Sweet 16

Bast's Gift, also known as the Big Boy and the Prince of the Apartment, turns 16 today--80 years old in people years.

I happen to know his exact date of birth and almost the time, as my neighbor saw me in the laundromat on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 1995 and asked me if I'd like a kitten from the litter born the day before sometime in the afternoon. I had just lost my sweet VT, a tabby cat, a few months before and definitely wanted another so he came to stay permanently some weeks later.

The marvelous Mia is making a watercolor of this photo, my favorite shot of his Majestic Catness, and I can't wait to see it.

Black Crystal Pens at the NSS

Last year's National Stationery Show feature was the black pencil with a sparkling Swarovski crystal on the end, beautifully-jeweled pencils that were everywhere. This year there were fewer sparklers around, but one that did show up was this plain black pen with a Swarovski crystal on the plunger.



Looking somewhat like Parker Jotter ballpoints, these were displayed at several booths and have a suggested retail price of $4.95. The two new colors that are big favorites for the summer are teal and hot pink, and they are definitely beautiful. Nothing amazing about the pen, but the presentation is impressive.

DIYSara Visits The Chicago Pen Show

Great post by DIYSara and wonderful pics of the Chicago Pen Show, do go over and leave a comment at her site.

Monteverde One Touch Stylus & Ballpen

Here's a pen of interest if you have an iPad or any other touch screen device (or just want something different in your daily arsenal), the Monteverde One Touch Stylus & Ballpen. This seems to be a redesign, starting off as a ballpoint and now re-engineered as a soft rollerball (the refill seems to be a cross between a gel ink and an oil based ink). The original had a flat rubber stylus that doesn't look like it was very easy to use for anything but tapping, while this newer version has a round soft rubber end that's actually quite usable for writing on the touch screen as well as tapping out notes and whatnot.

The newer One Touch has a great pearlized lacquer finish as well, not the metallic body in the original, with a choice of ultra-vibrant (red, pink) or ultra-neutral (black, grey, white) barrel colors. The pen itself is one of the nicest I've used, the barrel is comfortable even without a grip and heavy enough to fit comfortably in the hand. The price isn't bad either, $30 plus tax for a nicely-designed pen that does work well with a touch screen device. I've enjoyed using it because I tend to work on my iPad, and tend to hit the screen with the end of my pen because I've left my capacitor-stylus somewhere else. This works well for me, now I just tap and go.

EcoVerte Pens and Pencils

Another National Stationery Show exhibitor that showcased its "green" line of writing tools and supplies is EcoVerte. The company has a number of lines that focus on recycled newspaper and plastic as well as a line of bamboo pens and pencils that are unusual-looking but not so weird as to be put in the re-gift drawer.

From left to right above is a bamboo ballpoint pen (also comes in pencil flavor), a recycled plastic ballpoint pen, and a woodless pencil that's one of the nicest of its type I've seen (very simple one-color design). All are fun and functional, and if you happen across any of these in a local shop they are definitely something to consider adding to your lineup.

One thing I loved about the recycled plastic pen is its shape. The barrel from tip to mid-section is round, tapering into an oval as you get to the end and the plunger. The clip has a beautiful soft, flowing curve while the clear blue barrel shows off all of the spring action at both ends. This pen's design is excellent and interesting, definitely check it out. Where to buy is again the question, but if you see any check them out.

Multi Pen Dimensions Blog

Yochanan has opened up shop at Multi Pen Dimensions, and his first post features the Lamy Accent 4 in 1 multi pen. Stop by and take a look, I don't remember seeing this pen at all in my travels around the pen shop.

Rock Paper

Part of the appeal of "green" products is that primarily they are familiar items made from recycled components. Notebooks made with recycled paper and plastic pens made out of plastic bottles are two standard green products.

Moving along the continuum you get old favorites with a green twist, such as woodless pencils: essentially a graphite core wrapped in recycled newspaper.

At the National Stationery Show I was introduced to a product that moves one step further, making a totally familiar product out of an absolutely impossible element in such a way that it helps the environment: paper made from rocks, or rock paper.

The rock paper I played with was at the Urban Smart booth, where they were showcasing their line of dry erase stationery (itself a really great idea) and dry erase picture frames (which has some funny/dangerous elements to it as well).


Rock paper, which is manufactured in Taiwan and sold under the TerraSkin brand, is three parts recycled calcium carbonate—the same mineral in marble and limestone—and one part polyethylene binder. Production of this requires no water or bleach and uses only half the energy needed to make traditional paper. The resulting material is durable, and recyclable, breaking down into a talcum-like powder if exposed to sunlight and humidity long enough.

[Edit: Katie Kelley of Urban Smart got in touch with me and asked that I correct one thing in the above paragraph: their rock paper is made in Canada, not Taiwan. Everything else remains the same, and I'm very happy to add this information.]


What I found amazing about this paper is that while it feels very thin, there was no bleedthrough with either a gel ink pen or a fountain pen. The paper absorbed the ink, but other than a bit of a shadow on the back side there was not problem with double-sided writing. The paper seems coated yet absorbent, and it has one of the silkiest textures I've ever felt.

Now the question is: where can I buy it? I haven't seen any, so I'll be in touch with Urban Smart to see who's ordering their notebooks. The only downside I saw was the lack of a hardcover notebook option, but that may be in the future.