Sunday Reading for July 2, 2023 (Long Holiday Weekend Edition!)

1. 2023 St. Louis Pen Show Recap (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). It concerns me to hear that the St. Louis Pen Show, being as well-run an event as it is, continues to have attendance issues, even after last year. I wonder if it has to do with the time on the show calendar, as June tends to be a slow(er) business month in general given vacation, etc.

2. 2023 St. Louis Pen Show (via Rachel’s Reflections). Rachel has another great review of the St. Louis Show.

3. One More for the Community’s Exploration of #21PenQuestions (via mnmlscholar). My own answers to #21PenQuestions will be forthcoming this week! Stay tuned. I’ve enjoyed thinking on these.

4. Maruman Mnemosyne Twin Ring Notebook Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). The Mnemosyne spiral notebooks are quite durable, come in a wide range of rulings and sizes, and give rise to endless debates about how to properly pronounce the name.

5. If at First You Don’t Succeed, Swap Nibs (via mnmlscholar). I’ve long been a proponent of unapologetic nib swapping. Several of my best everyday writers are bonafide “frankenpens” where none of the nibs and bodies match.

6. Packing Cubes for Notebooks? (via Stationery Pizza). I use the modular Plotter cases that come in three different sizes. Intended to fit plotter binders, they also hold other similarly sized notebooks and make it easy to swap stationery between different desks and bags.

7. Ink of the Week: Troublemaker Petrichor (via Fountain Pen Love). Now this is a cool grey color that I need to try out….

8. Kaweco Bronze Sport (via SBRE Brown). I love the warmer tone of the bronze as opposed to the more yellow brass. I wish more penmakers worked in bronze….

9. What I’m Enjoying (via From the Pen Cup). Flea beetles are the bane of my gardening existence.

10. A Journaling Streak - Holding on a Little Too Tightly (via Pete Denison). Sometimes it is best to remember why you started doing certain things, and not just continuing to do them for their own sake.

11. Mini-Review: Retro51 Rainforest Trust (via Well-Appointed Desk). Now THIS is a cool Retro, and for a good cause!

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In Case You Missed It…

This week on the blog, I continued the Mid-Year Review, with a recap of the five most popular posts according to a combination of reader comments and statistics. I also wrote a post on a notebook I recently built out for brainstorming - one of my “single purpose” notebooks I keep in rotation.

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The Heat is on!

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop and 4th of July Sale!

The big news from this week is something that’s actually going to launch NEXT week (unless you’re a Patreon subscriber) - more on that below. But we also launched the pre-order for the TWSBI ECO Heat, an orange TWSBI to celebrate summer! Pre-orders are still available, and the pens will go out tomorrow, so reserve yours now. We also received a new shipment of the Laban Greek Mythology Inks, including the previously sold out Aphrodite Pink (which is still in short supply).

We’re also running a Fourth of July Promotion this weekend! Take 10% off inks and pen cases and notebook covers, to help you get geared up for your summer travels! Use the coupon code “HAPPY4TH” at checkout!

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You knew the ink was gonna be red, right? I mean, otherwise, what’s the point? ;)

The T.G.S. x Hinze Pens Exclusive Release Launches Next Week (Thursday, July 6) - Patreon Subscribers Can Pre-Order Immediately to Reserve One

The big news that I announced yesterday on Instagram is the arrival of our exclusive collaboration with Hinze Pens and Starry Night Resins: a version of the Hinze “Elementar” fountain pen featuring a custom TGS-themed resin with a black ceramic-plated stainless steel nib. I’m very pleased with how these pens turned out and can’t wait to get them in your hands when they launch to the general readership next Thursday, July 6! There are 30 pens in this initial run, and each pen will include a bottle of limited edition “Summer Sangria” red ink. The ink will not be available after this pen release, as it’s part of a run commissioned by Hinze and is no longer made. While there may be a giveaway of a bottle or two later, there isn’t sufficient quantity to sell it on a stand-alone basis. Pens are currently open for pre-order to the Patreon membership, so if you want to guarantee yourself a pen (and a small break on the price), now is a great time to consider checking out our Patreon program, which also gives you access to a monthly meetup, periodic sample sales, and exclusive content. That said, I expect there to be plenty of pens available after the Patreon pre-order period ends.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported via purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

2023 Mid-Year Recap: Reader Favorites from the First Six Months of 2023

As part of my annual mid-year review, I always take a look at the blog statistics and see what type of content readers have enjoyed. The five posts featured here are the ones from 2023 that either received the most traffic and/or comments (relative, of course, to how recently some of them were posted). In terms of overall popular content, our posts on Hierarchies of Fountain Pen Friendly Paper, Picking a Workhorse Pen, and Fountain Pen Inks for Everyday Writing continue to be popular among T.G.S. readers, especially those new to fountain pens.

