Sunday Reading for February 22, 2026 (California Pen Show Edition)

February 22, 2026

Behind the Stationery Stack with Addy (via dwrdnet). Derek interviews Addy of Stationery Stack, creator of some excellent pen trays and pen cases, and who it was fun to meet in person at this year’s California Pen Show!
Four Grey Inks: Taccia Budounezu, Ka-Ku x Ink Mazeru Gray of Ash Haze, Ka-Ku Black Jade, and Arcus Artisan Raven’s Shadow (via A Gathering of Curiosities). These new Taccia inks have been slightly delayed stateside but I can’t wait to get my hands on them, both personally and for the shop!
On Maintaining Friendships in My Adult Life (via Urban Adventure League). A great post and a reminder of why I make efforts to attend several pen shows a year to keep in touch with friends in-person.
Does Your Handwriting Change with Different Fountain Pens? (via SBRE Brown). An interesting question, and for me the answer is definitely more about the nib than the pen. Certain nibs favor a certain style of handwriting, and sometimes I have to switch it up.
Keeping a Notebook vs. Keeping a Diary (via Notebook Stories). A distinction that merits some consideration, as many people conflate keeping a diary, keeping a journal, and keeping a notebook as the same thing when in reality the process is intensely personal and specific to how each of us records thoughts.
What’s in My Bag: Travel Edition (via Well-Appointed Desk). Ana walks us through her travel bag that she brought with her to Los Angeles. Charging cords and pens are a common theme among pen show vendors!
Analog Defaults Page Now Live (via Pen Addict). A constantly changing reference guide to products currently in use? Now that’s a good idea.

In Case You Missed It….

We attended the 2026 California Pen Show from Wednesday through Sunday! This week I will have a more fulsome recap of the experience, but it was great to meet so many new and longtime readers and customers in person. Check out our short recap of Friday, including a few pictures of our setup and my one new find!

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

The biggest news from this week in the shop was the arrival of a second shipment of Pilot Custom 74 Lavender Fog fountain pens, of which we have only a couple remaining, hopefully with more on the way. In recent weeks we’ve received shipments of the new Lamy AL-Star fountain pens in Pine and Flamingo, TWSBI ECO Black and Marble fountain pens, and many unique paper formats including Life Noble Note in 6-hole looseleaf and A4 Canopus paper! Be sure to check out this week’s Thursday Drops for a full list of new arrivals and restocks, as well as details of this week’s special promotion using the code “CAPENSHOW26” at checkout, which expires at 11:59pm tonight!

We will return to normal store hours this coming week, open from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday, and from 10am-6pm on Saturday. We’re bringing back a ton of new stuff from Los Angeles so be sure to stop into the shop and see it all!

Lamy

Diamine Ink

Pilot

Notsu

How to Support T.G.S. and Our Various Projects

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), and would like early/extra access to shop releases and special promotions, consider supporting us via Patreon. The T.G.S. Patreon includes early access and discounts on exclusive shop releases, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly meetups. As of this morning, ALL Patreon supporters (including non-paying free members) have access to one or more initial “practice” episodes of “On the Paper Trail” which have not been publicly released.

2026 California Pen Show Friday Recap and Where To Find Us!

February 21, 2026

Friday at the 2026 California Pen Show is in the books, and so far it’s been a great one. The California Pen Show succeeded the old Los Angeles Pen Show, and for the past few years has been held at the Torrance Marriott in Redondo Beach. While I skipped last year (2025), I’ve long felt that this is one of the best current pen show venues, with an excellent ballroom layout, good after-hours and restaurant options, and clean hotel rooms. So far, this year hasn’t disappointed, even though we’re only one day in. I will have a full show recap next week, since in order to truly evaluate a show you need to have Saturday in the books, but for now I do have some pictures of the pre-show setup, our location in the ballroom, and my first find of the show!

A View from the Airplane CAPS 2026 — Flying out the weather was gorgeous, even though we arrived to rain in the L.A. area!

