Over the last week or so, I’ve been slowly updating the shop. First, I have added more pen clean out and ink destashing. Patrons get advanced notice when I do stationery cupboard clean outs so if you join the Patreon, you too can get first dibs when I clear out my ever-expanding pen, paper and ink stash. I’ve been a little stressed by my collection — that feeling of having too many things to keep track of, etc — that I’m probably removing items from my collection that are from the core of my collection, not the fluff. My loss is clearly your gain.

Lots of stamps have been restocked in the shop as well as our stamp cleaner (also on Etsy). We are even stocking refill bottles of the the stamp cleaner (8oz bottle for $14) if you have a spray or dauber bottle that needs a refill.

The pen and ink destash is only available on our Big Cartel site which ships to the US only. Sorry to our international readers but shipping ink out of country is very complicated.

And finally, we have created the first products in our new Tiki Collection. Bob and I have been cocktail fans and tiki collectors for years. In the heat of this summer, we wanted to capture the joys of delicious cocktails and that retro vibe of a Trader Vic’s or Beachcomber Don’s bar. When you live in the parched, land-locked part of the country, its fun to dream about the sea breezes and sounds of tropical birds cawing from a nearby tree. Jot down your favorite cocktail recipe on our new notepad (40 lined pages, fountain-pen friendly paper, $10) and put your icy cocktail glass on one of our absorbent coasters (8 coasters, 2 of each design $12). Aloha, friends! See you at the bar!

The Tiki Collection is available on both our Big Cartel and Etsy shops.

The post Shop News: Pen and Ink De-stash (and new products!) appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

I will be bringing shop merchandise with me to the show so if there’s anything specific you would like brought to the show, you can pre-purchase on the shop and use the code (PENSHOWPICKUP on Big Cartel and Etsy) for pick-up at the show. Then just come by the Vanness table and pick up your order. Please place any orders for pick-up by WEDNESDAY, August 23, 2023 by 11pm CST. That will give me time to pack them up and stuff them in my suitcase. (If you don’t pick up your item(s) at the show, we will have to arrange shipping post-show so don’t forget!)

We will be back and posting regularly starting Monday August 28. Thanks for your patience and being loyal readers of our blog.

The post The Desk Goes on Vacation! appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

We may be a little light on posts this week as I managed to catch COVID this week. This is my first case of COVID since the start of the pandemic. And I managed to catch it on the heels of the cold I caught in Atlanta. Enough already!

Let’s talk about pens soon!

The post Oops! appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The world of paper manufacturing has been an uncertain place lately. There have been changes. There have been rumors. There may have even been lies. Or little fibs. Intrigue at least. So I was sent out by the Well-Appointed Desk on a mission to uncover the truth as far as possible.

Some questions we were asked:

I know there’s a lot of gossip around the end of Tomoe River 52 gsm. First, they were changing manufacturing locations but now I’m hearing they are discontinuing it completely. What’s the story?

Tomoe River 52 gsm paper is highly prized by many fountain pen users. The paper is incredibly thin and light, yet fountain pen ink doesn’t bleed through the page (well, it can if you really try). The coating on the paper allows characteristics of fountain pen ink to show up that are lost on other paper varieties. Sheen, shading, and multi-chromatic properties are greatly enhanced.

In 2020, rumors started up that the manufacturer of Tomoe River paper, Tomoegawa, had changed the manufacturing process of their 52 gsm offering without making the change public. Although the company denied this at first, Tomoegawa did release information confirming the changes. Unfortunately there was not a good way to distinguish the two batches at first, however, this was remedied by adding an N suffix to the paper code.

Is it just the 52 gsm that’s going away or the 68 gsm too?

As the fountain pen community was starting to move forward from this incident, a new rumor started to circulate that Tomoegawa would cease the manufacture of all Tomoe River paper, 52 gsm and the heavier 68 gsm. According to this post by Sakae TP, the company is no longer manufacturing products with Tomoe River paper “due to the discontinuation of the base paper product”. The document showing the discontinued items includes both the 68 gsm and 52 gsm notebooks.

According to Tomoegawa, they have been making Tomoe River paper for the last year at a loss due to increases in the price of wood pulp. At first the loss was small but increased steadily. Once the machines needed repair, the decision was made to discontinue the paper production.

I am sad to say that yes, the rumor is true. Tomoe River paper has come to an end as of December 2020 and the paper that now exists is the last.

 I’m having trouble finding any Tomoe River at all. Are people hoarding it?

