Thursday Drops: Happy Inky Thursday! New Inks from Anderillium, Papier Plume, Swatch Books and More

If last month was “Pencil Month,” maybe this month will be “Ink Month?” We’re building out our lineup of inks to offer both in-store and online, including an entire new line of Anderillium Inks (“Ichthyoformes Series”), the Classic Collection from Papier Plume, and another Iroshizuku restock. As noted last week, we have a huge shipment of new Pilot multi pens, ballpoints, and mechanical pencils, as well as the latest TWSBI ECO in Matcha Green, and the Pilot E95s in all sizes in burgundy and black!

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Finally, we’ve had a great response to the new Laconic notebooks and refills we received last week. While many of the A5 6-ring binder inserts are sold out, we still have lots of the new planner stickers, A5 softcover notebooks, and bookmarks, with another order of the binder inserts on the way.

We are back to normal hours this week in-store, open from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday, and from 10am-6pm on Saturday. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

1. Papier Plume Ink Swatch Album Sets. These Bible-sized binders from Papier Plume/San Lorenzo contain plastic holders for 60 swatch cards, and come with a separate card holder full of Col-o-Ring swatch cards cut down to business card size to fit the album.

2. Papier Plume Classic Collection Fountain Pen Inks. These Papier Plume inks are from their Classic Series, and include long-time favorites such as Moss Green and Oyster Grey.

3. Anderillium Ichthyoformes Series Fountain Pen Inks. Be sure to check out yesterday’s epic YouTube video, in which I swatched all 8 of the latest releases from Anderillium. There are three dark red inks that I’m really enjoying, including two that would qualify as red-blacks.

4. TWSBI Diamond Ink Bottles. These ink bottles can function as your standard uncap-and-dip ink bottles, or you can remove the grip section of a TWSBI Diamond-series pen and fill directly from the barrel without dipping the nib.

5. Pilot 4+1 Multi Pens. These Acro-ink gel pens feature Pilot’s own low-viscosity ink formulation in a familiar 4-color ballpoint plus .5mm mechanical pencil format. Four muted colors complete the package.

6. Pilot Legno 2+1 Multi Pens in Striated and Natural Hardwood. The striated wood Pilot Legnos are what drew me to this line, but the story behind the hardwood versions (North American Hard Maple used for baseball bats?) has me fascinated by these as well.

7. Laconic Tokyo Undated Planner Refills, Notebooks, and Stickers. We’re almost completely sold out of the A5 6-ring binder editions, but we have the new planner stickers as well as additional planner bookmarks and A5 notebooks.

8. TWSBI ECO Matcha Green Fountain Pen. TWSBI’s latest ECO release is a tea-green, designed to complement the rest of the espresso-themed breakfast collection.

9. Pilot E95s Fountain Pens. Now available in all colors and available sizes, including EF. The E95s is the current heir to the vintage integrated nib models that include the Myu and Murex models.

10. Pilot Iroshizuku Fountain Pen Inks. Just today we received another shipment of Iroshizuku ink, and have the new colors (Syun-Gyo, Rikka, and To-ro) back in stock alongside most of the old favorites. I recently did a post on my personal favorites from this line.

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I almost forgot to mention that this past weekend we also added the Laconic A5 Field Folio, which is an A5 clipboard/calendar pad that is customizable with refills.

Ink Review: An EPIC Anderillium Inks Swatch Session with the New Ichthyoformes Series

Join me for a long swatch session on our YouTube Channel, where I sit down and walk through the entire series of Anderillium Ichthyoformes Inks! These eight inks are all inspired by fish, and best of all, there are three quite dark red inks (I’m counting Anglerfish Deep as a very dark red, even though there are brown tones as well). As you will see from the photos below, these colors will look darker with wetter swatches on Col-o-Ring paper than they will in everyday writing. In the video, I tried to get shots of the original ink colors as they go onto paper, and then again after they soak into the Col-o-Ring and dry.

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My three favorites from this line, from top: Piranha Red, Lionfish Maroon, and Anglerfish Deep.

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The ink will be less sheeny on non-swatch paper. As you will see in the video, I’ve inked up several pens with the reds and will be using them in the coming weeks.

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I saw Piranha Red in person at this year’s Atlanta Pen Show and immediately knew that I’d want the rest of the set.

This was a fun video to make! The “Currently Inked” series is my equivalent of a “Live” or “Stream”, since it’s rare that I have uninterrupted time to sit for an hour. It’s much easier for me to swatch inks and talk in bits and pieces and then edit together a video later.

