August is quickly coming to a close, alas. I know there are folks who are cheering at this news; good for you! May September bring cooler temps, drier air, and lots of neat school supplies. Speaking of school supplies - this may be a bit of a stretch - let's take a look at some pens! I currently have nine inked up; I use a different pen each day to do my daily journaling, my... Read more →
Today I'll show you the pens that I currently have inked up. I've already posted about two of them, but you get to see writing samples now; isn't that special? Here are the pens: On the left is my TWSBI Vac 700R with the beautiful rainbow treatment. (By the way, Goldspot Pens has it in stock again, if, you know, you might be interested.) It contains a gorgeous fuchsia ink from Papier Plume called Desire.... Read more →
Okay. Since I last wrote about my fountain pen addiction hobby, my collection has grown by five. Now, to be fair, one was a Christmas present from Joe, so I only actually bought four, except it all comes out of the same pot of money, so... Well, let's not quibble. I have five new pens. In order of acquisition (and from left to right in the photo), they are: Conklin Endura Abalone with rose gold... Read more →
About a month ago, I saw a review of the TWSBI Vac 700R Iris and oh geez, I was smitten. The reviewer, David Parker (aka figboot) mentioned that many retailers were already sold out - oh no! Sure enough, every one of the usual suspects listed it as out of stock. I kept checking, but alas! Then I thought to check the actual TWSBI website and hallelujah! Take my money! Give me a fine ni... Read more →
So! The lovely and talented Heather asked for writing samples using the new pens. Okay then! I've done the samples on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper, which is very thin, but strong, paper especially suited to fountain pen inks. It's showing up as brown-er than it really is - it's really very slightly off white. Each sample has the same squiggles: a loopy, S-shape, some vertical lines, and a pound sign. Finally, each sample has... Read more →
Yes, friends, the collection continues to expand. Most of these beauties are from small - even tiny - pen companies. Shall I tell you about them? Why yes, I shall. So, from left to right in the picture, we have: Narwhal Schuylkill. Given that I live about 100 feet from the Schuylkill River, I had to buy this one. It's quite beautiful, with shades of blue swirling about and very nice chatoyance. (I had no... Read more →
My lovely and talented friends Wendy and Melissa apparently think I should write pen reviews. Okay then! When I was first dipping my toe into the fountain pen pool, I watched (all right, I still watch) fountain pen reviews on YouTube. I bought several pens based on reviews; in fact, I bought all three of the following pens based on reviews. Most of the time, these reviews are Very Serious. I am not Very Serious.... Read more →