Stationery Smiles
This time of the year I have a few things on my mind. I’m thinking about the year ahead since my new planners have arrived and I am thinking about what I have been enjoying over the past year. This applies to all aspects of my life, the what worked and what didn’t work, and it definitely applies to this hobby. There is just pure joy in cataloging inks or rearranging bottles on my shelf, rediscovering a notebook I forgot about, or finishing up one and putting it in one of my archive boxes. While I plan on doing a much larger reflection on the state of my stationery over the next few weeks, I wanted to reflect on what I am enjoying right now.
Laban Athena Grey in my Kaweco liliput fireblue. I got this ink on Fountain Pen Day because I had read Gentleman Stationer’s review a while back and was intrigued. I’ve been collecting gray inks this year (and giving myself the worst time over the gray/grey and the fact that I will use them both, haha). I’ve found myself more drawn to interesting “work appropriate” colors, with newly acquired bright inks being very rare. I first inked it up in a Kaweco BB nib and while it was fine, I was a little underwhelmed. In the wet nib it just looked like a dark gray… so when I was swapping out some colors I moved it into my Kaweco liliput with the journaller nib grind from Custom Nib Studio. I just had a feeling about it… and it is a stellar combo. The ink has a lot more character in the smaller nib that allows the shading to come out. This is a pairing I will definitely be revisiting again.
Odyssey Notebooks 200 page Jupiter Tomoe River notebook. I’m actually in the home stretch of this notebook that I’ve been writing in since August. While it started out with a specific project in mind, it became a notebook that I sat down with when I got home from work. I talked to the page about my day and it helped clarify some thoughts about potential changes in my career, working through story problems for my fiction, and planning updates to my house. This notebook is just so amazingly comfortable to write in - it lays flat, the pleather cover is pleasant, the thick Tomoe River paper shows off ink and doesn’t bleedthrough… just a great notebook. While I won’t be replacing it just yet (since I have a veritable notebook hoard), it is definitely one I’ll come back to if it’s still available in the future.
Only 23 pages left!
Kaweco Sport Cognac sporting a M stub by NibSmith. The M stub grind was my second ground nib after I picked up an architect. This nib took a while to grow on me. At the time I was still writing primarily in print, and I couldn’t quite figure out how to write with a stub and be happy with it. As I started writing in cursive more, it became one of my favorite nibs. The pen itself was, I think, my second Kaweco. It was a Christmas gift and it came in the tin with a clip as a special edition. I don’t always have it in my pen case, but when I do it always draws my eye and makes me want to write with it.
Esterbrook Raven Blotting Paper. When the Estie Raven was released I wasn’t so much intrigued by the pen as I was by the art that had been created to go along with it. Ravens are a very special bird to me (hence why they are in my blog title) and it was just so cool. While they didn’t release it as a standalone product right away, I was checking on a whim a few weeks ago and lo and behold, you could buy just the blotting paper! I have a sheet tucked in my traveler’s notebook for on the go and a larger sheet on my desk. I love having little bits of useable art around, gives me an excuse to play with them daily. I bought my blotting paper from Pen Boutique.
Paper Penguin Co. A6 Tomoe River paper notebook. Currently acting as my catch-all notebook in my TN, I just enjoy writing in this notebook. Paper Penguin does a great job with her notebooks and I like the simple covers that are blank canvases for decoration. My stash has a good backlog of these for when I finish this one off this week or next.
These are making me smile this week, what is making you smile?
Currently Inked
Anderillium Luna Moth Green - Kaweco x Elite Royalty Sport Deep Red BB - Swapped this ink into this pen to see how it looks in the thicker nib. Still rather fascinated with this light green color.
Sailor Ink Studio 280 - Kaweco Sport Mellow Blue B premium - Didn’t pick up this pen much this week because I had a few too many inked (two pens waiting for cleaning), but will work on writing this one out. One more for the making me smile list is this color.
Kaweco Smokey Grey - Kaweco Sport Dark Olive BB - Needed to fill a pen quickly on the way to work and a cartridge fit the bill. This ink is a great standard grey with good shading in the wide nib.
Ferris Wheel Press Frontenac Blue - Kaweco liliput copper 14K BB ‘journaller’ - Releases Dec. 1st. Just inked this one up yesterday and decided to get out my juicy marker sized nib to play with it. First impression, a nice icy blue for winter with subtle blue and silver shimmer. I want to ink it up in a narrower nib as well to see if it keeps all that character. It reminds me of a more mature version of Diamine Blue Peppermint.
Laban Athena Grey - Kaweco liliput fireblue 14K M ‘journaller’ - This combo is making me feel like a Writer (capital ‘W’ imperative there). This is a commanding color and it’s no fuss.
Ferris Wheel Press Gold-plaited Tress - Ferris Wheel Press Carousel Hearty Harvest M - Releases Dec. 1st. The newest entry in the Ferritales lineup is inspired by Rapunzel and is a bright yellow. It’s similar to Diamine Gold Star and has a similar base color to Colorverse Rising Reflections. What makes it unique from them, however, is the copper-silver shimmer (as opposed to gold or blue in the previous inks). I’m excited to try this one in a stub, because I think it’ll show off in a way it can’t in this current nib.