Pens and Ink: Favorites of 2017

Even though my pens and inks post were few and far in between this year, I still have been using and enjoying my fountain pens pretty much daily and wanted to share my top 10 faves similar to what I have done last year. It was tough to narrow it down but these made the cut. You can see most of them in action on my instagram account Present and Connected and half of them are made by small business owners and are handmade. They are not placed in a particular order,  I really enjoy using them all equally! From left to right: Momiji leafs in night sky made by 18111.com, TWSBI ECO turquoise (special edition), Mojito by Woodshed PenCo, Lecai with Twsbi stub nib, Franklin Christoph model 45 in blue pink black (special edition), Herbert Pen Company Pink seaglass, Sailor Sapporo Purple Cosmos with music nib, Pelikan M625 Ruby with BB nib and the Edison Nouveau Premiere Seaglass LE of spring 2017 (a collaboration of Goulet Pens and Edison PenCo). Let's take a closer look at them.

WIP: a nebula of sea glass (FPNL club meet edition)

So last weekend on Saturday there was a mini summer meet of our wonderfully growing Fountain pens the Netherlands facebook group. We called it mini as about 15 members attended (in contrast to last time where there was nearly 40 attending) It was a bit unsure if I was able to make it due to another appointment, but thankfully the day freed up! So I could happily chat with my fellow FPgeeks about our newest acquisitions on pens and ink and try each other's, not exactly Every day carry, but the pens they had inked up at the moment. The table shot above shows only a portion of the long table the group shared and the fun we had. The pen tray in the middle and the corner left pen pouch are mine, by the way. Oh and Janine (you can see her lovely handwriting at the right on the Tracing paper) had the brilliant idea of having a Pannenkoek for lunch (wish I had thought of that!) hence the sweet powder sugar and syrup on the table.

In preparation for the pen meet, I made a currently inked listing and made sure to include a special pen which arrived only a week before. The Edison Nouveau Premiere Spring LE Seaglass from Goulet Pens Co. You can see it on this desk shot, which I am sharing over at The Stamping ground for WOYWW #422, it's the blue and pink swirly pretty one! Let me show you a close up.

There... now ain't that a pretty one? I have inked it up with Robert Oster Cherry Blossom, as it's fitting to the pink swirls in the pen. I did have to smooth out the nib though, as it wrote quite scratchy out of the box (which was unusual because most of the time these nibs are 100% smoothed and ready to write) Fortunately I have a nib smoothing kit and it took me no time to get it tuned and ready to write :) Those swirls also really inspired me to make some mixed media goodness.

I made a little background for an art journal using a marble swirl stencil, Liquitex modeling paste and Lindy's Stamp gang magicals. So much Swirly goodness! I even took it one step further and played around with some digital overlays.

I am experimenting with some digital enhancements of my art and I really love the way this is looking :) A sea glass nebula!! Oh how i wish that pen material actually existed!! But now I think it's in need on some sparkly, shiny ink, don't you think? maybe the new Nemosine Blue Snowball Nebula sparkly ink? Or I should just "shop my stash" and find a Diamine shimmering ink for it :) 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to hop by your desk later this week. 

Have a wonderful day!

Pens and Ink: Woodshed PenCo "Creme Brulee" with Diamine Golden Sands

We're in halfway through 2017 and I have realized I have not been sharing my pens and ink pairings  on the blog like I have planned to do. My art is now the main focus of this blog, but Fountain pens and ink are still a very big hobby of mine. I have been sharing them on my FP centered IG Pensandpolish and while I have entertained the idea of creating a separate blog for my Fountain Pen endeavors, it's just way too time consuming for me to do. So I will continue to share some of my favorite pairings on the blog here, esp. ones that are made by independent manufacturer/pen makers. Starting off with this gorgeous handmade pen from the up and coming pen manufacturer/maker Mike Allen from  Woodshed PenCo.

