Thriftfinds Thursday - Inky goodness from across the border

On a recent impromptu trip to Antwerp for my wedding anniversary last weekend, we came across a few fun pen stores: Penworld, Kockx and Pen and Pencil. They are definitely worth the visit! I found a few vintage fountain pen ink gems I want to share with you here.

At Penworld I found the Caran d'Ache blue in a J. Herbin bottle. They are pre Colors of the earth series and I was lucky enough to find a turquoise bottle not too long ago at de Roos in Heemstede, NL. 

Also at the same store, in a little corner tucked away, I found these super cute mini baby bottles of sheaffer skrip inks. 

They are the size of those tiny baby bell cheeses, super cute! I do love cheese, but I rather have these inks than those baby bells though. Just saying in case you were wondering ;)

Then over at Kockx which is the oldest fountain pen store in Antwerp (and also has a lot of exclusive and expensive pens) I found the montblanc violet ink. I am very curious how this compares to the lavender purple. 

I can't wait to swab these on my Maruman Mnemosyne word card tabs. 

What is your latest lucky vintage find?

Thanks for stopping by!

namasté

Mailart Sunday: Typewriter fun

This month's challenge at Inkadinkadutchies is mail art and this is what I made for it.

Stamps used: 

Postcard Backgound  and Typewriter from Carmen's Veranda and Pencil border and Loopy Calligraphy from Lost Coast Designs.

Materials used: 

home made ecoline spray in amber and moss green. Lemon Zest Dylusions spray. Kaleidakolor autumn leaves stamp pad, Versa fine vintage sepia, memento tuxedo black. Diamine Golden Sands shimmer ink. White craft paper. 

How I made it:

On the front I stamped the typewriter with tuxedo black, then masked it. Then stamped the postcards background with versafine vintage sepia, made sure that the pattern covered the whole envelope. The back I stamped with loopy calligraphy and the pencil borders with the autumn leaves stamp pad. I love the color gradients shown. 

I chose ecoline inks with similar colors of the ink pad and sprayed them on the envelope by using mini misters.Together with the bright yellow of the Lemon Zest Dylusions ink spray they made a nice blend. I then splattered some Golden sands ink on it and heat dried it with my heat tool. took away the mask of the typewriter and colored parts of the typewriter with the same amber and moss ecoline with an aquarel brush. Then made a cut through the typewriter to fit in a piece of white craft paper for the address and glued it in place.  

Tip: before mailing off pieces like this, always seal it with a sealing spray, so it doesn't bleed through when it comes in contact with water. 

Hope this inspired you to join in with this month's challenge.

Namaste

Shopping Highlight: Traveler's Pop Up Store at Misc Store Amsterdam

From october 24th to november 24th there is a Traveler's Factory pop up store at Misc Store Amsterdam. With great goodies from Traveler's notebook and other midori items some of which are exclusive to Japan only. The picture above gives you an impression of what you can find there and you can browse through my flickr album to see the close up pictures of exclusive goods there. 

This weekend 7th and 8th of november they have a special "Traveler's Company Caravan make your own spiral notebook" event!  An array of delicious papers to choose from to make your very own unique notebook! It's definitely fun to do and I'm planning on standing in line tomorrow :) 

Maybe I'll see you there? 

namaste!

Happy Fountain Pen Day 2015!

Today is the first friday of november and that means it's time to celebrate a beautiful and versatile writing tool, fountain pen! This day was brought to life 4 years ago and it's been a popular event among fountain pen enthusiasts all over the world! For more information check out Fountain Pen Day site.

My collection of Omas fountain pens, one of my preferred brands of pens.

So what can you do to celebrate fountain pen day? 

Here are a few suggestions from the FPD blog:

1. Write a letter to someone with your favorite fountain pen and ink. Under your signature you can write the pen & ink you used. 
2. Go through your stationery collection and use some of those you have saved for a special occasion. Surprise a friend with that vintage paper. 
3. You can make up a FPD “intro to fountain pens” pack for a friend like this. 
4. Post on your favorite forum or blog by writing it out with your fountain pen. Then take a picture of it and post it. Again, under your signature write what pen & ink you used. 
5. Instead of typing Facebook status updates and tweets on Twitter, write them and upload a picture of them (mention the reason that you’re doing it at well.) 
6. Take one of the pens you don’t use anymore and send it off to a friend with a handwritten note. If you don’t have any pens you want to part with you can shop one of the online retailers and have it sent direct to them. 
7. Make that the weekend you have your pen club meet up. 
8. Turn off your computer and put down the phone and spend some time writing. 

These are really great suggestions and I for one am going to celebrate it by ogling my pretty pens and of course writing with them (pretty much what I do every day, LOL!) 

Another suggestion I have is: introduce a newbie to fountain pens. Lend or give someone who has never written with a fountain pen before an inexpensive FP so they can see if it's something for them to give a go on the long run. Hey, I got my husband hooked on using fountain pens and he was an avid rollerball user. Now he won't leave the house without his Lamy's and Pilot VPs :) 

Also keep watch on the FPD blog for giveaways and deals by the many sponsors of this events! Some pretty sweet raffles going on for great Fountain pens and also many offer sales and discounts on their (web)shops!

So, what are you doing to celebrate fountain pen day? What ever it is you're doing, make sure you have inky spots on your fingers, otherwise it doesn't count ;) 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

namaste!

Pens and Ink: Omas Blue Angel with Organics studio Nautilus Blue

On a recent trip to Akkerman in The Hague I was tempted yet again by a gorgeous LE Omas Alba. This time a stunning blue cocktail, named Blue Angel.

Blue seduction in a box.

But what had my heart racing even more was the fact it was fitted with a beautiful stub nib! I definitely could not pass this up.

The ink I chose to accompany this beautiful pen, is sadly now from a discontinued line. Organics Studio Jules Verne Nautilus blue, is the adventurous deep ocean blue that certainly matches the depth of the blue in the pen very well.

The nib writes excellent and is quite a looker too! I had to give it a good rinse with luke warm water to clean the feed from factory oils, but after that it just writes like a dream!

What is your current fave pen and ink combo at the moment?

Thanks for stopping by!

namaste