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inlovewithjournals

~ musings on the hand-written life

inlovewithjournals

Category Archives: stationery

#5 of 53 File Index Sneak Peek and A Carousel of Ink

25 Sunday Feb 2018

Posted by inlovewithjournals in crafts, ink review, my ink collection, stationery

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

diamine, diamine 150 anniversary, index, wonder pens

I’ve been thinking for some time about changing the way I record the details of my pens and inks, as discussed in this post. I love having lots of room to write about each pen or ink, but inevitably I found the binder too large and heavy to be practical and portable. So I’ve made the move to index cards.

pen and ink catalogue

I’ve made a list of all the pens I have, as well as a list of all the inks. I’ve noted down the colour of pen, the size of bottle, where each was purchased and when. Then each pen and each ink has it’s own index card under the corresponding letter (J for Jinhao and D for Diamine). It’s compact and alphabetical. It’s still a work in progress as I haven’t found a proper file drawer for it; I would love to purchase a real library file drawer (with the steel rod and everything!!) but my budget doesn’t allow it at this time. I plan on doing a full post on it when it is finished.

But in working on transferring the contents of the binder to the cards I have found gaps in my inventory, and one such obvious gap is a set of inks I bought after the binder was set up but still packed away: 8 of the Diamine 150 Anniversary Inks. To mark the 150th anniversary of its brand, Diamine released 16 40 ml bottles in a unique triangular shape that, when arranged, form a beautiful carousel of ink.

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There are 16 colours in the anniversary line:

  1. Burgundy Royale
  2. Carnival
  3. Blood Orange
  4. Golden Honey
  5. Safari
  6. Tropical Green
  7. Dark Forest
  8. Blue Velvet
  9. Tudor Blue
  10. Lilac Night
  11. Regency Blue
  12. Purple Dream
  13. Terracotta
  14. Espresso
  15. Silver Fox
  16. 1864 Blue Black

I have eight of these, and I actually didn’t realize there were eight more until I did the research for this post. I bought the set from WonderPens.ca and they gave me a deal because I bought a set of eight. Now that I know there are eight more, I might ask them if they would offer me the deal again! When I have a few pennies to spare maybe. You can buy them on the Wonderpens site for $15 each.

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The labels are very distinctive, with the swirly 150 and the vintage feel. And the inks themselves, as with all Diamine inks, are bright and eye catching.

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Here is the Blue Velvet. The blue handwriting in the photo above is from my journal, made with a Jinhao 992 pen inked with Blue Velvet.

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Here is Carnival, which is more of a true red than what is coming through in the photo.

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Here the red writing is in Carnival.

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Here is the 1864 Blue Black above with a writing sample below.

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Above is the Safari green, with a writing sample below.

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The next four inks.

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Here is the Tropical Green with a writing sample below. Love this green.

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Here is the Regency Blue followed by a writing sample. I like all three but this is my favourite of the blue inks in this set.

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Here is the Silver Fox with a writing sample following. This is my least favourite of this set. I have never come across a grey ink that I like; they all seem to be too light. You can barely read this one.

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And finally here is the Terracotta, with the writing sample following.

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That’s it for the Diamine 150 inks, or at least half of them.

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I also came across a few more new inks that need to be reviewed but this post is certainly long enough so I won’t inflict them on you. Yet.

Happy journaling.

 

Christmas by the Sea Antique Finds

18 Sunday Dec 2016

Posted by inlovewithjournals in stationery, store visits

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

antiques, christmas by the sea, ink stand, pen stand

I have returned to the land of Tea and Sales and Christmas Craft Markets. I recently attended the 27th Annual Seaside Christmas, sponsored by the Seaside Tourism & Business Association for the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. It took place over three days in mid-November, and included 19 stops from Lawrencetown Beach to Salmon River Bridge, a route spanning some 45 km. Numbered wreaths guided the journey.

