Pens and Ink: Favorites of 2016

In terms of growth, it's always good to have moments to reflect upon things you have done in the past. Not only to see if they will help you move forward but also to appreciate the fact you have actually DONE these things. And in these quiet days in between the rush of Christmas and New Year's EVE creeping around, it's a good time to look back on the year I leave behind. 

In this post I look back on my top 10 pens and inks pairings of 2016.

The above pens are my personal favorite fountain pens I've used over this year. They are not ranked in any way, just placed together in groups and you can see that one brands take the crown in this year's favorites, Pelikan!
From left to right: TWSBI Al Green, Franklin Christoph Model 65 in Tiffany Stained Glass finish, Swan Leverfiller in Jade green, Pelikan P3110 Ductus, Pelikan M805 Vibrant Blue, Pelikan M205 Taupe, Pelikan M620 city series Shanghai, Pelikan M620 city series Grand Place, Omas Bologna in Black and Gold celluloid finish and the Omas Ogiva Alba in Orange.

(FYI: the Pelikan M205 Taupe looks more pink in this photo due to the warm filter over it, The pictures below represent the actual color better)

Very kind friends of mine gave me this wonderful pen box and I usually keep my currently inked pens in here. This box helps with presentation for this post as they have been in here at some point or other this year. Also it's a good cut off point to keep it at just 10 pens. I thought for sure it would be Omas, but looking back, Pelikan definitely got more writing time from me so they are more represented in this year's top 10! 

Let's take a closer look at each one. (Oh and I do apologize for the magnified dust and cat hair in the pictures, but yeah it is what it is..)

Starting at the far right is the Omas Ogiva Alba Orange and it's was a tie with the Omas Ogiva Alba Green, but this one won out due to the extra flessible fine nib. This flex nib showed the shading in writing beautifully. In the pens and ink post I had had paired it with Private Reserve Shoreline Gold (original version) but later I also loved this pen inked with Sailor Jentle Apricot. Which is the winning combination in all honesty.

Moving to the left is a pen I couldn't get out of my head when I saw it at the store after I left to get this pen (also a beautiful stunning pen from the same line, which I got for my birthday). So after a month I contacted the store and they kindly put it on hold/layaway for me. This was such a kind gesture and I'm really happy I saved up and got this pen because the pen material is just stunning. I paired the Omas Bologna in Black and Gold celluloid with Omas Dandy Turquoise. My absolute fave turquoise ink, ever.

Then comes a couple of Pelikan M620 pens from the City series I did my best to hunt down. I got lucky with a few collectors letting their pens go and I am thrilled to have them in my Pelikan Collection as they are both so very stunning. First is the Pelikan Grand Palace which I had inked with KWZ Monarch, the ink exclusive to Fontoplumo. A lovely warm autumn pair up. Which is a fun contrast to the lovely sakura spring colored match up of the Pelikan Shanghai with Caran d'Ache Sunset. Every time I look at these combos it brings back the feeling of Spring and Autumn.

Next to them is a smaller sister, the Pelikan M205 Taupe, which I actually got on a, well wouldn't say whim, but I was in a "I need a shiny new pen" mode while entering Akkerman in the Hague which is a dangerous place to be when you're in that mode! This one surprised me the most, because the color was a bit meh at first (won me over later!) but I knew that Caran d'Ache Storm would look SO great in this one. And boy was I right! The BB nib esp. makes the writing such a wonderful experience and I have this one in my 3 pen pouch with I take with me to work since I bought it! A stunning and stylish EDC (every day carry) for sure.

Starting out with another classy EDC on the left is the TWSBI AL Green which was a limited edition release. It was my "one of each" hunt for my TWSBI collection and it took me a while to find it, but thankfully Scrittura Eleganta had one with a juicy broad nib. I paired it with Montblanc Jonathan Swift, but popular consensus was to have paired it with Sailor Tokiwa Matsu as they commented on my FB/IG poll. I might try that next. 

