In Link Love

Link Love: (fill in the blank) of the Year?

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Link Love: (fill in the blank) of the Year?

Which color will be your color of the year? Or your pen of the year? Or your word of the year?

Pelikan’s Rose Quartz or Pantone’s Viva Magenta are head-to-head as the pen community’s color of the year. Right? How similar are they? We will have to wait and see. IT appears that Rose Quartz might be a bit dustier pink. But who knows? Is Pelikan “on trend”?  Hmmmm….

I enjoy a special product each year but I’m not sure the logic behind the choices being made for each of them. Lamy has released one, two, or more Safari of the Year each year and their own ink color. Kaweco seems to roll out a new Sport or four each year. This trend has been going on so long that Brad and I have had buttons made to show your support for which Safari or AL-Star (or even Kaweco) you think is the winner.

What’s your take on the “_____ of the Year” trends? Do you look forward to these new products? Any guesses for the Lamy or Kaweco pens of the year?

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

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In Planners & Organizers

Black Owned Planner and Stationery Companies

Author Laura CameronPosted on 4 Comments

Just before the new year I stumbled on a great Twitter thread compiling black owned planner and stationery companies. I browsed a number of them, and bought from a few. But I thought I’d share a few on the list today with you!

Greer Chicago PlannersGreer Chicago – Ana gave this one a thumbs up as she has shopped there both in person and online and loves it. Greeting cards, stationery, notebooks, planners and more!

 

 

 

 

Cloth and Paper– In addition to gorgeous planning supplies with a modern aesthetic, I really love the idea of Cloth and Paper’s subscription boxes full of planning and stationery products.

Arrivista – It’s no secret that I love bright color and lots of it. I was taken with these notebooks that go along with the Arrivista planners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black Love Holiday Card Aya Paper CoAya Paper Co. – Do you like to shop sustainable? These greeting cards look gorgeous and are made from recycled paper produced locally with on eco-friendly packaging. I love their page on sustainability.

But seriously, check out the rest of the list!

In Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Review: Pilot Cavalier

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Fountain Pen Review: Pilot Cavalier

The Pilot Cavalier is an unusual fountain pen. It is a slender, metal barrel, snap cap that retails for about $36 (up to $58 for the marbled exterior finish).

The Cavalier line is only available in a Fine or Medium nib but does feature a snap cap and the interior of the pen is large enough to support a converter though the pen only ships with a cartridge.

The nib in different in shape compared to other lower-priced Pilot pens like the Preppy, Prera or Metropolitan. The nib shape is more similar to the nibs used in the E95 line except the Cavalier nib is a steel nib and the E95 is a gold nib.

I really appreciate the silver tone hardware on this pen, I think it accents the subtle pink shimmer barrel nicely. All the colors of the Cavalier at $36 feature silver hardware but the higher priced marbled designs feature gold tone hardware.

On paper like Rhodia, the Cavalier is a crisp fine nib. Over the past few weeks, I’ve tried the pen with various inks and papers and the line width will vary a bit depending on the wetness of the ink or the absorbency of the paper. I find on Stalogy, depending on my ink selection, the line width can skew wider. If you prefer a fine line, with the Cavalier, I recommend seeking out drier inks.

The Cavalier is a relatively light pen weighing in a 18gms capped and filled and just 10gms uncapped. That’s considerably lighter than it’s bigger brother, the Metropolitan.

Pen Weights

(From left to right: Sailor Pro Gear Slim, Pilot Cavalier, vintage Platinum pocket pen, Kaweco Special FP, Caran d’Ache 849 and Lamy AL-Star.)

As you can see from the side-by-side comparison images above, the Pilot Cavalier is the most slender of the pens shown and I specifically chose a few pens that I consider to be the slimmer in my collection.  With the added convenience of the snap cap, the cavalier is a great journal pen. It fits easily under a notebook elastic or tucked into the pen holder in many planners.

The cap posts for those who are curious.

In general, I am a sucker for small slender pens. There are not a lot available on the market so when I do find one, I am often willing to purchase it. The Cavalier is no exception. The combination of the slim barrel and snap cap puts this pen in my sweet spot for a daily writer. It’s perfect for those short everyday notes, lists and meetings when you need a pen that is quick to use and easily portable. The metal barrel makes the Cavalier feel comparable to the Metropolitan line in terms of build quality in a smaller package and with a unique nib shape.

DISCLAIMER: Some 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 Tools

Product Review: Sun-Star Delde Smand Pen Case in Lemon

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Product Review: Sun-Star Delde Smand Pen Case in Lemon

The allure of the Sun-Star Delde Smand Pen Case in Lemon ($17) is the rigid, triangular shape AND the front flip panel. The double zip closure is also worth noting. The bright, happy yellow lining and the lemon print is a bonus.

Front flip panel, you might be asking?  The Smand features a magnetic flap on the front of the case (or is it the back? You decide!) that will lay flat onto your work surface and reveals a grippy surface, perfect for propping up your phone.

When I first saw this, I wasn’t sure I needed such a feature. Isn’t the point of writing to not use your phone?  decided to give it a try anyway and discovered that the flap is so handy! Throughout my day, I find that I use my phone for podcasts, the occasional chat and other little tasks. The grippy surface has become the “phone landing pad” so I know where I put it and can easily see if a message pops up.

The rigid construction of the case supports your phone (or a small notepad) easily. I have discovered that the remaining grippy surface can act as a pen rest, keeping pens from rolling off the table.

