While I tossed and turned in my hotel bed on Sunday night, I realized that the answer to the question “When was the last time you had your septic tank cleaned?” and my blank puzzling for a date/time could be resolved by none other than pen and paper. This morning, when we stopped back at the house, I grabbed a trusty Leuchtturm 1917 Hardcover A5 Metallic Edition. I also approached the file cabinet of doom, and grabbed the extra thick “House” file and took it with me. Today I have been busy building a journal of my house’s greatest and shittiest events (see what I did there?) so that I have dates and repair companies and what type of work was done.

I’ll see you again when indoor plumbing has been restored.

via GIPHY

The post Home Sweet Money Pit appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The Companion pen pouches all ship in sturdy boxes. The largest, 5-pen size includes a pocket notebook that fits into the slot on one side of the case. All cases include elastic loops that have a pull tab that makes it possible to adjust how wide or narrow the loops are to accommodate a wide array of pens.

The zippers are metal and slide smoothly. The leather is smooth but will show scratches but can be rubbed out with your fingers or you can just let it get rough and worn with age.

There are minor feature differences in each design. The 2-Pen Companion has no pockets on one side but there is an elastic loop in the spine area designed to hold one extra ink cartridge but I found that it would also hold my Traveler’s bullet pen that I use for ink testing.

The 3-pen Companion includes a secretary pocket with three business card slots. It also has the loop along the spine for a cartridge.

This close-up image above shows that I was able to put two very slender pens (sometimes the most difficult to keep in a pen case with elastics) as well as a big, chonky BENU Skull & Roses pen and they are all snug and safe.

The largest case is the 5-Pen Companion and, being the largest, its easier to see how imperfections or scratches will show on the leather but its still lovely.

Once again, I made an effort to fill the case with pens that are of widely different widths. It took a few minutes to pull the elastic snug on all the pens so once you have it set up, you will want to remember which slot the skinny pens goes into versus where the wider pens are placed. So, for me, the Pilot Cavalier will always need to be on the outside and the Carolina Pen Co. (pale pink) will need to go closest to the spine. The 5-pen Companion also has the loop along the spine for a cartridge but could be used for a slim pencil or other tool as well.

The 5-pen Companion includes the small Storyboard cahier with dot grid and Endless’s Regalia paper.

The design of these cases are excellent, the materials and the functionality. They are a bit longer than what I need as my pens tend to be on the smallish side but I do think these cases will accommodate most pens in your collection. I think the Platinum Desk Pen was a bit too long for it but that’s on the outside edges of sizes.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

So, now, its your turn. All three of these cases are up for giveaway. One case per winner, three winners chosen. Please read the “how to enter” below. If you don’t play by the rules, your entry will be disqualified. US only. (Giveaway for cases only. No pens or accessories are included.)

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and indicate which style Pen Companion you like best. Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person. Winners will be randomly selected and we will be giving away all three styles (so there will be THREE winners).

If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the monkeys some time.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on October 6, 2023. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Luxury Brands USA for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Product Review: Endless Companion Pen Pouches appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Many cardboard boxes and cartons appear at our door. I tend to use a basic box cutter to slice them open – but gingerly. Although I haven’t cut myself yet, I have almost cut myself a few times – maybe in my eagerness to get the box open. That’s why one of the cutting instruments that caught my eye in JetPens’ video, Why You Need Overengineered Scissors and Cutters, was the Canary Modoruba Cardboard Box Cutter ($14). It seemed like a safer option that would still get the job done. 

First off, apologies that most of my photos do not show its color well – it’s a bright lime green, not yellowish avocado. The color alone was a bonus! It’s easy enough to use: Slide the corrugated mechanism to extract the blade.

What makes this box cutter safer is that the blade is serrated on both sides like a saw. You could probably still injure yourself if you tried hard, but it would likely not cut skin in a typical box cutter accident. I would even allow a child to use it for its intended purpose.

Since it felt dull to the touch, I was skeptical that it would cut a box open easily, but in fact, it does – very nicely (and safely), in fact.

To retract the blade, press the button on the opposite side amusingly labeled “off.” The blade satisfyingly shoots back in rather than sliding. 

The package instructions are all in Japanese, but the illustrations are mostly self-explanatory. I was puzzled, however, by the two buttons on the sides labeled “push.” I thought at first that these were for blade extraction, but nothing happened when I pushed. I finally went to JetPens for the English directions (thank you, JetPens, for always including English instructions in product descriptions!) and learned that these two buttons are for disassembly. They had stumped me because simply pushing doesn’t do anything – I had to really struggle and fight with the whole thing to get it to come apart. It’s good to know that replacement blades are available for the Canary box cutter, but I hope I won’t have to replace them often. (By the way, the image of the “push” button is the closest to the actual color.)

