#7 of 53: Change, Lamy Pens and Mothers

Tags

2017 special edition, from the pen cup, lamy, lamy al-star, pacific, the pen habit, wonder pens

Did you miss me?

You can thank my sister for this post. I have been feeling dramatically uninspired of late, hence the radio silence. And then my sister sent me a lovely email, which included a link to one of my blog posts from 4 years ago, about her trip to Iceland. And somehow it’s inspired me.

There’s alot of change afoot in the stationery/fountain pen world. Wonderpens have closed one shop and opened another; I so love their blog I felt I was saying goodbye too, even though I’ve never set foot in any of their stores to date. Matt Armstrong of The Pen Habit on YouTube has ended his run as fountain pen/ink reviewer extraordinaire. Believe me, I can relate. I seriously considered shutting this whole thing down. Even Mary at From the Pen Cup took a long breather between posts. I’ve set myself the challenge of 53 posts this year, which may or may not happen. And I’ve decided to be at peace with that.

So inspired by my sister I’m going to review the Lamy Al-Star Pacific 2017 Limited Edition fountain pen she gave me for my birthday last year.

It’s my third Lamy; I’ve written about the Safari and my other Al-Star previously. The Safari was one of my first purchases after starting the blog, back in 2012. And the Al-Star was a Christmas present in 2014. This Lamy Al-Star is a gorgeous turquoise blue, called the Pacific, for the colour resembles tropical seas.

I also received a bottle of Lamy Turquoise. It was released with the special edition pen but as far as I can tell it’s the same colour as the old Lamy Turquoise. Either way it’s a glorious colour.

The nib is fine and very smooth. Since last September I’ve had it inked up with the Lamy Turquoise, and it always starts writing the instant the cap comes off, with no skipping or hard starts. The cap posts securely although I would advise caution with posting, as my purple Al-Star is showing signs of wear on the barrel.

The distinctive triangular section, unique to Lamy, creates a strong grip for long writing sessions.

The Al-Star usually retails for just under $40 US. The 2017 special edition is no longer available on Goulet Pens; indeed it has been replaced by the 2018 special edition in Vibrant Pink. I’m told the Al-Star Blue Green is very close in tone to the Pacific. But I did manage to find two on offer on Amazon as used. I highly recommend the Lamy Al-Star, for beginners and pros alike. These special editions are a fun way to expand your Lamy collection – such colours!

And finally today (in North America) is the day we honour our mothers. Today marks my 18th Mother’s Day without mine. I wish I could say it gets easier. But some years are better than others. I have a wonderful mother-in-law who receives our well wishes via video call. And now that I’m back in Nova Scotia I can visit my grandmother’s grave, and honour her memory along with her daughter’s.

Happy Mother’s Day.

 

 

Monday Miscellany

Tags

cnc'd aluminum pen and pocket notebook, from the pen cup, garnet bartlett, hobonichi techo, kickstarter, typos, washingtonpost.com

Mary from From The Pen Cup penned this inspiring post on how she has bonded with her Hobonichi Techo and for the first time in her entire life has been able to maintain a journaling habit because of it. Hurrah Mary!

Garnet Bartlett sent me a message to alert me to his Kickstarter Campaign: CNC’d Aluminum Pen and Pocket Notebook. This is genius – the notebook with matching pen that clips to the spine. The pen has a magnetic cap and the available finishes look amazing. And there’s so much customization! And the notebooks lay flat!! I’m excited about this and I genuinely hope it gets funded. I will back it myself if the budget allows. Best of luck Garnet!

And finally tonight this article on washingtonpost.com made me laugh. Don’t turn on the bat signal to fight crime; open a dictionary! 🙂

Monday Miscellany

Tags

effybird.com, from the pen cup, richard branson, virgin.com, write notepads & co.

These Write Notepads Co notebooks are gorgeous! Mary wrote a glorious review of them over on her blog, From the Pen Cup. I love their vintage packaging. The quality looks top-notch too.

“There’s something so romantically resolute about putting pen to paper.” So says Richard Branson in this post from Virgin.com, sent to me by a friend who knew I would enjoy reading it. And she was right. We can all say we have something in common with Mr. Branson: writing our thoughts and dreams in our notebooks!

I’ve written alot about how my journal is my safe place and it allows me to work through my feelings and formulate a plan of action to get to the other side of sadness. But that’s not always enough. This post, from effybird.com, is heartfelt and honest about those times when journaling is not the answer. We can learn alot from seeing things from a different perspective. Warning: the post has strong language so be aware if you are sensitive to that.

Until next post, happy writing!

Monday Miscellany

Tags

daringtolivefully.com, from the pen cup, journal prompts, marelisa fabrega, sbre brown, the nerd journals

Marelisa Fabrega has a wonderful web site: daringtolivefully.com. Her post, 119 Journal Prompts for your Journal Jar, had some really great ideas for journaling. I like the honesty prompts about the biggest lie I’ve ever told, or nobody knows….. But I think my favorite has to be the 100 Things I Love prompt. Such a good mental exercise when the world seems hell-bent on making things difficult. Check out her other posts too. Great stuff.

