Sunday Reading for December 21, 2025

1. Top 5 Fountain Pens of 2025 (via dwrdnet). Derek talks about the best pens he collected this year, as most of us are now in “recap” mode.

2. Figboot’s Favorite Things 2025 (via Figboot on Pens). David walks through his favorite items that he reviewed this year. And he’s approaching 1000 videos sooner rather than later!?!

3. My 2025 Favorites (via Rachel’s Reflections). Rachel focuses heavily on custom/small-batch makers, so her list features a lot of unique and unusual pen designs.

4. Stationery Year-in-Review and Preview (via Pen Addict - Sarah). Sometimes our years don’t turn out as expected, and that’s ok.

5. 10 More Useful Things (via Olive Octopus). I can vouch for the fact that most of these things are very useful, as Lisa has been kind enough to show me which of these I can/should use in the shop.

6. Leonardo x Stilo e Stile Momento Zero “Kintsugi” Fountain Pen Review (via Weirdoforest Pens). This Leonardo collaboration featuring gold flecks suspended in clear resin turned out to be gorgeous, and I sort of regret not picking one up when I had the chance.

7. How to Use a Notepad (via Notebook Stories). Small memo pads and bound notepads can be useful - I pretty much have one at every workstation and computer that I use for jotting down ideas, making quick calculations, etc.

8. J. Herbin Opale Nocturne Ink Review (via Pen Addict). Most of the Herbin shimmer inks don't speak to me, necessarily, but this one hits closer to the excellent “Shogun” ink in that the understated blue-grey color could serve as an everyday ink?

9. A Little Magic (via From the Pen Cup). These “rainbow” or “magic” pencils can produce unexpected effects whether you’re using them to write or draw.

10. Inkmas Day 8: Diamine Lady Grey (via Well-Appointed Desk). I’m going to get my hands on this after Christmas - I love Diamine Earl Grey and this has a lot of the same color effects going on, yet at the same time is completely different.

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Yes, I am still participating in Inkvent/Colorvent, though I’m behind on posting my photos. I’ll hopefully have a chance to get caught up this week.

In Case You Missed It…

I continued my own Year-in-Review series with my own Five Favorite Posts from 2025, determined by nothing other than whether I enjoyed writing it! Lisa Vanness and I also released our first YouTube Live via the On The Paper Trail… official Youtube Channel! Please subscribe to help us grow and to automatically receive future episodes, including the upcoming podcast. You can also follow us on Instagram.

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This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop: Last Minute Madness!

We had a crazy - yet fun - rush in the shop this week, both in-store and online. As of today (Sunday), we only have three working days left until Christmas, so it is extremely unlikely online orders can be packed, shipped, and delivered by Christmas. If you have the opportunity, shop local and in-person, and to that end we will be open Monday and Tuesday in our Nashville location from 1pm-6pm, and will be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day before reopening normal hours Friday and Saturday.

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The latest TWSBI Release is available for pre-order starting today: Introducing the Limited Edition Piston Filler, “Obsidian”. Pens will ship December 23.

We have plenty of unique recent arrivals if you are looking for a gift that will stand out! For starters, most of our Craft Design Technology shipment has been entered into inventory and is available to browse, including all of their special edition multi-pens and fineliners, and CDT’s signature mint-green notebooks and notepads. We also have the Camel pencil sets and their special edition Pentel Sharp Kerry, complete with matte trim. Those of you who visited us in-store will also have noticed a restock of Musgrave pencils, including the Heritage Pencil sets and the newly released special edition Songwriter pencils and Highlighters, all of which would make excellent gifts! UPDATE: As of this afternoon, Roterfaden is restocked in most sizes, and available to peruse on its own shop page.

Craft Design Technology

Caran d'Ache

NJK Sharpeners

TWSBI

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”.

Sunday Reading for December 14, 2025 (Inkvent/Colorvent Spoiler Edition)

1. Inkvent 2025: The First Ten Days (via Weirdoforest Pens). Spoiler alert!

2. Recap of SPS2025 (via Inkredible Colours). The first Singapore Pen Show took place last month, and looks like it drew a good mix of vendors from around the world.

3. Is Crena Spark Paper the New Tomoe River? (via dwrdnet). A new alternative to Tomoe River at the 50gsm paper weight? I’d be interested in trying some of this out.