I've purchased this beautiful yellow golden colored swirly pen from Mike Allen at his sale on Instagram. He doesn't name his pens, but I dubbed this one "Créme Brûlée" because it looks like that beautifully burnt sugary caramel top of my fave dessert. The nib wasn't provided in this sale, but it takes the #6 size nibs I had a spare 1.1 nib from Franklin Christoph which fitted  beautifully on this pen. As for the ink I went with Diamine Shimmertastic Golden Sands, the color just matches the pen body perfectly. I've written on a Muji dot grid notebook on which the nib just glides and the ink shades and shimmers beautifully! 

My absolute fave of the first line from the Diamine Shimmertastic series. 

A little more about The Woodshed PenCo - Mike is an US Air Force veteran whom got into making fountain pens not too long ago. He shares his process on his Instagram and has set up a Kickstarter campaign. I was lucky enough to have bought from him through a sale he was having on his IG and he has sold his pens through Etsy as well.

He just has one type of model so far, but more could be in the works. The pens he has for sale are really well made. The model is a bit cigar shaped and the cap does not post. I do like posting pens (so I won't loose the cap) so it was a little getting used to, but now I know to hold it in my left hand when I write. The section is tapered and fits very elegantly in hand.

With every pen purchase you also get a hand knitted pen pouch/sleeve which is super fun! Not only does it protects the pen, but it also adds to the handmade feel for the pen :) I got a super yellow one with my pen which is awesome :)

If you're interested in one of Mike's pens, do follow his instagram and keep a watch out on his kick starter campaign. I am in no way affiliated with him, just a very happy customer and glad to support a small business. I am looking forward to a second pen coming my way and perhaps 3rd of his make will be added to my collection soon :)

 Oh by the way, if you want to have more updates on my fountain pen adventures, please have a follow on my Instagram account PensandPolish where I also try my very best to color coordinate nail polish to the pen and ink of choice. And if you post a color coordinated pictures in IG yourself with the hashtag #pensandpolish I'll feature you on my IG as well :) 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Shopping Highlight: Appelboom Pennen in Laren

This past Saturday we had third FPNL group meet-up and this time it was arranged by group member Chaïm and store owner Joost whom organized a meet up in Laren where Appelboom Pennen physical store was also located. About 40 of our group members came, we chatted, there was a "guess the pen brand" quiz and even an ink smelling (and tasting apparently!) showcase (which I missed because I was in the store oogling all the pretties in the store then!)... a lot of fun and interesting things happening makes for a fun filled day!

Here is a photo impression;

It was a HOT summery day so the venue was a wee bit crowded not only by people but the heat as well. So we left in groups to the store to make sure that that wasn't too crowded either...

The store looked very elegant and so many pretty things to see! I esp loved these shelves full with ink bottles! It was tempting to get a LOT there but I reigned it in and bought only 2 products!

I bought the TWSBI Al-Pink and Robert Oster Tranquility ink - the KWZ ink was bought by my husband - and the rest were all in the amazingly generous goodie bag Joost provided for us! Super sweet and I can't wait to try out all my goodies!

Looking forward to the next pen meet. Definitely stop by the shop in Laren when you have the chance! 

Have a great day and thank you for stopping by my blog today :)

Fountain pen NL club meet at La Couronne du Comte

On March 4th we had the second meet up of our Fountain Pen NL club and this time it was in Tilburg, This day was in part hosted by La Couronne du Comte, a great store that sells amazing stationery products, art supplies and of course fountain pens :)

The store is a bit on the smallish side (good news, they will move to a bigger location soon! Check out their moving sale!) but packed with a ton of goodies and people on this day! About 30 of the facebook members attended and it was super fun! More pics of the store coming up:

Faber Castell products

Lamy, viscont, pelikan, sailor...

We arrived a bit earlier than the meet up was planned so we still had some room to browse in the store.

But that quickly changed as everyone had the same idea ;)

We had lunch at Happy Italy which was across the street from LCDC and it was great to chat with everyone, try each other's fountain pens (also be envious of them, haha!) and getting to know fun and interesting people. And I'm really missing the two crazy people on the left! Sigh...

