@yiuoterw: Oh, gosh, I only just saw your question now, literally 1-2 years later. Ack, I'm so sorry! Anyway, this is the famous Jacques Herbin Emerald of Chivor! Hopefully by now, you know that. Note that only certain papers that bring out sheen really well, like Tomoe River, will create these results. This pic, as non-professional as it is, is my favorite to whip out when waxing poetic about how amazing fountain pen inks are.

Happy Fountain Pen Day!

I’m not on Tumblr much these days, but hope you’re all doing well and being content and finding peace. Please enjoy this small stash of old photos!

Ooooop, there it is. It's not everyday that FP stuff makes the NY Times, and this made me check my bottle of 2016 Dark Lilac (There's 35-40% of it left, more or less).

Ngl i prefer the 2016 version purple on the right.

Haul from Goulet Pens’ ink sample sale!

Highlights include empty Colorverse and Herbin 1670 bottles, a potential Robert Oster dupe for my beloved Sheaffer Turquoise (whichgotdiscontinued grumblegrumble), a lot of green overall (including 4 samples and of course the Clairefontaine notebook), searching for a favorite coral/sage green/light orange go-to ink, and Sailor Manyo Haha. It’s swabbin’ time!

Side note: I haven’t forgotten about the Galen Leather Writer’s Bag review, I’ve just gotten sidetracked with five other projects. The very short version is that if you’re obsessed with it, go for it, but Goulet Pens may offer a better experience.

Hello, friends! I'd like to say thanks to everyone who liked/commented requesting this review. It's in the works now, and I hope I can publish it in a week's time or so.

In the meantime, tonight I'll be taking a calculated risk and putting a thin coat or two of a color-restoration balm to see if I can boost the Crazy Horse Forest Green color a bit more. Fingers crossed!

Hi, pen friends!

Would anyone be interested in a review of Galen Leather’s Writer’s Medic Bag?

After years of having it on my radar, I received mine today!

Hi, pen friends!

Would anyone be interested in a review of Galen Leather’s Writer’s Medic Bag?

After years of having it on my radar, I received mine today!

Reblogging for any FP newbies online tonight.

Which fountain pen should i get. been kinda thinking of the preppy but It looks kinda, low quality compared to some of the others. Is the preppy good?

Hello! First of all, a big apology–I never received a notification about your message, so I hope you didn’t wait too long! 

I totally and completely understand what you mean. I always refer to it as the “BIC Cristal” of the fountain pen world in that it looks super cheap and just not…very elegant or high-class at all. If you’re looking for a starter pen that’s really beautiful, the Preppy isn’t it (get a Pilot Metropolitan instead).

HOWEVER, if you can put up with the looks, I like the Preppy very much! The price, obviously, is a huge win factor, it’s the most inexpensive fountain pen I know of. Despite the cheap looks, the Japanese quality is top-notch–the nib is fantastic and the flow is consistent. I also like how it’s super light, too, which is good for people with smaller hands or those who get fatigued easily from heavy pens. If you plan to eyedropper it, the Preppy behaves wonderfully as well. The advantage of its looks is that you’ll feel more comfortable lending it out and won’t mourn so much if it gets lost or stolen. 

The only thing to watch out for is that there’s a very slim chance you may order a Fine Preppy and end up with a “fine” pen that actually writes like a medium, like I did. In other words, I currently have two pens that are labeled as fine, but one nib is significantly wider than the other and writes similarly to my medium Pilot Metro. But the nib is super smooth, so no complaints! Bottom line: Yeah, it’s not pretty, but if you can make peace with that, absolutely go with the Preppy, especially if it’s your first fountain pen! I recommend a fine Preppy, maybe look into an Extra Fine as well. If you want something that’s prettier, go for the Pilot Metropolitan. 

Anne Frank talking about her beloved fountain pen in her diary entry for November 11, 1943.

Happy Fountain Pen Day!

I’m not on Tumblr much these days, but hope you’re all doing well and being content and finding peace. Please enjoy this small stash of old photos!

Hello and good morning ☺️

The personal fountain pen news I promised:

This was going to be a longer post with storytelling--then I learned on Sunday someone I knew from college passed away, so it’s easier at this point if I keep it short and sweet for now.  And it boils down to: If you want a really unique blue ink, get TWSBI Navy. It has a vivid sky blue base rather than a traditional Crayola/BIC blue and is SERIOUSLY lovely. I’m truly obsessed with the color.  Pics are below: if this first one below shows up as greenish/turquoise, I apologize - just look at the swab only in that case, which should look bluer! 

Link to Goulet Pens here (no ink samples offered likely due to small bottle size)

It’s a perfect dupe for Noodler’s Navy but without the rather wide color variation I experienced for that ink that ultimately led me to abandon it (which you can see if you look closely at the scribbles bordering the Noodler’s swab.)

That’s it, folks! Do try that ink out if you’re at all interested, I really can’t recommend it enough. Low shading and minimal sheen, but the hue makes up for it. If anyone wants to see the packaging, check out my previous post with the ink bottles. 

I’ve been talking with an online friend I just found is into FPs, and they asked about my collection of pens and bottles. So here are some quick photos I sent them…

Update: obviously that little write up with good FP news didn’t happen. Bear with me…hopefully I can make a stab at it this weekend!

Hello, people!

I have good personal FP news - and hope to do a writeup on that this weekend.  Until then, what ink(s) are you currently using? 

Old and new! The old one developed a pinkish tacky texture and also got a loose nib somehow. Has anyone else ever experienced their Pilot Metropolitan developing that tacky texture?

This was done on the fly with a Noodler’s Nib Creaper with Black Swan in Australian Roses.

No pencil guidelines! Haven’t used flex nibs of any kind for months…

Newest Goulet Pens order! Finally got my hands on one of these elusive Clairefontaine beauties. Samples are for Noodler’s Burgundy, Goulet pen flush, Noodler’s Q’ternity and Private Reserve American Blue Fast-Dry, since I’ll be introducing my leftie friend to fountain pens tomorrow.

Ah, yes, and an Emerald of Chivor chicken sticker, haha!

Hellooooooo!

Apologies for the cruddy lighting, and I hope you all are doing okay 🤍 I tried out micromesh and Mylar paper on the top three pens last night, and overall the results doth please me. This is my current lineup!