UPDATE: I’ve added the Papier Plume Ink Swatch Books featured in the video to the shop this morning.

If you’re interested in purchasing these inks, we sell them in our own shop. Better yet, if you’d like to see swatches in person, I will have them in the physical store this weekend, which will be open Thursday and Friday from 1-6pm, and Saturday from 10am-6pm. No Sunday hours this weekend, as I need a day off!

New Arrivals: Quirky Planner Formats and Anderillium Ichthyoformes Inks

As I’ve mentioned before, what I love about this job is looking for the unusual products out there that I feel get less attention than they should. As I wrote about on Saturday, one such category of products is undated planners, whether those are A5 notebooks, 6-ring binder inserts, or even planner stickers that allow you to customize your standard notebook. We’ve recently added additional items from Laconic Tokyo - including their popular 6-ring binder inserts - and will restock on the sold-out formats as soon as possible. Laconic also makes these same planner layouts in a softcover A5 notebook format that is compatible with Roterfaden, Lochby, or any other cover that accepts the A5 size.

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We’ve also recently added all the additional colors from the Anderillium “Ichthyoformes” Ink series, inspired by fish! In addition to the previously announced Moray Eel Green and Whale Shark Grey, we have Piranha Red, Sockeye Salmon, Betta Fish Purple, Anglerfish Deep, Lionfish Maroon, and Swordfish Blue. I’m personally ready to dive into some of these dark red-black colors!

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Come see these and more in-shop! We will be open this week from 1pm-6pm Thursday and Friday, and 10am-6pm on Saturday. Be sure to check the shop page for up-to-date hours.

Sunday Reading for June 1, 2025 (How Is It June Already?)

1. DWRDNET Stationery Feed with Chad of Eel and Anchor (via dwrdnet). Interested in what goes into designing and pouring blanks for custom pens? Be sure to watch this interview with Chad from Eel and Anchor!

2. Teranishi Traveling Sepia and Antique Black; and a Meditation on Brown (via A Gathering of Curiosities). I’ve never been a huge fan of brown inks either, but off-blacks? All day. The trendiness of brown inks is an interesting phenomenon, as brown has historically been one of the more underutilized ink colors.

3. Pens, Papers, and a Way to Make the Lamy Ballpoints GOOD?! Unboxing from the Gentleman Stationer (via Inkdependence). Ok, a bit of self-promotion, but Mike walked through an unboxing of some of the Notsu stuff as well as the Uni/Lamy collaboration refill. Glad you enjoyed!

4. Kilk Celestial Twofer … and a Giveaway! (via Figboot on Pens). Kilk keeps killing it with their materials. I have a couple of their pens that I need to get back into the review queue.

5. Interview with an …? (via Olive Octopus). Lisa also sat down for an interview with Derek! Be sure to watch as they talk a lot about ink swatching and more.

6. Play It as It Lies (via Line Variation). Do you find how and why you write changes from year-to-year?

7. The Best of Collecting (via Fueled by Clouds and Coffee). This post resonated with me because I’m at a similar stage with pens, having moved into a more carefully considered acquisition phase.

8. Pilot Iroshizuku To-Ro (via Inkredible Colours). To-ro is one of the newer Iroshizuku colors, released late last year. It’s more of a golden orange.

9. What I’m Enjoying Today (via From The Pen Cup). I can’t wait for Lochby to bring the Field Journal Mini back in stock. These things are great.

10. 8 Is Auspicious (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). Congrats on an 8-year fountain pen anniversary!

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An undated 2-page weekly spread: my favorite planner layout.

In Case You Missed It….

This week’s content features a new “Ask TGS” post, titled “What’s the Best Paper for Pencils?”. I get a lot of requests for recommendations, both online and in-store, and this one has been appearing more frequently than most. I also discussed Five Reasons I Prefer Undated Calendars and Planners, which I’ve talked about before without ever dedicating an entire post to the subject.

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

For the beginning of June we have loads of new arrivals, including all the new Field Notes special editions, a new line of 6-ring binder inserts, Planner Stickers, and more from Laconic Tokyo, and new multi pens from Pilot! On the ink front, the rest of the new Ichthyoformes Series arrived from Anderillium, including three dark red colors that I’m planning on diving into this week. Be sure to check out each week’s Thursday Drops post for updates.