TGS Table CAPS 2026 Overhead View — An overhead shot of the TGS Table at CAPS 2026, with a selection of products that we brought to Los Angeles. While a lot of this sold I have two suitcases full and will replenish today. You may spot some new Rickshaw items that I will be bringing home with me.

Aaaand my first find of the show: The elusive Uni Zento Signature gel pen in the dark finish with a .5mm tip. Vanness Pens (our table neighbor) had about 10 of them and they went super quickly!

Don’t Forget to Take Advantage of Our Pen Show Weekend Promotion!

Pretty much everything we brought with us from Lochby, Rickshaw Bagworks, Craft Design Technology, Notsu, Musgrave, and more remains available online and in our Nashville store (which is open for modified hours today). We usually run a pen show weekend promotion whenever we’re away, and this weekend you can take 10% off Lochby, Notsu, and all pencils through 11:59CT Sunday using the code “CAPENSHOW26” at checkout. If you’re looking for us in Los Angeles, see the map below!

Thursday Drops: California Pen Show Edition! And A Weekend Special!

February 19, 2026

I’m attending the California Pen Show this weekend (Friday-Sunday), so if you’re in the Los Angeles area and want to visit our table, please come by! We’ve brought an array of goods from brands such as Lochby, Rickshaw Bagworks, some limited Roterfadens, Craft Design Technology, Notsu, Musgrave, and more. We typically do a pen show special promotion whenever we’re away, and this weekend is no exception. If you’ll miss out on seeing what we have in person at this weekend’s show, take 10% off Lochby, Notsu, and all Pencils through 11:59CT Sunday using the code “CAPENSHOW26” at checkout.

For those who can’t attend in person, pretty much everything we’ve brought to the California Pen Show is available in our online shop, and our Nashville store will remain open with modified hours from 1-5pm on Friday and 11-4pm on Saturday. Online orders will continue to be processed but may take and extra 1-2 days to ship beyond our usual timeframe.

Lamy AL-Stars in Pine and Flamingo. We continue to have stock of Lamy’s latest AL-Star release in Pine and Flamingo, in all of the various formats. These are great-looking AL-Stars, with monochromatic clips and sections.
TWSBI ECO Black and Marble Bronze Fountain Pens. TWSBI’s latest release continues a hot streak of bronze-trimmed fountain pens with the swirled acrylic. We have stock of most nib-sizes both in-store and online.
Life Noble Note 6-Ring Refills. Life’s Noble Note looseleaf paper now comes in 6-ring binder format, in A5, Bible, and Mini (6 hole) sizes and graph, lined, and blank variations.
Yamamoto Select A4 Looseleaf Sheets. We have a wide variety of Yamamoto looseleaf papers in stock, including the much-in-demand Canopus paper.
Graphilo A5 Slim Notebooks. Customers have been asking for a thicker A5-slim notebook that will fit the TGS_25 Taschenbegleiter. One of the best I have found has been this Graphilo notebook that has incredibly ink-friendly paper plus a high page count.
Rickshaw Bags “Cloud” Series. We recently expanded our exclusive collaboration with Rickshaw Bagworks and local artist Nick Dominguez, introducing pen rolls in addition to the zippered cases. If you’re at the California Show, come by this weekend and check out yet another piece that we’re introducing to the lineup (especially if you’ll be needing more storage to carry around your purchases).
Craft Design Technology Desk Note Notebooks. Speaking of unique ink-friendly notebooks from Japan, these CDT notebooks feature bagasse paper (made from a sugarcane processing byproduct), and are bound in a landscape-style layout designed to sit underneath a keyboard while you work.
Notsu Dot Grid Sticky Notes. Though known for their notecards, Notsu also makes an array of excellent functional paper products. These thicker sticky notes hold up well with most inks.
Notsu Dot Grid Notecards and Accessories. We have a restock of Notsu dot grid notecards with the rounded corners in the most-popular 3x5 size, as well as most Notsu card boxes and accessories.
Notsu Vertical “To Do” Notecards. Notsu recently introduced a larger-format vertical “To Do” notecard with 4x6 dimensions, for those who need a larger canvas to plan their day.