Overall, I like it – it gets the job done safely and efficiently. I keep it in the kitchen where all those boxes get opened.

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

The post Review: Canary Modoruba Cardboard Box Cutter appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

So what are we to do but have a pen sale and find forever homes for these beauties! A few notes about the sale going on right now over in the Well-Appointed Desk shop:

• All pens are in “gently used” condition. At a minimum they have been inked and used for review, and they may have been used a little more than that.
• All pens are listed at prices to sell. Many of these pens we bought with our own money but, regardless, prices are mostly well below retail.
• All pens come as is in the listing (with or without boxes and converters included, with the nibs specified). We don’t like surprises.
• It should go without saying, but these are all lovely pens in working order. We’re not getting rid of them because they don’t work. More like our pen cups runneth over and we’d like to see them get used and loved.

We hope you find a new-to-you pen and we’re thrilled to send it to a new home!

The post Did someone say pen sale? appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The design is an extension of Enigma Inkvent Set that was released at the end of 2022. The original Inkvent design only had 25 holes to hold ink samples so the new design, made out of acrylic and is shipped flat is perfect for anyone who likes to swatch an ink a day or just needs a great way to store the ink samples you still need to swatch or try.

The set does not ship with ink samples but I wanted to show how fabulous the display looks filled with ink vials.

The stand is about 4.5″ deep so it doesn’t take up much space on your desk and stands proudly at about 14.5″ tall and 6.375″ wide at its widest. I like that it gets my ink samples up off the table and easy to see. I’ve had other ink vial holders but they are wide and flat and take up precious desk real estate.

The holes are designed to fit the standard 5ml sample vials favored by most fountain pen retailers.

The model I was shipped was especially designed for me in a sparkly pink acrylic. For the initial release of the 31-Day Ink Sample Stand, Enigma will be offering them in gold, silver and copper shimmer acrylic. More colors may be available in the future. Head over to the web site to sign up to be notified when the product launches officially.

I think this is a brilliant concept and I can’t wait to see photos on Instagram of these sitting on desks throughout the pen community.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Enigma Stationery for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Enigma Stationery Acrylic Sample Vial Display appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

I chose the non-stick, fluorine-coated pink pair. It’s available in several other colors, with basic stainless steel blades ($7.25) and with titanium-coated blades ($10.50). The pair comes with a safety cap.

The packaging information is all in Japanese, but according to JetPens’ product description, the scissors feature “a distinctive curved upper blade similar to those found in pruning shears. This lets you cut more cleanly while exerting about a quarter of the force you would need to use a pair of conventional scissors. Because the curved edge is longer than the straight edge, it pulls along the surface of what you’re cutting.”

I didn’t really understand the benefits of this feature when I first read it, but the package shows an illustration of a kitchen knife’s curved blade, and suddenly it all made sense. Not that I know anything about cooking (my culinary expertise ends at avocado toast and the same artichoke dip I’ve been making since the ‘80s), but all the chefs on TV advise using a “rocking motion” with a curved blade, which does make it easier to chop vegetables quickly and efficiently.

In action, the Sakutto Cut Hikigiri scissors do cut very smoothly and comfortably. I don’t know how to measure whether I’m using only a quarter of the force I use with my conventional Scotch brand scissors (purchased years ago at Costco, I think), but the Sakutto pair definitely feels like it requires less effort.

Where the Sakutto scissors really shine compared to my old Scotch pair is the non-stick fluorine coating. They cut through a piece of masking tape as if it were ordinary paper (the same tape stuck badly to the Scotch pair’s titanium blades).

My only complaint about the Sakutto scissors is that the handles are not as ergonomically comfortable as they seem like they should be, given the emphasis on comfort otherwise. I think the handles on my old Scotch pair are more comfortable, with appropriate shaped holes for the thumb and fingers. The Sakutto handles are the same shape for both.

Nonetheless, I’m happy to replace my old scissors with the Sakutto Hikigiri (which means “cutting while pulling” in Japanese). They may be over-engineered by big-box scissors standards, but they do the job better, and that’s good enough for me.

By the way, if you’re wondering why a lefty like me is using scissors for righties, it’s because when I was learning to cut, all scissors were made for right-handed people. Now it’s fairly easy to get lefty scissors, and I’ve tried some, but like the time I tried a left-handed pencil sharpener, after a lifetime of using righty scissors, it felt too weird and unnatural to use my “correct” hand. I gave them up quickly. (I wonder if Ana and Laura feel that way about using lefty scissors? — Ed. Note: Yes, I use right handed scissors because lefty ones are weird.) If nothing else, lefties are the most adaptable people in the world because they have to use all these instruments that have been made for their wrong hand.