I have noticed several retailers have sold out of most Tomoe River products. I’m sure this recent news has increase sales of the paper as individuals who fell in love with TR paper try to calculate how much is needed for a lifetime supply. I have been guilty of stocking up a few extra notebooks.

However, I don’t believe even die-hard fans of Tomoe River paper will be able to exhaust the current supply too quickly. Stock is also low due to overseas shipping. Delivery times are getting better as the world emerges from Covid lockdowns, but freight deliveries still face delays.

Most retailers have an option to be notified when they restock their inventory. If you are having trouble finding Tomoe River products, sign up with one or more stores to receive these notifications. Don’t panic.

What’s your best advice for alternatives?

Here is where I can bring good news. The problems we have seen with Tomoe River paper over the last two years has encouraged the search for new paper that would bring out the best in fountain pen ink. New paper types are supposedly being developed by several groups.

The best answer I can give to this question is that paper exists already that is great for fountain pens. However, no other paper behaves exactly like Tomoe River paper. What is the feature you most love about Tomoe River paper? If it is the shading, try Cosmo Air Light. If it is the sheen, take a chance with onion skin paper. If it is how the paper enhances the ink, grab some Bank paper. Perhaps you just want to pour out a bottle of ink on a page without ink bleeding through. Is so, try the new washable paper from Traveler’s. If you love the extra long dry time of Tomoe River paper, try Yupo brands. This last one may not ever dry, however.

I know you like the Cosmo Air Light but what else do you recommend?

Nanami Paper has announced a new paper in notebook form that they call ZEN paper. You can even request a sample of it by sending in a self-addressed stamped envelope! Sakae Technical Paper Company is looking into alternative papers as well.

Musubi has been ahead of the curve on this front, having released folio notebooks with Cosmo Air Light paper and Bank paper. They still have stock of Tomoe River folio notebooks as well (Musubi has confirmed that their current stock is the original, pre-2019 TR paper).

Yamamoto Paper has a collection of 18 types of specialty papers in one notepad. I highly recommend this to individuals seeking new paper adventures! Their paper pad can be purchased directly on their site or from many popular retailers. Shigure Inks, Dromgooles, Pen Boutique carries Yamamoto notepads and several kinds of loose leaf paper.

Graphilo paper does an excellent job holding up to fountain pen ink. Midori MD paper and Midori cotton paper are wonderful with fountain pen ink as well and are becoming more widely available. Onion skin is interesting to use with ink and is unique in the texture department. Curnow Bookbinding and Leather makes A5, Traveler’s size and Passport sized notebooks made of a variety of papers including onion skin.

Traveler’s put out several new types of notebooks this year – the B-sides and Rarities collection – that includes a non-Tomoe River paper that is fountain pen friendly. I plan to review that very soon.

The great news about this change is that many groups are looking for suitable replacements. New paper types are being created. Notebooks are being made with a greater variety of paper. The fountain pen world is full of innovative and driven people who will not rest until the right paper or papers have been found and the Well-Appointed Desk will be here to keep you informed about new products and reviewing those products.

We have written this post to be up to date as of June 3, 2021 and have made every effort to only repeat information from the actual manufacturers. We will update the blog with further information as it becomes available. 

The post Jesi answers all your questions about Tomoe River appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Shipping:

Rubber Stamps and notepads are available in both our Big Cartel and Etsy shop. International shipping is available through our Etsy Shop only. Be aware that, to meet postal deadlines, orders must be placed by:

• First Class Package: Ship by December 18th.
• Priority Mail: Ship by December 19th.
• First Class Package International, and Priority Mail International:  December 7th (Deadline has passed for packages to arrive in time for Christmas for Central America, South America and Africa).

New Rubber Stamp Ink Pads:

I am a reseller of Ranger Archival ink pads ($7 for full-sized pads) since this summer but, due to the pandemic, Ranger is having a terrible time keeping up with demands. As a result, I have expanded my ink pad offering to Tsukineko Staz-On ink pads ($9 each) as well.

The Staz-On pads have a plastic inner liner under the lid to help keep the stamp pad from drying out and each pad comes with two small stickers for labelling the ends of the stamp pad containers if you file them on their ends. Very Japanese details.

As a result, I have a few pads in color and black from Ranger and some red and blue from Staz-On. Both are great waterproof and archival stamp pads.