The easy portability of this case means that if you find yourself working from a coffee shop, library or other non-office-y space, you still have the convenience of propping up your phone and laying a pen on the grippy surface like a makeshift pen tray. AND you’ll have a case full of tools for whatever project you need to tackle.

The internal storage space opens wide to allow easy access to supplies. The case is long enough for most pencils and an array of markers, gel pens and small supplies. The Smand can hold about a dozen pens or pencils comfortably so it forces me to be a bit more choosy about what supplies I keep with me. Any more than 8-12 tools and I find that I need to dump everything out to find what I want to use. I try to pick an assortment of brush pens, Mildliners and dot markers each month to add  a little flourish to my planner but keep my options to a limited palette. The Smand is perfect for this.

If lemon print is not for you, the Smand is available in a bunch of other patterns and colors including more sedate, solid colors. Facing a long, dark January, the bright pop of yellow reminds me that summer will be here soon but in the meantime I can warm my soul with my lemon pen case!

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 feature

Hack Idea: A Traveling Dip Pen

Author Jessica ColesPosted on 13 Comments
Hack Idea: A Traveling Dip Pen

Dip pens are priceless when it comes to swatching inks, enabling the user to quickly and completely clean the nib between ink changes. There’s no other way to test several inks in a row. A great place to participate in such serial-ink-swatching is at pen meet-ups, either local or at more distant pen shows.

Below are several tools I use on a regular basis for ink testing, but only one is suitable for the travel involved with pen meet-ups and pen shows.

If you are a regular reader of Well-Appointed Desk, you may remember a recent post where I spoke about my travel kit. One item in the larger kit is a Nock pouch that fits Col-o-Ring cards, a travel paint brush, and a travel dip pen.

Today I wanted to show how to assemble the travel dip pen!

This pen started life as a Traveller’s ballpoint pen, but you can also start with a Traveller’s pencil. The Traveller’s fountain pen or rollerball pen will not work.

These are fairly easy to find at retailers that carry Traveller’s products, and they can be found in a few different finishes (typically special editions). The pen (or pencil) consists of the body (brass in this case) and a steel insert. This insert is what holds the ballpoint or pencil – pull the insert from the body, remove the ballpoint or pencil, and throw it away. No one wants a ballpoint or pencil around here.

The only mysterious portion of this setup is how to keep the nib in the insert.

A great many dip pens consist only of a shaped rod of some type of material – wood, plastic, metal, or, in the case below, ebonite. A small plug of the material is removed from one end and a ferrule is inserted. This is holds the nib firmly in place while in use, but still allows the nib to be removed when desired.

These are ferrules. I purchased a large quantity of these several years ago – they consist of an outer tube of metal that is adjustable and an inner tube that breaks into four fingers (that is not a technical term – they just look like fingers to me) that hold the nib in place. The ferrule is forced into the hole in a nib holder and the nib is inserted between the outer and inner tube.

Here is a slightly over-zoomed photo so you can see the ferrule inside the Traveller’s pen insert. You can see how the fingers fold together once the nib is inserted.

That’s it! Any nib can be used in this dip pen, as long as it can fit in between the two tubes in the ferrule. Mapping nibs and crow quill nibs are too small for this setup. I’ve never run into other nibs that wouldn’t fit, though.

When traveling, simply remove the insert from the brass holder of the pen, flip it around and place it back into the brass holder – the nib is protected during travel and your hands are protected from being stabbed by a nib!

In Link Love

Link Love: Getting Through the Week

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Link Love: Getting Through the Week

This week, with the New Year well under way, most folks have returned to work or school and it’s business as usual again. Hopefully, as we proceed this week, we feel rejuvenated, rested and a little more inspired to write in our journals, plan with our new planners and work towards our goals. But, if not, that’s okay too. Sometimes, the plan can just be “let’s get through the day.”

Year in Review Wrap-Ups & Beyond:

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

We need each other. Please support our sponsors, affiliates or join our Patreon. Your patronage supports this site. Without them, and without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!

In Planners & Organizers

Planner Review: Midori MD 5-Year Diaries

Author Laura CameronPosted on 4 Comments

As I mentioned last week, one of my New Year’s goals is to record more of my daily life. Many days this will be humdrum, but I’d like to remember the little things. So a few weeks ago I purchased a Midori 5-Year Diary ($42). I eagerly awaited January 1st, then stared at the blank page for a while. You know how it is.

I chose a Midori 5-Year Diary because I really love Midori paper. While Hobonichi has a version, I actually find the Tomoe River paper a bit too thin for my tastes. Especially for a journal that will last me 5 years, I really wanted paper that would work well when I write on both sides, with the least amount of show through. The Midori 5-Year Diary has 366 pages of 7mm lined MD paper.

I do like the layout with all 5 years on page, making it easy for me to review what happened in previous years…well after this year that is! So far the paper seems to be handling my different fountain pens and inks well.

So let’s talk sizing. The Midori 5-Year Diary is 7.3 x 4.5″ (18.5 x 11.5cm). It is thicker than many planners, but still comes in at around 13oz. Do you want to take it with you everywhere? Maybe not, but mine is going to live on my nightstand so I can record a few thoughts as I go to bed each night. It’s still relatively compact. It also comes in a nice slipcover for storage.

My only complaint in terms of reviewing the Midori 5-Year Diary for you is that there really aren’t an extra pages/end papers for me to ink test and show you!

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased with my own funds for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.