Mary at From The Pen Cup wrote a very moving post about the loss of two beloved pets in the same week, and how a package from SBRE Brown cheered her up a little. The power of pens and tea.

And finally a video by Erica, also known as The Nerd Journals on YouTube, of all of her filled notebooks as of the end of 2014. They just look so LOVED!!

 

 

Monday Miscellany

Tags

all things stationery, from the pen cup, lamy al-star, three staples

Great post by Jinnie on Three Staples on discovering Field Notes and how that changed her journaling habit. Great pictures too.

I really enjoyed this post on ATS (All Things Stationery) describing how the author uses stationery at work but keeps all the good stuff at home. I tend to do this too, although lately I’ve been bringing fountain pens and ink to my work desk to liven things up a bit. I really like the idea of a decoy pen pot. 🙂

And if you love orange (who doesn’t?) this post by Mary at From the Pen Cup will have you ordering something orange before you’ve finished reading it. Mary is always entertaining and so informative. I love my purple Al-Star and this post has me considering the orange one!

 

 

Monday Miscellany

Tags

from the pen cup, gourmet pens, journalporn, living well one line a day journal, manuscript, manuscript master italic calligraphy pen

I laughed out loud at this post on From The Pen Cup. I love Mary’s “notebook purchasing exception clause” because I invoke it every chance I get! Continue reading for an excellent review of the Living Well One Line a Day journal.

Azizah at Gourmet Pens has beautiful handwriting and it is showcased beautifully in her review of the Manuscript Master Italic Calligraphy Pen. I enjoy this brand and I think the pen is gorgeous. Azizah points out the pros and cons and I find myself wanting to buy this pen. But I will resist. For now.

Have you ever hit the Random button on the journalporn tumblr? I have, and do frequently. I could sit and look at other people’s journals forever……

Monday Miscellany

Tags

commonplace books, from the pen cup, hitlist notebooks, levenger, the unwritten word

The Unwritten Word posted a while back about commonplace books. I’ve always journalled this way. Except for the indexing which I think is a great idea. I will add an index to my journal (or should I say commonplace book?) later tonight.

Check out these great notebooks from Hitlistbooks.com. I love the notched cover for securely attaching your pen to the notebook. And they’re Canadian!

And finally check out From the Pen Cups’s illuminating discussion of whether or not she’s following in her Aunt Matilda’s footsteps with her hoarding tendencies. But you can never have too many notebooks, or notebook paper, such as the fabulous looking Vivacious paper from Levenger. And I won’t worry until I have a goat path either.

Monday Miscellany

Tags

acme crayon rollerball, east...west...everywhere, fennell books, four words four worlds, from the pen cup, online

East…West…Everywhere posted about travelling to a conference and the dilemma of what to take in terms of stationery. Very entertaining, especially the bit where the author found nerdiness worked to their advantage!

I loved this post by Helen at Fennell Books. Autumn is my favorite time of year too, although right now it seems like it was summer yesterday and bam! today we are in the middle of winter. I love her writing and am jealous of all her bookcases.

I love the ONLINE pen brand from Germany and I enjoyed this post on Four Words, Four Worlds, about the 3 in 1 pen in the Save My World collection. So cool!

And finally Mary from From the Pen Cup shares her ACME Crayon Rollerball collection. What amazing colours – and they look so much like crayons! A charming way to relive your childhood.

 

Monday Miscellany

Tags

a penchant for paper, arc it, danielle writes, from the pen cup, leigh reyes my life as a verb, moleskine, moleskine city notebooks, notebook stories

I’ve been wanting to do a round-up of sorts of links I’ve enjoyed during the week, and I couldn’t think of what to call it. I was on Heather’s great blog A Penchant for Paper, and she does a monthly miscellany of favourite links, so I’m kind of stealing her title. Hope you don’t mind Heather!

Speaking of A Penchant for Paper, in a recent post Heather shares her Favourite Supplies for Writing. I love how streamlined it is: paper, highlighter, pen (cheap or free is best) and sticky notes. Easy, and lets you get down to the business of writing.

Amanda at Arc It shared her pen holder idea for her Arc notebook. Love it!

Mary at From the Pen Cup showed us how to improve our handwriting by practising calligraphy. I think her handwriting is gorgeous but that’s just me!

Danielle Writes posted a great photo of her journal – writing at work! I never do that. Oh no no. NEVER. 😉

Leigh from My Life as a Verb took us to her favourite pen store in Paris, Mora Stylos. Leigh is obviously more educated than I in pen lore but the post is worth looking at for the eye candy alone.

My friend is going to London so I showed her my Moleskine City Notebook: London, in the hope that she will get one for her trip. And then I stumbled upon Nifty’s post about her collection of Moleskine City Notebooks – wow! Quite the collection. And one that may be a collector’s item as Moleskine discontinues titles in the range. Sad.

That’s probably enough for my first Miscellany post. Let me know what you think of it. It will, most likely, become a regular feature. 🙂