Friday, December 23, 2011

Rohrer & Klingner Salix Blue Iron Gall Ink

Goulet Pens recently added the Rohrer & Klingner ink line to their product lineup, and one in particular caught my attention: the Salix Blue iron gall ink. There is something about using an ink formula dating back to the 12th century that really makes me feel a bond with my fountain pen--the sheer amount of time it took to create ink, never mind how little might be made from a particular batch, indicates (to me) the strong desire of humans to communicate through the written word (as well as show off one's elite status as someone who can read and write).

Traditional Iron gall inks are corrosive, and will eventually destroy the paper as well as the fountain pen. The modern iron galls are gentler on the inside of a fountain pen, but can still be corrosive if left in the pen for a long period. So when using an iron gall ink, like Diamine's Registrars ink or Chesterfield's Archival Vault, I don't leave the ink in for more than a week or two at a time, and give my pen a more-thorough-than-usual cleaning as the iron gall ink can be difficult to remove.

Rohrer & Klingner's Salix Blue is a blue-black formula, like Diamine and Chesterfield, but unlike those two it doesn't oxidize into black but remains blue. This is really one of the more stunning blues I've used, very deep color with good saturation of the paper (which is 80gsm Rhodia-quality). Drying time is average, and there was no bleed through so double-sided writing is fine.

Definitely a great ink if you want something that's permanent and waterproof (I didn't test it, but iron gall inks seem to be waterproof so I'll take Wikipedia's word for it) then you should give this a try. Especially as the color remains blue on the paper, rather than turning black.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Noodler's Blue Nose Bear Ink


Here's a quick review of Noodler's Blue Nose Bear ink, which is one of the softest and loveliest blue-green inks I've ever seen. (If you click on that link, definitely scroll down and cCheck out the two videos Goulet Pens has posted showing off Blue Nose Bear.) I'm using one of the new Noodler's Ahab flex nib fountain pens, and the nib is very big and flexible so you get a good idea of how this ink looks.

The ink seems to be very wet in the Ahab, flowing all over the place and I actually had a few spatters on the page. As I wasn't pressing very hard on the nib, I presume it's the ink. We'll see when I try it in one of my Japanese fine nibs, then it might be better behaved.

The paper I was using was an 80gsm stock I have on hand (Rhodia quality, if you will). I was very surprised at how much bleed through there is with Blue Nose Bear, double-sided writing isn't going to work too well with this ink--at least not using the Ahab flex, but maybe with a finer nib.

Drying time and water resistance are average--it's a wet ink, so expect it to take some extra seconds to saturate the page (perhaps a bit too much) and dry, and it's not waterproof so getting it wet will lead to ink running off the page. It does have some fluorescence to it, and it is forgery-resistance if those qualities are of interest. But if color is your thing and you are looking for a new blue-green with exceptional shading, then Blue Nose Bear is for you.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Mark's Ballpoint Pen


A recent Lost Crates item was this colorful ballpoint pen from Mark's, a Japanese stationery and pen company with some really interesting items (like the notebooks shown in this catalog on the Mark's Europe website).

The packaging alone was stunning, a silver-gray box (at first I thought I'd been send a Lamy pen) and the pen packed inside a clear tube with silver caps. Really quite beautiful.



This ballpoint has a magnetic closure, so when capped it fits tightly and won't slip off. That's something I really appreciate, as I don't like carrying a pen when the cap has been misplaced.


I've swapped out the ballpoint ink refill and put in a MonteVerde gel ink cartridge, so I can have my favorite gel ink in the new pen.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Rockefeller Center at Night

Not much posting for the next few days as I'm doing various projects as well as getting ready for the holidays. I was near Rockefeller Center the other night and took a few pictures of the tree to post, not very good but you get the idea.

I was about 50 or 60 yards from the tree when I took this one, I'm always amazed at the height of the tree.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Lost Crates December 2011 @LostCrates


The December 2011 Lost Crates package arrived last night, and it's quite interesting (am I the only one who remembers that you don't combine red and white as it's bad luck?--it symbolizes blood and bandages).


Naturally there's a calendar, the Quotable 2012 calendar. Then there is a pack of wine and thank you notes, small note cards by OrangeBeautiful using Emily Martin's designs. They are all quite lovely, and I've already used one for a bottle of red I'm giving to a friend tonight.

The paper component of the package is a pair of Dream Up jotters by Smock, small flexible 40 page notebooks made in upstate New York.

Finally, two items from Tokyo: Mark's Bicolor Pen (the pen is bicolor, not the ink) and Mark's Washi tape, which is quite lovely. I'm looking forward to trying both, especially the tape for a few projects that need some decoration.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

December Carnival of Pen, Pencil & Paper


To start off the Carnival, here's a great post on favorite pens by Nifty of Notebook Stories, founder of this monthly extravaganza.

Tom Lynch at Went Sketching has a fantastic post featuring one of my favorite pens, the Pilot Falcon. He's also got a review up of the new Noodler's Ahab flex fountain pen which is a must-read.

Economy Pens puts a Zebra in tulle, or something like that (sounds like something out of Fantasia, with ballpoints and gel inks dancing around a fountain of Noodler's Black Swan ink).




