The Pen Addict

Giveaway: Doane Paper Daily Arsenal Kit

  

Now this is what I call a giveaway!  Chad Doane has graciously offered up an entire Doane Paper Daily Arsenal Kit to one lucky reader of The Pen Addict.  The Daily Arsenal Kit  includes every single stationery product of the Doane Paper grid + lines movement.  Here are the full kit contents:

Quantity 3 - Large Writing Pad

Quantity 3 - Small Writing Pad

Quantity 3 - Flap Jotter

Quantity 3 - Utility Notebook Black

Quantity 1 - Utility Notebook TL Series

Quantity 1 - Large Idea Journal

Quantity 1 - Small Idea Journal

Quantity 3 - Sharpie Fine Point Pen Black

Quantity 3 - Zebra No. 2 Pencil Black

The standard Pen Addict giveaway rules apply, with one exception this time: This giveaway is limited to U.S. Residents only.  Here are the rest of the rules:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Thursday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.  You are limited to one entry.  Feel free to link this giveaway on your blog, or share it with anyone you feel is a true pen addict.  If you have a blog, I would love a link back, but it is certainly not required for entry into the contest.

2. For this contest, I will pick one winner at random from the comments section of this post.  The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on.  The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winner.

3. The contest winner will be posted on Friday, August 6th.  The winner will have one week to email me at the address posted in the right sidebar.

4. This giveaway is limited to U.S. Residents only.

You can follow the Doane Paper movement on the web in the following places:

DoanePaper.com
Doane Paper Store
Twitter.com/doanepaper

Thanks again to Chad Doane for making this possible!

Review: Uni-Ball Fanthom Erasable Gel 0.5mm

The Uni-Ball Fanthom is the latest entry into the friction based erasable pen market, and compared to the Pilot FriXion, it is a pretty decent option.  While erasable pens have their good and bad points, I do see some value in them, especially for students.  In the business world, maybe not so much, but this pen is designed for fun, so know what you are getting before you take the plunge.  Hopefully this review will help.

The ink is the real selling point of the Uni-Ball Fanthom.  Like the product description states on JetPens, the ink is thermo-sensitive, meaning the more heat friction I create while trying to erase it, the better the ink comes off the page.  This poses two problems for me.  One, it is difficult to erase a small area.  I write small, and it is tough to generate enough friction to erase just part of a character.  I have to erase two or three characters to get a clean enough area to make my correction.

Two, and this is a real stickler for me with the Fanthom as compared to the FriXion, the harder and faster I erase, the more I "gloss up" the area of the page I just erased.  I don't know the official term for "gloss up" but what I mean is by rubbing so hard on the page, I tend to create a smoothed out area that now has different properties than the page around it.  When I write my letters back over that spot, they look different than the other letters that weren't erased.  Not a big deal for some, but with my anal retentive ways, it bugs me.  The FriXion eraser has a little more give in it to where it doesn't treat the paper the same way as the Fanthom.  The Fanthom doesn't even have an eraser per se.  You just use the point of the pen cap to get the job done.  At least Uni-Ball put the eraser on the correct end of the pen.

On the plus side of the ledger, I thought my writing looked absolutely killer with this pen.  The letters were clean and sharp on the page.  The barrel is very well designed also, with a nod to the Uni-Ball Vision Elite barrel, which is one of the best around in my book.  Also, the Fanthom is refillable.  That is a very nice touch for heavy users - like students - who should find this pen quite handy.  While the ink colors are much lighter than gel or liquid ink pens, compared to other erasable pens it isn't too bad.  The regular FriXion seems lighter to me, but the colored pencil-like FriXion is darker.

Who knew there would be so many words to write about an erasable gel ink pen?  After all of that, there are probably things I have left out, so please leave a comment below and I will address any questions you have.  I haven't tested out any of the non-traditional colors yet, but I plan on it soon.  At $3.00 a pop, they are priced to where you could try one out before committing to the entire rainbow.

Click here for the XL review.

Product Links:
Uni-ball Fanthom Erasable Gel Ink Pens at JetPens
Large Writing Pad from Doane Paper

Exploded view:

Doane Paper Daily Arsenal Kit

  

Everyone knows my love for all things Doane Paper, and Chad Doane has made it easier than ever to try out his great products.  The Doane Paper Daily Arsenal Kit includes every single stationery product of the Doane Paper grid + lines movement, and at $65.50 for the whole kit, offers a 20% discount over buying the goods individually.  Did I mention free shipping?  Yeah, that too.

Doane Paper Products Winner + 25% off Coupon

Well, I guess if there was a time to pray to a higher power, this was as good as any, right?  Random.org heard the calling of comment #224 this morning:
Congratulations Andrew!  Please leave a comment on this post, and send me your mailing address using the link on the sidebar.

If you weren't as lucky as Andrew, don't fret -  Chad Doane is here with the hookup.  For the next 48 hours, use the promocode "PENADDICT" for 25 percent off your order at the online store, which is located right here:  http://doanepaper.bigcartel.com/

If you have never used Doane Paper, now is your chance to try it out, and if you are already a Doane Paper fan, then it is time to load up.  Big thanks to Chad for setting up this code, so get ordering!

Giveaway: Doane Paper Products

If you have yet to try the greatness that is Doane Paper, then now is your chance.  For this giveaway, one winner will take home all of the items shown in the photo above, which include (1) 5x8 Writing Pad, and (1) Flap Jotter, plus two Doane approved writing instruments: (1) Sharpie Pen in blue, and (1) Zebra #2 pencil.  Now that is a hookup!  Here are the rules:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Thursday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.  You are limited to one entry.  Feel free to link this giveaway on your blog, or share it with anyone you feel is a true pen addict.  If you have a blog, I would love a link back, but it is certainly not required for entry into the contest.