Many thanks for all your support and readership! For additional installments of our 2023 Mid-Year Recap, check out this post on my own personal favorite posts (with minimal overlap), as well as the favorite new product releases from the Curated Shop.

1. Workhorse Pens: Considerations and Pitfalls of High Capacity Pocket Fountain Pens. It’s extremely interesting to me that this particular post is among the most popular new content from the first six months of the year. The TWSBI Diamond Mini and Vac-Mini, as well as smaller Opus 88 pens, get very little attention, generally in favor of their larger counterparts. TWSBI at least has started paying some attention to the Diamond Mini, with the recently released Mini AL Grape.

2. Schon DSGN Full-Size Fountain Pen with Monoc Nib. Well, this is timely, because Schon DSGN announced recently (and posted pics last night) that they are working on anodized versions of their in-house Monoc nib. These look absolutely stunning. Follow them on Instagram to learn more and see what might be coming down the pipeline!

3. Ark of Pens (Guest Post from R.B. Lemberg). We had an outstanding response to the first T.G.S. Guest Post in a while, where R.B. went through their personal pen collecting story and discussed how they came to the hobby and collecting in general.

4. Triangular Grip Pens: Love ‘em or Leave ‘em? Nontraditional fountain pen sections are a love/hate proposition. Either people love the added structure intended to “guide” their fingers into writing position, or it simply doesn’t work for them. Personally, I’ve come to appreciate the slightly rounded triangular shape of the TWSBI ECO-T, and the Safari and AL-Star have never bothered me all that much. I never could use those molded “pencil grips” though….

5. Fountain Pen Basics: Five Best Practices for Fountain Pen Users. This post sparked the most comments, all of which I enjoyed reading! Everyone uses and cares for their pens in different ways - there really is no “right” or “wrong” way (other than anything that results in a puddle of ink in your bag, pen case, or pocket). I’ve made an effort to do more “Fountain Pens 101-style” posts, since I know we have a lot of readers who are coming to fountain pens for the first time this year!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. We greatly appreciate your support! If you’ve been considering the Patreon, now is a great time to join, as we are preparing to launch a new exclusive fountain pen release, and are in the middle of the Patrons-exclusive “Gently Used” sale.

Building the Perfect Notebook for Brainstorming: Quirky Refills and Erasable Pens

I think I’ve permanently given up on notebook minimalism. While I have a core set of 3-4 notebooks that I use on a daily basis and take with me pretty much anywhere I go, I also have a “healthy” stockpile of special-purpose notebooks that I pull out periodically - some more often than others - to help me with various tasks and to hold information relating to specific projects that don’t require daily attention.

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The “Mandala 9x9” layout. You start with a central goal or idea, with eight key inputs, which you can then break out into their own box.

One such notebook is what I’ll refer to as my “brainstorming” notebook, which I use when I want to work through ideas for a project, piece of writing, or simply to hash out a problem I’ve been dealing with, personal or professional. I’ve used many different notebooks for brainstorming over the years, with different rulings ranging from blank to dot grid to meeting, but what about something more structured?

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The “Concentric” Layout from the Laconic Think Refill. I’ve honestly not figured out how I want to use this one yet.

I discovered the Laconic Style system at NY Now back in January. To me, the beauty of this particular notebook system is the combination of a formal structure and customization. Laconic has blank notebooks, standard diary/planner refills in daily, weekly, and monthly formats, as well as special purpose notebooks that you can use to build out your system. Two specific refills that I’ve recently used from this latter category include “Think” and “Spreadsheet” layouts that I’ve not previously seen elsewhere. The “Think” refill features four different templates (16 pages for each pattern): a “Mandala Chart 9x9”, a “Coordinate Axis” layout (for your classic “SWAT” analysis), a “Concentric Chart,” and a “4 Panels” Memo (consistent with what you might use to plan slides or storyboards). While I’m not an expert on how to use these various layouts other than having some experience with the 4-panel storyboard, the common theme seems to be that the different designs allow you to visually link your ideas together as you go. I’ve long been a flow-charts and mind-maps on blank paper type of guy, but lately a bit of structure has been helpful to mix things up.

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The 4-Panel/Storyboard Layout from the Think Notebook

The second refill I’ve been using is the “Spreadsheet” refill. It’s exactly as described: a notebook full of spreadsheet cells that serve multiple purposes: to organize notes on my personal pen collection, such as where I purchased each piece, price paid, etc.; as a content calendar (which is something I’ve tried very hard to stick to, with limited success even though it would make my life infinitely easier); and as a ledger for running down monthly finances and tracking invoices.

The start of my “Spreadsheet” Pen Journal!