The pen next in line is definitely a what I would consider a unicorn pen. When I saw an IG friend of mine selling this pen, I jumped on it straight away. What a stunning pen this Franklin Christoph Model 65 in Tiffany Stained Glass is! I paired it with a harder to find ink at the time, Organics Studio Jane Austen Violet, but they since then started to manufacture inks again so it's available again for the masses, huzzah! This pen though still is one of few made or as FC said in an IG convo I had with them "only 12 of them were made for the Stockroom and maybe one or two at a pen show, so you have a rare and unusual Model 65 Stabilis". So yes, this in my unicorn pen, for sure!

Then comes the only vintage pen in this year's top 10, the Swan Green Marbled self filler, a purchase from the Tilburg Penshow this year. I paired it with a mossy green Diamine Safari which the flex nib of this pen showed off really nicely. 

I have another mossy green ink in my line up, Diamine Salamander which is in my Pelikan Ductus P3110 and in the 3rd slot in my EDC 3 pen pouch. This pen was the surprise of the year. Mainly because I had no idea I would like this pen so much, but it's a beautiful, classy pen and also very comfortable in hand. In MY hand, a hand that prefers Pelikan M400/600 size pens. It lays more comfortable in hand than the Pelikan M805 which is next to it and they are essentially the same size. It's a unique pen and often referred to as the "ugly ducking" of the Pelikan family, but I love this under appreciated pen a lot. 

And then on to the last pen in my top 10; The Pelikan M805 Vibrant Blue Special Edition. It's a stunner of a pen really. I had inked it with Organics Studio Nickle Teal and enjoyed writing with this ultimate blue pairing. 

So there you have it, my top 10 pens and ink pairings of the year. I'm planning on doing more of these posts next year, but maybe not as frequent because I am planning on slowing down on pen/ink purchases for a while and enjoy what I have more. Yeah you can call it a new year's resolution of some sort, but well let's see how long that will last. Rumor has it that Lamy is going to have an ocean blue Al Star release for next year and well you bet I'll be adding that one to my collection!

Thank you for all the support you given me and my blog over the past year. It's much appreciated. Stay tuned for more round up's this week. Have a great day!

namasté

Wordless Wednesday: The Real Alcazar

An intermission in my pens and inks post as I wanted to show you one of my favorite sites in Seville; The Real Alcázar. The gardens are mesmerisingly beautiful and we've spent a lot of time there writing and enjoying the ambiance. FYI, it's also a filming location of the awesome TV show Game of Thrones. 

TWSBI al green and the brown Midori Traveler's notebook. 

The writing in the first picture is from my husband and it's also his Midori doing all the modelling in the pictures ;)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

namasté

Pens and Ink: TWSBI Al green with Montblanc Jonathan Swift

As some of you might know, TWSBI releases some Limited Edition specials from time to time and there was one special edition I was really into, the TWSBI AL Green, which was released in a small batch earlier this year. It took me a while to find it, as it seemed to be sold out everywhere, but with some luck and Google-Fu I found out they had one left at Scrittura Elegante, a stationery shop based in the Netherlands. So after not too long of a wait, the pen arrived and I excitedly tried to pick a color to match the beautiful body!

I decided a nice mossy green would suit the pen body well. The mossy greens above I thought would make a great match; Montblanc Jonathan Swift (seaweed green), Montblanc Daniel Defoe (palm Green) and Sailor Tokiwa Matsu (evergreen pine). The swabs are done on Maruman Word cards, by the way. It was a difficult choice but in the end I sent with Jonathan Swift because I had not yet used that ink in a pen before, so it was high time I break in the bottle!

I requested a B nib on my TWSBI Al Green as I have almost all the range of the nibs in the TWSBI line up, except for this one. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with the line width as it isn't as broad as I hoped it would be. In writing this B nib looks more like a Pelikan steel medium to me. But still, it's not that bad, the ink flow keeps up well and does bring out the shading in this JS seaweed green. See a review of the TWSBI AL Green by ArtGlen on youtube to know more about the pen.