One of the most interesting places was Old Times, Old Friends Antiques, Collectibles and Dolls, located in Musquodoboit Harbour in a very out of the way and enchanted seaside spot. The tiny shop is actually part of the owner’s home, and is bursting with items from yesteryear. And they serve shortbread to you as soon as you walk in the door! I found some plates in my china pattern, Johnson Brothers’ Shakespeare’s Sonnets, for a very reasonable price. And I was thrilled when I spotted two pen/ink stands minding their own business on a bottom shelf.

two-stands

A little bit of bling for the desk eh? These brass inkstands were made in Belgium around 1910, apparently. I was able to find them on various ebay sites so they appear to have been a pretty common item at the time of manufacture. So nothing especially rare and not that expensive; I paid $65 for both and that price is in keeping with what they are listed for on the various ebay sites I visited.

pen-stand

Here’s the pen stand. So fancy! We’ve got angels and flowers aplenty. It came with the pen but the pen is in very sad shape. It looks old and well used. I might review it in more detail once I ink it up but for this post I want to focus on the stand. I thought it was just divine.

close-up-of-pen-stand

Here we have an angel playing a horn to his friend the donkey. I’m not sure of the significance, if any, of these creatures but it is very charming.

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And here is the ink stand. It doesn’t match the pen stand but they do look nice on the desk together. The sides could act as a pen rest, or a cartridge holder.

open-ink-stand

I imagine the idea was to decant the ink into the white liner and dip your pen into it. I won’t be doing that; I doubt I will put anything into the liner. I just like to look at it.

I will definitely be returning to Old Times, Old Friends Antiques. There was a lot to see and I’m sure I missed some amazing treasures. It’s worth the trip for the shortbread alone!

Avery Mini Binder and Accessories

25 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by inlovewithjournals in ideas for themed journals, my journal collection, notebook reviews, planners, stationery

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

avery mini binder

Hello! On a beautiful fall Sunday I am putting a new system together to keep track of my work tasks. In my August 14 post I talked about enlisting a notebook to help me keep track of work tasks. And it has worked somewhat but not perfectly. I find I have tasks that have many stages to them, if that makes sense, and I need to know what stage each task has achieved. So I found myself thinking of a binder system, like my ARC notebooks or my William Hannah notebook, so that I could organize the pages and move things around as needed. Currently I cannot find my ARC notebooks (still buried in a box somewhere) and my William Hannah notebook is not going out of the house. I am obsessed with keeping it pristine and beautiful for my personal journaling. So I resigned myself to the hunt for my ARC notebooks. But before I could find them I came across an Avery Mini Binder in green, with some accessories, that I purchased at WalMart a few weeks ago and forgot about. And I think it will work perfectly!!

I had heard about these mini binders first from the Pen Pixie on YouTube but only saw them in real life recently. I can’t remember the exact price I paid but you can find them on Amazon, Staples and WalMart.

binder

I bought the green binder; on Staples’ website it is “chartreuse”. It is 1″ thick, with 1″ rings, of which there are 3. It measures 5.5″ x 8.5″. I’ve seen black, white, blue and purple binders on the Staples site.

flat

One of the great features of these binders is how flat they lay when open. Very comfortable to write on either side of the paper, despite the rings.

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Lots of accessories with these binders. I bought, from right, Sheet Protectors, Filler Paper, Insertable Dividers and Binder Pockets. On Amazon there are A-Z dividers and calendar pages available as well. This system could give Filofax a run for their money as a planner system! Speaking of Filofax, these pages do not fit into my current planner, my Finsbury. But I could not check them in my Franklin Covey planner, as it is still packed away.

instructions

Helpful printing instructions are included with the tabbed dividers. I just wrote on mine but it’s nice that they included these.

notes

I think this will work better for my needs, as I can organize my notes and keep my tasks separate. Right now they are all jumbled together. So I will spend the next couple of hours going through my faithful notebook and transferring tasks and notes to this new binder. I must go put the kettle on. Happy planning!

