Analog Defaults Page Now Live

Having a page on the site that is a snapshot of my current most used products is something I always wanted to implement. Better late than never, right?

Analog Defaults is a new reference page, permanently linked in the top navigation bar. My intention is to keep this list actively updated, as products find their way to the top of my usage list. Some categories will have frequent turnover - Fountain Pens, for example - while others will see little, such as Highlighters/Markers. Multiple product pictures are probably a bad idea, but I’ll sort that out on the next revisions.

Head over and check out my Analog Defaults page, and let me know your thoughts. As always, this is a work in progress, so let me know how I can improve it.

Writing On in 2026

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

Towards the end of 2023, I had the brain space to think about the goals and milestones for 2024, and did monthly checkins and retrospectives to keep myself accountable for making progress - this article talks a bit about that process, which came to a halt towards the end of 2024. Due to family medical/health problems, I had zero energy and brain cells to think about anything other than staying on top of urgent tasks and only getting the absolute, most important things done. Side note: we should all feel comfortable giving ourselves permission to do what’s best for our mental/physical health, but especially during this resolution-laden time of year. Thankfully, things settled down enough so that I’m able to regroup for 2026. Don’t worry, I won’t burden you with talks of exercise goals, my possibly-too-ambitious house cleaning schedule, or the ongoing dream of cleaning the garage. Instead, I thought I’d talk about my writing/pen hobby goals and intentions for 2026.

Some of what I have in store for 2026.

Starting new projects.

I love starting new projects! And since I review lots of notebooks which have only had a few pages used (so glad I test them in the back of the notebook so most of it is still usable), I am always tempted to start another project after testing them. While I don’t have any writing projects in mind (since I started The Princess Bride and Winnie The Pooh fairly recently), I wanted to push myself to start something new. I plan to FINALLY start on the Spencerian notebooks I bought shortly after my first pen show…yeah, back in August 2017. I’m excited but also slightly terrified of getting started - what if it’s hard (I’m sure it will be), or I’m not good at it (I’m sure I won’t be, but that’s why there’s practice!) - but I’ve procrastinated way too long, so 2026 will be the year I start!

Spencerian notebooks - not gonna lie, I’m a little intimidated!

Finishing projects.

I am the queen of starting projects and abandoning them not long after starting (don’t even get me started on my unfinished knitting projects). I was so happy to finish The Little Prince, and last year I also finished a children’s Italian book too. It feels so good to wrap up projects, especially if it’s something that I’ve been plugging away at for what feels like an eternity. This year, Hamilton and another Italian book are on deck to be finished before mid year!

I started copying Hamilton in July of 2017!

And now! Just a half a dozen songs or so to go!

Chugging away.

Of course, once you start something, you’ll never finish if you don’t put in the work to get it done. Some projects, like copying Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations in typewriter font, won’t get done in a year (I’ve already put in 5+ years). Part of that is the multitude of other projects (and life) that occupy my time. And part of that is that it’s a project that just takes a very long time. I’ve often said that I am not a patient person, but the Mediations project, in particular, really helps me practice what little patience I have. Even though I’m “only” 64% done, every time I finish a 2-page spread, or even a 20 minute session, it’s so rewarding to see the progress. I have a fairly ambitious goal of getting to 75% by the end of the year.

64% and counting…

The other project is ink swatching, which is a constant battle for me. I’ve been pretty good about trying not to acquire faster than I swatch, but both Inkvent and Colorvent have slowed my progress. I’m working towards 75% swatched by the end of the year.

Just some of the swatches I’ve done in the past few months.

I also want to finish my, gulp, 2024 Book Journal, and hopefully start and finish one for 2025 too. I could do this faster but I’m enjoying the decorating as well as writing out favorite quotes, and my thoughts on the book.

I like looking back at the books I’ve read, favorite quotes, and remembering why I enjoyed them (or not). I really enjoyed the Thursday Murder Club series.

Use what I own.

• Inks - Use the good ink (especially if it’s a good matchy match, lol). Check on them periodically (I just discovered some bottles that were heavily evaporated, thankfully no mold). An unobtanium ink is (mostly) useless if you never use them.
• Washi tape - I have a small drawer of washi tape that sits on my desk. In 2024, every month, I would look through the tapes on my desk and pick the ones I’m tired of and swap in some new ones. This kept me from being bored of the same ol’ washi tape and also forced me to use stuff instead of hoarding them. I’m going to start that up again. Pro tip: “swatching” your washi in a notebook will (1) help you remember details about the washi (brand, design, location purchased), and (2) help you use them - once it’s swatched, it feels less precious.

Going to swap some from the clear drawer (foreground) with some from the other washi drawers.

• Stickers - Not new for this year, but I will continue to put new sticker purchases into a sticker release binder as soon as I reasonably can. This helps me get over their “preciousness” because they are “used” once I peel them off and it makes it easier to actually use them.

This is the sticker release insert that I keep with my Book Journal. As you can see, the stickers are primarily book-themed.

