W.I.T.C.H.

[crookedtines]

I finally took the time to photograph my vintage dip pen nib collection, and I need to share with you all how wonderful and diverse their designs are.

These two are my favorite. Just look at them! One of them is named Gorille and the other Mephisto, but to me they're little pumpkins.

And of course you gotta love the Pinocchio nib. You get to write with the nose of a tiny guy! Just not something you get to do anymore.

[marzipanandminutiae]

@maureen-corpse

[writingisthecoolesthobby]

Washi Station

I'm feeling the lure of Washi Station, so to satisfy my window-shopping urges, I'm going to list some of the ones I would buy with infinite cash.

Cursed Land by Natalie Anderson

I don't think swamps are cursed, I think they are beautiful like this wash!

Eerie Meadow by Jiayin Lu

Another swamp one, but this one glows in the dark!

Ghost Repellants by Joanna Rzepecka

Herbs! Dark cottage core!

Britt Wilson's Mandrake

It's a happy mandrake! How adorable. I like the color contrast.

Pix's Poules Stamp by Pix and Porcelain Chickens by Riley's Desk

I fall for anything with chickens.

Grandma's Cottage by Nicole Josephine

This is the platonic-ideal of cottage core.

Literally anything by Leanne Pflug

I have some of her art on my walls because I love her so much.

Frog & a Stormy Night by Linnea Sterte

Linnea is another favorite of mine. I have her frog book and it's gorgeous.

[writingisthecoolesthobby]

Sailor Manyo - Ayame

Ayame is one of the new dual-shading inks added to Sailor’s Manyo line. Ayame is a gray-green ink. It appears mostly as a muted green, but moving the paper around reveals more spots of gray and sometimes almost a hint of red.

The text on the box says:

“‘Manyosyu’--Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves--is the oldest (c.759) and most revered anthology of Japan’s poetic compilations.

Over a period of four centuries 4,516 poems were written by every class of person ranging from Emperors to merchants and farmers.

‘Manyo’ is an abbreviation of ‘Manyosyu’ and its meaning indicates people of all ranks.

‘Manyosu’ is often regarded in Japan as a true expression of the Japanese spirit.The themes of the poems relate to love, elegies, nature, the seasons, and so on.

Flowers are especially relevant in Japanese culture and about 1,500 of the poems in ‘Manyosyu cover some 160 species of plants and 50 different flowers.”

[writingisthecoolesthobby]

Simple life improvements: a piece of chipboard behind the page you are writing on, and a clip to hold the pages in place.

[writingisthecoolesthobby]

Ink Review: Pilot Iroshizuku Take-Sumi 竹炭

Pilot's Iroshizuku Take-Sumi is my daily writing black ink. It is a rich black, but it rusts a bit in the light, like a cat laying in a sun spot. In this photo below with the ink bottle, you can see it "rusting" under a direct light.

It's name (竹炭, たけすみ) refers to charcoal made from burnt bamboo. Despite the layers of colors that can be found under different light sources, it shows up as a rich, pure black in my Hobonichi notebook.

It writes smoothly in my Pilot Metropolitan, which is my every day pen. It can be a bit too juicy when I first ink the pen, but it never gets too dry.

[writingisthecoolesthobby]

DAISO stationary haul

It's been a depressing week. I went buy handfuls of 100 yen stickers.

My cat eats paper bookmarks so I was pleased to find these metal bookmarks.

These knock-off Mildliners work really well. The paper is from a Hobonichi notebook.

I got this notebook because it looked like a clear Apica knockoff. Apica's have the smoothest, most fountain pen-friendly paper in my opinion. This paper was not as smooth or pleasant to write on, but as you can see there is almost no feathering or ghosting.

I would pass on the notebook in the future but highly recommend these highlighters and bookmarks.

[writingisthecoolesthobby]

My boyfriend makes iced coffee but I almost never drink it because I don't want him to have to make a new pitcher every day.

[writingisthecoolesthobby]

Still getting used to my Sailor Fude pen. This is from Virginia Woolf's diary, about the writing of Mrs. Dalloway.

[writingisthecoolesthobby]

Things I Absolutely Do Not Need Vol 3.