Vintage Valentines

14 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by inlovewithjournals in letter writing, stationery

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

greeting cards, st. valentine, vintage

St. Valentine was a priest living in Rome in the third century. Marriages were banned under Emperor Claudius II and it is thought that Valentine arranged marriages in secret. The story goes that he sent the woman he loved a letter signed “from your Valentine” on February 14, the day of his execution. So on this day I wanted to show you my vintage Valentine collection.

valentine group

When I was 13 or 14 we visited my mother’s uncle after his wife passed away and soon after a package arrived in the mail for me. It contained these Valentines and some of my great aunt’s things. Fred and Marjorie were married for over 50 years and he always gave her a Valentine’s Day card. These particular ones were sent during their courtship. The ones that have dates range from 1920 to 1930. I think they are quite wonderful and hope you will too.

greetings closed

This is the oldest one in the collection, from 1920. It looks the most like modern day cards. The others are much more ornate but this one has a simple elegance that I like. The red ribbon is silk and still quite a vibrant colour.

greetings open

I wonder if this card was sent before they became an item:

Good Wishes on Valentines Day
The lovers think they own this day, perhaps they really do,
But it seems to me there ought to be a place for Friendship too;
So I’m going to steal a corner of the day old friend of mine,
To send you my good wishes by dear old St. Valentine.

And he signed it From W.C.W., his initials. W was for Wilfred.

This next one isn’t signed or dated.

basket of roses closed

This marks the first of the three dimensional cut out cards. These cards are beautiful closed or open. The message is simple – To my Valentine – and is the only sentiment on the card. But really the card speaks for itself.

basket of roses open

I love the surprise of the bird with its beak resting on a white envelope, and the castle in the distance with the rolling hills, which is only hinted at when the card is closed. And the attention to detail is astounding – look at the tip of the sword the young man is sporting on the left. Fantastic.

birds and wheels closed

Another stunning example, this time with daisies being the flower of choice. According to canadianflowerdelivery.com daisies are the embodiment of purity and innocence, swearing a loyalty to love and a commitment to shared secrecy. The inscription says To Marjorie From Fred, 1922.

I guess what is truly astounding is that something so old is so wonderfully preserved. The colours are still vibrant and the paper still stands up. Very delicate but tough at the same time. I have been very careful since receiving them in 1983 or 1984 to keep them in archival envelopes and I rarely take them out. So writing this post was a treat for me too!

birds and wheels open

I think this one is my favourite. I love how the angel, Cupid I guess, is descending the stairs, scattering roses as the maiden descends. The maiden is gazing at the lovebirds on the left, and her hand is holding actual string that is attached to the larger white birds on the right. The envelope for this one must have been huge. I have two of the envelopes Marjorie received, you can see them lying on the desk, but I’m not sure which envelope goes with which because the dates have long since faded.

pansy lace standing up

This one opens like a modern-day card but the front is definitely not something you would find in Hallmark! There are actually four layers of paper cut outs here. I’m in love with the lacy white overlay. But in this photo I realized you can’t actually see the charming couple in the middle of the overlay, so…..

pansy lace laying down

There they are! So cute. The paper fasteners between the layers have lost a bit of their stiffness but we still get the idea. It must have been magical when it was brand new.

pansy lace inside

Look at his handwriting! He was probably using a fountain pen.

The reference to “Dan Cupid” means “Lord Cupid” according to my quick internet research, from the Latin Dominus. Cupid looks exhausted from shooting arrows, and very pleased with himself.

purple flowers closed

Here you can see a bit more of the envelopes I mentioned earlier. And this Valentine is another example of the paper cut-out tradition, this time from 1923.

purple flowers open

In this example the flowers are not as intricately cut out as the lacy one, or even the daisy festooned flying chariot example. But it is still charming and the colours remain true.

Love brings sunshine to the heart,
May yours in mine such joy impart.