Takeaways and Where to Buy

I’ve enjoyed using the Laconic notebooks (as well as the add-on accessories like the bookmarks), and have mainly been using them with Pilot Frixion gel pens in the .4mm and .5mm tip sizes. While I would compare the Laconic paper to something like that featured in the Kokuyo Jibun Techo Planner (i.e., it works perfectly well with low-maintenance fountain pen inks in a fine or extra-fine nib), these erasable gel pens lend themselves quite well to writing in planners and charts, given that you may want to (1) write very small in the way that a micro-tipped gel pen can do; and (2) erase and change information that you may be “logging.” You can purchase the .5mm Frixion pens at most big box (or even grocery) stores, and there are plenty of online retailers, including Jetpens or Amazon, that sell the .4mm needle-tip versions. The ink has come a long way in terms of legibility, and I’ve found the pens to work as advertised.

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The “Coordinate” Layout from the “Think” Journal with the Pilot Frixion. The ruling is pretty small on these notebooks, so for filling out charts, etc. I’ve used either a super-extra-fine fountain pen with Pilot Blue-Black ink (which holds a fine line quite well) or the Pilot Frixion gel pen.

As mentioned above, the notebooks shown here are from Laconic Tokyo, one of the brands we carry directly in our shop. While I’ve been carrying these two inserts around in the Laconic Style cover, I’m thinking of building out a larger brainstorming notebook using a higher-capacity option. The A5-sized refills are compatible with most A5 covers, including the Midori MD covers, and multiple-notebook covers and cases such as the Lochby Field Journal and Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain paid advertising or affiliate links.

New Arrivals: Inks from Laban, Including Aphrodite Pink!

Yesterday we received a restock of the Laban Greek Mythology Ink Series, including favorites such as Athena Grey, Artemis Blue, and the seemingly perpetually backordered Aphrodite Pink. The latter we have in very low stock, so if you’re looking for this particular bottle, please do act fast. I plan to continue to carry these inks in the future, so if you miss out on a preferred color this shipment, there will be more.

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We’ve also received some updates to our collection of desk accessories, including new colors in these Midori rulers that have sold phenomenally well. Between the Traveler’s Company Brass Ruler, one of these Midori versions, or the compact tape measure in the Midori XS Stationery Kits, my measuring game is strong!

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of all brands sold, including Laban, Midori, and other brands shown here.

Sunday Reading for June 25, 2023

1. Lumpers vs. Splitters: How Many Paper Notebooks Do You Use at One Time? (via Analog Office). Both? I have multiple general purpose notebooks, as well as notebooks devoted to specific functions.

2. Half Year Check-in for 2023 Intentions (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). It’s that time of year again!

3. YStudio - Classic Portable Fountain Pen in Copper (via Weirdoforest Pens). I need to jump back into reviewing the YStudio lineup, as it’s been years since I’ve used one of their products and they have expanded rather dramatically.

4. The Advantages of Dip Nibs (via KraftyKats). Want a lot of line variation in your writing and the ability to switch between styles without having to have fountain pen nibs ground? Dip nibs are an inexpensive and easy way to experiment.

5. An Ink You Like Is Too Wet or Too Dry - Do Not Throw It Out (via Dapprman). In addition to awaiting the perfect pen for a specific ink (one that may write slightly wet or slightly dry), you can also consider some of the various ink additives available such as Vanness “White Lightning”. I hear it works great for the Kyoto TAG inks.

6. Ink of the Week - Papier Plume Bayou Nightfall (via Fountain Pen Love). Papier Plume has been absolutely killing it in recent years with some of their limited edition ink colors, and Bayou Nightfall - a grey/blue/green shader - is a personal favorite. I’m glad I was able to pick up a bottle secondhand.

7. Conway Stewart Churchill Fountain Pen Review (via S.B.R.E. Brown). Eventually I’ll bring home one of the Conway Stewart Flagship pens from either the upcoming D.C. or San Francisco Pen Shows.

8. Ink Review #2238: Romania Red (via Mountain of Ink). Dominant Industry Romania Red has turned into one of my favorite dark/blood red inks available right now, and is the preferred substitute for my Montblanc Hitchcock. I might actually prefer this color.

9. Stationery on the Go: Train Edition (Pen Addict - Sarah). I would love to take a long train trip (cross-country maybe?) solely for the purpose of spending some time with my writing.

10. Boku-Undo Gansai Aurora Palette (via Well-Appointed Desk). So it looks like watercolor makers are taking the same approach as the fountain pen ink makers, releasing a ton of colors with different properties.

In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog I wrote a piece about proprietary ink cartridges (namely those from Japan that I love due to their high ink capacity and refillability), and I also revisited five of my favorite posts from 2023 as I work through my Mid-Year Review that will be continued this week.

This Week in the Curated Shop

This week in the Curated Shop, we had large-format A4 notebooks arrive, and I also took a look at five of my favorite releases from 2023.

Ink

Platinum

Anterique

Traveler's Company

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