In the spirit of coming up with a better acronym than CPS for the Chicago Pen Show, I second the use of ChiPS as proposed by Kimberly (@allthehobbies).

I think I have rewritten this post three times, I kept getting stuck on what I wanted to say about the show, especially because it passed in a complete blur for me. It was my first time at the show as a vendor and it was such an amazing experience. I was deeply worried that no one was going to come to my table, but folks really showed up. Welcome to my blog new folks! I hope to see you again either in Chicago or at my shop in Duluth!

*A hastily taken snapshot of my table on Friday. I forgot to take one at the end of the weekend, let’s just say it was very empty!*

The experience of being a vendor really gave me a different perspective on the show, and changed how I interacted with it. This was my fourth year attending this show and you can read my past recaps: 2025, 2024, 2023.

ChiPS is Growing/Growing Pains Part 2

It’s amazing to see how much the stationery/pen community has changed in recent years. Although, as I mentioned in my 2025 recap, I think the shows are still going through some growing pains of how to bring in the more diverse group of people (age-wise, culture-wise, gender-wise, etc.) and have it feel authentic. My table was near some folks who had been attending the show for a long time and focused more on vintage goods and they looked rather lonely all weekend. It was clear they spent time with each other, but there wasn’t a lot of crossover between the younger demographics. That’s not to say that the older crowd isn’t friendly, I think that someone will need to take the reins to make vintage less intimidating to new folks in the hobby. Just like how fan conventions will have an “artist alley,” I think having the same sort of set up for vintage would help the flow of the show.

I didn’t even make it near some folks’ tables this year where I would have normally stopped and said hello. I was experiencing the show floor in short breaks, trading off with my friend who had come along to help me with the table. I am so grateful for her help because I don’t know if I would have been able to see anything until Sunday afternoon otherwise.

*I looked in my camera roll and realized the picture of my table was the only one from the show! So here’s some travel journal pages, haha!*

I hope in the new location the traffic flow can be a little more intuitive. I had designing human traffic flow pounded into my brain in university and one of the things to avoid is too many exit points or exit points that cut off part of the room. Granted, there is only so much one can do because the space is the space, but I think there might be a way to arrange tables so that some folks don’t get missed. There were two big exit doors from the ballroom and the atrium had aisles, but some folks were stationed in an alcove that could be easily missed if one wandered into the ballroom when the door was available. Essex actually had good flow. It didn’t feel too cramped for such a small room (however, climate control left something to be desired).

Something I’d like to see at more shows in general is grouping vendors around a category (even if it’s a loose one). It makes it easier to navigate for attendees and helps vendors support each other.

That support meant a lot to me as a new vendor. Shout out to my awesome ballroom neighbors of The Well-appointed Desk, Happiness Handmade, InkyConverters, Kaleidocrafts, Happy Hour Pens and Gifts, and Pineberry Paper! Special mentions to @allthehobbies, Erik from Amarillo Stationery and Mark from Rickshaw Bags for checking in on me a few times throughout the show. The pen community is seriously one of the best hobby spaces out there.

Another shout out to all of the folks who attended my workshops and came to hang out at the Pen Social!

*A quick page I put together during a workshop.*

So… what did I bring home?

My haul was really small this year and included a few things that I picked up in the greater Chicago area. My friend had never been to downtown Chicago so we spent most of Thursday out and about. We visited Atlas, of course, and then took an adventure out to Pen and Paper in Andersonville. Wandering the streets of that suburb was probably one of my favorite moments on the trip. It’s such an interesting area and I am so excited that Pen and Paper is expanding! They definitely influenced my own little micro-shop in Duluth.

As the title suggests, one of my favorite souvenirs from a show is show-exclusive inks. Chicago usually has a few and I picked up the Colorverse Da’ Orange (a nod to “da’” Bears football team), Anderillium Chicago Common Brick (my favorite of the bunch as a historic preservation nerd), and I also grabbed Papier Plume’s The Loop Brown Line. I’m kind of regretting not getting the set, but the truth of the matter is I wasn’t interested in some of the colors. Brown is always a safe bet for me. I’ve inked up the Anderillium ink three times, it has such lovely shading and really does evoke late 19th century brick work to me (as another town on the Great Lakes, Duluth also has some Chicago-made brick around).

*While the Anderillium might be my favorite, Colorverse Da’ Orange is a lot of fun. I’m also playing with the Pen and Paper exclusive I picked up when I was in there (they have three!).*

I also picked up stickers and washi tape from a variety of places. Miki of Pineberry Paper makes such cute little characters and the printing technique that Danielle of Happiness Handmade uses to print her stickers is really fun. InkyConverters is always a must, I picked up some more washi cards and finally grabbed one of her pride pins (she was out of the pen, so I got the ink bottle instead).

Overall Thoughts

I think every year it’s getting a little bigger and that the organizers are trying to roll with it. They listened to the feedback from folks last year in a lot of ways which did make the show even better. I hope they can keep it up! With all the craziness in the world that we have no way to individually control, I am glad that we have these spaces for folks to spend time in. It’s community building in such a fun and creative way.

Also, c’mon Minnesota pen people we have to figure out a Twin Cities show… so many of us were in Chicago because that’s the closest one! I can’t this year, but I do plan to check out St. Louis next year, which is the next nearest show after ChiPS.

Obsessed with Show Inks: ChiPS 2026

Sometimes it Needs Simplicity