And finally we come to my last Valentine, this one from 1930.

roses closed

Absolutely bursting with roses!

roses open

Here we see Cupid with his be-ribboned heart, with a tiny letter attached, inscribed “Valentine’s Greetings”. The cuts are so intricate, the leaves of the roses but also the ribbons on the heart.

to heather

And on the back of this one we find my great uncle’s message to me. Midge was her nickname and how I was introduced to her years before. I believe he was in his late 80s when he sent these to me. He died a short time later.uncle fredHere is the man himself, which he included in the package. On it he wrote another message to me: “I found this in a book taken in Scotland in 1917 when I was on leave. Do you like it. All the girls like me not the picture.”

I liked it very much indeed Uncle Fred, and I will never part with them.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

Nanami Box and Tea at the Biltmore

29 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by inlovewithjournals in my journal collection, stationery

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Tags

arizona biltmore hotel, compendium inc., goulet pens, high tea, hold-on clever pen loop, jetpens, nanami paper, phoenix, seven seas standard, seven seas writer, super clip bookmarks, write now journal

A few weeks before I travelled to Phoenix to spend time with my sister, I took advantage of her US address and placed an order with Nanami Paper. You might remember that before my trip last year I placed orders with Goulet Pens and JetPens. It’s always nice to avoid paying shipping costs to Canada.

I wanted to buy another Seven Seas Writer like the one I wrote about in May of this year, but of course they were sold out. They are so popular and they are specially made for Nanami in Japan so they go out of stock quickly. I like the Writer because it is lined but it occurred to me that I could get a Seven Seas Standard A5 journal and use my writing mat and achieve the same end. And woohoo the Standard was in stock.

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I also ordered another Hold On pen loop, this time in green; I actually ordered two and gave one to my sister. The silvery clippy things are the Super Clip Bookmarks, and come in packs of 10 for $4.25 US. The Standard is exactly the same as the Writer, which I’ve already reviewed (see link above). But I wanted to see if I could use the writing mat to simulate lines. It’s not easily seen in this photo, but in real life it’s very easy to see and write on the lines of the mat.

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If the lines aren’t dark enough for you, you can always make your own insert with a Sharpie or similar dark inked marker. I am happy with the Standard; it’s a good substitute when the Writer is out of stock. And as I write this I’ve just checked Nanamipaper.com and both the Writer and the Standard are currently out of stock. The Standard will be restocked in Feb/Mar 2016 and the Writer in early Dec 2015. Get your orders in fast and early.

That was the only package I had delivered to my sister’s place. And during my stay I only bought one notebook: a Write Now journal from Compendium Inc. My sister and I went for High Tea at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel and while perusing the gift shop I found this pretty notebook.

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My first thought on reading the cover was – Why yes, I’m doing just that! It’s a beautiful notebook with quotes about the sea.

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***

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It was an inexpensive notebook and the paper isn’t great, but I fell in love with the cover and the quotes. And that is as good a reason as any to buy a notebook!

What an amazing hotel. It is a breathtaking “jewel in the desert” with a rich and varied history. The High Tea was one of the best tea experiences to date. I brought my pens along (of course) so they could enjoy the adventure too. 🙂

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Stationery from Calgary Public Library, Staples and Dollarama

06 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by inlovewithjournals in stationery, store visits

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

calgary public library, dollarama, highlighter, k and company, markers, page flags, sharpie, smash, staples, zebra

One of our weekly trips is to the library, usually on Saturday. And this week I noticed they had a bunch of merchandise with the Calgary Public Library logo! I picked up a few things. Then we went to Staples and Dollarama, where I picked up some more things.

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I picked up a pack of 11 Sharpie Fine markers at Staples, the highlighters and page flags at Dollarama, and the “thumb thing” and blue pencil case at the Calgary Library.

The Sharpie pack was $10, a back-to-school special at Staples. I thought it was a good price judging by the fact that a pack of 5 Sharpies is $6. And this pack has some nifty colours. I did a writing sample in my journal to show you.