Multi Pen Dimentions has a great review of the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto in metallic gray, there's something very Klaatu Barada Nikto about that pen.

While I don't watch Mad Men that often, whenever I read about the show I think of the guy who runs their supply room. Here's a great picture of Parker Jotters in a rainbow assortment.

Inkophile has a great review of Noodler's Blue Nose Bear, an ink I'm tempted to buy just for the name.

Over at Does This Pen Write is a great post comparing markers, Cra-Z-Art versus Crayola.

Goldspot Pens has a really nice post on alternatives to buying a Mont Blanc. I love that Laban pen, and I wanted to put this in the Carnival since every midway needs its sales stalls.

Plannerisms took a poll asking a seemingly simple question: white or cream? Paper that is, and the results were surprising.

Peninkcillin has two posts I want to highlight: a review of Waterman Havana Brown Ink, and this review of the Kaweco Sport Classic Fountain Pen.

Kim at Tiger Pens Blog reviews the Pentel Lancelot Ballpoint, one very attractive pen I might add.


Via Dave's Mechanical Pencils I cam across The Catalogue of American Mechanical Pencils by Jonathan A. Veley. This looks amazing, and you can purchase it as an ebook or on a CD, or the photo supplement alone.

777 Pen Repair
has an interesting post on Noodler's ink, is it dangerous? There have been many posts on different forums about the corrosive qualities of certain inks on fountain pens, so take a look at Tyler's thoughtful writing.

Nancy Olson, Ink
always has some amazing photos of pens, stationery, and more over at her place and this Lominchay Riviera Waves is no exception.

The Pen Addict hosts a guest post by Bryan on the Pilot Prera, definitely a fantastic little fountain pen.

Finally, Brian Goulet over at Ink Nouveau has a really great tutorial on Goulet Pens' swab shop, which in itself is one of the most valuable sites on the Internet. Hundreds of q-tips gave up their cotton so that we might see Diamine Twilight ink on white and ivory paper, so do head over and take a look.

Update: Looks like at least one submission didn't make it through to me (I've had that happen too), and it's a good one from Julie (Okami) at Whatever on the Franklin-Christoph Penvelope.

Update II: Steven H. submitted these great posts that also didn't get through to me, one on a custom-made desk organizer and the other on the fabulous new TWSBI ink bottles.


The next Carnival of Pen, Pencil & Paper will be on Tuesday, January 3, 2012 and is hosted by Goldspot Pens. You can submit posts here.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Cat Ascending Refrigerator


With apologies to Marcel Duchamp, and not really an action photo of how she climbs up the side, I thought I'd share this photo. Mally has learned to get up to the top of the new refrigerator, where she may survey her kingdom at her leisure. An alpha cat in all her glory.

Monday Blues


Three new blue inks I'm checking out, ink samples I ordered from Goulet Pens. All are Diamine inks, which I think are top notch: Prussian Blue, China Blue, and Eclipse.

Prussian Blue is dark with a touch of black. China Blue is bright and noticeable. Eclipse is very much a blue-black ink, reminding me a bit of an iron gall ink that's started to change color (like the various Registrar inks). Trying them out before buying is a great way to see and sample ink colors you might not want, or finding out that you already have a similar color. Definitely check out Goulet Pens for ink and the rest of their marvelous items.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

JetPens & Field Notes Giveaway Winners Plus One More

Many thanks to everyone for their comments. Listed below are the winning posts, along with a third giveaway that I decided to do on the spur of the moment.

I used Random.org for the winning numbers, entering 1 and 41 (my post is excluded from this, obviously) but the below copy shows 1 and 100.

Congrats to the lucky three people below. They should email me (diane.fennelATgmail.com) by Wednesday noon and I'll arrange deliverly.

Again, thanks to everyone who commented and a big thanks to Brad and JetPens.com for spreading some cheer.



The winner of the JetPens gift certificate:

True Random Number Generator

21
Powered by RANDOM.ORG


CPTN said...

JetPens is trying to steal all my money. I am assured of this. But that Field Notes steno pad sounds pretty great... I've never tried Field Notes before!



The winner of the Field Notes Steno Pad:
True Random Number Generator

15

Post #15
v4ever said...

Definitely love Jet Pens.
I love gel pens with different colors, and Jet Pens is the perfect place to get them!

Just this week I received two limited edition Ecosystem Geometry lined journals for review, and I really want to share this with a reader. The winner has a choice of black or red (see this post), and the lucky person is #37:

True Random Number Generator

37

Aisazia said...

Would love to purchase from Jetpens and would love to write on a Field Notes book! <333

Friday, December 2, 2011

Interesting Ecosystem Stats @ecosystemlife


The wonderful folks at Ecosystem sent along several of their limited edition geometry journals to review, and while I was looking over the back cover I saw the following:
ecosystem notebooks have saved the following resources from 2009 to 2011 by using New Leaf paper made from 100% post consumer waste:
  • 10,892 fully grown trees
  • 4,987,549 gallons of water
  • 3,451 million BTU's
  • 302,815 pounds of solid waste
  • 1,035,575 pounds of greenhouse gases

In addition, they've saved millions of people from having to write in an unattractive journal.