Group members Chaïm and Martin together with Dennis from LCDC also organized a little quiz to test your fountain pen knowledge. There were 6 prizes to be won and I was one of the winners, yay! The prize was the yellow Lamy on the right. Everything else you see except for the sailor pro gear slim earth and the KWZink were gifts in the goodiebag LCDC gave us. By the way, The winner of the quiz was Azizah, with 9 out of 10 correct answers. She even beat Stephen whom was 3rd place with 7 correct answers ;) I had 6 correct and was 4th place :D

With a whopping 25% discount on the assortment offered to the group members I could not leave without buying something, and they had this gorgeous pen with a music nib on it, so naturally I was a goner as soon as I tried it! I got KWZ ink old gold to go with the pen, love the shading in this ink.

Did you know that LCDC also sells art supplies? I saw this gorgeous Karl Box with amazing Faber Castell goods. The price, even with 25% off was still a bit too steep for me, but well one can dream, right? 

They also have these amazing Caran d'Ache oil and water color pastel's for sale. Pictured are the NeoPastels 24 set and Neocolor II 30 set. I always wanted to try them in my art and now I can thanks to Dennis! I can't wait to use them and will post a review of them too, hopefully in not too long from now. 

This was such a fun day and if you're a fountain pen enthusiast living in the Benelux (or are from the Benelux but currently live somewhere else...), you can join the the FPCNL facebook group to chat with other Dutchies about this crazy hobby of ours :) And of course you will get notified by next group outings such as this one. Sadly I had not taken any pictures of the first meet up, as it was so hectic and we had to leave early, but Akkerman in the Hague were also awesome and gracious hosts then. Please see Azizah's blogpost about that meet up (and yes, that guy standing next to me in the 3rd last picture is my husband.... :D) Am looking forward to the next meet up in May!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Pens and Ink: Currently inked for InCoWriMo

Hope you have your pens inked and stationery ready, because it's feb 1st and that means that InCoWriMo has officially started! It's going to be a challenge to write and send out mail every day, but preparation is half the work. To start I have inked up some nice fountain pens with some fun colors. Below you can see my currently inked list.

From top to bottom:

• Visconti Wall Street Red c/c, 23k pall. M, Montblanc Velvet Red
• Pilot namiki VP raden galaxy, 18k B, Pilot Iroshizuku Kon Peki
• Lamy Studio Purple, 14k B, Cross Violet
• Parker 45 turquoise, steel B, Parker Penman Sapphire
• Pelikan Ductus P3110, 18k M, Diamine Salamander
• Kaweco ARTSport "samba", 14k F, Kaweco Summer Purple
• TWSBI Al Green, steel B, Montblanc Jonathan Swift
• Franklin Christoph model 31 Blue Italian Ice IPO (Massdrop), steel B, Montblanc Blue Hour
• Franklin Christoph model 45 Italian Ice, 14k B stub, Lamy Dark Lilac
• Momiji leafs falling in night sky (handmade by 18111 on etsy), steel 1.1, Robert Oster Peach
• Pilot 78G, Steel BB, Parker Penman Emerald

The list is written in a gorgeous bound notebook with Tomoe River paper made by paper for fountain pens. 

A couple of my favorites of 2016 stayed inked, but a few of them are on their last drops. I hope to be emptying them out fairly soon :) A few others will have their own Pens and Inks post up as well with more close up shots of the pairing.

What do you have inked up at the moment? And are you ready for the snail mail social? Post your pics on Instagram with #incowrimo to show your mailings :) I stared off on a good run...

These went out in the mail yesterday and hopefully one of them will be received today :) Hope to post more weekly round up's of snail mailings in the coming weeks. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Pen Hack: Tinkering with TWSBI's

A few weeks ago I told you about my joy with writing with the TWSBI clear fountain pens and teal inks. When I was cleaning pens again last week I discovered a fun fact/pen hack I wanted to share with you here.

I recently pulled out the nibs from my Online Best Writer Campus Calligraphy set and I thought it looked quite similar to the nibs on the TWSBI mini and ECO. So I pulled those out from their housings too and yes, they do look the same size!