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The Neon colours are fun but hard to see, especially the yellow. The packaging said the Neon colours  become fluorescent under black light. The regular Sharpies are vibrant and clear, just what you would expect. And the silver metallic is a lot of fun. I can see it looking great on black paper, along with the Neon colours.

The highlighters and page flags I picked up at Dollarama. I thought the highlighters were interesting because a) they are made by Zebra, the same folks who made these fountain pens, and b) they are refillable and come with a cartridge refill. How cool is that?? The refills are available on Amazon but they are not cheap. Looks like the refills cost almost 8 times what the highlighter did at Dollarama!

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I tried out the pink one in my journal. There was some smearing on the fountain pen ink (not surprising) but the ballpoint ink held up very well.

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Refillable highlighters are better for the environment. And the pen design is the same as for the fountain pens and I just find it so comfortable. It makes sense to me.

I was surprised to find K & Company Smash items at Dollarama. Usually they are only at Michael’s and a little pricey. This pack of vintage-looking page flags was only $1. I’m always curious about the stickiness of any page flags other than PostIts but I wasn’t disappointed with these. They stuck on very well.

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Sorry for the blurry image; this must have been the 15th image I took! I just couldn’t get the focus right. But in terms of the stickiness they did not immediately curl off the page, which happens a lot, especially when buying flags from a dollar store. These ones seem a little better at sticking.

The “thumb thing” is available at the Calgary Public Library but it does not have the library’s logo on it. It is used to help your hand hold open the pages of a book.

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The back of the packaging says: a thumbring to hold your book open. It’s a neat little gadget that actually works. It was $6.

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Of course I couldn’t resist the Brass Pen with a clip that can be engraved. It is a ballpoint and very solid feeling in the hand. The finish is slightly textured and feels like velvet. Very smooth writer.

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In the picture above the brass pen is resting against the black velvet pouch it comes in. The cost of the pen was $7.50. The pencil case contains 4 items, which are all visible in the photo above: a small ruler, a plastic pen, a pencil, and a pencil sharpener which also has an eraser.

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Neat huh? The cost of the loaded pencil case was $5.

I did a writing sample in my journal, for each of the ballpoints.

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To advance the ink tip the barrel of the Brass pen should be turned in a clockwise motion until the tip appears, and vice versa to retract it. It was a pleasure to use.

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And here is the writing sample for the other ballpoint pen. It is much lighter than the Brass pen, being made of plastic. One click advances the tip, and another click retracts it. Nice colour ink and a very smooth writer.

It was really great to buy stuff from the library. All of the proceeds support the work they do, from programs to services to collections. The librarian who checked my purchases told me there are more items on the website. Love the bookworm earrings! And the journal, of course. She said they awarded one of their volunteers a Calgary Public Library earring and bracelet set. I can see the possibilities for Christmas presents already! 🙂

Stationery from Mrs. Brimbles

05 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by inlovewithjournals in stationery

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

chameleon, erin condren, filofax, finsbury, mrs brimbles

I placed an order with Mrs. Brimbles on etsy and I wanted to share. As expected Anna was a delight to work with, especially when I had a bit of trouble.

One of my co-workers recently ordered an Erin Condren lifeplanner and boy was I tempted to order one myself. But I really do love my Personal Finsbury that I’ve been using for awhile now so instead of buying a lifeplanner I bought some new Filofax inserts. I did purchase other things from Erin Condren….more on that when they arrive!

I’ve been following Anna on YouTube for quite some time and I love her etsy shop. So I ordered the Cute Kitty Cat Personal Diary Inserts and the Cute Kitty Cat Diet, Health and Fitness Inserts. I purchased the Personal size but they are also available in the A5 size. These were sent to me immediately in the form of a zipped file. Only when I tried to open them I got a virus message and the files were deleted! Please know this is NOTHING to do with the files themselves but EVERYTHING to do with the security settings on my laptop. Being somewhat technically challenged I couldn’t see a way around this. So Anna very kindly set the files up in Dropbox and sent me an invitation. That worked and I am thrilled with them!