I honestly do need something that can act as a drawing guide for circles. I am not sure if one of these are exactly what I need, or if they are so far past what I need that they're no longer in yellin' distance.

Korean ink maker Dominant Industry has created a line of pearlescent inks and all the ones that I want are sold out. I most want Autumn Forest, which is sold out everywhere, but the others look incredible too.

Also on the Yoseka stationary site, these pencil sharpeners are TOO CUTE.

I follow the Japanese illustrator xiaoxiong_kuma on instagram and they posted some delightful washi tape. I clicked through to their shop and found that it is full of cat treasures.

[writingisthecoolesthobby]

Self-Care JetPens Haul

This month has been A Lot. I’ve been trying to force myself to love some supplies I got last year (Midori notebooks, Spectrum Noir Sparkle Brush Pens) and use up some of my stash (Hi Tec C Maicas) and I just haven’t been feeling it. So I bought some new stuff that I was pretty sure I would like better.

First up: Uniball Signo DX 20 color set from JetPens

Another WITCH contributor recommended these in our group chat, so I wanted to give them a try. I love the colors, and I like the thin weight (0.38). I haven’t tested them extensively, but the one I did was very smooth with no jitter even on the first write. So far, so good! I definitely think these will be a good replacement for the Hi Tec C Maicas, which are beautiful but such a disappointment in execution.

Pentel Dual Metallic Brush

A Japanese calligrapher on Instagram I follow uses these and I’ve been coveting them for a while. They’re a lot easier to prime than the Spectrum Noirs I got for Christmas, and the tip is a lot smaller. Oh, and I love the output so much, they’re exactly what I wanted.

(I really need to practice my shodo, this is bad, but you can see the shimmer).

Rhodia Rhodiarama A5 Webnotebook in Turquoise with Dots

I already had one of these in their purple shade and I just love it. I’m going to use the purple one and then this one for work. I love that Clairefontaine paper, the dot grid, so much more than the Midoris I’ve been working with (sorry, Midori!).

This is a piston converter for the Lamy pen I got for Christmas, so I can use third party inks. I was really excited about this one, and it’s actually how I justified buying all this other stuff. You can see a little sample of the Lamy vs Twisby Eco output here. I got a medium nib for the Lamy, which might still not be thick enough for the shimmer ink I’m using, but I didn’t fill it that carefully so we’ll see.

And an impulse purchase: PuniLabo pen case: Otter.

Otters are one of my favorite animals so there was a very low likelihood that this wasn’t going to delight. It’s very cute, and more functional than I thought. You can push the little nub in at the bottom and the case stands on its own on your desk.

Nub sticking out:

Nub pushed in, sits stably on a surface.

The nub also leads to a hilarious warning image from the packaging (I love Japanese goods for the heavy text they use even for what seems like the most obvious items). This is warning users never to push the nub with pens in it and the top open into your own face or aiming it at others, because the pens could shoot out.

All in all, I’m extremely satisfied with this haul. Happy writing! --waffle

[writingisthecoolesthobby]

Unboxing: Maido in a Box Vol.6

Maido in a Box is a monthly stationery and gift box that includes a selection of quality stationery items curated by Maido workers who have a passion for the tools inside.

This is an unboxing of Maido in a Box Vol.6 which is $35 (as a member, I paid $31.50). 

Raymay Clam Pen Case (Retail: $12.50)

Kokuyo Saxa Scissors Standard Blade (Retail: $9.50)

Kokuyo Soft Ring Note (Retail: $8.99)

Pilot Juice Up 0.4mm (Black) (Retail: $3.60)

I love the dotted lines

Every Maido in a Box comes with a free gift, this is what was included in my box:

Kokuyo Mark+ 2Way Color Marker Gray Type (Purple) (Retail: $2.45)

Maido in a Box Mini Tote Bag (Estimated: $2.99)

2021 Calendar Sticker (Estimated: $2.99)

Year of the Ox Button (Estimated: $.99)

Platinum Classic (Fuyu-syogun) Sample size

I estimated the total retail value for this box to be $34.59 and the bonus items are worth $9.42 for a grand total of $44.01. My estimates were pretty generous, so value-wise this box was on the lower end, but they definitely were going for quality over quantity. I will use every single item I received this month so overall I’m very pleased!

