Announcing The Pen Addict Podcast

Entering the world of podcasting has always been rattling around in the back of my brain, so I am very excited to announce that The Pen Addict Podcast has become a reality!

It took a lot of poking, prodding, and arm twisting from my co-host Myke Hurley to get me to come on board. I wasn’t convinced I could pull this off, but as the founder of the 70Decibels podcast network, Myke used his British charm to sway me and we are off and running with Episode 1.

You can subscribe to The Pen Addict Podcast directly in iTunes or download from the 70Decibels page. There is also an RSS feed and Instacast link for your iOS devices.

I am humbled to be joining such a great network of podcasts. Thanks to Myke for taking a chance on me, and I hope you will too!

P.S. Huge thanks to Aaron Mahnke and Wet Frog Studios for the amazing logo!

The Hallmark 3 x 5 Index Card

Ana Reinert of The Well-Appointed Desk is a long time friend of the blog. I remember talking to Ana as far back as 2007, right after I started The Pen Addict, and our friendship has continued ever since. Knowing my love for index cards, she sent me a package recently that knocked my socks off. I’ll let her explain:

These are “official” Hallmark 3 x 5’s. The story goes that the founder of Hallmark, J.C. Hall, asked the pressman to trim down the waste bits of paper into 3 x 5’s for him to write notes. He was seldom ever seen without a handful in his pocket and soon others were asking if they might have a stack.

Now, there is no place in the company where you will not see a stack of these. Conference room tables always have at least one pile. Every desk has a stack so people can leave a note when you are away. Writers start ideas on cards and throw them in a bowl at writing review meetings so each bit of editorial is “anonymous”. Designers fold them in half and make mini-card thumbnail drawings.

So, welcome to the world of Hallmark 3 x 5’s!

What an awesome story Ana! Thank you so much for sending me these cards and allowing me to share the story behind them.

I hope to do the cards proud!

Staedtler Triplus Fineliner 0.3 mm Review

The Staedtler Triplus Fineliner is one of those pens that seems like it has been around forever. It gets a lot of love from artists, students, and just about anyone who uses drawing or art pens. I finally picked up my first one last month to see what all the fuss is about.

I really branched out on my color choice here. Not black, not blue, but gray! I know, I know - there are 30 colors to choose from, but I panicked and went the safe route. Maybe next time I will go with Light Orange or Bordeaux Red.

In using the Triplus Fineliner as my main writing pen for a couple of days I found it did a decent job. The color was sharp, the lines were clean, and it was an all-around good writer. Comparing it to the Sakura Pigma Micron or Uni Pin, the tip on the Fineliner is softer, giving it a slight brush pen feel. It’s clearly not a brush pen, but there is a difference between this pen and some of its counterparts.

While the softer tip will keep me from using it as an every day pen, there is another feature of the Triplus Fineliner that is impressive. Staedtler touts this pen as Dry Safe, meaning you can leave this pen uncapped for days and pick it right back up and start writing. This is normally a huge no-no for drawing pens and I wouldn’t believe it unless I saw it. Well, I saw it, and it worked as advertised. Take a look at the bottom of the written review and you will see my 0-hour, 24-hour, and 72-hour uncapped samples. Three days later and the Triplus Fineliner wrote like I uncapped it for the first time.

Overall, this is a great pen, especially for the price. Do understand though that there is a difference in tip firmness compared to other drawing pens. For me and my writing style it is not a great fit, but for many of you it will be right up your alley.