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.

Sunday Reading for November 16, 2025

1. Fountain Pen Day, 5 Years Later (via Olive Octopus Ink). A great post recapping how Lisa got into the hobby. Many thanks to Lisa for helping out with Fountain Pen Day, especially the Fountain Pens 101 guide that we have available in-store!

2. Discussing Making My First Two Pens and My Learning Process So Far (via dwrdnet). It’s been fun watching Derek work through the initial stages of learning to make pens.

3. The Pleasure of Writing Marketplace (via Figboot on Pens). I often get asked where the best place is to sell higher-end pens secondhand. This is one solution that's relatively recent.

4. Recap of TIPS 2025 (via Inkredible Colours). I am going to Tokyo next year. I am going to Tokyo next year….

5. Drewnem Pisane Orion (via Rachel’s Reflections). I’ve seen a couple people who brought one of these pens back from this year’s D.C. Pen Show and the workmanship is gorgeous.

6. Mayfair Pens Noldor Review (via The Poor Penman). I’ve enjoyed seeing Ben’s Mayfair Pens evolve over the years, as they are truly unique designs and he works with unique material combinations.

7. Writech Clictek Retractable Fountain Pen (via Dapprman). I’ve been seeing these Writech retractable pens quite a bit in the U.S. as well, and have heard good things about their performance.

8. Helen’s Creations NJ A5 Japanese Fabric Notebook Cover Review (via Pen Addict). These are beautiful fabric notebook covers!

9. What’s In My Bag: Illustrated Journal Travel Kit Edition (via Well-Appointed Desk). I love a good gear post, as always! This is an interesting kit to me because it’s a different type of journaling than what I would normally do!

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In Case You Missed It…

This week I finally answered the #12PenPersonQuestions, in two parts! You can read Part I (Questions 1-6) here, and Part II (Questions 7-12) here. This was a fun exercise and many thanks to Lisa for putting it together!

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This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop…. Canopus Note Paper!

This week saw the arrival of a relatively large shipment of Yamamoto’s Canopus Note A5 Notebooks, which contain Yamamoto’s most recent paper formulation designed to showcase ink in a manner similar to Cosmo Air Light, but with less “spreading” of the ink. We’ve really made an effort to restock on our less common papers recently, and now have more Tomoe River, Yamamoto Specialty Papers, “Paper Tasting” sampler packs, and the Yamamoto Bullet Jotters and refill pads. We also have a lot of newly arrived Japanese gel and multi pens, so do check out this week’s Thursday Drops for full details!

Our shop will be open this week normal hours, from 1-6pm on Thursday and Friday and from 10am-6pm on Saturday. Come by and see us in person and try out some of these pens, inks, and paper for yourself!

New Stickers!

Tomoe River

Kaweco

Pilot

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.

Sunday Reading for November 9, 2025 (Fountain Pen Day Weekend Edition)

1. Ten Years on YouTube (via Figboot on Pens). Wow, that’s a HUGE anniversary. Congrats to David!

2. Ten Favorite Inks, November 2025 (via A Gathering of Curiosities). I am firmly on team “Ainezu is not a blue black”. This is a great list and I now have five or six additional inks I need to buy.

3. The Secret to Perfect Straight Lines: Architect Nibs Explained (via Doodlebud). I’ve never considered this aspect of the architect nib as I don’t really draw with fountain pens, but I can see how this would be a thing.

4. Even More Indie Makers (via Rachel’s Reflections). I love this resource, as I always find new independent pen makers on the list that I previously was not aware of.

5. Benu Haute Fountain Pen Review (via SBRE Brown). Benu has a new pen out, with a squared-off profile that you don’t typically see. This design could be considered more “classic” than most Benu releases.

6. Paper Mind Passepied Cream Paper Notebook Review (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). Passpied is a relatively rare Japanese paper that can be hard to find, as I believe it’s now in short supply. Originally used for book publishing, I love how this one feels.

7. Catch and Release (via From the Pen Cup). Hunting pencils in the wild! Literally!

8. Notebook Review: Stalogy 018 Editor’s Series 1/2 Year Notebook B6 Slim Size (via Well-Appointed Desk). I enjoyed seeing these B6 slim Stàlogy notebooks released, as I’m a huge fan of the B6 slim “café” size.