4. Holiday Gift Guide 2025: What to Buy Your Pen/Stationery Friends and Family! (via Feed Your Creativity). It’s not too late to shop online, but it’s getting close. Great gift guide and thanks for the mention!

5. High Quality 3D for a Reasonable Price. Arclayer Maze (via Figboot on Pens). I missed seeing these in D.C. this year, but I’ll try to get my hands on one of these as this is an idea that’s been tried somewhat unsuccessfully in the past but I’d be excited if someone manages to pull it off.

6. My 2025 Brand “Discoveries” (via Rachel’s Reflections). Taking more opportunities to explore pens for fun is on my list for 2026, and there are some brands on this list I’ve been meaning to look into for quite a while.

7. The Motherlode (via From the Pen Cup). Now that’s a find!

8. Benu Haute Collection - A First Look (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). These are the first Benu pens that might get my attention, as they look a bit more understated than the rest of the line.

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My two favorites from Days 11-15 so far. Recap forthcoming this week.

In Case You Missed It…

I started my 2025 Recap content with a post looking at the Top T.G.S. Posts and Reviews from 2025, as determined by traffic. I also recapped the second five days of the Diamine Inkvent and the Colorverse Colorvent calendars for days 6-10.

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This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop - LAST CALL FOR HOLIDAY DELIVERY!

If you need something shipped in time for the holidays, please get your orders in as quickly as possible we are shipping within 2-3 business days but USPS and UPS are unpredictable (to put it mildly). We also have a bunch of new merchandise arriving daily, which is more the result of it being delayed due to, well, holiday shipping schedules than anything else, as we would have preferred to have this in hand and listed by early December. If you’ve been looking for NJK Pencil Sharpeners - one of our most-requested restock items - we now have them back in all colors, along with the latest Caran d’Ache “Alpine Frost” Crayons de la Maison Caran d’Ache pencil set, as well as a bicolor “Alpine Frost” Colored Pencil set and a general restock of Caran d’Ache writing pencils. Paper-wise, we have additional Standard Size TRAVELER’S Notebooks in Olive, as well as a new line of Tomoe River Paper notebooks from Karatis! Be sure to check Thursday Drops each week for all new arrivals and restocks.

Roterfaden

Uni

Field Notes

Blackwing

Our Nashville shop will be open this week normal hours Thursday-Friday 1pm-6pm, and Saturday from 10am-6pm. We may have special extended hours for the week of Christmas, so stay tuned. If you need to make an appointment outside of normal hours, please reach out and try to give me 24 hours notice if at all possible.

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The Podcast is currently slated to officially launch in January, but we will be doing shorter videos and periodic YouTube lives until then. Stay tuned for the latest. You can watch out last Live here!

How You Can Further Support T.G.S. - And Stay Tuned for On The Paper Trail!

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,” a podcast I’ve been working on with my friend Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens.

Sunday Reading for December 7, 2025

1. Colorverse Inkvent: The First 6 Days of Ink Christmas! (via dwrdnet). Derek walks through the first few days of the Colorverse “Colorvent” ink advent calendar. As I’ll note in my own recap, I think Colorverse takes the prize for “usability” of the inks they decide to include.

2. The Sweetest Pen Show You Haven’t Heard of: Tainan Pen Show (via Inky.Rocks). That’s a fun show report, and check out that 9-layer nib…

3. #2025StationeryHighlights: Now as a Journaling Prompt! (via a Gathering of Curiosities). I’ve enjoyed working my way through these prompts this year, and I hope this is one trend that continues. I plan to answer these questions as part of my own year-end recap that I do every year.

4. 12 Pen Person Questions (via Weirdoforest Pens). I promise I’ll get caught up on posting all the different takes on these questions, as they are fascinating for people to read and get to know members of the community.

5. 25 Days of Dupes 2025 (Week 1) (via Rachel’s Reflections). This post works through the first week of the Diamine Inkvent Calendar and explores what inks are similar to each day’s reveal - whether from Diamine or another brand.

6. Doodling with Fountain Pens: How Ink Can Affect Doodling (via Fountain Pen Love). No matter how you use your fountain pens, the success of any project will depend on the combination of pen, ink, and paper, and how those three things interact.