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I printed them myself and then cut them out. Above you can see a few of the pages. There are 13 different templates in the Kitty Diet, Health and Fitness set  (like Daily Calorie Intake Tracker and Pet Health Tracker ) and 17 different templates in the Kitty Diary Inserts set (like Notes and To Do). She sends 3 different files for each. I paid about $12 Cdn for each set. Lovely. I had no problems printing them out; Anna includes instructions for printing with each set. As they are proprietary designs I’m not going to show any more pictures of the inserts themselves but check them out on Anna’s etsy page. Absolutely adorable with the kitty faces!

I also ordered a Blue Bird dashboard and a set of Kitty Cat sticky notes and page flags.

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As you can see I ordered the POCKET dashboard instead of the PERSONAL dashboard! But I love the design so much I stuck it in my pocket Chameleon and ordered the correct size.

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Here is the package of sticky notes and page flags. Love the polka dot bag! The Believe postcard was included in the package, along with Mrs. Brimbles’ business card and advertisement for her monthly subscription box (a lovely monthly gift my budget does not allow for. Sigh.)

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And here are the notes/flags. So cute. And very sticky, unlike some of the Japanese notes which fall off as soon as they are stuck down.

And that’s it for this order. There will be another piece coming, as I mentioned I ordered the personal size Blue Bird dashboard. I highly recommend Mrs. Brimbles for diary inserts and cute planner supplies. Anna is a wonderful communicator and willing to be creative when technology gets in the way! Thanks again Anna!!

The Kuru Toga and Another Pen Case

31 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by inlovewithjournals in my pen collection, stationery

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

mechanical pencil, the pen pixie, uni kuru toga, vinyl pen case

I am a sucker for a good review and something different. I watched The Pen Pixie’s video on the Kuru Toga mechanical pencil and I immediately went to ebay and ordered one. It has a mechanism whereby the lead is slightly rotated as you write, thereby keeping the edge at a needle point as opposed to becoming slanted on one side. I’m not even a mechanical pencil enthusiast (my sister and husband are) but I was intrigued by this. I ordered the pencil and a case of replacement leads for less than $10 on ebay.

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As you can see from the packaging it’s 0.5mm and made by Mitsubishi. The all-Japanese wording doesn’t matter; you can see the diagram on the top and it shows you the rotating mechanism I mentioned. I did a writing sample and damn if that lead didn’t stay razor sharp:

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Very happy with my purchase. They come in a multitude of colors and are available in packages with the extra lead and extra erasers included as well. I bought mine from nandn-japan on ebay.ca.

Since I was on ebay I decided to purchase a second pen case, a twin to one I had purchased previously. I thought I had already reviewed it but right now I can’t find the review. Anyway, I have two vinyl, zippered pen cases, with velvet lining, that each hold 12 pens. My collection of pens is growing and I’ve outgrown the one case so I ordered a second one.

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The one on the left is the new one, slightly wrinkled in transit.

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And here they are, filled up. Each side has 2 sets of 6 elastics, so the pens are held in two places. Then there is a velvet lined flap that goes in between, to protect the pens when the case is closed. It’s a very compact and safe way to transport a large number of pens. I found that there are some restrictions: my Pilot Plumix is a little too long to fit comfortably in this and still be able to zip it up; and when all of the pens are in it can be quite difficult to close because of the bulk. So I would say this set up is perfect for smaller, skinnier pens and not the bulkier, fatter pens.

You can spend a lot of money on pen cases and I purchased these from combinedshipping on ebay.ca for about $12 each plus $3.50 for shipping from China. They took a couple of weeks to arrive. Not real leather but a bargain for quality storage of precious cargo.

And that’s it for recent pen/paper/ink related purchases. I’m sure there will be more!

