If you read the epically long review of the Enigma Blanks x Shawn Newton x Custom Nib Studios Purple Striped Jellyfish Eastman Fountain Pen with Reverse Architect Nib, then you know what this post is all about. Yep, Enigma Blanks is letting us give this gem of a pen away. So… for all you folks who might not make it to the San Francisco Pen Show to have a chance to purchase one of the 23 of these pens left to buy, this giveaway is for you!
This giveaway is for the PEN only. The ink and notebook that would be included in the set will not be included in the giveaway. Pen includes converter, packaging, stickers and certificate of authenticity.
TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me your favorite sea creature. 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 Monday, July 22, 2. 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.
This week, anyone who attended the DC Show and has a blog, wrote a recap. Or at least that’s how it feels to me — as someone who didn’t get to go this year. I have chosen to live vicariously through the many posts, photos and recaps that are available to me.
Of course, for all the wonderful pen shopping and meeting up and such, there was also some folks who came home with COVID. The risks of getting together in large groups is still strong and what we jokingly called “con funk” before the pandemic is now considerably worse.
If you are preparing to attend any of the other shows this year (SF, Dallas, Denver, Columbus, et al) remember to protect yourself and others. And remember to post photos for those of us who will be living vicariously.
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I know it sounds hokey, but in the last few years, since I haven’t attended pen shows that much, I’ve been concentrating on what I already have in my collection and trying to use it more. That doesn’t mean I haven’t bought new things (I surely have!) but I’m also focusing on what my favorites are turning out to be in everyday usage.
This is the current lineup of pens on my desk. From left to right:
Meister By Point Pocket Felt Tip Marker: I’m generally not a huge fine liner or felt tip aficionado, but somehow I’ve been enjoying this one. I filled it with a fountain pen ink cartridge, which makes it THAT much more fun and it’s on the small side which means it fits my hand really nicely. I find it perfect for marking up my daily calendar. I expect this one will be in rotation for a while.
Platinum 3776 Shape of a Heart: The newest entry to the desk set, the Platinum 3776 is a really nice writing experience. I suspect I may have the nib tuned or ground just a bit at the next show I attend, because it occasionally catches a bit, and I’d like to get it set for my left-handed use. But the pen itself is gorgeous and I’m really glad I picked it up!
Kaweco AL Sport: These are kind of my latest addiction. I currently have three and I have my eye on a few more colors. I actually do like the metal a bit better than the regular plastic Sport. The Kaweco is the perfect pocket pen – it always writes when I open it, it’s easily cartridge-filled, it’s inexpensive enough to own different colors and nibs, and there’s always at least one on my desk!
Schon DSGN Pocket Six: I picked up my first Pocket Six in April of 2021 after eying them for a while. I love Ian’s fun color combinations – there are so many that are tempting – and this pen is pure fun. It’s currently loaded with a cartridge that came with it, but I can’t wait to refill the cartridges with the inks of my choice. My only complaint on this one is it’s perfectly smooth and round so it sometimes rolls away from me.
What are you using most these days? Anything special live on your desk?
Let’s start with the description of this extra special limited edition pen set from Enigma Blanks. I think the full title should look something like this:
Enigma Blanks x Shawn Newton x Custom Nib Studios Purple Striped Jellyfish Eastman Fountain Pen with Reverse Architect Nib plus Vinta Inks Tabuan Purple Sea Star and Frieheit Freestyle Notebook in Ocean.
That’s a mouthful and took up more space than my title would allow! This is such an epic set featuring a 3x collaboration. The set is limited to just 24 units and will be available at the San Francisco Pen Show.
So let’s get into the details and peel back the many layers that make this so extra special. Enigma Blanks, inspired by a local species of jellyfish, the Chrysaora Colorata found in the waters around northern California, created these alumilite pen blanks with pinks, purples and shades of blue in translucent and opaque material and then added a healthy amount of iridescent shimmer.
Enigma Blanks then passed the blanks to Shawn Newton of Newton Pens to shape them into pens using his Eastman pen design. The shape is a simple, flat-ended tubular shape. This simple shape shows the swirled color of the blank to the best effect, IMHO. I find the more complex the material color, the simpler the pen design should be.
