Stationery Things I Learned In 2025

As 2025 comes to a close, I thought I would take a moment to look back at a few recurring themes of my stationery usage over the past year. Overall, it was great. I mean, it’s pens and paper and pencils and ink and notebooks and EVERYTHING - how could it not be great? Here are a few topics that I spent more time thinking about than most.

Micro gel ink pens still rule the day.

There is very little that gets me more excited than getting a clean, sharp line from an 0.38 mm gel ink pen. Add in smoothness that shouldn’t be possible, plus vibrant colors, and congratulations, you designed a pen I want to use all day, every day. They don’t always have to be gel, either, with two uniball products - the Zento and Jetstream Light Touch - finding their way into my regular rotation. The LAMY x uniball Jetstream M17 refill is great, too. Keep making them, and I’ll keep using them.

Spoke Pen Model 2

Find yourself a fancy barrel for your favorite micro tip refill and you’ll never go back. (Spoke Pen Model 2.)

Accessories are exciting.

I want to say it’s the little things that get me going, but stationery accessories can be big as well. I’m an avid washi tape user because I love all of the designs and colors. I’m also a bag/tote/backpack user so I can carry around all of my stuff. I have small pen rests all over my desk, and a large pen storage box behind it. 3D printed ink vial holders? That too. I’m always looking for something fun, functional, or fidgety to add to my collection.

I’m tapped out of the high-end fountain pen market.

Everyone has a different idea of what constitutes an expensive pen purchase. For some, paying more than $10 for pen is outrageous. For others, paying over $1000 is something that might happen a couple of times a year. I don’t have a rigid budget, but I do have a feeling that there is very little that comes on the market - in let’s say the over $500 price bracket - that interests me.

Platinum Preppy

Sometimes a Platinum Preppy is all I need.

I’m lucky to have a great collection of pens that I’ve worked to build up over the last decade plus, so any new purchase has to “beat” something I already own. That doesn’t happen very often, and I see it happening less now with rising manufacturing costs, and rising life expenses.

I still love looking at expensive pens, but my usage needs are fulfilled by what I already own. I’m sure there will be some wild exception down the line that makes me eat my words, but otherwise, I’m good.

Creativity drives usage.

One reason why my work rarely feels like work is because I enjoy putting pen to the page more than anything. It could be writing - which I do the most of - or drawing and doodling that scratches my creative itch. Even slinging ink on the page to learn more about them fulfills that need. I never thought that I would be part of the Ink Pony Club, but here I am, and it’s glorious. More ways to be creative with my stationery in 2026 is the plan.

Painted LAMY Safari Pencil

My first attempt at painting on a pencil.

Talking about stationery never gets old.

Related to the previous entry, I could talk about this stuff all day. I get genuinely excited to be able to say these words out loud, which, for a nerdy introverted hobby like ours isn’t something that happens frequently. Want to talk about the Bic Cristal? I’m in. Fountain pen ink? What color. Why some paper doesn’t work with your favorite writing combo? How much time do you have?

2025 couldn’t shut me up, so here’s to another year of making stationery fun!

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Posted on December 31, 2025 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Stationery.

Writech Dual Color Multi Pen Review

Writech Dual Color Multi Pen Review

Writech pens have been making their way around the stationery blogosphere over the past few years, including a couple of reviews by Sarah right here on The Pen Addict. Since I hadn’t participated yet, I grabbed a couple of their Dual Color Multi Pens to try out, picking some bright colors, as opposed to the darker Vintage & Black set that Sarah reviewed.

If I’m going to use a two-color multi pen, I want to see some brightness on the page, and that’s what I got with Hot Pink & Grape and Sky Blue and Steal Blue (yes, that’s how they spell it, and who am I to change it?)

Writech Dual Color Multi Pen

Technically refillable, but no refills available from Writech’s site. Also, these refills are oval in shape, so nothing else is going to be able to slot in the barrel properly.

Aesthetically speaking, I like the look of the Dual Color. As the name dictates, they are a two-cartridge multi pen, which keeps the barrel narrower than 3, 4, and 5 cartridge multi pens, for obvious reasons. They are colorful, not flashy, mimicking the colors found inside the barrel on the outside. The White clip offers a great contrast with its over-the-top design, and is flanked by the matching color refill buttons.

When it comes to the writing experience, the 0.5 mm gel ink refills are average at best. The colors are nice, but the feel isn’t as good as nearly every other gel ink pen I use regularly. They aren’t scratchy, but the ink doesn’t exactly glide from the tip. I felt like I had to press harder to get the right line width and color, if that makes sense at all.

Writech Dual Color Multi Pen Writing

Out of the four colors in my two pens, Steal Blue was the clear performance winner. I didn’t have to push it as much as Grape, which was noticeably worse every time I compared the two. Sky Blue was close to Grape, in that it did not effortlessly glide across the page. Hot Pink was closer to Steal Blue in feel, but didn’t get all the way there.

The colors themselves are great, and I would be fine using these as a marking or notation pen, not a regular writer. At just over $2.00 per pen, they are inexpensive enough to get use situationally, but I can’t recommend them for more than that. That’s too bad, because I think they look fantastic.

Writech Dual Color Multi Pen Notebook

I’m still interested in trying another type of Writech pen, the Clictek Liner Pen, which is a retractable fineliner that looks right up my alley. Just don’t ask me to review the Clictek Retractable Fountain Pen, because that trapdoor design is a non-starter. Sometimes you have to make a stand!

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on December 29, 2025 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Writech, Multi Pen, Pen Reviews.