New Arrivals: Pilot Custom 74 Lavender Fog Second Shipment!

February 17, 2026

Our second shipment of Pilot’s latest North American exclusive release, the Pilot Custom 74 in “Lavender Fog,” has arrived! As of the date of this post, we currently still have stock of all four specialty nibs: soft fine, soft medium, soft fine-medium, and double broad. Typically these nibs are not available on the Custom 74 fountain pen in the U.S., and we’re lucky to get them in this gorgeous light purple color! To read more about Pilot “soft” nibs and what that designation means, check out this blog post that I wrote just after these pens first arrived in October. (“Soft” doesn’t mean “flex”!)

Please note that this weekend we are attending the California Pen Show! As such, we have modified store hours: Our Nashville Shop will be closed on Thursday 2/19, and will be open Friday 2/20 from 1-5pm, and on Saturday 2/21 from 11am-4pm. Online orders will continue to be processed but may take an extra day or two. Many thanks for all your support!

Pilot Custom 74 Soft Fine Medium Fountain Pen — I chose the Custom 74 in a Soft Fine Medium, which has been inked ever since October.

Sunday Reading for February 15, 2026

February 15, 2026

The DWRDNET Stationery Feed with Lisa Vanness (via dwrdnet). Lisa sits for an interview with Derek and talks about the origins of our podcast project, On the Paper Trail, among other things.
Not About Pens, Inks, or Paper (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). As someone who’s definitely been branching out beyond pens, inks, and paper and different sorts of projects in the stationery-adjacent realm, I can definitely relate to this.
Pilot Fountain Pen Basics Live at Vanness: We Know Our Ink and Paper (via Vanness Pens). A walk through Pilot converters and how they work.
Paper Republic’s Big Leather Journal #A4 (via Inky.Rocks). I’ve not seen an A4 leather notebook in this style, and am somewhat curious how it would work with a cover this large.
Tactile Turn Abstract (via Figboot on Pens). The latest Tactile Turn release features an abstract swirl pattern in white and black with a pop of color.
Finding an Old Treasure in My “Stash” (via Well-Appointed Desk). The Caran d’Ache 849 fountain pen is an overlooked player in the Caran d’Ache 849 line of pens that includes the ballpoint, rollerball, and mechanical pencil. This one never caught on as much as it probably should have, but some people enjoy it.

On The Paper Trail Episode 3 Trip to Jacksonville

In Case You Missed It….

This week we released a bunch of new content, including Episode 3 of the On the Paper Trail Podcast, in which we discussed our recent visit to Pilot Pens USA in Jacksonville. I also published two somewhat related/complementary pieces of content: (1) a post on cleaning fountain pens (specifically how frequently you should clean them); and (2) a YouTube video on shimmer inks and considerations when using them in fountain pens. We’ve had so many new users both in-store and online recently, and this post and video addresses the more popular questions.

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

The new Lamy AL-Stars arrived this week, and they sold briskly in the shop on Friday and Saturday! Personally, I’m partial to the dark green “Pine” pens but if you’re a fan of dusty pink colors, “Flamingo” also looks great. We also have a fresh shipment of the Pilot Custom 74 Lavender Fog North American Special Editions with the specialty nibs, including Soft Fine, Soft Medium, and the coveted Soft Fine-Medium. Last but not least, we still have stock of the TWSBI ECO Black Marble + Bronze, as well as a restock of Serpentine ECOs. Be sure to check out each week’s Thursday Drops e-mail for new arrivals and restocks, and especially this week because there have been a lot.

Note that this coming weekend we will be attending the California Pen Show (February 19-22). We would love to see you there! Our Nashville store will remain open with reduced hours (1-5 on Friday, and 11-5 on Saturday) while we are away.

Tom's Studio

Rickshaw Bags

Pilot Pens

Colorverse