Barb: I just emailed you! Please reply within 1 week to claim your prize, or I will select another winner.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and entering! I have more stuff to give away (including a Rhodia Webnotebook), so stay tuned!

Barb is the winner!

I’m giving away an Apica 3B3 notebook and a Moleskine cahier pocket notebook to a single winner. I’ll ship anywhere in the world, so international readers are welcome to try to win!

Giving away an Apica 3B3 and a Moleskine pocket cahier!

The Apica 3B3 notebook has 30 pages of smooth, off-white paper. I’m always buying these notebooks because of their narrow ruling and friendliness to most pens (including fountain pens) that I’ve used with it. The satiny-smooth paper also makes me happy. The Moleskine cahier is a navy blue, pocket-sized notebook with narrow ruling, ivory pages, and a back cover pocket for your receipts and business cards!

To enter, just leave me a comment on this blog post before 11:59pm, central time, on Saturday, October 9! I’d love to hear what your favorite notebook(s) are, if the spirit moves you to mention it (not necessary to win, though). I’ll use a random number generator to pick the winning comment. The winner will be announced on this blog within a couple of days after that, and will be emailed and/or contacted on Twitter. If the winner does not claim his/her prize within 1 week, then I will pick another winner, and they will have 1 week to respond. Good luck!!

Anyway, I needed something to put the ink in to use with my dip pens, but there aren’t any good antique stores near me. Inkwells can be really expensive, and I’d prefer to save my money to spend on more pens! I have the plastic vials for ink trading, but they’re too light and prone to tipping over. So, I was in my local Michaels the other day, and I found this:

Crystal taper candle holder, with J. Herbin Violette Pensée ink

Another view of the candle holder, aka my new inkwell!

These are crystal taper candle holders! They were on sale for buy one, get one free, at $1.99 (for two of them). They’re very solid, and are pretty heavy, so they won’t tip over easily. And they’re really pretty. And very, very inexpensive, so I can have several colors out at the same time! Yes, they don’t have a lid, but I figure I can just put plastic wrap over them when I’m not using them.

So, there you have it–inkwells on the cheap! I love a bargain, so I’m excited about these repurposed items!

Apica CD15--one of the (many) notebooks I have in the queue to review!

Part of the problem with posting on my blog is that I feel like it’s a much bigger deal–Twitter is only 140 characters, so there’s no pressure to say anything of any real import. However, the blog seems more “official” and less transient, so I feel as if I have to say something monumental to make it worth posting! I’m trying to get away from that obsessive-compulsive mentality, and post more frequently, even if it’s just a crappy pic from my iPhone and a few lines of text. We’ll see how it goes–old habits die hard!

I’ve never used a non-modified Namiki Falcon, and I haven’t even used that many flexible nibs, so I don’t have much of a basis of comparison. However, the modified Falcon’s nib seems pretty flexible to me, and it has loosened up even more from when I first started using it. It was a bit scratchy when I first received it, which is perhaps to be expected of such an extra-fine-nibbed pen. I did some ill-advised nib smoothing on my own (I was impatient!), but I like the results–it’s better behaved now. Mind you, I haven’t used flexible nibs very long, and I need a lot more practice, but here are my amateurish attempts at writing with this pen!

My initial attempts at penmanship with this flexible Falcon!

My purchase at JetPens.com:

Uniball Alpha Gel MultiPen & Sailor Desk Pen fountain pen

My purchase at paperinkarts.com:

27 dip pen nibs!

My purchase at allwritenow.net (the 10% sale until the end of Jan. on Varuna pens was the last straw ):

And, finally, the grail pen! Saved up for a while to get this one. It’s a Namiki Falcon, Soft Fine nib, that has been custom ground by John Mottishaw as an extra fine, extra flexible Spencerian approximation nib.

Spencerian approximation Namiki Falcon

Spencerian approximation Namiki Falcon

Now, if I only had more time to actually use them! Hope to put up a writing sample of the Namiki Falcon soon! (Can anyone guess which ink I put in it?)

My “grail” pen, a Namiki Falcon that has been modified by John Mottishaw to have an extra fine nib and increased flexibility, was ordered a few weeks ago.  I was recently notified that it’s on its way, and should get here this Tuesday.  However, this brings up a dilemma:  what ink should I put in it, for its first inking (with me–I assume John may have inked it to test it out after modifying it for me)?

Click here for an appalling list of the inks I currently possess (both full bottles and small samples).  What do you think I should use?

Noodler's La Reine Mauve--just one of my many available choices!

The survivors!

1) Leonardo 529 with F nib, filled with J. Herbin Orange Indien. I purchased this on a whim on eBay for a few bucks. Didn’t expect much due to the price, but I love this pen! The fine hooded nib is very smooth, and a pleasure to write with.

2)  Pilot 78G with B/stub italic nib, filled with Noodler’s North African Violet (one of the V-Mail series).  I love how it provides an instant upgrade to my handwriting, even if I’m not purposely trying to write in a “fancy” manner!  And the bright purple ink, with some water-resistance (good for addressing envelopes!), cheers me up.  I received this pen from a generous FPN member, saint_inky, who was giving away several fountain pens.

3)  Parker Vector with M/cursive italic nib, filled with Noodler’s Spirit of Bamboo (one of the Singapore series).  This pen was another gift from saint_inky, part of my further experimentation with italic nibs.  The olive green bulletproof ink is pleasing, too.

