Keeping Your Pens Under Wrap
How do you protect your precious pens when traveling? Some people prefer a wrap style case like the one above while others (like me) tend to clumsily jam them into a pencil case. I once tried using a five sectioned leather cigar case which held my pens quite nicely, but I can’t remember why I abandoned its use. Perhaps a case that could only hold five writing instruments was too limiting for me.
PS: Keep your eyes on the blog – another big giveaway this week!
Image courtesy of jensdecember on Instagram
Do you write with a heavy hand?
Until I started using a fountain pen, I’d always thought that hand cramps were the norm for long writing sessions. Turns out, what I thought was just my heavy handed writing style was probably caused in part by my use of a ballpoint pen. A ballpoint pen relies on gravity to coat the ball with ink. The ball then spins and distributes the ink as the pen is drawn across the paper. Since my preference was always for clear (and dark) writing, I used a great deal of pressure to obtain this result with my stick pen.
My hand cramps disappeared once I started writing with a fountain pen since almost no pressure is necessary for the ink to flow from pen to paper.
Are you heavy handed with your pens?
Image courtesy of kaniska_canace on Instagram
How a Gardening Journal Helped to Jumpstart my Writing Career
There was a time when I thought journal writing was pretentious. It seemed silly and self-absorbed and for someone who’d end up with a career as a professional writer, it’s almost comical how much I didn’t “get it.”
In the late spring of 2004, I’d find myself sitting at The Hacienda in Pasadena, California at my dear friend Lisa’s wedding. Lisa’s brother was sitting and talking with my friend Lorraine at our table about the gift of a new journal and my eyes were rolling back in my head at the thought of, “Oh no, not them too.” Back then, it seemed that no matter where I was, I kept hearing about people and their journal writing. It probably didn’t help that I was also seeing a plethora of black notebooks in the “What’s in your bag” photo group on Flickr.
But the thing that finally pushed me over the edge, and into the realm of the inky pen happened while I was watching TV. Flipping through the channels, I stopped on one of the shopping networks and they were selling, get this- a gardening journal. I watched as the host oohd and ahhd over this book like it was the greatest invention since sliced bread and I laughed out loud. A gardening journal? That’s just ridiculous!
But something about that book stuck with me that I can’t explain. I think it was a five year journal and it might have been something about being able to see things from one year to the next within the same book- a comparison of sorts, because not long after, I found myself at Blick (on Sept. 14th 2005 to be exact) standing in front of a display of black notebooks. Sitting in my car and taking the plastic off of the book, what I didn’t know then was that my entire world was forever changed in that moment – the moment I’d become a writer.
Writing has been my creative outlet, my therapy, and a big part of my career.
Back to the gardening journal – I totally get it now, because I wish I was keeping one for my first ever gardening experience this year but I just haven’t had the time. I wanted to document which seeds I bought from each company and why I’d chosen them. The dates I’d planted each seed. Which method I’d used to start them, (peat pellets or garden soil) and how long until each sprouted. Which products I’d used to prepare the garden beds. Why? Because it is exciting to describe an event or process and then look back upon it to see how it’s grown. Both literally and figuratively.
Do you keep a gardening journal?
Do you Ink it When You Think It?
A comment to a recent post mentioned the concept of “Ink it when you think it” which in it’s simplicity, seems to be an absolute golden gem of advice for capturing and retaining our fleeting thoughts. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve lost what I thought at the time was a brilliant idea because I didn’t take the time to write it down. “Oh, that’s so good, I’ll remember that for sure!” Then POOF! It’s gone.
The frustrating thing about this is that I always have pen and paper close at hand- or at the very least, a note taking app on my phone. So I am capturing some things, but not as much as I would like. In this article by Sam Horn, she mentions the use of a small tablet or notebook carried with you everywhere which if dedicated to this particular process, might not be a bad idea for me to try. (I’m thinking Rhodia Unlimited)
How about you? What is your process for retaining your own fleeting thoughts?