This coming week we will be back to regular hours in the shop. Thursday and Friday 1-6pm, and Saturday 10am-6pm. Since I had to take part of yesterday off, we will be having some extra hours this afternoon (Sunday) from 1-5pm.

Laconic

Pilot Multi Pens

Pilot S20 Mechanical Pencils

Anderillium Ink

NEW T.G.S. Patreon Features - We’ve started a discord community!

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 gently used stationery opportunities, consider supporting us via Patreon. We do our best to remain 100% self-supported without having to rely on third-party advertisers or affiliates. Of course, the number one way to help is to visit our curated retail shop either online (or in person, if you’re in the Nashville area)! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, the T.G.S. Patreon includes these as well as access to early shop releases (including the Taschenstift “Violet Tendencies”), the quarterly gently used sales, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly meetups. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. As noted above, we’ve recently started a Discord community for all paid Patreon supporters.

Five Reasons I Prefer Undated Planners and Calendars

I’ve tried to love dated planner systems, whether it’s the Hobonichi Techo, the Jibun Techo, or even the dated version of the Traveler’s Company Weekly + Memo, but my specific planning needs change so frequently that I have a hard time sticking to a single system continuously through the year. I much prefer being able to switch between different undated books and inserts. For example, there are times when I need a full day-to-a-page layout, other times when I want a week-on-two-pages layout, and yet others when I don’t need a planner at all and roll with a blank notebook. Here are what I consider the five key benefits of an undated planner system:

1. No “Planner Anxiety”: You Can Skip Days/Weeks/Months Without Wasting Paper. The obvious benefit is that by using an undated planner, you can skip time for things like vacations or less-busy periods without leaving blank pages. As a result, you can use your planner longer (if it’s a bound book) and avoid wasting the unused dated sheets (if you use a 6-ring binder or other loose-sheet system).

2. You Can Choose Your Start Date. Did you start a new job in the middle of the year? Did your scheduling needs change? Do you simply want to try organizing your time a bit differently and experiment with a new method of organization? With undated planners you don’t have to wait until the New Year nor purchase a dated book that’s already half-expired.

3. You Can Use a Blank Week or Month to Help Plan a Standard Routine or Schedule. I personally do this when I’m trying to set a fixed work schedule or workout routine. You can take an undated week and pin it to your wall or pinboard with whatever “repeating” information you need to include and use that as a reference when setting up subsequent weeks.

4. You Can Easily Keep Two Calendars Side-By-Side. This is one of the biggest advantages for my own personal situation. For example, with undated calendar pages, I can take two consecutive “months”, date them both for May, and have two calendars that track different things (i.e., a schedule or appointments calendar, followed by a content calendar for T.G.S.).

5. The Flexibility to Explore Different Formats and Layouts. Over the years I’ve found that companies tend to be a bit more creative with their undated planner layouts. If the company doesn’t have to worry about the dated planner “expiring,” they can experiment with different formats, and you can even use them all and jump back and forth between them as your needs change, as noted above. Case in point is the Laconic Tokyo series, which we’ve carried for a while and features all sorts of unusual refills and inserts that include “Gantt Chart,” “Spreadsheet”, “Think”, “Life” and more. They’ve recently released these in a 6-ring A5 binder format, in addition to the softcover A5 notebooks that fit notebook systems like Lochby and Roterfaden.

For as many people out there who love choosing and buying their annual dated planner, in the years I’ve spent running this site, I’ve also found that just as many - if not more - prefer the undated variety. Though we still carry some dated planner refills (such as the annual Traveler’s Company releases) in our own shop, undated planners outsell the dated versions by a fairly wide margin. If you value flexibility above all else, and therefore consider yourself “not a planner person” since dated planners sometimes seem rigid and inflexible, you may want to consider the more notebook-like undated experience.

I’m actively looking at consolidating and building out this product segment - not only do I value it and use it extensively in my own personal life, but I think it’s underutilized and receives far less publicity and attention than the trendier dated planners that seem to take over social media each year. There’s much less FOMO around the undated planner systems, allowing you to spend time experimenting and choosing the system that works best for you without the pressure to buy into a system before they sell out for the year.

Laconic also makes their own binder, at a fairly low price point, which offers a way to test out the six-ring system to see if it works for you. For those who want to use fountain pens, I would say that Laconic paper works fairly well with nibs fine-medium (maybe slightly better than Kokuyo Jibun Techo paper), but you may see show-through with broader nibs and wetter inks. I personally use multi-pens in my planners.