[writingisthecoolesthobby]

Unboxing: Maido in a Box Vol.5

Maido in a Box is a monthly stationery and gift box that includes a selection of quality stationery items curated by Maido workers who have a passion for the tools inside.

This is an unboxing of Maido in a Box Vol.5 which you can purchase for $35 (as a member, I paid $31.50). 

Fluid Watercolor Pad (Retail: $6.49)

Kodomo No Kao Rubber Stamps (Retail: about $5.50)

Tsukineko VersaColor Stamp Pad (Retail: $4.50)

Pentel Colored Pencils (Retail: $4.75)

Tombow Fudenosuke (Red) (Retail: $3.49)

Tombow Dual Brush Pen Art Marker (Retail: $3.49)

Zebra Mildliner (Gold) (Retail: $1.99)

Kuretake ZIG Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Pen (Clear) (Retail: $6.99)

Every Maido in a Box comes with a free gift, this is what was included in my box:

Zig Clean Color Dot (Blue) (Retail: $2.64)

Tombow Dual Brush Pen (Peacock Blue) (Retail: $2.60)

Platinum Classic (Citrus Black) Sample size

Maido in a Box Sticker Sheet (Estimated: $2.99)

I estimated the total retail value for this box to be $37.20 and the bonus items are worth about $8.23 for a grand total of $45.43, so the purchase price of $35 makes this a decent deal. The items are timely for holiday card making, and I especially love the sheet of stickers.

[factoringprimes-blog]

Things I Absolutely Do Not Need Vol. 2

I have been seeing a lot of advertisements for Birmingham Pen Co. inks on instragram and there are about five that I desperately need. How do I get some sponsorship action on this?

I want everything in this etsy shop but most especially these postcards.

I already have all these supplies, so I don’t really NEED this linocut starter kit. What I need is to sit my but down and make art instead of hanging out on Tumblr. 

Midori has some very cute pocket diaries this year. The thing about dated planners is that you can only use so many of them.

I’ve been getting instagram ads for The Clever Clove which has some of the cutest washi tape I’ve ever seen.

[fourdrinkamy]

off to buy pens so i can feel joy again!!! #self #care

[writingisthecoolesthobby]

Unboxing: Maido in a Box #4 - Novel writing edition

BlMaido in a Box is a monthly stationery and gift box that includes a selection of quality stationery items curated by Maido workers who have a passion for the tools inside. Edition four is the “novel writing edition” because it is released in late October to coincide with the beginning of Nanowrimo. However, this box seems to be much better for studyblr than it is for novel writers.

The standard Maido in a Box is $35 ($31.50 for members).

Delfonics A5 - 5 parts Clear Folder (Retail: unclear, so I will estimate $8)

Zebra Mildliner Bluegreen (Retail: $1.75)

Zebra bLen 3C 0.5mm Multi-pen (Retail: $6.00)

Uni Emott / 5 Color Set - Retro Color (Retail: $14.75)        Red Wine        Straw Yellow        Apple Green        Blue Green        Iris Purple

Midori MD Lined A6 Notebook (Retail: $9.25)

Every Maido in a Box comes with a free gift. In my experience, these items are the same in every box but are possibly in different colors. This is what was included in my box:

Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-jaku ink sample (Retail: estimated $2.00)

Nakabayashi Magnetic bookmark ruler small (Retail: $2.10)

Maido in a Box sticky note set (No retail price, estimating at $8)

Midori notebook advertisement brochure

I estimated the total retail value for this box to be $39.75 and the bonus items are worth $12.10 for a grand total of $51.85, so the purchase price of $35 makes this a decent savings if these are products that you want.

[roseydoux]

Colette (2018)

[writingisthecoolesthobby]

I’ve been outrageously busy this month, so I’ve fallen down on the #BlackInkBlackCats job, but I doodled my friend’s dog on a letter to her last week, so that’s something, right? This is Pepper, and she’s a cutie.

LePen Technical Drawing Pen 0.3, Sakura Pigma Brush Pen on Blue Dragonflies Letter-Perfect Stationery