Paper Chaos & Ink Indecision
ALL of the notebooks… and quite a few pens off screen.
I have had major writer’s block for the past three weeks. This is due to a variety of factors - the switchover of the US government (and the headache those yahoos have been giving me as an American historian of American history), deciding it was time to leave my toxic workplace, and starting a new job in retail so that I can still pay my bills while I figure out my next move.
In December and early January I did a ton of journal writing. Like Joan Didion once wrote, “I write entirely to figure out what I am thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means.” While that isn’t the entirety of why I write, it is certainly how I journal. I was deep down in those pages and my scrawl and keeping the ink bottle close so that I could refill the converter when I got low.
When times are tough, I want more of what I love around me. I was scanning my favorite online stationers trying to decide what would scratch the itch. Luckily, no one had the Stalogy I was looking for (my brain wanted to hoard a blue 1/2 year Stalogy). Then I remembered… didn’t I already have part of a Stalogy I cut down left? I went to my stash and there it was.
I quickly discovered the other half of a Stalogy that I’d cut down the spine… so that paper craving could knocked off the list. I also yanked out a notebook that had been sitting in my notebook box for nearly two years, a Nuuna notebook that I had picked up from Federalist Pens at the Chicago Pen Show in 2023.
It caught my eye because of its metallic orange faux leather cover. I’d also never heard of the brand before. Inside the notebook is white 120 gsm paper (so no bleed-through with fountain pens) and a teeny tiny 2.5 mm dot grid. It’s seriously so tiny.
Teeny tiny dot grid - Diamine 12 mL Inkvent bottle for scale.
There was just one problem with it… it is really thick. Since I already have a 272 page tomoe river paper in my TN there just wasn’t space for it, that notebook, and my calendars and sticker folder. I took it out, stared at it, then realized I had the solution to my own problem. I could do the same thing I’d done to that Stalogy over a year ago. I grabbed my xacto knife and cut it in half right down the spine between signatures. Now I have two notebooks instead of one! I just built a new cover for one side out of some cereal box paperboard and scrapbook paper and now I can’t stop scribbling. Since I’m trying not to buy anything until the Chicago Pen Show… a second one of these might make the shopping list.
That notebook surgery helped me get back to writing more than 1-2 sentences, if I even wrote at all.
Yep, I do need to carry around all these notebooks and pens right now, lol. Maximalist chonky TN is cozy.
Next up to get me back to the page is a fountain pen ink swap and some pen inking.
When you read my “currently inked” sections you’ll already know that I have a core 5 pens: two Kaweco liliputs (copper and fireblue), two Art Sports (Tiger’s Eye and Terrazzo), and the Kaweco x Galen Leather Carmine. The Carmine has a 14K BB ‘journaler’ nib that I use for my headers in my notebooks or when I just want some really fat writing. The other four I swap pretty freely, although the fireblue and my 14K M ‘journaler’ may be a forever pairing. During this particular ink turnover I only swapped the 14K B nib from my Tiger’s Eye and replaced it with a black CSI grind that usually hangs out in my Kaweco Collection Iridescent Pearl, but I decided I needed a change. Perk of nibs that can swap between pens. I also added my Kaweco Collection Deep Olive with BB nib and, surprisingly, my Ferris Wheel Press Roundabout, which is the rollerball version of the Carousel pen. Strange to say it, but that pen is really what broke through my writer’s block. It is far from my favorite, but apparently it was what I needed when I sat down to scribble.
One of my challenges while shopping my stash, especially for ink is that I can sometimes get restless or realize that a color I chose isn’t what I actually want. Sometimes I just drop the ink in another pen and sometimes I just write it out.
Diamine Celadon Cat has been stealing the show. Mountain of Ink has a great review and Mnmlscholar has talked about how a sample of it quickly led to a bottle. It’s a tricky ink color to describe - kinda blue, kinda gray, sometimes a little green-blue on some papers. And it’s so much fun to write with thanks to its really prominent shading. That is the only one I’ve got inked up right now that will probably get at least one more refill.
I plan to fill up these notebooks over the next month since they are a much more manageable size to carry around.
Variety and individuality is one of the things about being a pen and paper enthusiast that I love. Our collections are also tools to figure out our thoughts and figure out the best way to express ourselves through color, textures, metals, plastics, words, papers, and more.
A shared, but entirely individual identity. To my fellow pen/paper/ink enthusiasts: You are awesome and such a light in my world.
Currently Inked
Colorverse Rising Reflections - Kaweco x Galen Leather Carmine 14K BB ‘journaler’ - I decided to use some color theory while I was picking out a header ink for February. Yellow is happiness, optimism, and energy - all things that I am trying to cultivate in the wake of chaos I can’t control. Rising Reflections also has the added bonus of having blue shimmer which just adds to its easy readability.
Ferris Wheel Press Blue Revelry - Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye black M CSI - This is a limited edition ink that FWP has made for their 15th Anniversary as a company. I haven’t put it through its paces yet, but at first glance its a nice shimmer. It’s a soft cobalt blue with pink and green shimmer. It’s very whimsical. So far it’s behaving itself in my pen.
Diamine Jacaranda - Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo B ‘imperial’ - one of the purples from a past Inkvent, this one always sticks in my mind. It’s a very nice lighter purple, but it still is extremely readable. It might be my third favorite in the “light purple” category behind Colorverse From Cali and Colorverse Milky Lavender.
Diamine Celadon Cat - Kaweco liliput copper M stub - Seriously can’t stop writing with this one.
Colorverse Supernova - Kaweco liliput fireblue 14K M ‘journaler - I’ve been puttering through favorites in this pen for a few fills. It’s had Colorverse Office Blue, FWP Harlequin Dream, and now it has this one. Supernova is bright blue with pink sheen. It’s one I only have one of the 5 mL baby Colorverse bottles of, and have never taken the plunge on a bigger bottle (hey Colorverse: release the main lineup in 15 or 20 mL bottles, there are many I would grab). It’s a delight to write with as always, but isn’t quite the blue ink I’m looking for… and I’m really not sure which of my over 100 blue inks is what I’m actually after right now, haha!
Ferris Wheel Press Steeped Umber - Ferris Wheel Press Roundabout RB - This brown ink has been hitting the spot, as well as how well-behaved this rollerball has been (in comparison to my Kaweco Sport RB which I so want to love, but the feeling is not mutual). I wrote out an entire converter and then refilled it again because I just could not get going. An ink I haven’t used + pen I don’t normally use was enough novelty to get me back to the page. It also helps that this is a really pretty brown and I can’t believe I haven’t tried it before.
Diamine Early Dusk - Kaweco Sport “Inkball” RB - I was on a kick of revisiting a few colors this week that I remember liking when I tried them before. Early Dusk is another one of those inks. It’s such a lovely soft blue. I will probably end up switching it into one of my other Kaweco Sports, however, the “inkball” was being too fussy for how I want to be scribbling right now.