For size comparison: the online calligraphy nib flanked by TWSBI eco and mini nibs and the 0.8 width of Online is just as wide as a 1.1 width of TWSBI.

This opens up a whole set of new possibilities for my TWSBI's.

I switched the Online calligraphy nibs with the TWSBI Mini and Eco (keeping the feeds from the TWSBI pens) and it works like a charm! They write wonderfully and are less 'toothy' than the original TWSBI nibs. If you're interested in swapping out your TWSBI mini and ECO nibs you might be interested in this useful post on fountain pen network. A disclaimer: Be advised that tinkering with your pens/nibs is always at your own risk and might void your warranty at the manufacturer. That said, being able to tinker with your fountain pens makes then a lot more fun to use in my opinion :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Namasté 

Inky goodness: J. Herbin 1670 Caroube de Chypre

Not a pens and ink post this week, but a focus on just the ink this Wednesday! A little while ago Mishka from Bureau Direct kindly sent me a sample vial of the coming ink in the anniversary line of J. Herbin 1670 Caroube De Chypre, which is due for release on Bastille Day, July 14th. So I'm lucky that I got a sample to try it before the release date and I finally had the time to play around with the shimmery ink a little and showing you some results today. Thanks so much again, Mishka!

J. Herbin Caroube de Chypre on with a waterman 12 Ideal nib #2 on Muji dot grid notebook paper. The ink performs well on smooth and fountain pen friendly ink paper like the above. I dipped my pen in the vial to write and then added some splatters. There is a lot of shimmery action going on there, which I really like. And the deep chocolate brown base color shows off the gold shimmer well.

I used my Pelikan 200 Cognac with a M italic ground nib for more writing and testing in my written meditation journal. The ink holds up pretty well on Clairefontaine paper as well. But sadly the shimmer doesn't show through as much as with dipping the pen in the ink vial and writing with it. It showed some shimmer the first few lines when I wrote with it.

As you can see in the above picture the first few sentences has the gold shimmer, but later on there is little shimmer. I had to shake the pen a few time to get some of the shimmer flowing into the writing again. And it does pick up a little, but not a lot.

You can see that my pelikan does hold a lot of shimmer in the barrel, so it might be that the combo of this pen and ink doesn't allow the shimmer to shine though like it deserves. The feed doesn't have a lot of shimmer on it and I think herein lies the problem.

For the shimmer to really shine though, I think you need a pen with less fins in the feed, like a vintage pen with a smooth feed or a really wet writing pen. I discovered that too with the diamine shimmering inks, though those inks have a lot more shimmer in them than the J. Herbin 1670 series.  I'll be experimenting with this ink in other pens when I get the chance (ie when I get a full bottle, my sample is nearly depleted). But for now I also wanted to show you some ink wash artwork I did. 

I stamped the dip pen stamp from Viva Las Vegas Stamps with versamark ink on smooth white glossy paper and embossed it with clear embossing powder. Then I wrote Caroube de Chypre, J. Herbin 1670 with a versamark embossing pen and embossed that with clear embossing too. I took a small paint brush and a little bit of water and started to wash the ink from top to bottom over the embossed parts. 

The embossed parts work as a resist, so the image shows up through clearly and you can wipe excess drops of ink on the embossed parts away. When the image was dry I took my brush, dipped it in the water a bit and spattered over it. I let that dry and then I dipped the brush in the ink vial and spattered non diluted ink over it.

This is the end result, a beautiful chocolate brown shimmery gold speckled ink wash! I'm going to do some experimentation on watercolor paper like I did with the Diamine shimmery inks, but I definitely love the smooth glossy look this paper has. I'm also loving this embossing ink resist technique a lot and will incorporate them more in inky goodness posts :) 

More reviews with lush pictures on Caroube de Chypre can be found at The Clumsypenman and Gourmetpens. And if you do not want to miss out on this ink when this gets released in July, why not subscribe yourself to Stationery Wednesday newsletter and blog from Bureau Direct for more info and a 10% discount code being distributed weekly!

Disclaimer: this sample was sent to me free of charge for review purposes. All opinions are my own and there are no affiliate links. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

namasté