It's been a emotional week in many aspects and it's in these difficult times we need to keep our compassion high and cultivate empathy, no matter how difficult it can be. Writing the Loving Kindness Metta Meditation in my journal on a daily basis helps to gain focus and center my compassion. Carving out pockets of time to sit down and write down a hopeful, loving warm wish into the world, may not seem like much, but it's sometimes the only thing I can do to help alleviate my sorrow. In Buddhist terms sending out a positive compassionate wish to help people whom are suffering creates connectivity and empathy. If you want to know more about this, I highly recommend the book "A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives" written by Thupten Jinpa the official English translator of his holiness the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatzo. I was lucky enough to attend a workshop about compassion and a book reading by Thupten Jinpa earlier this year in May (read about it in the last paragraph here) and it was really inspiring as it was hopeful. In this world we're being confronted with large extremes nearly every day, with practicing/cultivating this meditation technique, I hope to send out more compassion to those whom need it.

This quote from the Dalai Lama is encouraging and definitely struck a chord:

“Hard times build determination and inner strength. Through them we can also come to appreciate the uselessness of anger. Instead of getting angry nurture a deep caring and respect for troublemakers because by creating such trying circumstances they provide us with invaluable opportunities to practice tolerance and patience.” his holiness the Dalai Lama XIV

Something to ponder on with my next meditation session...

Thank you for stopping by and wishing you all a wonderful day.

namasté

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 

Pens and Ink: It's clearly TWSBI and Teal today!

Last week in the Hague I stopped at one of my fave stores again and you don't have to be a genius to guess that it's Akkerman! I was finally going to get my long awaited TWSBI ECO clear model with the 1.1 stub nib and it did not disappoint! I definitely love the look and feel to it. And it looks GREAT in between my Diamond 580 and Mini demonstrator models as well. I just love seeing ink slosh in clear pens, it's so pretty!

I'm really happy I decided to keep my mini because it does make a pretty collection this way :) The kind lady at the store asked me if I wanted my Eco filled with ink (from the Akkerman line) and I took the opportunity to take one I haven't gotten round to testing yet; Zuiderpark Blauw-Groen. It's a gorgeous teal color. I bought another bottle of Private Reserve Blue Suede (hey, it was on sale!) and filled my mini with it. It's a gorgeous blue green color (dead ringer for J. Herbin's Emerald of Chivor base color) but the focus of this post is going to between the ZBG and the ink I've chosen to fill my Diamond 580 with; Diamine Teal.

Ink swabs on maruman word card paper. From left to right: private reserve blue suede, Akkerman zuiderpark blauw-groen and Diamine teal.

Right off the bat I thought the latter two inks look so much alike when I wrote with them and seeing the ink swabs side by side, well there is honestly not much difference at first glance! But there are a few subtle differences in writing though. A couple of example pages from my loving kindness written meditation journal.

TWSBI Eco with Akkerman Zuiderpark Blauw-Groen - a nice looking teal color. But the swab makes the ink look more interesting to me than the writing sample does. There is a bit of shading but not a lot. Also it writes a bit dry. Maybe I have to reset the nib and feed and give it a good cleaning, The lady did fill er 'up right out of the box...

TWSBI Diamond 580 with Diamine Teal - Found this ink flowing better also this ink is darker and has more shading. Granted it could be the nib that does make the difference. The 1.1 on the Diamond 580 is a number 6 vs. the number 5 on the ECO (and mini) has a broader width and writes a lot wetter.

Comparison shot of the 1.1 stub nibs on the 3 TWSBI's. The nib on the ECOand Mini are the same. The section of the ECO is smaller than the other two pens which is just a little on the small side for me, but not uncomfortable.

The 1.1 nib definitely have differences among each other in writing. My fave writer of the 3 remains the Diamond 580, I just like the line width a little better. Also look at the shading in the Diamine Teal!

I am very pleased with the newest member in my TWSBI collection though I am still on the fence if I want a whole bottle of either ZBG or Diamine Teal. I'll need to write a bit more with them first to decide. See reviews from Ana's of The Well Appointed Desk on Diamine Teal and Akkerman ZBG for more info on the inks. Which of these would you prefer?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Namasté