2. For this contest, I will pick one winner at random from the comments section of this post.  The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on.  The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winner.

3. The contest winner will be posted on Friday, April 2nd.  The winner will have one week to email me at the address posted in the right sidebar.

4. I will ship internationally.  I know there are many international readers and fans of The Pen Addict, and I will gladly ship to you at my expense.

Thanks and good luck!

Review: Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip DX Craft Pen 1.0mm Metallic Red

The Pentel Hybrid Gel Metallic is not a pen I would normally purchase or use frequently, but after recently reviewing the Pentel Slicci Metallic Gel Ink pen, I figured what the heck.  I really didn't spend much time with it prior to doing the written review, nor have I spent that much time with it after, but even during that short time I could tell this is a nice pen.

The metallic pens are definitely a niche item, targeted at scrapbookers and other crafty types, so I'm definitely not the target market for this pen.  What I can tell you is that this is a well made pen that performs exactly as it should.  The barrel design is very solid - quite similar to the Pentel Energel.  In fact, this pen is just like a more glittery Energel, and that is a big compliment.

While I may not get a lot of use out of this pen, my wife will be all over it, especially come Christmas this year.

Click here for the XL review.

Product Links:
Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip DX Craft Pen 1.0mm Metallic Red from JetPens
Doane Paper Writing Pad from Doane Paper

Review: Ohto Tasche Ceramic Rollerball

The Ohto Tasche Ceramic rollerball has been on the short list of pens I have wanted from JetPens for as long as I can remember.  I was finally able to squeeze it into a recent order, choosing the orange body from the blue, pink, and purple barrel colors available.  The main feature of this pen is the ability of the pen to be carried as a compact pen with the cap on, but with the cap posted, it turns into a full size writing instrument.

The Tasche pulls this off well, but I had quite the time getting used to taking the cap off of the pen.  When I first took the pen out of the envelope, I thought I knew how to get the cap off, but I had to fight it for a few seconds, put it down and think about it, and then go after it again before successfully opening the pen.  Ok, I thought, now I can do this every time the same way.  Next try, same difficulty, but after those first couple of times I knew what the pen wanted out of me when taking the cap off.  Since it sizes down so small when closed, there is a long sliver of barrel in the longer than usual cap.  This made it a bit tricky, but I've got the hang of it now and it is no problem.

When it was time to put it to the writing test, it performed very well.  Better than I expected actually.  The ink in my Ohto Orca Ceramic roller spread a little bit when I first used it and I eventually swapped out that ink cartridge of a gel ink refill.  I am having no trouble with this cartridge though on my Doane Paper.  I think the Ohto tasche is going to find a nice home in my backpack.

Click here for the XL review.

Doane Paper Mini Idea Journal Winners

Thanks again to Chad Doane and Doane Paper for another successful giveaway.  The winners are listed below - here is what I need each of you to do:

1. Leave a comment on this post.

2. Email me your mailing address using my email address on the sidebar.

You each have one week to claim your prize.

51 Andy said...
This looks like something I would definitely like.
Reply November 10, 2009 at 09:28 AM

153 Jeff said...
I would love to try some Doane Paper!
Reply November 10, 2009 at 03:34 PM

199 L Davis said...
Pretty please with sugar on top???
Reply November 10, 2009 at 07:24 PM

Giveaways here at The Pen Addict are going to be hot and heavy over the next few weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for more cool stuff very, very soon!

Giveaway: Doane Paper Mini Idea Journal

Another great giveaway courtesy of Doane Paper?  What are the odds!

This time around, I have three Doane Paper Mini Idea Journals to hand out to three lucky readers.  The full size Idea Journal is my pen reviewing notebook of choice, and the mini Idea Journal looks like a great companion to its big brother.

I'm a simple man, so I like to keep the giveaway rules simple as well.  Regular readers know the drill by now, but here they are in all of their glory for any newcomers:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Thursday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.  You are limited to one entry.  Feel free to link this giveaway on your blog, or share it with anyone you feel is a true pen addict.  If you have a blog, I would love a link back, but it is certainly not required for entry into the contest.

2. For this contest, I will pick three winners at random from the comments section of this post.  The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on.  The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winner.

3. The contest winner will be posted on Friday, November 13th.  The winners will have one week to email me at the address posted in the right sidebar.

4. I will ship internationally.  I know there are many international readers and fans of The Pen Addict, and I will gladly ship to you at my expense.

Thanks and good luck!

Doane Paper Utility Notebook - Traffic Light Series Winners

At just over 300 entries, this giveaway was one of the most successful yet.  Big thanks to everyone who entered, and of course thanks to Doane Paper for providing these great giveaway items.  The winners are listed below - here is what I need each of you to do:

1. Leave a comment on this post.
2. Email me your mailing address using my email address on the sidebar.

You have one week to claim your prize.

34 E said...
love the doane utility pads. these colors are great!
Reply November 02, 2009 at 09:35 AM

77 AB said...
Sign me up...
Reply November 02, 2009 at 11:52 AM

249 Kristi said...
Hi from Nashville.
I'm number 51.
Reply November 03, 2009 at 01:48 PM

If you weren't one of the lucky ones this time, don't fret.  This month marks the two year anniversary of The Pen Addict, and I have a bunch of cool giveaways planned.  Stay tuned for another one from Doane Paper next week!