There is tapered grip section that fits comfortably in the hand, even for someone like me with itty bitty baby-sized hands.
pens for scale, left to right: Kaweco Sport, Pelikan M200, Opus 88 Koloro, Pilot 912, Enigma Blanks/Newton Eastman, Pelikan M600 and Franklin Christoph Pocket 45.
The pen is 5.75″ long when capped and 5.375″ when uncapped. The cap does not post in this design. Its a fairly sizable pen but not too heavy thanks to the material used to make the pen. Capped and filled with the included converter, the pen weighs 24gms. Uncapped, it’s a mere 16gms.
Pens for scale uncapped and posted where possible. From left to right: Kaweco Sport, Pelikan M200, Opus 88 Koloro, Pilot 912, Enigma Blanks/Newton Eastman, Pelikan M600 and Franklin Christoph Pocket 45.
THEN… (yes, there’s a then!) the JOWO No. 6 nib was shaped by Gena Salorino at Custom Nib Studio into a reverse architect nib. To quote Gena’s web site: “The Architect Point is on the reverse of the nib. This allows you to have a more usable nib for normal writing, but access to a more expressive nib on the reverse.”
Now, let’s flip the nib and see what we get.
Oh, well that’s fun! I don’t think I’ve worked with a full reversible nib before. When the pen is flipped over (so the feed is facing you and the nib is closer to the paper), the line weights vary pretty significantly.
And amusingly, when an overwriting lefty uses an Architect nib, it becomes an italic. When overwriting lefties use Italic nibs, they look like Architect nibs. So, that’s a bonus.
Extras:
The pen comes with lots of information about the care and maintenance, a certificate of authenticity, info about all parties involved and, of course, stickers!
Then there’s an exclusive ink:
Vinta Inks Tabuan Purple Sea Star
Enigma Blanks worked with Vinta Inks to create a complimentary (Zoey the Mama Cat added: iu’;/÷÷. I think it means “Fabulously sea inspired”) ink, Tabuan Purple Sea Star. This ink is a beautiful, shading ink inspired by another sea dwelling creature, the Purple Sea Star. The ink coordinates beautifully with the pen and presents as more purple, blue or pink depending on the paper, shading or line width.
I was able to compare this ink with a few other pink-to-purple/violet shaders I had in my collection, from top to bottom: Ferris Wheel Press, Kobe #57, Troublemaker Foxglove, Sailor Jentle , Papier Plume Violet and then Vinta Inks Tabuan Purple Sea Star. I put the colors in order from pinkiest to most violet.
Oh, and we must not forget the notebook. It is a Freiheit Freestyle Notebook in Ocean.3 (a lovely sea blue) with ivory pages and a 5mm dotted line graph printed in brown. the notebook is approximately 9.5″ tall x 5″ wide which is not an A5 slim nor a B5 slim. It’s its own unique size.
The paper is very smooth and worked well with most rollerball and felt tip pens in my collection. Pencils felt amazing on the smooth paper but could smear more easily since the paper is not overly textured.
There was some showthrough on the reverse of the stock but not terrible. With fountain pens, the paper does show more ink showthrough and may have a little feathering but its a good notebook for the price (or included in the set).
The complete set includes the Enigma/Newton/Custom Nib Studio pen, a bottle of the Vinta ink, and the Freiheit notebook for $300. The ink will also be available separately for $18. The notebook can also be purchased separately for $9. If any items are left after the SF Pen Show, they will be made available on their website.
Even More Cool Stuff:
The folks at Enigma Blanks also included a rubber stamp set in the package they sent me. This is a 6-rubber stamp push button set called Kodomo Mo Kao Pochitto 6 ($10 per set). This unusual strip of tiny stamps works by letting you remove the cap on the bottom and then just push down on the stamp you want to use. The stamps are pre-inked so its great to use with your bullet journal or planner.
Before depressing the buttonAfter pressing the stamp button.
The stamp does not require a lot of pressure to transfer the image. It took me a couple tries to get the right pressure but I like the pen, ink and nib stamps. They would be perfect to note the pen, ink and nib used on a particular page. I like the book too because I regularly include a “what I’m reading” item in my daily journal. The tape and clip are a little more esoteric for daily use but if you have some ideas for them, let me know.