7. The Retreat (via From the Pen Cup). Sounds like the perfect weekend setting. I always enjoy Mary’s posts.

8. Yamamoto Canopus Paper Review (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). We will be bringing the Canopus notebooks back, probably after the first of the year. Kimberly has a very detailed review on how this in-demand paper interacts with inks.

9. Inkmas Time Is Here Again! (via Well-Appointed Desk). Ana releases an annual flurry of ink reviews in December to close out the year and get caught up, and Inkmas has commenced!

10. The Wet Pen Western Trillium Ink Review (via Pen Addict). I’ve picked up several bottles of Wet Pen inks this year and have enjoyed the (generally murky) colors so far! They’re quite usable for everyday writing while remaining interesting.

In Case You Missed It…

This week I recapped the first five days of Diamine Inkvent and Colorverse Colorvent up on the blog, but most of my effort this week content-wise went into readying the launch of a new video/podcast project I’ve been working on with my friend Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens! Titled “On the Paper Trail,” you can start looking for new episodes after the first of the year, but for now you can enjoy the video from our first livestream from Thursday evening where Lisa recaps here recent trip to Japan and more.

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

It’s the Holiday Season, and in addition to getting your orders packed and out the door and keeping the Nashville store staffed, we still have new stuff coming in as many distributor orders placed pre-Thanksgiving have been somewhat delayed. Recent arrivals include a range of new Tomoe River notebooks from Karatis, which are made in Turkey and feature a very high page count of 52gsm cream-colored Tomoe River. The vegan leather journals feel very nice and would make great gifts. We also received restocks from Maruman and Lamy, as well as the new Field Notes “1943” edition! And while the new Lochby Field Slings sold out quickly, we do have new cases and colors in nearly all other formats. Be sure to check out each week’s “Thursday Drops” post for a recap of all new arrivals and other developments on the retail front!

Blackwing Volume 21

Tom's Studio

Karatis

Field Notes

How You Can Further Support T.G.S.

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 our podcast experiment discussed above.

Sunday Reading for November 30, 2025 (Thanksgiving Edition)

1. Wild Things at the Tokyo Pen Show 2025 (via Inky.Rocks). I’ve been jealously following all the Tokyo Pen Show recap posts, and that Ink Alchemy machine really takes first prize for me in terms of things I wish I had seen in person.

2. Stationery Haul from Japan (via Vanness Pens). Lisa walks through her take-home stationery haul following three weeks in Japan! Settle in for a lot of stationery envy.

3. A Deep Dive into the Deep Sea by Tactile Turn! (via Inkdependence). Support your small makers! The switch mechanism isn’t for me (I’ve tried it and prefer the Side Click) but the Cerakote finish on these pens always gets me.

4. Esterbrook Niblet (via Figboot on Pens). The “Niblet” is Esterbrook’s latest release - a compact fountain pen - and there is some mild controversy over the design inspiration. David breaks it all down.

5. Order Restored (Yet Again) (via From The Pen Cup). I’m also a sucker for old desks. Good thing I now have a shop and warehouse that I can use to collect them. :)

6. Planner Set-Up for December (via Well-Appointed Desk). Ana walks through her monthly planner setup and talks a bit about how she reevaluates her setup every month.

7. My Number One Fountain Pen Filling System (via SBRE Brown). What filling system holds the most ink? I like all of these from a technical perspective but I may change inks too much to make this style my “favorite”.

You will see some more about this soon, but I’ve been exploring binder refills, including different papers that come in the Mini-5 format like Iroful and Yamamoto (shown here).

In Case You Missed It….

It was Thanksgiving and “Black Friday”/Small Business Saturday week, so I had no time to publish any content other than a quick video looking at the new TWSBI Cosmo Blue ECO on the YouTube Channel. For the past few years I pretty much have had to take the week of Thanksgiving off to manage the shop since it ends up being such an important part of our annual revenue stream. Things will get back to normal over the next week or so, and in the meantime you can check out our latest major release, which was the 2025 update to the annual T.G.S. Holiday Gift Guide.

Also, T.G.S. Patreon subscribers will know this but elsewhere I’ve also been dropping hints about a new podcast/video series project that I’ve been working on with Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens, which will launch in the coming weeks, probably after the first of the year. We will be sharing bits here and there in the lead up to the official release, so be sure to follow our respective profiles to make sure you get the up-to-date announcements regarding videos, lives, and more. T.G.S. YouTube can be found here, and Vanness Pens YouTube can be found here or in the link to Lisa’s Japan recap above.