Christmas Notebooks and Ink

04 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by inlovewithjournals in books that sound interesting, my ink collection, my journal collection, stationery

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

janet conner, leuchtturm, peter pauper press, peterson field guide color-in book, waterman

Today I wanted to show you some notebooks and ink I received for Christmas from my husband’s side of the family.

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Waterman ink, Peter Pauper Press bird journal, Leuchtturm 1917 pen loop, Birds adult colouring book, and The Lotus and the Lily book.

Let’s start with the bird journal. It’s from Peter Pauper Press. I love the bright colours and the birds of course.

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I’m becoming quite the bird lover in my old age and I’ve wanted this one for a while.

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Inside the front cover.

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Here you can see the full colour birds are carried through onto the inside pages, which are cream coloured and lined. No idea yet what I will use this one for but it’s lovely. And I don’t know which journal will have the honour of receiving the purple Leuchtturm pen loop.

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Next up is the Peterson Field Guide Color-In Book: Birds. I was thrilled to open this because I’ve seen other people relax while colouring in adult books and I earmarked a few on my Amazon wishlist. I thought this would be fun to do and maybe add some colour to my journal.

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I’m so glad they included stickers of the actual birds; at least I have an idea of what the birds are supposed to look like.

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In addition to colouring there is a ton of info about each bird so it’s educational too. I’m excited to start colouring!

I also got 3 bottles of Waterman ink. Well that’s like getting 3 bottles of perfume for me so you can imagine how amazed I was opening that present!

20150103_180331I didn’t ink up any pens with these inks but I took samples with cotton swabs to get an idea of the colour. I’ve heard so much about Serenity Blue and it really is beautiful.

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And yummy Absolute Brown. Looks like chocolate!

20150104_201042And finally here is Tender Violet. I am truly blessed as I have enough ink to last the rest of my lifetime and beyond I think!

Last but not least I had been interested in The Lotus and The Lily ever since I started reading Writing Down Your Soul by the same author, Janet Conner. I enjoy her writing so now I’m anxious to finish her other books so I can get into this one.

I was very spoiled this Christmas; thank you to my amazing family!

Christmas Goodies

27 Saturday Dec 2014

Posted by inlovewithjournals in my ink collection, my journal collection, stationery

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

andrews + blaine ltd., chapters, eos, graf von faber-castell, michael's, recollections

I thought I would share some of my journal/pen/ink related items that found their way under my Christmas tree this year. Please don’t think I am bragging or showing off; this is what I do on this blog and I have been very spoiled this year so I have a few things to talk about.

My beautiful friend Laura started the whole thing off.

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Clockwise from the top left: teapot and teacup rubber stamps, Strawberry Sorbet EOS lip balm, Wise Words journal, scented rosehip ornament, copper paper clips and a package of Faber Castell Moss Green ink cartridges (sorry for the glare).

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Here’s a better picture of the ink cartridges. I haven’t tried this ink yet but I’ve heard great things. I think I might put one of these cartridges in my Green Prima as the Private Reserve Avacado has turned to a sloppy goo. More on that in a future post.

I love these swirly paper clips. And the tea stamps – perfect for my letter writing if I ever get back to it. Apologies to any pen pals reading this! The stamps are from the Recollections collection, available at Michael’s.

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I am IN LOVE with this journal. I love EVERYTHING on the cover, words and images. Can’t wait to get into this one (I know I say that about them all. But it’s still true!)

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The inside cover. Beautiful dusty pink with white feathers.

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Ruled pages with the owls on both sides, and a lovely white ribbon bookmark. Paper is a crisp white and seems heavy but it’s hard to tell without an ink test, which I will do at a later date. I forgot to take a picture of the back cover but the journal is from Andrews + Blaine Ltd. and is called Bella Dos Santos. Available at Chapters.ca.

So that’s it and I hope you enjoyed the little show. I certainly enjoyed writing about it. Thank you Laura!!

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