4)  Newly inked:  Parker Vacumatic Debutante, filled with J. Herbin Vert Empire.  This was a very thoughtful gift from the witty & talented @ethernautrix–it came at a great time, when I had a lot going on in my life. It really lifted my spirits!  This pen is not only pretty, but lots of fun to use–it has some flex to the nib.  Spent the whole afternoon yesterday enjoying this pen, writing letters! 

Oh, and I have a couple of Platinum Preppy fountain pens inked with Noodler’s Polar Blue and Noodler’s/Pendemonium’s Legal Lapis that hang out in my pen bag.  But since I can’t really carry much with me these days, they probably won’t be seeing much use.

I guess it’s not actually a coincidence that most of the pens I kept inked during this hectic time were gifts from pen friends (and the pen wrap, too!).  Not only do I get to enjoy the pens themselves, but I also get the added benefit of warm fuzzies when I think of the gifters each time I use them! 

I hope 2010 brings you hope, health, love, comfort, wonder, joy, courage, and peace!

Noodler's/Swisher's Verdun Green

(Note: click on any photo to enlarge.)

I’ve always loved the small Quo Vadis Habana notebooks, and currently use them as my personal journals.  So I was excited to receive this planner with the Robert le héros Raspberry cover.  I find that colorful covers are easier to find in my bag, and are a welcome change of pace from the typical black planners.

front cover

This is a relatively small planner, measuring 4¼” X 6¼” X ½”.  The leatherette cover of the Quo Vadis Business planner is firm, but warm and soft to the touch.  If you press on it or try to bend it, the cover gives slightly, but is firm enough to write on without a desk or hard writing surface.  I personally find that this cover is very pleasant to handle, and the rounded corners are a nice touch–no jabbing yourself on pointed corners while rummaging for your planner in your bag!  The binding is sewn, with 3 white stitches holding each signature together.  Due to this binding, the planner lays quite flat when open.

back cover

In the front of the planner, there are several pages for personal identification, a yearly calendar, International telephone access codes, notes, and the year spread out on two pages.

Personal Notes and Yearly Calendar pages

"Anno-Planning" pages (2010 at a glance)

The main body of the planner shows each week spread on 2 pages in columns, with a column on the right side for phone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses, “See – Do”, and notes.  Each day is divided into hours, from 8am to 9pm.  There are also little tear-off triangles in the corners, so you can find your place in the planner, since there isn’t a ribbon bookmark.  Personally, I would prefer a ribbon bookmark in a coordinating shade, but I understand this would add to the cost of the planner.  I’ve used the tear-off triangles before, and they work just fine, too.

Two pages per week

There’s a lot of items on the page, but once you get used to where everything is, it’s not difficult to find spaces to put your vital information.  In order to keep the planner small and light, there isn’t a ton of room to write in each space.  However, I have small handwriting, and this suits me just fine–I don’t want to carry a large, heavy planner.  This fits in my relatively small purse, and is easy to tote around.

But how is the paper?  There are lots of planners on the market, but my primary concern is the quality of the paper.  If the paper isn’t pleasurable to write on, I don’t want to use the planner.  Never fear–this planner has Clairefontaine paper, 64 gsm, from PEFC certified forests.  It’s acid and chlorine free, so it should stand the test of time.

I found the paper a delight to write on!  I tend to use pens with very small tips and/or XF nibs, which tend to be scratchy on “normal” copy paper.  Not so with Clairefontaine paper–the tips of my pens move as if they were nearly frictionless.  In the top header, I used J. Herbin Orange Indien fountain pen (FP) ink, and on Monday’s column, from top to bottom, I used Noodler’s North African Violet (FP), Noodler’s Spirit of Bamboo (FP), a Pilot Precise V5 (0.5 mm), J. Herbin Orange Indien (FP), a mechanical pencil (0.5 mm), a random ballpoint pen, and a Pilot 0.3 mm gel pen.  On Tuesday’s column, I used a Pilot 0.3 mm gel pen.

All of the writing utensils behaved well, and there was no discernible feathering.  The paper is super smooth and white, and my pens glided effortlessly across the paper.  I’m picky about feathering, so I really appreciate that this paper doesn’t feather, even with some of my more demanding inks.  However, some inks take a little bit longer to dry on this surface.  I haven’t had a problem with smearing, but I’m right handed and use fine nibs.

Ink test with 3 fountain pen inks, 3 gel/rollerballs, a ballpoint, and a pencil

In order to preserve the small size of this planner, the paper is 64 gsm, which is fairly thin.  I personally like writing on thin paper, but there is some showthrough (and a tiny bit of bleedthrough with the Spirit of Bamboo, which tends to bleed through all paper).  This doesn’t bother me in a planner–I’m willing to make the size vs. thick paper tradeoff, but some people may be concerned about this.

Reverse side of the ink test page

Overall, this is a great planner for my needs.  The cover is warm and visually appealing (it also comes in solid, more traditional colors), and the super-smooth, white paper is a joy to use.  I often find myself absent-mindedly stroking the surface of the paper, enjoying its satiny surface.

Since I can’t actually carry a planner in with me during my day-to-day routine at the moment, I plan to use this to keep track of the letters and correspondence I receive, and to log when I’ve sent out thank-yous, letters, and postcards.  That way, I can tell how long it’s been since I’ve written someone, as well as what stationery and ink I’ve used.  Obsessive?  Perhaps, but it keeps me out of trouble!