I also have the Staz-On All-Purpose rubber stamp cleaner available now too. It’s designed to work with the permanent inks which tends to dry quickly onto the stamps and will eventually cake up making your stamp a bit mushy and indistinct. So, stamp cleaner is pretty handy. I would try to figure out how to make my own but this is reasonably priced and comes in a nice spray bottle ($4.50) or dauber bottle ($5) which is very handy so it’s just as easy to buy a bottle.

We are also carrying one water-soluble rubber stamp ink pad: The Tsukineko Brilliance Moonlight White ($9). I got this for entirely self-serving reasons because I like to stamp all the outgoing boxes and some of our mailing boxes are kraft colored and this opaque white sings on the kraft brown. It will also look great on colored paper. Just remember, it is water-soluble so plan accordingly.

Rubber Stamps Back in Stock:

Thanks to the hard work of Paper Pastries in LA, I’ve been able to restock all of the nib stamps (The Daily Grind and The Unfamiliars)($11 each) as well as Ink Bottle ($14) and Sample Vial ($13) stamps. Paper Pastries stamps are gray rubber instead of the red rubber that I was getting from my previous vendor but the quality is top notch! I will be continuing to work with Margaret at Paper Pastries through the end of the year until my stamp manufacturer recovers from their fire.

Did I mention our latest Star Wars edition?

I know it’s not Wednesday but I still have Star Wars to talk about. You probably already know about our Rebel Plans and Imperial Orders and maybe you’ve seen our Do or Do Not addition. But we couldn’t stop there. Nope. Now we have our Stay on Target pad as well. They all use the same fountain pen friendly paper found in all our notepads. The Stay on Target pad feature 7mm lines because this was Bob’s baby and he writes with a big ol’ crayon-like 1.1mm fountain pen these days and insisted on wider line spacing. We used the same 7mm line spacing for the Do or Do Not pad to leave space for those all-important checkboxes.

All notepads feature 40 pages and are $8 each.

What’s Next:

I want to tell you all about what we have coming but I’ll keep it a surprise. I hope you’ll like them. Follow us on Instagram for regular updates.

The post Shop Updates appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes at The Well-Appointed Desk Shop right now. We have all sorts of things in the work that I am dying to share with you. I also have the urge, as the pandemic stretches on, to connect with people.

As an introvert, this is a new sensation. When I first started going to pen shows, I would almost make myself sick with stress the night before knowing I would be interacting with so many people. It got even worse when I had my own table. I am also not inclined to be center stage, on camera or whatever it is that lures people to the spotlight. But… I know that sometimes, showing objects, colors, inks, textures, etc in motion, being able to do live Q&A and demonstrations can be incredibly useful. Sometimes, a picture and description is just not enough.

So, I decided to ask you, dear readers, if this is something you would want? And if so, what online channel do you most frequently use? So, if you could take a minute to answer my survey and leave any comments, I would most appreciate it. I’d like to start planning, if not weekly, at least the same day and time every time I host a video chat.

At this point, I think I prefer a live chat over pre-recorded video but you tell me.

If you have more you’d like to say, please leave your additional thoughts in the comments. Thanks!

The post News & Questions appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

It’s our Lunar Landing Pad Coaster Set — our tribute to all the Apollo Missions (yes, we know the lunar lander was not part of the Apollo 11 mission!). This set features four unique designs (2 of each designs in a pack of 8) for $10.

This set will be available starting Friday at the San Francisco Pen Show.

The coasters will be available on Etsy and Big Cartel upon our return.

The post More Stellar Goods from The Desk & Skylab! appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Sorry that this week’s Link Love will be so late. Due to the Petra winter storm, I will not be back into Kansas City until Thursday. It’s been an 11-day epic road trip (to Little Rock and then all the way to LA and then back to Little Rock and then back home) and Link Love is the one task I needed to postpone.

I’ll be driving from Little Rock to Kansas City on Thursday morning. I am writing this on my phone, on the road, somewhere between Oklahoma City and Little Rock.

I’ll follow it up with an LA Pen show recap.

So, rather than start my laundry, I am thinking of you, dear readers. I do care.

The post Link Love: After Dark Edition appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

While you’re waiting, take a listen to the gift guide episode. A good time was had by all.

The post Please stand by… appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Fan-favorite, Fashionable Friday is now accessible in the top navigation along with Link Love so you’ll have quick access to your favorite features.

We also made it easier to access the Pen Addict Bingo (its under the LINKS tab) so each week you’ll be ready to play along with each episode.

As always, you can reach us with your pressing stationery questions through the Ask The Desk link.

The post Housekeeping Update: Would You Look At That? appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.