Image courtesy of Kookymakes on Instagram
Friday Link Share
Handmade Fonts on Behance
Why I Use Fountain Pens on FPGeeks
Embroidery on the Fashion Figure on CopicMarker.com
Music Ink in Music Nibs at Leigh Reyes My Life as a Verb
Safety Flair: Our Favorite Reflective Cycling Gear at Bicycling.com
Is Your Writing Timeless? at GoinsWriter.com
A Young Colorist, Antennas Aquiver at The New York Times
TS Eliot’s fountain pen gets first outing at Royal Society of Literature at The Guardian
This Old Notebook at Patrick Rhone
Write for Palimpsest at Palimpsest
To Do Lists at Onigiri Sama & her 21Kittens
Follow the Leaders: Faber-Castell e-motion Fountain Pen (M nib) at From the Pen Cup
Are You Honest In Your Journal? at Kaizen Journaling
New Rhodiactive Professional Business Collection – Meeting Book Review at Writer’s Bloc
Experimenting Every Time at Urban Sketchers
Talking with Tom Hanks about What Really Matters at Psychology Today
The Battle Between Japan’s Big 3 at Pentorium
Recent Acquisitions, Massive Edition at A Penchant for Paper
Anne Frank, Danville, Ohio & the Letter Writers Alliance at Pentamento
My Fountain Pen Education: The Edison Pearl at The Pen Addict
Budget Fountain Pen Showdown at The Well Appointed Desk
The letter: an abstract gift of time at The Missive Maven: Epistolary Exultation
Papeterie nouvelle: Georges & Co. thinks—& inks—differently at Felt & Wire
The Claustrophobic Notebook at Notebookism
Oh, and then this happened…
Image above of a Rhodiarama Webbie and a Nikon D5000 courtesy of Courtney Oliver, (designwinesunshine on Instagram) who also happens to design for one of our retailers – European Paper Company
Busy this weekend? March 16-17th Long Island Pen Show at Hofstra University
Saturday & Sunday, 16-17 March 2013 Visit the 2013 Long Island Pen Show
Located at Hofstra University – Student Center Multi-purpose Room, Rm. 101
Sponsored by the Long Island Pen Club, Luxury Brands, and Exaclair Inc.
Featuring:
- Repairs by Ron Zorn and nib work by Richard Binder.
- Ink sampling table from Luxury Brands, distributors of Noodler’s Ink
- Sample the smooth pleasure of writing on Rhodia paper and J. Herbin ink provided by Exaclair Inc.
- New This Year: Fountain Pen Hospital, Anderson Pens and Kenro Industries
- Dozens of collectors and dealers of vintage and modern writing instruments exhibiting, pens of all kinds
- Desk sets, ads, blotters, inwells and ephemera form the golden age of fountain pens
- Displays illustrating the history of writing and the story of the fountain pen.
- Demonstratons on how to use and maintain fountain pens.
- Functional writing instruments vintage & modern by Susan Wirth
- Free pen ppraisals at the Appraisal Booth
Daily Admission is $10.00 payable at the door. Visit http://www.lipenshow.com for more details.
2013 Los Angeles Pen Show – Were you there?
The 25th annual Los Angeles Pen show was last week – were you there? I was there in spirit, watching Pendemonium’s status updates on Facebook. (Image above via Pendimonium on Twitter.) I’ve yet to go to a pen show and I’m somewhat afraid to do so that my head might explode (Scanners style) at all the available inky goodness. Continue Readering »
Friday Link Share!
For a Reader of Harper Books at Contrapuntalism
How does writing on good paper make you feel? at Quo Vadis Blog
Journal Writing: Stop Multitasking and Start Focusing at Personal Growth Journaling Blog
Writing Tips: Abolish the Adverbs at Writing Forward
Journaling Techniques: Writing on the Stream of Consciousness at Writing Through Life
Do You Know the 3 Steps to Journal Your Way through Difficult Situations? at Journal in a Box
Walter Cronkite Imagines the Home of the 21st Century … Back in 1967 at Open Culture
Planner Pad Insta-Pocket at Plannerisms
The World’s Coolest Pen at Office Supply Geek (I want one!)
Platinum Preppy Highlighter at A Penchant for Paper
Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki Ink Review at The Pen Addict
TWSBI Diamond 50 Inkwells at Ink Nouveau
Eric’s 2013 LA Pen Show Take-Aways at FP Geeks
My new Folded Ruling Pen and Friday Favorites at Quilt or Dye
Crayola Crayon Tower as a storage solution for Caran D’Ache Neocolor II crayons at Lung Sketching Scrolls
Pens with Names at Paper in Hand
Three Noodler’s Inks – Beaver, Purple Martin, Tiananmen at Inkophile
10 Uses for the Pencil at This Old House
How Small is Your Sketchbook at Notebook Stories
Namaqua Rain Frog at Real Monstrosities
Congrats to the Quiver/Webbie Winners!
We’ve got winners! Joseph W. from San Jose and Jim from Vienna, Virginia, you have each won one of our Quiver/Webbie combos! Be sure to check out Quiver’s website for all their different options – INCLUDING their new Rhodia inspired black pen holders with orange stitching coming soon!