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Don’t miss new Lochby cases and Colorways!

T.G.S. INKSGIVING Sale Ends Today! 10% Off Most Orders Plus 20% Off Clearance

The T.G.S. “INKSGIVING” promotion ends tonight at 11:59pm U.S. Central Time. We’ve been busy packing and shipping orders with the goal of getting caught up by the end of the day tomorrow. Use the code “INKSGIVING” at checkout for 10% off most orders, plus take an additional 20% off Clearance items automatically applied at checkout. (Certain exclusions apply due to brand restrictions.) Also, just a reminder that tomorrow is December 1, the first day of “Inkvent”! We still have one or two Inkvent Calendars available, so if you’d like to follow along be sure to pick one up as they won’t be restocked until next year. And, yesterday we received a huge shipment of Lochby, including new Olive color ways, the new Field Sling, Duo two-pen cases, and new Mini Venture Pouch colors.

Notsu Card Systems

Erasers!

Pilot

Traveler's Company

How You Can Further Support T.G.S.

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 our podcast experiment discussed above.

Sunday Reading for November 23, 2025

1. 12 Pen Person Questions (via A Gathering of Curiosities). Once again, I love reading all of these responses to the #12PenPersonQuestions exercise. As always, R.B.’s responses are thoughtful!

2. Who Are Your Human Mycelium? (via From the Pen Cup). Another very thoughtful post from one of the best in the pen community!

3. Inks for the TWSBI ECO Plum with Onyx Fountain Pen (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). Kimberly does all the research so you don’t have to - if you’ve been struggling to find the perfect ink color match for your ECO Plum + Onyx, be sure to check this out.

4. New Spoke Design Pencil, Looking at All 20 Lamy Crystal Inks and More (via dwrdnet). The Lamy Crystal inks are an often overlooked series that contain some excellent colors, including perennial favorites such as Amazonite and Peridot.

5. Tactile Turn Deep Sea (via Figboot on Pens). I love the color but I still prefer the Tactile Turn Side Click format and might pass on this specific release.

6. November 2025 Ink Palettes (via Mountain of Ink). I love the dark reds, burgundies, and scarlets here.

7. Paper Review: Sterling Ink, Owl Paper, Hobonichi, & Aura Estelle’s New Sanzen Paper (via Well-Appointed Desk). For those of you looking for paper comparisons for 2026 planners, Ana takes a look at several different options from smaller brands.

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Zenith 591 Staplers in three colors.

In Case You Missed It…

This week on the blog I took a look at a unique desk accessory: the Zenith 590 (and 591) plier-style stapler, which is something I’ve personally coveted for my own collection but never ended up getting my hands on until now. I also did a YouTube video demonstration. Yesterday I published the annual T.G.S. Holiday Gift Guide, which I’ve updated annually since 2017 and look forward to revisiting every year. In Saturday’s post I also added some commentary on five of my personal favorite stationery gifts that I lean on every year during the holiday season.

Most Traveler’s Notebook Refills and Accessories are restocked as of yesterday!

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

We have a ton of new arrivals this week, including a restock of Passport-size Traveler’s Notebooks in Olive, Midori MD Notebooks in all sizes, stickers and washi tape from MT Taps and iLootPaperie, and more! There’s even new Pilot pens including the Custom Heritage 92 Demonstrator and Pilot Birchwood Vanishing Points, as well as newly arrived colors of the Tom’s Studio Wren and Lumos refillable fineliners, which are a warm matte orange perfect for fall. Be sure to check out each week’s Thursday Drops post for a list of all new releases and arrivals.

Our Nashville shop will be open this week Friday and Saturday from 10am to 6pm, but closed on Thursday (Thanksgiving). Yes, there will be extended hours on Friday given that it’s a short holiday week. Keep an eye on the main store page for announcements regarding any additional special hours during the holiday season.

Pilot

Traveler's Company

Levenger

Desk Mats

How You Can Further Support T.G.S.

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. Patreon supporters also have access to the first two episodes of a new podcast experiment I’ve been working on with Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens. More on this later, but for the time being the initial episodes are Patreon-exclusive.