Reverse page of the Freiheit Freestyle Notebook with fountain pen ink and Pochitto 6 stamps.
This rubber stamp set will be available at the San Francisco Pen Show as well but is not part of the Purple Striped Jellyfish Pen and Ink collection and is sold separately. It will be available on the Enigma Blanks Pen’s Desk Site after the show.
Final Thoughts:
This pen and ink set really encapsulates the spirit of the pen community. There are so many talented people in the pen community and folks are great about combining their skills. Enigma Blanks combined their skills with Newton and Custom Nib Studio then added the Vinta Inks and Freiheit Notebooks and created something that is really a pen show in a set. What a delight!
I think by blending all these elements Enigma created something better than the individual parts. Not to say that the individual parts aren’t great on their own but this set makes it great times three!
And before we go:
Okay, technically there are only 23 of these pens available and, if you’ve read this far, you will be prepared. Later this week, we will be giving away this pen — #24/24. So, stayed tund for your chance to win this beautiful pen.
PS: Not to shamelessly plug but my darling husband printed the pillow pen sleeve for Enigma Blanks at his shop, Skylab Letterpress. This pen packaging meets a bevy of my personal requirements — recyclable, protective without being ostentatious and it’s pretty too.
DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by Enigma Blanks for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
The Washington DC show was an amazing place to be this year – many people have not seen one another in two years and the reunions were everywhere. This did, however, lead to shortages on popular items at the show. One of these was a new, exclusive ink from Galen Leather, a KWZ ink that sparkles called Prairie Green. Thank you to Galen Leather for giving me a bottle to review!
This is an ink that can be ordered from their store, though! So if you missed out on Prairie Green, take a look at the color and order online. The ink sells for $15 for a 60mL bottle.
As usual, the KWZ ink comes in a dark brown glass bottle, packaged in a simple white box. I’ve noticed that the normal faint vanilla scent is not present in this sparkly ink or it is so faint that I can’t detect it.
I inked up a Wing Sung 698 with a fine nib to really push the chance of the ink clogging in the pen. The demonstrator barrel is a huge plus – I love watching the particles inside.
I allowed the ink to sit in the pen for two days before writing this entry, again to see the extreme limits of the ink. I did need to dip the nib in water to get the flow going again, however, once I did that, the ink had no problem.
Prairie Green has two colors – the ink color is a green gold that looks perfect for the name.
It also has a brilliant, bright gold sparkle that is visible at the correct angle.
The ink color is close to KWZ Green/Gold, but slightly less yellow. Birmingham Arugula is a great match.
Prairie Green looks even closer to KWZ Green/Gold when the sparkle shows. You may notice that there isn’t much sparkle in the writing on the Col-o-Ring card below – I swatched the card without shaking the bottle again which led to non-sparkly writing. I have not run into the same issue while writing with a fountain pen.
Cosmo Air Light paper:
Cosmo Air Light paper at the sparkle angle:
Tomoe River paper (old):
Tomoe River paper (old) at the sparkle angle:
I don’t know if KWZ has ever created a sparkly ink before – I have never seen one. Let me know in the comments if you have knowledge of one! I am enjoying playing with Prairie Green this week; it is a great color and so sparkly. At $0.25 per mL, this may be the best priced sparkle ink currently on the market – I highly recommend ordering some soon! I will be reviewing additional Galen Exclusive inks in the near future, so check back soon!
DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by Galen Leather for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
While the big news for lots of folks was a good trip to DC for the pen show, for Brad effin’ Dowdy, it was an exceptionally big week. And friends celebrate friends. So, let’s all cheer for (and tease) Brad for appearing on WNYC and also launching a collaboration with Rickshaw Bags to release the new version of the Sinclair 3-pen case which will be available in a couple weeks at the SF Pen Show.
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!
Thanks so much to everyone who entered our giveaway for the Ferris Wheel Press Brush Fountain Pen & Ink Charger Set. I’m glad the post helped to introduce a lot of folks to this delightful Canadian pen and stationery brand.
Our winner is:
I will be contacting Robert directly to arrange delivery of his new pen and ink set.