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Scissors Review: Nakabayashi Sakutto Cut Hikigiri appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The unfinished wood box is assembled with tongue and groove laser cut and is filled with more than 100 3″ x 5″ sheets of lined paper. The paper is probably about 24 or 28 lb bond — we used a micrometer but it was also what my printer husband guessed just by holding it in his hand. It’s not index card weight but not too floppy. The paper is very smooth and features medium-grey 5mm lines.

I love to have 3 x 5’s on my desk for a quick calculation, grocery list or other random note.  This box gives me a perfect coral for the stack of paper and it looks great too.

I tend to use 3 x 5s in portrait rather than landscape so the lines are a bit odd for me and they are printed on both sides so I can’t just flip them over and use the other side. Personally, I prefer blank paper for 3 x 5s — years at Hallmark hammered them into me head.

As for the claim that the paper is Fountain Pen Friendly. I can attest that, yes, it is.

The only thing that stumps me is the lines on the paper. It’s fine but I think when I use up the sheets in the box, I’ll just have Bob cut some scrap paper to size for me.

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Some items were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Paper Review: Curnow Fountain Pen Friendly Notepaper & Box appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The grid lines printed on the cards help to keep your tape wraps parallel which I didn’t realize I needed until I started applying tape to the cards.

I wrapped tape two to three times around the card to give myself a “week’s worth”. I color coordinated the tape on this card to all look nice together and will probably wrap up some other color coordinated cards as well. The cards are sized to fit into the business card pocket on the inside of a Hobonichi or other planner covers.

I have so much washi that I will definitely wrap a few cards up to send to friends in an effort to help pare down my stash. Also, being able to easily carry around a bit of washi will help me use it up… at least I hope it will.

Sometimes, in my pen adventures I find an item I didn’t know I needed until I had it. These Washi Cards are just that type of product. I didn’t know I needed it and now I don’t think I could live without them.

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Some items were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Product Review: Inky Converters Washi Tape Cards appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Front flip panel, you might be asking?  The Smand features a magnetic flap on the front of the case (or is it the back? You decide!) that will lay flat onto your work surface and reveals a grippy surface, perfect for propping up your phone.

When I first saw this, I wasn’t sure I needed such a feature. Isn’t the point of writing to not use your phone?  decided to give it a try anyway and discovered that the flap is so handy! Throughout my day, I find that I use my phone for podcasts, the occasional chat and other little tasks. The grippy surface has become the “phone landing pad” so I know where I put it and can easily see if a message pops up.

The rigid construction of the case supports your phone (or a small notepad) easily. I have discovered that the remaining grippy surface can act as a pen rest, keeping pens from rolling off the table.

The easy portability of this case means that if you find yourself working from a coffee shop, library or other non-office-y space, you still have the convenience of propping up your phone and laying a pen on the grippy surface like a makeshift pen tray. AND you’ll have a case full of tools for whatever project you need to tackle.

The internal storage space opens wide to allow easy access to supplies. The case is long enough for most pencils and an array of markers, gel pens and small supplies. The Smand can hold about a dozen pens or pencils comfortably so it forces me to be a bit more choosy about what supplies I keep with me. Any more than 8-12 tools and I find that I need to dump everything out to find what I want to use. I try to pick an assortment of brush pens, Mildliners and dot markers each month to add  a little flourish to my planner but keep my options to a limited palette. The Smand is perfect for this.

If lemon print is not for you, the Smand is available in a bunch of other patterns and colors including more sedate, solid colors. Facing a long, dark January, the bright pop of yellow reminds me that summer will be here soon but in the meantime I can warm my soul with my lemon pen case!

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Product Review: Sun-Star Delde Smand Pen Case in Lemon appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

I set up this post before I realized that this product is no longer available. So, please don’t be mad at me. Instead, let this inspire you to seek out locally produced soap makers and ask if they can craft a soap for artists and other folks who end up with a lot of ink and paint on their hands. There are also a lot of handmade soaps available on etsy so you might just find something you love there.

This bar, called The Original Ink Lover’s Premium All-Natural Soap has a light scent and a waffly texture on both sides which helps with scrubbing ink off your hands (or wherever you end up getting ink on you).

I won’t go into too much detail into this soap since it’s not available any longer. It was a gift but it did bring up the joy of handmade soaps. My skin felt clean but not dry after using it. It definitely made me want to seek out more handmade soaps both for inky hands and for general use. I know a lot of people favor liquid or foaming hand soaps for their convenience but I like being able to use up the whole bar and have no additional plastic waste like a bottle or refill container.

Is this me turning into the old “back in my day” lady? Whatever… I want to save this planet and I’d be happy to do it, one handmade bar of soap at time if I have to.

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