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This past weekend was a great weekend to break out your pens and celebrate!

In Case You Missed It…

Friday was Fountain Pen Day (always the first Friday of November!) and I spent the past few posts on the blog getting ready, in addition to prepping for the craziest three days in the shop we have ever had! Last week I did a refresh of my “Currently Inked” pens for the fall, and scaled things back a bit. I also wrote a two-part series in advance of Fountain Pen Day: Part I, How to Get Started with Fountain Pens; and Part II: An Overview of Fountain Pen Inks. If you’ve been looking to try fountain pens for the first time, Fountain Pen Day is a great time to get set up, and we’ve even put together a brief guide that will ship with all fountain pen purchases this weekend! See below for details.

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This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop: Don’t Miss the Fountain Pen Day Specials!

Our Fountain Pen Day promotions run through Sunday (tonight) at 11:59pm. Take 10% off most items across the store using “FPDAY10” at check out, and all items in the clearance section receive an automatic 15% off. Check out all of the various discounts and tiered free gift promotions here, though all freebies and swag are on a “while supplies last” basis. Note that some brands are excluded (mainly TWSBI, Pilot, and Roterfaden), though if you’re interested in a Roterfaden we are stocked with two different versions of the TGS_25 A5 Slim Taschenbegleiter and now is a great time to grab a discount on compatible refills and accessories!

Roterfaden

Pilot

Kaweco

Anterique

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.

Sunday Reading for November 2, 2025

1. 2025 Orlando Pen Show: Bigger than Ever! (via Feed Your Creativity). The Orlando show seems to be growing, and I need to put this show on my list of ones to visit.

2. Pelikan Ink of the Year: Edelstein Apricot Achat (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). I took a pass on this year’s ink of the year and passed my bottle on to the group for a giveaway, but fans of a lighter pastel orange might be pleased with this one!

3. Comparative Overview: Pelikan M815 Metal Stripe Blue & Black (via Scrively). I think I might prefer the classic look of the black over the blue?

4. Esterbrook & Bungubox Estie Kachofugetsu Kingfisher (via Figboot on Pens). A pretty material on this Bungubox-Esterbrook collaboration.

5. Midori MD Notebook Cover A6 Goat Leather Review (via Pen Addict - Sarah). I’ve always found that natural leather covers tend to age the best, and these Midori versions are great ones to keep in mind as we enter the holiday gifting season.

6. A North Korean Fountain Pen? The Chollima 210 (via Figboot on Pens). Ok, any time you combine pens with history you have my attention. Now that’s a unique piece!

7. Ordering Overseas in the Tariff Era (via Well-Appointed Desk). Whether you are ordering to ship into or out of the U.S., give yourself more time. Lots of time…. Also, the only consistency is the inconsistency.

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If you’re curious about fountain pens but don’t know where to start, we have plenty of resources available to help. (10+ years worth on the site and more in-store!) Come see us on Fountain Pen Day!

In Case You Missed It….

This week I refreshed my personal carry for the change of seasons, with a new set of pens and inks for Fall! I also wrote a piece with advice for those looking to get into the Fountain Pens for the first time, as we are seeing so many new faces in our shop, with even more reaching out to me online.

These new Kakuno fountain pens from Pilot arrived yesterday, with a new gold tone nib and muted pastel barrels. (Yes, the smiley face is still there.)

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

So many new arrivals made their way into the shop this week that I can’t recap them all here. For that, please check out this week’s Weekly Drops post, which was actually postponed by a day because it took a while to get the inventory entered. But let’s just say we are fully stocked with the new TWSBI ECO Plum + Onyx, new Kaweco arrivals (including the AL-Sport Piston Filler in Navy and titanium “Titan” Sport), additional Diamine Inkvent Calendars (if you haven’t purchased yours yet), and the latest release from Pilot, the Kakuno Madoromi (“Drowsy” or “nap”) series.

For the week ahead, we will be open normal hours Thursday and Friday (Fountain Pen Day!) from 1-6pm, as well as 10am-6pm Saturday. Please come see us and check out the new front-facing showroom/shop in Suite 107!

Roterfaden

Kaweco

TWSBI

Stalogy B6

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.