve never attended a pen show, or want to live vicariously through someone else, Mike from Inkdependence usually does a live stream of the shows he attends. Check out his 2+ hour extravaganza from this past Friday in Baltimore (stay tuned until the end and you’ll see a pink-haired ink wielding goddess!).