• Pens - This sounds like an obvious one but I often pick new acquisitions or favorites to ink up over something that isn’t as “exciting” or new. This year, I’ll try to pick pens I haven’t inked up in a long time over reinking something immediately. Or I will swap favorite nibs into different bodies to give them new life.

Not sparking joy, move on!

Like many hobbies, this one can be full of acquisitions, often fueled by FOMO, retail therapy (dumpster fire, anyone?), or overdoing it at a pen show (SF, cough cough). There’s nothing wrong with any of those things, but for me, it’s gotten a little out of hand. So for 2026, I will take a hard look at my pens (and duplicate inks, etc.) and start selling at least a couple pens per month (hopefully more). It probably won’t slow my buying, but at least there’ll be slots in the drawers/binders when I do 🙂

Already picked some for the chopping block!

Decluttering, aka no more hoarding! Aside from buying stuff (pens/inks/whatever) and hanging onto them longer than I should, I keep a lot of stuff I know I shouldn’t. I need to do another purge of pen boxes, but more importantly, my main project for this year is to go through my 10 finished Bullet Journals, cut out pages I want to keep, put them in a new notebook, and toss the rest. It probably will only save me maybe 8-9 notebooks’ worth of space, but I’d rather reclaim that space than have the “badge of honor” of 10 completed BuJos.

Hey Bossman, I’ll have room for more notebooks to review, lol!

This rotary cutter will come in handy.

It makes perforations so you can tear pages out easily.

This was the first page in my first Bullet Journal. It seems fitting that it should be something I cut out and keep as a reminder.

I’m sure I’ll think of more things to work on as the year progresses (like no dirty pens at the end of every month, lol) but I’m excited to get started and make progress on these goals and intentions! Happy 2026 and may your pens and inks bring you joy!

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2026 Stationery Lineup

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

I am, at heart, an optimist. I'm always convinced that better times are coming, despite having my entire millennial existence as evidence to the contrary. But generally speaking, I'm always excited for the new year to start. I wasn't excited in 2025 for REASONS, and we're certainly entering 2026 under a dark cloud, but I can sense a speck of hope the way a shark senses a drop of blood in the water--and it's there. Just a drop, but that's all I need to keep going.

And so, in a fit of optimism, I have big plans for 2026. I have goals. And I've got my toolkit ready to go. Here's the lineup.

My planner this year is the Hobonichi Weeks Mega. I like the weekly layout, the blank page with room for a running weekly checklist, and all the pages for notes at the end.

This year I also intend to keep up with a Midori 5-year diary. This black embroidered one has been in my review queue for a few months, but it felt weird to start it in the middle of the year--so, now, it is time.

My Pebble Stationery notebook is about full, and I've finally finished pulling everything useful out of my previous short story notebook, so that means it is time for a new short story notebook! I will be sad to retire my old one. It's an original Seven Seas Writer with the old Tomoe River Paper. I've filled all 480 pages with weird stories. Most have already been released into the world. Others never will be. As sad as I am to stop carrying around this old friend who has been by my side since 2017, I'm excited to crack the spine on a fresh one. Because of course when I fell in love with the Nanami Paper Seven Seas Writer, I bought four of them. This will be the second, and I have two in reserve for future weirdness. I love holding the fresh book next to the old one and seeing how beautifully it aged. 

My commonplace book this year--repository of the brain dumps, lists, book reviews, and random thoughts--is an Oberon leather journal cover with one of their A5 inserts. I've used these a few times before in the past and really enjoy them. I think this sturdy leather will survive the burden of being my external brain for a year or two.

My final notebook of the year is a Midori A6 in the goat skin cover, which is my knitting book, where I make lists of projects, note pattern adjustments or yarn substitutions, etc. I've joined a sock-a-month club for 2026, and I'm excited to document that process.

For inks, I want to empty some bottles this year. I keep skimming one or two fills from the tops of 40 or 50 bottles, so the ink levels never seem to go down. This year, I want to primarily use these two inks and see if I can empty the bottles. I'll still use other inks as well, but I want to focus on these. Van Dieman's Encore Stage Fright and Monarca Arena Blanca. A tealy blue and a gold-green sepia--very practical everyday inks.

For pens, my two purse fountain pens are not changing. I've been carrying the Schon DSGN Faceted Titanium Shell fountain pen with the rainbow monoc nib since I bought it at the 2024 Chicago Pen Show. This is the most expensive fountain pen that I own, but I don't baby it. I carry it every day and I put it to work. I told myself, at the time, that I could only justify the cost of the pen if it paid for itself in stories it writes with me. Fortunately it has done that many times over, and I intend for it to continue to do so. And with the titanium and ultem body and the Schon DSGN build, I know it can handle it.

I'm also continuing to carry the Kaweco AL Sport Piston Filler fountain pen when I'm traveling or out with a smaller bag. It's such a good writer and holds an impressive amount of ink.

That is my stationery lineup for 2026. I have a goal to write 500 words a day, six days a week. That should keep me on top of my deadlines. And it should fill some notebooks and use up some inks. Hopefully. 

And that's how we go into 2026: Hopefully.

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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!