Oh… and who would like to win something COLORFUL? Stay tuned – next week we will be giving away 15… can you guess what they are? Which is your favorite color?
Enter Now to Win a Quiver Pen Holder and Rhodia Webbie combo!
We are giving away two Quiver leather single pen holders- and each will be paired with a large ruled Rhodia Webnotebook. (Webbie!) We’ve got one in brown which will be paired with our signature orange Webbie, and one in black which will be paired with a black Webbie. Continue Readering »
Friday Link Share!
Three Good Things at Little Flower Petals
Journaling Through Your Injuries at Creative Write Now
Where do you get creative? at Lifehacker
List It Tuesday: Been There Done That at Daisy Yellow Blog
Creative Thinking Exercises for the Workplace at Chron
Packing for India at Urban Sketchers
Marker Review…..2nd Edition at Draw Doodle Decorate
Name that Pen at PENS PAPER INKS…WHATEVER!
This Old Notebook at Patrick Rhone
You Can Have my Notebook When You Pry it From My Cold, Dead Fingers at The Digital Reader
The Post Office at Collage Journeys
12 Most Inspired Online Resources for Creative Juice at 12Most
Pen Shows: The 2013 Philadelphia Pen Show Review at Anderson Pens.net
Robin Quivers gives Howard Stern a $1700 pen at Examiner.com
Writing works wonders: Personal growth, creativity among benefits of journaling for children at The Joplin Globe
F. Scott Fitzgerald on the Secret of Great Writing at The Passive Voice
51 Examples Of Matching Ink To Pen To Paper at Inkophile
Lisa Cargile’s Pencil Photography. at Pencil Revolution
Waterman Early Crusader at Fountain Pen Restoration
The Power of Handwritten Notes and Reminders at Journal in a Box
Myths About Our Right and Left Brains at Psychology Today
Fountain Pens, a Tasty Beverage and Rhodia
I see a lot of pictures on Instagram depicting this creative trifecta: tasty beverage, fountain pen, and a favorite Rhodia notebook and I always start to imagine the rest of the scene. Is it in a breakfast nook overlooking a small backyard pond? A desk in a cubicle in a noisy office? A sidewalk cafe in Paris or Istanbul? I think about what music (jazz?) might be playing and whether or not it’s being piped over a loudspeaker or emanating from a pair of earbuds. I wonder what will be written – thoughts for the day, a to-do list, a childhood memory, or impressions of where the person is seated and what they are viewing. I wonder if that’s their favorite pen and what color ink it contains…
Is it just me? Or do you wonder the same.
Image courtesy of Astromonk on Instagram
Pen of The Week: TWSBI Diamond Mini
Our pen of the week is the TWSBI Diamond Mini- a piston filler type fountain pen that comes in EF, F, M, B, stub1.1, stub1.5 nib sizes and retails for around $55. TWSBI is a company whose mission is to inspire and recapture the romanticism of art and literature… starting with the pen.
Check out the following reviews to learn more about the Diamond Mini: Continue Readering »
Look what I found –
Mike Rivera left a comment on yesterday’s post about finding his own missing pen beneath a sofa cushion and suggested we look under our own to possibly do the same. I asked my husband to lift up the cushions and while I didn’t initially see anything, he then ran his hand around the back seam and pulled both pens out with one grab. He handed them to me with a big smile and I sat holding the pens completely gobsmacked. Why? Because I’d ripped both my house and studio apart numerous times trying to find these pens, yet all it took was a suggestion from a stranger on where to look for me to find them.
The funny thing is that I wasn’t really *missing* these pens because I had many others I could use – but when I discovered that I didn’t know their whereabouts, it became an obsession to find them. Though I’d checked under and behind the sofa, it never occurred to lift the cushions because I never sit on the sofa to write – but now I clearly remember the one day I did.
Two of my pens are in a state of misplace!
Two of my pens have gone missing. I’ve pulled the house apart several times and though I don’t remember taking them out of the house, the only other place they could be (aside from permanently lost) is in my studio. The pens in question are my black Pelikan M200 fountain pen w/ an EF Binder nib and my new J. Herbin rollerball w/ a Violette Pensee cartridge.
I admittedly own a lot of different pens- fountain pens, Japanese calligraphy pens, artist pens, rollerballs, gel pens… my favorite being whatever pen I’m enjoying in the moment. I’d only just received the Herbin rollerball a short time before it went missing- which is a bummer because I wanted to snap a few pics and tell you what a sweet little pen it is. The Pelikan was one of my early fountain pen acquisitions and it would come and go as one of my favorites. I hope I find it.
Have you ever lost a favorite pen? How did it affect you? Were you able to replace it?
